A little landscaping at home in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Island Myvatn

A this blog shows, I enjoy playing around with houses, either building my own or kitbashing those I purchase; another thing I enjoy is landscaping and “SL gardening”. I love fiddling around and building an environment around my SL homes that both fits with them and adds ambience to them (at least in my eyes, others might think otherwise!). I’m not sure what the attraction is; perhaps I’m compensating for the fact that in the physical world, the only manner in which I’m remotely green-fingered is when I dip a hand in in tin of paint…

In February, I picked up the InVerse Orlando House (see: The InVerse Orlando House in Second Life), which just happened to be of a length and height such that it pretty much “slotted into” the split-level landscape I’d established from my previous InVerse house, the Tarzana (see: An Inverse House in Second Life), and which (at the time) I didn’t want to change too drastically.

However, the hands of the clock march inexorably forward, and the itch to re-develop the gardens more in keeping with the Orlando – with it’s mansion-like presence of tall columns, shading terraces and railed verandas – grew. So for the last week and as time has allowed I’ve been gradually re-working things to both better present the house and better integrate the Mesh Romance Flower Cottage by FelixvonKotwitz I’d picked up roughly around the time of the Orlando purchase (see: A Romance Cottage in Second Life) that has made a cosy little summer house-come-garden folly.

Isla Myvatn

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to gather something of a library of landscaping kits, tools, plants, and so forth, and have developed a number of “go to” creators I most frequently turn to for my needs. These include (as they have the most relevance here):

  • Alex Bader: I don’t think anyone does landscaping kits as comprehensively as Alex under his Studio Skye brand. Landforms, cliffs, shorelines, beaches, rivers, streams, waterfalls, ponds, woodlands, forests, plants, and so on; together with a host of buildings, structures and textures to boot, Studio Skye can be a one-stop shop, and I’ve been using Alex’s items for over a decade.
  • Cube Republic: Cube is another creator with a prolific output that  is coupled to at eye for detail and a solid sense of care in working with mesh. His plants are second to none, and he also offers a range of landscaping kits and has venture into the world of EEP settings as well. Like Alex, he also offers texture packs and structure kits such that between the two of them, I can pretty much always find what I need.
  • Sasaya (Sasaya Kayo): through her HPMD (HappyMood) brand, Sasaya offers a range of general trees and shrubs that are well-optimised, look good and relatively low LI. Her shrubs and flowers / grasses are often ideal for landscaping / wild gardens.
  • Kriss Lehmann: again, Kriss again offers a range of plants and garden kits through his Botanical brand, together with structures of assorted types (his Forest Ruins Tower has been a long-standing part of many of my past landscaping) and items that help bring a garden to life.
Isla Myvatn

There are other brands I use – We’re Closed for trees with LI is a factor, for example – but the above tend to by my go-to brands. I particularly like Cube, Alex and Kris, as their items tend to be optimised such that linking parts of their kits can help in managing LI (indeed, I’m surprised as to how many don’t understand the benefits of considered linking to help manage LI, but that’s a subject for another blog post I’ve had sitting in my Drafts folder for so long, it has probably taken root).

But, back to the garden. With the previous house, I’d focused on using the Studio Skye Zen Garden Kit to give something of a wild garden look. For this time around, I’ve kept some of this, but also opted for a more formal approach with lawns and planters to the front of the house, some of which extends to the back garden, with the Zen elements mixed in, together with a wilder look to the rear. For this I focused on kits from Studio Skye – notably the Tiered Garden Wall Building Set, which offers a lot of flexibility when using wall shapes to break up a space and to create planters.

Isla Myvatn

While terraforming can be used for hills and raised areas, particularly in private estates where terraforming is allowed, it can also be problematic if you don’t have terraforming rights, or where issues of texture matching, smoothing, etc., are concerned.  To this end, I opted to use the Studio Skye Land Forms Building Set One to provide clifftop hills and slopes running down to the house and around it. While mesh forms like this will inevitably lead to somewhat angular slopes in places, with care and blending, a reasonably consistent finish can be obtained, and without spending hours in smoothing terrain and facing the potential for blurred-looking ground as a result of morphing and raising the terrain.

