Category: SL Tech

Firestorm 4.6.1: Firestorm full-on

Posted on by Inara Pey

firestorm-logoUpdate: Shortly after release, Jessica Lyon dropped me a note to say the Vivox files didn’t actually make it to the release, but will now be made available via a separate download.

On Wednesday March 12th, the Firestorm team released Firestorm 4.6.1.40478, bringing with it a lot of features, fixes, updates and enhancements.

The complete list of changes, together with attributions, can be found in the release notes, and I refer readers to that document for specifics on contributors, FIRE JIRA, etc. The following is intended as an overview of some of the more major / interesting changes to be found in the release.

The first thing to note with this release is that it is, with the exception of the Linux 64-bit version (which is beta), a full release, not a beta or alpha or anything else.

So, if you’ve been avoiding trying 4.5.1 because it was a beta release, now is the time to consider updating. Do make sure when doing so that you take a look at the Firestorm 4.5.1 release notes, which provide a lot of information on that release as well which will of benefit to you as you gain familiarity with 4.6.1. You can also read my review of the 4.5.1 release here.

Downloading – a Reminder

This will be the first release of Firestorm following changes at Google forcing Firestorm to discontinue using Google’s download service (see the Download Server section of my Feb 15th FS meeting transcript for an explanation). This means that all Firestorm downloads starting with this release are via the team’s own download server.

As this is the only server the team has at their disposal for downloading the viewer, you may experience some delay / issues when attempting to download the viewer due to the volume of downloads the server is handling, particularly during the period following the release announcement. Should this occur, the Firestorm team request a little patience, and if you can, to consider re-trying a little later.

Installation

As always, a completely clean install of the viewer is recommended.

Windows 64-bit Installer

Those who have previously installed the windows 64-bit version will be aware that the installer could be painfully slow. With this release, the Windows 64-bit installer has been overhauled, and should be appreciably faster, and also includes some additional tweaks:

  • Added estimated installation size (200 MB)
  • Add/Remove panel icon (shared with 32bit installer for simplicity)
  • Added website URLs (shown in the bottom section of the Add/Remove panel)

Viewer and Installer Blocks

The release of 4.6.1 means that all versions of Firestorm prior to 4.4.2 will be blocked from accessing Second Life in around a week’s time. Additionally, and in reference to the Windows version of Firestorm, note that:

  • The 32-bit installer blocks the installation on any Windows operating system below Vista, except for 32-bit Windows XP with Service Pack 3
  • the 64-bit installer blocks the installation on Windows 64 bit on versions older than Windows XP with Service Pack 2.

Updates from the Lab

This release brings Firestorm to parity with many of the Lab’s more recent updates, highlights of which include:

  • Code parity with Linden Lab’s 3.7.2 code base
  • Fitted mesh support – for those unfamiliar with Fitted Mesh, I have an overview here
  • HTTP updates for improved rendering
  • Request Teleport feature
  • Region Restart updates
  • Vivox 4.6.x updates
  • SL Share (link to Facebook)
  • Temporary attachments no longer get removed improperly
  • … and more

Request Teleport

The Request for Teleport option (show from the People floater) and request.
The Request for Teleport option (show from the People floater) and request.

A feature contributed to the SL viewer by Jonathan Yap, Request Teleport allows users to pass a request to others asking that they be teleported to their location.

I covered the capability when it first appeared in an SL project viewer in September 2013, so in brief:

  • Select the person to whom you wish to teleport (from your Friends list or Nearby list, etc.), and select Request Teleport
  • Enter a message in the pop-up, if required, and click OK.
  • At the “other end”, the recipient of the request will receive the request and can either accept the request, sending a teleport offer, or reject it, in which case no message is sent
  • If the request is accepted, the sender see the usual teleport offer pop-up.

Note that Request Teleport is not a replacement for Firestorm’s “teleport to” capability, which remains unchanged.

SL Share and Facebook

The four tabs of the SLShare floater (as seen on the SL viewer), which allow those who want to to share their SL times via their Facebook account
The four tabs of the SLShare floater (as seen on the SL viewer), which allow those who want to share their SL times via their Facebook account

SL Share is a means by which those who have no issue with linking their SL account with their Facebook account can do so and send messages, photos, etc. to their Facebook account.

This was a feature released by Linden Lab again in September 2013, and I provided an overview at that time. however, it is probably worth repeating a couple of core points:

  • The feature is opt-in, and available to those who have no problem linking their SL identity with that of their Facebook identity
  • It has proven very popular among many users who have no problems doing so
  • It’s not about the “Facebookisation” of Second Life or trying to “make” SL users also use Facebook.

