Month: October 2023

2023 week #40: SL CCUG meeting summary: PBR and combat / gaming

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sonder, August 2023 – blog post

The following notes were taken from my audio recording and chat log transcript of the Content Creators User Group (CCUG) meeting held on Thursday, October 6th, 2023.

  • The CCUG meeting is for discussion of work related to content creation in Second Life, including current and upcoming LL projects, and encompasses requests or comments from the community, together with viewer development work.
  • As a rule, these meetings are:
    • Held in-world and chaired by Vir Linden.
    • Conducted in a mix of voice and text.
    • Held at 13:00 SLT on their respective days.
    • Are subject to the schedule set within the SL Public Calendar, which includes the location for the meetings.
    • Open to all with an interest in content creation.
  • The notes herein are drawn from a mix of my own chat log and audio recording of the meeting, and are not intended to be a full transcript.

Viewer Updates

The Maintenance W RC viewer updated to version 6.6.16.582075 on October 5th. The rest of the current official viewers in the pipelines remain as:

  • Release viewer, version 6.6.15.581961, promoted October 2 (formerly the Inventory Extensions Viewer).
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • glTF / PBR Materials viewer, version 7.0.0.581684, September 8.
    • Emoji RC viewer, version 6.6.15.581551, August 31.
    • Maintenance V(ersatility) RC viewer, version 6.6.15.581557, August 30.
  • Project viewers:

glTF Materials and Reflection Probes

Project Summary

  • To provide support for PBR materials using the core glTF 2.0 specification Section 3.9 and using mikkTSpace tangents, including the ability to have PBR Materials assets which can be applied to surfaces and also traded / sold.
  • The overall goal for glTF as a whole is to provide as much support for the glTF 2.0 specification as possible.
  • Up to four texture maps are supported for PBR Materials: the base colour (which includes the alpha); normal; metallic / roughness; and emissive, each with independent scaling.
  • In the near-term, glTF materials assets are materials scenes that don’t have any nodes / geometry, they only have the materials array, and there is only one material in that array.
  • As a part of this work, PBR Materials will see the introduction of reflection probes which can be used to generate reflections (via cubemaps) on in-world surfaces. These will be a mix of automatically-place and manually place probes (with the ability to move either).
  • The viewer is available via the Alternate Viewers page.

Further Resources

General Status

  • There has been a reported issue with animated textures on glTF materials which is under investigation.
  • Work is focused on clearing the backlog of niggling issues. Part of this is a glTF update which clarifies glare on transparent surfaces (e.g. things like glass and the degree of glare / sheen on it) which is helping for properly define this property (index of refraction), rather than leaving it up to artistic licence.

Mirrors

  • Mirrors are a part of the glTF / PBR materials project, but something of a separate tranche of work.
  • The idea is provide the means to have via high resolution reflections (i.e. mirrors) within a scene.
  • Initially only one active mirror surface per scene will be active for any viewer.
  • The process will use the PBR reflection probes mechanism, combined with a automated “Hero Probe” mechanism which with generate high resolution (512×512) “reflections” for the mirror.
  • The system will operate on the basis of avatar / camera proximity to a mirror surface triggering the closest reflection probe to become a “Hero Probe” for that avatar / camera. This means that if there are multiple mirrors placed within an environment, only the one closest to a given avatar / camera will be active and display the “reflections” generated by the reflection probe.
  • Depending on testing and performance, the number of mirrors might be expanded to two – one for mirror surfaces and one for Linden Water to generate high resolution water reflections where appropriate.

Status

  • Geenz Linden is working on performance improvements within the viewer. There is a target than an active real-time mirror should not exceed cutting a viewer’s frame rate by more than 50% at the highest impact.
  • Culling has been updated so that objects that are physically behind a mirror are no longer reflected by the mirror.
  • Shader work is in progress to get mirror reflections generally looking better visually.

