Category: SL Tech

SL project updates 45/2: TPV Developer meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey
Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint Michel

The following notes are primarily taken from the TPV Developer (TPVD) meeting held on Friday, November 6th 2015. A video of the meeting is included at the end of this report, and time stamps to it are provided. My thanks as always to North for the video recording and providing it for embedding.

Server Deployments Week 45 – Recap

  • On Tuesday, November 3rd, the Main (SLS) channel received the server maintenance package previously deployed to BlueSteel and LeTigre, comprising a simulator crash fix
  • On Wednesday, November 4th, all three RC channel received a new server maintenance package comprising a fix for group invite throttle notifications, and an internal server code clean-up.

Following the main channel deployment, issues were variously reported with llHTTPRequest returning NULL_KEY even when it should not be throttled (see BUG-10627). The issue was initially noted with skill gaming mechanisms, but has also been encountered by those using Sculpt Studio, and reportedly with breedable systems.

SL Viewer Updates

[0:20] A further Maintenance RC viewer due to be released in week #46, which includes a range of fixes, including some for the regressions present within the current de facto release viewer (version 3.8.6.305981).

It currently appears that the next viewer promotion to release status will either be this maintenance viewer or the HTTP viewer – however the promotion is unlikely to occur in week #46, due to the Maintenance RC only just having been released and because the HTTP viewer his a number of issues to be resolved – see below.

Quick Graphics RC Viewer

[0:35] There are still issues with this viewer which although described as “nothing terrible” in the Lab’s view, are sufficient to prevent its promotion in the immediate future.

HTTP (Project Azumarill) RC Viewer

[1:04] There are a number of issues which have been identified by both the Lab and reported by users which are sufficient to block the promotion of this viewer to release status. One of these is an increased number of viewer disconnects on teleporting. The causing of this is proving elusive as it seem to only occur for some people with others never encountering issues. Other significant reported issues include:

  • BUG-10230 – Voice often fails to connect on the Azumarill viewer
  • BUG-10391 – Avatar often bakes fails on Azumarill.

CEF (Project Valhalla) Project Viewer

[1:19] The Chromium Embedded Framework viewer is performing well on Windows in the Lab’s estimation, and is getting “really close” on the Mac. The hope is that this viewer will progress from project status to a release candidate “pretty soon”.

[16:40] There have been some reports of issues with this viewer, including BUG-10598, logged out when tping from one LM to another, which is likely related to the disconnect issues being experienced with the HTTP viewer (both the HTTP viewer and the CEF viewer are closely related).

[17:25] There has been a report of “major” HTML video performance issues (see BUG-10558). However, running 30+ YouTube videos via HTML 5 in a single location is viewed by the Lab as possibly excessive and, as noted on the JIRA, the problem hasn’t been easy to reproduce and the video footage supplied might suggest a problem other than simply with running multiple HTML 5 videos.

Vivox Project Viewer

[1:44] A new project viewer, version 3.8.7.307189, was released on Friday, November 6th. The Vivox project viewer should correct a number of Voice quality and connection issues on both Windows and the Mac.

The Lab requests that anyone who has experience Voice issues to try this viewer, and if it does not resolve their issues to raise a JIRA, being sure to cite this viewer’s version number in the report. Those failing to indicate they have tried the project viewer are liable to be asked to do so, simply because Vivox has asked the Lab not to forward bug reports to them unless they have been tested against the Vivox package included in this viewer. For a list of fixes, please refer to the release notes in the above link.

Simulator Behaviour Changes

Attachment Point Validation

[30:15] As noted in the last TPVD meeting in October, the Lab are shifting a number of validation checks from the viewer to the simulator. One of these is attachment point validation checks, which will mean that attachments attempting to fix itself to an invalid attachment point ID will be attached to the chest by the simulator.

Mesh Upload Validation Checks

[31:15] A further simulator-side check the Lab has been considering would prevent the upload of animations and meshes weighted to valid attachment points. The Lab have been discussing this given the feedback given in October (see also FIRE-17144 and BUG-10543 for feedback as well), and have decided to investigate options further rather than implementing any immediate changes. However, they do note that there is no guarantee the ability to upload meshes weighted in this way will continue in the future.

[32:05] The Lab has made it clear what will be implemented in the near future is a simulator validation check to prevent the upload of animation or mesh items weighted to use joints  /attachment points which are not a part of the recognised set of avatar joints.

