Category: Second Life

Lab launches Creator Partnership Programme

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

On Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025, Linden Lab announced the launch of the Second Life Creator Partnership Programme, an imitative intended to allow creators in Second Life “play a central role in shaping the future of Second Life”, through a collaboration with the Lab to co-create content and experiences aimed at both new and existing users of the Second Life platform.

The Creator Partnership follows on a number of recent collaborations between the Lab and various creators / groups in Second Life (e.g. MadPea, Seraphim) and perhaps most notably, on the heels of the new Avatar Welcome Packs.

The Avatar Welcome Packs are contained within the System Library, accessed via Inventory

The latter were rolled out quietly recently (although LL are promising to provide more details in the near future), and feature assorted “lite” and “basic” female and heads and bodies, together with a range of accessories and clothing, again from recognised creators (e.g. Lelutka, Addams, MeshBody, Velour).

I’ll actually have more on them in an upcoming post, but for now, the curious who may not be aware of them can find them in the System Library within their inventory.

Through the newly-announced Creator Partnership programme, Linden Lab is looking to work with creators on – initially – three core areas:

Welcome Packs: building on the approach taken with the aforementioned Avatar Welcome Packs, these are aimed specifically at incoming new users in order to help get them started on their Second Life. Such packs could comprises non-human Avtar Packs; Clothing and Accessory Packs; Home furnishing Packs, and similar.

The Lab notes these packs could be distributed through newcomer-friendly areas inworld (possibly for limited time frames), as well as on the Marketplace or Viewer.  But all Welcome Pack content should be optimised for new community members not yet familiar with all the intricacies of Second Life.

Community Perks: the Lab is also hoping to improve the community perks for more established residents. These might include: enhanced paid membership perks; free seasonal and special giveaways; expansion of the Mobile Daily Rewards initiative to include virtual gift; and future programs and promotions that include virtual perks and prizes.

Community Gateways: the Lab is hoping to partner with talented creators of high-quality in-world experiences which can feature as newcomer-friendly destinations available from Community Gateways and the like.

In return for their involvement, participating creators have the opportunity to introduce their brand and content to a wider and loyal audience, with the potential for inclusion in major on-boarding and promotion campaigns, together with the potential to have strategic impact on improving Second Life by working hand-in-hand with Linden Lab.

We’re looking to expand our community collaborations even further – and we invite creators of all types to help us build and improve the next generation of Second Life new user experiences and beyond. Whether you’re a fashion designer, avatar builder, home goods creator, experience developer, or just someone with a standout idea—we want to hear from you.

– Linden Lab blog post

How to Get involved

Further information via the official blog post.

Koexistenz in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

KOEXISTENZ is an immersive new art space created by Eta (etamae) & Jos (mojosb5c) I recently had the opportunity to visit, courtesy of an invitation from Eta. An experience-driven installation, it presents a unique blend of real-world images, digital art, 3D elements, movement and contrasts.

The installation stands as two elements: the Landing Point platform and the main sky platform. The former offers information on how to best view the event. I’d summarise this by saying:

  • The installation is best seen using a PBR viewer.
  • If you can, raise your graphics quality to at least High (Ultra is recommended, but TBH, unless you have a really high-end system / monitor, High works just as well).
  • You accept the local experience via the large “tablet”, to allow you to use the local teleport system.
KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

There is a recommendation to used the local Shared Environment – but to be honest, given the options present within the installation, whether you do or not is a matter of choice.

That said, I would recommend flicking to it, if it is not already selected on arrival, as it tend to show the Landing Point to its best – and its worth looking around (and under!) the platform before right-clicking the teleport disc to be transferred to the main installation.

KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

KOEXISTENZ has no set theme; rather it brings together multiple aspects of artistic expression – as described above – allowing visitors to simply immerse themselves in the installation and allow it to speak to them. In this there are two things to note on starting explorations.

The first is that the installation comprises three spaces, with two further large tablets between them. Touching either tablet will open a dialogue, allowing you to select one of eight different ambient environments. It’s worth taking time to experience the installation through each of them – that order you do so isn’t important – as they can change perspectives and views in the most subtle of ways.

KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

The second is that it is worth taking time to cam out and around the entire structure of the installation as a whole, if you can. There is a mix and flow of geometry to the structure that adds a further subtle complexity to the installation. It has its own unique beauty which should be witnessed in full.

