Month: April 2017

The song of the Spirit Pool in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

The Spirit Pool by Kayle Matzerath, Fantasy Faire 2017

Since the dawn of the First Age, when the peoples of the world started counting the passage of Time, we have been here. Keepers of the waters; guardians of Life’s Way; shepherds to those seeking rest as their Path leads to the gates of Beyond.

Carved from the living rock above the waters and below the outspread arms of the Goddess, our halls are open to all, from above or below the waves. Like time itself, our waters flow outwards from their beginning in the hills, passing through tunnel and channel as they seeking the Spirit Pool, while the ebb and flow of landfolk and seafolk mark the beat of the citadel’s heart.

The Spirit Pool by Kayle Matzerath, Fantasy Faire 2017

To some we are a place of commerce, folded between land and sea. To those seeking Answers or uncertain of their way as their years wane, we are a place of Sanctuary and peace. The waters of the Spirit Pool offer rest and clarity of vision and thought to those who seek either. 

As the world turns, so we have seen the rise and fall of many; but while the years fall like leaves from a bough and the ages unfold as the petals of the flower, we remain. These walls, ancient before the world grew old, tire not. Though countless thousands of feet have walked our piers and halls, the stone beneath them does not fade nor wear. Our banners do not fade.

The Spirit Pool by Kayle Matzerath, Fantasy Faire 2017

“Timeless” some might call it; but that would infer we have escaped time. But how do you escape something to which you’ve never been held in thrall? We simply Are; and that is why the weary, the lost, the lingering souls caught between one realm and the next, find their way to us.

Beneath the Goddess’ outstretched arms, within the shade of covered terraces and walks, guided by the lanterns held aloft by the Handmaidens of the Pool or within the waters of the Pool itself, all who are uncertain, all who seek reset before passing beyond the realm of the physical, are welcome here.

The Spirit Pool by Kayle Matzerath, Fantasy Faire 2017

As a trader or traveller coming to this citadel for commerce, you may not see them moving among the people here, but we do. Our promises is to care for them, provide the peace they need so that they may hear their own calling. We do not offer direction; we do not encourage passage one way or the other. Each of those bound by time must make their own choice as to which path they will take. 

That is how it always has been, here in the midst of the Spirit Pool, and it is how it always will be. We greet you now as friend and traveller, and offer our halls as a place of trading and meetings. And we will welcome you again, one day, when your spirit is in need of rest and your thoughts in need of focus, when the Spirit Pool calls to you once more. 

The Spirit Pool by Kayle Matzerath, Fantasy Faire 2017

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Isla Pey: happiness is getting things *just* so …

Posted on by Inara Pey
The cottage and gardens on the plateau

We’re into another quarter, so it must be time for me to fiddle with the island home 🙂 .

In January, we reverted back to using the Fanatik Rocky Island to give a little elevation to our island home, and while happy with the results, I couldn’t help but feel tweaks were necessary. For one thing, the rotation of that huge rock made the walk from house to boat house something of a trek. It had ended up this way because I thought that was the only way the Rocky island would decently fit the north end of the parcel, where we wanted it. Turned out, I’d measured things a little inaccurately, so if we sacrificed the ‘plane docks, it would actually just fit.

So, around went the 118 LI slab of land by 90-degrees, moving the footpath winding down the side so that it descends directly to the “field” at the foot of the cliffs. So far, so good, other than the loss of the ‘plane docks – and the burying of half the duck pond (which was not looked upon too kindly by our TLC ducks!). Cue a reshuffle of the landscape 🙂 .

The Botanical Enchanted Forest Tower and MSD Among the ruins – Isolde tower can be nicely merged to form a single ruin, and as both are mod, the stonework can be textured to they match. The upper platform on the Enchanted Forest Tower makes for a perfect setting for our MSD Dragon Garden piece.

I won’t bore you with a huge delve into things. Suffice it to say that the reshuffle actually improved things no end. For one thing, moving the pond helped me realise that with a little bit of re-texturing of the stonework, Kriss Lehmann’s Botanical Forest Ruins Tower could be combined with the MSD Among the Ruins – Isolde tower to produce a nicely expanded ruin on the west side of the island. This in turn provided a new home for our MSD Dragon Garden  (which is (reviewed here alongside the Among The Ruins Tower), with a cosy little snuggle beneath it, overlooking the relocated pond.