Other Items

Gateway API

[22:20] An issue has emerged around the upcoming gateway trial programme which is loosely connected to the avatar updates mentioned above. The new avatars (mesh and “Classic”) are only available via the Lab’s “new” registration API. Currently, the API presented to gateways is the older version, which relies on the default Character Test avatar.

As noted at the TPVD meeting, this could be immediately off-putting to new users entering Second Life through the new trial gateways. However, the Lab appears to be “pretty close” to being able to switch the gateway SPI to using the newer set-up – and this may be one of the reasons the trail gateway programme hasn’t as yet been officially announced.

Firestorm Release

Not directly related to news from the Lab, but the next release of the Firestorm viewer should be around Monday, November 16th or Tuesday, November 17th. However there are still dependencies on this, and it is not a hard set of dates.

SL project updates 45/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Sorrow, Paper Dinosaurs; Inara Pey, October 2015, on Flickr Sorrow, Paper Dinosaurs (Flickr) – blog post

Server Deployments Week 45

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest information and feedback.

  • On Tuesday, November 3rd, the Main (SLS) channel received the server maintenance package previously deployed to BlueSteel and LeTigre, comprising a simulator crash fix
  • On Wednesday, November 4th, all three RC channel received a new server maintenance package comprising a fix for group invite throttle notifications, and an internal server code clean-up.

Part of the code-clean up for the RC channels deployment appears to involve a fix for the region edge issue I reported on in my week 44 report, with Simon Linden commenting at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, November 3rd, “The new code going into RC has one interesting tool in it for our support staff … there’s a sim console command to reset the land edges to match what’s visible.”

SL Viewer Updates

The HTTP release candidate viewer (Project Azumarill) updated to version 3.8.7.306796 on Monday, November 2nd, possibly the last update before this viewer gets promoted to the de facto viewer in week #46.

Group Issues

There are a number of issues with groups the Lab is aware of, including those who are ejected from a group whilst in a group chat session still being able to continue using the chat until they close the window (see SVC-32), an issue not fully resolved when group bans were introduced.

This issue is one that the Lab is hoping to address, however, it is dependent upon some infrastructure changes being made, so may now happen in the immediate future, although the hope is to get the underpinning work done “pretty soon”.

2015 viewer release summaries: week 44

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending Sunday, November 1st

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: 3.8.6.305981, October 26 – formerly the Notifications RC viewer download page, release notes
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Project Azumarill (HTTP updates) RC viewer updated to version 3.8.6.306549 on October 26 – provides improved performance and stability. Impacts include: asset uploads, AISv3 inventory manipulation, VMM, Experience management, LSL compilation, Simhost event polling, etc.  (download and release notes)
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • Restrained Love Viewer updated to version 2.9.15 on October 27th – core update:  parity with the Lab’s 3.8.5 code base; RLV updates and fixes –  release notes
  • UKanDo updated to version 3.8.6.28161 on October 27th – core updates: parity with the Lab’s 3.8.5 code base and RLV 2.9.14 – release notes

V1-style

  • No updates.

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Firestorm ready to launch Gateway; MadPea join as partners

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Firestorm Gateway: partnering with MadPea Games
The Firestorm Gateway: partnering with MadPea Games

I recently covered the soon-to-be-launched Lab trail progamme which will see a new set of community gateways active within Second life and geared towards helping incoming new users get to grips with the platform more positively, and help them to start to engage in activities, thus hopefully improving the chances that they’ll “stick”.

The Firestorm team are one of the groups invited by the Lab to be a part of this new trial programme, and as I reported earlier in October, they will be launching their Gateway on Saturday, October 31st with a special party followed by a month-long Spooky Nights hunt which will take place across the five core regions of the Firestorm Gateway.

What I couldn’t reveal in that article, but am able to now, is that MadPea Games have agreed to partner with Firestorm to help get new users engaged in Second life.

madpea-logo
A number of MadPea games will be available in the Firestorm Gateway regions

In a press release on October 28th, MadPea confirm they are providing Firestorm with a number of their vintage games which income new users will be invited to play free-of-charge, in order to present them with even more opportunities to learn about and engage in Second life.

Commenting on the partnership, Kiana Writer, CEO and Queen Pea of MadPea Games says, “We are all very excited about the opportunity of working with Jessica and her team and waving the flag for what is achievable for user-created content on the grid. There’s a huge learning curve when you enter SL for the first time and we believe Firestorm, along with their partners, are best placed to help guide new users through that arc.”

