Category: Exploring Second Life

Runestone is a place I’ve visited on a number of occasions, but have never blogged about. The region is a rustic landscape which can change over time and with seasons, owned and landscaped by Portia Lytton and the Run Keeper’s group. It is open to the public at ground level and offers a picturesque place to visit – particularly with a loved one.

Winter has yet to reach Runestone, and the region is currently in the golden and green shades of autumn – colours which heighten the romantic feel of the place. What you do once you arrive is entirely up to you; whether you opt to keep to the cobble paths which run through the region, spanning stone bridges, or whether you wander at random through tall grass and under the shade of trees, or seek-out places to dance or swing – or simply find somewhere to sit and ponder, Runestone offers you an open invitation to simply relax and enjoy.

The rustic feel of the region is heightened through the use of a number of Maxwell Graf’s excellent range of houses, one of which visitors can also enjoy (including the Greedy Greedy table inside one. For the more energetic, the water-mill offers the chance to knead dough, or there are hidden places to be found.

Runestone, like many places in SL, invites you a fiddle with your windlight presets as well; while the normal day / night cycles is used, the fact that the footpaths are lit by lamps, as are the bridges, tends to encourage one to fiddle around with the time of day slider – which is good, as this also can add to the romantic atmosphere of you so desire. As per usual, I roamed the region, constantly playing with the presets and sliders, looking for options which work and then making a note of them…

There is something of a nautical feel to Runestone as well; to the north-east side of the island a tall ship – one of Lia Woodget’s unmistakable builds  – lies at anchor in the lee of the island, hinting at the location of a hidden horde, while across the water to the north, the sister region of Syrinx has a distinctly piratical feel to it. Parts of this region – also operated by Portia Lytton, appear open to the public, although I confess, I’ve not made the trip over as yet, despite the rowing boat drawn up on the shore (which is actually Syrinx itself, even though it looks to be a part of Runestone – watch out for the line denoting the boundary between the two).

There are lots of places for couple to share their time on Runestone, with love seats, places to dance and so on to be found scattered across the island. There is also much to offer the photographer as well, particularly given the ease with which Runestone allows you to use many different windlight settings, as mentioned above. Should you need a prop or two when taking snaps, rezzing is open – just please remember to pick anything up again once you’ve done with it!

All-in all a delightful place to visit, and a welcome break when otherwise leaping from point to point across the grid.

Related Links

• Runstone SLurl (Rated Moderate)
• SL Destinations in this blog

I love visiting castles. We have a rich heritage (reflecting a bloody history) of castles in the UK, of which the most common variety beloved of picture postcards and Hollywood directors are the great Norman Castles.

I particularly enjoy visiting Northumberland in the North-east of England, as there are some famous examples of castles there: Warkworth, Ford and Etal, Norham (one of my all-time favourite ruins), Dunstanburgh, Chillingham, Bamburgh, Langley, Lindesfarne – and of course Alnwick. Some are in ruins, such as the aforementioned Norham or Dunstanburgh out on the coast; others are still in use today – notably Alnwick, which has perhaps most famously been used to represent parts of Hogwarts, together with Chillingham, Langley (today a glorious luxury hotel), and Bamburgh (which makes for a stunning backdrop to the beach which it overlooks and has agin been the subject of many a film and TV production, even if inside it is something of a let-down).

This being the case, I thought it time I visited the castle ruins at Frisch.

Described as a “German castle ruin” in the Destination Guide, Frisch offers-up a Norman-style set of ruins which are suggestive of a castle which saw much use over time, with some modernisation to reflect the needs of successive generations, prior to finally falling into abandonment, disrepair and collapse.

Fisch is interesting as it is owned by Governor Linden and it is actually an old orentation spot for new users, which has itself fallen into disuse – although evidence of its purpose can still be found; there are information givers, a few signs, including one with a LM to Help Island and one with LMs for the old Welcome Areas – not that I recommend you try the latter!

The castle build itself looks old in the SL sense of the word, but offers a lot of potential for the machinimatographer and photographer wanting an interesting and “historical” back-drop – although judicious use of Draw Distance is advised (or your viewer’s derenderer, if it has such a beast); there are a couple of eyesores which can stray into view if you’re not careful.

The castle is easy to explore, and a pleasant way to spend an hour; there are paths to follow through the ruins, and the surroundings (eyesore excepted) provide some prime vantage points from which to take-in the ruins themselves.

