CasperVend 2/Customisation
Requirements
These instructions below will provide all the information an experienced builder needs to create a customised vendor.
Because of the fact that vendor customisation is an advanced topic which depends already having builder skills - you MUST know how to build an item with prims/sculpts/mesh "from scratch" - or how to make alterations to an existing item - we do not provide technical support for this process. We can, however, recommend classes at Builder's Brewery if you wish to learn building skills yourself.
If you are having absolutely no luck, however, alternatively you can pay us to do it - see our Customisation Service page for details.
Known Limitations
No HUD-based Vendors
LSL does not allow the "pay" function on HUD-based objects, so HUD-attached vendors will not work.
Where Do the Scripts Go?
- The vendor script (and thus the mapping helper script) must always be in the root prim.
- The panel that you expect the customer to pay on - to get the product - is the panel that should be part of the root prim. Otherwise, you will get script errors - the "pay" function of LSL only recognizes specified pay amounts (like the price of your product) when the script is in the root prim of a linkset.
Customising Vendor Objects
Custom Vendor Objects
- Create (or edit) your vendor object.
- If your new vendor object has more than one prim, give EACH PRIM its own unique name.
- Drop the Mapping Helper script into the root prim of the vendor object.
- Click the vendor object.
- Follow the instructions on the popup prompts.
It is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to rename each prim in a multi-prim vendor object because the mapping script essentially looks for "the face number ____ on the prim named ____" - if your customised vendor prims are ALL named "object" your mapping will be very VERY confused, and your custom vendor will NOT work properly!
You do not need one prim per face.
Difference between "Headless" and "Touch" Vendors
HEADLESS:
Headless vendors are designed to be used in an object that is not normally a vendor - such as a plant, a table, or a chest of drawers. Thus, there is NO image called with the Headless' mapping card.
TOUCH:
Touch vendors are designed to be used as a simple box. The touch vendors DO use a picture, so space for one is required.
BOTH TYPES:
Both types DO have a popup menu accessible on a click for actions beyond just paying the vendor.
Making A Non-Vendor Object Into A Vendor (Headless Vendor)
- Take the vendor script AND "mapping" notecard out of the headless vendor into your inventory
- Drop the script and notecard from your inventory into your non-vendor product
- Click the object, and select "Admin"
- Log in to the website, if necessary
- You will be taken to the configuration page for that vendor product
- Change your options as desired
- All set!
- You will NOT see any images on any vendor object using the headless script - this is intentional.
Remember: All vendor objects NEED a mapping notecard - they will not function without it. You do NOT need to set up panels with the headless script, but the vendor script does need to know that it can accept payments from all faces.
Known Headless Limitation
It is not recommended that you use the "Headless" vendor script in any object that will be sat on - when an avatar sits on an object, it is treated in LSL scripts as a change in the linkset. So, every time an avatar sits or stands, it will force a soft reset while the vendor object re-reads the notecard and reconnects to the site. This will not utlimately impair functionality (the vendor object will function normally once the reset is complete), but it will likely confuse most customers.
There are two workarounds for this:
- Using the HoloVend to display furniture that is expected to be sat on.
- Use regular vendors, and simply set one vendor next to each object you're selling.
Cube Vendors ("Touch" vendor boxes)
The touch vendor allows the customer to interact with different options by way of a click/touch popup menu instead of buttons on one of the visible faces. This means that the vendor can be in a "standard" box shape, with customers being able to interact with all sides of the vendor instead of only one or two sides of it.
The touch vendor is only designed to vend ONE product - so don't use a profile that has multiple items in it, because only one of them will be displayed. It has no way to scroll between items.
MAPPING Card For Cubes
If you wish to use a vendor as a simple box/cube shape, and want customers to be able to PAY any side of the box, then make this simple change in the mapping card:
Where it says: __ROOT__,1,<0.0,0.0,1.0,1.0>
Change it to: __ROOT__,-1,<0.0,0.0,1.0,1.0>
Known Cube/Touch Issue
If you have used the old instructions for "__ROOT__,-1,<0.0,0.0,1.0,1.0>", the vendor WILL give you a "llSetPrimitiveParams error running rule #2: non-integer rule." message.
The vendor will still function despite this error.
To prevent this error, change -1 to ALL_SIDES, then save the notecard.
Customising Your Textures
Offline / Back Soon Textures
Inside each vendor are two textures: "BACK_SOON" and "VENDOR_OFFLINE"
Simply create two replacement textures, name the appropriate one with the appropriate name, Delete the old ones out of the vendor, and replace with the new. It's that easy!
"No Product" Texture
This will allow YOUR customised "No Products" texture to be used rather than the default CasperTech one.
You may need to reset the vendor (click the vendor, select "reset" from the popup) for it to pick up your custom "no products" texture.
- Place your texture into the contents of the vendor
- Rename the texture to this: 7273cc74-2b6c-530f-293a-3af92422beae
- Reset/resync the vendor so that it re-reads the contents and picks up the new texture.
Texture (Button) Templates
Inside the vendor shipping crate is a box called "CUSTOMISATION GUIDE AND TOOLS". Inside THAT box is a box called "CasperVend2 Templates". Inside that box are templates for the following things:
- Standard / Mesh CasperTech CasperVend vendors
- Gatcha templates
- Lucky Chair templates
- Midnight Madness template
- Redelivery Terminal template
Templates for the Transporter are NOT currently (as of the last major update) in the shipping crate, but ARE available upon request from either Casper Warden or Sphynx Soleil - simply inquire within Second Life.
TextureVend templates are inside the TextureVend vendor itself.
Texture Repeat Issues
If you are having issues getting the textures to repeat properly and in the correct orientation...
