Tag: Simulator User Group 2017

SL project updates week #46: server viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Khodovarikha; Inara Pey, October 2017, on Flickr Khodovarikha – blog post

Server Deployments

  • There was not deployment on the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, November 14th, leaving servers running simulator version #17.10.06.509394.
  • On Wednesday, November 15th, the three RC channels should be updated with a new server maintenance package #17.11.11.510664, comprising internal fixes and a user-visible fix for BUG-139176, “Issue with OBJECT_REZZER_KEY reporting incorrectly after linking and delinking prims.”

SL Viewer

There have been no SL viewer updates since the end of week #45, leaving the current viewer pipelines as follows:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • 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 5.0.9.329795 November 8.
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.510354, November 2 (still dated Sept 5 on the wiki page).
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.328552, October 20 (still dated Sept 1 on the wiki page).
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7. This viewer will remain available for as long as reasonable, but will not be updated with new features or bug fixes.

Animesh Mod Keys Proposal

One of the major subjects of discussion with Animesh is enabling attachments to be added to existing Animesh objects. In short, many pets and characters are created as No Modify objects, to help protect their capabilities. Thus, as No Mod objects, Animesh characters cannot be accessorized (the owner of an Animesh horse cannot add  / remove a saddle from an Animesh horse, for example). As Piscine Mackenzie explains in the forum, with highlights by Medhue Simoni, making Animesh pets  / characters Modify opens them to the risk of exploitation.

To this end, the Content Creation User Group has been a focus of discussion on overcoming this problem (see here and here). One proposal for handling the issue, which would also allow for broader capabilities, has been put forward via feature request BUG-139168. However, this could take some time to implement, delaying Animesh.

As an alternative, Vir Linden put forward the idea of a scripted mod key capability which would allow attachments to be linked and unlinked from an Animesh object, and more recently he has expanded on this idea with an outline proposal. This could provide a suitable foundation for allowing Animesh to move forward with a link / unlink capability, allowing further capabilities for a broader range of use cases to be added later.

Vir’s proposal will most likely be a core subject of discussion at the next Content Creation User Group meeting on Thursday, November 14th, 2017.

Breedable Issues

The HTTP updates earlier in 2017 resulted in issues with ABC horses being unable to give birth, which came down to the volume and timing of requests being made by the horses (see BUG-134275). The issue was eventually fixed by the horse maker making some changes in the number and timing of the requests sent by each horse, and by a server-side change in how the requests were authenticated.

However, issues have been noted on some regions breeding Stray Cats. It’s not clear if this  a similar issue, or something else. Those experiencing similar issues might want to raise a JIRA so the Lab can investigate and advise whether the creators of their breedable animals need to make an adjustment to their scripting.

 

SL project updates 45/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Sol Existence; Inara Pey, October 2017, on FlickrSol Existence – blog post

Server Deployments for Week #45

As always, please refer to the server release thread for updates and the latest news.

On Tuesday, November 7th, the planned Main (SLS) channel deployment was cancelled when the restart system overloaded while trying to restart a few thousand regions around the same time. Some reported that RC regions were also being restarted during the deployment attempt, which may have contributed to the problem – although this has yet to be confirmed as being the case by the Lab.

Once the cause of the problem has been diagnosed, the deployment will be re-tried, although Oz Linden indicated this may not be before the usual Tuesday deployment in week #46.

There is no planned deployment to the RC channels on Wednesday, November 8th, 2017.

SL Viewer

The Wolfpack RC viewer which was functionally identical to the release viewer, but included additional back-end logging, was withdrawn from the Alternate Viewers page at the start of week #45. Otherwise, the viewer pipelines remain as for the end of week #44:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.510354, November 2 (still dated Sept 5 on the wiki page).
    • Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.0.9.329707 October 31.
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.328552, October 20 (still dated Sept 1 on the wiki page).
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

New Premium Benefit

On Tuesday, November 7th, 2017, Linden Lab announced their new Premium benefit: a 90-day transaction history – read more here and here.

SL project updates 44/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Pandora Resort; Inara Pey, October 2017, on FlickrPandora Resort – blog post

Server Deployments for Week #44

As always, please refer to the server release thread for updates and the latest news.

