Category: Exploring Second Life

It’s hard to believe that Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is nigh-on 30 years old. Whatever you may think of the sequels, the original was a seminal piece of cinematic adventure, a lightning-in-a-bottle moment of film-making (even if the science is as wonky as ride on a bus with hexagonal wheels); even now, the scene where Grant and Sattler first see the dinosaurs on Isla Nubar, complete with John Williams’ soaring theme, can bring a lump to the throat and cause the eyes to water.

I cannot promise the same reaction when visiting Justice Vought’s Jurassic Park! in Second Life – but I can say you’ll get to have quite the adventure when visiting (complete with a extract of Williams’ theme). In places drawing on the entire film franchise but with a strong emphasis on Isla Nubar, Justice presents a personal interpretation of the film and novel that captures several of the former’s iconic moments, and which includes some rather unique chuckle moments that set outside of the film’s story, but very much feel well-suited to the moment here.

A visit starts down within caves where dinosaur skeletons are being uncovered together with insects trapped within fossilised amber. From here, visitors are invited to find their way to where they can board a helicopter (rezzed on touching the box at the helipad) to fly, a-la Alan Grant, (Sam Neill), Eliie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Ian Malcolm  (the always brilliant Jeff Goldblum) to John Hammond’s fabled park.

From there, and progressing through the visitor centre, the park is laid out as several distinct sky-based areas linked by teleports and various means of travel (including the caverns of the arrival point). The visitor centre itself gives a nice feel of the one seen in the film, complete with the T-Rex skeleton (check for a sit-point!) and the huge banner that is intended to greet guests. A little ride (best taken in Mouselook) reveals the secrets of creating dinos, whilst touching the door at the back of the centre will carry you to the park gates, where you can start your tour via jeep.

I really do not want to give too much away here, for fear of spoiling a visit; however, some elements are hard to avoid mentioning. The jeep ride will take you so far – passing by way of the T-Rex enclosure and its hapless goat – before you’ll have to continue on foot, coming across a Triceratops and a pair of Diplodocus, passing on the other side of the T-Rex enclosure (now looking somewhat the worse for wear and with a fun pose), whilst close by, a Baryonnyx appears to be stalking a Parasaurolophus.

Other dinosaurs waiting to be encountered include Carnotaurus, Pteranodon (one of which you can rez and ride), Stygimoloch (which may actually be juvenile Pachycephalosaurus), Iguanodon, Allosaurus – and, of course, velociraptors and ol’ T-Rex himself, complete with a novel recreation of a scene from the film (with pedal extremities replacing the jeep!).

Along the way there are numerous things to click on, from rezzers to givers and assorted interactive elements – look for the red and blue arrows and click where directed – but also be sure to Mouse over in places. There’s also a trap featuring monsters of its own, and one particularly novel way of … blasting … yourself between points in the park!

At the end of the adventure, you can rez and grab a helicopter to escape what might otherwise be a grizzly fate, and this will carry you to a waypoint you can use to either journey back to the start of the adventure, or hop back to the visitor centre or the disaster area. With tiny meteor periodically falling the the ground, this also offers a reminder of the eventual fate of the dinosaurs. Donations for the maintenance of Juctice’s Oxygen locations (of which this is a part) can be made here as well.

Justice always puts a lot of effort into his builds, and Jurassic Park is no exception. The range of dinos means that most of the film franchise is represented, although the focus is clearly on the original film / book, as noted. Yes, not all the reptiles are animated – but this does help reduce script load and things like animation loading / running on the viewer, and it doesn’t stop a visit from being fun; I think I can safely say it’s the first time I’ve ever been digested by a closet when travelling!

Fun to visit and explore individually or with friends. My thanks to Justice for the personal invite, and to Shawn for also sending me the LM!

SLurl Details

• Jurassic Park! (River, rated Moderate)

There can be very few of us who do not have at least one Linden Bear sitting in Inventory somewhere – and most likely more than one (I have a good handful tucked away, and I’ve not been a major collector). Primarily created by the staff at the Lab (together with the Moles of the Linden Department of Public Works), they are one of the Great Staples of Second Life, much sought-after by many, and held as prized possessions.