Combat and Gameplay

  • Rider Linden confirmed he is adding a new function and event to llRezObject per the discussion in this forum thread about features for combat gameplay.
  • He also referenced his idea for moving Second Life damage from being a function of a script o being a function of the object, per his comments at the Simulator User Group meeting, and if possible this will include “negative damage” (or health recovery, if you prefer!).
  • A request was made to have a means to cap or better manage damage in some way, in order to prevent scenarios where it is possible to have a single bullet strike a object on which (say) five avatars are seated and have them all be killed (100% damage each), wherein in reality the bullet would only kill one and (maybe) wound another (so instead of all of them getting 100% damage, it is capped to each of them only getting X%). This request grew out of feature request BUG-231985, “Incoming LL Damage Cap”.

In Brief

  • BUG-234493 “Add an “until shortcut key released” option to gestures so we can do properly user-mappable keys” has been raised as a means of potentially making gestures more versatile, particularly in gameplay / combat, but also other areas, such as vehicle control options (e.g. creating a gesture to raise / lower the forks on a forklift truck and have the creator free to bind that to whatever keys / controller button(s) they like), etc.
  • A wide-raging discussion on the ability to create large-scale games in Second Life to attract a new audience, running from the technicalities involved and the need for more integrated toolsets (e.g. viewer-side scripting for HUD creation; and updated physics engine) through the ideas for a type of Second Life Endowment for the Arts (SLEA) but focused on content creation specifically targeted at encouraging people in to SL, to various ideas for new specialist simulator / region types, such as on demand regions and “game / event / entertainment” region types that can be instanced on the basis of demand.
    • The majority of this discussion was among users, the Lindens at the meeting not being in a position to comment on policy or revenue matters.

Next Meeting

† The header images included in these summaries are not intended to represent anything discussed at the meetings; they are simply here to avoid a repeated image of a gathering of people every week. They are taken from my list of region visits, with a link to the post for those interested.

Louvre’s Power of Water in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
NovaOwl Sky Gallery, October 2023: Louvre – Agua

Open through October at the NovaOwl Sky Gallery is an exhibition of art by Louvre (Iamlouvre), a physical world artist who is now making her mark in Second Life, having joined (I believe) in 2021. This is the first time I have witnessed at exhibition of her work, and found it to be richly expressive.

Entitled Agua (the Spanish for “water”), this is an exhibition which fully embraces the space in which it displayed, Louvre demonstrating that as well as being a skilled artist, she has an innate sense of space and design, offering an environment that neatly folds itself around the exhibition’s theme, with the art split between the two levels of the gallery.

Water symbolises much more than an infinite space where we lose ourselves
when we look to sea. Water symbolises transformation, Life. All of us are water.  

– Louvre (Iamlouvre)

NovaOwl Sky Gallery, October 2023: Louvre – Agua

On the upper level, prints of her work are mounted on easels and walls, some of the latter backed by curtains of water tumbling to the floor below. On the lower level, this water spreads across a floor decorated with squares, some just below the surface other rising above it. All offer a sense of being stepping stones, encouraging visitors to make their way across them. These squares and mirrored by cubes and blocks climbing up the walls, the shimmering curtains of water visible in the gaps between them.

Close to the gallery entrance, sixteen cubes present sixteen paintings by Louvre, each painting repeated on all six faces of the cubes. Further back sit two larger cubes, each with an image of one of her paintings projected within it whilst further pieces are mounted on easels in an intentionally understated display, the entire level dominated by a single piece entitled Submarine.

Almost all of the paintings might be seen as portraits of a most unique kind. Few present a complete individual; rather they present images wherein the subjects are blurred or obscured, as if seen through a sheen of water, or with their subjects incomplete of cracked and fractured. In amongst them are paintings of a more abstract nature, but even these contain a sense of water-like fluidity and motion.

NovaOwl Sky Gallery, October 2023: Louvre – Agua

All of this is heavily suggestive of the opening lines of Louvre’s description for Agua, of water giving, being and transforming life. But there is more here as well, as Louvre goes on to note:

Water is also the tears produced by pain and sorrow. It is the force of the DANA flood that just hit my city. Washing away the homes of many neighbours and friends, taking within it their daily objects and their homes. Never in all my life have I been able to contemplate a greater disaster so closely. 
Water is the effort of my hands helping them, to the point of exhaustion, with water and more water.

