KirstenLee Viewer S20(45) Released Review

KirstenLee S20 Logo

KirstenLee S2

KirstenLee has released a new version of her viewer.  See: Kirstens S20(45).exe.

KirstenLee didn’t say much about this viewer and I’m not finding the (45) release notes. Her brief description of the changes is the adding of all the Mesh and Viewer fixes available from Linden Lab.

Kirsten also expects this to be the last release before a version change over to S21, which will have her new render engine. It will be interesting to see how it performs. 

Install

This time I tried an ‘uninstall’ from the Windows menus. I was hoping this would clear the C:\Program Files\Kirstens S20\fonts folder owned by the system that is so freaking hard to remove. Unless one can delete that folder the C:\Program Files\Kirstens S20 cannot be removed either. This uninstall did not fix it.

The uninstall does not clear the standard cache either. C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Local\Kirstens S20\. SO, if you plan to do a cache clear for a new install, highly recommended, you’ll need to do a manual clear.

User settings are not cleared on uninstall either. C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\Kirstens S20\user_settings.

The new install does not clear the cache or settings either. So, one needs to manually clear them before starting the viewer for the first time. The install program places no new files in the cache or user_settings folders. So, you can manually delete the contents of those folders after making the new install.

Once again on starting a new install I saw the viewer go into slow-motion mode. The CPU stayed between 50 and 60%. But, it took almost a minute to type in my user name. I reboot the computer and that makes a world of difference. I login and inside my little cottage I get 45 FPS with default High on my Duel Core2 w/8800 GTS. Nice.

Settings

Since I deleted the old settings I need to redo mine.

General: I like the defaults Kirsten has picked.

Graphics: I leave the General settings at default during my first use of the viewer. Also, in Advanced I leave the defaults in place. HTTP Texture Get is on by default. Shadows are off by default. Multiple Threads and VSync are off by default. VBO is on by default. If you read my information on graphics tweaking you’ll understand the terms and know if you need to change them on your system. (Graphics Tweaking for Second Life)

Sound & Media: I turn voice chat off. I also disallow media to auto-play. My cottage is in an area that has bad country music… country music is ok, just not this channel. Someday I’ll figure out how to change it.

Chat: KL S20 has the option to use separate chat windows like SLV2 or use a single window with tabs. A restart is required for the setting to take effect. Also, one can control the Toasts, the chat pop ups in the lower right. This is also where one turns on or off language translation.

Move & View: Defaults are good for me. This is where the option to change arrow key behavior lives. Arrow keys can be set to always move the AV or to move the cursor if you are in chat. I like to have my arrows work to edit chat.

Notifications: Defaults.

Colors: I change the color for my text in local chat. There is no setting for friends’ chat color. 🙁

Privacy: Again defaults are good. Remember. Local chat and IM’s are logged to your computer by default. If that is a problem remember to change the setting.

Setup: The cache is separate by default. You do not need to create specifically take steps to separate the cache. It is done for you. Nice. You probably need to set your Max Bandwidth. There are lots of ideas on what value to use. The Tweaking article describes using either 500mb/sec or 80% of your connection’s bandwidth. It really depends on your hardware combinations and connection. Experiment.

Advanced: The setting to show other grids at logon is here. Also, the settings to show the Advanced and Developer menu items in the top menu are here. I enable all three.

Skins: I’m chicken to change these until I am confident I know how well the viewer is working.

Viewer: This page has lots of odd settings. In other viewers these are mostly left to the Debug Settings. However, these are some of the more frequently needed settings. So, it is nice to have them handy. One talked about a lot lately is Render Unloaded Avatars. This is used to force avatars to move beyond the nebulous particle ball. It does nothing to assure the avatar will render properly, just that it will render. There is the article, Avatar Render Problems: Ghost Cloud Smoke Ball Ruth that explans how to resolve avatar render problems.

Show Avatar Rez Time: This is an interesting setting. It does just what you think.

Button Controls: Here you can select which buttons appear in the bottom menu bar.

Navbar Controls: There are controls here to show additional information in the Navbar. Things like Push and Fly that used to show in the top menu are now in the Navbar. You can turn them on or off (hide).

Auto Close OOC Chat: for those in role play games this is handy. You type the opening (( and the viewer adds the closing )) when you press Enter.

Show Hover Tips: The on and off is here. Plus you can force tips for everything.

Experience

I don’t have time to use the viewer much right now. The little bit I have gotten to use it, it seems fine. I’ll add more here after I get to use it more.

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