The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, April 25th 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.
Server Deployments
On Tuesday, April 25th, the SLS Main channel servers were restarted without any deployment, leaving them on simulator release 579248.
On Wednesday, April 26th, simhosts on the Bluesteel RC channel will receive a bugfix maintenance release, highlights of which include:
“Fixes in the vicinity of” BUG-232037 “Avatar Online / Offline Status Not Correctly Updating” – although all causes of this issue may not be fully resolved with this update.
A fix an issue with avatars colliding with their vehicles on region crossings.
Removal of a spurious error message that would pop up on llSetKeyframedMotion.
Being able to add UUIDs to the ban list that don’t belong to an agent or group and then being unable to remove them.
Upcoming Simulator Releases
It is still hoped to get the server-side support for PBR materials to one (Preflight) or two (Preflight and Snack) RC channels. There is no ETA on this, with both viewer and simulator with LL’s QA team.
Viewer Updates
No official viewer updates at the start of the week, leaving the pipelines as:
Release viewer: Maintenance R viewer, version 6.6.10.579060, dated March 28, promoted March 30th.
Performance Floater / Auto FPS RC viewer updated to version 6.6.11.579629, April 20th.
Maintenance T RC viewer, version 6.6.11.579154, April 6th.
Maintenance S RC viewer, version 6.6.11.579153, March 31st.
Project viewers:
PBR Materials project viewer, version 7.0.0.579401, April 10 – This viewer will only function on the following Aditi (beta grid) regions: Materials1; Materials Adult and Rumpus Room 1 through 4.
Puppetry project viewer, version 6.6.8.576972, December 8, 2022.
In Brief
A discussion on llMessageLinked, and the idea of an llMessageListLinked function, starting some 27 minutes into the meeting. To avoid misunderstnadings, please refer to the video below for the full discussion.
The above led into a general discussion on possible LSL updates / functions, including the likes of BUG-232312 and BUG-229174 – again, please refer to the video for details.
† 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.
Burrow Wood: Road to Nowhere, April 2023 – click any image for full size
It is said that as his government faced the Sterling Crisis of 1964, former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson quipped, “A week is a long time in politics”. Whether he did in fact say anything of the sort is a subject for debate by those so inclined. However, it does give me the opportunity to offer something of a corollary of sorts: a month is a long time in Second Life.
I say this because within a month of my writing about Monica Mercury’s Burrow Wood County, originally located within a quarter-region parcel of a Full private region, had closed and elements from within it relocated to an expanded set of parcels occupying fully half of another Full private region. Here they sit within a setting of two halves: Burrow Wood – Road to Nowhere and Burrow Wood by the Sea, and Monica recently and kindly invited me over to pay a visit and update my records.
Burrow Wood: Road to Nowhere, April 2023
Once again designed for Monica by Teagan Lefevre of Le’eaf & Co fame, there is much about the this location that is mindful of Burrow Wood County: the same dusty roads, the presence of a run-down motel, the auto shop / garage, the trailer par, and so on. But so too is there much that is new within the expanded landscape, making a further visit worthwhile, even if you did drop into Burrow Wood County just before it closed. That said, a little care might be required with explorations this time around, as the setting now includes a number of rental properties available as private residences, so trespass is to be avoided.
Each part of the location has its own landing point; however, for the sake of convenience, I’m starting my description from the Road to Nowhere landing point, given it sits towards the back of the setting, below the curtain of cliffs which separate Burrow Wood from the neighbouring parcel occupying the region. I also opted to use my personal “travelling” EEP settings when taking the pictures seen in this piece.
Burrow Wood: Road to Nowhere, April 2023
As with the former incarnation of Burrow Wood, this landing point sits at a bus stop, giving visitors the impression they’ve just been dropped off by said transport. Across the road is a lumber yard, and next door to that the familiar motel, facing a slightly upbeat diner as the track runs arrow-straight to the auto shop / garage and splits, one arm sweeping into the little trailer park, the other pointing due south. As it does so, it passes over a familiar old railway bridge, giving the suggestion the track from the landing point may have once been the bed of the railway line. Beyond the bridge, the track runs parallel to a water channel cutting through this part of the setting, passing one of the rental homes before diving trough another tunnel to arrive at the gated access to Burrow Wood by the Sea (passing the latter’s bus stop landing point in the process).
