Second Life and Virtual Worlds
The Linden Scripting Language has gotten some new functions:
These are the last features Andrew Linden added before leaving. The features are active in all three RC channels now.
The point of these functions is the allow the uniform scaling of link sets. You can scale every item in a link set with one command. I imagine this will reduce the script complexity for a number of things in SL.
Recently we have seen a number of people complaining about getting disconnected, repeatedly. No one has determined if it is an SL problem or just problems local to the users being disconnected.
The main release SL Viewer today is: 3.6.12-284506. I expect that to change this week.
The RC viewers are now:
We have more project viewers this week:
Scripting
We have a new Linden Scripting Language (LSL) function coming: llScaleByFactor(). It allows for uniform scaling of an entire linked set with one LSL call. If you size hair or shoes, you may notice the ripple of size changes as the item is scaled prim by prim. This function will provide a faster and more efficient way to accomplish the same thing.
This change will go into an RC release that is planned for January.
Andrew says this feature is already running in ADITI on there regions: Boardman, Borrowdale, Balance, Mayfair and Hawkshead. So, you should be able to test the function there, now.
For a time I had the Linden particle test object sitting on my porch at my Second Life™ home. It is a nine prim object. So, once I got tired of it I took it down. But, you can still get a copy of it. The Old London Docks blog (written in German) has a link to a copy of the test object.
This is the object that lets you see the different blending modes for particles. You need to be using the SL Viewer 3.6.7 to see the new particle effects. AFAIK, none of the third-party viewers can display the new particle effects. Expect to see that in the next releases.
I’m not that creative with particles, but I expect to see some really amazing effects from people that are. It should be fun.
This week the package that ran on Magnum last week is moving to the main channel. The Magnum package is a composite of new stuff and the stuff running on Blue Steel and Le Tigre.
This package has the fixes for; llXorBase64(),llReturnObjectsByID(),llJsonSetValue(), and parcel access. A new feature is a change so that some parcel rezzers will be caught by parcel return. The last one is a shot at griefers.
All the RC channels will be running the same package that is running on the main channel. This usually happens when server packages have not successfully made it through the Lab’s QA process.
I am guessing that Wednesday’s restarts of the RC channel regions will happen today. But, may be not.
The information on server updates is out. The main channel will be getting an update. The package from the Magnum RC channel is being promoted. This is the package that has improved asset fetching and preparatory work for future improvements. You can read the release notes here: Second Life Server 13.09.05.280647.
I doubt we will see much improvement in asset fetching performance. It may look like it, but what we will be seeing is more an improvement from increased reliability and less wasted server effort. It is sort like the speed limit on the highway hasn’t increased, but there are fewer wrecks. So, things get there sooner.
This package also has the ‘GetMesh2’ api/function. You may remember reading that users were setting their viewers to use ridiculously high values for MeshMaxConcurrentRequests. This is a step in changing how the system handles Mesh Downloading.