Blind carting

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Blind carting 1024.png

Blind carting is "la crème de la crème" when it's time to pull a cart. It's the result of a perfect symbiosis between the pony and the driver. The driver is the pony's eyes and the pony has to follow every command given by the driver, without any hesitation and within the shortest possible reaction time. We expect the pony fully focused on the task! The driver does not have an easy task either because he has to take into account the general lag, the reaction time of the pony, and the topology of the road. If neither of the pony or driver is able to build a link this won't be fun for both parties, we recommend this practice only to experienced ponies and trainers


1. Requested gears

To make blind carting possible you need several things:
- A blindfold for the pony(ies)
- A slave HUD for the pony(ies) to receive the driver orders
- A master HUD for the driver to give orders to the pony(ies)
- A vehicle
- One or more pony to pull the vehicle
- One driver to drive the vehicle


1.1 Select the right blindfold

the choice of the blindfold is an important step because there is 2 ways to blind someone in SL:
- A simple dark prim over your view to make everything dark and opaque (typically what Firestoam with RLVa does)
- A black and opaque sphere around your head where your camera is locked (typically what Marine's or Kokua's viewers with RLV does)

rlv sphere

With the sphere view (RLV) you can easily see yourself when blinded

rlva prim

With the prim overlay (RLVa) you see nothing, some blindfolds like RR allows a tiny hole in the middle, where you can click in world too


Select the right blindfold and the right viewer depending on the feeling you want to give to your pony. Neither way is better than the other, some may be excited by the view of their own body encased or by the simple fact of not able to see anything


Warning64.png

Be aware this must remain fun, for the pony and the driver. Be sure the pony can handle it before sending her deep in the black hole! In case the pony is ringing the SAFEWORD alarm, don't ignore it the pony may be in high stress!



PFS recommends the use of RR blindfolds:
- RR Scarf blindfold (160L$)
- RR Deluxe Blindfold (comes with the Deluxe gag). (450L$)
- RR RemVision (500L$)
All are available from PFS shop

Alternate location and update Chorazin's store


1.2 Riding reins HUD

This HUD is mandatory for both ponies and driver, it's the only tool available to transmit the orders to the pony(ies)

1.2.1 Marine's classic HUD

Marine reins.png

You can find it at the PFS shop or Chorazin's store, see the section "Marine's goodies, Riding reins HUD (100L$)"


1.2.2 (U)LD ~ Advanced Pony Signal HUD

APS HUDs MP.jpg

Works like the classic one but easier to setup, you can find it on the MarketPlace for 175L$

2. The Riding Reins HUD

2.1 HUD's buttons

The Riding reins HUD has several functions, in this document we will only explore the RACE mode useful for the blind carting, the HUD's icons have the follow meanings:

Reins hud3.png
Warning64.png

the drifting left and right are not mandatory in a basic approach with beginners but very useful on an advanced level to make tiny correction



Warning64.png

Some buttons have two functions, the upper one shows the meaning when the key is pressed and the lower when the key is released



2.2 HUD's actions

Reins hud details.png

3. How is works

The following lines are only valide for the race mode Race mode.png

Basically the pressed keys (arrows + page up/down) from driver side are copied to the pony(ies) through the communication channel and displayed in both HUD and public chat. In that way the blinded pony only have to reproduce the given orders in local


Hud principe.png


4. Setup the Riding Reins HUDs

The same HUD is used by the driver and pony, except the driver HUD is set to master role and the one from the pony to slave role

New HUD is by default in public mode, Master mode and no listening channel. The HUD can be setup on channel 11 and as advice I would say avoid this channel number for the communication between HUDs

PFS recommends the use of the channel 10


Warning64.png

if you are unsure about the actual setup, a simple right-click + reset scripts put the HUD into the initial setup

4.1 Setup pony HUD

Warning64.png

Some restraints can block all channels including the one you want to use, if you have some problems have a look about it



To setup the pony HUD the pony has to write in the chat windows this commands:
- /11 slave to put the HUD into the slave mode
- /11 hudchannel to switch the HUD to group mode and listen the driver channel


4.2 Setup driver HUD

To setup the driver HUD the driver has to write in the chat windows this command:
- /11 hudchannel to switch the HUD to group mode and send all orders to the pony(ies) through the channel


5. Blind carting ride

5.1 Hitch and prepare the ride

Warning64.png

To make it more fun feel free to use RP when preparing the pony(ies)



You know how everything works, lets do a ride. Grab a pony, a cart and...
- Hitch the pony to the cart
- Order the pony to setup the HUD in the right mode and give her the channel number you have setup on yours
- On your HUD in master mode scan the presence of the pony HUD using the button Scan reins.png, check the chat window for the number of answering HUDs, should be 1 if you have 1 pony
- Blind the pony as dark as you want, Opaque setting is uaully the best to enjoy the full experience
- Sit on the cart at the driver sit, switch to race mode with Race mode.png, the pony knows now she has to be focused on your orders. The movement keys, arrows and page up/down will automatically triggers orders on the pony side. Keep in mind before to stand you switch off the race mode or you will spam the chat!
- Use the keys keyboard to drive the pony through the desired route. You can also use the mouse pointer over the HUD to do the same.
- The pony has to strictly follows your orders in the shortest time reaction, you can control her actions if you use the PFS Carting HUD
- As driver you have to adapt the way you use the directions keys to the reaction time of the pony and the general sim lag. you can check the sim lag with ctrl+shift+1 and the line "Scripts run", below 30% is nearly impossible and below 50% is challenging
- Remind the pony that she has to only follow the orders coming from the HUD and ignore all whip HUD triggering orders in her chat window, ponies tends to follow every commands when blinded!

5.2 Pony moving forward backward

Arrow up.png

is highlighted, it means you have to move forward and press one time on the forward key



Arrow up down.png

are both not highlighted, it means you have to stop, press page-down until the chat says stopped



Arrow down.png

is highlighted, it means you have to move backward, press one time on the backward key



5.3 Pony turning right or left

Warning64.png

The behavior of the turning keys is very particular, because the pony has to press it until ordered to release



Arrow left.png

is highlighted, it means you have to press the left key until it says "stops turning" or until this HUD icon is not highlighted anymore



Arrow right.png

is highlighted, it means you have to press the right key until it says "stops turning" or until this HUD icon is not highlighted anymore


5.4 Pony speed up or down

Warning64.png

Be aware “Snaps twice” isn’t STOP!!!



Speed up.png

is highlighted, it means you have to increase your speed, press one time on the key to speed up



Speed down.png

is highlighted, it means you have to lower your speed, press one time on the key to speed down



5.5 Pony drifting right or left

Only used in advanced blindfold carting, drifting left Drifting left.png or right Drifting right.png is used for the finer small course correction, means the pony makes a light left or right tap so the cart can drive completely straight, where normal left right is quite difficult to get that consistency. The handling of the keys is same than turning left and right, but to be a way more efficient the pony don't wait the order to release because she will only do tiny adjustment by pressing the key very shortly


When both pony and driver feel more confident they may experience a mix of turning and drifting to hold the cart on a perfect route where you will be able to drive the cart at a higher speed without bumping into every wall or person. Don't force it to the pony if you don't feel it, you may end in chaos and frustration, not the goal of this!


5.6 End of the ride

Before you stand up from the cart, it's highly recommended to release the reins with Riding stop.png, otherwise, you may spam the chat and confuse the ponies!

Don't forget to reward the pony(ies) from the hard work...