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June 2007
Memory Leak Fixes
apollo [slupdate] Mon 11th @ 08:15 EDT
client, patch comments
I can scarcely describe how happy this announcement makes me. In amongst the various fixes for this release are these gems:
Fixed VWR-966: Minor memory leak in llfloaterpreferences.cpp and a tiny leak in llstatup.cpp.
Fixed VWR-908: Various memory leaks in the group dialog.
Fixed VWR-364: Viewer memory leak.
Memory leaks are often a problem in complex software and can be one of the hardest things to track down, while also being one of the major offenders as far as lost performance is concerned. In simple terms, once the SL client consumes all the available physical RAM in a given computer, the Operating System has to use temporary space on the computer's hard drive in lieu of "real" RAM. Hard drives have much slower access times than physical RAM, so a PC afflicted in this way will begin to chug and churn and stutter and performance will be reduced to virtually nothing whenever the contents of memory has to be paged back and forth between RAM and hard drive.
Memory leaks contribute heavily to this state because RAM that should be freed up is in fact held onto and then more RAM is used on top of that and so on until there's none left. So fixing bugs like these should hopefully have a tremendously positive impact on viewer performance and hence a positive impact on the overall user experience.
May 2007
Lowfi Hiatus of Sorts
apollo [slupdate] Thu 3rd @ 10:32 EDT
linden, town hall
I didn't consciously decide to take a hiatus from this site, nor am I consciously deciding to return to this site from the hiatus that I didn't [consciously] decide to take, but I thought it was worth mentioning this Official Linden Lab post about an upcoming SL Town Hall event, which features their response to recent problems and resident concerns. I'm not going to comment on any of it, because I feel that's unnecessary: we'd be beating the expired ghost of the previously deceased horse on that one.
January 2007
The Staus of Beta
apollo [slupdate] Wed 17th @ 19:18 EST
1.13.2.11, beta, first look, patch comments, sl patch
Given the huge list of fixes in the release notes for the update today you'd think I would be happy about this release. In many ways I am as bug fixes are ultimately never a bad thing, but sadly the "current at the time of writing" version of the First Look Viewer cannot log into this new version of The Grid and so I must use the regular SL client for the time being. That causes me some minor consternation because the new release version of the SL client does not have the new rendering tech found in the First Look Viewer.
Returning to the old rendering code only confirms that my initial thoughts about the FL client are indeed accurate for my specific computer system and I can't wait for a new FL release that's compatible with the 1.13.2.x Grid so I can get back to enjoying SL the way it should run on my PC.
I'm not really complaining here as much as trying to highlight just how fundamental this new rendering tech is and how it will positively affect your experiences in-world when that version of the codebase has been perfected and finally becomes the latest official release.
Advocating Beta Software
apollo [slupdate] Sat 13th @ 09:23 EST
client improvements, framerate, rendering
The title of this post was mostly tongue-in-cheek I have to admit, so imagine my shock and delight when I discovered this announcement on the OLB. It speaks of a First Look beta client with a completely rewritten rendering pipeline. This client can connect to the Live SL Grid and be used in day-to-day SL enjoyment, but it is considered a beta release.
Normally I have little enthusiasm for trying beta software myself, but the mention of new rendering technology made me curious enough to try it. On the rare occasion when I do try a product that's in beta, I tend to poke and prod it for a few brief moments and then forget about it until a final release comes along. With this particular beta software however, I can honestly say that unless I run into a show-stopping bug I am not going back to a "release" build of the client until one comes along with this new rendering technology in it. If you do decide to check this out, please remember that it is beta software and all the usual caveats apply. You will also most likely want to enable VBO:
Turning VBO on is what caused my framerate to more than double. Even without that option though, this client is obviously far more intelligent about how it caches and renders textures and geometry and about how it uses system resources such as memory and disk pagefiles. My computer no longer feels like a bloated warthog from the last millennium when SL is running, instead feeling like the sleek new stallion it most certainly is.
I'm only mentioning it here because in all honestly logging into SL and wandering around with this client is a totally different user experience in a vastly positive way. I want to write more on why that is later, once I calm down and can be rational. For now though, let me say thank you Linden Lab; the next major client release to include this technology is going to be nothing short of brilliant for Second Life.
All I Want For Christmas Is a New Rendering Engine
apollo [slupdate] Tue 9th @ 08:48 EST
client, open source, second life
Linden Lab has released the source code for the Second Life client, as noted on the OLB in a post titled Embracing the Inevitable. I could pen a rambling treatise on the subject and I may indeed do exactly that at a point where I have sufficient focus and time to donate, but the essential "cliff notes" version reads approximately thus: this can only be a good thing.
For those largely unfamiliar with the term OSS - the Open Source Software movement as opposed to the city - I would encourage perusal of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, one of the early essays from a then-emerging field.
November 2006
1.13.0.8 Patch
apollo [slupdate] Wed 29th @ 19:18 EST
musing, patch comments, sl patch
Well wow, the marginally delayed 1.13.0 patch is here with a long feature list and a hope to address some of the crippling database load problems that have been occurring in the last few weeks. I am looking forward to the added Friends List functionality, but I wish they would add collapsible grouping to the list too so I could enforce some kind of structure. Sure I can do that in my inventory with the Calling Cards, but I would love it if that could be mirrored on the actual list itself. Still, this is a step in the right direction.