Firestorm update: Linden Lab is still tweaking the PBR lighting issue upstream.

We’ve got another quick update from Firestorm. Project Leader Beq, there are reports that the alpha version of the viewer incorporating PBR displays objects too brightly. Beq says the problem is being addressed by Lindens.

"Visuals are still being tweaked upstream (Linden Lab). Ultimately, the lab will pursue that agenda because it makes absolutely no sense for one viewer to render a scene differently. Poor creators will have kittens." (IE, panic.)

"The current release notes say, ‘Yes, it’s so depressing. There remains a ‘known issue’ stating that ‘we are working on it’. When examining the differences between Linden Lab and Firestorm side by side in terms of lighting, identical settings on identical hardware should disappear once the upstream changes stabilize and reach us."

IE, PBR will run fine in Firestorm once Lindens fixes the known issues.

In response to this, long-time SLer Estelle Pienaar said that adding PBR could create a gap between existing Second Life users who can afford to upgrade/purchase a new device and those who cannot.

(1) PBR cannot be turned off like advanced lighting. It’s PBR or nothing.

(2) I think turning off all the bells and whistles of the new graphics settings still provides a much better experience than before on low-end PCs.

(3) Previous versions of PBR ran significantly faster on all PCs tested. The current version of LL seems bloated and unoptimized, as it suddenly runs slower than before. I hope this is resolved in the next update.

(4) Items 2 and 3 will solve most problems for low-memory PCs, but for older laptops, you can still buy additional RAM for a very cheap price.

(5)I don’t think development can be delayed because some users want to continue using settings that are more than 15 years old. Perhaps these people will also be able to use mobile viewers in the future.

I think that’s right! For this reason, we see many veteran SLers switching to mobile!