Category: Reviews

Update, July 20236th, 2022: The Shambles has relocated.

The Shambles is the name Tolia Crisp has settled upon for the latest of her Homestead regions designs which she broadly offered to visitors under her Frogmore Land Management group / brand. And for those familiar with the likes of Frogmore and Mousehole, there are elements here that place The Shambles within the same realm of those settings, with much to set it apart and offer a sense of mystery and surprise.

The first of the former of these is that the location is described as being “up the River Foss”; this is likely a reference to the river of that name that flows through North Yorkshire, England, rising close to Oulston Reservoir and meandering roughly south for about 30 kilometres to join the River Ouse in York. This puts The Shambles squarely into Tolia’s theme of English settings, albeit within a location pretty much diagonally at the other end of the country compared to Frogmore and Mousehole with their Cornish locales.

However, where Frogmore and Mousehole have their feet pretty much rooted in reality, The Shambles stands well to one side, a veritable potpourri of themes and ideas brought together in a surprising whole that delights the eyes. This is something that is immediately obvious on arrival: sitting behind the landing point platform and hovering over a broad channel that sits between village and an oddly denuded hump of an island, is a strange windmill, held aloft by downward-pointing rotors spinning away beneath it and the metal deck before it. In fact, with its larger sail turning slowly behind it, it looks not so much like a floating windmill as it does a fanciful flying house.

The landing point occupies a tiny islet connected to the village by a metal bridge around which tentacles rise from the coastal waters, adding a touch of Innsmouth to the setting.

On the little waterfront across the bridge are hints which, together with the hovering house / windmill, help the setting lean towards the suggestion that is it steampunk themed. Cogs turn slowly on the wall of a cottage as a kind of mobile décor; a great gas boiler pumps heat into the cottage’s interior and, further along the waterfront, what looks to be the face of an old copper clock has been fashioned into a table where refreshments might be taken, watched over by a mechanical messenger owl.

However, it doesn’t take much to realise that the themes here run much broader than steampunk alone; close to the table mentioned above, for example, a poster hangs from the doorway of a magic shop proclaiming Harry Potter is Undesirable No 1, while the waterfront itself is probably awash with the engine noise from the Star Wars-esque flying vehicle which appears to have just passed overhead, zipping between rooftops and the bulbous bulk of a balloon moored by the landing point.

Enter the main street of the village, and more of this blending of ideas unfolds before your eyes in ways that are genuinely captivating. A dieselpunk tricycle, driven by a great chugging internal combustion engine turning a pusher propeller awaits a driver; futuristic lasers zap between buildings; a steampunk style airship appears to have wedged itself into the cul-de-sac of the street, neon signs and LCD panels hang from walls…

This is a place where nothing is as it seems and unique elements are waiting to be found everywhere the camera turns. Take, for example, Cordelia Curiosus and the boulangerie adjoining it. Leaving the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference in the name of the former, these initially appear to be ordinary places of business. But look again: the windows of Cordelia’s are aquariums, home to fish and corals, the water held in by a combination of window frames and – magic? Similarly the wall between the two shops is a shimmering face of water held back by something, the boulangerie a further haven for fish, turtles and aquatic plants.

More touches can be found across the street, where a host of incongruities are gathering into a little vignette that offers so much. There’s a Victorian-era Bobby standing with his back to a pub cheekily calling itself the Scotland Yard, the walls of will are posted with a reward poster typical of those times and the front page of a newspaper offering the latest on the Whitechapel Murders – and the involvement of one S. Holmes, Esq.

The Bobby himself stands between a set of very futuristic packing cases before which floats a glowing umbrella projected by an equally glowing wand, none of which seems to fluster our good constable in the slightest – and nor does the London Police telephone box very definitely from the 1960s – so very definitely in fact, that one might be tempted to ask if it really is a police telephone box – and thus the entire vignette allows the imagination to take flight.

Thus, wherever you roam, down through the village with its little stream and cornucopia of buildings, businesses and photo opportunities, or up on and between the rooftops, there is a lot to appreciate within The Shambles – far more than mentioned here. Yes, it is a little texture-heavy when loading; but it is nevertheless highly photogenic and offers more than a few places to sit down and pass the time. Those in the Frogmore group also get rezzing rights when visiting – but do please clean-up when done!

With thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the nudge.

SLurl Details

• The Shambles (The Hidden, rated Moderate)

Golden Hair is a Homestead region held by BruiserBest and open to the public to visit and appreciate. Defined as a being a place “in defence of quiet places”, it is an engaging, very natural setting that reflects Bruiser’s love of nature and animals. It is also a demonstration of what can be achieved within a region to offer a rewarding visit to those who drop in without being in any way top-heavy in either mesh objects or textures.

Sculpted into a curving island which occupies roughly a third of the region’s total land area, Golden Hair gently undulates outwards from a rocky upland flowing into the main island from a northern headland, the slope rising gently until it meets west-facing cliffs, and then dropping away gently on its way to the south.

The top of this hill provides a superb vantage point from which to observe the island’s western and southern aspects. More particularly, tucked into the hill behind its cliff-edge is a small cave which forms the region’s landing-point. This ensures those arriving do not interrupt those already in the region and who may be taking photos, by avoiding avatars suddenly popping-up into the frame.

