Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, May 26th, 2024
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: 7.1.6.8745209917, formerly the Maintenance Y/Z RC ( My Outfits folder improvements; ability to remove entries from landmark history), dated April 19 and promoted April 23 – No Change
The 2024 (and 16th) Second Life Sci-Fi Con is currently in progress across eight regions (+ the landing point region and teleport hub). It will run through until June 4th, 2024, raising money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation in association Team Fox, the fund-raising branch of the Foundation, and Creations for Parkinson’s in Second Life, and with the support of Linden Lab.
This year Sci-Fi Con proudly presents “Sci-Fi Con 16: Altered State.” Our mission is clear: to unite individuals from diverse backgrounds for the betterment of our shared world. Our vision extends beyond the virtual boundaries, aiming to make a significant impact in the lives of those affected by Parkinson’s disease. To achieve this, we are committed to giving 100% of the proceeds directly towards the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Together, we stand united, making a real difference in the pursuit of a better future.
– From the Sci-Fi con website
2024 SL Sci-Fi Con
As is usual for the event, many of the sci-fi franchises popular in Second Life are present at the Con, with shopping spread throughout the regions, together with entertainment and other events. The best way to find out about the latter is via the Con’s event page (all times SLT) – although whether it was my browser or an issue in general, I found clicking URLs opened Google Maps rather than the SL Map, so hopefully it will work for you.
All of the regions can be reached via the teleport boards at the main hub and within each of the regions. It is also possible to walk between them and over the water to / from the hub. I believe a monorail system is available, but during my visits, I didn’t actually see it operating, so not sure.
2024 SL Sci-Fi Con
This year’s convention includes the Scavenger Hunt – HUDs available at the Hub. So, prepare your away team / landing party, set phasers on fun and head over to the Sci-Fi Convention.
Bella’s Lullaby, May 2024 – click any image for full size
Not too long ago I noted that I’d received notice that Bella’s Lullaby – a place oft covered in these pages – was about to undergo a makeover as the hands of region holder BellaSwan Blackheart (thank you, Johann!), and so whilst waiting I toddled off to visit Bella’s other setting, A Place in the Sun (see Finding A Place in the Sun in Second Life). Well, turns out I didn’t have to wait long for the updated Bella’s Lullaby to arrive; it’s now once again open for business, so I bounced over to see what is new.
At the time of my last visit to the region, back in February 2024, I noted that the region had something of a North European feel to it – like a small island nestled along the Scottish coast or Europe’s Wadden or Baltic Sea coastlines. With this iteration, the region maintains something of a similar vibe – albeit one where the off-region mountains might suggest his location is further north and west and lying off of Norway’s marvellous “crinkly bits” (as Douglas Adams once referred to it) coastline.
Bella’s Lullaby, May 2024
There are certain similarities about this design and the last iteration of Bella’s Lullaby – and indeed, with A Place in the Sun – which gave me a subtle sense of being on an island-hopping journey with Bella through a place where the different islands are perhaps all part of the same chain. There are motifs and elements common to two out of the tree – or even all three – that can be spotted as one explores. This is common enough given the way items in inventory can be repurposed and / or reused, and certainly not to the region’s negative; rather the reverse in fact as it allowed my imagine to suggest a narrative linking these places together in my head.
This is again a design where less is more – an approach at which Bella is exceedingly good. The landscape presents a semi-rugged, low-lying island. Forming the same of a “C”, it sits with the open mouth of the “C” pointing westwards to cup a shallow bay in the island’s grassy arms. A single thumb tack of an island is pinned in the open mouth of the bay, a lighthouse atop it providing warning of the shallow waters within. There are no hills here, just a gentle undulation across the landscape as it keeps itself above the rippling of the surrounding waters, the coastline moss and grass-topped rock that drops sharply into those waters without feeling the need for any intervening shoreline of shingle or sand.
Bella’s Lullaby, May 2024
As well as the lighthouse, the island is home to a house and a cabin. Both are topped with turf on their roofs to help with insulation, with the house offering a attic space large enough to form a bedroom, although only a sofa occupies it. Who lives here is open to the imagination – but whoever they are, they certainly love their cats! Despite being barely furnished, the house has a cosy feel to it, possibly because of the overgrown nature of the grounds surrounding it; shrubs and flowers hem it in, combining with the vines climbing the walls to give the house a sense of warmth and hideaway.
