Tiling test for Dolphin (3.4.6.26773+): image taken at 3500×2134 resolution using Dolphin 3.4.6.26773. Location: The Island of Armenelos (M) (click to enlarge) – fix also in the latest SL official viewer (3.4.3.28262), Niran’s Viewer (2.0.5+) and RLV (2.8.3.5+)
Graphics Preferences Updates for GPU Classes
The SL viewer, Dolphin and RLV all include the new Graphics Preferences settings related to the ongoing GPU table updates. These new options place additional “stops” on the Quality and Speed slider between the four original settings of Low, Mid, High and Ultra, which are intended to better represent the default SL capabilities of different GPU classes,
The new “intermediary” graphics settings intended to better represent the default SL capabilities of different GPU classes
SSAO Fix for Horizon Haze
Also included in the recent Dolphin and Niran’s Viewer releases, is Tofu Buzzard’s SSAO improvements for generating horizon haze over Linden Sea (“ambient distance fog”). This helps overcome a long-standing bug within the viewer which has effectively broken / nerfed horizon haze over Linden Water for a considerable time.
SSAO haze effect – fix from Tofu Blizzard, available in deferred mode on Dolphin and Niran’s viewers. (image courtesy of Niran V Dean) – click to enlarge
Space Reflections
Niran’s viewer also introduces an interesting / experimental viewer-side feature from Tofu Blizzard called “space reflections”, designed to create reflections on shiny surfaces when running in deferred mode and with the appropriate Graphics Preferences option enabled. It’s not perfect, but it can be used to produce some interesting effects, as shown below, if only for those running a viewer which can render the desired results.
Tofu Blizzard’s “space reflections”: (l) a viewer running in deferred mode; (r) Niran’s viewer running in deferred with “space reflections” active to produce reflections both on the floor and inside the large sphere (click to enlarge)
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 as the week progresses
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: 16 December, 2012
SL Viewer updates:
Beta version rolled to 3.4.3.268139 on December 14 – release notes
Development rolled to 3.4.4.268156 on December 14
The Sunshine Project viewer (avatar baking) arrived with the release of 3.4.4.268071 on December 14th (wiki page) – note this viewer is not recommended for daily SL use
Dolphin rolled to 3.4.6.26773 on December 11 – core updates: snapshot tiling fix (MAINT-628); fixes and improvements for the image quality with SSAO enabled, and for ambient fog over water (distance haze) with shadows enabled; Some Windlight preset files renamed to avoid issues; Teleport to ground level enabled via keyboard (CTRL-SHIEFT-END) – release notes
Niran’s Viewer rolled to 2.0.5.2346 on December 11 – core updates, snapshot tiling fix (MAINT-628); fixes and improvements for the image quality with SSAO enabled, and for ambient fog over water (distance haze) with shadows enabled; new “space reflections” feature – release notes
Restrained Love rolled to 2.8.3.5 on December 16 – core updates: fix for those encountering build problems using 2.8.3.4, plus latest beta updates from LL, including snapshot tiling fix (MAINT-628)
Cool VL updates – three versions for the time being, all updated on December 16:
Stable version rolled to 1.26.6.1
Legacy version Legacy (v2.6 renderer) rolled to 1.26.4.44
Jessica Lyon has announced she and the Phoenix / Firestorm team will be holding an Office Hour meeting, and all users are invited. Jessica is particularly keen to have users on Phoenix attend the meeting, commenting:
Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend but I especially want to see Phoenix Viewer users in attendance as the primary topic will be about Phoenix and its future. I also would like to see all you angry people who have been flaming and hating on us in our blog comments. I’d like to address your complaints so please at least be on the stream if you can.
Because the lack of Phoenix Viewer development and in fact the future of the Phoenix Viewer itself needs to be discussed and your questions/concerns need to be addressed.
Those wishing to attend / join the stream are advised to turn up around 30 minutes ahead of the meeting. As there are limited slots for both the in-world event and the stream, it would be advisable if those attending the event don’t also run the stream, as this could prevent others who are unable to get in-world from watching and listening on-line.
