Author: Inara Pey

Eclectic virtual world blogger with a focus on Second Life, VR, virtual environments and technology.

Art and exploration at Sinful Retreat in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sinful Retreat – August 2023

It’s been a fair while since I last visited Sinful Retreat – nigh-on two years, in fact; and a lot has changed in that time. As such, a re-visit was well and truly overdue, as a flick through the Destination Guide reminded me.

For the longest time, Sinful Retreat was the home of the Janus galleries, a place defined by art both indoors and out, set within a landscape intended to both support and emphasise the art on display, and to present a unique environment that encouraged exploration and discovery. This latter point remains true with the current iteration of the region, as does the unique landscaping, with half of the region raised as a man-made plateau sitting atop and extending outwards from a huge mesa.

Sinful Retreat, August 2023 – Milly Sharple

However, where the former plateau sat as home to the main Janus galleries and an art street, this one is home to the Janus Manor, and expansive 3-storey building utilising DRD’s Scarlett Hotel. Whilst suggestive of a private home, the Manor is in fact a gallery, and home to an exhibition of art collected over the years by region holders Chuck Clip and his SL partner (and physical world wife) Jewell (FallenAurora Jewell), a collection covering both 2D and 3D pieces.

The collection is richly diverse, demonstrating but Chuck and Jewell’s support of artistic expression in Second Life and the richness and diversity of said art. Within the building, pieces can be found along the hallways, within the alcoves and individual rooms, with each area or room representing a particular artist. Thus, in exploring the Manor one will find art by Layachi Ihnen, JudiLynn India, Xia Chieng, Kayly Iali, Asperix Asp, LashVV, Perpetua1010, paula31atnight, Traci Ultsch, Sheba Blitz, Milly Sharple, and many more. They cover both original paintings and digital pieces produced in the physical world and imported into SL, and pieces produced directly within the platform.

Sinful Retreat, August 2023 – LashVW

Also to be found within the Manor house are 3D pieces which combine with those outside to celebrate artists such as Bryn Oh, London Junkers, CioTToLiNa Xue, nessuno Myoo, Meilo Minotaur and Livio Korobase, with some of the pieces offering a natural flow between the main house and the neighbouring ballroom, where further 2D and 3D art is to be found. In all, I understand around some 70 artists from across SL are represented, making this one of the most diverse and engaging public collections on display in-world, which it turn makes Janus Manor well worth a visit by anyone with any degree of interest in art in Second Life.

Nor does it end there, as the region comprises multiple locations offer to visitors to explore. The first, and perhaps most obvious in terms of the setting’s main landing point, of these is likely to be the Memorial Garden. Sitting at the top of another rocky plateau – this one rising out of waters in the north-east of the region, the Gardens present a place where those who have lost someone known to them either in-world or in the physical world can have a candle lit in remembrance, and perhaps even a memorial raised to them. Beautifully landscaped, the gardens also offer abroad stairway down to a broad, deep ledge under them – a pace for meditation, tai chi or even gentle conversation among friends.

Sinful Retreat, August 2023 – Fly Kugin

Sitting at the western end of the platform on which Janus Manor is located is an open-air elevator. It offers the way down to where both the Secret Garden and Studio Chuck can be found. The former is a formal garden sitting behind railing-topped walls, and through which a footpath winds its way, leading visitor past flowers and over water.

In addition, the garden is home to a further collection of 3D art featuring pieces by ArtemisGreece (another of my favourite artists in SL) and Phenix Rexen. Studio Chuck, meanwhile, sits as a home to Chuck Clip’s own art, both 2D and 3D. Beautifully expressive, often wrapped in meaning and metaphor, Chuck’s work is always a pleasure to view, and the Studio is a perfect / minimalist environment in which to appreciate it.

