Category: Viewers

Kokua Mac test viewer: request for assistance

Posted on by Inara Pey

kokua-logoOn Saturday January 11th, Nicky Perian announced a test version of a Mac build of Kokua is now available, and has also issued a call for assistance from Kokua / Mac users.

The blog post reads in part:

Several hours ago the first Mac build completed and I logged on to Second Life beta grid, Aditi. Rebranding from Second Life to Kokua is needed. If there are Mac users that would like to help in this area please respond and I’ll help set up a build environment on your system. I would like Mac users to test and provide look and feel opinions as comments to this post. If there are bugs please report them to our issue tracker.

Having a Mac build of the viewer has been one of the more popular requests made to the Kokua team, so if you have a Mac system and are willing to help out test-driving the new Mac build and reporting back both opinions (via the Kokua blog post) and on any issues you discover (the latter via the Kokua issue tracker, as indicated above), please download the viewer from the Kokua nightly builds directory.

Similarly, if you are willing to help with rebranding the viewer from Second Life to Kokua (which, as noted above, will require a viewer build environment created on your system which Nicky can provide help with setting-up), do please contact Nicky either directly (via in-world IM or through the comments on the Kokua blog post.

(Please do not leave feedback or offers of assistance on this blog, they may not be picked-up.).

Release Notes

Viewer release summaries 2014: week 1

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending: January 5th, 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 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.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version: No updates
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • PackageFix Viewer RC version 3.6.13.284995 released on January 2nd – core updates: fixes an issue introduced with the 3.6.12 code base whereby the Windows executable name was changed from ‘SecondLife’ to ‘SecondLifeViewer’, but old executables were not removed from the installation folder (download and release notes)
  • Project viewers:
    • HTTP Project viewer version 3.6.13.284698 redleased on January 3rd – core updates: DNS look ups changed; improvements to mesh uploads / downloads (download and release notes)
    • Merchant Outbox Project viewer version 3.6.13.284731 released on January 2nd – core updates: fixes for accurately detecting Merchant status and improves recovery for Merchant Outbox errors (download and release notes)

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • No updates

V1-style

  • No updates

Mobile / Other Clients

  • Group Tools updated to 2.2.26.8 on January 1st – core updates: unknown; no release notes

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Group Tools: website revamp

Posted on by Inara Pey

GT-logoGroup Tools, the Windows-based third-party client aimed at users who need to manage large groups in terms of regular notices, group-wide IMs, or operate a region greeter bot, etc., updated on December 28th to version 2.2.26.

With it  – or quite possibly before the update, as I’ve not visited the Group Tools website since my week 51 viewer release summary – came a revamp to the Group Tools website itself, which very much helps to put information clearly and cleanly before people unfamiliar with the client.

I last looked at Group Tools itself in September 2012. The client has been through several iterations since then, so I’ve no idea how relevant that review is compared to the current version. Because Group Tools requires the purchase of a licence, and I don’t actually have any specific need for the client, I’ve not actually subscribed to the services in order to keep up-to-date. As a result, and given there are no publicly available release notes for updates, it’s a little hard for the likes of me to keep track of changes to the client as they are released.

The revamped Group Tools wesbites is cleaner and easier to read
The revamped Group Tools wesbite is cleaner and easier to read

I have tended to poke my nose into the website on a weekly basis, however, if only to check for application updates for my weekly viewer release summaries, which is why I copped the changes to the site this week.

The amount of information – with a couple of possible exceptions – in the site hasn’t overly changed; however, the layout has, and the result is a series of web pages which are easier to read, have improved navigation (the left-side menus would appear easier to read than the old white-on-blue menus), and the site appears to benefit somewhat from smoother loading – although that could be purely a placebo effect on my part. Some of the individual pages lack clear subject headings, it’s true, and the text could perhaps benefit from a little more white spacing between lines, but these really are minor niggles on my part; overall the look is very sharp and pleasing to the eye.

The two possible exceptions to the information presented appear to be the Support Ticket area and the updated FAQ area. I’m a little cautious as to calling these part of the revamp, as it is entirely possible they’ve been part of the website for at least a couple of months, and I’ve simply messed them when visiting it – although neither appear to have been there prior to late October. So if they are new, they’re likely to be very welcome for established users and those coming to Group Tools for the first time.

One thing I would personally like to see added to the site are details of updates to the client alongside of the downloads. While it may well be that such details are sent to registered users of Group Tools when an update is available, having them also recorded on the website, either as formal release notes or simply as a bullet-list of key changes, would also be of benefit both to registered users and to parties potentially interested in the client.

If you are a Group Tools users and haven’t seen the updated website, it might be worth hopping over and taking a quick look. In the meantime, for those unfamiliar with the application, here’s an introductory video.

Related Links

Viewer release summaries 2013: week 52

Posted on by Inara Pey

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.

Updates for the week ending: December 22nd, 2013

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version: No updates
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • No updates
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • No updates

V1-style

  • Cool VL updated on December 28th to:

Mobile / Other Clients

  • Group Tools updated to 2.2.26 on December 29th – core updates: unknown; no release notes

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Viewer release summaries 2013: week 51

Posted on by Inara Pey

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.

Updates for the week ending: December 22nd, 2013

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version: No updates
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • No updates
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • CtrlAltStudio Alpha version for Oculus Rift updated on December 18th to version 1.1.7.34400 – core updates: ability to turn your avatar when seated & wearing the Rift by turning your head; Rift prediction delta default value changed from 20ms to 35ms to improve typical perceived latency; fix for mouselook not being able to turn more than +/-180°   (release notes)

V1-style

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

CtrlAltStudio: turn your avatar with a turn of your head

Posted on by Inara Pey

CAS-logoDave Rowe (Strachan Ofarrel in SL) has released an update to his experimental version of the CtrlAltStudio viewer with support for Oculus Rift (Windows only).

CtrlAltStudio version 1.1.7.34400, released on Wednesday December 18th, allows the user to turn their avatar with a simple turn of the head when seated and using Riftlook.

The capability has been developed in conjunction with Tom Willans at the Serious Games Institute of Coventry University, here in the UK, and the release notes for the new version, together with the blog post announcing the release, describe the function thus:

There are two ways to use this option:

  1. Setting the slider to 0° makes the turning happen all the time. This enables you to look at something then if you continue looking at it, your view will gradually rotate so that the object lies straight ahead and you can thus walk towards it.
  2. Setting the slider to a value such as 45° makes turning start after you look left or right 45° or more. Turning then continues until you look straight ahead again. Depending on the value you set and how flexible your neck is, the effect can be like a gesture that initiates turning.

The new capability can be found in the Oculus Rift section of Preferences > Graphics > Display Output.

The new option to turn your avatar when seated and using the Oculus Rift headset
The new option to turn your avatar when seated and using the Oculus Rift headset

Strachan has invited those who have a headset to try the capability and to let him have their feedback. So if you do, please drop him a line on his blog.

This release also brings with it:

  • A change of the Rift prediction delta default value from 20ms to 35ms to improve typical perceived latency.
  • A fix mouselook not being able to turn more than +/-180°.

If you have been using previous versions of the 1.1 Alpha release of CtrlAltStudio, you should be able to install 1.1.7.34400 directly over it. However, if you have been using the 1.0 release (stereoscopic) version, a clean install is recommended.

Related Links