Getting Started In Sansar

Linden Lab’s Sansar is now in public beta, so if you have a PC that meets the system requirements you can create an account and explore right now.

In terms of getting started the process is relatively straight forward, you will need to register with your real details, the account creation page states :

During the course of your account or transaction history you may be required to submit to an information request to verify your identity. Please use accurate, current, and verifiable information.

So you will be faced with a screen like this :

These details are for your account, but once the account is created and you create your profile you will be able to choose an avatar name and avatar ID the first time you login and your avatar name will be the one that appears inworld.

Once your account has been created you will be all set to download the Sansar client. When you first login to the client, that is when you will be asked to create your avatar name and avatar ID. The link here is very important because it explains some important information about your avatar name and avatar ID, most notably than an avatar name is not unique  :

Avatar Names are not unique and it is possible for multiple users to share the same Avatar Name. For example, there can be multiple users named “John Smith” in Sansar. However, while multiple users can have the same Avatar Name, they cannot have the same Avatar ID.

On the other hand, an Avatar ID is unique :

Your Avatar ID is a permanent ID that serves as a unique identifier for each user. This unique ID is linked solely with your account; no two users can have the same Avatar ID. For example, once a user uses “@johnsmith” as a Avatar ID, no one else can use “@johnsmith” as an ID and will have to choose a different one (For example, @johnsmith123).

At the moment, you cannot change your Avatar Name, but that may change, however an Avatar ID is permanent, therefore this is a very important step in the creation of your account and I really urge people to read the Avatar Name and Avatar ID page before creating their account.

Once you have created your avatar name you are then presented with the avatar creation screen, which has an number of default avatars, although it should be pointed out at this stage that none of them involve Dwarves or Elves!

Once you select your avatar you get to save your look and customise your appearance via a number of sliders or clickable options, starting with body appearance and skin tone.

There are a number of skin tones available to choose from, so click one you’re happy with and move on to the next stage.

The next stage being hairstyles, there are again a number of available choices and colours but bear in mind that this product is in beta so you don’t have an endless choice.

Then you get to customise your face and this involves quite a lot of funky choices in terms of shaping your eyes,  cheekbone, nose, lips and jaw line. The sliders can be moved to change the appearance of your features and this is quite a detailed choice in terms of the range available for this customisation.

Then we move on to clothing, where there are a number of choices regarding clothing for your avatar but again bear in mind that this is a beta product so in terms of default options, there isn’t a vast array of choice.

Then you will move on to accessories,  you have a choice of default accessories including glasses, necklaces, bracelets and rings. There is also an option for ear accessories but at this moment in time there are no items under that category.

Once you are happy with your avatar you will move on to the atlas, this is where you will see available locations to visit and there are an impressive number of available locations.

When you find a location that takes your fancy just click on the location and you will be presented with a screen like the one below whilst it loads.

Then you will find yourself inworld and if you’re at a busy location you may well see a pyramid of users landing as they get themselves acquainted with their surroundings.

In terms of a menu, there isn’t a lot of clutter, the sidebar menu contains some icons, which I will briefly cover.

The top option is “My Looks” which is also known as the avatar app and takes you back to the avatar customisation screen.

The next option is “Atlas“, which I looked at earlier in the post, this is how you navigate from place to place.

The next option is “My Experiences“, which is where you create your experiences for Sansar.

I haven’t touched this yet, so I am not in a position to talk about creating experiences but there’s information in the link I provided above.

The next option is “Chat“, also known as the Chat and People App, which is, unsurprisingly, for text chat.

As you can hopefully see in the screenshot below, it’s our avatar names that appear here.

The next option is unavailable for me, it’s “VR”. I don’t have a VR headset so I can’t explore this option at the moment. I don’t know if the VR app is supposed to be available yet, it’s not listed under the app section of the Sansar website, again, the platform is in beta.

Then there are the three dots which reveal “More Options”, this is where you go for help and reporting, taking screenshots, leaving an experience and exiting Sansar.

Leaving an experience will take you back to the Atlas screen, from where you can select another place to visit whereas if you exit Sansar, you exit the whole shebang, which is expected behavior.

Controlling your avatar is relatively straight forward if you’re using a keyboard, you can use the arrow keys or WASD.

There are a number of keyboard and mouse options for controlling your avatar or teleporting, which you can read about here :

https://help.sansar.com/hc/en-us/articles/224450488-Keyboard-Shortcuts.

I found it reasonably intuitive. There are other options available if your have a VR headset or Game Controller.

I haven’t experienced enough of Sansar to write about any early impressions, but the account creation process and early exploration have been quite straight forward with no real major glitches.