Tag: SL Viewer

Ravenwold – blog post

Server Deployments

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

• On Tuesday, August 7th, the SLS (main) channel was updated with server maintenance package 18#18.07.20.518082, containing the server-side Animesh support, and “logging tweaks”. This release was previously deployed to the LeTigre and Magnum RCs.
• On Wednesday, August 8th:
  • LeTigre and Magnum will be updated to server maintenance package 18#18.07.20.518086, previously deployed to BlueSteel.
  • BlueSteel will remain on  18#18.07.20.518086, which contains Animesh support and internal fixes.

The SLS (main) channel deployment saw regions off-line for a longer than usual time between being taken down for the simulator code deployment and being brought back up. This was expected. According to the deployment thread, several people saw their regions restarted at least twice; this isn’t the first time this has been reported, and the situation has been referred to the Second Life Ops team.

SL Viewer

In week #31 the Quinquina Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.1.7.517973 and dated July 30th, was promoted to de facto release status on August 3rd.

As a result of this update the RC viewers were updated on Tuesday August 7th, as follows:

• Bugsplat RC viewer: updated to version 5.1.8.518305.
• SL Voice RC viewer: (originally released on August 1st) updated to version 5.1.8.518310. This viewer updates SLVoice with new codecs, fixes some problems with selecting audio devices, and other voice related bug fixes. It should be noted that the SLVoice executable in this viewer is not compatible with most older viewers and should not be copied to such viewers.

Also at the end of week #31 the Bakes on Mesh project viewer updated to version 5.1.7.518013, on August 3rd.

At the time of writing, the remaining viewers in the official viewer pipelines are unchanged:

• Project viewers:
  • Animesh project viewer, version 6.0.0.518080, dated July 25th.
  • 360 snapshot viewer, version 5.1.6.515934, dated June 6th (see my hands-on update).
• Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17th, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
• Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, May 8th, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

EEP Delay?

The Environment Enhancement Project (EEP) appears to have had a slight delay…

EEP is moving forward. There was a last-minute hiccup on the back-end and I’m tightening up some last-minute things about parcels specific settings. Rider Linden: I’m eager to get this into people’s hands.

– Rider Linden on EEP progress.

Those unfamiliar with the project, which it to provide parcel and region windlight management, as well as some additional server-side goodies, can find out more in Second Life Windlight environmental enhancements. I also provide update summaries via my Content Creation User Group summaries.

Attachment Limit Increase – Premium Perk?

It’s been indicated in some recent meetings that the Lab is hoping to reach a point where the attachment limit for avatars can be increased (currently set to 38 items). If and when this happens, it might be made a Premium membership perk.

It most likely will only be for Premium. but we’re still not ready to increase it anyway, so it’s still moot. It’s unusual for anything to be “set in stone” until it’s in the past (and not always then), but improving Premium is a major strategic goal for us, so … 

Oz Linden, commenting on the attachment limit increase at the Simulator User Group meeting,
Tuesday, August 7th, 2018

 

[Smash] – blog post

This is a short SUG meeting update, because there was no SUG meeting on Tuesday, July 31st. Presumably Lindens are still recovering from the Linden Summer of Love Palooza Extravaganza Fête Conference Thingy (aka “SL summit”) held last week 🙂 .

Server Deployments

as always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest update.

• There was no Main (SLS) channel roll on Tuesday, July 31st. However, those regions on the channel that were on their 14-day cycle were restarted.
• On Wednesday, August 1st, at least the BlueSteel RC channels should be updated as follows:
  • BlueSteel should update to server maintenance package 18#18.07.20.518086, containing internal fixes.
  • LeTigre and Magnum  should be updated to a new server maintenance package, 18#18.07.20.518082, comprising Animesh and logging tweaks (note that at the time of writing, this update was not correctly chronologically listed for  LeTigre).

SL Viewer

The Quinquina RC updated on Monday, July 30th to version 5.1.7.517973. At the time of writing, there have been no other updates, leaving the official viewer pipelines as:

• Current Release version 5.1.6.516459 and dated June 15, promoted June 21 – formerly the Pálinka Maintenance Release Candidate – No Change
• Release channel cohorts:
  • BugSplat RC viewer, version 5.1.7.518003, released July 20. This viewer is functionally identical to the current release viewer, but uses BugSplat for crash reporting, rather than the Lab’s own Breakpad based crash reporting tools.
• Project viewers:
  • Animesh project viewer updated to version 6.0.0.518080 on July 25.
  • Bakes on Mesh project viewer, version 5.1.6.516270, dated June 14.
  • 360 snapshot viewer, version 5.1.6.515934.
• Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
• Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, 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.

