The Firestorm team has formally announced the forthcoming blocking of version 4.6.1 of the popular third-party viewer. The move, which is part of Firestorm’s policy of only allowing three active version of their viewer to access Second Life,
The plan is for this block to only affect Second Life, it should not prevent OpenSim users continuing with version 4.6.1 if they so wish. However, at the time this article was written, this was still being tested.
The Firestorm announcement on the blocking reads in full:
In keeping with our three-version rule, we will be applying a block to version 4.6.1 on Friday, February 20th. This block will only apply to logins for Second Life grid; OpenSim grid logins should still work. Versions 4.6.5, 4.6.7 and 4.6.9 will be the only officially supported versions, but we highly encourage all users to be on our latest release of 4.6.9.
Version 4.4.2 is still exempt from the rule due to Mac-specific issues. However, Linden Lab’s statistics from January 21st indicate that there are still around 8,000 people using this ancient, pre-fitted mesh version. Because of the volume of users who cannot see the world properly, it is harder and harder to justify allowing it to remain exempt. We will be blocking it as well before our next release.
If you are using version 4.6.1 please update as soon as possible to avoid problems logging in on the 20th.
Currently, it looks as though the next release for Firestorm should be around the end of March or early April; however, this is not an official date – the viewer is still being worked on. Therefore, eyes should be kept on the Firestorm blog for information on the next release.
Jessica is back with a further Firestorm Tool Tip Tuesday video, this one focusing on the People panel – notably the Nearby tab and mini-map functionality within Firestorm.
The Nearby Tab of the People panel is a quick and easy means of keeping an eye on what is going on around you, and the Firestorm team have, in response to requests for users, added a lot of additional functionality and options to it – so much so that getting to grips with it can be a trifle bewildering.
Jessica offers walk-through of a number of option and settings for the People Panel, including the display options, and how to configure it so that it displays the information you want. As the video indicates, all of what is referred to within the People panel is equally applicable to the Radar panel as well.
The Nearby tab in the People panel (shown here with the mini-map displayed as well), offers a wealth of options to users
An overview of some of the mini-map options follows, noting how these can be linked to options within the People panel.
As the video demonstrates, there is a lot to cover with both panels, so much so that i places the video feels a little rushed (breathe, Jess, breathe! 😉 ), however, this doesn’t detract from the amount of information provided, and if you haven’t plumbed the depths of the People panel / radar, this video offers a great introduction. You can also find more information on the options available through both the Nearby tab on the People panel and the Radar panel by visiting the Firestorm wiki’s Radar page.
Jessica Lyon was back on Tuesday, February 3rd with another Firestorm Tool Tip Tuesday video, and this one focuses on the use of the Auto-Replace function, and how it might well be more useful than people might appreciate.
As explained in the video, Auto-Replace can be found under Preferences > Chat > Text Input in Firestorm, and generally under chat in other viewer supporting the same Auto-Replace functionality. It is shipped with two lists: Spelling Corrections, which offers corrections for common spelling errors, and Abbreviations (which is the list I actually use and have customised myself).
The Auto-Replace function in Firestorm and the supplied lists
The Abbreviations list converts commonly used abbreviations such as bbl, afk, gtg, etc., into their long-hand equivalents (be back later, away from keyboard, got to go, etc.), just by typing-in the abbreviation followed by a space.
So far so good, nothing especially exciting there. But did you know, using Auto-Replace you can:
Create a custom greeting you can use when working as a greeter or host, or simply on meeting people?
Combine abbreviation entries to create statements?
Use abbreviations to display SLurls and URLs in chat without having to type them long-hand?
Export / import your lists so you can share them with friends or easily copy them between the computers you use with SL?
If you didn’t – then this video is certainly for you, as Jessica reveals all!
Note that you can use Auto-Replace like this in any viewer that supports the same Auto-Replace functionality as found in Firestorm, including the official SL viewer.
Firestorm is renowned not only for being Second Life’s most popular viewer, but also for the degree of end-user support provided by the viewer team. With multiple language support groups, in-world classes, a wiki, an in-world support regions, and so on, Firestorm offer users a broad range of support options.
On Tuesday, January 27th, Firestorm added to all of this with a new feature on their You Tube channel, entitled “Tool Tip Tuesday”. In launching the feature, Firestorm Project Manager Jessica lyon describes it thus:
Firestorm has so many features and functions most folks don’t even know about that we decided to do a series of short videos showcasing a hidden or lesser-known feature once a week.
The first of the new videos is just over six minutes in length and provides tips on getting more out of the camera, and short cuts which may help make using the camera easier. The tips include:
Use of the SHIFT and the CTRL/CMD keys with the mouse scroll wheel (if you have one!) to assist in camera movement / placement
Keyboard options to help with camera placement (e.g. CTRL-0, etc.)
Use of the main camera floaters (default and Phototools)
Saving and loading a sorted camera position (which may not be quite what you think it is!).
