{SV} Start Line Quick Help

We just went nuts with all those buttons on the start line didn’t we? Trust me though it’s not as complicated as it looks.

Really 🙂

If you look closely you’ll notice that five of the buttons have a check box next to them. These are Option buttons, and we’ll talk about them in a moment. First though let’s cover the other four:

	Clicking Get Trainer will tell the start line to give you a handy little gizmo called the {SV} Pony Trainer. Wear it and just before you start your run press the Page Down key on your keyboard. That switches the trainer on and off – there will be a message confirming whether it’s on or off. When the trainer is turned on you will leave a blue particle trail behind you as move. This is very helpful for determining where you may have jumped too soon or too late. Something to keep in mind, due to SL limitations the particle trail only lasts 30 seconds, then if begins to vanish.
	Easy. Click this button to reset the course. If there’s a run in progress it’s cancelled and the scores discarded.
	If you’re not an administrator for this board then this one is easy too – click it and you’ll get told you don’t have access 🙂 If you ARE an administrator for this board you’ll get the Settings menu which is complicated enough that it gets its own page {link}.
	Opens this page.

With those out of the way let’s talk about the Option buttons. These allow a pony to temporarily set several options for the course. The Start Line checks every few minutes to see if anyone is around and if not it resets the Options back to their default setting.

If an Option is enabled there will be a green check mark next to it. A red X indicates that an Option is disabled.

	The {SV} Steeple course has an option to permit especially sadistic and evil trainers (hi Mistress!) to help their ponies jump while blindfolded. When the Blind option is on it will cause the next steeple which has to be jumped to emit a distinctive sound. Odd numbered steeples “ding” while even numbered steeples “click”/ The pony can use the sounds to find their way to the next steeple. Once that hurdle is cleared it goes quiet and the next one starts making noise. Note – the Blind option can be disabled by the start line administrators. Since sounds can be annoying to neighbors we added the ability to completely disable them in the Settings menu which is only accessible by course Administrators. If the Blind option has been disabled clicking the button will result in a message letting you know that the option isn’t available.
	The {SV} Steeple course has numerous sounds built into it such as the bells at the start and end of a run, and the “golf clap” made by the audience when a pony successfully clears a hurdle. The Sounds option button allows the start line and hurdle sounds to be temporarily disabled. Like the Blink hurdle option, sounds can be completely disabled by the course administrator, and clicking the Sounds button will result in a message informing you that sounds aren’t available.
	Have you ever visited a new farm and found a really cool steeple course and gotten half way through it and had no idea where the next hurdle is? Me too! Turning on Beacons will cause each successive hurdle to emit a beacon in the form of a pair of bright yellow particles rising straight up from the hurdle. Once you clear a hurdle its beacon turns off and the next hurdle’s appears.
	Another training tool. Clicking Guides will cause jump guides to rez around each hurdle in the course. These guides are phantom rings which show the height and distance of a normal jump. They’re helpful in learning when to jump and also can be useful setting up the course as well.
	Switching the IM Faults button on will cause the start line to send the pony a short IM as they navigate each hurdle. This can be especially helpful when the sounds are off.