For those with a passion for trucks, vans, motorbikes, motor racing and – most of all – cars, there are a couple of events going on in SL that might interest you.
The first, The History of the Vehicle, is taking place at LEA 2. Billed as being six months in the making, the exhibit is curated by Sapphire Hotaling as a celebration of wheeled vehicles in Second Life from 2005 through to the present day, with some 130+ individual vehicles from almost 50 designers and creators on display,
With the exception of the main building, located on the north side of the region, and a large display area to the east, the majority of the museum space is open air, with various display areas clearly marked and reached via footpaths, and a landscaped park extending to the south and west of the region, linking the main vehicle displays with a memorial to vehicle racers and designers who have passed away, and a stage area which will host live events at the weekends throughout the time the exhibit is open – check the display boards within the exhibit for details.
There’s no set route for exploring the region – just go where your feet / the footpaths take you. Individual display areas are clearly enough marked, and while nothing is for sale within the region, there are plenty of note card / LM givers to the in-world and SLM stores for the designers displaying their latest wares.
The displays are interesting enough, and some do indeed give a feel for how vehicles have visually evolved over the years; however, I have to confess that I toured the exhibit unable to shake the feeling it’s more car show that historical piece. Outside of the “Evolution” exhibit, there is precious little information chart the actual history of vehicle development in SL – the evolution of scripting, capabilities, etc., which to me is a bit of a shame, although I fully understand that putting something together like that isn’t necessarily easy – not everyone is interested in scripting evolution, etc.
Even so the range of vehicles on display is impressive, and the park like layout helps to make the exhibit feel less crowded, vehicle-wise, even allowing from the large east side display area; once you step off of the main path and onto the grass with its wooden walks, it’s easy to relax and find a place to sit a while.
All told, History of the Vehicle makes for a visual treat for car and vehicle fans.
Cars of Second Life offers another region-wide exhibit for motor vehicles, this time organised by Jules Catlyn. Billed as “the most comprehensive car exhibit in Second Life”, it features over 130 cars, trucks, racers, funny cars, vans, etc., from a range of SL designers and creators.
As with the LEA 2 exhibition, this is an open-air set-up, with up to nine vehicles at a time displayed across a series of connected circular display areas surrounding a central park. Up to three designers are displayed in each of the circular areas, with signs providing landmarks to their stores, while within the park sits a circular club house, the venue for music events.
Exploring the display areas is a matter of personal choice and whatever catches your eye on arrival / what you see as you progress around them. there’s a fair mix of mesh and sculpted designs, so some of the latter might take a little time to pop into shape.
The layout of the region makes the displays uncluttered and easy to roam; in fact, it’s hard to believe just how many cars are on display until you start to tot them all up. There is something of a historic element to the display as well – not in terms of SL history, but in the span of decades the vehicles offered here represent – from around WW2 right up to the present day. There are also some fun designs to be seen as well- I have to admit to loving Cherry Arrowmint’s “KBrones Jr” funny car (see the end of this article) – it is an absolute delight.
While none of the cars display at the show are for sale – again, use the LM givers to visit the stores – Cars of Second Life is supporting Autism Awareness, and there is a special Boss 302 by Gregorian Lytton that is available for L$500, with 100% of all proceeds going to the charity.
The History of the Vehicle is set to remain open through until May 31st. Cars of Second Life is set to remain open for as long as the region (a grandfathered full sim) can be maintained (so donations are very welcome – use the white sphere near the Autism Awareness car).
For anyone interested in road (and track and off-road) vehicles, both are very much worth a visit, offering the mains to see multiple designs from different creators in two locations, thus allowing them to be compared. In addition, The History of the Vehicle lets you take something of a look back over the history of ground vehicles in SL.
SLurls
- The History Of The Vehicle (Rated: Moderate)
- Cars of Second Life (Rated: Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
Reblogged this on Second Life Hobo.
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We visited it Yesterday and i must say that we had some issues, like crashing a lot without any feasible explanation (and for some that barely never crashes even after hours crossing sims is a strange feeling) and to had to sit on some of the vehicles in order to see them fully rezzed (using Latest LL viewer).
Still is an impressive effort, it was impossible to show all the multitude of creators around that do work on the same subject but they did manage to choose some lovely builds.
And the area is pretty lovely to explore.
and some raw pictures of mine:)
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Given I’ve covered two events, I’m not sure which one it was where you encountered issues. I will say that for myself, I was at both venues for around 2 hours each in total, and didn’t experience any significant issues whatsoever, and certainly didn’t endure any crashes.
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Thank you! Your Flicker page has some amazing pictures of the exhibit and I am sharing the link with the builders in the showcase, they will greatly appreciate it! And my apologies that you had difficulties in rezzing things; the build is texture rich, with many textures and it does take a bit sometimes for things to rez (especially when SL seems to be sleepy!)
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🙂
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The 1st one at Lea2.
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When it comes to SL content creators they tend to have an utter disregard for polycount and GPU load when it comes to their creation. They tend to feel that their product is going to be the only thing on a SIM when creating it instead of planning on having tons of polygons from other products as well. Typically you will have tons of different things being rendered on a viewer that all will be sitting on a sim. Car creators have a track record on utterly destroying the polycount of a 3d model in SL. So with that, having many vehicles loaded on a region naturally a beefy computer is encouraged or sometimes required.
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A percentage of car “creators” in SL have a track record of grabbing cars from websites that are meant for rendering and movies. Since this percentage has no skill whatsoever at building other than changing textures, they can’t help but to upload cars not optimized for real time applications like Second Life.
Just look at this exhibit, the majority of those mesh car models were not made by their listed creators, and are found in websites with ripped 3d models. Their method of creation consist of finding the ripped model, uploading it with poor optimization, slapping some textures or other ripped mesh onto it, and most important of all the trusty legacy shininess.
