Month: July 2019

The Man Who Lived in the Future, in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Edge Art Gallery, July / August 2019: The Man Who Lived in the Future

Currently open at The Edge Art Gallery operated and curated by Ladmilla, is an exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci. The exhibition, entitled The Man Who Lived in the Future, features a new look for The Edge Art Gallery and displays are by sadi8 and JurisJo, jessamine2108, Larisalyn, PatrickofIreland, Kapaan and Ladmilla herself.

The new look for the gallery space is very much Tuscan in nature – as befitting da Vinci, a son of Florence (Vinci being a città of Florence). Exhibition spaces take the form of individual Tuscan-style houses all space around three sides of open lawns and a garden area, with the main reception area and a further gallery space rounding-out the building on the three sides of the lawns.

The Edge Art Gallery, July / August 2019: The Man Who Lived in the Future – Larisayln

Within this garden is a model of da Vinci’s aerial screw by Sergio Delacruz, together with an airship and Bach’s Spine (the latter by Eupalinos Ugajin) to give reminders of both de Vinci’s own vision and the ideas of motion and flight, which both fascinated him. However, this is very much an exhibition of 2D art, and the manner in which the artist have chosen to interpret the life and times of da Vinci is what makes it attractive.

For example, Larisalyn takes as her muse, Cecilia Gallerani. A mistress of Ludovico Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, she was da Vinci’s subject for his 1489 painting The Lady with an Ermine. She was also responsible for inviting da Vinci to her chamber discussions on philosophy and other subjects with members of the local intellectual set over which she presided. With the images presented here, Larisalyn notes she has tried to represent da Vinci’s style of painting.

The Edge Art Gallery, July / August 2019: The Man Who Lived in the Future – Kapaan

Kapaan, meanwhile focuses on both da Vinci’s inventiveness and his art. His gallery space includes representations of da Vinci’s parachute,  together with monochrome images of the parachute in use. These are displayed with imaginative takes on a couple of da Vinci’s most famous works, The Vitruvian Man and Mona Lisa.

Styles reminiscent of da Vinci’s studies of people and nature, as well as representations of his flying machine can also be found within the displays by PatrickofIreland, sadi8 and JurisJo, and Ladmilla – and I admit to finding PatrickofIreland’s The Study, featuring da Vinci himself, to be particularly evocative, as is the small model of da Vinci’s flying machine.

The Edge Art Gallery, July / August 2019: The Man Who lived in the Future – PatrickofIreland

I confess to being a little confused by jessamine2108’s images, which appear to be closer to more “traditional” avatar and SL nature studies, rather than being intrinsic to a celebration of da Vinci. Which is not to say they are not in themselves attractive.

Those who venture into the gallery space enclosing two sides of the landing point terrace will find a further selection of Ladmilla’s own art, including a series of images partnered with words by Eli Medier, which make for an evocative display in their own right.

The Edge Art Gallery, July / August 2019: The Man Who Lived in the Future – Ladmilla

Two musical events are planned alongside The Man Who Lived in the Future. On Saturday, July 27th, DJ Avalon Boa will be spinning music from 12:00 noon SLT through 14:00, with DJ le Ouf doing the same at the same time, on Saturday, August 3rd.

SLurl Details

2019 SL User Groups 30/1: Simulator User Group

Posted on by Inara Pey

Lotus Bay; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrLotus Bay, June 2019 – blog post

Server Deployments

There are no planed deployments for this week, leaving the major simulator channels on server maintenance package 19#19.06.14.528215, comprising internal changes.

  • Note that a deployment to the Magnum RC on Wednesday, July 17th (simulator package 19#19.07.10.529179), was subsequently rolled back as a result of a bug being discovered during deployment.
  • Region restarts may occur in accordance with the Lab’s 14-day restart policy.

Also, there will be no simulator deployments in week #31, due to the Lab’s internal Second Life Feature Summit.

