Category: Viewers

Radegast – new website and updates

Posted on by Inara Pey
Radegast Rebranded

Radegast, the third-party Second Life / OpenSim client which has proven to be especially popular with those on low-end systems and / or those with visual impairments, now has a new home, and recently underwent a new update. As I’ve missed the last couple of cycles with this client, the following is intended to be a quick overview of its status and a brief look at the updates which have been made since my last review.

New Home

Radegast now has a new web presence, where details of updates are blogged, and which will see things like the wiki and user guide move across to it in due course.

As there is no means to access the “old” Radegast site, this remains available for legacy purposes.

The client itself, as I noted towards the end of 2016, is now being maintained by Cinder Roxley, who would welcome any support that can be offered in helping to maintain and develop Radegast and the website.Those interested in doing so code-wise, can find the source code, build instructions, and examples at https://bitbucket.org/cinderblocks/radegast.

In her first blog post on the site, Cinder also provides a brief summary of things:

So far, any updates have been Windows-based. This has allowed me to roll with the punches and familiarize myself with the codebase without getting mono too much in the mix. The roadmap for other platforms is as follows:

  1. Update LibreMetaverse to be compliant with .NET Core
  2. Update Radegast to be compliant with .NET Core
  3. Begin packaging .deb releases for Linux
  4. Begin packaging installers for MacOS
  5. Bring speech support to Linux and MacOS

Updates

There have been two updates to Radegast since my last review of the client (which essentially laid-out the updates Cinder had made to restore Voice capabilities reliably after Beq Janus provided a workaround for issues being experienced as a result of Radegast no longer being maintained as a result of Latif Khalifa’s sad passing).

The first of these updates, which saw Radegast increment to version 2.21, was released on February 12, 2017, and comprised:

  • RLV updates
  • Second Life Enhanced Skeleton Support (Project Bento)
  • Branding changes
  • Updates to
    • FMODStudio 1.08
    • SLVoice files
  • Swap of base system to LibreMetaverse
  • Many bug fixes.

Version 2.22, release on May 17th, 2017, comprises:

  • Updates to:
    • OpenTK 3.0.0-pre nuget
    • VS2017 .NET 4.5
    • LibreMetaverse 1.4.40
  • New build system
  • Fix Give Inventory menu item for screen readers
  • Many bug fixes

General Notes

An important note to remember with Radegast is that while it has a 3D scene rendering capability, allowing you to see the world around you, it is very experimental, therefore, the degree of success you may get with rendering things might be variable. In testing the client, I found Radegast had a hard time trying to render rigged mesh body parts, making it impossible to visually confirm the Bento support. However you mileage may vary.

Certainly, the fact that the 3D scene renderer is experimental and may hiccup shouldn’t put those who need / prefer Radegast off (I sincerely doubt it ever would). The bottom line is that with or without the rendering capability, Radegast is a superb lightweight client, and both the 2.21 and 2.22 updates are ensuring it keeps abreast of updates to the “full” viewer, and remains a useful tool for those who rely on it.

Links

with thanks to John Brianna for the note on the new Radegest website.

Viewer updates: Kokua 5.0.6 for Second Life and RLV 2.9.21.3

Posted on by Inara Pey

In week #21, both the Kokua viewer for Second Life and the Restrained Love viewer updated to achieve parity with the current SL viewer release (version 5.0.5.326444 at the time of writing).

Kokua for Second Life updated to version 5.0.6.41208 (release notes) on Friday, May 26th, 2017, while the Restrained Love updating to version 2.9.21.3 (release notes) on Thursday, May 25th.

As the core changes to both viewers are more-or-less the same in terms of their parity with the official viewer, this review provides a combined recap of these updates for both viewers, from the oldest to most recent. Kokua users please note that the documented changes do not necessarily apply to the Kokua OpenSim version.

Custom Folders for Uploads

Kokua 5.0.6.41208 for Second Life and Restrained Love 2.9.21.3 users can now select the inventory folders into which uploads – images / textures, sounds, animations and mesh models –  are saved by default (rather than having all textures + images go to Textures for example).

To set a custom folder for an upload type:

  • Go to Inventory and right-click on the desired folder.
  • Select Use As Default For. This opens a sub-menu of upload types (shown on the right).
  • Click on the type of upload you wish to always save to that folder.

Note that this only applies to uploads: images / textures, mesh models, etc., received via transfer or will still go to the their “default” system folders (so a texture received via transfer will still go to Textures, for example).

The folders set for uploads can be reviewed via the new Preferences > Uploads tab.

The new options shown for selecting a default destination folder for uploads (left), and the new Upload panel in Preferences, which lists the locations (right) – via Kokua, click for full size, if required

Block List Tally and Grid Status Button

Kokua 5.0.6.41208 and Restrained Love 2.9.21.3 now have display a tally of those blocked in the viewer (People Floater > Blocked), and include the Grid Status button which can be added to any toolbar position in the viewer window, providing direct access to Second Life grid status updates, which are displayed in the viewer’s built-in browser.

Avatar Complexity Rendering Updates

These releases of Kokua and Restrained Love include a number of improvements to avatar complexity rendering. Full details of these changes can be found in Second Life Maintenance RC: Avatar Rendering updates and more, and are summarised here.