Throughout the three chambers of the structure is a visually engaging mix of 2D and 3D elements – with some of the latter floating below the transparent floor, with some of the 2D pieces also animated. Reflection probes are used to huge effect, rendering beautiful results across the surfaces of floating tears, floating spheres glass-like statues and within the marble of the egg-like mounts of many of the pictures. Spheres revolve, cubes spin, bouncing ambient light over their flat faces. Changes to the ambient lighting via the tablets brings in to full relief the murals on some of the faces of the tent-like ceilings overhead. Everywhere you look there is something to see and admire.

KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

The division of work by the artists – the entire installation reflects their joint deep dive into the intricacies of Blender – is such that Jos created the physical space, Eta the lighting, art and images infusing some of the surfaces. Thus they offer a co-existence of styles and expression, ambience and art.

There is a rich layering of chaos and order throughout; pieces animate and move of their own accord,  images ripple and flow, blobs vie with more regular frames to hold pictures, geometric forms and shapes impose order whilst reflections chase one another randomly as the lighting changes.

KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

Simply marvellous and not to be missed!

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2025 week #17: SL SUG meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey
Peng Lai, February 2025 – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025 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 of the meeting and Pantera’s video, embedded at the end of this piece.

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.
  • These meetings are conducted (as a rule):
  • 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

  • This week will see all channel restarted without and deployments.

Upcoming Deployment – Elderberry

  • It is hoped the at Elderberry update will be deployed the BlueSteel RC channel on Wednesday Apeil 30th, 2025.
  • This release will likely include:
    • Anew option to llDerezObject – DEREZ_TO_INVENTORY, which returns the targeted object to inventory and saves its current state (e.g. has the same behaviour as Build → Object → Save Back to Object Contents.
    • llIsLinkGLTFMaterial  – which can can determine if a face on a linked prim is PBR.
    • REZFLAG_DIE_ON_NO_REZZER – which will cause a rezzed prim to die if its rezzer is no longer present in the region.
    • llSetGLTFOverrides, rather than changes to llSetColor and llSetAlpha to work with PBR, as changing the latter was “starting to lead down some very scary paths WRT ‘What is the right thing to do'”.

SL Viewer Updates

  •  Default viewer: 2025.03 7.1.13.14343205944, issued April 9th and promoted April 15th – 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.

In Brief

Please refer to the the video for details on the following.

  • Ability to rename a group is marked As Planned, but “is not currently in the queue right now”.
  • A request to make gravity / physics variable on a region basis (or as least when underwater. The response to this was twofold:
    • File a Feature Request outlining the requirement and how it might be used (e.g. through the SL Experiences mechanism) and see what the feedback from the community might be.
    • Whether the work could be undertaken or no would depend on a combination of how feasible it would be; the effort required to implement it (particularly in relation to other requests); how it might be employed.
The physics engine can handle a different acceleration of gravity, no problem. But, we’d have to track down all the places where we have hard-coded the normal value of gravity (server and viewer) and then replace that with a value that is communicated from the server, so we’d have to adjust the data protocol a bit, then get that work in all the important TPVs. Just thinking out loud how hard it would all be.

– Leviathan Linden

  • The above threaded through much of the meeting, in placing crossing over  into discussions:
    • About facilitating natural swimming in SL (i.e. Linden Water shouldn’t exhibit the same gravity as land and causing avatars to drop to the riverbed / sea floor).
    • The idea of the official viewer providing a built-in AO system (e.g. akin to Firestorm’s, but making use of llSetAnimationOverride.
    • On the SL wind and its usefulness (and to the ability to have wind-driven weather).
  • The official Discord channel has seen a conversation about allowing experience scripts to optionally rez objects as the experience land owner, rather than only the owner of the object (e.g. let an experience gun rez bullets under land group instead of needing to set land to open rez). Rider Linden stated he’d like to get something like this added to the roadmap.
  • Although more viewer-side, the camera became a focus of discussion:
    • While no work has been taken on it, New llSetCameraParams() rules: CAMERA_POSITION_KEY and CAMERA_FOCUS_KEY is something that might be a part of providing better camera controls for the likes of machinimatographers.
    • A reminder was given, as well: llSetKeyFramedCamera.
    • Leviathan Linden remided people that he had re-implemented follow-cam in the game-control project, so that the camera could be moved around with the game controller device. However, “there was much work to be done there to make anyone happy”.
  • The viewer-side implementation of Lua (not the server-side SLua project currently being tested on Aditi), is apparently “on hold”.

† 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.

A garden of lilies in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Jardin des Lys, April 2025 – click any image for full size

I received an invitation from Frank Atisso to visit the second of his public regions designs, which opened at the end of Easter 2025, following on the heels of Tide Haven, of which I wrote back in February 2025. The April 2025 design offers a similarly highly photogenic setting, but of a very different nature to Tide Haven.