Alongside of these came elements from Kris Lehmann, such as his Edged Brick Path (which sits will with the likes of Studio Skye Tiered Garden Wall set, with shrubs from HPMD – although for flowers, I admit I opted for Kayle Matzerath’s ~*GOD*~ Lumenaria Flower Fat Pack, which offers (me, at least, as I’ve been using them since encountering them at 2013’s Fantasy Faire) a good solution for garden flowers in planters, although they can decimate at moderate camera distances.

Isla Myvatn

Something that can add a good deal of depth to a home setting is the use of wildlife / animals. This does have to be excessive – but the sight of song birds here and there can really help with bringing a garden to life – particularly if you’re using an ambient sound scape that includes bird song. Two of my preferred creators in this regard are:

  • Morgan Garret (Fishgod): while I am not sure if he is still active in Second Life, Morgan Garret created the Grizzly Creek brand that includes some of the most detailed birds from around the world I’ve owned. They are naturally animated, their song works with that of any ambient sound scape, and they are incredibly life-like. At 3LI apiece, they aren’t going to eat into your land capacity.
  • │T│L│C│Animals: operated by Lautlos and True Redrose, this is another excellent source of birds and fish – and other animals. Some of their waterfowl might need a little resizing, but if you have a pond or lake, I cannot rate them highly enough – particularly as their ducks, geese, fish, etc., can be set to swim on / under both Linden Water or other water planes.
Isla Myvatn

Obviously, there are other brands out there as well – JIAN being one –  just as there are for landscaping and plants. The ones I list above are the ones that suit my needs and have allowed me a happy week of playing with kits and landscaping at home. Which in turn has given me the excuse for writing the above 🙂 .

A lost beach in Second Life with a photo contest

Posted on by Inara Pey
La Plage Perdue, March 2022 – click any image for full size

Vally Lavender passed a personal invitation to me to drop in to the latest region design she has opened to the public. Entitled La Plage Perdue (“The Lost Beach”). It is another design by Dandy Warhlol (terry Fotherington), presented on a homestead region. and come its own back-story, which reads thus:

In 1852 a French family occupied this small island, hoping to live a happy life by the sea. Why they chose to abandon it remains a mystery. Come see what they left behind, for clues about why they vanished into thin air.

– La Plage Perdue About Land

La Plage Perdue, March 2022

The result is a rocky island topped by an aging, rotting mansion. The vegetation here is sparse – stunted trees and course grass that pushing its way through the sands that fight the rocks for dominance of the landscape; a war the sand will likely win; such is the fate of rocks under the tireless onslaught of wind and sea.

Along with the mansion, and scattered across the island are multiple signs of habitation, some of which are old enough for that sand to also be seeking to eradicate them – most likely with greater expediency than will be the case with the rocks. Much of this detritus of the human life that once existed: a sand filled former boathouse, an old gazebo, broken walls, the carcass of a car that may have once puttered along the cobbled roads of Paris or another French city in the 1890s, and forgotten children’s swings. I say “much” because there are also elements that come from times much more recent than the late 19th Century.

La Plage Perdue, March 2022

The most apparent of the latter is the broken hulk of a relatively modern freighter, possibly a bulk grain carrier lies caught within the rocks of the coastline. Elsewhere, along the beach deckchairs largely untouched by time sit upon on the sand, changing huts ranged behind them, the bag of a sunbathers sitting before one of them, whilst further along the sands a makeshift bar has been established.

As noted in the About Land description there is a tale of mystery to be unfolded here: just what happened to those who came to live on this little island, wherever it may be? And this story also forms the basis for a photo / story contest, as noted on the ValiumSL website. In short:

  • Only one entry per person, entries to be via the competition Flickr group.
  • Images may be colour or black and white.
  • The entrant submitting an image must be the person who took it.
  • The accompanying story must be written in English, and must not be less than 25 words and no more than 250 words, it should be written in the Description section of the submitted Flickr image.
  • By entering, people agree that their image may be used in the ValiumSL website.
La Plage Perdue, March 2022

The deadline for entries is 18:00 SLT on Thursday, March 31st, 2022. The winner will be selected and announced on Saturday, April 2nd, 2022. The Winner will receive: L$1,000 cash, plus a gift cards to the value of L$1,000 each from .::THOR::., and  Fancy Decor!  Further prizes may be added prior to the winner being selected.

