Dave Rowe (Strachan Ofarrel in SL) is responsible for developing the CtrlAltStudio viewer. Based on Firestorm, the viewer comes in two flavours, one encompassing a Stereoscopic 3D world view, and the other pioneering Oculus Rift support for both Second Life and OpenSim.
The Oculus Rift configuration utility (image: Dave Rowe)
I’ve been reporting on both viewers as they’ve been updated, and noticed that Dave recently posted some useful information for those with a pre-release Oculus Rift SDK version and who might be using his viewer.
In it, he provides an overview of the headset’s configuration utility which allows users to:
Measure your eye separation (inter pupillary distance or IPD, also referred to simply as pupillary distance)
Correctly calibrate the headset
Update the headset’s firmware.
If you have a headset, and have not used the configuration utility, Dave’s article makes worthwhile reading, covering as it does all three of the operations bulleted above.
In addition to covering these options, Dave points out that the latest version of the firmware (0.18) includes improvements to reduce orientation drift. So, if you have been using the utility to calibrate the headset, but are finding your orientation is drifting a lot, you may want to try updating your headset’s firmware.
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 Viewer Round-up 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.
Maintenance RC updated on November 7th to 3.6.10.283403 (download and release notes) – finer access control for estate/parcel owners; CHUI: toggle expanding Conversations by clicking on icon (may impact frame rates); GPU table update + more
Black Dragon updated on November 5th to version 2.3.7 Alpha (Maintenance) – core updates: preference panel largely completed with new layout and presentation through the existing floater; improvement to presentation of toast pop-ups (release notes)
Release notes (both) core updates: FMOD Ex updated to v4.44.25; deformer enabled in both versions on OpenSim and SL Aditi grid, disabled on Agni; installer improvements for Windows; crash and bug fixes; Virtual Highway and DreamNation grids added to OpenSim grid list and login URI for Virtyou updated; materials export / import added to object backup on the Stable branch
Text Clients
Group Tool updated on November 7th to version 2.2.23.0.
As always, please refer to the week’s forum deployment thread for the latest news and updates.
The Main channel was updated on Tuesday November 5th with the same maintenance package previously deployed to the three release candidate channels, and which comprised bug fixes and crash mode fixes
On Wednesday November 6th, all three release candidate channels were all due to receive a new maintenance package, comprising further infrastructure changes for the yet-to-be-announced Experience Keys (experience tools) project. However, an undisclosed test failure meant the deployment was cancelled.
Upcoming Releases
Week 46 should see a new maintenance package in RC, which will include:
A fix for BUG-4152 Sim crossing on vehicle fails when parcel at opposite sim border is full
A number of crash fixes, including some which combat a physics griefer object
The fix to allow objects rezzed by sat-upon objects should have a fresh auto-return and temp-on-rez timer, This will allow them to last the full ~60 seconds (for temporary) or parcel auto return time. This should help is situations where combat vehicles in regions with short auto-return times can have their ordnance immediately returned when a weapon is fired, and any temp vehicles are unable to rez attachments, even when sat upon.
An interest list fix for issues where you don’t connect to regions far enough away when draw distance is set to 512m
Maestro Linden’s disco-themed Server Beta meeting venue (stock)
Trojan Objects
A further update is a change to try to deal with a griefing situation wherein estate managers/owners can be added to a region’s the ban list or teleported them home with llTeleportAgentHome(). This is apparently achieved through the use of what Maestro Linden refers to as “Trojan” objects, in that the object appears perfectly innocuous until passed to the an estate manager / owner but which, when rezzed, will the manipulate the ban list via llManageEstateAccess().
Maestro described these scenarios thus:”I could give you ‘cute kitty’ which you then rez on your parcel. But the script with the ‘purr’ function also has a ‘manipulate ban list’ function. Since you (the parcel owner) own the kitty, the script there can do the operation.”
It has also been noted that the use of such “Trojan” objects isn’t restricted to manipulating llManageEstateAccess(); they are also used to clear-down ban lists using llResetBandList(). In the case of llManageEstateAccess(), the function is being changed so that the owner is notified, and is given the option to allow the function to run in “stealth” mode.
The problem here is that by the time the notification is received, the Trojan script has done its job, so the solution is not ideal; the same would be true in the case of altering llResetBandList(). However, as Maestro put it, “But you’ll know exactly what it did in case you need to undo it.” A further concern in the case of llResetBandList() is that some estate owners use the function remotely to legitimately manage their ban lists, so if anything is done to alter its functionality, it might break existing content. This led to extensive debate within the Server Beta meeting as to how such matters could best be addressed – or even if they needed to be addressed beyond people taking the proper precautions when receiving scripted objects from untrusted sources.
