Category: Reviews

La Digue (“the dam”?) is a recently opened Homestead region offering numerous opportunities for photography and – with a little care – exploration.

Designed by Sablina, famous for producing the likes of La Virevolte (see here, here and here), Ponto Cabina (see here and here) and Field of Dreams (see here), this is a region caught in the changing of the seasons, the trees a mix of summer green and the reds, golds and brown of autumn. Beneath them, the land is cut by two large water channels that feed multiple smaller, canal-like channels that divide-up the land into a series of small islands and one large “central” land mass that also forms the landing point.

A large gatehouse stands atop the latter, standing guard over the region and is large island and watching over the landing point as it sits on the shingle shore. Surrounded by a sea of sun-dried grass, the gatehouse is one of a number of buildings within the region that collectively give it – along with its name – a feel for northern France (although one of the buildings is admittedly Tuscan in design).

Small bridges connect some of the smaller islands one to another, but to reach others some wading through the shallow channels between them might be required. With corn stalks and cattle grazing, the islands further suggest a rural setting.

To the north, a sender finger of land points westward and then turns south along a broader stretch of coast to a small railway station (sans tracks) looking out to sea whilst caught under its own rain storm. This crrokes streacth of road  and shoreline, coupled with the region’s name, brought to mind the long finger of La Digue du Braek, albeit without the sands on one side and the port of Dunkerque on the other. At the end of this the road, a bridge provides access to a small headland area where stands a lighthouse and work is apparently in progress building a sea wall.

However, what – for me – gives the region character is the broad north-to south channel that cuts through the region, separating the western run of road and its station from the rest of the region. This would appear to be a tidal run, given the dry stone wall supporting some of the land to one side. It is home to numerous wooden moorings alongside of which rowing boats sitting among the reeds and watery growths around the mooring piers.

This area in particular adds a huge amount of character to the region, rich in detail and photographic opportunity from pretty much any angle. Elsewhere throughout the landscape are further opportunities as well, but it tends to be the waterway that draws the eye and lens back to it again and again. The rowing boats, meanwhile offer numerous places for sitting and posing for photos or chatting.

More places to sit can be found across the region as well, from the little bar a short walk from the station, to benches and chairs, hay bales and more. Getting to some can be a bit of the aforementioned challenge, admittedly: some of the grass and other plants could do with being phantom – but this shouldn’t put people off exploring and wandering.

Sablina has a reputation for creating regions of beauty that capture landscapes in a most natural manner, and La Digue is further proof of this. It’s a place that invites wandering and spending time within it, the supplied sound scape rounding it out perfectly.

A region that has already caught the attention of photographers and artists, La Digue is not to be missed by Second Life travellers.

SLurl Details

• La Digue (Sparrow Springs, rated Moderate)

Update, September 2021: Elvion has relocated and expanded – see Elvion expanded in Second Life.

We first visited Elvion, designed by BoZanoNL in February 2019, back when it was a quarter Homestead region. As I noted in Elvion: an elven sanctuary in Second Life, back then it offered the look and feel of a elven sanctuary, steeped in mystic magic and with little places for visitors to sit and spend time. More recently, the setting has moved to occupy a complete Homestead region, and in doing so has obviously expanded.

The move and expansion has perhaps lost some of the more “elven” elements from the former. However, the move has allowed for the creation of a more extensive, open landscape, rich for exploration, still with numerous places in which people are welcome to spend time.

Set under a bright sky suggestive of a crisp spring or autumn day, the region is largely open, rolling grassland, cut on its south side by a mountain range running west to east, largely separated from the rest of the region by a narrow water channel with its head as set of waterfalls at its western end. When seen from the north side of the region, these mountains give it added depth, assisted by a line of low hills running through the lowlands that naturally break the line of the mountains and make them appear further away.

The landing point for the region sits to the north-east on the grasslands. It sits along a cart track that runs part-way through the region, curling around the hills to curve north and east across the grasslands, two bridges allowing it passage over a bubbling brook until it meets the region’s hills and they turn north. It is at the landing point that visitors can review the region’s rules and can see that this is a horse-riding friendly region (for those with a wearable Animesh horse, or can join the region’s group for a L$500 and rezzing rights).

A further mark of the former Elvion was the wildlife – deer, herons, even bird calls, etc., – and this is very much carried over with the new setting, with horses joining the mix. All of the visible animals and birds are scattered across the region in a manner that makes coming across them both a natural experience when exploring and also opens up opportunities for photography.

As noted above, some of the more “elven” elements present in the former quarter homestead region space are now absent; however, there are some ornate arches to the south of the region tucked among the mountains there, but otherwise, the pavilions found in the former design are absent.

This doesn’t mean the region is bereft of structures, however. Towards the head of the waterfall-fed channel, for example, is a large cabin. Elsewhere there is a gazebo sitting amidst cherry blossoms that add to the more springtime feel to the region, and there are numerous hints of ruins to be found – one close to the landing point – all of which offer cuddle spots.

When wandering the region, and despite the lack of clear elven influences, I was still put in mind of scenes from Middle Earth – the mountains, when seen from a distance to me offered a hint of Tolkien’s Misty Mountains as perhaps seen from Rhudaur, while  – and albeit it somewhere else in Middle Earth entirely – the cabin, put me in mind of Beorn’s house (if without the associated gardens of the latter).

