Boy Lane :: Cool Viewers for Virtual Worlds

The following was originally tested by Nicholaz Beresford, thanks a lot for that! Full details can be found here: http://nicholaz-beresford.blogspot.com/2009/06/acessing-adult-content-with-old-viewers.html

I think it's important enough to quote the major points here as people get confused with the new adult policy implementation and usability of older viewers. In summary, there is absolutely no need to update to a 1.23 viewer version. The current 1.23.4 viewer was pushed out in a rush for political reasons and is not mature enough that I would recommend it to anyone to use *yet*. We will likely see a number of iterations before it becomes usable and stable as with other viewers in the past.

Ok, here comes what Nick figured out. Thanks for that :

1) If you never logged in an avatar with a new V1.23 viewer, you seem to be able to teleport to the new adult continent without problem (e.g. go to the map, search for "Mosh" and just jump there).

2) If you have logged in with an V1.23 viewer at any time, the server seems to remember your setting from the General tab in preferences, even if you go back to an older viewer. So, when running/testing a V1.23 viewer make sure you choose "PG, Mature and Adult" in preferences, then click OK or Apply. After that you should be able to go to Adult parcels even if you switch back to an older viewer version.

3) Search doesn't seem to be an issue with older viewers. In older versions, if you check the 'Include mature content' option in search, the viewer always also includes content flagged as 'Adult'. Being able to teleport there will then depend on the above (as described under 1. and 2.).

Bottom Line: Unless the Lindens change something, with old viewers like mine (or anything based on 1.22 like the current CoolViewers) you should be able to access all content if you are
a) using account with 'Payment info used' or 'Adult verified' status (this remains a basic prerequisite) and
b1) either you never logged in with an V1.23 viewer at all
b2) or you logged in with an V1.23, go to Preferences and set access to PG/Mature/Adult

Nick

So there is really nothing to worry, you will not be locked out from anything "adult" when using an older stable viewer. I suspect that older viewers that do not support adult filtering will simply be phased out in the future following the new release policy without any further server side changes. So hopefully there will be no impact for anything below version 1.23. But that's just a guess for now.

Boy

[Anonymous comments are disabled until further notice. Sorry about that.]

Dear All,

I'm partly sad to announce that I decided to officially discontinue support for Henri Beauchamp's "Cool SL Viewer". To be very frank, we had in the past months repeated issues about the naming of the viewer that today culminated in this decision.

Linden Lab has a clear policy that regulates the usage of their trademarks and particularly "SL" and "Secondlife". Exact details can be found at http://secondlife.com/corporate/brand/trademark/sl_insl.php , but to keep it simple, the core information is "Your SL Associated Name must use "SL" or "inSL" (but not both) [...] in combination with a name that uses at least two generic nouns. A "generic noun" is a common noun and not a proper noun, trademark or brand name.". LL further states that usage of specific terms and combinations is NOT permitted such as "SL Viewer Software".

To quote Jacek Antonelli: '"Viewer" is a generic noun, but "Cool" is an adjective, so "Cool SL Viewer" is NOT "perfectly legit"'. Yes, that's Legalese.

A simple thing, better be safe than sorry. Along with most other creators of 3rd party viewers I've decided a long time ago to remove references to "SL" and "Secondlife" from the viewer and it's name. Henri however kept insisting that I would have to use the name "Cool SL Viewer" if I want compile and distribute "his" viewer for Windows (which I do in fact for 1 1/2 years now).

By distributing a LL licensed viewer I carry the full legal responsibility for it. I'm not willing to take a risk by violating LL's trademarks and bring myself into a potential situation of legal consequences for trademark infringement.

I've tried repeatedly over a long period of time to explain the issue to Henri. Unfortunately the only reaction from him was to accuse me of trying to steal his work and claim it for myself. The latest was to accuse me of "re-branding" the viewer and make it looking like my own creation. Something I never did, all who know me know that I've done rather the opposite and tried to protect his work. And where the heck is "Cool Viewer" a re-branding?!

I am not willing to be forced to violate trademarks by continuing to build an otherwise GPLed viewer because the author thinks the 0.01% of code he contributed gives him the right to do so. Unfortunately Henri gave me no other choice, I've took the consequences today and pulled the plug out of my Windows builds for all that is related to the name "Cool SL Viewer".

I will continue to build viewers based on the GPLed code and I will continue to use the name "Cool Viewer" if the viewer is mainly based on Henri's otherwise great work and contributions. That is *NOT* to claim any of his work for myself by re-branding it to something else it is not. I have never done this and this will not change.

I thank Henri for all the support he has given me in the past and for the fantastic resulting viewer for all of us. Sadly this chapter has to end here, but there is no legal alternative.

Boy

Update 24 May to 1.19.0.5 R59 and 1.22.11.0 R9 with: updated RLV 1.17b, new Hide IM in chat console feature in communication preferences, Avatar UUID in user profiles, Texture Aspect ratio in preview, Stuck group proposals archive and Local ruler alignment patches, new automated installer for non-redistributable components (if you have a viewer installed already).

