Alternate viewers

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Introduction

The Extended FAQ states that it is okay to create and distribute homebrew viewers as long they adhere to the respective licenses for code usage and server usage.

The code itself is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which governs modification and redistribuition of the source code. Use of Linden Lab's servers will still be governed by the Second Life Terms of Service].

Homebrew viewers are obviously not associated with LindenLab, are governed by their own respective licenses. LindenLab is not responsible for any desired or undesired results in association with those viewers.


Note to authors: If you make a viewer available make sure to include platform, version numbers and dates.

     


Able Edition

Description

This is a Windows viewer is an unofficial build which adds a Mute Visibility feature, which allows objects in-world to be rendered partially or entirely invisible.

Extra Features

  • Mute Visibility
  • Improvements to the Mute List
  • Muting objects applies to entire linksets

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Version : Build 41752, compiled on SL official viewer 1.18.0.6
  • Date : 07/18/2007
  • Status : Discontinued

     

Dale Glass Edition

Description

This is a Windows (soon Linux) viewer which adds new experimental features. The features are intended to give users more information about the world and to simplify moderation by making it easier to tell where people are and what they're doing.


Extra Features

  • Avatar Scanner
    • Shows nearby avatars, roughly in drawing distance range.
    • Shows name, age, payment info, current activity.
    • Land and estate commands for ejecting/banning multiple avatars at once
    • Integration with Luskwood moderation tools
    • Buttons to open profile, IM, teleport to or track selected avatars
  • Event Log: Experimental feature, shows a list of active particle effects (soon sounds too), and their owners. Allows moving camera to emitter.
  • Branding: Replaces LL branding with my own. Different login page, checks for updates against my server.
  • Logging of the owner and location of speaking objects

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Version : 1.18.3.5.285, compiled on SL official viewer 1.18.3.5
  • Date : 09/30/2007
  • Status : Discontinued?

     

Henri Beauchamp Edition

Description

This viewer, codename "Cool SL Viewer" combines elements of several of the other viewers, as well as some extra patches very carefully tested.

Extra Features

  • Reverses many of the unpopular interface changes made in the transition to voice being standard (including reinstating the packet loss and bandwidth indicators, the old toolbar and buttons layouts, the old, more visible, status bar icons, and optionally reinstating the old, more visible, tracking dots in the mini-map).
  • Implements the "Restrained Life" API discussed more fully in the Marine Edition client (switchable and disbaled by default).
  • Allows to configure the date and time formats to match your locale or personal preferences.
  • Defines double-click default actions for many types of inventory.
  • Allows to optionally prevent IMs to show in the main chat.
  • Allows to optionally prevent notifications to show and be logged in the main chat.
  • Allows to hide the "Release Keys" and/or the "Master volume" in the panel overlay.
  • MUD/MUSH/MUCK/MU* style "poses" (i.e. you can type ":" instead of "/me " to emote), and OOC double parenthesis auto-close (i.e. you can type: "((phone, BRB" and it will show as "((phone, BRB))").
  • Allows to build and TP over 768m of altitude (and up to 4096m).
  • Allows to build large prims (up to 128m in any or all dimensions) on OpenSim (not on SL, because of server-side limitations).
  • Improved build tool floater (smaller increments in several parameters, extra "slice" parameter for some prims).
  • Allows to bulk-set permissions in an object (handy for scripters/builders).
  • Allows to connect to all existing grids (and not only LL's) from the login screen.
  • Implements a teleports history floater.
  • Implements a new "Worn" tab in the inventory floater.
  • Implements various backports for the v1.19.0.5 version (Mono compilation support, security fixes, etc).
  • Various patches by Nicholaz Beresford, Gigs Taggart, Blakar Ogre, McCabe Maxsted and others, fixing a lot of bugs and memory leaks.
  • More minor improvements, to be discovered on the website...

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Version : i686 1.19.0.5 CoolRelease 49 (stable viewer with legacy renderer)
  • Date : 2009/02/26
  • Version : i686 1.21.6.0 CoolRelease 16 (stable viewer with Windlight renderer)
  • Date : 2009/02/13
  • Version : i686 1.22.10.0 CoolRelease 1 (experimental viewer)
  • Date : 2009/02/26

   

  • Status : All Active

     

Imprudence

Usability, Stability, Flexibility

The Second Life Viewer suffers from a stifling atmosphere of non-change. This atmosphere emanates from Linden Lab, whose attitudes and policies discourage all but the smallest and most superficial improvements. This is the result of the nature of Linden Lab as a corporation, thus rendering Linden Lab ineffectual at dealing with the fundamental usability problems that plague the Viewer.

Description

The primary goal of Imprudence is simple: to greatly improve the usability of the Viewer. In particular, there are 3 aspects of usability that we intend to address:

  • Approachability. Improving comfort and ease of use, especially for new or non-technical users.
  • Efficiency. Improving speed and ease of common tasks and workflows.
  • Satisfaction. Improving the emotional effect of the software on the user.

This is not to minimize other aspects of usability, such as reliability, accessibility, or internationalization/localization. We recognize their importance, but lack the expertise to properly address them. We welcome people with such expertise to join the project and help.

Enhancing the flexibility of the viewer makes all other goals easier to achieve, and hence is a generic target. Client-side scripting is being investigated as an enabling technology in this area.

