Category: Second Life

A return to Dystopia in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Dystopia // Carnage City, October 2019 – click any image for full size

We originally visited Dystopia // Carnage City (then called Dystopia // [flit ink] + aberrant) almost three years ago  – see A taste of Dystopia in Second Life – so a return visit seemed well overdue.

As the name suggests, this is something of a post-apocalyptic themed region that offers a group build – supported by a website – intended to offer some fairly free-form role-play for those interested, based around a back-story set in the 2030s and a time when global warming has passed beyond the tipping point.

Dystopia // Carnage City, October 2019

A group build, the region is divided into a number of parcels – most open to the public, although be warned that there is a private parcel in the middle of the north side of the region – which run together and the overall build sprawls across them.

Given it is a post-apocalyptic design, it should comes as no surprise that the city that takes up most of the region is in a state of decrepitude: the roads are partially flooded  – the result of rising sea levels, perhaps – the buildings in a state of ruin, and nature is taking back control.

Dystopia // Carnage City, October 2019

The city is roughly divided into three areas: Carnage City, which I’m using as the landing point here; the Boondock Slums and Happenstance, a wilder element of the region which – as the description states, offers a coastal forest and air crash site.

The Slums are perhaps the most inhabited aspect of the region: homes and places of commercial stacked one atop another, reached via ladders and steps or – for the keen eyed, a tunnel under the nearby hills. Aglow with neon signs and with pier for those seeking a little beach-side relief, it has the look and feel of life trying to pull itself together and thrive beyond the disaster that has overtaken the city.

Dystopia // Carnage City, October 2019

Elements of the region offer echoes of past designs – such as the fun fair, aspects of which were present when we visited in 2016. Others are more unique to this build – but all offer a plenty of opportunities for photography and exploration.

I do confess to having some issues with performance when visiting – fps dropped to single digits until I disabled shadows. A little annoying, but not enough to prevent my appreciating the region during our wanderings.

Dystopia // Carnage City, October 2019

All told, Dystopia // Carnage City remains an eye-catching visit that comes complete with the opportunity for light role-play among groups visiting the region, or for photography.

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Remembering Darrius Gothly

Posted on by Inara Pey
Darrius Gothly

I received word from Torric Rodas today of the sad news of the passing of long-term Second Life resident and creator, Darrius Gothly.

Founder of the DG4SL range of products, Darrius had a wide range of interests in Second Life, and always sought to improve people’s SL experience through many of his products, whilst also being a very vocal member of the platform’s merchant community, offering both positive critiques of the Lab’s approach to its Marketplace environment and suggestions for improving it.

I did not know Darrius well, but I believe we became long distance friends outside of Second Life for long enough for me to appreciate him for his insight and integrity.

We first really got to know one another when he stepped in to try to address an age-old problem in Second Life: what happens when you pass out a load a landmarks for your store, club, region, etc., – and then are forced by circumstance / opportunity / whatever to relocate, other than to start revising all your LMs, push new ones out to visitors / customers / friends, try to get the word out through forums etc.

To explain: back in 2012, artist and creator Toysoldier Thor put forward an idea and feature request for “virtual landmarks” to present a means by which LMs need never go “stale” (see also: Virtual Landmarks: solving an age-old problem?).  As per Toy’s comments in a forum thread on the idea, for a time it looked like LL might be interested in implementing something along the lines of his suggestion (subject to other commitments / priorities). Sadly, nothing ever really came of this (nor of subsequent suggestions along similar lines). So, Enter Darrius.

I first got to know Darrius as he developed his Virtual Landmarks products

Taking a dive into things, he formulated a means by which Toy’s idea could be realised via an external service. In typical Darrius style, he also added elements such as web support (“VMurl”), stats reporting and support for “favourite places” to provide a comprehensive product. He dropped me a line about the product in December 2012, which resulted in my articleVirtual Landmarks: offering a solution to the age-old problem, and in my playing a very small role in testing the system.

As a result of that initial contact, Darrius and I became what might best be referred to as “pen friends” over the next few years, exchanging ideas and comments and holding forth with each other on a wide range of subjects, from “technical” chats about SL through to more esoteric matters – identity, anonymity and personal expression in VWs, the new user experience, perceptions about SL in other platforms / the worlds at large, etc. -, through to chatting about physical world home and family, health, and our mutual enjoyment of assorted film franchises, and even touching on politics on occasion.

