Bits and Pieces 2014-31

Servers

Maestro Linden is on vacation. Caleb Linden is handling the Server Beta meeting and Oz and Simon Linen were there. No new information on what server updates may be in the works. As all regions are running the same server package, the main channel is unlikely to get any updates and there may be no Tuesday restart.

DryLand - 2014 July - BD, Before the Dry

DryLand – 2014 July – BD, Before the Dry

The RC channels may get a restart and new package, but if they do we currently have no idea what that update may be. My guess is there will be no rollout/restart of the RC channels in week 32. 

Viewers

I think today, Friday, is the Third Party Developers meeting. I expect any new news to release in that meeting.

There are no SL Viewer changes since I wrote of the current 3 RC Viewers and 2 Project Viewers.

Oculus Rift

Ciaran Laval has an article on exploring the Destination Guide’s Exceptional with Oculus regions. See: Exploring Oculus Rift Locations In Second Life Without The Oculus Rift. He and I don’t have OR devices. Ciaran is pointing out you don’t need to have an OR to enjoy the areas.

These regions are ‘exceptional’ in the sense that they are built to real life scale. Ciaran doesn’t mention changing your default camera position before exploring the regions. I think one needs to make that change to have a better experience, unless you have an Oculus, in which case it doesn’t matter.

Some time ago Penny Patton writing about building to scale and providing tips on camera position used with to-scale-regions inspired me to write: Second Life Camera Position Tips.

When you set your value for FocusOffsetRearView set large values for the X component. It makes controlling the camera from CameraOffsetRearView easier and overall works better.

Machinima Tool

There is a in-viewer Machinima Tool I came across. It appears to be used for editing SL Animations and string a series of animations together. This seems like it would be way handy.

You can find it in the SL Market Place as: _TACHYON_SuperBeginner’s Edition(v1.00). Cost: L$0 – Free. But, this also seems to be a time limited trial, from what I saw in the video.

There is a web site for the device: Operation SL Storm.

Kyuzo Hax is selling the app and has several other camera control apps in the SL MP: Store.

Kyuzo’s native language is Japanese, I think. So, the English is broken, still way better than my Japanese.

HMD Market

By now you have to know I like numbers for debunking hype. Hamlet has an article up on the possible market for Head Mounted Displays (HMD) or the Oculus Rift. Philip Rosedale, SL founder, is all glowy about the market being a billion users by 2021.

Hamlet puts some RL numbers on the possibility to get back on the ground. See: Philip Rosedale: 1 Billion VR HMD Owners Possible by 2021.

NVIDIA

For whatever reason my automatic updating on NVIDIA drivers stopped. I put version 340.52 in today.

Chat

The Lindens are working on chat. In previous user group (UG) meetings we have learned that a big problem is all the updating the chat system has to do. As people log in and out lots of groups and people have to be updated as to which group members are online.

To reduce some of that update traffic the Lindens are adding delays to group member lists. If someone logs in for a couple of minutes to check messages, do they really need to alert all their groups they are online? Probably not.

The Lindens are experimenting with various delays in the chat system updating to reduce server load. The result should be easier connecting and less chat lag. But, don’t expect anything revolutionary. Also, it will be 2 or 3 weeks before much is done on chat as Simon is going on vacation.

Also, joining and leaving a group is a big hit on the system. A delay is being added to let that slide for a few seconds before that information updates.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *