Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, September 15th, 2024
This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.
Official LL Viewers
Release viewer: version 7.1.9.10515727195, formerly the Altasaurus RC, promoted August 26.
Performance boosts. Memory management has been optimized and users will experience a higher FPS across various systems. A comprehensive range of bug fixes are also provided. This includes better PBR material handling and resolving frequent crashes. See the release notes for more.
UI for scheduling region restarts now available via a new button located in the Region/Estate floater. (Note: there is currently an issue with scheduled region restarts working correctly and a fix is due to come in the next server release).
Sorcha Tyles is a long-time acquaintance in Second Life; as an artist she is rightfully highly regarded for her Second Life landscape and avatar studies; as a former gallery owner she offered many (including myself) the opportunity to display their work. Now, as a the holder of two parcels within a Homestead region she shares with a close friend (I believe the other two parcels within the region are private), she offers two small and similarly-themed settings where people can visit, relax, take photos, chinwag and enjoy a dance or two if the mood takes them.
Separated by a channel of gently flowing water, Dutch Pavilion and Ameland are two sides of the same coin of creativity, and given that travelling between the two can easily be enjoyed via rowboat, they make for a pleasant joint visit.
Dutch Pavilion, September 2024
Both sit as low-lying sandy islands, Dutch Pavilion the slightly smaller of the two, with the sand meeting the sea to the north to form a shallow-beachy bay held between two rocky headlands, and behind which sits the Pavilion itself, a delightful structure of brick, steel and glass fronted by a terrace with outdoor seating guarded by both flowers and rocks.
Relax, hear the waves and have a cup of coffee at the café, while chatting with friends or just hangout at the beach and recharge! Discover the hidden spots and go fishing while watching the sun set…or start the day with breakfast by the fire.
– Dutch Pavilion About Land description
Dutch Pavilion, September 2024
Grass and scrubby dunes guard the back of the café, while the Landing Point for those arriving by teleport sits over to the island’s east side, close to a former lifeguard station which now serves and an information kiosk. If the café is a little busy, there are various places to sit out on the sand – one of which is alongside the fire pit mentioned in the location’s description (above) where breakfast might be enjoyed, and another in the lee of one of the north side rocky headlands, complete with an upright piano for company. Deck chairs and towels are side out on either side of the beach’s sweep – but do watch out for the local scorpion!
There are some gentle touches to be found around the setting – notably on the dunes behind the café, with lots of touches of detail that bring the setting to life. For those wishing to take photos, rezzing rights are available by joining the local Group (as is the case with Ameland) – but do please remember to pick your bits and pieces up after!
Ameland, September 2024
Sitting to the east of Dutch Pavilion is Ameland, which could be reached via a simple teleport (by, say, camming and double-clicking or via LM or using the teleport signs on either island) – but where’s the fun in that? Particularly when you can take a rowboat from the beach and then – after excusing yourself for disturbing the local sealions – row your way across the intervening channel and make landfall along the Ameland’s shoreline.
Welcome to Ameland, loosely based on the real Ameland. Enjoy the calmness, listen to the waves, the birds and find tranquility. Enjoy the free pancakes at the pancakehouse 😉
– Ameland About Land Description
Ameland, September 2024
For those unfamiliar with it, Ameland, it “is a municipality and one of the West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. It consists mostly of sand dunes and is the third major island of the West Frisians” (via Wikipedia). For her iteration, Sorsha offers some light touches from its physical world namesake (such as the lighthouse), with the focus of the setting being the pancake house sitting under the shade of a large monkeypod tree.
The Landing Point for the setting for those who do TP in, is to the south of the island, and a track smoothed into the sands of the island runs from here around the west shore, passing the little deck where fishing can be enjoyed and a rowboat obtained for crossing to Dutch Pavilion, before looping past the dunes on the north side of the island to roll up to the back of the pancake house, curling a set of playground swings in its arm as it does so.