SL Viewer

There have been no LL viewer updates as of the time of writing this update, leaving the pipelines as follows:

  • Current Release version 6.2.3.527758, formerly the Rainbow RC viewer dated June 5th, promoted June 18th – No Change.
  • Release channel cohorts:
  • Project viewers:
    • 360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, July 16th.
    • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.2.3.527749, June 5th. Covers the re-integration of Viewer Profiles.
  • Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, promoted to release status 29th November 2017 – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
  • Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, May 8th, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

In Brief

  • Aditi log-ins remained problematic during week #29 / the start of week #30, but the Lab believes the issues to now be resolved – see BUG-227357.

Android / Lumiya  / Mobile

Since the last of the UDP asset messaging deprecation, users on the Lumiya Android app have been unable to use certain functions – notably in relation to the in-world view the app has, changing their outfits, using animations / AOs, etc.

The problem here is that Lumiya needs to be updated to HTTP for asset data fetching across the board; unfortunately, with the developer out-of-contact, this (like the issue of the app remaining unavailable on the Google store) is unlikely to be resolved any time soon.

Currently LL is developing an iOS “companion app” – and there have been calls for the Lab to re-direct this work towards Android. However, these requests overlook two key points:

  • The initial versions will be for chatting and messaging only – which can still be done with the Lumiya app.
  • While the capabilities of the iOS app will be extended over time, the Lab has not committed to what additional capabilities will be provided or a time frame of when they will be provided. so whether or not a 3D world renderer of the type seen in Lumiya will be a part of any future expansion of the app is open to debate – as is any time frame in which it might appear.

Therefore, even if work were move from iOS to Android – it actually wouldn’t resolve the specific pain point Lumiya users are currently feeling (unable to change their appearance, use animations, etc), in the short or medium term.

It has also been suggested that LL should provide a streaming solution. However, the issue here is cost (the one operating streaming service for SL – Bright Canopy  – costs US $1.70 per hour, for example). LL currently (and most likely correctly) believe streaming costs for SL are above levels user would be willing to play. They would rather wait until said costs have (hopefully) come down in the future.

Next SUG Meeting

Due to the Lab’s internal Second Life Feature Summit taking place in week #31, there will be no SUG meeting on Tuesday, July 30th. The next meeting will therefore be Tuesday, August 6th, 2019.

A Lost Lagoon in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Lost Lagoon, July 2019. Click any image for full size

Lost Lagoon is a Homestead region designed by knight676 and Jana Guyot that offers an engaging – if curiously populated – setting that also has the ability to look and feel much bigger than the  65,536 sq metres offered by a region.

The region description states Lost Lagoon is a “lost place in the South Seas. Witnesses of bygone days and paradise for those who seek solitude and nature.” Certainly, it has all the elements one might associate with the South Seas (which usually encompasses the South Pacific): a tropical feel, palm trees, balmy beaches, and so on. But there is enough here to throw something of a spanner in the idea that Lost Lagoon is a South Pacific paradise and which serve to make it a unique setting deserving of exploration.

Lost Lagoon, July 2019

Surrounded by off-sim islands that perhaps in places look a little more temperate with there grass slopes, this is nevertheless a tropical setting, as evidenced by the presence of both palm trees and Moai, the latter of which certainly give the region a Polynesian twist. The island itself offers every sign of having once been the home of a lagoon: to the south is what appears to have once been a rock wall, long since breached by the sea, causing the former lagoon to become a bay cutting deeply into the island.

Within this bay are two much smaller islands,  little more than sandy humps. However, one of them is home to a small group of African elephants – the first hint, perhaps, that this really is a lost and unusual setting. They sit under the palm trees and even wade in the water, apparently unfazed that it is most likely salty seawater.

Lost Lagoon, July 2019

Of course, one might argue that the presence of African elephants might be excused by the fact that Asian elephants are in short supply in SL – but what then of the hippos with their slightly oversized tusks occupying the water by the second of the two little islands? They perhaps more directly throw a suggestion of Africa into the mix, contrasting strongly with the south seas idea, while the tigers roaming the island behind them further stirring the mix.

