Tips and Tricks

Courtesy of kellee

Building Inspector Hints

The data in each cell is what's registering when you see the "Received - bytes" in the property updates section of the status bar (Show menu, check Property Updates). All text you type in the "Object Properties" box comprises this data, and is downloaded to your computer from the world's server as you move around.So keeping this data to the minimum will improve performance and serve to increase ( possibly) the amount of objects you can fit into one cell.Also, whenever possible, use one large object instead of several small ones to cover an area, build a fountain, etc.

Each character in the "Object Properties" box counts as one Byte, and depending on the world, you are limited to byte limits of: "normal" = 1500, "large" = 2000, and "huge" = 4000 per cell.

Where people usually waste the most bytes are the "Description" and "Action" Lines. Don't expend bytes on every object designating a label like " My Name" or " My Place". ( the "Owner" Line also costs you bytes, so if you want to be fussy, a small name is a saving as well) It also causes unsightly flashing as you move around in an area, if your cursor is positioned over the screen. So does overlaps, NEVER overlap your objects, try to stay away from using shift on walls, walks, and roofs.

Commands that use "off" and "yes" (eg: "solid off", "visible off") can be replaced with "no" and "on" to save one byte each. It does the same, but is one byte less.

Spaces after commas and semicolons are unnecessary and can save several bytes when using many action commands.

Signs have a blue background and white text by default, so don't duplicate these with bcolor=blue color=white, or a combination of these. Also, using a single incorrect character will make the colour black, so don't type out "black" or "000000" , use a dot or similar. If you want to position the text in a sign differently, don't use the space bar, use ctrl and press enter for a line break. Also there is no need to duplicate sign text in both the description (create sign, with the text in the description line) and action lines,(create sign "Sign Text")- one is sufficient. If you want the sign text to show with a "mouseover" then only include it in the description line.

In URLs the "http://" is unnecessary, and in some cases the www. is also unneeded.

Picture AW being designed like a chess board, the square's boundaries can not be seen, but are there. These squares or cells, are rigid and can be found with a little work with 8 objects and CTRL and shift. Build a walkH and a pawn in the extreme corner, adjust it using CTRL and shift until you have them both in the same cell, then duplicate three more to form a larger square with the pawns in the inside corners of the walks. Highlight each walk with ctrl..... are the pawns in the cell with its own walk? If not then move them around till each walk and pawn are both in four different cells. That will be the junction of four cells, and the spot best suited to building an intensive area, as you can distribute the cell data over the four cells, essentially quadrupling the amount you can build.

kellee is an active member of the AWSchool and AWUniv team, and has a great texture yard at AW 1379.7N 1853.6W 0.0a 110. To find out more about building - from basic to advanced visit these worlds:

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