Updates for the week ending: Sunday, May 10th, 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.
UKanDo updated on Windows to version 3.7.28.28106 on May 8th – core updates: viewer built to the new viewer tool chain (Linux build unchanged) – release notes
V1-style
Cool VL Viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.12.42, and the Experimental branch to version 1.26.13.11 both on May 9th (release notes)
“agent_limit”- get the maximum number of avatars normally allowed on the region (teleport home, and login to last location, are allowed to exceed this).
“estate_name”- returns the name of the estate (e,g, “mainland”, “Linden Homes”, “My Happy Estate”, etc. )
“region_cpu_ratio”- returns the number of regions per CPU for this region type (i.e. “1” or “4”)
“region_product_name” – returns the type of region this is: “Estate / Full Region”, “Mainland / Homestead”, “Estate / Openspace”, “Estate / Full Region – Skill Gaming” etc.
“region_product_sku” – returns the region’s product number as a string
“region_start_time” – returns the time the region was last (re)started, in llGetUnixTime format
“simulator_hostname” – returns the simhost running this region. Same as llGetSimulatorHostname but without the script delay.
There were no planned RC deployments or restarts for Wednesday, May 6th.
Group Chat Failures
There are been a number of odd group chat issues recently, such as those outlined in see BUG-9130. Simon Linden has been investigating the issues, and gave his findings at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, May 5th, “Basically the chat server gets stuck with bad info about where the avatar is. The normal ways that would get corrected aren’t working right … but trying to log off and back in, or leave and re-join the group might fix it.”
When asked if a re-start of the affected chat servers could clear the problem, he replied, “possibly … except one of the features of the chat servers is that they try to save everything and re-load it when they come back up. That way everyone isn’t kicked out of all their group chats when it restarts. I’d have to check but I think they may save the bad info about [the affect avatar]. ”
Group chat messages are routed to you via the region you are in at the time the message is sent. However, if you have moved to another region during the conversation, the region will tell the group chat service you are no longer there, and the service then performs a look-up to locate you so that the messages can again be sent to you via the region simulator. “In this case, Simon explained the current issue, “it’s failing with a different error due to a change in the grid configuration, and not handling it correctly.”
With the cause of the issue now identified, the Lab hopes to get an update out to the chat servers to fix the problem very soon.
Attachment Failures
As has been noted in these updates, the Lab currently has a series of viewer-side fixes for problems relating to attachment issues (items detaching on region crossing / teleporting, items showing as attached when detached or vice versa, etc.) which are at project viewer status (“Project Big Bird”) and will be progress through the viewer channels in due course.
In addition to the viewer fixes, there are are some server-side issues with attachments the Lab is investigating. In particular, the Lab has identified that requests for multiple simultaneous attachments at or near the upper limit (38) to be attached at the same time will invariably overload the pipe, although why this is the case still has yet to be determined.
Experience Keys / Tools
Work continues with the back-end of Experience Keys / Tools, and Simon Linden has most recently been working on the key values database for the system (which can be used to store information relating to users who have been / are engaged in an experience, such as their progress, items they may have collected / attached, etc.). Given the anticipated popularity of Experiences, and the fact that people have already identified other potential uses for the key value database, the Lab is trying to ensure it is robust enough to handle and and all uses it might be put to – and can deal with the potential of poorly-written scripts persistently polling / updating it more than is strictly required without necessarily impacting its performance.
Other Items
Agent Updates, Draw Distance and SL Performance
In discussing the group chat issues during the Simulator User Group meeting, the conversation turned to the matter of agents and child agents. While the region you are operating in has the main connection to your avatar (your agent), it may also be sending information to avatars on other regions, and you may also be receiving updates from surrounding regions.
The status panel (CTRL-SHIFT-1) reveals how many child updates the region you are in is sending elsewhere (31 in this case). some of these might be unavoidable, others might simply be down to people 3 or 4 regions away with ridiculously high draw distances
Simon explained things thus, “while you’re here, you’re also talking to the region next door; it will send you updates about what happens over there … it has a camera for you and knows what you can see, and sends you updates but it doesn’t run your scripts, for example.”
This tracking of what is going on in other regions is determined by an avatar’s draw distance and the direction in which they are looking, and the “camera” Simon referred to in his description is known as a “child agent”.
Child agents help with a number of tasks – the such as allowing you to see what is going on in a neighbouring region, as Simon mentioned, and also assisting with aspects of region crossings.
Obviously, there will be child agent updates going on between neighbouring regions as a matter of course. But when you have an abnormally high draw distance, the chances are that you are having an additional impact not only on the regions immediately adjacent to the one your in, but every region that falls within draw distance / view, as you are forcing them to send you updates as well, and you are forcing the region you are in to work that much harder to pass those updates to you.
