Category Archives: Second Life

Things about SL

Is Firestorm Faster?

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Lots of people are saying the new Firestorm Viewer 5.0.1 is faster than previous versions. My personal experience is it is. But, what I really want to know is it faster than the default Linden Viewer 5.0.0. Here I find the results a bit mixed.

Performance Comparison – Click to Enlarge

The image shows my front porch where I did some of the testing. In the image starting on the left I have 3 Firestorm and then 3 Linden viewer numbers. The first FPS from ground level at my house is labeled FS 5.0.1 and shows an FPS of 78.3. The number was bouncing between 75 and 84 FPS.  Continue reading →

Firestorm Viewer 5.0.1 Released

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Yesterday in my SL News I mentioned the rumor that the Firestorm Dev Team would release version 5.0.1. The viewer hasn’t updated since August 2016, four plus months. It did release late Tuesday. Once word spread the Firestorm site overloaded, I think, and has been down on and off ever since.

Firestorm Overload – Dec 2016 – Firefox

You can expect that behavior to continue today.  Continue reading →

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Second Life News 2016 w50

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Servers

The main channel got a server update today, Tuesday. This is the package that ran on the RC chnnels last week. The changes:

  • Adds Feature: BUG-6377 llGetObjectDetails(id,[OBJECT_ATTACHED_SLOTS_AVAILABLE])
  • Adds Feature: BUG-40871 Add new llGetEnv() constant “region_object_bonus”
  • Internal Changes

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the RC channels will get a new package. It is described as having: Improved internal server logging.

A cold Day at home

A cold Day at home

Viewers

The main viewer updated to the Project Bento viewer last week, 5.0.0.321958. No change from last week.

RC Second Life Maintenance Viewer version 5.0.1.322219 is an update from last week’s 4.1.3.321792. This probably just catches this version up with the Bento release.

Second Life Project 360 Snapshot Viewer version 4.1.3.321712 No change from last week.

Rumor is Firestorm will release TODAY….  Continue reading →

Firestorm Viewer Near Release

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Today I see Firestorm has posted the release notes to Firestorm version 5.0.1 (52150). They are a work in progress. They include a link to an article on Inara’s blog, which is not yet live. It’s just a place holder link. So, it is looking like a release is imminent.

According to the notes as written now they say Firestorm will have all the features of Linden’s 5.0.0 release plus some features and fixes from ‘upstream’ versions, meaning I suppose Linden RC versions.

The 5 numbering in the version means it WILL be Bento supporting. While that is no big thing for most users today, as there is little Bento content on the grid, it is big  in that it moves Bento ahead in a huge way.

The RLVa features have been updated to version API: RLV v3.1.4 / RLVa v2.0.3.50527. They have linked to a page with the details of that update. For most users this only means we’ll soon see RLV collar and relay updates soon.

The current Release Notes page has lots of work remaining to be done. I don’t see it being possible to complete it today. But, that may not prevent a viewer release. However, I think it suggests the release date may be a day or few away. I’m betting between now and the 18th.

Those using the Preview version of this coming release are liking it. Rumors are some are seeing performance improvements and few crashes. My 4.7.9 version crashes almost every time I use it for over 30 minutes. Fortunately, mostly only on exit.

 

Second Life: Cheap Thrills

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Cheap is good. Thrills are… well… thrilling. So, where do you get yours? Thrills…

I was playing around and got a notice that the Cheap Thrills show was about to start. For whatever reason, I decided to check it out. I was impressed.

I took the opportunity to video the show. It lasts an hour. I didn’t want to make an hour-long video. So, I edited out lots of the show. But, there is enough to give you an idea of what it is like. I took out some of the more interesting parts… I didn’t want to spoil the surprises.

The show is impressive. SL tech is put to surprisingly good use. Slick presentation. A few very good illusions are used. The choreography obviously requires some serious animation effort.  Continue reading →

Second Life: Why No Mod?

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Penny Patton has a post in the SL Forum titled, Why No Mod? She is finding a lot of the stuff being sold these days is no mod. She apparently finds it as annoying as I do. But, Penny does a good job of explaining why mesh things should be Mod-OK.

Why No-Mod Stuff

There is a good discussion in the thread, still short. Most are in support of Mod-OK items. No-Mod demos are understandable and most have no problems with demos being No-Mod.  Continue reading →

Second Life: Buy More Prims – Private Regions

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Recently the Lab gave land owners more prims, well changed the prim limits on land. Today about 10 AM (12/7 – Pearl Harbor Day) the Lab announced Land owners can buy even more prims, push the limit from 20,000 to 30,000 prims… or more accurately change their Land Impact limit for some money.

Fris'land

Fris’land

See: Upgrade Your Full Private Region to 30,000 Land Impact Today!

For a one time US$30 fee private region owners can upgrade from 20k prims to 30k prims. This also adds a monthly cost of $30 USD per region. See the Knowledge Base, Managing Private Regions – Section 5.

You request the upgrade by submitting a Help Case.

Second Life News 2016 w/49

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Servers

The main channel got the RC package Tuesday. This is another of those packages with “minor internal” changes.

Homo Faber 3

Homo Faber 3

The RC channels got a new package too. The release notes tell us:

  • Adds Feature: BUG-6377 llGetObjectDetails(id,[OBJECT_ATTACHED_SLOTS_AVAILABLE])
  • Adds Feature: BUG-40871 Add new llGetEnv() constant “region_object_bonus”
  • Internal Changes

These features haven’t made it to the wiki yet. They are at this point beta versions of the functions. The SLOTS_AVAILABLE item is for those working with Experiences. It is handy to know if an avatar has used up all the attachment slots before trying to attach something else to the avatar. Continue reading →