The recent switch by Linden Lab to an updated set of tools for building the viewer (which are also being adopted by active TPVs) has meant that as viewers built using these new tools will no longer install on either Windows XP or versions of OS X below 10.7.
Given that neither Windows XP or version of OS X below 10.7 are regarded as supported products by either Microsoft or Apple, the most preferable thing for users on them to do is to upgrade. However, in some cases, this might be easier said than done. To help users who might, for whatever reason, be unable to upgrade to a later version of their OS in the short term, the Lab has issued an “obsolete platform viewer” into the viewer release channel, which will be provided for as long as is reasonable – but not indefinitely.
Version 3.7.28.300847 of the viewer (dated May 8th although it only appeared in the release channel this past week), is a “static” viewer, meaning:
It will not receive new features or bug fixes
It will not be promoted to release status
It does not change the Lab’s support policy on Windows XP or versions of OS X below 10.7, and is purely – as noted – an interim offering to help people.
The viewer is based on the April 2015 maintenance viewer release (version 3.7.27.300636), and so includes things like the unified snapshot floater.
Given it is offered only for as long as is reasonable, it should not be relied upon for long-term use, but rather as a means for those who prefer the official viewer and who use Windows XP and older versions of OS X to continue to access SL until such time as they are in a position to update their systems (or the viewer has to be withdrawn from use).
As per all the alternate viewers offered by the Lab, the viewer is listed on the Alternate Viewers page of the SL wiki, or you can use the direct link given above to view the official release notes and download options.
On Tuesday, June 9th, the Main (SLS) channel received the server maintenance package previously deployed to the three RC channels, comprising:
Change logic on accessing group member lists for large groups – please see more below
Internal server logging changes
On Wednesday, June 10th, the three RC channels should all receive a new server maintenance package comprising further Internal server logging changes.
Group Member List Changes
The “Change logic on accessing group member lists for large groups” refers to how the members list for groups with more than 5,000 members are now handled. A full explanation of the change and the reasons behind it can be found in my blog post on the matter. however, in short:
Groups with 5,000 or more members will no longer display the list of members unless:
You are assigned the Owner or Officer role within the group
You are assigned an ability within the group which requires the members list to be displayed (e.g. you are able to assign members to assigners roles, or are able to eject / ban people from the group, etc.)
Instead, and until corresponding changes are made to the viewer, all you will see on opening the members list as a message stating “Retrieving member list (0 / XXXXX)” – where XXXXX is the total number in the group,
The has already caused concern over how the change may be perceived as a functional breakage – see BUG-9393. In addition, two further issues resulting from the change have been reported:
BUG-9404: “Group members of large groups in a role which has “Invite people to this group” ability are not able to send group invites” (initially filed against the RC regions when the change was deployed in week #23, and now applicable to the grid as a whole)
BUG-9428: “Users using older viewers are unable to leave groups with >5k members on regions running 15.05.28.302161”
Scripting Memory Limits
A request was made for the Lab to consider allowing llSetMemoryLimit to request up to 128kb or 256kb of memory (whichever is more feasible), with a performance penalty for scripts using less than 50% of the memory requested – see BUG-9382.
The arguments for such an increase are not new; many coders run into problems with utilising memory for both code storage and code operation, resulting in having to write inefficient scripts and additional operations to communicate between scripts. A similar request has also been put forward (see BUG-8761), but which limits the additional memory allocation purely to Experiences on the ground that offering increased memory to all could lead to performance and other issues.
Commenting on the request at the simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, June 9th, Simon Linden said:
I don’t think we’d want to limit performance … that seems like it would get into odd rules and conditions. Plus that’s likely to be in a place where we don’t want to add more code. FWIW, when you have lots and lots of scripts in a region, the time spent rotating through all the scripts becomes significant, so your script time isn’t just running scripts.