Region Restart Updates

The region restart updates comprise two main elements:

  • The new on-screen region restart warning, accompanied by a sound and camera shake
    The new on-screen region restart warning, accompanied by a sound and camera shake

    A new region restart warning notification, which is displayed in the centre of the viewer window every minute, on the minute, for the last five minutes prior to the region restarting, and which includes a countdown (in seconds) until the regions restarts

  • A camera-shaking warning which occurs every minute, on the minute for the last five minutes prior to the region restarting, causing the world view to shake., and which is accompanied by a region restart sound.

Note that both the new format notification and the camera shaking can be disabled / enabled as follows:

  • New region restart notification: Preferences > User Interface > Toasts > Use new region restart notification
  • Camera shaking: Preferences > User Interface > Toasts > Don’t shake my screen when region restart alert message is shown.

In addition, teleports to regions which are in the final 60 seconds before a restart will be prevented and the viewer will display a message in the format: “The region you’re trying to enter is about to shut down”.

Phototools

Phototools is updated to version 1.2, bringing with it a lot of enhancements, including:

  • An option to enable / disable screen space reflections (when shadows options are enabled)
  • The removal of legacy specular highlight and camera aspect ratio controls
  • Additional sliders/spinners and controls for RenderShadowBias, RedershadowBiasError,  CameraMaxCoF, FSRenderShadowSplitExponentY, FSRenderShadowGaussianX, FSRenderSSAOEffect and FSRenderShadowGaussianY
  • Increased editable value ranges for many spinners allowing greater control
  • Numerous other updates and amendments.

Details on the Phototools floater can be found here.

In addition, William Weaver, who first developed Phototools, has produced a series of video tutorials on using the floaters, the latest of which is provided below, which also looks at some of the most recent updates:

Contact Sets

Contact Sets, which allows Firestorm users to group their friends / contacts into groups or categories (friends, business contacts, members of s specific RP group, etc.), has been completely revised with this latest release of Firestorm.

Contact Sets now form an additional tab in the Conversations / Contacts floater, and as well as the familiar means of accessing it (via the Contact Sets toolbar button, or by Comm > Contact Sets or by pressing CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-C), it can now be displayed by any of the following methods, and then clicking on the Contact Sets tab:

  • Via Comm > Conversations / CTRL-T or via the Conversations toolbar button
  • Via Comm > Contacts / CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-F
  • Via Comm > Friends / CTRL-SHFT-F  or via the People / Friends toolbar button
Contact Sets is now integrated into the Conversations - Contacts floater (image courtesy of Firestorm)
Contact Sets is now integrated into the Conversations – Contacts floater (image courtesy of the Firestorm team)

The new layout is tidier and more integrated into the Firestorm UI, although a couple of options – such as the Rolodex functionality – are no longer present. New buttons provide a more intuitive approach to managing Contact Sets, and include the able to display friends and contacts using their Display Names or even set your own aliases for them (only visible in your Contacts Sets tab).

An overview and instructions on using the new Contact Sets can be found here.

Continue reading “Firestorm 4.6.1: Firestorm full-on” →

SL projects updates week 11/1: server, viewer, group bans

Posted on by Inara Pey
Simulator User Group meeting (stock)
Simulator User Group meeting (stock)

Server Deployments: week 11

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread in the forums for the latest updates / changes.

Main (SLS) Channel

On Tuesday March 11th, the Main channel was updated with the server maintenance project deployed the BlueSteel and LeTigre channels  in week 10. This contains the following bug fixes:

  • Fixed a bug in which the server release notes link in “About Second Life” would sometimes fail to appear
  • Fixed a bug in which certain objects had incorrect status when crossing between regions
  • Fixed a crash mode.

A question in the forum thread following the week 10 deployments  about the nature of the fix for “bug in which certain objects had incorrect status when crossing between regions” was responded to by Maestro Linden, who explained the fix was limited to what appears to be a single-case issue.

Release Candidate Channels

On Wednesday March 12th, BlueSteel and LeTigre should join Magnum in having support for a new version of the inventory service, AISv3, enabled.  This service requires the use of the Project Sunshine RC viewer.

SL Viewer Updates

On Monday March 10th, the Maintenance RC viewer was promoted to the de facto release viewer, version 3.7.3.287491 (download) – release notes are here.

A new hotfix release candidate appeared on Tuesday March 11th. The FmodEx Hotfix version 3.7.4.287875 (download and release notes) is intended to correct a suspected thread race crasher in the FmodEx audio streaming library.

Otherwise, all other viewers remain as listed in my Current Viewer Releases page.