Thus, Lost Lagoon offers an intriguing mix, almost is if it is a kind of lost world in terms of the creatures to be found across it. And nor are the elephant, hippos and tiger the only curious mixing. Lions and meerkats also offer further hints of Africa – although the latter might be standing-in for mongoose. Also to be found across the island are snakes, waterfowl and birds of assorted kinds, all presenting  rich mix of wildlife.

Lost Lagoon, July 2019

There is also considerable evidence of human habitation to be found here, both ancient and modern. The latter perhaps most clearly comes in the form of the great, dome-topped finger of a lighthouse to the east of the island. Beneath it and almost within its lee, sits a nicely furnished cabin – perhaps that of those responsible for maintaining the lighthouse – built out of the cooling waters of a shallow bay.

Ruins to be found in the bay offer a more ancient setting, while the sometimes ramshackle cabins found around the coast help to give the impression that humans have been living here for some time. However, perhaps the most curious mad-made structure on the island is that of an aged submarine that appears to have grounded itself on part of the ancient lagoon wall. It had clearly been there so long that it has be claimed by the local foliage to the point where, from the landward side of the island, it looks like a metallic cavern sitting at the end of the trestle bridge that reaches out to it.

Lost Lagoon, July 2019

These low-lying man-made structures and ruins are overlooked by a old fortification and small chapel both of which stand on the island’s rocky spine. They are reached via a twisting path offering more chances for exploration, while on their far side, sitting on its own promontory and reach by passing under a rocky arch, sits the most wonderful ruin of a church or cathedral, beautifully repurposed.

With its rich mix of wildlife and range of influences – Moai, a Moroccan water pump house, a sitting Buddha, shrine to Shiva, and so on – Lost Lagoon really is an intriguing mix wrapped in an attractive tropical setting. There is a lot of take in, plenty to photograph (with a Flickr group for those who might was to share their images, rezzing rights available by joining the local group for L$150), and numerous places to simply sit and appreciate the location.

Lost lagoon, July 2019

SLurl Details

Mysterious Paradise: Supporting World Animal Protection

Posted on by Inara Pey
Mysterious Paradise: July 20th – August 3rd, 2019

Mysterious Paradise, opened its doors on July 20th and will run through until Saturday, August 3rd in Second Life.

Featuring shopping opportunities and an entire region to explore, with days of entertainment and events as per the event website, Mysterious Paradise will see 100% of donations, including stall & performing profits go towards World Animal Protection (WAP), an organisation, that works year-round to protect animals in our communities, farmlands, the wild, and to stop animal cruelty around the globe.

Mysterious Paradise: July 20th – August 3rd, 2019

The event region has been divided into four areas, with the main shopping and entertainment venue contained in one quarter. The rest of the region offers a number of different environments for visitors to explore, photograph and enjoy – including the opportunity take a dive under the sea (just mind the great white shark!).

Within these areas you can visit Africa and Asia and a wintry world that brings together the Arctic and Antarctic and where both polar bears and penguins can be found. A further area is suggestive of Atlantis / a fantasy world, beneath which the undersea realm can be found.

Mysterious Paradise: July 20th – August 3rd, 2019

As well as making donations in-world at Mysterious Paradise, those wishing to support WAP’s work can do so by clicking the Please Donate button on the WAP website or by visiting the event’s Facebook Fundraiser.

About WAP

World Animal Protection seeks to improve the welfare of animals around the globe – wild or domesticated – through public awareness, education, animal protection, animal rescue, animal welfare, and more. Based in Australia as a registered charity, WAP operates a number of region hubs in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and Latin America.

From these they are able to mount a range of campaigns to support and protect animals according to regional needs / situations. Their work includes better education in matters of animal welfare and husbandry, vaccination programmes, support for government programmes for more humane means of animal care and the treatment of disease, and ensuring animals are provided and cared for as a result of / in the event of, a natural or other disaster.

