[Opensim-dev] thinking about a viewer

Thu Aug 7 01:38:58 UTC 2014

Hello All,

I This is a great discussion and many great opinions.

I think there will be an endless amount of opinions and desires as 
OpenSim can be many different things to many people.
While most users of opensim can write/edit simple scripts, upload 
textures, create simple textures, build simple prim based objects - 
there are a great many who prefer to simply explore and be entertained 
by those who can do these things.

I myself am more interested in the "Server" side of things - I rarely 
venture into OpenSim worlds but to troubleshoot and experiment with new 
ideas, etc.

I think the underlying ability of OpenSim to serve data when requested 
and to provide all of the other services it does should be leveraged in 
a way that an opensim "Virgin" will find interesting, entertaining, and 
easy to use.

With that said, I think OpenSim would become more popular to the masses 
if we had a simple "No Frills" web viewer of sorts.
I know, I know... web viewer.. hack cough, etc.... but really think 
about it.

OpenSim as it is now is a very complicated affair if you are not already 
familiar with SL or OpenSim.
The viewer itself is a very daunting piece of software to use if you are 
a new user to these types of platforms.

If we could make a viable web based viewer which is designed to be a 
"First time user" viewer I think it would bring many more people into 
our platform.
Once they've experienced our worlds by simply exploring, they will then 
become interested in further tasks such as building, scripting, etc.
This would then drive them to "Try" a "Full" viewer, or one that is 
capable of all that we are now used to.

This viewer would not need to be as complicated as the viewers we use 
now and could be a very good starting point.
Not only would this provide us as a community with a split from SL, but 
it would provide a solid foundation on which to expand this simple 
viewer into a more robust viewer.
The successful completion of this smaller project would then drive more 
users to our worlds and may also bring more interest in the development 
side from some who have sat on the fence thus far.

The truth is, this platform seems to be for those of us who are a bit 
more technically inclined - "Grandma Sharon" in Washington State would 
never venture into our worlds as she would be terrified of the 
complexity of any of our available viewers, but if she could simply 
click a link and it work in her web browser she too would find it very 
entertaining.
She may never build, script, texture, etc... but she would for sure 
enjoy some of the events, the socializing and exploring of our worlds.

I think OpenSim should try to free itself from the bonds of SL for sure, 
but we should also try in some way to make our worlds more accessible to 
"Virgin" users.

If you want revolutionary... OpenSim already is a very capable platform, 
but one which has been designed around a "Purpose Built" viewer - if we 
wanted to start fresh we could make a completely new viewer which uses 
the OpenSim platform to store and serve data to a viewer which is 
nothing like what we are currently used to - one with say much better 
graphics.

If we do any new viewer in a modular way - it should be easy for others 
to produce "plugins" or "Modules" to do more interesting tasks.

Just my thoughts.

Butch

On 8/4/2014 9:08 PM, Mister Blue wrote:
> I've been seriously thinking about creating a new viewer project. But 
> with Maria's survey[1] and all the different virtual world 
> announcements happening and the lively OpenSimulator vs Unity 
> discussion on the opensim-user list, I'd like to open up the 
> discussion to the OpenSimulator development community[2].
>
> LL is making a new world and viewer (closed and proprietary as far as 
> I know). HighFidelity is making a new world and viewer (open source 
> with commercial 'grid services'). Unity 5 will have a multi-platform 
> web viewer and a new multi-user backend (pricing not announced). There 
> are various wonderful open source virtual world projects (realXtend, 
> Virtual World Framework, ...) as well as many emerging technologies 
> (xml3d, html5, asm.js). There are several forks of OpenSimulator 
> (Aurora, ArribaSim, ...) that have made many enhancements to the base 
> system. Add to that several successful virtual worlds build on 
> OpenSimulator (inWorldz, Anvination, Kitely, ...) as well as a few 
> packaged distributions of OpenSimulator (Diva, ...). Add to that the 
> many SL/OpenSim third party viewers based on the LL viewer. And that's 
> just in our sphere. There is much more happening in the gaming and 
> education and training communities.
>
> So, what could a new viewer add to the mix? Whatever a new view does, 
> it approaches the question of what OpenSimulator should be three years 
> from now.
>
> For me, there are two basic choices[3]: evolutionary change or 
> revolutionary change.
>
> Evolutionary change says to build on existing OpenSimulator. Make due 
> with the existing LLLP (Linden Lab Legacy Protocol) and improve 
> vehicles, make installation and use easier and add an easier to use 
> and improve viewer.
>
> Revolutionary change would be striking off on a new virtual world 
> architecture. It could have LLLP support but only for downward 
> compatibility and to keep that community and content. But other 
> questions arise: How would one build a viewer/virtual world where a 
> HiFi avatar could stand next to a SL avatar? How could content be 
> delivered to a viewer so it is displayable but is not in the original, 
> copyable form? How to leverage the distribution and power of 'the 
> cloud'[4]? How could one make hypergridable grids across the many 
> virtual worlds?
>
> What do you  think? Evolution or revolution?
>
> -- mb
>
> [1] 
> http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2014/08/survey-better-vehicles-search-most-wanted-in-opensim/
> [2] I see this expanding to other forums eventually.
> [3] With a lot of gray area in between
> [4] I'm always amazed by Google Maps -- it displays the map with 
> traffic overlays and I can zoom in and out with almost immediate 
> response. Why can't a virtual world viewer do that?
>
>
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