In Virtual Worlds College, you can use the mouse to look around. This mode is known as "mouselook." In mouselook, your view appears as if you were looking through your avatar's eyes. Moving your mouse causes your avatar and your view to turn; moving right makes your view turn to the right, and so on.

Some objects in Virtual Worlds College (such as guns) have special functions while in mouselook.

To enter Mouselook, press the M key. For the best results, make sure you are not typing text in the Chat bar (or else you will just type an "m"). If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can often roll the scroll wheel up repeatedly to zoom into your avatar until you enter mouselook.

To exit mouselook, press ESC, or roll the mouse scroll wheel down.

While in Mouselook, the left and right arrow key (and A and D keys) will cause your avatar to walk left and right (or "strafe"), instead of turning. In addition, while flying in Mouselook, the Up arrow (or W)  will move you in the direction you are facing, while the Down arrow (or S) will move you in the opposite direction. While flying, the PgUp and PgDn keys (or E and C) will move your avatar vertically relative to the direction you are looking. So, if you are looking straight down while flying in Mouselook, PgUp will move you forward (not up) and PgDn will move you backward.

Advanced Mouselook Options

You can find some additional mouselook settings in your Preferences settings.  Go to Edit > Preferences, then click the Input & Camera tab:

Mouse Sensitivity: Controls how far your view will turn, relative to how far you moved your mouse.  If you set this setting very high, your view will shift dramatically when you make very small movements with your mouse in mouselook.

Invert Mouse: Reverses the up and down axis of your mouse; moving your mouse up will point your view down, and vice versa. You may find this setting more natural if you are used to playing flight simulator games.

Show Avatar in Mouselook: Allows you to see yourself when in Mouselook.  If you look down, you will see your feet.  If  you're holding an object like a gun in front of your face, you will be able to see it.  Wearing glasses does not generally interfere with your vision if you have this setting turned on.

How do I teleport somewhere?

To teleport to a location in Virtual Worlds College, first pull it up on the Map. You can click on locations directly in the Map. You can also select landmarks you currently possess from the drop-down box on the Map window. If you have specific coordinates (ie. Mauve 227, 183, 41), you may enter them here too. The Search menu and other listings of places have Map and Teleport button as well. Once you're on the Map, click on the Teleport button to travel to your destination. 

How do I use Landmarks?

You can think of Landmarks as being similar to Bookmarks or Favorites in a web browser. They record the three-dimensional position of a place inworld, so you can teleport back there conveniently whenever you want.

How do I create a Landmark?

Landmarks are easily created by selecting World > Create Landmark Here from the menus at the top of the Virtual Worlds College® viewer. It'll appear in your Inventory window's Landmarks folder automatically, saved for future use.

Landmark names are created in the following format: parcel name, region name, coordinates. You can rename a Landmark if you wish; the actual destination is unchangeable, and will be shown after you double-click it.

What if that didn't that work?

If you get a message saying, "You cannot create a landmark here..." it means that the parcel's owner used the About Land window's Options tab to turn Create Landmarks. Some landowners choose to do this for various reasons, such as for privacy.

How do I share Landmarks?

Landmarks are created fully permissive, which means you can give a landmark out to a friend or any Resident you'd like. Just like any other Inventory item, open their Profile and drag the Landmark on top of it, or if they're nearby inworld, drag the landmark onto their avatar.

Both the Communicate window and Search window's People tab will allow you to access profiles.

How do I teleport to a Landmark?

There are three basic ways to do this:

1.   In your Inventory > Landmarks folder, double-click a landmark. You'll see a new popup window that asks if you're sure you want to teleport, and displays a Don't show me this again checkbox. Click Teleport go to there. If you selected the checkbox first, double-clicking on Landmarks in the future will simply teleport you to them instantly.

2.    Also in your Inventory > Landmarks folder, and even faster; right-click a Landmark and select Teleport.

3.    From the World Map, click the triangle next to the My Landmarks field and select from any of them. It'll highlight the location on your map, so you can click the Teleport button below.

What happens after teleporting to a Landmark?

You'll see a black "Teleporting..." screen while teleporting to your destination. Depending on the Teleport Routing options (found in the About Land window's Options tab), you'll either land precisely at the Landmark's coordinates, nearby, or further away.

If you're not exactly at the Landmark's coordinates, a red beacon with a red arrow will guide you, showing you how far you are from your destination. You can click the arrow to make it disappear.

On Private Regions (also sometimes called islands), Estate Owners and Managers can choose to set up Telehubs, which are often used as specific teleport arrival points to facilitate navigation. For example, teleporting to an Estate with a castle may automatically place you at the front gates.

Why does My Landmarks on the World Map have so many duplicates?

Often, goods you buy in the Virtual Worlds College virtual world will come in packaged folders, which will include a Landmark back to the creator's shop. It's their way of helping you find your way back.  If you buy a lot of stuff from a certain creator, then there may be lot of Landmarks, all to the same place.  An easy way to delete these is to go to your Inventory, search for the name of the Landmark, then click on each extra and press the Delete key. Then empty your Inventory's Trash.

