Blue Mars Goes Open Beta

Blue Mars Install Screen

See New World Notes: Blue Mars Goes Into Open Beta Today for a quick summary.

We are up to version 0.0.6589.0. A big change is the size of the download. It has gone from 1.3gb down to 392mb. Nice. BUT… they have added a CITY BROWSER. This shows you the cities you have already downloaded and those available for download. New cities are 200mb to 500mb downloads. They download in background. One must restart the main program to access a newly downloaded city. I’m sure that will change by the end of the beta.

Second Life Scripting Changes

Second Life residents can check out the discussion that started 12/11 on the SL blogs; To All Merchants Selling Scripted Objects – MUST READ!

Massively has a quick summary here; Long-delayed Second Life script-limitations back in the public eye

There will be lots of misinformation in the SL discussion. There always is. But, I suspect the Lindens will chime in from time to time to correct it. Avoid being reactive.

If you sell scripted products in SL, this is likely to be a problem for you.  If you use scripted objects, think adjustable hair, you may also have a problem.

What we know for sure is a new geeky addition s being added to the viewer so one can know what resources a script is using. We also know the Lindens will be imposing script limits. Depending on what the limits are, this may be a small or gigantic problem. In cases where scripts exceed the limit they won’t rez. In cases where LL does not like the script, they will return it.

So, it could be a mess.

Second Life Market Places Comparison Review

Peter Stindberg has written a comparison of five e-commerce market places for Second Life content. New World Notes posted a blog note (Five Second Life E-Commerce Sites Reviewed) about the article.

For those upset with XStreetSL’s recent changes and charges this is must reading.

Web marketplaces side by side comparison

New KirstenLee (215) Viewer Out – Review

AV Scanner

KirstenLee released an update of her S18-1 (215) viewer. I’ve downloaded it. KirstenLee S-18 Viewer

Previous blog: KirstenLee’s S18-1 (214)
Previous blog: KirstenLee Cinquetti S-17 and S-18 (208 & 209) Viewer Review

This (215) update includes some fixes, a bit more speed and nicer graphics panels in preferences. However, tis update is mostly about Niran’s Mod exposing more advanced graphics options for end users.

The image left shows the AVATAR scanner/radar. This scanner is more combat RPG friendly than others. Those with the tracking ability are usually frowned on by most RPG combat players. It makes it impossible to escape a pursuer.

Several viewers are adding support for multiple avatars. Most of us selling products in SL have at least a second AV for testing our packaging and permissions. Combat RPG players use several to allow them to play different characters in the same or different games. Some people share a computer and have separate accounts and with alternative AV’s the may have several ID/login’s to deal with. The multi-login feature is popular.

Getting OSGrid Running

OpenSim

Running a standalone grid on your home computer is not big thing to do. Finding all the information you need to get it working as you want is a bit of a pain. All the people that are working on OSGrid know where everything is. So, they don’t write it down.

When I reinstalled my OpenSim server (I broke mine upgrading) it did not let me walk on prims. Everything was phantom. Setting things to physical did not help, they were still behaving as if phantom. So, I started looking for how to fix that.

Hippo Viewer Review – OSGrid

Hippo Viewer Logo

Open Simulator Logo

I have a friend that has a couple of SIM’s in Second Life. She started looking at the cost of a build she would like to make. The pricing on the OSGrid is much lower. So she started playing on the OSGrid to see what is possible. That got me interested in my private open simulator grid (OSGrid or OSG), which broke on my last update.

Getting my grid updated and running again is another story. I was having trouble with Emerald on the OSGrid. Camera and select problems mostly and the camera zoom. (I can go change values and fix those but…) I decided to try the Hippo Viewer.

UberThend Blog

For several of my friends that know Thend, here is a link to his blog.

UberThend

Another Step in the 3D Internet

Various groups are working on ways to turn the Internet into a full 3D virtual world. The Guardian (UK based) has just written about one effort. One group, which the Guardian article by Victor Keegan fails to name – cause it has no name, is creating software that uses public information to make a 3D model of the entire planet in which your avatar can walk. (For a better write up than the Guardian see the same Victor Keegan’s blog: Building the planet – on a tight budget) You can see an example of it in action on YouTube video below.

Emerald Viewer Review – Update

Emerald released version 1.23.5.1101 in a normal and optimized version today.The downloads have been temporarily taken down. The new install was breaking voice. If you broke yours, install the voice pack from the previous install (950). They are fixing it and downloads will be back ’soon’. UPDATE: New files went up about midnight SLT.

Second Life Inventory Loss & Recovery

In the Emerald Viewer Review I wrote about Inventory Loss. Inventory loss is now also a problem with the standard Second Life viewer (not that it is new thing but the current problem seems to client side as opposed to the ongoing asset server side problems). Since the problem is in the basic SL viewer code it is also likely to show up in most 3rd party viewers.

I also wrote about failed delivery of items purchased (See: Failed Inventory Deliveries in Second Life) This loss thing is not that failed delivery problem, but it could also cause what appears to be a failed delivery.

Linden Lab has a wiki where steps for recovering your lost items are covered. The Second Life Wiki article is: Inventory loss