Here the channel the track has been accompanying is given the look of a canal, the banks built over with retaining walls supporting pedestrian-only sidewalks serving. These serve the shop on either side of the channel before dipping down to become / serve small wharves where larger boats moor moor. Two bridges span the channel, each elevated enough to allow smaller boats to pass under them and possibly moor at the floating pier with its gas pump. Sitting between the channel and a small shingle beach is another familiar location: the local oyster house from Burrow Wood County, now offering more outdoor space for diners – and possibly the local seagulls if people aren’t careful!
Burrow Wood by the Sea, April 2023
A single track runs outwards from the town to the west, forming a broad alley between the local bookshop and café. Unpaved and with dirt compacted down from years of use, it runs uphill to where a third tunnel sits, as the track leads up to another tunnel, this one apparently closed to traffic for whatever reason. Either side of the track is tree-shaded grasslands offer a sense of open wilderness. To one side, this land is cut through by a fast-flowing stream as it tumbles away from the falls which give it life, before it dives into what is presumably a natural bore hole which drops the water down under Burrow Wood by the Sea’s café and into that main waterway.
The falls feeding the stream drop from an arm of rock reaching out from the western curtain of cliffs to neatly split the landscape in two as it steps its way down to meet the main water channel. Tucked under this arm of rock and reached by a makeshift bridge spanning the tumbling stream, is a small cobble-floored terrace and wooden pergola offering visitors a place to sit. Across the stream from it and a little more down slope can be found a shaded picnic spot caught in the loop of a public footpath and, beyond that, another rental property.
Burrow Wood: Road to Nowhere, April 2023
Across the dividing wall of rock the landscape is equally rich and varied as it reaches back towards the building of Road to Nowhere. A wild garden, open to the public can be found on the slopes as they drop down from cliffs to water channel. A round gazebo, well shaded by trees sits within this garden, and both garden and gazebo might at first glance easily be taken to be extensions of the rental home sitting at the top of the slope as it climbs towards the backdrop of cliffs. However, this is not the case, as the fence marking the boundary of the rental property makes clear.
A large and deep pool of water makes up a good part of the landscape here, crossed towards one end by an old wood-framed, covered bridge; what appears to be a relic of a bygone era. A rutted track curves up from one side of the bridge and under the lee of the cliffs, suggesting that perhaps this was once a main right-of-way for carts and wagons – perhaps back in the day when the main track was still home to a railway track. However, across its span, the rest of this rutted route has in part been lost, leaving only a sign alongside at the back of the auto shop to note it is now “road closed”.
Burrow Wood by the Sea, April 2023
With its richly diverse landings, good use of ambient locals sounds, and the careful, natural dividing of the overall setting into a number of distinct areas, Burrow Wood offers photographer, explorers and casual visitors a lot to see and appreciate, and perfectly expands upon Burrow Wood County. My thanks to Monica for the invite to visit!
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, April 23rd, 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: Maintenance R viewer, version 6.6.10.579060, dated March 28, promoted March 30th – NO CHANGE.
Fantasy Faire 2023: Giraphoria – a portion of the art gallery, with Sambeaubee in the background
The 15th Fantasy Faire in Second Life brings forth many things for lovers of fantasy and residents of Second Life to enjoy – entertainments, shopping, role-play, auctions, literary and film festivals – and, of course a celebration of the arts in Second Life. From 2D art through to live music performances, dance productions and theatrical presentations. As I’ve already previewed the event as a whole, together with the Literary and Film Festivals, for this article, I’ll be looking at the Arts regions within the Faire.
