Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, September 1st, 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).
La Côte Sauvage, September 2024 – click any image for full size
Update, November 2024: La Côte Sauvage has relocated and has been remodelled
Sitting within a half Homestead region is La Côte Sauvage (The Wild Coast), a natural location held and design by Second Life artist-photographer Caly Applewhyte (Calypso Applewhyte). It takes as its inspiration the Breton Coast, France – although whether it is predominantly inspired by Brittany’s northern or southern coastline or an amalgam of both is unclear; and while there is a stretch of French coast along the Bay of Biscay actually called La Côte Sauvage, this lies within Nouvelle-Aquitaine further to the south, so is potentially not a factor in the setting’s design.
Note that where or upon what the setting might be directly inspired is particularly relevant; Caly’s La Côte Sauvage speaks entirely for itself as a small but highly photogenic setting; a place which uses elevation to its advantage, allowing it to represent a coastal area without relying on being backed-up against one side of the parcel or another (or maybe two sides) within which it sits, thus allowing to stand as something of an island setting, whilst also allowing the imagination to interpret as a stretch of coast whilst wandering between valleys and hilltops.
La Côte Sauvage, September 2024
Although sitting within a half Homeland region, the setting is actually split into two parcels: to the south is La Côte Sauvage itself, primarily given over to dray land and with a richness of content that does not feel it is in any way overcrowding the parcel. Then, to the north is the largely open water La Côte Sauvage 2, to which I’ll circle back in a bit.
The landing point is located on the southern side of the land, where a small boardwalk reaches over the water from one of the setting’s beaches to a little knob of an isle that offers the first of many places where those who wish to sit and spend time in the region. On the landward side of the boardwalk, a signboard for the Nature Collective can be found, where donations for the settings upkeep can be made. Close by are further places to sit, one in the lee of one of the setting’s hills, the other on the beach itself.
La Côte Sauvage, September 2024
The main path of exploration runs north between two of the elevated parts of the location, dog-legging a little to the east to reach the bank of a stream as it cuts through the landscape in a reverse “s”, before turning north again and open out to access another of the beaches. To the left of this path are steps leading up the side of the hill to reach a low plateau claimed by the local sheep and which includes a comfy little seat for any shepherd wishing to keep and eye on them 🙂 . From here it is possible to climb up to the highest point in the setting, where a rotunda has been built to house a small gallery of Caly’s photography, together with a vendor where copies of Caly’s work can be purchased.
This gallery overlooks the beach mentioned above, behind which sits a carpet of grass between the beach and the stream on which can be found a summer house. Neatly utilising the larger half of Cory Edo’s Yara Treehouse outfitted to offer a cosy retreat, complete with a sofa to watch the ebb and flow of the sea.
La Côte Sauvage, September 2024
The second half of the treehouse structure sits as another little cosy hideaway on the south side of the landscape. It can be reached one of two ways: when following the main path between the hills, a turn to the right at the foot of the the hill there and using the stepping stones to cross the stream; alternatively, a walk east along the beach at the landing point and then following a rock (and spray-drenched!) walk around the base of the cliffs to where a bridge spans the mouth of the stream. On the far side of the cabin from the stream offers a way up to the hill behind it, as well as to a little cove that offers a bit of a hideaway place to sit and spend time.
Turning to the stream, this starts to the north-east of the land, snaking its way south and west and then back to the east again to reach its mouth. It’s possible to follow a good part of the stream towards its source using its southern bank and two bridges. Doing so will bring visitors to the two final points of interest on the northern side of the setting: the ancient ruins on the northern-eastern hills, and the raised walkway reaching out over the water to an aged stone pavilion surmounting a single island.
La Côte Sauvage, September 2024
Both the ruins and the pavilion, although of different ages, sit will together and add a sense of history to the setting – and in the case of the ruins, with their stand stone, alter and ancient Norse horn, offer a sense of mystery and mysticism, while the columned steps leading up to these points carry a hint of ancient Central American architecture. Meanwhile, the pavilion carries with it a hint of the Romanesque in both its style and its furnishings (and even in foodstuffs set out on the table).
All of the above still misses out on so much the reach has; the manifold places to sit and / or take photos, the coastal soundscape, and the ability to rez items – most notably as props for photography – but do remember to pick up your bits when done.
