December 5th sees a further update to Lumiya, with the release of version 2.3.3.
Over the course of the last year Lumiya has developed from a basic text client into a app which rivals the viewer in terms of its capabilities – 3D rendering, avatar rendering, inventory access and management, outfits, touch, pay, OpenSim support. What’s more, all this has been ahieved in less than a year; it’s an incredible testament to Alina Lyvette’s abilities and determination to develop a functional, credible mobile client for virtual worlds like Second Life.
With version 2.3.3, Alina again raises the bar with a host of new features, as well a a number of fixes and updates:
- Texture updates, including textured terrain in 3D view and option high-quality textures
- Flying controls in 3D view
- HUD support
- “Clear cache” option in settings
- Chat messages and user keys can be copied to clipboard
- Option to restart sim for land owners
- Configurable LED blinking for notifications
- NEON-optimized code for texture decompression
Textures
The first big update with Lumiya 2.3.3 is textures and texture handling. First and foremost, Lumiya will now render ground textures in the 3D view, something which immediately increases the attractiveness of outdoor scenes when rendered.
Lumiya also includes a number of configurable texture options available through the 3D View section of Settings (tap the menu button on your device, then tap Settings). These are:
- High Quality Textures: toggles the high quality option on and off – this can put a device’s GPU under considerable stress and lead to extended rezzing times
- Texture Memory Limit: set the maximum limit your device can use for textures from a set of four defaults: 32MB, 64MB, 128MB and 256MB. Note that Android can limit GPU memory use to 128MB, so using the 256MB may cause problems on some devices, including locked the application completely
- Concurrent Texture Downloads: set how many textures can be downloaded concurrently (2, 4, 8, or 16)
- Terrain textures: toggle the terrain texture rendering on / off.
Flying Controls
Lumiya 2.3.3 sees three new buttons appear on the 3D world view, two of which (in the top right corner of the screen) allow you to fly, as with a full viewer. Tap the UP arrow key to start flying / fly up, and the DOWN arrow to descent / land. Fly forwards / backwards using the movement keys in the lower right corner of the screen.
When you start flying, a STOP FLYING button is displayed. One being tapped, it does precisely what it says: stops you flying – complete with the traditional falling animation as well!
Continue reading “Lumiya 2.3.3: bringing texture to your world”
On Monday 3rd December, NASA provided an update on the Mars Science Laboratory’s (MSL) most recent findings in analysing soil samples gathered from the “Rocknest” region of Gale Crater on Mars.
I first reported on Virtual Landmarks, Toysoldier Thor’s revolutionary idea for bringing the likes of SL landmarks into the 21st century, 
Caledonia Skytower continues her reading of All Seated on the Ground, Connie Willis’ 2007 science-fiction novella and winner of the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 