Month: January 2021

For those who feel they’d like to escape all the continuing stresses of the physical world, but who don’t particularly want to spent time exploring and wandering, preferring instead to sit and chat or cuddle (or both), then artist Terrygold might have the answer.

Osta Nimosa is a quarter-region parcel sitting within a Full region utilising the private island LI bonus. Best known for her work as an artist – one whose work I’ve appreciated and long enjoyed writing about, here she presents a landscaped environment. Set out as an artificial archipelago sitting over sandy waters, it is bordered on two sides by open water, while the other two are denoted by a shallow ribbon of grass and sand that sits between the shallows and high cliffs.

Presented under the Solo Arte banner, the setting extends out over the water in a checker board of little square and rectangular islands, with more to be found in the sky overhead, including the Solo Arte Castle, sitting within a snowy setting at the time of my visit and which includes a table games room for those who fancy a little challenge.

The main landing point for the setting can be found on the ribbon of beach and grass, sitting alongside information boards and the teleport signs that link to all of the locations within the parcel.

The islands are reached can be reached in one of two ways: by taking the a canoe from the pier on the waterside of the landing point or by wading through the water and with the wooden steps that are provided with each island (flight is deactivated in the parcel, so I’m excluding this as an option).

Whilst regular in shape, these islands are anything but identical. Some are set as garden spaces, others as little corners in which to sit – such as having you own little bench where you can watch the Moon in a most unique way. Others are home to buildings of some description, each of which also has its unique characteristics.

For example, there is the Mr. Wolf bar – also one of the teleport destinations – which may not quite offer what you might expect from a bar; whilst the houses themselves offer the most unusual – and delightful settings within them. Furnished homes they most certainly are not, but they are charming / romantic (depending on which you access). There’s also a camp site watched over by cormorants, and another island offering a musical haven whilst one gives people the chance for a quite picnic.

There’s a lot of detail to be found here  – as may have already been guessed from my comments above. There’s the cats that bring a little life to the outdoor café, the boats that offer further places to sit and cuddle a board walk garden and a little coastal camp site, all waiting to be found.

All of this adds up to a charming location for a visit and in which to spend time, one that works under a range of spring / summer environment settings, and which shouldn’t be missed by anyone who – at the risk of repeating myself- wants to escape the stresses of the physical world, or who wishes to have a little quiet time with their loved one(s) or friends.

SLurl Details

• Osta Nimosa (Mystic Bay, rated Moderate)

A January 12th, 2021 Destination Guide blog post by Linden Lab reminded me that it has been seven-and-a-half years since my first – and up until now, only – visit to the remarkable David Rumsey Maps in Second Life (see: If maps are your thing, Rumsey’s the king!). A length of time that marks a return visit as long overdue, so I decided to jump over and renew my own acquaintance with the four-region facility.

As both the Linden blog post and my own post from 2013 note, David Rumsey Maps in Second Life is a direct annexe to the David Rumsey Map Collection. This an on-line collection of more than 150,000 maps with a focus on rare 16th through 21st century maps of North and South America, but which includes maps of Asia, Africa, Europe  and Oceania. The collection stretches back over 30 years, with a programme to digitise them all commencing in 1996.

The collection’s website is powered by LUNA, one of the world’s leading digital asset management tools, one that is used world-wide around educational, research and science institutions. In particular, the software allows visitors to the website to view multiple maps from different time periods side-by-side and also to create and curate their own collections of maps from the library, according to their interest / requirements.

This ability to interact with the collection was expanded in 2008, when the Rumsey collection realised Second Life could be a unique environment by which people could visit and interacts with elements of their collection in a unique manner, and their presence in Second Life has been periodically updated since then.

The core of the facility comprises a visitor centre and a 4-region terrain elevation map of Yosemite Park dating from the 1880s, and which visitors are free to fly over / down town and walk across (to see it all, you should set your draw distance to at least 512m). Around the outer edges of the four regions – which are arranged in a square – is a series of panels – up to 50 on a side – displaying individual maps that can be studied by taking a walk around the boundaries, together with a 3D view across the Grand Canyon amidst the panels on one side.

Within the visitor centre are more maps – forty of which are available to collect at no charge – and several of what should be interactive elements – map viewers, a media recording of a presentation by David Rumsey himself, etc. Unfortunately, on my return visit, none of these would respond to being touched, nor would the large world map directly outside of the visitor centre, which is designed to allow you to rez a pin on your physical world location and place it on the map with a message of up to 140 characters.

Two skywalks extend from this map platform, each one displaying a ribbon map that can be walked. The first – and longer of these – is featured in the Second Life blog post. It is a reproduction of a map of the Tōkaidō road (“”eastern sea route”), the most important of the five great trade routes linking Edo (as Tokyo was then known) to other major Japanese centres of commerce – in this case, Kyoto on the east coast of Honshū. The second ribbon map,on the shorter skywalk  (which connects to the outer map walk) is a reproduction of a map from the late 1800s showing steamboat routes on the Mississippi.