This isn’t a state-of-the art build, to be sure, but it is one celebrating the power of the humble prim. It’s also a quiet place to visit and just wander around. There are no windlight presets, and the lie of the land and style of the build mean that both are open to a range of interpretations – something which again makes the ruins an ideal candidate for SL photographers.

All-in-all Frisch and the castle offer an interesting visit; don’t expect to do much her other than wander, relax and enjoy. This may not be a historical representation of any single castle, but there is some history here.Why not go pay it a visit when you have a few spare moments?

Related Links

• Frisch SLurl (Rated Moderate)
• SL Destinations in this blog

There was a time when the words “Torley Linden” and “Second Life” were synonymous with one another. His was frequently the first Linden name and voice users would encounter on entering SL, where his weekly TuTORial and Tip of the Week videos were a much-loved and enjoyed Thursday event through the old (and vibrant) Second Life website.

While Torley has popped up in a couple of videos recently, his infectious enthusiasm, boundless love of Second Life and seemingly inexhaustible energy have been much in absence for well over a year now. It was thinking about this last night that brought me around to thinking about Torley island, always a much a mark of Torley’s personality as Torley himself, and a place I’ve not visited in at least three years – so I resolved to go and take a look today.

Torley is rare among the Lindens in that he still maintains a sizeable physical presence in SL even when absent it himself in the form of his island region, which is always open to the public, and frequently changing to reflect a whole range of influences on Torley himself.

The last time I visited, the island was an island, surrounded by water and with hills, rivers, trees and vivid colours – not just green and pink, but yellow and blue and red and orange and purple and … well, you get the point. Vivid and vivacious. Today, all that has gone, replaces by a decidedly “futuristic / sci-fi” approach which, while still undeniably “Torley”, seems to carry a strong subtext with it.

All the colours and vibrancy are still there, together with everything which is quintessentially Torley: the curios, the impish humour, the sense of fun. But  – to me at least – it all seems somewhat subdued; perhaps it is just the impenetrable blackness surrounding the region which darkened my mood, although it does also seem to also cast a shadow across the region itself. There are also elements here which seem to at first poke gentle fun at the world at large and in keeping with the island’s subtitle of OMG! Cyberspace! Digital Frontier! – but which again seem to perhaps carry a deeper message.

Which is not to say the build is all doom and gloom – there is a lot to see and do and hear here. Torley is an accomplished musician and an immersionist, so having sound and media enable during a visit is a must. Down on the lowest level, where you arrive, there are bumper cars to be had  – so visiting with friends can be fun. These appear to have guns mounted on one side of them (watermelon guns? :)), although if they are weapons, I totally failed to get mine to work – disabled? There are human-voiced musical instruments to poke out, and all manner of things large and small to see – and dodge.

Nevertheless, I have to say that throughout my roaming and pushing and prodding, I did find my visit a little somber. Torley’s infectious enthusiasm has been gone from videos and website for well over a year now, as mentioned above. It is hard to understand why; his ability to engage and inspire was already one of the great strengths Linden Lab had at their disposal.  His videos were never anything less than a boon for people struggling to get to grips with SL and were perhaps a contributing factor in getting people to “stick” with Second Life and explore its capabilities and possibilities. Silencing him – assuming it was the result of a corporate decision – seems wholly counter-productive.

Even as subdued as it feels, a visit to Torley’s island, particularly for those of us who have been around a while, cannot help but raise a smile and roll back the memories. Bringing back his tuTORial and Tip of the Week videos may not bring hordes of people flooding in to Second Life – but given proper placement and promotion, they could do much to encourage people coming into SL to persevere in their efforts to get to grips with the viewer and everything else, and help people reach their “Eureka!” moments a lot sooner.

In short, they could help us all once again Amplify our Awesome.

Related Links

• Torley Island
• SL Destinations in this blog

I paid a visit to Roche today. I did this in part because I’ve been meaning to go since seeing it in Honour McMillan’s brilliant blog (probably the finest photo journal for SL explorations and thought-provoking musing on life, the metaverse and everything that there is), and partly because I’m trying to get to the bottom of a viewer issue plaguing me.

Over the last couple of months I’ve been encountering some issues when taking snapshots which see either the snapshot floater itself refuse to save images to my hard drive and / or which cause a sudden and huge memory bloat with the viewer which eventually brings it to a juddering halt. The issues don’t occur all the time, and appear to only affect my main account.

