Day: February 3, 2014

Dolphin viewer: WIP, but getting there

Posted on by Inara Pey

dolphin-logoLance Corrimal has given a couple of short updates on the status of his efforts to get his Dolphin viewer back up to speed.

In a brief update on January 25th, he reported that the work had seen Dolphin gain:

  • Latest Viewer-Release+RLV
  • The Sailor’s Mini Map V2
  • Avatar name in the title bar
  • Several bugfixes

However, as he goes on to note, there’s still a fair amount still to be done, including: improved build tools and area search, the machinima floater and the Flickr upload capability, the inventory Worn tab and the advanced inventory search / filter, as well as things like viewer rebranding and preference pages for the Dolphin-specific features. Nevertheless, progress is being made.

In a further update on January 29th, he provides an update on Dolphin and openSUSE:

openSUSE 12.2 is officially End-Of-Life as of January 27, 2014. That means, I won’t be providing rpm packages of the Dolphin Viewer 3 for openSUSE 12.2 anymore. The last one available for openSUSE 12.2 will be 3.4.14.

That being said, if you are running openSUSE 12.3, and have been using the Dolphin Viewer 3 through packages from the RPM repository, try a “zypper install dolphinviewer3-beta” if you feel like it :)

Once I have an actual release, the beta version will uninstall itself, just like magic.

There’s still no actual release date on the horizon for an updated Dolphin; things are dependent upon RL and Lance’s work schedule – so please don’t ping him asking, “When?”! Suffice it to say that further updates will appear on the Dolphin blog as they become available.

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With apologies to Lance for the delay in publishing this.

Viewer release summaries 2014: week 5

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending: February 2nd, 2014

This summary is published every Monday and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Viewer Round-up Page, a list of  all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware) and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy
  • By its nature, this summary will always be in arrears
  • The Viewer Round-up Page is updated as soon as I’m aware of any releases / changes to viewers & clients, and should be referred to for more up-to-date information
  • The Viewer Round-up Page also includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version: no change (version 3.6.13.284995, formerly the PackageFix RC)
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Fitted Mesh RC updated on January 27th to version 3.7.0.285669 – core updates: latest updates to the Fitted Mesh project (download and release notes)
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • No updates

V1-style

  • Cool VL:
    • Available for: Windows, Linux
    • Stable version: 1.26.10.9 – February 1st
    • Experimental version: 1.26.11.9 – February 1st
    • Legacy version: 1.26.8.46 – February 1st
    • Release notes (all) – core updates: backports from Singularity incl. fix for crash on mesh uploads, an NVIDIA-specific optimisation to vertex buffers handling, fix for issues with animations using the Avatar Center joint, additional “minor” fixes and optimisations; OpenSim updates, incl: InWorldz crash fix when using Edit > contents > New Script, Kitely login URI updated, fix for rezzed objects edited scripts not being saved; backport of LL’s Quicktime media plugin improvement; assorted fixes and optimisations
  • Singularity updated on Tuesday January 28th to version 1.8.5.5617 – core updates: Fitted Mesh support; HTTP updates; new “mouse move” capability; significant updates and improvements to graphics and rendering; underwater shadows; Mouselook and camera placement improvements; numerous fixes and enhancements (release notes)

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates

Additional TPV Resources

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Oriental mystery and beauty

Posted on by Inara Pey

Yamatai, Okami; by Inara Pey, Febtuary 2014, on FlickrYamatai, Okami (Flickr)

Unusually for me, I missed celebrating Chinese New Year this year.  I didn’t even make it to the Creations for Parkinson’s Dance in-world, so no chance to say goodbye to the snake and greet the horse 😦 .

To make up for things, I decided to hop over to Yamatai on the region of Okami. My friend Miro Collas poked me in that direction a while ago, but I held-off blogging at the time as I’d been a little oriental-focused, and the region was still under construction. The latter still appears to be the case, but such is my mood and the beauty of the build, I decided to blog on it anyway.

Yamatai, Okami; by Inara Pey, Febtuary 2014, on FlickrYamatai, Okami (Flickr)

The region is rated Adult, but don’t worry about any overt signs of naughtiness – at least not yet. Truth be told, I’ve no idea what the eventual intention for the region is; but whether it is period, role-play, combat, naughty fun or a combination thereof, it really is eye-catching in design.

I’m not sure if Yamatai is an intentional reference to Yamatai-koku, the Sino-Japanese name for an ancient country in Wa (Japan). First mentioned in the Wei Zhi, circa 297 AD, it has since been the subject of much debate as to its actual location down the generations.

Yamatai, Okami; by Inara Pey, Febtuary 2014, on FlickrYamatai, Okami (Flickr)

The Hou Han Shu (circa 432 AD) and the Sui Shu (636 AD) both report the mysterious Yamatai as being on a mountainous island or islands – and this certainly fits Yamatai in SL, which features dwellings and a tumbledown temple all built on a rugged landscape complete with wooded areas and tall growths of bamboo, surrounded by tall mountains through which a passage to the sea winds.

The landscape has been carefully sculpted, and the various buildings, both down on the waterfront and higher-up in the hills have been carefully situated to create an environment that is pleasing to the eye (and camera), and enticing in its invitation to be explored. There are a number of airborne houses hovering over the region, so you might want to derender them in order to avoid odd shadows showing-up in your pictures. Keep an eye out for the little touches of detail as well!

Well worth a visit.
Yamatai, Okami; by Inara Pey, Febtuary 2014, on FlickrYamatai, Okami (Flickr)

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