Second Life and Virtual Worlds
Things about SL
Movement on the mesh project appears slow right now. The effort is going toward combining the mesh code and regular simulator and viewer code and the effort to get it all to compile using VS2010. So, we aren’t seeing many new bug fixes or features. Still the project is moving forward.
Regression testing over the last week revealed some complex problems the team worked to get corrected, apparently taking more effort than anyone expected. While it adds nothing new it is progress.
Kelly Linden announced on the 6th that big changes had been made to Mono2 on the ADITI grid as a preliminary test of a potential fix before moving on to testing in the AGNI Release Channel. Some of these changes have been in progress for some time.
Sim Stalling is a problem we saw when Mono was introduced to the grid. Rezzing a Mono script could pause the sim for 5 to 30 seconds. This was a disaster in combat regions when a weapon was firing 8 to 12 prims bullets per second and 20 guns were firing. Very quickly weapons with Mono scripted bullets were outlawed. The problem was not just with weapons but any script rezzed in a region. Crossing region boundaries with an AO compiled in Mono also created problems.
Kelly is saying they have the issue resolved. Mono scripts should no longer stall the sim. There are still some performance hits as LSL scripts rez and de-rez in a region.
I’m always curious about what new toys and fixes we are getting that makes a difference in how we use Second Life or at least the viewer. I don’t really care that a button is in the wrong place or some text is not highlighting correctly. But, I love learning about features that make something easier or solve a problem. So, what is in the tube?
Some of the following are being worked on, others are in the ‘Backlog’ of things to do. If you see something here that you would like to hurry up, visit the JIRA and add yourself to the watch list. Voting is pretty much depreciated.
Second Life Voice can be finicky. Getting it working when it isn’t can be a bit of a pain. There is a tool in Second Life to help you, Voice Echo Canyon. Also, the SL Wiki has some tips. The Phoenix Wiki as some tips too, but more slanted toward Phoenix. The Phoenix information is good for any third party viewer (TPV). Following are the links to some information you may not know.
The SL Wiki page is here: Second Life Voice. The SL Wiki index page on voice is here: Second Life Category:Voice. There are lots of handy tips and the etiquette for using voice. Newer stuff is in the Second Life Community Portal in Voice.
O.O… say what? I came across this in the SL Wiki. This is a tool for those involved in Exchanging Linden money. But, it has an effect on all residents that engage in transactions. If you suddenly can’t get Linden currency, this service may be the reason why.
The currency exchanges have RL value and are the target of ongoing attempts to defraud people of their RL and Linden dollars, Euros, whatever.
Only those engaged in Linden currency exchanges can use the service. But, how it reports on an individual can be a problem for anyone.
There are a few interesting things happening in the Snowstorm Project. It has been awhile since I looked at where they are and what they are working on. For a time they have been focused on getting the code to compile with MS VS2010, which while important is boring to read about. But there are a few things going on I find interesting.
VS2010: They are still working on the VS2010 compile. I suspect some part of this work includes the effort to merge in the mesh code and mesh upload features. From the server development group we know the mesh code is being merged into the main grid’s software.