Day: September 8, 2026

2026 week #37: SUG Leviathan Hour: game_control / region crossings

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Simulator User Group meeting place at Longfellow

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, September 8, 2026 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. These notes form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the meeting by Pantera is embedded at the end of this summary – my thanks to her for providing it, and to Erik Mondrian for the chat transcript after my ISP suffered issues and disconnected me from the world.

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 is held every other Tuesday at 12:00 noon, SLT (holidays, etc., allowing), per the Second Life Public Calendar.
  • The “Leviathan Office Hour” meetings are held on the Tuesdays which do not have a formal SUG meeting, and are chaired by Leviathan Linden. They are more brainstorming / general discussion sessions.
  • Meetings are held in text in-world, at this location.

Simulator Deployments

  • No deployments this week, but all simhosts will be restarted.
  • The Nectarine update now looks like its deployment to an RC channel will not be for another week as it continues through QA.
  • Simulator support for Lua looks like it will be part of a simulator update after Nectarine
  • The next two simulator releases after Nectarine are currently referenced as Olive and Plum – with Olive possibly being the vehicle for Lua release, but this is still TBC.

Game Control

  • Game_control has a new pre-release viewer version, but further work on the viewer code is required.
    • One element of this is that there are now two code elements for flycamming – the SpaceNavigator support and now game_control support. Leviathan would like to reconcile these into a single code set for both options.
  • There was a reminder that game_control is not grid-wide on the Main grid (Agni).
    • So anyone using the pre-release viewer must disable the “Send GameControl Data to server” option in the game_control preferences – or face being booted from any region sans game_control support.
    • The above will still allow use of a controller for general movement (avatar and camera (including flycam) and the mouse.
    • The full UDP message set required for game_control should be part of the Nectarine simulator update (so no need to disable anything once this has been fully deployed to the Main grid).
  • Leviathan also noted:
    • That game_control should support any controller that is supported by SDL3 (simple direct layer).
    • Full documentation on game_control has yet to go to the SL wiki.
    • It’s not clear how game_control will interact with SL Experiences – although views were expressed that in terms of movement, etc, it should work.
  • Leviathan would like more feedback on the game_control work, but understands this is difficult given the viewer is only available as a pre-release, and simulator support is limited to the Beta grid (Aditi).
  • The latter two points led to some description of the control options and modes, control semantics, etc., and a more general discussion on game_control through most of the rest of the meeting – please refer to the video.

Region Crossings

  • Pepper Linden’s region crossing improvements will not be formally included in the next simulator update (Nectarine).
    • They will therefore be ported to a subset of simulators running on the Snack RC channel as previously reported.
    • Update: at the Content Creation User Group meeting, it was indicated that the Snack Channel deployment will likely be be in the next 1-2 weeks, and will include Blake Sea regions.
  • These updates do not, contrary to rumours, make region crossings “faster”;  they do, however, make them more stable and predictable.
    • The above means that if you are using an avatar with many scripted attachments and on a complex vehicle – you will likely complete region crossings in good order rather than crashing (or something), but it may take as long as prior to Pepper’s stability fixes.
  • Making region crossings “faster” remains a separate area of work the Lab will at some point start poking at.
    • One hope here is that the  implementation of Lua scripting will help over time (once live) could help speed things up due to its (rumoured) faster serialization/deserialization of scripts.

General Updates

  • This was a light meeting, as the past weekend was a long weekend in the US (Labor Day), so many LL staff were out of the office on either side of it.
  • Leviathan Linden indicated that the fixes for avatars moving more than usual when standing on moving surfaces and for “crouch-slide” will be in the Nectarine simulator update.
  • There was a further discussion on variable walking speeds, with the following being noted:
    • It would require an an overhaul of the avatar locomotion graph and likely updates to game_control.
    • development of suitable animations and scrioted control capabilities to properly sync animations with walking speeds.
  • A further request was made for a way to make general data on active / on-line regions available (e.g. via .CSV file) – the information being requested being region names, associated estate names, global grid coordinates, height map and aerial view (without sky-based ads). Leviathan indicated he’ll take the request back to the

Date of Next Meetings

  • Formal SUG meeting: Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
  • Leviathan Linden: Tuesday, September 22, 2026.