Oz Linden then added:
One of our frequent themes this year has been to look at various limits and consider making them better … perhaps we can look at the memory limit at some point too. One of the things I hope will happen as Experiences are adopted is that some of the code that’s being used to manage saving state and communicating can be replaced by simpler code to use the key/value store.
This drew agreement from Simon, who then continued:
I suspect larger script size has been limited by not having script memory limits. But at a smaller scale, it’s easy to add more scripts, so perhaps doubling or a bit more won’t really make it any easier to hog memory.
This doesn’t automatically mean that script limits will change in the future; as Simon also pointed out, script memory is the largest part of each avatar load, and can have an impact on things like physical region crossings and teleporting, which would likely have to be be considered. However, script memory is likely to get added to “The List” of things the Lab is looking at.
Viewer-Managed Marketplace
Some confusion has been evidenced over the use of the term “archived” in recent communications from the Commerce Team regarding what will happen during the auto migration process, and particularly with reference to items that have not seen sales in over a year.
The first point to remember is that any “archiving” will only occur for those merchants who have more than 5,000 items on the Marketplace when the auto-migration process reaches them. As noted in my last VMM update, all such affected merchants have already been notified
From information made available by those merchants so affected, it would appear that “archived” means “items will be returned to the merchant’s Received Items folder”. Firstly, any items the Merchant has stored on the Marketplace without any associated listing will be returned. If this fails to reduce their total count to below 5,000, then those items which have not seen sales for over a year will be unlisted and the items again returned to the merchant’s Received items folder. From this it would seem that there will not be any actual “archiving” of listing information or items on the part of the Lab.
Updates for the week ending: Sunday, June 7th, 2015
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: 3.7.29.301305 – no change
Attachment fixes RC viewer (Project Big Bird) updated to version 3.7.30.302190 on June 3rd – core updates: a number of fixes for various attachment issues (download and release notes)
Black Dragon updated to version 2.4.3 on June 2nd – core updates: inclusion of the Lab’s new avatar layer limits code, Windows 10 support, conversion to the new viewer build tool chain (release notes).
V1-style
Cool VL Viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.12.45, and the Experimental branch to version 1.26.13.14, both on June 6th (release notes).
The following notes are primarily taken from the TPV Developer (TPVD) meeting held on Friday, June 5th. A video of the TPVD meeting is included below, with any time stamps in the following text referring to it. My thanks as always to North for the recording and providing it for embedding.
Server Deployments Week 23 – Recap
There was no deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, June 2nd, due to the week #22 RC deployment being rolled-back.
On Wednesday, June 3rd, all thee RCs received the same server maintenance package, which was the same update which had been attempted in week #22, but with additional back-end fixes to prevent a repeat of the earlier problems. The update comprises:
A change logic on accessing group member lists for large groups
Internal server logging changes.
SL Viewer
On Thursday, May 3rd, the attachment fixes RC viewer (Project Big Bird) updated to version 3.7.30.302190. Presumably, this update is to bring the viewer up to parity with the current release viewer (formerly the avatar layers update), and so will hopefully clear the way for it to be promoted to the de facto release viewer in the near future.
[02:40] A new maintenance fixes RC viewer should be appearing in the release channel soon, the should also be an update to the Mesh Importer project viewer (currently version 3.7.28.300878) appearing soon; and work is progressing on updating the Oculus Rift project viewer.
Experience Keys (/ Tools)
[03:35] Work is continuing on the back-end of the Experience Keys systems prior to the capabilities being formally released across the grid as a whole.
“We are making progress on the back-end issues that have been delaying that,” Oz Linden informed the TPV Developer meeting. “But as far as I’m aware, we have not yet … uncovered a viewer-related problem with that. so far these are all back-end related issues.” He went on:
To be a little bit more transparent, it’s really scaling issues. Experience actually work just fine at the scale we’re using them right now … but what we’re concerned about is what will happen when we turn them loose on a much, much larger population and there are lots more experiences running and there are a lot more simulators with experiences running on them.