A rough path runs around the shore of the bay to reach the cabin. This is a much smaller affair, and appears to be more of a washroom / garden house than a home.
Bella’s Lullaby, May 2024
The two arms of the island are of slightly different width, broad where it is home to the larger house, then narrowing gently as it sweeps around past the cabin, giving the impression of a tail trailing away from the main body of land. As well as the house and cabin, the wider portion of the island boasts a large coppice of trees between cabin and house with a smattering of outlying small tress to either side which appear to be standing guard over this side of the island. The tail, however, is without trees and displays more of the island’s rocky underpinning as it points back past the lighthouse.
Within this landscape is wildlife and animals a-plenty: the cats already mentioned (more of which are to be found outside), chickens, geese, goats, cows – not to mention the local birds. A sound scape adds further depth here, offering the bleat of goats and the musical joy of birdsong.
Bella’s Lullaby, May 2024
This is a place very much for wandering and photography; the open nature of the landscape allows for multiple opportunities for landscape photography, whilst the scattered elements of smaller details encourage more focused pieces. And believe me, camming around carefully is well worth it, Bella’s ability to put together little vignettes that suggest her settings are living, breathing places is excellent, and there is a rich clustering of these around the main house – some in plain view, others perhaps requiring a little patience to focus in on.
If you’re looking for cuddle spots, then it is possible this setting might appear to disappoint; just be sure to take a closer look. There are places to sit aplenty, all neatly spread across the region indoors and (particularly) out, and several include single and couple sits, with one also including options for taking a plunge in the waters of the bay (and for engaging in a little kung fu or practicing anything you may have learned at Hogwarts!).
Bella’s Lullaby, May 2024
Bella always produces memorable settings to explore, appreciate and photograph, and this iteration of Bella’s Lullaby is no exception – so do be sure to pop along and pay a visit.
The following notes were taken from the Thursday, May 23rd, 2024 Combat User Group meeting (also referred to as the Combat Committee User Group or CCUG, an abbreviation also used by the Content Creation User Group, and which I’ll not be using in these summaries to reduce the risk of confusion between the two). They form a summary of the core items discussed and responded to by Lindens, and are not intended to be a full transcript.
Meeting Overview
The Combat User Group exists as a forum to discuss improvements to the Linden Lab Combat System or LLCS to better support combat in Second Life.
The core idea is to provide additional events and capabilities which sit on top of LLCS to provide combat creators with better tools with which to create better combat systems for their specific scenarios.
The meetings are the result of a proposal document on improving the native damage system in SL, written by Rider Linden, and which is the focus for both the meeting and any work arising from them.
These meetings are conducted (as a rule):
By Rider Linden, with the support of Kyle Linden.
On alternating Thursdays (rotating with the Content Creation User Group) at 13:00 SLT. Meeting dates are recorded in the Second Life Public Calendar.
Initially in text, although voice might be included in the future depending on feedback from those attending.
The current iteration of Combat 2.0 support on the server-side is due to be included in the Summer Fun simulator update. This is targeting a June 2024 release. However:
No date has been as yet given for when this update will commence deployment on the the main grid.
Any target dates given ahead of time are subject to final QA check-through and code clearances.
In preparation for the code going into the Simulator update, Rider is planning to freeze his own updates to the code in the week commencing Monday, May 27th, 2024.
This will very much be a release to find out exactly what works and what doesn’t for the Combat community/ies in Second Life and will be iterated upon going forward.
There are a couple of functions that might not make it into the initial release, although Rider is going to try to slip them in before QA freezes the Summer Fun code in preparation for deployment. These are:
Two additional parameter for llRezObjectWithParams – one that will set the collision filter on rez and a second that will make it derez if it’s rezzer goes away.
A new function – provisionally called llMedea (a reference to Greek mythology and vengeance), which will let an object unrez/kill something it has rezzed (hence the mythology reference).
The request for an llSensor function to check for objects with health has been acted upon. It is available in the Combat 2,0 sandboxes on Aditi and tests for “damageable” objects.
Comments and Requests
There were three Combat-related regions available to simulators on the Teen grid: Lexington, Concord, and No Man’s Land. These were seen as meaningful for many in the Combat community/ies, and a request has been made that, if possible, to bring them back to simulators on the main grid.
