Day: September 23, 2010

More on Mesh

Posted on by Inara Pey

An interesting forum thread has opened on the subject of mesh buildings. This is a subject close to my heart, as I’m a prim builder, and while I think that mesh will be a major boon to Second Life, it will not come without cost to many (including myself).

The thread contains much that is of interest – including much of what still has to be decided and insight into just how thorny an issue mesh is likely to prove in the technical side alone. It also contains a few hard-to-swallow but entirely fair home truths for those in the same boat as myself and find the whole world of 3D rendering a confusing morass of tools, terms and concepts.

I’d still like to try and dip my toe into the waters of mesh; I’ve even downloaded Blender…but I have to admit, that having looked at it (and remember that while I sometimes talk the talk, I am not a technical person in any way, shape size or form – I just (usually) learn quickly) – I can well understand the comments from the OP in the thread when he states, “On to Blender. First, you make your structure….Next, apply materials to your model. This is where you start swearing at Blender….Then you texture your model. This is where you abandon your will to live….”

My only difference of opinion with his view is that after commenting, “First, you make your structure”, he added “This is the easy part”, – something I found anything but, despite pouring over an on-line tutorial. Thus, I instead opted to skim through the swearing part and settle on the losing the will to live before spending an hour under my desk cuddling my (rather bewildered) cat…

Even so, for those interested in mesh, the thread is well worth a read; it may well answer many of your questions.

Avatars disunited

Posted on by Inara Pey

A semi-interesting e-mail pinged up this evening, thus:

Dear Avatars United Member,

In January of this year, Linden Lab purchased Avatars United for its underlying social technology and to integrate powerful social networking capabilities into the Second Life experience.

Today, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue Avatars United and will be taking down the site on September 29, 2010. Over the next week, we encourage you to save any pieces of content (such as pictures, friend’s names, etc.) that you want to keep. We will also soon update you on your AU Coin refund, if you have an account balance.

Over the two and a half years since launching Avatars United, we have welcomed avatars from many virtual worlds and MMOs to connect on our platform as the only social network catering to the needs of virtual identities. We are proud to have served those needs and honoured to have shared this journey with you all.

Going forward, pieces of the Avatars United technology will be integrated into the Second Life platform to support a richer, and more dynamic, community experience. Read more about these efforts on theSecond Life blog.

Thank you for being a member of the Avatars United community, and part of the Second Life family.
Sincerely,

The Avatars United/Second Life Team

Am I surprised? No. Even at the height of the Mark Kingdon “inspired” (if wrongly attributed) push that “SL = Facebook = SL”, the purchase of Avatars United seemed a little odd, even for Linden Lab, despite the latter suffering an identity crisis of its own at the time.

While there was some potential for Avatars United to enhance Second Life, the fact remains that it always was the square-peg-meets-round-hole situation for Linden Lab in terms of offering those of us already engaged in Second Life with anything truly beneficial. Similarly, as a marketing tool to draw others involved in on-line games into Second Life, its value was perhaps less than useful.

That LL had no idea as to what they should do with their new shiny once they had it was perhaps most clearly indicated by the massive flurry of Linden activity over on AU that dropped off faster than a rock disappearing over the cliff as the novelty of the new toy wore off to be replaced by the taxing question, “OK, so we’ve got it, not what do we actually do with it?” In fairness LL were not alone; the number of us who probably did the same is likely to be legion.

I’m actually surprised that AU has lasted this long; to be honest, I can’t even bid it a fond farewell.

All change…again…

Posted on by Inara Pey

Yep…I’ve moved. Again.

Santos Isle, the last home location was comfortable, but suffered in two major respects: it was east facing (and I prefer sunsets to sunrises) and the sim itself suffered from the arrival of a *huge* Ozimal bunny farm and a skyhome rental business, both of which impacted the sim – and our privacy – in various adverse ways. Still, when you are opting to live on a unzoned sim, you have to take some of the rough with the smooth.

The new sim is also unzoned, so carries with it some of the same risks inherent with Santos Isle- but its scores in that the parcel is west-facing, and the sim has fewer parcels overall, the majority of which are well-settled.

A third benefit is that the sim is not themed as a sandy tropical island. For me this is important because for a while now I’ve wanted to do something different in terms of living space, and sandy islands, nice though they are, don’t fit the bill environment-wise.

In this latter regard, I have to admit to being influenced by two things: my love for and of Sri Lanka, where a lot of the architecture – particularly as designed by the late Geoffrey Bowa – blends beautifully with the environment (and in some cases works with the environment) – and also the home of my very close friend Ari.

Even so, getting something built at the new place was harder than I’d expected – as several friends are aware. Normally when I have an idea for a place it’s move in, build, settle. No this time: after moving on a Sunday, it was not until the following Wednesday night that I finally got things sorted to a point where I feel comfortable with the new home; in between lay close to 20 builds that were started and abandoned as I tried to make what I had in mind fit the irregular shape of the new parcel.

The new layout features a couple of houses – one for myself, one for Kelly and Vina – and this time I’ve been able to work in some other features I’ve missed recently from other homes in SL – notably a pool area and a “dance floor”.

The houses are an identical build – possibly the first development of an idea I still have in the back of my mind and have yet to achieve – and draw heavily on the aforementioned influences from both Sri Lanka and Ari’s own home, from which I’ve borrowed the same basic concept, and very much hope she won’t mind me doing so; this is the first build I’ve made in SL that is so clearly drawn from the work of another builder.

The house is a simple split-level affair, built back into a hill, with the emphasis on blending with the surroundings. Finished in natural woods and more earthy colours and draped with vines, the house has an open aspect lounge area with a staircase leading to a galleried bedroom. Windows are entirely absent from the build, leaving it open to the  wooded surroundings, which I hope – as with Ari’s design from which this is drawn, gives an entirely natural feel – albeit one with more “traditional” living than her own outstanding build, which draws nature directly into the house itself.

The Sri Lankan influence is present in that many hotels and houses there have similar areas that are both open to the surrounding environs, while maintaining a high level of comfort for those using them – and I was hard-pushed not to include a “traditional” Sri Lankan-style open shower area that I’ve enjoyed in places such as the Deer Park and Saman Villas.

A more obvious Sri Lankan influence – or more correctly, a small homage to Geoffrey Bowa  – is in the “infinity”-style swimming pool I added to the west edge of the land. I first encountered such a pool at the magnificent Kandalama Hotel, near Dambulla in February 2000; and quickly learned that such pools  – whether for swimming or as ornamental focal points – are a trademark feature of Bowa designs across the island. It’s always something I’ve wanted to re-create in-world, if only on a personal level, and I’ve rather pleased with the way this particular pool turned out…

Alongside the pool, set back into the treeline, is something else I’ve missed from recent SL homes: a modest dance area. Comprising a flat rock, with lanterns hanging from overhead branches, and spacing hopefully suited to camming, this is a part of the new home that I very much hope will see a lot of use in the future; a place for friends to come and socialise, dance and / or relax around the pool.

While it didn’t turn out entirely as I’d planned, the new place is very much “home” now – the balance of openness an, natural appearance and privacy seems to be about right. I’m certainly very happy with how things have (eventually) turned out, and I very much hope that those who had to endure four days of me  bashing my head on the desk and being “too busy” for much else will equally enjoy the results of my growling….