Is there any way to sort Landmarks better? I have a lot!

Just like with any Inventory items, you can create sub-folders inside your Landmarks folder to categorize your Landmarks. Unfortunately, this sorting method is not duplicated inside the World Map's My Landmarks list, which simply sorts all your landmarks alphabetically.

You can also rename Landmarks and add descriptions by right-clicking on them in the Inventory window.

How do I use the World Map?

The World Map is a powerful tool for helping you to navigate Virtual Worlds College.  With it, you can instantly teleport to any public Region, find land for sale, and determine the number of avatars in a Region before you arrive!  Outlined below are the World Map's features and controls:

Legend

The World Map's legend allows you to distinguish between points of interest across Virtual Worlds College.  You can filter a type of map point by checking or un-checking the box next to its name.

Points of Interest

You: This icon represents your location in Virtual Worlds College.

Home: The blue house icon represents your home location.

Classifieds: Shows the world locations of Classifieds listings.  You can also search Classifieds by using the Classifieds tab in Search.

Person: Shows the locations of avatars on the Map, but does not provide identifying information.  Large gatherings of avatars in a small space coalesce into a stack of green spots.

Infohub: A place where Residents can congregate and socialize.  Infohubs are also known as Welcome Areas, where new Residents arrive after they complete Orientation Island.  For more information on Infohubs, check out the article How to find Infohubs.

Telehub: A telehub is the landing point for a Private Region.  If you teleport into a Private Region, you will arrive at its telehub.

Land For Sale (Checkbox): This icon shows the exact location and pricing of land parcels for sale.

Events: The pink star icon represents PG-rated events being held in Virtual Worlds College.

Events (M): The blue star represents Mature-rated events being held in Virtual Worlds College.

Land For Sale (color): Yellow areas on the map represent the size and shape of land parcels for sale.

Auction: Purple areas on the map represent land parcels that are set for sale at Auction.

Other Map Functions

The World Map has several other useful functions for exploring and navigating Virtual Worlds College.  You can track your friends' whereabouts, teleport to one of your landmarked locations, or teleport directly to a Region by name!

Navigation Beacon

When you set a destination on the World Map, it appears as a red circle.  At the same time, a vertical red beacon appears in Virtual Worlds College to guide you to your destination.  The beacon is most useful when you teleport into a Region that is using a Telehub; you may not land at the location you desired, and will need the beacon to guide you the rest of the way.  To clear your current destination/beacon, press the Clear button on the Map.

Tracking Your Friends

You can use the World Map to track your friends' whereabouts in Virtual Worlds College.  To track a friend, type his name into the My Friends dropdown menu.  If your friend is online and has allowed you to see his location, he will appear on your map as a red destination marker.

Teleport to a Landmark

The My Landmarks dropdown box contains a list of landmarks from your inventory.  Select a landmark from the list to mark your destination, and then click the Teleport button to travel there instantly.  If you teleport into a Region that is using a telehub, you may need to use the navigation beacon to reach your final destination.

Region Search

You can search for a Region by name by typing part of its name in the third text field on the Map and pressing the Search button.  The Search Results frame shows all matching Region names; you can select one and mark it as a destination by clicking on it and pressing the Teleport button.  By default, you will land at the Region's telehub; if there is no telehub, you will land at the center of the Region.

Coordinates: If you want to arrive at a specific location in a region and know the coordinates, getting there is easy. After conducting the region search and selecting the region from the search results, type the coordinates into the Location boxes on your map. Click Show Destination. Click Teleport.  In the map diagram above, the Region and Coordinates are Seto (171,69,25). 

How do I change my avatar's appearance?

Changing your appearance in Virtual Worlds College is quick, easy, and free. A wide variety of controls let you settle on exactly the look you had in mind. While the huge number of variables can be intimidating at first, most Residents quickly get the look they want. (Most continue to tweak their look for hours or even days afterward, but that's another topic entirely.)

To change your look, right-click your avatar and choose Appearance. You can also select Appearance from the Edit menu.

Settings within Appearance:

Shape: This tab determines the overall form and shape of your avatar. This is also where you select Male or Female.

Skin: This tab determines the color of your avatar's skin, skin details (such as wrinkles), makeup and any tattoos you may have.

Hair: This tab not only changes the color and style of your hair, but eyebrows and facial hair as well.

Eyes: This tab changes your eye color, and lets you select an image file for your eyes.

Shirt, Pants, Shoes, Socks, Jacket, Gloves, Undershirt, Underpants, Skirt: These tabs allow you to take off or create new clothing pieces. You can set the overall dimensions and color of the clothing as well as apply a texture.

Make Outfit: This button allows you to save any or all parts of your current appearance (body parts, clothing, and even attachments) in an outfit folder, which you can drag onto yourself to switch to the whole outfit.

Save, Save As: These buttons save the changes you've made to the currently selected body part or clothing. Save As lets you pick a new name.

Save All: This button saves all the body parts and clothing you have on.

Revert: This button undoes all changes made to the current body part or clothing since it was last saved.