Ameland, September 2024
The pancake house takes the form of an old farmhouse with seating on both floors indoors, as well as out on the stone-laid terrace set before it. The pancakes are plentiful and offered with a range of fruits and syrups (including one I’m rarely without, often taking it with my coffee: hazelnut – if you’ve not enjoyed a hazelnut latte (assuming no nut allergy!), then I’d be tempted to say you’re missing out!).
As with the Dutch Pavilion, dancing might be had here for those so inclined, whilst drinks and nibbles can be enjoyed out on the benches places on the sands. It is also along the sands of the shoreline that multiple places to sit and pass the time might be found, either on your own or with a friend or two, while the more active can always grab a bicycle from the rezzer close to the rowboat dock, and take it for a peddle around the sandy track – just please mind the bunnies hopping around!
Ameland, September 2024
Both Dutch Pavilion and Ameland are very engaging and pretty, ripe for photos and ideal for relaxing within. They are each offered under their own EEP settings (and lend themselves to personal EEP settings, as I used with my shots of Ameland), and both are finished with a gentle soundscape. So, why not hop over and see for yourselves?
One of the most popular technical requests for Second Life in recent months has been to extend 2K texture support to the Bakes on Mesh service, so it can be accessible for use directly on avatar clothing layers. During the Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting of September 10th, 2024, Pepper Linden indicated that an initial release of 2K Bakes on Mesh support could be forthcoming within the next week or so via the Beta grid – or Aditi, as it is called.
In an announcement posted of September 1th, 2024, Pepper confirmed that the capability is now available on Aditi for testing – and that accessing Aditi had now been simplified. To quote from the announcement:
Previously, residents were required to submit a support ticket to manually copy their accounts to Aditi. This process is now automated. Upon your first login attempt to the beta grid, your account will automatically sync, significantly simplifying access. Please be aware that the initial login may experience a brief delay as your account is copied over, but subsequent logins will proceed without delay.
And:
Inventory Synchronization
Each night, the beta grid will sync your inventory from Agni, provided you have logged into the beta grid within the past 24 hours. If you encounter issues where inventory items appear to be missing after synchronization, clearing your viewer’s cache should resolve the problem, as it may have cached your old inventory.
2K Bakes on Mesh Notes
In order to reduce the rendering impact in using 2K textures on system layers (skins, tattoo layers, clothing layers), there are limitations imposed on the system, whereby bakes will only be made at the highest resolution texture used in the avatar layers. So, for example:
If all the layers are at 512×512 resolution, the resultant bake will be 512×512.
If the majority of the layers are 512×512, but one is at 1024×1024, then the resultant bake will be 1024×1024, with the 512 textures upscaled to 1024×1024.
If the layers are all 1024×1024, the resultant bake will be 1024×1024.
If the layers are predominantly 1024×1024, but one is 2048×2048, the result bake will be 2048×2048, with the 1024×1024 textures upscaled to 2048×2048.
As Pepper revealed at the SUG meeting, the exception to this is eye textures: these are capped at a maximum resolution of 512×512, no matter what the resolution of the rest of the bake.
Issues and Feedback
Again to quote the official blog post:
We anticipate a temporary increase in system activity due to these enhancements. If you encounter any issues with these new enhancements, we highly recommend attending the Server User Group meetings held every Tuesday at 1 PM PST in the Denby region. Alternatively, you can submit a bug or feature request on feedback.secondlife.com. Your feedback is essential for refining and improving our services.
Memento Mori – Onceagain, September 2024 – click any image for full size
Onceagain (Manoji Yachvili) has redressed her public / gallery region of Onceagain for the autumn, bringing to it something of a reverential and in places a personal design that is captivating to the eye and provocative to thinking. Entitled Memento Mori, it sits as a both a reminder of our mortality and the essence of life and the need to appreciate all it has to offer; how we might best use our time, whilst also presenting the works of a number of artists as they reflect upon life and death.
‘Memento Mori’ serves as a constant reminder that everything, even our closest affections, are temporary. Reflecting one’s mortality can help increase gratitude, set priorities, improve awareness and guide us in leading a life that is more fulfilling and authentic. It also encourages us to consider what our impact on the world will be when and if we are remembered, inspiring us to make a positive impact on others.