La Côte Sauvage, September 2024
It’s this aspect of rezzing that brings me back to the the open water to the north of the land, offering as it does the opportunity to rez something like a rowboat, pedal boat, windsurfer or similar and take to the water and travel around the setting (just be careful about straying into the neighbouring half of the region!
In all, a beautifully crafted setting, relaxing, and fun to explore – but don’t just take my word for this!
Petite Provence d’Annisss, July 2024 – blog post †
The following notes were taken from my audio recording + the video recording by Pantera (embedded at the end of this summary) of the Third-Party Developer meeting (TPVD) held on Friday, August 30th, 2024. My thanks to Pantera as always for providing it.
Meetings 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 re conducted in a mix of Voice and text chat.
The notes herein are a summary of topics discussed and are not intended to be a full transcript of the meeting.
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).
The next viewer to surface after DeltaFPS will have further bug fixes and improvements.
Graphics / PBR
Performance Issues Update
On Thursday, August 29th, Linden Lab issued the following via the Grid Status report mechanism:
We have seen an increase in crashes for some Residents on Windows with older Intel HD-based graphics (GPUs) after the latest release of Second Life Viewer 7.1.9.
If you are experiencing such issues, be sure to download and try the DeltaFPS RC given above. This has a lot of changes and fixes to things like bugs, and to texture loading, memory management (including running the viewer in the background), etc, and those testing it who encounter issues are asked to file reports.
We’ve been going over statistics trying to figure out what went wrong and in our stats, 7.1.6 [quoted as 7.1.7] was running quite well, and 7.1.8 [the Graphics Features viewer release] was running quite badly. Atlasaurus [the current release at the time of writing – 7.1.9.10515727195] gets us back up close to where were with 7.1.6, but not quite to where we want to be, so we’ll see where DeltaFPS lands and will get some statistics on that over the weekend.
We do know some low-end systems are having problems with the PBR update, so we’re still looking at that. for example, we’ve noticed that on Nvidia GT1030s [[GPU released in 2017] we’re had a large drop-off of users from users on those cards. Now we have some of those in-house, and we’ll be making sure … they run well on those.
Most of the issues for low-ends seem to be coming from running out or memory, and there was a bug that went out with Featurettes that caused the viewer to think that you had system memory available, and it would continue to allocate textures and then run out of memory and your performance would go to crap and you’d crash. So that’s been fixed in Delta FPS, it was not fixed in Atlasaurus, so were hoping to see the trend continue to improve with the release of DeltaFPS.
Runitai further indicated that DeltaFPS is running SL a lot better than has been the case for some time, and that the graphics team are continuing to work on things.
[Video 35:49-38:17] Whilst PBR / mirrors have been blamed for the performance impacts people are experiencing, outside of issues with the likes of GT1030 GPUs mentioned above, LL’s investigations have show that the performance issues evident in the Graphics Featurettes viewer are not related directly to PBR or mirror rendering (although the latter will naturally impact FPS – just not to the degree people have witnessed).
Rather, the issues are related to bugs with elements such and bounding box management and memory management which had been previously missed, but particularly came to the fore with Firestorm’s PBR release.
Retrospectively, Runitai acknowledges that LL should have picked up on the issues before the Graphics Featurettes code was released, as they had all the data to hand. As a result, the release process has been adjusted to try to account for these circumstances to try to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
Linear alpha blending: in order for PBR lighting to render anywhere close to correctly, alpha blending has to be switched from SRGB to linear colour space. This can cause some older content using Blinn-Phong, causing it to look either more opaque or more transparent than in did pre-PBR.
The fix for this will likely be to add the ability for people to set and alpha/gamma ramp on an item, which can be modified per texture entry, adjusting how transparent the item is on a curve.
This should help with a range of issues – particularly those associated with pre-PBR hair, as has been noted by an number of users.
To help with this, the new alpha/gamma ramp value will still be adjustable even if the content is No Mod, so as to allow users to adjust legacy content affected by the issue, rather than having to wait for fixes from content creators.
This fix will hopefully follow in the viewer after DeltaFPS.
Tone mapping is another aesthetic being looked at.
Rye Cogtail from the Alchemy team has contributed a neutral tone mapper which is not as dark as the current default in the viewer, and LL are looking to make these the default for tone mapping (subject to the outcome of testing).
