Ancient Rome coming to Versu – but is Versu coming to Android?

LL logoUpdate, February 19th, 2014: Versu was discontinued by Linden Lab on February 19th, 2014. Links to the Versu website, etc., have therefore been removed from this article.

Of the various new products the Lab have launched, Versu has, to me, always looked to be the most interesting of those in the “apps” category (although I admit I’d also like to fiddle around with Blocksworld).

Launched on the iPad in February 2013 with four accompanying titles, there was the promise that people could expect both more titles and tools they could use to create their own stories for Versu which they could then sell. There was also the assumption that the app would move to the Android platform much as Creatorverse has before it.

The additional titles – well, two of them at least – arrived in August 2013, penned by Deirdra Kiai. However, while former Linden CEO Rod Humble talked-up the “democratisation” of the creative process while discussing Versu, nothing has actually appeared in that vein as yet.

Indeed, the two titles from “Squinky” (as Deirdra Kiai likes to be known!) and the fact that the Versu engine would appear to have great potential as a means of studying real-world social situations (as the UK’s New Scientist magazine reported in June 2013) notwithstanding, the app appears to  have been all but forgotten by the Lab.

Blood and Laurels
Emily Short’s new Versu title – available soon

Such has been the situation that I’d actually given-up checking on progress with Versu, despite Emily Short herself breaking the news late last year that she was working on a new title.

Fortunately for me, the Gov’ner, Ciaran Laval, is still watching things, and he brings word Ms. Short actually revealed some news on the new title back in January.

Details are still scant, but the new title is to be Blood and Laurels and is to feature, according to Ms. Short, “Cults. Conspiracies. Poison. Stabbing. Blackmail. Seduction. Prophecies and rumors. Divine wrath — or possibly just bad weather.”

So death and glory is to be Coming Soon (TM) to the iPad. But what of the app’s expansion to Android or elsewhere? It’s the one question Emily Short seems to get asked every time she blogs about Versu (which, if nothing else, would suggest that interactive fiction fans are more than aware of the app). Sadly, however, she’s not in a position to comment.

Maybe I’ll poke the Lab about it …

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Metabolt set to live on

Metabolt-logoThere have been concerns and rumours circulating about Metabolt, the text-based client for Second Life and OpenSim. The last update occurred in August 2013; the long delay coupled with the recent unavailability of the Metabolt website, fuelled rumours that the client was being discontinued.

However, this is not the case; CasperTech are stepping-in to take over curating the project, as an announcement on the Metabolt website reveals:

Same Viewer. New Opportunities

It was recently announced that the METAbolt project was being discontinued. We are very happy to announce that this has not happened, and instead CasperTech have stepped in to curate and maintain the project.

CasperTech is a leading provider of solutions for content creators within Second Life. We believe that METAbolt will benefit from our strong legacy and foundations.

It is not our intention to commercialise the project, and we will maintain it in the same spirit of open source community collaboration. We do intend, however, to rejuvenate the METAbolt community with active development, support and new innovation. We are very excited by this opportunity, and we hope you are, too!

Please bear with us while we complete the transitional period – we’re working on a new website and will be making our first release of METAbolt soon.

– Casper Warden, CasperTech Ltd.

While the new Metabolt site is being set-up, a link to the download page / source code for the current release of the client is included below the message.

Metabolt: set to continue thanks to CasperTech
Metabolt: set to continue thanks to CasperTech

Metabolt is popular text-based client for users of various types of bot in SL (such as the Pandora Bot), which can be used for a variety of role, such as greeters, automated assistants, etc. As such, the news that the client looks set to continue should be warmly received.

