As noted in part 2 of my week projects update, the Hotfix RC viewer was updated to version 3.7.4.288138 on March 18th
Two new RC viewers entered the channel during the week in the form of:
The latest iteration of the Google Breakpad RC, version 3.7.4.288045, on March 17th
The StatTest RC, version 3.7.4.288282, on March 20th
Neither of the latter two include functional changes compared to the current release version of the viewer (3.7.3.287491).
Because the arrival of the Google Breakpad viewer and the StatTest viewer pushed the total number of RCs in the release channel to seven, the Project Interesting RC viewer (3.7.3.287127), the SL Voice RC viewer (3.7.3.287288) and the Sunshine / AIS v3 RC viewer (3.7.3.287158) have been temporarily withdrawn from the release channel (all were incidentally due a rebuild anyway).
Both of the latter two RCs will be returning to the release channel, most likely in updated versions, once the total number of RCs currently in the channel has been reduced.
On Saturday March15th 2014, the Firestorm team hosted a meeting and Q and A session to discuss the recent 4.6.1 release, provide updates on a number of issues, and answer audience questions.
While the meeting was recorded, the Firestorm team are aware that many of their users have hearing difficulties, and / or prefer to read text, so this transcript has been supplied on their behalf.
When reading, please remember:
This is not a word-for-word transcript of the entire meeting. While all quotes given are as they are spoken in the video, to assist in readability and maintain the flow of conversation, not all asides, jokes, interruptions, etc., have been included in the text presented here
In the interests of readability, topics in the transcript are not necessarily presented chronologically compared to the video. For example: questions asked during the various updates, etc., are presented in the Q and A section of the transcript, rather than at the point at which they were asked (unless directly relevant to the topic being discussed). Similarly, topics of discussion which came up during the Q and A session, but which were not tied to specific questions, have been placed under their own subject heading outside of the Q and A section
If there are any sizeable gaps in comments from a speaker which resulted from asides, repetition, questions to others etc,, these are indicated by the use of “…”
Timestamps are provided as guidance should anyone wish to hear the comments in full from any speaker on the video
Questions /comments were made in chat while speakers were talking. This inevitably meant that replies to questions would lag well behind when they were originally asked. To provide context between questions and answers, questions in the transcript are given (in italics) at the point at which each is addressed by a member of the Firestorm team, either in voice or via chat.
Please note: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. I am not an official member of the Firestorm team, and technical or support issues relating to Firestorm cannot easily be addressed through these pages. Such requests for assistance should be made through the in-world Firestorm Support groups or at the Firestorm support region.
The TL;DR Summary
The following is a brief summary of topics discussed. Timestamps in braces refer to times in the video where the relevant commentary can be heard. All sections are expanded upon in the main transcript – click on the timestamp to go to them.
[0:0015] viewers are often subject to flase flagging by anti-virus programs as carrying a potential virus / Trojan. With the Firestorm 4.6.1, Norton anti-virus in particular had issues with viewer, prompting a positive response from Norton’s support
[0:14:32] Mac issues update: work is being done on some Mac issues within the Lab, but there is no major project to address problems some users are having. Firestorm are somewhat stymied in dealing with issues due to both a lack of developers / developers with free time and because some of the issues are beyond their ability to resolve
[0:31:00] Windows XP officially reaches its end-of-life on Aprial 8th, 2014. What does this mean for users on XP using Firestorm?
[0:38:25] Even running a 32-bit viewer on a 64-bit OS yields stability improvements, although if you have a 64-bit version available, it’s obviously preferable to use that on a 64-bit OS
[0:57:40] Firestorm are often critiqued on the frequency of releases. The team are moving to imporve things to a 3-monthly cycle, and there are reasons why a more frequent cycle may not be feasible
[1:21:05] It remains that Firestorm will not offer nightly or weekly builds, because there are significant support issues
[1:27:32] The team already try to release based on feature sets, however, a time-based cycle offers potentially better management of releases in keeping with the needs of the developers, QA and support
[1:35:21] The target will therefore be a 3-monthly cycle of major releases, with possible interim releases with bug fixes or for special features, such as might be the case with the group ban functionality
[1:58:53] With a target of a 3-monthly release cycle, it is probable that the next 2-3 releases are going to be primarily focused on incorporating features and capabilities coming out of the Lab, simply because there are so many of them: group bans, SSA updates, AIS v3, interest list, voice updates, etc.
[2:01:55] The new download server has performed admirably with not craches or other issues.
[1:55:40] Firestorm classes – with a new release just out, don’t forget there are Firestorm classes which cover all the new features, including things like the updated Contact Sets
Questions and Answers: including information on clean installs / re-installs; using settings back-ups; troubleshhoting issues; the status of voice improvements; why group limits are unlikely to increase in the near future; helping Firestorm support, etc.
Important note: The SL Go service is to be shut down on April 30th, 2015. For more information, please read this report.
When OnLive launched their SL Go service, a comment following my preview article on the service asked if I’d report back about any ongoing experiences I have with it.
At the time, I indicated it would be unlikely that I’d do so, as I rarely have need to access Second Life when away from my main computer, and when such occasions do occur, I have Lumiya at my disposal which tends to meet all the needs I have for mobile SL access.
However, I decided that in the interests of testing / reporting, I’d take some time to drive SL Go on my Nexus 7 2013 HD.
For those unfamiliar with Asus’ 2013 offering on behalf of Google, the Nexus 7 HD features a 7-inch screen with a 1920×1200 resolution at a whooping 323 ppi, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU paired with an Adreno 320, 400 MHz GPU and 2 GB RAM and, in the case of the model I have, 16 GB internal storage. As such, it runs Lumiya beautifully. But what of SL Go?
