Union Micro

Due to this fix that Linden Lab deployed to the Second Life servers, the separator that RentTrack uses for tenant data was changed to question marks. Not to worry, tenant data is stored inside the scripts so this will only break the rental if the box is reset.

In order to fix this, I released two updates yesterday. The first update includes a script to convert the question marks to the “^” character as a separator, as well as change the scripts so they store the tenant data using the “^” separator. The second update was released when a customer found that his rental box wasn’t converted to question marks and still had the pipe symbol as a separator, so as of version 1.2.3 the update disk can convert both question marks and pipe symbols to the new format.

This is a critical update and is suggested that you apply this as soon as possible.

I just finished another Havok 4 elevator test and have some more results. As reported before, the elevators are actually working quite nicely in Havok 4! As long as no one is inside, they work perfectly fine. Now here’s the catch: when there is someone in the elevator it slowly starts rotating as it moves. This is where you come in! If you have a Union Micro elevator – or probably any elevator made in Second Life for that matter, this issue concerns you!

If you would be kind enough to head here and cast your vote on this JIRA issue, hopefully the Lindens will take notice and get this fixed. Once this is fixed, it seems as though there shouldn’t be any more show-stopper Havok 4 issues related to the elevators and you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that your elevators will continue to work once Havok 4 is deployed across the grid.

On another beta testing note, Linden Lab started the Mono beta today. This was less successful for me as I couldn’t get all of my scripts to compile on it. Now, these were only a couple of the helper scripts like the updater script, but I still didn’t feel like I was going to get far with Mono tonight so I packed up.

This is only the first day of the Mono beta, so maybe I will head back in a week and give it another go!

I’ve released a new elevator kit that I call the “Lite” elevator kit.

The “Lite” version of the elevator kit is an entry-level kit aimed at users who have no need for big elevator cars that are capable of traversing many floors. The Lite kit contains the Firefly elevator car which is limited to 4 floors and is much smaller than its bigger brothers. It also does not have a floor indicator LED and has a single sliding door instead of two.

The Lite doors are smaller than the standard doors to fit the Firefly car. They also do not have a floor indicator LED or directional arrow indicators.

This kit is ideal for residential installations and is what it was designed for. It has only the basic features at a good price.

EDIT: The kit has been redone and the elevator car and doors are now even smaller and more square to better fit in a hollowed cube prim. The car now has a few less prims due to removal of direction arrows and open doors button, and has a new ceiling texture.

Our affiliate kit has been updated with some new vendors. I’ve cut it back from six vendors to four and applied the new texture theme that I’m using at Union Micro. The scripts are also the latest version of hippoVend which should help with some communication issues. I’ve also included a few signs that you can put out around your affiliate location.

You can now view the elevator installation services available to you via the Support drop-down at the top of the site! Simply roll over the menu and click Installation Services for some general service information, or continue drilling down the roll outs to select your desired service.

We’re looking for more elevator installers! This is not a formal paid job, rather an opportunity to list your installation service at Union Micro. There is no fee to be listed, and you’re free to offer whatever installation services you want at whatever price you want. All I require is that you send me the notecard that you want placed in our Installation Services kiosk.

We’re on the lookout for affiliates! At the moment we’re mostly interested in affiliates that feature Union Micro products, such as buildings made for our elevators. I will be constructing a more “formal” affiliate section at Union Micro where we will place your vendor – HippoVend catalog vendors are the preferred vendor for the affiliate program, or other similar devices that are not too big. Also, if you have a Second Life related website, we can trade buttons via a 88×31 banner. This section of our site is not live yet as we are waiting for affiliates.

Today we received an SLX terminal at Union Micro. It’s inside the building on the bottom floor for you to use. If you can think of any other terminals you would like to see at Union Micro for your convenience, let us know!

I have some good news! With the progress and fixes made by the Lindens to the Havok 4 preview, the elevators are now working in Havok 4! They aren’t working perfectly, however, but they are at least working like elevators. The big thing right now is that the car kind of pitches and rolls when it’s traveling instead of staying still. Usually when it stops at a floor it is tilted either forward or backward about 15 degrees. As I said before I am going to wait on fixing things that seem broken in Havok 4 as it’s likely an incompatibility in the physics engine itself and will be resolved by the Lindens.

As stated below, the 2.0 elevators are still on hold while we settle in and get ready for Havok 4. I have a few side projects that I want to work on and I also have a minor bug or two to fix in the rental boxes.

Stay tuned!

Timothy Harlow from Harlow Heavy Industries has been nice enough to write his own elevator installation guide. You can check it out in the forum here! It’s fully illustrated and well worth a read.