0.9.0.0 Release

=Release Notes=

General
Welcome to OpenSimulator 0.9.0.0, an open-source multi-user 3D virtual environment and metaverse server platform.

As ever, OpenSimulator is a highly complex system. Various usage scenarios (standalone, grid, hypergrid, etc.) in combination with different dependencies (e.g. different versions of mono on Linux/Mac) can sometimes produce unexpected or unstable behaviour.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of OpenSimulator, then we strongly recommend that you start off with the default configuration files and port over any changes you made to your older version of OpenSimulator.

You can download this release of OpenSimulator from Download

Pivot Release: 0.8.2.1
Due to database migration renumbering, if you are upgrading from a version of OpenSimulator prior to 0.8.2.1, then you MUST first upgrade to *0.8.2.1* and then proceed to upgrade to 0.9.0.0.

Known issues

 * Mega Regions are no longer supported. Please save your mega regions in OAR files before upgrading. You will be able to load them either on small regions, or on a large region (var region). See help load oar in this new version. Don't hesitate to ask for help on one of our irc channels since it can be a bit confusing process :(
 * Mesh creators can upload a mesh that will only collide with the default convex hull (physics type PRIM is not available, only NONE or CONVEX can be used). Since many meshes where uploaded with this option by mistake, for the moment only the new physics engine ubOde will honor this option. ODE and Bullet will keep using a visual LOD with this option, so still show the PRIM type. Please fix the meshes uploaded with this option by mistake, either by uploading again with the correct options or fixing the collisions adding making the mesh be a phantom and adding a few invisible prims, etc. If that is still impossible, then keep using Bullet (the default). But note then we will also change Bullet in future. Also note that contrary to some information currently on blogs this is this a option decided at upload time in a viewer or upload tool. The physics engine in use st view time is irrelevant on the originsl upload process. Avatar meshes are only seen by physics if you rez them in the region.
 * ubOde like older ODE only does single side mesh collisions while Bullet like SL do double side in some cases. Creators doing specialized colliders for physics should take this in consideration. since on this ubOde is the more restricted engine, a collider working on ubOde should also work on Bullet. This version includes some changes also to the external ode library for the avatar/mesh collision, but it still display some instabilities on same corner cases. (that may actually include surfaces corners)
 * Using viewers physics upload Step2 and Step3, actually change the uploaded mesh format, The mesh is broke down in a collection of convex parts. This can deform your shape, already on the viewer side. ODE does not have native convex support so a mesh is rebuilt from those parts by ubOde, this extra step may also have its side effects. Uploading without this steps avoids this problems.
 * The Physics engine ODE (the original one) is maintained for compatibility purposes only. Please avoid creating new content for it. Use it only if your region has a lot of content you can't upgrade now.
 * Terrain Edition Undo is currently disabled. It requires a major revision to support large regions.
 * For all other outstanding bugs please see the OpenSimulator Mantis bug tracker.

Requirements
OpenSimulator requires:


 * .NET Framework 4 when running under Windows.
 * At least Mono 2.8 when running under Mono (Linux or Mac). However, we recommend using at least Mono 2.10 as Mono 2.8.x has been reported as less stable in some situations when running OpenSimulator.  Mono 3 has also been reported as working well with OpenSimulator.

Scripts
Scripts may need to be recompiled when upgrading to 0.9.0.0. If you see script errors on the server console, the best course of action is to delete the script dlls that live under the ScriptEngine folder. Note: do not delete the .state files in those folders; all other file extensions can be deleted.

Alternatively, you can set DeleteScriptsOnStartup = true run region once, then switch it back to false.

If after this step you still have problems, you may need to delete all contents of ScriptEngine. But note that doing this as last resort makes scripts loose their current state, this can be a problem on some scripts that depend on that state preservation, in particular some commercial products. We do not expect you will need to this on this update, so if uncertain please ask for advice before doing it.

General Simulator Server
SimpleAngularDistance added to UpdatePrioritizationScheme options. WIth this option objects and avatars information is prioritized taking in consideration distance and approximate apparent size.
 * new experimental InterestManagement features:

ObjectsCullingByDistance. Setting this to true objects (not avatars for now) outside view range and not sent and/or are delete to/from viewers.

Current this options only consider the viewer avatar position, not is camera.

Archives

 * The Load Oar command now fully supports the loading of (selectable parts of) a var region into a normal sized region as well as loading (selectable parts of) standard regions anywhere into another standard or var region.
 * Parcel data is now dealt with properly and supports rotations just like terrain and objects
 * There are some changes to the parameters to Load Oar which are documented here: http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Load_Oar_0.9.0%2B

Avatars

 * A few changes in avatar damage. Lost health now depends on relative velocity on collision

Configuration

 * New configuration variable under [EntityTransfer]: LandingPointBehavior. Possible values are LandingPointBehavior_OS and LandingPointBehavior_SL. This option exists to control the behavior of teleporting gods into places that have landing points and telehubs. Historically, there has been a difference: OpenSim (OS) has honored landing points and telehubs even for avatars with god permissions; SL lets gods land wherever they want. Default is LandingPointBehavior_OS.

Friends

 * option to allow to see you on map should now work
 * Object edition rights sharing should work better.

Mesh/Sculpt

 * see above about upload options and land impact
 * sculpts have physics type None, Prim and Convex in ubOde. PRIM will collide with full resolution, CONVEX will use a internal generated simplification of that, not necessary a true convex shape in this version

NPC
* new options available, see NPC section in opensim.ini.example

Objects

 * Land Impact is now displayed for relative information purposes only. It is not used to enforce any limits.
 * Sits on prims without a SitTarget improved if using ubOde
 * Objects rez location improved if using ubOde

Physics

 * BulletSim is the default physics engine with updates to support the better vehicle crossings and different default collisions sounds intensity introduced with ubOde.
 * ODE Now supports variable-sized regions
 * New ODE-based physics module: ubODE. This one came from avination and seems to support more advanced physics features.

Region/Estates/Parcels

 * Viewer option for Avatar on other parcels to see and chat with avatars on this parcel is now supported

Region Cross/Teleport

 * Objects and avatars region Crossing improved
 * Scripted vehicle crossings are now supported in both Bullet and ubODE physics engines.
 * Teleport landing height changes if using ubOde (and with no telehub or landpoint set) so landing is on top of objects on that location, not inside them. (a side effect is that you may land on roof tops not inside some buildigs)

Scripting
llSetAnimationOverride, llResetAnimationOverride, llGetAnimationOverride, osSetHealRate, osGetHealRate,..
 * llCastRay: with ubODE, this function is performed by it with improved performance and more accurate results. according the to physical representation of the objects.
 * several new LSL and OSSL functions added like:

Sound

 * several changes on default collision sounds. Intensity is now related to relative velocity on collision

Stats

 * region stats displayed by viewers are by default back to the normalized 55fps on a idle region, independent of region actual configuration. You can see measured times setting the option Normalized55FPS to false (read OpenSimDefaults.ini). Keep in mind this stats where not designed to profile OpenSim do not try to use them for profiling without a much deeper consideration of opensim multitask nature.

Terrain

 * Terrain bake is now supported

Voice

 * No significant changes in this release.

Acknowledgements
Many, many thanks to all the developers, testers and community members who contributed to this release and who help out with OpenSimulator generally. Your hard work makes this all possible.