Hence why it’s a good idea to keep your draw distance down to a reasonable level (say 256 metres or lower) for as much as you can. You’re not only helping improve your own experience (however powerful your own computer might be) – you’re showing courtesy to those active in the regions around you and who might also be affected by the region they are in having to take time serving data you may not need to your viewer.
Updates for the week ending: Sunday, May 3rd, 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.
Avatar Layer Limits RC viewer updated to version 3.7.29.301305 on April 28 – (parity with current release viewer) allows users to wear up to 60 wearable layers (jackets, shirts, tattoo, alpha, etc.) in any combination (download and release notes)
Black Dragon updated to version 2.4.2.4 on April 29 – core updates: bug fixes (change log)
Firestorm updated to version version 4.7.1.45325 on May 3rd – core updates: parity with LL 3.2.26 & cherry-picking from 3.7.27 and 3.7.28, many improvements and fixes (release notes, overview of significant changes)
V1-style
Cool VL Viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.12.41, and the Experimental branch to version 1.26.13.10 both on May 2nd (release notes)
Sunday, May 3rd saw the release of Firestorm 4.7.1.45325 Beta. This is another big update which brings Firestorm pretty close to being up-to-date with the Lab’s viewer.
However, it has been given a beta status as there are further important updates coming out of the Lab, such as fixes for AIS v3 attachment issues, the new Viewer-Managed Marketplace functionality, etc. As such, the Firestorm team will be working on a further release, which will be made available once the Lab has made these updates and new functionality generally available through their viewer release channel, and this will count as a “full” release of Firestorm.
Given the sheer number of updates in the release, I do not intend to cover everything here, but rather an overview of some of the more major / interesting changes, updates and fixes to be found in the release. for full details of all changes, and all due credits to contributors, etc., please refer to the official release notes.
As this is a beta release, there will be no blocking of any older releases of Firestorm until after the next “full” release is made.
Lab Updates
The 4.7.1.45325 release brings Firestorm up to parity with the Linden 3.7.26 code base (with some updates from the 3.7.27 and 3.7.28 releases). Given the last release (4.6.9) brought Firestorm to parity with the Lab’s 3.7.8 code base, this means this release includes a significant number of updates direct from the lab, which include, but are not limited to, the following.
Avatar Hover Height
The Lab’s Avatar Hover Height option is included in this release, allowing users to make on-the-fly adjustments to their Avatar’s relative position above the ground / the floor / an object it is sat upon, via a slider or spinner, with a range of +/- 2 metres. The option is accessible via the avatar right-click context menu / the pie menu, which displays the slider / spinner.
Avatar Hover Height allows for on-the-fly adjustments to your avatar’s relative position above the ground, etc.
Avatar Hover Height can be used whether you are standing, sitting, using a poseball, etc. However, note that it is a change to the graphical representation of your avatar – the option does not make any associated change the avatar’s height in terms of platform physics.
Default Permissions
Firestorm 4.7.1 includes the new default permissions panel for setting the initial permissions on created items – objects, uploads, scripts, notecards, gestures and wearables. contributed to the official viewer by Jonathan Yap under STORM-68, the new panel can be opened via Preferences > Firestorm > Build 1 > Default Creation Permissions.
The STORM-68 default creation permissions are now integrated into Firestorm
Other Lab Updates of Note
GPU Benchmarking Feature: in common with the Lab’s viewer, Firestorm no longer uses the GPU table to define your GPU and initially set the viewer’s graphics. Instead, a test is carried out when the viewer is first installed to determine the GPU type and graphics settings are initially set as a result of this test. You can, of course set alter your graphics settings to suit your needs / load your settings for any saved presets you have
Server-side Appearance (SSA) polish / Advanced Inventory System (AIS v3): stability and performance improvements for SSA, including retry logic, removing redundant requests, detecting various appearance stuck conditions; the removal of code related to the old client-side baking framework; appearance bug fixes
HTTP Pipelining and faster inventory fetching: significantly improves the download of data (currently avatar baking information, texture data, and mesh data) to the viewer and improves inventory fetching and loading on logging-in
As HTTP fetching using HTTP is now used exclusively by SL (support for UDP fetching has been removed from the simulators), the option to disable HTTP Inventory has been removed from the Developer menu
Joint offsets in rigged mesh attachment fixes: removes the unpredictability from attaching multiple meshes with joint offsets which meant you could see yourself with different joint positions at different times, and the way you saw yourself might not match up to what others saw. Instead, wearing the same set of meshes should always produce the same joint positions, and the way you see yourself should consistently match the way others will see you. The process for removing attached meshes is also more robust, so you should be able to reliably get your old joint positions back after meshes are removed.
Obtain LSL syntax table from the simulator so that it is always up to date: see STORM-1831
Added glossy reflections for projectors: This feature makes use of the glossiness parameter to calculate the “gloss” of projector reflections – see STORM-2067
Perhaps the most noticeable update in this release is the complete overhaul of the Preferences panel, tabs and sub-tab. Every major tab in Preference has been revised and rationalised, and most of the sub-tabs have been revised / added-to, along with a number of new sub-tabs being added to various tabs.