It sucks for prim car creators and legitimate mesh car creators who have to compete with these people.
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You have made a very valid point, Abat! And, your point is exactly why each and every vehicle creator in The History of the Vehicle in SL exhibit was carefully researched before they even received an invitation. My goal in this exhibit was to not only show how far vehicle building has advanced in SL, but to show how detailed today’s vehicles are. There is nothing quite so frustrating for a vehicle builder, who has spent days or months even creating a car that is unique in its own right, to find that someone has copybotted their vehicle and is selling it on the marketplace for 50 linden. If you will do an inspect on the vehicles in my exhibit, you will see that there are parts and shells purchased from legitimate creators and assembled into the final product.
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I have to say…I thought the exhibit was nice…but not all inclusive. And I can’t help but feel that was NOT by accident. You practically ignored the fact the Nina Roar helped to revolutionize racing in SL…yet not one of her creations is at this exhibit. I knew her…quite well…and this is a slap in the face to all the hard work she did and money she spent. So even though it’s a nice exhibit…it’s not a COMPLETE history of vehicles in SL. Yet T&S racing is all up in the place like they were the founding fathers of the americas. Not impressed in the slightest. When you can include ALL of the vehicles that helped pave the way..then I’ll be impressed.
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By “you”, I assume you are referring to the organisers – of which, I am not one. I merely reviewed the LEA exhibit, alongside another 😉 . I’m not sure if there is a place at the exhibit where you can leave feedback; I didn’t in all honesty notice one during my wanderings, but might be worth a look.
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As I am the chief builder of the exhibit, there is a sign in the exhibit encouraging feedback. One only has to write a notecard and drop it to me. I would also like to add that there were many creators who were asked to participate, and Nina Roar is one of the creators I invited; however, being aware that Nina was currently taking a break from SL, when I did not receive a reply, I naturally assumed that she was too busy. This exhibit was primarily built to show how far building vehicles has come in SL…we even have vehicles from 2003 at the exhibit now. I am sorry that you allowed your own personal feelings about specific creators to stand in the way of truly being able to see the time, originality, skills and creativity that each and every exhibitor put into their builds.
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Thanks for the pointer on feedback, Sapph- I confess to having missed it during my visit.
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You are most welcome, Inara! And, I might add that there are a lot of misconceptions in the area of building vehicles in SL that many are not aware of. Having watched these builders in action (as well as doing inspects on the vehicles) while there are those vehicles which may be created from a kit, the builders in this exhibit who use them will tear those kits apart, eliminate those parts they won’t use and rebuild them, much like one would build a car in RL. The detail is astounding; these builders have added full exhaust systems, fuel lines, drive lines, tires and rims, and a host of other small parts that the original kit did not have in it. There is an entire market of those who create vehicle kits and parts for those who are not savvy on 3D modeling. While there is the problem of those who are ripping their models from game sites illegally, I was very careful in my selection of exhibitors to ensure that this did not occur. I spent countless hours looking at the builder’s works, doing inspects on them to make sure that the vehicles they offer are not just ripped and a root prim added to them. There are free 3D clay model sites where one can upload items for free; however, one must possess skills in SketchUp and Blender to make these models acceptable for use in Second Life and to lower the land impact. I have watched my RL spend months on a clay model to shape it and mold it into something unique using such programs. While there is a dark, shady side to SL vehicle building, one of my goals in this exhibit is to show that there are talented, honest and hard-working residents out there that spend a lot of time and effort in creating their vehicles, and attempt to dispel some of the misconceptions out there. Also, I wanted to show how far we have came in building – hence the museum with examples from as far back as 2003 – and I have no doubt that I could have filled two sims! My apologies to anyone who was inadvertently missed; there is simply no way, with the sheer numbers of creators to give every single resident a spot – just not enough prims. However, for those I have missed, I have a waiting list for future exhibits.
I would like to also thank everyone for your comments. Should you have any feedback to share on the exhibit, or any ideas for future exhibits in this area, please IM me inworld or drop me a notecard.
Sapph
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They look like lovely exhibits. I like car shows irl so something like this is right up my alley. Thanks!
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Thank you Persephone! I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, ‘Life Imitates Art’…well…SL imitates RL on so many levels…after all, it’s what we know best! 🙂
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I’d like to address a couple of the comments. In-world I am Nix Stransky / miko Spore. My car is among the exhibits at the LEA show. Most of my work is in scripting so I commissioned a “shell’ of my own design for the show.
It is true that some prominent builders of vehicles are not represented. I think the choices were sound.This isn’t the place to talk about it in detail.
The politics of racing and car building in Second Life are Machiavellian to put it mildly. Sapphire did an excellent and courageous job of choosing.
With respect to sim resources; Many of the cars and other ground vehicles made in SL race in one form or another. Using excess sim resources is a competitive disadvantage.
One of the great hidden stories in SL vehicles is the time and effort that has gone to shave every gram of fat from the scripts and the cars, to make them as efficient as possible.
At the show, with so many vehicles rezzed, yes there are bound to be graphics issues. That would be true of an SL flower show too.
Builders at the level of the LEA show are not sloppy or wasteful of resources. They know better.
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Very well said miko! And thank you for your kind comments!
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I’ve known Sapph for five years. This is her art exhibit. The LEA voted to highlight her talents for good reason, and yet she designed a way to showcase others’ talents along with hers. I am so proud of how she’s blossomed over the years and to present others’ creations in her moment to shine is quite a selfless, enriching work of art. It’s the most profound form of communication and it shows oneness among our community. I think she’s succeeded in that beyond all expectations and I am so proud of her. I hope everyone takes the time to enjoy the exhibits up close and personal, admire the detail, and feel the love of building that went into what she and all the artists have shared with us on LEA2. Bravo to all of you!