Group Ban list

Baker Linden, ironing-out viewer-side issues with Group Bans
Baker Linden, ironing-out viewer-side issues with Group Bans

Baker Linden is working to fix issues which were picked-up on during some initial public testing of the Group Ban functionality on Aditi during the Server Beta User group meeting on Thursday March 6th. Those issues already identified with the viewer code can be found here.

Allowing for further testing and scheduling, the current plan is to have the server-side elements of the Group Ban functionality deployed across Agni prior to the viewer code being released in an RC viewer.

Until that happens, the viewer code will either remain as a direct download or may filter into a project viewer at some point once the server code is ready to start being deployed on Agni (there is currently no date as to when this will be).

Currently, the development viewer is available for Windows or Mac OSX or Linux, but the group ban functions will only work on the Aditi test regions such as in Morris (at the Server Beta UG meeting area).

JIRA: Old BUG issues Can be Made Visible

The re-opening of the JIRA occurred in week 10, and at the time, only BUG issues raised after the re-opening would be available to public scrutiny. However, it now appears as if reporters have the option of re-opening their old issues to public viewing if they so wish. Callak Skytower, for example, has made BUG-4427 publicly viewable once more.

Other Items

Group Role Updates

An issue with group roles was raised at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday March 11th. If a member of a group is assigned a new / additional role, the update occurs server-side, and is reflected in the Group floater for the owner / officer (or whoever is empowered to grant roles), but the change is not reflected in the Group floater of the person who has been granted the new / additional role until such it as they either re-log or are sent a re-invitation to join the group.

This has not been a cause of major concern, possibly because there is little in the way of role re-assignments occurring in groups on a daily basis. It is not currently clear as to whether the matter will be addressed, although there was general agreement that updates to role assignments should require something like a relog in order to be seen in the Group floater.

My thanks to mona Eberhardt and Rex Cronin for the meeting transcripts.

Return to Radegast

Posted on by Inara Pey

rade-logo

It’s been over two years since I last looked at Radegast, the lightweight virtual worlds (SL and OpenSim) client for Linux, Windows and Mac. However, given it has just had two short-order updates, it seemed appropriate that I also bring my coverage of it a little more up-to-date.

Given so much has gone on with the client since I last blogged on it, this isn’t so much a review of the recent updates – or any updates – but more of a quick reminder of what Radegast is and what it can do.

For those unfamiliar with Radegast, it is a feature-rich client, offering almost all the functionality of the actual SL viewer, with the core functionality perhaps summarised as:

  • Chat (local, IM, group, friends conference)
  • Inventory management (manipulation, deletion of the items, moving them around, sending to other people by dropping item on their profile)
  • Manipulation of object contents, notecard and script editing
  • Ability to wear/take off clothes and attachments from the inventory
  • Avatar appearance – others using 3D client will see you appear correctly, and will not be able to tell that you’re using a text client
  • Backup of all scripts and notecards from the inventory
  • World map
  • Object finder – list objects nearby, sort them by distance, name, see details
  • A.L.I.C.E AI chat – turn it on in tools menu and have fun with automatic responses to chat/IM generated by a built-in Artificial Intelligence
  • Radar functionality
  • Movement controls
  • Support for activating gestures from the inventory
  • Streaming music
  • Accessibility improvements for visually impaired users, including speech recognition for controlling UI and entering text in chat and text-to-speech for reading out loud incoming messages
  • Experimental voice support for local chat
  • Partial RLV support
  • Group management
  • 3D scene rendering for Windows and Linux
Radegast provides a 3D scene rendering in which you can interact with others and object, move around, teleport, move your camera ...
Radegast provides a 3D scene rendering for Windows and Linux in which you can interact with others and object, move around, teleport, move your camera …

All of this makes it an extremely powerful client, and one which can offer significant advantages over some of the more traditional text-based clients for SL power users who may have a need to access SL from a computer other than their usual system – such as a low-powered laptop while on the move (an option which could also potentially be more cost-effective for such users when compared to SL Go).

Since my last hands-on review of Radegast (version 2.2), there have been a series of updates which have ensured the client has kept pace with developments within SL. These mean, for example, that Radegast supports Marketplace Direct Delivery, Server-side Appearance, interest list updates and support for the recent server-side HTTP protocol improvements. In addition, bugs and issues have continued to be addressed, there have been further improvements to inventory handling, attachment point updates, rendering improvements (including some I encountered very early on and which are now long-since fixed) and a whole lot more.