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Viewer release summaries 2014: week 7

Updates for the week ending: February 16th, 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: updated to 3.7.0.286015 on February 10th (Fitted Mesh viewer), then to version 3.7.1.286557 (Facebook hotfix)  on February 14th (release notes)
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • HTTP RC updated on February 13th to version 3.7.1.286567 – core updates: DNS look ups changed; improvements to mesh uploads / downloads (download and release notes)
  • Project viewers:
    • Sunshine / AIS v3 project viewer updated to version 3.7.1.286565 on February 13th – core updates: removal of old viewer-side baking code, stability and performance improvements (download and release notes)

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • Black Dragon updated to version 2.3.9.4 on February 16th – core updates: merge with LL HTTP updates, rendering improvements, UI updates (release notes)
  • CtrlAltStudio Alpha version for Oculus Rift  updated to 1.1.8.34412 Alpha 8 on February 10th – core updates: et display output to 120Hz for stereoscopic 3D; slider to control speed at which turning head in Riftlook turns avatar; variable avatar walk / fly speed for SpaceNavigator (release notes)
  • UKanDo updated to version 3.7.0.27930 on February 14th – core updates: merge with LL 3.7.0 code base; merge with RLV 2.8.5.9; Options added for MUpose and OOC Brackets (also working with RLV disabled) (release notes)

V1-style

  • Cool VL Stable version updated to 1.26.10.11; Experimental version to 1.26.11.11 and Legacy version to 1.26.8.48 all on February 15th – core updates: Fitted Mesh support; backport of LL’s “Show on Map” feature in the inventory context menu for landmarks; backport of merchant outbox fixes; fixes and a speed optimization to render debug features from Singularity; FmodEx updates; code clean-up (all); fix to a materials rendering glitch from Singularity (1.26.10.11 / 1.26.11.11), crash bug fixes to the new object caching code from LL’s viewer-interesting (1.26.11.11) – release notes

Mobile / Other Clients

  • Mobile Grid Client updated to version 1.21.1207 and then to 1.21.1212 (February 16th) – core updates: connectivity issue fix for new (Z10) BlackBerry devices; fix for crash when using a mouse

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Feb 15th Firestorm Q&A video and transcript: next release and news

firestorm-logoOn Saturday February 15th 2014, the Firestorm team hosted a meeting to cover news on the upcoming release of Firestorm, projects they’re working on, and to answer audience questions.

While the meeting was recorded, the Firestorm team are aware that many of their users have hearing difficulties, and / or prefer to read text, so this transcript has been supplied on their behalf.

When reading, please remember:

  • This is not a word-for-word transcript of the entire meeting. While all quotes given are as they are spoken in the video, to assist in readability and maintain the flow of conversation, not all asides, jokes, interruptions, etc., have been included in the text presented here
  • If there are any sizeable gaps in comments from a speaker which resulted from asides, repetition, questions to others etc,, these are indicated by the use of “…”
  • Timestamps are provided as guidance should anyone wish to hear the comments in full from any speaker on the video
  • Questions /comments were made in chat while speakers were talking. This inevitably meant that replies to questions would lag well behind when they were originally asked. To provide context between questions and answers, questions in the transcript are given (in italics) at the point at which each is addressed by a member of the Firestorm team, either in voice or via chat.

Please note: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. I am not an official member of the Firestorm team, and technical or support issues relating to Firestorm cannot easily be addressed through these pages. Such requests for assistance should be made through the in-world Firestorm Support groups or at the Firestorm support region.

The TL;DR Summary

Items here are presented in the order in which they are likely to be of interest to users, rather than chronologically. Timestamps in braces refer to times in the video where the relevant commentary can be heard. All sections are expanded upon in the main transcript – click on the timestamp to go to them.