– Louvre (Iamlouvre)

Storm Dana lashed Spain with torrential rain in early September, causing widespread flooding, particularly in the region of Castilla La-Mancha, home to the cities of Madrid and Toledo, with water levels rising such that streets, major transport arteries  – and most particularly, homes were overwhelmed. Such was the force of the water in places that cars were overturned or smashed together and evacuations were ordered. At least two deaths occurred, and several more people were reported missing.

NovaOwl Sky Gallery, October 2023: Louvre – Agua

It is this devastation, this sense of loss Louvre conveys through her paintings through their blurred / missing / incomplete elements. This reflection of Dana’s destruction is – as Louvre notes – very personal. She has witnessed the loss and hurt it has caused, and sought to help alleviate it through practical support for those around her hit by the storm’s ferocity. That this has also triggered her creativity through her art additionally completes the circle represented by Agua: that as a force of nature, water has the power to both positively and negatively bring about transformative experiences in life.

SLurl Details

October 2023 SL Web User Group (WUG) meeting summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Web User Group meeting venue, Denby

The following notes cover the key points from the Web User Group (WUG) meeting, held on Wednesday October 4th, 2023. They form 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.

Meeting Overview

  • The Web User Group exists to provide an opportunity for discussion on Second Life web properties and their related functionalities / features. This includes, but is not limited to: the Marketplace, pages surfaced through the secondlife.com dashboard; the available portals (land, support, etc), the forums.
  • As a rule, these meetings are conducted:
    • On the first Wednesday of the month and 14:00 SLT.
    • In both Voice and text.
    • At this location.
  • They are open to anyone with a concern / interest in the above topics, and form one of a series of regular / semi-regular User Group meetings conducted by Linden Lab.
  • Dates and times of all current meetings can be found on the Second Life Public Calendar, and descriptions of meetings are defined on the SL wiki.

Linden Homes Web Store Refresh

[Video: 1:01-2:21]

  • In 2022, LL commenced and overhaul of the “land journey” bringing all aspects of land “ownership” and land information – purchasing regions, renting or purchasing Mainland; obtaining a Linden Home and information on how to go about renting land from a private estate, etc., into a more fluid and updates set of web pages.
  • The first phase of this work went live in early 2023 with the launch of the Second Life Land Portal, with the promise that the Linden Homes web store would be the next element to be overhauled. This work has actually been underway for some time, and while “not 100% done” it will be released “very soon”.
  • Key elements of the new store include:
    • It is mobile device friendly.
    • It is accessible to anyone to view Linden Homes, whether logged-in or not (although, obviously obtaining a home still requires a subscription account).
    • It offers images and information on all the Linden Home styles in a browsable format and other information pertinent to obtaining a Linden Home.

Marketplace Updates

[Video: 2:30-7:02]

Since the September meeting:

  • Marketplace reviews have been updated so that aggregates of star ratings will now be rounded up, rather than always rounded down (e.g. where the aggregate of all star ratings on a product review might total 4.8, it would be rounded down to 4.5 – now it will be rounded up to 5. This change is being monitored, and further adjustments might be made.
  • Changes have also been made to the “Top Selling” report offered to Merchants to better match the “Top Selling” listing Merchants can generate for their products. In short:
    • The Top Selling listing was based on items sold in the previous 30 days; however, the Top Selling report was based on all products over the lifetime of the store.
    • The latter has now been revised to show both “best selling” over the lifetime of the store and the best selling items during the previous 30 days.
  • The work in archiving-off MP items which had not sold in 2 months and the store owner has not actively logged-in to the MP in two years has received a final tidy-up, with all related demos for the archived items also being archived as well.
  • Support have been furnished with assorted documentation and support notes for the MP so they can more thoroughly assist with reported MP issues.
  • Further bug fixing through September, but no details as several of the bugs were security-related.

