Hi, i'v been copyboting for a few years, so i want to share my knowledge and the way I work and what I do. And the importance of copybotting to me is to make my own world, on my hardrive without the restriction of an internet access and have enough data and asset to make one very furnish. It may sound irrevelant to those who think that interacting whit other players is the essence, but, not for me.

I'm working on closed Opensim Archives, and I think its very important to store data and assets, so it will always exist, even if Second Life completely close down forever, so it can continue to be available after. But know this:

-People should never resell creations made by others, it hurts those who work very hard to create wonderfull stuff we see on Sl and marketplace. And you have a responsability if you distribute their stuff to others and all that, so you have to know what your doing... Its all written in the forum rules, so anyway, lets get on the main topic already.

Before I give my tips on copybotting, I want to put a full guide on how to setup and StandAlone Server.

Guide 1: Setting up a closed Opensim on your harddrive for safety and intimacy.

Some of you might know bout Sim-on-a-stick. So it's possible to play Second Life offline on your hard drive, wich can be very helpfull if SL servers are down or the internet does not work or if you want to work on your creation without being disturbed by your online friends or random visitors... (Wich can be embarassing if what your doing is related to sexuality)

--I know it's possible to connect opensim to Hypergrids and play whit other players, but I never did it, and I will never do, so, dont ask how to do that, I dont know how--

--But the way to transfer stuff from Second Life to Opensim is a bit harder, since you cant upload Xml, cause Opensim wether is offline StandAlone or online Server doesnt have Second Life Linden Lab Xml UI Database Server for texture and scuplty integrity, so you have to do some stuff by yourself, may be tedious at first, but Its all worth it at the end--

So if you are interested in this, you have to download the last release of Opensim binary package at opensimulator.org and then get a viewer compatible whit OS.

Just download the current relase which is today: Binary Zip (0.9.1.1) 
And any working Copyboting viewer whit OS: Hydrastorm by example

If you make the exploit to connect Opensim to the Hypergrids, know that the copybotting work the same way as standalone offline.

So, for a local offline sim it's easy, once the package is downloaded, go in the bin folder and click opensim.exe. A Dos window will appear Where you have to enter:

Region name: Can be whatever you like, lets say Geiz01
RegionUUID: Irrevelant for standalone, just push "enter" on keyboard to ignore it
RegionLocation:Not really important, just note it in case you wanna add another region next to this one, push enter
Ip Adresse: Ignore this one too, just push "enter"
InternalPort: It's already default at 9000, push enter
Resolve hostname IP: Push enter again
External Host name:Push enter again
New Estate name: Put whatever you like, I put GeizerLand
Owner First name: Put whatever you like, but note it somewhere, I put Geizer
Owner Last name: Put whatever you like, but note it somewhere, I put Decko
Password: Since its a local standalone on your hard drive, you can put the easiest password ever, lets say "coco"
Email:May be important for Hypergrid, but not local standalone. Just push enter
User Id: Just push enter

There, when it's written "Informing 0 neighbor that region is up" it's all set, so it's time to open your viewer. Make sure your Dos window is always open while you play, never close it.

You should be able to choose your Grid whit a compatible Os viewer, like hydrastorm or Darkstorm, choose "Localhost"

Enter the first name and last name and password and then it should load your region whit an ugly Ruth avatar on a small island. whit an empty inventory (That you ill fill whit lots of assets) 

Every .dae files aivable on goonsquad will work as upload. I was quite happy when I uploaded Aesthetic v.1.7, and I already got a nice avatar to start whit. But, like I said earlier...

--No Xml files will works in Opensim-- and even less if you clear the viewer cache...

(I have to be honest, 2 years ago when I began coming on goonsquad, I was angry at people who put Xml file, and I didnt understand why there was no texture when I uploaded on opensim, so I understood its only linked to Sl UI database, and then I logged on Sl, uploaded Xml, and then save as Collada files)

Solution: So, I suggest strongly to save absolutely everything as collada files, cause the data assets and textures will always be retained. If you find stuff as prims in Second Life, save them absolutely as collada, so you wont have any problem or issue. the issue can be the same if you save as backup (oxp) instead as collada, so as long as you are in Opensim, save as Collada. Save as Collada.

Ok, I saved as collada, but... theres a flexi part in that collada mesh!! and it makes an error in the .dae file!! :(

Solution: Don't panic, save all the textures of that flexi prim on your harddrive, and then you have to remake the flexi yourself, and normally, it's not really too long and hard.

Lets say you are on Sl, and there's a beautiful mesh hat whit a flexi feather, save the feather textures on your hardrive (Whit Hydrastorm, you have to go in "Inspect texure" And then I suggest, if you can unlink the feather before saving the hat alone as collada, it can help to avoid .dae error. Once you wanna reupload the hat whitout the feather is your OS, all you have to do is to create a small flexi prim and put the feather texture on it or customize it as you wish (you might have to adjust the texture mapping, but whit some pratice it's not too hard, wether you want the exact replica or not), now, when the feather is positioned correctly link it whit the hat, and voilà.

My next tutorial will talk about mesh and Blender issue and how I came to be able to upload 99% of all the 3d mesh in full integrality I got. Cause it does not suffice to remake flexi, LOTS of Collada file will give you an error while uploading, so I wanna help you on what do to do to fix this.


  

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Opensimulator and Blender Guide 2:

Now, there is many software that produce 3d model, as maya, max and maybe some other else and the mesh code is not always the same. But primilary, the majority of mesh model are made whit blender.

Issue 1: Cannot read Collada file while Upload

Solution 1: Import the dae file in blender, and then re-export as Collada file: This solution often fixe the problem as its made blender compatible mesh.

Solution 2: Importe the file dae in blender, and then re-export as wavfront file obj. It will eliminate some useless detail that doesnt alter the mesh data. And then you you import that .obj in blender and then you export it back as .dae. It should work fine most of the time.

Issue 2: The collada file appear on the upload screen, but, after it calculate weight data, an error occur. It can be missing convex or upload fail. The file is also often very huge detail and asset and your computer is not strong enough to handle it.

Solution 1: On the upload screen, there is 4 level of detail, High, medium, Low and Lowest. Keep intact the value of the High, But put the value of the medium, low and lowest at 0 and you should be able to upload it. The only issue whit this, is that your mesh will be unrendered when you zoom out on your land, But it it will look perfect when the camera is close to it. If you absolutely want it to look perfect when you zoom away, try the solution 2 of the issue 1.

Issue 3: There's no fucking texture on the mesh model, why?!

Solution 1: This issue is often caused by the way you are copybotting, as your graphical setting also. When you copybot something, when you save collada file on Second Life online, you have to be sure that all its textures are loaded correctly, also, you must not let Opensim viewer and Second Life viewer open at the same time, cause for a weird reason it stop saving texture on your hard drive (Maybe Hydrastorm fixed this issue?) Anyway, also, when you zoom out in Second Life, some of the mesh detail might not upload correctly, some make sure to zoom correctly on the item you are copybotting and let the textures load before proceding as a save.