So why not take a look at the first video in the series and keep a note of Tip Tool Tuesday? Even if you don’t use Firestorm, you may be surprised by what you find.
On Sunday, December 21st, The Firestorm Team held a short-notice meeting which focused on Firestorm and SL Go. The special guest for the event was Dennis Harper, OnLive’s Product Manager for SL Go, who provided commentary on the background to SL Go and OnLive, and addressed audience questions.
Chakat Northspring was on-hand to record proceedings. As usual, the video is embedded here, and a transcript of the Q&A session is provided. However, in the interests of brevity, the first part of the meeting is provided a summary format, rather than a full transcript. Time stamps are provided for key topic areas, and for the Q&A session, for those who would like to listen to any point of interest within the video. Note that dates mentioned in the initial conversation reference 2012 and 2013, in actual fact, these should be 2013 and 2014, as reflected in the text.
A Summary of the initial Conversation
This initial conversation on SL Go, OnLive and the relationship with Firestorm lasted some 35 minutes, and is summarised here. Some questions were asked during the discussion on topics such as privacy and payment options. For ease of reference these have been moved to the Q&A section and placed with other questions on the same topic. Time stamps are provided to the relevant part of the video (below).
How Firestorm Got Involved with OnLive SL Go
Gary Lauder, OnLive’s Lead Investor (and company chairman at the time), approached LL’s former CEO, Rod Humble, about OnLive providing SL to users through their service (Image courtesy of LinkedIn)
[0: 03:57] The OnLive / Linden Lab partnership came about as a result of OnLive’s Lead Investor (and at the time, Chairman), Gary Lauder, indicating he believed SL would be a good match for OnLive and then initiating contact with Rod Humble at the Lab in May 2013 (see my article on the launch of SL Go)
[0:0515] Initial closed beta testing commenced in October 2013, while Dennis Harper joined in November 2013, charged with getting the product published and launched. The occurred in March 2014, using the SL viewer, offering to Mac and PC systems and Android tablets
[0:05:25] The initial metered pricing plan wasn’t popular with users. However, OnLive launched with it as they really didn’t know what to expect. Their service costs money to provide (servers, data centres, network, support), and SL users are a very different type of user compared to games users, spending up to 10 times longer active on the platform compared to someone playing a game. Metered payments were seen as a means of balancing use against cost
[0:06:48] As the reaction to metered payments was bad, OnLive revisited things and in April changed the pricing model to one of unlimited use of the service for US $9.95 (UK £6.95) a month – and the service started gaining traction, Then in October, the service launched on the iPad
[0:07:25] OnLive had always been aware of Firestorm and its large market share of the SL user base, and it was felt that offering Firestorm through SL Go would be a good way to bring the OnLive experience to a wider audience
[0: 08:24] Jessica Lyon was initially unsure of the, but was convinced when Dennis pointed-out that a large take-up of SL Go was among users on low-end computer systems, who were finding the service gave them renewed access to the platform, complete with a rich graphical experience. As many Firestorm users on such low-end systems complain that each new update of the viewer is pushing them further and further out of SL, she felt that having Firestorm on SL Go could include them once more
SL Go is a Service
[0:12:59] The launch of Firestorm on SL Go drew some negative feedback from Firestorm users (and from elsewhere). However, it is important for people to remember:
SL Go isn’t intended to be another viewer offering like a TPV. It is a service intended to meet very specific goals:
To provide people who are on older, lower-specification systems with a rich, immersive Second Life experience comparable to that enjoyed by someone using a much more capable computer
To provide those who wish to have the same rich, graphic SL experience as supplied by the viewer when accessing SL from their Android Tablet or iPad
[0: 12:25] Dennis Harper is the first to admit that the service isn’t for everyone, but for those who might have a need for it, it is available on a 7-day free trial basis, so people have nothing to lose in giving it a go.
SL Go and the Firestorm Take-up
[0:13:40] Dennis describes the take-up of SL Go following the addition of Firestorm as “scary” and being like “the hockey stick term” in the way that there was gradual take-up up until the Firestorm launch, which saw a large substantial increase in initial adoption, as Firestorm users gave SL Go a try under the 7-day free trial offer. He also notes that there is an affiliate programme available for those wishing to refer people to the service via blogs, websites, etc., and earn money via referrals to the service.
[0: 15:32] There was an initial issue with the system as a result of the way the texture cache was being handled.
The SL viewer uses a default 512 Mb cache, which users rarely adjust. Originally, on exiting the SL Go service, an entire user’s cache, together with their settings would be copied to a secure, encrypted store. Then, the next time the user logged-in to SL Go, the cache and their settings would be copied to the server they were assigned for their SL session, a process that didn’t take long
Firestorm, by default uses a 2Gb cache, and users often set it larger. This made the copy process a lot more protracted, with the result that if a Firestorm user opted to restart the viewer by logging out (which ends their SL Go session), on immediately relogging, they’d get an error
To avoid this, users now get a 2 Gb cache, which is automatically flushed at the end of each session, leaving only their inventory files and settings to be copied back to and from the secure store.