In Brief

Please refer to the video for more on these items, and other points raised in the meeting.

  • [Video: 13:52-33:14] Marketplace gifting: an extended discussion on Merchants having the option to restrict items in their store which can be gifted to others.
    • The primary reason stated for this was on the matter of fraud wherein someone obtains Linden Dollars fraudulently, uses them to gift items to their main or alt accounts, then when the use of the illicit L$ is uncovered by the Lab, the amount is removed from the merchant’s account, and the merchant has no way to recover the goods.
    • Regardless of the pros can cons of gifting and matters of fraud, etc., there is a case to make that merchant creators should have the option to be able to disable gifting on specific products listed on the MP if they so wish, rather than being forced to opt-in to having all their products listed on the MP available for gifting.
  • [Video 38:50-end] A further discussion of the idea first raised at a recent CCUG meeting for LL to create their own version of Flickr-style site specifically for SL users to share their photos. Several reasons were noted for this:
    • It could become a potential revenue source for LL. Flickr is split between limited Free accounts and more flexible (with additional capabilities) subscription-based  Pro accounts, so the idea would be for LL to follow a similar model, a limited service provided to Basic account users, and Premium and Premium Plus having access to more advanced features (e.g. ability to live-link, support for a greater number of images per account, etc). It is believed by proponents of this idea that people using Flickr Free accounts would be more prone to pay for the advanced features were they to be offered by LL, rather than paying Flickr.
    • It is seen as a means for merchants to gain an additional revenue stream (linking images on the service directly to MP listings), and to potential to offer selected bloggers  / photographers featuring their products to revenue share off of any sale.
    • Whilst not an impractical idea (and although not raised at the meeting) there are obviously questions of actual ROI for the Lab in running such a platform / service against the cost of developing, implementing and maintaining such a service.
    • Again, please refer to the video for this discussion.
  • Some anger from a new meeting attendee on the fact that the WUG meeting is mixed text / voice and no warning of this is given through official channels (e.g. the User Group meetings page on the wiki, the SL Public Calendar or in any forum / feed / social media reminders for the meeting. It was agreed that pages and notifications will be updated to include the voice aspect of the meeting.

Next Meeting

  • Wednesday, November 1st, 2023.

2023 SL SUG meetings week #40 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kuroshima, July 2023 – blog post †

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, October 3rd Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form 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.

Meeting Overview

  • The Simulator User Group (also referred to by its older name of Server User Group) exists to provide an opportunity for discussion about simulator technology, bugs, and feature ideas.
  • These meetings are conducted (as a rule):
  • They are open to anyone with a concern / interest in the above topics, and form one of a series of regular / semi-regular User Group meetings conducted by Linden Lab.
  • Dates and times of all current meetings can be found on the Second Life Public Calendar, and descriptions of meetings are defined on the SL wiki.

Server Deployments

  • On Tuesday, October 3rd, simhosts on the SLS Main channel were restarted without any code update.
  • On Wednesday, October 4th, the RC channels will be similarly restarted without any change to the simulator version.
  • A new simulator RC (dubbed “Fall Colours”) is due to go to QA in week #41, and then to deployment in week #42 (commencing Monday, October 16th).

Viewer Updates

The Inventory Extensions RC viewer, version 6.6.15.581961, and issued on September 28th, was promoted to de facto release status on Monday, October 2nd, 2023.

The rest of the current viewers in the pipeline remain as:

  • Release channel cohorts:
  • Project viewers:

Potential for Games Controller Use

Further to recent meetings, Leviathan Linden gave the following update.

Just a quick update on the “game controllers input exposed to LSL” project before everyone starts teleporting around: (1) I was having trouble getting game controller events from SDL2 (Simple DirectMedia Layer) to the viewer, but finally figured out what was blocking them –> SDL2 will work for us. (2) I’m working on getting the data streamed from the veiwer to the simulator in a new message. (3) After that I need to shuttle the data to the relevant scripted objects (attachments and seats only, for now). The new script event for the data is already written. (4) I hope to get a test region up and a compatible viewer available for download tomorrow. If I manage it then I will announce on the Scripting channel on the SecondLife Discord server for anyone who wants to try it out.

