Category: Second Life

2022 CCUG meeting week #33 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Missing Melody, July 2022 – blog post

The following notes were taken from my audio recording and chat log of the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting held on Thursday, August 18th 2022 at 13:00 SLT. These meetings are chaired by Vir Linden, and their dates and times can be obtained from the SL Public Calendar.

This is a summary of the key topics discussed in the meeting and is not intended to be a full transcript.

Official Viewers Status

  • Release viewer: version 6.6.2.573358 – formerly the Maintenance 2 RC viewer, dated August 1, promoted August 4 – no change.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Profiles RC viewer updated to version 6.6.3.574158, on August 18.
    • Maintenance P (Preferences, Position and Paste) RC viewer version 6.6.3.573877 issued August 15.
    • Izarra Maintenance RC, version 6.6.3.573920, August 15.
    • Maintenance (N)omayo RC viewer, version 6.6.3.573882, August 5.
  • Project viewers:
    • Love Me Render (LMR) 6 graphics improvements project viewer 6.6.2.573263, July 21.
    • Performance Floater project viewer, version 6.5.4.571296, May 10.
    • Mesh Optimizer project viewer, version 6.5.2.566858, dated January 5, issued after January 10.
    • Copy / Paste project viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9, 2019.

Materials and PBR Work

Please also see previous CCUG meeting summaries for further background on this project.

  • The back-end updates are now “all there”, and the focus is now on “tightening up” the graphics., the the image-based side of things now looking “pretty good”.
  • Internal testing currently involves Second Life, the new PBR / Materials viewer, the Kronos glTF 2.0 standard and Adobe Substance tools (Painter, Stager) to ensure that results displayed within Second Life are consistent with expectations when working within Substance Painter and with glTF.
  • Some inconsistencies with using directional lights created in Blender have been noted and subject to further testing.
  • Those with access to the Content Creation Discord server will be able to obtain an updated viewer soon. This will lack transparency support or LSL support; it will also have some “rough edges” around the UI and inventory support.
    • This is a test viewer only, and not for general consumption.
    • A more public Project viewer will be made through the Alternate Viewers channels when the work is more stable and suited for wider consumption.
  • Once the initial work on PBR  Materials is released, the graphics team will likely work on some quality of life improvements (e.g. bug fixes) for the graphics system, rather than launching into a new project immediately.

Possible New Inventory Fields

Whilst not solely related to content creation, the Lab has been discussing the potential of adding new inventory fields. Ideas being considered or also put forward at the meeting comprise:

  • Providing a thumbnail image of the inventory item, rather than having to rely solely on descriptive text.
  • A means of “tagging” inventory items (e.g. to define what they are in terms of being an attachment or not, and whether the attachment is / is not rigged, etc.), rather than just simply leaving them as a list of orange boxes.
  • Providing a formal means of “archiving” items that are not regularly used but which are not yet ready to be deleted (other than boxing things up and creating more orange boxes….).
  • Splitting head shapes and body shapes to make it easier for people who use different heads with the same body (or vice-versa).

In Brief

  • Requests are again surfacing for texture animation support in particles (see feature request BUG-5307). Those interested in seeing such capabilities should consider adding feedback to this Jira.
    • This led to questions on a complete overhaul of the SL particle system, which is not something currently under consideration as a possible future project at the Lab – which is not so say incremental updates are ruled out. Again, specific requests incremental updates system should be made via Jira.
    • For texture animations on particles, for example, the Lab would likely consider adopting the existing texture animation system for use with particles, rather than rebuilding the particle system to handle texture and other animations.
  • There was a brief discussion of a viewer-side Animation Override (AO) system (e.g. similar in nature to the Firestorm approach). This has been raised in the past at TPV Developer meetings, where it appears to get more robust discussion.
  • The question was raised of having support for user-defined custom shaders in Second Life. The short answer is “no”, as there are too many variables (a custom shader for a single scene may work – but what happens with 30 people utilise their own shaders / shaders made by others and all congregate at a single club? The rendering will not scale (also, with people all creating their own shaders, how can a consistent result be ensured? What about the risk of malicious shaders being used with content?).

