Month: June 2015

SL project updates week 24/1: server; VMM; group list changes

Posted on by Inara Pey

Goatswood; Inara Pey, June 2015, on Flickr Goatswood (Flickr) – blog post – visit soon, closes June 19th, 2015

Server Deployments Week 24

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest updates / news.

  • On Tuesday, June 9th, the Main (SLS) channel received the server maintenance package previously deployed to the three RC channels, comprising:
    • Change logic on accessing group member lists for large groups – please see more below
    • Internal server logging changes
  • On Wednesday, June 10th, the three RC channels should all receive a new server maintenance package comprising further Internal server logging changes.

Group Member List Changes

The “Change logic on accessing group member lists for large groups” refers to how the members list for groups with more than 5,000 members are now handled. A full explanation of the change and the reasons behind it can be found in my blog post on the matter. however, in short:

  • Groups with 5,000 or more members will no longer display the list of members unless:
    • You are assigned the Owner or Officer role within the group
    • You are assigned an ability within the group which requires the members list to be displayed (e.g. you are able to assign members to assigners roles, or are able to eject / ban people from the group, etc.)
  • Instead, and until corresponding changes are made to the viewer, all you will see on opening the members list as a message stating “Retrieving member list (0 / XXXXX)” – where XXXXX is the total number in the group,

The has already caused concern over how the change may be perceived as a functional breakage – see BUG-9393. In addition, two further issues resulting from the change have been reported:

  • BUG-9404: “Group members of large groups in a role which has “Invite people to this group” ability are not able to send group invites” (initially filed against the RC regions when the change was deployed in week #23, and now applicable to the grid as a whole)
  • BUG-9428: “Users using older viewers are unable to leave groups with >5k members on regions running 15.05.28.302161”

Scripting Memory Limits

A request was made for the Lab to consider allowing llSetMemoryLimit to request up to 128kb or 256kb of memory (whichever is more feasible), with a performance penalty for scripts using less than 50% of the memory requested – see BUG-9382.

The arguments for such an increase are not new; many coders run into problems with utilising memory for both code storage and code operation, resulting in having to write inefficient scripts and additional operations to communicate between scripts. A similar request has also been put forward (see BUG-8761), but which limits the additional memory allocation purely to Experiences on the ground that offering increased memory to all could lead to performance and other issues.

Commenting on the request at the simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, June 9th, Simon Linden said:

I don’t think we’d want to limit performance … that seems like it would get into odd rules and conditions. Plus that’s likely to be in a place where we don’t want to add more code. FWIW, when you have lots and lots of scripts in a region, the time spent rotating through all the scripts becomes significant, so your script time isn’t just running scripts.

Oz Linden then added:

One of our frequent themes this year has been to look at various limits and consider making them better … perhaps we can look at the memory limit at some point too. One of the things I hope will happen as Experiences are adopted is that some of the code that’s being used to manage saving state and communicating can be replaced by simpler code to use the key/value store.

This drew agreement from Simon, who then continued:

I suspect larger script size has been limited by not having script memory limits. But at a smaller scale, it’s easy to add more scripts, so perhaps doubling or a bit more won’t really make it any easier to hog memory.

This doesn’t automatically mean that script limits will change in the future; as Simon also pointed out, script memory is the largest part of each avatar load, and can have an impact on things like physical region crossings and teleporting, which would likely have to be be considered. However, script memory is likely to get added to “The List” of things the Lab is looking at.

Viewer-Managed Marketplace

Some confusion has been evidenced over the use of the term “archived” in recent communications from the Commerce Team regarding what will happen during the auto migration process, and particularly with reference to items that have not seen sales in over a year.

  • The first point to remember is that any “archiving” will only occur for those merchants who have more than 5,000 items on the Marketplace when the auto-migration process reaches them. As noted in my last VMM update, all such affected merchants have already been notified
  • From information made available by those merchants so affected, it would appear that “archived” means “items will be returned to the merchant’s Received Items folder”. Firstly, any items the Merchant has stored on the Marketplace without any associated listing will be returned. If this fails to reduce their total count to below 5,000, then those items which have not seen sales for over a year will be unlisted and the items again returned to the merchant’s Received items folder.  From this it would seem that there will not be any actual “archiving” of listing information or items on the part of the Lab.

 

Sneaking a peek at birthday preparations in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL12BCC: What dreams may come....?
SL12BCC: What dreams may come….?

Preparations for the 12th Second Life Birthday Community Celebration are continuing. With just over a week left until the regions close for walk-through and stress testing, exhibitors and stage creators are hard at work building wonders to woo and wow visitors when the gates are thrown wide to the public on Sunday, June 21st.