  • There was no deployment or restart for the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, October 31st
  • leaving it on package #17.10.06.509394.
  • On Wednesday, November 1st, the RC channels should be updated with a new server maintenance package, #17.10.25.510119, comprising internal fixes – notes still to be posted at the time of writing.

SL Viewer

The current Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 5.0.9.329707 on Monday, October 30th. All other viewers in the current pipelines remain as per the end of week #43:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Wolfpack RC viewer,version 5.0.9.329478, dated October 20 – this viewer is functionally identical to the release viewer, but includes additional back-end logging “to help catch some squirrelly issues”
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.508209, dated September 5.
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.329250, dated September 1.
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

 

SL project updates 43/1: server, viewer, exploits

Posted on by Inara Pey

La Vie; Inara Pey, October 2017, on FlickrLa Vie – blog post

Server Deployments for Week #43

As always, please refer to the server release thread for updates and the latest news.

  • There was no deployment or restart for the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, October 24th, leaving it on package #17.10.06.509394.
  • On Wednesday, October 25th, the RC channels should be updated with a sideways roll to server maintenance package, #17.10.06.509394, comprising internal fixes, cuerrently deployed to the Main (SLS) channel.

SL Viewer

On Tuesday, October 24th, the current Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 5.0.9.329650. All other viewers in the current pipelines remain as per the end of week #42:

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Wolfpack RC viewer,version 5.0.9.329478, dated October 20 – this viewer is functionally identical to the release viewer, but includes additional back-end logging “to help catch some squirrelly issues”.
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.508209, dated September 5.
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.329552, dated September 1.
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Exploits Update: No Copy Items

One area of concern / upset for content creators has been the use of server exploits to generate copies of No-Copy items. These have been frequently used to fold the Market with illicit copies of gacha items. The Lab has been aware of this, and some of the recent server-side updates (which are now grid-wide on Agni) have been to address these problems, as Simon Linden explained, relaying Mazidox Linden’s comments made at the Server Beta Group meeting on Thursday, 19th October:

Some of our recent internal fixes included changes to our back-end systems which will no longer allow certain exploits used for duplicating no-copy content, and make it easier for us identify when anyone uses similar techniques in the future. We haven’t solved all the problems outright, but we’re making good strides.

Simon went on to add, “There is more work to be done, and we want to do it.”

Obviously, the Lab is always interested in learning about potential exploits within the platform. Anyone identifying such an exploit – such as a means to deliberately crash a simulator – is asked to file a SEC (non public) JIRA detailing the exploit. There is a new region on Aditi (the beta grid), called Crash Me, which can be used to test  / demonstrate ways the simulator might be crashed.

If a creator notices that there are endless amounts of their items on marketplace, and they suspect their items have been exploited, and JIRA Bug report should be raised.

 

SL project updates 42/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Tavana Island; Inara Pey, October 2017, on FlickrTavana Island – blog post

Server Deployments for Week #42

As always, please refer to the server release thread for updates and the latest news.

  • On Tuesday, October 17th, the Main (SLS) received the server maintenance package,  17#17.10.06.509394, previously deployed to the Magnum RC channel, comprising “internal fixes”
  • On Wednesday, October 18th, the RC channels should be updated with a new server maintenance package, #17.10.13.509701, also comprising internal fixes.

Neither of these updates should have user-visible changes.

SL Viewer

The former Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.0.8.329115, was promoted to de facto release status on Friday October 13th., and a new Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.0.9.329464 was released. Otherwise, the SL viewer pipeline remains unchanged from week #41:

  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.329552, dated September 1.
    • Wolfpack RC viewer,version  5.0.8.329128, dated September 22 – this viewer is functionally identical to the release viewer, but includes additional back-end logging “to help catch some squirrelly issues”.
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.508209, dated September 5.
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8th, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Pathfinding Bug (?)

Pathfinding hasn’t been particularly successful since its introduction. However, with work progressing on animated mesh (Animesh – see my Content Creation User Group updates), there has been renewed interest in using Pathfinding alongside of Animesh. However, it has recently been noted that any call to llCreateCharacter on a Full region causes 8-12% performance loss (Homestead regions do not appear to be affected), regardless of whether the region is actively using Pathfinding or not, and / or whatever else is in the script – see BUG-41385.