Region Crossing Code Tests

There was a further round of region crossing tests led by Maestro and Monty Linden, this two using two pairs of regions apiece using different simulator configurations, and intended to test avatar / vehicle physical crossings. As we all know, avatars entering a region that is busy / active with other avatars, can have an impact on simulator performance – which although not as bad as it once was thanks to an earlier tranche of this work a few years ago, is still a problem. The aim of this work is to smooth things even further for both teleports and direct crossings.

In Brief

  • Rider Linden raised the question of changing the Second Life damage system, and its potential impact on combat and similar systems (potentially removing the the need for scripts in bullets, for example):
Right now damage is a property of a script… what would be the impact of making that a property of the prim [instead]? It would remain script accessible/settable I’m just changing where it is stored. The big drawback would be that right now it would appear you could have multiple scripts apply damage… you’d lose that capability. The damage change is just the one ambiguity that I need to resolve before I go forward with something larger. But I’m going to save most of that discussion for next week. … I just want it bumping around inside people’s skulls for a bit

So, if you are into combat in SL – attending next week’s meeting might be beneficial.

  • As a side-note to the above, this change would also potentially allow negative values, which basically heal the target.

† The header images included in these summaries are not intended to represent anything discussed at the meetings; they are simply here to avoid a repeated image of a rooftop of people every week. They are taken from my list of region visits, with a link to the post for those interested.

Frogmore’s touch of Halloween Gothic in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Witherwood Thicket, October 2023 – click any image for full size

Halloween is rolling around for 2023, and once more we’re starting to see region designs marking the time of year pop-up, whether along “traditional” Halloween settings with pumpkins and a light touch of ghostliness and spookiness, or with a deep footing in horror and / or bloodthirsty goings-on. As such, it is often hard to choose particular regions and locations to cover; after all, when you’ve seen one pumpkin patch, you’ve seen them all, regardless of whether or not they feature a small boy with a blanket steadfastly awaiting the gift-giving arrival of a mythical creature. However, there are exceptions.

For example, the annual Halloween regions delivered to the grid by Ty and Truck and the team at Calas Galadhon (of which I’ll have more in the near future) or – for this article, the realm of Witherwood Thicket, the latest Frogmore instalment from the imaginations of Frogmore owner Tolla Crisp and her companion-in-building, Dandy Warhlol (terry Fotherington).

Witherwood Thicket, October 2023
A Gothic Tale told in shades and shadows upon an English Moor, inspired by works of Edgar Allen Poe.

– Witherwood Thicket About Land description

The above description does much to sum this setting up, providing sufficient information to inform visitors they are about to enter a world edged in mystery-horror; one with a slant towards the English moorlands (take your pick, we have a fair number which are all known for their outstanding beauty and wilderness feel, starting far down in the West Country and then scattered all across England (as well as Scotland and Wales also having their shares of equally enchanting moorlands). However, it also leaves more than enough unsaid to practically demand a visit.

Witherwood Thicket, October 2023

Whilst it is an American master of the of the macabre mentioned within the region’s About Land description, the broad strokes of some parts of Witherwood Thicket might bring to mind images of mist-filled nights deep within the mires of Dartmoor, and the tall, slender form of Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes leading Nigel Bruce’s Dr. John Watson as they attempt to track a certain demonic hound. At the same time a certain part of the setting might have some imaginations edging towards thoughts of Tolkien, whilst throughout are elements of horror, the occult and monsters which might well give H.P. Lovecraft a reason to smile.

Which is not to say the region is in any way mishmash; far from it. Everything here has been well placed, with multiple buildings dressed to encourage visitors to step inside, with the passage around the region nicely set to present something of a visual narrative – although precisely what the story within it might be is left up to our imaginations.

