KirstenLee’s S21(6) Released Review

Kirsten S21(6)

Odd Things Happen

Today Kirsten released a new version of the S21 viewer. This is not a release candidate. I suppose we can call it a production version. Whatever we call it, it is out and we can use it. Kirsten S21 Download The Mac and Linux versions will be up soon, if not already.

Download and Install

The download size is 29 mb. The install is typical of the S21 viewers. There are no special instructions from Kirsten about installing. The previous version must be uninstalled before the install will proceed. The uninstall process is built into the install program. That keeps things simple and easy. The cache is removed. The settings are retained.

In case you have forgotten or are new to Kirsten’s viewer, this viewer uses its own cache and settings folders to avoid problems with the Second Life default locations.

Experience

This viewer is pretty much the RC3 viewer with bug fixes and some more new code from the mesh and viewer projects. I suppose that means it is a cross breed of the SLV 2.6.3 viewer. That makes it the most complete viewer available now. If viewers were racing to some place then Kirsten’s and the Lab’s viewers are nose and nose.

Once installed, I just logged in to see how things worked. I had been in N-Core’s store and that is where I returned to. The area is incredibly slow loading, texture-wise. I was noticing that yesterday with an SL Viewer. TP’ing back to my cottage I get 26 to 30 FPS with Lighting & Shadows + Ambient Occlusion and no Sun/Moon. TP’ing over to Celtic Myst the rez is much faster. I suppose that is more about population differences in N-Core’s and Celtic’s regions than site complexity. In Celtic I get 14 to 18 FPS. These checks were all made using the basic OpenJPEG.

There is an enhanced OpenJPEG version included. To use it you need to rename some files. The how-to is in the previous review. (KirstenLee Viewer S21(6) RC3 Released Review – scroll down to OpenJPEG heading) I did not see any difference after changing OpenJPEG files.

While using the viewer I needed to get an LM from a group notice. The LM was attached, not in a note card. The LM in the notice was unusable. You can see it in PEOPLE panel, but you can’t use it. Plus I could not open the notice.

I ran into a few other odd things here and there. The image shows me trying on a demo of some shoes over at N-Core. That is a pose stand not Appearance editing. It could be the pose more than the viewer.

Summary

Bug fixes are never exciting… So, this is not an exciting release. However, it should be more stable.

 

One thought on “KirstenLee’s S21(6) Released Review

  1. Pingback: KirstenLee s21(7) Alpha Version Review

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