In 2012, the first part of my SL year was spent re-working my take on Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous “Fallingwater“, which eventually wound-up in a quarter-sim in-world for a few weeks.
That build is now boxed for a rainy day, but as I indicated later in the year, I’ve reproduced Fallingwater in Kitely, where it has a full region of its own, allowing me to develop a landscape more in keeping with that of the original. Since then, I’ve been tinkering around with it, adding a region windlight and generally tightening things up. There are still some parts I want to rework, once I have better source material by way of photos (most notably Bear River and the falls), but for now the house is just about done.
With the Second Life build, I produced a modest video; however the result wasn’t overly brilliant – largely because I didn’t really appreciate what I was doing in terms of the technical side of producing the video. Recently, I’ve had some good advice and help from Fuzonacid via YouTube, prompting me to have a further go, this time focusing on the Kitely build.
As it is the start of a new year, I could hardly let it pass without reference to my obsession :), so I hope you enjoy the video (and the Flickr slideshow has also been updated!).
As of January 1st, 2013, the Phoenix Firestorm team ceased support of the Phoenix viewer, bring a close to all further work on that viewer on their part.
While this signals the end-of-line for Phoenix where Second Life is concerned, it appears that efforts are underway to attempt to continue Phoenix development for the OpenSim / Aurora environment, under new leadership and a new brand name.
In a blog post dated 29th December, 2012, Virtual Reaility, the new developers for Phoenix state:
Over the past week the Jessica Lyon, Project Manager of the The Phoenix Firestorm Project, Inc. made an announcement that on Saturday, December 15, the Phoenix development team would no longer support the V1-based Phoenix virtual worlds viewer that has had a significant following of users in virtual worlds such as Second Life and OS Grid. Ms. Lyon stated that support for the viewer will be dropped to provide development and support focus on their Phoenix-Firestorm viewer.
Though this may seem like a dark day for people who use and enjoy the Phoenix viewer, this cloud has a silver lining. Virtual Reality is pleased to announce that it will continue development, maintenance, and improvement of the Phoenix V1 viewer, which will be re-branded as the Virtual Reality Viewer. “I am excited to have the opportunity to fork this highly popular viewer for virtual worlds users who use it and desire to continue to use it.”, said, Virtual Reality owner and CEO, Sonic Boom Drillion. “The Virtual Reality viewer will continue to work within OpenSim and Aurora based grids, however we hope to update the viewer to address a number of technical advancements that are presently happening in virtual worlds. We are eager to embrace this code base and develop it to support these changes.”
The post goes on to state that as of the 29th December, work was underway to move the Phoenix code to Virtual Reality’s own systems, however the work will not include porting outstanding / open JIRA relating to Phoenix, as these are related to Second Life, which will not be the target environment for the rebranded viewer.
Virtual Reality is an OpenSim hosting company focused on Aurora Sim side of OpenSim, and provides customers with grid space through its own Virtual Reality grid, as well supplying private grids to customers.
Within the blog post / announcement is a request that any developer wishing to work on the rebranded viewer should contact Virtual Reality at virtualrealitygrid-at-gmail.com.
While this does not help those who have used Phoenix specifically with OpenSim, it does mean that potentially, the Phoenix legacy will live on, albeit under new management and a new name, on OpenSim.
The long-running dispute between Gala Phoenix, proprietor of Curio Skins and Hush Darkrose / Verikai Vargas, proprietor of Hush Skins, has reached an out-of-court settlement, it has been announced.
The dispute, in which each party accuses the other of IP infringements, first hit the headlines early in 2012, and was, through part of the year a major topic of conversation and heated debate.
The joint statement relating to the settlement reads in full:
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013
Hush Darkrose /Verikai Vargas, owner and operator of Hush Skins, and Gala Phoenix, owner and operator of Curio Skins, announce a mutually amicable settlement to the dispute between them regarding the ownership of their skins.
In March 2012, Gala Phoenix filed a DMCA takedown notice against Hush Darkrose for alleged infringement of her Curio skins. In May 2012, Hush Darkrose responded by filing a DMCA takedown notice with Linden Research, Inc. and filed a Notice of Civil Claim against Gala Phoenix for alleged infringement of her Hush skins.
Hush Darkrose would like to clarify that she did not “obtain” an injunction against Gala Phoenix, but rather only sought an injunction against Gala Phoenix in a Notice of Civil Claim, which was then filed with Linden Research, Inc. and resulted in the takedown of certain Curio skins.
Since that time, Hush Darkrose and Gala Phoenix have been in legal discussions regarding the skins in question. The parties have agreed that each store was created separately and individually.