For 2023, the arts at Fantasy faire are located on two Full regions directly accessible from the party / DJ events region of Sipla, whilst also offering an gateway into (and under) the shopping region Isle of Aquarius. Together, the three regions – Sambeaubee, Giraphoria and Sipla – form an almost contiguous setting, with the landscaping a joint design by Gidgette Adagio (Sipla, Sambeaubee) and Lilia Artis and Haveit Neox (Sambeaubee, Giraphoria).
Fantasy Faire 2023: Sipla
All three regions have their own dedicated landing points, per the links in this article; however, I would recommend that when touring them, you consider starting at Sipla and then progressing onwards through Sambeaubee to Giraphoria.
Sipla sits as a ancient and magical garden; a place where tress stand guard around and upon rugged hills, aged steps offer paths up and down slopes to climb hillocks where aged arches and stone pavilions stand, and paved terraces sit within encroaching moss and grass. This is a place where aquamarine pools feed the lush ferns, grasses, plants and trees; pools themselves fed by waters which flow down in crystal curtains from islands floating in the sky, defying the demands of gravity.
Fantasy Faire 2023: Sipla – the Fairechylde
A haven of piece, Sipla is also the home of the Faire’s DJ parties and entertainment (so the media stream can be raucous!), with the nucleus of these events – the legendary Fairechylde – lying before the rocky curtain and hills at the region’s western extreme, the landing point for the region sitting just below her, the paths through the gardens flowing down from these highlands much as the waters fall from the islands above, pointing the way eastwards towards Sambeaubee.
For its part, Sambeaubee forms a coastal causeway, arcing around a shallow bay to the south and open waters to the north. The land along this broad causeway in more open and less rugged than is the case with Sipla, but the architecture of stone towers, tall arches and glass-topped pavilions continues, marking the way east.
Fantasy Faire 2023: Sambeaubee
Giraffes roam the grasslands here and feed from the tall trees, while the land is in part split in two by a long, tall curving wall interspersed with arches and paths leading down to the bay. This wall stands as a celebration of past Fantasy Faire events and the Quests which have formed a part of many of them, whilst the bay beyond features a trio of small islands watched over by a pair of boats and the Cheshire Cat as he lies within the branches of a floating tree. I confess to being uncertain as to the function (if any) of these islands, with their Asian-inspired towers and buildings, but I did note they offer seating, as do the boats circling two of them).
At its western end, Sambeaubee is home to a large, open-air ballroom space, mirrored in neighbouring Giraphoria, which will be the location for the Masked Ball events at the Faire, with the region also hosting the Silent Auction (yet to open at the time of writing) and some of the Jail and Bail events. Overlooks a deep gorge cutting into the landscape, the ballroom offers one of two routes into Giraphoria, the primary home of arts and visual / live music performances at the Faire.
Fantasy Faire 2023: Giraphoria
Here the land takes on something of a desert-like tone and a rugged, rocky look. Arms to the north and south are homes to, respectively, the second half of the ballroom and the arts display. Between them, they hold within their arms a further inlet, deep-cut and itself home to a large island. Reach via two bridges, this island in both the location of an impressive sculpture of giraffes raising themselves pyramid-like to the sky and surrounded by butterflies, and the access point to the seating area for liver performances which take place on a stage area which can be brought into being over the open waters, courtesy of a multi-scene rezzer.
Offered as a piece of art honouring the giraffes that wander both it and Sambeaubee and which continues the butterfly theme found within Sipla, Giraphoria may be for some the first hint that there is more to these regions that meets the eye. As well as being connected to the rest of the Fairelands by the two bridges leading down to it, the seat area for live performances also has a third ramp, one that dips down beneath the waters. It leads down to an underwater gallery overlooking a deep ravine the floor of which offers scattered glowing plants, whilst a narrow cleft offers a suggestion that there is more to be found in this underwater world – but how is it to be reached?