Sinful Retreat, August 2023

A raised walkway passes over the water at base of the Manor’s plateau from the gardens to reach the land under the platform. Sitting within the shadows here is another little retreat, set within the shadows of the platform overhead and home to a little secret (albeit pointed to by a little gathering of signs), and which may be worth a little exploration – although some additional lighting might be required. For those who prefer, the Secret Garden also connects to a woodland area, beyond which a little horse riding can be found, as can a number of private rental units looking out of the sea – so do be careful and avoid trespass beyond the hedgerows marking them.

For those who prefer an easier means of exploration, the setting does include a teleport system in the form of a directory of destinations. This provides direct access not only to the major locations around the setting, but also those within Janus Manor itself.

Sinful Retreat, August 2023 – Wan Laryukov

A genuinely engaging visit for art lovers and explorers alike.

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Space Sunday: roving on the Moon

Posted on by Inara Pey
An artist’s rendering of Chandryaan-3 on the surface of the Moon. Credit: ISRO

On August 23rd, 2023, India became the 4th nation to successfully land a vehicle on the Moon, after Russia, the United States and China – and the first nation to manage to do so within the South Polar Region of the Moon.

Following its separation from the propulsion module on August 17th, the Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram completed a series of small adjustments to which allowed it to reduce the lowest point in its orbit to just 30km above the Moon. It was from this altitude that the lander fired all four of its landing motors to drop it into a gentle ballistic descent towards the lunar surface easing it down to an altitude of 7.2 km over a period of 11.5 minutes.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission took this photo of the lunar surface shortly after landing on the moon on August 23rd, 2023. Credit: ISRO)

At this point the lander used its thrusters to orient itself into a vertical position in preparation for landing. Then, at 150 metres above the surface the lander held its position using two of its decent engines to hold position for around 30 seconds in order to carry out a final scan of its proposed landing area before continuing to a soft landing at 12:32 UTC.

The landing came as a source of national and international celebration – and some relief for the Indian Space Research Organisation, the mission in part being the result of the loss of the Chandrayann-2 lander / rover combination when they deviated from their planned descent to the surface of the Moon on July 22nd, 2019, striking the Moon at an estimated 50 m/s (180 km/h / 112 mph), rather than the required 2 m/s (7.4 km/h / 4.6 mph) required for a soft landing.

The entire mission operations right from launch until landing happened flawlessly, as per the timeline. I take this opportunity to thank navigation guidance and control team, propulsion team, sensors team, and all the mainframe subsystems team who have brought success to this mission. I also take the opportunity to thank the critical operations review committee for thoroughly reviewing the mission operations right from launch till this date. The target was on spot because of the review process.

– Chandrayaan-3 project director P. Veeramuthuvel

The mission has a number of objectives, with the lander and its small rover – called Pragyan (“wisdom”) – primarily focused on the probing the composition of the lunar surface and attempt to detect the presence of water ice and to examine the evolution of the Moon’s atmosphere. However, the mission is also about the rover itself and demonstrating India’s ability to build and operate a rover vehicle.

Following landing, and after surveying its surroundings, Vikram was ordered to extend a ramp ahead of the rover’s deployment. This occurred at 03:00 UTC on August 24th, 2023, when – after as series of checks, the rover was released from its locked on the lander and commanded to roll down the ramp onto the lunar surface, watched over by the lander’s cameras.

Following initial deployment, the rover paused at the foot of the ramp, before commands were passed for it to roll forward several metres and commit a turn to test its steering.

In all, both lander and rover are expected to operate for a total of 15 days within landing area – the length of time the Sun will be above the horizon in order to provide energy to the solar-powered vehicles. It is hoped that the studies the mission performs will add to our understanding of the Moon’s south pole and its role in host water ice – a resource of enormous potential and importance to future aims for the human exploration of the Moon, and being planned by the US-led Artemis programme (of which India is a member through the Artemis Accords) and China.