Wishing to avoid the expense of litigation, Hush Darkrose and Gala Phoenix have reached a private and amicable agreement, and are content with the results. Neither Hush Darkrose nor Gala Phoenix admits liability, and both parties wish to put the dispute behind them and move forward.
Both Hush Darkrose and Gala Phoenix would like to thank the public for their support and patience during this time, and hope that the public will continue to offer their support to both designers and the incredible and unique skins that they each offer.
Thank you, Hush Darkrose, Hush Skins and Gala Phoenix, Curio Skins.
Together for Sway, the event put together by friends of Sway Dench, and which I reported upon on December 17th, has raised an amazing L$1,551,825 in just two weeks, funding which will go a very long way in helping Sway through a difficult period.
Sway Dench
Sway, whose major source of income is Second Life, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in late 2012. While benign and non-life threatening, the tumour nevertheless needs to be removed, and Sway has been scheduled for surgery in the near future. However, she is liable to be convalescing for up to six months, making it difficult for her to manage her SL business and generate an income from it.
To help her cope with things, a group of friends and content creators have rallied to her support and organised Together for Sway, which featured a special vendor area, complete with donation boxes, offering a range of goods an items for sale with all proceeds going directly to assisting Sway Dench. Additionally, special entertainments, such as a concert hosted by Rebel Yell Concerts which featured Nickelback, were also organised to raise money to help Sway meet her needs.
Update, December 2013: Crimarizon and Crimarizon 2 are both temporarily closed.
I first visited Crimarizon back in April 2012 on the recommendation of a number of friends. I’m glad I listened to them; the region is a marvellous place to explore, have fun and admire. At the time of my visit, Crimarizon 2, sitting next door, was under construction, and it duly went onto my list of Places To See once it had been completed – and I did check back a number of times. However, somewhere in 2012 I managed to let all thought of actually blogging about a return visit slip completely. So I thought it only right that for my first destination visit of 2013 to be to Crimarizon 2 itself.
As with Crimarzon, Crimarizon 2 is the work of Megan Prumier, and it continues many of the themes found in its namesake, mixing fantasy, art and photogenic locations in an eclectic, eye-catching – if not outright eye-watering – mix which is a joy to behold. There is much to see and do here.Crimarizon 2, again like its namesake, is the home of an art gallery – in this case the Benzaiten Art Gallery, featuring artwork by Ariel Brearly and Finger Scintilla. There is also exhibition space, a dance area and even a village to explore, as well forests – both good and evil – to walk through. Mountains and tall outcrops provide perches for creations by the likes of Marcus Inkpen.
This is a region which is best experienced with deferred rendering active, both lighting and shadows and ambient occlusion, which can make it a bit of a strain for some computers – but if you run with the local windlight active, you can set shadows to NONE and still appreciate the immersive appeal of the regions.
Photography is welcome in Crimarizon and Crimarizon 2, and both builds really invite one to play with windlight settings. I opted to go largely with a natural amibient lighting level, simply because the misting effect seemed to fit with the look at feel of the more elevated parts of the regions, and it helped soften the lines of the sim surrounds (which once again played havoc with my computer; I’m still no closer to understanding why this happens, only that when I’m on a region using them, performance invariably falls through the floor, and snapshots become a major pain to save).
There is no set path to follow through the region – where you wander is entirely up to up, although there are trails and paths for you to follow – but you should keep your eyes turned upwards as well as looking around you, as there is a lot going on overhead which deserves to be seen. Just be prepared to give yourself plenty of time to enjoy what you find – Crimarizon 2 will draw you into is beauty as surely as Crimarizon itself.
The fantasy elements here will appeal to a broad range of tastes; Marcus Inkpen’s builds, sitting atop chimney-like rock towers are evocative of wizards and sorcery; elsewhere is at least one building with a more elvish feel to it, together with garden areas with a distinctly Tolkien-esque elven tone. Elsewhere things are perhaps more suggestive of children’s tales, with trees and mushrooms bearing faces and looking as if they would like you to stop and talk with them.
As the Crimarizon regions adjoin one another, it is possible to pass freely between the two – and the crossing is very smooth (or was for me at least, as I shuttled back and forth between the two). Indeed, the only way of noting you have passed, or are about to pass, from one to the other – assuming you’re using the central path – is either by noting the region name change in your viewer, or when you pass under two magnificent elephants.
Caves are very much a feature here; close to the region boundary sits the Benzaiten Art Gallery in an underground cavern, while the trails leading around the region to the village on the East side run through caves and tunnels – one of which in turn leads to a dark and dead forest, complete with a mysterious inland shipwreck and, if you look around, dozens of red eyes peering out of the darkness at you…
Both are evocative regions which are well worth taking your time to explore and enjoy. For those who really like the regions and are looking for a place to live, rental properties are available within the village itself, with some additional housing located along one of the cliffs. There are even a couple of treehouses which may be available for rent, depending upon demand. Please do keep in mind that some of the houses are private occupancy when exploring the village; unrented houses have a green dot outside, those which are occupied have a red dot.
