Category: Reviews

Garrigua is a relatively new Full private region leveraging the full region land capacity bonus to present both an environment open to exploration and to offer a limited number of private rentals.

The region is apparently intended to offer a slice of southern France, although many of the houses found within it have something of a Tuscan lean – but are not out-of-place in doing so. Designed by Terry Fotherington, famous for the Kekeland / Bar Deco settings, the region offers something of an echo of one of his Keleland iterations along its north and south waterfronts – which also is not to say it is any way a copy of that build; the similarity being gained through the bright colours of the south side buildings and the harbour areas they overlook, and the north side off-shore mooring with their sail boats.

The landing point is on a south-side road that cuts canyon through the aforementioned town houses and places of business, some of which separate the street from the beach and waterfront. Some of these building form a courtyard around a square garden, with the seaward side buildings of the courtyard sitting atop the region’s sea wall, and home to a bar and café that offer a view out to sea and the harbour to the west.

A place of business, the harbour offers fuelling and repairs for small boats and is home to a small marine research unit. It is overlooked to the west by a small headland camp site.

The north side of of the region appears to be where the rental properties are located – three on the waterfront to the east, separated from the sea by a ribbon of wave-eroded land that might form a beach at low tide, while the fourth sits offshore as a walled villa, complete with its own landing for boats. Between the waterfront houses and villa sits a wooden pier with shallow water moorings for sailing boats watched over by one of the region’s three lighthouses.

A dirt track runs east to west across these north side lowlands to connect with a paved road that links to the southern aspects of the setting and the inland uplands and north side of the island. Rising from behind the three rental houses, ir separates them from a privately-held farm on its other side. Another farm sits to the west, but appears to be open to the public, the meadow around the two farm houses rich in lavender.

As is always the case with Terry’s designs, there is a huge amount packed into this region: there are numerous places to sit and pass the time; cars and scooters and bike sit along the streets, giving a sense of the comings and goings of life; the way the roads all lead to a tunnel that emerges from the central uplands, suggesting the region is connected to somewhere else beyond the far end of the tunnel.

A stream also tumbles from these central uplands, running westwards to meet the sea, partially dissecting the region with rocky rapids. Other natural touches include the sheep wandering across the road, bringing local traffic to a temporary halt; donkeys stand in a field watching the comings and goings along the farm track whilst geese no doubt tease them with occasion honks as they wander by, unhampered by the fences that hold the Donkeys in place.

There is a subtle sense of age to the region as well: the local bus stop is little more than a corrugated tin shell, its paint slowly losing the battle with rust and held up by a wooden frame, while the carcasses of rusting vehicles can be found peppered across parts of the region, some turned into cuddle spaces, others left to turn to dust. Most striking of all is the old villa sitting towards the centre of the region.

Aged, plaster falling from the walls, the villa is dominated by a tree within its courtyard that has been left to its own devices for so long, it is starting to push against the walls. The rooms are similarly losing their battle with nature, with even a sapling taking root to push its way up through the floor ad seek the Sun by forcing its way through boards that once blocked a window before succumbing to death, leaving bare branches grasping outwards. All of which makes for a perfect location for photography.

Given the volume of mesh and textures in the region, movement around it can be subject to performance issues, particularly if there is a reasonable number of avatars present – so be prepared to make adjustments to your viewer settings if you find things a little heavy going.  However, the region makes for a picturesque, photogenic visit.

SLurl Details

• Garrigua (Nightcall, rated Adult)

Lakeside is an attractive and somewhat eclectic homestead region designed by Kimmy Sweetwater as a place for exploration and hanging out. The majority of the region is open to the public, but there are rentals to be found within the setting, so some care is needed to avoid invading privacy (or at least avoiding getting a security orb growling at you).

The region takes its name from the fact it is formed around a large lake, one with a central island complete with little holiday camp site. This limits the amount of landmass available to explore – but this doesn’t make the region any less interesting; rather the reverse: it requires a more creative use of the landmass that is still available., which in turn makes exploration more interesting.

Visitors arriving at Lakeside are directed via landing point to the north side of the region and the waterside café located there. The landing point is guarded by an avatar mover that shifts arrivals away from it in order to prevent avatars landing one on top of / within one another. This helps prevent avatar stacking, but in this case the mover can randomly relocate the odd visitor into the bushes to one side of the trail running past the café.

Take this trail to the west, and it will lead you to a rocky dune that shelters a west-facing beach running the length of the region. Take the same trail eastwards, and it curls past a green hill overlooking the lake. Both the beach immediately beyond the dune and the top of the hill are home to five rentals units: two small cottages on the hilltop, three beach houses raised above the sand. I mention this because it is easy to miss the fact they are rentals, and get an annoyed security orb grumbling at you.

Those wishing to reach the public beach to the west can do so in two ways: by scuttling past the beach houses or by following the edge of the lake to where a board walk points the way south, running past a small deck before climbing the spine of the hill to offer a way down to the beach, or onwards to where hills rise in the south-west corner of the region and extend along the southern side. The ridge line above the beach could perhaps do with a little more blending between mesh and terrain when seen from the lake, but while noticeable, it doesn’t massively interrupt the scenery.

The south-western uplands are home to a camp site amidst the trees and bushes crowning the hill, and to a hidden cavern reached via a single tunnel from the beach. This is home to a large club space, the far corner of which opens out to where a large deck area with seating has been built.