  • [0:51:07] The next release of Firestorm will be out around March 9th – possibly a little before, possibly after. Some of what should be in it includes:
    • From LL: Fitted Mesh, HTTP (hopefully – see HTTP discussion), SLShare (Facebook support), Request teleport, New region restart warnings
    • RLVa 1.4.9, Animation Explorer, Area Search updates, revised Contacts Sets, Mmany mini-map updates (from Exodus), avatar shape XML import, group list .CSF export, materials support in object exporter, Phototools updates, anti-spam updates, and more
    • Major and minor bug fixes
  • [0:17:57] Firestorm Download Server: Firestorm have been forced to discontinue using Google cloud as their viewer download service due to reasons of costs following to changes to Google’s service. As a result, after looking at options for offering viewer downloads, the team has opted to invest in a dedicated download server of their own. This may lead to issues being experienced when downloading future releases of Firestorm. Details in the section Firestorm Download Server
  • [0:07:54] Cinder Roxley, one of the core Firestorm developers and open-source code contributors to the Lab, has departed Second Life, leaving something of a large hole in the Firestorm team
  • [0:07:54] Leap Motion: work is underway, now to be led by David Rowe (Strachan Ofarrell in SL), who develops CtrlAltStudio, who is partnering with Firestorm to carry the project forward. Work has started on camera manipulation, object manipulation and avatar movement. However, there is still a major amount of work to be done, at least some of which is contingent upon Leap Motion producing an releasing an update for the device itself. It is therefore unlikely any work on Leap Motion will be appearing in the near future, and certainly on in the next Firestorm release
  • [0:27:55] Voice issues: Vivox has offered to assist the Lab in dealing with at least some of the issues with SL voice. A new SDK (SLvoice plugin) is due to be released soon. If it arrives in time, it may be incorporated into the upcoming Firestorm release
  • [1:13:34] Mac issues: and update on matters for Mac users.
  • [0:41:02] HTTP: Tankmaster Finesmith has been merging the Lab’s HTTP updates into his own Firestorm repository. Depending on what happens the Lab’s HTTP viewer updates, Tank’s work may be merged into the upcoming Firestorm release and form a part of it
  • [1:09:40] mini Q&A session.

With thanks, as always, to North for the video.

Continue reading “Feb 15th Firestorm Q&A video and transcript: next release and news”

Mysterious lodgers, alien enounters and chivalrous affairs

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library SL.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday February 16th

13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street: The Adventure of the Red Circle

Tea-time at Baker Street embarks on a new series of adventures as Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen and Kayden Oconnell commence reading from His Last Bow.

A 1917 anthology of previously published Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, His Last Bow originally comprised seven stories published byThe Strand Magazine between 1908 and 1917. However, later editions of the book saw an eighth story included, The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, originally published in 1892.

In The Adventure of the Red Circle, Holmes and Watson come to the assistance of Mrs. Warren, a landlady with a worrying situation involving a lodger.

It seems the lodger, a young, heavily bearded man, paid twice the going rate to rent a room from Mrs. Warren on the condition he had the room on his own terms. After going out the first night, and returning well after everyone else in the house had gone to bed, nothing has been seen of the man. Communications – such as requests for the Daily Gazette to be left outside the room each morning – have been via notes left on a chair outside the door to the room.

From the evidence Mrs. Warren provides, Holmes deduces that the person ensconced within the room is not the bearded gentleman who rented it, and that the key to the mystery lies within the Gazette’s agony column. The game is then well and truly afoot when Mrs. Warren returns with news that her husband had been kidnapped, only to be dumped unharmed at the roadside. Realising that the kidnapping is a case of mistaken identity, Holmes insists he and Watson visit Mrs. Warren’s house to determine the identity of the secret lodger …

Find out more by joining Caledonia, Corwyn and Kayden!

18:00: Magicland Storytime

The Pooh Bear Pajama Party! Come suitably attired and join Caledonia Skytower at Magicland Park, in the Golden Horsehoe.

Monday February 17th, 19:00: From an Alien Point of View

When humans interact with aliens who are actually alien, we run into the fact that we’re as weird to them as they are to us. This can cause the most remarkable misunderstandings…. More thought-provoking sci-fi from the collection of Gyro Muggins.

Tuesday February 18th, 19:00: The Words of William S. Burroughs

Crap Mariner returns to Seanchai Library, bringing with him the wit, wisdom and wry observations of American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer, William S. Burroughs.

