Category: Reviews

Asian Mist is a Full private region offering a mix of public spaces and private rentals. Designed and operated by JasmineSnow (jasminesnow333) as a part of her Jasper Estates, it offers a lot for the casual visitor to appreciate as well as those looking for a new home to consider.

In keeping with some of her previous region designs, Jasmine has been careful to keep the public and private elements of the region somewhat separated, the latter sitting to the north and south of the region, offering a total of nine furnished and unfurnished properties of varying sizes for those looking for a home.

The public spaces sit on an east-west line through the middle areas of region, largely separated from the private residences by a body of water that forms a series of interlinked pools sitting with smaller islands between, bridges and stepping stones allowing renters to reach the public spaces whilst offering a clear, natural buffer between there homes and the more open parts of the region and the risk of trespass.

As the name suggests, the public areas of the region have a distinctly Asian feel, mixing a range of Asian and Oriental elements together in a setting ringed by high peaks, and with a central peak rising from the region in a manner that offers the faint hint that this is a place sitting within the bowl of an ancient impact crater – albeit it one with ridiculously high surrounding walls.

The landing point sits on the east side of the central peak, a place taken up by series of decks for live music / DJs and dancing, flanked to one side by a café and terrace and on the other by an open-air video space and a small bathhouse reached via tiered gardens and steps. These garden spread north and south around the central spire of rock, paths leading to further gardens, outdoor pools, places from rest and falls which tumble from on high.

Romantic Asian Rain Forest theme sim. Enjoy large garden and pond. hidden cave with dance Intan and many detailed areas for cuddling or visiting.

– About Land description, Asian Mist

To the east, the gardens extend outwards and downwards to the water’s edge, encompassing a large koi pond, walks under Torii gates, more places to sit – and a pair of elephants as they lend their own uniqueness to the setting. African they may be, but again, as I’ve oft mentioned in reference to Asian settings, it’s not easy finding good examples of Elephas maximus within Second Life.

Those who follow the paths around the island will inevitably find their way to a cavern offering a home to an inner cove of water and sand, open to the sky above thanks to what might be a collapsed sinkhole, the detritus of which has long been cleared away from the cavern so that it might offer a further retreat for romance, music and dancing, the mouth of the carven looking towards a view between the surrounding peaks to the world beyond.

Beside the elephants and koi, the region is home to a range of birds, wildfowl, pandas, squirrels, and cats – although whether the latter are feral or domesticated is hard to tell. Meanwhile, the rich diversity of flora within the region gives it a deeply natural look and feel, suggesting a setting where wildflowers and shrubs are cultivated just enough to keep them under control, leaving the island both wild, but not so wild that paths, trails and places to sit are lost or hard to find, but rather sit as much a part of the landscape as the surrounding plants.

With lanterns floating overhead, a warm soundscape and caught under a blanket of cloud that reflects the late Sun, Asian Mist offers far more to see than the words here present, all of which is – needless to say – highly photogenic. As such, and for those who enjoy exploring / photographing public spaces in Second Life, I highly recommend a visit.

SLurl Details

• Asian Mist (Real, rated Moderate)

A fair while ago – January 2014, in fact – I dropped into the Full region of Tempelhof and spent time exploring and taking photos. However, I didn’t actually get around to writing about it. So it’s about time I put that to rights.

To be honest, I have no idea if Tempelhof today is under the same management as it was in 2014 – not that this is particularly important, admittedly. However, in its current iteration, the region has been designed by Misty Payne with the region’s group created by Caps Wertmuller. Utilising the Land Capacity bonus available to private Full region, the setting is most easily defined through its About Land description:

Once a highly fashionable coastal resort – now run down and forgotten by the world. Come see what’s left, explore – and pick a home here if you want to be part of our BDSM community – we often have interesting vacancies.

While the comment on the region being home to a “BDSM community” may initially put some off, I’ll just note that this is not in any way overt, and the public aspects of the region can be easily enjoyed.

What we do have is a setting which carries within it shades of World War Two. At the dockside, for example, sits a military Kübelwagen, whilst across the region sits a coastal defence bunker and accompanying blockhouse, sitting diagonally opposite a smaller waterfront area, the entrance to which lies blocked by the carcass of a Kriegsmarine U-boat, whilst two more are moored at the main quayside.

