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This major release of Second Life introduces many features and fixes. This is a quick guide to help you find your way!
Q ::: Where do I find the Release Notes to learn what's new in SL 1.10?
A ::: /3/fa/107814/1.html
Q ::: I heard SL 1.10 has better graphics. What's improved?
A ::: A lot!
HARDWARE LIGHTING. A new lighting system allowing for awesome glows and ambiences. A lot better than the older "Local Lighting".
how to use it: /16/e1/100128/1.html
FLEXIBLE OBJECTS. Casually known as "flexiprims". Certain primitives (building blocks) can be made to wobble, jiggle, shake, etc.
how to use it: /16/1a/100115/1.html
OCCLUSION CULLING. Doesn't render (draw) what you can't see, speeding up your Frames Per Second for a smoother experience. Works behind-the-scenes.
how to use it: /16/4a/102549/1.html
VERTEX SHADERS. Makes for a prettier SL in several areas, such as a radiant luster on the environment, more natural avatar shading, ripple water, and more.
technical background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_shaders#Vertex_Shaders
Some of these features need a certain level of computer hardware. SL 1.10 will automatically detect what you can't use, and disable them.
As always, please check the System Requirements & Recommendations:
http://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php
*** VERY IMPORTANT ***
For the best experience and to minimize the chances of odd crashes and graphics issues, we *strongly* encourage you to update your graphics card drivers to the newest versions:
http://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=TechUpdateGraphics
http://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=TechMobileATI
Consult your graphic card's manual for specifics.
If glitches are still experienced after doing this, please do a full uninstall and reinstall of Second Life for a fresh start.
http://secondlife.com/download
All bug reports should have a solid reproduction so we have the best understanding of how to fix them. Bug reports are sent inworld from HELP menu > REPORT BUG.
Frequent occurrences of consistent problems should be reported to a Linden Liaison right away using HELP menu > LIVE HELP. We appreciate the help in spotting emerging patterns early!
Q ::: How do I turn off lighting/flexible objects/vertex shaders? They're lagging me!
A ::: All of these can be turned off or sped up by going to EDIT menu > PREFERENCES and looking under the Graphics Detail tab. Uncheck the Shaders checkboxes, set Lighting Detail to "Sun and moon only", and move the "Flexible Mesh Detail" slider all the way to the left. Click Apply to see if it makes a difference.
If you want to compare performance with Occlusion Culling on and off, it can be toggled:
1) Turn DEBUG menu on. CTRL-ALT-D on a PC or SHIFT-OPTION-CMD-D on a Mac.
2) Press CTRL-SHIFT-O.
Miscellaneous key points:
* Relogging in a different place if you get stuck somewhere is way easier! On the login screen, there's a Start Location box. If you don't see it, go to PREFERENCES > GENERAL and check "Show Start Location on Login Screen". (No more need to do the "secondlife://" workaround like in previous versions.)
* "Click actions" make things like opening a box and sitting a lot simpler. As easy to do as assigning an action to an object and touching (left-clicking) it. Special cursors indicate such objects when you hover the mouse on them. Read the Release Notes for more details.
* If you publish a Classified ad, new click-through stats help track success metrics, e.g. how many times others have teleported to your ad after seeing it. To see these, right-click yourself > PROFILE > CLASSIFIED tab and look at "Clicks" at the bottom of the ad you've published.
* ABOUT LAND > OPTIONS tab has been rearranged and reworded to be more clear, reducing the likelihood of unintentionally leaving "Edit Land" on.
* FIND > LAND SALES now lets you sort between PG and Mature regions.
* FIND > EVENTS now shows "In-Progress and Upcoming" events.
* Numerous useability tweaks, like more obvious no-build and no-script icons on land, and white arrows in inventory are less intrusive.
* A bug involving special characters (like accents) in SL's username path preventing it from starting has finally been fixed!
* Yes, the new Lighting system can be scripted. See http://secondlife.com/badgeo/wakka.php?wakka=llSetPrimitiveParams
* "Click actions" make things like opening a box and sitting a lot simpler. As easy to do as assigning an action to an object and touching (left-clicking) it. Special cursors indicate such objects when you hover the mouse on them. Read the Release Notes for more details.
* If you publish a Classified ad, new click-through stats help track success metrics, e.g. how many times others have teleported to your ad after seeing it. To see these, right-click yourself > PROFILE > CLASSIFIED tab and look at "Clicks" at the bottom of the ad you've published.
* ABOUT LAND > OPTIONS tab has been rearranged and reworded to be more clear, reducing the likelihood of unintentionally leaving "Edit Land" on.
* FIND > LAND SALES now lets you sort between PG and Mature regions.
* FIND > EVENTS now shows "In-Progress and Upcoming" events.
* Numerous useability tweaks, like more obvious no-build and no-script icons on land, and white arrows in inventory are less intrusive.
* A bug involving special characters (like accents) in SL's username path preventing it from starting has finally been fixed!
* Yes, the new Lighting system can be scripted. See http://secondlife.com/badgeo/wakka.php?wakka=llSetPrimitiveParams