Linden Bears were, alongside of Linden Collector Cards, the brainchild of Nicole Linden, who joined Linden Lab as the first female international liaison, and the first female Linden from Australia, far back in the mists of time. I have no idea if she ever realised how popular they would be, but Linden Bears have become something of a rite of passage for Lab employees, who are expected to create one (with those at senior level being asked at virtually every public appearance they make if they have one available to give to collectors!), with special in-house courses being given in their construction.

At one time, Linden Bears used to all be made to the original template developed by Nicole Linden – but I have absolutely no idea if that is still the case today. What I do know is that, as well as individual bears being produced by Lab staff,  there has also been a long tradition of creating celebratory bears to mark events and occasions – such as the “1,000,0000th Bear” produced to mark the 1,000,000th user entering SL (at precisely, for those interested  at precisely 8:05:45 SLT, October 18th, 2008).

All of this is by way of introducing the fact that for the bear minded, Claire Atheria has opened the Bear Castle, an incredible display of 497 Linden (and Mole!) bears, 281 of which are from her personal collection(!), with the rest being provided by Maryposa Paine, Michael Takakura, Nicci Pond, Melvin Starbrook and Prokofy Neva.

Located alongside Route 8A within the continent of Satori, Bear Castle sits on a table of rock overlooking the road (and so hard to miss when casually travelling through lower Satori) and is brimming forth with bears from Lindens and past and present, Moles and from Claire and other residents. So many in fact, that they call cannot fit inside the main building or its courtyard, but can instead be found gathered in the pavilion alongside the museum proper and also lining the road (so be sure to cam around / descend the steps from the landing point and have a good look around). Such is the collection that, look long enough and you’ll find some of Nicole’s original bears as well as some more recent creations such as Magic Mole’s Ebbe Linden Bear, as offered to help raise funds for RFL of SL, and various “Team” bears offered on behalf of different Linden working teams, and more.

Of course, not all Linden Bears are bears, so within the collection might be found Leo Linden’s lion, Blue Linden’s dragon, one of April Linden’s bunnies, Terrance Linden’s Monkey, Torley Linden’s … abstract art (no-one could create a bear quite like Torley!), and several of Alexa Linden’s annual bears, to name but a few. Not all bears are of the same approximate size either – so be prepared to zoom in at times –  and also zoom out!

For those wishing to start their own Linden Bear collection, Claire also offers some hints and tips on where to find them through a note card giver, and even a “starter pack” of 50 sharable bears by LL staff and members of the LDPW! All of which makes for a pleasing visit / trip down memory lane.

Given this is all about the bears, I cannot help but close by “borrowing” a song from Disney’s version of Baloo Bear and tweaking the lyrics a little:

Look for the bear necessities
The Linden Bear necessities.
Forget about your worries and your strife;
Our Linden Bear necessities
Are why avies can rest with ease
Collecting bears right here in Second Life!

With thanks to Claire and all involved in this project.

SLurl Details

• Bear Castle (Dechene, rated Moderate)

We’re getting to the time of year when Second Life tends to be awash with winter / Christmas / end-of-year themed regions, all rich with snow and winter wonderland settings to tromp through and enjoy.

One such place that recently opened as a winter’s setting is that of Eccapaiari Mountains, a charming quarter-region design by Terrygold, located on the ground level of the Solo Arte parcel, where it replaces her earlier Osta Nimosa setting (see: Resting in Osta Nimosa in Second life). As with that setting, this snowy design is easy on the eye, but offers plenty to see whilst forming an ideal backdrop for photography.

From the landing point, a cart track winds its way around the edge of the parcel, high cliffs to one side, rough lowland to the other spotted by trees, shrubs and bird houses, all of them – cliffs, rocks, bare ground, flora and bird houses  – brushed over with snow, which also frosts the shrubs and plants bordering the track.  As the this track curves to follow the base of the cliffs, so the land to its right opens out to reveal a broad lake, its water frozen into stillness.

As the land opens, so too do buildings come into view: a small chapel and outhouses for a farm, the track splitting before reaching them, one arm following the edge of the lake, the other curling back on itself to pass by the outhouses and reach the low-slung farmhouse, its roof heavy in an insulating blanket of snow. A small summer house sits across the trail from the farmhouse, its interior heated by a wood-burning stove, with both farmhouse and summerhouse thus offering cosy retreats from the snow for those who seek them.