That's going to be a long posting . Marine was busy again, and came out with a new release of her RestrainedLife 1.17. Henri was busy too. Thanks a lot you two ! Very slightly delayed here are the brand new corresponding Cool Viewers for Windows incorporating the new RLV and as always too much of the real good stuff that is almost impossible to count .

Two brand new Cool Viewers in official client version 1.22.11.0 R9 (with Windlight) and 1.19.0.5 R59 (non Windlight for legacy systems). Based on the SL viewer both clients incorporate a lot of improved, new and backported features that make CV the client of choice for many users. An incomprehensive list of included features are:

- CV's legacy User interface with a clean, simple and userfriendly layout
- Cool Features in Preferences for easy switching of features
- Marine Kelley's RestrainedLife 1.17 (off per default)
- Bulk permission editing
- Enhanced building tools
- Flexible Sculpties
- Double click to wear attachments
- "Worn" tab in inventory
- Large Prims (currently only for Opensim grids due to SL limitations)
- Maximized Network Bandwidth
- Flexible Grid selection at login for SL and all OpenSims
- MU Pose Style and OOC double parenthesis auto-close for enhanced roleplay
- Teleport on Double Click and Teleport History
- Avatar UUID key in user profile
- Improved Graphics rendering, especially for ATI users (measured >1/3 faster than official viewer)
...and a large number of other goodies and stability fixes that improve your overall experience. Too many to mention here . Please check the included Release Notes for details.


Cool Viewer 1.22.11.0
CV 1.22.11.0 R9 comes with a installer, similar to the official SL client that installs the viewer independently into C:\Program Files\CoolViewer and uses it's own Application Data folders to avoid interference with an existing SL or 3rd party viewer installation.
WinXP: C:\Documents and Settings\<you>\Application Data\CoolViewer\
Vista: C:\Users\<you>\Appdata\Roaming\CoolViewer\

Grab the latest version here (Note: Due to stability/startup issues some experienced that is a non-optimized SSE only version without the OpenGL fixes, it should improve stability for troubled ATi users with Xxxxx cards, thanks to ATi for dropping support!)
http://coolviewer.googlecode.com/files/Cool_Viewer_1-22-11-0_R9_Setup.exe
MD5: 7d6255b632aede4704d354a01f112431
SHA-1: 4366d3d8f0aa6d0e918bc1191db56301dc218b1d

If you have a recent machine (ATI HDxxxx and all Nvidia 8xxx+ cards) please use this OpenGL optimized SSE2 version for newer hardware that runs a measured 20...40% faster depending on your system, especially on new ATi cards. Just run this small installer *AFTER* installing the full R9 release to replace your CoolViewer.exe with the way faster one (if you experience instability/crashes on your machine simply install the full R9 version over it again):
http://coolviewer.googlecode.com/files/Cool_Viewer_1-22-11-0_R9_SSE2_NewOpenGL_Setup_exe_only.exe
MD5: 5f44f57772b394b3d9962fd503b5f9d9
SHA-1: 58cbf471900917801c6201cf9a05da11cb01015f

Cool Viewer 1.19.0.5
Alternatively for a bit older systems with single core CPU and not the latest graphics; Cool Viewer in the long established version 1.19.0.5 R59 is the version of choice. Clean, fast, efficient and rock stable. It has all the latest security updates, bug fixes, feature add-ons, and of course it has Marine's latest RestrainedLife. It can only be gold after 59 releases (!) and I call it Solid Gold .

To use this version you need to install first the official 1.19.0.5 (non Windlight) LL viewer (that's an older version!). Get it here:
http://download-secondlife-com.s3.amazonaws.com/Second_Life_1-19-0-5_Setup.exe

Then download the latest Cool Viewer 1.19.0.5 R59 installer:
http://coolviewer.googlecode.com/files/CoolViewer_i686_1_19_0_5_Release_59_exe_xml_only.exe
MD5: d6705adee57f5cab8ad80660c1e53e9b
SHA-1: 5b7dfd25494cd41c6439e6581a3e0e20b36fc782

Run the installer and select your install path (default "C:\Program Files\SecondLife" and install CV into this folder and replace all existing files.


Please start CV with the included Cool Viewer.lnk shortcut, but take note that you may have to adjust the properties to match where you installed the viewer.


Important:
Please note that the following libraries and components are not included in the package as they are not redistributable. The installer will try to automatically pull them out of an existing installation of a SecondLife, CoolViewer or RainbowViewer on your machine. Please follow the prompt on the screen. Should it not work please copy them from an official Linden Labs SL 1.22.11 viewer into your C:\Program Files\CoolViewer directory to get full functionality :

llkdu.dll Kakadu JPEG2000 library
SLVoice.exe Voice components
vivoxsdk.dll
alut.dll
ortp.dll

The viewer will still run without them but with lower performance (OpenJPEG) and missing voice features.


