Category: Second Life

2025 SL viewer release summaries week #19

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, May 11th, 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 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.
  • Release Candidate: 2025.04 – 7.1.14.14742193597, May 2nd 2025 – NEW.
    • Includes the following new features:
      • Chat Mentions (Early Support): Type @ then pick a name. To follow: audible alerts and highlight colour pickers.
      • My Outfits subfolders: now supports the use of subfolders.
    • Key updates:
      • Build Floater improvements: increase to scale boundaries; Physics Material Type now updates when selecting linked objects; Repeats per Meter value no longer incorrect for non-uniform sized objects
      • Hover height: the minimum/maximum is now +/- 3 meters.
      • Snapshot floater: L$ balances can be hidden independently of the rest of the UI.
      • Preference Search bar: general usability and readability improvements.
    • Refer to the release notes for full updates and fixes.
  • Second Life Project Lua Editor Alpha, version 7.1.12.14175675593, April 2nd.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V7-style

  • Kirstens Viewer S24(2) – Drif (Build 2382), May 12, 2025 – release notes.

V1-style

  • Cool VL Viewer Stable: 1.32.2.47, May 10, 2025 – release notes.

Mobile / Other Clients

  • Radegast client version 2.46, May 11 – release notes.
  • SL Mobile (Beta) version 2025.5.550 / 0.1.541 – May 12  2025 (Avatar rendering improvements; select which Group notifications you wish to receive; Return to Lobby; Log-out option now Menu > [your name] > drop down arrow).

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Landscapes and a warning in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kondor Art Square, May 2025: Mareea Farrasco – Landscapes

Landscape photography is an art I greatly admire. Within Second Life it offers a means to capture settings and places which – the nature of the platform being what it is – might otherwise prove transient for a wide variety of reasons. Through the images taken of them, we might revisit places which might otherwise have vanished forever, rather than aging and changing with time and allow us multiple opportunities to revisit and appreciate.

As a demonstration of this, the Kondor Art Square, part of Hermes Kondor’s art hub, is hosting an exhibition of exceptional Second Life landscape art captured by Mareea Farrasco. Comprising 20 images gathered from across Second Life, the collection is called simply Landscapes, with each piece capturing its subject uniquely and beautifully. Each has been carefully and perfectly post-processed to give the impression of having been painted, adding a further sense of depth to their presentation, as well as demonstrating the validly of such editing when performed by an artist who understands the proper use of the tools at her disposal.

Kondor Art Square, May 2025: Mareea Farrasco – Landscapes

These are places which may be recognised by seasoned SL explorers – or, equally, they may not. However, whether or not you happen to recognise any given place is the collection doesn’t actually matter. What is of import is the beauty within each piece.

In this, Mareea’s eye, framing and editing combine to produce pieces which are immediately and richly engaging, drawing one into each of them in turn, offering hints of narrative and suggestions of memory. They speak to the purity of art in its ability to portray and present beauty for its own sake, without necessarily carrying a deeper meaning.

Kondor Art Square, May 2025: Mareea Farrasco – Landscapes

“Landscapes with a message” is very much the theme of the second exhibition I’m covering here: that of Blip Mumfuzz’s Landscapes from a Lost World, currently open at Serena Art Centre.

Blip is another artist whose work I admire immensely, hence why I cover so many of her exhibitions. Like Mareea, she has an innate ability to draw us into the heart of her images, together with an ability to direct our focus and weave stories. Her use of colour, angle and editing is such that her images can have both clarity and at times border on the abstract.

Serena Art Centre, May 2025: Blip Mumfuzz – Landscapes from a Lost World

Blip’s art is often capable of speaking to a wider theme; and such is this case with Landscapes from a Lost World. Set within an environment – the abandoned, fading structures of an old farm – specifically created by Blip in which to display them, and which is thus as much a part of the exhibition as the images, the exhibition actually presents a mix of landscape images and life studies, all focused on a message highly relevant to the physical world in which we currently live.

However, rather than offer my own interpretation of the setting and images, I’ll instead offer Blip’s own description and, like her, leave you to follow the advice on viewer settings and explore the exhibition so that the images, indoors and out, to speak to you within the framing of Blip’s words.

Serena Art Centre, May 2025: Blip Mumfuzz – Landscapes from a Lost World
In the face of the imminent climate-induced collapse of our modern technological civilization, the decrepit farm carries a multiplicity of meanings: societal decay, ways of life forever lost, economic and social collapse, and stands as an indictment of the sociopathic billionaires who are abandoning the rest of humanity and all its magnificent achievements in order to save themselves and to hold onto their power as long as possible.
Looking back from a time 25 years in the future, the images, which are scattered around the “farm”, should be seen as nostalgic dream images of our lost world.  A world that was once, within living memory, alive and vibrant; full of life, culture, love, hopes, and dreams, now being destroyed by the greedy and powerful.

