1.9 Preview, big changes, lots of surprises

just a note to say check out the 1.9 preview, i am still reading the release notes, sounds like a nice change of pace to talk about, all sorts of stuff I had no idea was coming.

Interesting.

I believe this feature could potentially have an impact on the mainland versus estate island dynamic.

Removing laggers is critical to having an effective experience, and if you can't do it on mainland but can do it on islands..

Lets hope they wait 2 weeks before the update..

Better be longer than two weeks, I suspect, it is doing really badly for me with the gray textures, even worse than what I have been complaining about over and over for so long.
What does this mean?


Non estate owners and non land owners have a harder time understanding what the land owner's controls and such do, since we don't get to see them and use them.

I really hope llTeleportAgent gets into 1.9.

sigh, second crash in 30 minutes in the preview.

but, it's just a preview, so while one doesn't have to enjoy the problems, one shouldn't get too upset about them either

--------------------

this looks interesting.



better sim crossings maybe?

It appears to be showing as Second Life Siva in the program menu instead of the less geeky Second Life Preview.

With these far more frequent updates (It seems to be every two weeks or so?) we really need a better patcher. Downloading the whole client again and again is a big fat waste of everyones time and pretty killer for those people on 128K or slower.

Yay, now I can give Estate access to other AVs And the debug tab looks sweet too. I wish I had those a couple weeks back.

I downloaded files bigger than the SL client back when I was on dial-up.

Estimated download time on a 128K connection is 21 minutes. How does a twenty-minute download every two weeks cause a massive problem?

Do something else while the new version is loading.

The 1.9 preview is just that, a preview that people go to in hopes of breaking and finding problems. With the changes being as extensive as they seem the Linden staff will need to leave it up a while, advertise it, get lots of people to go and make sure everything has been tested and poked and prodded and picked at obsessively.

It's not a new version we have to get right now to run SL.

Posted here for convenience:

Second Life 1.9.0(4) Feb 8, 2006
================================

PREVIEW ONLY

New features:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FollowCam? functionality allows scripts to control the camera
Scripts on attachments and vehicles can now control camera behavior through a call to llSetCameraParams(), once they have acquired the PERMISSION_CONTROL_CAMERA permission
The script will control the user's camera as long as the resident doesn't override it (use Alt-zoom or enter mouselook, for example) and the object remains attached or the avatar continues to sit on it:
When multiple scripts attempt to control the camera, the last script to set the CAMERA_ACTIVE flag will have control
Older scripts will regain control as soon as the newer one is deactivated
The new FollowCam? scripts enable a huge variety of vehicle-following behaviors:
For instance, a loose camera setting allows sudden changes in vehicle acceleration to happen without causing dizzying jolts in the camera
By turning off the "behindness" feature, the camera will be simply dragged along, but it will not try to stay exactly behind the vehicle
Other parameters, like pitch (the angle at which it "looks down" at the vehicle), distance, and others, allow you to customize the cinematics of vehicular fun


Improved tools for estate owners (and estate managers)
Estate tools are a set of tools for people who own private islands.
On the mainland they can be used by anyone to see the "rules" for a region
Choose World -> Region/Estate... to see settings such as whether terraform is allowed, or what the raise/lower land limits are
They allow private island owners to set more options on a per-region basis
We would like estate owners to "consolidate" their estates, that is, to put more than one region per estate (Customer service can help with this)
New per-region tools include blocking flying, forcing damage on, setting "object bonus" to allow more prims per parcel (although still capped at 15,000 per region), setting PG/mature, teleporting home all users in a region, setting fixed sun position
Region performance debugging tools include disabling all scripts, disabling physics, and getting lists of objects that are potentially slowing down physics ("top colliders" or scripting ("top scripts"
Estate owners can download a region's "RAW" terrain file, modify it, and upload it to make changes in the land
Estate owners can "bake" the current terrain, setting it as the default for the "revert" tool and the middle for terraform raise/lower limits
Users and groups can be added to allowed/group/ban lists for one estate, or all estates you own
Estate managers
You can delegate responsibility for all the above tools (except RAW files and bake terrain) to other residents


Improved communication between regions
A new method simulators running each region to interact with one another has been implemented.
This new method allows for communication between regions, rather than requiring data go through a central server
The internal path for almost all data that must go from one sim to another far away sim (where 'far away' is defined as not touching) has been changed for the following functions:
Teleports (via map, home, login, offer teleport)
IM (resident to resident, object to resident)
Inventory Transfers (resident to resident, object to resident)
Friends online/offline notifications
Finder information (people finder has been touched barely)
The exception to this new scheme is group chat