How true for you is this?
– The introduction to Memento Mori
Memento Mori – Onceagain, September 2024
The reminders of our mortality are everywhere within the region, all of them surround the near-central landing point. This is located within a chapel raising a steeply-pitch roof towards a sombre sky as it sits atop a hill overlooking the semi-desolate landscape. Separated from the rest of the landscape by a ring of water crossed by a number of bridges that are themselves artistically styled, the chapel is beautifully laid-out and I very much recommend spending a little time there and reading the introductory dedication / taking the notecard Onceagain provides for visitors. There’s also the opportunity to fill-out the guest book and / or answer a question set by Onceagain, while for those wishing to visit Onceagain’s personal gallery spaces, a teleport board is set alongside the doors to the chapel, but as the main exhibition to go with this theme is located on the ground level, I will be focusing on that.
To be fair, at the time of my visit, Onceagain was still in the process of working on the region and in getting her invited artists set up; as such things may well change from the writing of this piece and any visit you might opt to make. However, at the time I dropped it, the ground level featured a selection of images by Melusina Parkin as they capture the essence of the region in a series of monochrome images produced in Melu’s aways captivating style. These are to be found a a board propped against a tall standing stone located a short walk from the steps leading down from the chapel.
Memento Mori – Onceagain, September 2024
I’m getting older and things are getting more confusing; what will I leave behind when I die? Will I leave some good memories to someone? In the meantime I’m full of memories of dear friends who left me alone in this world; and this year will be the tenth anniversary of one … who is no longer with me … So this is how this project was born and I’m happy that some friends have decided to put their vision on death.
– From Onceagain’s notes on the personal nature of Memento mori and its art.
At the time of my visit, two other core exhibitions had been set-up; the first by Onceagain herself, and the second by the inimitable Eupalinos Ugajin. In addition to these, Onceagain informed me whilst visiting the region that Moki Yuitza, Sole Krams and Vic (Victoria Worbridge) are also due to exhibit, and hopefully Karma Weyman and Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau).
Memento Mori – Onceagain, September 2024
Eupa’s exhibit can be found to the south-west of the region within a building sitting atop another hill. Entitled Smells of Playground, it is very much a light, bright celebration of what we come to regard as the most joyous part of life: childhood, as well as a reflection on creativity and design. The photographs offer a strong counterpoint to the the general region design, as does the music to be heard within the exhibition space.
Located in chapel ruins below and to the west of the landing point chapel, Onceagain’s display features a series of works on memorials found within the Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno (the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno) in Genoa, Italy. As well as being one of the largest cemeteries in Europe (covering more than a square kilometre), it is most famous for its memorials and sculpture, and within the chapel ruins at Memento Mori, Onceagain presents half-a-dozen photographs she captured within the cemetery, all of which have been post-processed for a specific finish.
Memento Mori – Onceagain, September 2024
More of Onecagain’s work is to be found scattered across the setting, as are 3D pieces from various creators which are in keeping with the core theme, further adding to the general ambience. These are also joined by a second small interactive installation by Eupa (touch the guide rope around the exhibit), whilst the alter on the hill (I’ve leave you to find it) is also interactive – so exploring on foot rather than simply flycamming / camming between the exhibits is strongly recommended. Be sure, also, not to miss the small memorial garden to the south of the setting.
Best viewed under the supplied shared environment and with local sounds enabled, Memento Mori a setting and art theme that encourages introspection as well as offering the chance to appreciate the art presented. I look forward to hopping back over the several days and viewing the work of the other artists who will be participating. And if you haven’t done so before, do use the teleport board at the chapel landing point to bounce up to Onceagain’s personal galleries.
The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, September 10th, 2024 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript, and were taken from my chat log. Pantera’s video is embedded at the end – my thanks to her for providing it.
Meeting Overview
The Simulator User Group (also referred to by its older name of Server User Group) exists to provide an opportunity for discussion about simulator technology, bugs, and feature ideas.
