There’s a lot of talk about Mesh, whether it will be good, whether it will be bad, however another side of the mesh project that is receiving a lot less attention is the boost for the prim. If you go to a mesh enabled sim, without needing to pass the mesh test or have payment info on file, you can create very large prims!
Why are large prims any use? Well they simply are, this is why we’ve had megaprims in Second Life for years, unsupported it should be added, but they’ve been here and people have used them because they save prim space and soon, they will be offiically supported at a whopping size of 64 x 64.
Let’s get this into some sort of perspective, were I to build a floor of size 64 x 64, using officially supported standard prims that would mean a 7 x 7 grid of prims, meaning in total I’d have used 49 prims before I even started on the rest of my build! Soon I will be able to create that floor with just one prim, giving me plenty of options of what to do with the other 48 I’d have previously used. I’ve tested this out and I was able to create a 64 x 64 prim, so yes it does work!
Whereas this won’t save space, it will mean you have more room for decoration or furniture, even on small builds of 24 x 24, you’ll be able to save prim space. I don’t share the gloom about Mesh, partially because I’m enjoying learning how to use it, even if I haven’t created anything of worth yet and I’m finely reading the licenses of the texture packs I’ve purchased over the years, but another reason I don’t share the gloom is because I feel the prim will still be a popular building tool because of its easy accessibility. This is what makes the prim special, anyone can create one, anyone who joins Second Life can start building with prims and they will still be effective after the arrival of Mesh.
Sculpties didn’t kill the prim and Mesh won’t kill the prim, especially as Mesh will have a rockier introduction than Sculpties due to required viewer versions. I do believe Mesh will add something, but the Prim will still be around doing its magic. Long Live The Prim! Hurrah!