Is Firestorm Faster?

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. 

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Firestorm Viewer 5.0.1 Released

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. 

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Second Life News 2016 w50

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…. 

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Firestorm Viewer Near Release

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 News 2016 w/49

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.

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Second Life: Third Party Dev’s News 2016 w/48

Viewers

The Bento RC viewer updated Thursday: RC Second Life Bento Viewer version 5.0.0.321958. The Lindens fixed a skin weighting problem that a previous fix aggravated. Provided no new issues turn up to block the release we will see it go live soon. As of now they are soaking up user run time data. With enough testing time with no problems they will promote it. Meaning Bento will go live grid wide.

La Digue du Braek - III - A Blogpost
La Digue du Braek – III – A Blogpost

The Bento release date is creating a challenge for setting a Firestorm release date. The Lindens are officially starting their No Release Window 12/16 and it will run to 1/2/2017. The FS team was thinking about releasing their update 12/18.

Oz says the Lab’s actual shut down starts 12/19. While people are officially around as the holiday starts on Friday, many are planning to be gone before then.

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