Content Creation User Group Meetings

The schedule for the Content Creation Meetings has been updated for August 2018:

• No meetings on Thursday August 2nd (week #31) and Thursday August 16th (week #33).
• Meetings on Thursday, August 9th (week #32), Thursday, August 23rd (week #34) and Thursday, August 30th (week #35).

 

Oboeru – blog post

The majority of the following notes come from the Simulator User Group meeting of Tuesday, June 19th, 2018.

Sever Deployments

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest information.

• On Tuesday, June 26th, the Main (SLS) channel was updated with server maintenance package 18#18.06.14.516450, previously deployed to the LeTigre and Magnum RC channels, comprising internal fixes and logging improvements.
• On Wednesday, June 27th, the release candidate channels should be updated with server maintenance package 18#18.06.22.516968, which includes Animesh on a first-time deployment for LeTigre and Magnum (having been deployed to BlueSteel in week #25), and “new Main Channel code”.

Some SLS channel regions reported double restarts on Tuesday, June 26th, and these are being investigated by the Lab.

Animesh Deployment

Follow the Wednesday, June 27th, Animesh will be live on all the major RC channels – however, as previously noted in this updates, it is still in development, and not product-ready.

The Animesh project viewer, necessary for working with Animesh and rendering it correctly, can be obtained from the Alternate Viewers wiki page.

Animesh Resources

You can find further information on Animesh via the following resources.

• Animesh User Guide
• Animesh test content
• Animesh test regions:
  • Animesh1
  • Animesh2
  • Animesh3
  • Animesh4
  • Animesh Adult
• Animesh LSL methods:
  • llStartObjectAnimation
  • llStopObjectAnimation
  • llGetObjectAnimationNames
• Animesh – Updated Limits and Cost Formulas
• Animesh feedback thread
• JIRA filter for Animesh

SL Viewer

Recent updates:

• The release viewer updated to version 5.1.6.516459 (dated June 15th) on June 21st, formerly the Pálinka Maintenance Release Candidate.
• A new Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.1.7.516813 and code-named Quinquina, was released on June 22nd.
• The Animesh project viewer updated to version 5.1.6.516525 on June 22nd, and again on June 25th to version 6.0.0.516979.

The other SL viewers in the current pipelines remain as:

• Project viewers:
  • Bakes on Mesh project viewer, version 5.1.6.516270, dated June 14.
  • 360 snapshot viewer, version 5.1.6.515934, June 6 (see my hands-on update).
• Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
• Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Environment Enhancement Project (EEP)

The is still some confusion as to how EEP will work with different region / parcel windlight settings at altitude when compared to Firestorm’s parcel windlight capability. In short:

• Firestorm allows the windlight within a parcel to be changed at any altitude using a command line construct in the About Land description floater.
  • However, this is purely a viewer-side change.
  • Anyone entering a region using a viewer that does not have the same windlight support will not automatically have the setting defined in About Land applied to their viewer.
• EEP should ensure that windlight settings set by altitude will apply to everyone in a parcel, regardless of the viewer they are using.
  • However, windlight changes by altitude are limited to four heights: from ground level up wards; 1,000m and above; 2,000m and above; 3,000 and above.

Top Scripts and Region / Parcel Management

Some people are experiencing region performance issues  – notably around scripts, etc. It’s been suggested that making Top Scripts and Colliders visible to parcel holders within a region so they can see what in their parcel might be impacting performance has been suggested.

• This isn’t a fresh request (see JIRA SVC-835), but it is one that hasn’t been discussed recently.
• The concern was raised that allowing Top Scripts to be more widely visible could lead to harassment between parcel holders in a region.
• There is also some concern that over-use of the capability could itself impact region performance, because Top Scripts is an intensive query to run.
• Even so, it is something being take back to the Lab for further discussion, and is seen as “reasonable”, providing the ability to start / stop scripts isn’t included (griefing vector).

Italian Village of Ciampi, Italy – blog post

Server Deployments

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest information.

