Author: Inara Pey

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

A Sugarfish Village Art Walk in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sugarfish Village and Art Walk, October 2024

Alex Riverstone sent me an invite to visit his Sugarfish Village, which opened its doors on October 8th, 2024, with a celebration of art running through until the end of the month entitled the Sugarfish Village Art Walk, run in collaboration of Michiel Bechir.

The Village sits within a tropical location at ground level below Alex’s Sugarfish Photography gallery, a place I first visited in July of 2024 (see: A Sugarfish Gallery in Second Life), and offers a number of attractions and points of interest and fun. First among these are the studio spaces, available for artists to use for up to 3 months at a time, rent-free – for more on this see below.

Sugarfish Village Art Walk, October 2024: Raven Arcana

For the Art Walk event, invited artists have been able to set-out their art along the sands and flagstones of the beach, with each artist allocated space for four pieces each. Those participating are: ArtemisDemeter, KharisAdrasteia, TaniaAltAlbatros, YsabellaRose, Alex Riverstone, Ceakay Ballyhoo, Franny Fairywren, Georgie Iceghost, Karsten Iceghost, Lalie Sorbet, Maggie Runo, Noa Cloud, Prins Evergarden, Raven Arcana, Shosha Stransky, Therese Carfagno, Thomaz Blackburn, and Zia Branner. Given this list, the art is diverse, covering Second Life landscapes, avatar studies, and physical world art uploaded to Second Life.

The studio spaces, meanwhile, take the form of shipping containers converted for land-based use. Each is raised on legs and has a deck fronting it, allowing artists to use both the interior and exterior space (such as for seating in the case of the deck). A very generous 100 LI per unit is provided  – although Alex informs me this may vary, depending on what else is set-up with the Village. Other details of note on the use the studios includes:

  • Units are offered on a quarterly basis, with quarters commencing on the first day of January, April, July and October each year. Available units can be requested at any time during the given quarter.
  • Artists are allowed to sell their art and decorate the interiors of their studio, if they wish. A request to staff can be made to have interior colours in the containers changed as well.
Sugarfish Village Art Walk, October 2024: ArtemisDemeter
  • All images must conform with the Second Life Terms of Service. Images depicting ageplay, sex, pornography, racism, hatred or of a political nature will not be allowed.
  • Nudity is allowed, within the bounds stated above.
  • The emphasis is on art and photography created in the physical world or Second Life; images created using AI or similar tools is not allowed. The focus of the Village is the talent of and techniques used by photographers.

A full notecard on displaying at the Village is available on request.

Sugarfish Village Art Walk, October 2024: Ceakay Ballyhoo

As well as the studios and the open-air exhibitions space along the sands, the Village boasts the O-Shen Diner  sitting to one end of the studio containers. Set back a short way from the beach and reach via steps is the cosy little Tick Tock Café with seating indoors and out and a dance area just below it, between it and the beach (and presumably for opening events or just a little dance hang-out.

There’s also something of a clubhouse where people can hang out, complete with table games and fishing, and which has an over-the-water deck behind it offering another place to hang out. For those feeling energetic there also are rock walls behind the clubhouse, while a swan boat rezzer is available alongside the deck for those wanting to go a-paddling on the waters of the bay.

Sugarfish Village, October 2024

In all, Sugarfish Village makes for  an engaging place to both visit and appreciate art, and to display your own art if you are an artist / photographer. Highly recommended.

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New Orleans with a Halloween Twist in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: The End, October 2024 – click any image for full size

In August, I wrote about New Deer Isle and the touch of America’s New England that Kaiden Glocke Tray (KaidenTray) had brought to Second Norway (see: Second Norway’s touch of New England in Second Life). Kaiden is a gifted Second Life landscaper and his work can be seen across the grid places large and small, some of which I’ve also covered in these pages over the years.

For Halloween 2024, Kaiden presents Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: The End, a region-wide build presented on a Full private region leveraging the Land Capacity bonus. It’s a setting with a lot packed into it, both in terms of what to see and what is happening there throughout the month of October.

Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: The End, October 2024
Welcome to the most haunted and realistic location of New Orleans. It is a post-apocalyptic and dystopian environment, which was left bare after the flooding of Hurricane Katrina, There is an abandoned but interactive theme park with rides that still work, but ride them at your own risk! Release your competitive side with bumper cars, become lost in the mystical swamp, challenge your courage in the haunted house, create some amazing memories with photos, or get a real life reading from tarot readers!

– Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: greeter message

Unless you are there simply to pose for very specific photos of yourself, this is a place best experienced as it is designed to be seen – using the Shared Environment (World → Environment → Use Shared Environment). As there is a lot in the region that is going to keep the viewer business, I’d suggest that having Shadows enabled is not vital to the overall experience, and some might find they will need to adjust draw distance if they have it to the upper end of the scale. Do make sure that if you’re running a pre-PBR viewer, that you have enabled Advanced Lighting Model (ALM: Preferences → Graphics make sure the appropriate check box is ticked, but not you do not also need to enable shadows), and enable local sounds if you have them off.

Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: The End, October 2024

So, with all that said, and in the words spoken by Benedict Cummerbatch, “Now, shall we begin?”†

The Landing Point sits towards the western side of the region, along the main street of a Section of New Orleans as it runs north-to-south cross the region, and which is in places flooded (with the tide being held at bay at one end by a wall thrown across the road). The town forms the greater part of the setting, and at its southern end, merges into swamplands crossed by wooden board walks, the waters around them heavy with crocodiles. Among the mangroves and the cabins scattered around are various ritualistic goings on, whilst on the far side of the swamp, what appears to have been an outburst of murderous mayhem has struck the little village there.

Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: The End, October 2024

Both the bayou/ wetlands and the town also connect with the abandoned theme park as it occupies the north-east portion of the region. Partially flooded, this is fast turning into a wilding of a place – although the rides are still working (if some of them manned by ghoulish characters!), so be ready to try them out. The Landing Point is not enforced, so it is possible to hop around, but explorations on foot are really the only way to go lest you risk missing out on some of the frights.

When arriving at the main Landing Point, a greeter will provide an invite to the local Group, and information on both tours and a special show being staged in the region. Visitors are also offered a flashlight, and ADDing it helps with explorations.

Exactly which path you choose to take when exploring is entirely up to you, and I do not want to give too much away here and possibly spoil things. I will say that the theatre for the stage production is neatly tucked away (if apparently still under construction at the time of my visit, going by the raw prims), so it can sit within the setting without interrupting the overall flow of exploration or seeming to break with the overall region design.

Not all of the buildings have interiors, but those that do should be entered and appreciated / explored. Surprises may await and objects may require touching. I particularly liked the Black Cat Inn offers a cosy and relatively spooky-free place in which to relax. I will admit to being a little confused by the reference to a haunted house; not sure if I simply missed it (or maybe a teleport to it…) due to a case of the Stupids on my part, or whether you have to join one of the tours in order to visit it.

The performances I referred to above feature Theatre 6 in The Witches of New Orleans, with shows at 12:00 noon SLT on Sunday, October 13th, 2024 and 13:00 SLT on Saturday, October 26th, 2024. Dates and times of tours, meanwhile, are per the poster, above right.

Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: The End, October 2024

I’m not a great fan of Halloween as we treat it in modern times – haunted houses, trick-or-treating as it is now, etc., – although the tapestry of Gaelic influences and the link to Gothic fiction which are tied to Halloween are a different matter. As such, I tend to be a stick-in-the-mud when it comes to the plethora of Halloween themed events and regions and so on which pop-up between late September and early October in Second Life.

However, there are exceptions to this – and Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: The End is one of them. The region is well-crafted, and explorations offer surprises and things to poke at or ride or enjoy. It offers fun and engagement over simply trying to shock or excite, offering plenty of opportunities for photography as well as offering something just that little bit different by way of events within its boundaries (and some nice (and occasionally lewd!) touches of humour present in some of the signs around the place). So why not head over an have a look?

Witchcraft & Voodoo in New Orleans: The End

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† Yes, I know, another obscure film reference, and one not really connected to the subject of the piece. Kudos to those who get it, however.

Seanchai Library’s Bradbury Project 2024 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library: The Bradbury Project 2024

October brings with it all things spooky in the run-up to Halloween. Within Second Life, this means a plethora of region designs focused on ghostly goings-on, spookiness, haunting, monsters, vampires and the like, many with associated events and activities.

One such Halloween-ish event combining exploration, activities and entertainment in a more nuanced manner, and making a return to Second Life for its second season, is Seanchai Library’s The Bradbury Project. As it’s name implies, the month-long event is a celebration of the life and work of American author Ray Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012), with a focus on some of his more spooky writing.

Bradbury is perhaps best known as a science-fiction and futurist/speculative fiction author responsible for titles such as  Fahrenheit 451 (a book perhaps of special relevance currently), and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man. However, he cast his writing net far wider, dipping into coming-of-age stories, screenplays, television scripts, poetry and both fantasy and dark fantasy. In the latter categories we have (the semi-autobiographical) Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Halloween Tree.

The Halloween Tree

The latter is the story of eight boys as they attempt to rescue their friend on Halloween night. Under the guidance of the mysterious Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud, they travel through time and space, learning about different cultures, and the role that the fear of death, ghosts and hauntings has played in shaping civilisations down the ages, and how it has all contributed to much that is encompassed in modern-day Halloween activities. It’s is also one of the focal elements of The Bradbury Project.