Radegast takes mesh and sculpt rendering in its stride in the 3D scene view
Radegast takes mesh and sculpt rendering in its stride in the 3D scene view

One area in particular that has been focused upon with Radegast is that of accessibility by the visually impaired and audio gamers. Roxie Marten and Celene Highwater have written a comprehensive Accessibility Guide to help people get started with Second life through Radegast (and which also serves as a very good introduction to the client for anyone who has not used it before), and Latif has done a considerable amount of work on improving the Radegast speech plug-in.

If you’re looking for a means of accessing Second Life from something like a low-end laptop while on the move, and would prefer to be able to see what’s going on in-world (on Windows and Linux) rather than relying on text only, or if you have an old computer you’d like to occasionally use for SL access but which labours under the load of running a full-blown viewer, then there is little doubt that Radegast offers a very capable alternative. And as nice and shiny as SL Go is when on the move, it’s also nice to remember that there are alternatives, particularly if you have to take the old laptop with you …

Related Links

Viewer release summaries 2014: week 10

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending: March 9th, 2014

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
  • By its nature, this summary will always be in arrears
  • The Viewer Round-up Page is updated as soon as I’m aware of any releases / changes to viewers & clients, and should be referred to for more up-to-date information
  • The Viewer Round-up Page also 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.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release:  no change
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Maintenance RC updated to version 3.7.3.287491 on March 6th – core updates: assorted MAINT fixes (download and release notes)
    • Voice viewer RC version 3.7.3.287288 released on March 5th – core update: Vivox 4.6.x update for improved voice stability and to address Mac Mavericks issues (download and release notes)
    • Sunshine / AIS v3 RC version 3.7.3.287158 released on March 5th – core updates: removal of old viewer-side baking code, stability and performance improvements (download and release notes)
    • Merchant Outbox RC version 3.7.3.287344 released on March 3rd – core updates: fixes for accurately detecting Merchant status and improves recovery for Merchant Outbox errors (download and release notes)
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • Black Dragon updated to version 2.3.9.6 (incorporating 2.3.9.5) on March 6th – core updates: experimental shadow blurring enhancements, UI updates  (release notes)

V1-style

  • Cool Viewer updated on March 8th to the following versions: Stable: 1.26.10.13; Experimental: 1.26.11.13; Legacy: 1.26.8.50 – core updates: backport of LL’s sunshine / AIS v3 code; backport of potential crash fixes; backport of RLV llRegionSayTo() blocking policy; Implemented a new “ResetVertexBuffersOnLowMem” setting + more  (release notes)

Mobile / Other Clients

  • Radegast updated on March 4th to version 2.14, and was followed on March 8th by version 2.16 which addressed a couple of issues in 2.14 – core updates: catch up with Second Life protocol changes, fixes for issues in the 2.14 release, general fixes and tweaks (release notes for 2.14 and release notes for 2.16)

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

SL projects update 10/2: group ban preview

Posted on by Inara Pey

Server Deployments: week 10 – recap

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread in the forums for the latest updates / changes.

  • On Tuesday March 4th, the Main channel was updated with the infrastructure update deployed the RC channels  in week 9.
    • On Wednesday March 5th, Magnum remained on the same server version as week 9, comprising the infrastructure update and enabled support for AIS v3.  BlueSteel and LeTigre were updated with a new server maintenance project which contains the following bug fixes:
      • Fixed a bug in which the server release notes link in “About Second Life” would sometimes fail to appear
      • Fixed a bug in which certain objects had incorrect status when crossing between regions
      • Fixed a crash mode

A question in the forum thread on the nature of the fix for “bug in which certain objects had incorrect status when crossing between regions” was responded to by Maestro Linden, who explained the fix was limited to what appears to be a single-case issue.

SL Viewer

The Sunshine project viewer moved to RC status on March 5th, with the release of version 3.7.3.287158 (download and release notes), and a new Voice viewer with Vivox updates entered the release channels as an RC viewer, version 3.7.3.287288 (download and release notes), both of which I previewed here.

The Maintenance RC viewer updated on March 6th to version 3.7.3.287491 (download and release notes). This view includes a range of LL-driven MAINT fixes, including crash fixes, updates to address CHUI-related issues, bug fixes and some localisation work – please refer to the release notes for details.

Group Bans

The Group Ban viewer is approaching a point where it will be appearing in a project viewer form, and it was put through its paces in a group test on Aditi (where some regions have the server-side support), during the Sever Beta meeting on Thursday March 6th.

I’ll be providing a complete overview of how this ability, which allows group own and those within the group assigned the group ban power, to eject and ban people – such as spammers – from a group. The capability is specifically aimed at groups with open enrolment, and those banned are unable to re-join it until such time as their ban has been lifted – although there is a maximum limit of 500 on the group ban list. Go beyond this, and attempts at further banning will fail until such time as one or more names are removed from the list.