• There was no deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, June 12th 2018, leaving the channel running server maintenance package 18#18.05.25.515749, containing internal fixes and server-side support for the upcoming new Estate Management ban list management changes.
• On Wednesday, June 13th, the three main RC channels – LeTigre, BlueSteel and Magnum – should be updated with a new server maintenance package, 18#18.05.30.516064, comprising:
  • Additional work to support localised Abuse Report categories.
  • Improvements to object updates as part of ongoing performance improvements.
  • Removal of the logging of a trivial message.
  • Internal fixes.
  • Note that the majority of this updated is the same as 18#18.05.30.515812, initially deployed on Wednesday, June 6th, and subsequently rolled-back.

The reason for the RC channel roll-backs was described by Simon Linden at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, June 12th:

We had some excitement last week as we rolled a new version out to the RC channels, discovered a crasher bug we didn’t catch in testing, and had to revert back to the main version. That was fixed real quick and we’ll get the updated server again tomorrow … It was basically “go to a region with a crowd”; I’m not sure of the exact frequency, but the new code was in sending attachment updates … it probably happened one in a million times. Put that on a few thousand regions and it becomes noticeable.

SL Viewer

The Pálinka Maintenance RC updated to version 5.1.6.516121 on Tuesday, June 12th, 2018.

At the time of writing, the remainder of the SL viewer pipelines are as follows:

• Current Release version 5.1.5.515811, dated May 31, promoted June 1 – formerly the Love Me Render Release Candidate.
• Release channel cohorts:
  • 2-bit Windows Unloop RC viewer, version 5.1.6.515965, dated June 5 – specifically for 32-bit Windows users caught in the 64-bit install loop (see here for more). Otherwise, the viewer is functionally identical to release version 5.1.5.515811.
• Project viewers:
  • 360 snapshot viewer, version 5.1.6.515934, June 6 (see my hands-on update).
  • Animesh project viewer, version 5.1.4.515420, dated May 14 – project overview.
  • Bakes on Mesh project viewer, version 5.1.3.513936, dated March 30.
• Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
• Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Other Items

Client-Side Scripting Discussion

During the Simulator User Group meeting, the discussion turned towards client-side scripting support. This is something the Lab looked at several years ago, with Babbage Linden working on a possible C# implementation. Tis could enable things like scriptable UI elements, eliminating the need for HUDs, etc.

There are practical benefit to such an approach – be it with C# or something like Python; but there are also risk with the potential for exploiting the capability, as Simon Linden pointed out:

There’s also a really ugly trust issue with viewer-side code … do you trust someone so you’ll install their code, with the potential they might look into your inventory and such … we could probably sandbox an interpreter, but yes that kind of thing would have to be locked down, or it is definitely scary if it can read/write files … also preventing a viewer interpreter from loading outside modules … which of course are very useful, but can do scary things.

Also during the meeting, Oz Linden didn’t rule out the possibility of looking at the project again at some point in the future. However, it is important to note that currently, there is nothing on the SL roadmap with regards to this kind of work – or anything like it – at this point in time.

 

Butterfly Beach – blog post

Server Deployments

the RC deployment made on Wednesday, June 6th (version 18#18.05.30.515812) was rolled by on Thursday, June 7th, leave the main grid running server release 18#18.05.25.515749.

As I was unavailable for the Server Beta meeting, I am unaware of whether or not an explanation for the roll-back was given.

SL Viewer

The following viewers have been updated in week #23:

• The Pálinka Maintenance RC viewer – to version 5.1.6.515927 on Thursday, June 7th.
• The 360-degree snapshot project viewer – to version 5.1.6.515934 on Wednesday, June 6th.

Both of these updates are to maintain parity with the de facto release viewer (at the time of writing version 5.1.5.515811, formerly the love Me Render RC viewer, promoted on June 1st, 2018).

As noted in my report here, the Unloop RC viewer, version 5.1.6.515965 was released for 32-bit Windows users only, and to specifically help those caught by the “64-bit Windows install loop” created during the initial promotion of the Love Me Render viewer to release status, which left both 64-bit and 32-bit Windows users only able to download the 64-bit version – see here for more.

The remaining viewers in the current LL pipeline remain as:

• Current Release version 5.1.5.515811, dated May 31, promoted June 1 – formerly the Love Me Render Release Candidate – NEW
• Project viewers:
  • Animesh project viewer, version 5.1.4.515420, dated May 14 – project overview.
  • Bakes on Mesh project viewer, version 5.1.3.513936, dated March 30.
• Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
• Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.