SL Viewer
Default Region Restart Sound
In part 1 of this report, I noted that a JIRA has been put forward (STORM-1980) to have a default region restart sound added to Second Life. This would be played automatically by the viewer on receipt of a region restart message, adding an additional warning of an approaching restart for those who may miss the pop-up notices, giving them time to take the appropriate action prior to logging-out.
The work is progressing on this idea, although a suitable sound has yet to be found, and precisely how the region restart messages will be redefined has yet to be entirely settled. Sound-wise, something is required that would universally recognised and which is preferably not language-dependent. One of the more popular ideas at the moment is to have a submarine dive / air-horn like sound (the “A-wooo-GAH!” beloved of films), although there have been some muted concerns about people possibly being offended by the use of “military” sounds. Torley Linden also joined the discussion and, in fun, offered up his own idea – just make sure you don’t have the volume up too loud before playing the clip!
Torley’s region restart warning
Sadly, it doesn’t meet that criteria of being language-independent, but it’s still fun to listen to.
Script Syntax Updates and Increasing Source Text Allowance
In week 39, I reported that Ima Mechanic and Oz Linden are working to improve syntax highlighting in the viewer’s LSL editor by allowing the viewer to obtain the information required for syntax highlighting directly from the simulator the viewer is connected to. This should eliminate issues of the current, manually updated, files used to manage syntax highlighting falling out-of-synch with new LSL syntax as new functions and parameters, etc., are added.
This work is progressing well, and may now additionally see the source code text allowance in the viewer’s LSL editor increased. Currently, the source code limit in the editor is some 65,000 characters, however a number of scripters having been finding that they frequently are coming up against that limit when writing the source code for their scripts, so it has been suggested the limit be raised to 256,000 characters.
As regular readers here will know from my weekly SL project reports, Linden Lab is (among other things) working on the final clean-up of the Server-side Appearance (SSA) code. A large part of this work is directly linked to inventory handling, and is being referred to as the Advanced Inventory Service version 3 updates (AIS v3).
The primary aims aim of these updates is to address a series of inventory issues outstanding from the implementation of SSA, and to aggregate some operations that are currently multiple things into a smaller set of more powerful APIs. As noted in my last update covering AIS, the viewer-side code has reached a point where the Lab is both keen to progress with further testing. This being the case, the Lab has asked TPVs if they could incorporate the updates into experimental versions of their viewers so that they might assist with the testing.
Integrating the AIS v3 code isn’t as straightforward for those viewers which support both OpenSim and SL as it is for those that are focused solely on SL, as the AIS updates have been combined with a removal of the old client-side baking code from the viewer, as this is no longer required by the Lab. So in order to ensure avatar baking continues to work when users log-in to an OpenSim environment, those TPVs supporting both environments with a single viewer are having to ensure the client-side code is not lost when incorporating the new SSA / AIS updates.
On November 6th, Nicky Perian reported that Kokua has now done this, and has a test viewer for Windows available in the former version 3.6.9.30799, which is available in both 32-bit and 64.bit flavours.This viewer both includes the AIS updates and retains the client-side avatar baking code.
As the AIS code is still under development, it is not recommended that either version of this test viewer is used as the primary viewer for logging into Second Life. The primary reasons for making the viewer available are to:
Allow SL users to test inventory transactions, including changing avatar body parts and body part parameters (for example, eye colors) using the dedicated test regions which have been established on the SL Beta test grid Aditi (sunshinesls, sunshinesls1, sunshinetest, sunshinetest1)
Allow OpenSim users to also test inventory transactions and avatar baking on an OpenSim, and check for any unexpected changes to expected behaviour when compared to the latest release viewer.
Tuesday November 5th saw the release of Black Dragon 2.3.7 Maintenance 2, the second release for the viewer in as many weeks, the previous being (wait for it) 2.3.6 Maintenance 1. Since it’s been another two months since I last looked at Black Dragon, which is still officially in its Alpha phase of development, I decided the arrival of 2.3.7 was as good a reason as any to take another peek at what Niran has been up to.
And it is actually rather a lot, with each of the iterations of Black Dragon appearing since 2.3.1 both building on the basic LL v3.x look and feel while adding-in both more TPV features and Niran’s own unique take on the viewer’s appearance and layout.
Version 2.3.2 saw the inclusion of a host of CHUI, NORSPEC (materials), Cocoa updates, bug fixes and maintenance updates from Linden Lab, together with the return of Tofu Buzzard’s screen space reflections and a lot of general clean-up
Version 2.3.3 was to include further LL code updates and fixes, some updates to Niran’s Machinima Sidebar, and further rendering / graphics tweaks
Version 2.3.5 saw the re-introduction of RLVa, complete with a dedicated Preferences tab.