In addition, LL are looking to re-add tone mapping controls to the Advanced Graphics floater.
These were available as debugs early in the PBR beta, but creators found it confusing as to which tone mapper they should target. However, it is hoped that creators now understand that tone mapping is something that should be done by the renderer and not something dome to the diffuse map in PhotoShop (or equivalents).
Auto-exposure: LL is looking to add controls for dynamic exposure (speed of transition, range, ability to turn off / on). These options will be made available via the Advanced Graphics floater, and maybe / someday via the the sky settings floaters.
The overall hope is that by adding additional functionality and options like this, LL will be in a better position to identify defaults that don’t cause users angst by making things look too different all at once, and will provide users with all the tools they need to adjust their visuals to their liking when changes are made.
A new project intended to move Second Life away from reliance on the Vivox voice service and plug-in, and to using the WebRTC communications protocol (RTC=”real-time communication”). Roxie Linden is leading this work.
Key benefits:
WebRTC supports a wide range of real-time communications tools in common use (e.g. Google Meet), supporting audio, video and data communications, and is thus something of a “standard” approach.
Offers a good range of features: automatic echo cancellation, better noise cancellation and automatic gain control, much improved audio sampling rates for improved audio quality.
Opens the door to features and capabilities to voice services which could not be implemented whilst using Vivox.
Status
Once the viewer-side updates for WebRTC is widely adopted, the switch for the back-end switch over from Vivox to WebRTC will be thrown.
The hope is that this could happen in September, depending on how fast TPVs adopt and release the viewer code.
[Video 17:39-18:12] In order to minimise the impact of running both Vivox and WebRTC side-by side, it is hoped that switching to WebRTC can be completed in two step: throwing the switch for all simulators on the RC channels one week, and a week later switching all simulators on the SLS Main channel.
In the meantime, peer-to-peer and ad-hoc WebRTC can be tested on the WebRTC regions of WebRTC Voice 1, WebRTC Voice 2, WebRTC Voice 3 and WebRTC Voice 4. However, there is no bridging between WebRTC peer-to-peer / ad-hoc and Vivox.
In Brief
Please refer to the video, below.
[Video: 19:16-21:52] Will PBR will replace the “old clothing system” one day?
Short answer: on a technical level, probably not, given the longevity of content of all kinds in SL. However, whether creators continue use older system / methodologies are newer ones emerge is down to choice / what drives their market.
That said, PBR will impact system layer clothing in as much as LL are actively working on 2K Bakes on Mesh, after which they will be looking at adding PBR to system layers.
In respect of legacy content / capabilities, this is why things like Blinn-Phong materials continue to be supported, etc.
There have been a number of requests for exclusion volumes to keep water out of boat hulls and particle weather like rain and dusty wind outside of buildings. etc. These are seen as being something for the longer-term roadmap.
In terms of providing an invisiprim style capability outside of this type of use, specific Canny feature requests on why and how such a capability (or options) are required / would be used were requested.
[Video: 28:06-32:08] SSR causes moiré-like patterns on the water (formerly BUG-233647): this has been a particular issue for those who enjoy pursuits like sailing and boating, or who simply like to look out over Linden Water.
The issue is rooted in the implementation of reflection probes, which required a simplification of the water shader so it did not dominate frame rendering.
Screen Space Reflections (SSR) was an attempt to redress this and get SL back to high-quality water rendering, but has not worked as hoped.
Geenz Linden is now looking to use some of the work on planar mirrors to possibly allow high-quality water reflections once more. However, this will impact viewer FPS when enabled, and if implemented.
It was also noted that there were performance issues with the release of mirrors and hero probes in the Graphics Featurettes viewer, but some of these have been fixed & mirrors are now defaulted to “off”, no matter what the graphics quality default is.
[Video 31:41-35:48] The above led to a broader discussion as to the perception of what PBR is for, how the changes were communicated, the need for creators to fully understand the differences in how they might have used PBR (e.g. baking reflections into the diffuse map) when producing textures and materials prior to the introduction of PBR support, and how they should be doing things now when using PBR, etc.
[Video: 42:00-46:16] a discussion on a texture loading issue, potentially fixed using the the multithreaded texture debug option, on Mac systems running Apple Silicon. This appears to be a test on a bug fix that had been implemented to try to eliminate issues of texture loading on Silcon, and might offer an alternative solution, but needs investigation.
