Make-over: the Viewer User Interface and Linden Communications
October 13, 2007 3:25 am
I’m sure by now you can not not know that the Sheep will release their own version of the Second Life client/viewer (have released? but where to fetch it?) But did you know the Lindens themselves are planning a Second Life viewer make-over too? From the wiki:
Project Description
This purpose of this project is to modernize the visual appearance of the Viewer User Interface. We will use the Viewer’s existing skinning hooks wherever possible, documenting and addressing technical blockers as required.
- Improve visual appearance with modern UI graphics and icons
- Improve discoverability through expanded use of iconography
- Improve approachability with a lighter, friendlier colour scheme
- Improve legibility by using dark text on light backgrounds
- Document technical limitations of current skinning capabilities
Honestly? I like the more modern graphics, but would not let a tear over the disappearance of the gradient on the buttons. It gives to much ‘3D’ to them, and as there are a lot of those buttons draws attention away to much from the actual ‘world view’. But could be that it / I just needs some ‘adjusting’ time. And do we really need toxic green for the snapshot icon? The treasure chest inventory icon is to much MMORPG and why change the ‘universal folder color’ to something that yellow? I love the mini-map icon, though. And must admit that overall it does look slick.
I was hoping that they would separate ‘communicate’ into ‘contacts’ and ‘groups’, but see no sign of that. :( Yet they do acknowledge some things need to be fixed, amongst others ‘VWR-2446 Viewer can’t display UI textures that aren’t in dimensions of powers-of-two‘. Woot! =)
Eventually, we’ll be able to make our own Second Life Viewer skins? It would be so utterly neat if they could make those skins ‘virtual goods‘. So you could shop in-world for a neat skin and pay for it with L$! The User Interface Roadmap looks like a good road to take. ;)
And I can’t help but notice a positive change in Linden communication habits too. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but still… Did you notice Ginsu Linden actually read the comments on an official blogpost, Hamilton Linden communicates what they are doing to get less inventory loss in stead of just saying inventory loss [resolved] - although this does not get me my throne back! :( - and they are consulting the Second Life Residents before taking a decision on such an important base material for building like huge prims. *joyfully claps her hands* Way to go, Linden Gods!
PS. Consider taking action to help safe our endangered huge prims!
17 Responses to “Make-over: the Viewer User Interface and Linden Communications”
Again, you might want to nudge your Human to take a look at the Nicholaz viewers. He very carefully introduced interface enhancements, and generally has a better grip on them as LL.
http://nicholaz-beresford.blogspot.com/
(Not to mention better performance and less crashes)
I agree with Peter. If you do not know Nicholaz yet, you should meet him and the Open Source Group at Hippotopolis. He continues to fix leaks and bugs in the viewer almost as fast as the Lindens create them. His viewers are considered a must use by thousands of SL users already.
There is also this.
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User_Interface_Improvements
I know about Nicholaz and his client (proof and here in the comments ;)). That I’m not using it atm, well… I have no excuse except stupidity. ;) I promise I’ll install the most recent version tomorrow. If I do not, may by cute scripted neko tail stop functioning!
Thank you, Frans. *goes to search for ‘order avatars on friend list in contact groups’ planned option* ;)
I’m liking the new look and I too really ought to switch to the Nicholaz viewer too, but I’m failing to see the ‘Make SL much more stable and smoother’ option in that list of things the new look will do…
Dammit LL, we want stability on the grid over everything else. This week’s Avastar features the story on the missing inventory items, which is something thats hit me too… They NEED to get this stuff sorted FIRST, then move on to making things prettier…
What they’re doing is painting a sinking ship so it looks fresher, not patching the leaks.
I used the nicholaz viewer until I switched to vista, started getting bugs.
@Amanda
I’d prefer they get content creation more ironed out. We’ve been nearly 5 years with diabolical uv maps and a poor scripting language.
I’m reminded of what was posted one time on the sl blog about why bugs aren’t fixed before new features come:
“Those are two seperate departments.”
I’ve been using the Nicholaz client for a while now, and I’ve been recommending it to basically everyone I know. I must sound like a Nicholaz evangelist by now. One great reason to switch: no Communicate window! That alone is worth the switch.
I like the change of colour… that old brown is too depressing for me… but, we need skinning option.
I’m sure if you got the open source code you could mod the ui in visual studio/delphi. Too much work for the result for me though.
Amanda, they started to - more decently - communicate about Inventory Loss already. So, maybe next step is completely - or more probably, almost completely - fixing it?
As for stability: we all dream of that! ;)
Katarina, that’s logical, no? They need one department to create the bugs, and one department to fix them. ;)
Yes vint, everyone knows communication is the quickest way to failing as an organization. Linden labs sure is on top of things.
Katarina, what do you mean? Not sure if your last comment is ironic or not. =d
Tongue could not be more in cheek.
Héhé, Tobie once explained that expression to me here on the blog:
For you non-native English speakers, it’s a figure of speech:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue-in-cheek
“Tongue-in-cheek is a term that refers to a style of humour in which things are said only half seriously, or in a subtly mocking way.”
But… still… can you be a bit more clear as to what you are actually trying to say? (Sorry, stupid, tired Vint today :d)
No problem sweety, I know sarcasm doesn’t translate well to text.
What I am saying is that linden labs at times even admits to a total lack of communication amongst the departments. Cannot possibly breed a constructive work environment.
That’s true. We can just hope if they are ‘working’ on communication towards the Residents, the same is true as it comes to internal communications?
[…] Today I was exploring the blogosphere about Second Life and found some interesting information about projects for the new User Interface (UI) of the Second Life Viewer. Specially good this post from Vint Falken. […]
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