As a virtual world that has been around for two decades, Second Life has undergone many changes and updates to keep up with the evolving digital landscape. In 2023, Second Life has introduced new changes that promise to enhance the user experience and offer more opportunities for creativity and engagement.
One of the most significant changes in Second Life 2023 is the introduction of new avatars. These avatars are more realistic and customizable, allowing users to create avatars that look and feel more like themselves. The new avatars also include more options for body shapes, sizes, and skin tones, promoting diversity and inclusivity within the platform.
Second Life 2023 has also introduced new tools for creators, making it easier for them to create and monetize their content. The new tools include a more streamlined content creation process, improved asset management, and new options for selling and promoting virtual products.
Another exciting change is the introduction of Second Life on mobile devices. The mobile app allows users to access the virtual world on-the-go, making it more accessible and convenient for users who prefer to use their mobile devices.
In addition to these changes, Second Life has also introduced new features for socializing and interacting within the platform. One of these features is the new event system, which allows users to create and promote events within the virtual world, making it easier for users to find and participate in community activities.
Moreover, Second Life has also made significant improvements to the platform’s performance, reducing lag and improving stability, resulting in a smoother and more seamless experience for users.
These changes are part of Second Life’s ongoing efforts to provide a more immersive, engaging, and inclusive virtual world. With these new features and improvements, Second Life 2023 promises to offer users a more customizable, accessible, and social experience.
In conclusion, the new changes in Second Life 2023 represent a significant step forward for the virtual world, enhancing the user experience and promoting creativity, inclusivity, and community engagement. With these new features and tools, Second Life continues to evolve and adapt to the changing digital landscape, providing users with a unique and immersive virtual world experience.
Second Life Isn’t Going Anywhere Anytime Soon So Keep Supporting Projects and Keep Your Dream Alive!
From all of us at Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands Have A Great Week!
After launching on web browsers in 2003, the mobile version of Linden Lab’s life simulator is currently in development
Linden Lab is bringing a Unity-based mobile viewer to its long-running virtual world Second Life, according to a preview the company posted last weekend.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve tried to build a mobile viewer because of course we want to have all of the glory of Second Life in our pocket,” Linden Lab says. “But honestly this is the most exciting result we’ve seen so far. We really wanted to start with the hardest things first – and beautiful world views – and we wanted to make sure that our app works on all platforms. And so, it is with joy and trepidation that we share with you the early results of these efforts.”
Linden Lab does note that the team is still in early stages, so there’s no UI or functionality to show off yet, but we do know it’s expected to hit beta “later this year” as development continues.
Getting a new computer can be exciting, but getting that PC to run at peak performance requires the implementation of some simple but important tweaks and optimizations.
Thousands upon thousands of people receive a new desktop or laptop computer during the holiday season. Many of these new systems will be running the Windows 11 operating system, and more than a few of those computers will be designated for gaming. Unfortunately, this is where so many people make the mistake of believing default settings and configurations are sufficient for gaming performance.
Whether you purchase your new Windows 11 computer from Best Buy, Dell or an online boutique, it must be tweaked and optimized for gaming. Taking some simple but important steps at the beginning to prepare your new PC for gaming will turn an ordinary PC into an extraordinary one that reaches its full performance potential.
Top 7 Windows 11 gaming computer tips
The following tips and suggestions have been covered individually before on TechRepublic, but the true benefit of these ideas occurs when they are applied together.
1. Turn on game mode
Windows Game Mode will devote considerably more resources to a gaming application, turn off notifications, and shutdown or slow down most background activities, thus improving performance. CPU stealing background apps like file indexing, feature updates and malware scans will have to wait while you play your games.
Open the Windows 11 Settings menu and then click the Gaming item in the left-hand navigation bar. On the Game Settings screen, open the Game Mode item and then move the toggle to the On position, as shown in Figure A.
Figure A
2. Prioritize GPU in specific games
While you are on the Game Mode screen, click the Graphics item to display another default setting you may wish to change. For graphically-intense games, you will likely want to specify that you want to always use the high-performance GPU during gameplay.
As shown in Figure B, click the Change The Default Graphics Settings option and then turn on Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling.
Figure B
3. Turn off enhanced pointer precision
This next gaming performance tip is probably the most obscure. Through the enhanced pointer precision setting, Windows 11 tries to better the user experience with a specific set of enhancements for your mouse. However, many games do the same thing, and they can conflict with each other, causing less efficient mouse pointer movement — opposite of what is intended.
For gaming computers, it is best to turn off enhanced pointer precision. Search “mouse properties” in the desktop search and then select Additional Mouse Settings from the Related Settings section, as shown in Figure C. On the Mouse Properties screen, select the Pointer Options tab and turn off enhanced pointer precision.
Figure C
4. Update GPU driver
Drivers for GPUs, regardless of manufacturer, are constantly being updated and enhanced for better and more reliable performance. Graphics cards from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel operate at peak performance when they are using the most up-to-date drivers, so you must update your gaming computer regularly.
The graphics card drivers that are installed at the factory are likely to be several releases behind, so it is imperative that you take a few minutes before you start installing games to update your drivers.