  • The Options for how another avatar is rendered are now Default (i.e. in accordance with your avatar complexity threshold setting); Always (i.e. always render the selected avatar) or Never (i.e. permanently render them as a grey imposter). These options have also been moved to a sub-menu on the right-click Avatar context menu.
  • Following Firestorm’s lead, adjusted settings for avatar rendering will now persist across log-ins for the viewer, until either reset or your settings are cleared by a clean install or similar.
  • There are two new options for Avatar Complexity, located on the Preferences > Graphics tab.
    • The first is a check box, Always Render Friends, which is pretty much self-explanatory: when checked, friends will always fully render, regardless of the viewer’s Avatar Complexity threshold.
    • The second is an Exceptions button, which adds a further level of control for how other avatars – including friends – are rendered by the viewer.
Left: the new render options sub-menu in the Avatar context menu (seen when right-clicking on another avatar). Right: the new Preferences > Graphics tab options for avatar rendering (see below for the exceptions button). Images via Kokua – click for full size, if required

Note that Kokua’s pie menu does not display the “Default” option correctly when used on other avatars. Instead, the option is labelled as “>”. As per Nicky’s comment below, this is now fixed.

Rendering Exceptions

The Exceptions button described above enables named avatars to be either fully or never rendered by the viewer, regardless of any other avatar rendering settings. It comprises two new floaters: the exceptions list (Avatar Render Settings, below left) and the search floater (Choose Resident, below right), accessed by clicking the “+” button on the exceptions list and then selecting whether you want to always or never render the avatar you’re about to choose.

Rendering Exceptions allows you to select individual avatars (e.g. from those close to you or your friends list or via search) you always / never want to render, regardless of your other avatar complexity settings. Via Restrained Love Viewer.

It is possible to update how an avatar in the exceptions list is displayed by right-clicking on the avatar’s name and selecting the required option (Default, Always, Never) from the displayed drop-down list.  Note that “Default” will remove the avatar’s name for your exceptions list and display them in-world in accordance with your overall Avatar Rendering Complexity setting.

Changing how an avatar in the exceptions list is rendered. Via Restrained Love Viewer

Continue reading “Viewer updates: Kokua 5.0.6 for Second Life and RLV 2.9.21.3” →

2017 Viewer release summaries week 21

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, May 28th

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.

Official LL Viewers

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

2017 Viewer release summaries week 20

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, May 21st

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.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version: 5.0.4.325124, dated April 3, promoted April 19th – formerly the Maintenance RC viewer overview – download page, release notes – No Change.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Maintenance RC Viewer, version 5.0.5.326444, released on May 18th – new trash purging behaviour, support for estate access overrides (download and release notes)
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Second Life Maintenance RC viewer: parcel access, trash, and more

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update, May 23rd: version 5.0.5.326444 of this viewer is now the release version of the official viewer.

On Friday, May 12th, 2017, Linden Lab issued a new Maintenance release candidate viewer – now version – 5.0.5.326444 – featuring a number of bug fixes and improvements.

In particular the viewer includes updates to reflect the revised region / parcel access controls now deployed to the main grid. It also includes improvements to inventory management and purging Trash, and a range of other improvements and updates as well as numerous bug fixes.

As per usual, this is not intended to be an in-depth review of the viewer, but rather to highlight some of the new / updated features and an overview based on the release notes.

Region / Parcel Access Controls

The new region / parcel access controls are paired with a server-side update first announced in April, and the first part of which was deployed to the LeTigre server RC  channel on Wednesday, May 17th. Until these server-side updates are deployed grid-wide, this particular set of changes in the view may not function on all regions.

In short, the new controls mean that when a region holder / manager explicitly set a region for open access by visitors (via the Region / Estate floater), parcel holders on the region will no longer be able to override the setting at the parcel level and create ban lines around their parcel. They will, however, still be able to use their parcel ban list or deploy security orbs or similar (assuming the use of the latter is allowed under any covering covenant).

This means that with this viewer, both the Estate tab in the Region / Estate floater has been updated, and the behaviour of the Access tab in the About Land floater has changed.

In the case of the Estate tab in the Region / Estate floater, the check box Allow Public Access has been removed, and a new option, Parcel Owners Can Be More Restrictive, has been added (see below).

With the new parcel access overrides, the old setting to Allow Public Access (top) has been replaced by a new setting, Parcel Owners Can Be More Restrictive (bottom), as found in the current Maintenance RC viewer

By default, Parcel Owners Can Be More Restrictive is checked, which means that as the updated settings are deployed server-side, parcel owners should see no difference in behaviour for their parcels unless an estate holder / manager opts to make changes at the estate level (as shown in the image above).

Should the option be unchecked, the estate holder / manager making the change will receive a model warning that they are about to make a change that could affect parcel settings in the estate.

The new modal warning estate holder / managers will see when changing the new access settings

Should they go ahead and APPLY  the change, two further things will happen:

  • Parcel owners will receive a new system notification for every parcel in the region they hold which has been affected by the change (below).
The new system notification displayed to parcel holders for every parcel in the region they hold which has been affected by a change to the region’s access settings at Estate level
  • Any previously active banlines around affected parcel will be removed, and parcel owners will no longer be able to set parcel access restrictions via About Land > Access, as the options to do so will be greyed out (as shown below).
    When the Parcel Owners Can Be More Restrictive option is checked, the parcel-level access options in the About Land floater will be greyed out for parcel holders, preventing them from overriding the region-level access

    If a region which previously allowed parcel holders to set their own access restrictions is set to public access (by unchecking Parcel Owners Can Be More Restrictive and clicking APPLY), and then is reverted again (by checking Parcel Owners Can Be More Restrictive and clicking APPLY), all parcels on the region will revert to the access settings applied to them before any changes to region access were made at the estate level.

    Continue reading “Second Life Maintenance RC viewer: parcel access, trash, and more” →

    2017 Viewer release summaries week 19

    Posted on by Inara Pey
    Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement or preference / recommendation

    Updates for the week ending Sunday, May 14th

    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.

    Official LL Viewers

    LL Viewer Resources

    Third-party Viewers

    V5-style

    V1-style

    Mobile / Other Clients

    • No updates.

    Additional TPV Resources

    Related Links