This image of the Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram was taken shortly after the landing by the Chanrayaan-2 orbiter, which has continued to operate successfully in lunar orbit following the loss of that mission’s lander and rover. Credit: ISRO

Yutu-2 Keeps Rocking

Meantime, on the lunar far side, China’s Yutu -2 (“Jade Rabbit”) rover continues to explore Von Kármán crater more than 4.5 years after arriving, making it the longest operational lunar rover to date, and the only rover operating on the far side of the Moon.

A part of the Chang’e-4 mission, the 6-wheeled rover is operating in conjunction with the mission’s lander, with both rover and lander having far exceeded their primary missions of 3 and 12 months respectively. For the rover, which has to contend with the harsh lunar nights, this is a remarkable achievement. During its time on the Moon it has covered a distance of around 1.5 km, exploring features within the crater and probing below the surface.

Footage of Yutu-2 captured from its initial deployment on the Moon in 2019, strung together into a movie. Credit: CNSA

The latter is achieved through the use of a two-channel ground penetrating radar (GPR) capable of “seeing” to depths of around 300-350 metres. This has revealed the Moon’s surface structure under Von Kármán crater to be remarkably complex, with at least 5 layers of rock stacked one above the last in a manner of sedimentation. However, rather than the result of water action, these appear to have been the results of volcanism, with at least three of the five layers primarily comprising basalt.

This points to the region having once been a site of significant volcanism and helps in further understanding of the Moon’s early history. In addition the different degrees to which the layers spread help inform scientists on how the decreasing thermal activity within the Moon directly correlates to the loss of volcanism and the settling of lunar features.

Following missions like Yutu-2 and Chang’e-4 isn’t easy, as the Chinese space programme is mixed in terms of the information and frequency with which it makes information publicly available. However, given the fact that this study is part of broader research into the Moon’s upper layers being carried out by the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona utilising data provided by China, demonstrates the latter’s commitment to sharing the results of their robotic space research with science institutes around the world.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: roving on the Moon” →

Hera’s Houndstead and Goatswood in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Goatswood, August 2023, click any image for full size

I recently received a personal note from Hera (zee 9) Informing me that she has once more brought back her famous Goatswood build to Second Life and inviting me to drop in. It’s a place I first visited roughly a decade ago, and to which I most recently returned during its last iteration in-world in April 2022. It’s a place which Hera has always updated in some manner with each appearance, whilst also retaining the core of this very English rural township with strong vibes of medieval origins in its looks.

The latest iteration of Goatswood, which opened earlier in August (and which Hera informs me will remain available for about a month), continues this tradition in offering the familiar setting with some new elements. It share the region in which it is located with a new build, Houndstead Abbey, which very much carries on – in a manner of speaking – from where Whitby Abbey left off, having previously shared the region with Goatswood back in April 2022 (see: Revisiting Hera’s Whitby in Second Life), as well as enjoying a number of iterations at Hera’s hands.

Goatswood, August 2023

Throughout all of its iterations, Goatswood has offered one of the most naturally immersive environments for casual role-play available in Second Life, bringing together a rich mix of fantasy, Victorian-era elements (notably the railway station and stream train), the aforementioned medieval look and feel and a strong infusion of magic (be it dark or light).

Some of this history is celebrated within the short stories scattered throughout the setting (and thus encouraging carful exploration in order that they might be found and read) and which may help those interesting in doing so to enter the region’s photographic competition, which runs through until September 2nd, 2023 with a total prize pool of L$12,000 – of which L$8,000 will go to the first prize winner. Details of the competition can be obtained from the region’s landing point.

Goatswood, August 2023

Retaining the sense of a Cotswolds origin, this version of Goatswood brings with it the familiar windmill, the Roebuck Coach House and the church, together with hints of daily life from work at the smithy through to an abandoned attempt at cricket on a green which has perhaps seen better days (and which is set before The Shunters Social Club, which some of us from the UK might seen as a little nod to both railway social clubs and a certain television series of a few decades ago).