Meetings are open to anyone with a concern / interest in the above topics, and form one of a series of regular / semi-regular User Group meetings conducted by Linden Lab.
Dates and times of all current meetings can be found on the Second Life Public Calendar, and descriptions of meetings are defined on the SL wiki.
Simulator Deployments
On Tuesday, September 10th, the SLS Main channel was restarted without any deployment.
On Wednesday, September 11th:
There will be a further attempt to deploy the Picnic simulator update to the Ferrari simulator RC channel. A bug was found in llAvatarOnSitTarget() last week, which has now been fixed. The hope is that Picnic will now progress to the rest of the simulator RCs during week commencing September 16th, 2024, and thence to the SLS Main channel the week after.
The remain RC channels will be restarted.
Monty Linden indicated he is very interested in feedback about avatar region crossings / TPs, particularly with with Ferrari versus the rest of the grid.
Future Deployments
Currently, and following on from Picnic, upcoming simulator deployments currently have the following order:
Doubtfire, which has some internal changes, will follow Picnic.
Then will come the WebRTC deployments to make that code grid-wide.
After WebRTC will come a new simulator update called BBQ, which is still gathering updates for inclusion.
SL Viewer Updates
No updates at the start of the week, leaving the currently available public versions of official viewers as:
Release viewer: version 7.1.9.10515727195, formerly the Atlasaurus RC (object take options; improved MOAP URL handling) promoted August 26.
Performance boosts. Memory management has been optimized and users will experience a higher FPS across various systems. A comprehensive range of bug fixes are also provided. This includes better PBR material handling and resolving frequent crashes. See the release notes for more.
UI for scheduling region restarts now available via a new button located in the Region/Estate floater. (Note: there is currently an issue with scheduled region restarts working correctly and a fix is due to come in the next server release).
In Brief
Please refer to the video below for the following:
Issues have been reported with attachment behaviours. for example:
Attachments would disappear from everyone’s view except owner, who would be unable to detach, reattach, or interact in any way with the affected attachment, as the server no longer register them as attached.
Some of these are currently under investigation, and the subject led to an extended discussion through the first half of the meeting.
Pepper Linden noted further updates to the Map service are due to be deployed, and that pruning of ghost regions (those no longer on the grid but still showing on the Map) should commence later in the week.
2K BoM texture bakes: it is possible that code for this may be deployed to Aditi (the Beta grid) some time in the next week or two, bugs allowing. Hopefully an update at the next SUG or CCUG meeting.
The rule of thumb is that the bake resolution will match the maximum of any texture. So, if all the textures are 1024×1024, then the bake will 1024×1024. But if one of the textures is 2048×2048, then the bake will be 2048×2048.
The exception to the above will be eyes, which are limited to a maximum resolution of 512×512.
The deployment of 2K Bakes on Mesh will have an associated official blog post as it becomes available.
There are no plans on LL’s part to provide a translate from LSL user-code to Lua user-code.
Luau will likely be in 32-bit mode, until LL get the simulator binary building in 64-bit mode.
LL do not intend to define standards on how to write a Lua script for Luau; they are hoping that the community will consolidate and settle on particular design patterns and approaches, and once the dust settles, LL may then standardise the most common approaches
A general discussion on on throttling for llRegionSay and llRegionSayTo.
Leviathan Linden indicated the a dedidcate Game Control viewer is on hold as he is currently engaged on other work, and the code needs to be tested in relation with the Lab’s updated Linux support.
† 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.
Hailey’s Mystical Forest, September 2024 – click any image for full size
Note: This is coming on very short notice as a place to visit, as this setting will be closing on September 14th, but I really wanted to write about it.
Occupying a Full private region leveraging the Land Capacity bonus, Hailey’s Mystical Forest is a fantasy / romantic setting beautifully created by Hails (Hailey Enfield), a long-time resident of Second Life who started out on the Teen Grid and who graduated to the main grid where she continued to create through landscaping regions. She also has one of the most engaging outlooks on life, which I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing here, as it really is inspirational:
There are a thousand different possibilities for anything, our lives could be infinitely different, and we don’t know how it would look if it was different, because all we know is this. There is no certainty that you will live until tomorrow. There is no certainty that the universe will last as long as we think it will last. . . And that’s amazing.
