[Opensim-dev] Make ODE and Meshmerizer the default options?

[Stefan Andersson]

Yes,

 

One of the main reason for introducing, and keeping, .Net-only modules for
physics was to ensure minimal friction on first install.

 

One option would be to work on the installation procedure; to add an
"engine" configuration step to initial setup, having ODE as default; this
would let us document caveats in the configuration instructions.

 

I see no problem with switching to Meshmerizer as default though; +1 on
that.

 

/Stefan

 

From: opensim-dev-bounces at lists.berlios.de
[mailto:opensim-dev-bounces at lists.berlios.de] On Behalf Of dz
Sent: den 9 september 2009 21:25
To: opensim-dev at lists.berlios.de
Subject: Re: [Opensim-dev] Make ODE and Meshmerizer the default options?

 

Justin,

The wiki still has sections indicating that some linux platforms may require
a rebuild of the ODE software.  This may be me mis-reading the wiki, or it
may be old info.
Because we run on 64 bit linux (Ubuntu 9.04 server), we do Mono and ODE
builds from source anyway.  It would seem, however, that if some of the
linux platforms will not run ODE "out of the box", it may be a reason to
stick to the current default.  Im sorry I dont have any way to test and see
if the wiki information is outdated.

If ODE is made the default, please add some information to the wiki
documentation describing the configuration flags used to build it.  This may
provide the basis for discussions on the impact the build parameters have on
performance.  You may also want to note that using the ODE engine uses a LOT
more memory than the current defaults.

I really dont have a preference one way or the other, except to say that
having a 'default' configuration that works in the majority of installations
seems a better idea than one likely to trigger posts to forums complaining
about a "more complicated" setup.   Maybe the transition to ODE later
provides a "built in" delay for beginning administrators to get thier feet
wet, find out what they want to tweak, and might insure they look at the
wiki for directions :)

Doug Osborn

On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 11:17 AM, Justin Clark-Casey
<jjustincc at googlemail.com> wrote:

In the OpenSim developer's meeting yesterday on OSGrid we had a discussion
about
making ODE the default physics engine and Meshmerizer the default mesher.

Currently, basicphysics is the default physics engine but the general
response
was that everybody quickly switches to ODE since objects can only be phantom
under basicphysics.

The disadvantage with switching to ODE is that 64 bit Windows users would
have
to run bin/OpenSim.32BitLaunch.exe since there is currently no compilable 64
bit
Windows ODE (though there is a Linux one).

Everybody at the meeting felt that the advantages of going with ODE
outweighed
this disadvantage.  Does anybody on the list have a good reason for not
switching defaults?

As for meshing, ZeroMesher is currently the default.  However, this
implements
extremely basic meshing (non rotatable cubes).  In comparison, Meshmerizer
is
much more sophisticated.  There was strong feedback in the meeting that many
people quickly switch to Meshmerizer and that it would be good to make this
the
default.  Anybody have good counter-arguments to this?  I think there is
potentially some performance impact but users sophsticated enough to
encounter
that can always switch back to ZeroMesher.

--
justincc
Justin Clark-Casey
http://justincc.org
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