Looking across the pond from the sitting nook under one of the ruined towers

Moving the Rocky Island around also presented a much more flexible space in which to set the house and  gardens, with a little bit of terracing to break things up a bit. Everything is now much more conveniently located, and finally provided just the right post for out old well (a genuine steal from DIVAs Design at L$25), accessed via a gate (from Cube Republic’s Meadow Farm Fence kit, another recommendation) opening off the back of the garden.

And the ‘planes? Well, moving the pond made room for a smaller set of moorings, and a quick raid of my inventory produced an old Smith Fizz scene rezzing system. Nicely customisable, this now lets us rez whichever float ‘plane or helicopter we fancy using, whilst keeping the dock otherwise clear for friends to use when visiting, whether they come by air or water.

The towers lit at night, and the cottage in its new cliff-top location

So, are we happy with things – finally? Believe it or not, we both are. Will there be more changes in the future? Obviously, as there will always be nips and tucks, tweaks and additions. But unless we decide on a total make-over of the island for something completely new, I think that this time Isla Pey with its walks, ruins and house, is exactly how we both like it.

Enchanted Art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Enchanted Art

Enchanted Art, operated by Oema Resdient and Magda Schmditzau, is based on Oema’s homestead region, Astralia, which I last blogged about in August 2016. The idea is to present artists with the opportunity to display a selection of their work on a monthly basis, with those who apply and are accepted being promoted through the Enchanted Art web pages on Oema’s blog and through the usual in-world channels for art.

The current exhibition features Bamboo Barnes,  Jarla Capalini, Clary Congrejo, Paola Mills, Antarctica Slade, Toysoldier Thor, Lissa, Terrygold, with Oema and Madga rounding-out the numbers. Each artist is provided with space to display two 2D pieces of art, with Toy also supplying one of his 3D masterpieces.

Enchanted Art

The region offers a marvellously enchanted aspect for exhibitions, being decorated using Elicio Ember’s wonderful plants and  creations, which have been brought together under a suitably atmospheric windlight to  present an ethereal, otherworldy setting visitors are encouraged to explore. Within this, there are two areas in which art is displayed: an open-air setting and a separate gallery building.

The landing point delivers visitors at the foot of the outdoor exhibition area, caught in the light of a setting sun, which is periodically eclipsed by the presence of another body in the sky – one big enough to suggest is it a planet, and the gallery and its surrounds are perhaps on a moon of that world. This outdoor space makes for a pleasant walk, platforms for the artists to either side of the path, each clearly labelled and with a Flickr link to the artist’s photo stream. The offer of biographical notes would have been appreciated, but this is a minor point.

Enchanted Art

Close to the landing point sits a teleport disc, part of a network that connecs the major features of the region, including the aforementioned gallery building. However, there is also a set of footpaths winding their way around and through the landscape, and these offer an opportunity to see more than the teleports might suggest is to be found. So an exploration by foot is recommended.

Artists wishing to join an exhibition at Enchanted Art can click on the application boards in-world, which will provide a link to an application form. Successful applicants are selected by Magda Schmdtzau. Criteria / focus for exhibitions aren’t given, suggesting that applications are open to artists from all fields (although the April exhibition does show a strong bias towards avatar studies).

Enchanted Art

Enchanted Art is an eye-catching way of presenting art exhibitions. The use of the entire region to create an environment – and in this case and ambience – is something I enjoy seeing (and something we’ve striven to achieve, environment-wise with Holly Kai Park). Ergo, I have no hesitation in recommending a visit.

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Patankar’s peace in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Patankar – click on any image for full size

Patankar is one of those places to which we all want to escape every once in a while. A corner of the world where worries and needs can be forgotten, and you can lose yourself in the landscape, wandering where you will, or idle on a sandy beach, or sit and watch the local wildlife and livestock while your mind wanders wherever it likes.

Designed by  Dama (Damatjo Magic) and Alex Broxy (FullD2), Patankar is a beautifully conceived homestead region, the majority of which is open to the public to explore and appreciate. The only exception is a private home in then north-west corner of the region which is off-limits to causal visitors.

