Tramore Bay, the work of Pernilla (PernillaOhl) and Amelie Tautou (Amilee34) is once again evidence that you don’t need at entire region – Full or Homestead – to make a lasting impression in Second Life. Occupying the south-east corner of a Full region, Tranmore Bay is a compacts design, making full used of the space available to presents a highly photogenic and quite delightful cove-like environment in which to spend time.
That said, a visit begins, not within the cove itself, but high overhead, at the industrial / brewery chic Tramore Bar, where music can be enjoyed with a drink and game of darts or while cosying close to the fireplace. Six teleport options are available on the wall next to the landing point (and a TP station in on the floor, the twin of several at ground level), each of which delivers visitors to an area of the cove at ground level. As all are within easy walking distance of one another, which you take to the ground isn’t that important – although the café is perhaps the most central.
The default windlight at ground level is a deep sunset, but this is a place where a rich variety of environmental settings can be used to create the ambience required of your pictures. As Caitlyn and I both felt we needed a break from winter’s snow and hints of winter, I selected a more late summer setting for the pictures here to add some further sensations of warmth. The café is an old wooden structure, looking equally out to sea and inland. It’s and the rest of the cove lay protected by high rocky walls on three sides, with a view out over beach and sea to the south.
Woodlands border one side of the café , sitting in the lee of the cliffs and offering paths to wander and deer and horses to watch. Inland from the café is a music stage, with a path lurking in the shadows, offering a winding path up into the west cliffs. It is this path, and the one to the east of the land, which add further depth to the setting, allowing visitors to climb up between rocky shoulders to the flat cliff tops, then roam along the grass-covered rock to a camp site on the west cliffs or, by way of wooden bridge, to the chapel-like lighthouse keeping a watchful eye on things from a rocky island in the very south-east corner of the region.
The path to the lighthouse lies across a narrow body of water from the café , spanned by a rough bridge formed by the fallen trunks of trees. The path to it, like the one to the camp site, offers superb views over the land, particularly from the great rocky arch spanning the water to the lighthouse’s little perch. Also to be found on this side of the water, tucked under the cliffs, is an old ruin, the setting for outdoor dining, a little Romany camp close by.
Throughout all of this, there are charming little touches: the wild flowers; the snuggle posts on the beach and around camp fires; a scatter of art by Mistero Hifeng which add a unique feel to the setting; the sailing boat (privately owned) moored in the lee of cliffs and lighthouse island – and more besides. There are a couple of little rough spots in the landscaping where plants perhaps need to be phantom, or path sections don’t quite align, but these are more than compensated for by the sheer beauty of Tranmore Bay.
All told, this is a really delightful place to visit. Those interested in learning about music events at Tramore Bay can join the local group, photographers can enjoy the setting for their work, and explorers will find plenty to see and appreciate – and to offer reasons to tarry a while. Should you enjoy your visit, do please consider making a donation towards the enjoyment of Tranmore Bay by others via the tip jar up at the bar.
Now open at MetaLES, curated by Ux Hax and Romy Nayar, is Journey into Communication, an installation by Nevereux. Mixing 2D art, words and 3D settings, it presents a quirky but thought-provoking journey into the ways in which we communicate which all contains a degree of social commentary and some insight into the artist herself.
Nevereux introduces the installation in a completely self-effacing manner, “So here you’ll find everything you need (aside from few artistic skills) so to waste your most precious 77 minutes. Due to a fortunate series of coincidences, you’ll find a brand new iPhoneZ and a handsome pencil on the ground. Sure I’ve also got lots of decent pictures, but they’re all just kinda boring. Keep yourself awaken by sniffing the paint(ings) on the walls.”
This drastically undersells the installation, reached via teleport from the MetaLES landing point. The art is ranging in a circle around a slightly undulating snowy landscape. Pictures hang from the sky, and are mounted within small sets related to their subject matter (those on signals from space, immersion, and similar, are presented within the shells of what might be a space station, for example).
At first, the installation can be confusing – however there is logic to it. A raised stage sits in the south-east corner, with a door marked Enter beneath it. This is the starting-point, and visitors should progress from here in a clockwise direction around the display areas. The first of these poses the question about how we look at the world: through the limits of the screen – be it television, computer, ‘phone and so on – or through the richness of knowledge and imagination presented by books. After this, we are warned – again in a self-effacing comment: This is where it all gets a bit surreal.
