Firestorm Viewer Update – Feb 2019 = 6.0.2.56680

We have been waiting for this update. This is the one that adds Animesh. If you haven’t heard of Animesh… well, where have you been? This is the feature that allows us to animate mesh things. So, better horses and dogs…

Firestorm Viewer has had a beta version of their viewer out. It had the Animesh feature too. People often prefer not to update to a beta version. With ~75% of Second Life™ users running on Firestorm and a significant number not updating, Animesh has not been a thing in SL. Now we are likely to see it explode as new animated things begin to be released, animals, pets, babies, Non-Player characters (think Santa and store-bots), new machines…

The Firestorm Update 6.0.2

So… This is version 6.0.2.56680. It has some new features. Inara has a couple of writeups about the two Animesh versions of the viewer, FIRESTORM 6.0.2: ANIMESH RELEASE (this release) and Firestorm 6.0.1: Animesh Early Access (the previous release). Check those writeups if you want lots of details.

Otherwise… Besides Animesh, we get a few fixes, about a half dozen I have never run into (see release notes). The ‘splayed hands’ problem has a fix. Some install parts of the viewer updated; all the Linden 6.0.1 fixes and additions, changes to the code playing sound, the code handling the images – Kakadu – was updated, and the OGG library that has to do with… audio compression of files, you know the sound files we upload versus voice.

RLVa has about a half dozen fixes.

The Refresh Attachments feature now has a shortcut, Alt-Shift-R. In inventory, the Replace Links feature now also has a “Delete Links” option.

Performance-wise…

5.1.7 – Porch w/Sun-Shadow-Projector @ 256m DD – 42± FPS
6.0.1 Beta – Ground level on my porch: @ 256m DD 73± FPS*
6.0.2 Main – Ground level on my porch: @ 256m DD 102± FPS

5.1.7 – Skybox Green Room 1500m Elv – 100± FPS
6.0.1 Beta – Skybox Green Room 1500m Elv – 152± FPS
6.0.2 Main – Skybox Green Room 1500m Elv – 154± FPS

5.1.7 – Neisonia Safe Hub w/25 Avatars – 19-30± FPS
6.0.1 Beta – Neisonia Safe Hub w/28 Avatars – 30-45± FPS
6.0.2 Main – Arapaima Safe Hub 2/38 avatars – 30± FPS

*My neighbor changed. The current build may improve my FPS. But, not likely this much.

Installing is easy enough. You can install without uninstalling the beta. I recommend uninstalling the beta first. But, you can have both installed. My computer got confused. It is thinking the

This version seems faster. The scenes seem to render quickly. Some places that were rendering in 3 to 4 minutes are now under 2 minutes. I didn’t do a lot of testing. So, take these numbers with some salt. This may just be a good Internet day.

I’ve run the viewer for a few hours. I’ve had some odd problems and relogged to clear them. But, nothing consistent. And the problems could be SL or my network connection. So, for now, I think updating is the thing to do.

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