– Hailey Enfield
Hailey’s Mystical Forest, September 2024
Within Hailey’s Mystical Forest, she has given us one of the wonders that were it able to do so, the universe itself might create as a garden for beings to wander. Split between two levels, the region offers a mix of public and private spaces (the latter limited to the sky platform, so no risk of interrupting things when exploring the ground level).
Spend Romantic time with that special someone or relax in a serene setting surrounded by fantasy; mountainous forest terrain and enjoy some solitude. To see the world In a grain of sand, or heaven in a wildflower. Enjoy the lush meadows.
LGBTQIA+
– From Hailey’s Mystical Forest About Land description
Hailey’s Mystical Forest, September 2024
This is a setting that makes extensive use of Elicio Ember’s creations in the forms of his glowing mushroom trees, fungi, moulds, lotus blossoms, and plants all used to great effect among Alex Bader’s tall Scots pine and across the undulating landscape. Given the nature of these plants, travelling through the region using the shared environment (World → Environment → Use Shared Environment) as recommended at the landing point is an absolute must. I was lucky in that my visit to the setting took place mostly during its night-time period, which brought the luminous nature of many of the plants to the fore.
The Landing Point is slightly elevated above most of the landscape, stone steps (from Alex Bader’s excellent Zen Garden building kit, which is also used extensively within the region) providing a way down to the gravel paths that meander around the trees and between rocks and plant life, branching here and there to offer multiple routes of exploration. Signposts along some of the paths will point to places of interest, such as the natural hot spring sauna / bath and the beach, but for the most part, it really is a case of following your nose and the paths and seeing where they lead.
Hailey’s Mystical Forest, September 2024
Along the paths it is possible to find places to sit and pass the time, be it in the natural rock pools, on the modern stone benches at a camp site or on blankets and logs found on a hill-top. Exploration will also likely introduce you to the setting’s plethora of kitties (like me, Hailey is a lover of cats and the region’s name helps preserve the name of one of her former kitties). Most of the felines will quietly observe you as you pass, although one does appear to have the duty of keeping an eye on one of the the forest’s pandas!
Those who find their way up to the top of the settings’ north-eastern rocky promontory can take a ride on a zip line (by Cube Republic) across the landscape and between the tree to where an ancient meeting place sits of the flat top of another hill. Also tucked under the lee of the northern promontory and best reached via the setting’s east-side beach, is a small hideaway where the romantically-minded can enjoy a cuddle / snuggle / more.
Hailey’s Mystical Forest, September 2024
The sky platform can be reached by climbing down the ladder sitting within a hollow tree stump at the Landing Point (and watched over by another cat!). This will deliver you inside the trunk of Elicio’s massive Tree of Life. A path exits the tree, quickly branching to offer a choice of routes.
As already noted, this platform, whilst a continuation of the forest, includes (at the time of my visit) two private residences to the south-west and west, so I’ve advise that if you make the trip up, to keep away from these to avoid trespass, and instead head eastward to the Japanese Water Temple. long the way you’ll pass another tree-trunk teleport to get back to ground level (or if you prefer, you can return to the Tree of Life and use the water portal there, you’ll just need to accept the Experience to do so), and also pass another of the setting’s pandas. This one is wandering the grassland in front of the temple, where further seating spots can be found.
Hailey’s Mystical Forest, September 2024
Per the note at the top of this article, Hailey’s Mystical Forest will be closing on September 14th (would that I have discovered it earlier in order to write about it much sooner!), so opportunities to visit are limited. However, I really did want to get something down in writing, both as a small measure of preserving its memory and to encourage folk to pop along and appreciate Hailey’s creativity.
So, please be sure to take the time between now and the end of September 14th and pay the region a visit!
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 