Note: This viewer is fully GPL compatible, so the Imprudence Project cannot ship the SLVoice module and its associated files. These can be added back from the official client for those needing voice. Check the Imprudence Project wiki for instructions.

Extra Features

  • Hidden prim parameters are exposed - you can slice/dimple boxes, pyramids, and other non-spherical prims.
  • Stability patches by Nicholaz.
  • Invite button in the Groups list, Teleport button in the IM window.
  • Inventory quickfilter and worn tab.
  • Build window math.
  • Many other usability improvements.
  • Full comparison vs. SL 1.21.6: http://imprudenceviewer.org/wiki/Release_Notes
  • Socket-connected plugins for language-agnostic client-side scripting are in the planning phase.

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Version : 1.1.0 RC1
  • Date : 02/03/2009
  • Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac (1.0)
  • Status : Active

     

Marine Edition

Description

This viewer, codename "RestrainedLife" is an attempt at enhancing the experience of people who practice BDSM in Second Life. It is used jointly with simple scripts made to use its features in-world, such as making an attached object undetachable, preventing chat and such. An API (Application Programming Interface, a text file) is provided so that every content creator can create their own scripts to interface their own items to the viewer and use its features.

Extra Features

  • Attachments can be made undetachable
  • Chat and IM prevention on demand, with exceptions if needed
  • Teleport and sit-tp prevention on demand, with exceptions if needed
  • Editing and Rezzing prevention on demand
  • Adding/Removing clothes on demand, + force remove clothes and force remove unlocked attachments
  • Force sit and prevent stand up (even after a relog) on demand
  • Manual (by IM) and automatic (by script) version checking
  • Force attach objects and outfits
  • API for content creators
  • And more...

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Version : 1.15 , compiled on SL official viewer 1.21.6(0)
  • Date : 11/30/2008
  • Status : Active

     

Nicholaz Edition

Description

These are Windows viewer based on SL builds with a focus on stability, usability and performance (see Installation.txt for homebrew disclaimer). Mac and Linux variants are available through other open sourcers (links on the website).

Extra Features

  • Improved stability
  • Lower memory footprint
  • GUI redesigns
  • Workarounds for common annoyances (Group IM Filtering, "Release Key" button, etc.)
  • see this entry for an overview of different versions

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Date : 05/12/2008
  • Status : Discontinued

     

Meerkat

Goals

  • To create a fully GPL viewer (no proprietary dependencies)
  • To encourage a community of developers that will submit patches for prompt integration
  • To have the freedom to make the sort of changes that Linden Lab has traditionally been unable to integrate (translation patches, refactoring, fixing intentionally crippled features, changes that touch many files)
  • To retain compatibility with Linden Lab's grid and protocols, present and future
  • To implement a loosely coupled cross-grid functionality that requires no central authentication authority.

Extra Features

  • Log out and back in without quitting
  • Loosely coupled intergrid teleport -- In Process
  • Most of the other changes common to third party viewers

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Date : 010/2008
  • Status : Active, but On-Hold Due to Funding Issues

     

Onrez Viewer

Description

The Onrez viewer was made by the Onrez company in connection with a Second Life themed story on the high tech forensics based TV show "CSI: New York".

Extra Features

  • A back and history button for teleports
  • In-viewer web browsing.

Links

Comment

The source code for this viewer is closed source.

Version and timestamp

  • Status : Discontinued ?

     

RealXtend Edition

Description

The realXtend viewer is a heavily modified version of the Linden Lab's Second Life client by a partnership of two Finnish companies, ADMINO technologies and LudoCraft.

Extra Features

   * Second life compatibility mode for use in SL and Opensim worlds
   * Teleports between realXtend and Secondlife

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Version : 0.3
  • Date : 07/28/2008
  • Status : Active

     

METAbolt

Text Based SL Viewer/Reader Edition

Description

METAbolt is a non-graphical (text based) viewer/reader. It is light weight and cross grid, which means it will work in Second Life as well as other grids that are based on OpenSIM. METAbolt is Open Source so it's free...it is built ground up using libopensv and it is not a modified version of the official SL viewer. Currently METAbolt is only available for Windows platforms.


METAbolt is ideal if:

  • the graphical viewers are not allowed at your work place
  • you have a low powered computer that has difficulty running the SL viewer
  • you have a low speed internet connection e.g. dial up/ISDN
  • you need to run multiple alts at the same time for land security, modelling, group management functions etc
  • you can't or don't want to run the SL viewer all the time but need the ability to stay online for communications or other reasons

Extra Features

Too many to be listed here! Here are just a few:

  • Ability to mass distribute products, objects, scripts etc
  • Ability to start multiple instances for different alts from a command and/or batch file
  • Auto log-in upon SL disconnect
  • Built in Machine Translation with 16 language pairs
  • Emoticons on chat & IM. Feature can be switched on/off
  • Land monitor: monitor parcels that are for sale on a SIM
  • Object Manager: Detailed object information & stats
  • (optional) Group Manager plug-in for sending direct group invites
  • Uses extremely low computing power and bandwidth
  • Displays advertising from various partners
  • One-to-One technical support via METAforums

Links

Version and timestamp

  • Version : 0.9.1.7 BETA (at the time this page was prepared)
  • Date : 11/30/2008
  • Platform: Windows Only
  • Status : Active
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