Patankar

There doesn’t appear to be a set landing point (although the pier has a welcome mat / group joiner), and the landmark I’d been passed dropped Caitlyn and I neatly towards the south-east corner of the region, where a board walk snakes its way from dusty track and along the edge of a beach to where a small stream tumbles over rocks the reach the open sea. Curving around the south-western sides of the island, the beach offers little places to sit, both out in the sun and under canvas shade, separated from the rest of the land by two scrawny hillocks.

A little further northwards, between the beach and the private residence, there sits the long finger of the aforementioned pier, pointing out to sea and reached by a broad set of wooden steps. Not far away, the island’s dusty track meanders past before turning sharply inland. Follow it, and you’ll quickly reach a T-junction – one of several which split the track as it weaves across the island. The left fork of this particular junction points the way to a Tuscan-style farmhouse, while to the right, a wooden bridge spans the stream before the track forks again.

Patankar

A second small farmstead sits near one arm of the track as it curls back to the stream and another bridge. Horses graze in a small paddock next to the tin-roofed farmhouse, a tractor parked and waiting close by. Behind the farmhouse the land rises sharply into a rugged hill, the abode of goats but with a path winding up through it. Those willing to take the hike along it can be rewarded with time in a hot air balloon; those less inclined to make their way to the peak will find several places to sit down and take in the scenery along the way – although the view from the peak really is worth the effort!

Sitting in the lee of the hill stands a wooded copse, blankets spread on the ground or on tree stump, awaiting those seeking rest. Not too far away, a little dock offers a view eastwards out over the sea, and more places to sit.

Patankar

And even with all this, the region still has more to offer – such as the little island to the north-east, or the stepping-stones criss-crossing the small lake to the south, where an upturned rowing boat leans on its prop to offer a secluded snuggle spot beside the water. In fact, wherever you roam, you’re bound to find places to sit and relax, and cuddle or chat, such is the welcome to be found throughout the region.

Complete with an appropriate sound scape, Patankar is a genuine delight – yes, there is the odd tree and bank levitating very slightly above the ground, but these don’t change the fact that the region has been put together with a considerable amount of love; nor do they make it any the less photogenic. This is very much a place to be visited, savoured, and enjoyed.

Patankar

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  • Patankar (Family Dreams, rated: Moderate)

SL project updates 17/1: server, inventory issues

Posted on by Inara Pey

Dawn’s Promise by Marcus Inkpen and Sharni Azalee, Fantasy Faire 2017 – blog post

Server Deployments

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest information  / updates.

SL Viewer

The Project Alex Ivy (LXIV) project viewer updated to version 5.1.0.504536 on April 25th. According to comments passed at the TPV Developer meeting on Friday, April 21st, this update should now include Havok for Mac, although the release notes currently do not reflect this, possibly because they have not been updated from the previous release.

Outside of this update, the viewer pipeline is as follows:

  • Current Release version: 5.0.4.325124, dated April 3rd, promoted April 19th – formerly the Maintenance RC viewer overview
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Project AssetHttp project viewer version 5.0.5.325600 dated April 20th – This viewer moves fetching of several types of assets to HTTP / CDN – overview
  • Project viewers:
    • 360-degree snapshot viewer version 4.1.3.321712 dated November 23rd, 2016
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847 dated May 8th, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Inventory  / Inventory Loss Issues

Inventory loss is not a new issue within Second Life, and it is something the Lab has acknowledged in the past and sought to try to reduce. However, there are new reports of odd cases of inventory loss resulting from folders apparently somehow being moved to the Trash folder without apparent user intervention, from whence they are then purged (see this forum thread for examples).  Others have also reported seeing folders move themselves to Lost & Found.

While it is only speculative, it has been suggested that a bug somewhat akin to BUG-4617 might be in part responsible. It is also possible that is some cases, the loss is due to accidentally moving a folder to Trash and then purging as a result of a (fairly) recent introduction of the pop-up warning to purge Trash (intended to show up when Trash exceeds 5K items, unless the threshold is manually increased via debug), which may be causing people to purge their Trash without double-checking to ensure nothing is there that shouldn’t be there.