So what we’ve doing … is fairly intensive scaling and performance testing and we’re solving the problems that the testing uncovers. So, we’re making progress on it, and we’re fairly confident the problems are solvable, but we have run into a whole host of assorted issues with that.
In the meantime, it is expected that the current RC release of the Experiences viewer (currently version 3.8.0.300963) will be brought up to parity with the release viewer during week #24.
Viewer-Managed Marketplace
[05:53] For ease of reference, please refer to my update on VMM, available here.
Land Bans
[17:58] Oz Linden has issues an invitation to open-source contributors to assist the Lab in trying to improve the management of land ban lists. Again, for ease of reference, please refer to my separate report on this, available here.
Group Membership Changes
[22:15] The update to the server RC channels referred to as “a change logic on accessing group member lists for large groups”, as noted in the server deployments recap at the top of this article, refers to a new way in which the members lists for larger groups (5,000 members and over) are handled.
In brief, the members lists for such groups will no longer load in the group floater in the viewer, unlessthe person attempting to see the list is in a role which requires they need to be able to do so. While this change is discussed within the meeting, I have been specifically asked not to blog on the change until it is deployed to the Main (SLS) simulator channel on Tuesday, June 9th, when I’ll have the details in full.
Unified Snapshot Floater
[33:12] As I’ve recently reviewed, NiranV Dean has updated the unified snapshot floater in his Black Dragon viewer. As he originally contributed the code for this floater to the Lab, he has also raised a JIRA (see BUG-9325) listing improvements and fixes and has contributed his updated code. This has been under review at the Lab, and commenting at the TPV Developer meeting, Oz indicated that the Lab are “fine” with the majority of Niran’s suggestions, although there are a couple that appear to be subject to further consideration, which might take a little while to sort through.
NiranV Dean’s unified snapshot floater improvements, including the separate, resizeable preview panel, are now with the Lab, although it is not yet entirely clear which of the updates will be adopted, or when they will appear in the official viewer.
Updates for the week ending: Sunday, May 31st, 2015
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: 3.7.29.301305, May 28 (formerly the Avatar Layer Limits RC viewer allows users to wear up to 60 wearable layers (jackets, shirts, tattoo, alpha, etc.) in any combination ) download page, release notes
Attachment fixes RC viewer (Project Big Bird) updated to version 3.7.29.301943 on May 21 – core updates: a number of fixes for various attachment issues (download and release notes)
Black Dragon updated to version 2.4.2.6 on May 30th with a bug fix release 2.4.2.7 on June 1st – core updates: revised Build tools floater layouts (release notes)
UKanDo updated to version 3.7.29.28115 on May 31 – core updates: keeping pace with recent LL releases (layer limits), and RLV releases (release notes).
V1-style
Cool VL Viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.12.44, and the Experimental branch to version 1.26.13.13, both on May 30th (release notes).
Black Dragon 2.4.2.6 was released on Saturday, May 30th 2015, followed by a rapid-fire bug fix update with the release of 2.4.2.7 on Monday, June 1st.
Both updates focus on the Build tools floater and its associated tabs, which Niran has completely overhauled and realigned in an attempt to make it a lot less cluttered-looking and easier to read, as well as adding a degree of consistency of presentation between the tabs in the floater and the types of tool options (spinners and sliders) seen in the Build floater when compared to other tool floaters in the viewer.
My personal opinion on the changes is that is that he’s largely succeeded. There is a linear tidiness to the tabs in his revised Build floater that works naturally for those used to scanning left-to-right, and top down. everything is pretty much orderly placed, and the flow through the various tabs is logical and easy to follow.
The official viewer’s Build floater Object tab (l) and Niran’s revised layout in black Dragon (r) – click any image for full size
Buttons with the Black Dragon floater are more obvious / clearer – radio buttons, for example are better defined when selected, what might be slightly confusing buttons (such as the spanner for changing the group attributes) are now clearly labelled, and buttons for pop-out options like the Grid Options are also more in keeping with the style used elsewhere in the viewer.