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Tahiti,
Thank you for your kind words! You have been there with me every single step of the way, and are one of the most creative people I know in SL. You also know the struggles I encountered and how I just pushed right on through them to bring to the grid something exciting and different, something that before now has never been done. Having so many people who believe in your vision (in the neighborhood of 50) is an amazing thing, and without the exhibitors and collaborators I worked with, the exhibit would not have been possible. While it is easy to stand on the outside and critique, it is difficult to foresee where I may have fallen short in some areas. However, you know what they say about hindsight. ;D You learn from it and move forward!
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Exhibit 1:
GB7 34 StreetRat
This build was a complete vehicle from a full perm vendor in which I gutted to the frame and bare panels and started over. I reshaped, tweaked and manipulated its outer shell until I was satisfied with the overall stance of the vehicle. I then started building up the engine bay. Here I used a (Other creator) mesh engine as a starter and added my own arsenal of goodies and chrome for a custom look. The interior was the next stop with everything custom made by (Me) except the bucket seats from (Other creator). I then went to the rumble seat at the rear of the car and converted it back into a conventional trunk or boot and installing custom street rod must have goodies such as fuel cell, nitrous bottle and fire extinguisher all from (Me). I then finish off the build with things like dual exhaust and thrust wheels and a one off (Me) paint to bring it to a perfect finish. Most “rat rods” are dull and gritty so I made this one bright colored, themed and loud as hell to stand out from the rest. This particular car was custom painted for a raffle fund raiser and raised an insane amount of Ls to be converted to RL donations for that ever so important funding.
Exhibit 2:
GB7 40 TruckRod
This truck went through the same process as the 34 StreetRat only taking a lot more time, patience and custom parts making. After purchasing the original “ready to use” builder kit, I realized how bad things were as I kept digging deeper into it and it reminded me so much of restoring a real life vehicle. Running into all the surprise problems that would have to be addressed before continuing to build. But with the help of a few engine parts by (Other creator), a custom made hood by (Other creator), a ton of (Me) custom made to fit parts and my wife, for putting up with all the time I spent in this build LoL I think we have a winner for sure.
If you’ve read this far you can tell the difference between Content Creators and Builders. I myself am a little of both as demonstrated above along with the many other creators and/or builders that Sapph painstakingly took the time to study and determine the legitimate creators and/or builders in SL. I, personally, have always tried to bring something exciting to SL for everyone to enjoy within the terms of all TOS rules and creator usage agreements as well as the many others displayed at the LEA2. All I can say is hats off and a big round of applause to Sapph for bringing to the table this presentation of our passions in SL while weeding out the ever growing crowd of undesirables trying to leave a bad mark for all vehicle creators and/or builders. Some of us ARE actually trying to do the right thing as we are very passionate about it and not just a way to erase boredom. Thank you once again Sapph for all of your hard work and allowing me to be a part of this, The History of the Vehicle LEA2
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Personally I feel that the “History of vehicles of SL” title is a bit overly ambitious. As there is (apart from a very few) a stunning lack of diversity in the vehicles.
The more imaginative vehicles that SL offers, like flying brooms, steampunk airships, cars that do not like anything you would ever see in real life, are not included in the exhibition.
While I can understand that the progress in techniques may be best served using a specific type of vehicle, it seems kinda like a missed opportunity to fill the sim up with realism.
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Well, it depends.
I actually thought as much as you did on my arrival; but, the definition of vehicle is: “a thing used for transporting people or goods, especially on land, such as a car, lorry, or cart” – as such, the title is a fair reflection of that.
More particularly, to try to cover all aspects of transportation in Second Life – vehicles, aircraft, boats, ships, trains, starships, balloons, airships, submersibles, bicycles, motorbikes, tracked vehicles, hover vehicles, etc., as well as the more exotic – hoverboards, broomsticks, kites, flying discs, backpacks, craft of fantasy, craft of fiction, and so on and so forth, and do so within a single region would have been a gargantuan task.
perhaps in the future, similar shows could be requested by the LEA to examine other aspects of SL transportation and fill the gap that way.
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Christine,
One of the obstacles that I encountered in my planning, was how to show the amazing things that some vehicles can do through the use of scripts, such as in the flying brooms, race cars, airships, etc. However, wanting to create an environment where the exhibit could be viewed with as little lag as possible, I opted for builds over the use of scripting, because that’s what the main focus of the exhibit is, talent in constructing and putting together parts and prims. I can only imagine what would happen if every vehicle were scripted, with interactive exhibits to show what the scripts did; the sim would be crashing on regular intervals, lol.
I will say this. There are many amazing cars in these exhibits, that are scripted by what I consider to be geniuses. When you can actually see what they will do, it is even more amazing, such as Kendra Kitalpha’s batmobile tribute that is in the Celebrity Vehicle section; the sounds and motion when it changes from a car to the batplane is astounding. I strongly suggest that those vehicles which caught one’s eye, go to the exhibitor’s place of business and ask for a demo. They would be more than happy to accommodate you there. Plus, they don’t have 150 other cars are running at the same time, lol! Thank you for your comments, I appreciate them! 🙂
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i have to admit that i wasn’t terribly impressed with this exhibit, having been around sl for as long as i have and knowing of so many vehicle makers, both old and recent, the brands missing were immediately apparent and somewhat annoying.
i didn’t, however, realize that every vehicle maker on display was actually contacted by the curator. so that would make that a significantly more difficult task.
but even so, i find there was a bit of overload from certain brands and a glaring lack of actual history and information about what we were seeing.
this has, however, made me start thinking of forming some sort of vehicle historian / collectors group in sl and possibly putting together a museum of sorts. 😮
so, thanks for that :p
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gomi,
While it is impossible to include every single creator since the beginning of SL, I contacted as many as I could find. If you will read my response to CC, you will see the criteria that I chose exhibitors from. Many creators are no longer in world, and the works of those you see that are no longer in world, are those that I knew personally and knew they would not mind having their creations on display.