Scripting Changes:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New LSL functions:


float llListStatistics(list l, integer operation)
Performs a statistical operation on a given list of numbers
Ignores list entries that are not integers or floats
Available operations are as follows:
LIST_STAT_MAX
Used with llListStatistics to find the largest number in a list
LIST_STAT_MIN
Used with llListStatistics to find the smallest number in a list
LIST_STAT_MEAN
Used with llListStatistics to find the mean of the numbers in a list
LIST_STAT_MEDIAN
Used with llListStatistics to find the median of the numbers in a list
LIST_STAT_STD_DEV
Used with llListStatistics to find the standard deviation of the numbers in a list
LIST_STAT_SUM
Used with llListStatistics to find the sum of the numbers in a list
LIST_STAT_SUM_SQUARES
Used with llListStatistics to find the sum of the squares of the numbers in a list
LIST_STAT_NUM_COUNT
Used with llListStatistics to find how many numbers are in a list
LIST_STAT_GEOMETRIC_MEAN
Used with llListStatistics to find the geometric mean of the numbers in a list (all numbers must be > 0)
LIST_STAT_RANGE
Used with llListStatistics to find the range of the numbers in a list
LIST_STAT_GEOMETRIC_MEAN
Used with llListStatistics to find the geometric mean of the numbers in a list (all numbers must be > 0)
LIST_STAT_RANGE
Used with llListStatistics to find the range of the numbers in a list


integer llGetUnixTime()
Get the number of seconds elapsed since 00:00 hours, Jan 1, 1970 UTC from the system clock
Returns UTC


integer llGetRegionFlags()
Get the region flags (REGION_FLAG_*) for the region the object is in
Both this command and llGetParcelFlags() return an integer that is a bit field of flags
This bitfield can be ANDed with a flag to see if that flag is set for that parcel
Example:
if (llGetRegionFlags() & REGION_FLAG_SANDBOX) llOwnerSay("This is a sandbox!";
REGION_FLAG_ALLOW_DAMAGE
Used with llGetRegionFlags to find if a region is entirely damage enabled
REGION_FLAG_FIXED_SUN
Used with llGetRegionFlags to find if a region has a fixed sun position
REGION_FLAG_BLOCK_TERRAFORM
Used with llGetRegionFlags to find if a region terraforming disabled
REGION_FLAG_SANDBOX
Used with llGetRegionFlags to find if a region is a sandbox
REGION_FLAG_DISABLE_COLLISIONS
Used with llGetRegionFlags to find if a region has disabled collisions
REGION_FLAG_DISABLE_PHYSICS
Used with llGetRegionFlags to find if a region has disabled physics
REGION_FLAG_BLOCK_FLY
Used with llGetRegionFlags to find if a region blocks flying
REGION_FLAG_ALLOW_DIRECT_TELEPORT
Used with llGetRegionFlags to find if a region allows direct teleports


integer llGetParcelFlags(vector pos)
Get the parcel flags (PARCEL_FLAG_*) for the parcel including the point pos
PARCEL_FLAG_ALLOW_FLY
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel allows flying
PARCEL_FLAG_ALLOW_SCRIPTS
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel allows outside scripts
PARCEL_FLAG_ALLOW_LANDMARK
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel allows landmarks to be created
PARCEL_FLAG_ALLOW_TERRAFORM
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel allows anyone to terraform the land
PARCEL_FLAG_ALLOW_DAMAGE
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel allows damage
PARCEL_FLAG_ALLOW_CREATE_OBJECTS
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel allows anyone to create objects
PARCEL_FLAG_USE_ACCESS_GROUP
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel limits access to a group
PARCEL_FLAG_USE_ACCESS_LIST
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel limits access to a list of residents
PARCEL_FLAG_USE_BAN_LIST
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel uses a ban list
PARCEL_FLAG_USE_LAND_PASS_LIST
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel allows passes to be purchased
PARCEL_FLAG_LOCAL_SOUND_ONLY
Used with llGetParcelFlags to find if a parcel restricts spacialized sound to the parcel

FollowCam? family of camera scripts:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

llRequestPermissions(agent_key, PERMISSION_CONTROL_CAMERA)
Requests permissions
Note, PERMISSION_CONTROL_CAMERA permissions are only supported for attachments and vehicles at this time
Accepting permissions via a dialog is not currently implemented.


llClearCameraParams()
Resets all camera values to their default.


llReleaseCamera()
Returns camera to the agent.


