CoLAHey all, while I'm doing most of my SL business via email at the moment the reasoning for that is I'm currently in heavy mesh mode with Chaos.

Some of you all might not know Chaos as hes only floated in and out of CoLA over the years, but last year I helped Chaos out with some CCS sims that were copybotting his builds, and since then he and I have been pretty close and he agreed to do the CoLA rebuild under mesh with me since I had helped him out when even the Lindens weren't doing anything about his troubles.

Regardless of that the introduction of mesh means a lot of different things for Second Lifers the first of all being your Intel GMA 965 integrated graphics chip probably isn't going to cut it any more and if you've been coming to CoLA on a low end computer with a very compromised graphics situation, now, here in the next month or so, is the time to upgrade to something a little more efficient.

In most cases if you play from a desktop computer, adding a newer video card will do the job, anything around a Geforce 7600 GT or Radeon XT800 should be fine for the job and those are pretty cheap on Newegg.com so if you're looking for an easy way to ensure you can experience Second Life and CoLA once mesh becomes the standard that would be the cheapest route if you're not already above those specs.

Recommended Minimum Specs:
AMD or Intel Dual Core 2.0ghz
2GB of RAM
Nvidia 7600 GT or ATI Radeon XT800

Now I realize some people might actually have issues with upgrading and dealing with Mesh in general so at this time once we do the CoLA rebuild, Little China and a few sims around the core build will retain their prim designs, so if you can't come to CoLA proper due to hardware related constraints, you'll still be able to RP in the surrounding sims in the chain until you can create a situation that allows you to experience the mesh build.

Mesh is not incredibly high tech, but unfortunately Second Life has always been even lower tech than that so there are a good handful of people that use Second Life on very low end hardware. Please be assured we're not doing this to exclude anyone from CoLA based on their computer specs, but to give the community a better environment that truly reflects the world we've all created together more realistically.

We're in process on the real build, the test build was as stated, just a test build. I expect to have this all done and ready to go by Halloween of this year, which is, officially our five year anniversary as a community.

So as my anniversary present to you all, I will re-envision what CoLA is under mesh, retaining and improving some elements of the old that go as far back as the skybox in CoLA, and creating new and improved additions which will give us far more detail and far more "play area" in the new sim than we've ever had before.

Expect surprises. And expect to be impressed. Between Chaos and I, and the partnership of our 2D/3D skills, CoLA will turn up to be something like you'd expect to see in a mainstream video game...while using half the resources CoLA uses now, under a prim build where I'm texture faking half the details.

So, RP, have fun, and enjoy, and get prepared. Mesh is the future, and CoLA will be right there in it.
#1 | Joshua on August 03 2011 05:34:15
Funny, getting a new laptop in a month or so. At least I know the requirements I will need to beat, though my current setup meets the requirements except for the graphics card which is over-tuned setting wise to work decently.

Either way, I can't wait to see the new build. If the design is anything even close to how the test build looked, I am sure it will cause an influx of newcomers and some new Roleplay as well.

Is the design of the city going to be completely different, or the same layout but just new textures and of course the mesh designs or will it be completely different?
#2 | Pelki on August 03 2011 06:35:26
And henceforth, half of CoLA's playerbase survived on ramen until they could afford better computing situations~.
#3 | Joshua on August 03 2011 07:01:07
Actually, many of our members have to meet most of those requirements anyways. Other then the graphics card which you can get for like $25 online, the Processor and Ram is normally required to run in the first place lol.

I just hope someone doesn't say I can't afford $25. if you can afford $25 in lindens for outfits and weapons, you can afford $25 for the graphics card Pfft
#4 | Pelki on August 03 2011 07:17:10
I meant moreso for those with computers that cannot be upgraded, though it wasn't meant as a dig at the evolution of our scenery. I'm looking forward to seeing it! Just hope I can.
#5 | StormyWilde on August 03 2011 07:45:08
Now if only we could get a straight answer on how much Mesh will cost to upload. I have been seeing some crazy figures and then some not so crazy figures in regards to the upload charges that they are deciding on once Mesh is fully implemented. Either way, I cant wait.
#6 | sickjessi on August 03 2011 13:33:59
Wow I'm at the bare minimum - I think I might need to upgrade Dx. I'm @ 2gb ram w/ a 7600GT D: And this is a 6 year old computer.
#7 | Kenta on August 04 2011 03:14:07
I curse the fact that I have a macbook pro at times like these. Upgrading is a pain in the ass. x.X
#8 | sickjessi on August 11 2011 17:28:05
I'm actually a little worried now, my graphics card is a 7600gt, but my cpu is a Core 2 duo 1.86Ghz >.< I wonder how much difference 1.86 & 2.0 is.
#9 | Joshua on August 12 2011 09:27:20
Those are "recommended minimum" specs. You should be fine with what you have, tho you might have a low FPS and might freeze a few times.
#10 | sean_iforgotmymail on August 13 2011 05:23:13
can't wait to see the mesh cola, am sure that will olso draw mor new people to join CCS /CoLa
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