– Blip Mumfuzz

Serena Art Centre, May 2025: Blip Mumfuzz – Landscapes from a Lost World

Two very different, be equally engaging exhibitions open through May 2025, and I recommend both to your eyes and thoughts.

SLurl Details

2025 week #19: SL TPVD meeting summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Maison de L’amitie, March 2025 – blog post †

The following notes were taken from my chat transcript + the video recording by Pantera (embedded at the end of this summary) of the Third-Party Developer meeting (TPVD) held on Friday, May 9th, 2025. My thanks to Pantera as always for providing it.

Meeting Purpose

  • The TPV Developer meeting provides an opportunity for discussion about the development of, and features for, the Second Life viewer, and for Linden Lab viewer developers and third-party viewer (TPV) / open-source code contributors to discuss general viewer development. This meeting is held once a month on a Friday, at 13:00 SLT at the Hippotropolis Theatre.
  • Dates and times are recorded in the SL Public Calendar, and they are generally conducted in text chat.
  • The notes herein are a summary of topics discussed and are not intended to be a full transcript of the meeting.

Official Viewers

  • Default viewer: 2025.03 7.1.13.14343205944, issued April 9th and promoted April 15th.
    • 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.
  • Release Candidate: 2025.04 – 7.1.14.14742193597, May 2nd – see below.
  • Second Life Project Lua Editor Alpha, version 7.1.12.14175675593, April 2nd.

Release Candidate 2025.04

  • Currently includes the following new features and updates:
    • Chat Mentions (Early Support): Type @ then pick a name. To follow: audible alerts and highlight colour pickers (New).
      • This does not support generic mentions such as @everyone or @here.
    • My Outfits subfolders: supports for the use of subfolders (new).
    • Build Floater improvements: increase to scale boundaries; Physics Material Type now updates when selecting linked objects; Repeats per Meter value no longer incorrect for non-uniform sized objects
    • Hover height: the minimum/maximum is now +/- 3 meters.
    • Snapshot floater: L$ balances can be hidden independently of the rest of the UI.
    • Preference Search bar: general usability and readability improvements.
  • Bug fixes as listed in the release notes (link above).

glTF Mesh Uploader

  • Originally planned for inclusion on the 2025.04 RC, this now looks as if it will be initially shipped as a project viewer.

2025.05 RC Viewer

  • This is being primed to contain the backporting of up fixes and updates originally intended for 2024’s Maintenance C RC. Details to follow as they are made available.

In Brief

  • Meeting format:
    • Following the previous TPVD meeting being held in local chat, the decision has been made to continue in chat only.
    • Both the TPVD meeting and the Open Source Development meeting now look on track to be combined into a single, text-only meeting, date and time going forward TBA.
  • Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) Updates: used for the likes of media handling / web page presentation within the viewer, the current version of CEF is increasingly out-of-date. How to update it has been a subject of internal discussions at the Lab, with Geenz Linden noting:
Current line of thinking is just have one CEF instance – use CEF’s tab mechanism. Seems to be the preferred solution by CEF as well for cookie management. It’s more work, but it’s also generally what seems to be the “preferred” route from CEF land. 
Now that being said.. Depending on when we can get that work scheduled (we have _a lot_ on our plates right now), we may be open to a stop gap with that work on the docket in the future. We want to do this by the book as best as we can, I want to be clear about that. We are well aware of how out of date CEF is in the viewer, and it is something we want to fix. We’re still figuring out the path to do so – do we have a stop gap for now with a firm commitment to a proper upgrade later? Do we just skip to upgrade? We’re still discussing it.
    • This discussion revolved around a suggested approach to update used within the Cool VL Viewer and submitted to (and rejected by) LL. Further discussions on both the Lab’s thinking on the CEF tab mechanism and a possible discussion on interim options such as the Cool VL Viewer approach.
  • Terrain texture blending: there can be a noticeable difference is results when trying to blend terrain textures when seen on viewers running on different operating systems.
    • See: Terrain blends are different for different users (raised April 25th, 2025, and closed on May 1st (“expected behaviour”) for a description of the issue.
    • See: Terrain Texture Blending Consistency for one suggested solution and further discussion.
    • The issue appears to be the manner in which the Windows viewer applies a randomiser for blend textures between different elevations compared to Mac OS / Linux (see: SL Wiki : Creating Terrain Textures – Elevation Ranges).
    • This discussion became mixed with one concerning issues with PBR mirrors yielding different results / failing to work at log-in (notably under Windows), and the discussion of potential fixes, although the root cause seems to be similar in nature.
    •  It terms of any “fix” for terrain blending issues, the problem is that any adjustment made to the calculations could end up impacting some percentage of users in some way.
    • LL’s view (at the meeting) was to lean towards keeping the calculations used by Windows untouched, and to try to adjust Linux / MacOS to match; the reasoning for this is that as around 90% of the user base is running Windows (and potentially landscaping in Windows), they are seeing things “correctly”.
    • This led to something of a debate along the lines of the “needs of the many”; the question of ROI on fixes of one types or another (time to implement, overall impact, etc.).
    • This discussion took up much of the latter half of the meeting, but no firm view on any likely “fix” or time-frame at this point.