Firestorm 4.7.1 sees the Preferences panel extensively overhauled, with revised tabs and updated / new sub-tabs, such as the new Mouselook, Teleports and Map & Mini-map tabs under Move & View
The result, while possibly confusing when first discovering a particular option has been moved, is actually a better, more logical set of Preferences tabs and sub-tabs.
Documenting all of them is beyond the scope of a review such as this, and the recommended means for finding options and to gain familiarity with the new layout is to use the Preferences search bar.
[00:30] All of the viewers currently in the release channel as RCs are currently being updated to match the current release viewer, version 3.7.28.300918, which uses the new viewer build tool set.
Experience Keys / Tools
[02:06] The Lab is still making headway on the back-end issues they wish to clear before they promote the Experiences RC viewer to the de facto release viewer.
Attachment Fixes
[02:20] The attachment fixes project viewer (Project BigBird), currently at version 3.7.28.300856, is expected to appear as a release candidate viewer very soon – most likely in week #19. It is thought this viewer fixes all of the attachment issues associated with AIS v3, although there are some attachment issues which occur server-side which it does not correct, such as failures with requests to attach multiple items (such as during an outfit change).
Oculus Rift Project Viewer
[07:22] As noted in my last TPV Developer meeting report, the Lab is resuming work on the Oculus Rift project viewer. The focus on this will be to ensure the viewer works with the latest Oculus SDK (it is currently running behind SDK releases), and also up to the latest viewer source.
Once this has happened, it is likely that the viewer will enter the release channel as a release candidate viewer, so that it can keep pace with updates to the release viewer, and from there progress to release status. How quickly this will happen is dependent upon a lot of different factors, and it is likely to remain the last in line to become the release viewer for a good while, partly because it is unlikely the Oculus Rift will be available as a consumer item until 2016, and so there will be other things entering the release channel which have broader usage within the SL community, and will therefore be promoted more quickly.
Viewer-Managed Marketplace
There was a Viewer Managed Marketplace meeting on Friday, May 1st, immediately prior to the TPVD meeting, and a transcript of that meeting, with recording, is now available.
SL Go has officially gone. The service ceased functioning on Friday, May 1st, after some considerable speculation on exactly when the service would stop.
As most, if not all, SL Go users are aware, notice that the service – along with OnLive’s other cloud services – would be coming to an end was given early in April, after OnLive decided to sell its portfolio of patents to Sony Computer Entertainment America. Way this came about is explained in a blog post from OnLive’s main investor (and former Chairman), Gary Lauder, and I also covered the reasons in a blog post of my own.
OnLive gave notification that their services had come to an end with a message borrowed from Douglas Adams, seen by users as they attempted to log-in via the OnLive clients
While it has originally be thought that SL Go would be popular as a means of access Second Life from tablets and while on the move in the physical world, it actually turned out that the service gained significant traction among those users accessing Second Life (and OpenSim, with the arrival of Firestorm as a supported viewer within SL Go), from low specification computers and laptop, as it enabled people to enjoy the full graphical richness of Second Life in a manner that would otherwise be beyond the capabilities of their hardware, and with few significant issues.
So what now for those people?
At the moment, the most likely alternative on the horizon is Bright Canopy, which will allow users to access Second Life and OpenSim through a conventional web browser. Again, as many people who have used SL Go know, Bright Canopy is currently undergoing beta testing, and it is hoped that a broader, invitation-only pre-launch testing phases will be starting soon, with a formal launch to follow thereafter.
Like SL Go from OnLive, it is important to recognise that Bright Canopy is not endorsed by Linden Lab, but is effectively a third-party viewer service. As it is also being streamed (via Amazon G2 servers initially), there will obviously be a cost involved in using it, and prices have yet to be confirmed. Also, the service is likely to take time to grow – initially, it will be run using Amazon’s servers in the USA, although the plan is to leverage other data centres as time progresses (Bright Canopy is facilitated by Frame, who already use Amazon’s data centres on both the west and east coasts of the USA, plus Ireland, Australia, Singapore and Japan).
Those interested in learning more about Bright Canopy can sign-up for news on the official launch via the website, and and learn more about the service via the Bright Canopy blog.
In the meantime, and once again – as an SL go user myself, particularly when my main PC was in hospital for an extended period earlier this year, my thanks once again to Dennis, Jeff, Shae, Jersey, Robby and everyone else at OnLive involved in SL Go – including Jane Anderson in the US and Mark Bevan here in the UK – for striving to make it an outstanding service.
In the interests of disclosure, I am involved in providing support to Bright Canopy and in helping to administer the Bright Canopy blog. However, I am not officially involved in the management and operation of the company itself.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 