The lake offers the opportunity for skating – there is a skate giver sign on the edge of the ice as the track loops around a rocky outcrop to bring its two arms back together into a single path. Here, sitting outdoors, visitors can enjoy a hot glass of mulled wine  or, if skates aren’t to their linking, rez a sled from a second sign and scoot their way around the ice.

Beyond the little hut serving the hot drinks, steps climb up to a small viewing point looking out over the off-region elements of the setting. Those who are so minded might find the dance system as well, sitting in the lee of the tree that also helps shade the little hut, while across the ice a love seat sits within a little wooden shelter where couples might cosy up together.

Rounded out by an outdoor fire pit with chairs awaiting those who wish to use them, and the a large sled that also offers single sits and couples cuddles, Eccapaiari Mountains is hardly going to tax anyone’s viewer and is nicely finished with a suitable soundscape. For photographers, the local EEP setting are fine, although for the images here, I opted to use one of my personal settings, which I hope gives a sense

My thanks to Terrygold for the invite to visit!

SLurl Details

• Eccapaiari Mountains (Mystic Bay, rated Moderate)

 

Poking my nose into the Destination Guide recently caused me to spot an entry for Omerta City (actually now featured in the DG Highlights at the time of writing), a Full region design by Lux Voxel that leverages the additional private island Land Impact bonus.

An urban environment, this is a place packed with detail – although I’ll say up-front that this comes at a price; unless you’re running on a fairly robust system, you might find it heavy going if you tend to run the viewer with the likes of shadows enabled and / or a high Draw Distance, so be prepared to make some adjustments to your viewer!

Omertà is a Southern Italian code of silence and code of honour and conduct that is often associated with the Mafia, and I’d venture to suggest the selection of the name for this setting is no accident given it is sponsored through Lux’s own brand Mesh Mafia. Not that it is particularly mindful of Southern Italy or Sicily, being far more leaning towards being somewhere in the United States. However, it does have the feel for a corner of a city where one could well imagine organised crime keeping an eye – and hand – on things; and enforcing their particular brands of honour codes.

This is a location of multiple faces, with waterfront areas, low-lying and aging business areas overlooked by places of business topped by apartments occupying superior, elevated positions. Within all of this are a range of settings that make exploring the city something of an adventure. Many of the shops are outfitted with interiors that invite visitors into them; clubs and pubs present similar places to spend time within, at least one also containing the kind of racket one might associate with criminal activities as NPC exotic dancers seek to entertain those stepping through the doors.

Caught under a night-time sky by default, Omerta also has a sense of mystery to it: tucked away here and there are shops specialising in voodoo and magic, for example, whilst the bones of an old and long-deserted and ruined fun fair rises from and overgrown lot. There’s also a sense of life throughout: a corner that may have once been a shop topped by living spaces has been converted into a place for children to use their skateboards, as such corners so often get turned into places for childhood recreation where no formal parks or other spaces exist.

Elsewhere can be found roadworks and the suggestions that parts of the city may be about to undergo redevelopment. There’s also a feeling that the age of the city has lead to something of an unfortunate accident: the subway station sits with its platforms barred to public access, they and the tracks they serve being flooded.

As noted, Omerta can be heavy-going at times: there is both a lot of mesh  and an impressive number of textures which can take time to load and render, particularly if you are prone to keep shadows running at all times (I actually had some issues with texture loading with shadows disabled); as such, it can be a frustrating visit at times (possibly not helped by the region surround / dome).

However, it is more than worthwhile persevering, as the city is also filled with photographic opportunities throughout – and not just under the default EEP settings; as the banner image here hopefully shows, Omerta lends itself to other EEP settings as well.

SLurl Details

• Omerta City (Omerta, rated: Adult)

It has been a while since I’ve dropped in to a region designed by Camila Runo – the last was her take on the bayou lands of Louisiana back in May 2021 (see: A trip to the Bayou in Second Life), although my first encounter with her work came back in 2020 with the original Jambo! (A voyage to Africa in Second Life). Quite what caused the break in my visits I’ve no idea; but seeing Firith Galad a Forgotten Elven Realm listed in the Editor’s Picks of the Destination Guide immediately had me scurrying to pay a visit.