The south side of the region is marked by further hills, which in part hide another rental property – easily avoided by following either of the two paths down the slopes and across the narrow tongue of water connecting the lake with the surrounding waters beyond the region. Rising once more on the east side of the region, the hills provide a open-air self-service weddings space (just pay the official L$500 to get started).

To the east, the land sits between southern and northern hills to form low-lying grasslands marked by what might at first appear to be another private cabin, but which is in fact open to the public, despite the surrounding fencing. This offers further places to sit, notably on the deck extending into the lake waters. Also to be found at the cabin is a Teagle horse rezzer for those who wish to ride around the region (those with their own wearable horses can obviously use them if they fancy a ride around the landscape). For those who want time on the water, there are rowing boats located at the various lakeside decks and offering places to sit, while the landing point café  has a bumper boat rezzer alongside its deck.

Overall, a charming, easy-on the eye (and viewer) region, with a lot of opportunities for passing the time alone or with friends. Do note that as this is an adult region, nudity is permitted in places.

Note: the images here do not include the sim surround used with the region, due to issues with it rezzing / rendering.

SLurl Details

• Lakeside (Roleplay Heaven, rated Adult)

We dropped into Bart Bader’s Homestead region of Kindred Spirit at the weekend as we bounced around Second Life. It’s a place that has recently had a make-over, a Bart noted to me as we chatted while I took photographs in preparation for this article.

I did have it as a rural country sim, but returned to my love of Fantasy for this build. Every month I’ll be making small additions to keep it fresh. We’ve had a few of the Photo clubs using it for their challenges, so changing things up helps keep it fresh for them.

– Bart Bader, discussing Kindred Spirit

With the new design, Bart has created a setting that is eye-catching and imagination calling. The fantasy element is evident almost from the time of arrival, but in the must subtle of ways. The landing point, located towards the south-west corner of the region, sits at the end of a meandering track illuminated by ornate lighting posts that glow from within, the delicate forms of Noke Yuitza’s glass roses growing large to one side of the track, a crystal raised amidst ruins on the other. More fantasy elements await the opportunity to reveal themselves as visitor explore the region.

This is a place of multiple settings, each carefully separated from the rest to give a sense of space and privacy, all of them drawn together by landscaping and theme into a contiguous whole that draws visitors ever deeper into a feeling that they are in a mystical realm. Beyond a three-way bridge, for example, the path branches, one arm dipping down to the west where a ring of elven arches encircle a netted bed, while a second arm leads to a cliff edge sculpted by the fall of water from high pools to form arches, walkways and vantage points offering views to the east across the bay that cuts deeply into the landscape.

Here steps lead down to the very water itself, where tiles of flagstones raise their backs above the gentle waves, leading the way to a cavern below the cliffs – a place, Bart informed me, recently added as a part of refreshing elements of the build over time. The cavern, cliffs and their surrounds present multiple places to sit that in turn offer a captivating view to the eastern extent of the region of which more in a moment.

The region is split into two large islands linked by a single narrow bridge. The more northern of these islands continues the presentation of multiple settings ranging little track-side cosy spots to more hints of elven influence together with medieval twists – notably the low-lying ruins at the north-east headland of the island. To the east lies a marvellous grass-topped plateau to the east, home to the remnants of what might have once been a little chapel, but is now home to the first of a number of Mistrero Hifeng’s sculptures to be found within the region, and an aged piano.

To the eastern end of this almost garden-like setting stands a circular gateway with stone steps beyond forming a cleft that descends once more to water level, and what can only be described as the most marvellous water garden that dominates the eastern side of the island – and perhaps the region as a whole – with its beauty.

It is here that frosted trees raise their boughs to the sky as they in turn rise from the waters, forming an extended copse through which mist swirls and stepping stones wind. Awaiting discovery here are sculptures, statues, more of Yoke’s glass flowers, a little draped pavilion with winged chair and ornamentation and more, all watched over by another of Mistero’s statues sitting atop a winding stair. It is a place just made for photography, and with several places to sit and appreciate it scattered through out.

Standing tall over this quite beautiful setting, and at its easternmost extreme, there rises a tall tree. It is home to an elven platform reached by a covered stair that coils upwards around the tree trunk. Reached via a path passing beneath what can only be described as water splashes frozen in time to form a series of arches, the tree stands as if looking eastward across the Sundering Sea, awaiting sign of ships sailing from the far-off lands of Middle Earth to reach the hallowed lands of Aman, of which Kindred Spirit might be considered an offshore pairing of islands.

It is this water garden that so captivated me on looking outward from the southern island’s cliffs, and which I would suggest is the gem of this evocative region. However, the north island has one more setting – possibly easily missed when crossing the bridge if one is focused on following the track eastwards. Clearly revealed from the high elven platform and sitting on a low shelf of rock thrusting out into the bay is a glass pavilion (a Trompe Loeil design popular with region designers), fronted by a deck built out over the water. Home to the cosy bric-a-brac oft found in the presence of men and women, it is distinctly un-elven in look and feel, yet it fits the setting perfectly, not only offering another little setting-within-a-scene, but also reminding us that while Aman was the spiritual home for Tolkien’s elves, it was by no means exclusively so; and thus with the pavilion, Bart adds another delightful twist to the fantasy themes running throughout Kindred Spirit.

Now to be sure, there is a lot of mesh and textures used throughout the region which can impact performance, so disabling shadows when walking around or dropping draw distance might be advisable. However this is a small price to pay for spending time in what is, without a doubt, a captivating, utterly photogenic setting, one that calls on the imagine to take flight.

SLurl Details

• Kindred Spirit (Kindred Spirit 2, rated Adult)