This is another engaging setting to add to the ValiumSL family, and as always rezzing rights are available to ValiumSL group members. My thanks to Vally for the invitation, and apologies to her for taking a few days to pay the region a visit.

La Plage Perdue, March 2022

SLurl Details

Milena’s treatise on war through art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Milena Carbone: Apocalypse

There are probably very few of us who have not been shocked by the events in Ukraine that started on February 24th, 2022. The global reaction against Russia’s invasion of the country under entirely false pretexts has in many ways been seismic, involving everyone from governments down to individuals.

Within Second Life, Milena Carbone (Mylena1992) – an artist renown for her use of art to offer political and religious commentary – found herself unable to remain silent on the matter, and has developed a three-part exhibition that is both a direct response to the war in Ukraine and also a wider commentary on global relationships which may well prick at the consciousness (intentionally or otherwise) it may appear to contain; certainly, I know that viewing all three parts caused me to reflect more widely on such things.

Milena Carbone: Paroxysm

The first element of the exhibition is located in Milena’s gallery space within her Carbon Art Studio. It is entitled Paroxysm – a term that might be used to define what should be the reaction of any caring, humanitarian individual to the news of any massive military incursion by one nation state into a neighbour, and the reaction of the people of that neighbour on seeing their worse fears realised as tanks and rocket launchers roll across their border. It charts Milena’s initial reaction to the news, and the reality of the fact that, almost one hundred years after the last rise of unbridled authoritarianism was allowed to go unchecked only to plunge Europe – and eventually the world – into the cataclysm of war, we have once again allowed to bring us perilously close to the brink once more.

In six images produced in a day, Milena offers up both hard truths and also a measure of hope. Those truths include the fact that war has always been a tool of political power, allowing the victor to bend history to their interpretation of matters; all that has really changed is the destructive power laying at the fingertips of those who would wield the machinery of war to suit their ends; the hope is expressed through identifying people’s willingness to fight for their (and our) freedoms, and that a more politically aware globalist movement of younger generations are increasingly able to see through the masks of so-called “great men” who seek only their own aggrandisement and adulation by others (and thus hopefully curtail their rise to power).

Milena Carbone: Fury

The Second element of the exhibition, Fury, is located in the open air setting of Calypso Bay.  Again the title might be said to have a dual meaning, referencing they increasingly brutal response of the Russian military in directly and intentionally targeting civilians as their campaign fails to proceed as planned (thus underscoring the truism that no order of battle survives contact with an opponent), and the almost world-wide anger in response to the bombing, shelling and missile attacks direct at the Ukraine civilian populace.

Here, the setting plays as much an important role within Milena’s triptych as the art itself. The café setting, the quaint little shops, the blue skies and beach speak to the idyll of life as we expect it – the ability to wander, shop, share, enjoy, without fear of disruption or hurt – indeed, without the shadow of fear itself. These are all things the people of Ukraine are now denied; no-one is safe, not even the innocent new-born. In this, Fury is presented as a personal appeal to the people of Russia not to stand for what is being done under the false claim of being “for them” – as indeed, many are doing in cities throughout Russia, and at no little risk to themselves.

The concluding part of the trilogy is Apocalypse, located in Dido’s Space within Dido Haas’ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery. It is a personal look at what yet come out of the unfolding situation. To achieve this, Milena uses six images to depict one of more outcomes (“children”), each accompanied by Milena prose to give each form and meaning – although the images themselves are deeply evocative.

Milena Carbone: Apocalypse

As noted towards the top of this article, these three exhibitions not only voice a reaction to the 2022 situation in Ukraine, they also prick the conscience. The Ukraine war has, to a degree, been on-going since 2013/14, although this escalation is markedly above anything previously seen, and has rightly led to the aforementioned global outrage towards Russia and support for Ukraine. But one has to ask, when it comes to the response of Europe, where was it in 2008 when Russia launched an offensive against Georgia?