However, the above doesn’t explain the apparent movement of folders into Trash (or lost & Found) where the user is certain then did not mis-click or mis-drag. A further problem appears to be that when moved, folders don’t always appear in Trash – although this may be due to people incorrectly looking at Trash via the Recent Tab in the Inventory floater, or as a result of inventory filters being active.

Kyle Linden is apparently ware of the latest batch of reported issues, which means that  hopefully, they are being looked into. In the meantime, if you do suffer any kind of noticeable inventory loss on the scale being reported, immediately file a support case; it may not work, but the sooner a case is logger potentially the greater the chance of the matter being resolved.

General Steps to Help with Inventory Loss

The following steps are not suggested as a panacea for the kinds of losses noted above, but are offered as a potential help to those experiencing lost inventory (and are based on using the official viewer):

  • Try a cache clear first:
    • In the top menu bar of the viewer, go to Me > Preferences > Advanced -> Click the “Clear Cache” button -> OK
    • Restart the viewer – the cache will be cleaned when the viewer launches
    • Login to a low lag region (for example Pooley), open your inventory and wait for it to fetch
  • If you are still missing inventory, then work through all the relevant steps on the Inventory Loss wiki page
  • If still no luck then you need to contact Linden Lab support directly for help by submitting a support case form at https://support.secondlife.com/contact-support/

The art at Fantasy Faire in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Fantasy Faire: Art Gallery 1

As anyone who visits the Fantasy Faire Flickr pool will know that among its many achievements, each year’s Faire bring forth an outpouring of creativity through people’s photographs of the Fairelands regions. It’s also not unreasonable to say that fantasy art as a whole is one of the staples of Second Life photography as a whole, such is the popularity of fantasy realms in-world.

It’s therefore fitting that Fantasy Faire embraces this wellspring of individual creativity each year by offering Second Life photographers and artists the opportunity to display their work. In fact, this year fantasy art is doubly celebrated, with not one but two galleries of art to be appreciated.

Fantasy Faire: Art Gallery 2

Both can be found within Opal Flight, the Arts and Entertainment region of the Faire, which sees Haveit Neox and Lilia Artis bring forth a magnificently unique region which is itself a work of art, extending as much below the waves as it does above. The galleries play host to the work of 40 artists, including the likes of noted Fantasy Faire photographers Alisaundra Andel and Caitlin Tobias, as well as a host of names familiar and perhaps new to those who follow Second Life art. You can find the full list of artists, with links to their Flickr streams on the Fantasy Faire website, so I won’t repeat them here.

The first of the galleries is presented above the surface of the water on the west side of the region, beautifully hung from the stems and leaves of great white gallery plants. A path of floating leaves offers the way to them, but such is the scale of the gallery space – and if you have the luxury – I would suggest flycamming to view the art more completely. Follow the path around to the end of the art display, and it will lead you onwards and beneath the waves to the underwater part of the region.

Fantasy Faire: Art Gallery 1

The second of the galleries can be found underwater within a coral rotunda at the centre of the region, which if teleported to directly can also act as a gateway to the undersea environment Haveit and Lila have created; an environment I thoroughly recommend visiting.

The art displayed within the galleries offers a broad mix of style, narrative – something regular readers of my blog will know attracts me – emotion, power and sense of fun. The names of the artists are not directly displayed, but  provided you are within whisper – I think – range of an image, touching it will cause the title and artist’s name to be displayed in local chat. I have no idea of the criteria used to select the images, but the number of images displayed by any artist seems to vary between one and two pieces.

Fantasy Faire: Art Gallery 2

On a personal note, and through both of my visits to the galleries, I did find myself feeling that the this exhibition is a little one-sided, with the onus very much on avatar studies. But over the years, Fantasy Faire has produced some fabulous realms over the years, many of which have been the subject of photographs and art. So having a few of these recalled among the preponderance of avatar sets would not have been amiss, and might have further broadened the depth (and possibly the appeal) of the exhibition.

Nevertheless, given how easily an art exhibition can be overlooked with so much else occurring at Fantasy Faire, I do very much recommend that anyone who enjoys Second Life art and photography stop by Opal Flight and visit the galleries. And as noted, while doing so, they take the time to explore the region as a whole. It truly is a delight.

Opal Flight

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