Controversy has recently been growing (yet again) around the so-called Justice League Unlimited within SL. This is a group of self-styled “law-enforcers” that has long been active in-world, supposedly protecting the innocent against dirty wrong-doers, with their avatars garbed in comic book superhero outfits.
Leaving aside their explicit violation of a certain comic book publisher’s IP rights – this group has long had a less than stellar reputation, and is not above overlooking inconveniences to their “duty” such as the Second Life Terms of Service. Evidence is now emerging that the JLU are (again / continuing to be) involved in RedZone-like data-gathering – and going a lot further in the process by attempting to put together dossiers on anyone in-world they consider a “threat”.
Avril Korman has written an excellent piece on the JLU’s activities, and it is a recommended read. For those that feel the same level of concern for the JLU’s activities as they did with RedZone, there is also an on-line petition aimed at Linden Lab to have the JLU’s activities properly scrutinised. You may also wish to consider adding your own e-signature.
There is a lot of exciting news coming out of the Phoenix / Firestorm team this week, as Jessica Lyon revealed during the fortnightly Phoenix Hour Metamix TV broadcast on Tuesday. Here are the highlights.
Phaylen (l) with Jessica
Hybrid with Mesh
The next release will be a true hybrid version for Firestorm, utilising code from the SL Viewer 2.6, 2.7 and 2.8 / 2.8.3 releases. It will include the capability to render mesh objects.
There is no actual release date for the new version – although Jessica hopes it will be in “The next couple of weeks.” The version is being referred to as 2.6 internally, as this was the code it was initially based on. However, given it has now developed into a hybrid encompassing several V2 releases, it is possible the version number will change to reflect the fact Firestorm is not tied to a specific Snowstorm build.
There are a couple of “blockers” to the release, one of which is getting the spell check tool into this release. This has hit a few problems, but the number of requests that have been received for its inclusion mean that it Jessica would prefer not to release the next version until the spell check is working.
Jessica Lyon discusses Firestorm
Beyond this, there are a number of other 2.6-related targets to be met, which (I gather) include regression fixes. However, rather than delaying the release unduly, the team may opt to release 2.6 with the major additions (mesh, the spell check, etc.) as a Release Candidate, then add the remaining 2.6 targets before moving it to a Full Release status.
Viewer Modes in Firestorm
Viewer 2 introduced the concept of Viewer “modes”: Basic or Advanced. The next release of Firestorm will introduce a similar concept of “modes”, but executed very differently, in that three interface modes will be supported:
Phoenix mode: the Viewer presents a Phoenix-like UI
Viewer 2 mode: the Viewer presents a Viewer 2/3 UI
Firestorm mode: the Viewer presents its own hybrid UI
Friends List Overhaul – Contact Sets
This is something that is bound to excite a lot of people – and it is also something LL have been thinking about, going on comments at SLCC 2011.
Firestorm will include the ability to group / categorise your friends and contacts.
Called Contact Sets, the new feature allows a user’s Friends list to be organised according to individual needs (e.g. all business contacts can be put into a set, close friends into another set; individuals can appear across multiple sets, etc.).
Additionally, users will be able to set Viewer tag colours for their Contact Sets, making it easier to identify people from a Contact Set when seen in their own in-world view or when looking at mini-map icons.
