Updates, Errata and News

Updates and Errata

I expect the following minor product updates to be in vendors this weekend.  Sadly, my expectations around product dates frequently aren't met, but I will do my best on these.

Mesmerizer 1.6.2

Firstly, an unscheduled Mesmerizer update: 1.6.2.   This mini-release fixes a bug that caused the setvarex command to silently fail (big thanks to Allison from Trance Lab for bringing this to my attention), and it also provides some support functionality needed by an upcoming product - the CHAOS RoboCollar, described below.

The Enforcer 1.1.1

Another minor update, this time just to add a times operator to The Enforcer's expression language.  times simply treats its two arguments as integers, and multiplies them together.  This enhancement will also be in the Mesmerizer expression language in Mesmerizer 1.6.2. 

CHAOS Owner HUD 1.0.1

This update adds the "find" functionality to locate items in the wearer's #RLV folder, and removes the annoying message when you click the HUD somewhere other than a button.

News

I have been working on several collar-related projects recently.  I first created a collar that works with the Mesmerizer a couple of years ago but never turned it into a product.  Now, though, I'm going to start releasing some of those projects, the first one being the CHAOS RoboCollar.

Collars in SL serve a variety of different purposes, and I intend to reflect this in the CHAOS collar range.  The simplest type of collar is similar to a real-world BDSM collar, and is primarily a symbol of ownership, perhaps with a secondary function of providing somewhere to attach a leash.  A basic collar like this can use the Mesmerizer to provide almost all its functionality.  More complex collars may have additional features, and could also provide a simple menu interface to some relevant Mesmerizer commands.

The RoboCollar is a sci-fi collar, intended to be used within cyborg roleplay.  The reason I chose this collar as the first release is that it's the most feature-rich collar that I've been working with.  Other collars, to be released later, will be implemented as cut-down versions of the RoboCollar, omitting those features that don't make sense in a given collar.

Here are the features currently planned (and mostly implemented) for the CHAOS RoboCollar:

• Usual SL collar features including leashing and quick access to all the animations installed in the Mesmerizer.
• Both menu-driven and traditional command-line user interfaces.
• "Holographic" label, supporting multi-line text with the ability to change fonts.  Additional font-packs will be available for a nominal charge, but it's quite easy to create your own.
• The concept of a "home" location, with the ability to teleport the wearer to their home.
• "Power off" and "Freeze" modes, with separately configurable restrictions and animations. These generate new Mesmerizer events: on-power-off, on-power-on, on-freeze, and on-unfreeze.
• Battery support, with automatic power-off when charge becomes critically low, and optional delayed automatic TP home on battery-out.  Power-out generates a Mesmerizer event on-power-out, and an Enforcer Event PowerOut. A couple of battery charging stations are planned - one for wireless charging, and one that requires the wearer to sit in the charger.
• Synchronized trance support, so that the wearer's trances can be visible in-world.  The collar projects a holographic spiral (showing the same spiral that the wearer is seeing), and this in-world spiral contains the CHAOS trance relay functionality, so that trance text can be seen in-world (if publictext is enabled).
• Display of current status, battery charge, etc on the front of the collar, and also (for the wearer) via a CHAOS Utility HUD, which can also be programmed to issue self-triggers and RLV commands for the wearer's own use.  This allows you, for instance, to create simple pushbutton commands to do things like lock and unlock your hair, or switch between the relay modes that the owner has given the wearer access to.

All access control is via the Mesmerizer.  Only those listed as Owner in the Mesmerizer's Access notecard have access to the collar.

The collar is implemented as a PAN device (actually a pair of PAN devices "collar" and "titler"), and while you can use the low-level PAN commands to drive the collar, the expectation is that you will use the two Mesmerizer plugins that come with it.  One plugin supports a command-line interface (defining collar and collar2 commands), and the other layers a menu-driven UI on top of the command-line interface.  The collar and collar2 commands (and the PAN interface) are accessible remotely (as are all Mesmerizer commands), while the menu-driven collar UI only works locally.

Future

The next (full) release of the Mesmerizer will almost certainly be a performance enhancement.   The experience I gained from re-factoring The Enforcer convinces me that I can significantly improve the Mesmerizer's performance through similar techniques.  This will be a non-trivial project, which is why I want to release Mesmerizer 1.6.2 with enough support for the new RoboCollar before embarking on refactoring the Mesmerizer.

I'm also still planning the Scheduler and Trance Engine controllers for The Enforcer, as well as an update to the Noise-Cancelling Headset, but those will likely have to wait until the RoboCollar is released.  

A longer-term project that's been on the back-burner for some time is a pose-engine designed specifically for bondage furniture, plus one or two individual furniture items that use the engine.  Almost all Second Life bondage furniture is built using one of a small number of multi-pose furniture engines, and these general-purpose engines are a poor fit for bondage furniture.  I will expand on this in a future post, going into more detail on what I see as the problem(s) with current furniture, and the proposed solution that I've been working on.