Category: Exploring Second Life

Chess Wonderland – click any image for full size

Chess Wonderland, is a fascinating Homestead region which caught my eye a couple of weeks ago after seeing images pop-up on  Twitter and Flickr, marking it as a place to visit as time allowed.  Designed by EgyptRocker, it is a surreal place with the focus – as indicated in the name – on chess, which is seen not so much as a game of strategy but as an eternal melee of close-quarter fighting.

Visitors are presented with an undulating landscape covered in the black and white tiles of a chess board, which rises into chequered monochrome walls surrounding the region. These walls in turn rise into a roof high overhead, giving the region a gigantic, room-like feel, heightened by the great ceiling light suspended from high overhead which casts a glowing aurora over the top of a great tree occupying the centre of the region.

Chess Wonderland

This aurora is mirrored by softly rippling sheets around the edge of the landscape as misted pools slowly turn between the hills, and sheets of ocean mist drift beneath the boughs of gigantic trees. Unmissable due to their size, the trees are matched in height by massive chess pieces – knights, rooks, bishops and queens – apparently standing guard over the region while candles cast additional ghostly light.

The battle between black and white is located across the region from the landing point, where Mistero’s Hifeng’s chess pieces have been placed on the tiles of the land. Far from presenting a genteel game of carved pieces on a flat board, they are engaged in a vicious a battle involving blade and arrow.

Chess Wonderland

Close by sits a huge table, braced by two equally huge armchairs. The table holds a traditional chess board and pieces, and the armchairs smaller copies of themselves suitable for avatars to sit in. The chess board is playable, offering those who sit in the smaller armchairs the opportunity to engage in a more traditional match or two.

Further around the region, guarded by a pair of giant chess kings, sits a castle. Possibly the point of contention between the warring pieces, it also appears to be the location for events – on our visit, a fair few people were gathered with its walls.

Chess Wonderland

Mistero Hifeng isn’t the only artist represented here, both through his chess pieces and several other sculptures. Sitting close to the landing point is Cica Ghost’s chess player from Strings (which you can read about here), while the string quartet and their pianist from the same installation can be found further around the region, playing under the cover of a fold in the land.

Chess Wonderland is a surreal, beautiful region, unusual in form, softened in look through the considered windlight and use of auroral effects (probably best appreciated with Advanced Lighting Model enabled in the viewer). The presentation of the art pieces by Mistero and Cica – two of my favourite 3D artists – is both imaginative and eye-catching, making for a fascinating and rewarding visit.

Chess Wonderland

SLurl Details

• Chess Wonderland (Egypt, rated: Adult)

Meadow Rose III – click any image for full size

Note: Meadow Rose has relocated to Forever Neverland – see my more recent review here. SLurl is this article have been removed.

Meadow Rose III, designed by Rye Falmer, is a homestead region open to the public offering a  romantic setting for visitors, with much to see and do – and appreciate. For those reading the region’s descriptions, there’s even an extract of a story they might decide to continue for themselves.

The overall design may initially strike one as a period setting. There is a Tudor look to many of the buildings which can easily lean one in that direction. However, there are more than enough clues to reveal that while the buildings are period, the setting is modern.

Meadow Rose III

Instead, what we appear to have is a stately home sitting amidst extensive grounds with formal gardens  of the region suggests this is the ground of a stately home, one which may well have been built centuries ago, but which undoubtedly sits in modern times, the grounds around it pointing to even older occupation, containing as they do the ruins of a more fortified former home, the stone from which may well have gone into the building the current house and some of the other buildings to be found here.

For both Caitlyn and I the overall impression of Meadow Rose is akin to that of many of the grand estates managed by the National Trust here in the UK. That is, lands held for generations by a family, bearing all the hallmarks of their long ownership during which the passing of time gave rise to different forms of house – castle to manor, for example – but which are now maintained for the wider appreciation of the general public, their gates and doors open to visitors to enjoy them in their natural splendour.

Meadow Rose III

The land is broadly arranged in a U-shape around a central channel of water which runs northwards from the middle of the region. The landing point sits on the north-west arm of the U, and the manor house on the north-east, reached via a gated, covered bridge from the landing point. The latter sits between a chapel and a stone-built house, and features an events deck offering live musicians and DJ sessions on a regular basis.

The manor house – open to exploration – sits within formal walled and hedged gardens offering opportunities for walks amidst flowers and hedgerows. It is backed by stables where horses can be obtained should people like to take a ride through the landscape. The glass roof of one wing of the house and the greenhouse alongside the stables, with its scattering of modern gardening implements, are two of the hints that this isn’t a period setting.

Meadow Rose III

To the north side of the manor house is  a small group of standing stones, again suggesting this place has long been a place of human habitation. To the south and east, beyond the more formal gardens and reached via path and stair, is a pavilion sitting out over the water overlooking the neighbouring regions.