Sources (GPL):
http://coolviewer.googlecode.com/files/src_1.22.11.0_9.tar.gz
http://coolviewer.googlecode.com/files/src_1.19.0.5_59.tar.gz

A number of you have shown interest in a viewer that brings you all the cool features but keeps the current official user interface, to name the evil: the Communicate floater.

I've said it many times that the clean user friendly legacy UI is an integral part of CV. However I understand that you got used to this evil communicate thing and you'd like to have it in a Cool Viewer.

I don't know if it is worth to spend any time with that and I want to see you on your knees begging for *giggles* . Or at least tell me and convince me to make a viewer with a Communicate floater.

Let the games begin

[Update]
Thanks for all your feedback. I think the issues that you mentioned you have with CV are:
- Separate Groups and friends: It can be separate or combined in CV.
- The chat thing CV has now... Set it properly. See pic.
- IM and chat are separate and should be combined... Set it properly. See pic.
- Need to open chat history and attach it manually each time... Set it properly. See pic.
- Use the communicate window to chat... Set it properly. See pic

And all of them are not missing features but the way how you configure CV. It doesn't limit your options or forces you to use use a Communicate feature. CV rather enables you to configure your viewer in a way that you prefer. But perhaps some more info is needed on how to do this. Basically it is pretty simple. Let's compare: That is the official "Communicate" floater.

And this is CV properly configured to provide almost exactly the same feature.

And here is how to do it.
First uncheck in Cool Features the "Use old style 'Chat history' window" checkbox. That enables the chat input field inside the floater.

Secondly open your chat history and click on the small attach arrow in the top right corner. This attaches your chat floater to the IM floater and there you have it, a Communicate floater in CV.

Perhaps it's a bit tricky to set it up in the first place, but I'm sure the flexibility CV offers is a much better solution than the bloated default Communicate feature in an official viewer.

[4 April: Updated to new SVN version 1.23.0.116519]
Music...eehhh...Shadows for the Masses ...
Shadow Viewer is an early build out of the development branch for the upcoming 1.23+ SL viewer (obviously) implementing the new shadows features...and they really look great! It is purely meant as an early preview, perhaps to take some nice snapshots, and play around, but it is not meant for any serious work. It is something pre-alpha, it will crash. So be prepared and don't complain later .

This is a new build based on latest SVN 1.23.0.116519, that's 3 revisions from the previous Shadow Viewer and there are a lot of changes for the rendering pipeline. I only tested it shortly, but alpha issues are still there.

What has also changed is the brand new installer/uninstaller that works similar to LL's installation, however it doesn't call home and it creates own and independent file structures for the Shadow Viewer.
It will install the Shadow Viewer into C:\Program Files\ShadowViewer and it should not mess up any existing Cool Viewer or SecondLife installation. But of course it may as it is as buggy as it gets. Please note that this is a *FULL* installation and does not require (nor would it work) to install a LL viewer before as with Cool Viewer.

It detail it uses (that's for XP):
Main installation: C:\Program Files\ShadowViewer
User settings: C:\Documents and Settings\<you>\Application Data\ShadowViewer
Cache: C:\Documents and Settings\<you>\Local Settings\Application Data\ShadowViewer

To install the Shadow Viewer you need to run the installer you can find here::
http://coolviewer.googlecode.com/files/ShadowViewer_1-23-0-116519_Setup.exe


You still need to add the not redistributable components. The installer will show a text info about this automatically after successful setup.

Please start the Shadow Viewer with the included Shadow Viewer.lnk shortcut only!


And here comes an additional Linux build (Ubuntu Jaunty). I had to split the package again in two files due to the upload filesize limit here. You need 7zip to unpack it (in Ubuntu "sudo apt-get install p7zip", then use the archive manager). Excluded are non-redistributable voice and KDU parts as in the Windows version. Please get them from an official 1.22 viewer)

http://files.myopera.com/boylane/files/SL/ShadowViewer-i686-1.23.0-R2-Linux.7z.001
http://files.myopera.com/boylane/files/SL/ShadowViewer-i686-1.23.0-R2-Linux.7z.002


To enable shadows you need to go to Edit / Preferences / Graphics / Hardware Options. There select "OpenGL Framebuffer Objects" and "Enable per-pixel lightning and shadows". Please note that Antialiasing did *NOT* work for me (Nvidia GTX260).


This is *NOT* a Cool Viewer. It has a number of features of CV included, but it doesn't have the legacy UI or RLV. These represent too many changes to apply to a moving target and are simply not worth to spend any time on yet.

Included features are:
Bulk permission editing (part of official 1.23 to come)
Enhanced building tools (part of official 1.23 to come)
Flexible Sculpties
Double click to wear attachments
Large Prims (only for Opensim grids)
Maximized Network Bandwidth
MUPose Style
Worn Inventory Tab
Teleport History
...and a number of more goodies and (hopefully) stability fixes. Too many to mention here . Please check the included releasenotes.txt for details.

Sources:
http://files.myopera.com/boylane/files/SL/src_shdw_1.23.0_2.tar.gz
http://files.myopera.com/boylane/files/SL/src_shdw_1.23.0_3.tar.gz



Luv,
Boy