Surreal things might be in places; but so to are they rich in depth and meaning – pointed to by way of the labels each has. “The images you see here are concepts,” Nevereux states. And they very much are – and more. They are reflections and thought on life, how we relate to one another, to the world around us, our condition – even on the way life has been reduced to a matter of consumerism. In many these ideas are clearly offered, either directly or through the support of accompanying text; in others, they are more obscure, encouraging one to take time considering them.
This is a provocative exhibition in that it demands thought and consideration when visiting. There is even, as noted, a small section offering insight into Neverex herself – and it is beautifully presented: through the words of a poem. Bitter-sweet, poignant and rich in imagery, this alone make a visit worth while.
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates for the week ending Sunday, December 17th
This summary is 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.
Official LL Viewers
Current Release version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, promoted November 29th – formerly the “Martini” Maintenance RC – NEW
Cool VL viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.20.39 and the Experimental Branch (Animesh) updated to version 1.26.21.5, both on December 16th (change log).
Update: D 0 X has closed, and Paradise has a new setting – Tokyo Street. Read this review for more. SLurls removed from this article.
D 0 X is a Homestead region designed by Paradox Ivory, and the home of the Urben Gallery. Open to the public, the region, at the time of our visit, lay split into three winter-bound islands, rowing boats (via rezzer) enabling explorers to travel between them without the need for flying.
Visitors arrive on the largest of the three islands, on the north-west side of the region, where snow is falling heavily. The landing point is on the central neck of the island, a short distance from the warehouse forming this single living space on the island. This has been converted into a cosy home, where someone has been baking and the table is set for dinner. Through a glass panelled door, the bedroom is scattered with the bric-a-brac of daily living, the entire scene within the building one of homely warmth, perfectly contrasting with the snowy scenes visible through the windows.
D o X – click on any image for full size
Outside, paths offer ways west, east and south. The latter is the shortest, running past an old church gatehouse (in which sits information on the region and a teleport up to the Urben Gallery, which will open on January 7th, 2018. This path ends at a wooden jetty where a rowing boat can be reached, providing the way to reach the remaining two islands.
The path to the east climbs a little set of stone steps under an arch of rowan boughs string with lights. It leads, by way of a path running between trees and bushes, to a rocky outcrop providing a view out over the winter waters to the smallest of the three islands, the home of a ruined lighthouse. Westwards, the path is wilder, again running between trees and bushes to a south-facing headland and offering a view towards the second largest of the islands.
D o X – click on any image for full size
With a grey rocky skirt topped by undulating snow, this island is home to a barn converted into a warm snug of a home, where the traditional bed appears to have been replaced by a chaise. The fireplace sparkles with flames, armchairs you could lose yourself in ranged before it, with all the accoutrements of life again scattered cosily around. Whoever lives here obviously isn’t put off by the cold: the brick paved terrace to the front of the property features a table set for dinner, an outdoor fireplace glowing with warmth alongside it.
The barn is reached via a path rising by step and curve from the island’s jetty, guarded at either end by gabled gates. This path runs alongside the house, offering access to the front terrace before continuing on to another outdoor seating area atop a small squared-off terrace and warmed by another fire. A little to the south from the barn, and overlooking a little inlet, is another outdoor fire and seating, a Thermos available for hot drinks.
D o X – click on any image for full size
The northern end of this island is crowned by a great wind turbine – presumably providing electrical power to the properties on both of the larger islands. Its great blades turn steadily, shadows seeming to slice silently over the snow, completely ignored by the deer roaming here.
With two further (off-sim) islands to the north-west and south-east, D o X has the feel of a tiny winter-bound archipelago in which seasonal retreats have been established. Set beneath a twilight sky circled by an aurora and patrolled by deer, it is a picturesque setting. We’ll doubtless be returning in the new year, when we’ll also pay a visit to the Urben Gallery up in the sky.
The following notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, December 15th 2017. The video of that meeting is embedded at the end of this update, my thanks as always to North for recording and providing it.
SL Viewers
[2:35] The Alex Ivy 64-bit RC viewer has one more bug the Lab would like to resolve, this one with the updater within the viewer. The hope is a fix for the issue will be in a further update to the viewer at the start of week #51, commencing Monday, December 18th. If so, the viewer might be promoted to de facto release status before the holiday break.
[6:46] Once the Alex Ivy viewer is promoted to release status, the Lab will move to block versions of their viewer older than the 5.0.6 viewer (the HTTP updates from June 2017).
[4:00] The Voice RC viewer updated to version 5.0.10.330039 on December 12th. This is doing “very well” and is currently being held from promotion due to the wish to promote the Alex Ivy viewer. As a result, the Lab might do a further RC update for it, with a new update from Vivox.