Fantasy Faire 2023: Giraphoria – a portion of the art galleryWell, one way is to simply walk through the balustrade of this raise balcony-alcove and drop down to the sea floor. Another – and my preferred route – is to return to Sipla, then find your way to the archway connecting the gardens there with the Isle of Aquarius. Whilst this tall arch leads down to path leading out over the water to the neighbouring region, a second tall arch sits at the water’s edge, looking out towards the walls of Isle of Aquarius – and this in fact a gateway to the underwater realms which extend out under the shops and precincts of Aquarius as they sit on the waters, and beck unto Sambeaubee and Giraphoria.
The path down to the sea floor is steep, but marked by further archways. Turn left as you reach it, and a path of lighter hue compared to the rest of the sea floor well lead you west towards a huge basalt formation and undersea sculpture. However, just before this formation, a second path branches away to the north and under a further stone arch. This is the entrance to the underwater walk.
Fantasy Faire: Sipla – the path to the underwater gardens
Here, set within a deep ravine, area gardens rich a corals, anemone, sea grass and more, where fish swim and play, while drowned gardens, sculptures and temples await discovery. Following the very edge of Sambeaubee, this path and its gardens eventually bring visitors to the bowl beneath the waters of Giraphoria, where further tunnels are home to art both framed and painted onto the rock, as they lead to the Octopus’ cave and gardens.
Richly diverse, home to much that makes Fantasy Faire special, and visually engaging in their own right, the Arts regions of the Fairelands should not be missed.
April 20th, 2023: the Starship combination of Ship 24 and Booster 7: (l) approaching Max Q, intact but with several engines shut-down; (r) tumbling as control is lost. Credit: SpaceX
Thursday, April 20th saw SpaceX attempt the first orbital flight test of their Starship / Super Heavy launch vehicle combination. As most reading this article likely already know, things did not go entirely well with the vehicle’s flight termination system (FLS) being used to destroy it just under four minutes into its ascent.
The flight was always going to be a risk; the Starship / Super Heavy programme has been an extraordinary public display of a rapid development cycle (some might say too rapid), with little in the way of comprehensive systems and integration testing to match that of the likes of NASA. In addition, and ahead of the launch attempt, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell went on record as stating the launch wasn’t a “focus” for the company; that lay in upping the production rate for starship vehicles and boosters – a rather surprising statement, all things considered, and one I’ll return to later.
Launch came at 13:33 UTC, after some two hours of propellant loading on both vehicles, and proceeded per the notes below:
T -00:02: 33
Engine ignition and hold on the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM) as trust builds.
T +00:04
Launch clamps release, and vehicle commences ascent, most likely with the failure of three Raptors, two forming a pair on the outer ring of engines, one within the steerable inner ring.
T +00:11
Ship 24 clears the launch tower.
T +00:15
Booster 7 clears the launch tower, first confirmation of three engine failures / shut-downs.
T +00:19
Vehicle exhibits diagonal vertical movement, potentially due to the off-centre thrust resulting from the failure of the two outer ring motors.
T +00:28
Visible flashes in exhaust plume followed by debris departing the base of the vehicle at high speed – thought to be one of the hydraulic pressure units (HPUs), used to gimbal the inner ring of Raptor motors and steer the vehicle.
T +00:40
Loss of 4th Raptor, the third for the outer ring.
T +01:01
Loss of 5th Raptor, the fourth for the outer ring, as vehicle enters Max-Q.
T+01:30
Vehicle exits Max-Q.
T +02:00
Vehicle starts to exhibit off-nominal exhaust plume.
T +02:23
In a split-screen view, vehicle is seen to start slewing in flight at the point it is expected to rotate, re-stabilise and allow the separation of Ship 24 from Booster 7.
T +02:46
Vehicle is clearly spinning / tumbling.
T +03:09
Ship 24 appears to start venting propellants (or possibly a reaction / attitude control thrusters firing).
T +03:12
Venting (or thruster exhaust plumes) visible on both Ship 24 and upper portion of Booster 7.
T +03:25
Vehicle now clearly caught in a flat spin, venting / thruster plumes still visible from the booster’s upper section and from Ship 24.
T +03:58
Flight termination system (FTS) automatically triggered. Vehicle is destroyed.