They mainly make themselves felt when I’m visiting multi-region estates, the mainland or regions with sim extenders, and only occur when I’m operating in deferred mode with shadows active. I’ve tried everything to get around the issue – an example of which is the last image in yesterday’s post, which took no fewer than four attempts for me to capture to disk due to the viewer refusing to save, then suddenly deciding it would after all. I’ve tried with draw distance turned right down, I’ve tried after clearing cache, with and without attachments, and so on and so forth. Nothing seems to make a difference. I’m reduced to picking a few choice words at random then either resorting to a screen capture tool or relogging.

The problem isn’t down to a single viewer, either. For a time I was blaming Firestorm – and my apologies to the Firestorm team for quite possibly single-handedly raising their crash rates in October. However, Both Zen and the last few releases of the SL Beta viewer (both with and without tcmalloc disabled) have yielded the same results (I’ve not got around to trying with others). The other oddity is that the same problems doesn’t occur when I’m on individual private regions (or those with surrounding regions hidden), and I can still upload snaps to my profile feed long after the floater has given up trying to save to my hard drive.

Nor does it appear to be hardware-related; while I quickly encounter problems with my main account, my Crash Test Alt (CTA) doesn’t encounter the same issues; so much so that I’ve been using it somewhat more frequently of late to get out and about to take snaps rather than facing an inevitable faff around or resorting to using a screen capture tool to grab some images.

All-in-all the problems have me a little puzzled.

Roche, on the other hand, doesn’t have me puzzled – it has me captivated. A Homestead region, it is the personification of beauty through simplicity, offering the lens artist a wonderful series of opportunities for film and stills which are quite unique.

This is a place which invites you co come and play, to fiddle with windlight and other settings to your heart’s content and see what you can produce. It is both backdrop and focal point; canvas and artwork, offering many opportunities for creative expression. It’s also a place deserving of careful exploration, because the attention to detail here is equally wonderful; my favourite part of the region is actually so hidden as to be easily missed – the short stretch of railway line which hugs a part of the shoreline; it simply invites the imagination to create a raft of narratives to go with it.

I love regions like this and Scribbled Hearts on Water Reserve or Blackcloud Oh’s Black Kite, simply because of the way that they do call to the artist within each of us and offer a page on which our imaginations can write a tale or two. This may have been my first visit to Roche – but I seriously doubt it will be my last.

Related Links

• Roche SLurl (Rated: Moderate)

We all need a break now and then. Whether it is from the pressures of real life or Second Life, it makes no difference; we can all at times simply feel overwhelmed by things and need a place where we can go to and simply just *be*, whether on our own, or with a close friend. Somewhere away from the usual surroundings of our in-world homes or regular haunts, somewhere where we don’t actually have to “do” anything, but can simply sit and think or talk or watch the passing clouds.

Black Kite is one such place where we can do this. The work of Black Cloud (Theblackcloud Oh), Black Kite is a region which is breathtaking in its simplicity and deeply calming in its presentation. It is open to the public, although Black Cloud does have her home in the north-east corner of the region, so please respect her privacy when visiting.

The default windlight sky settings for the region, coupled with its watery nature, present a space free from the daily clutter of the world – real or virtual – but which also encompasses plenty which can both reflect one’s mood and also encourage one to relax and unwind and give flight to thought.

The best way to discover Black Kite is to simply wander. The water is only ankle-deep, and there are wooden walkways for those who prefer, all of which lead to / past some thing of interest. Minimalist it may appear to be, but there is a wonderful attention to detail here. There is an audio stream which can help relax the mind and also give it wing, adding to the immersive ambience of the region; but even without it, this is a place to savour.

This is also a place which encourages experimentation with windlight presets – which also makes it a photographer’s delight. My personal favourite settings-wise when visiting is Bryn Oh’s Mayfly (see the first photo in this article); the open nature of Black Kite just lends itself perfectly to the preset. Many other options for both sky and water work here as well, offering those with an artistic bent a huge range photographic opportunities my own efforts barely hint at.

If I were asked to sum-up Black Kite in a word, it would be “Tranquility”. It’s a place I’ve only recently discovered, but it is a place which touches me greatly, as so much of it does reflect feelings and moods I frequently have; whether that gives me something in common with Black Cloud Oh, I’ve no idea; but for me the reasonance is very real.

Black Kite is open to visitors, as mentioned above (and with the caveat concerning Black Cloud’s home) and photographers and machinimatographers are also welcome. However, for me the beauty of Black Kite is the sense of freedom and calmness it invokes whenever I visit; it is a place where I can both escape and find myself.

Perhaps you will as well. Perhaps, should you find the pressures of the virtual and / or real world getting to you, you’ll do as I do, and:

Related Links

• Black Kite SLurl (Rated Moderate)