Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Most of the time, the inworld shop owner will simply put the content for sale inside a simple box prim and
sell a copy of that to the customer. To set up this simple built-in sales and display system for your content,
follow these steps. First, apply a texture that has an image of the content, the price, and a simple description
on the face of the box. Then, use the Viewer/Client Edit menu to set permissions for the customer to copy,
modify, or transfer the content. Once the permissions are set up, put your content for sale in the box, and
when you are done, set the price for the item with the Edit menu and put the packaged content out for sale
in your shop. The customer should be able to right click on the package and buy a copy of your content for
themselves in Second Life.
10.3.3 s
hopping
and
s
oCial
s
paCe
There are several reasons to include a social area in your shop. Shopping is a social activity, and people who
are doing it will sometimes want to sit down and chat while they decide on the next item they need or just
hang out and see who else is shopping at that store. If you have a “sandbox” area, make it into an area where
the customers can rez and try out their newly purchased products, others may want to watch and see how
attractive it is. Do not overlook the value of providing a pleasant garden, café, or lounge for people to meet.
With these kinds of social spaces, you will create a great deal of “stickiness” between your shop and your
clientele and develop them into repeat customers.
10.3.4 V
isual
and
a
ural
a
mBianCe
You should consider the visual and aural ambiance of your shop. Do the sky setting and time of day work to
enhance the look of your content? You can set ixed sky and time-of-day settings under the Region/Estate/
Environment menu if you own the island. Otherwise, a scripted greeting device (greeter) can suggest a
WindLight setting for your customers when they arrive, although some may not bother to use them. To guar-
antee that your customers are enveloped in the right ambiance, you may have to enclose your shop inside a
huge sphere or cube so that they only see the background sky color that you choose to show them. In terms of
setting up the music for your shop, you should ask yourself: Does the music stream or media stream (if you
are showing streaming video) work to connect my brand ideas to my customers? Some customers may not
have their media channels on, so you should not consider it a reliable method of communicating information
like sales announcements or store events. However, the correct choice in music can move people through
your store space with ease and perhaps enchant them enough so that they stay longer and shop more. You can
set these sound and media options with their respective tabs in the World/Parcel Details menu. For sound,
simply add the URL of the streaming source you would like to hear in your shop. A comprehensive list is
available (http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Music_streams).
For media, you have several options; you could set up surfaces to display the web pages of your blog or
the items you have listed on the Second Life Marketplace. You could display YouTube videos of your content
being used inworld. It is your choice to utilize the media channel for audio, a web page, or a movie.
10.3.5 s
earCh
l
isTing
and
d
esCripTion
When you are setting up your land for your inworld shop, you should take advantage of keywords to make
sure your shop comes up in the listings when a potential customer is using the search content function in
a client viewer. Look at the World/Parcel Details menu, under the General tab. Here is your control panel
for setting up your search keywords. In the Name section, make sure to name your parcel using your store
name and what you sell. In the Description section, make sure that you include keywords that name the
major products that you sell. Some shops simply list their biggest content items, while others add genre