The feature also includes the ability to include people not on a user’s Friends list, however:
It will not give a user any additional privileges over someone they include in this way, so users will not be able to see the online status, etc., to “non-Friends list” people in a Contact Set
Any group Teleports, conference calls, etc., will not be seen by “non-Friends list” people in a Contact Set
Other Features
The next release will include a number of additional features, including:
The Phoenix Log-in Manager will be included, allowing users to quickly and easily log-in to Second Life using any of their avatar accounts, as is currently the case with Phoenix. Once an avatar has been logged-in through the Viewer, the information is retained by Firestorm and is available from a drop-down list in the log-in screen
The Grid Manager has been improved, thanks to code donated by the Kokua project, together with some OpenSim support code, allowing Firestorm to operate more smoothly with OpenSim grids
Selection beam customisation has been added to Firestorm, allowing you to customise your selection particle beam
Auto-correct has been ported from Phoenix into Firestorm. Auto-correct is a macro-like option which can also be used as an auto-complete tool: if you have terms you frequently use, such as referencing a web page (your blog?), you can use auto-correct to set up a suitable abbreviation & when you type the abbreviation, the full text is automatically inserted into the chat / IM bar
Viewer tags gain greater customisation in terms of how you see them; custom colours can be used, rather than being restricted to a pre-defined set
Volume control pop-up (Impudence example) to be in Firestorm
The volume control pop-up common to V1.x Viewers next Firestorm release, providing users with access to all volume control sliders. This will be accessible by clicking the volume control option at the TOP RIGHT of the Viewer window, rather than the bottom right, as with V1/x TPVs
Font options are to be introduced, allow users to change the font used in the Viewer. A warning here is that the Viewer is coded around the default font size, so if you change the font, words may not correctly display
Proxy options will be included in the next release,while scripts opened and edited from inventory will be able to save them in LSL or Mono
Additional skins will be provided with the next firestorm release. In addition, there is also documentation available on how to create a Firestorm skin this includes information on a competition for new skins to be officially added to Firestorm
Display Names will offer users t the abilityo alter Display Names for other people as they are seen in their own in-world view. So if someone has used ASCII to create an incomprehensible Display Name, you can change it to some readable for yourself, with the following important notes:
The change doesn’t impact the actual user’s Display Name as they or others see it
This doesn’t in any way affect another user’s user name
The new name will appear in asterisks, and is not persistent if the person concerned later changes their Display Name to something else.
Major Bug Fixes
Log-in bug: Firestorm can crash as a result of too many chiclet notifications being received while offline. The default for the number of chiclets the Viewer can handle was raised in the current release, and this is thought to have been the problem. The permitted number has been reduced to the LL default in the upcoming release. In the meantime, those experiencing this problem, there is a work-around in the Phoenix wiki
Screen blackout / freeze on teleport: the mini-lock-up that can turn the screen black and / or freeze things following a teleport has been linked to an issue with the LL code, but a fix is to be included with the next Firestorm release.
Other Notes
The Contact Set feature will be included in a Phoenix maintenance release around seven days after the release of Firestorm
There are other V1-based Viewers successfully integrate mesh rendering into their offerings, the code might be included in Phoenix in the future.
The full presentation can be seen on Metamix TV, complete with the Q&A session. Overall, these updates are almost exactly what people have been asking for – not just with Firestorm, but of linden Lab as well when it comes to the improvements to the Friends list. As such, Contact Sets idea in particular is liable to set Firestorm head-and-shoulders above other Viewer 2.x offerings and could potentially see a lot of people switching over to it.
It’s nigh-on two weeks since SLCC 2011, and I’m still on something of a buzz about Second Life.I’ve already given four reasons why I’m excited about the platform once more, in which I focused on in-world aspects. Here are some more, broader, reasons.
Rod Humble
LL CEO Rod Humble
Yes, I know I come off as something of a fangirl; but the fact is that in eight short months, Rod Humble has more of a positive impact on Linden Lab than perhaps either of his predecessors had for the period between late 2007 and January 2010, something I’ve commented upon in the past.
But since March, we’ve seen it reinforced in so many ways that Rod Humble has a clear and constructive vision for Second Life. Yes, there are still issues to be addressed in a number of areas, but in the last few months it’s been pretty evident that Rodvik has been gradually refocusing Linden Lab and laying good foundations for both technical and progressive growth in Second Life and the Lab. The re-worked sign-on process, the split with the Viewer modes that allows for faster development of new user-friendly functionality via the Basic mode, introducing the release, test, polish, test, polish approach to features and capabilities which – while frustrating at time – is starting to yield benefits.
