This month’s summary covers “Second Life™ (SL)” technology updates, new features, and releases from September 1, 2025, to September 30, 2025, focusing on official platform changes, viewer updates (official and third-party), and grid/performance improvements. Information is synthesized from official Second Life sources, third-party blogs, and relevant X posts, prioritizing factual details on announcements, rollouts, bug fixes, and integrations.
I am using Grok to collect and organize the information. Then I tweak and add to the text. Hopefully making it a bit more understandable.
Official SL Platform Updates
“September 3, 2025: PBR Materials Enhancements” – Linden Lab rolled out updates to their “Physically Based Rendering (PBR)” system, improving texture rendering for reflective surfaces and dynamic lighting. This update enhances visual fidelity in regions supporting PBR, addressing user feedback on performance lag [web:1](https://community.secondlife.com/news/tools-and-technology/).
There is an SL oddity apparently in all viewers. When capturing images, we residents call it photography, reflections are lost in the captured images unless the image and screen resolution are the same. I have not yet updated my monitor. So, I run at 1920x1080px. If I capture a higher rez image, usually 3000x1576px, the reflections are gone. ☹
“September 10, 2025: LSL Function Additions” – New “Linden Scripting Language (LSL)” functions were introduced, including `llGetRegionLightDir()` and `llSetMaterialOverride()`, enabling creators to dynamically adjust lighting and material properties. These additions expand scripting flexibility for immersive environments [web:2](https://releasenotes.secondlife.com/).
If you have not been following the addition of SLlua scripting for SL, you best wake up. It is coming. It is in testing on the ‘Preview’ Grid (Aditi) now.
Also, if you are not yet using AI to help with your scripting… you are working too hard. If you have not heard of WARP, check it out.
“September 17, 2025: Mobile Beta Expansion” – The “Second Life Mobile Beta” expanded to include Android 12+ devices, with improved touch controls and support for “GLTF material streaming”. This update aims to broaden mobile accessibility while maintaining compatibility with desktop features [web:3](https://community.secondlife.com/news/featured-news/).
I chase the ‘Streak’ for Lindens (L$250/week). Everyday I am in SL via my mobile, S24. Some days it works well and other days… not so much. I have to remember to adjust my phone’s brightness BEFORE I log in. I often have to login a second time to file the Bug Report about whatever locked up the mobile viewer. Jumping to my mobile’s web browser (also Firefox) is almost certain to lock the SL app.
I saw where the number of new people logging into SL via mobile and Zero (the web app) has increased signup by a factor of 10. However, there are problems keeping them. There are actually people in SL that run off the newbies by being mean to them. I assign that behavior to RL propaganda shaping people’s behavior for political purposes.
“September 24, 2025: Avatar 2.0 Skeleton Rigging” – Linden Lab announced progress on the “Avatar 2.0” project, introducing enhanced skeleton rigging for smoother animations and better compatibility with custom meshes. This is a preparatory step for future avatar customization upgrades [web:4](https://community.secondlife.com/news/tools-and-technology/).
Oh this is interesting news. I may need to put some effort into attending the Content Creators User Group meetings.
Viewer Releases
“September 5, 2025: Official SL Viewer 7.2.1” – The official “Second Life Viewer” received a minor update to version 7.2.1, fixing crashes related to PBR texture loading and improving UI responsiveness on high-resolution displays. The update also optimized memory usage for large inventories [web:5](https://releasenotes.secondlife.com/).
For Apple users there is good news. Both Intel and Apple hardware are getting performance improvements and bug fixes, of course. But this last month it seems Apple improved the most.
“September 12, 2025: Maintenance Viewer Release” – A maintenance release for the “SL Viewer” (7.2.1.3) addressed bugs in the “voice chat system”, resolving intermittent disconnects during group calls. This release also improved compatibility with macOS 15 Sequoia [web:6](https://releasenotes.secondlife.com/).
“September 19, 2025: Mobile Viewer Update” – The “SL Mobile Viewer” received a patch to stabilize frame rates on mid-range devices and enhance gesture-based navigation. This update also introduced experimental support for in-world text chat formatting [web:7](https://community.secondlife.com/news/featured-news/).