I’ve been fortunate enough to get the opportunity to slip into the regions and see what is going on; and I have to say that there is a lot of fantastic effort going into things, with people really focusing on the idea of dreams and what may come, and where they might lead.

SL12BCC: the stages take shape...
SL12BCC: the stages take shape…

The main reason for my early access is to put together sneak peek videos of the regions on behalf of the SL12BCC organising team.  This is an interesting exercise for me, as trying to piece together very short video and without giving too much away this early-on is taking me into new territory with my video making!

Nevertheless, it’s proving fun, so, with that said, here’s another video peek at the regions, which can also be found on the official SL12BCC website. Enjoy!

 

High Fidelity update users with a quarterly report

Posted on by Inara Pey

HF-logoHigh Fidelity have issues a progress report for the second quarter of 2015, which has been circulated to users via e-mail and made available as a blog post.

In the report, they highlight recently achievements / work, including:

  • The fact that they’ve been hiring-in new talent (and are still looking for more). It should be noted that the talent is restricted to employees, either. At the end of May, Professor  Jeremy Bailenson of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University  and Professor Ken Perlin both joined High Fidelity’s growing list of high-powered advisors
  • The instructions and video on setting-up the stack manager to run your own High Fidelity server has been updated, with the promise that next up will be an ability to optionally allow you share your server resources with other nearby users who need extra capacity
  • The ability to track and capture head movements and facial expressions with a regular webcam, as an alternative to needing a 3D camera
  • The arrival of the High Fidelity Marketplace, where you can drag and drop content into your server, and also to upload content you want to share with others. This is currently a sharing environment rather than a commerce environment, but the promise is that the commerce aspect will be coming soon
  • Commencing work on implementing distributed physics, building on top of the open source Bullet physics engine, with the aim of having low latency for interactions while maintaining the same state among participants – such as when people in different locations are playing Jenga or billiards together
  • The ability to import web content into High Fidelity – static web pages, videos, interactive web pages, etc., complete with a demonstration video and the promise of figuring out the best ways to allow the different types of shared browsing that people are going to need
  • My personal favourite: zone entities, skyboxes and dynamic lighting with spherical harmonic lighting and optional sync to real-world day/night cycles

Also in the Next Steps aspects of High Fidelity’s development is the intriguing promise of avatars with soft bodies, which are capable of interacting physically, or as Philip Rosedale puts it in the blog post, “imagine sword-fighting, for example”, while being driven by hand controllers such as those coming with the HTC / Valve Vive or for the Oculus Rift. This also links back to the work going on with the physics engine as well, which has, as Mr. Rosedale explains in the blog post, an added level of complexity within High Fidelity due to the distributed nature of the platform, and the need to maintain consistency between players as to what is happening, where things are, who is controlling what, and so on.

For those wishing to keep abreast with the key points of what is going on with High Fidelity, but who do not necessarily have the time to jump into every blog post that comes out, these updates are a useful means of tracking core events within the platform.

Second Life group list changes explained

Posted on by Inara Pey

A note of explanation. I first published on this update on Thursday, June 4th, PDT. However, that post was withdrawn out of respect of a request from Linden Lab that I not blog on the change at that time. Subsequent discussions with the Lab led to an agreement that I could blog in full on the matter once the change had been deployed across the grid. Hence this post.

Until now, it has been possible to open the details for any Second Life group you have joined and display all the information relating to that group, including the list of members.

However, with the new update, groups with 5,000 or more members will no longer display the list of members unless:

  • You are assigned the Owner or Officer role within the group
  • You are assigned an ability within the group which requires the members list to be displayed (e.g. you are able to assign members to assigners roles, or are able to eject / ban people from the group, etc.).

Instead, and until corresponding changes are made to the viewer, all you will see on opening the members list as a message stating “Retrieving member list (0 / XXXXX)” – where XXXXX is the total number of members in a the group, as shown in the images below.

The back-end cange currently on the server RC channels means that group member lists will not load (or may be truncated until the change is fully deployed) for those groups wil more than 5,000 members
The change to the logic on accessing group member lists for large (5,000+ members) groups means that the members list will no longer display for members of the group, unless they are assigned either the owner or officer role, or an ability that requires they can view the list.  Instead, and for the time being, the above message (illustrated using both the LL and Firestorm viewers) is displayed – click for full size

This update has been made for a number of reasons, including:

  • Where very large groups are concerned, the full list of members has rarely completely loaded into the viewer – it has only seemed that the list has loaded
  • Tests have shown that in order for very large groups (e.g. tens of thousands of members) to load can take on the order of 10 or more minutes, during which time no other activities within the viewer can be carried out
  • Opening the members group list for large groups can result in performance impacts elsewhere (notably in group chat, as we’ve seen with changes made to that service recently).