I’ll be reviewing the capability in full once the viewer reaches a project viewer status, but in the meantime I’m including a couple of screen caps showing the some of the addition to the group floater which allow group bans to be managed but those empowered to do so.

Goup bans: the option to ban people from a group is available from the Members tab (l), and allws individual or multiple bans to be applied. Those banned are listed in Banned Agents tab (r), which include a button to unban names and a button to pre-actively add names to the ban list using the people picker
Group bans test viewer: the option to ban people from a group is available from the Members tab (l), and allows individual or multiple bans to be applied. Those banned are listed in Banned Agents tab (r), which include a button to unban names and a button to pre-actively add names to the ban list using the people picker

There’s still some work to be done on the viewer (there are some missing notifications, for example, and some issues were found in the when banning people, which need to be addressed). Also, the server-side code has yet to be deployed to the Main grid. So it may still be a little while before we see the group ban functionality progressing more towards more widespread use.

Other Items

Inventory Loss Issue

There are reports of some users experiencing inventory loss. It is said that around three JIRA reports have been filed on the matter, which started occurring on Magnum regions after the AIS v3 was enabled. However, whether or not the losses are linked to the code or not is unclear. The issues are being described as corrupt inventories, with all contents gone, and LL’s own inventory repair tools have failed to rectify matters. The situation is currently under investigation by the Lab, and it appears that the issue may be related to the use of “obscure” viewers.

SL Go: of pricing and models and some thoughts from OnLive

Posted on by Inara Pey

SL go logoImportant note: The SL Go service is to be shut down on April 30th, 2015. For more information, please read this report.

Update: On April 3rd, 2014, OnLive announced a revised pricing structure for SL Go.

While only launched on Wednesday March 5th, OnLive’s new SL Go offering for accessing Second Life from Android devices, low-end computers and TVs (additional hardware required) has already received a lot of kick-back due to its initial pricing model.

As it stands, OnLive, in something of a departure from their normal pricing models, are initially presenting the service on a pay-as-you-go offering starting at $3.00 for an hour in SL (with an initial 20-minute free trial period for new sign-ups), through $8.00 for up to three hours access, to $25.00 for up to ten hours. This is being seen as prohibitively expensive for using Second Life.

But is that really the case? Ultimately, the answer to this is both yes and no.

SL Go by OnLive: streaming Second Life to your tablet - but the pricing model is upsetting to many
SL Go by OnLive: streaming Second Life to your tablet – but the pricing model is upsetting to many

On the one hand, SL Go is being presented as an adjunct – not a replacement – to people’s “normal” means of accessing Second Life; something to be used to get in-world when access via home computer and local viewer isn’t an option. This was very much underlined by Nate Barsetti,  the Senior Manager of Customer Relations at OnLive, and Don Laabs, Linden Lab’s Senior Director of Product with overall responsibility for Second Life, emphasised when both appeared on a Designing Worlds special presentation shown a few hours after the launch of the service.

In such instances, a pay-as-you-go option is actually valid, as it potentially offers a better means of managing costs than something like a subscription payment system, such as OnLive’s new $14.99-a-month CloudLift subscription service, which was also launched on March 5th alongside their new OnLive Go service (of which SL Go is actually a part)..

For example, someone who find they need to access SL for, say, 4 hours a month when they are away from their home PC and viewer would have to pay a maximum of $31.00 a quarter in order to do so. But if SL Go were pitched at the same price as CloudLift, then their cost for the same 3-month period would be $44.97.

Of course, how far the pay-as-you-go payment plan remains attractive is on something of a sliding scale, and a tipping-point can easily be reached. There’s also the fact that were SL to be “rolled into” something like CloudLift, then it becomes more attractive on a subscription service as users gain access to it and other titles provided by CloudLift should they wish to make use of them. But that doesn’t negate the fact that there are genuine use-cases where pay-as-you go is potentially far more cost-effective, and therefore attractive, than a flat subscription rate.

On the other hand, however, SL Go has been presented as a means of accessing the full richness of SL on computers otherwise incapable of doing so. This suggests that SL Go could be used as a more general means of using SL than those on such low-end machines can currently enjoy – and as such, it is where the pay-as-you-go option falls flat on its face, and an alternative means of paying for the service to be used in this way is required, such as a subscription model. And OnLive aren’t actually blind to this fact.

Continue reading “SL Go: of pricing and models and some thoughts from OnLive” →