Second Life and Virtual Worlds
General Viewer Information
There are a couple of bits of news that I found interesting. First the stable SL Viewer is version 3.3.1 (254524) and the Beta is 3.3.2 (255742). The Development version is 3.3.3 (255954).
To go along with the viewers we have the current “stable” nVidia driver 296.10. There are some problems with the driver and that translates into problems for those of us using Second Life®. With later builds of the SL Viewer the driver has worked well for me.
This article is about fixing a known problem in Second Life. The fix is simple enough. The cause is a bit odd. It has to do with ‘wearing’ and outfit folder and a selection problem, a sneaky gotcha.
The Firestorm-Phoenix wiki has a page on the problem: wearing_entire_inventory.
We haven’t heard much out of the Firestorm development team since early April and that was about avoiding phishing attacks. But, I am seeing some leaks of the coming 4.1.1 (?). About 7 weeks ago Firestorm 4.0.1 (27000) was released, March 20, 2012.
The release notes are being marked up. And they reveal what MAY be in the next release. Also, that they are being worked on probably says something about the ETA of a new release. Exactly what it says is pure speculation.
Many of the updates in the coming release can be assumed. An update to newer Linden code is always a part of any new Firestorm release. As are bug fixes and new improvements to existing features. It is also pretty predictable that some new features will be added. This release has some performance improvements. I’m not sure they will affect FPS, but other features are likely to be quicker and easier.
Most viewer reviews are written for those using Second Life®. However, more grids are opening. For the people using alternate grids there is another blog looking at viewers: Excelsior Station. The author, Sarge Misfit, does a Second Life® style VIEWERS COMPARISON. SL users will gain some benefit from the comparison,
The most recent comparison is dated May 3, 2012.
The comparison is a cross between a viewer list and a feature comparison. One of the valuable points in the comparison is whether the viewer is multi-grid ready, does it have a grid manager, handy comparison point.
A new release of the Dolphin Viewer is out: 3.3.5.23763 “Fellini.” This release gets a new graphics floater panel. The idea is it can be used by photographers and machinamists.
The Dolphin Viewer also gets the ability to click a worn item in inventory to edit it. This will be way handy for moving those belly, lip, and nose rings that rez inside the avatar.
A feature to allow clicking a land mark in inventory to open on the world map has been added.
The Mesh Deformer control could previously be found in Preferences -> Dolphin Viewer 3 -> UI. The control is gone, so I assume the deformer did not make it into this version. It seems there are some problems with the Deformer code causing crashes. Also, there is a Linden factor in that Oz says the Mesh Deformer is a TPV Policy 2.k item. This means developers can’t put out their standard public release of a viewer that includes the Mesh Deformer. It can only appear in test viewers.
The download is standard and quick. The install is typical. I did not need to clear the cache or settings before installing. It seems to work just fine without those steps.
The Third Party Viewer Directory is updated from time to time. Oz Linden changed the TPV List 4/16.
The viewers with enough users to generate reliable stats and that participate in crash reporting are listed in the first section of the list in the order of stability, least crashes. In this update Catznip is in the first position as the most stable.
The Imprudence Viewer is second, Singularity, Phoenix, Firestorm, and RLV follow.
Congratulations Catznip!