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 as the week progresses
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: 9 December, 2012
SL Viewer updates:
Beta version rolled to 3.4.3.267755 on December 5 – core updates: GPU table updates; snapshot tiling bug fix – release notes
Development rolled to 3.4.3.267614 on December 4
Dolphin rolled to 3.4.5.26752 – core updates: changes to graphics setting to reflect latest updates from LL reflecting the underlying changes to how graphics cards are grouped into classes; “rebake region” button moved into a menu option in Build/Pathfinding; adds fix for edge-on rotation always behaving as if “snap to grid” is enabled; columns in the Area Search floater can now be properly resized; IM tabs can now be vertically stacked in the Conversations floater – release notes
Firestorm rolled to a FULL release – 3.4.1.31155 on December 3 core updates: too many to mention; please see the release notes and my view (beta release review here)
Kukua Beta rolled to Kokua Beta 3.4.2.25211 on December 5 and then to 3.4.3. on December 9 – no release notes available, but appears to be merged with latest LL beta release, including tiling bug fix; also back-out of Opensim texture fetch spamming issue, see here for details
Cool VL updates:
Stable branch rolled to 1.26.4.42 and Experimental branch rolled to 1.26.5.22, both on December 8 – core updates: shared media implemented; updated and improved fast timers; additional nVidia GPU support added in line with LL’s updates; crash fixes including port from Firestorm for some notecards no auto-opening and reversion of Gimbal Lock Fix to present crashes; code clean-up and optimisations
Lumiya rolled to 2.3.3 on December 5 – core updates: improved texture support incl. terrtain texture rendering; HUD support; flying controls in 3D world view; copy chat / avatar keys to clipboard; clear cache option; restart sim option for land owners; device LED support; assorted fixes – release notes; latest review
Libretto – removed from round-up page due to website being unavailable and client removed from the SL Third-party Viewer Directory.
December 5th sees a further update to Lumiya, with the release of version 2.3.3.
Over the course of the last year Lumiya has developed from a basic text client into a app which rivals the viewer in terms of its capabilities – 3D rendering, avatar rendering, inventory access and management, outfits, touch, pay, OpenSim support. What’s more, all this has been ahieved in less than a year; it’s an incredible testament to Alina Lyvette’s abilities and determination to develop a functional, credible mobile client for virtual worlds like Second Life.
With version 2.3.3, Alina again raises the bar with a host of new features, as well a a number of fixes and updates:
Texture updates, including textured terrain in 3D view and option high-quality textures
Flying controls in 3D view
HUD support
“Clear cache” option in settings
Chat messages and user keys can be copied to clipboard
Option to restart sim for land owners
Configurable LED blinking for notifications
NEON-optimized code for texture decompression
Textures
The first big update with Lumiya 2.3.3 is textures and texture handling. First and foremost, Lumiya will now render ground textures in the 3D view, something which immediately increases the attractiveness of outdoor scenes when rendered.
We haz teh grass! Lumiya now displays terrain textures
Lumiya also includes a number of configurable texture options available through the 3D View section of Settings (tap the menu button on your device, then tap Settings). These are:
High Quality Textures: toggles the high quality option on and off – this can put a device’s GPU under considerable stress and lead to extended rezzing times
Texture Memory Limit: set the maximum limit your device can use for textures from a set of four defaults: 32MB, 64MB, 128MB and 256MB. Note that Android can limit GPU memory use to 128MB, so using the 256MB may cause problems on some devices, including locked the application completely
Concurrent Texture Downloads: set how many textures can be downloaded concurrently (2, 4, 8, or 16)
Terrain textures: toggle the terrain texture rendering on / off.
Flying Controls
Lumiya 2.3.3 sees three new buttons appear on the 3D world view, two of which (in the top right corner of the screen) allow you to fly, as with a full viewer. Tap the UP arrow key to start flying / fly up, and the DOWN arrow to descent / land. Fly forwards / backwards using the movement keys in the lower right corner of the screen.
The new Fly buttons (top right) and HUD access button
When you start flying, a STOP FLYING button is displayed. One being tapped, it does precisely what it says: stops you flying – complete with the traditional falling animation as well!
On November 17th, the Firestorm team made a beta release of their latest update to Firestorm in order to offer users access to the new Group Services updates for managing large groups. At the time, it was indicated that the “full” release would occur in early December.
Keeping to their word, the team released 4.3.1.31155 on December 3rd, which includes everything featured in the beta release, and a few more goodies besides.
Given I’ve already given a comprehensive review of the beta release, this article will be focused primarily on the updates made between it and 4.3.1.31155 – although there will be some overlap.
As always, please refer to the Firestorm release notes for full details on credits, etc., for code contributions to the viewer, and for details of known issues and problems (known issues carried over from the LL code can be found here).