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anything on the history of the motor from sl’s beginnings?
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Inside the museum, there is an exhibit on vehicles from 2003 that was added at a later date, due to the generous efforts of an ‘old school’ builder that I had the honor of meeting. I have been in discussions with this builder and others I have met during the run of the exhibit, to consider creating a museum that will be an permanent exhibit going into more detail about the beginnings of vehicle building in SL. However, many of those original creators are no longer residents of SL, and resources are somewhat limited, but I am digging into this more deeply in an attempt to provide even more history.
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Hi there,
I got a question about the exhibit.
I saw cars I recognized from movies: the DeLorean from Back to the Future. The Batmobiles. And the Volkswagen Beetle from the Herbie series. The General Lee(twice!).
I like people making stuff, even from movies, some are nice to offer these for free or for a marginal sum to cover their expenses and a bit. So we kinda okay with it. I even think the companies don’t find it a big deal. Who wants to thumb down a fan of a series? Nobody!
But at what point do we say… uhm this is an issue.
When do we say.. this is not like just a fan, but someone using what other people created or invented? If he/she sells 1 car? 10 cars? 1000 cars? Earns 1 dollar. 10 dollars. 1000 dollars?
I say this cause some people put hard work in their products and some see their ideas stolen. It’s easy to copy something, but to be original requires inspiration, transpiration and a bit of luck. It is how they make a living.
I don’t mean the exhibit, mind you. The exhibit can show these cars under the fair use act. But it doesn’t address this. In fact.. in one notecard people are called to contact the makers to buy these cars.
Isn’t that like.. well.. promoting thievery?
So what do people think?
CC
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CC,
Regarding the ‘Celebrity Tribute Vehicle’ section of the showcase; the notecard associated with this exhibit clearly states that these vehicles ‘may or may not be for sale through the builder’, to contact the creator to see if these tribute cars are for sale (not all creators sell these vehicles, they are simply for personal use) and that they are a tribute to those vehicles made famous through television or movies. It seems that for every builder, it is a sort of ‘rite of passage’ in building or creating to do at least one famous car, as a tribute. If you will notice, these vehicles are named as such, ie, General Lee TRIBUTE car, Batman TRIBUTE car, etc. I realize there is a lot there to see, however, there is a reason those notecards are there, to explain the exhibits in more detail than one can view at a single glance. Each and every exhibit, whether it be part of the history museum, celebrity tribute, novelty vehicles or the main exhibit, has such notecards in the signs, as do every single exhibitor in the main exhibit area. Had you read the notecard in the Celebrity tribute area, perhaps it would have been clearer.
Also, regarding ‘thievery’ in your comment, I would also like to add this. During my 6 months of planning in this exhibit, I asked people all over the grid (other car builders, racers, those who purchased and own vehicles, went to car shows and randomly asked folks) who they considered to be the following:
1. Most respected builders among their present day peers.
2. Who they felt displays the most originality and creativity in building vehicles.
3. Who they felt contributed to the history of building vehicles in SL.
4. Those who treat customers and their peers with respect.
5. Who did they consider to be the most honorable and honest in their building and business dealings.
Knowing full well what the reputation of vehicle building is in SL, I carefully screened each and every name that was given to me, to insure that the shady side of SL vehicle building was NOT represented in this showcase. And, I can confidently say that those who are exhibiting in the showcase, are builders of the highest integrity across the grid. Although I do realize that not every single creator is not in the showcase, there is simply no way to represent all of them – I am finding out there are more that have been missed, and I have created a list for the next exhibit. If you know of any such builders, please IM me inworld so that I may add them and begin research for the next exhibit.
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I didn’t really want to travel down this route of accusations as I don’t think the people involved are thieves but rather get made into thieves by system.
Let me give an example.I am sure some builders will recognize the scenario.
Assume you love of a specific car… let’s call it a DuPassat. You recreate the DuPassat in Second Life and one of your friends likes it so much that he wants one too. So you give away a copy.
Sometimes later another friend asks you for a copy and you being a good friend give away another copy.
Some time later these two friends tell you they want to organize a race with your cars, but they want to have them in different versions so people can keep race them and other people can keep track of them during the race. And you oblige by making different versions.
A week after the race you get a copyright notice and are asked to destroy all the DuPassats you made and make sure they are not being reproduced.
How do you feel?
You will feel baffled and perhaps treated unfair because, for instance, you never sold them, you only gave them away and only to some friends and.. well friends of friends during that one. But you never intended to do wrong. Also you know that if you destroy all DuPassats the company that owns the rights to the DuPassat will never reproduce it in SL. So basically when your DuPassats are gone, they will never be seen again in SL, unless someone else recreates them(illegally).
Is this a likely scenario to happen?
Strictly speaking from a standpoint of the law it is. You see the IP laws do not care whether you sold them or not. Just reproducing without permission is enough. You might claim fair use, but that is wrought with danger.. if you can’t make it stick you can get a fine. Or so you will be told.
But let’s review another example.
Say you make your own original DuPassat in SL. You are a nice person and say: anyone can use this car, it is licensed under the public domain. Again you make versions that are used in a race and again some time later you get a copyright notice.
You go like.. but it is my car?
Alas,, you gave it away in the public domain and now someone else has claimed it, licensed it and you lost that right.
A likely scenario?
Actually it happened to a friend of mine who used a piece of music for a movie and two years after she got a copyright notice. Why? Someone has used that piece of music in his own music and sells it. As long as the original creator files a DMC claim it is now the property of that creator.