While the data is still being assessed, the most probable cause for the loss of vehicle is a combination of the loss of at least one of the HPUs and the loss (or partial loss) of two of the inner gimbaling motors, coupled with the off-centre thrust generated by the failure of two pairs of motors located in the same hemisphere of the outer ring of 20 engines leaving the vehicle unable to sufficiently compensate for the biased thrust, resulting in the start of the spin / tumble, which continued beyond the point of recovery, triggering the FTS.
Following the launch, social media was swamped with hails of the launch being either a “success” or a “failure” – with the former being based on statements by SpaceX that if the stack cleared the tower it would be a “successful flight”; hardly the highest of bars to clear for a vehicle intended to be “rapidly reusable”, and the latter based on the fact that the vehicle had to be destroyed – also hardly a fair assessment: rocket can fail – as evidenced earlier in the month by the loss of the smaller Terran-1 rocket on its maiden launch.
Two views of Booster 7, showing 6 failed Raptor motors (l), and what appear to be two more in the process of shutting down (r). Credit: SpaceX
Certainly, there was a lot of valuable data gathered on the performance of the Raptor engines – although not all of this was good. From images gathered, it appears a total of 8 Raptors failed either fully (6) or partially (2). That’s a potential loss of 25% of thrust; not something you’d want to see on a payload carrying mission. On the other hand, however, the uncontrolled spin / tumble showed the starship / booster combination was fully capable of passing through Max-Q and showed remarkable resilience in withstanding any break-up prior to the FTS being triggered.
In particular, the test proved – as many looking at the launch site objectively had long noted (including myself) – the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM), the so-called “stage zero” of the system, was far from up to snuff if it is to support multiple launches, thanks to the lack of any provisioning of a water deluge system or flame deflectors.
Both of these are essential elements within any high-thrust rocket launch system. Flame deflectors do pretty much what their name implies: deflect the heat and flame of engine exhausts away from the launch complex infrastructure and launch vehicle, working in concert with the water deluge system. This delivers hundreds of thousands of litres of water across the launch pad and under it, to both absorb sound to prevent it being reflected back up onto the vehicle as damage-inducing pressure waves, and to absorb the raw heat of the engine exhausts through flash vaporisation – seen as the white clouds of “smoke” erupting from the pads during SLS and former space shuttle launches.
NASA’s Pad 39B water deluge system delivers 1.8 million litres of water to the mobile launch platform when in place at the pad. This water takes the form of a geyser due to it exiting the top of the pipe which would normally connect to the underside of the mobile launch pad so the water is can be distributes to smaller outlets across the top of the platform to cover it in a sound-absorbing “blanket”. As the same time, water is also delivered to the spigots at the top of a flame deflector structure within the concrete flame trench. This water is flash-vaporised during a lunch by the heat and flame from the rockets engines, the deflector itself pushing the super-heated gases of the rocket’s exhausts and the steam along the trench and way from the vehicle and pad to prevent fire damage. Credit: NASA
On Wednesday, April 19th, Linden Lab announced the launch of BelliHub and New User Tutorial regions – a new location within the Linden Homes Continent, open to all, which is intended to – quoting from Patch Linden’s forum post – provide:
A place where they can go to find information regarding Bellisseria, meet up with residents living in Bellisseria and have all of their questions answered. BelliHub features:
Information: Links to pages with details on things like how to get a home, Premium membership, using the land tools, the Bellisseria covenant, etc.
Bellisseria Events Centre: where members of the Bellisseria Performers Group can mark their events on the calendar for all to see.
Demo Homes: Finally a place where residents can rez and walk around all of the currently released home themes and models.
Hangout: A games area for residents to hang out and interact.
The BelliHub and BelliDemo regions are a resource for everyone who wants to help prospective new Linden Home owners, or just hang out and discuss all things Bellisseria.