We built the 4 {regions} in 2008 and have continued to update them since then. One of the things that fascinated me early on was the potential to “walk” on the historic maps and fly around them in SL. The Yosemite map which forms the floor of the site was built with a full elevation model so that it is accurate and in scale. The map is the first truly accurate map of the Yosemite Valley made by U.S. Army topographers in 1883.

– David Rumsey, via Linden Lab

While flying is not required to see all the maps, it is needed to see the two large globes floating over the Yosemite map. Eash is a reproduction of globes created by Giovanni Maria Cassini (not to be confused with the astronomer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini) – one of the earth and the other of the heavens surrounding it. Both can be flown in, where information boards can be found describing each of them, set over two orreys modelled on the time of Cassini – each fails to record Neptune and Uranus, as those planets had yet to be discovered.

Despite some of the interactive elements not appearing to work, David Rumsey Maps remains an engaging and educational visit.

Related Links

• David Rumsey Map Collection website
• David Rumsey Maps SLurl (Rated: General)

 

 

 

 

 

In July 2020, we made our first visit to Mount Campion National Forest, the marvellous setting created by Marz (Mar Scarmon) around the highest peak on Second Life’s mainland continent of Heterocera (see: The climbs and caves of Mount Campion in Second Life).

Rising towards the peak of the mountain and encompassing the razor back ridge that runs down from it, the forest is a stunning place of beauty, both above ground and underneath it – for within the granite cliffs and high steps of rock runs a network of tunnels and caverns that is so natural in look and feel, it is possible to imagine them having been formed in ages past by the passage of water through the rocks.

Fast forward six months, and a lot has changed for the forest.  It has expanded mightily, actually tripling in size to just shy of (at the time of writing) 100,000 square metres – that almost 25 acres, for those who prefer to work in “old money”. It runs through three region of Heterocera to offer Second Life users both the opportunity for extensive out-door exploration and the opportunity to actually rent a property within it and fully appreciate its splendour.

I know this because Marz recently invited Caitlyn and I back to the forest for a further visit – and truth be told, I’m writing this article between our bouts of wandering the paths and trails above ground and exploring the further caves and tunnels that lie beneath them.

We started our return visit  – on Marz’s recommendation – at  the high plateau of Roscommon Ridge to the north-west of Mount Campion. Here can be found numerous paths and trails – the main ones of which lead the way past some of the rental properties to be enjoyed here, so if visiting, do avoid trespassing and invading people’s privacy.

The plateau is also home to small lakes among the trees, together with fast-flowing streams – perhaps fed by the thaw (a small corner of the plateau still exhibits snow) as much as by the lakes. A short walk from the landing point is an entrance to the cave system under the plateau, one that includes a neatly tucked away rentals vendor providing details on the houses available for rent within the forest.

Through the considered use of many of the same landscaping elements found within the “original” Mount Campion setting: flora, tracks, landscaping elements,  etc., Marz has layered the entire forest, from Camion through the south-western corner of Highflyer and then through Spinach, with a sense of continuity of featuring and setting that is both natural and which encourages explorers to continue their wanderings.

Those who do keep a an eye out for the unusual when exploring may come across one or two little surprises along the way, such as a Sasquatch enjoying a stroll along the banks of a stream or the outhouse that have been placed for the … convenience … of visitors, and more, both above and underground (I’m not going to give all that we found away!).

As well as the Roscommon Ridge additions, I believe I’m correct in saying the cave complex in Campion has been extended, with a series of tunnels and caverns that are partially flooded (if these were around in July 2020, then silly me for missing them on our fist visit!). Find the right way into these, and it is possible to take an air mattress from a rezzer and paddle through the waterways – just mind the waterfall that marks one of the routes out!

The goal of the National Forest is to have a public place of scenic beauty that encourages exploration. A secondary goal is to renew interest in mainland SL. The National Forest has the highest mountain in SL (Mount Campion), miles of scenic trails, forests, canyons, and of course the largest connected cave system in SL. I hope you will visit us again, I am giving you the location for one of our newer areas, but again the areas are all adjacent and connected by trails and caves so I hope you will roam around. Thanks and I look forward to seeing you there.

– Marz (Mar Scarmon)

A captivating beauty spot since Marz took it on, Mount Campion Natural Forest was always a worthwhile visit, and this expansion has increased its attractiveness, offering multiple reasons for a visit. As noted above, at the time this piece was written, Caitlyn and I hadn’t completed our own explorations – so maybe we’ll see you there!

SLurl Details

• Roscommon Ridge (Spinach, rated Moderate)
• Mount Campion National Forest (Campion, rated Moderate)
• Mount Campion main caves entrance (Campion, rated Moderate)