Category: Reviews

It’s a New Dawn (Flickr) – click any image for full size

It’s a New Dawn is the evocative name of Silvermoon Fairey’s new homestead region in Second Life. Like its name, this is an evocative place to visit, filled with sights and sounds to delight the eyes and ears; a place where exploration on foot is greatly encouraged.

I first became familiar with Silvermoon’s work through her region Dawn of Radiance, which you can read about here and here, an enchanting region beautifully designed and constructed and which could reflect the passing seasons of the year, but which passed into memory. It was a place I admired greatly, and given this, I was eager to see what It’s a New Dawn might hold.

It’s a New Dawn (Flickr)

From the start you know this is a special place; a rugged island where time has almost stood still in some ways, and where the pastoral life holds sway. A tiny hamlet occupies the island, although the population here seems to be chiefly horses, sheep and cattle, together with the local wildlife and birds. There are no roads, only rough tracks and footpaths worn into the rock by the passage of feet down through the years. Two lighthouses vie with a windmill perched on a tall plateau to be the sentinel of the island, while small inlets and coves around the coast offer sheltered beaches and rocky coastal paths around the base of tall cliffs and craggy slopes.

The contrasts in landscape and elevations here is remarkable and does much to give It’s a New Dawn a stunning natural look and feel. Exploring the island, I couldn’t shake the sensation I was walking across one of the Scottish islands, or perhaps another of the mythical islands in the chain once thought to lie within the North Atlantic may years past, and which includes Frisland, another popular Second Life destination.

It’s a New Dawn (Flickr)

This is very much a place to be enjoyed in foot (flying is disabled, and it’s really better to walk than override), and with local sounds enabled. As with most scenic and well-designed regions, It’s a New Dawn has an accompanying sound scape to add to the sense of immersion, so make sure you have local sounds enabled.

Those who remember Dawn of Radiance may notice a few familiar motifs from that region – the windmill mentioned above, the cottage on the escarpment nearby, the use of water and falls to enhance the lay of the land, and so on – all of which serve to give something of a feeling of familiarity whilst presenting somewhere wholly new.

It’s a New Dawn (Flickr)

Photography within the region is welcome, and those taking pictures are invited to add them to the Dawn of Radiance Flickr pool. Should you enjoy your visit – and I have no doubt you will – please consider making a donation at the landing point to help with the region running costs.

SLurl Details

• It’s a New Dawn (Rated: Adult)

Aspen Fell – Endless – click any image for full size

Aspen Fell – Endless is the latest iteration of the always evocative region of that name. As the last time I blogged about a visit there was in early 2014, a return was long overdue. Thus we set out to both renew an acquaintance and explore a new setting.

A visit starts in a skybox located just above the region – follow the arrows through the little shack and use the teleport to reach ground level in the south-east corner of the region. Here a clock floats in the air, time ticking slowly and eternally as rain falls from a pale sky and sunlight is reflected off of surrounding snowy peaks.

Gates set into the remnants of a wall lead you onward, up and out of the rain to where an old boxcar sits on the rusting rails of an old railway siding. The aged state of car and rails are a sharp contrast to the pristine white of a chaise lounge close by, the first indication that Aspen is still a place where visitors are welcome to come and while away the hours.

Aspen Fell – Endless

Walk back around the boxcar and down the slope facing west, and the rain gives way to snow which is slowly drifting on either side of a winding path. If you prefer, you can follow the railway tracks northwards along the edge of the island and see what they might bring. There are no rules here; only the freedom to explore.

Should you follow the track, you’ll find yourself led to a rocky outcrop, another wall and gates – something of a motif within the region – standing guard over the end of the tracks. A tunnel has been cut through the rocks, rectangular in shape and perhaps once the route trains may have used to deliver trucks to the siding you’re leaving behind.

Aspen Fell – Endless

With tracks now gone, the tunnel offers a way down to the north corner of the region, bathed in sunlight and washed by rain, the tall finger of a lighthouse standing sentinel, familiar gates marking your path north and west.