– Patch Linden, April 19th, 2023
BelliHub: Linden Homes demo area
I will admit to reading the place name as “Belli RUB” at first glance, hence the title of this piece – I just couldn’t resist; however, the write-up and the Destination Guide entry left me curious enough to hop along and take a look just as soon as Fantasy Faire and completing setting-up my new PC allowed.
Sitting as a part of the New User Experience (NUX), BelliHub shares elements first seen at the new Welcome Islands I explored back in July 2021 to provide a tutorial area for new users and an introduction to Premium subscriptions, Bellisseria and Linden Homes. In particular, the kiosk-style approach to information areas seen within the Welcome Islands is repeated here, together with the garden-like layout and footpaths meandering between the different locales. However – and while I have not been back to the Welcome Islands to see how things may have changed since 2021 (makes a note to try to do soon in the near future), there are improvements here over that layout as originally reported.
Signage, for example, is much improved and less in-yer-face, giving progress through the various areas a more relaxed feel. Outside of the initial tutorial area / landing point, people are invited to touch the various signs to receive information, rather than having it shouted at them by detailed signs which can feel a little overwhelming. And talking of prior Welcome / Learning Islands, those with particularly long memories might want to to give a gentle pat on the head to the parrot at the Communications area, as he once again offers a call back to the Orientation Islands of old (all we need now is the old ball-and-table – which I think I’ve said at least once before!).
BelliHub new user tutorialProgress is also assisted by the use of blue directional lines laid out along the footpaths, giving a needed sense of order to progress. In the 2021 version of the Welcome Islands, learning was a little more random as people could wander past kiosks without necessarily taking notice of them; here, the trails lead directly to the kiosks and through the areas to which they are linked, encouraging attention be paid to the information boards without any sense of being led by the nose.
Very good use is made of video media throughout as well – complete with auto-detect volumes which trigger videos when someone crosses them / stands on them (instructions are also provided on toggling video media manually in the viewer). The videos range from those produced specifically for the NUX (hi, Abnor!) to videos produced as a part of the Lab’s Second Life University series.
The path around the hub eventually reaches a gateway titled Bellisseria, after passing a Landmarks area where those who wish to do so can continue their explorations elsewhere in Second Life. The archway marks the end of the the “basic orientation” section of the hub, and the focus turns to the ideas of land holding – both Mainland and Private – and on Premium options, with links (including a globe of the Second Life world where those wishing to do so can upgrade to a Premium subscription (the globe itself a further link to the Welcome Islands).
BelliHub: Linden Homes demo area
Given the title on the arch of the gateway, it should come as no surprise that beyond it is a focus on All Things Bellisseria including an events area which includes the ability to book the various community centres for an event by Bellisseria residents (click on the name of any community centre to open the World Map to teleport to it). I’ll admit, reading one of the calendars, I was a little concerned that the last time Abnor Mole ate anything appears to have been April 13th…); and information on the Bellisseria Covenant and what is or is not allowed in the Bellisseria continent. Beyond this, the path ends at a Where Next? kiosk with a link to the Destination Guide and some further focus. Alongside of this end-point is a small dock where a sailboat can be rezzed for those wishing to take to the water: a nice touch.
North of the tutorials / information area and within a second region, and a looped path offering the chance to visit demos of the released Linden Home themes. Visitors can either walk the path or grab a bicycle from the rezzer at the start point and ride around the path. Again, in a nice touch, the house controllers for the demos are open to the public, allowing people to view the different styles of the various themes. Just keep in mind that if you use a bicycle from the rezzer and opt to hop off to look at a house, the bike will poof.
For those looking for a little socialising, BelliHub offers a number of seating areas, some of which also include the opportunity to play chess or draughts, whilst the beach adjoining the tutorial area also offers beach volleyball, 10-pin bowling and other activities.
BelliHub new user tutorial
Overall, the BelliHub is well designed and considered, presenting an engaging and interesting visit for established and curious established Second Life residents as well as those coming into SL who might be directed to it, whilst for those who have invested themselves in Bellisseria and its various communities, it offers a further opportunity to socialise and – possibly – meet and help incoming new users to Second Life.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 