SLurl and Links Details

Tilia: how to ensure your process credit information is on file

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

Update, July 27th: there appears to be a further issue with the information indicator on people’s billing pages – all users are apparently marked with a green “information provided” check, regardless as to whether or not any information has been provided. This is most likely a bug, and linden Lab have been contacted. Until a formal response from the Lab has been obtained, it is probably best not to assume you are cleared for credit processing if you have never previously provided information to the Lab for the purposes of credit processing.

Update: it appears the Additional Information page has problems loading in browsers other than Google Chrome. However, if you are experiencing issues and have any ad block software installed on your browser – try turning it off before clicking the Additional Information link on your Billing Information page.

On Friday July 12th Linden Lab hosted a town hall meeting on the subject of Tilia Inc., and forthcoming changes will affect those who have a US dollar (USD) balance associated with their Second Life account, and those who transfer US dollar amounts out of Second Life.

The changes to the latter – withdrawing US dollar amounts from Second Life referred to as credit processing)  –  will in particular be subject to ensuring all those wishing to do so, have provided documentation to Tilia Inc., to verify who they are, in order to meet various US regulations related to money laundering, etc.

During that town hall meeting, Grumpity Linden (Senior Director of Product for Second Life), the Lab would both provide a means for users to easily see if the information they may have already supplied to Linden Lab for the purposes of credit processing has been recorded by Tilia / is sufficient to meet the requirements, or whether further information might be required.

Another thing we’re working on to make that easier and clearer is an indicator in your account page which will show whether you’ve been cleared to process credit or not. And so you’ll see a little green check mark that says ‘we’ve got all your information and you’re clear in a process credit’ or a little, ‘we’ll need more information from you when you’re ready to process credit’ with a link.

One of the things again that we’re working to submit your documents ahead of the August 1st date, so that if you expecting to process credit on August 2nd, you’re not delayed in any way you can submit them in advance and know that your documents been verified.

It [the indicator] will be in your account same place you would log in to view your USD balance for example or to request a process credit. Obviously, we’ll post about that when it’s ready.

– Grumpity Linden, Tilia Town Hall Meeting, Friday, July 12th [video: 29:26]

On Monday, July 22nd, the Lab published this promised information, indicating how users who will wish to credit process funds from Second Life after August 1st can both:

  • Check to confirm whether or not Tilia has sufficient personal information on file for them to be able to process credit.
  • And / or how they can submit information, if required.

Both options can be found by visiting your Account page on your Second Life dashboard at secondlife.com, as described below:

  • Log-in to your dashboard.
  • On the left of your dashboard, beneath your account name, click the Account heading to open the Account menu.
  • Click on Billing Information near the bottom of the menu (highlighted, below left).
  • If you have supplied all the required information, you will see a green check box with We have all the information we require to process credit from your Tilia account alongside it (arrowed, below right)
  • OR if you do not / have not supplied the required information will see a red check box with the words, We may need some additional information [a link] in order to process credit from your Tilia account.
  • If the latter is the case, and you wish you provide / submit the required information, click on the additional information link to go to a fresh page that will walk you through what needs to be done.
To check if Tilia has the required information on file in order for you to credit process funds out of Second Life: log-in to your dashboard at secondlife.com and click the Account link on the left of your dashboard. Then click Billing Information (shown on the left). If you have supplied sufficient information, a green tick box with appropriate wording will be displayed in your Billing Information (arrowed, top right). OR if the required information is NOT on file with Tilia, a red check box is displayed, with a link for you to go ahead and submit the required information (shown bottom right, with the Additional Link highlighted). Click for full size, if required.