Back then our response was far more muted, with nations such as Germany and France unwilling to even apportion blame. Could it be that Georgia’s geographic location (as much in western Asia as Eastern Europe, with the “buffer” of the Black Sea between it and Western Europe) helped to make that conflict appear less relevant? Would America have been so vocal in it response, but for the manner in which another would-be authoritarian dictator put it front-and-centre in recent US politics? Or is it that we are finally awakening (once more) to the realisation that not only is war unjustifiable, but the Chamberlain approach to dictators rarely yields positive results, and a stand must be made?

Milena Carbone: Paroxysm

And therein lies the power of art: to challenge; to cause us to question, to re-evaluate, to ask hard questions of ourselves. All of this, as well as a highly personal – one might say visceral – statement makes Paroxysm, Fury, Apocalypse well worth a visit.

SLurl Details

Note that all three elements of the exhibition have teleport board to the other two.

March 2022 Web User Group summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Web User Group meeting venue, Denby

The following notes cover the key points from the Web User Group (WUG) meeting, held on Wednesday, March 9th, 2022.

These meetings are generally held on the first Wednesday of the month, with dates and venue details available via the SL public calendar. A video of the meeting, courtesy of Pantera, can be found embedded at the end of this article (my thanks to her as always!). Again, the following is a summary of key topics / discussions, not a full transcript of everything mentioned.

February Work Summary

[Video: 1:23-4:53]

  • The Marketplace variants project is now officially titled Marketplace Styles:
    • Most of the back-end infrastructure work to support different styles (e.g. different colour variants for an item in a single listing) is now complete.
    • The design of the front-elements (as will be seen by users) has now been approved.
    • It is hoped that prototyping will be available for viewing (e.g. through the Web User Group meetings) in the “next couple of months”.
  • Search Relevance project is now seeing plans being put together, and some of this may be available for viewing at WUG meetings in April / May 2022.
    • [Video: 43:59-45:24] Work currently underway is to track the relevance of a given search result (e.g. “user searched for X and gained these results. User then took option Y in that list of results” – where if Y= the first item in the list, relevance can be considered high; if they take the 100th option, then that suggests the relevance of ordering is not as good as it could be). The idea here being to be able to feed this back into improving the relevance of search results.
  • Premium Plus – an announcement is expected in March 2022.
    • The overall page of benefits has apparently been agreed (no details at present).
    • There are still some elements to be finalised (pricing?).

Marketplace Q&A

  • [Video: 5:00-6:16] Could Marketplace order history be sorted by item cost (e.g. most expensive at the top)? – seen as a reasonable suggestion, and a feature request – BUG-231907 – has been filed.
  • [Video 7:04-8:01] Sales tax: a reminder that as per the official blog post on the introduction of US sales tax, sales tax on applicable US purchases will be applied in accordance with local jurisdictional requirements (e.g. state-level laws, etc.). So if your state / jurisdiction does not charge for the sale of virtual goods and services, then LL will not apply it.
  • [Video: 8:37-9:39] Marketplace Sub-Brands: following the discussions in the February meeting, a project is now being scoped based on the feedback given. However, the development of any project is unlikely to surface in 2022.
  • [Video: 9:55-12:00] The question was asked if LL could provide the means for creators on the Marketplace to run collaborative sales / events – a shared page with links to items the creators participating in the event are including in it. This was referred to as an “interesting idea” and for a feature request Jira to be filed, preferably with some details on how this might work.
  • [Video: 14:26-15:00] A request was made for further community categories on the MP. Again, a feature request as been requested.
  • [Video: 20:52-22:10] A request was made for sellers to be able to disable customer reviews on the grounds it has become “normal” to see negative reviews. Whether or not this is the case, the majority of reviews are left in good faith, and while it can be frustrating to see negative reviews where the purchaser has failed to try a demo / not read supplied instructions, the view is that disabling reviews is not the answer.
    • [Video: 22:44-24:50] The suggestion was made in text later in the meeting to allow up / down voting of comments. However, unless carefully controlled (e.g. only allowing those who have purchased an item to up / down vote), then this is potentially open to abuse as well (e.g. a creator getting all their friends to down vote a negative review – or even one person down vote multiple times). As such, any implementation would require considerable forethought and design.
  • [Video 25:09-26:07] Could MP store owner be allowed to include links between their stores and the social media platforms they use? This has been tried in the past, but has not worded out. While there is no objection to trying for a better mechanism again, there is currently no work planned in their area. Again, specific ideas welcomed via feature request Jiras.

