Important note: The SL Go service is to be shut down on April 30th, 2015. For more information, please read this report.
OnLive, the providers of the Second Life streaming service, SL Go, which allows users to run Second Life from a low-end PC or Mac or and Android tablet or iPad (using a TPV based on the official SL viewer) or on a low-end PC or Mac using a version of the Firestorm Viewer, have launched an in-world support group for their users.
The idea for such a group was first discussed at the special Firestorm Q&A meeting held in December 2014 following the release of Firestorm on SL Go (see my review of Firestorm on SL Go here). At the time, Dennis Harper, OnLive’s Product Manager for SL Go. indicated the idea was a good one, which he would follow-up back at the office.
On Friday, January 16th, Dennis contacted me in-world during the Third-Party Developer Meeting to let me know the group is now up and running, and open to anyone to join.
The SL Go Support Group is intended to provide in-world support for users of the service
If you are an SL Go user, and which to join the group, you will find it listed as SL Go by OnLive using the viewer’s search, or you can view the web profile for the group. A number of Firestorm support staff are helping with providing cover within the group, so enquiries on either the SL Go SL Viewer (SLV) and Firestorm for SL Go viewers can be asked through it.
In passing the details to me, Dennis said, “It’s been quite a ride for us since the Firestorm release, and we’re very pleased to be able to offer in-world support to our users as a part of our growing commitment to Second Life.”
Updates for the week ending: Sunday January 11th, 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.
HTTP Pipelining RC viewer updated to version /3.7.24.297623 on January 5th, 2015 – reduced pipelined texture and mesh fetching timeout so that stalled connections fail quickly allowing earlier retry. Timeout value changed from 150 seconds to 60 seconds (download and release notes)
Updates for the week ending: Sunday January 4th, 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.
The Christmas / New Year period saw three more rapid-fire releases of the Black Dragon viewer as NiranV Dean continues to refine and tweak it both in response to feedback and as a result of stepping on a few bugs.
The first update, version 2.4.1.5, was available for people to add to their Christmas stockings on December 24th. This saw a merge with the Lab’s released 3.7.23 code base, and so captures everything up to an include the last set of maintenance updates from the Lab, which includes the fixes for joint offsets in rigged meshes.
Chief among Niran’s own updates came the ability to hide the Favourites Bar (which in the most recent versions of the Black Dragon UI has been sitting above the menu / address bar). The toggle is in the right-click context menu displayed when clicking on the menu / address bar; unchecking it will cause the latter to slide up and hide the Favourites bar from view. Checking the option will cause the Favourite Bars to be revealed once more. You can also achieve the same results via Preferences > Interface > Show Favourites Panel, if you prefer.
From Black Dragon 2.4.1.5 onwards, you can opt to hide / show the Favourites Bar using either using a context menu option or a Preferences option (click for full size, if required)
An “experimental connections issues” warning was also added to the viewer, which is designed to show when your ping time to the SL simhost exceeds 500ms. I’m not sure what form the warning takes, as I’ve not been able to fiddle with things sufficiently to push my ping rate that high.
The “New Years Update”, version 2.4.1.6, which appeared on December 31st, saw an overhaul of RLVa with the viewer, which Niran notes had become somewhat broken due to not having received TLC for several updates. There may still be further tweaks and fixes to come, but feedback would seem to be required for that to happen – so if you’re an RLV user and find problems still, please pass good feedback on the issues you’re encountering to Niran.
Also, version 2.4.1.6 added the ability to show / hide the Merchant Outbox and Received Items folders in Inventory, if preferred. You’ll need to re-log after enabling / disabling the option to show / hide the folders.
When the folders are active in Inventory, remember you’ll still be able to open the Merchant Outbox panel from the Edit menu, and Received Items via the panel near the bottom of the Inventory floater. This release also added the ability to change keyboard layouts without the need for a re-log, and added some new parcel property icons.
Black Dragon 2.4.1.6 added the option to display the Merchant Outbox and Received Items folders in inventory. A re-log is required between toggling the option on / off. Note that if you don’t have an active Merchant Outbox, the folder may not show in your Inventory (click for full size, if required)
On January 2nd, 2015, Niran issued version 2.4.1.7, which is essentially a bug fix for an error introduced with the 2.4.1.6 release, although it includes a few additional tweaks.
All three releases came with various tweaks, fixes and assorted minor changes (code clean-ups, etc.), which are listed in the release notes for each updated, linked-to above. Please refer to them for further details on an individual release.
Once again, a series of small changes serving to further refine Black Dragon and meet the needs of users, which should help to keep people happy, and which ensure the viewer keeps pace with the Lab’s code releases.
Updates for the week ending: Sunday December 28th, 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. 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.
Experience Keys RC viewer version 3.7.24.297643 released on December 22nd – provides support for viewing and managing Experiences and for contributing content for Experiences (download and release notes) – Alternate Viewers wiki page still to be updated
Alchemy viewer made a Christmas Day release of their latest Beta, version 3.7.23.34447, on December 25th.
Described as being something of an interim release pending the next full release, the update sees the viewer maintain parity with the Lab’s code base (3.7.23). This means it should have recent Lab-driven updates such as the latest maintenance fixes. There’s also a number of tidy updates and tweaks as well.
The headline update on the Alchemy blog is the inclusion of FMOD Studio, which “provides the latest in 3D audio in gaming”. I didn’t in all honesty noticed that much of a difference switching between the same music stream while swapping between this release of Alchemy and the official SL viewer; but doubtless there is additional work under the hood to eliminate bugs and issues, and I believe the update may be offered as a contribution to the Lab.
The viewer also sees the following new additions:
A WORN tab in inventory – always useful to have
A nicely reworked Object Profile floater
A new Transaction Log (Me > Transaction Log), described as “useful for keeping short term track of tips, donations, and sales”)
The ability to “pop-out” profile pictures, as seen with some other TPVs, by clicking on them
A new status bar icon for Flycam use with the likes of Space Navigator
Inclusion of Qarl Fizz’s Tree and Grass picker from the Inworldz Viewer.
The SL viewer Object profile floater and the Alchemy updated layout and additional information.
The Transaction Log is likely to be handy for those receiving regular indirect payments. Transactions are recorded across the current log-in session, and when I pulled an old tip jar script from inventory and dropped it into a prim cube, the log immediately recorded payments from my Alt just fine. Received payments are recorded in terms of time, name of payer and amount, and each can be ordered in ascending / descending order.
The new Flycam icon – visible when Flycam mode is active
I’m not entirely convinced of the new Flycam icon, mainly because the “usual” button found at the bottom of the screen worked just fine, so this seems to be a change for change sake, rather than for any definable improvement. However, this is purely a personal observation, and the new icon appears in the top right corner of the status bar when the Flycam capability is in use with a Space Navigator.
Alongside of these changes, the release notes for the update offers bullet points on the remaining updates in the release, and the bugs which have been addressed. Rather than repeat things here, I’ll leave it to those interested in the viewer to take a poke at them.
One thing very worth the mention is that Linux users get a special treat with this release, as with it, Alchemy supports 64-bit Linux distributions.
And interesting, lightweight release (no bad thing given all the Christmas excesses people have been enjoying!), which probably hides a lot more work under the hood than is at first apparent. I’m curious to see what is in store with future releases for machinima makers and photographers, as it certainly sounds as if the Alchemy devs are cooking something up there. But in the meantime, this update should help keep Alchemy users happy.
Important note: The SL Go service is to be shut down on April 30th, 2015. For more information, please read this report.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 