Viewer comparison
Three ways in.
One grid.
Firestorm is the desktop viewer most OpenSim residents already know. WolfViewer is our build of that same Firestorm, tuned for Wolf Territories Grid and carrying everything we have added since. WolfStorm is our own viewer, written from scratch, that runs in a browser tab.
All three log into the same world with the same avatar, inventory, chat and voice. This page is the honest, row-by-row account of what each one does.
At a glance
The three viewers
The standard desktop viewer
Firestorm
Made by the Firestorm team for Second Life and OpenSim. Install it, add our grid address, and log in.
- Version
- 7.2.4
- Runs on
- Windows, Mac, Linux
- Built by
- The Firestorm team
Best if you already run Firestorm for other grids and want one viewer for everything.
Firestorm website (opens in a new tab)Firestorm, tuned for this grid
WolfViewer
The same Firestorm 7.2.4, pre-set to Wolf Territories Grid, with voice working out of the box and every Wolf feature below built in.
- Version
- 7.2.4-w65, 11 Oct 2026
- Runs on
- Windows, Mac, Linux
- Built by
- Us, from the Firestorm source
Best for the full desktop experience here: building, RLVa, every preference, plus the sea, the weather, the vehicle dashboards and the flight deck.
Download WolfViewerOur own viewer, in a browser tab
WolfStorm
Written from the ground up in JavaScript and WebGL. Nothing to install: open the link, log in, and you are in-world.
- Version
- Updated 9 Oct 2026
- Runs on
- Chrome, Edge or Brave; phones and tablets too
- Built by
- Us, from scratch
Best for instant access, phones and tablets, classrooms and locked-down machines, and trying VR.
Launch WolfStorm (opens in a new tab)
Feature by feature
What each viewer does
- Has it
- Has it, with a note
- Does not have it
| Feature | Firestorm | WolfViewer | WolfStorm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Getting in | |||
| Runs in a browser tab, nothing to installOpen a link and log in. | No | No | Yes |
| Desktop install for Windows, Mac and Linux | Yes | Yes, with a note:Windows installer, Mac disk image for Intel and Apple Silicon, Linux archive | Yes, with a note:Not needed |
| Pre-set to Wolf Territories GridLog straight in, no grid address to paste. | Yes, with a note:Add the grid yourself | Yes | Yes |
| Other OpenSim grids | Yes | Yes, with a note:Grid manager; Wolf Territories stays the default | Yes, with a note:Grid picker on the login screen; add your own |
| Installs alongside your existing FirestormIts own settings and cache, so nothing you use today is touched. | No | Yes | Yes, with a note:Nothing is installed |
| Works on locked-down school and work machinesNo admin rights needed. | No | No | Yes |
| Phones and tabletsTouch controls come up on a touch-screen device. | No | No | Yes |
| Always on the current build | Yes, with a note:Download each update | Yes, with a note:Updates itself on Windows and Linux; on a Mac it opens the new disk image | Yes, with a note:Refresh the page |
| Free to use | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Source code on GitHub | Yes | Yes | No |
| Look and feel | |||
| WolfGlass dark slate and lime skinMatches wolf-grid.com, translucent floaters. | Yes, with a note:Firestorm's own skins | Yes, with a note:Default; switch back in Preferences › Skins | Yes, with a note:Default glass theme |
| Transporter teleportA shower of light around the avatar; the world stays visible instead of a progress screen. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Analogue joysticks for camera and movementThe knob follows your finger or mouse; push further to move faster. | Yes, with a note:Arrow buttons | Yes | Yes, with a note:Mouse or touch |
| Water and terrain | |||
| Real waves on the waterSwell as geometry, not a flat plane with a normal map. | Yes, with a note:Flat plane, normal-map shading | Yes | Yes |
| Sea state from the region's own environment settingsHeight, wavelength and direction follow the region. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Spectral wind sea (FFT) with whitecapsWind waves and chop computed on the GPU every frame. | No | Yes | Yes, with a note:Needs a WebGL2 GPU with float render targets |
| Shore-aware waterBreakers steepen as they shoal, swash pulses up the beach, rivers and harbours stay calm. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Underwater: Snell's window, sunlight shafts, caustics | No | Yes | Yes, with a note:Sunlight shafts in 2D mode only |
| Boat wash and wakePropeller wash, Kelvin V and bow churn stamped into the water. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Boats rock on the waterHulls bob and tilt with the swell they are sitting on; riders come along. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Water on any prim described "wolfwater"A builder types one word and the prim's top face becomes water. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Natural waterStreams along the terrain's drainage lines, pools in its hollows, from the heightmap. | No | Yes, with a note:On by default | Yes, with a note:On by default |
| Enhanced terrainPer-pixel composition, snow in high hollows, cliffs sampled triplanar. | No | Yes, with a note:Off by default | Yes, with a note:Off by default |
| Environment day cycles and the region's shared environment | Yes | Yes | Yes, with a note:Sunrise, noon, sunset, midnight and the shared region environment |
| PBR materials | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Draw distance up to 1024 m | Yes | Yes, with a note:Up to 4,096 m | Yes, with a note:Default 256 m, up to 1024 m |
| Linden trees and grass | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Graphics preset chosen for your GPU | Yes, with a note:On first run | Yes, with a note:On first run | Yes, with a note:At every start, with live tuning when the frame rate drops |
| Graphics HelperShows what looks wrong, a switch per graphics feature, and a file to send us. | No | Yes | No |
| Weather and sky | |||