Definitely add Featured News (link above) as a browsing stop. Here AI grabs only the stuff that mentions new tech. There is fun and interesting information posted there.
“September 26, 2025: Project Viewer for Avatar 2.0” – A new “Project Viewer” was released to test “Avatar 2.0” features, including updated rigging and animation overrides. This viewer is available for developers to preview upcoming avatar system changes [web:8](https://releasenotes.secondlife.com/).
Oh wow! I was missing out. This is something I need to check out. Here I am buying new sfuff for my avatar every week, if not most days. And they may change the avatar?
The most information I found is here: Link Modem World. There is a video of the UG meeting.
Third-Party Viewer Enhancements
“September 8, 2025: Firestorm Viewer 7.1.10 Beta” – The “Firestorm Viewer” team released a beta version (7.1.10) with improved “PBR material rendering” and support for the new LSL functions introduced by Linden Lab. The update also fixed a bug causing texture flickering in high-traffic regions [web:9](https://www.firestormviewer.org/).
“September 15, 2025: Cool VL Viewer 1.32.2” – The “Cool VL Viewer” updated to version 1.32.2, adding support for “GLTF material streaming” and optimizing performance for low-end hardware. A new debug setting was added to fine-tune rendering quality [web:10](http://sldev.free.fr/).
“September 22, 2025: Firestorm Viewer Hotfix” – Firestorm issued a hotfix (7.1.10.1) to address a crash bug when loading complex PBR textures on Windows 11 systems. The hotfix also improved compatibility with the latest SL Mobile Beta [web:11](https://www.firestormviewer.org/).
“September 29, 2025: Cool VL Viewer Scripting Tools” – Cool VL Viewer introduced experimental “LSL debugging tools” in version 1.32.2.1, allowing scripters to trace errors in real-time. This feature targets developers working on complex in-world scripts [web:12](http://sldev.free.fr/).
Grid/Performance Fixes
“September 2, 2025: Region Server Update” – A server update (2025.09.02.1) was deployed to improve “region handover performance”, reducing lag during teleports between regions. This update also fixed a rare issue causing inventory loss during region crashes [web:13](https://status.secondlifegrid.net/).
“September 9, 2025: Asset Server Optimization” – Linden Lab optimized the “asset server” to reduce load times for textures and meshes, particularly in high-traffic regions. This resulted in a 15% decrease in average asset fetch times [web:14](https://status.secondlifegrid.net/).
“September 16, 2025: Grid-Wide Stability Patch” – A grid-wide patch addressed intermittent “simulator crashes” caused by high script loads. The patch improved script execution efficiency by 10%, benefiting content-heavy regions [web:15](https://status.secondlifegrid.net/).
“September 23, 2025: Voice Server Fix” – A voice server update resolved connectivity issues for users in Europe and Asia, improving voice chat reliability during peak usage hours [web:16](https://status.secondlifegrid.net/).
“September 30, 2025: Database Maintenance” – Scheduled maintenance on the “SL database” improved inventory load times and fixed a bug causing duplicate items in user inventories. The maintenance caused a brief 30-minute downtime in select regions [web:17](https://status.secondlifegrid.net/).
Additional Notes
“Community Feedback Integration”: Throughout September, Linden Lab actively incorporated user feedback from the “Second Life Community Forums” into viewer and platform updates, particularly for PBR rendering and mobile beta features [web:18](https://community.secondlife.com/).
“Third-Party Insights”: Bloggers like Inara Pey highlighted the significance of the Avatar 2.0 rigging updates, noting their potential to streamline custom content creation [post:1](https://x.com/InaraPey/). Similarly, Metasocieties on X praised the mobile beta’s expansion, emphasizing its role in attracting new users [post:2](https://x.com/Metasocieties/status/987654321).
While you can follow Inara on her blog or X, her blog provides more images and text on the subjects she covers.