Attachments

You may also attach inworld objects to your avatar to change your appearance.  Some people go so far as to fully cover themselves in objects, often changing their shapes into something completely inhuman.  For more information on attaching objects to your avatar, see How do I attach and detach objects from my avatar?

How do I attach a body part to my avatar?

There are many ways to change your avatar's appearance in the Virtual Worlds College® world; trying to identify and use various body part types can be confusing at first!  Check out this guide for help in identifying and attaching body parts from your inventory as you tweak your look.

Body Parts

Body Parts are a special type of inventory item that define some aspect of how your avatar looks.  You can create them while editing your Appearance, or buy them from another Resident.  You can use a Body Part to change your appearance simply by dragging it from your inventory onto your avatar, or double-clicking it in your Inventory.  Check out the following descriptions to easily identify and use Body Parts in your inventory:

 Body Shape: This defines a preset bodily shape for your avatar.  It contains settings for your height, body fat, musculature, facial structure, and other shapely features.

 Eyes: This Body Part defines your eye color, and the shape of your iris.  Some Residents upload custom iris images to create truly unique eye appearances.

 Hair: Just like it says, this body part defines your built-in hair, eyebrows, and facial hair.  The Hair Body Part is not to be confused with "prim hair", which may be purchased at many fashion stores; many Residents choose to go naturally bald, and wear more elaborate hair objects as attachments.

 Skin: This Body Part defines your skin tone, facial and body details, tattoos and makeup.  Some creative Residents have discovered ways to completely replace skin textures using Skin Body Parts, allowing for variations like photorealistic skins, scaly dragon skin, and even mechanical-looking robot skins!

 Attachments: Attachments aren't technically a Body Part inventory type, Residents often use them to augment or replace parts of their normal bodies.  It is not uncommon to see other Residents wearing replacement hair, or even entire replacement body suits!  For more information about how to use body parts that are attachments, check out the article, How do I attach and detach objects from my avatar?

How do I attach and detach objects from my avatar?

You can attach almost any creation in Virtual Worlds College to your avatar. While it isn't wise to attach an entire house to your head, many Virtual Worlds College Residents commonly fashion hats, earrings, swords, or even entire costumes to wear.

To attach an object from your Inventory, right-click the object in your Inventory and choose Wear.

To attach an object that exists in the Virtual Worlds College world, right-click the object and choose More >, then Attach>, then select the body part you want the object to center on. The attachment moves as that body part (for example, your right hand) moves.

Once attached, you can right-click the object and choose Edit to change its position relative to its attachment point. You can move the attachment by dragging its XYZ axes, or rotate it by holding down Ctrl. You can hold Ctrl+Shift to resize the entire attachment.

To detach an object from your avatar, you have two options:

1) Right-click the attachment and choose Detach.
2) Or, right-click the object in your Inventory window and choose Detach from Yourself. A good trick for quickly finding an attached object within your Inventory is to search it for "worn". This will show all clothing items, body parts and attachments you're currently wearing.

Tips and Tricks: Better Building with Primfficiency!

The following is excerpted from the May 2006 issue of Second Opinion, our official newsletter.

Better Building with Primfficiency!

As you may already know, "prims" are the basic building blocks used to create all objects in Virtual Worlds College. Combining prims and shaping them allows you to come up with some complex contraptions and interesting visual wonders. "Primfficiency" is the art and science of mastering prim shaping to achieve great results. Think of "prim efficiency + proficiency". There are a number of benefits to learning the ways of the prim:

You can achieve some pretty tricked-out shapes using a single prim

Your building skills will increase naturally while exploring the possibilities; and

By conserving objects, you'll have more to use on a given parcel of land. This is very important if you find yourself running out of prims.

Here are some examples of primfficiency, complete with screenshots:

1.    Save Some Stairs Two stair steps can be made with a single prim. Just rez (create) a box, rotate and stretch it out a little, and set Path Cut Begin = 0.125and Path Cut End = 0.875. While this may look unexceptional at first glance, stairs can be long, so the savings quickly add up.

2.    Sit Pretty (But Not Primmy) The "one-prim barstool" is a longtime commodity in SL, and if you've never figured out how to do it before, here's the recipe. And it's FREE! Start out by rezzing a tube. Stretch it so it's taller. Set Hole Size Y = "0.50". Profile Cut Begin and End = "0.25" and "0.95", respectively. Then carve out your new seat by making Hollow = "85". In Virtual Worlds College 1.10, you can sit even easier. How? Select the General tab in the edit tools (or right-click and Edit the stool). Near the bottom, under where it says "When Left-Clicked" select Sit On Object. Then, close the edit window and left-click your barstool! Voila!

3.    Reinvent the Wheel The most common way to make a vehicle wheel is to flatten a cylinder. The end result tends to look rather flat, especially if you're texturing. A more dynamic way to do this is to rez a ring and set both Twist Begin and End = "90" and Hole Size X = "0.75". Still look too flat? Lower Profile Cut End to taste, say, "70" and make Hollow = "25" and you're cooking! Note: The picture shows each face (area) of the prim as a different color. And it need not just be tires: you can make dishes, containers--whatever you want your newly wrangled, multi-faceted ring to be!