5. Update Windows
Similarly, it is important to update Windows 11 before you begin installing applications and games on your new gaming computer. The factory version of Windows 11 is likely several versions behind the current release, and new security protocols need to be in place for your protection.
Remember also to check for additional and optional updates, because the drivers for chipsets, network cards and other hardware may be several releases behind. To reach peak performance, all systems must be up to date and secure.\
6. Disable non-gaming, non-necessary startup apps
Depending on which company put your new Windows 11 gaming computer together, you may have just a few unnecessary or promotional applications, or you may have a dozen or more. While these apps are generally mostly harmless, they can impede the performance of a gaming PC if not removed.
Open your Start menu and then find your apps. As you scroll through the list of apps, right-click on ones you would like to uninstall. Start with the obvious promotional apps from third-party developers, and then consider other applications that aren’t practical for a gaming computer. The list of removable candidates will be personal to you and your situation.
7. Enable the optimized, high performance power plan
The last performance tip for a new Windows 11 gaming computer requires that we bypass the normal Settings menus and open the Control Panel. Type “control panel” into the desktop search box and select the appropriate item from the results. From the list of settings on the Control Panel, shown in Figure D, select Power Options.
Figure D
On laptop computers, you will likely only have the Balanced option by default. To see other options, click Create A Power Plan from the list in the left-hand navigation bar.
As you can see in Figure E, you now have a few more options. For a gaming PC, choose the option that provides you with the best performance, but keep in mind that the setting will use more energy and drain your battery faster.
Figure E
There is a potential power setting called Ultimate mode, which would be ideal for a desktop gaming computer running Windows 11, but that setting requires a special procedure and a hack of the Windows Registry File.
Optimize for gaming
Getting a new computer is an exciting event for most people. Getting a new computer that will be used for gaming is even more exciting, but getting that computer ready for the performance needs of modern games requires some preparation and optimization. Take a few minutes to prepare your new computer before you start loading games and other applications on your new computer.
Have A Great Week From All Of Us At Zoha Islands/ Fruit Islands
Unity-Based SL Viewer — Test Client Available in 2 Weeks!
Well this is exciting — the first video preview of Crystal Frost, the upcoming third party viewer for Second Life that runs in Unity. Created by SLer and longtime developer Berry Bunny (Kallisti#2038 on Discord), the frame rate is a bit slow, but the graphic enhancements are pretty clear. And yes, the wandering cube is the avatar.
“Rendering avatars requires decoding rigging data from meshes,” Kallisti tells me, “and I currently have not looked into how to do that just yet.”
She tells me a playable version will be available “in a couple of weeks tops”, first for people who are members of her Patreon.
“The first public test build will be in about a month.”
As for what you’re looking at in the preview, Bunny’s already working on fixing the issues:
“The memory leak issue that held up development for 6 months has been 100% absolutely and unequivocally fixed, and I’m now using less RAM than Firestorm does, while rendering everything at full 100% highest detail. However the framerate is much lower, but I know why and i’m working on a fix.”
Far as frame rate, it’s about 30 FPS now. “But I’m going to do some dynamic occlusion culling and implement level of detail like Linden Lab clients have So about a third of my frame rate with Firestorm. But Firestorm, like all Linden Lab-based viewers have occlusion culling. I don’t, at all. Once I do the frame rate should be ridiculously higher.”
Here’s another side-by-side demo with Firestorm, “demonstrating updating object positions, rotations, and scales, including for child prims.”
And yes, Crystal Frost will likely work on mobile “in the future, but at current there’s a lot of optimization that needs to be done to support mobile. in the future.”
Les Salines, February 2023 – click any image for full size
Shawn Shakespeare suggested I might like to drop into Les Salines, the latest region design from the pairing of Tolia Crisp and Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington), offered under Tolia’s Frogmore brand. And for those who like westerns, it might well hit the spot.
Apparently located on the edge of the “Mojave Desert Refuge, Arizona”, Les Salines offers an interesting and curious mix. On the one hand, it has all the look and feel of the Old West: a town sitting on a desert plain, its wooden buildings lining a couple of rutted tracks, the earth packed and hardened by the passage of uncounted hooves and wagon wheels. Sidewalks are little more than boards fronting the various businesses and laid out over the bare earth between them – doubtless offering little in the way of dry footfalls when the rains decide to pay a visit.
Les Salines, February 2023
Frogmore presents Les Salines: A full region, wild west adventure from Tolla Crisp and Terry Fotherington. Everyone is welcome at Les Salines and Frogmore group members have rezz rights. The town is jam packed with details with visits to the saloon, bank, blacksmith, photo studio, general store, hotel, and much much more! Be sure to check in with the sheriff as well! Everyone is also welcome to join their photo contest and a notecard is available at the landing.
Les Salines Destination Guide entry
A sign indicates the town was founded in the 1860s; but precisely what caused settlers to establish it is unclear, but a mine (or quarry) might be responsible, perhaps being the site of a gold mine; or perhaps, given the local waters, it became a natural place for stagecoaches heading west to pause in their journeys; or perhaps that same water made it a suitable point where the locomotives could quench their huffing thirst.