Next Meeting

  • Thursday September 1st, 2022.

Noir Vibrations in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Noir Tater – Noir Vibrations

Oftentimes the matter of who we are or whom we would like to be is bound into the idea that it is all matter of listening to our “inner voice” and following it direction.

But what happens when that inner voice is itself confused – or rather, unwilling to be constrained by a bilateral thinking and choosing not to be A, bit to embrace B; what if that inner voice desires to be C or D or more, even if giving expression to one, excludes us the allowance of one of more of the other ideals of who we are? Can we even make a choice, or are we forever caught in a state of flux – vibrating if you will, enduring a struggle not just with the matter of who we are or might be, but also what society expects of us.

This is the country of the mind Noir Tater explores within Noir Vibrations, which is open through the rest of August 2022 and into September at Dido’s Space – now officially called The Annex – within Nitroglobus Roof Gallery. It forms my first conscious introduction to Noir’s work, and I admit to finding myself draw into an ever-branching training of thought.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Noir Tater – Noir Vibrations
My need to be free in all aspects dominates, anguishes and suffocates me. Vibration Noir is my daily struggle to be what I am and who I am. 

– Noir Tater

Across 14 pieces – marking this as one of the largest exhibitions I’ve witnessed within the Annex at Nightroglobus – Noir offers a series of striking self-portraits which are striking in their presentation. Layered to present a sense of multiple exposures, cut through with large “pixelated” blocks of colours, some edges with touches of cubism and others rendered almost as anaglyph images, they are at once highly stylised and also deeply engaging, bringing forth that idea of vibrating between states of who ae are / might be.

These are pieces which quietly speak the to struggles the artist faces in their need to find the fullest freedom of expression. A quote from Jean-Paul Satre used to further underscore the fact the struggle can be made that much harder because of the all-pervasive binary structures we have woven into society – up to and including the notion that there is only “good” and “evil” (a particularly poignant underscoring, given the way those of so-call “good” religious beliefs seek to demonise those who look beyond the binary perceptions that have been enforced on humans by humans).

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Noir Tater – Noir Vibrations

Fortunately, for many of us, Second Life offers a safe haven for positive self-expression – and Linden Lab has done (and continues to do) much to foster this. However, through the use of “pixelated and “anaglyph” forms, these pieces also (perhaps) remind us that even hers, freedom to express ourselves is not easy: it requires time and effort on our part: learning to use the viewer, building visual representations by others may come to know us, etc. – just as is suggested we need anaglyph lenses to bring some of these images into “clarity”.

SLurl Details

Seanchai Library: Evil Under the Sun + more in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Evil Under the Sun – a Seanchai Library special event

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library – and this week previews the launch of a very special event.

As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Tuesday, August 16th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: The Last Cuentista

There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.

But Petra’s world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children – among them Petra and her family – have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.

Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet – and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity’s past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard – or purged them altogether.

Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

Caledonia Skytower read Donna Barba Higuera’s 2021 winner of the  Newbery Medal and Pura Belpré Award.

Wednesday, August 17th, 19:00: Seanchai Flicks

A special for Star Wars month as the Seanchai cinema space plays host to videos and throw popcorn around!

Thursday, August 18th, 19:00: Calydonian Boar Hunt Part 1

Shandon Loring reads one of the great heroic adventures in Greek legend, which took place a generation before the Trojan War: the hunt of a monstrous boar by a gathering of great heroes (excluding Heracles).

The boar had been sent by the Goddess Artemis to ravage the kingdom of Calydon in Aetolia, in revenge for the region’s king, Oeneus having slighted her when he forgot to name her in annual rites to the gods. The hunt is led by Meleager, and in most accounts is joined by Atalanta, the great huntress, who ultimately won the boar’s hide, leading to tragic results.

Evil Under the Sun: A Seanchai Library Special Event

Opening on Thursday, August 18th, is Evil Under the Sun, the latest in Seanchai Library’s immersive storytelling events.

The core of the event is a reading of the 23rd novel documenting the adventures of Belgian ex-pat detective, Hercule Poirot – Evil Under the Sun.

First published in 1941, the novel charts Poirot’s attempt to take a little time off from his investigations by taking a holiday in Devon, booking himself into the Jolly Roger Hotel (inspired by the Burgh Island Hotel, located on a tidal island just off the south Devonshire Coast.

Whilst at the hotel, he encounters the other guests, notably Arlena Marshall who, desire being at the hotel with her husband Kenneth and step-daughter Linda, spends a lot of her time flirting with Patrick Redfern – much to the anger of Redfern’s wife, Christine and the disgust of her step-daughter. Also among the guests is Rosamund Darnley, who was once sweethearts with Kenneth Marshall.

Trying to keep himself apart from the intrigue, Poirot finds himself drawn into the middle of things when Arlena Marshall is found dead on the sand of a secluded cove across the little island far from the hotel; a place where she apparently had a secret assignation…

Evil Under the Sun – a Seanchai Library special event

The Seanchai team – David Abbott, Corwyn Allen, Gloriana Maertens, Elrik Merlin, Kayden Oconnell, and Caledonia Skytower – will be bringing the story in a series of Sunday readings at 13:00 SLT, commencing on August 21st, 2022 and concluding on Sunday, September 28th, 2022.

However, as well as the reading, visitors to the event can also immerse themselves in the story’s setting by:

  • Exploring the hotel and grounds., partaking of fine dining opportunities.
  • Go swimming and diving.
  • Visit the site of the murder, Pixie Cove.
  • Take boat rides from the local pier, and enjoy picnics.
Evil Under the Sun – a Seanchai Library special event

Designed by Dagmar Kohime, Gloriana Maertens and Caledonia Skytower, the setting for the event is open 24/7, and offers plenty of opportunities for exploration and photography. So whether you come for the story, or plan your date night for the exclusive island resort, you’ll find adventure and intrigue at Evil Under the Sun!

Region courtesy of the Second Life Endowment for the Arts. 

2022 SUG meetings week #33 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
La Montagna Spaccata, July 2022 – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, August 16th, 2022 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

For the most up-to-date information, please refer to the deployment forum thread.

  • On Tuesday, August 16th, the simhosts on the Main SLS channel were updated to simulator version 573931, adding Premium Plus support to llGetObjectDetails() in LSL.
  • On Wednesday, August 17th, the simhosts on the RC channels will be updates with simulator version 574216. This includes the new LSL functions:
    • llReplaceEnvironment() – a scripted means to replace the environment in a parcel or a region, eEither for a single elevation track or the entire environment.
    • llSetEnvironment() – a scripted function to override the environmental settings for a region or a parcel. The owner of the script must have permission to modify the environment on the parcel or be an estate manager to change the entire region.

The Tuesday deployment took longer than anticipate, as has been accompanied by reports of back-end services issues (e.g. login failures, texture uploads failing, profile changes reverting) being experienced for some regions on coming back up. LL is investigating these issues).

Available Official Viewers

On Monday, August 15th:

  • A new Maintenance RC viewer – Maintenance P (Preferences, Position and Paste), version 6.6.3.573877, was issued.
  • The Izarra Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 6.6.3.573920.

The rest of the current crop of official viewers remains as:

  • Release viewer: version 6.6.2.573358 – formerly the Maintenance 2 RC viewer, dated August 1, promoted August 4 – no change.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself).
    • Maintenance (N)omayo RC viewer, version 6.6.3.573882, August 5.
    • Profiles RC viewer, version 6.6.2.573372, issued July 21.
  • Project viewers:
    • Love Me Render (LMR) 6 graphics improvements project viewer 6.6.2.573263, July 21.
    • Performance Floater project viewer, version 6.5.4.571296, May 10.
    • Mesh Optimizer project viewer, version 6.5.2.566858, dated January 5, issued after January 10.
    • Copy / Paste project viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9, 2019.

In Brief

  • BUG-232490 “not_at_rot_target fails inconsistently” is a re-filing of an old report (SVC-3324) which filed to get picked-up. The re-filling under the BUG project should ensure it is now properly triaged.
  • BUG-231553 “Revised: HTTP_ACCEPT not working as expected” (setting HTTP_ACCEPT on outgoing HTTP requests per: the function’s SL wiki notes doesn’t behave as expected. Currently you can set any values you like, but those settings aren’t reflected in outgoing requests). This may or may not be a bug, pending further user testing.
  • Please refer to the video for additional general discussion.

Raion No Su in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Raion No Su, August 2022 – click any image for full size

Valarie (Zalindah) recently invited me to visit the current iteration of Raion No Su, a homestead region design she has produced alongside of the Knick Knacks store, owned and operated by Natacha Haroldsen.

I’ve covered a number of Valerie’s region designs in this blog and I’ve always enjoyed the fusion of Asian, oriental and fantasy she brings to her designs – and Raion No Su is no exception. However, rather than having a specific theme to this build, Zalindah has brought together a setting of separate and yet conjoined vignettes, each featuring a certain animal motif.

Raion No Su, August 2022

The Knick Knacks store sits tucked into the south-east corner of the region, along with the main landing point. Occupying stepped ruins, the store fits in with the overall styling of the region, and is separated from Raion No Su by a long over-the-water boardwalk running westwards to a chain-like spread of land that almost breaks into a series of islands. This sensibly allows the store and the rest of the region to remain apart so that tourists don’t get in the way of shoppers and vice-versa.

The end of the boardwalk comes in two parts: a short walk to a Japanese-style gazebo also sitting over the water, and the second to the foot of a steep slope rising from the water.

Raion No Su, August 2022

Torii gates march up the side of a hill, guarding the steps rising from the end of the boardwalk, the gates themselves guarded by stone cats. The top of this hill offers the first of multiple places spread across the setting to sit and relax and have fun. Beyond it, the land falls away back towards the waters below, offering a broad meadow, a narrow channel separating it from the rest of the landscape.

Reached via a brightly-painted bridge, the lowlands continue onwards before rising to the top of a long spine of north-pointing rock along which a tree-shaded path runs. Close to the northern end of this path, a bridge branches away to cross a steep-sided gully to a thumb of rock almost sitting as an island in its own right. Beyond the bridge the path slopes gently down before switch-backing its way back up to a high, flat-topped promontory marked by a wide beach on its western side.

Raion No Su, August 2022

All of which barely describes the beauty of the setting. Throughout all of it are the aforementioned places to sit – ranging the benches to swings to little shaded sheds, rafts and even giant plushies; flowers bring sweeping blankets of colour or stand as beacons of reds and violets and blossom to mark the paths that await people’s footfall, and which rise from the waters as gardens of colour.

Also to be found through the setting and helping to bring it marvellously to life – frequently in the most fantastical and mythological of ways – are the animals and creatures which act as the aforementioned motfis for the different vignettes. From skull-headed foxes to sea-worms to great dragons to Krin, many of these creatures draw on Japanese influences, and they share the setting with cats, birds, rabbits, stag, orca, wolves and even an albino lion.

Raion No Su, August 2022

Nor does it end there; Valerie has added a huge amount of subtle detail to the region as well, much of which can be easily missed by the hurrying eye, but which also doesn’t strain the viewer overly much providing a little sensible care is taken with settings.

Finished with an engaging soundscape, photogenic under a broad range of EEP settings, this iteration of Raion No Su makes for a rewarding visit. However, if you do want to catch it, then you’d better hop along in the next couple of weeks – I understand from Valerie that she’ll be changing things towards the end of the month.

Raion No Su, August 2022

My thanks to Valerie for the personal invitation!

SLurl Details

2022 viewer release summaries week #32

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates from the week through to Monday, August 15th, 2022

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: version 6.6.2.573358 – formerly the Maintenance 2 RC viewer, dated August 1, promoted August 4 – NEW.
  • Release channel cohorts::
    • Maintenance P (Preferences, Position and Paste) RC viewer version 6.6.3.573877 issued August 15.
    • Izarra Maintenance RC updated to version 6.6.3.573920, on August 15.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V6-style

  • Kokua updated to version 6.6.2.49433 (non RLV) and 6.6.2.52756 (RLV variants) on August 9 (Win / Mac only – release notes.

V1-style

  • No updates.

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links