This appears to be a recent issue, but it is not clear how widespread it might be, as the issue has thus far only been reported in one estate. However, when it does occur,  one character in a region seems to be enough to cause the hit, additional characters don’t cause any significant increase in the loss of performance.

Commenting on the issue at the Simulator User Group, Simon Linden said:

Pathfinding is a big chunk of complex code (that we didn’t write) so I’m sure there’s some significant change between having nothing to do and processing one character. I’ve spent a few days looking into this … Believe me, I’d like to fix it … I’ve tried and couldn’t fix it so far.

 

SL project updates 41/1: server, viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Oh Deer, Heavenly Waters; Inara Pey, October 2017, on FlickrOh Deer – blog post

Server Deployments for Week #41

As always, please refer to the server release thread for updates and the latest news.

  • On Tuesday, October 10th, the Main (SLS) received the server maintenance package previously deployed to the RC channels.  17#17.09.29.509228, intended to address the unintended returns issue of two weeks ago – see The Return of the Living Objects: A Pre-Halloween Horror Story for more.
  • On Wednesday, October 11th, the RC channels should be updated as follows:
    • BlueSteel and LeTigre should be updated with a new server maintenance package, 17#17.10.06.509429, containing internal fixes
    • Magnum should also receive a new server maintenance package, 17#17.10.06.509394, also containing internal fixes.

Neither of the RC updates should have user-visible changes.

SL Viewer

There have been no viewer updates thus far this week, leaving the pipelines as follows:

  • Current Release version 5.0.7.328060, dated August 9th, promoted August 23rd – formerly the Maintenance RC
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.329250, dated September 29.
    • Maintenance RC viewer, version  5.0.8.329115, dated September 22nd.
    • Wolfpack RC viewer,version  5.0.8.329128, dated September 22nd – this viewer is functionally identical to the release viewer, but includes additional back-end logging “to help catch some squirrelly issues”
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.508209, dated September 1st
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8th, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Touch, Camming, Experiences, Avatars and Feedback

Note: the following is not indicative that the Lab is considering behavioural changes in Second Life at this time. The topics were simply raised with a view to generating discussion and feedback.

There are a lot of things  we can do in a region which might not always be in the spirit of what is intended by the region owner, particularly if the region is designed for a specific purpose, such as an experience or game. We can, for example, cam ahead, seek out secrets, identify traps or hazards and find ways to avoid them. We can also reach across a region to touch things when perhaps it would be better if we could only do so up close.

There are various ways to limit some of this – scripts can be used to limit touch, as can RLV, for example. But for things like experiences and games, it might be better if the region owner had the option to perhaps enforce limits on how far away from their avatars people can cam or touch.

However, this has to be balanced against those situations where camera and “long-distance” touch can be essential. Shopping at a crowded event, for example can be made much less of a fight against crowds and lag by using Area Search, the camera, and far touch to obtain specific items (even flycamming and far touch can make shopping a lot easier in any situation). Ergo, there’s a risk that imposing limits on either could have a more detrimental effect on people’s willingness to shop in popular locations.

Given that crowds themselves are a problem, would it be worthwhile limiting the number of avatars seen within a region in some way? Perhaps a limit set through the estate controls, or by some method within the viewer such that avatars / imposters beyond a certain radius aren’t rendered / have updates ignored by the Interest List until they come within the specified distance – just like people can move in and out of view in a real crowd.

Again, how something like this might work – should it really be a control at estate level, or would it be better as an option users could tweak (which would get my vote) – would have to be thought through in detail. Particularly given we already do have some control over the rendering, at least, of the avatars around us through various methods (e.g. render friends only, derender selected avatars, CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-4, avatar rendering, etc.); while although each of them might not be perfect, they can give flexibility of control to individual users.

As noted, the Lab aren’t planning any changes specific to any of the above  – but by throwing questions out and listening to feedback, concerns, alternative ideas, they are perhaps pulling ideas and thoughts into the melting pot on how SL might be refined and offer better controls and means to improve people’s individual and joint experiences.