Wednesday February 19th, 19:00: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice – Conclusion

In 1915, a 54-year-old Sherlock Holmes find his retirement to the Sussex Downs, where he is studying the habits of the honey bee, to be interrupted by the unexpected arrival of 15-year-old Mary Russell. American by birth, Ms. Russell had come to England to live with her Aunt following the tragic death of her parents in an automobile accident.

Holmes is impressed by the young lady’s wit and intellect, ne before he knows it, he finds himself teaching her his former tradecraft of solving crimes. Thus was formed a new partnership is formed between the very modern young Miss Russell and the very Victorian Great Detective.

Now Caledonia returns with more tales from the pen of Laurie R. King, and her series of stories for young adults which focus on the adventure Ms Russell and Mr. Sherlock Holmes shared.

Thursday February 20th

16:00: First Nation Tales

Caledonia Skytower and Dubhna Rhiadra sit down to bring us more native tales from the first peoples of the North American continent.

Drawing on  number of sources and resources, Cale and Dubna have, over the years, drawn together collections of stories and legends from across a number of First Nation tribes, including the Zuni, Omaha, Paiute, and Hopi as well as legends from Kwaikutlsome in Western Canada. Some of these stories have been published, others of which have come from the long tradition of the spoken word, with archetypal tales handed down through successive generations.

“We have everything from Raven stealing the moon, to how Winter and Summer came to be, and the Creation of Corn,” Cale says of the stories. “The thing I like about them, is the imagery and the “themes” are almost Aesopian. They are all lesson/moral/cautionary tales.”

Join Cale and Dubhna as they delve into this treasure chest of tales and legends.

19:00: Peredur son of Efrawg

Shandon Loring brings us one the three romances associated with the Mabinogion

PeredurDating from the 12th or 13th century, Peredur son of Efrawg is a tale somewhat similar in nature to – but necessarily based upon – Chrétien de Troyes’ unfinished Arthurian romance Perceval, the Story of the Grail, albeit with the Grail replaced by a salver containing a man’s severed head.

Left fatherless from a young age, Peredur is raised in isolation by his mother, deep in the woods. After meeting a group of knights, he determines he will become like them, and so travels to the court of King Arthur. Here, while he earns respect for his valour and pureness of heart, he also discovers prejudice, in the form of Cei’s (Sir Kay’s) attitude towards others.

Determined to restore the honour of a recipient of Cei’s insults,  Peredur sets out on a series of adventures which mirror those of  Chrétien’s Perceval, and which in turn lead to further adventures very different from any in Chrétien’s work, before eventually revealing to Peredur the truth concerning the misfortunes of his family, allowing him to avenge them.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Details still TBA, so please check with the Seanchai Library blog as the week progresses.

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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for January and February is The Xerces Society and their efforts at world-wide conservation and education for some of the smallest creatures on our earth.

Related Links

UKanDo updates with Fitted Mesh

logoUKanDo updated on February 14th to version 3.7.0.27930 (release notes).

The core update to this release is that it brings the viewer to par with the Lab’s 3.7.0 code base, and thus it joins the list of viewers with fitted Mesh support.

In addition to this, the viewer is also brought up to par with Marine Kelley’s RLV 2.8.5.9 and incorporates a fix to ensure MUpose and OOC brackets work correctly when RLV is disabled.

As well as the above fix, both MUpose and OOC also get their own radio button options in Preferences > UKanDo > Miscellaneous.

MUposes and OOC get their own options in UKanDo's Preferences
MUposes and OOC get their own options in UKanDo’s Preferences

A further addition is the debug setting ShowLookAtText, which gives the current status of another avatar’s camera (e.g. focused on another avatar or an in-world object; idle; freelook), when ShowLookAt is enabled in the viewer.

ShowLookAtText defines the status of cameras in SL above avatar's heads
ShowLookAtText defines the status of cameras in SL above avatar’s heads

This is seemingly small update to the viewer – but it is one which keeps it pretty much on a par with the released LL code (barring the Facebook Hotfix), and also keeps the viewer to the promise of close alignment with the official viewer with  just some of the more popular TPV UI additions.

Related Links