2022 SUG meetings week #19 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Lost Unicorn, March 2022 – blog post

The following summary notes were taken from the Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. It forms a summary of the items discussed and is not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the entire meeting is embedded at the end of the article for those wishing to review the meeting in full – my thanks to Pantera for recording it.

Server Deployments

Apparently, there was an “issue” with the week #18 deployments which has lead to changes being deployed this week. .

  • In short, the list of avatar appearance details for a given agent that could be returned by llGetVisualPrameters (which went grid-wide with the deployment of server release 571166 to the Main SLS channel in Week #18) gave rise to a host of “Shape Stealing HUDs” that allowed people to obtain the full set of avatar body shape details for any shape (including those sold as “No Mod” by shape creators.
  • As a result, both the SLS Main deployment on Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 and the RC deployments of Wednesday, will see the list of returned values significantly reduced to:
33 – height 503 – platform_height 756 – neck_length
38 –  torso_length 616 – shoe_height 814 – waist_height
80 – male 692 – leg_length 842 – hip_length
198 – heel_height 693 – arm_length 11001 – hover

Available Official Viewers

There have been no official viewer updates at the start of the week, leaving the current crop as:

  • Release viewer: version version 6.5.5.571282, – formerly the MFA RC viewer, dated April 26, promoted Wednesday, May 4th.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Performance Improvements RC viewer version 6.6.0.571507, May 5.
    • Makgeolli Maintenance RC viewer (Maintenance M) viewer, version 6.5.5.570983, April 26.
  • Project viewers:
    • Performance Floater project viewer, version 6.5.4.569531, March 18.
    • Mesh Optimizer project viewer, version 6.5.2.566858, dated January 5, issued after January 10.
    • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.4.11.550519, dated October 26, 2020.
    • Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9, 2019.

In Brief

  • There was a general discussion on multi-region events, in part focused on a) the incorrect assumption that adjoining regions are running on the same simhost (this has never been guaranteed, pre- or post-AWS uplift) b) visibility issues for those in the “audience” region of a multi-region event (i.e. being unable to see everything in the “performance” area that sits in another region); and c) the new Event regions (see: LL launches Event region product + some thoughts).
  • On the subject of Event regions, Mazidox Linden has provided information on how LL evaluated the region performance on the forum thread about the product.
  • There was further discussion on the requested scripted object capabilities for EEP See the week #18 summary), which will be “coming Soon™” – at some point.

Published by Inara Pey

Eclectic virtual world blogger with a focus on Second Life, VR, virtual environments and technology.

7 thoughts on “2022 SUG meetings week #19 summary”

  1. I thought the ability to look at a complete shape was cool, but I guess there are some who make money selling them. So what exactly is the point of llGetVisualPrameters and where will anyone use it? Maybe lesbian clubs will auto eject men (those who are not in disguise that is).

    Like

  2. Ugh people need to lean not to kill a good thing….

    Getting shape details from scripts would make products like heads beadle to be like “hey your head might be deformed I recommend these shave values as starting place.” as a example of one usecase.

    You can for literally YEARS already export your shape or any other users shape directly from the viewer.
    If they allow Third Party Viewers to have that feature they are being very hypocritical.

    Like

  4. firestorm has export and import of shapes since 2014 and shapes have never had any real security as the official viewer has been able to pull others and your own shapes since pretty much the start of sl if you poke around in the debug all this did really was make it so you could pull appearance data via script which is broadcast to the viewer fully readable anyway (sorry if this posts twice WordPress freaked out when I hit post)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yep, while it is true that there have been a number of ways to dig into the viewer and obtain shape data using debug – *not* actually a Firestorm feature per se, it has required people to know what to look for within Debug Settings – so it’s never been a “commonly used” thing. The difference here is that the additions to llSetVisualParamaters effectively meant that anyone could made (and sell) a HUD so anyone can grab the information without needing any knowledge of what to look for in debugs – which thus caused upset among No Mod shape creators.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. This issue makes me laugh really. As is pointed out this “feature” has been available in viewers for ages and all Firestorm has done, as has been done with MANY other aspects of the viewer, is bring it to a point where it was more accessible to a user in a controlled fashion.
    This exploit (as LL seem to be calling it) is no reason for a full-on “running around in circles” type panic at Battery Street and the complete shut down in communication of the released remedial rolls that has resulted. Someone at Tillia must have mentioned that if no-mod shapes were to be available to all and sundry there would likely be a reduction inincome flow via both MP and in-world purchases. THAT would get their attention far more than any supposed likelihood of action y discomfitted shape-makers.
    This is something of a comment on the presents state of SL and its “perceived” value to Second Life/Tillia’s financiers

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I think you’re over-reacting a little. Reality is much simpler.

      In April, Rider Linden indicated his intent to make shape parameters accessible via llSVP (in fact there have been past requests to make a subset available to scripts). At the time, creators who attend these meetings (none of whom, I believe I’m correct in saying are themselves in the shape making business) suggested making all said parameters – regardless as to whether or not they can be gained through other means (such as flipping a Debug) – would result in upset. As it turned out, when the updates to llSVP reached the full grid – that is precisely what happened, so LL opted to do what they often try to do when things like this happen: they tried to get to a position where “the upset” were mollified and those requesting scripted access to avatar data could get the access they required.

      There was no “panic”, no worry about any “reduction in income flow” or “someone at Tilia” saying anything about anything – that’s all a product of your over-active imagination. It was simply one engineer doing something against the advice of others and then putting his hand up and saying, “I’m really sorry; I got it wrong, you were right”.

      Nor is any lack of communication on the week’s deployment indicative of any “panic” at the Lab. As you know only too well (given you’re the first in line demanding to know where they are on the forums), the absence of release notes notifications on the forums ahead of each week’s deployments / restarts is something that happens with frustrating (and depressing) regularity. So again, to proscribe the lack of notes in advance of this week’s deployment (which did eventually turn up) is not indicative of anything at all on the part of the owners of Linden Research, but (once again) more a case of a failure in basic admin tasks getting carried out in a timely manner.

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.