Witherwood Thicket, October 2023
Journeys through Witherwood Thicket commence at the landing point, well to the south and west of the region, where sits a fortified gatehouse, now roofless and all but deserted. It sits on a narrow spit of land with water on three sides, but it is not hard to picture the route through its twin arches having once provided access to wooden wharves where vessels might have at one time sailed for and to, laden with goods both coming and going. Or if not docks, then perhaps the mind might picture the tongue of land straddled by the gateway marching onwards a distance before the opening out once more beyond the region’s edge, the waters to either side allowing the stone walls of the gatehouse and the great gates which doubtless once stood under its arches form a natural defensive point.

Beyond this ancient structure, the land rolls inwards to a second arched gateway flanked by defensive towers, the path between the two bordered by the skeletal ranks of trees either side and they stand-in for any curtain walls which may have – if the imagination runs that way – between gatehouse and gateway. Once through the third arch, the path become further hemmed in on either side by a tall crop of something or other watched over by a scarecrow as spooky as the watcher standing guard over the path running from the gatehouse.

Witherwood Thicket, October 2023

Once past the crop and its guardian, the setting becomes more moor-like (so to speak), the path turning into an unpaved road curving through a small village. Here, lights spill out from shaded windows and / or doors stand open, inviting people in. Yes there are hounds here that may not appear entirely friendly (but are hardly demonic, to return to my earlier reference!), but the houses deserve time to look inside, as each presents its own sense of mystery and / or the occult. As the road passes between them, so it reveals the looming form of a castle perched up on a hill and watching over affairs. Perhaps the old gatehouse once formed a part of its defences – or perhaps not.

The village, riven in two by the passage of a deep gully with choked waters at its bottom and best crossed by the sturdy bridges, is actually more extensive than might first appear to be the case. There is, for example, the moulding manor house to be found at the end of another rocky promontory pointing a crooked finger out to sea and, across a small bay from it and directly below the village, the crouching form of an old cabin which might look quite at home deep with America’s bayou country, giving a further little twist to the setting. There’s also the village church and graveyard and, acting like a magnetic, the castle sitting high on its rocky perch.

Witherwood Thicket, October 2023

The castle is best reached by passing through the village and following the road as it becomes more of a trail heading back eastwards and then south to where a lighthouse rises out of the mist in impressive fashion to vie with the castle in terms of providing the highest view out over the landscape. It is here as well that the touch of Tolkien enters the imagination. Climbing the rocky incline leading up to the castle, it is hard not to look back at the lighthouse and expect to see a fiery eye staring unblinking out over the landscape as Sauron’s was said to have done from the highest point of Barad-dûr.

As for the castle, this offers its own sense of mystery. While the halls and rooms within its walls and towers are empty, its courtyard is set for some form of event – although what this might be is again left to the imagination. Then there is the second great house, no more than a stone’s throw from the lighthouse and sitting ablaze at the water’s edge, a burning ship close by. They both beg for visitors create a tale for why they are burning, be it the result of the demon on the terrace leading to the house or something else.

Witherwood Thicket, October 2023

Rich in detail – much of it intentionally not covered here – and presented with a fitting environment setting and a soundscape heavy with the cry of crows (possibly standing-in for ravens, given the Poe reference 🙂 ), Witherwood Thicket is a place you’ve want to spend a decent amount of time exploring and which (it really goes without saying) is highly photogenic.

SLurl Details

2023 SL viewer release summaries week #39

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates from the week through to Sunday, October 1st, 2023

This summary is generally 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 Current Viewer Releases 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. This page 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.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Release viewer,  version 6.6.13.580918, formerly the Maintenance U(pdate) RC viewer, version 6.6.14.581101, promoted August 23.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Inventory Extensions RC viewer, version 6.6.15.581961, September 28.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V6-style

  • Kokua: 6.6.14.51029 (no RLV) and 6.6.14.54485 (RLV variants) October 1  – release notes.

V1-style

  • Cool VL Viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.30.2.30 and Experimental branch updated to version 1.31.0.8 on September 30 – release notes.

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links