As well as hosting two popular galleries, the regions also host monthly events and parties, to which all are welcome. Details can be obtained through the Crimarizon group, which visitors can join when they arrive in either region.
Whether you are new to exploring SL or an old hand, if you’ve not visited Crimarizon, then you should be making a belated New Year’s resolution to do so – you won’t be disappointed when you go.
Update January 3rd, 2012: following posts on the Versu FAQ from myself and Ciaran Laval, the FAQ has been removed from the Versu website. The Dio Help page still remains available for that product – at least for the present!
After my brief look at the Versu and Dio websites on New Year’s Eve, I poked a little deeper into the Versu site, taking time to paw over the FAQ, which sheds a little more light on things than I’d initially realised.
As has already been indicated by Rod Humble, Versu is an interactive storytelling medium which relies on strong character interaction, with the plot and character behaviours driven by the actions and reactions of the player through their character.
The Versu website placeholder from Linden Research, December 2012
Versu will initially be browser-based only, although there are expectations at the Lab that a tablet version will be available in the future. Access will apparently be – initially, at least – via Facebook, with the FAQ stating that there is a “limited number” of development accounts available for those wishing to access the game without going via Facebook. The game is largely text-based, again has already been indicated, but will include images of the other non-player characters in the immediate vicinity of the player’s character.
Versu’s stories will initially be set in Regency England (1811-1820)
The initial story appears to be a murder mystery, and features a choice of principal characters – “Lucy” or “Miss Bates”. The FAQ indicates that two additional stories are in development, “A ghost story and a romance story in the same time period (Regency England [1811-1820]) are already partially drafted and will be presented at launch.” It goes on to say that, “In the future, we will also include episodes from other settings — anything from spy thrillers to comedy to noir detective stories. Anything that involves strong character interaction is a good fit for the Versu engine.”
Progress through the story is up to the player. For example, a player can select from a list of available scenes, then chose to interact or not. How they interact with the other non-player characters will shape how those characters react to the player in the future (so flinging a bread roll at Mr. Quinn may not endear you to him). If a player chooses not to interact, the story will still progress, making for interesting variations in gameplay – particularly on the “what if” department (“What if I’d left dinner before X, and gone to Y?”; “what if I’d selected A instead of B?” and so on).
Interestingly, some progress through the story is down to what amounts to random chance. To quote the FAQ again, “Whether a character spills something by accident, or selects one conversation gambit or another, might be the result of randomization.”
Progress through gameplay is also marked by the player’s character completing assigned tasks, which doubtless help guide the player through the story to one of several potential conclusions. Progress through tasks can be reviewed via an “Achievements” page.
Games will be entirely self-contained, such that while there are several potential ways to reach the denouement to a story, and the story itself has a number of different endings depending on choices made and actions taken, the cast list will remain the same for each. Thus, any characters previously “killed off” will be brought “back to life” at the start of the next game.
There are also some limitations with the game:
The initial release will be single-player only; multiplayer capabilities (such as playing together in different roles or working with other players to resolve a story) are planned for the future
There will be no option to save gameplay with the initial release.
Also, players will not initially be able to generate their own characters. However, the FAQ indicates that this is again planned for the future and will include the ability for players to, “Define your own character, complete with appearance and expressions, personal preferences and unique dialogue options”.
An interesting note with Versu is that the Terms of Service refers to user-generated content (section 4.4). This may simply be because the ToS has been largely boilerplated from Second Life, and thus may not be indicative of how the ToS will appear one it has been fully edited. However, the linked DMCA page is similarly “Versu’d”, so it does raise a question as to what user-generated content might be applicable, particularly if Versu is to fit under the Lab’s umbrella of “Makers of Shared Creative Spaces”.
Is section 4.4 of the ToS simply a reference to a player’s ability to generate their own character and character image, or is it something more? Again, could the FAQ reference that, “Anything that involves strong character interaction is a good fit for the Versu engine”, mean that the engine might be opened to third-party developers for future stories?
The Facebook access is also interesting, as mirrors what appears to be Dio’s preferred access mechanism (at least initially). As such, it would seem that both Versu and Dio are an attempt by LL to tap-into the large, potentially ready-made Facebook audience. Currently, there is no real indication as to how either will be leveraged from the point of view of generating revenue, although a few thoughts have sprung to mind on that subject.
All told, the website give more information on Versu than I’d initially given it credit, as does the “Help” option on Dio provides a little more information there. Hopefully, and depending on access, I’ll have more information on both in the near future.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 