Servers
The main channel updated to version #18.03.27.513831. The new version has only Internal Fixes.
The RC’s Blue Steel and Le Tigre will update to version #18.03.29.513939 on the usual Wednesday cycle. Also, only Internal Fixes.
Magnum will continue to run #18.03.27.513831.
From the Server and Scripting UG we hear about more region crossing work. Simon Linden is doing some work on crossings. BUG-214653 – After half-unsit at failed region crossing on vehicle due to network lag, “Unsit” button will not work.
Crossing regions at speed… fast cars, planes, boats, and motorcycles, have a big problem. I was recently testing an Apolon helicopter. Great fun. But, region crossings are an annoyance.
There was lots of discussion about the coming ability to change names. No new information. It is still undecided whether we can revert to a previous name we used.
Viewers
The main viewer is version 5.1.2.512803. Originally released in February 2018 as an RC and promoted to the main default viewer March 6, 2018 – Week #10.
Second Life Love Me Render Viewer version 5.1.3.513005 – Last updated in week #10.
Second Life Maintenance Viewer version 5.1.3.513630 – Last updated in week #12.
Second Life Media Update Viewer version 5.1.3.513644 – Updated this week from version 5.1.3.513038 released week #11.
Second Life Project 360 Snapshot Viewer version 5.1.3.513006 – Last updated in week #10.
Second Life Project Animesh Viewer version 5.1.3.513013 – Last updated in week #11.
Second Life Project Bakes-On-Mesh Viewer version 5.1.3.513936 – A new project viewer released last Friday 3/30. Release Notes here. The Linden notes say,
Bakes on Mesh is a new feature to allow system avatar baked textures to be shown on mesh attachments. Currently, you will need a special project viewer to use it. Bakes on Mesh does not depend on simulator code, so it should work in all regions and all grids.
Basic features
- Any face of a mesh object can be textured using one of the server baked textures.
- The corresponding region of the system avatar is hidden if an attached mesh is using a baked texture.
Benefits
- Avoid the need for appliers -> easier customization workflow
- Avoid the need for onion avatars -> fewer meshes, fewer textures at display time
- Avoid the need to sell full-perm meshes. You can customize any mesh you have modify permissions for simply by setting the flags and equipping the appropriate wearables.
Avatar wearables are baked into six different textures (BAKE_HEAD, BAKE_UPPER, BAKE_LOWER, BAKE_EYES, BAKE_SKIRT, BAKE_HAIR) by the baking service. You can now apply these textures to your avatar’s object attachments’ diffuse texture slot. Right click on the attachment, click edit and from the edit face menu select textures. Click the diffuse texture icon to open up the texture picker. The texture picker has an extra radio button mode called ‘bake’ for selecting server bakes. The ‘bake’ radio button mode has a dropdown for selecting BAKE_HEAD, BAKE_UPPER, BAKE_LOWER, BAKE_EYES, BAKE_SKIRT, BAKE_HAIR server bake textures. When an attachment is using a baked texture, the corresponding base mesh region of the system avatar is hidden.
If a mesh face is set to show a baked texture but is not attached to an avatar, you will see a default baked texture. If you are using an older viewer without bakes on mesh support, then faces set to show baked textures will also display as the default baked texture, and base mesh regions will not be hidden.
I’ve been writing about Bakes On for weeks. Now it is here. The viewer is at Project level. This means we can make changes to the system. How many of those we suggest or request that the Lindens will make, TBD. But, those with really good user-cases will likely get made.
This is a project the Lindens and many residents hope will be adopted widely. I know Siddean of Slink has been wanting to see the viewer. We may see a Slink Bento Head that uses the new Bakes-On features… I am speculating and hoping on that.
There isn’t any tech info in the wiki, at least that I found. So, what you see above is what we have. We seldom see much tech-info until a feature reaches RC status. Developers generally understand what is being done and figure out how it works. The wiki is targeted at the developer and novice hobbyist, so it comes later.
Other Viewers
Cool VL Viewer updated. CoolVLViewer-1.26.20.49-Windows-x86_64-Setup.exe (2018-03-31, 72Mb). This version adds an Animesh bug fix.
Black Dragon – Not a viewer update but a viewer guide has been posted. See Black Dragon Guide: User Interface Tour.