Category: Reviews

With November upon us, it was time for me to make a return to Jim Garand’s Grauland; after Primary Colours, I was keen to see what new delectations his fertile imagination had cooked up for us, and was delighted to find that once again, he’s turn his attention to a sci-fi like setting.

My first question on arriving at Grauland / The Deity Machine, was whether I was somewhere on this planet or standing on another world. Certainly the rock beneath my feet and the scrub grass ground upon it looked Earth-like, as did the sea; but overhead the sky offered an otherworldly feel, as did the structure beyond the rock berm undulating across the land before me like some gigantic snake, standing stones raised along its back in imitation of  broadly-spaces spines.

This berm would have been easy enough to climb, but I turned south instead, walking over the scrub grass to where a cube-like  arch linked an arrow-straight walkway to the gentle slope of a stone-flagged causeway as it slips down into the waters, as if waiting for some form of aquatic vehicle to roll up out of the tide and park itself upon it.

The steel plating of the walkway points directly towards the main, but by no means only, structure within the isle: a gigantic pyramid-like structure raised up on the back of  an elevated terrace itself sitting upon a great square of precisely laid and cut stone flagstones. With broad stairways climbing up to huge openings cut within its cardinal sides, the pyramid is home  to an alien-looking device standing on its own plinth above darkened water.

It is fair to say that water plays an much a part in the design here as rock, metal and other materials. Channels of it parallel the walkway toward the pyramid, with more channels and pools sit on two sides of the the pyramid’s outer court of stone, whilst other strange artefacts sit over ponds of dark water of their own, as if drawing power from them.

One of these artefacts is to found among a set of accommodation units built below the mean ground level and reached via a stairway descending from the walkway. Containing human-style furnishings, these four identical units nevertheless carry that sense of the alien within them.  At that far end stand four pillars, information scrolling up and down each of their faces as if they might be digital Rosetta Stones, keys to unlocking a mystery .Perhaps they are – or perhaps not; there is information to be read upon them – but I will leave it to you to try to discern what might be meant and keep my thoughts to myself.

Beyond the pool in which these pillars stand, the path leads on between rock walls, passing the foot of a tall monolith of dark materials and gleaming teal light standing close to the shore, to come to what is the second largest surface structure in terms of area. Once again featuring water as a part of its central feature, it sits as the home of an artefact perhaps intended to focus the light of whatever sun illuminates this world and transfer it to where vibrant orbs of light appear to be rising into the sky.

Nor is this all; a further large structure sits alone on a small isle of rock to the north-east, both reached and surrounded by an elevated walkway, whilst sitting on the other side of the steel walkway crossing to the pyramid’s base sits a large hall with its own courtyard area. Within it, tables and seating with counters and a bar suggest it is a refectory for use by humans. But it is along the softly illuminated corridor leads away from one corner of this hall that visitors might find the setting’s most curious – and Roswell- like – secret, hidden alongside a military-style bunker with a washroom and dormitory.

No hints are offered as to what Grauland / The Deity Machine might be about; backstory and interpretation are left entirely to the imagination. The intriguing mix of age-worn stone steps and uneven paved footpaths and clean flagstones and futuristic / alien-like architecture suggest a place of both great age and yet technological use. Perhaps, as the name suggests, it is a location that has been revered down the aeons as a place imbued with the memories of gods or spirits, but which is now the home of digital memories of times and events.

Whether it is upon Earth or a world elsewhere in our galaxy is again a matter of personal choice; no clue lies within it as to which might be the case, although the presence of a very Earthly rowing boat might suggest the former over the latter; if humanity is capable of reaching other worlds, than most likely it has easier means of crossing bodies of water. But again, that’s for you to decide, if stories and narrative are your thing.

And if they are not – will, Jim has once again created a place ideal for photography, whether you opt to use the region’s supplied environment settings (as I have here) or opt for one of your own. So – enjoy!

SLurl Details

• Grauland (Liberia Isle, rated Adult)

In June 2024, I visited Blade Runner, Brutal City 2060, another of the outstanding region builds by Hera (Zee9), and somewhat based on her Blade Runner-esque region designs. In that particular instance, which I covered in Hera’s Blade Runner Brutal City in Second Life,), I noted that the setting encompassed:

The familiar, whilst offering some tidy little twists and turns for lovers of science fiction (and potentially obscure TV series of that genre), as well as other references, it is again a highly visual environment which spreads the Blade Runner elements more broadly, folding into it elements of Blade Runner 2049, whilst also drawing on 2012’s Dredd.

