Second Life and Virtual Worlds
The main channel got a new package this Tuesday. This is the package that has minor internal changes. These are usually security and logging things. This particular version of the package was delayed a week to fix for BUG-37573 “Rez silently fails on RC Magnum, RC LeTigre and RC BlueSteel regions.”
The RC channels remain running the same package. No new package.
The main viewer is still version 4.0.6.315555.
Earlier today I was thinking Firestorm would release soon and it was later in the day, Monday. The announcement is here: Firestorm Release 4.7.9-50527. Inara has her coverage here: Firestorm 4.7.9.50527: “I see jelly people!”
Mac and Linux users lose the Havok add-on features for Pathfinding and mesh uploading. Inara has more details on that subject.
This brings Firestorm on par with the Lab’s version 4.0.6, the current main viewer. But, we may see a new Linden version promoted this or next week. Firestorm is scheduled for its next release in 3 months.
The crowd seems to have thinned. It was easy getting in. Population of the two regions has been <30 this morning (6-9AM). Visit: Mesh Body Addicts (MBA) Fair (Sim 1) (Sim 2)
The quality of mesh clothes and accessories at this is event is… really good… I thought about which adjective I wanted to use. I was a bit disappointed in Hair Fare this year. But, I enjoyed MBA.
Rumor was we would see a new version release this past week. The source was good. But, it didn’t happen.
As I pointed out, the flurry of wiki updates I normally see wasn’t happening. That changed Sunday. So, a release is likely… soon.
That would be great. Because the 64-bit version I use eats all my 8GB RAM in less than an hour. I have had VBO enabled. I just disabled it and will be watching to see if that helps.
There is debate in the SL Forum as to which video card is a better choice for Second Life™. I’ll try to provide the information needed to make a decision. But, I don’t see a deal maker or breaker that would pull the choice to any one card.
Also there are no good benchmarks, yet, of which new cards work best with Second Life. The following benchmark tests show the cards’ performance are very dependent on how the game is designed.
In the above video he is testing DirectX12 verses Vulkan. Vulkan is the next generation OpenGL. While development on OpenGL has not stopped, it appears to be similar to SL and Sansar. Except I have no doubt Vulkan will be the render engine of choice for most game makers moving on from OpenGL.
This is a quick 5 minute tutorial by a kinda cute young man that is easy and to the point. He doesn’t cover all the details or provide all the possible adjustments but, he shows you how to get the job done.