As noted above, both release 2.3.6 and 2.3.7 are classified as “maintenance” releases, planned by Niran to further enhance the work started in version 2.3.4, which introduced the first phase of overhauling the Preferences floater. Given this, what follows is intended to be an overview of the most recent updates to Black Dragon, with a particular focus on the Preferences work, rather than an in-depth review.
Preferences
With Niran’s Viewer, Niran opted to go for a fairly radical overhaul of the Preferences options, presenting them as an overlay, rather than within a floating panel. It was a novel approach, and one which, while making better use of screen space, could also be disconcerting to users coming to it the first time, particularly when trying to find settings, etc. In the re-working of Black Dragon, he’s gone for something less radical and potentially less unsettling to users familiar with the “traditional” approach to the Preferences floater, but which still offers an interesting take on how Preferences can be presented.
The first noticeable change is that Niran has used headings to split the various Preferences tabs into definable sections. The result is a layout which tends to be more logically ordered and which the eye tends to follow more easily.
The RLVa Preferences panel introduced in version 2.3.5 of Black Dragon and showing the use of section headings to help logically arrange the tab’s content
The other obvious change is that rather than using additional sub-tabs within a given section of Preferences, Niran has opted to use a slider on the right of the given tab, allowing users to scroll up and down through options in order to display them. It’s an interesting approach to take, and one that is certainly as valid as the use of sub-tabs; however, having to scroll through an extensive list of options such as with the Display tab perhaps isn’t quite as efficient as being able to see tabbed headings at-a-glance in order to switch between them.
There are other touches as well which set Black Dragon apart in terms of Preferences presentation. Within the Display tab (Graphics), for example, Niran opts to use drop-down option lists rather than sliders for various settings. This is again a carry-over from Niran’s Viewer, and whether one likes it or not is liable to be a matter of personal taste. To me, being able to set the rendering quality for something like in-world objects to a value between Low and Ultra feels more intuitively user-friendly than adjusting a slider to an arbitrary point somewhere between 1 and 4, or 0 and 1, or 16 through 120.
The Display (Graphics) tab in Black Dragon’s Preferences. Note the use of the slider (far right) rather than sub-tabs, the use of drop-down lists in place of sliders and the [default] option for quickly resetting those sliders which are still usedContinue reading “Black Dragon viewer: progressing nicely”→
As always, please refer to the week’s forum deployment thread for the latest news and updates.
Main channel: Tuesday November 5th
The Main channel was updated with the same maintenance package previously deployed to the three release candidate channels, and which comprised bug fixes and crash modes.
Release Candidate Channels, Wednesday November 6th Currently Cancelled
All three release candidate channels should receive the same maintenance package, comprising further infrastructure changes for the yet-to-be-announced Experience Keys (experience tools) project.
SL Viewer
There have been no release updates so far this week. However, a bug has been reported within the former “Sharestorm” viewer (the current release viewer, 3.6.9.282535), wherein fps rates are severely impacted when the CHUI conversation floater is open. If you’re using the current release viewer, and find frame rates are being impacted when conversing, try switching to CHUI’s Compact View.
If you find your FPS reates are being hit when you have the CHUI floater open in the current SL viewer release (or a viewer with the ShareStorm code), try switching CHUI to the Compact Viewer (above)
A further bug that has been reported sees FPS impacted if the Build floater is opened after having About Land open in a region with a long covenant.
Region Restart Sound
A new JIRA has been put forward (STORM-1980) to have a default region restart sound added to Second Life. This would be played automatically by the viewer on receipt of a region restart message, adding an additional warning of an approaching restart for those who may miss the pop-up notices, be working on another screen / window or who are otherwise distracted while logged-in to Second Life, allowing them to take appropriate action prior to the region starting and them being logged-out. Work on this is in progress, and is generally seen as a good idea.
Other Items
Scripted Sound Improvements?
Requests have been raised at several meetings recently about the possibility of improving scripted sound functions (such as being able to use a single sound loop for a vehicle’s engine and using LSL to change the pitch of the loops when the vehicle is accelerating or slowing down, for example) and to possibly make the prim collision sound being a property of the prim instead of the script.
Commenting on the former request at the simulator user group meeting on Tuesday November 5th, Simon Linden said, ” there have been some JIRA feature requests about llLink-something with sounds [“llLinkPlaySound”, “llLinkStopSound” and “llLinkLoopSound”]. We’ve discussed it internally and it seems like a good idea, but needs some work to see if we can cover as much functionality as possible with a reasonable API.” Expect more details as the work progresses.
![The Display (Graphics) tab in Black Dragon's Preferences. Note the use of the slider (far right) rather than sub-tabs, the use of drop-down lists in place of sliders and the [default] option for quickly resetting those sliders which are still used](https://modemworld.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/prefs-2.jpg)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 