Download and Installation
As noted in the last review, the download .EXE is big – 40MB, which is unsurprising given that Firestorm packs so much into it. Installation – at a least for Windows users – is where the first set of changes occur, and it is worth recapping on these for people who have not installed the beta release:
A pop-up requesting whether or not the user wishes to have a Windows Start menu entry created for Firestorm during installation
Addition of the version string and estimated installed size to the installer
Addition of new OS detection code to warn if Windows Service Packs are not up-to-date and to prevent Firestorm being installed on Windows XP with
Publisher data, Phoenix URLs and Firestorm icon for the Firestorm entry in the Windows uninstall list
Automatic deletion of all previously installed skins to reduce issues arising from an unclean install
Addition of a DETAILS button in the installer pop-up window to allow the installation to be reviewed.
Havok Sub-licence
As noted last time, Firestorm has now signed a Havok sub-licence agreement with Linden Lab. This means that Firestorm is now available in two flavours – one for SL and one for OpenSim grids, with the SL version having both the –loginURI capabilities and the Grid Manager functionality removed.
This change means that Firestorm is now able to access the new LL-supplied Havok libraries, allowing the viewer to immediately include the pathfinding navmesh visualisation tools (as covered in my review of the beta release), and which could allow Firestorm to switch over to using the official LL mesh uploader code in the future, should they so wish, rather than using the current HACD code for mesh uploads.
For those using OpenSim, Firestorm 4.3.1.31155 can be downloaded here, and I’ve included an update on the OpenSim-specific updates to the viewer at the end of this article.
One point to note is that it is possible to use the OpenSim version of Firestorm on SL – the only difference is the OpenSim flavour of the viewer will not be able to access the SL Havok libaries or use any functionality associated with them.
Updates from Phoenix
Further updates from Phoenix have been added to Firestorm 4.3.1 in addition to those found in the 4.3.0 beta:
Texture Comment Metadata
When opening any texture, this will display the uploader name with a link to their profile together with the date / time the texture was uploaded. If permissions are sufficient, it will also display the asset ID on the texture preview floater.
Progressive Draw Distance (PDD)
A popular Phoenix feature, when enabled, this causes Firestorm to use a progressive Draw Distance stepping after a teleport, to help improve rezzing times. The Firestorm version includes an option to cancel stepping in progress if Draw Distance is manually changed (Preferences > Firestorm > General).
More Phoenix-like default settings for Phoenix Mode
The following Phoenix-like behaviours have been added to Firestorm when running in the Phoenix mode (selected via the Firestorm log-in splash screen):
“Resident” is not trimmed off legacy names
L$ balance changes will be shown in nearby chat instead of toasts
Received Items folder is shown as a normal Inventory folder
Firestorm will now send accept/decline responses for inventory offers after the according button has been pressed and not if the item has been received at the receiver’s inventory already
Group and IM notifications are now sent to the nearby chat console (v1-style) instead of toasts (v3-style)
Legacy Search
Firestorm 4.3.1.31155 re-introduces the V1-style “legacy” search capability for those who prefer it to the V2/V3 web-style search functionality.
The Legacy Search floater and its associated toolbar button shown in icon mode
Provided by Cinder Roxley, the legacy search option is currently available via a menu option (Content > Legacy Search) or via a dedicated toolbar button, and works for all search categories except Events, which will be added in a future update.
Documentation on the search function is available via the Firestorm website.
Phototools, Windlight and Snapshots Updates
The main Phototools floater & toolbar button, shown in icon mode
Phototools is a suite of floaters which bring together a range of controls, debug settings and options available within the viewer into a single, cohesive set of options aimed at the SL photographer and machinima artist. I’ve covered them in detail previously, and provided a further update in my last Firestorm review. With this release of Firestorm the Phototools floaters (Phototools and revised Camera floater) can be accessed via a menu option: World > Photo and Video.
Alongside of these comes a windlight update of some 100+ presets for water and sky developed by Phototools developer William “Paperwork Resident” Weaver.
These additional presets can be accessed either via the Fixed Sky / Water presets menu option (World > Environment Editor > Environment Settings) or via the Phototool floater (shown right). All of the Phototools presets have “Phototools” at the start of their name.
Also, the Flickr tab on the Firestorm snapshot floater includes Katharine Berry’s update which add the parcel name to the location option.
Jessica Lyon has announced she and the Phoenix / Firestorm team will be 
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