Current Farm Tracker System Version: 5.0
Farm Tracker HUD Version 5.0
NOTE: In your Farm Tracker folder you will see a box with the beta items. Unpack and use ALL of these items! This manual is written for these items and you can’t mix and match V4 with V5..
(Note: Many times the manual is updated just prior to a new release. Therefore, the version numbers above may be higher than the currently available version from vendors in SL or from your redelivery page.)
The VM Designs Farm Tracker consists of various items explained below. These items allow you to monitor various farming items such as fields, animals, plants, etc. You can monitor the status on the Tracker HUD, on the VM Designs webpage member’s area, or on Status Boards you rez on your land. You can also give your admins HUD access if desired.
NOTE: Currently, Hover Text must be turned to “ON” to pick up the status of the farm items.
To setup, unpack the box like normal and you’ll get a folder in your inventory. Then follow these setup steps.
Step 1 - If you are not already a registered member of the VM Designs website, go to the main store and register.
Step 2 - Rez out your Status Boards OR Servers. Follow one of these options depending on your situation.
NOTE: In the steps below, we will use the Scanner Drone or Drone as an example. However, the Drone and Scanner options (buttons) and the use of the Drone and Scanner are exactly the same with only these differences:
Step 3: Setting up the zone(s)
:
Step 4 - Rez out the appropriate chat relays (animal or field or both) and normally 1 relay will cover your farm. However, if you plan to break up your farm into several zones, each with its own status board, then you’ll need more relays and drones/scanners.
Step 5: Connect everything using UUIDs IF you are going to have multiples of the same servers on the same sim. If you will only have one of each server on the sim, skip to Step 6.
NOTE: This step (TARGET) is only needed if you are separating your farm into zones. If you are just using one of each server type, you can skip this part and go to Step 6 below. You only do Step 5 if you will have multiples of the same server (Field, Animal, Misc) on the same Sim.
Step 6 - Turning everything on:
NOTE: The drone / scanner normally scan their area and then land for about 30 seconds or so and then they will take off and scan again.
NOTE: We recommend you keep the crystal posts rezed for a time to ensure your drone is picking up everything. If necessary, you can adjust the position of the posts and then click the drone or scanner and Set Area again. Once you are sure everything is working the way you want, you can left-click the crystal posts and they will self-destruct.
Step 7 - Status Board Info:
You have rezed, linked, and turned on the status boards in the steps above. The Status Boards only display a limited number of items in each category per the chart below. And your Tracker HUD has limited pages to display items. If you have more than what is able to display, the items not seen will appear as you take care of the ones that are displayed and those drop off.
Step 8 - The Tracker HUD (optional)
Wear the Tracker Hud. NOTE: If you wish to reposition the tracker HUD, please look below in the section on repositioning the HUD and saving the position! The buttons down the left of the HUD are covered below-see the section on HUD External Buttons.
Using the HUD
NOTE: If the hud shows servers which have been deleted, simply go to any existing server and click Register and then Connect which will force an update on the hud’s list.
Clicking a name (field, animal, or plant) on the HUD or Tracker Board will teleport you to that item instantly if you turn on the VM Design Experience on your land (see Parcel Details for your land and then check the Experiences tab). Note, the first time you use the experience, you’ll need to click Yes on the experience popup to allow it.
Registered users can also see the status of their fields, animals, and plants on the VM Design’s website. Simply follow these steps:
Step 1 - Go to the VM Design’s website, http://vmdesignssl.com/
Step 2 - Click the Member Area button and login.
Step 3 - Once logged in, hover the mouse over your name and you’ll see a drop down menu. Select Tracker HUD. If you have access to several farms (see note below), use the drop down menu above the status list to select the farm you wish to view.
NOTE: If someone has given you access to their Tracker Hud you’ll be able to see your farm and their farm by making the appropriate selection (Step 3 above). Also, if you give others access to your Tracker Hud system, they will be able to view the status of your farm on the website.
Color Codes
The status board and HUD display items using certain colors to help you quickly identify what the field, animal, or plant needs. Here’s a list of the colors and what they mean:
You can also display the order in which these various conditions are listed in on the status boards or the HUD. See the section below under Field Server Buttons > Thresholds > Display.
That completes the basic setup and operation of the Farm Tracker. See the below information for more in-depth information on each item.
Positioning the HUD:
NOTE: DO NOT click the VM logo to minimize the HUD until AFTER you have made all position adjustments!!
In the below steps you will use the Set Pos button in the HUD. In certain situations you might also have to use the Man Pos button. Read these steps carefully and ensure you are clicking on the correct button depending on your situation!
If you think you’ll need to resize the HUD (using the Resize option in the menu), please resize it before you go through the below positioning steps.