Important Notes

  • This information is only required if you intend to process credit out of Second Life. it is not required if you simply wish to purchase Linden Dollars for use within Second Life, nor is it required if you have a USD dollar balance associated with your account from which you do not intend to process credit funds out of Second Life.
  • Those wishing to process credit funds out of Second Life and who need to supply additional information are under no obligation to do so at this time, however, the information must be supplied in order to process credit on or after August 1st, 2019.

Further information relating to these changes can be found in the links below.

Related Information

Via Linden Lab

Tilia Related Articles, This Blog

Sansar Product Meetings week #29: UGC quests and the XP system

Posted on by Inara Pey
50 years on: recalling Apollo 11 in Sansar – the Apollo Museum in Sansar

Oops! this was drafted on July 19th, then the weekend came, and I forgot to publish it!

The following notes were taken from my recording of the July 18th (week #29) Product Meeting. This meeting focused on the new quest system.

Quest Authoring

  • Week #30 (commencing Monday, July 22nd) should see a point release of the first version of Sansar’s in-client quest editor, together with a new library of scripts designed to enable linking quest elements within the authoring tool with in-scene objects.
  • The editor will be accessible through the Create button on the left-side menu in the Sansar client. It allows quests to be created, objectives named and set within it (and reordered, if required).
  • Ease-of use will allow quests to be associated with scenes, tested with scenes, and iterated without actually having to continually rebuild the scene(s) in which the quest runs.
  • Quests can be experience specific, or – providing all the experiences are owned by the same account setting-up the quest – span multiple experiences.
  • The system supports placing links within objects that can be used to send users to a specific point in the quest.
  • It is acknowledged that the editor’s UI will be a “little rough” in the first release, but the Sansar team have ideas for improving it, and are also open to feedback from creators for improvements.
  • For the initial release, it will not be possible to fully interconnect quests via prerequisites (e.g. quest A must be completed before a user can progress to quest B). However, creators should still be able to create multiple quests which can have a degree of relationship one to the next (e.g. to open door A and access quest B, the user must find key A).
  • The authoring tool is seen by the Lab as a significant step forward from the internal tools that Sansar team have used up until now to create quests such as those seen in the Social Hub. In particular, it was reported that some of the Lab’s quests took around a month to build; the new editor allows that same amount of work to be completed a just a couple of days.

Rewards System

  • Coming at some point after the initial release of the quest system will be a  rewards system.
    • A tab for the rewards system will appear in the quest authoring tool, but will not be available for the first release(s) of the quest system.
  • When available, the rewards system will:
    • Allow creators to specify (initially) up to three objects (not Sansar Dollar amounts) users participating in a quest can win / obtain.
    • The system will allow for user choices within the three (e.g. a reward might offer a user a choice of A or B as one of the rewards).
    • If it is felt the system needs to be expanded to support more rewards per quest, the Sansar team is open to discussing this down the road.
  • Rewards will be collected by users on completion of a given quest, using the Sansar Store mechanism for delivery.
  • The rewards system is not being released with the first pass of the quest system so that creators can have a chance to test the latter, gain familiarity with it and offer feedback and suggestions for improvement before more complex capabilities are layered on to it.
    • However, once the rewards system may not be turned on from day one, the design of the editor means that once it is available, creators can easily go back over their defined quests and add rewards to them.

