A review of linden scripting language and its role in second life

Abstract

The Second Life virtual world (SL) created by Linden Lab (LL) provides a rich three-dimensional environment, allowing the residents of this virtual community to create and trade unique content. Linden Scripting Language (LSL) is used to enhance the SL experience by providing a programming language capability for created objects. Primitives (prims) are the atomic objects from which complex objects are built; they can be scripted using LSL In this paper we specifically look at how LSL affects the SL experience, its strengths and weaknesses, and propose enhancements, also seeking to find where it has been innovative or unusual. One of the biggest problems in SL is lag - the way the experience slows under load. LSL scripts contribute considerably to lag and we look at how the design of the language attempts to assist in keeping the SL experience enjoyable. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.