Sadly, our conversations waned to the point of becoming non-existent for the last couple of years. At the time this happened, I was aware that Darrius was dealing with illness and couldn’t always get in-world / on-line perhaps as often as he would have liked, and I feel a certain amount of regret that I didn’t do more to keep our exchanges going. He didn’t believe in putting up walls between his SL persona and himself; whom you encountered through his avatar was very much Darrius himself: honest, up-front, friendly, caring, supportive and with a wonderful – and at times quite wicked (in a good way!) – sense of humour. He is someone who will be missed.

My sincere condolences to his family and to his close friends on their loss.

Note:

I understand from Torric and the London City website that the DG4SL team are attempting to ensure the popular Rental Beam service add-on for CasperLet is transitioned to new management so that it can continue to run as customers expect. Anyone with enquires about that service are asked to contact Mysti Nowles directly, rather than raising a support ticket. At this point, I do not have information on what will happen to other DG4SL products utilising back-end services (such as the VLM product) or who to contact about them. Should I come into such information, I will give an update here.

The Artists Choice in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Rainbow Painters: Nina Camplin and Janelle

Currently open at the Rainbow Painters Art Gallery, curated by Timo Dumpling and Patience Roxley is an ensemble exhibition entitled Artists Choice, which once again offers a rich mix of art from both Second Life and the physical world and a broad cross-section of Second Life artists.

To be honest, I’m unsure as to the origins of the exhibition title and whether it is a reference to the fact each artist selected their own pieces for it rather than it being set to a theme, or whether the pieces on offer were selected by those within the Rainbow Arts group on seeing the various artists’ work, or some other mechanism. Not that it really matters (although I suspect the first of these options) – what matters is the art on display.

Rainbow Painters: Doc Romano

For those who enjoy SL centric art, the exhibition offers pieces by the likes of (but not limited to) Alena Pit and Arin Bellios (avatar-centric studies), and Doc Romano, Fabio and Bella Firefly (landscapes); while artists such as CheekyJane Sahara, Eta Goldsmith, Callum Writer and Pure Love offer pieces of their physical world art.

Also to be found within the gallery is some admirable wildlife art by Nina Camplin and Janelle (who is also the gallery’s “New Artist of the Month”), displayed with a 3D elephant by Claude Belgar. Meanwhile, on the upper wing of the gallery, one can find Milly Sharple’s always impressive art leading the way to a exhibition of art featuring the Boston role-play region, as entered in a competition to depict Boston at the time f the famous Tea Party.

Rainbow Painters: Callum Writer and Pure Love

With 40 artists exhibiting, the above is barely scratching the surface for this exhibition. There really is a richness of art that is engrossing. Given this, Artists Choice offers more than enough to sate the thirst of any art lover, and I admit to being particularly drawn to certain pieces – notably Callum Writer’s fabulous abstractions, Nina Camplin’s tiger and lion studies and Doc Romano’s two SL landscapes.

These six pieces proved to be personal eye magnets during my exploration of the exhibition even though I found all of the art engaging (and wanted to both fuss Milly Sharple’s Blue Cat and step into either tempestad de fuego or En el corazon de las tinieblas by Javier, simply because the manner in which they present the same scene so independently of one another.

Rainbow Painters: Pils Kish

All told, Artists Choice is engaging, and well worth taking the time too jump over to Rainbow Painters Art Gallery to see. And if you like images suitable for Halloween, do check out Haunted Picture by Edwige Monroe – just give it a minute when viewing.

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2019 viewer release summaries week #43

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

Updates for the week ending Sunday, October 28th

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

  • Current Release version 6.3.2.530962, formerly the Vinsanto Maintenance RC viewer, dated September 17, promoted October 15th – NEW.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Love Me Render RC viewer updated to version 6.3.3.532031 on October 23rd.
    • Ordered Shutdown RC viewer updated to version 6.3.3.531767 on October 21st.
  • Project viewers:
    • Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.3.531844, released on October 21st.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V6-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No Updates

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Happy Halloween from Seanchai Library

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, October 27th

14:00: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

A special performance featuring the voice talents of Dav5id Abbot, Corwyn Allen, Shandon Loring, Elrik Merlin, Kayden Oconnell, Caledonia Skytower and Votarn “VT” Torvalar.

