Welcome to The Virtual Whirl, a new weekly Massively column covering virtual environments generally. The term 'virtual world' is slowly seeing less use, being supplanted by the more general 'virtual environment', but the world term still has a fair bit of life left in it.

Virtual environments covers a whole lot of ground. From William Crowther's original efforts in 1976 that based a game in a virtual version of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, virtual environments have been a part of gaming, artificial intelligence and behavioral research, modeling, telemetry and process control and more.

Nowadays we're seeing Second Life, Blue Mars, There.com, IMVU and others trying to find places in non-game contexts, like content-development and prototyping, publishing and performance, entertainment and social, education and business; efforts that are met with varying amounts of success.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds

The Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released the seventh 1.20 Second Life release candidate viewer. Release candidates start counting from zero, so the first one in the series is RC0. This is accompanied by a new download page for all versions which appears to be designed to make Mac and Linux users feel like poor cousins.

Mighty Mouse users, while we were told that your problem was fixed in the last release candidate, it appears to be an open issue again. Perhaps it wasn't fixed at all. The nasty message from the smartheap library are supposed to be gone, and the way property lines have been glowing through objects has been changed. (There doesn't seem to be any indication that the vanishing skirt issue has been fixed -- April Fools' Day is long past, boys)

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC6)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC6) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 May 2008 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released the sixth 1.20 Second Life release candidate viewer. Release candidates start counting from zero, so the first one in the series is RC0.

Mighty Mouse users, rejoice. We're told that this release fixes your problems using this release with the device. As for everyone else, 8 specific crash fixes and a fixed problem that caused serious problems with some nVidia drivers -- well, that should raise a few smiles!

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC5)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC5) originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 May 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released the fifth 1.20 Second Life release candidate viewer. Release candidates start counting from zero, so the first one in the series is RC0.

This is a rush-release, as you might notice that the previous RC3 was released only yesterday (Wednesday). Apparently attempting to enter the appearance editor caused an instant crash. Oops. So much for QA.

There isn't a lot else new to speak of in this viewer, except a known issue with terrain textures on MacBook Air notebooks, and that llLoadURL opens in the external web-browser by default, instead of the internal web-browser.

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC4)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC4) originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released the fourth 1.20 Second Life release candidate viewer. Release candidates start counting from zero, so the first one in the series is RC0.

Apparently we're back onto one-release-candidate-per-week, which will no-doubt please some and irritate others. Each new release candidate is a mandatory update from the previous release candidate.

Most of the fixes in this look relatively minor, though apparently there might be some issues with the voice component. Issues with UI window sizes after startup appear to have been fixes, and some lossless texture-compression bugs, among others.

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC3)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC3) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released the third 1.20 Second Life release candidate viewer. Release candidates start counting from zero, so the first one in the series is RC0.

This release candidate fixes the instant crash for most Linux users, but it is still very crashy for all platforms if the graphic settings are turned up. Likewise a crash bug has been fixed that was specific to German, Korean and Japanese viewers.

We're not noticing skirts vanishing so frequently in this version (hooray!), but this still feels more like an early beta-candidate than a release candidate. Unless you're feeling particularly adventurous, you might want to give this series of release-candidates a miss for the time being.

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC2)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC2) originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released the second 1.20 Second Life release candidate viewer. Release candidates start counting from zero, so the first one in the series is RC0.

This release candidate restores the Friends dropdown on the map, disables avatar imposters -- as they're a suspected cause of crashes on nVidia hardware/drivers, fixes SLURLs which were bollixed up, fixes two crash bugs and adds a crash-on-startup bug for Linux users.

Linux users should NOT get this version. To avoid getting a forced upgrade, add --channel skipRC1 to your viewer startup parameters.

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC1)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC1) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released the first 1.20 Second Life release candidate viewer. The numbering scheme is changing - the least significant digits groupis being dropped from version numbering, so the next release will be 1.21.

This release candidate contains Windlight, Dazzle, the default Dazzle skin (which we don't care for so much) and the Tools menu handily only appears when the edit floater is open (this is one change we heartily approve of!). There's improved joystick/3D mouse support in this release, and support for high altitude building.

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC0)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.20(RC0) originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading "Inside the Lab" podcast with the Windlight team!

"Inside the Lab" podcast with the Windlight team! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cinemassively: Rouge en Bulle originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As we predicted the Second Life 1.19.1 release candidates have been finalized and have now been released as the official viewer. Admittedly a day later than we predicted. We're going to have to send out for some crystal ball polish.

With the new release Windlight becomes a standard. Windlight was a rendering engine developed for high-performance gaming and graphically realistic environments. It was a whole lot faster and more relaible than Linden Lab's own rendering pipeline and had the advantage of some nifty eye-candy almost for free.

Continue reading Windlight in full release

Windlight in full release originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Sidewinder Linden, program manager for the Havok 4 project at Linden Lab, Havok 4 will be rolled out across the whole Second Life grid starting Monday, 31 March (depending on the overall performance of the RC3 update over the weekend). Looks like we win the betting pool, and that means candy!