In particular, the update is related to additional changes the Lab intends to make to the viewer-side code for group management, as Oz Linden, the Lab’s Technical Director for Second Life, explains:

It turns out – and this was one of the reasons we made the change on the RC channel – because we weren’t really sure what it would affect. But it turns out there are a bunch of places in the viewer, where the viewer triggers these requests for all the members of a group where it’s not even going to use the data … So some of those requests are kind-of bogus and not helpful, and we’re going to be making a set of changes to take those out, and replace them with something more focused.

Do note, however, that this change is not in any way connected to the recent increase in the number of groups Premium members can join, and it is believe that around 600-700 groups are affected by the change.

The initial deployment of the update on the server RC channels on Wednesday, June 3rd gave rise to some concern, notably:

  • The message currently displayed by the viewer suggests that rather than the member’s list being prevented from loading, it has simply stalled or perhaps timed-out, which could result in elevated support calls
  • The change breaks a lot of ways in which a group’s members list is used – see BUG-9393
  • In particular, the change means that people unable to see the members list can no longer ascertain which owners / officers are on-line and in a position to assist with any group-related issues which might occur.

Acknowledging some of these points during the Server Beta User Group meeting on Thursday, June 4th, Oz said:

 There are some things we need to do in the viewer to make some of these changes clearer… those changes will be made as soon as we can … In the mean time, if large groups want their officers to be reachable, they may want to put something in the description to help with that.

Further to this, and in relation to making information on group owners / officer visible to all members of an affected group, and on improving the currently-displayed message in the viewer, Oz further stated during the TPV Developer meeting on Friday, June 5th:

We will find a way to make that information available in the fullness of time [owners / officers], but it probably won’t be real quick … We’re going to fix the problems, but it’s going to require building some new interfaces for things like, “show me who the officers are”.

There are certainly going to be some bug fixes for the viewer coming quite quickly, quite probably in the next maintenance viewer, not the one that will get released next week [week #24]  but the next one, that will clean-up how things look. You’ll actually get a positive indication that you can’t see this list, or whatever. But we’re still fiddling with that.

Thus, while the changes to large groups may initially seem a little confusing, they are part of a larger attempt to improve group management functions within the viewer, and the Lab does recognise that more needs to be done to make key information within groups clearer to members.

In the meantime, please remember this change only affects those groups with 5,000 or more members, and does not prevent those assigned roles / abilities that require them to be able to see the group’s member list. Groups with less than 5,000 members remain unaffected by the change, and all members will continue to be able to see the group members lists for these when viewing a group’s information.

Lab announce Premium members meet-up

Posted on by Inara Pey
The next meet-up with the Lindens will be a Premium members affair and a beach party
The next meet-up with the Lindens will be a Premium members affair and a beach party

In the run-up to the 12 anniversary celebrations for Second Life, the Lab has announced the next meet-up between staff and users will be a special Premium membership affair, and an opportunity for those attending to grab a copy of the the 12th anniversary avatar.

The meet-up is set to be a part of various activities the Lab is planning to help celebrate SL’s 12th birthday, which will be available for all SL users, and doubtless announced through the official blog.

The blog post announcing the Premium meet-up reads in part:

Splish Splash – it’s a Tiki Beach Bash!
Premium members – this one is just for you, so be sure to save the date! We’ve lit the tiki torches and brushed up on our fruity drink-mixing skills to host a casual gathering with the added bonus of early access to our Official Second Life 12th Birthday commemorative avatar.

That’s right – come to the SL12B Premium Meetup on Thursday June 11th from 10:30 to 11:30 AM SLT, hang out with us, and be one of the first to glimpse and grab the celebratory 12th anniversary avatar. The nature of this particular avatar required us to select a remote island for our gathering as well as implement a strict quarantine on the subject, so you’re going to have to drop by our tropical jungle destination to find out what it is.

The bar is ready ...
The bar is ready …

For those unable to attend the event itself, the post also notes:

While we hope you can make it to the meetup, we understand that schedules, timezones, and such make it impossible for everyone to make every meetup. With this in mind, the avatar kiosk will be available until midnight SLT on June 12th for you to stop by and pick up your prerelease avatar. That means, even if you can’t come to the Tiki party, you can still get early access to the avatar.

