Kokua, New 3rd Party Viewer From Imprudence Team Based on Mesh-Compatible Viewer 2, Launches (With Aloha!)

Great news: The team behind Imprudence, the popular third party Second Life viewer (and TPV of choice for New World Notes), has just launched a new viewer project, code-named Kokua, which will use Second Life Viewer 2 as a codebase. "Kokua", which is the Hawaiian word for help, is in keeping with Imprudence's Hawaii theme, which started with the shaka sign of its logo. (Double disclosure: I suggested "Kokua" as an Imprudence project name, and I'm biased toward anything Hawaii.)

More significant is that Kokua is now the first third party viewer that's compatible with COLLADA mesh files, which depend on Viewer 2 to run. (At least that I'm aware of.) "If you are not a fan of the Viewer 2 user interface," Jacek Antonelli promises, "rest assured that we will be putting a lot of effort into making it more usable, and you will have plenty of opportunity to give us feedback about how it should be improved." Read much more here.

Image credit: AZCentral.com.

Comments

[Vax Sirnah]

Well, Kirsten is planning her viewer 21 which will support mesh, and the Phoenix team announced Firestorm a few days ago, their project to build a 2.0 based TPV. And Kokua hasn't released yet. So it may be a bit premature to declare it the first TPV with mesh.

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Game changer! Was just at Google 3D Warehouse the other day, looking at Collada files and seeing how I could get them to Jokaydia Grid.

Now we are a giant step closer.

[Peter Weiss]

More info about Project AURORA here:
http://sanctuary.psmxy.org/2010/10/31/18/introducing-aurora/
Impressive Feature List ..

RevolutionSmythe is now not only my PhysixxsGod in OSGRID but also my MainGod, besides the other DemiGod Devs at the Opensim Project .. lead by Coyled :-)

[Adeon Writer]

2.0 features on a viewer interface that looks like 1.x?

I'd move from Phoenix in an instant.

Good luck to Kokua.

[JustaBird]

1x UI on 2x code base is not going to happen. The underlying base is very different from 1x in that you can't do a 'cut and paste' job with it.

I have seen that discussed to death in the groups already-it aint' happening because it can't. People need to wrap their heads around that fact, get used to 2x and stop bitching already. Stop complaining about LL because the v2 based viewer is a reality and it is what is going to be required. GET USED TO IT.

I would surmise that 1x viewers are End of Life come January.

[Pathfinder Lester]

And don't forget, project Kokua also involves "Kokua Sim." You'll be able to easily set up your own OpenSim running on the same machine as the viewer. Easy way to run your own private virtual world.

And you'll be able to connect your world via Hypergrid to the constellation of interconnected OpenSim grids.

*That's* a real game-changer. :D

[Rin tae]

I have been waiting for when imprudence too announces a v.2 code based viewer project. With Kirsten already being on it and Phoenix having it announced for the first time long time ago actually the Imprudence devs have been running late with thier move.
Given the fact, that Kirstens viewer is v.2 based already it is safe to assume that it will be the first one with mesh operable in it, but I have no doubt that the other viewers will deliver their v.2 versions quickly. The Phoenix team has also posted a email address where people can send their suggestions for the UI and functions of the new viewer so I am very interested in what the result of this will be.

But anyway, with the move to v.2 only coming (and my suspicion is, that LL wanted to do it long time ago, but the reaction towards v.2 has delayed it) all viewers will have to change and I for one totally look forward to what the different developers will come up with.

[Metacam Oh]

Adeon Im not sure thats what they said, they said they are working on making it usable, not that it will be the old interface. I would love one of these TPV to add 2.0 features with a 1.x UI, I would download and that would be my main viewer. We have yet to see that though.

[JustaBird]

You know I totally respect the work that Kirsten has done with his viewer, however, it is not designed to run on vanilla hardware. This is where Imprudence will shine IMO.

I've used Imprudence for a very long time and I know they will deliver a good viewer-even if it takes a while to get one out the door.

Oh and about the 1x viewer thing-on the SL download page, the 1.23 viewer has been moved to a wiki page, no longer on the main page. The move is coming!

[Yordie Sands]

Bravo! This is very good news. I know it could be done, just wondered who would do it first. Now to test it out.

[Adeon Writer]

My mistake on my misunderstanding. 1.x interface on 2.0 is impossible? I don't think that's any barrier to development. I've seen the impossible done in code plenty of times that I don't even listen to that claim anymore. :P

One thing I know about design: It's a front-end. You can make a front-end that looks like whatevertheheck you want it to, given enough work.

[JustaBird]

@Adeon

Think of 1x viewers as building blocks you can put anything you want on there.

2x is more interconnected and tethered to a central type of thing-you can't change something without affecting or breaking it somewhere else. Ask any TPV developer you'd like, they will say that a 1x interface on a v2 viewer is not going to happen because of the cobbling they would have to do.

If anyone can make a 1x interface it would be LL to do it first simply because people there get paid to do that sort of thing. I don't believe any tpv dev is going to attempt it simply because of that reason and the huge amount of work involved.

I honestly believe that LL is heading toward a closed viewer. Give it a year..if anyone is still doing a tpv for SL (if they are even allowed!) I would be very surprised honestly.

[Nalates Urriah]

In the mailing list discussions with the Lindens it is obvious they will not be reverting to a series 1 UI but are open to importing parts of it functionality to the series 2 UI. As more and more people learn SLV2 interface I think TPV's & LL will build the better parts of series 1, 2 and new TPV ideas into a completely new UI.

Of more interest is that they are working toward making the SLV2 more modular and separating the render engine and other functional parts from the UI. It is not a top priority but more of a style of working so new stuff is supposed to be modular and problem fixes move things that direction. The result is the UI and functional parts will eventually allow TPV's to hook various UI's to the engine. I think we are likely to see several new UI as the new TPV's come out. then over time they will start to look similar.

Also the Kokua Simulator is a big step forward for OpenSim grids. I am told is compatible with OSGrid and other popular grids. I'm looking to see if I can move my OSGrid regions into Kokua software.

[Ron Overdrive]

@Pathfinder: The real game changer in that is that KokuaSIM/Aurora is doing something OpenSIM never did: allow viewer devs to contribute to server development. Expect more features and greater stability from KokuaSIM paired up with Kokua-compatible viewers on the Hypergrid.

[Melissa Yeuxdoux]

"2x is more interconnected and tethered to a central type of thing-you can't change something without affecting or breaking it somewhere else."

That is bad design, almost by definition. (The notions of cohesion and coupling were set forth by Constantine and Yourdon in 1976, probably before many of the programmers who worked on the V2 client were born, for heaven's sake.) At best, they get to do it over right (happy refactoring!); at worst, they live with an unmaintainable and unmodifiable pile of, um, code.

Sorry to repeat myself, but: SL needs to make it easy to select a UI, and for third parties to write UIs for it. Voice-controlled UIs or sip-and-puff UIs would lower barriers to using SL; controllerless UIs like Kinect would make SL more immersive (and maybe get us residents some needed physical actiity :)). LL wisely decided to allow mesh import rather than delay mesh until their depleted personnel could cobble something together that would reinvent the wheel badly-- while of course they have to provide at least one UI, they desperately need to make it possible for third parties to do UI development.