Paths and trails wind through the region, leading the way to the points of interest – such as the aforementioned ruins of a castle, or to a Romany camp, where fortunes might be read, before returning to manor house or landing point (depending upon the initial route taken). Throughout it all, there are places to sit and enjoy the views or to snuggle, enjoy a romantic dance, go fishing – or even have a swim. Those seeking a more active pursuit can enjoy a round of bumper boats on the water of the little lake.

Meadow Rose III

Meadow Rose III is a charming, romantic setting; ideal for quiet exploration, photography, and idling the time away. By day the region is softly lit by a late summer sun; by night torches and braziers light the paths and mark doorways, again offering an air of romance beneath a glittering aurora. To the south and east, the region connects to the other in the estate – although these might not all be open for the public to freely explore. However, a teleport board at the landing point offers access to those areas within the estate open to public visits, for those interested in exploring further afield.

This is truly a delightful region to visit, and if you have not already done so, we can very heartily recommended.

Costa Blanco – click any image for full size

Update, December 2017: As per the comment from AJ, below, Costa Blanco appears to be under new ownership; the build has described here no longer exists.

Caitlyn and I first visited Costa Blanco in January 2017, but I didn’t get to blog about it at the time, so a re-visit seemed in order.

Designed by Gabrian Lascelles (Gothicgaylord), the region is described as “situated in the southernmost province of Sweden, and is connected by weather and theme with Bretagne in France.” It’s an interesting description, and the general environment for the region has much of a feel of being suited to either southern Sweden or Bretagne (or even here in the UK!). However, the design of the region throws in multiple elements – a Mediterranean style villa by the landing point, for example – such that Costa Blanco has an eclectic feel to it which makes exploring interesting and offers many opportunities for photography.

Costa Blanco

The aforementioned landing point is in the north-west part of the region, directly outside of the villa. Grapes are growing on the vine here, as a cobbled drive leads down the slope of a low hill to where a scattering of farm outhouses and barns sit. Some of these have clearly seen better days, as their boarded windows and doorways can attest, while the tractors sitting in and around them also speak of age and hard-working lives. Given the way the hay is baled, it would seem this is still a working farm, but the overall impression is that the focus is now more on providing stables for horses, than working the land.

Costa Blanco

Dirt tracks run around and through the farm, offering multiple choices for wandering. To the south, a single track runs along a finger of land pointing eastwards. At the end of this sits another old outhouse in which sits a little display of photographs captured in the physical world. This tumbledown galley shares the headland with an old barn and a cosy little cove, around which places to sit and snuggle can be found, some of many to be found throughout the region.

A sandy beach sweeps  down the eastern shoreline of the land from the north, and out onto the slender headland, giving the impression that this is a stretch of coastline facing east, looking out to where a smaller island sits. Reached via a little motor boat available from a beach-side pier, this rocky island offers a little retreat, complete with summer-house,  and a look-out point in the form of the disintegrating wreck of a boat made fast against the rocks. As the motor boat poofs when you leave it, getting back the mainland appears to be a case of flying or of teleporting back to the landing point.

Costa Blanco

Given the number of cuddle spots here – we particularly enjoyed the secluded hot spa – Costa Blanco is ideal for romantics. Those seeking more active pursuits can ride the region’s horses while photographers can have a field day with the setting as a whole. There is something about the air of age and general shabbiness present in the buildings, coupled with the natural unkempt nature of the trees, grass and bushes which make Costa Blanco an eye-catching visit.

Costa Blanco

SLurl Details

• Costa Blanco (Costa Blanco, rated: Adult)

Crystal Garden Estates – click any image for full size

Crystal Garden Estates is another semi-regular stop-over for me on my rounds of the grid. Designed by Sandi (Sandi Benelli) and her partner Mikal Beaumont, this Homestead region undergoes semi-regular makeovers by Sandi and Mikal, with each offering a new place to visit.

The last time I blogged the region, in July 2015, it had a Mediterranean look and feel, with berths for power and sailing boats all under a summer’s sky. However, as that was a good while ago, I was curious to see how things looked as we make our towards summer 2017; so Caitlyn and I recently hopped over for a look, coincidentally bumping into Sandi and Mikal as we arrived, just as they were tweaking one or two things before heading off to enjoy some in-world music.

Crystal Garden Estates

While the summer feel to the region, and the boat moorings are still evident, this latest iteration of Crystal Gardens Estates offers the look and feel of a more temperate zone this time around. The land has been divided into three large islands, running north-to-south, with a smaller, rounded island to the north-west, while a lighthouse-laden rocky outcrop completed the group. Separated one from the next by narrow channels of water, the three largest islands offer a collective landscape of tall trees, summer walks among sprays of flowers, and many places both indoors and out, where visitors can pass the time.

A visit begins on the west side of the island, on a wooden dock where two boats are berthed. A canvas-sided pergola sits at one end of the dock, offering a place to relax, while close by sits a comfortable little house built on stilts to extend out over the water from a rocky base. Beyond this, the island’s rocky southern headland offers a look-out point with a view of the offshore lighthouse. With a kid’s play tent ( a blanket spread over a line between two trees), dogs playing on the course grass and the waterside spots for taking things easy, this has the feel of being a holiday getaway, rather than a place of year-round abode.