Firestorm Notes:
[Video: 46:26-51:50] 2K textures in Group Profiles: it has been noted that the use of 2K textures for Group Profile images will crash Firestorm 6.6.17 (pre-PBR release) for any user using that viewer who opens the Group Profile or tries to join the Group. So the request is (for now) for people not to use 2K textures as Profile images.
It was noted that Firestorm’s 3-version viewer policy stems from an old LL policy (introduced under Oz Linden’s tenure as VP of Engineering) which LL no longer adhere to (and by extension, TPVs are not obliged to adhere to if they do not wish to).
† 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.
Poesy Wildes, August 2024 – click any image for full size
Poesy – the art of poetic composition – is a well-chosen for the name of the Full region of Poesy Wildes on two counts: it both reflects the core theme of the region, which is a celebration of poems (and literature) and because it is a accurate reflection of the compositional skill of region holder Raven Fairelander (RavenStarr Fairelander). To call this region “enchanting” is really an understatement; it is a marvellous journey through the worlds through both its subject matter and Raven’s creativity.
Poesy Wildes is an enchanting retreat which offers visitors a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of literature, prose, and poetry. The air is filled with the whispers of verses, and every corner invites contemplation and inspiration.
From the region’s About Land description
Poesy Wildes, August 2024
Watched over by Edgar Allan Poe – who requests visitors forgive him his silence as he is deeply engrossed in writing Lenore (originally A Pæan), so I’ll leave you to discover him – the region is wreathed in twilight, the Sun apparently just having set. However, such is the beauty of Poesy Wildes that it naturally lends itself to a range of EEP settings.
The landing point sits to the north-east of the setting, within an orangery. It’s worth spending a little time here, as there is an Experience to accept and HUD to collect. Obtaining the latter both triggers a request to join the former and provides ready access to the 20 poems any literary excerpts that have been the August focus of the region. Also available at the landing point is a Love Project Teleport HUD, providing access to locations such as The Magic Hour and Ai-Mura, both of which I visited in July 2024 (see Wandering in The Magic Hour in Second Life and Ai-Mura – a Love Project in Second Life), as well as other locations linked to the project – again, acceptance of an Experience will be required for this HUD as well.
Poesy Wildes, August 2024
Just outside of the landing point is a further teleporter to key points within Poesy Wildes and – until the end of August, at least, details on the location’s photo contest. Finally, the ground just outside the landing point carries the first of several quotations awaiting discovery within the region.
The easiest way to explore the region is to simply follow the path – and your nose, should the path peter out – and see where it leads. Poems and excepts are clearly mounted on boards throughout the landscape, and the HUD allows you to access them on-screen for easier reading. In addition, selecting a piece on the HUD allows you to both use the Visit button to hop to it directly, and / or listen to an audio recital of the poem or text. I admit that some of the prose is a little difficult to read on the HUD (and understandably so, given its length), but to be able to hear the stories and poems whilst wandering their locations is additionally immersive.
Poesy Wildes, August 2024
At the time of my visit, the setting featured the following writers and their works: Emily Dickenson: Because I could not stop for Death (1890), This is my letter to the World (1890), “Hope” is the Thing with Feathers (1891) and I stepped from Plank to Plank (1896); Edgar Allan Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) and The Raven (1845); Lewis Carroll: an expert from Chapter 7 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Jabberwocky from Through the Looking Glass (1871) and Rudyard Kipling: The Way Through the Woods; and If- (c. 1895).
Then there are individual poems and excerpts from T.S. Eliot – The Naming of Cats from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939); William Wordsworth: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1804/1806); Alfred, Lord Tennyson: The Eagle (1851); W.B. Yeats Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven (1899); Oscar Wilde: In The Forest from Uncollected Poems (1876-1893); Amy Lowell: The Garden by Moonlight from Pictures of the Floating World(1919); Judith Wright: Egrets from Birds: Poems (1949/1962); Christina Rossetti; except from The Goblin Market (1859/1862) and Virginia Woolf, taken from a 1937 BBC Radio broadcast in the series words Fail Me.
