MUVE Viewer - Firestorm
Who it is developed by?
The Firestom viewer is developed by The Phoenix Firestorm Project Inc, which is a non-profit organization lead by Jessica Lyon (better known as JessicaTrinity) who are dedicated to improving the MUVE experience with Firestorm.
What functionality it provides?
Firestorm is the successor to the now discontinued phoenix viewer. Firestorm "provides an advanced open source viewer with greater features, options and interface flexibility than the standard offering by Linden Lab's" [1] original Second Life viewer with its "enormous number of features, options and interface customization choices" [2]
Because of its large amount of customization and being built atop of the "Linden Lab V3 LGPL code base" a lot of hidden features from the Second Life viewer are more exposed and easier to find.
secret developer wireframe view should be used with caution, may induce nightmares
Settings and customization range from networking and connection configurations from something as simple as changing the color of the interface and chat fonts. As an example I used firestorm to make it easier to look around and traverse the expansive environments in Second Life to mirror the movement of a third person adventure game.
As of today Firestorm is still actively developed. Around 80 individual members, past and present have worked on the viewer in their own time. Active development ensures the best possible experience for users because it allows the community to report or request features to make the viewer even better, for example, if a bug is found or errors occur they can be reported and fixed.
How easy is it to use?
My first time on Second Life was with the Firestorm viewer and at first glance I was little bit overwhelmed with all the buttons scattered throughout the UI.
Taken from https://adamlanky.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/ass1-2-muve-viewers-1/ on 17/3/17
Over time menu navigation is no longer a problem when you know what you are looking for and where to find it.
The customization option really opens up opportunities to greatly fine tune any setting you could imagine, all they way from camera controls to UI elements. Speaking of UI elements,the only problem I ever encountered with Firestorm was my own doing. Messing the with the settings, more notably the GUI size, I managed to oversize the GUI, it became so big I was unable to change it back to its regular size because the apply button was off the screen. Whoopsies.
How it compares to others?
Firestorm is definitely a great choice whether you are a beginner like me or a veteran user, especially when you find yourself switching between Second Life and other MUVE's often. Functionality wise Firestorm is above the rest, providing you a plethora of settings to tweak to your liking.
Its obvious the amount of dedication and pride that went into the creation of firestorm. The team behind the viewer are very active in the community allowing them to receive as much feedback as possible to keep improving the viewer.
What your impressions of it are?
I cant imagine even touching another viewer when everything I need is in one package.
Its high customization is a key part to improving the user experience and that is why I think it is one of the best viewer available.