Day: May 14, 2024

2024 SL SUG meetings week #20 summary – updated

Posted on by Inara Pey
Lenixus Project ~ Chapter I : The Snail Princess, May 2024 – blog post †

Update: May 15th: The WebRTC test region is WebRTC Voice 1. Read more on WebRTC Voice in this official blog post.

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, May 14th, 2024 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript, and were taken from my chat log and the video by Pantera – my thanks to her as always for providing 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):
  • Meetings 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.

Simulator Deployments

  • On Tuesday, May 14th, the Main SLS channel was restarted without any deploy,
  • On Wednesday, May 15th:
    • The BlueSteel RC channel will be updated with the Spring Break Simulator update.
    • The rest of the RC simhosts will be restarted.
    • A small Snack channel has been set-up for WebRTC testing (sorry, no region name available).

SL Viewer Updates

  • Maintenance X RC (usability improvements), version 7.1.7.8974243247 and dated May 8th, was promoted to release status on Monday, May 13th.

The rest of the official viewers in a pipeline remain as:

  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Maintenance C RC (reset skeleton in all viewers), version 7.1.7.8820704257, May 6.
    • Materials Featurettes RC viewer, version 7.1.7.8883017948, May 2.
    • Maintenance B RC (usability updates / imposter changes), version 7.1.7.8820696922, April 29.
  • Project viewers:

PBR Materials + Blinn-Phong Support

[Video: 7:45 and (discussion) 46:05-meeting end]

  • Concern was raised over a quote of a comment by Runtai Linden I carried from the May 10th TPV Developer meeting; specifically:
Sometime between now and then, we’ll likely start making the LSL scripts that modify Blinn-Phong parameters modify their PBR equivalents, or do nothing when a PBR material is applied. So llSetColor, for example, would set the base colour, not the diffuse colour. That should make life a lot simpler for scripters going forward, as scripters have been giving us feedback that trying to do something simple like that with existing scripts is impossible as they have to do a check to see if a glTF material is applied, and if there is then use llSetPrimParams and if there isn’t, use llSetColor.
  • This caused concern at the SUG meeting, and so Brad Linden Offered the following:
So, not officially speaking for Runitai, but I think his most important concern is that SL is trying to move towards standards compliance. and for objects with GLTF content attached, the only standards compliant way to display it is to fully implement GLTF PBR exactly as the Khronos group specifies it. so if an object has PBR attached, then displaying anything else is a “MUST NOT” behaviour: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2119#section-2.
Defining fallbacks for older viewers that have not implemented the spec, is potentially negotiable.
Any face that has a PBR material applied MUST be displayed using PBR
  • Brad also pointed to a Feedback request where there is further discussion towards the issue of “PBR llFunctions”, including colour .
  • The major source of concern raised on Runatai’s comment and Brad’s expansion is the belief that some SL users are unable to display PBR materials as they are too taxing on their systems; so if creators cannot offer a fallback position, they well leave SL due to the amount of content they cannot see correctly, couple with the view that maintaining the ability to keep llSetColor “as is” does not break with the glTF requirements, but allows those users to stay with SL until such time as they can upgrade their hardware.
  • The counter to this was that there are users still on SL who have hardware unable to correctly render mesh, and that LL are a) working hard to get PBR performance up to a level where the majority of user hardware can support it and b) they do not want to pressure creators into having to support two different content creation / rendering approaches / specifications.
  • Please refer to the video below for further comments on this issue, plus expect further discussions at upcoming Content Creatin meetings (see the SL public calendar for details of the latter).

In Brief

  • [Video: 28:52-46:00] A discussion on Key Frame Motion and on the impact of scaling on KFM + possible, including an idea from Rider for a llSetScaleLimited function, which would scale an object as specified – unless doing so hits a defined LI limit (e.g. “increase the object size to 5x5x5 or stop scaling if the LI exceeds 8”) – the idea being to prevent an animated object from exploding in LI on scaling. This also saw a further suggestion of having a universal timestamp (server and viewer) to better sync operations,

† 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.

Mirai Melody’s Japanese fusion in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Mirai Melody, May 2024 – click any image for full size

Another year has passed, and so once again I decided to click my heels and make what is now an annual pilgrimage to Bambi’s (NorahBrent) Missing Melody. I did so because a little birdie informed me that she’d teamed up with Ethan Takeda to produce an interesting sky platform called Mirai Melody. However, the project didn’t start out with the intent to build a complete setting, as Ethan explains:

The inception of this street stemmed from Bambi and my initial vision to craft a backdrop for an editorial piece on NeoJapan for L’Homme Magazine April 2024. What began as a mere backdrop evolved into a captivating narrative, sparking discussions about creating a mini-sim. As ideas began to take shape, our conversations ignited a creative flurry, resulting in the birth of Mirai Melody.

– Ethan Takeda

Mirai Melody, May 2024

The setting comprises a single street “somewhere in [insert name here]” as the hoary old TV / film caption goes. Not there is anything hoary about Mirai Melody; rather the reverse, offering as it does an engaging fusion of “old” – a ramshackle environment in a city where the surrounding high-rises might well look down on disdainfully – but their very presence allows it to carry a life of its own; one edged in the bustle of local life and – going on the presence of certain individuals at the landing point – can have a frisson of danger associated with it.

The main street scene is packed with detail – I strongly recommend visiting using the shared environment and, if you can manage them, with shadows enabled. This will ensure you get the full impact of the setting. There are local sounds as well, but I admit I’m not sure they entirely worked for me although they certainly add depth to all the eateries along the way.

Mirai Melody, May 2024

This is a place rich in the tradition of the street market and what – going on the general friendliness evident throughout most of the street’s length – is likely a relatively close-knit community of small businesses support the local populace and possibly used to having tourists find their way through its length.

It is also a place which, as well as having a history to it, is very much of the present (or the future-present, so to speak). Holographic advertising is much in evidence, at one some are using “old school” mobile phones, other XR units which project information and data around them, and one of the sushi bars appears to have dropped in quite literally, given the thrusters located along its underside! Elsewhere, an apothecary’s shop offers a haven of peace, even if it does share the paved square in occupies with a noodle bar managed by mechanoid server that would look just as at home strolling across Mars!

Mirai Melody, May 2024

Away from the landing point and the paramilitary types loitering there (are they the local militia? Here to keep unwanteds out or to stop those here wandering into the city proper? I’ve no idea – you make up the story for yourself!). Fortunately, most of them appear to be preoccupied by the flickering holo dancers just to the side of the landing point, so slipping past them is not a problem – although their presence appears to be enough for one stall owner to feel the need to wear a sidearm and another to look as if she’d happily bop the snoz of anyone remarking unfavourably on the gifts on her stall!

Mirai Melody, May 2024

Further along the street things are a lot friendlier, as noted above, and visitors can mangle with the static NPCs, poke at the shops and stalls, slipping (literally in one case!) into a side-alley to find a book stall or through a doorway into a bar or a little old-style school.

For photographers, Mirai Melody is a delight, whilst the touches of detail and humour are bound to raise a smile. There might be an tendency to look at it quickly and think Bladerunner (as someone commented in local chat whilst I was hopping in and out), but I’d disagree. Whilst mixing an Oriental street scene with cyberpunk / futurist elements might have caused Ethan and Bambi to lean in that direction, they have wisely avoided the temptation and instead come up with something visually unique and engaging.

Mirai Melody, May 2024

Visit and enjoy it whilst it lasts!

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