[5:19] A new Maintenance viewer, version 5.0.10.330035, appeared on December 13th. It features a range of fixes, and is code-named Nalewka, in keeping with the Lab’s new habit of naming Maintenance viewers after alcoholic beverages. Nalewka is, according to Wikipedia, a rather interesting beverage mixing alcohol (vodka or neutral spirits) and fruits, herbs, spices, sugar / molasses and which has a liquer-like taste.
[5:43] The anticipated 360-snapshot viewer update has been held while it is integrated with Second Life Place Pages. This will allow 360 images to be uploaded to Place Pages and used in hero images, etc. It is anticipated that these updates will now appear early in the New Year and the viewer should move quickly to RC status thereafter.
[4:43] TPVs attempting to use the viewer updater have encountered issues, often resulting in them disabling it. Oz Linden acknowledges it isn’t easy for TPVs to update it, but has offered to work with them to fix issues once the Alex Ivy viewer (which uses a new version of the updater) reaches release status, coupled with a code refactoring to make updating it easier in the future.
Linux and the Viewer
[20:51-24:28] As per my previous TPV meeting notes, once the Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer (Windows and Mac) goes to release status, the Lab will look to TPV / open-source developers to help move the Linux viewer build to a Debian package without the additional libraries. this will allow TPVs to add the dependencies they require for their flavour of Linux build. If help is given and the project is successful, the Lab will then maintain the Linux build, with the caveat that it will only be subject to cursory QA, and will continue to look to the Linux community for fixes.
A repository for code submissions will be made available, together with a blog post / open-source community notification on the specifics, after the 64-bit viewer has been promoted to release status. Those wishing to support the work will need to sign a contribution agreement with the Lab.
Texture Decoding and Texture Memory Limits
[28:23-29:52] The Lab is making improvements to texture handling (e.g. using raw texture data rather than encoded). Some of this work is in the current rendering project viewer; there is another non-public viewer which uses a new structure for the rendering cache – although this hasn’t been overly successful in testing thus far. Oz is anticipating his team spending more time on rendering in early 2018.
Environment Enhancement Project (EEP)
A set of environmental enhancements, including the ability to define the environment (sky, sun, moon, clouds, water settings) at the parcel level; a new environment asset type that can be stored in inventory and traded through the Marketplace / exchanged with others; scripted, experience-based environment functions, an extended day cycle and extended environmental parameters. This work involves both a viewer updates (with a project viewer coming soon) and server-side updates.
[10:01-11:34] “Rider’s been on a power trip since starting this project!” Grumpity joked at the meeting, “Moving these celestial bodies around the sky!” – which Rider admitted was fun.
Progress continues, and it is anticipated that test regions on Aditi and a project viewer will be available “soon after” the new year, although these may not initially support using environment settings and inventory assets.
Server-side Reset Skeleton
[30:10-35:25] Bento introduced a reset skeleton option for details with avatar deformations. However, it is viewer-side only – therefore, if someone swaps between skeletons / avatars + attachments and is displayed deformed (e.g. BUG11310) or with attachments wrongly place (or a combination), they, and everyone viewing them has to individually perform a reset skeleton on their avatar to correct how they appear.
A preferred means of handling this might be for a local reset to be sent update the appearance system to ensure everyone gets updated (so if I’m deformed, I can use reset skeleton, and everyone around me gets the update as well, rather than having to also use the reset skeleton option). Oz has requested clear, concise feature request on the idea. Grumpity has indicated she’ll follow-up on the specifics of BUG-11310, which the Lab thought to be resolved through and internal JIRA.
Simulator Resources and Simulator Crashes / Performance Degradation
[43:53-50:20] Discussion on simulator resource use / loading balancing. This proceeds from the false assumption that a region / simulator can be crashed “just” by overloading it via a resource / physics hungry script. While there may still be exploits where this might be the case, the Lab long ago imposed absolute limits on script and physics time per frame. What more usually happens is that excessive script / physics loading on a region as whole as a whole can degrade performance as some script / physics executions are skipped within a frame (so scripted objects are slow in responding / may not respond as anticipated, for example); although it is acknowledged that specific items – intentionally or through bad scripting – can have an undue impact on performance. Anyone encountering specific objects, which can individually adversely impact region / simulator resources / performance is asked to file a JIRA with details of the object in question, so that the Lab can obtain a copy and poke at it.
Other Items
[13:24] Estate access / ban lists: (Estate/Region floater) – work has stalled on this.
[14:21] A question was raised on the ability to teleport others home from, or out of, your own parcel, a capability that had been available in the older v1 (and v2?) viewers. Having an ability to remove people at parcel level is something the Lab will likely look at as they continue to work on the land tools.