You might see that these and other things might have added an extra layer to the exhibit if it had addressed the issue. When do you think that IP is infringed. How can we make sure that people who love something can make these things without sword of Damocles of copyright infringement dangling above their heads?
This is just a few aspects.. but I will tell one more.
Some time ago I spoke to someone on racing track. She told me that there are good and badly scripted cars. The bad ones create a lot of lag and you don’t want to use on racetracks.
Wouldn’t it have been a nice idea to have a racetrack with a good and bad scripted car so people can drive them to see the difference? I am not sure I would notice.. but this person was sure you would.
Then another dimension to the exhibit it the exhibit that is on Lea4. It is next door and contains a Giant Snail Race Track. Wouldn’t it have been an idea to connect the car exhibit with that one?
Just saying.
Okay enough typing.. got things to write about.
CC
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I’m of the same mind as Christine, I didn’t see much “history” in the exhibit. I was eager to see some of the early vehicles, examples of vehicle scripts and perhaps some discussions on the evolution of vehicle physics and script design as well as object design and how the introduction of scripts and now mesh have changed things. Instead, it seemed more a car show with little information about the vehicles. Not that a car show is a bad thing, but “hitory” did seem lacking in my humble opinion.
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Your view pretty much mirrors mine in terms of the historical aspect to the installation; more really could have been done to explore the overall development of cars and other ground vehicles. As I note in the article, even the “evolution” section designed to illustrate the improvements made to the visual aspects of vehicle design stops at the sculpt, and is devoid of real discussion on just how things have evolved over time.
The lack of more historical information and context is a shame, given it is something that could have been addressed in the planning and development of the display, and would have given it greater depth. Hopefully, it is something that can be carried forward and incorporated into any future events of a similar nature.
As it is, this exhibit is pretty much the first time that something of this nature has been tried at the LEA (outside of displays by individual creators, which raise questions of their own), I would hope that the LEA committee take feedback and observations posted through comments see here and in other articles marking the event on-board, and use it to put together a set of guidelines which might be used to help those proposing similar types of installation in the future ensure that a broader balance is struck, and things like context very much remain a focus of such attempts.
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Inara,
While I do feel and realize there was more history than was readily available to me and that I could locate while I was planning and building the exhibit, I have to say that planning and creating this exhibit was a learning experience for me – one that I will definitely use in any future works of history. I have met so many amazing people in SL, that were in the testing phases of the introduction of the vehicle in SL, who pioneered the vehicle and I am very thankful for that. Thank you for your honesty in where I have fallen short, I will definitely use my newly gained knowledge in this area for future exhibits, and possibly even a permanent museum!
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We learn by doing. This was a first in many ways – which I why I suggest that, with future endeavours of this nature (assuming there are more), the LEA seek to benefit from this initial exhibit and provide guidelines to help others following in your footsteps.
As it is, you’ve undertaken quite a task, and I think that overall, appreciation for your hard work is reflected in the majority of the comments here. I look forward to seeing – and reviewing! – any similar installations you may curate in the future!
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Just visited the History of Vehicles exhibition and was pleasantly surprised. Had quite a lot to see. I expected to see more bikes and planes etc after all they are vehicles and there was plenty of room for them. I am glad to say I suffered no lag at all, just took my time and had a good look round. The only thing I will comment on is the visitors book and free t-shirts were not working in the reception when I was there. Other than that a worthwhile place to visit. Great job!
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Daenerys,
There was a problem with the guest book at one time I will admit; for whatever reason, it just stopped working – I suspect SL was feeling mischievous that day. 😛 However, there is a new copy that has been set out. As for the free tshirts, that was simply a ‘buy for 0 linden’ prim box, to keep down on scripts. If you will IM me inworld, I will be more than happy to send you the folder. 🙂 And thank you for your kind feedback – as humans, it seems far easier to find something negative to say, no matter how small, than to recognize the work that has gone into a project.
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I enjoy cars in SL very much, especially when they have good scripts, I found the car show to be quite well put together, covering a very good portion of the cars that have existed in SL from prim built cars through sculpties and now mesh. Unfortunately for the creators and residents of SL, a great deal of mesh cars that exist in world including many that are at both car shows posted here are stolen meshes from other produced video games. Anyway. good post.
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Existextinct,
If you know of vehicles that are in The History of the Vehicle in SL exhibit, please IM me inworld, as I was very selective in what I chose for that reason, and I am not aware of any such mesh models that were used.
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lmao they should have displayed phillip lindens car that I found under one of the linden sims, it has to be the first car ever made in sl
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Having been part of a group which has developed cars (from scratch) since 2005, I feel like the exhibit is really just a showroom. It doesn’t cover a lot of developments going on in the past decade. It looks more like a sandbox than an actual exhibit – cars strewn everywhere with no narrative, control, nor guidance. The exhibit seems completely overridden with race vehicles, as well (with an obnoxiously large focus on muscle cars) – there is very little variety.
Not to be smug, but it also seems like a lot of the cars were extremely poorly designed. Now, I remember the days of prims when we were forced to wear an attachment to show details (I was, in fact, one of the pioneers of this technology!) but there are mesh cars on exhibit which take up hundreds of prims each. The majority of these models show an exceedingly poor comprehension of resource management – take, for example, this radio:
Any mesh content creator should start screaming right now. Modeled text labels on a Second Life model are totally unacceptable, and the modeled dials and switches – not to mention the absolutely insane number of polys used in something as insignificant as a radio – are completely overkill. This disregard for prim count is probably why the region is about 2/3rds empty yet only a few hundred prims remain. If you take 13,000 prims (subtract about a thousand or so from the current count for general scenery) and divide that by the author’s claim of 130 cars, that’s an average of 100 prims per car, which is still way too much alone. I know we can all marvel in the incredible detail put into these cars, but Linden Lab is not Pixar. We play a game with awful rendering optimization filled with content made by people with no understanding of asset optimization. Is it really necessary that every nut and bolt be modeled, at the expense of FPS and prim equivalence? I could model every little screw and gear in a watch, animate it all, and wear it everywhere I go, but why?