Wandering trhough LennonParkOnTheRock using SL Go on the Nexus 7 HD (overlay closed) – click for full size
Well, frankly and unsurprisingly, it runs SL Go pretty fabulously. As with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 OnLive loaned me for the SL Go preview, SL Go is slick and fast on the Nexus and beautifully clear – most of the time (a caveat I’ll return to in a moment).
Rather than a quick on / off with the service, I spent time wandering around LennonParkOnTheRock, which I’ve reviewed in these pages (using Firestorm for the photos, simply so I can access all the windlights I tend to use). I explored the trails and paths, had a chat with one of my blog subscribers (/me waves to Ringo), and tried a few snaps both via screen capture (1920×1200) and via the viewer’s snapshot floater & e-mail (allowing me snaps at 4096×2497).
Overall, and allowing for the fact my Internet connection was a tad bit ropy at the time due to an intermittent line fault, my experience on the Nexus was easily equitable to that gained on the Galaxy Tab 3. However, the additional real estate offered by the latter’s 10-inch screen did make it perhaps a preferable choice for me when using SL Go, even with the higher and crisper resolution on the Nexus.
LennonParkOnTheRock captured on the Nexus at 4096×2497 using the snapshot floater & forwarded to my e-mail account – click for full size
In my original preview of SL Go I made mention of the fact that there is obviously a lower limit in terms of screen size where using the service is liable to become impractical, even with the overlay and the ability to zoom-in on the UI. This is something OnLive acknowledged in our chats about the service prior to launch as well. However, quite where this limit is comes down to a number of factors – with eyesight perhaps topping the list, alongside (maybe) screen resolution.
For me and my eyes, which aren’t quite what they used to be (although in difference to Spike Milligan / Eccles, they never used to be my ears….) my Nexus 7 is probably that lower limit. Yes, it was great having SL displayed in all its glory on the screen – graphics at Ultra, shadows, ambient occlusion and all the rest, but after 30 minutes, I started finding it hard to focus and found things getting a little blurry due to eyestrain (hence my little caveat earlier). This is not a fault of OnLive’s; I think there is simply too much detail on the Nexus’ screen for my eyes to comfortably process without me feeling some strain.
Of course, I could partly mitigate this by zooming-in on specific areas of the screen, reducing my overall field of view. But this raised its own issues; if I wanted to use a tool bar button or menu option, for example while zoomed-in, I had to first zoom back out and then zoom back in again to ease the amount of strain I was feeling behind my eyes – and this did start to get a little tedious in its own right. It also wasn’t something I noticed so much when using the bigger 10-inch screen of the Galaxy Tab (or at least, I wasn’t so conscious of it when using the Tab).
SL Go on my Nexus 7 HD + keyboard
But leaving this aside, SL Go did run exceptionally well for me. The overlay, as with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, performed flawlessly, and the Bluetooth keyboard I use with my Nexus allowed me to chat a lot more easily than using the on-screen keyboard, and was obviously completely non-invasive on the screen, which was a big plus when compared to having just an on-screen keypad for text use.
So, would I be tempted to use SL Go over Lumiya?
That’s a tough one for me to answer and not necessarily because of the current SL Go pricing plan. The fact is that I rarely need to access SL when away from may home computer, and when I do, Lumiya actually more than meets most of my needs, as noted at the top of this article. However, and more to the point, I’ve been a firm supporter of Lumiya and Alina’s work ever since Oz Linden gave me a nudge towards it back in early 2012, and so have a certain loyalty in that direction which I’m unwilling to set aside purely on the basis of new shiny.
But that said, were there an occasion when I wanted to be in-world which benefited from having all the graphical richness of the viewer when away from my PC, then yes, I’d opt for SLGo, even with the current pricing plan. In fact, given my “mobile SL” needs are so rare, the fact that the service currently does have a metered payment system actually makes it more attractive to me than were it to have been introduced purely on a subscription basis.
This should not be taken to mean I’m against the service having a subscription payment option – I’ve already expressed an opinion that OnLive should offer both. It’s purely that even $25.00 for 10 hours of SL access via my Nexus is most likely going to last me a good several months based on past habits, thus making it potentially a lot lighter on my purse than a straightforward subscription service.
As it is, and putting questions of payment plans and what OnLive might or might not do in the future (and they are monitoring things closely, believe me) aside, I do now have two options for using SL from my Nexus should the need arise. And, eyesight allowing, choice is always a good thing, right?
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 version updated on March 10th to version 3.7.3.287491 (formerly the Maintenance RC) March 10 – core updates: assorted MAINT fixes (download page, release notes)
FmodEX Hotfix RC version 3.7.4.287875 released on March 11th – core updates: fix for a suspected thread race crasher in the FmodEx audio streaming library (download and release notes)
Firestorm updated to version 4.6.1.40478 on March 12th – core updates: many LL updates, incl HTTP & fitted mesh; many UI additions, multiple improvements and bug fixes – please refer to the release notes and my review here.
V1-style
Cool Viewer updated on March 15th to the following versions: Stable: 1.26.10.14; Experimental: 1.26.11.14; Legacy: 1.26.8.51 – core updates: all – backport of inventory updates / improvements; backport of potential gesture-related crash fix; backport of server alerts/notifications; Stable bug fix for a fitted mesh glitch; Experimental: backport of the AISv3 API support (release notes)
Update: 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
Temporary attachments no longer get removed improperly
… and more
Request Teleport
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 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
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 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.
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 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
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 …
Important note: The SL Go service is to be shut down on April 30th, 2015. For more information, please read 
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 