Sharpview release notes

Initial support for Open Simulator varregions. Region sizes up to 1024 meters square are supported. Larger regions will require a new ground mesh level of detail system. You can try regoins up to 2048 meters square, but loading will be slow and GPU memory may overflow. Tested successfully on OSGrid. Please test on other grids and report problems.

The Developer->Statistics menu will open a window with some performance graphs. These show the frame time, the worst frame time in the last second, the event queue backlog, and the asset queue backlog. If things are slow, open the statistics window and take a screenshot, please.

Fixes to the viewing frustum calcuation. The simulator needs to know what the user can see, because it sends far fewer movement updates for objects the user can't see. This is now in sync.

Developer->Unlock Camera from Avatar turns on a test mode which allows moving the camera around without moving the avatar. It's a debug tool for getting a close-up look at trouble spots. The world is not being updated based on the viewpoint, so you'll see some artifacts. It's not the same as normal "camming", which will be added later.

Second pre-alpha release for testing

April 20, 2023 - Version 0.4.2

This version supports log in, move, view, and local chat within a single region. Avatars are drawn as blocks.

Try this at a shopping event, where there are many shop windows. You'll get a sharp view of each display as you get close to it. No waiting.

This test release is being made available to a few volunteers for initial testing. Please do not re-distribute. Use a low-value alt account when testing.

Please try various flavors of Microsoft Windows - 7, 8, 10, 11, and report back. Final Windows 7, or anything later should work. If you have Windows 11 with the new Windows Sandbox, please try sandbox mode. Enable GPU sharing for the sandbox.

Fixes

This release adds a Linux version.
Open Simulator meshes are now displayed.

Limitations

You're in first person mode, with the camera at eye level, and can only walk. No teleports. It's rather immersive.
Clicking on objects does nothing yet. You can't open most doors without help from another avatar.
Objects move, but texture animatiion is not implemented yet.
No editing or building yet.
Open Simulator regions of non-standard sizes do not work yet.

Notes

The downloaded installer does a "local install", for the user doing the install only.
When logging in, select Home, Last, or Region to type in a region name. REGIONNAME/X/Y/Z works.
You can save your password for later logins by checking "Remember". (The password is stored in the standard Window or Linux password storage system.)
There are no user preferences yet other than the password, so you have to type in your user name every time.
The screen normally shows no menus. Move the mouse cursor to the top or bottom of the screen to see menus.
Chat locally by typing into the text box at the bottom of the screen.
Received chat appears in the "Message" box, along with various error messages.
Received IMs appear in the "Message" box too, but you can't send IMs yet.
When logging in, select Home, Last, or Region to type in a region name. REGIONNAME/X/Y/Z works.
Your password will be saved if you check the "Remember" box. It's stored in the platform's password storage system.
On Windows, the cache is in the place defined by the Windows KNOWN FOLDER API. On Linux, it's in ~/.cache/sharpview. Feel free to delete it if it gets large.
The cache is not cleared automatically. It just keeps growing, for now. The next release will limit the cache to 25GB.

Performance

Minimum GPU required is roughly an NVidia 1060 with 6 GB. Too small a GPU and the program will either abort or become very slow.
Normal performance is about 60 FPS with 200Mb/sec asset downloading. But not both at once. There's a lock conflict in the WGPU cross platform graphics library which is preventing full concurrent updates to the scene.

Reporting problems

Email to info@animats.com
If you get a crash, a dialog should pop up with debug info. Please take a screenshot of that. (Copying and pasting will not work.)
In the menus, Help->About will provide version information.
There is currently no automated error reporting. This version does not "phone home" at all.
Please use a low-value alt account when testing this viewer. We will not be responsible for avatar or account damage. It shouldn't do anything harmful.

Tenth pre-alpha release for testing

Ninth pre-alpha release for testing

Eighth pre-alpha release for testing

Seventh pre-alpha release for testing

Sixth pre-alpha release for testing

Fifth pre-alpha release for testing

Fourth pre-alpha release for testing

Third pre-alpha release for testing