Carrying the name Jardin des Lys – Lily Garden – the new setting is just that: a garden setting mixing formal and informal spaces built around a large main body of water festooned with blooming lilies lying serenely on its surface. Tall willow trees stand with heads bowed over the lake, boughs almost dipping leaves into the water as ducks swim by and an egret watches for careless fish.

Jardin des Lys, April 2025

The lake is supplied with water by falls on its northern side. It allows them to drift along its length, passing sweeping bays, a pavilion-topped headland and a lone flat rock of an island, before they finally exit the setting to the west.

Embrace the quiet elegance of Jardin des Lys — a lush, romantic escape where nature blooms in a harmonious melody of soft colours. 

– Jardin des Lys description

Jardin des Lys, April 2025

The Landing Point for the setting sits close to where the waters of the lake exit the region. It sits at the crossroads of paths visitors might use to explore the gardens. Immediately west of the Landing Point, a path leads to a tidy orchard, loosely-laid flagstones sitting between the trees. It appears some of the apples grown here are destined to be pressed and pulped for their juice – be it on its own for for cider: close to where the path strikes out towards the orchard is a table and cask where either juice or cider might be enjoyed.

A second short path leads south and through a picket fence surrounding a greenhouse and cloches. The former is now a cosy working space and the latter forcing tulips into growth and flower. A boat is tied-up at a little dock to one side of the greenhouse. Alas, it is not available for rowing out around the orchard headland and into the lake, bit does provide a place to sit and pass the time.

Jardin des Lys, April 2025

To the north, the path climbs a small plateau overlooking the lake. After meandering over the plateau and past the gazebo built there, it climbs back down via a stone stairway to head east and then turn north, offering a route to explore all the wildling garden the setting offers. This route includes passage to the the pavilion mentioned earlier, before passing over a little bridge alongside the northern waterfalls to reach the setting’ more formal gardens.

The latter – proudly displaying the date of their founding, 1873, in wrought iron over their main entrance, can be most quickly reach by heading due north along the final arm of the path at the Landing Point. The French theme of the region is continued here courtesy of  central statue of Napoleon I in horseback, possibly following his return to France following his first exile.

Jardin des Lys, April 2025

Around the central terrace on which Napoleon stands, the gardens are formally laid out into a series of spaces divided by a grid of paved paths. Reproductions of famous statues border the gardens, including Canova’s Venus Italica, commissioned by Napoleon, and version of the Borghese Gladiator and The Antinous Farnese, all of what present a mix of Greco-Roman inspiration. These gardens offer more places to sit – there are number of such spots spread across the region as a whole – , and provide access to two further buildings.

On the north side of the gardens, on the far side of the gateway leading into from the Landing Point, sits a conservatory which might have been built in Napoleon’s time, and is now the home of a tea house.

Jardin des Lys, April 2025

On the east side of the gardens, meanwhile, a narrow causeway rich in blooming roses and along which parallel lines of old power poles march, reaches out over the water to touch the octagon of large pavilion with glazed windows. It is of a style in which one could easily imagine a young Napoleon having an assignation with his mistress (later wife), Marie-Rose de Beauharnais (aka his beloved Joséphine) – the telephone and powerlines notwithstanding!

Throughout all of this Frank has, with the assistance of Vitoria Galli, filled the region with captivating detail, all the time taking care to ensure everything comes together in a perfect union. Nothing looks out of place here, and the various parts of the setting flow one to the next in an eye-pleasing and heart-warming grace and naturalness; Jardin des Lys is a place in which one can instantly feel at peace.

Jardin des Lys, April 2025

When visiting, I would strongly recommend using the Shared Environment, as this casts  the setting in the pink promise of a new day dawning, a hazy mist floating across the gardens and waters adding a glazing of mystery to the setting. Enjoy!

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2025 SL viewer release summaries week #16

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

Updates from the week through to Sunday, April 20th, 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.
  • Outside of the Official viewer, and as a rule, alpha / beta / nightly or release candidate viewer builds are not included; although on occasions, exceptions might be made.

Official LL Viewers

  • Default viewer: 2025.03 7.1.13.14343205944, issued April 9th and promoted April 15th – 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 – No Change.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V7-style

  • Kokua: 7.1.13.56907 (no RLV) and 7.1.13.60579 (RLV variants)  (2025.03), April 18 – release notes.
  • Megapahit: 7.1.13.53452 (2025.03) – April 15  – changelog.

V1-style

  • Cool VL Viewer Stable: 1.32.2.44, April 19, 2025 – release notes.