In Brief

  • The wiki has (after all) bee updated to HTTPs, and the syntax highlighting issue for the LSL pages has been addressed.
  • The Destination Guide is on the Web Team’s roadmap to receive and overhaul / face-lift, but no ETA at present. One of the aims of this work is to make it easier to find places that actually have people in them.
  • There was some discussion on the “new” look for Search, with some criticism for the places summary not showing traffic (a location must be clicked and seen in the expanded view to get traffic numbers). However, whilst experienced users find this useful, new users found the traffic reference confusing, and so it was purposefully placed in the expanded view.
  • It was again noted in the meeting that LL are looking at the new user experience from “top to toe” – from sign-up through getting in-world to customising an avatar, to finding things to do and people with whom to interact.

In the courts of a dragon and an emperor in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Long Feng and Akuma – Akuma, March 2022 – click any image for full size

Xue Starlight recently invited me to visit a pairing of two Full regions that have been developed for the Honour and Blood group by SHyJBuilder along an Oriental theme that mixes Japanese and Chinese history / fable with that of vampires, to present a highly-detailed setting geared towards role-play, but which is open to all with Payment Information on File.

Offering multiple opportunities for exploration and photography, the regions do have some access rules, perhaps the most important of which are likely to be: visitors are asked not to intrude into any role-play that may be in progress; child avatars are (not allowed, and visitors need to have Payment Information on File.

The regions draw upon on various elements of Oriental mythology – Yanluo Wang, the Chinese God of Death and Ruler of the Fifth Court of Diyu (Hell); the Jade Emperor, Ruler of Heaven, Creator of the Universe, member of the Sanqing (the supreme Doaist dynasty) and Lord of the Imperial Court; Akuma, the Japanese fire demon, and so on, as well as on the mythology of vampires.

Long Feng and Akuma – Akuma, March 2022

To understand the back-story to the estate / role-play, it is probably is easiest to refer to refer to the introduction on the estate’s website (roughly translated from Spanish):

I welcome you to the great Courts of the Yellow Emperor and the Jade Emperor.
We are in an age when China has been unified under the great Song Dynasty, and Japan in shines within the Heian period, the last classical era of that country.
A long time ago, so long in fact that no one remembers exactly when anymore, there was a war between the heavenly gods led by the Jade Emperor and the demons commanded by Yanluo. After days of battle heaven defeated the demons and confined them back to hell.
Today these two cities rise above the place where the battle occurred and beneath the place of heaven where the Jade Emperor triumphed. They are the cities of Long Feng and Akuma, and they are where we live this adventure of which you will be an active part, as you decide how your destiny takes you along different paths.

As a part of this, a core of the role-play is focused on vampires reborn, who use Oriental techniques – meditation, kōan / gōng’àn, singing, with a touch of Hinduism through the paths of Dhama – to regain their karma and reach a state of peace.

Long Feng and Akuma – Long Feng, March 2022

The regions share a common landing zone that actually straddles the boundary between them. This takes the form of a graveyard (remember the vampire twist), with each region having its own specific landing point within the graveyard such that visitors using either safely without risk of actually hitting the boundary between the two.

Located on a high table of rock, the landing zone connects to each region by means of paths that switchback their way down from the flat height to the north and south sides of the plateau. From the base of the plateau, visitors can make their way to either city by means of tracks and paths and, in the case of Akuma, by means of bridges.

Long Feng and Akuma – Akuma, March 2022

Within them, the two cities offer a mix of Japanese (Akuma) and Chinese (Long Feng) styles, with the two regions, each of which leverages the Full private island LI bonus, offering a good mix of land and water.