In 2023, the project took place on sky builds within Seanchai Library’s home region of Nowhereville. For 2024, and thanks to the support of Linden Lab, the event expands into a dedicated Full region, allowing for more space for activities. However, like 2023, all donations / tips received while the Project is open through until Sunday, November 3rd, will be donated to Reading is Fundamental.

A major feature of Bradbury’s writing is Green Town, a fictionalised version of his place of birth, Waukegan, Illinois. It is a place of safety and home, featuring in a number Bradbury’s darker tales and in his short stories, and which has a result is depicted at several different points in the 20th century. Green Town is also the starting point for The Bradbury Project, which offers aspects of Green Town as it might have appeared in the 1950s.

Visitor arriving within the Project will find themselves within the garage of one of the houses lining Green Town’s main street. This offers information boards about the Project and the planned events, as well as information on the two Second Life Experiences operating within the region – both of these should be accepted in order to enjoy the Project to the fullest; however, if you an unsettled by the idea of using Experiences, a box of landmarks can also be obtained from the landing point to ferry you around.

Seanchai Library: The Bradbury Project 2024

A wander around the town will reveal its charm and also some points of interest – information boards that provide more insight into Bradbury’s life and work, and other interactive pieces (such as a television presenting the short film The House I Live In, which whilst not in any way focused on Halloween or the like, nevertheless carries a message of relevance).

Cutting through the region from east to west is the Ravine from Dandelion Wine, a collection sf short stories, and which is considered to be Bradbury’s most personal work. The Ravine can be accessed from the town at its eastern end , beyond the railway tracks, were a path slopes down into it. looping  back under the railway bridge, the path will take visitors through the Ravine and up the far side to the residence of Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud, esq., and the Halloween Tree. Here again, indoors and out, is more to explore.

Seanchai Library: The Bradbury Project 2024

Events at The Bradbury Project

  • Story Tours of “The Halloween Tree” (presented in three episodes):
    • 13:30 SLT, Sundays (October 13th, 20th, and 27th).
    • 19:00 SLT, Tuesdays (October 15th, 22nd, and 29th).
  • Other Seanchai Library events will take place in The Project, and some additional readings from Bradbury may take place. Check out the Seanchai Library Special Projects Calendar.
    • Note: not all events presented by the Library this October are associated directly with this project.
  • eClipse Club & Resort Presents at The Bradbury Project:
    • Monday, October 21st, 21-23:00 SLT: DJ JAdmiral Maelstrom.
    • Friday, October 25th, 19:00-21:00 SLT: DJ Momma Hoi.
    • Saturday, October 26th, 19:00-21:00 SLT: DJ Iniry Vaher.
    • Sunday, October 27th, 19:00-22:00 SLT: DJs Caledonia Skytower & Tiger Pawz present Dr Frankenstein’s Halloween Boogie – music, dancing, and prizes!

In addition, those crossing the railway bridge spanning the Ravine can step through the tunnel to reach a Trick or Treat surprise. So when not pop over and have a look around  / join in the events?

The Bradbury Project was created for Seanchai Library by David Abbot, Dawn Greymyst, Dagmar Kohime, Gloriana Maertens, Stevie Morane Basevi, Iniry Vaher, and Caledonia Skytower.

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The Faces We Have Lost at Nitroglobus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, October 2024: The Faces We Have Lost
In March 2014, Dido Haas hosted a joint exhibition by Sina Souza and Sabbian Paine entitled The Masks We Wear, at Nitroglobus Gallery. It formed an exploration of the fact that whether we are aware of it or not, we all wear masks / adopt personas on a daily basis throughout our lives in respect of the people with whom we interact and the places in which we engage with them.

To be honest, I thought I had covered that exhibition in these pages, but alas, my memory is playing tricks on me and it appears not; matters of self, identify and the pressure of society are subjects I find fascinating. Fortunately, that exhibition was celebrated in film and can be found on You Tube.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, October 2024: The Faces We Have Lost (Sabbian Paine)

Also fortunately, and a decade on from The Masks We Wear, Sina and Sabbian have again returned to Nitroglobus Roof Gallery to present a continuance to their original exhibition; one that can be explored and appreciated regardless as to whether or not we saw or remember The Masks We Wear. This is because the new exhibition, which runs through October 2024 and is entitled The Faces We Have Lost, looks at the subject matter through a slightly different lens, as Sina and Sabbian explain in their introduction:

While people still wear masks every day to protect themselves, to hide, to achieve advantages or to slip into another form of existence [as explored through The Masks we Wear], they also lose parts of their real face in the form of innocence, happiness or the freedom, to be the person, who they really are. At a certain point in life we ​​may be more the mask than the real face or the mask has become a face. The question which [then] arises is ‘what is the mask and what is the face?’

