Havok

Havok is the physics engine used by Linden Lab in Second Life. Most of the physics calculation is done on the servers. But, the Lab uses some of the Havok code in the viewer to handle calculating the convex hulls needed for mesh imports. Pathfinding also uses Havok code to display the Navmesh.

Some think there are some memory leaks in the viewer related to Havok, or at least the Lab’s implementation of it. This might explain why the Lab’s viewers are currently more crash prone than TPV’s (Third Party Viewer)… or not.

One would not expect the Havok code to make any difference unless one is uploading mesh or using the Pathfinding Navmesh Editor, which seems logical to me. It will be interesting to see if those that think there is a problem can find it.

Auto-Replace

Oz Linden is working on the auto-replace feature for the Lab’s viewer. Much of the work is refactoring for a simplified user interface. It sounds like the Lab’s version will have less options than TPV’s. I suppose that makes sense as the Lab wants to keep the learning curve down for new users.

Mac OS 10.5

It seems this operating system is reaching the end of its life for Second Life users. The Lab is looking at how to leave a door open for 10.5 users. I suggest 10.5 users get serious about getting an upgrade. I expect later this year we may see 10.5 users stuck with a legacy viewer and unable to update to newer viewers.

Mac OS X 10.7 has the ability to run Second Life full screen… huh! Didn’t know they previously couldn’t.

Surprisingly, some significant number of Mac users do not know they can cheaply upgrade their Mac’s to new Operating System versions.

ADITI Problems

See JIRA SVC-7727 still haunts many of us.

Others are finding they cannot get to ADITI’s Mesh IP Rights Tutorial to enable mesh uploading to ADITI for testing. There is a new JIRA SVC-7935 – An error has occurred. Further information is available in the server log.

Mesh Viewer Adoption

How many are using Mesh Render Capable viewers? We are around 90% now. That is not an official Linden Lab stat, but comes from a TPV Dev.

SLM Files

The mesh uploader in the Lab’s viewer saves the upload settings for a mesh item in a file with the extent .slm. It is saved with your DAE files. The idea is when you get the settings right, while uploading in ADITI, you can switch over to AGNI and re-upload using the saved settings.

You can delete the SLM files or press RESET to clear them from the upload panel, in the event you need to start over.

Some like to have the SLM feature on and other prefer it off. There is a setting in Debug Settings labeled MeshimportuseSLM that allows you to enable or disable the feature.

The SLM file uses the name of the DAE files you are uploading. So, changing the DAE file’s name will disable the remembered settings.

Summary

We did get a roll out this week. That is something. There is lots of work going on and several things in the pipeline. Just not much making it out to release.