He understands the need for both bringing-in new user and the twin needs to bothengage / retain them and to maintain engagement and enthusiasm for the platform among existing users. As we move into the latter half of the year, he’s indicated the focus will shift more towards the latter (engagement / retention), with more “polish” plus things like and overhaul of Premium Accounts to offer users more “at no extra cost”. We even have the promise of a significant marketing campaign through the end of the year / early 2012. These are all things to welcome.
Lindens are getting engaged in the platform
We’ve all complained about the lack of any real in-world Linden presence for a long, long time. That’s changing.
Members of the Product Team: Gez, Esbee and Durian (with Pete Linden or the right)
I’ve personally spent time in-world in the mesh sandboxes on the Main grid with both Dan Linden and Charlar Linden (even if I did confuse him 🙂 ). More importantly, the Product Team have been involved in in-world building, developing a game-based experience to help them understand the tools and limitations of in-world content creation.
Change in Philosophy
As Mark Viale (Viale Linden) said, there is a change in philosophy at Linden Lab – they’re looking to work more with the user base and “bring forward” communities and events and make sure they have good visibility through the likes of the new Viewer 3 log-in screen (which is being offered to TPVs to increase the visibility – hopefully they’ll take it up). We also have the opening of communications channels once more – e-mail addresses are front and centre, people are responding to IMs once more. We also have new and useful wiki portals being written that information the availability of information.
Within the Destination Guide, there is now the opportunity for communities and users to carry the message of Second Life out to the world through the Create Ad widget, while LL themselves are starting to work with communities to leverage awareness of Second Life – such as through the use of Machinima via YouTube, etc. All of this is very positive in terms of raising the visibility of SL as a vibrant platform.
The is something of a roadmap
Of course, there is still much to be done – and bringing-in users alone is not going to keep Second Life afloat, much less growing; Gwyneth Llewelwyn holds up a cautionary hand in this regard. However, when you look back just twelve months, just about the only thing we heard from LL was the need to bring users in – nothing else. That has now changed. Thought around retention and engagement is being put into the mix – and starting to be translated into positive actions.
…But one still cannot help but feel that there is a roadmap there, even if we’re not privy to all of it. This is actually a good feeling to have – and while many of us likely won’t feel comfortable with things until we see the in-world economy growing once more, and things like concurrency improve – it’s actually nice to be able to feel things are moving in the right direction, not only with technical aspects, but also within LL itself.
Zexpo – the Zindra Adult community’s annual fair – gets underway tomorrow for a 10-day celebration.
Tamely promoted (for understandable reasons) on the LL website, the event is described as:
“A mix of creative and interactive experiences for Residents, as the four regions of ZEXPO are transformed into a land of surprises and innovative creations. Games, contests, rides and daring attractions will all be in the mix, along with art galleries, concerts, live discussions and exotic play areas. ZEXPO is a celebration of Zindra, the sophisticated adult mainland of Second Life. Zindra will host this Forbidden Carnival, offering 10 days of fun. Be there as ZEXPO 2011 celebrates Zindra and everything adult in SL.”
Tame or not, it’s good to see the event getting an up-front mention on the official blog.
The official Zexpo website is very much more to the point: “The ultimate virtual tradeshow and immersive convention experience in Second Life, showcasing the best of the adult mainland and much more!”
The event will run from the 26th August through to the 4th September across four themed sims (SLurl), and features an impressive list of exhibitors. The sims themselves are heavily loaded with builds, scripted items (a lot of flashing lights and suchlike), etc., so lag might be an issue when it gets busy; you might want to divest yourself of heavily scripted attachments before making a visit – and consider turning down any high draw distance you may have.
Lord Nelson looks down on Zexpo
You can wander the sims at leisure, or opt for one of several modes of transport, including scripted pods and … elephants.
Events for the expo include talks, presentation, tribute concerts (including a Lady Gaga tribute), performance artists, a 24-hour film theatre for many types of machinima, etc.
Zexpo street-level watched over by the Statue of Liberty
for those wishing to experience the most from the event, there is even the ability to stay at an in-world hotel!
Zexpo is open to those over 18, and requires Age Verification via the SL website (ACCOUNT -> AGE VERIFICATION).