Both the cave and the rugged ground outside of it reveal Bruiser’s love of animals – a bear stand quietly inside the cave, while outside can be found deer apparently informally guarding the cave’s entrance.

A steam bubbles its way past the cliffs, running from the southern side of the main hill to pass by the cliffs and a small hill on its far bank. Tumbling over rocks and a fallen tree, the stream is a haven for animals seeking a drink, with its lower extent patrolled by a beaver.

The wildlife here is to be found throughout the setting, together with some more domesticated animals. In the case of the latter can be found cats, dogs, goats, horses, sheep, chickens, and a cow; with the former there are birds, the deer, wild boar, wolves, a snake, lizards, hares, and rabbits. However, none of the islands inhabitants have been randomly placed; gathered in groups at various points around the island, they offer little vignettes that are ideal for photography, either in their own right or with avatars suitably posed (rezzing rights can be obtained by joining the local group, 2 hour rez time).

This is a setting refreshingly free from the trappings of civilisation. There are no houses or other significant structures; the paths are – with one small exception where kerbs have clearly been laid to allow the ground to be pounded into a series of broad steps – all entirely natural, either following the line of flat rocks exposed over the years by the passage of the wind, or dusty trails most likely laid down by the passage of the animals to be found here.

The open nature of the region means that exploration is entirely on the whim of the visitor, while the nature elegance of its design presents opportunity after opportunity for photography. Those who look carefully may also spot the island’s more exotic animals, drawn from the world of fantasy.

Finished with an encompassing soundscape in which the heart of nature quite literally beats, Golden Hair might lack places to sit / cuddle, etc., but this is to its advantage as it is very much a setting to be appreciated through exploration and not for plonking oneself down and chatting.

All told, a genuinely engaging setting well worth visiting. My thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the landmark to Golden Hair.

SLurl Details

• Golden Hair (Mordor, rated General)

In May, Cube Republic passed me a Landmark to a place I’d never heard of – The Void – A Full region designed by Ninavah Snowflake and home to The Void and Minttea in-world stores. As I’m curious about stores that offer places to visit outside of their central business, I found time to take a look – and found something of an engaging, innovative setting.

Before going further, I’d like to stress a few things:

• This is a review of the public spaces of the region, it’s neither a recommendation of endorsement of the products sold in either store, none of which I’ve viewed, much less purchased.
• To access the region, you need to join the region (you will be offered the chance to join on trying to teleport view the SLurl given in this piece). This is necessary as the Experience runs the interactive elements within the region.
• Some of the teleport and other effects use both light and motion, so those sensitive to bright / flashing white light or rapid motion / flashing should take care.
• Make sure you have Advanced Lighting Model (ALM – Preferences → Graphics → make sure Advanced Lighting Model is checked).

Accepting the Experience (if you haven’t already) will deliver you to the initial Landing Point; just follow the arrow to the portal and walk through it (be warning: flashing effects!) to arrive at the main hub. This is a setting where geometry is king, and which carries within it hints of Tron and Tron Legacy. Rendered almost entirely in black and white, this artificial landscape exists as islands over a grey body of water, below which machines sit.

Above the water, the setting is dominated by a gigantic cube rotated through 45º degrees to rest on edge on one of the flat islands. Limned in white neon-like light as with the rest of the setting, it is home to the Void / Minttea main store lobby and teleports, and sits flanked by two far more modest islands – one the home of Atherium, and the other, the Portals – which will be the focus of the rest of this piece.

Three teleport disks are ranged before you on arrival, each clearly labelled. However, they are not your usual touch / sit teleports; they are instead collision-triggered. Walk onto / close to one of them and your avatar will be caromed into the air with a vivid, screen-saturating flash and somersaulted through the air, camera capturing the move from several angles. This can be a little unsettling the first time, but you will arrive at your destination safely.

Atherium is pretty much a Traffic Trap – visitors are asked to register with an obelisk that put me in mind of the MCP in the original Tron (albeit without the CGI and lights) and either remain close by or within the region as a whole in order to win the opportunity to pick from a (long) list of rewards.

The Portal island, however, offers the opportunity to walk through three additional portals to further locations. These are:

• Archive: enter a dark world where a console lit by two arrows pointing in opposite directions awaits. Approach it, and the room around you will turn white, revealing which computer-like objects hang overhead, together with scrolls of hieroglyphs. Use the arrow’s to “page” through the scrolls and touch a scroll to gain a dialogue of diary entries that form an evolving story – each entry will appear in local chat when selected.

• Muses: a field of green under an azure sky of white fluffy clouds; a place to relax.
• Dreamscape:   The most engaging element: walk the bridge across a misty void to the far wall. Touch the wall and enter the Chamber of Muses. Touch the device at the centre to rez a number of scenes – and watch the chamber literally spin them into being (with a certain amount of bright light / flashing).

Finding your way back from any point is simply a matter of finding the archway (Portals) or teleport disk.

Immersive, unusual, and cleverly scripted / presented, The Void makes for a visually impressive, unique visit, whether or not you are hunting for movement  / flight / swimming assistance or other avatar accessories.

SLurl Details

• The Void (Celestis, rated Adult)