Category: Exploring Second Life

Endless – click any image for full size

Endless is a region of desolate beauty that is quite stunning to behold in its naturalness of setting. There is a wild, unfettered allure to it that can instantly capture the eye and the heart.

We were drawn to it thanks to an  IM by fellow grid traveller Annie Oh (AnnieBrightstar). A Full region, it has been designed by Sombre Nyx (SombreNyx) in reflection of a coastal wetland or fens, and influence by the Camargue in the South of France. It offers a mostly low-lying area of land, cut through with shallow waters hidden by shrubs, tall grasses and reeds, weathered old bridges linking the swathes of drier land that sit just above the waters. All of which is watched over by the tall finger of a lighthouse and the squat box of an old fortification hunched on a low hill.

Endless

The latter looks across the lowlands to a ridge of hills, a dirt track curling around them, hinting that something may be hidden beyond their steep sides, while overhead dull clouds scud their way across a sombre sky; perhaps portents of inclement weather yet to arrive.

This is a place that has an immediate impact on the eye and heart; it breathes a naturalness that is almost intoxicating. In looking around on our first arrival, I was immediately put in mind of remote coastal areas of north and east Scotland – but also found myself put in mind of the moors of Devon, North Yorkshire and Northumberland, the wetlands and flamingoes notwithstanding. But Endless is a place that could exist almost anywhere; including purely in the imagination.

Endless

It is also a place that leads forth quiet contemplation as much as it does exploration. The wide open spaces encourage visitors to stand and look, while the ambient sound scape (do make sure you have local sounds active) causes the mind to drift on its own wings; Endless is a place where stories await our imaginations to give them life, as Sombre herself notes:

Stand in a corner; drink in the ocean. Nobody will come to push you out of that reverie. They have their own to engage them … You’re the writer of stories made here. I offer you the pen. Dipped in the ink of my dreams.

– Sombre Nyx, describing Endless

Where you choose to wander on arrival is up to you; the landing point sits towards the middle of the region, and the track winding forth from a nearby barn, hugging the feet of the sheltering hills is certainly one path to take – although this quickly branches, demanding choices to be made. But there are also paths between bushes and shrubs and the low bridges spanning fingers of water that also call for feet to tread them. And then there is the lowering bulk of the old fortification sitting on its hill, its call to be explored perhaps a little too strong to be resisted.

Endless

Old it may well be, but the rooms within it offer the warmth of a fire, the comfort of a sofa and the hint of an artist’s place of work, while the crenelated walls of its flat roof enclose a most curious yet comfortable setting – although I’d perhaps question taking a bath with what sounds like a cold wind buffeting those same walls.

Should you follow the track around the hills to their northern flank, you’ll find more signs of human habitation and stories waiting to be told.

From Tuscan villa to fisherman’s shack, the buildings sitting in the northern lee of the hills offer a delight to both eye and imagination as they face the cold, hard sea in an almost defiant line. Close by, on a small tongue of land sits a graveyard, adding a sense of settlement and history to this place of stark pulchtricude.

Endless

Nor does it end there; the beauty of Endless is not only on the macro level, with its sweeping vista, buildings and sounds. It also exists on the “micro”, the careful use of small details that add further depth and life to the region, again as Sombre notes:

Nudge your horse through shrubs, listening to its hooves squelch in the mud … Notice a duck, a dead bird, a narcissus, a slice of freshly cut orange, brilliant on its white plate. Be aware of it all.

– Sombre Nyx, describing Endless

Her description also hints at a further attraction: the region is perfectly suitable to exploration on horseback, if you have a wearable horse. I don’t as yet, but I confess the promise of being able to ride through Endless at a slow pace, imagining that mud sucking at hooves and the hypnotic swaying induced by riding while looking out over that serene landscape has brought me one step closer to doing so.

Endless

Yes, there is a lot going on in the region that can pull at viewer performance (including an element yet to open to the public). But with careful shepherding of viewer options, these should not prove insurmountable or unduly spoil a visit. Certainly, the effort in making adjustments is more than worthwhile, because Endless is a genuine place of beauty and peace, perfect for photography, for contemplation, for exploration or as a means to recapture memories of the wilder, more remote places we cannot always visit with ease in the physical world.

SLurl Details

• Endless (Haraiki Bay, rated; Adult)

Willow Spring Ranch – click any image for full size

Update – and Ouch! Within 24 hours of posting this, Willow Spring Ranch has been taken down! SLurls removed as a result.

Once again we’ve been drawn to a region on the recommendation of Shakespeare and Max. Willow Spring Ranch is offered as a place for couples and friends to visit, explore and enjoy. A rugged setting, this Homestead region presents a rich landscape surrounded by tall, green mountains and water.

Designed by Gazza Tremor on behalf of region holder Brandi Darkwatch (Brandi Wycliffe), it’s a place blending multiple activities. Trails wind through the landscape, offering a route of exploration across both the high plateaus and the low-lying regions such as the beach. These can be followed on foot or – if you have a wearable horse – can be ridden (horse riding is expressly encouraged in the region).

Willow Spring Ranch

As well as riding and walking, the region offers several places for dancing – most notably a large deck towards the west side of the region, overlooking the seas below. Games are also on offer, particularly down on the pier that brackets one side of the region’s beach.

For those who don’t fancy walking, the path north from the landing point leads to a bridge and, beyond it, a barn. Outside of this (among other things) is a bicycle rezzer – although I confess both Caitlyn and I found the winding paths alongside the barn and crossing the rest of that plateau difficult to navigate from the bicycle saddle!

