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Second Life Finally Gets Physically Based Rendering — Latest Update to Modernize the OG Metaverse Platform

PBR Second Life launchAbove: PBR-enabled content from TS-Creations

After many months of anticipation, it's finally here — Physically Based Rendering (PBR) is expanding across the main grid of Second Life:

PBR is a richer way of specifying the surface of an object that better simulates how objects appear in real life. PBR allows for realistic lighting for metals, plastics, leather, fabric, and more, including realistic reflections and bounce lighting.  The Second Life Viewer will now be able to display these more realistic-appearing objects in world, as well as allow creators to include this more advanced information in the object texturing.

Watch the developer tutorial below! This is only the latest major update to bring Second Life into the modern era in addition to the mobile app announcement.

That's actually on top of features promised a couple weeks ago that will enable better simulation/game development — game controls, scripts to improve projectiles (i.e. bullets) and healing:

 

Second Life combat fan? Oh yeah, we got some useful new LSL features which will be rolling out to the grid in the coming weeks.

llRezObjectWithParams is a new LSL function that allows a script to rez objects with more control and parameters than plain llRezObject. For example, you could set the damage, velocity, collision sound and other properties in order to create a scriptless projectile. This should be tremendously helpful for weapons in Second Life, and any other application that requires rezzing script-free objects.

A small but significant new feature: you will soon be able to set a "negative damage" using llSetDamage or llRezObjectWithParams value in order to create projectiles that heal people when they collide. Good for the medics and lovers among us.

More here. Put this all together, and it's easy picture Second Life game experiences featuring combat in vehicles, healers able to help the wounded, people playing on mobile and consoles — and their explosions glittering PBR-ishly across nearby surfaces. 

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4 responses to “Second Life Finally Gets Physically Based Rendering — Latest Update to Modernize the OG Metaverse Platform”

  1. 0xC0FFEA Avatar
    0xC0FFEA

    No one asked for PooBeeAaarrr or what ever that is, they asked for mirrors. So .. this change is going to come with a bump. People need to start testing now and not wait for firestorm to release it.
    Better SL bullets doesn’t change that were trying to shoot each other on a 100% server side platform and latency makes the whole adventure a laughable joke. Fun .. but .. yeah, it can’t hold a candle to 20 year old dos games let alone modern stuff.
    SL damage has one purpose and it’s not combat. Combat that teleports players “home” when they die is junk, means you have to set home to the game areas spawn point. No one uses SL damage for combat. They use it as a way to eject people without having parcel powers. A healing function has no function in that use case.
    We’ve needed (and been asking for) something to set the respawn point for 20 years, given up entirely and scripted dozens of combat systems that track damage internally. These are now very mature.

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  2. 0xC0FFEA Avatar
    0xC0FFEA

    Just to follow up … so no one thinks I’m being hyperbolic.
    https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Damage
    “When a parcel is set to “Damage”/”Not Safe”, Residents can be “harmed” on that parcel.”
    “Residents take damage from collisions with physical objects. Once the Resident’s energy reaches 0%, s/he’s teleported back to their home destination. Residents cannot permanently die in Second Life.”
    “…..If damage is greater than 100.0, it will instantly “kill” the agent.”

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  3. Isabella Avatar
    Isabella

    Coming too late.
    mobile app? why not VR app??

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  4. Estelle Pienaar Avatar
    Estelle Pienaar

    I am looking forward to PBR. It looks great. But a lot of people don’t want any change to what they are used to. They have switched of “deferred rendering” even if their computers are well capable of these improved features. Because they want their SL to look exactly like it looked when they joined in 2008. These people will be crying and protesting. Nothing that can be done about it.

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