Category: Reviews

Almost two years ago, I was introduced to Viper Heaven and Viper Hell by Cube Republic. The work of Markarius Viper, I found both to be immersive and visually engaging, with Viper Heaven in particular captivating me (see: A Viper Heaven in Second Life).

Well, two years on, and Markarius extended a warm invite for me to visit Viper Isles – An Elysian Paradise, a huge expansion on the concepts and designs found within Viper Heaven, and quite possibly the most magnificent fantasy-surreal-mysterious-mystical setting within Second Life.

Covering a Full Region leveraging the available land capacity bonus, the depth and breadth of Viper Isles – An Elysian Paradise has to be experienced in order to be properly appreciated. After wandering through it across two days – each visit lasting hours – I am utterly in awe of the creativity displayed within the setting’s myriad locations.

PanEden is the best of both worlds. Pandora and a little Eden; you have to experience it to believe it.

– Markarius Viper

Explore it all, you’ll be glad you did.

In fact, “setting” and “locations” are too mild to be applied here; Viper Isles – An Elysian Paradise is a bringing together of realms in miniature; vibrant places on the ground, over the ground and under the water. Each exists on its own whilst also joining with its neighbours and a harmonious flow of themes and ideas, elements and environments.

The Landing Point is perhaps the best place to start your explorations – not that any teleport routing is set; but it is here that you will receive the Viper Isles teleport HUD (you may be asked to accept the local experience on first using it, for seamless teleports).

Opening the HUD immediately shows the extent of the realms on offer: sixteen destinations (Viper Club doesn’t appear to lead anywhere – or didn’t on my visits, but the region is evolving!), with exotic names like Titan’s Waterfall, Celestial Cathedral, Dragon’s Lair, Magical Waters… Also on the HUD, located on the second page, are teleports for Viper Hell and Viper Heaven.

The HUD offers a direct means of point-to-point transfer between realms (and might be the easiest way of reaching some). However, I strongly recommend you explore on foot – and do be sure of have your viewer set to Used Shared Environment (Menu → World → Environment), as many of the settings within the region have their own EEP settings.

Another reason for exploring on foot is that not only does this bring home the full beauty of the region, it also reveals places to sit, activities to enjoy (descending by rope, riding a zip line, taking a dragon tour, etc.).

Travelling on foot also allows you to come across portals to move you from realm-to-realm (acceptance of the local experience on a first use, unless already accepted). Some of these are easy to spot, once encountered; at least one is a little harder to fine and a little more mysterious!

I’m not going to describe all the realms and spaces here; as I said, the entire region should be seen first-hand – although Markarius has also produced a video, which he has allowed me to embed at the end of this article.

That said, what you will find here are giants holding up a part of the world; exotic flowers; a perfect fusion of Japanese and Indo-Chinese elements; gardens; places of rest; places of reverie; fountains of light; gardens of beauty; Ents; dragons; sea drakes; an underwater kingdom; giant flying Koi – and so much more besides.  Wherever you turn there is something new and enchanting to see.

This, quite genuinely, is an experience is Second Life not to be missed. And when you have seen Viper Isles – An Elysian Paradise, do not forget to return to visit Viper Heaven and Viper Hell.

My thanks to Markarius for the invitation, and for taking the time to walk with me during one of my visits.

SLurl Details

• Viper Isles – An Elysian Paradise (Viper Isles, rated Adult)

Vita Camino is a region design whose work I’ve covered numerous times in these pages, as she always creates something richly detailed, photogenic and fun to explore.  During the time I’ve been covering it, Vita’s work has expanded from Homestead designs to Full region settings – notably Lost Gardens of Pompeii, which I covered back in June 2023. As such, I thought it was time I took a time to her latest region design, which she opened in March 2025.

Diamond Moon Village is again located on a Full region, and offers a mix of locations and environments split between two land masses separated by an east-west channel of water, offering two very different, but equally engaging settings.

However, before I go any further, I will note that if you have most of your viewer settings dialled-up, you might encounter performance issues. To this end, I’d recommend cutting back on things like Draw Distance – you won’t lose anything from view; the nature of the region is such that you don’t need a DD high enough to see right across it.

I’d also note that as the region doesn’t have a defined Landing Point, so for this article I’ve arbitrarily set the one in this article to the north end of the main bridge crossing the region’s channel.

As noted above, the two halves of the setting are very different in look and tone, making for an interesting exploration – although the also flow together into a whole.

From woodland at its eastern extent, through what appears to be a little grouping of homestead farms, the landscape proceeds through a small town of mixed European architecture before reaching its western extreme with an almost Caribbean feel courtesy of the gaily-coloured vendor vans, the local beach huts and the palm trees as it reaches the sandy shore (where it appeared further construction was underway at the time of my visit).

A lot of detail is to be found here: furnished houses, places of business, indoors and out – including a charming al fresco café with something of an Oriental lean. There are neat little courtyards furnished balconies (including one with an upright piano which has lost some of its sheet music to the cobbles below, courtesy of a passing breeze.

Through the village, cats prowl (and play with a motorised mouse!), dogs prance, flowers grow in pots, and all the bric-a-brac and might be found along the cobbles of streets and alleys, breathing a measure of life to the setting.

Across the water to the south, the land has a very different feel; one I admit to finding more enigmatic and engaging. This is a place that has a sense of mystery, of strange magic to it. Ruins of various ages set to the eastern end, gathered around a large, clear pool of water. Part of these have been converted into a house (using one of my favourite buildings, Marcthur Goosson’s  No Cottage Bizar).

Further cosy residences can be found in moving westward, each one homely but still carrying an edge of mystery, up to and including the manor-style house at the western end of the setting. This air of mystery is added to as the EEP settings change as one advances, moving from day to night and back, offering additional depth to courtyards and alleyways – and opportunities for photography casting parts of the setting in a different light compared to standing within it. Again the level of detail is excellent and fully deserving of careful exploration.

Also waiting to be found within the southern extent of the region is Vita’s texture store – but I’ll leave you to find it!

 SLurl Details

• Diamond Moon Village (Diamonds, rated Adult)

Three million years ago (more or less!), a volcano estimated to be up to 5,800 metres tall and within what is now Tanzania, Africa, blew its top and collapsed in on itself. Today, the remnants of massive eruption form the Ngorongoro Crater. Located 1,800 metres above sea-level, the crater floor covers an area of 260 square kilometres and sits over 600 metres below the surrounding crater walls. It stands as the world’s largest inactive, intact and unfilled caldera crater, and in 2013 was made one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa.

The crater sits within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Directly abutting the Serengeti National Park, the NCA forms a part of the Great Migration trail, a circular route an estimated quarter-million zebra, 1.7 million wildebeest, almost half a million gazelle and hundreds of thousands of other African game follow annually. As such, the NCA – and Ngorongoro Crater – is home to a rich diversity of animal life (together with birds), and is a major tourist destination, attracting 500,000 visitors a year.

The Crater is also the inspiration for the latest iteration of LeLoo’s World, Critter Crater.

Embark on a breath-taking tour of a crater inspired by Tanzania’s iconic Ngorongoro Crater, where adventure unfolds in exhilarating ways. Whether you choose a rugged jeep tour or take to the skies in a silent glider, you will be met with a landscape brimming with untamed beauty. Or, take the zipline ride into the heart of the crater, where you can explore on foot. Many scenic vistas await at every turn, offering the perfect backdrop for capturing those cherished summer memories.

– LeLoo’s World: Critter Crater description

Obviously, trying to recreate an entire caldera in SL isn’t really feasible; however, working with just half a Full region, Leloo (LeLooUlf) has done a remarkable job in providing hilly, rugged terrain backed by tall peaks, complete with its own small-scale crater with an animal watering-hole covering part of the floor. In addition, the landscape extends beyond the crater, presenting elements that might be taken as the shores of one of Tanzania’s may lakes (Lake Manyara, perhaps, given its proximity to NCA?) and a little hint of plains land.

The Landing Point sits on the crater rim, close to the eastern end of the region, and immediately reveals this is a setting with a lot to do as well as see. There’s a zip line to carry visitors down into the crater, passing over the watering hole in the process (itself a nod to the lake within Ngorongoro Crater?). Or, for those who prefer, there is a microlight air-tour with a very appropriate name given its somewhat Heath Robinson look: the Rickety Cricket. Best enjoyed in Mouselook, it offers a nice eagle’s eye automated tour of the setting (you don’t fly it yourself), lasting 4 minutes.

If zipping and taking an aerial tour don’t appeal, it is also possible to circumnavigate the crater rim. Doing so offers a full view of the setting, together with steps down into the crater or out to the land beyond the crater’s walls. And, as an aside, those taking the walk should keep an eye out for tour jeeps, which also use a part of the crater rim, and also for the opportunity to take your photo with a couple of the locals!

The start of the jeep tour can be found in the lowlands west of the crater, alongside the local market. Like the microlight tour, this is automated, and will last some three minutes, and, again like the microlight, is suitable for individuals and couples / pair.

In terms of the wildlife within Critter Crater, this is – like it’s real-world inspiration – a rich variety to be found: elephants, lions, giraffe, leopards, hippos, gazelle, African buffalo, hyenas, zebra, crocodiles and more. There are even some interesting characters not generally native to Tanzania to be found in the form of tigers, stoats and sloths, all of whom offer a curious little twist to the setting. The birds and wildfowl are also diverse, with flamingos being the most numerous.

There are multiple places where visitors can take a seat and relax, both up high and down low. Those feeling darling and float among the animals at the main watering hole – even right up close to hippos, despite their nature. If this doesn’t appeal, there bathe can also be found in the pool close the waterfalls in the western part of the setting, whilst fishing can be found just of the western coast.

Speaking of the western end of the setting, there is a house located up on a high plateau there. The land is labelled as Katie’s Home, and I’m not sure if it is public or private, as there are indications it might be either (e.g. being on its own parcel whilst having sign boards in the grounds offering visitor teleports to the air and ground tours). There are no signs to suggest it is private, and the grounds are where a couple of the local tigers might be found. I’d therefore suggest that if you wander up to it in search of the tigers, keep out of the house, just in case!

I admit that I personally found the environment settings perhaps detracted from the beauty of Critter’s Crater (I opted for setting with more of a HDR lean when exploring / photographing), but that’s a minor personal preference. The flipside is there is no mistaking the attractiveness of the setting, or the fun to be had in visited and exploring.

SLurl Details

• LeLoo’s World, Critter Crater (Friends, rated Moderate)