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No release updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Sous les Oliviers in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sous les Oliviers, April 2025 – click any image for full size

Ely (Elyjia Baxton) keeps herself busy! It was just back in January when I wrote about her (then) recently-opened Full region design entitled After the Rain. It was a delightful place to visit and wander, and I was happy to add it to my growing list of articles on her region designs. However, After the Rain has now gone, and in its place has sprung Sous les Oliviers (“Under the Olive Trees”).

As the theme of Tuscany, Sous les Oliviers is a place to relax, explore, or simply admire the view. Sous les Oliviers is the ideal retreat. Every nook and cranny is designed to offer you an immersive and soothing experience, away from the hustle and bustle.

Sous les Oliviers About Land / Destination Guide description

Sous les Oliviers, April 2025

Whilst stating – and primarily displaying – a Tuscan theme in terms of architecture, the setting carries broader European themes within it. There is, for example, its very French name, coupled here and there with signage on walls. The local open-sided chapel bears the Spanish name Parroquia des St. Maria de los Caballeros – Parish of St. Mary of the Knights, as it sits on its own little island, and the windmill almost overlooking the chapel (but for the intervening olive tree!) is perhaps atypically Tuscan in styling, and would look equally at home in, say France or England. There is even a little touch of Americana waiting to be found!

This is not in any way to complain; rather it is to note that Ely cats a wide net in the creation of Sous les Oliviers, and the catch she brings forth offers a delightfully rich study and setting for people to enjoy.

Sous les Oliviers, April 2025

The landscape is, for the most part, flat and cut through with waterways which break it up into island-like masses of differing sizes. This in itself is suggestive of low-lying wetland as might be found elsewhere in Europe rather than being specific to Tuscan. Say, for example, the Netherlands or England’s fenlands to name but two. This further enhances the setting as being a place of the imagination, rather than having firm roots in the physical in terms of location.

The waterways are in part fed from waterfalls dropping from the western border of the land.  These separate Sous les Oliviers from the neighbouring Loulou. However, a path leading to their mid-point and the gates to be found there suggest the two regions will be linked; but at the time of my visit, Loulou was under reconstruction and so closed to public access.

Sous les Oliviers, April 2025

Most of the landmasses making up the setting have structures on them, the majority of which are distinctly Tuscan in styling as noted. One the houses on the lowlands artificially elevated above the land on which it sits, suggesting there is a risk of flooding that had to be countered. The large, raised terrace of this house sits as a place where live music might be enjoyed.

No such protection is required for the houses to the south of the setting; they sit elevated as the land naturally rises. They also overlook a cliff-sided, rocky cove. One of the villas here sits before tidy rows of vines, together with large casks, suggesting it is a home to local wine or sherry production, if on a modest scale. The presence of bee hives might also hint at a little mead might be on offer as well!

Sous les Oliviers, April 2025

A little eastward from this villa, the land rises further, passing by way of an old stone-built cabin with steps down to the cove, to reach a large, flat-topped table of grass. This is home to both a large villa and a pool of deeply blue water suggestive of great depth. The pool feeds two streams which further add to the setting’s waterways, the first sitting at the foot of sheer waterfalls dropping away from one side of the pool, and the second being more of a bubbling brook dancing and bouncing away from the opposite side of the pool, as it tumbles down the slope to the waters below.

As one might expect, multiple bridges help connect the various parts of the landscape together, allowing visitors to wander from place-to-place without getting their feet wet. The Landing Point sits mid-way between the lowlands and the upper highlands in terms of elevation, and alongside one of the aforementioned streams as it tumbles down waterfalls from the large villa. A paved footpath gets arrivals started on exploring, running as it down south towards the local beach or north down to the lowlands proper, where a choice of routes to follow awaits.

Sous les Oliviers, April 2025

Wherever you wander, however, there is plenty to enjoy. The landscape is  – as one would expect – entirely natural and flowing in its look, rich in grasses, flowers, trees, and lots of little details. Runs of sand offer miniature beaches, deckchairs and benches offer places to sit outdoors, gazebos and pavilions offer both the opportunity to sit and also to break bread or enjoy a meal. Lavender fields alongside the windmill dash the land with deeper purple, and so much more.

About the only places where feet might get wet is in taking a wade through the waters to reach the chapel on its little isle or to reach that of the local lighthouse. However, as the latter sits on the shoulders of rocks which appear intend on rebuffing visitors from climbing them and leaving only the sands at their feet as an easy visit, then the lighthouse is perhaps better appreciated from the other sides of the waters!

Sous les Oliviers, April 2025

In all, a delightful – as ever – setting from Ely, and one highly recommended as a place to visit.

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