Well, as of early November 2024, Brutal City is back for a time, offering a further take on the original themes of Hera’s Blade Runner builds and Brutal City, complete with further dips of the toes into various other sci-fi series – and something more besides, as Here notes in her introductory notecard:

I was re-building Brutal City trying to add more OTT sex stuff etc 🙂 and Kacey said, I have been trying out some things and I think I can link up an AI model to SL. Day later it was there :). She has done a fantastic job. We have had a load of fun sorting it out, me on the dumb user side and her at the sharp tech end, learning a lot about AI as we went.

I guess the big deal is this. Online games have NPC’s that are programmed to say what the game company wants them to, multiple choice questions with hard wired answers. These Bots in Brutal City are doing their own thing, Try them, they get stuff wrong like we do, but ALL you hear is them RP-ing their characters.

This is not the first time that AI has been hooked up to NPCs within Second Life; various people have been working on similar for a while – but I admit to finding the work that Hera and Kacey Stratton (KaceyStratton) particularly attractive, as the environment in which they’ve employed the AI encompasses sci-fi references that have a personal appeal – notably in this case, Blade Runner films (obviously) and the Altered Carbon TV series.

As an update to the original Brutal City, which in turn carried forward elements from previous Blade Runner-esque designs by Hera, there is much within the setting that will be familiar to those who visited the June 2024 iteration of the build. Also as is typical for Hera’s builds, the Landing Point is separate from the setting, and offers an onward teleport together with the opportunity to obtain the above-mentioned notecard. The teleport here will again deliver arrivals to a subway station, which in turn offers a choice of routes up to street level.

Here again, the layout follows a design familiar to anyone who has spent time in Hera’s city build; one that is both forced upon her by the limitations of region space and size, and one which instantly give the sense of coming back to a neighbourhood that is both familiar and new. Many of the hints towards various film franchises and TV series are to be found still – the BCPD / LAPD police HQ with its echoes of total Recall 2070, the spinner-like police cars and decommissioned spinners as road cars; the sea of neon advertising – even the noodle bar reminiscent of Deckard’s initial encounter with Gaff – although it’s now under the ownership of Tony.

Which is not to say this is a simple re-run of Blade Runner: Brutal City; there is much that has changed that awaits discovery. Gone, for the example are the overt references to Judge Dredd, whilst in come more noticeable references to Altered Carbon. Whilst the re-sleeved Takeshi Kovacs (in the form of actor Joel Kinnaman) remains displayed on a screen within the BCPD building, a broader reference to the show can be found in the presence of The Raven Hotel and its proprietor, one Poe, an AI modelled after Edgar Alan Poe.

The Raven replaces one of the three gang-related clubs of the previous Brutal City build, and Poe became the first AI NPC within the setting with whom I interacted – and I was instantly impressed. Care has been taken to imbue the AIs with parameters which match their nature / character. With Poe, for example, I was able to converse on his nature compared to that of the Poe AI from Altered Carbon and on Takeshi Kovacs himself (also, whilst visiting the hotel, check-out the Poe Suite). Similarly, at the noodle bar, Tony was aware of Deckard’s preferred dish and was able to offer it to me a we discussed the day and “played” a round of cards.

Yes, as the introductory notecard states, the AI can occasionally glitch (Tony got rather hung-up on offering to prepare a specific dish for me, for example, despite the fact I had “Deckard’s favourite” in front of me!), but the level of natural exchange in conversations meant that when it comes to free-form role-play, there’s much in the way of potential to be found throughout the setting. In this, the notecard available from the Landing Point is invaluable in helping to understand the framework set for the various types of AI NPC you’re likely to encounter, and the setting as whole and what might go on.

Elsewhere in the setting, the other clubs have been altered to offer new venues (although the Snake Pit remains tucked inside the Dream Palace), whilst the Tyrell Corporation building (which became the Wallace Building in Blade Runner 2949) is now owned by the Warlock Corporation, which also happens to run this sector – Sector Six, the most dangerous sector of Brutal City. The corporation’s CEO, Max Wallace can be found inside, and it would appear that – going by the portrait dominating one wall of his office, he’s quite enamoured of Tyrell’s legacy.

Visitors might also find a fairly strong Aliens franchise reference whilst wandering; something hardly out of place, given Ridley Scott saw both Alien and Blade Runner as existing in the same universe. Within it might be found a further AI in the form of Mr. Giger, who will confirm he is something of a personification of Hans Ruedi Giger, albeit one (perhaps fittingly) offered as a hologram-like form, rather than a three-dimensional figure.