Speculation is already running as to what the avatar will be, with some speculating it will be a dinosaur, given the hint of Isla Nublar about the official blog post. However, the only way to find out ahead of the rest is to attend the gathering.

So, Premium members, get your swimsuits on, make sure you all know where your towels are, and get ready to meet a few Lindens on the beach…

The passing of places in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Venexia; Inara Pey, June 2015, on Flickr Venexia (Flickr) – click and image for full size

News is spreading that two long-running role-play regions in Second Life are to close later this month.

Goatswood (first opened in 2012) and Venexia (first opened in 2011), are the work of Baal Zobel and Kora Zenovka. Both are exquisitely beautiful builds with a stunning attention to detail; Gostswood presenting a small, Victorian-era rural town, and Venexia a Venice-like city of rich and inspiring architecture divided by narrow canals.

While highly photogenic, both regions were created, as noted, for role-play first and foremost, and a huge amount of effort was put into establishing them as such, with extensive back stories to both of them (Goatswood in particular has had a very immersive storyline running through it, in which the town itself is very much a character), scripting and combat focused on the SGS system.

Goatswood; Inara Pey, June 2015, on Flickr Goatswood (Flickr)

However, it would appear the more recently, activities within both have declined somewhat, as tends to be the way with role-play environments in SL as people’s interests ebb and flow. This has made meeting tier costs for both regions increasingly difficult; hence the decision to close them. News of this first came  via a group notice from Kora and Baal, which reads in part:

We would like to say a huge thank you to all those who have over the years contributed so much time and creativity towards the great success of these projects. They have provided us with  many lasting memories, and we have derived  immense enjoyment from seeing them brought to life by those who have spent time playing there.

Goatswood; Inara Pey, June 2015, on Flickr Goatswood (Flickr)

As a result of this decision, Venexia will cease operations on Saturday, June 13th and the last train from Goatswood station will depart on Friday, June 19th. The third SGS-based role-play region operated by Baal and Kora, Kingdom of Sand, will remain in operation for the foreseeable future, as it is still generating a good flow of traffic and interest.

The beauty of Goatswood (which I admit to being my favourite, having visited a number of times, but never with the confidence to do it justice with photographs) and Venexia cannot be overstated, nor can the care which has gone into their development and curation. This can be seen right from the moment you arrive in either, from the manner in which information is presented to you, through to the very means of teleporting from the arrival areas high over each region, down to ground level.

Venexia; Inara Pey, June 2015, on Flickr Venexia (Flickr)

What I’ve always particularly enjoyed about Goatswood, other the the manner in which it reminds me of the Cotswolds here in England, is the take-your-time approach presented to those who have considered joining the role-play there. Rather than presenting people with rules and a pile of notes relating to backstory and character development, the approach has always been, “come in! take your time and explore, discover the nature of the town and the role-play here, learn about what goes on by visiting and interacting!”

To encourage this, visitors are provided with a 3-day pass, and little red mushrooms scattered through the town and points of interest in the outlying areas, provide additional notes and information in a narrative style which does much to further set the tone of the place.

Venexia; Inara Pey, June 2015, on Flickr Venexia (Flickr)

Venexia, with a focus on lycan / vampire interplay is different in tone and setting, but the build is no less breathtaking in scope and design. Wandering allionf the streets, it is easy to imagine yourself transported to some dark and mysterious Venice of an age past; there is a beauty to the city which is laced with an edge of menace and danger that is quite atmospheric.

While both Venexia and Goatswood are closing, this is not actually the end of the road for Baal and Zora. They  are currently engaged in developing an OpenSim environment  called NeverworldX (being the name of the sim on which Goatsworld is located in SL).

Venexia; Inara Pey, June 2015, on Flickr Venexia (Flickr)

This new environment, currently available for pre-registration, will present “a free-form role play/story telling ‘game’ set in a series of themed virtual fantasy environments. These environments usually consist of one or more virtual islands depicting a fully functioning role play Scenario Players create Avatar characters and develop these characters and their stories over time by interaction with other player characters, and by participation in the various events and scenarios that occur within their chosen Fantasy Scenario.” It’ll be interesting to see how this develops.

In the meantime, should you wish to visit either Goatswood or Venexia prior to their respective closures in Second Life, you are free to do so. Just make sure you obtain an OOC tag and 3-day pass from the vendors in the respective arrivals areas and wear it prior to boarding the gondola  / train for the ground levels.

Goatswood; Inara Pey, June 2015, on Flickr Goatswood (Flickr) – click and image for full size

SLurl Details

With thanks to Miya and Thinkerer Melville for the pointers.