Dominated by a large hacienda overlooking the town (and another a short distance away, apparently long deserted, Les Salines may equally have grown up as a result of a rail head being established here in order to ship cattle eastwards for and the hungry bellies of America’s growing cities.
Les Salines, February 2023
Whatever the reason, the town, with its fancy signage facades over its various businesses, has clearly seen better days. Their walled flanks and flat roofs all look tired under the heat of the Sun, and stage and brush is starting to intrude into the heart of the town, suggesting its population might be in decline.
The founding of this town is just one of its mysteries; another is the period it represents. On the one hand, the buildings, the stage and reliance on horses and wagon points to a time perhaps in the latter part of the 19th century – say the 1880s or 1890s. This is perhaps supported by the photographer’s studio (photography having moved west in the decades following the US Civil War) and the presence of the rail lines.
Les Salines, February 2023
However, the train sitting on them appears to be hauling fright cars from a more recent era, whilst the overhead cables which switchback their way down the main street look more akin to carrying electrical power than in echoing the taps of a telegrapher’s touch on his key. Not that any are actually hooked-up to any of the buildings their poles stand alongside as they zigzag over the street.
Further mystery is added by the fact that while the Mojave sits mainly within California, it does extend out and east into both Arizona and Nevada – although the Desert Refuge (aka the Desert Wildlife Refuge / Reserve, founding in 1936) sits within the Arizonan corner of the Mojave (a place also, and coincidentally, home to the infamous Groom Lake and also Nellis Air Force base.
Les Salines, February 2023
Of course, Les Salines doesn’t have to reside anywhere in the US west (hence the sign noting in sits on the edge of Nowhere!), but these little suggestions give the setting a sense of mystery and mixed age when allow the imagination to run free when visiting. They also offer lots of opportunities for informal RP for those so minded – although the primary aim is to present a photogenic location; and as the Destination Guide notes, there is a lot to see, indoors and out.
I will note that with shadows enabled I did find my viewer struggled a couple of times when flycamming and / or loading textures, but on the whole, Les Salines makes for an interesting and engaging visit.
Can real people find true love in a virtual world? It’s happening every day in Second Life and our “Love Made in Second Life” series explores how romance and long-distance relationships can thrive in the metaverse!
Ajay McDowwll and Synapse Zabelin met in Second Life, fell in love, moved together in the physical realm – he from Mississippi, she from Florida where they still are today- got married and, spoiler alert: Ajay and Syn are still together today, after almost 16 years!
The story begins on the original Help Island, where Syn volunteered when newbie Ajay dropped in. They struck up a friendship and the rest, as they say, is Second Life history!
We asked them more about the history of their relationship.
How long have you been together?
We met in 2007 and have been married since August of 2009.
What was the initial spark where you kind of knew that you were possibly “meant for each other”?
Ajay: Honestly, I can’t remember some sort of “Aha!” moment. I’ve been divorced twice, and I was very straightforward with him that I was never getting married again because picking an appropriate spouse was clearly not in my skill set. Syn was okay with that; he said he’d still be right here. And he was… and he is.
Syn: I knew when I would log in and felt disappointed if she wasn’t inworld.
What does Second Life mean to you?
Ajay: SL’s influence on my life is wide-ranging, from social activities to music, to creativity… I can actually build things inworld! I loathe Blender with the fire of a thousand suns and still, rage quit it regularly, but using the built-in tools SL provides, I’m able to create any number of things. Shoot, I finally actually put something up on Marketplace (there is one entire item in my store), and someone who doesn’t even know me purchased a copy!
For the arts scene, the diversity of both visual artists and musicians in SL who perform live is phenomenal. Many of these people have become acquaintances and friends in the physical world also, thanks to random meet-ups and organized events like the SL Live Music Jams.
Syn: SL is a creative outlet, a place to meet new people with varied interests.
What advice would you give others who meet someone in SL and are not sure if they should pursue a relationship?
Ajay: What I would say is it’s totally reasonable to give an SL relationship the same chance as you would a relationship that started in the physical world. You already have one thing in common, and SL is a stronger tie than just bumping into someone in the produce section at your local grocery store.
Syn: Go slow. Friends first, then the rest will happen if it’s in the cards for you.
You guys left SL at one point. Why? And why come back now?
Ajay + Syn: We left SL primarily because we were newly married, I had young kids, and we just had a lot to concentrate on in the physical world, both with our relationship with each other as well as our respective jobs and the children’s schedules and academic needs. But we maintained our premium membership so we always had a home to pop back into and it was that home that brought us back into SL.
I checked my email one day to find a note from Quianna Greymist of Angels asking about the 1024 we had, and if we were interested in selling. It turned out that all of the land surrounding our plot (512 for each of us) had been purchased by Angels, and we were literally on an island in the middle of a runway. We came back inworld to complete the land sale in October of 2019, looked around, and asked each other, “Why did we ever leave?” 😃
Nearly a decade’s worth of stipend being saved up made it very easy to update ourselves to mesh!
Video Production by Draxtor Despres
Logo by Marianne McCann
Have a great week from all of us at Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands
