Category: Reviews

I’ve always enjoyed Luis Lockjaw’s region builds, particularly his Templemore designs from Hesperia through to Lutz City, going by way of Elysium City, so an opportunity to visit his latest Templemore design – Templemore Cove – carried with it a certain anticipation.

Past Templemore builds have had something of a fantastical feel to them, one rooted in reality, but with a twist of fantasy that has made them attractive to the eye whilst tickling the the imagination. For this iteration, things are a little more straightforward: the presentation of a shoreline town clearly in a tropical / sub-tropical location, rich in palm trees and surrounded by off-shore islands sitting is water that – going by the trawlers docked to one side of the region – rich in fish.

The town itself could be anywhere, but has a distinctively central / southern American feel to it, so much so that by turn, the setting suggests it might be somewhere in Florida, at others perhaps somewhere like Cuba or another large Caribbean island, or perhaps somewhere like Panama or San Salvador.

Florida is particularly evoked by the luxury yachts and powerboats to the east, the pools and neon Motel signs. Cuba and South American townships are suggested by the sun-faded gay colours of buildings, be they apartment houses or places of business, together with – in places at least – the age of some of the types of vehicle to be found.  Swimming pools are much in evidence, whilst the town is built along a grid pattern that is again suggestive of somewhere in the United States, as do the broad board walks. And whilst most of the buildings are shells, it doesn’t prevent visitors appreciating their attractiveness.

The Templemore builds have always had an association with music, and that is very much the case here, with stages to the south and east, whilst the north-side beach offers a chance to escape and relax.

It is clear that throughout, considerable care has been put into this design – as is always been the case with Luis’ region builds. However, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t point out that this detail comes at a cost: this is a full region with the private region land capacity bonus – and this has been used to the maximum in terms of the amount of mesh and texturing (and if not in terms of physical capacity), all of which can place a significant load on a view that is running with shadows enabled, a higher draw distance, etc.

As an example of this, whilst taking photos with shadows set and a draw distance of 190 metres, I found my fps bouncing fairly heavily between single-digits and mid-teens with under half-a-dozen avatars in the region, some times dropping as low as 4-4.2 fps, which made moving uncomfortable. Things were marginally better with shadows off, but it’s possible those on older systems may well find Templemore Cove heavy going.

Nevertheless, Templemore Cove has an attractiveness that is worth seeing, particularly if you do enjoy taking photos of Second Life locations.

SLurl Details

• Templemore Cove (rated: Moderate)

At the start of August 2020, we made the move to Second Norway (see Farewell, Isla Pey, hello, Isla Caitinara). Since then we’ve been settling in, and as I noted a few days ago, I’ve been playing with a scene rezzing system so that we can have a choice of homes on our island (see: House changing with a scene rezzer in Second Life – and we’re up to three designs now 🙂 ).

However, what surprised me about our move was the feedback (comments on this blog and via IM) from people under the misapprehension that the April / May change in ownership of the estate had somehow resulted it in being “broken up” and replaced by “cookie cutter islands”. In fact, while there have been changes to the estate, much of the original Second Norway remains – and as a frequent visitor-turned-resident, I can also say that none of its spirit has been lost.

In this, I hope this small selection of photos helps to illustrate that point.

Of course, the airport is still there – as can be seen in the banner image for this piece. So to – contrary to rumour – the road and rail system, as shown above.

The estate also has a good mix of residential and commercial spaces – Motor Loon’s famous MLCC brand is still present for example. On the south side of the estate, AustinLiam has taken this a stage further – an entire group of regions set out as a village, offering his houses and commercial units and other buildings in a contiguous setting with roads, waterfront areas, moorings, and more.

Of course, there are the outer islands – which in the future may well expand, depending on demand, but the Vanity Bonito’s team have also put in new infrastructure that offers opportunities that may not have been so readily available previously: such as the Eidet Event Centre sitting on is own wooded island.

Residents within the estate have also sought to offer places of interest as well – camp sites, vacation centres, air fields (although the latter seem to mostly lack rez zones) – all of which add to the estate’s appeal.

With a balanced approach to building codes and themes, as well as offering tenants terraforming rights on their islands, Second Norway is a good mix of the “old” – the central regions with their roadways, rail lines, airport and bridges – and the “new”, with the updated island designs, allowing it to both retain its character whilst offering newcomers a good mix of opportunities.

So if you’ve not paid Second Norway since the changes, now’s the time to hop in your boat or ‘plane, pull up the map and take a look!

 

Distant Edge is a Homestead region designed by Remuera Seetan as “a quiet and serene place where you can reconnect with nature”, and inspired by the rugged islands of northern latitudes – although which side of the Atlantic those islands might be is up to the visitor.

A rugged setting offering a sense of the magnificent desolation only nature can create, Distant Edge is also a place where music has helped to form it, be it through the pub / club nestling within the shoulders of the western hills, or through the presence on a lone piano overlooking a windswept southern shore.

The pub is by far the largest building on the island, although the high cliffs and peaks to the west keep this fact hidden from view from the rest of the island.

Instead, when first arriving on the deck of the landing point, sitting on the edge of the bay that cuts deeply into the island, at treated to views across the water to a cottage and windmill occupying the north-eastern headland, and of the lighthouse further along the southern headland.

Finding the pub is a matter of following a sandy path through the grass, or cheating and using the teleport board at the landing point – which means potentially missing a lot of what else the island has to offer. The latter includes the aforementioned piano within its netted pavilion, a cosy summer house, numerous places to relax on the beach or on the water or the shrine tucked away on the northern coast.

Some of the paths are marked by old railway sleepers set out across the ground while others, such as the path up to the highlands – also worth following – are far more natural in nature. The coastal areas offer a mix of beaches to walk, sloping hills and low-slung cliffs.

Reached by passing through a rocky arch, the pub offers a large deck for dancing, while the interior – a converted fish warehouse by the looks of things – offers alcohol, pool and a place to relax. Music is provided three nights a week, although I couldn’t find a schedule at the time of our visits.

Distant Edge is one of those places that doesn’t require a lot of description – it genuinely speaks for itself. Caught under a cloud-laden sky that in places is releasing rain, rounded out by a local sound scape, it offers a rewarding opportunity to explore and take photographs. Those who do take photos are welcome to submit them to the region’s Flickr group.

SLurl Details

• Distant Edge (Dreamworld Mermaid, rated Moderate)