The official viewer’s Build floater Features tab (l) and Niran’s revised layout in black Dragon (r)
Some of the changes are a lot more noticeable in this regard than others – as with the General and Features tabs – both of which are compared to their official viewer equivalents in the images above – and the Texture tab. The changes to the Content and Object tabs are more subtle in nature – but given they were relatively straightforward to understand, then this is in keeping with making balanced changes.
The Texture tab now has clearer map selection check boxes (outlined) and individual lock options for applying rotations, offsets, etc., via the spinners (arrowed)
In terms of the Texture tab, Niran has also revised the map selection indicator from a radio button to a check box – again adding consistency to the use of check boxes in the floater – and has also added an individual lock option to each of the three map types.
The check boxes actually do make it easier to see which of the three maps (diffuse, normal or specular) has been selected, while the three individual locks now allow greater flexibility in how changes to repeats, offsets and rotations are applied.
For example, if you want to have them applied across all three maps, regardless of which one you have selected, just click on the icons to lock them – any change make to the offsets, etc., on one map will automatically be applied to all three, regardless of which one you are working on. If you want to change the offsets to each map independently of the others, simply unlock them (the default) – any changes made the offset, etc., spinners will only apply to the selected map. And you can also obviously have one set of rotations applied to two out of the three maps and level the third to be independently set.
The Textures tab also now makes use of sliders as well as spinners for applying Glow, Transparency (Alpha %), Glossiness and Environment to faces / objects, making it easy to apply quick changes before fine-tuning them with the spinners. It was actually two of these sliders that prompted the 2.4.2.7 release. While testing the 2.4.2.6 release for this review, I noted the Glow and Alpha % sliders were not working as expected. A quick IM to Niran, and he dived in and fixed the issue. The updates to these two sliders mark the only changes between 2.4.2.6 and 2.4.2.7.
Snapshot Floater Preview Update
The other significant update in the 2.4.2.6/7 release lies with the Unified Snapshot floater. In the 2.4.2.5 updates (which I reviewed here), Niran introduced a separate, resizeable preview panel as an alternative to the preview pane built-in to the floater. He’s now further revised the snapshot floater so that the built-in preview pane displays a high-resolution preview image, as with the alternative preview panel.
The preview pane for the snapshot floater now displays high-resolution preview images
The new preview panel offers a much improved image, and further enhances an option a lot of people would like to see adopted by other viewers in some way.
Feedback
Overall, the core Build tools updates in these releases – to me – do much to enhance the Build floater. As noted, some of the changes are a little more subtle than others, but overall they all work to present a far tidier set of tabs within the floater, and offer a more-or-less consistent set of control options in terms of the use of spinners, sliders, etc. One might have a small niggle with the colour swatch panels for the diffuse and specular maps perhaps not being obvious, but it’s really hard to see how else they could be presented without losing the order and layout Niran has achieved within the Texture tab.
Towards the top of this post, I pointed to these releases marking the beginning of the end of Niran’s active development of the Black Dragon viewer He’s aiming to slow things down from release 2.4.5). Since releasing the 2.4.2.7 update he has explained some of his reasons for this.
The important point to note here are the word “active” – hence my emphasis above. He’s not given up on everything within the viewer; he’s allowing himself space to refocus on other things than need attention (like that irritating thing we call “real life”) and to refresh himself. He’ll still be poking and tweaking things in the viewer in the future; it just won’t be his primary focus. And after the amount of time and effort he has poured into his viewers, frankly, he should be respected for his decision, and offered kudos for all he has offered the community.
In the meantime, I’ll continue to look forward to seeing what future updates to Black Dragon bring.
The recent switch by Linden Lab to an updated set of tools for building the viewer (which are also being adopted by active TPVs) has meant that as viewers built using these new tools will no longer install on either Windows XP or versions of OS X below 10.7.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 