Next Meeting

† 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 gathering of people every week. They are taken from my list of region visits, with a link to the post for those interested.

Relaxing in Lavender Springs in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Lavender Springs, May 2025 – click any image for full size

Back in September 2024 I dropped into Les Bean at the Salty C, a coffee house within the Cerulean regions (see Coffee and a Salty C in Second Life).

Designed by members of the extended Cerulean family, notably (at the time of my visit) Emmerson Skye Cerulean (Emm Evergarden) of The Nature Collective fame and Teagan Cerulean, it is one of a number of places held across Second Life by members of the family – and somewhere to which I’ve received an invitation to make a further visit, and plan to do so in the near future.

Lavender Springs, May 2025

Another location designed by members of the Cerulean family – V Cerulean Rhys (Veronika Nightfire)and Dani Cerulean (Dani Varela) joining Emm and Teagan – is that of Lavender Springs, a charming retreat offering hot springs, relaxation and opportunities for photography, sitting on the south side of Heterocera.

Located at the end of a short dirt track connecting it with the cobbles of the Atoll Road, Lavender Springs sits and an open-air retreat, a large sign encouraging people to explore, and a notice board offering information on the Cerulean Sea, the Nature Collective and the Greenwich Café – a coffeehouse apparently inspired by England’s Lake District, and so may well end up on my list of places written about.

Lavender Springs, May 2025

Small it might be, by Lavender Springs is perfectly formed and richly engaging. Three hot springs are available for bathing – two on one side of the stream flowing through the setting. The third is reached via a fallen tree trunk now doubling as a bridge across the colder waters of the swiftly-flowing waters of the stream as they tumble away from the local falls.

The first two springs are reached by crossing two wide stepped decks. One is the home of a massage therapy area, the other offers relaxation in the Sun. They are partnered by a stack of Zen rocks forming a tall pedestal for yoga and meditation.

Lavender Springs, May 2025

Oak, Jacaranda, Wildberry form a screen of mature trees to provide shade and some degree of privacy, while the large pool into which the stream flows perhaps offers the opportunity for cold plunges after time in the hot springs. For those seeking a quieter means of relaxation, a swing might also be found.

Watched over by egrets, completed by a gentle soundscape and offer a lot of detail in so small an area, Lavender Springs is another space adding considerably beauty to the Mainland.

Lavender Springs, May 2025

SLurl Details

To Arrakis and the halls of the Fremen in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Grauland – Arrakis / Fremen Home – May 2025 – click any image for full size

As is probably apparent from past articles in this blog, I enjoy science fiction in most of its various forms, be it literary, television, film or radio; and whether it takes the form of epic space opera or near / far-future explorations or action / adventure or comedic in nature. However, whilst I’ve read everyone from Adams to Zelazny, I have, in all honesty, never been overly enamoured with Frank Herbert’s Dune (neither the original novel nor the franchise as a whole).

I say this because Dune – in the form of Arrakis and its hardy inhabitants, the Fremen – forms the inspiration of JimGarand’s latest build (as of May 2025): Grauland – Arrakis / Fremen Home. Fortunately for those who, like myself, are not soaked in the lore of Dune as it might be found on paper or on film, one does not have to have an in-depth knowledge of either the planet or the the tale in order to appreciate the setting.

Grauland – Arrakis / Fremen Home – May 2025

Rather, all that is required is the knowledge that the Fremen arrived on Arrakis as a religious sect, thousands of years prior to the events within the franchise, becoming a numerous and hardy race, fully adapted to life on the desert world, living as tribal communities within cave warrens they call “sietch”, meaning “place of assembly in time of danger” (and borrowed from sich – a term meaning military / administrative centre – of the  Zaporozhian Cossacks, not that this is of any relevance at all in the scheme of things 😀 ).

The sietch of Arrakis, I believe, come in a range of sizes. Within Grauland, Jim and his partner, PaleLily, offer a fairly modest vision of such a centre of Fremen life, located somewhere within the greater desert of Arrakis. And while I cannot offer insight into the sietch found within the novels or associated films, etc., I can say that whilst minimal, Grauland: Arrakis / Fremen Home offers an interesting setting ripe for those seeking something a little different in which to take photographs.

Grauland – Arrakis / Fremen Home – May 2025

Surrounded by a desert expanse, this rocky sietch has been hewn within a low mesa, the entrance to which can be found a short walk from the Landing Point. Within it, as one might expect given the general description of such places, is a warren of tunnels, halls and rooms hewn from the living rock.