Of the two cities, Akuma is perhaps the more spacious feeling, occupying as it does pretty much all of the region on which it sits. The south-west of the city has its own port, watched over by what appears to be a large Japanese-style fort / clan house, beyond which lies a combat training ground (whilst secondary to the overall themes of role-play in the regions, I gather the SHyJ combat system is the permitted system within the estate). A multi-level palace rises to the north-west, complete with gardens and water features, and Onsen, while to the east are houses and places of business.

Long Feng and Akuma – Akuma, March 2022

To the south, the city of Long Feng is more crowded to the east, houses and businesses gathered around narrow streets and overlooking small sandy beaches. To the west, across a narrow channel of water, sits a large palace backed by a tall pagoda with a walled garden and temple alongside. These noble houses are split between men only and women only.

The majority of the buildings and rooms are furnished throughout both regions, further adding to the photogenic natures of both regions, while presenting much to see for everyone. There are also lots of engaging spots to be found throughout, such as places to mediate, little shrines where travellers can pray, while those who take a boat can make their way to the island of the Celestial Dragon. Or, if preferred, people can just watch the local panda within Long Feng. For those who don’t like walking, a horse rezzer can be found alongside the trail leading from the landing zone to the city of Long Feng.

Long Feng and Akuma – Long Feng, March 2022

What struck me about the estate was not only the richness of detail – and in places this can take its toll on a system, although not excessively so if you’re prepared to make some adjustments – was the sheer friendliness of the people running it; those I encountered were friendly, chatty and only too happy to offer a guided tour, if required.

There will be an official opening concert featuring Tia Rungray performing live in the palace in Akuma on Saturday, March 19th, 2022, and visitors are welcome to attend.

Long Feng and Akuma – Long Feng, March 2022

Richly detailed, rounded by a complimentary sound scape, Long Feng and Akuma make for a richly engaging visit whether or not the role-play is of interest, and I’d like to thank Xue Starlight for the invitation to visit, and to him and the core builder of the estate, SHyJbuilder, for their time in chatting to me journey my visits.

SLurl Details

Both Long Feng and Akuma are rated Adult.

Discovering Cayla’s digital portraiture in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
St Elizabeth Gallery: Cayla

I recently received an invitation to view an exhibition of art at St. Elizabeth’s Gallery, featuring the work of Cayla (YumiYukimura). Whilst untitled, the exhibition focuses on avatar portraits primarily, but not exclusively, featuring her own avatar.

To be honest, I don’t remember having encountered Cayla’s work previously, so rather than having me drone on about her work,  I’ll offer her own statement that accompanies the exhibition:

St Elizabeth Gallery: Cayla
I have been a photographer since 16, working for my high school chronicling high school events. Always with an interest in art and an education in photography, I have done several exhibitions of my work. Recently I have been concentrating on Second Life avatar portraits.
I input details, of what I am trying to achieve, into an AI program to create unique, one of a kind, backdrops. The avatars are posed in front of these backdrops with the intent of blending the avatar into the backdrop to produce a painterly portrait with sensitive handling of light that evokes a sense of magic and wonder. The avi is meant to mesh with the backdrop to present a more realistic looking environmental portrait using light and shadows, depth of field, colour, outfit, and pose.

– Cayla (YumiYukimura)

St Elizabeth Gallery: Cayla

The result is a collection of more than 30 piece spread across the ground and mezzanine levels of the gallery, all of which tell a story within a portrait (although not some might be considered as NSFW). While most of the images feature Cayla’s avatar, there are a number featuring friends, but all of them – as Cayla notes – have been addressed and posed in a manner to work with the backdrops Cayla has generated and imported into Second Life.

For me, the attractiveness of these pieces is the manner in which they evoke a story and / or a period, although I’d perhaps have liked to see some of the images in a slightly larger format just to be able to fully appreciate the detailing of the backdrops and gain a greater sense of presence with the characters Cayla offers.

St Elizabeth Gallery: Cayla

Captivating and rich in content, these are images that, for me, came as an engaging introduction to Cayla’s art, and I look forward to seeing more.

SLurl Details