Poesy Wildes, August 2024
Each of the poems is set in an environment well suited to it. for example: In the Forest can be found along the woodland path leading away from the landing point (and where the goblins have set-up there market stall) whilst Jabberwocky will bring you face-to-face with said beast, and Poe’s stories are to be found residing with him up on the hill and indoors. Of them all, however, I think my favourite in terms of setting is Egrets, although admittedly, I did use a daytime EEP with which to try to capture it, as the setting is so picturesque.
Also to be found within the region is the Moonlight Garden, one of two main areas offering the opportunity for romantic dancing, whilst the Poesy stage offers periodic readings and recitals together with Sunday writing workshops (07:00 SLT every…Sunday). There are also multiple places to sit and relax and simply enjoy the setting whilst the sheer beauty of the setting makes it a joy to walk through. And do keep an eye out for the eagle – not only can you read the poem, you can make like a hobbit (or dwarf or wizard) and take to the air on it!
Poesy Wildes, August 2024
One thing that I strongly recommend when visiting is to have local sounds enabled; not only does the soundscape add to the general ambience of the region, in places it also includes elements that match the nature of the poems. The local audio stream also offers music well in keeping with the theme and look of the setting, and so is also worth considering whilst exploring the region or resting within it.
From landing point to shingle beach through to the hilltop Poe residence, Poesy Wildes is a genuine place of beauty. The poems are particularly well-matched to the landscape whilst the short stories from Poe are ideal for the coming season. I’ve not attended any of the recitals or the writing classes, but I would imagine that the schedule – which are currently scheduled until the end of August – will be updated for September in due course. It is is, I’ll certainly endeavour to hop along to and event. If you fancy joining in with events as a writer, poet or musician – or because you’ll like to help out with tours of the region, please contact Raven.
Poesy Wildes, August 2024
And all that said, I’ll leave you to drop in to Poesy Wildes and appreciate it for yourselves. Enjoy!
ArtCare Gallery, August 2024: Max Northern – Border Archetypes
One of the common weapon in the extremist political / religious toolbox is that of demonising others. It’s a tool which has been used for both political and religious gain pretty much throughout history: making the “others” appear dangerous, alien and a source of fear. or something to be removed or eradicated.
Currently in the United States and Western Europe, the weapon of demonisation is very much one of the tools of choice of the Right, wielded in an attempt to instil fear and worry among citizens and leverage that fear into power. Invented and manipulated crises are created, falsehood levelled, and more. Currently in the US, much is being made of a so-called “crisis” at the southern border, which not only over-dramatizes and misleads on the influx of illegals and drugs, it also paints Mexico, as America’s southern neighbour, as a country entirely given over to the shovelling of said illegals and drugs across the border as fast as possible.
ArtCare Gallery, August 2024: Max Northern – Border Archetypes
It is a depiction that is greatly divorced from reality, and it does a huge disservice to a country as rich in heritage, culture, music, architecture and so on as might be found anywhere in the United States. And to remind us all of this, Maximus W North (MaxNorthern) presents Border Archetypes, a small, engaging and richly furnished selection of photographs intended to reveal something of the realities of the people south of “the border” and directly contrast these realities with the hate-led rhetoric from the American political Right when it comes to the people of Mexico.
In this, and in introducing the collection, Max is (correctly) unapologetic in pointing the finger and making facts plain:
Hey, vatos locos (crazy dudes), think you’ve got the border all figured out just ’cause you caught some headlines on Fox News or CNN? You really believe we’re just peeking out the window, making bets on what migrant can dodge “la migra” (Border Patrol) the fastest? Or that we’re all out here hustling shady deals… (quickly hides his car trunk from view)?
Drugs and migrants don’t define us. What crosses the border isn’t what the border is all about. Sure, they bring heavy law enforcement, check the border wall. Full of agents. What passes through here brings a rough rep, thanks to the channels you watch. But they also leave behind beautiful, strange, exotic bits of culture that shape our identity on both sides. This exhibit showcases images from Tijuana-San Diego, Juarez-El Paso, and Laredo-Nuevo Laredo—sister cities separated by either the desert or the tiny Rio Grande, which isn’t so grand, by the way.
– From the introduction to Border Archetypes
ArtCare Gallery, August 2024: Max Northern – Border Archetypes
Within this exhibition, hosted by Carelyna at her excellent ArtCare Gallery, Max presents us with photos of actual people living along the border – some of them people he knows personally – offering us a glimpse into their lives both visually and through supplied notecards (click the small triangles on the floor in front of each image to receive a card).