Firestorm on SL Go from OnLive: almost 60 fps in my home region on a Asus PC EEE 1201N notebook with all the bells and whistles active
Important note: The SL Go service is to be shut down on April 30th, 2015. For more information, please read this report.
Onlive, the provider of the SL Go, and the Firestorm team recently announced the addition of the Firestorm viewer to the SL Go service. I covered the news with a quick overview, and you can also read both the official press release from OnLive and the Firestorm’s team’s announcement to catch-up, if you need to.
Given SL Go has, until this announcement, only been available with a flavour of the official SL viewer, there may be some Firestorm users who haven’t really thought about SL Go or given it a look. As such, I’d thought I’d offer a little more of a detailed look.
The Preamble
Just as a quick reminder, SL Go is a third-party service which can be used to access Second Life. Rather than using a locally-installed viewer, everything is run on OnLive’s servers and then streamed directly to the user’s chosen device (PC, Mac, tablet, HDTV via OnLive’s own game console).
SL Go has been available with a version of the SL viewer since March 2014 for all of the above. The Firestorm update now extends the service to include the Firestorm viewer, initially only to people running low-end PCs and Macs, although Android and iPad flavours should be available in the future.
The service does require a subscription (to cover OnLive’s costs), which amounts to US$9.95 (UK £6.95) per month for unlimited access – and this includes accessing Second Life from your Android Tablet or iPad as well, should you also wish to give it a try (you will need to install the OnLive app on your tablet and, as noted above, you will only be able to run the SL viewer on it for the time being).
A free 7-day trial period is provided for anyone wishing to try the service without obligation, and there is no minimum term once the trial period has ended, so you can cancel your subscription at any time. Once you have signed-up, and to use Firestorm, you’ll need to download the OnLive PC or Mac client.
However, and important point to remember is that SL Go isn’t intended as a replacement for the standard viewer offerings (SL or TPV). If you have a good computer / laptop and can run the viewer to your satisfaction already, then SL Go likely isn’t for you. But, if you are using an old system and are finding SL a struggle, then SL Go may well offer a means for you to increase your enjoyment with the platform until such time as you can update your hardware.
Running Firestorm via SL Go
Running Firestorm via SL Go is a matter of:
Launching the OnLive client
Then, if you have an OnLive account (rather than just an SL Go account) – clicking My Games at the top of the client window, then selecting SL Go from the left side of the client
Selecting Firestorm from the SL Go service screen (see below)
Allowing the viewer to load.
SL Go users accessing the service via PC or Mac now have a choice of viewer: the SL Viewer (SLV, as OnLive refer to it) or Firestorm
A point of note here is that the OnLive client runs in a fixed 1280×720 resolution, and presents the viewer in fullscreen mode only. This means that the client is “stretched” or “shrunk” to fit other screen resolutions, and as a result there can be a loss of image quality.
This can be compensated for to some extent by switching the OnLive client to “Windowed” mode (ALT-ENTER for Windows, CMD-F for Mac), and then resizing the window by pointing down into the lower right corner of the window, holding the left mouse button and dragging to the desired size (note that the cursor will not change to a grab handle or anything, so getting it can be a case of trial and error). The window will retain a 16:9 ratio when being resized in this way, but should hopefully offer some degree of improvement; in the case of my own Asus PC EEE 1201N notebook (1366 x 768 native resolution), it did make things clearer for me.
With the OnLive client running in “Windowed” mode, you can point to and click on the lower right corner of the client window (no grab handles will be displayed) and resize as required – the window will retain a 16:9 ratio
Once you’re logged-in to Firestorm, you should find it pretty much as you’d expect to see it on logging-in first the first time following a clean local install. As when running the viewer locally, you can set the buttons you require within the toolbar areas, adjust the font size, tweak Preferences, etc. You’ll find you have almost everything you’d expect to find in Firestorm had you downloaded and installed it: windlight options, Phototools, radar, quick preferences, Firestorm’s conversations / chat UI, RLV/a and so on.
There are, however a few things apparently “missing”, which are purely down to the fact that the viewer is being run on an OnLive server and streamed to you. Those who have used SL Go before will be familiar with some of this, but again, for completeness here’s a breakdown of what you’ll likely note as “not being there”:
The Develop menu, access to debug settings through the Advanced menu, the ability to upload any content (mesh, sounds, animations, images), the ability to use local textures, or to save snapshots to disk – these are all limitations common to both Firestorm and the SL viewer on SL Go
There is currently no support within SL Go for 3D mouse devices such as the Space Navigator
You cannot save or restore your Firestorm settings; any “local” pickers Firestorm uses will not work; there is no option to set crash reporting to the Firestorm team.
Firestorm currently doesn’t have the crash reporting tab or backup tab in Preferences, among other disabled elements
The Firestorm team has formally announced the forthcoming blocking of version 4.6.1 of the popular third-party viewer. The move, which is part of Firestorm’s policy of only allowing three active version of their viewer to access Second Life,
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