You probably know that Project SANSAR aka SL 2.0, is going to use a proprietary viewer. If we were really lucky, there would be no viewer. The new world would be web ready. But, I get the impression that is out. More and more I think it will be via app only.
ISTE22april2010_006(b) by Chris Smith, on Flickr
In any event an open source viewer for SANSAR is not currently in the cards, at least for the initial release and probably for sometime after the main release. Continue reading
You have probably heard that Ebbe Altberg, Linden Lab CEO, spoke at SVVR 2015. You can see a video of his speech on YouTube. It is three plus hours long… the video not Ebbe talking. His part starts at the 39 minute mark and lasts about 20 minutes.
Kathleen Watkins has a summary of the speech over on Hypergrid Business: Is there a future for user-created content in Linden Lab’s new world? But, it seems Kathleen is not a follower of Ebbe or his words on the Next Generation Platform aka SANSAR aka SL2.0. So, I’ll do my own. Continue reading
Everyone is curious about what the avatars in the Next Generation Platform (NGP), or SL2, will be like and what we can do with them. Now we have some clues. High Fidelity is working on their avatars and has just release a set of improvements. See: Creating and rigging an avatar with Blendshapes in Makehuman. The information is somewhat compatible with the current Second Life™ and I suspect a hint of what is coming for SL2 or the Next Generation Platform.
This is a great video for designers. You’ll find references to a number software tools I have not heard mentioned in relation to Second Life. Some of those look to be handy for SL. Continue reading
There is what I find an odd dichotomy in how people think a virtual world should look, be, and what people actually want. The infamous Second Life ad that some saw as negative and detrimental to the popularity of Second Life probably is suggestive of the problem.
Second Life Banner Ad
I know that ads like these are tracked. Google Analytics provides an extensive set of tracking tools. One can track the person from their click on the ad through the web site it sends them to. I can see what they click on while in the web site and if my site is hooked into Google Analytics I can track how many clickers actually signed up. Gotta love those tracking cookies…
The stats tell me which ads are most effective for pulling in signups. I push the most effective ads to run more often. I think it reasonable to think most advertisers do the same. Continue reading
At the recent VWBPE 2015 in Ebbe Linden’s (Altberg) speech he mentions voxels. This suggests, at the very least, the Lab is looking at voxels for possible use in NGP (Next Generation Platform – SL’s probable successor). But, what does that mean for us? And what is a voxel?
In the comments of one of my articles in the series Max Graf pointed me to the web site Procedural World. They are big on voxels and use then in ways that may be similar to what we could see in NGP. Continue reading
This is the tenth and final article in the series. In this one I touch on WHEN. The ideas I gleaned from Ebbe Altberg’s, Linden Lab CEO, speech at VWBRE 2015 that touched on aspects of the coming Next Generation Platform (NGP) and from what history I know of Second Life.
New Bauhaus building at Alexanderplatz by Jo Yardley, on Flickr
I started this series with these articles:
First, no one knows, not even the Lindens. I am sure they have a timeline and are working to keep to it. But, this is cutting edge software development. The Lindens are the most experienced people in the business. No one else has as much experience with user created content in an MMOG as the Lindens. No one. Continue reading
This is the ninth article in a series (3 Pages). In this one I touch on ACCESS. The ideas I gleaned from Ebbe Altberg’s, Linden Lab CEO, speech at VWBRE 2015 that touched on aspects of the coming Next Generation Platform (NGP) and what history I know of Second Life.
Silent conversations by Kaelyn Alecto, on Flickr
There different types of access in virtual worlds. One aspect of access is providing a user interface for those with various handicaps and disabilities. This becomes a broader and more interesting consideration when we factor in VR. At some level we will all be keyboard and mouse handicapped when using VR headsets. This may explain why Ebbe seems to see VR and PC’s as distinct platforms. Continue reading
This is the eight article in a series. In this one I touch on SCRIPTING. The ideas I gleaned from Ebbe Altberg’s, Linden Lab’s CEO, speech at VWBRE 2015 that touched on aspects of the coming Next Generation Platform (NGP).
at the hair salon… by Strawberry Singh, on Flickr
Wonderfully Funny
I started this series with these articles:
On scripting languages Ebbe says were going to have C#. He didn’t say in this speech but, I am certain the Second Life scripting language, Linden Scripting Language (LSL), will NOT be in NGP. While this will be hard on those that have learned programming starting out with SL’s LSL, for the rest of the world it’s going to be a good thing. I think overall it is a good thing for the future of NGP to have C#. Continue reading