There is much more to be said for Brutal City AI; through might be found Hera’s attention to detail – itself deserving of careful observation of the small as well as the large, and which can be found in unexpected places. There are other nods towards the likes of Altered Carbon awaiting discovery, but rather than ramble on, I will stop here. Instead, I’ll simply suggest you pay a visit for yourself – and as a final point, do remember that Hera’s builds are as dreams: vividly alive and present for perhaps only a short time before vanishing into memory; so if you do intend to visit, then “soon rather than later” should perhaps be your watchwords.

SLurl Details

• Brutal City AI (Themyscira, rated Adult)

Located in Manipur, north-eastern India, and close to the town of Moirang is the remarkable Loktak (“stream end”) Lake. Covering between 250 km² and 500 km² in area (depending on the season), the lake is freshwater in nature and referred to as a “pulsating” lake after the way in which is surface area expands and contracts as a result of the region’s rainy / dry seasons.

What makes this lake particularly famous are the phumdi scattered across it. Looking like islands of various sizes, these Phumdi are in fact floating masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter in different stages of decay, ranging in size from the very small to the largest, which covers an area of 40 km². Located the south-east shore of the lake, this massive phumdi is the home of the Keibul Lamjao National Park, the world’s only floating national park and wildlife reserve.

The lake is a richly biodiverse body of water, with 57 species of waterbirds and another 14 species of wetland associated birds being recorded within its bounds and 425 species of animals, comprising 249 vertebrates (including the brow-antlered deer Cervus eldi eldi, or sangai, which had been thought to be extinct, and for which (in part) the Keibul Lamjao National Park was established).

Further, the lake is also home to 176 species invertebrates and some 233 species of aquatic macrophytes (vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic environments), whilst the annual fish yield from its waters is said to be 1,500 tonnes, with a variety of fish species introduced to the lake to assist with the natural capture fishing “industry” of the region. It is also a centre of hydropower generation and irrigation, water from it feeding into wetlands used for paddies, with water from the lake also used to provide drinking water for the nearby hamlets and towns.

The latter aspects of its use has all placed considerable pressure on the lake, another factor in it being designated a wetland of international importance. In particular, issues of over-irrigation and deforestation are an increasing theat. Also, given its location, the lake has become a destination for tourism, with two of the phumdi being largely devoted to tourist facilities, including the Sendra Tourist Home.

However, it is the lake as a beauty spot and home to local flora, fauna and natural living, which is celebrated in a build in Second Life. Designed by Iska (Sablina) on behalf of region holder Sominel Edelman (who also worked on the setting), Loktak Lake occupies a Full region, and showcases some of Som’s products in the form of the region surround and an upcoming new product, the Weather Dome.

In this, the surround beautifully encapsulates the region, with off-region elements continuing the theme of phumdi stretching out across the waters of the lake towards the distant hills, with the region itself offering two large islands and smaller phumdi awaiting exploration. A further layer of natural beauty has been added through the use of the Weather Dome and EEP settings which allow for not only a 24-hour day / night cycle, but also changing weather.

During one of my visits, for example, – the one in which the photos here were taken – the setting was in the middle of Manipur’s monsoon season; rain fell, the clouds roiled over heavy, and one felt the need to seek shelter within the huts and cabins.

From the landing point sitting towards the south-west of the region, it is possible to explore on foot. A bridge links two islands one to the other, one end of it forming the actual landing point and the southern end of the smaller, finger-like region. From here is it possible to descend stone steps and make one’s way around some of the phumdi, or follow the track around the larger island. Both offer their own attractions, from bars to houseboats to romantic-leaning retreats where time might be passed – so exploration is more than warranted.

In places, bridges connect to islands a little further afield whilst elsewhere a little wading might be required (I didn’t note any boats available for rowing / boat rezzers, but I may well have missed them). Throughout all of this are many more places to sit and appreciate the sitting and watch the local wildlife (including several SL breeds of deer representing the local sangai) and waterfowl.

With flora carefully chosen to fit with the climate of the region’s physical-world namesake, and with numerous details to be found throughout, Loktak Lake is a beautifully conceived and executed setting ideal for exploration, appreciation and photography.

Thoroughly recommended.

SLurl Details

• Loktak Lake (Landscapes Showcase, rated Moderate)