[16:59] the updates to the estate tools will include a log of ban actions taken – who banned whom and when – which will be visible to all Estate Managers (not general group / land users).
[35:35-36:20] Semi-automatic viewer tests: Kitty Barnett (Catznip) have a number of semi-automated viewer tests (e.g. checking to see if all UI elements / floaters work in different languages). The Lab have found that as the viewer is updated / changed so often, such tests rarely maintain their value over a period of time. However, Oz is willing to learn more about at Kitty’s framework if it avoids such issues.
[36:39-37:53] Viewer support for local meshes: this has been a frequent request, particularly with content creators. It is also something the Lab and Firestorm have looked into. However, supporting multiple mesh formats, dealing with LOD compositing, etc., makes it complex and difficult to implement within the viewer. However, if the Lab can find a way for the viewer to do this, they would consider implementing it.
[50:43-55:07] Phishing/ URL link spoofing: a discussion on the use of URL link spoofing – which has affected Second Life and is a general issue on the web as a whole. Short version: always check URLs before clicking whatever you’re doing, and in terms of SL: always treat links receiving (e.g. via dialogue boxes, via unexpected / unknown IM, etc.) with caution, and while it does not eliminate risks, configure your viewer to use an external web browser to open external links. Obviously, and like any other company, the Lab cannot – and will not – every guarantee the safety of accessing URLs which are outside of its control.
While not foolproof, setting your viewer to use an external web browser or to only use the built-in browser for trusted links from LL, might provide some added protection against scam URLs you might obtain through in-world sources
Lab No Change window: runs from Thursday, December 21st 2017 through until Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018.
Next TPV Developer meeting: Friday, January 12th, 2018.
Firestorm release: the next Firestorm release now looks set to go to beta in the week commencing Monday, December 18th, with a release to be made early in the New Year.
Shop and Hop / Shop ‘Til You Drop – until January 1st, 2018
The Shop and Hop (or Shop ‘Til You Drop, if you prefer the region descriptions) event, organised by Linden Lab, and featuring 60 SL merchants and designers, has opened its doors to shoppers.
Following the success of the SL14B in-world shopping event, in November, the Lab posted an invitation for merchants to sign-up for a Christmas event which would be timed to run through the holiday season until January 1st, 2018. The invitation in part described the event thus: “We are looking for merchants willing to offer a discount on some of their items (think Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals!) and possibly provide a little non-exclusive gift to holiday shoppers.”
The result is 60 stores within the event’s mall-style environment offering a broad cross-section of goods: clothing, accessories, jewellery, homes and prefabs, furnishings, decor, landscaping, boats, novelty items – all of which makes the event something for everyone.
The mall is the same 3-region space used for the SL14B event, with the buildings redressed for a more seasonal look: ponds are frozen, stripped candies rise from flower planters, decorative wreaths and snowflakes are mounted on walls, together with wintry scenes photographed from around Second Life, while many of the participating merchants have also dressed their store spaces for the event.
In all, the participating merchants are: !APHORISM!, !Rebel Hope Designs, .{PSYCHO:Byts}., .TeaBunny., [ JUSTICE ], [ west end ], /*KC|Couture* /, *YS&YS*, #adored, ~Tableau Vivant~, ADRIATIC line, alaskametro<3, alme., amara beauty, Apple May, AZ Emporium, bella moda, Blueberry, by Crash, Cae, Canimal, Cheeky Pea, ChiC buildings – surrounds – prefabs – decor props and poses, CONSTRUCT, Contraption, Dictatorshop, Dynamic Evolutions, e l i a v a h ~, E.V.E, Envious, etham, eXxEsS Hair, Fancy Decor, Grimes Central Design (GCD MESH), Heart Trees Flowers Plants, hello dave, Hucci, ISON, Lapointe Bastchild, Lemon Chilliz, Lune Bleue, MadPea, Maven Homes, Maxi Gossamer, MOCO HOMES Emporium, Musa, Nani, Never Totally Dead … , New CHEZ MOI Furnitures, NOX. & Third Eye, PATRON, Petit Chat, Potomac Signature Homes, ROC, Sweet Thing, The Forge & EZ, The Mesh Shop, Vanity Hair, http://www.studio-skye.com, zed designz and Zibska.
All of the regions are rated Moderate, and the SLurls to each are:
Tramore Bay – click on any image for full size
Tramore Bay – click on any image for full size
Tramore Bay – click on any image for full size
Tramore Bay – click on any image for full size
Tramore Bay – click on any image for full size