- First, fix the textures so that they have the correct repeats and orientation
- THEN, hard reset (Edit > Reset scripts in selection) the script
- Allow debit permissions.
That way the script will completely reset and pick up the new orientation as correct, instead of remembering the old.
If you reset the vendor for this situation and (1) you did NOT get a debit perms popup, and (2) the vendor came up normally, then you used the wrong reset option. Do NOT use "reset" on the popup if you are trying to fix the texture - use edit mode, then find the menu option for "reset scripts in selection".
Alternately, you may pick up and then re-rez the vendor, but remember that doing so will leave an extra vendor on your website vendor list each time (so run the upgradebee on "Check All" when you're done to flush out the non-rezzed vendors.)
About The EasyMod example Object
This is an example vendor set up just so that you can see the maximum possible buttons. Each prim in the vendor is labeled with the appropriate button name the script is looking for.
Included inside the EASYMOD vendor example are all the default button textures, as individual textures.
The "EasyMod" is NOT intended to actually be used AS a vendor - only as an illustrative example of the complete setup.
NOTE: The numbering on the prims of the EasyMod may not necessarily match the order of the mapping helper script panels. This is just an example layout.
Technical Notes
About the Mapping Helper Process
This is an overview of the mapping script process - do NOT use this as a guide to set up a MAPPING card - this is only informational, for those who are curious about it.
- Reset
- This wipes any configuration you've done up to that point
- Textures
- There are 13 possible texture displays on a vendor, and this option walks you through selecting which display is which. If you're having trouble visualising the usual order of these buttons, rez out the "EasyMod" from the Customisation box and look at how the prims are named. (use Edit > Linked Parts if necessary).
- You do not need to be in "edit" mode to do this step - being in edit mode means you have to right-click, THEN "touch" as opposed to just clicking the prim.
- The script will ask you to tell it the faces of the display panels. So that you know ahead of time, it is looking for this information in the following order:
- Left panel six
- Left panel five
- Left panel four
- Left panel three
- Left panel two
- Left panel one
- Main texture panel
- Right panel 1
- Right panel 2
- Right panel 3
- Right panel 4
- Right panel 5
- Right panel 6
- If you want to use all sides of a prim for one or more of those faces, then click "ALL SIDES" on the popup menu, BEFORE clicking the prim. It will give you another popup once it's processed the "ALL SIDES" selection and is ready for you to click the prim.
- You WILL be having popup dialogues for each step. The one for the current step will always be on top - ignore the ones that are left up from earlier. It is NOT required to click "ok" or "ignoree" on the popups menus before proceeding to the next step but you can if you want to. (LSL doesn't allow self-closing of popup menus.)
- Just click "skip" for the display panels you're not using. If you're using a simple one-prim, one-item vendor, then just use "skip" on everything BUT the "Main Texture Panel".
- Buttons
- This maps the clickable button areas from TOP LEFT to BOTTOM RIGHT, in the following order:
- Page Left
- Scroll Left
- Admin Button
- Search Button
- Help Button
- Demo Button
- Gift Button
- Scroll Right
- Page Right
- Rez
- As with the texture panels above, just click "skip" on the options you're not using. (For example, not everyone uses the demo button.)
- Yes, this can be used to customize buttons for a v2.x HoloVendor!
- Finish
- This does two things: (1) Sends the configuration to a code pasting site, and (2) gives you the link to the page it went to so you can copy it. Remember this link is valid for just one hour so if you get distracted and it expires, you'll have to do the configuration all over again.
Copy the configuration file from pastebin into a notecard and drop it in your vendor.
- NOTE:
- MAPPING notecards should have 37 lines for a normal vendor, and 38 lines for a holovendor. If you generated one that is longer or shorter than this, tell the mapping helper script to "reset" and go through the process again.
Delete the mapping helper script from the vendor once everything else is complete
Copy the MAPPING list from the pastebin site into a notecard and drop it in the vendor.
All done!
Payment Stopped Message
Payment stopped: The price paid does not match any of the pay buttons set for this object
This is a linkset issue. Basically, the CasperVend script isn't in the root prim, or the vendor has been linked to another prim that contains another script using the script-pay function.
To fix, make sure the CasperVend script is the ONLY vendor script in the object, and that it is in the root prim.
FAQ / Troubleshooting
- Q. If I stretch / resize my vendors, will they still work?
- A1. Yes, it doesn't matter what size the vendor is, as long as all the buttons map correctly.
- A2. You can also change the shape, just remember to go through the instructions in the customization section to remap all the buttons and vendor image panels correctly.
- Q. I rezzed out my 2.x vendor, gave it permissions, but now it's all gray!
- A. This can happen for one of two reasons:
- Incorrect "MAPPING" configuration card
- Vendor is set to a profile with no products
- (If scripts are OFF and the vendor cannot work, you will NOT get a debit window, any message, OR change in vendor textures. If you have muted yourself, you won't get a debit window or any message either but you will see the textures change.)
- A. This can happen for one of two reasons:
- Q. I just noticed setting my vendors to "offline" makes them all a flat grey colour - can I replace that with my own image?
- A. The vendors are going grey because you don't have the "VENDOR_OFFLINE" texture in the vendor. So yes, you can replace it with your own branded texture - they only went grey because there wasn't ANY texture by that name.
- Q. A vendor I'm setting up for a new profile has a quirk, each time I "touch" it, it tells me "(my vendor name): Touched" - and does not display the menu, just gives me that message. How do I fix this?
- A. Look inside the vendor contents for a script named "New Script". The script that ships with the vendor will never be named this, so if there is a script named "New Script" it may safely be deleted. (You may have accidentally clicked "new script" - which creates a script that just tells you the object was touched.)
- Q. Can I set the vendors to "Phantom"?
- A. Yes, and they will still work :)