| Jimmy Olsen's Automatic EnvironmentRegion owners pick a real place on Earth and its sun, moon, clouds and weather follow it live. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Real moon and starsThe moon in its true phase and a real star map, with constellations to show. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Region weather: rain, snow, fog and thunderstormsSet by the region, a parcel or a script. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Photo EffectsSepia, Noir and painter styles such as Van Gogh and Monet, in snapshots too. | No | Yes | Yes |
| See to the horizon when you flyFar land in relief, the sea to the true horizon, the sky thinning to space as you climb. | No | Yes | No |
| Getting around | |||
| 3D terrain mini-map | Yes, with a note:2D | Yes, with a note:Default; 2D toggle in the mini-map menu | Yes |
| 3D terrain view on the world mapOrbit the region's terrain and double-click to teleport. | No | No | Yes |
| Globe world mapZoom out and the map becomes a globe you can spin. | No | Yes | Yes |
| My Suitcase on hypergrid tripsLandmarks made on other grids are kept, and what you pick up comes home into your normal folders. | No | Yes | No |
| Invisible ModeAppear offline to friends, instant messages and friend requests. | No | Yes | No |
| Favourites bar, landmarks and teleport history | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chat translatorIncoming and outgoing chat and IM. | Yes, with a note:Needs your own Google, Azure or DeepL key | Yes, with a note:Built in, no key needed | Yes, with a note:Built in, no key needed |
| Music stream titles and album covers | Yes, with a note:Stream Title window; titles never arrived in the OpenSim build | Yes, with a note:Titles fixed; album covers opt-in | No |
| Avatar, building and everything else | |||
| Mesh bodies, attachments, outfits and the appearance editor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Animation Override (AO) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Full inventory, with drag-to-give in IMs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Radar and nearby people | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Profiles with picks and classifieds | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Building and edit tools | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI script writer and AI modelsDescribe a script or an object and it is written or built for you, paid in Wolf Credits. | No | Yes | Yes |
| AI builder: buildings up to whole regionsDescribe it and add a picture; paid in Wolf Credits. | No | No | Yes, with a note:Build › AI |
| Terrain paintPaint roads, tracks and water onto the ground. | No | Yes | Yes |
| LSL script editor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mesh, texture, animation and sound upload | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Region and estate tools | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lag DetectorFor region owners: what is slowing the region down, in plain words. | No | Yes | Yes |
| WatchWolfFor region owners: everyone on your regions, with IM, eject, ban and teleport. | No | Yes | No |
| RLVa | Yes | Yes | No |
| Every Firestorm preference, floater and phototool | Yes | Yes | Yes, with a note:The core set |
| Voice, media and VR | |||
| Voice through WolfVoice (WebRTC)Positional voice; you hear people where they stand. | Yes, with a note:Current 7.x build; see the Voice FAQ | Yes, with a note:Out of the box, with the fix for 7.2.4's WebRTC start-up failure on OpenSim | Yes, with a note:Yes, including in VR |
| Media on a prim and audio streams | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Share your screen onto a primShow a screen or window to everyone in the room. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Dictate chat and have chat read aloudSpeech to text, and text to speech. | No | Yes | Yes, with a note:Opt-in, in Preferences › Wolfstorm |
| Voice stays connected when you cross regions or teleport | No | Yes | Yes |
| Radio StationsGenres, featured Wolf Territories stations and presets for your land's music. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Wolf DJ and Talk Show deskA mixing desk that streams live to your own radio stream. | No | Yes | No |
| VR headset (WebXR: Quest, Vive, Index) | No | No | Yes, with a note:Early days: it works, performance is still improving |
| Vehicles and games | |||
| Car, truck and bike dashboardsSpeedometer, rev counter and gears; wheel, pedals or gamepad. | No | Yes | Yes |
| Flight Mode and Sailing ModeA flight deck and a ship's deck, with an autopilot to any region. | No | Yes, with a note:Takes off by itself | Yes, with a note:No automatic take-off |
| Speedboat, spaceship and submarineTheir own helms and displays, with a rocket mode and sonar. | No | Yes | No |
| Airports window and Tower VoiceFind an airport, teleport or fly there; the tower talks you in. | No | Yes | No |
| Wolf Roleplay Game ModeHealth, stamina, an action bar, weapons and a bag on game regions. | No | Yes | Yes |
Compared on 13 October 2026 against Firestorm 7.2.4, WolfViewer 7.2.4-w65 and WolfStorm as of 9 October 2026. Most of the Wolf rows need Wolf Territories Grid; on other grids those switch off and WolfViewer behaves like Firestorm. WolfViewer is built from the Firestorm source, so anything Firestorm can do, WolfViewer can do too. The water, terrain and interface rows are ported between WolfViewer and WolfStorm with the same numbers in both, so a marina, a shoreline or a teleport looks the same whichever you use.
Which should I use?
A short answer
Pick Firestorm when
- • You already run it for other grids and want one viewer.
- • You do not mind adding our grid address by hand.
Pick WolfViewer when
- ✓ You want everything Firestorm does, set up for this grid in one click.
- ✓ You are building, scripting, or want RLVa and every preference.
- ✓ You want the real sea, the weather and the glass skin on the desktop.
- ✓ You fly, sail or drive: the flight deck takes off by itself, and the speedboat, spaceship and submarine are desktop only.
Pick WolfStorm when
- ✓ You want in now, with nothing to install.
- ✓ You are on a school, college or work machine.
- ✓ You are on a phone or tablet.
- ✓ You want the AI builder, or to try a VR headset.
It is not a one-way door. All three talk to the same grid and share the same voice, so plenty of people use WolfViewer at home and WolfStorm wherever they happen to be.
Ready when you are
You need a Wolf Territories Grid avatar for any of them, and that is free.