More than half of simulator crashes and restarts are tied back to physics problems. That being the case, it seems that this new code will be the most stable Second Life simulator ever. According to the timetable, assuming the current release candidate is not found wanting on Monday morning, it will be rolled out to an initial group of up to 2,000 simulators, followed by a deployment to all the rest on Tuesday, 1 April.

We believe you'll also see Windlight (1.19.1) roll out as the official viewer on Monday, or perhaps Tuesday. It's going to be a hell of a start to the new quarter.

Havok in Second Life. Is it upon us? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released a new 1.19.1 Second Life release candidate viewer, 1.19.1(RC4), fifth in the 1.19.1 series (release candidates start counting from zero, rather than from one).

Released on a Saturday. We know. Looks like someone's pushing for an official release early next week. In fact, Linden Lab says they're hoping this is the last release candidate for this series.

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.1(RC4)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.1(RC4) originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released a new 1.19.1 Second Life release candidate viewer, 1.19.1(RC3), fourth in the 1.19.1 series (release candidates start counting from zero, rather than from one).

Almost all the changes for this release-candidate are essentially cosmetic items. Either those are the low-hanging fruit, or we're getting very close to 1.19.1 (and Windlight) rolling out as the official viewer. With our prognosticating hats on, we predict an official release of 1.19.1/Windlight on Monday or Tuesday (though we're prepared to be wrong, we think it is likely).

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.1(RC3)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.1(RC3) originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released a new 1.19.1 Second Life release candidate viewer, 1.19.1(RC2), third in the 1.19.1 series (release candidates start counting from zero, rather than from one).

Changes this time include alterations in the length of search terms (user names can be searched for with as few as two characters, and place names with only one); some notecard crashes; fixes to SVG-on-a-prim; crash bugs, build and installer glitches and more.

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.1(RC2)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.1(RC2) originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has released a new 1.19.1 Second Life release candidate viewer, 1.19.1(RC1), second in the 1.19.1 series (release candidates start counting from zero, rather than from one).

According to the new Linden Lab crash reporter, 1.19.1 is expected "to be the most stable viewer so far". This release fixes attachments ignoring users telling them where to go, boosts defective particle systems, makes the new search honor the user's selected language, removes the mess with sculptie previews, and builds strong bodies five ways. Specifics are after the fold.

Continue reading New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.1(RC1)

New Second Life release candidate viewer: 1.19.1(RC1) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New Release Candidate - html on a prim phase 1 is the big news! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Soft Linden said today that Windlight, which has been confined to Second Life's First Look preview viewers until now, is now on track to release and will appear in the first 1.19.1 release candidate.

No timeframe has been provided, but it appears we can expect the 1.19.0(RC4) release candidate to become the official viewer any time now and the first 1.19.1 release candidate viewer to be in front of users around the same time.

That puts Windlight's improved rendering pipeline only a few weeks away (approximately) from winding up in the mainline official viewer. Oh, there's some pretty eye-candy there too as a nice side-effect.

Second Life Windlight headed for release originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated for the second time this week. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Not too many Windlight-specific changes in this release. The largest change involves building this against the 1.19.0(RC2) code-base and inheriting the bug-fixes from there. Interestingly, Linden Lab announces this to be version 80042, whereas the actual download is 80044. Additionally, the chat font now seems to be in bold.

Continue reading New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(80044)

New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(80044) originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Mac Users are urged to update to 10.5.2 - twice, apparently to get the proper drivers installed and running. Mostly the fixes this release are somewhat pedestrian, but it is good to see them all the same, despite the fact that the Linden Lab blog post didn't list all the changes.

Continue reading New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(79674)

New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(79674) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Second Life streams the NASA shuttle launch originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to the seventh installment of "Under The Grid", an irregular look at the mechanics underneath Second Life. The last installment was back on Second Life Insider, last year - so don't worry that you've not seen it here on Massively before.

There's a lot of talk about Mono being rolled out in Second Life and a lot of general confusion, or excited misunderstanding about what it means. Mono isn't just a benefit for Second Life scripters its for everyone.

Continue reading Under The Grid: Mono in Second Life

Under The Grid: Mono in Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. This is the first Windlight build released on the 1.19.0 base code, which will please a lot of people to see. A lot of ATI problems sorted out, but only with the latest Catalyst drivers (8.1-57717, we presume), also some Mac performance and general lighting improvements.

Continue reading New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(79185)

New Second Life Windlight release: 1.19.0(79185) originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cinemassively: The Artopolis Beta Project originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Major highlights include a bundle of fixes for some Mac bugs/crashes, which appear to have a flow-on effect of also producing improved frame-rates for other systems. There are still a couple of major outstanding issues for MacBook Pro users that are in Apple's court right now, but fixes appear to be on the way for those.

