⚠️ Kirstens Viewer — README

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🖥️ About This Viewer

Kirstens Viewer is a maintained fork of the official Second Life Viewer. It prioritizes fidelity, performance, and compatibility with modern Windows systems.

• Optimized for modern multi-core CPUs (AVX2); target audience: high-end PCs & technical users
• Modern C++: replacing legacy code
• Unique build system: modern vcpkg / PowerShell solution
• Functionality aligns with official viewer for consistent user experience

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⚖️ Legal & Compliance

Not affiliated with Linden Lab. Users must adhere to the Second Life Terms of Service.

This software is provided "as is" with no warranty. You assume all risk of use and agree that the Kirstens Viewer team is not liable for any loss or disruption caused by use of this software.

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🔒 Privacy Features

Kirstens Viewer respects user privacy and disables the following components by default:

• 🚫 Background Updater
• 🚫 Metrics Collection
• 🚫 Crashlogger

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💬 Message from Kirstenlee

Thank you for your time and interest.
Best wishes always,
Kirstenlee Cinquetti

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🏗️ Build History

Build	Codename	Version
2182	OTHAN	S24.1
2342	DRIF	S24.2
2527	FARA	S24.3
2700	SJAANDI	S24.4
3075	VETR	S24.5
3220	LYSI	S24.6

Forked from Viewer Develop / 2026.1.1

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✨ Change Log (Concise)

🚀 New Features

• Updated Skin System (S24.6): Added a full new skin with new selector, icon refreshes, and updated branding across Azure 2.0/linden++/midnight and New Lysi variants. Visual menu system with toggleable icons for enhanced customization.

• Rendering and Visual Pipeline Upgrades: Major work on shadows, SSAO, water SSR tuning, motion blur controls, tonemap expansion, and Anaglyph 3D v10.x evolution. Enhanced cascade shadow system with underwater space optimizations and configurable controls. Dynamic light culling with performance tweaks for improved rendering efficiency.

• Performance and Hot-Path Optimization: Continued CPU/GPU hot-path tuning, shader and text rendering optimization, reduced matrix/sample churn, and targeted fixes for expensive particle and shadow scenarios. Empty render pool skip and vertex buffer enhancements. Hysteresis band system prevents object pop-in/out thrashing at draw distance edge (complements autotune). Spam reduction and general optimization improvements.

• Experimental Caching Architecture: Introduced and iterated experimental L1 RAM caches for object/texture workflows, with safer VO cache handling and a dedicated cache statistics floater. Cache rotation settings now adjustable from 1-72 hours (24 hour default) for more sensible RAM cache management.

• UI/UX Improvements and Restored Power Features: Added Quick Chat, Enhanced Profiles metadata panel, expanded KV tweak controls, and multiple preference/UI correctness fixes. S24-centric UI improvements with better organization and visual clarity. Improved URL coloring scheme. Enhanced scene view statistics display.

• Pro Camera Tools: Advanced camera system with decoupling from UI during recording sessions, playback, and loop modes. Professional-grade camera controls for content creators and cinematographers.

• Enhanced Audio System V2: Complete audio overhaul with selectable audio engine, metadata support, and graphic EQ. Improved spatial audio, performance optimizations, and new audio mute toggle for collision sounds, providing better control over sound environment.

• Developer and Debugging Tools: Fast timer console with mouse position tracking featuring RTDSC timer-based profiling (no PROFILE mode needed). Repaired and enhanced inbuilt debug console. Improved memory console with better diagnostics. Enhanced texture console for asset debugging.

• Chat, Name Tag, and Social Fixes: Group chat selective mute behavior matured, underwater nametag visibility was corrected, and several messaging/search/content-rating label issues were resolved.

• Stability, Security, and Log Noise Reduction: Broad cleanup to suppress spurious warnings, remove noisy console paths, improve defensive handling in key systems, and reduce avoidable runtime churn.

• Build and Toolchain Modernization: Significant CMake overhaul with vcpkg zlib naming convention updates, migration from legacy Python automation to PowerShell tooling, expanded vcpkg usage, cleanup of obsolete binaries/scripts, and improved Windows build ergonomics.

• Forward-Looking DXRender Foundation (Experimental): Added early DirectX rendering scaffolding and shader baselines as a side-track foundation for future rendering R&D.

• GLTF Improvements: Enhanced GLTF support with better settings persistence and import/export tweaks for improved 3D asset workflow.

• Internal Platform and Data Path Fixes: Included targeted fixes such as LLJointData initialization from avatar skeleton data and additional low-level correctness updates across core subsystems. XML settings updates for S24 configuration management.

Binaries signed: Codesign Serial: 4e2969400a179e151ba7323da181f8b0

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📬 Footer

Kirstens Viewer is independently developed. For support, build reports, or contributions, please use the designated contact channels.
Special thanks to SourceForge for hosting this project and supporting the open source community.

"I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something." — Richard P. Feynman