So, yesterday mesh arrived (except for folk on the BlueSteel RC channel, who still appear to be waiting for mesh to be rolled-out), and – as I predicted in my report on the roll-out, Viewer “3” jumped very quickly from Beta to the main Viewer download channel.
For those hoping Viewer “3” was bringing with it some radical departure from Viewer 2 (and I did actually hear and read speculation from some who had not actually taken a look at the new version while it was in Beta), sorry folks, that was never the aim.
Elevating the Viewer from 2.x to 3.x was never about bringing out a whole new Viewer (or even radically improving what was there already), but simply about marking the arrival of mesh. In fact, other than a muted blog post in the In-World section of the official blog (actually promoted to Featured News as I wrote this article) and a couple of Tweets, it’s actually been the only sign from Linden Lab that mesh has rolled out. While I appreciate (very sincerely) that LL included a link to this very blog in their announcement, I’m nevertheless somewhat baffled at the low-key approach.
So what does “Viewer 3” bring us.
Well, pretty much what Viewer 2.8 had, with some bug fixes and, of course, the inclusion of various mesh features.
Performance-wise, I’ve personally found it to be reasonably comparable to the likes of Firestorm on my main PC. The frame rate for a reasonably busy sim (i.e. more than a handful of avatars) comes in at around 32-37fps. On a sim where I’m just one my own or with one or two others, this bangs up to 45-48fps. It doesn’t rock the way Viewer 2.7 did for me, but these figures give a pretty smooth performance.
With shadows enabled, things aren’t so good. I crash to around 5-8fps with just one or two on the same sim. Any more than that and the frame rate bottoms-out at around 2-3. This is pretty chronic compared to Firestorm with shadows enabled, and a lot worse even than some earlier iterations of Viewer 2.
The usual annoyances remain: lack of location co-ordinates in the navigation bar, overly clunky movement / camera control pop-ups, frustratingly confusing toasties, etc. (although in fairness, all Viewers based on the V2 code have this), absolutely crappy IM / chat windows (please, please, LL, take a leaf out of the Firestorm book), yadda, yadda.
As previously mentioned, the update includes an option to allow region / sim owners to allow / disable mesh on a sim. IMPORTANT UPDATE: please see the end of this article of the latest status of this option.
Region option to allow / disable mesh
The can be found bby clicking on the WORLD menu option, then navigating to PLACE PROFILE -> ESTATE / REGION, as shown above, and then clicking on the REGION tab. The option should be available for estate managers. However, at present the option still has a bug that means it will fault back to ALLOW on clicking APPLY. Ciaran Laval has raised a JIRA on this: VWR-26727, which has been moved to SH-2341 – please make sure you WATCH it.
When it comes to uploading mesh objects, the option can be found in the BUILD menu, alongside the other upload options.
Mesh upload options
A couple of things to bear in mind here:
You’ll have to have completed the Mesh Upload Status tutorial and have Payment Information On File to upload mesh objects
It would appear that if the land is set to a Group with object entry / rezzing is restricted to that group, you may find the mesh upload option is not displayed unless you are a member of that Group (this was certainly my experience, testing on both my own land and a sim belonging to a friend whose Group I’m not a member of).
I ran a couple of upload tests without incident (although the meshes were not that complicated, and I didn’t play with the defaults that much, as they’d already been optimised for SL). I gather others have found problems.
Other than this, there is little more to say about Viewer “3”. Others have experienced crash and frame rate issues, but in using it for some 3 hours, with plenty of teleports, etc., I didn’t encounter any technical issues. usability issues, yes; but not technical. Again, the official Viewer, in whatever version number it sits under, has a long, long way to go before it reaches the level of convenient use offered by the likes of Firestorm – at least where the non-mesh aspects are concerned.
Update 25th August, 2011
In a comment on the revised JIRA, Charlar Linden states:
Charlar Linden updated SH-2341:Status: Expected Behavior (was: Open) Resolution: Not Applicable – thanks – this flag would have no effect, and is being removed soon.
So it would appear the option to disable mesh is not intended to be a part of the Viewer.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 