Experience Points (XP) System

  • The experience points system is still being developed and will be released at some point after the quest authoring tools.
  • The system will follow “traditional” XP system lines – the more a user participates in activities, the more points they can obtain, and thus “level up”.
  • It will be a global system – users can accumulate points right across Sansar, wherever they participate, rather than individual experiences just offering point applicable within that experience.
  • The first iteration of the XP system will be geared towards users gaining points within existing Sansar quests.
    • Those who have already completed the existing Sansar quests will be grandfathered in to the XP system when it is launched.
    • A future expansion will allow creators to award experience points within their own quests / experiences.
    • The system will also support experience creators specifying the level users must be at in order to access their quests.
  • To achieve the broadest range of applications, Sansar experience points will be split into three different  activity groupings:
    • Exploring – people who like visiting and exploring experiences, playing games within experiences and generally interacting in experiences.
    • Socialising – people who like going to events, spending their time making friends and interacting with friends and participating in activities that require more than one person.
    • Creating – anyone who enjoys creating in Sansar, be it experience, accessories, games, etc.
  • These are very broad activity definitions, but LL believe they encompass the major high-level ways in which people use Sansar, and thus have the opportunity to earn experience points. However, there may be more granularity within each.
  • Exactly what the returns will for those achieving a given level is still TBD – ideas mooted range from profile badges / icons / similar, through to ideas like entire avatar looks.
  • The system will initially have a level cap to limit how many experience points a user can earn. This is in part because the system is still being built-out and in part because the Lab would like to evaluate how people respond to and use the XP system. As more activities are supported by the XP system, the cap will be increased.
  • Also to be associated with the XP system is a “milestone” system – as users achieve certain XP levels, so those levels will unlock new rewards. What the levels and the “special” rewards might be will be discussed at a later date, once LL have finalised how they’d like the milestone system to work.

The overall goal in building the questing system, the rewards element, the XP system is to develop a framework for such capabilities that  is consistent across all experiences, making it easier for creators to leverage, and for users to understand, without having to re-learn the basics each time they visit a new experience.

Q&A

  • Who will provide the Avatar 2.0 file for use with Marvelous Designer – Sansar or Marvelous Designer? If Sansar, will it be possible to include the rigged bones? The Sansar team is working with Marvelous Designer on the files, and it is not clear if rigged bones can be included.
  • Would it be possible for LL to give more warning on themed Store events to give creators more time to work on items? Generally speaking, yes.
  • When will the event ticketing system be available for experience creators? Not on the immediate roadmap, as the Lab would like to polish the system a little more before opening it out.
  • Sitting – is there a plan and will sit points work with move objects? Yes to both, but not going to be available in the short-term.
  • How will the disparity in using items in VR and in Desktop Mode be overcome (e.g. allowing Desktop user to swing bats / clubs in the same way as VR users)? The Sansar team are aware of this, and there are currently internal discussions taking place on how best to bring more parity between the two modes of use.
  • Can experience creators have a pop-up warning appear in active versions of an experience they’ve just updated, so visitors can click on it and teleport to the updated version? Will be looked into.
  • Elements of the client UI are intrusive – like the emote system in Desktop Mode (it pops up over the middles of the screen). Are issues like this going to be addressed? Focus at the moment is getting the core capabilities like the quest, rewards and XP systems out and available. However, there are discussions on the subject of improving the UI, and feedback is appreciated.
  • Is it possible to have a feature to change clothes and attachments in the thumbnail pic after the initial upload? Being worked on, and should be out “soon”.
  • Will Sansar have real-time reflections / mirrors? Unlikely, due to the complexity  / performance hit, unless the platform can be shown to perform well at scale.
  • Keybindings / control options: the eventual goal is to allow Sansar users to define their own keyboard key binding / controller options for movement, etc.
  • When will creators be able to limit the number of people able to access an instance of an experience?
    • Not for a while. Before then, it a likely that there will be some form of “instance browser” that will show how many instances of and experience are running and who is in them, and potentially allow users to select which instance they wish to join and also pull their friends into.
    • Low user density per experience instance increases costs. For example: limiting access to a game to 5 people per instance and having 10,000 people playing the game means running 2,000 servers – so who meets the cost of running those servers? Should there be a business model that passes on the cost to the creator and (ultimately) those playing the game?
  • One of the reasons there were a rapid-fire series of updates following the R34 deployment is that one of the updates accidentally caused a memory leak in the client, and the update intended to fix it contained code that actually made it worse.

Note: there is due to be a general internal meeting at the Lab on Sansar and goals / capabilities, so some of the more frequently-asked question things like sitting in Sansar, the opening of the ticketing system, etc., might be clearer in terms of possible time-frames once this meeting has taken place.