Second Life Viewer Updates 3.7.7

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As soon as I post about a viewer, things change. The main release viewer upgraded from 3.7.6 to 3.7.7-289461. The release notes for this version are here: SL Viewer 3.7.7. The is the Interesting Project Viewer updates. I goofed and clicked the wrong link going to the release notes earlier. I’m trying to do too many things at the same time.

This version includes the changes for faster scene rendering. The changes, to a large extent, are about how the viewer handles cache and the order in which things are rendered. For caching, the first time to arrive in a region, everything in the region is sent to the viewer and the viewer caches it. This means fewer server requests for stuff.

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Second Life Bits 2014-19

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Servers

There are no roll outs this week.

Viewers

The main viewer remains: 3.7.6-289164

RC Viewers

No changes since the last report.

Bit of News

Jo Yardely posts about Ebbe’s saying new avatars are coming. Originally he said they would arrive in March. It looks like they will get released this month now. So, we will have more ‘Library Starter Avatars.’ This will make it easier for new users to not look so noobie.

That of course assumes they don’t walk around nude flashing everyone. (face palm)

[youtube BNsrK6P9QvI] 

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AvaStar Update 2014-19

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There have been the typical flow of update RC’s coming out for AvaStar. This morning we are up to version avastar-1-1-1071_blender-2-65.

Starting with version 1062 we can use older AvaStar models in these versions. I haven’t tested or seen an explanation of what this means, exactly. But, I think it means we can open older files and work on models without having to re-parent to the newer AvaStar rig. I’ll have to try that.

Some bugs and error notices have been fixed too.

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Second Life Normal Maps & UV

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There is an interesting discussion in the SL Forum about a problem some people have had making Normal Maps for Second Life™. Jake Koronikov opened the thread. Jake had a problem with the normal maps creating a visible seam in the model.

FlickrNormal
Normal Maps from Flickr Search

For instance, the seam between the front and back sides of the avatar leg. Of you were making a manikin and using a normal map on it that seem would become visible as a step on the surface rather than the smooth surface it is supposed to be.  You can see his images of the problem in the thread: Tangent spaced Normal Map seam visible in UV border area. (2017 – The images are gone.)

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High Fidelity Authentication

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High Fidelity, Philip Rosedale’s new virtual world project, released more details on how they plan to do things. This is information about their authentication process.

High Fidelity Authentication
High Fidelity Authentication

For the general users the diagram probably doesn’t say much. I’ll describe what I think the basic idea is using Second Life. This is just a ‘sort-of-how’ to get you and idea of what they are talking about.

In SL we login. That is done on the SL “LOGIN SERVERS.” They verify that I am me. Then provide my viewer a token so it can show me in world as my avatar or as the Lindens call my avatar an agent. The agent is known in the system by its UUID.

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Is Blocking XP SP2 Bizarre?

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You know that Linden Lab announced they are changing the system requirements to run SL. Ciaran Laval has an article up titled: Linden Lab’s Bizarre System Requirements Move. Now why does he think it is a bizarre move?

Server Scripting Meeting 2014-18
Server Scripting Meeting 2014-18

It is a sort article, so finding Ciaran’s reasoning is easy. The key point I dispute and that changes how I see the move is contained in this paragraph:

This is a very bizarre move considering the client will happily run on Windows XP SP2. There are numerous reasons why clients crash on systems, people running Windows XP are likely to be running older hardware and have less RAM than modern systems, for example, but upgrading to a new OS or Service Pack is not likely to improve their performance to any great degree in terms of Second Life.

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