[Opensim-dev] thinking about a viewer

Thu Aug 7 03:24:54 UTC 2014

some important things I think are essential to a next generation viewer I
would like to see

   - streaming audio (shoutcast or equivalent)
   - streaming video (quicktime/gstreamer or equivalent)
   - voice chat (mumble?)
   - MOAP (media on a prim) the ability to embed websites / youtube etc..
   on geometry surface or texture overlay
   - Lighting and Skies (Windlight Analog or equivalent or better) perhaps
   ability to change the moon and sun with better textures or even mesh
   objects.
   - Animated Water perhaps that can be manipulated by physical objects
   (bluemars had this)
   - Viewer based AO (we need to kill scripted AO's for good)
   - Particle System (Better weather ie: rain,snow with exclusion zones so
   its not snowing in my living room :) also 3D particle support ie better
   grass and cool effects.
   - better avatar skeleton support, quadrupeds+ etc..
   - improved bump mapping and specular support, ability to animate
   materials same as textures can be animated
   - optional viewer side physics support, better vehicles, joints, axles
   be nice to have suspension and just better vehicles in general
   - better joystick, mouse, keyboard, HID support, ability to bind keys
   like a normal video game would allow.
   - import / export of content in various formats ie: IARs and XML and
   various mesh formats not just collada, perhaps KML
   - improved hypergrid integration HOP:// or equivalent new format
   - Floaters and Windows not bound by viewer window, can put floaters
   outside of main window or on second screen (good for machinima)

   these are just some of the things I would like to so, I am sure I will
   eventually think of more, some of these are probably more important than
   others but I think they all are important to take things to the next level
   so to speak.

On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 9:38 PM, Butch Arnold <butch.arnold at 3rdrockgrid.com>
wrote:

>  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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>

-- 
Michael Emory Cerquoni
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