llSetCameraParams([])
sets up the camera movement rules based on the parameter list
CAMERA_ACTIVE (TRUE or FALSE) Default = FALSE
Turns on or off scripting control of Scripted Camera
CAMERA_DISTANCE (0.5 to 10.0 meters) Default = 3.0
Sets how far away the Scripted Camera wants to be from its subject
CAMERA_PITCH (-45.0 to 80.0 degrees) Default = 0.0
Adjusts the angular amount that the Scripted Camera aims straight ahead vs. straight down, maintaining the same distance. Analogous to 'incidence'
CAMERA_FOCUS_OFFSET (<-10,-10,-10> to <10,10,10> meters) Default = <0.0, 0.0, 0.0>
Adjusts the position of the Scripted Camera focus position relative to the subject
CAMERA_POSITION_LAG (0.0 to 3.0 seconds) Default = 0.1
How much the Scripted Camera lags as it tries to move towards its 'ideal' position
CAMERA_FOCUS_LAG (0.0 to 3.0 seconds) Default = 0.1
How much the Scripted Camera lags as it tries to aim towards the subject
CAMERA_BEHINDNESS_ANGLE (0.0 to 180.0 degrees) Default = 10.0
Sets the angle in degrees within which the Scripted Camera is not constrained by changes in subject rotation. 180 effectively turns behindness off.
CAMERA_BEHINDNESS_LAG (0.0 to 3.0 seconds) Default = 0.0
How much the Scripted Camera lags as it tries to stay behind the target if outside of behindness angle
CAMERA_POSITION_THRESHOLD (0.0 to 4.0 meters) Default = 1.0
Sets the radius of a sphere around the Scripted Camera's ideal position within which it is not affected by subject motion
CAMERA_FOCUS_THRESHOLD (0.0 to 4.0 meters) Default = 1.0
Sets the radius of a sphere around the Scripted Camera's subject position within which its focus is not affected by subject motion
CAMERA_POSITION (vector position within the region)
Sets the position of the Scripted Camera
CAMERA_FOCUS (vector position within the region)
Sets the focus position of the Scripted Camera
CAMERA_POSITION_LOCKED (TRUE or FALSE) Default = FALSE
Locks the camera position so it will not move
CAMERA_FOCUS_LOCKED (TRUE or FALSE) Default = FALSE
Locks the camera focus so it will not move

<3 Camera control <3

What's the chances of this being out before the end of March...?

I'm trying to use it on a friend's computer and it crashes when I try to attach things to my avatar.

Will test more fully when I get on my own computer at home tonight.

The release notes look interesting though -- I am disappointed the teleport agent LSL stuff didn't make it in, as it seemed a seemingly easy thing to implement after P2P.

A lot of the things I'd want to use teleportavatar for would need to work without showing the loading screen when the avatar's moved to somewhere in the same sim. I'm hoping it's being held back to sort that.

Ah, so I'm not the only. Every single time I tried to attach something... BOOM.

HP

Yep. I'll stop jabbing my Voodoo Linden with a sharp stick long enough for them to code it.

Sue... we've depended so much on you for sarcastic remarks and this post fails completely. Furthermore your positive outlook completely fails to point out the possibilities of bugs or conflicts that might arise when ..... *looks at feature list.


OMG COOL!

I threw the camera test script into the free "kart" and tried it out... very nice.

and unix time! weeee, now I might do more clock based stuff.

Man. That's all pretty cool. All the more useful.

It's a known bug. In the meantime, you can get around it by attaching objects from the world rather than from inventory.

From the release notes, there doesn't seem to be much new at all - what are the "big changes"?

In my mind its the changes that are in estate tools that are big
Prolly the camera thing also but its beyond my comprehension

I believe the new communication code, changes behind the scenes, are pretty big though they effect customer facing functionality very little.

Major releases often contain code that is architecturally core and needs to be regression tested as much as possible because so much is impacted.

Unfortunately, the code is also under appreciated because it is usually more architectural in nature than functional.

It's a tough thing to explain to customers (and often upper management, unfortunately), that their whole world just became unstable and buggy but they don't really get any new toys to play with or feature sets to sell to customers.

I have run into this a lot during my engineering days. More clever planning before hand can fix this somewhat so you do not have to refactor, but then you start to spend all your time planning cleverly and not getting features out the door.

Like all things, it's a balance.

sounds promising.

I think the ability for estate owners to download their island RAW file, edit, and then re-upload it to alter the land is KICK ASS.

I've noticed a performance increase, too, on my friend's system which is not a very powerful system; I cannot wait to get home tonight and try it on my gaming rig.

This update does look promising, but history has taught me not to get all excited about updates to the client. It would seem a lot of the texture issues are asset-server related... it is going to an update at the same time?

Sweet.