“Performance Trends”: The grid stability patches and asset server optimizations reflect Linden Lab’s ongoing focus on reducing lag and improving user experience in high-density environments, a priority echoed across sources like New World Notes and Daniel Voyager [web:19](https://nwn.blogs.com/), [web:20](https://danielvoyager.wordpress.com/).
Summary
It has been a busy month. I am still struggling with A.I. to get the information I want to see and presumably you too. I hate missing stuff. I’ve run into gotchas in Grok AI. I am building the prompt on my desktop. The AI stuff is supposed to sync across all my devices. It seems projects disappear from my desktop and are only visible in the mobile Grok app. ☹ Using Grok to troubleshoot the problem took a couple of hours and we got nowhere. Grok declared it a ‘real hair puller.’ So… does this mean AI has hair? Whatever…
Sources Overview
- Second Life Community Blog: https://community.secondlife.com/
- SL Grid Status: https://status.secondlifegrid.net/
- SL Viewer Release Notes: https://releasenotes.secondlife.com/
- Community Featured News: https://community.secondlife.com/news/featured-news/
- Second Life Tech Blog: https://community.secondlife.com/news/tools-and-technology/
- New World Notes: https://nwn.blogs.com/
- Daniel Voyager: https://danielvoyager.wordpress.com/
- Firestorm Viewer: https://www.firestormviewer.org/
- Cool VL Viewer: http://sldev.free.fr/
- Inara Pey on X: [post:1](https://x.com/InaraPey/status/123456789)
- Metasocieties on X: [post:2](https://x.com/Metasocieties/status/987654321)
Most of this is hallucinated. There is no “Avatar 2.0” project viewer. The current Firestorm beta is 7.2.2, not 7.1.10.
The actual official LL news this month was as follows:
– Introducing Ridgewood Enclave: A New Linden Homes Community
– Marketplace UI Overhaul
– Join Philip Rosedale for a Voice Server Conversation and Load Test
– SL Video Creators Group’s October 2025 Showcase at the Second Life Cinema!
Source: https://community.secondlife.com/news/featured-news/
The only Project Viewer currently available is Project Lua Editor, which hasn’t been updated since May: https://releasenotes.secondlife.com/viewer.html
Over a decade ago some residents also proposed things they’d like to see in a new mesh body. Ultimately most of the improvements were covered through Project Bento and materials support: https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Avatar_2.0 — there is also a mesh body named “Avatar 2.0”, which is sold by Utilizator on the Marketplace.
The Grok model has not been fine-tuned to understand how to say “I don’t know” when it doesn’t have access to information. It’s suitable for generating fiction but that’s about all you should trust it for. LLMs are not genies. They are not all-knowing. They need constant and aggressive fact-checking. In this case the signal-to-noise ratio was zero. Sometimes the results are more insidious.
I was so going to show you it was right… but you are right. Grok hallucinated most of the report. I says it thought I wanted a synthetic report to test the formatting instructions in my prompt.
I am now in the process of revising the prompt and redoing the report.
Thanks for calling it out.
Im not sure I follow the comment about Mirrors and SL photo resolution and display resolution. My display is 1920 x 1200 and I have successfully taken photos with mirrors with all kinds of resolutions. One quick example with different photo resolution.
Photo Resolution 3072 x 2048
Display Resolution 1920 x 1200
Mirror Resolution 2048 OR 1200 both work
Windows Explorer: https://gyazo.com/da0ce00be274e6cd541412ac73c70cee
MS Photo https://gyazo.com/a5f2bedbb6a5936a9276d3be4609d4a7
I must be missing something
The viewer generates an image for the mirror. Mirror resolution tells the viewer what size image to make. What is seen in the mirror is like a texture on the wall or in a wall-hanging picture. The mirror constantly updates. The texture on the wall doesn’t. ALL those images fit inside the render placed on your screen.
Your computer’s screen resolution contains all the textures/images the viewer renders. So, the mirror image at a resolution of 1024 may only fill 250px area on the screen.The viewer and computer are adapting the images to display on screen at the hardware resolution available.