Aeonix Aeon

Just wanted to add that when it comes to virtual worlds in a web browser, you end up being jack of all trades and master of none by default. That's usually the tradeoff, and ultimately why I've never been excited about that particular flavor of virtual world implementation. Thanks for the mention, Indigo...

As an aside, the concept I was referring to in relation to procedural textures is that if we are generating the textures from the same underlying data, by which we are extrapolating the detail as a mathematical routine, then the lower fidelity takes less time to generate versus the high fidelity. In a static world, we're choosing a preset level of fidelity and forcing the clients to generate to that level (or preset levels) which I would readily agree would be costly for lower end systems to maintain. However, the idea that I was getting at was that procedurally generated textures can be generated with less as well as more fidelity based on computation time given to the routines up front, in which case we can create an automatic adjustment routine tied to something like FPS wherein if the GPU load is too high and the FPS drops below an acceptable threshhold, then the level of detail for the procedural texture generation is lowered to compensate and balance the FPS versus Fidelity. In this manner, we create a procedurally generated world (at least dealing with textures) wherein the same data used to represent the high end movie-quality rendering on gaming rigs can be used for lower end systems with less streaming computation. While the fidelity of the output does lower in the process, it is an acceptable trade off in much the same way we wouldn't expect all systems to comfortably handle Ambient Occlusion and Shadows maxed out in quality. As far as I am aware, systems such as Allegorithmic Substance stream the procedural computation through the GPU in real time based on similar criteria, as well as lower the fidelity of the output based on radius from the camera (because obviously we don't need high definition output for items in the distance). The end result is real-time procedural texture streaming that can scale up and down in fidelity based on the client computer running it. Thank you for the mention, Indigo

Of course the Viewer 1.x also had a nifty feature where in order to actually teleport you had to be completely naked. So quickly (convieniently) we forget the rocky road of development that got us the Viewer 1.x series to begin with. Let us not forget that if we had the same attitude we have today toward Viewer 2 toward Viewer 1 when it began, we'd never be here right now. Especially when a new viewer, written from the ground up, comes out and so many of us bash it when it's barely had a year to get things together. Let's take a breather and remember our roots, and apply our once ample forgiveness and patience that we had for the beginning of 1.x series to the newcomer.

I still don't use Viewer2/any version and... I'm not interested in downloading a different beta every week and... I'm not interested in downloading a different "Official" viewer every month. Plugging and chugging code until finally something works right is not my idea of a company I would do business with on a professional level. Good thing this is only a game! Usage of Viewer 2 is completely optional, and comes down to personal preference. As for downloading a beta every week, or an official viewer every month, I do recall the announcement that updates will be streamed in the background at some point. This would alleviate the bulk package download and reinstall on the frequent basis. As for "Plugging and chugging code until finally something works right" not being your idea of a company that you would do business with on a professional level, I'd have to add a bit of perspective to your point. What Linden Lab is essentially charged with is a very hard scenario, which many software companies don't have to deal with. It's not as simple as releasing an update to a software package. Let's say you have a sports car, and you're driving that sports car down the highway at 60 MPH. Now, something goes wrong with that car, or there is a better model available of your car that you can get for free. The problem is, you cannot stop driving the car at 60 MPH down the highway, let alone close the highway for repairs, in order to make that driving experience better. Instead, the mechanics are air lifted over your speeding car, and proceed to work on your car as you continue down the highway. This is the scenario we see with a viewer to a virtual environment that is user generated and persistent. Linden Lab simply cannot afford to shut the entire highway down (for too long) to make those upgrades, so they do "Rolling Restarts" to taper the downtime in sections. The same holds true for the sports car and its updates. Instead of saying stop what you're doing entirely to get the new version (for absolutely everyone on the grid) they have to take into account it's a live and persistent environment. So they are essentially in a position of fixing and upgrading an airplane while it's in flight. If they make changes to the servers, then it may break your ability to use the viewer you have now, and so they must continually airlift those mechanics over your car to make the changes on your side. The alternative would be to bring the entire world to a screeching halt for 48 hours, while they make absolutely sure every server and user is on the same page, before turning everything back on. The speed at which updates and changes occur in the software side of this are following The Law of Accelerating Returns, you may have heard of this? If not, I'll be happy to give you time to go look it up on wikipedia. Go ahead.. I'll wait. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Accelerating_Returns *hums a little tune* Ok.. welcome back. So what did we learn? "So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century—it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The 'returns,' such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth." - Ray Kurzweil The amount of progress will accelerate on an exponential curve in technology. What this means to you and I is that there will inevitably be shorter periods between updates, upgrades, and new versions of any technology. Right now we are just starting to notice that turning point in the technology sector (including software) and some of us say "Well if they can't just get it right the first time and release it, then what kind of company is that to work with?" Instead, I see that as a very good indication that they are actually on the right path. Sure, it has given rise to the concept of software being "Forever Beta" as changes come weekly and monthly, but it is a very strong indication of Accelerating Returns in action. Right now, we're at the cusp of that process where the updates happen quickly but we are still downloading and installing new versions manually to compensate, which is to say we are seeing the effect of the cusp of that turning point. It's a transitory period after the concept of static software packages but just before streaming updates. Once Linden Lab initiate the streaming updates, it'll be less of a hassle for each new release and may simply downlaod the updates behind the scenes transparently, only to apply those updates the next time you run the viewer. As for your assertion that this is only a game, I beg to differ. In much the same manner that I would differ on the assertion that the Web is simply a digital catalog for companies to initiate mail-order shopping (as was commonly thought of in the early 1990s). Surely the web has changed the way all of us do business, interact and share information on the grand scale. And while the web does have video games and pornography, that isn't what it is entirely about. So while I commend you for your choice in using a third party viewer as your chosen alternative, I must correct your misguided assertions. In the grand scheme of things, Linden Lab is more forward thinking than you give them credit for, and I believe they are handling this very well considering the enormous pressure and technical hurdles they face in the process.