One building I don’t recall from previous iterations is the circular keep sitting to the north-west of the town. This appears to have once been outside of the main walls of the town, reached via the road beyond via the road beyond the stream following along that side of Goatswood and using a solidly-built stone bridge to span the stream’s steep banks to reach the curtain walls of the tower’s courtyard. However, given more peaceful times now prevail, some of these curtain walls appear to have been dismantled, allowing the tower to more directly join with the town, little more than a low wooden gate sitting between the well-tended gardens which now occupy a good part of the tower’s courtyard and the street leading back to the Roebuck.

Goatswood, August 2023

The tower is one of several furnishing buildings within the setting, and it offers a curiously attractive blending of fantasy with classical romanticism (such as the painting within the boudoir-come-bedroom on the middle floor, with its suggestions of Guinevere and Lancelot – or perhaps Tristan and Isolde, as both fit), medieval practicalities (the tapestries draped on the walls) and genteel English afternoons of the landed (afternoon tea and a spot of painting). All with just a flavouring of the magical essence that permeates Goatswood.

There is much that I could write about this corner of mythological / imagined England, notwithstanding my previous writings on Goatswood in these pages. However, it remains a place that should be best seen and experienced than written about – so I will leave you to catch the train from the landing point (touch the Goatswood sign over the platform, rather than  – as with past iterations – touching the open door of the carriage). Instead, I’ll turn my attention to Houndstead Abbey, the second part of the setting, and reached via the sign on the other side of the landing point’s railway platform to that for Goatswood.

Houndstead Abbey, August 2023

As noted above, Houndstead is something of a spiritual successor to Hera’s previous Whitby build, inasmuch as it shares the region with Goatswood and has, as its focal point, the ruins of a large abbey. However, this model – once again an original by Hera, as is the case with the majority of her buildings and structures – is modelled after Abaty Tyndyrn (Tintern Abbey), situated on the Welsh bank of the river Wye as it forms the border between Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire.

Whilst the  Dissolution of the Monasteries brought about Tintern’s fall into ruin, the abbey was, and remains of historic importance, being the first  Cistercian abbey founded in Wales (1131) and only the second such abbey to be founded in Britain, founded just three years earlier in Waverley, Worcestershire. As they stand today, the ruins at Tintern represent the much larger, Gothic abbey structures which were constructed over the original buildings, starting in around 1269 and which almost completely replaced them, although hints still remain in the ruins available to visitors today.

Houndstead Abbey, August 2023

Houndstead shares much of a history similar to that of Tintern. Like the latter, it sits within a river valley – in this case the mythical Wyvern – and thrived up until Henry VIII stomped on things. Thereafter, and as Hera notes:

It was fair game for anyone who needed stone for building, and eventually it was reduced to just a shell of its former glory. In the early 1800’s a well-known artist of the period installed a statue of the Elven Queen at its centre. And soon after, a local theatre group performed Shakespeare’s A Mid Summer Nights Dream amongst the ruins [and] the ruin began to acquire a reputation as a place of strange happenings and fae magic.

– Hera’s notes accompanying the Houndstead Abbey build

Houndstead Abbey, August 2023

This reputation as a place of mystery and magic was probably due in part to the standing stones standing guard around a low mound not entirely out-of-place among the surrounding hills. However, whilst its form match match the gently rounded slopes of the hills, likely caused by the passage of ice in ages past, the mound is anything but a natural feature. As Hera again notes, it was found to be the burial mound of Saxon chieftain – thought to have perhaps been the original founder of the settlement of GatWode not far distant, and which in time became Goatswood.

Exactly where the town lies in relation to the Abbey ruins is hard to say. The presence of the stream suggests it is not too far from Goatswood, and the path running north from one of the bridges over the stream might well offer a route between the two – even if it does peter out after following the stream for a short distance. However, the sense of separation from the town gives the abbey a further edge of mystery – one greatly enhanced by the onset of night, when the light of candles (maintained by whom?) and lanterns illuminate the otherwise darkened abbey, and flames of naked torches guard the path to the burial chamber.

Houndstead Abbey, August 2023

As always with Hera’s builds, both Goatswood and Houndstead Abbey offer a lot to see and appreciate – and the photo competition may well make a visit quite rewarding!

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Catherine’s black and white photography in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Catherine Nikolaidis: The Body I Was Born With, Artsville Gallery 2, August 2023

It is two exhibitions for the price on one with this article – in part because both exhibitions have been open a while, and one at least is liable to be closing in the next few weeks; and in part because they both offer opportunities to appreciate the sheer artistry of Catherine Nikolaidis.

Catherine is a Second Life photographer whose work I’ve touched upon a few times in these pages, as she has participated in a number of ensemble exhibitions I’ve attended, but it is not often I’ve seen her work individually exhibited – some again, these two exhibitions are a dual treat for me.

Those familiar with Catherine’s Flickr photostream will know she has a penchant for black-and-white photography – something bound to attract me – and a focus on avatar studies, often using her own avatar, and this certainly the case with both of these exhibitions. More than this, however, is Catherine’s use of tone, pose, contrast, and overall composition. These come together with her innate sense of detail to create pieces which have a depth of life which genuinely suggests her avatar inhabits the physical world as much as she does the virtual, crossing easily and naturally between the two.

Catherine Nikolaidis: The Body I Was Born With, Artsville Gallery 2, August 2023

This is particularly true within The Body I Was Born With, which has been open at Artville’s Gallery 2 since at least the start of July 2023. Within it, Catherine presents 10 self studies which are both deeply personal in content and presentation but which all carry that sense of having actually been taken at a studio in the physical world. This is achieved first and foremost through an expressive and skilled use of chiaroscuro, the play of framed lights and darkened background, together with the play of shadow, used across the entire composition of each piece.

Then there is the choice of pose and position of camera; rather than presenting her avatar in full, Catherine offers glimpses, giving the pieces an more intimate presentation – yes, with nudity, but not the kind intended to titillate; rather it further enhances the sense of intimate revelation, presenting each piece as a part of a story.

Catherine Nikolaidis: The Body I Was Born With, Artsville Gallery 2, August 2023

There is much that could be said about this exhibition in terms of identity and identification – certainly the title of the exhibit prods the thought processes it that direction. However, I’ll refrain from jumping down that rabbit hole here; the vignettes contained within these ten pieces are more than sufficient to engage the eye artistically and the imagination narratively. What I will say is that this sense of personal expression and potential for narrative also winds through August Noir, which opened within the main gallery complex at the Kondor Art Centre in late July (and so is likely to be coming to an end sooner rather than later).

Here, again, Catherine uses black and white to present s series of images which offer both an invitation to enter into stories of summer and vacational escape. Again, they these are all pieces that are highly personal and where light and dark – more subtle than outright chiaroscuro – are a vital part of the composition and appeal of each piece.

Catherine Nikolaidis: Autumn Noir, Kondor Art Centre, August 2023

This is particularly noticeable in that out of the ten images within Autumn Noir where the subject’s face might be seen, in only one is it actually revealed; for the rest, shadow and angle play a role in obscuring her features. Thus we are somewhat cast into the role of voyeur in witnessing these pieces, far more so than with The Body I Was Born With; possibly because of the naturalness of the actions being performed: sitting, walking, swimming, enjoying the sun… 

Within both of these exhibitions there is a musical fluidity; with The Body I Was Born With this might be defined as a sonata, whilst Autumn Noir might be seen as a rhapsody, further enhancing their appeal.

Catherine Nikolaidis: Autumn Noir, Kondor Art Centre, August 2023

All told, these are two highly engaging exhibitions featuring the work of one of SL’s most engaging avatar photographers and which really do deserve to be seen before their respective time in-world expires.

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A seaborne Ashemi Rising in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Ashemi Rising, August 2023 – click any image for full size

It’s been a further two-ish years since I’ve had the pleasure of visiting an iteration of Ashemi, a place constantly reborn out of the imaginations of  Ime and Jay Poplin (Jayshamime) (and oft with the support of Shaman Nitely, who invited me to one of the first iterations of the region nigh-on seven years ago!). Throughout its many different version, the setting has tended to present or at least heavily lean into Sino-Japanese and Asian influences, and while these can be see scattered throughout this latest return, it’s probably not unfair to say that the setting also draws as much on western influences as those from the east, bringing both together in a manner which is engaging to the eye and camera.

Perhaps the best way to describe Ashemi Rising, as this setting is called for this iteration, is that of a repurposed oil or natural gas platform sitting out in blue waters somewhere. Repurposed, because gone are the derricks and drilling and recovery equipment, etc., from the broad working decks and levels of the platforms, and in their place has – for whatever reason – grown an entire community, with places of business, what appears to be private homes (I would note that they are not actually private – the entire setting is open to exploration – they are just dressed to look like folk live within them), entertainment spaces and gardens.

Ashemi Rising, August 2023

That said, some of the original elements of the formal use of the platforms have remained: stairways still zigzag their way up the outer edges of the various levels as they once did to allow workers to move easily between them without have to climb over / around / under / past machinery of a size and with (in some cases) a motion which might cause the unwary passer-by to have a squishy (if potentially brief) encounter with heavy plant should equipment and individual end up inadvertently find themselves occupying the same space at the same time. There’s also a helipad, and even some of the internal work spaces and offices within the various levels remain, if also repurposed.

This is actually a dual platform set-up. Presumably at one time one the platforms acted as the working platform with actual derrick and drilling equipment and the other either as an ancillary platform; possibly a pump station for transferring oil or gas from storage to tankers to take it to land (something suggested by the large pipes passing along the underside of the walkway connecting the two), or perhaps as an accommodation platform for off-shift crew, allowing them to eat, relax and sleep at least with some buffer of space between them and the noisy, wet / mucky working rig.

Ashemi Rising, August 2023

It is this connecting walkway between the two platforms which forms the landing point for the setting. It’s not hard to imagine this once having been much narrower, perhaps only as wide as the pipes running under it, but which has been widened (and fenced) to meet the rigs’ new function and provide a broader, safer, crossing between them both, complete with separate foot and vehicular throughways. Admittedly, it does appear to have become something of a dumping ground, whilst the recent arrival what appears to be a bolide which has partially buried itself in the asphalt covering part of the walkway may well have given rise to some jitters among those using the crossway, even if it does speak to the robustness of the build, having buried itself in the structure rather than blasting clean through or exploding on it and causing who knows what amount of additional damage.

The platforms towering over either end of this walkway have been individually named Ashemi and Ashemi Rising. Of the two, the former – and slightly less complex – platform offers up the suggestion that it might have once been largely devoted to crew accommodation or storage. I say this because it is has something of a cleaner look to it; not that it is in any way pristine, but more a case of it doesn’t have the appearance of having had quantities of drilling fluid (“mud”) sloshed across its decks or ever having been home to any form of opening through its levels for the Kelly lines / drill bits to run through (while the pipe work under the lowest deck suggests again, it may have been for gas / oil storage, if not for accommodation and recreational areas.

Ashemi Rising, August 2023

Now the main deck of this platform serves as a public space, dominated t one end by a huge aquarium, the mezzanines above it offering more open spaces from which to observe whatever is going on below as they rise up to garden spaces, together with the old helipad. True, drums marked as containing hazardous material are to be found, and some of the NPC personnel are in hazmat suits, but with the lighting, the dancers (also NPCs), seating, etc., all watched over by the local equivalent of a Borg queen, it’s hard to see this as a “dangerous” location.