– Sina Souza and Sabbian Paine, The Faces We Have Lost

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, October 2024: The Faces We Have Lost (Sina Souza)

Thus, across the two halls of the gallery, Sina and Sabbian individually and jointly explore the concept of the blurring of true self and projected self (“masks”) and, to my eyes at least, on how society has sought to constrict us through the expectation that is is the mask and not the true self we are expected to wear at all times. In this they are both uniquely and jointly gifted through their ability to use metaphor, surrealism, abstraction and colour to present images that resonate in meaning.

These are pieces which beautifully encapsulate how the use of masks to hide ourselves can be as harmful as it can be – as Wilde observed in The Critic as Artist; A dialogue Part 2 – liberating, largely thanks to the demands of society. So it is that within this exhibition might be found reflections of having to hide personal feelings – hurt, sorrow, loneliness – behind a smile, a quip, and assumed jollity to the point when even when we are in a position to take of the mask, we no longer can; the clown persists, the tears lost, the body as faded and blackened as the moods that grip us.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, October 2024: The Faces We Have Lost (Sabbian Paine)

These are very visual essays on matters with which the vast majority of us will recognise; that no matter what our fears and anxieties must be, society demands we always look and appear “normal”, and that giving vent to those fears – by they of flying or simply another day at the office – is “wrong” and “unnatural”, thus leading us to a point where even when alone, it is the anxieties that replace the mask, becoming us, suppressing who we might once have been – and thus we become numbed to the needs of others, our masks of indifference between defining aspects of who we are, rather than what lies behind them.

And if this sounds dark, perhaps it is; but The Faces We Have Lost is also positive in its message: by shining a light and encouraging us to ask questions about who he are and how we behave and that those around us might be feeling exactly what we are feeling, it might well encourage to be more empathic with ourselves and others.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, October 2024: The Faces We Have Lost (Sina Souza)

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2024 SL viewer release summaries week #40

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates from the week through to Sunday, October 6th, 2024

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Release viewer: version 7.1.10.10800445603, formerly the DeltaFPS RC, dated September 11, promoted September 17promoted August 26 – NO CHANGE.
  • Release Candidate: ExtraFPS RC, version 7.1.11.11074622243, September 30.
    • Performance improvements: enhanced texture memory tracking, broader hardware compatibility and higher FPS gain.
    • Aesthetics improvements: new Antialiasing setting – SMAA; Contrast Adaptive Sharpening; Khronos Neutral Tone Mapping (can be changed to ACES via the RenderTonemapType Debug setting).

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V6-style

  • Kokua: 7.1.10.56206 (no RLV) and 7.1.10.59780 (RLV variants)  (DeltaFPS), Sept 30 – release notes.

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • Mobile Grid Client version 1.33.1308, September 30 – changelog.
  • SL Mobile (Beta) version 2024.7.530 – October 1  – update notes.
  • Speedlight v35, October 3 – release notes.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Shadowfell: A short film from Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Calas Galadhon Shadowfell  – click any image for full size

Every year, Tymus Tenk, Truck Meredith and the Calas team bring us worlds of wonder to explore in the form of their Halloween and Christmas wonderland builds as an adjunct to Calas Galadahon Park, and each year we are gifted with regions of mystical / seasonal delight. Mixing an atmospheric setting rich in places to explore, scenes to uncover, rides to enjoy and events to attend, all knitted together by the weave of environment settings, soundscape and supporting music, these builds are always and genuinely a highlight of Second Life.

For October / Halloween 2024, the Calas team once again present Shadowfell, a three region journey journey through a realm which although probably not modelled specifically after any element of Tolkien’s mythology, carries with it something of a sense of Middle Earth during the Second and Third Ages, mixed with hints of other franchises to offer an engaging potpourri of elements deserving of careful exploration. First presented in 2022 as The Gardens of Shadowfell, the setting was updated and expanded in 2023 (see: A journey through Shadowfell in Second Life), and it is this iteration – with some little tweaks and updates (including the use of PBR materials) – which opened at the start of October 2024 for people to enjoy.

The Shadowfell Pavilion schedule of entertainment for October 2024

As with all of the Calas themed builds, this is one in which it is very important visitors note at least some of the guidelines regarding a visit, all of which can be found at the landing point – with the most important perhaps being:

  • Make sure you Used Shared Environment (via World → Environment).
  • If you are not a PBR viewer, make sure Advanced Lighting Model is active via Preferences → Graphics).
  • Enable local sounds.
  • Make sure you have particles visible.

It also is suggested that those who can, should also enable Shadows via Preferences → Graphics. This is worthwhile if you can – and with the roll-out of the performance improvements within the viewer, this should be easier than it might have once been for a fair number of Second Life users – and I’d at least recommend it for photography.

This year, rather than blathering on and talking the four legs off a donkey describing the setting, I thought I’d offer a video instead – hope you enjoy it (best viewed in You Tube!)!

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