Some of the tunnels within this warren are roughly cut, walls and floors unfinished; others have squared-off walls, paved floored and properly supported doorways. Similarly, the rooms come in various forms, from simple cubes of space through to a grand pillared hall suggestive of a council chamber of or meeting place – or place of worship. Lights sit above doors, in ceilings and along walls provide pools of illumination which are particularly effective when running with shadows enabled.

Grauland – Arrakis / Fremen Home – May 2025

Perhaps the greatest delight within the sietch is its massive pool of water. When discovered, it can be the most unexpected find; it is also the one location within the sietch utilising a reflection probe, potentially as a result of it using a section of Alex Bader’s excellent PBR mesh water. Taken as a whole, it forms a relaxing focal point, with places to sit and meditate to one side.

As noted, this is something of a minimalist build, although I believe it might be one that evolves; whilst there are rooms either empty or only partially furnished, I’ve been given to understand Jim and Poly are interested in being pointed towards items that might sit within the overall setting without looking out-of-place.

Grauland – Arrakis / Fremen Home – May 2025

Those who find their way through the tunnels, halls and circular doors might find their way to a landing bay complete with a shuttle vehicle parked within it. Whilst the latter isn’t an Ornithopter, it also does not look out-of-place here as a piece of technology that might exist on Arrakis. The same might be said of the ship passing overhead.

Simple but attractive and well-suited to avatar photography – particularly for Dune fans – Arrakis / Fremen Home makes for an interesting visit.

Grauland – Arrakis / Fremen Home – May 2025

SLurl Details

Art and simulacrum at Nitroglobus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

Drawn from the Latin, simulacrum (“likeness, semblance”) entered the language of European art during the late 1500s, when was originally used to refer to a painting or statue directly representing someone or something (most notably a god or deity). However, by the 19th century, it had come to express an artistic endeavour – notably an image – formed without the substance or qualities of the original (e.g. to use a more modern example: a photocopy of a photograph of a painting).

It is a term which is particularly relevant today thanks to the rapid rise of generative AI tools, and the manner in which they can be used to literally churn out prompt-based images over and over without any genuine artistic input or understanding of the actual desired request or the inconsistencies, anachronisms and outright errors present within the final product.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

Of course, those using such tools diligently will argue that they are merely a tool; when balanced with a critical eye and the use of other tools to refine, enhance and correct, they can be used to produce richly diverse pieces that do have originality within them. This is actually not an unfair summation, as far as it goes.

The problem¹ here is that the vast majority of users of such generative tools don’t exercise skill or talent. They prompt, wait, publish, often using minor variations of the same prompt ad nauseam (“make the woman’s hair colour blue”) to produce a stream of near identical images (as all too often seen on the likes of Deviant Art). There is little originality within such pieces when compared one to the next; worse, there is little in the way of critical review, and those aforementioned errors are allowed to persist. Worse still, all this repetition (complete with errors) is fed back into the data pool, further diluting it and increasing the regurgitation of vacuous elements to form what amounts to self-perpetuating simulacrums, devoid of originality and talent.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

This constant cycle of regurgitation and repetition without originality is explored by Manoji Yachvili (onceagain), in her exhibition Simulacrum, currently on display at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, curated by Dido Haas. It is also very much a personal expression of Manoji’s own increasing sense of artistic loss and frustration as she sees creative expression, skill and progress within art and artistic experimentation vanishing in a rising tide of banality.

Reality no longer exists, it has disappeared, crumbled by the media and modern technologies that propose images that do not refer to reality, that receive meaning only from other images and that are perpetually regenerated, thus remaining increasingly disconnected from what was originally real. Everything I see has an appearance and the power of appearance, without a faithful external image and therefore devoid of the original vitality.

– Manoji Yachvili

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

To achieve this, Manoji presents a collection of original paintings that are richly expressive whilst clearly echoing the banality and emptiness of the kind all too easily spewed forth by generative AI. Through the use of simple, repeated elements – masks, faceless figures, and muted colours – she beautifully conveys the empty, expressionless redundancy so common within generative AI art.

Yes, these are all paintings utilising common themes elements – but each of them is completely original in form and presentation, allow it to stand on its own as a singular, unique piece carrying with it an ability to speak to each of us differently. Thus, these are pieces that reach beyond the artist, offering a richness of expression and meaning, standing not as the result of a collection of prompts, but as a prompt for our imaginations to take flight within them.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

In doing so, Manoji establishes the genuine power of art through the hand, eye and talent originating from within the artist, making this a beautiful expressive collection, each piece standing in its own right as a genuine work of art.

SLurl Details

  1. Please note that within this article, I’m intentionally avoiding issues of copyright and ownership in relations to the “training” of generative AI tools, because while these are clearly of concern generally, they are not the focus of the exhibition being reviewed.