These are raw photographs in that they are offered as taken and without and post-processing or other digital play (although they might be possibly cropped a little) – and Max admits to taken at least one whilst somewhat the worse for having enjoy a certain amount of wine along the way! As such, they are rich a a natural flow of life and mood; the people in them are real, not because they have been captured on film or digitally, but because there has been no attempt to professional frame or pose; we seen them as they are – relatable human beings, driven by the same creativity, the same brightness of mood or pensiveness of thought as marks each of us.
Or to be more succinct (and following Walt Kelly in playing on the words of Oliver Hazard Perry): we are shown the lives of “others” – and they are ours.
ArtCare Gallery, August 2024: Max Northern – Border Archetypes
As a debut exhibition from a long-time patron of the arts in Second Life, Border Archetypes is small, but speaks with a clear voice. Do take the opportunity to see it and read Max’s words in hi introductory note card (which includes a lot of worthwhile links) and those accompanying the pictures.
The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, August 27th, 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, August 27th, the SLS Main channel was restarted without any deployment.
On Wednesday, August 28th:
Simulators on the BlueSteel RC channel should receive the Picnic simulator update (which includes: llFindNotecardTextSync, llDerezObject, for the viewer side, group member lists can now be retrieved in a paginated manner).
Picnic also include the first of the region crossing improvements Monty Linden has been working on. These should see a) avatars already in a destination region getting better frame rates as others arrive in the region; b) crossing avatars with too many scripts will experience slower but smoother crossings.
Monty reminded people that region crossings involving vehicles are a more complicated issue and not part of this work.
The remaining simulator RC channels will be restarted without any new deployment / update.
SL Viewer Updates
Release viewer: version 7.1.9.10515727195, formerly the Atlasaurus-WebRTC RC (object take options; improved MOAP URL handling, WebRTC) promoted August 26.
Release channel cohorts:
None.
Combat 2 Updates
Rider Linden is proposing the following for respawn:
When death occurs, if a respawn location has been set the agent will be teleported to the specified location. If no respawn location is set, the region’s default death behaviour applies (for instance teleport home, or teleport to telehub). The agent’s respawn point survives region crossing and death teleports, but is cleared when the agent makes an inter-region teleport or logs out of Second Life. The following new functions have been added to LSL: llSetRespawnLocation(vector position, rotation facing); llSetRespawnLandmark(string inventory_name); llClearRespawn() and llHasRespawnSet(key agent_id)
He further indicated that he had looked at the above as not necessarily having to be tied to an Experience, they could be granted via a HUD, a regular permission request or an Experience, however questions were raised about managing unwanted scripted respawn being created by users and other potential complexities that may move these functions back towards being Experience based.
This led to a discussion on options and Combat, which ran through the majority of the meeting – please refer to the video below.
Kindroid AI NPCs & Companions
On Monday, August 26th, Linden Lab announced “the integration” of AI companions and NPCs using Kindroid (with the announcement causing some confusing in using both “experience” in generic terms and in reference to SL Experiences).
With Kindroid, you can create engaging and lively characters with lifelike memory, intelligence, and personalities that interact and engage in emotionally-deep and meaningful ways – and then bring them to life within our virtual world. Imagine crafting characters that add fun and engaging new narratives into your roleplaying adventures – or maybe you’ll create a companion that can serve as a language tutor or mentor – the possibilities are endless!
With its API, you can integrate Kindroid characters into your Second Life experience using LSL and scripting, just like other objects. Whether you’re looking to enhance social interactions or explore new storytelling possibilities, Kindroid offers an exciting new dimension for any Second Life adventure.
– From the LL announcement
The announcement provides detailed instructions on using LSL to link an Kindroid AI “chatbot” with objects in-world, with LL recommending the use of Animesh, and, for security purposes, the use of the Experience Key Value Pairs (KVP) database to ensure security of API keys.
I’m honestly not au fait enough with Kindroid or AI chat system (generative or otherwise) to pass considered opinion. However, given it is reported at after the initial free avatar, Kindroid requires a subscription (from USD $13.99) after the 3-day free trial and offers limited assurances on user data protection, then its hard not to raise an eyebrow. Anyway, the topic itself came up for discussion towards the end of the meeting. Please refer to the link to the announcement above and the the video below for more.
† 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.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld