Anti - Anti Windlight Thread

The "ZOMG New-Client-Sky-Falling" threads remind me of last December(?) when the First Look came out with almost all the exact same reactions. (>_<

Yes, it is heavy on the computer. Yes, LL raised the bar on graphics performance. Yes, they may have jumped the gun on killing the old viewer too early. But, really, time leads to change. (=_=)

I know, I'm too noobie to understand most peoples' attachment to the old viewer. But, really, I ran in the old viewer for a month. It was cartoony, flat, and just as unstable as the First Look. Now, shadows are stronger and it's difficult make your avatar look like it's in a fully lit photo studio. Water ripples require beefier hardware. Buttons are moved around (but not "Dazzle", please no Dazzle!!!).

I like it. I haven't spent much time editing the sky. But just being there and accepting the region default makes for beautiful sunrises and sunsets. For social events, it makes all the difference. The beaches, sky, and water are sights to be seen. It's all so completely enjoyable. I mean.......

Who would not want to spend an evening on that boardwalk? (^_^)

I know people love to hold on to the "good old days". But there's a constant run of us upstarts joining daily that really want to be WOWed by it all. And, in 2008, the old client is just.... Meh.... (=_=)

Really.... I wouldn't want my Cutting Edge 3D Metaverse©®™ any other way. (^_^)

So.... I said my part and am ready for the rotten tomatoes.... (^_^)y

Some of the people who don't like the new client wont be able to respond.

They are too busy trying to move at 3 FPS.

LOL
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/2371442562_2391290fa4.jpg

Ok I'll bit..I love it too~!
And if anyone wants to meet up in world and have a mini lesson on the environmental settings and sliders.... give me a shout. I love messing with them and I have learned a lot over the last few months.

I think some of those angry about LL forcing something untested on them now should have at least tried some of the Windlight/RC builds at some point. You can't be annoyed about stuff not being tested if you never bother investing some time testing.

Oh.. You are expecting us to act like grown ups and be responsible?

Its much more fun to stick your feet on the ground and be dragged forward kicking and screaming.

.d

I'd love it if I could upload a texture without crashing

I did, several versions. I hate it.

I didn't care for it at first when the first couple of preview releases came out, but pretty much everything that I didn't like was addressed by the WindLight team. Now I really love it and I think it's a massive step forward for SL. I feel bad for people who are seeing big performance hits with it, but for me I get much better framerates with WL than I got with the other viewers.

Oh, and glow rocks!

Well, after being insulted by the start up screen regarding how my lousy system won't run it, I went ahead and logged on anyway. It works after a fashion. Of course, everything is too dark even at noon, and my skin is purple, but I guess I won't leave in a huff or do anything overly dramatic.

But I won't try to build any more until I get a new system. What's the point without knowing how things look to other people? If it takes too long for me to figure out the new system I need to buy, I may have to pack my skybox up, sell my land, tier down, and just come in world once in a while to see if it's still there. I'm about to that point I think.

And I was getting fired up again about all the things I could do in world before this. Glad some of you are enjoying it.

Ditto Ann.

I can run it, just don't like living on an overly bright island (draw distance rendering cut off) with the same old "cartoon" avi, garishly lit against a fake looking and overdone sea and sky.

Do any of you people ever actually go outside? I live on the honest to God coast,(Pacific, USA), but would move if the world looked remotely like that.

Well for those who like a place that holds onto it's "good old days" give Active Worlds a go, it looks like it's still running the viewer from the Commodore 64 they used first time.

I confess: I loved Windlight at first sight and have fiddled with the graphics settings and card manufacturer control panels to get it as good as it can be on each of the three machines I use sometimes for SL. Each one has a different card (and one is Linux), so each one was a different adventure, but I really like the results.

At the risk of inviting an anti-anti-anti response: I'm wondering what people are seeing when they perceive avatar textures--skins, especially--looking worse in Windlight. There's even a picture linked from one of the latest blog comments, and I've stared and stared at that picture, trying to see what the perceived problem is. Maybe I have strange tastes in skin (*slurp* ), but honestly, every time someone has tried to show me the evil effects, the Windlight skin looks *better* to me: less toony, less painted-on. So I wonder if it could possibly be that it really does look different on my machines. Could it be that the ones uncomfortable with the new look have previously tweaked their displays' or graphics card controls' gamma (or contrast, or something) to make avatars look good without Windlight, and now things look strange when lit properly? (This doesn't seem quite right, though: As I understand it, the same folks are seeing Windlight being too saturated and high-contrast for everything else, and skins being washed-out. But.. how are they seeing this? I know they're seeing something, and the complaints sound like there's something very objective and obvious wrong, but what the heck is it?)

At one point, a few of us tried to compare special "Windlight" skins and the regular line from some skin manufacturer, looking at them through Windlight and regular viewers. Either way, the "Windlight" skins looked strangely overshadowed and overhighlighted--quite unrealistic, and if anything they seemed to emphasize the Windlight effect rather than counter it. Clearly the skin artist had invested a lot of time trying to compensate for something, but it sure wasn't the Windlight experienced by anybody in attendance.

It's thread titles like this that make me wonder what the hell I was thinking picking this first name.

If it wasn't for my expensive skin looking like crap and local lighting devices not working anymore, I suppose the pretty water would make the new viewer worth while, maybe.

Basically I have to laugh at how these discussions go

-Some Technical Posters: Avatars look just as good if not BETTER in windlight

-Some Posters well known for Avatar vanity: no we don't.


As if somehow people who snap picture after picture of their Avs and spends thousands on how their Avatar looks can't tell when their avatar looks wrong ..

I wonder about that too each time I read the word "realistic" .

*votes to have the WindLight team relocated to an office with a window so they can observe real clouds, light and skies*

---

I actually still can't really tell the difference between "plain" and "WindLight enhanced"... other than the fluffy clouds... everything looks the same to me whether atmospheric shaders are turned on or off (other than the 50-90% fps improvement with them off) *shrugs*.

For example we have all seen how many pictures Ann takes and how much time she spends on them.

We know shes owns 10's of thousands in Celestial studio's skins. Her AV is customized and beautiful ..

Telling her she doesn't know when her lighting and skin textures don't look as good is really sad.

I am finding that my RAC skins look pretty good with wind light. Of course that is my subjective verdict, but anyone who knows me can attest to my vanity.

Still, except for the fake looking bright sky and water, everything else looks pretty much the same on ultra, just over bright and clumsily shadowed. Playing with the sliders is fun, but just emphasises one set of strange looking textures for another.

Can't believe that some think this is progress.

cept the little belly seam is more visible

It's one of the things that I've been puzzling over. When people call it untested, I'm confused after all the months of weekly beta versions, and office hours, an JIRA entries, an so on an so on. I remember comin' here a couple times an sayin "put it in the JIRA" an stuff.



Me too. An ya, the WL team was (and is) super. They treated even my smallest issues with a listening ear, an did what they could to fix everything they could. I wish everyone could be happy -- but with a couple hundred thousand regular members, I guess it's not really possible.

Mari

I have a few thousand photos of my avvie (see the Snapzilla link below), and have spent a lot of lindens over time on my avvie -- an I prefer the Windlight look.

What do I know, I'm justa kid.

Mari

Sorry, but windlight blows. Lighting is all wrong, and I don't even think the water looks all that great. I feel like I need sunglasses on when running it. Bleh... a waste of time that should have been spent on keeping SL stable.

Sorry.. is that anti-anti-anti?

But I accept that folks are seeing something: they're really adamant that it's objective and objectionable. I just haven't been able to see what they're seeing. Ann looks great without Windlight and, to these eyes, she looks at least as good in Windlight. Yes, it could be my untrained eye--and I'm asking for instruction. It's just that every time folks have tried to explain to me what they're seeing, and even shown pictures, I just haven't been able to see what they're describing. So I was trying out a different explanation: that maybe there really are different things on our displays.

I didn't see the posts where you told people they don't know when their AV looks better. And then start piling on with Commodore 64 and Active Worlds jokes.

I am referring to those posts where people seem to suggest that.

I certainly don't mean people who simply like how they look better in Windlight.

I'd say the anti-Windlook crowd are the same as the ones who still whine "Why should I ditch Windows 98???"

Just resistant to change.

Hell! It took me till 2 years ago to get Windows XP!! But then I tried it, liked what I saw.