Second Life and Virtual Worlds
Nyx Linden has created a new tool that allows one to examine render complexity. When the tool is activated it colors objects in the area Blue, Green, or Red for low, moderate, and high complexity. The lower the complexity the faster things render.
This tool is based on the newest render complexity algorithm. According to Nyx the algorithm is not yet built into the Mesh Project Viewer. So, we may see differences in the values given in the mesh upload dialog and the Render Complexity Tool.
If you have not looked at the Third Party Viewer (TPV) list in some time, you might be surprised to know the viewers are now listed in the order of Crash Rate. The viewer with the lowest crashes first. Of course to be rated, the viewer must report crashes.
You can find the list here: Third Party Viewer Directory
Surprisingly the viewer that crashes the least is the SLV 1.23, which is the oldest usable Linden Lab viewer available. This is probably predictable as the viewer uses all the old and well tested technology. Few, if any, of the new features are included in the 1.23 viewer.
Also the ranking does not take into account performance. That is performance in the sense of rez speed or inventory load time both things the new series 2 viewers do better. Nor are the number of features considered. Things like built in AO and Speed Rez that reduce server lag are not considered.
In July 2010 Phillip Linden (Phillip Rosedale – CEO Linden Lab) announced that the Burning Man celebration in SL would be handled by a resident run group rather than Linden Lab. Ok. Now 6 months later I get news that I can visit Burn 2. A friends LM sent to Deep Hole and I didn’t believe that was the main Burn 2 location. So, I chase down a Landmark to get me there, which is not the easiest of tasks, thanks to the broken search in series 2 viewers. You can find it in Destinations… grumble gumble… But, my friend’s link was the right one.
The Burn 2: Burnal Equinox ends at 10 PM March 27, 2011.
This is not the SL Burn event you are used to. It was a frustrating trip for me. Part of that frustration was caused by me. Using the Firestorm Preview #2 (a pre-alpha version viewer) was probably not a good idea… taking pictures was a nightmare. That takes 15 to 60 seconds and drives the viewer into ‘Not Responding.’ Also I cannot fly in the region (not a viewer issue, fly is off in the region). Grrrr. But it isn’t that bad because the area is small and doesn’t take that long to walk through. The FS Preview #2 gave me lots of problems.
For those of us that blog, something to help bring more readers is a bit of the Holy Grail. Today Hamlet posted an article on New World Notes about the Facebook LIKE button we see on his site that brings in more readers. Checking it out, I found the links leading to the rather geeky version of the button. So, if you are a casual or super geek, here is how to get the button working… not that you need my help if you’re a supper geek…
There are 3 basic ways to install a new function in a blog; add a widget by uploading the thing, add a widget via the Plugins Panel, or add some code to the blogs programming.
Some new things are moving forward in the viewer. Here are a few I think interesting.
Windlight Settings for Estates – We sort of have this in OpenSim where it is called Lightshare. The idea is that an estate owner can set the Windlight settings for their estate. When a resident comes to the region, the viewer’s Windlight settings change to the estate’s settings. This means no more note cards about how to change your Windlight settings for best effect.
I noticed the other day a special note card in a purchase I made (demo skin). In Kirstens S21 viewer it had a new icon. The card was a set of Windlight settings. When I clicked on it my Windlight setting were changed. Pretty nifty.
The change coming to the SLV is the addition of controls for the estate manager to use to set the region’s default Windlight settings.
Changes have been made in how abandoned land on the main land is handled. I’m not into buying SL land so, I’m not sure exactly how it has been working. However in the Simulator User Group the Lindens were discussing changes to the system. (link)
When tier is not paid land goes into an abandoned status. For three days the land is in a BUY BACK grace status. The owner can buy the land back for L$0 cost. The precise timing is a bit fuzzy. As I understand once the computer systems mark the land abandoned, the counter starts. No one knows exactly when the counter starts, or at least they didn’t say. As best I can tell there is no way for a resident to predict when someone will abandon land, unless the owner tells them. Even then I suspect there is no way to know when the computer will update the land’s status.