Given the signage on the buildings, it is clear this is somewhere in Germany or along the country’s coast. Perhaps it might be a  part of Berlin’s Westhafen – even if this is in the Mitte borough rather than that of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, as might be suggested by the region’s name; or perhaps it isn’t intended to represent any single place. Whatever the case, it is an atmospheric setting.

The outer sides of the region represent the core of the town, with cobbled streets, running between places of business and manufacturing and a mix residential properties, whilst the bulk of a theatre looks like it may have recently been struck by munitions of some description – although whether bombs or the result of shelling is unclear.

The centre of the region along with the east side is more open and rural in appearance, roads giving way to rutted tracks, houses mixing with trees and fields, ponds and the odd folly or two. The roads and tracks offer the most obvious routes for exploration and wandering – however, do remember that there are private residences scattered across the region, and not all of them might be houses standing in their own grounds so do be cautious about entering the buildings – not all may be open to the public.

Despite the possible wartime nature of the setting, there are multiple signs that life here is continuing as usual: the waterfront café  is still open for business, fishing boats still appear to be plying their trade out of the little port, and the waterfront red light bar remains open for business (or should that be morale?!).

Richly detailed throughout, with plenty of opportunities for photography and exploration, Tempelhof offers a lot to see – and, potential for those so interested – the potential of a place to live.

SLurl Details

• Tempelhof (Ceiriam, rated Adult)

 

Once, in the days of yore in Second Life, Scottie Menges set out to build a place of romance with a sense of antiquity and – for those with the interest – of learning. Originally built entirely using prims in 2009, The Pillars of Hercules remained open for over five years as a place of exploration, meditation, dance, and photography, before closing its doors in late 2014.

Now the build is back; Scottie has spent around 10 months rebuilding a new Pillars of Hercules, one which retains much of the feel of the later iterations of the original as well as utilising newer designs for the likes of the great temple and adding a sprinkling of mesh elements in terms of some of the statues and some of the landscaping elements, and the setting opened to the public once more on November 4th 2022.

According to legend, the original Pillars of Hercules were the promontories of Calpe Mons and Abila Mons, said to flank the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic. They marked the furthest west Hercules travelled whilst completing his twelve labours (as wrapped into both the Greek and Roman myths of Heracles / Hercules). Here the name might be seen of representing the fact that Scottie’s build wraps within it elements of both Greek and Roman mythology – including Heracles / Hercules himself, with the largest structure on the region raised as temple to him.

As with the original, the best place from which to start a tour of the region is at the southern harbour, which forms the main landing point. Here visitors can find a map of the new build, which includes direct teleports to the places indicated on the map. However, I would – in keeping with the signage – recommend exploring on foot before hoping around via teleport (or flying – some of the more remote locations may required visitors take to the air.

Also available at the harbour are boat and flying tours of the region – the former located alongside the landing point, and the latter on the far side of the harbour, where a pictorial history of both The Pillars of Hercules and Scottie’s other Second Life works can be found.

Exploring on foot will allow visitors to discover the more historical elements in the region – such as the reproductions of famous statues from Greco-Romano history – and the more hidden places within the build – such as the walk down into Hades and across the River Styx – just beware of the Gorgon who lies in wait; or the hidden way to the Underhill Library from the water garden (and vice-versa). Signage throughout offers the opportunity for visitors to learn about Greco-Romano mythology, such as the Greek god Astraeus or Hermes / Mercury, and touch briefly on the legend of Apollo.

Throughout all of this – and in keeping with the style of the original – are multiple poseballs offering places to sit and places to float. More modern sit points and places to dance also await discovery – both above ground and under water., whilst for amateur astronomers like me (and those interested in cosmology, the Tower of Astraeus is well worth the climb (or the TP…), as the uppermost floor presents a unique planetarium-style environment – and do be sure to sit at the telescope and switch to Mouselook; and I look forward to seeing what else Scottie has planned for these parts of the build.

Rightly “old school” in looks, the return of The Pillars of Hercules to Second Life is both a welcome harkening back to the first decade of the platform’s life, and the times when prims (and in-world individual and collaborative building) ruled the roost, and also a reminder of how awkward morphing the terrain mesh could be when trying to landscape large differences in elevation – and how easier things are today thanks to rigid mesh landforms, and items such as mesh rock formations, etc.

Rich in substance and history – both in terms of the human history it enfolds and in terms of the SL history it represents, The Pillars of Hercules makes for an engaging visit.

SLurl Details

• The Pillar of Hercules (rated Moderate)