Willow Spring Ranch

With its open spaces, lack of buildings, its woodlands and lowlands, Willow Spring Ranch is a little different to many of the public regions usually found in Second Life. The design of the paths and trails lead the way around the region in such a way as to give the impression this is a park covering a large area, the paths naturally offering a way around it in such a manner that adds to the feeling the region is larger than is the case.

If you do have a wearable horse (or similar) for riding, Willow Spring Ranch might be a very worthwhile visit; but even if you are on foot, the region offers a lot to see and opportunities for a little outdoor relaxation, be it dancing or just sitting and talking. There’s even the option for 10-pin bowling!

Willow Spring Ranch

Willow Spring Ranch

COBKOBO – click any image for full size

COBKOBO, a Full region in Second Life designed by Света Денискина (Seller Xenno), has been gaining a lot of attention of late for its presentation of a Russian provincial town. It’s a place Caitlyn and I were first alerted to (within a brief period to one another) by Annie Brightstar and Shakespeare.

In truth, it is a scenic setting – although apparently still under construction in places, given the fact there are footpaths being placed, rezzing boxes still visible. It is surrounded by tall, green hills coated by fir trees and wrinkled by fast-flowing streams that help to give the impression this is a town sitting on a small lake, a river meandering away through the hills.

COBKOBO – click any image for full size

There is a certain Soviet / historical feel to the town, dominated as it is by large theatre-come-music hall, outside of which stands a statue of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov – better known by the alias Lenin – holding the hammer and sickle in outstretched arms. Other suggestions of the past lie scattered around the region in the form of military vehicles parked or abandoned, the badge of the Soviet army displayed above a garage / barn, and so on. But whether the setting is meant to be representative of a bygone era, or a modern setting where echoes of the past linger on, is for visitors to perhaps decide. 

Certainly there is enough going on in the region for it to be set in modern times: the theatre is available for showing videos, and there are areas given over to live entertainment, both outdoors and indoors. And there are obvious Western touches – such as “Roady’s” bar, and a motel sign.

COBKOBO – click any image for full size

This is a place that appears to be newcomer friendly for SL’s Russian community. The block-like schoolhouse offers information boards on using the viewer and may also provide viewer lessons (I’m not entirely sure on this), with the events spaces offering a reason for people to come to the region.

The town is an interesting mix: large, solidly built structures on paved roads, their plain bulk suggestive (again) of the kind of structures we in the West regard as being from the Soviet era. But the roads quickly give way to tracks, the solid structures to wooden houses.

COBKOBO – click any image for full size

Around the edges of the region are open, rugged spaces, including a beach and a pair of islands. One of these is topped by camp sites, one of which can be used as a music venue.  There are also private places to be found scattered around the edges of the region, where it is possible to to get away from the bustle of visitors. All of this is watched over from a corner by a lighthouse sitting atop a drum-like base.

As noted earlier, elements of the region still appear to be under construction, but this doesn’t make it any the less photographic in its current state. However, it will be interesting to see what else is planned for COBKOBO, and how it will appear once completed.

COBKOBO – click any image for full size

In the meantime, the region makes for an interesting and somewhat different visit; a glimpse of a bygone era sitting within modern times.

SLurl Details

• COBKOBO (Russia, rated: Adult)

Update: 2019-XS has closed and Zee9 has relocated her Drune build – see Drune: a further visit in Second Life. SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

On the advice of a number of people – starting with Annie Brightstar – we recently visited 2019-XS, defined as “a sci-fi sim in Second Life with a cyberpunk feel, inspired by films like Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, and Neuromancer.”

Designed by Hera (zee9), the region has an adult edge to the role-play, and is intended as an extension to her previous (and now departed) build Drune. I’ve not seen that design, but will say that while compact, 2019-XS has a certain ambience that is hard to define, but has seen me make three visits to it in order to fully appreciate the ambience and setting.

While the region is described as being inspired by the likes of The Fifth Element and Blade Runner, the setting feels more potentially “sci-fi / dystopian generic” than these films would suggest. This is not to demean the region in any way; rather it’s an acknowledgement that it has a broader feel to it than a narrow focus on a specific film or films.

For example, while the design has a vertical feel to it, with a street level and upper walkways, all with plenty of neon on display, the overall feel is perhaps too Asian, too industrial / metallic too clean to perhaps fit it fully into the streets of the 2019 Los Angeles witnessed in Blade Runner. Then the narrowness of the streets, the cluttering of their canyon-like forms and lack of aerial traffic doesn’t entirely sit with a Fifth Element vibe.

Nevertheless, there are motifs from both films. There are buildings that have an older, stone-built look that echoes places like the Bradbury building as imagined in Blade Runner, for example. There are also the spinner-like vehicles (both commissioned and decommissioned), while the elevated walkways between the buildings offer a suggestion of a crowded city, again a-la Blade Runner and the TV Series Total Recall 2070 that took many of its visual cues from the film.

That said, were I to point to a particular film influence on the setting, I would sway towards Neuromancer. Whilst never made (the film is still characterised as In Development by IMDB), the concept art from that production offers takes that do reflect the setting within 2019-XS. But even then, I’d suggest that the region be allowed to stand on its own, free from any frame of reference that could lead to specific preconceptions.

The main streets are laid out simply enough – but in doing so, they hide the complexity of the setting. There are back alleys to be found; stairs and elevators to the upper levels, while private clubs lie behind heavy doors or at the bottom of outdoors steps leading down to a basement level. On the upper levels can be found more eateries, small apartments and hallways.

Role-play is, I believe, of a free-form nature; but again, be aware that there is a lean towards more sexual play, so the setting might not please everyone. For photographers, there are numerous opportunities to take photos – both avatar studies or cityscapes. There is also a Flickr group where images can be displayed, and which also includes pictures from the earlier Drune.