Follow the path westward from the boxcar, and you’ll find it forks and forks again. The fist fork will take you north once more, through trees and on the opposite bank of the river flowing alongside the train tracks. Continue west and you’ll be shown the way over a stream via a bridge suspended by balloons, before the path branches again, pointing you either on westwards or to the north and over a conventional wooden bridge and then around another tall rocky plateau, from which waterfalls tumble.

Aspen Fell – Endless

If you haven’t already surmised, this a rural setting, bordering on the Great Outdoors. The land is a beautifully compose mix of lowlands, gentle slopes, high outcrops and plateaus marked by slopes and paths leading up to them, and meandering streams and pools of water which natural break up the land.

The entire setting is, in a word, idyllic,  complete with a rich mix of ambient sounds which greatly enhances the feeling on immersion: rain patters and splashes against the ground and water, bids sing from the trees in the sunlit areas, water splashes and sucks against wooden board walks, horses whiny, while in the distance a piano plays, deep under the trees, and here and there the ticking of a clock can be heard – time being another motif within the region. While for those who prefer, the audio stream offers music to match the mood of the region.

Aspen Fell – Endless

Aspen Fell is a region which has never failed to present an evocative, atmosphere environment, and with Aspen Fell – Endless, this continues to be the case. A visit here is to lose oneself, with lots of opportunities for sitting and contemplating, and especially for sharing with someone close. If you’re with a loved one, we can recommend the wishing well in particular – we liked it so much, we bought a copy for the garden at home!

Should you be as entrance by a visit as we were, do please consider a donation towards keeping the region open for others to enjoy.

SLurl Details

• Aspen Fell – Endless (Rated: Moderate)

Saint Pete City (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Saint Pete City is the latest region design by Neva Xenga (Neva Crystall) to open in Second Life.  As the name suggests, this is an urban environment, one with a strong Dutch influence in terms of architecture and feel.

The landing point places visitors on a small coastal cove sitting between high shoulders of rock, a lighthouse standing guard to one side. Facing this across the street, is Saint Pete, awaiting your pleasure under a slightly sombre evening sky. Here the streets are largely cobbled, and the architecture very much modelled on that of The Netherlands, with copious numbers of bicycles scattered around to add to the feeling that one is not a great distance away from Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Utrecht.

Saint Pete City (Flickr)

Walk through the streets and you come across coffee shops, bric-a-brac stores, bookshops, a bicycle shop, hotel, art gallery (where some of Loverdag’s superb images are on display) – in short, everything you’d expect to find in a cosmopolitan environment. There’s even an old industrial unit, now empty and perhaps awaiting being put to a new use.

Such is the design of the region, it’s easy to imagine you’re walking through a much large area than is the case – a feeling enhanced on the west side of the region, where, between the town and a rocky plateau, sits a walk under denuded trees, apparently caught in early winter, with benches available for warmer days, when strolling couple might want to set and rest, all of which gives the feeling of walking from one part of town to another as one passes through it.

Saint Pete City (Flickr)

Many of the houses and stores here are empty, but others – such as the coffee shops and stores mentioned above are not, and visitors are welcome to enter them and sit or browse – and the wine shop / bar comes particularly recommended. For those with local sounds enabled, Saint Pete is another of the many regions in SL where care has been taken to create ambient sound scape to enhance the feeling of walking a busy community.

All of Neva’s sim designs demonstrate a wonderful eye for detail and offer environments rich for exploration and Saint Pete City really is no exception. Caitlyn and I spent a pleasant time wandering around, bumping into to people and enjoying the sights and sounds, and took time out to rest on one of the many benches found in the various squares, listening to the birds and the sounds echoing up the street, before rounding things off by sitting in the local wine bar, enjoying a glass of wine and one another’s company – just as we all might do while enjoying our time immersed in a visit to somewhere new.

Saint Pete City (Flickr)

SLurl Details

• Saint Pete City (Rated: Moderate)