Positioning the HUD on the BOTTOM of your screen:
Positioning the HUD on the TOP of your screen:
NOTE: If you had to do a manual position (Man Pos button) and you later decide to resize the HUD, you will need to go through the manual positioning again to obtain the correct offset.
HUD External Buttons:
These buttons are outside the HUD and appear down the left side (default location) of the HUD. They are always accessible whenever the HUD is maximized.
Numbers down the side = There are 4 slot numbers down the side of the HUD as well as a disc icon. These numbers allow you to save up to 4 servers. Do so fy following these steps:
VM Logo = On the top left of the HUD (default position) you’ll see a V on top of an M, which is the VM logo. Clicking this logo minimizes or maximises the HUD.
Circle Arrows = Under the VM logo you’ll see two arrows forming a circle. This is the Swap button. Clicking it changes the display between the current server and the last one you were looking at (swapping between the two).
Greater Than ( > ) Arrow = If the number of items exceeds one page in the tracker HUD you can click this Greater Than arrow to advance you to Page 2, then 3, etc. If you are on the last page, clicking this button takes you back to the first page.
Return Arrow (looks like a U on its side with an arrow pointing left) = This is the Return button and will return you to Page 1.
Less Than ( < ) Arrow = This moves you back one page. If you are already on Page 1, it will take you to the very last page.
NOTE: Whenever you TP to a different sim the HUD has to reestablish communications and will reset you back to Page 1 of the selected server.
Double Arrow ( ⬌ ) = This button selects which side of the HUD these external buttons are placed. The default is on the left side of the HUD. Clicking this button will move them to the right side and clicking it again returns them to the left. This is handy if you wish to position the HUD against the left or right sides of your screen. NOTE: If you relocate the buttons to the right and then later resize your HUD, they will return to the default left position and you’ll need to click this button to move them back to the right.
X button = This button will silence the alarm and put the HUD in alarm state 2 (see the alarm function below).
HUD Menu Buttons (internal):
These buttons are internal to the HUD and are accessed by clicking the word “Tracker” at the top of the HUD.
Sync = Syncs the hud obtaining the latest info from the servers. NOTE: You only need to sync the hud if for some reason it isn’t connected with your servers. Normally, this is done automatically when you wear the hud, teleport or log in with the hud on.
Owner = Allows you to select the owner of items you’re allowed to view. If you have not been given access to view the status of other people’s stuff, just ignore this button.
Server = Allows you to link your HUD to a server.
Collapse = Used if you wish to position the HUD at the top of your screen (see Positioning the HUD above).
Alarm = Opens the Alarm sub-menu allowing you to toggle the alarm sound On or Off and toggle the alarm visual effects On or Off. Toggling both items off turns off the alarm.
Set Pos / Man Pos = Used in positioning the HUD and these buttons are covered above.
Resize = Opens a menu with various resize options.
Reset = Resets the HUD removing links to all servers
Clear Slots = Clears all four saved server slots.
Done = Closes the menu. It’s always better to use the Done button instead of clicking Ignore.
Alarm Feature:
The HUD incorporates an alarm feature that will alert you if anything you’re monitoring goes Red, indicating an emergency situation. The HUD will alternate colors (flashing) and you’ll get an audible alarm.
NOTE: The HUD only monitors the selected server!! Therefore, we highly recommend you keep your Animal and Plant server selected and not your fields. Animals can die and fields can’t. Bring up your Field server when you need to, but if your just out and about in Second Life we recommend always going back to your Animal and Plant server.
The alarm has three states.
Once the alarm no longer sees items with a Red condition, it returns to State 0. So if you, or even one of your helpers take care of the emergency situation, the alarm will stop next time the HUD updates (normally within a minute or so).
The menu is activated by clicking on the drone or scanner.
NOTE: The chat relay that the drone/scanner is connected to must be “Off” to access the menu.
Single Pass = Causes the drone to make a single pass over the assigned area and then stop. This is because most DFS items do not need constant monitoring (once the UUID is reported to the Chat Relay by the drone, all is good). If you need the drone or scanner to check the area again simply toggle the chat relay off and on and the drone or scanner will do another single pass. If you want the drone to continually monitor the area (recommended for TFF for example that constantly rezes new items) click this button again to turn Single Pass off.
Target = Brings up a text box allowing you to paste in the UUID of the Chat Relay you want this drone or scanner to talk to.
Color = Allows you to enter the Linden Labs (SL) color vectors for the drone when the drone has an area set. (Note, rezed drones that do not have an area set will be black.)
Rez Posts = Rezes 2 crystal posts that are used to establish the scanning area (set initial setup section for more information).
Set Area = Used after setting up the crystal posts to program the scanning area into the drone.