At the other end of the walkway, Ashemi Rising carries far more of a “working” look too it, its flanks duelled and greyed with wear. The main decks or levels look like they might once have  surround a central work well, complete with what might have been an opening for drilling pipes and the Kelly lines. This also has something of an organic feel to it that the Ashemi platform lacks, despite the fact it is home to gardens and greenery.

Ashemi Rising, August 2023

By that I mean a lot of the structures on Ashemi Rising have a look of spontaneity about them; that they’ve popped up simply out of whim or the the need to offer more space to folk moving in (notably in the construction of a couple of apartment-like blocks) or simply the desire to shorten the walk between two points through the use of a hastily thrown-together bridge of rope and wood. It is also here that the more out-of-the-way habitat spaces – cabins, really – might be found, clinging to the tall legs of the platform. They sit high above the water to avoid unexpected bath times should the weather whip up the waves, yet far enough below the main decks to discourage people from dropping in without invitation. The hover bikes and craft parked on them give a clue as to how the “owners” might get to / from them – but for the visitor wishing to pop down to own, the trusty sit TP works just as well.

With its greater number of levels, nooks, walkways and buildings (some with interiors and general spaces (keep an eye out of Ime’s little gallery!), Ashemi Rising is liable to require the most in the way of exploration. It is also the place where the most nods to various sci-fi, fantasy and Anime genres might also be found. These run from the fairly obvious / semi-corporate, through the likes of William Gibson (in written and screen form) to more little-known shows (Total Recall 2070, anyone?) among the western influences. Even Starbucks gets an indirect mention!

Ashemi Rising, August 2023

From The Hive, the club occupying the main deck adjacent to the connecting walkway between the two platforms, it is possible to make one’s way upwards by ramp, steps and catwalks to the upper levels, each with its own richness of content to attract the eye. However, and as is the case with Ashemi, down shouldn’t be ignored as an option; the lowermost level of both platforms each presents a large cargo elevator that is also suitable for human use. Whether part of the original build or not, I’ve no idea – let your imagination decide for you – but both provide access to floating docks at water level which are most clearly not a part of the original rig designs.

These form makeshift wharves and moorings for a range of small vessels, including sampans and old motor cruisers, as well as offering a small market space – presumably where visiting trawler  / fishing boat owners can trade their freshly caught fish for other supplies. In addition, some of the locals have also decided to set-up home here and away from the nose and confines of the rigs overhead. Although I’m not sure the partially-devoured and slowly rotting whale carcass floating a short distance from the wharves offers the most delightful of scents if the wind happens from that direction!

Ashemi Rising, August 2023

With androids and robots as well as the NPCs, together with hover bikes and flying cars (and boats, in at least one instance – and I do not mean the type given to having wings and the like!), Ashemi Rising presents an interesting cyberpunkesque / potentially dystopian world with plenty of questions hanging around it: are the rigs inhabited as a result of a Waterworld type of need? Why else have folk opted to live here? A commune escaping the drudgery of land-based life? Thus, it offers much for the imagination to create a plethora of possible back-stories. It is also, needless to say, highly photogenic!

SLurl Details

  • Ashemi (Queen Dreem, rated Moderate)

2023 SL SUG meetings week #34 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Orcinus Isle, June 2023 – blog post †

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday,  August 22nd Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed and is not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the entire meeting is embedded at the end of the article for those wishing to review the meeting in full – my thanks to Pantera for recording it.

Meeting Overview

  • The Simulator User Group (also referred to by its older name of Server User Group) exists to provide an opportunity for discussion about simulator technology, bugs, and feature ideas.
  • These meetings are conducted (as a rule):
  • They are open to anyone with a concern / interest in the above topics, and form one of a series of regular / semi-regular User Group meetings conducted by Linden Lab.
  • Dates and times of all current meetings can be found on the Second Life Public Calendar, and descriptions of meetings are defined on the SL wiki.

Server Deployments

  • No deployments for the major simulator channels this week, but all simhosts will be restarted.
  • There may be a small deployment to the Snack channel (Yondercane), to test changes to the way avatar arrivals in a region are handled (see below).

Dog Days Roll-Back

  • On Wednesday, August 16th, the Blueteel RC channel was updated with update 581292 (“Dog Days”).
  • During testing, it was discovered the update was causing some worn attachments were being renamed “Object” when edited whilst attached while retaining the correct name when seen in Inventory / detached to Inventory.
  • However, if such an attachment was dropped in-world, it would be renamed “Object”. As this was deemed to not be optimal, the update was rolled back.
  • If all goes according to plan, an attempt to re-deploy the release will be made in week #35.

Viewer Updates

The glTF / PBR Materials viewer, updated to version 7.0.0.581368, on August 22nd. All other available official viewers remain as follows:

Note: the alternate viewer page also lists “Win32+MacOS<10.13 – 6.6.12.579987” as an RC viewer. However, the Win 32 + pre-Mac OS 10.13 was promoted to release status on July 5th, and viewer version 6.6.12.579987 points to the Maintenance S viewer, promoted to release status on May 16th.

Avatar Arrival Update and Other Simulator Work

This is a first pass at working to improve avatar arrivals (AA) in regions and reduce the amount of “freezing” may occur whilst the arrival is processed, with further work indicated in the future, Monty Linden described this part of the work thus:

AA is the first part of an effort to tune the simulator’s main processing loop. There are *many* causes of very long frames currently. One of the worst offenders is avatar attachment handoff and rezzing at region crossings and teleports. AA attempts to break up and time bound that process, particularly when multiple avatars are involved in a crossing, allowing the frame to complete more closely to the scheduled time. [The] goal is to improve interactivity and responsiveness to those *not* involved in the RC/TP at the expense of those crossing having their glorious collections of stuff attached a bit more slowly. This first pass includes some of that monolithic execution breakup and some tuning.

Monty went on to note that the AA update will only be deployed for testing / data gathering prior to being withdrawn rather than being expanded to additional channels, whilst he continues to work on the matter in the background and possibly expands the scope of the work to include things like better script optimisations and hand-offs during teleports / crossings, etc.

This led to an extended discussion on region crossings / teleports which extended across most of the meeting, with Rider Linden noting he’ll attempt to have a list of regions on the channel for the meeting next week (assuming the deployment goes ahead), so that interested parties can test both teleports into them and regions crossings between them. This in turn entered into better / alternate means of script scheduling / management (and refactoring the former to reduce some of the simulator load), together with options for improved attachment / messaging, etc., handling.

As an aside to this work, Monty indicated he is working on a diagram showing the simulator main processing loop which could be published for public consumption, once it has been cleaned-up.

Potential for Improving Vehicle Control Options

Rider Linden raised this towards the end of the meeting for discussion, thus:

We’ve been having some discussions internally about taking controls and expanding the number of keys available and perhaps even allowing analogue input for movement to the simulator. Leviathan and I would love to get some feedback on how people would use that and how you’d like to see something like that work.

To which Leviathan added:

I’ve solicited for input and have received a bunch of input and ideas. I think the first sub project in that direction will be to try to expose raw game controller input (joysticks and buttons) to LSL. With regards to keyboard controls, if you look at all of the feature requests over the years, ultimately people want access to just about ALL of the keys. I was worried about the ability to make a keylogger in SL, however Signal thinks that wouldn’t really be a problem.

The majority of the feedback was for capabilities to be added to enable a broader range or controllers rather than trying to expand keylogging capabilities exponentially, although keystroke capture and use appears to be more of a focus for Leviathan.

Please refer to the last 10-12 minutes of the video for this discussion.

† The header images included in these summaries are not intended to represent anything discussed at the meetings; they are simply here to avoid a repeated image of a rooftop of people every week. They are taken from my list of region visits, with a link to the post for those interested.