Rider passed this request directly to Product Operations, who were able to bring up all three regions after they had been off-line for 10 years 7 months (+some days, hours, minutes).
A request was made to add a “fast” parameter to llRezObjectWithParams which would allow objects to rez at a reduced delay, thus allowing higher rates of fire for some weapons without the need for additional rez nodes. The issue here is that any such parameter could open up griefing vectors, as such it needs to be handled cautiously – if at all.
It was suggested the parameter could be managed at region owner / estate level (e.g. so only enabled where specifically required).
A further request for additional estate managements tools was made: one to disable the rez queue where required, as it is seen as causing major interruptions in combat scenarios.
There have been requests (including a feature request) for the first-person shooter improvements that have been added to the Black Dragon viewer to be considered for official implementation. This is a viewer-side feature, so would a) require a code contribution; b) would have to be considered for implementation by the viewer team.
A question was asked about avatar orientation / rotation (larger a viewer-side function) as whether it could be made more granular to determine where an avatar may have been hit with a projectile, rather than just getting a hit yes / no response.
Rider indicated he has some ideas for improving the handling of avatar rotations (e.g. force rotation, and / or determine rotation); however, it is going to take further research and testing before anything is made available.
Such a capability would have applications beyond just Combat.
There was a general discussion on RezObjectWithParamater bullets (and possibly “regular” bullets) colliding with an avatar / mesh on the same tick and not damaging the avatar (see related request here). Rider indicated there is no fix for this in the initial updates.
A request was made if there might be improvements to help with melee combat situations, to which Rider replied:
As a matter of fact yes. We’re going to have to hold off on collision type combat (just because of the way that works right now on the simulator) BUT you can use the technique of doing a quick sensor scan in the arc of your weapon and then applying damage directly to what you hit with llDamage.
An informal request was made for the Combat Log (Brigadier Linden) to record death positions. Rider felt this could be quickly added, and requested a formal Feature Request via the Feedback Portal. This was done, and he is now working on it.
A suggestion was added to this to also include the position of the damage object’s owner at that same instant. since people seem to be worried about auditing for cheating.
TheNest : Sunbird, May 2024 – click any image for full size
I recently had the opportunity to visit TheNest : Sunbird, a Full private region leveraging the available Land Capacity bonus designed by Second Life partners Adam Cayden (whisperinmyearz) and Lya Seerose, together with Tessa (Tessalie). The region offers a mix of photogenic public spaces and private rental – the latter of which are very imaginatively placed in order to help tenants maintain their privacy.
Come visit our blossoming city hidden in the mountains, enjoy the lake and its blooming scenery, our blissful rentals and enjoy the beauty from the smallest flower to the tallest of trees.
– TheNest : Sunbird About Land
TheNest : Sunbird, May 2024
The city in question is nestled in the south-east corner of the region, adjacent to the landing point, itself sitting on the southernmost tip of the land and facing an arch leading into the city, with two routes around the headland angling away from it on either side. A signpost offers hints as to what to look for when exploring, although at the time of my visit, the sign appeared to be on the wrong side of the archway, directing people around the waterfront (itself a nice walk!) to reach the city, rather than through the archway.
The main street of the townscape a has been neatly pedestrianized in part, presenting plenty of opportunity for wandering. Most of the building here are façades, relying on external elements for their attractiveness – tables and chairs, outdoor stalls, etc., – a combination that makes for plenty of opportunities for photography without the need to load-up shop interiors. The two exceptions to this are the rental office with details on some of the rentals available in the region, and the coffee shop.
TheNest : Sunbird, May 2024
We tried our best to give SL wanderers an interesting blend of urban city with a lively feel and intense blooming nature, building our rentals with the most wonderful views, trying to build a community of people to share it with … And we plan to do little events pretty often, festivals and more quiet things too!
– Lya Seerose, The Nest : Sunbird, co-owner
There’s a lot of small details in and around the city centre which make wandering a pleasure, from the fountain in the middle of the street, all the way around the southern waterfront, complete with its static figures to add a sense of depth and place, and which offer more opportunities for photography.
TheNest : Sunbird, May 2024
Other details to be discovered include the pet parking area, the mix of English / French / American influences (the telephone boxes, the subway and taxi, and the rooftop bar- club – and more. North of the town, the land rises significantly, curling around a deep-cutting inlet to offer broad uplands to the west, surmounted by the rental properties.