The real disappointment, though, is the lack of narrative. The Bethillac Impala Evolution was really the only area that tried to go that route with at least some sort of explanation of the true “history” of the car, but it was still inadequate for my tastes. Why not something as simple as an explanation of the transition from prims to sculpts to mesh? What about describing attachment cars? How about an exhibit on many of the seriously amazing developments server-side, such as Mono, Havok upgrades, materials, raycasting, projectors, etc.? The designers of this exhibit seem to assume that visitors already have a full understanding of these developments, which is not always the case.
As a scripter, both our capabilities and skills have improved drastically over the past decade for vehicle manufacturers. There is a lot of user-made technology – active suspension, fuel systems, RPM engines, web config, etc. – which is not represented at all here. Plus, what about the different car scenes? I didn’t go around checking scripts, but I didn’t find any D2 cars around, and the D2 scene is still huge and makes up a serious chunk of “secondhand” builders.
Why not an area explaining to visitors how to get involved? The assortment of true content creators we once saw serious competition from has slowly shifted towards “firesale” vendors who saturate the market with models they did not create packed with scripts they did not write. I am not talking about builders who purchase the parts and put cars together – I mean people with absolutely no talent beyond a rough knowledge of the mesh upload tool, ACS scripts, and the merchant outbox. Those of us who take the all-natural approach are dying out fast, and an exhibit inspiring users to contribute would have been a major boon.
I understand that a lot of work went into this project, but for something which is essentially paid for in part by my region tier, I feel like a lot of history was lost in the creation of this exhibit which prides itself on history. It looks like a junkyard – just a bunch of old, ugly cars scattered around with little to inspire anyone to get involved in the community.
Full disclosure: I have never sold a car myself, but I do perform most of the script/web development and marketing for our group of car creators, which all have been mysteriously passed over by the curator.
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Nelson,
I would like to address the points you have made.
First off, all exhibitors who build cars were told from the onset that no badges or names of RL vehicles could be used. Hence, that is why you will see in the celebrity section that those vehicles are listed as ‘tributes’ to the original, which is completely acceptable in SL. I also was present when each and every creator rezzed out their cars to ensure they were not named exactly as the original RL manufacturer named them. As for the CB radio having the wording of a RL creator, I have addressed that issue.
Second of all, since you have used an obvious ‘pen name’ and not your SL name, I am not aware of whom you may be – and more importantly, this exhibit was not about scripting; it was about the construction of vehicles and how it has changed. As we were limited to the number of resources for the historical at the time of planning, that is why you see more of the current day built vehicles than the historical. Thankfully, the creation of this exhibit has helped me to meet some of the early creators (from 2003) who will be able to better assist me in providing a larger spectrum of history for future exhibits.
Lastly, there seems to be a ‘genre’ of vehicle builders in SL who are not happy that they are not represented in the exhibit. I would like to state that when I began planning this exhibit back in September of 2014, I selected builders from all genres, and when I sent out the invitations in late January, there were those who did not respond; either because they did not take me seriously or they were dead against the idea. I cannot force someone to participate – and if they did not take me seriously then, they do not have the right to complain now.
I would be more than happy to discuss this with you inworld. Feel free to IM me at any point during the day and I will get back to you to address your concerns.
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Actually, a “tribute” is not legal either. It is against Linden Lab’s official policy on trademarks and copyright, available here:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Intellectual_Property
Notably:
“… please make sure you’re not improperly using another’s intellectual property – for example, a trademarked logo or brand name, a distinctive product appearance (known as “trade dress”), characters or material from a movie, book, or other copyrighted work, or a celebrity image or name (protected as a “right of publicity”).”
I am a realist, and I know that those of us who actually design original cars are extremely rare. The massive majority do not. However, that does not mean that it’s specifically acceptable or legal, as you imply (and believe) it to be.
The CB radio having the trademarked name wasn’t my primary concern; it was that the radio had mesh modeled labels in the first place when they could have been textures. That is an example of extremely poor and lazy modeling, and indicates to me that the model wasn’t created for SL.
I, nor anyone in my group (to my knowledge), was contacted by you. Nor, in fact, was our primary competitor. We would have been more than happy to contribute our cars and even help with the exhibition as a whole.
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Nelson,
Each exhibit has a sign where the visitor can click and receive a notecard with a ‘narrative’ of that particular section or exhibit. Had you clicked and received the notecard, you would have seen in the sculpty cars a narrative on how one would have to wear different parts of the body as an attachment.
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Nelson,
I don’t think it is fair to say that the show case doesn’t show the evolution of cars in SL. One has to only open their eyes and look at the exhibits to see the progression. Take a long look at the cars prior to the introduction of mesh and compare to the cars of today. SL may not be Pixar, but it is plain to see that realism has been the driving force in the change of technology over the years. One has to keep in mind that SL limitations for both prims and scripts dictated how much info could be displayed to the public.
Prior to mesh, Sculpty and prim cars could easily top 700 prims in order to have any semblance of detail that today can be topped 10 fold with mesh. Plain and simple, anyone who is in a serious business of selling cars knows that it’s the small details that make or break a sale. Sure someone can create a car with a land impact of 30 prims by slapping a couple textures on a complex 3D object, but what can the user do with the car beyond it just looking cute driving around. That’s all well and good for those that have no interest in personalizing a car and competition driving, but there are hundreds of people out there that find great joy in mixing and matching parts to create something special they can call their own.