Jessica Lyon, speaking for the Firestorm team, said: “We are super excited to announce that we’ve formed a mutually beneficial partnership with MadPea Productions! Essentially MadPea will install some of their older games as free play in our environments, and in exchange new residents will learn about MadPea Games to become potential new customers. MadPea will also then be able to send their new users to our installations to learn how to play MadPea games.”

The Firestorm Halloween Party stage area
The Firestorm Halloween Party stage area

The Firestorm Halloween Party will kick-off at 13:00 SLT with a series of live performances running through until 16:00, when things will switch over the DJs, and the Spooky Nights Halloween Hunt will launch.

Topping the bill for the party are:

  • 13:00 SLT – Mankind Tracer
  • 14:00 SLT – Nance Brody
  • 15:00 SLT – The Changhigh Trinity Sisters Fireshow
  • 14:00 SLT onwards – DJ Quad

Over 150 well-known Second Life merchants have contributed to the hunt, and you can read a list of participating creators on the Firestorm post on the party, and also catch photos of some of the prizes on offer.

Four landing points will be in operation for the party, as follows:

For further information on the party and the Firestorm Gateway, please refer to the Firestorm blog post, or to find out more on the Gateway and the new Gateway programme, please refer to the articles in this blog.

Related Links

SL project updates 44/1: server, viewer, attachment points

Posted on by Inara Pey

Loch Noble, Pinewinds; Inara Pey, October 2015, on Flickr KiLu, Majorca (Flickr) – blog post

Server Deployments – Week #44

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest updates.

On Tuesday, October 27th, the Main (SLS) channel received the same  server maintenance package as deployed to the three RC channel in week #43. This comprised server-side improvements for delivering group notice attachments, together with some simulator crash fixes and code to prevent the uploading of “hacked” mesh content (e.g. mesh items which show a LI of 1 no matter what their actual complexity, or which spoof a creator’s name).

On Wednesday, October 28th, the RC channels should be updated as follows:

  • BlueSteel and LeTigre will each receive the same new server maintenance package, comprising a simulator crash fix
  • Magnum will also receive a new server maintenance package, comprising the same simulator crash fix as BlueSteel and LeTigre, together with a fix for a security issue.

SL Viewer

On Monday, October 26th, the Notifications viewer was promoted to the de facto release viewer. Version 3.8.6.305981 comprises the new floater for managing incoming notifications (Group, Transactions, Invitations, System).

The notifications viewer became the de facto release viewer on Monday, October 26th.
The notifications viewer became the de facto release viewer on Monday, October 26th.

Also on Monday, October 26th the HTTP release candidate viewer updated to version 3.8.6.306549, which includes fixes for the following issues:

  • MAINT-4952 Replace old http client usage with llcorehttp
  • MAINT-5283 Viewer doesn’t connect to Facebook
  • MAINT-5693 [Project Azumarill] Avatar often bakes fails on Azumarill
  • MAINT-5732 [Azumarill-RC] Viewer actually crashes when connection is lost instead of disconnecting.
  • MAINT-5780 Viewer crashes when trying to create webprim
  • MAINT-5788 Secondlife has stopped working error, after canceling TOS
  • MAINT-5791 Terms of service are not loading.

Other Items

Rigging Mesh to Attach Points – BUG-10543

In my last project update, I reported on asset upload validation checks, and the Lab’s work to move them from the viewer to the simulator (e.g. checks to ensure animations are what they say they are, further checking of mesh uploads to ensure they can be rendered correctly, etc.). the overall aim is to improve reliability in SL. However, one impact of these changes is that once implemented,  it will no longer be possible to upload mesh items weighted to attach points.

While the Lab  has never regarded this as a supported means of handle mesh attachments, it has nevertheless been widely used by creators in SL. So much so that when Firestorm removed the ability to upload such meshes from their viewer, it caused some consternation (see FIRE-17144).

Once implemented, the change should only affect new uploads of mesh weighted to attachment points, and not affected any items already uploaded and in use within SL. However, a JIRA on the matter has now been raised directly with the Lab on the issue (see BUG-10543), in which creators who use the technique can provide input and use-cases to the Lab on why the approach is used (if you wish to leave a comment, please try to make it constructive and provide examples / reasoned argument, as these work better than rants).

Commenting on the JIRA, Troy Linden has said, “We realise that there will be a lot of residents/assets affected by this and currently looking into it. Sorry for the inconvenience and worries it caused. Please stay tuned.”