A Dancing Rabbit and a country walk in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Dancing Rabbit Café, September 2026 – click any image for full size

Since 2022, I’ve run an occasional series on the coffeehouses and cafés of Second Life. I’m by no means the first to do so, and it is a popular subject. Most recently, the September 7, 2026 Destination Guide highlights featured The Dancing Rabbit.

This is a café I dropped into back in May 2025 whilst touring TNC Commons. I had intended to include it in a future piece on coffeehouses, etc., but it has remained on a pile of short pieces awaiting an article to sit within. This being the case, I decided to hop back and update my photos of The Dancing Rabbit – and found TNC Commons has been hugely updated.

The Dancing Rabbit Café, September 2026

The Dancing Rabbit sits at the eastern end of TNC Commons (TNC standing for The Nature Collective), and within its own roadside parcel of just 592 sq metres just off Atoll Road in Heterocera.

However, that small size is enough to fold into itself a delightful courtyard café space flowing out from a simple and cosy little café/coffeehouse.

The Dancing Rabbit Café, September 2026

This is a very much a social space for those wishing to join in events. Every other Monday (the next –at the time of writing – being September 14) playing host to a coffee and co-working morning from 08:00 SLT.

There are also impromptu and informal “busking” events featuring live music, as well as more formal music events as well. Details about events can be obtained from the info boards mounted on the cafe’s iron fences or via the local in-world Group.

TNC Commons, September 2026

The west side of the café’s courtyard provides access to the grounds of the TNC commons. At the time of my 2025 visit, the setting was a curious mix of buildings, trails, open spaces and circled in part by a set of tram tracks.

All of this has now gone, and the setting is much more natural in extent, rich in woodland, flowing streams, bodies of water, waterfalls and hideaways for visitors.

TNC Commons, September 2026

Which is not to say anything has been lost or gained either way; both the former build and this one had and have unique charms. However, I would perhaps suggest that within its autumnal air, the current TNC build leads far more into the idea of community and sharing.

This is evidenced by the fact that tucked away within the natural setting of the common and along its paths are trails is a little theatre where movies under the stars might be enjoyed; there’s a TNC book club for the readers among us, and more.

TNC Commons, September 2026

I’ll also add a side note here: TNC events take place at a range of locations, not just at TNC Commons, so do be sure to check-out their website.

Also note that TNC Commons can also be accessed via its own roadside entrance, which sits alongside its Landing Point.

TNC Commons, September 2026

Largely the work of Emm Rhys Cerulean (Emm Evergarden), supported by members of the extended Cerulean family – particularly Teagan Cerulean in the case of caring for The Dancing Rabbit – TNC Commons is part of a general directional change within the TNC group, as Emm notes:

The Nature Collective has been lovingly redesigned and returned to its roots with a more immersive, nature-focused experience. In Bloom celebrates the season of renewal and invites visitors to slow down, wander, and reconnect with nature in Second Life.
TNC Commons, September 2026

Within the TNC grounds is plenty of nature conservancy information to be found, both in the form of information boards and more informally through some of the smaller settings awaiting discovery.

At the time of my re-visit, wanderers could participate in the free-to-enter Great TNC Mushroom Forage (find 10 edible mushrooms and win a prize) and take a bee quiz among other local activities.

TNC Commons, September 2026

For my part, I simply enjoyed wandering around and keeping an eye out for the wildlife – squirrels, owls, deer, foxes, heron, geese – even a couple of little opossums keeping an eye on things – as well as assorted birds, butterflies, bees and (of course!) the rabbits.

One might also include a moose and a beaver in the local population, but these were strictly of the cuddling variety and I didn’t come across any of their living brethren!

The Dancing Rabbit Café, September 2026

Whether you start your visit at The Dancing Rabbit or come to it by way of TNC commons during a visit, do be sure to stop at the stone rabbits in the small garden lying between TNC commons and the café and touch them for a notecard to learn a little bit of the history of The Dancing Rabbit, and why Emm and the team from TNC are carefully preserving and caring for it.

But above all, take the time to wander, explore, take in the atmosphere and just breathe.

TNC Commons, September 2026

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