To the east, the route up to the higher elevations is marked by a tree-lined track leading up to a deep meadow bounded at its northern extent by the sheer walls of cliffs which again rise up to more of the local rentals. Those leaving the town on its eastern side, where the local road suddenly peters out, can also make their way along the coast to where the cliffs start to rise, and use a wooden board walk to climb up to the slopes above, and then walk up to the meadow from there.
TheNest : Sunbird, May 2024
With small glade-like area to one side offering shade across the head of a short stream that feed down into the inlet below, the meadow offers numerous places to sit and pass the time and an opportunity to feed the local raccoons. A further path rises to the west, passing through a woodland area which itself skirt the line of cliffs and plateaux with their rental homes. This path curves around the head of the inlet, offering a number of vantage points from which to look out over it, together with further places to sit. In addition, the path split to offer a route to the western extent of the region and down to the waters at the head of the bay.
There is a natural flow and beauty through this part of the region that is very visually engaging, whilst the use of the higher plateaux for the rentals ensures they are nicely distanced from the public spaces to avoid trespass (or indeed, from having intrude into photos) without them being completely divorced from the setting, allow those renting the properties the best of both worlds – comfortable surroundings, the opportunity to drop down into the region and share the walks, etc., some excellent views – and privacy of their own.
TheNest : Sunbird, May 2024
The rentals themselves come in four five styles with up to 5 units in each style. All are supplied furnished and with a Land Impact allowance for personalisation. Gardens are included, with the larger units having nicely landscaped outdoor spaces which give plenty of room for tenants to have a comfortable home life. Those interested in renting should visit the rental office in the town for more details.
Charming, light, with much to see and appreciate – not all of which is covered here – TheNest : Sunbird makes for a very pleasing visit – and potentially, a very engaging place to live, if you happen to be in the market for a ready-to enjoy home.
TheNest : Sunbird, May 2024
Note: the official opening for TheNest : Sunbird will be on Saturday, May 25th, 2024 commencing at 23:30 SLT with music by DJ Vic. Lea, Tessa and Adam extend a warm invitation for people to hop over and join the party!
The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, May 21st, 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.
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 21st, the Main SLS channel was restarted without any deployment.
On Wednesday, May 22nd:
The BlueSteel RC channel should be updated with a re-deployment of the Spring Break Simulator update, after this had to be rolled back in week #20.
The rest of the RC simhosts will be restarted.
Upcoming Deployment
The major deployment for June is set to be Summer Fun. Among other things this should include:
Leviathan Linden’s game controller event work to support game controllers – although these will require a viewer-side update to expose the updated viewer UI.
Rider Linden’s work on the SL Combat System (SLCS) 2.0 updates (see my Combat User Group summaries for more).
LSL updates:
A new parameter to llRezObjectWithParams REZ_PARAM_STRING – allows the passing of a 1024 char string to the object being rezzed.
llGetStartString() to retrieve the string.
A fix for the notecard cache so that it a fixed amount of memory (enough memory to store 48 max-sized notecards) rather than the count of notecards.
SL Viewer Updates
No official viewer updates at the start of the week, leaving the pipeline as:
Release viewer: Maintenance X RC (usability improvements), version 7.1.7.8974243247, dated May 8 and promoted May 13 – no change.
The feature request to prioritise 2K support for Bakes on mesh is gathering a lot of support.
This sparked discussion on VRAM being maxed out, and a reiteration that the viewer show only download textures at the resolution required to match their screen size (e.g. if the texture takes up 512×512 pixels – that’s the resolution downloaded and used), and only download and use the full 2K version when zoomed right in, then discarding higher resolutions and clearing VRAM on zooming out. This also lead to comments as to the overall effectiveness of this approach.
llSetContentType and setting it text/html: a discussion on the restriction whereby if the requesting html viewer is not owned by the server object, or is not the built in html viewer, the sent content type is just “text”, and the implications of removing that restriction (e.g. to make media on a prim (MOAP) more generally usable).
Further discussion on the notecard cache change.
Monty Linden noted that the issue of the Friends list being unreliable in reporting people’s on/of-line status is being reported again (he referenced this report). He requested that anyone experiencing issues with on-line friends showing as off-line (or vie-versa) to please comment on the report.
† 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.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 