To single out Tes and Susan in the image was totally unfair and uncalled for as to overkill in detail. As my major competition, I can say that they have done nothing but strive to create some of the best race cars in SL. The people they sell cars to aren’t in the market for a simple car to display in a yard or occasionally cruise around in. Their cars are built to achieve the ultimate in detail and yet produce performance that is hard to equal on the race track. They spend countless hours designing and scripting to raise the bar and change the evolution of cars in SL.
It is impossible to show the evolution of car scripts over the years in SL without having used the cars over the years. Gone at the days where a builder could just purchase a full perm set of scripts and modify them to fit a need or use. Today scripts are very specialized and/or are multi-mode and professionally coded. ACS scripts are probably the best street driving scripts around. Tes and I have spent countless hours on our respective drag racing scripts to achieve, what a few years ago, would’ve been impossible the performance achieved today. Again, there is no way to show the complexity and efficiency of today’s scripts except by the testimonials of the ones that use these cars.
The true evolution of SL cars can be directly attributed to all the builders out there from the new builder that has to buy premade parts and painstakingly assembles a car to the builder that makes everything in house. It can easily be seen in the competitive nature of these builders to one up each other and thus raising the bar. One has to get passed the not seeing the tree for the forest to know just how much has changed for cars during the life of SL.
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I am well aware that details make the car; the trick is identifying the “balance” between economy and realism. We have done a lot of work on our own to find it. Our leading competitor is, admittedly, very good at making models, and they have recently been able to make excellent quality cars (visually similar to top video games) while often staying under 30 prims. (We are more versed in scripting, although we have an informal rule to never go over 50 prims.) Content creators have completely forgotten the necessity of prim efficiency now that there’s no limit – again, the average car in this exhibit is more than 100 prims. That is simply unacceptable for a small ground vehicle – not only are you wasting your customers’ prims (and the prims wherever they drive), but you are negatively impacting the graphics performance of everyone around you.
I never singled out anyone in that image. My point was to make an example of awful model efficiency. As a matter of fact, I never even looked at the creator’s name until you mentioned it. If they are popular in the racing world, that’s fine, but again, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a responsibility to create appropriate models. On top of that, for an exhibition detailing the history of cars in Second Life, it seems to be entirely dominated by them. What about cars not created for the racing community? (Additionally, the car does violate Dodge’s trademark.) I don’t own the car itself, so I can’t comment on its scripting, but I can’t imagine it’s any seriously groundbreaking improvement over the tunable scripts we’ve seen for a while now. If it was, why wasn’t that improvement detailed or commented upon? Isn’t this supposed to be a show about how cars have evolved over the years? Again, it looks like a showroom.
“Gone at the days where a builder could just purchase a full perm set of scripts and modify them to fit a need or use. Today scripts are very specialized and/or are multi-mode and professionally coded. ACS scripts are probably the best street driving scripts around.”
You say that builders can’t purchase full perm scripts, then you go on to talk about ACS, which is the very definition of a purchasable vehicle script and has been plaguing ripped cars for years. Besides, I would argue that D2 scripts handle better than ACS any day, mainly because D2 scripters generally understand how to work with LSL while ACS scripters rely entirely on ACS to do the work for them, which invariably turns out awfully. Despite this, I saw no D2 cars on display.
And again, as a scripter, I know the improvements in LSL that we’ve had over the years, but the common visitor probably does not. A simple texture with a narrative on it would have been an improvement over the “there’s notecards somewhere, good luck finding them” method used here. It has been an uphill battle trying to get the most out of LSL, and we have gone so far as to try to work with Linden Lab to release new features (at least they claim that SL2 will have much-improved vehicle dynamics, after we proposed making those improvements in SL).
I don’t deny the necessity of competition – it was the driving force behind our most recent releases. That said, where is the competition? After looking at the exhibit for quite some time, I couldn’t really figure out the racing industry as a whole, beyond (possibly) the fact that T&S is the leader because they practically took up half of the sim.
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Nelson,
Just curious here…you keep reminding us of your achievements, but are obviously posting under an alias…just wondering who you are in SL that you have claimed to accomplish so much, yet no one seems to know who you are.
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Greetings again! I’m not usually a blog reader, but am enjoying this one. I do not understand something though. Looking at the big picture, the LEA sponsors artists and lends them a SIM to create an art exhibit. This is art. Although part of the enjoyment of art is to receive feedback and opinion, positive or constructive (not negative), what I don’t understand is analyzing art to determine whether or not it is correct. I don’t walk into a museum of paintings and determine that the painter did not use the correct shade of blue, or the composition of a painting was off, or the artist did not provide a full thesis about the background of the manufacturer of the paint they used in bottom left corner, or even the technical science that went into the manufacturing of the frame or the wax that was used to shine the floor in the museum.
I can understand how Sapph’s exhibit can inspire others to create full, comprehensive written histories on this or that, or focus on different aspects of this display than she did, however, what has been created in this Exhibit is a creative artwork. I do not think the purpose of art is to judge it right or wrong — only to provide enjoyment, connection, creativity and inspiration. I personally do not want to attend an art exhibit in a visual virtual world and read 130 novels. I would prefer a visual display.
Once you judge art, I think you’re suddenly removed – and you’re outside the box of creativity.
And if you’re inspired to do something differently, SL is the perfect place to go do it. 😉
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Amen Tahiti! That was well spoken.
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I understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t entirely agree.
Were this installation entitled something like “The art and artistry of vehicle design in SL”, then I’d likely fully agree with you. However, it isn’t. It is called “The History of Vehicles in SL” – whether we like it or not, “history” does establish certain expectations as to what one is going to see – and learn – when visiting. As thus invites us to consider how well it succeeds in doing so.