As anyone with an abiding love of Tolkien’s mythology (like me!) will know, Firith Galad is Sindarin (Grey Elven) in origin, and can be literally translated as “Fading Light” (Firith also being the last quarter of the Sindarin / elven year, and so give the time at which this build is available, that name also fits quite nicely).  indeed, in respect of “fading”, a further layer of meaning might be found within the region’s name, as quick look at the About Land description reveals:

Surrounded by high mountains and cataracts lies Firith Galad, an ancient elven realm fallen into oblivion. The light is fading, winter is near …

Again, as those familiar with Tolkien’s mythology, the War of the Ring brought to an end the time of Elves, and the start of the Fourth Age, and the ascendancy of Man. At this time, many of the elves of Middle Earth departed into the West, and those left behind recognised they were doomed to fade with the passage of time. While no actual time-frame (before / after the War) is given, the title of the setting nicely fits with this idea of an elven enclave tucked away, perhaps high in Ered Luin (the Blue Mountains) of Lindon, the last remnant of their beloved Beleriand, and a place where they could escape the passing of time in the world around then, content to remain in isolation.

This is an ethereal setting caught in a ghostly light that, with the surrounding walls of rock, serves to separate the realm from the rest of the world, isolating it in a unique fashion whilst bathing it in a cool light mindful of winter, and in which the enclave is gently revealed as one approaches it. Set within a deep mountain valley, the setting is reached far  path that clings to one side of the valley walls. It emerges from a tunnel – a hidden passage leading from the world beyond and into the valley. This tunnel is guarded by two gates bearing symbols of the gold and silver Trees of Valinor, Telperion and Laurelin, the first indication that in offering this build, Camila has perhaps cast her net of inspiration wider than Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, (and certainly Peter Jackson’s interpretation of Tolkien’s world).

The path clings to the valley side as it runs from tunnel opening to a single stone bridge that gracefully spans the deep chasm of the valley to reach the enclave as it in turn hugs the far side of the valley’s steep walls. Here, beyond the banners bearing what might be an image of Telperion,, the enclave offers a tiered build, making use of shoulder and island of rock extending outward from the high peaks, with the core buildings reached via stair or bridge (or both), all sounds drowned by the thunder of the great falls that tumble to the valley floor far below.

Dominating the realm is a great house, placed at the top of a broad stairway and occupying a large stone-flagged square. Climbing the stairs towards it, visitors are greeted by the sound of harp music, the house itself a place of meeting, feasting, music, and seeing – a basin of water mindful of the one that once belonged to Galadriel sits within it, light glittering above its slowly shimmering water as it appears to wait its time to reveal the future to those who look into it.

More steps rise upwards from one side of the house, climbing to where a great stone edifice rises, curtains of water falling from some of its buttresses in time to the falls behind it. A single span of stone reaches across the pool that collects this water to reach the centre of the structure. This is home to a tall carven figure, undoubtedly Varda Elentári, known to the Sindarin as Elbereth Gilthoniel, as she holds aloft the vessels holding the light silver and gold light of the corrupted Two Trees of Valinor in vessels fashioned by Manwe and Aulë, that they might become the Sun and Moon of Middle Earth.

Elsewhere within the setting, one might find a meeting place, its horseshoe table doubtless the place of many councils and meetings of fellowships, while across a bridge from the arrival point and its gazebo stands a smaller hall, given over a place of learning / research / study, albeit one with furnishing that are perhaps of distinctly “Mannish” origins in difference to the furniture to be found elsewhere. Then, between this library and the main house there can be found a stone pavilion in which water drops from the high roof to enter a rectangular pool at the pavilion’s centre, what appears to the face of Ulmo, Lord of Waters, and second to Manwe and Elbereth in leadership of the Valar.

With a richness of trees and greenery as befitting the Sindar, who also settled in the forests of Middle Earth during the Second Age, Firith Galad is one of the well-executed settings drawn from Tolkien’s mythology. The attention to detail in referencing The Silmarillion far more than The Lord of the Rings, gives this setting a uniqueness that is hard to deny, and which is a delight to visit and spend time within for any Tolkienite. And even if your interest doesn’t run so deep, Firith Galad is nevertheless captivating in its presentation and sheer photogenic nature.

My utter respect to Camila for her work with this 80-days build.

SLuel Details

• Firith Galad a Forgotten Elven Realm (Farron, rated Moderate)