Adding to this at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, October 27th, Oz Linden said:

Up until a couple of days ago, we didn’t know anyone was doing it. You’d be amazed how often that happens. So please allow us a little time to digest what we’ve been learning. It’s actually one of the great things about working on SL. While we don’t always love how people apply their creativity, we all just love seeing how creative our users are.

Region Edge Issues

There has been an occasional problem encountered along the edges of simulators in which, when terraforrming and using the Smooth option, a very thin “cliff” can be raised into the air (see BUG-5979), or where when an avatar gets close to a region, it falls  through a “gap” (see BUG-242).

Various reasons have been identified for this – as noted in the bug reports – and at the Simulator User Group meeting, Simon Linden said, “I think I found the cause of those odd region edges you sometimes see, where you can’t move in the areas you think you should at the edge of the land. It’s actually not the navmesh [which had been thought to be one of the possible causes] but it is the physics shape of the land.”

Essentially, the simulator, where no longer connected to a region which might once have been next to it, gets confused as to what it thinks should be alongside it. It then attempts to match the physics and land to what it thinks is in the “neighbouring” region,  rather than simply resetting itself.

Alchemy 3.8.5: skinning and getting under the hood

Posted on by Inara Pey

Alchemy-logoOn Sunday, October 25th, the Alchemy team announced the release of version 3.8.5.36974 of their viewer. This is an update which primarily focuses on a lot of under-the-hood updates and fixes which may not always be obvious to users, but which are intended to further improve viewer stability and improvements. However, it also includes some interesting tweaks as well, of which more below.

As always with any viewer release, please refer to the release notes for details on updates, improvements and fixes, as provided by the development team.

The first noticeable change with this release lies with the version number, which leaps from 3.8.2 from the last release to 3.8.5 – the result of Alchemy (alongside UKanDo and Kokua) pacing the Lab’s version numbers for viewer updates. The idea with this is to make it easier to quickly identify which of the recent releases from the Lab has been merged into a release from any TPV with a matching version number. So in this case, Alchemy is merged-up to the Lab’s 3.8.5 code and the October Maintenance release viewer.

The other major visual change to the viewer with this release is a new skinning option. This allows users to choose the look of the viewer UI skin, and to create their own skins, which they can use on their own or share with others, marking alchemy as the latest viewer to offer support for custom skins.

The option can be found under Preferences > Skinning, and as the release notes indicate, the viewer currently includes just two options at present, in order to keep the install size down: Alchemy’s own dark skin (default) and the Lab’s classic V3 viewer skin.  However, the release notes appear to suggest that further skins may be added to the viewer – or perhaps made available for download through the alchemy website – in due course. There will also apparently be a guide produced, offering users instructions on making their own skins.

The Skinning option, new with Alchemy 3.8.5 allows the use of custom UI skins with the viewer
The Skinning option, new with Alchemy 3.8.5 allows the use of custom UI skins with the viewer

Using a skin simply requires selecting it from the list of available options, clicking the Apply button and then confirming your selection by clicking on Yes in the follow-up dialogue box. Restarting the viewer will then apply the selected skin.

Other Updates

The Alchemy 3.8.5 refresh option allows you to refresh textures / meshes worn by yourself or other avatars
The Alchemy 3.8.5 refresh option allows you to refresh textures / meshes worn by yourself or other avatars

As well as the above, the 3.8.5 release of Alchemy includes:

  • libcurl 7.45.0, boost 1.59, the replacement of C++11 with C++14
  • ALCH-312 – a Refresh option has been added to assist with loading avatar mesh and textures
  • ALCH-278 – the Group list (CTRL-SHIFT-G) now includes an “eye” icon to show if the group can be viewed in your Profile (icon shown) or is hidden (icon not shown) – groups are hidden through the Group Profile floater, as usual
  • ALCH-270 – a message logger and builder for packet and message inspection for debugging and fixing OpenSim. This feature will be locked to developer builds
  • ALCH-297 – the Fast Timers legend is now scrollable by the scroll wheel
  • ALCH-290 – the Destination Guide now updates when teleporting between OpenSim grids
  • Numerous bug fixes and many under-the-hood changes.

There is still no RLV support for Alchemy with this release, which may disappoint some. However, what is there makes for a useful update, and ensures Alchemy stays on par with the Lab’s continuing run of updates and additions to the official viewer.

Related Links