Mark Plots (TFF Only) = This is a toggle, On / Off and places a marker on all the plops the drone has found. You can individually clear the Plop marker by clicking on it or you can clear them all at once by using the Clear Plop option on the Chat Relay.
Done = Closes the menu.
As noted above in Initial Setup, you need to have a Chat Relay for Plants/Animals and a Chat Relay for Fields. Normally you only need one per sim, but you might want more depending on the size of your farm and how you wish to monitor your items. See the initial setup section for more information.
Access the Chat Relay menu by clicking the relay. NOTE: The buttons for the Animal/Plant Chat Relay might be slightly different from the buttons for fields. All the buttons are listed below so if you’re not seeing a listed button on your Chat Relay it simply means that button is probably on the other kind of Chat Relay (or your Chat Relay is not up to date).
UUID = Puts the Chat Relay UUID in local chat so you can copy it and past it to the drone’s target option (see Initial Setup above).
Toggle = Toggles the Chat Relay On / Off, which also activates and deactivates the Drone or Scanner.
Clear Plop (TFF Only) = Clears all Plop Markers (NOTE: You can clear individual Plop Markers by clicking on them).
Done = Closes the menu.
Display = Takes you to the Display menu
Setup = Takes you to the Setup menu
The servers (animal/plant server or the field server) are basically the same so the buttons for both are covered here.
NOTE: The buttons for the Animal/Plant Status Board might be slightly different from the buttons for Fields. All the buttons are listed below so if you’re not seeing a listed button on your Status Board it simply means that button is probably on the other kind of Status Board (or your Status Board is not up to date).
Register = Generates a registration number for this server.
Connect = Connects this server with VMD (done after you Register).
Name = Allows you to name this server.
On = Toggles the server On/Off
Refresh = Rescans the fields and updates the data. You generally don’t need to use this option unless something just seems stuck.
UUID = Posts the UUID in local chat, which is used to link a chat relay to this server
Admin = Opens the Admin (administrator) menu
Thresholds = See section on How Thresholds Work below. This option opens the Thresholds menu allowing you to set threshold limits for various items: water, tending, emergency situations, Care, Feeder (TFF), etc.
CAUTION: You can manually set thresholds; however, we are not responsible if you set them up incorrectly and your animals die. We highly recommend you stay with the default values. Carefully review the second below on how Thresholds work.
All, Owner, Other:
Done = Closes the menu. It’s always better to use the Done button instead of clicking Ignore.
Reset = Resets the scripts in the server.
CAUTION: You can manually set thresholds; however, we are not responsible if you set them up incorrectly and your animals die. We highly recommend you stay with the default values.
The water, tending, and a few other thresholds are pretty straight forward. The number you set them to is the % at which they will show up on the status board or in the HUD. If the field’s Tending is below that number, the field will show up as white and will have the % you need to tend up to be listed to the left of the name. TF means to Tend Field to 100%.
For TFF, if an item has only one value, such as Feeders, then all it has is an emergency value. For items with two values such as animals there is a “Care” and “Care Em” (care emergency), etc.
If an item uses water and is below the water level then it can be displayed in a few ways. If tending is also needed (such as a DFS field needing water and tending), the field will just show up as above, but will be colored blue instead. If it only needs water then it will be blue but will have a W to the left.
The Emergency threshold is a little more complicated. The number you enter is the % above the pause level (in DFS fields pause when tending gets down to 25% or when water gets down to 0%). For example, 15% is the default setting. At this level your DFS fields will show as an emergency at 40% for tending. That is the 25% pause level + 15%. Your water would show as an emergency at 15% water, as they pause at 0% water. Emergency level plots are shown as Red. As with the normal thresholds, if it needs tending there will be either TF or a number to the left, and if only water is needed then it will have a W.
NOTE: Keep your “tending” threshold above the emergency setting. So if you enter 15% as an emergency value for tending a field then the 25% pause value + the 15% you just entered equals 40%, so your normal (non-emergency) tending value would have to be above 40%.
Once a field pauses it shows on the board as Purple, with the same numbers or letters as above being used.
If a field is ready to harvest it will be on the board as Green. If a field has enough tending and water to make it until harvest it will just not show on the board as it won't need any attention.
The fields are displayed in the following order: Emergency, Paused, Tending/Water Needed and then Harvest ready. This can be changed and is explained below when talking about the buttons.
Thank you for using a VM Designs product. We appreciate your business and your loyalty to our brand. We also value our customers, so if you have any problems or questions, your best source of help is:
Thank you again,
Vikk
Founder & Owner, V M Designs
Scripting - Vikktor Fairport (Vikktor.McDunnough)
Graphics & textures - Vikktor Fairport (Vikktor.McDunnough)
Documentation - Bobbie (WindRunner Shan)
And a special thank you to the beta testers, document reviewers, and other contributors to this project.