So, to take your analogy in a slightly different direction: I do not enter a museum to determine whether the right or wrong paint has been used, nor do I expect a full thesis on the piece I’m looking at. But, given it is presented, but I do anticipate having reasonable pointers to the historical context to the item (or group of items) I’m looking at to better appreciate and understand how it / they have contributed to the history of the subject matter as a whole, and perhaps how they relate to other elements of the exhibit.
Sure, we can all see the visual progression in terms of improvements in shape (boxy prims through artistic prim torture to sculpts to mesh) – but that is just a singular aspect of the history of vehicles in SL; there is more to the history of vehicles than just their evolving shape. While it is undoubtedly a difficult subject to cover, and might well result in a book or two being written if one went overboard – but it needn’t be so. Just as our visit to a museum can be greatly enhanced through the purchase of a catalogue that helps us better appreciate and understanding what we’re seeing in its broader context, so too could liner notes significantly help an exhibit of this nature meet the goal suggested within its title.
This is something, from the conversations I’ve had with her in-world, that Sapph has taken on-board, and full credit to her on the way she has approached all of the feedback found here (some of which have perhaps been a little too subjectively worded), doing her level best to reply openly and fairly.
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Inara,
Part of the reason for the name, is I wanted to show how car building has progressed, and besides, I was trying to condense the name to give an overview. True, there are more newer cars in the exhibit, so that lets me know that next time, I’ll just get more creative with the wording and condensation! 😀
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I’m surprised at the negativity of so many comments here. If those people went to an art exhibit that had paintings and photos of cars, would they complain that the cars were too realistic or that they looked like real cars with real logos? SL is as much an artistic medium as anything else. And for the guy fussing that the cars have too much detail, a lot of us like the detail and additional realism it brings. Without it, we might as well rez a plywood cube, put plywood wheels on it, paint it red and drive it. When the Oculus Rift hits the market, we will all notice the difference in realism and detail every time we log in.
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As a layperson, when I go to a museum, I expect to learn something. This exhibition bills itself as “the history of cars”, yet it should have been named “the models of racecars”. I learned very little history from visiting. Meanwhile, when I go to an actual history museum, there are things to be learned – narratives on events and improvements in art styles, details on cultures and societies, the like. If a museum just had a collection of unlabeled clay jars and pots with no descriptions – just walk in and there are jars strewn about the place – what would be the point? You wouldn’t really learn anything unless you were already well-versed in ancient clay pottery. Here, you won’t really learn anything unless you are already well-versed in SL racing vehicles.
And again, realism is great as long as you approach it the right way. A textured face with labels is fine. A modeled face with modeled text for labels is not.
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Nelson,
It’s a pity that you’ve not ‘seen the forest for the trees’ in this exhibit. The sheer fact that so many pulled together to create something that has never been done before is an accomplishment in itself. From the onset, I informed each and every exhibitor that this was not a typical car show…EVERYONE is a winner…there are no losers. Every single exhibitor in the exhibit has contributed greatly to ‘The History of the Vehicle in SL’ exhibit. And, to learn something, sometimes we have to gather information…which is in SIGNS all over the sim. My apologies that simply clicking on one was too much of a task. Oh, but I digress…you were too busy seeking out what you consider negative. I personally feel that your posts are personal attacks on the creators, or possibly because you are feeling slighted that you were not invited. However, since no one has a clue who you really are in SL (hence your use of an alias) your negativity in itself would be enough to eliminate you from future shows. Those who have exhibited their work in this exhibit, are those who believe in one another and themselves and hold themselves to a high standard in their building. Builders who do not get along with one another pulled together and put aside their past differences to make the exhibit happen. I personally am very proud to have worked with each and every one of them. One couldn’t ask for a more respectful, respectable, ethical bunch of people to work with.
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…and so goes, opinions are like….. you know the rest. I see nothing of any actual legitimate complaints here other than that of tight drawn intellectual play of words and title phrases and very loosely strewn opinions of unintelligent proportions. Thus, leading to believe me, there is nothing actually wrong with the program itself besides a few misguided, uneducated guesses.
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Slap a pile of clay on a slab and stick a toothpick in it at a 35.226 degree angle. Next to it, lay a ball of string and a fork missing one prong. Fork must be purple. Then call it “The Piano Bar.” That’s art.
I understand everyone’s opinion here, but again, my point, I just don’t think you can tell an artist what their art should have been, instead. I see a whole history of cars from 2003 through today, and a few other vehicles in this Exhibit. Yes, there’s a lot of race cars but heck, we either take them for a nice country drive, show them off in our driveway or race them! What else do you do with a car? lol The need for speed. “Vehicle” to me means a car at first thought. Yes, it’s a broad term covering many moving objects, but there’s too many to put in one Exhibit and the artist chose what she chose because it’s her exhibit and her art. She chose her paint and canvas. I’ve seen some art exhibits that no matter how hard I tried, I just did not “get it.” lol But I will not insult them. It had a purpose to the artist and it was our choice to visit.
Speaking of the word “strewn,” I think that’s a negative opinion. Then again, I’ve seen paintings in real life where paint splatter is strewn across a canvas blindly, yet they draw in tens of thousands of dollars a pop.
I’m sure Sapph has enjoyed all the different perspectives and we can all glean ideas off each other for other projects, but I think this Exhibit is just awesome and deserves appreciation for what it is. As does each of the vehicles. I’m not a car person but I see brilliant innovation over the years. I mean, look at the one…it’s an airplane with a race car engine stuck on it. It really flies on that engine lol. Each of the vehicles have their own artwork on the body as well, not to mention the hours and love put into the detail under the hoods. She’s organized it from the ancient beginnings, to the sculpties and then the mesh masterpieces. She’s even included a memorial for those whose we’ve lost whose creativity in this field was so worth remembering. I will certainly remember this Exhibit as one outstanding representation of what we can do with virtual art.
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