Continue reading New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.77495

New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.77495 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading WeGame records their way into my heart

WeGame records their way into my heart originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Major highlights include fixes for some Mac bugs/crashes, fix for the big black bands/rings in the sky, and rendering fixes for water, tree-lighting, and distant terrain.

Continue reading New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.76886

New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.76886 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been no less a tumultuous year for Second Life in 2007 this year than any previous year, frankly. There are a few standout items though.

This isn't the list that anyone else might make - We might completely skip over one of the things you see as standing out as a huge impact, based solely on that we don't actually think it was that big a deal in the scheme of things.

Continue reading Peering inside - looking back at 2007 [UPDATED]

Peering inside - looking back at 2007 [UPDATED] originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In response to the security issue with the German language viewer, Linden Lab yanked both Second Life viewers today (although they didn't actually say why - Jacek Antonelli has her own take on how she feels the situation should have been handled).

Both Second Life viewers are now available for download and login again with fresh updates - updates you'd be well-advised to obtain, if you use the German language version.

Continue reading Windlight and release-candidate viewers updated and available

Windlight and release-candidate viewers updated and available originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The new HTML based login system starting from version 1.18.6 used in current First Look and Windlight Second Life (beta) viewers has an error in the German translation file which risks exposing login credentials of any user who uses these viewers with the German Language enabled.

The file /skins/xui/de/panel_login.xml (below the Second Life installation directory) which sets the information about the login form to be displayed (and thus to have your login information sent to does not access Second Life or Linden Lab webservers).

Continue reading German Second Life users at risk [UPDATED]

German Second Life users at risk [UPDATED] originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Dec 2007 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pastrami Linden has posted soliciting feedback on the future direction of Second Life Windlight via a survey. Rather unfortunately, the survey is closed. After a bit of asking around (we tried it fifteen minutes after the post went up) we haven't found anyone preceding us who was able to access the survey.

We feel relatively safe in saying that Pastrami forgot to open the survey up to the public. Nevertheless, you can keep having a go, and give your feedback when eventually it does come back up

Continue reading Windlight feedback survey [UPDATED]

Windlight feedback survey [UPDATED] originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Major highlights include fixes for ambient lighting and avatar illumination - essentially, avatars under Windlight don't suck anymore. There's an interesting extra issue has popped up with this release for many users, however.

Continue reading New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.76116

New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.76116 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Major highlights include some fixes for nVidia and ATI under Windows Vista, fixes for tree lighting and vanishing geometry, and an otherwise unmentioned merge with the new authentication/login system in the 1.18.6 code-branch.

Continue reading New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.75762

New Second Life Windlight release - 1.18.6.75762 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cinemassively: "Lost" island lost in Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 09 Dec 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. Lots of fixes to snapshots (crashes, aspect ratios, anti-aliasing) and water issues in this release.

Continue reading New Second Life Windlight release - 1.8.5.75173

New Second Life Windlight release - 1.8.5.75173 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

More details and a list of fixes and changes after the fold. The one that you'll probably most enjoy are fixes to shiny surfaces.

Continue reading New Windlight preview released for Second Life [updated]

New Windlight preview released for Second Life [updated] originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with a number of bug-fixes wrapped up in a tasty new First Look viewer. What the heck is Windlight all about? Check out our feature on it here.

The First Look browser is a beta-test browser that runs against the main (Agni) grid. If it eats your inventory, your files and your dog, that's at your own risk. The viewer will available from the First Look downloads page eventually, but right now the only way to get this new version is via the annoyingly slow built in auto-updater, as you log in - if a viewer download takes you 1-2 minutes with a download manager, the auto-updater will take you at least 15 minutes.

Continue reading Second Life Windlight update pushed out

Second Life Windlight update pushed out originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When the old Windlight First Look viewer for Second Life was withdrawn there were assorted howls. Then, after it recently returned in a fresh First Look viewer, the cheers outweighed the grumbling of "Oh great, features instead of bugfixes" despite the fact that there's been a significant shortage of new features compared to bugfixes in the last year and a half.

When an updated release-candidate viewer that contained a slew of bugfixes for some irritating problems, a lot of folks just plain didn't want to download it, preferring Windlight to bugfixes. So, what is it with Windlight?

Gallery: Windlight

Continue reading Windlight: what all the fuss is about

Windlight: what all the fuss is about originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The First Look release of the Second Life Windlight project has been updated with fresh code and a slew of bug-fixes to the new rendering pipeline. Much of the fixes in this release revolve around the installer, and level-of-detail issues.

The First Look browser is a beta-test browser that runs against the main (Agni) grid. If it eats your inventory, your files and your dog, that's at your own risk. The viewer is available from the First Look downloads page as usual, and we recommend the use of a download manager to grab it faster - without one, you're in for a bit of a wait.

We're still getting reports that this version also crashes on startup for a number of users.

Windlight update released originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cinemassively: Windlight - Fleef's Second Life Sojourn originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.