Like the cabin, the various ruins offer places for people to sit and talk and cuddle. Other sitting / cuddle points await discovery, including a wheelbarrow, a shoreline hut, the aforementioned gazebo, and various wooden decks. These all encourage people to spend time in the region, as does the potential for photography – landscape and avatar studies.

Rounded-out by a corner woodland setting with ruins of its own, the expanded Elvion offers a lot to visitors, making it an ideal an pleasing visit that build on the former quarter-region setting. I will confess that I did have some performance issues with shadows enabled whilst riding my Animesh horse, but just disabling shadows for the ride solved that problem, and the issue didn’t otherwise spoil my explorations on foot.

With thanks for the update on Elivon from Miro Collas.

Currently open at Miskatonic County is Tales of Miskatonic County: The Perfect Storm. Described as “A Horror Survival Experience”, created by Rayden Evenstarr, Phoenix Sachin, Logan Porterfield and Tobiath Tendaze, it makes for an interesting if (for me at least) a slight confusing diversion.

Using the Second Life experience system The Perfect Storm pitches you against zombies, lurkers, cultist gunmen, ghosts, creature of the deep and more in a battle to survive and to complete assorted quests. The latter range from killing some of the aforementioned monsters and creatures through to rounding up kittens or finding puppies – which makes for an interesting mix!

As you emerge from the theatre in Downtown Miskatonic, you find a town in chaos. Torrents of blinding rain obscure amorphous shapes lurking in the shadows. Telephone poles have been sent crashing to the ground in showers of sparks while trees fall upon cars and houses alike. Danger lurks in every alleyway, and you feel as though a thousand eyes are upon you.

Miskatonic is no ordinary town, and this is no ordinary Halloween. The day is October 31st, 1991. The day a ferocious storm system suddenly formed off the New England coastline. A storm system so large that meteorologists deemed it “The Perfect Storm.” The storm turned westward, moving against the jet stream, striking the coastline with a deadly storm surge and hurricane-force winds. Many old-timers of the region dubbed the storm “unnatural.”

– Introduction to ales of Miskatonic County: The Perfect Storm

The adventure begins at the Miskatonic Theatre, where players pick-up the game HUD (and must accept the region’s experience in order to play – a one-time only requirement unless the experience is subsequently blocked), together with a magic ring and a pistol.

The HUD will auto-attach to the player’s screen under scripted control, and will auto-detach on departing the game. It acts as a relay to record your health, shield and armour, and as an information giver – prompts are displayed in the lower section of the HUD, and there are two buttons: Stories and Quests, of which more anon. The gun and ring are inventory objects and must be worn. The former is required to kill the nasties (you must be in Mouselook), and the latter helps “buff” your game stats.

Outside of the theatre, the storm is in full force. The northern end of the town is subject to flooding from the storm’s surge, and rain is falling in heavy sheets across the rest of the landscape, with copious amounts of storm damage to be found in the streets.

You’ll need to be in Mouselook whenever you are outdoors, as this is where the nasties roam. You can switch back to third-person view when inside buildings to ease exploring them and interacting with things in them. Shooting the the nasties is a case of aiming the screen cursor at them and blasting away with left-clicks. Hits earn points and will eventually kill the nasty, earning you bonus experience points. However, be warned that they can strike back with claws, teeth, knives, hatchets and guns of their own, eroding your health, shield and armour.

Health can be restored by finding crafting stations and then rummaging for ingredients, then using the crafting station to make consumables and eat / drink them. These items are added to inventory for rezzing and can also be traded with other players, allowing those playing together to help one another. Consumables, once made, can be worn to consume or carried. Some will restore lost health / shields, some may only “buff” for a period of time.

Quests are undertaken by finding non-player characters (NPCs) scattered within various locations. Clicking on them will open the Quest panel on your screen and display details of a quest for you to complete. click the “off” button on the panel to close it, and you can set out to complete the required task.

You can have up to four quests running simultaneously, and some will be auto-complete (achieve the goal and the quest ends), others will require you return to the Quest giver. A tally is kept of your progress, and I found this a little irritating, as each time I achieved a target in a quest, the panel would open, blocking part of my view and requiring I hop out of Mouselook to close it (ALT-click didn’t seem to work).

As well as quests, there are story fragments to be found scattered around – these take the form of books with hovertext floating above them. Clicking on a book will add the story fragment to your HUD – click the Stories button to open a panel listing the available stories, and click on the one you want to read by clicking on its title.

Should you find your health drops below 0, you will be incapacitated and transported to the Miskatonic Medical Centre. This restores your health and reveals one of the secrets of the experience: it exists on multiple levels stacked up one above the other through the vertical extent of the region. They are connected by teleports in the form road tunnels. Moving to each of them can earn experience points.

If I’m totally honest, I don’t entirely “get” the overall goal – other than survival (which may be the sole point) – but then, I’ve not progressed full through the entire experience. In this, the instructions and introduction are somewhat vague – and “emissary” is reportedly coming, but what / who that might be slipped by me. There is also reference to artefacts being stolen – but whether recovering them forms a part of any of the quests, I could say.

Perhaps the way to find out is to play for yourself?

SLurl Details

• Tales of Miskatonic County: The Perfect Storm (Miskatonic County, rated Moderate)