Crystal Garden Estates

Another house, more substantial in size, sits to the north, close to where a bridge reaches out to the middle of the three islands. Also raised up on a stout deck, the house looks out over the curve of a  sandy beach, the boards stacked against its whitewashed wall suggesting it might be the holiday home for keen surfers.

Across the bridge, the middle of the three islands is home to a third cottage, which shares its waterside location with a trio of summer huts. A loose-laid board walk meanders southwards from the cottage passing a barn converted into a bar to one side and an octagonal pergola to the other, before arriving at another beach. Two bridges span the watery divide between this and the easternmost island. This has a slightly wilder feel to it, with tall pines under which a camp site sits and deer, foxes and wolves roam, while the rocky sweep of the northern shore is crossed by a raised wooden walk.

Crystal Garden Estates

The entire feel of these islands is that of a secret vacation spot; a place those in the know can slip away to and spend time forgetting about work and the rest of the world. This impression is heightened by the last of the islands in the group. Circular in form, its shape suggests a small crater with a partially flooded. More wooden walkways occupy this little spot, running around the basin and raised on stilts above the water, or straddling the rim. They link together a small cluster of thatched roof pergolas where visitors can relax, chat, dance or wander under ivy weaved trestles.

I’ve always enjoyed my visits to Crystal Garden Estates, and this latest one was no exception. The little archipelago offers much without in any way being overdone. There is plenty of room to wander, many places to sit and relax, both indoors and out; there are horses to ride and snuggles spots for cosier times with a loved one. For those so inclined, there’s even a drinking game to be found in the bar!

Crystal Garden Estates

Rich in natural colour thanks to the considered use of wild flowers, and set beneath and dusky sky, the region is genuinely photogenic and very much an ideal visit.

SLurl Details

• Crystal Garden Estates (Quararibea Cordata Island, rated: moderate)

Furillen, Pandora Empire – click any image for full size

Furillen, the atmospheric region designed by Serene Footman, has a new home in the full region of Pandora Empire. With the move comes another new design, one which sits both on the ground and up in the air over the region.

The ground level continues to reflect Furillen’s origins: an island off the north-east coast of Gotland, Sweden. In doing so, it retains the same misted, desolate beauty of previous builds, complete with a shell of the limestone factory and the hotel which now occupies the physical world island. However, with this iteration of the design, the factory footprint has been reduced and the hotel has a new, more homely look and feel.

Furillen, Pandora Empire

Further afield can be found other reminders of the original Furillen build: the crane over the water, the hoppers, the caravan. But so to are there new places to explore, such as the fishing village in the north-east corner of the region or the club close to the old factory tower. These aspects, old and new, combine to offer a familiar but new look to the island which encourages fresh exploration.

But it is in the sky where things get even more interesting. A teleport disk near the landing point offers access, and the names of some of the destinations – penguin, joker, catwoman, riddler, batcave – offer hints as to what awaits visitors when teleporting, although I recommend that on a first visit, you head from somewhere like the square, as this will allow you to experience things more fully, delivering you to a town square.

Furillen, Pandora Empire

Seen under the same region windlight as the rest of the region, this cityscape also works under a range of daytime and night-time settings. In case you hadn’t already worked it out from the destination names above, this urban environment is a homage to Batman, from the comics, through the 1960s TV series to the more films of Keaton, Kilmer and Bale et al. However, it is not a homage that should perhaps be taken too seriously, as some of the visuals clues seem to suggest (such as the The Dork Knight club).

That said, the attention to detail is impressive, and fans of Batman will find a visit a treat, with plenty of nods to the entire franchise from familiar names such as Sionis Industries, Arkham Asylum and the Gotham Gazette.  Nor is this just a surface homage; follow the teleport disk around and there is plenty more to find from the Batcave (complete with the different generations of Batmobile), to the underground lair of the Penguin, to the more homely setting of Selena Kyle’s apartment.

Furillen, Pandora Empire

And that’s just the start of things – but to reveal everything would be to spoil the surprise of discovery. This is a place which deserves time and exploration, and not just by teleport disk. Look closely enough, and there are secret ways to be found: tunnels and passages, all of which connect street level to a network of underground locations.

I’ve always enjoyed my visits to Furillen; each iteration – from the initial build, through the homage to Pink Floyd, to the reinterpretation of La Digue du Braek – Serene Footman has always offered unique and intriguing builds for people to visit. In its new home, and in this form, Furillen continues to do just that. When visiting, keep an eye out for the art gallery and consider joining the region’s group for information on events, and also check Furillen’s own website for news and updates.

Furillen, Pandora Empire

SLurl Details

• Furillen and Furillen City (Pandora Empire, rated:  Moderate)