2025 SL viewer release summaries week #14

Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates from the week through to Sunday, April 6th, 2025

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

  • Default viewer: 7.1.12.13550888671, formerly the ForeverFPS, dated March 1, 2025, promoted March 5th – No change.
    • Numerous crash and performance fixes.
    • Water exclusion surfaces.
    • Water improvements.
  • Second Life Release Candidate viewer 2025.03 version 7.1.13.14174767759, April 2nd – NEW.
    • New UI element for water exclusion surfaces: Build / Edit floater → Texture Tab → Hide Water checkbox.
    • The maximum amount of Reflection Probes can now be adjusted to better accommodate low VRAM scenarios.
      • Values will be set automatically depending on your chosen graphics quality. OR
      • Use Preferences → Graphics →  Advanced Settings →  Max. Reflection Probes to manually set.
    • An issue with being unable to see Sky Altitude values in the Region/Estate window has now been resolved.
    • Preferences → Graphics → Max. # of Non-Imposters has been renamed Max. # of Animated Avatars for clarity.
    • Bug and performance fixes and memory optimisations.
  • Second Life Project Lua Editor Alpha, version 7.1.12.14175675593, April 2nd, 2025 – NEW.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V7-style

  • Kirstens Viewer S24(1) Othan (Odin) – April 6, 2025 – release notes.

V1-style

  • Cool VL Viewer Stable: 1.32.2.43, April 5, 2025 – release notes.

Mobile / Other Clients

  • SL Mobile (Beta) version 2025.3.548 / 0.5.537 – April 3,  2025 (one-click chat, touch-timer, forward / back location buttons; Favourites + LMs).

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

A Sunbird’s Featherwish in Second Life

TheNest: Sunbird Featherwish, April 2025 – click any image for full size

In May 2024, I visited  TheNest: Sunbird, a Full region design leveraging the available Land Capacity bonus, brought together by Second Life partners Adam Cayden and Lya Seerose with the assistance of Tessa (Tessalie). Offering a mix of public spaces and private rental properties, I found the setting photogenic and engaging (see: A Sunbird’s Nest in Second Life).

Since then, a year has come and gone, and Lya and Adam have most recently been engaged in re-working the public spaces within the setting, and they extended an invitation to me to hop back to the region  – now called TheNest: Sunbird Featherwish – and have a wander.

TheNest: Sunbird Featherwish, April 2025
Visit our serene town nestled in the mountains. Enjoy the peaceful streets and their enchanting views, explore our cosy rentals, and marvel at the natural beauty surrounding you, from the smallest blossom to the tallest tree. Come immerse yourself to the tranquillity of a rural paradise, where every corner is alive with the vibrant colours and scents of spring.

– Adam Cayden writing about TheNest : Sunbird Featherwish About Land

The broad design of the region remains as it was during my May 204 visit: the lowland areas open to the public, gradually climbing back to the highlands where the private rentals sit, all nice and clearly separated from the public areas to help avoid accidental trespass.

TheNest: Sunbird Featherwish, April 2025

Within this design, the township presented at the time of my previous visit has been beautifully supplanted by a location rolling multiple ideas and themes together to present a genuinely delightful sense of small village /town intimacy which could so easily be found almost anywhere in Europe.

As with the previous iteration of the setting, the village / town is pedestrianised – but that’s as far as the similarities go. Now split between elevations linked by broad cobbled footpaths and sweeping steps and stairways, the town presents at its lower extremities access to a cosy beach with the local tram station sitting alongside it. From here, the steps rise under the arches of a high bridge buttressed at either end by hexagonal towers topped by small formal garden / sitting spaces.

TheNest: Sunbird Featherwish, April 2025

Continuing up the steps and under the bridge brings visitors to a local ice cream parlour and its outdoor seating overlooking the tramway below, as the tracks departs the station to pass overland along the edge of of the region before vanishing into a tunnel. Also across from the ice cream parlour sits a little bakery offering treats and its own outdoor seating area, this overlooking small gorge fed by tumbling falls with open meadowlands beyond.

Between ice cream parlour and bakery, the path rises and sweeps past the local tea house, then rises again to arrive at the village / town square – or rather, circle! Here there is so much to see – as there is on the way up (including the local feline welcome committee tucked away and keeping an eye on things), so time dallying and exploring is recommended.

TheNest: Sunbird Featherwish, April 2025

From the town it is possible to join the country walk as it arcs around the woodlands directly below the private rentals sitting up on their clifftop perches offering grand views of all that les below. This path eventually descends down to the meadowlands mentioned above, and which themselves can be reached from one end of the bridge also previously mentioned.

However, my descriptions of the setting are beside the point: such is the love and care that has been poured into the region, a visit is mandatory by anyone appreciating SL region designs. The detail is simply exquisite throughout  – from the cats watching over things and all the easily-missed details tucked into some of the public buildings and in the little alleys and gaps between some of them, to the details scatter along the countryside pathways and trails parks and walks. Throughout everything, there are multiple paces to sit and pass the time and several romantic little points for people to enjoy.

TheNest: Sunbird Featherwish, April 2025

Perhaps the best way to appreciate the setting is to click the Scenic Route sign at the Landing Point and take the teleport down to the tram station. From here, you can work your way up through the town much as I have described – but with the option of turning left on climbing the steps up from the ice cream parlour, then following the signed path around to one of the hexagonal towers and then over the bridge. Just be sure that, whichever route you choose – up through the town or over the bridge to the meadowlands, take your time and keep your eyes open lest you miss something along the way!

A genuine delight to visit – and if you’re looking for a home it SL, it might just be the place to tickle your fancy. either way, why not take a look for yourself?

TheNest: Sunbird Featherwish, April 2025

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