Category: Second Life

We first came across Tralala’s Diner courtesy of (who else?) Shakespeare and Max, who forwarded the landmark back in September 2017, although time didn’t permit us a visit until November (partly because I misfiled the LM in inventory). The description for the region – designed by tralala Loordes – did pique my curiosity in part: “Hong Kong Rooftop Slums” – not that I managed to find anything that remotely put me in mind of that wonderful city. The rest of the description, however, suits this full region right down to the T: it really is post-apocalyptic setting, with lots going on.

In fact, so much is going on visually, that the region is perhaps lifted above other regions offering similar settings; there is a quirkiness about Tralala’s Diner which makes it a little more than “just” your typical post-apocalyptic setting. Yes, there are the fires, the ruined buildings, the areas being reclaimed by nature, the attempts to organise life after the fall as witnessed through the presence of wind turbines, and what appears to be – at least going on the number of antennae, aerials and satellite dishes vying for rooftop space – attempts to make contact with other group who may have survived whatever disaster has befallen this world.

A visit starts at the landing point, slight off-centre to the middle of the region, in a shack at the end of an old street. An overpass rises just outside the shack, broken and bearing the wrecks of vehicles rusting in the elements. Signs beneath the elevated road warn of bio hazards ahead, perhaps encouraging those stepping out under a grubby sky to turn and follow the old road pointing away from the dire warnings. This road has long since been overtaken by nature, grass and bushes laying claim to its one pristine tarmac, the ageing and decrepit buildings on either side of it seeming to have faired better under nature’s attempts at reclamation.

Where you go from here is a matter of pointing your feet; it actually doesn’t matter where you go, as you’re bound to come across something extraordinary in whichever direction you opt to strike out. Daring the warning signs, for example, will bring you to a shanty town built within and on the roofs of old industrial units, and huddled around the square of a market offering a Sino-Japanese fusion of looks. Southwards, and the southern aspect of the region is given over to the ruins of city tower blocks standing as if blasted by one ore more explosions. Then there are the more eclectic structures to be found that together add a strange whimsy to the place; like the sliced hull of a submarine converted into a dormitory or barracks or the improbable sight of the home built of shipping containers held aloft by a propeller lazily turning beneath them, the owner’s bicycle neatly propped outside the vault-like door.

And that’s just the start. Everywhere are buildings old and older, whole and broken, some sheltering homes or market stalls or shops or other signs of commerce, others harking back to a bygone era when machines turned within them, people pulled off the roads to spend a night in their bedrooms and money was the oil that kept life moving. Now, among the hodgepodge of homes and places of commerce, the broken road and the decaying vehicles, the only things moving seem to the birds and the wind turbines. The latter are scattered across the landscape, standing alone or in regimented rows of three, as if waiting for some latter-day Don Quixote to come tilting at them, perhaps on a bizarre steed of human design.

What makes Tralala’s Diner particularly fascinating is the detail poured into it. Everywhere you wander there is something to see, be it large or small. The marketplace, for example is chock full of human bric-a-brac and the needs of life, while many of the buildings have interior fittings and furnishing, however shabby they might be. There is some cost for this however, particularly if you run the viewer with shadows enabled: with all the textures, the rainfall, etc., I found my FPS collapsing into single digits while exploring, and did struggle in a couple of places with rendering / movement.

Nevertheless, for those who like dystopian environments and places offering a post-apocalyptic outlook, Tralala’s Diner should not be missed. It is photogenically captivating, and those taking pictures are encouraged to post them to the region’s Flickr group.

SLurl Details

• Tralala’s Diner (Pine Lake, rated: Moderate)

La virevolte – click on any image for full size

La virevolte (The Twirl) is a gorgeous Homestead region designed by Iska (sablina). Caught in a winter setting, this is a rugged region is a rugged setting, running from lowland areas in the west to highland regions to the east, surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

Where this might be is open to question – there are few clues in the form of architecture and wildlife, although the vehicles in the region are of European origin. But where this might be really doesn’t matter; what is important is the sheer beauty of the region’s composition, which uses muted tones and colours to considerable effect, both outdoors and inside the buildings scattered across the region.

La virevolte

The landing point lies in the middle of the region,  close to a snowy track that winds from a headland on the west side, where an old lighthouse sits, then passes a log cabin sitting within its own fenced-off grounds before arriving at the foot of the eastern uplands.  A narrow channel cuts into the land near the lighthouse, forming a small, oval bay spanned by an ageing bridge. On the south side of this channel lies an old stone-walled barn, a Citroen van parked close by.

This western side of the landscape is largely snow free – although as one travels eastwards, the snow makes its presence felt, both on the ground and as it falls from a sky filled with scurrying clouds that scrape their way over the tall surrounding mountains. This gives the perfect impression of a wintry cold front moving across the land, depositing snow as it passes, gradually hiding the tough grass of the region under a white blanket.

La virevolte

Within the deeper snows of this eastern side of the region, sits a cosy wooden cabin overlooking waters that cut into the landscape from the north to form a small bay and finger of water that cuts a small slice of land off from the rest to form a little island. This brackets the western headland, connected to it by a rope-and-wood bridge. Old ruins sit on this crooked silver of land, sharing it with a curtain of silver birch which line the banks of the water channel.

Behind the cabin, the rocky shoulders of a plateau rise in steps to where a barn has been converted into something of a club house or social space, with comfortable sofas and chairs, a pool table and general bric-a-brac. This is reached by way of stone steps cut into the rock, and which rise from the western end of the rutted track mentioned above. An avenue of small trees, their trunks bent into a series of arches, also runs from close by the cabin to the foot of the steps.

La virevolte

Rocks also rise in the south-east corner of the region, offer a small shelf where another, unfurnished, cabin sits. This can be reached by following the curve of a second track that branches from the first to swing around a low table of rock to provide access to a little depression in the land, where sits a well and a pair from benches – and stone steps offer the way up to the cabin.

There are one or two areas where the grasses to the east and north need to be set to phantom, but La virevolte is wonderfully wild, windswept and marvellous photogenic. It makes for a picturesque visit – and our thanks, once again, to Shakespeare and Max for pointing it out to us!

La virevolte

SLurl Details

• La virevolte (Lemon Beach, rated: Moderate)