Surviving Lag 101

We all love events. Skin Fair, Clothing Fair, fashion shows… they’re amazing parts of the SL fashion industry.  The problem is that they’re so popular that they’re accompanied by a ton of lag. But you can do a lot to ease lag! Here are some basic things you can do to improve your computer’s performance and lessen the lag.

1. For the love of all things holy, take off your attachments! This means all of them- hair, shoes, prim clothing/weapons, and scripted items. Especially the scripted attachments. All of these things slow down SIM performance as well as your own computer’s performance. AOs, mystitool… all of these need to be removed.

I know, I know… you feel naked without your hair/shoes/mystitool. Trust me, so do I. But in all honestly, people aren’t going to the event to look at you. They’re going for the same reasons you are- to scope out goodies. Personally, I often take the time to make a fashion statement look absolutely silly (see my Skin Fair post).

2. Change your browser settings.  There are two sets of settings you can change that will improve your computer’s performance, cutting down on lag.

Under Edit -> Preferences, click the Graphics button. This will bring up the above menu. Set your draw distance lower than normal- the lower the better. This means your computer is dealing with fewer images, and can work faster.

Then click the “Graphics Details” tab. Set your sliders all the way down.  Yes, things are going to look ugly. But they’ll load faster, which is the goal.  For the record, images will still load normally, so you won’t get a skewed view of what you’re buying.

3. There’s something else you can do that will help, but it’s a little more advanced. First, press Control-Alt-D to bring up the advanced menu options. Then select Rendering ->Types. A drop-down menu will show up.

I usually turnoff everything except volume (which is necessary- it’s prims!) and sky (turns off the daylight, makes everything look really funky). If you turn off character, things will show up much faster, but you won’t be able to walk around. I flip between them.

Hopefully, this will help you get through events. However, one more thing- if it’s an event like the RFL Clothing Fair, remember that people are going to rush to get there the first couple of days, then not go back. It will be up for a week, so give it a few days before you go. There will be fewer people, and your experience will be much more pleasant.

*hugs*

Happy Shopping!
Laynie

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