Live in-world at Wandervale, home of the creators of the Octoberville and Wicked Winter interactive experiences and broadcast by Fantasy Faire Radio (on the web and on stream in-world).

Read more here: Jekyll and Hyde in Second Life.

16:30: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Perhaps one of the most well-known (and well-loved) stories of dark hauntings is Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which is also one of the earliest examples of American literature of enduring popularity.

While setting his tale in post-revolutionary America in the year 1790, Irving in fact wrote the sorry tale of school teacher Ichabod Crane and his ill-fated encounter with the Headless Horseman in 1819 while visiting England, where his also penned Rip Van Winkle.

Both The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle first appeared in print in his serial The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent, which also marked Irving’s first use of that pen name. As with Rip Van Winkle, Irving claims he first heard about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from “Diedrich Knickerbocker”, a fictional “Dutch Historian”.

With Caledonia Skytower at The Golden Horseshoe at Magicland Park.

Monday, October 28th 19:00: Variable Star

Gyro Muggins reads Spider Robinson’s 2006 completion of an eight-page novel outline from 1955 by Robert Heinlein.

When aspiring composer and musician Joel Johnston first met Jinny Hamilton, it seems like a dream come true. And when she finally agrees to marry him, he feels like the luckiest man in the universe.

There’s just one small problem. He is broke. His only goal in life was to become a composer, and he knows it will take years before he’d be earning enough to support a family. But Jinny isn’t willing to wait; she wants Joel with her in marriage now.

Unsettled by her conviction that money wouldn’t be a problem for them, Joel presses Jinny for an explanation. Her response stuns him: ‘Hamilton’ is not her last name – it is ‘Conrad’, and her grandfather is the wealthiest man in the solar system: Robert Conrad; she had been using subterfuge to ensure whoever she fell in love with really loved her for who she was, not for her grandfather’s money. With that truth revealed, she also informs Joel of her family’s broader plans for her and her husband-to-be.

Perhaps most men in Joel’s shoes, faced with the facts that Jinny really did love him and was offering a life of wealth, might have forgiven her for hiding her identity and plans. But not Joel. So it was that he found himself trying to get as far from her and her family as possible: aboard a colony ship heading deep into space. And then came the cosmic cataclysm that would visit so much calamity on humanity as a whole.

Tuesday, October 29th 19:00: The Spooky Classics

Caledonia Skytower reads Neil Gaiman.

Wednesday, October 30th 19:00 The Eve of All Hallows

The Seanchai Staff share stories and poems of the season on the night before Halloween!

Thursday, October 31st

19:00 A Handful of Halloween

Short Ghost Stories round the Campfire at Pixeltrix. Also in Kitely – find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI.

20:00 A Spooky Party

With DJ the Dreaded Caledonia Skytower.

21:00 Seanchai Late Night – from The X Files It’s All In The Eyes

With Shandon Loring & Caledonia Skytower at Pixeltrix.

A pop-up art exhibition in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kerry Harbour Pop Up Gallery – ViktorSavior

Kerry Harbour Pop Up Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition of art arranged by Michel Bechir of the Lyric Gallery. It features art by ViktorSavior, Xia Firethorn and Carey Chenault, and forms a small, cosy exhibition, with Xia and Carey noted as winners of the Lyric Gallery’s Visual Feast Music Competition.

Located in a small town house, the exhibition sits on two floors. On the ground floor and occupying the front room is a selection of ViktorSavior’s paints of cloud formations. Half a dozen of these charming and rich cloudscapes, and the opportunity to take your own picture against a backdrop of clouds over a coastal sea-scape by Viktor.

Kerry Harbour Pop Up Gallery – Xia Firethorn

In the back room of the house is a set of four images by Xia Firethorn and focused of Second Life landscapes that are captivating in scope and presentation, and one avatar study, The Kimono, which is quite bewitching in its form and narrative.

The single upper floor of the gallery is devoted to Carey Chenault’s art. Again focusing on Second Life landscapes, Carey’s work is smaller in scale than Xia’s and Viktor’s allowing for a larger display of pieces  – 11 in total – featuring some of SL’s popular destinations.

Kerry Harbour Pop Up Gallery – Carey Chenault

Cosy, easy-on-the-eye and with some captivating images, this is a charming exhibition worth taking the time to visit.

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