Second Life Mesh Bodies Popularity & Designer Support Analysis

I am again considering making some clothes and accessories for my avatar. Maybe even sell some. And there is the possibility I will make more paint for mt helicopters. Be fun to see what wild A.I. paint can be created.

But, to make stuff in SL you need Dev Kits. These are kits with the models, UV Maps, Applier specs, and other bits only the original creators have. Fortunately, most of them make them available to most of those that ask.

SL Mesh Body Analytics

Some time ago I choose the Maitreya Lara-X body. It came very close to providing the Slink body shape I like. So, of course, it is the first body I considered making things for. I filled out the online forms for the Maitreya Dev Kit. Maitreya is now, weeks later, hiding and not responding to my requests for a Dev Kit. I’ll pester them for another week or so. Then I’ll decide what to do about them.

In the mean time I have found it is very easy to get Dev Kits for eBody Reborn and Legacy. But how popular are those bodies and how many designers are making stuff for them?

I do numbers. I ask questions. I research. And now I have the dogs of A.I. to lose on such research. This article is what AI found and at the end what I think. So, check it out.

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AYAstorm Viewer for Second Life®

I was reading a New World Notes article that mentions a JuicyBomb article about a viewer named AYAstorm. Wow. Never heard of it. I read Juicy’s AYAstorm article. Interesting.

OH WOW!

I find this viewer fixes the alpha glitch I have been working around for a couple of DECADES. OMG!

What is the ‘alpha glitch’?

AYAstorm Firestorm Comparison
AYAstorm and Firestorm ViewersComparison

You can see the glitch in the images at C & D.

The top two images were captured using AYAstorm. The bottom two using Firestorm 7.2.4 (beta/preview).

Notice how the hair renders at A & B and compare to C & D. If you look at D you’ll see the hair transparency is causing the wall to render on top of the painting. Not as clearly but the same at C.

At A it is transparency on top of transparency. Both A & B render the hair and transparencies correctly.

In like 20 years no one fixed this problem. Yay! We now have a fix!

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Second Life® Technology Updates Summary: May 2026

Another month passes. There are several updates this month. Voice is the big one, for those that use voice. For the SL Viewer, you need to be on a version 26.1 or newer. Firestorm users need to be on 7.2.4 or newer.

Some of this month’s changes show where things are going.

SL Viewer 26.2 - May 2028
SL Viewer 26.2 – May 2026

Official SL Platform Updates

WebRTC Voice Service Full Grid Deployment

May 5: Linden Lab completed the rollout of the WebRTC voice service across the entire main grid (Agni). Previously available on ~25% of regions via RC channels, this shift ends reliance on the third-party Vivox service. Linden Lab can now directly maintain and enhance voice capabilities, with future potential for features like voice-to-text. Users were advised to use compatible viewers (official 26.1 or later, or updated third-party viewers) to avoid voice issues.

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Second Life® Technology Report – April 2026

Tech-focused summary for April 1–30, 2026
Here is the update on last months activity in Second Life.

Official SL Platform Updates

  • April 1, 2026: Voice service disruption reported (connection issues and audio drops). Incident tied to ongoing WebRTC transition testing; highlighted need for full rollout improvements.
  • April 25, 2026: Unscheduled inventory maintenance affected login, rezzing, avatar display, and inventory access. Issue resolved same day; users advised to clear cache. – NOTE: If you are not having issues, don’t. I went through the outage and recovered without clearing my cache.
  • Throughout April: Continued WebRTC Voice testing on RC channels with maintenance sessions (e.g., April 22). Full grid rollout announced for May 5.
New Second Life Tech
My New Home Computer… NOT

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Clubs in Second Life – Problem! -Solution?

There is a thread in the Second Life® Forum where a club owner is asking about how to make their new (currently in design stage) club better. SL Residents are asked what they would like to see.

As I write there are a couple of pages of discussion. I don’t see anything really outstanding. Several comment on what is a common problem. No one has a solution, other than their personal preferences. So, I decided to ask A.I. how to solve the problems. Following is mostly the answer I got.

Perplexity Response

The thread: What do you want…

Warehouse 21 in Second Life

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Second Life Region Crossings Tutorial

Crossings, Viewer Settings, and a Firestorm Debug Option

Region crossings in Second Life continue to be one of the frustrating technical challenges for sailors, drivers, pilots, and anyone who travels. The problem isn’t new — but the conversation recently started again, especially with new users, and users that have never understood the problem. Thus, this post.

The only thing new on the subject is a Firestorm debug setting that some residents are experimenting with. So, I’ll write that first.

Crashing into a region crossing fail
Region Crossing Crash

This post pulls together what I’ve learned from forum discussions, viewer testing, and a deeper look at how the viewer and simulator interact during a crossing.

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