Hunters Tips

At many stores there will be other hunts going on, Midnight Mania boards, custom fishing prizes etc. If you are in a hurry you will miss out on a lot of good stuff so my first advice is... slow down, relax, enjoy.

I CAN'T see the prize even thought people say it's there!!!

This is a common issue usually after a person has been hunting a while.
When you are traveling around a lot and seeing a lot of builds and sims and textures, all these things are stored in various cache files on your pc and can really mess up new graphics loading. Below is a work around that will help.

There are 5 caches that can be cleared.
(After clearing these caches it is recommended to shut your p.c. completely off for 20 min before rebooting.)

* Two are Preferences
* Two are in the advanced menu
* One is an object

(If you do not see an advanced menu at the top of your screen press the keys on your keyboard "ctrl, alt, the letter D")

1. Open Preferences and click on the Network tab. There you will see Clear Cache. 
2. Now click on the Web tab and click Browser Cache. 
3. Open advanced menu and click Clear Group Cache.
4. Also in the advanced menu is World. Click on Dump Region Object Cache.
5. The 5th cache is not in your interface. It is a Clear Visual Cache which is an object you need to rez in world and sit on. It will also clear cache. (If you need one just ask).

After you have cleared these 5 caches I recommend running a program called Cleaner which is free. It gives you options to clear all kinds of personal data, passwords, auto complete, and browser caches. It also has a registry cleaner that is very helpful in keeping your p.c. running faster in general. I run it every time I shut down my p.c.. There is ALWAYS garbage there it rids me of.

LAG

Lag can be caused by many things. Some you can control to some degree.

In edit preferences:

1. Check the Network tab and make sure your bandwidth is not above 300. Most computers can not handle more than this and will bog down if asked to try.

2. Check the Graphics tab. For hunting I usually keep my graphics quality on low or mid, never higher. If you click the custom box you will see there is a slider on the top right for draw distance. The higher the draw distance the further away you can see but... the more you have to load the more lag you will experience. I keep this number at 64 during hunts. There are many other settings here you can learn about and will help you reduce lag further.

3. Lag and your avatar. How to find your avatar rendering cost number.
(If you do not see an advanced menu at the top of your screen press the keys on your keyboard "ctrl, alt, the letter D")

Once the advanced menu is visible look for Rendering then Info Displays, then click on Avatar Rendering Cost. Clicking this on will put a number over your head. Anything over 1k is likely lagging not only you but people around you and potentially the grid every time you teleport depending on what is making the number so high.

Recommendations

1.Wear low prim outfits and no scripted items such as hair, weapons, shoes, resize scripted outfits are a biggie.

2. Keep your ARC number green in color and you may notice a huge difference.

3. When you land at a parcel, make sure you stay on the parcel you landed. It is very unlikely a store owner will hide a prize at someone else place.

4. Look for signs. Sometimes there will be more than one place of business on a parcel. Look around for store signs, hunt tracks and make sure you are actually at the right place. Just because you see a hunt sign doesn't mean that is the only place at that landing site.

5. Wait for the area to rez before trying to move around. You can really get turned around and way off track and miss important visual clues or even the prize itself by being hasty.

6. I notice that flying hunters either have the hardest time finding things due to being in a hurry or just being to high up to see things that would lead them to the prize.

7. Have patience and talk politely in help chat. Remember that a prize that is easy for one is impossible for another. Please and Thank You go a long way in gaining extra help along the way.

8. Most of all... please remember that vendors do these hunts as a way to market their store and provide a fun way for you to get freebies and see the grid. It is a "hunt," not a grab and go freebie quest. Do not expect to land, see your prize and then tp out to the next. Please read hints and hunt for 10 to 15 minutes and give it a good honest attempt before you ask in chat for extra help.

If you like a store and the gift they made for you, say thank you. If you can't afford to buy something or throw money in their tip jug, then at least compliment them or hang out and give them extra traffic at their store.

Hunt with an attitude of gratitude and you will have more fun.

Peace to you all and happy hunting!!!