Tag: Exploring Second Life 2013

Had it not been for Miro Collas, I’d probably not have discovered The Sand Hills Country, Sei Ixtar’s powerfully evocative creation, for some considerable time. And I’d all the less for not having done so.

I often wax lyrical about the places I explore in Second Life, but The Sand Hills Country, covering the Homestead region of Lust, is deserving of everything I can say about it – and far more. It is not only a wonderfully immersive place to explore it is also one which I found – whether Sei (Sey to his friends) intended it to be or not – to be rich in metaphors, which adds enormously to its appeal.

On arriving at The Sand Hill Country, the first thing you notice is the custom environment Sey has created. I’m one for frequently using the viewer’s depth-of-field to create some atmospheric (or as other might fairly put it, “blurred” :)) images. With The Sand Hills Country, Sey has added horizon haze, together with a “skydome” for the sky, both of which create incredible atmosphere and feel to the region, giving it a rich depth (although the skydome colour might also be somewhat reproducible using windlight) All of the snaps in this article and on my Flickr stream accompanying this post have been taken using the defaults applied to the region.

A sign near to the arrival point (literally just across the road, at the bottom of the steps leading to a derelict house) is a notecard giver. This provides background information on the region, including the fact that autoreturn is OFF – so visitors are free to rez items when visiting, but are also asked to please clean things up before they leave.The description of the region is straightforward, yet also opens the door to allowing one’s thoughts to wander free:

A rural landscape overwhelmed by desert, but not only… Suspended between time and space, take a breath, explore, and enjoy this unique scene.

Looking around, it is hard not to imagine one has been transported back to Steinbeck’s dust bowl era and The Grapes of Wrath, although potentially with a bit more water here.  To one side of the region lay sand hills, ever-encroaching and washing against the edges of a lone farm. While wheat is still growing in the fields and sheep and cows do still graze, things are not going well; it would appear that people are up and leaving, as the shell of a house overlooking the wheat field testifies.

The poignancy of the imagery is evident elsewhere, be it in the nesting box with eggs within and a mother bird guarding the entrance or the old, silent, “nodding donkey” pumpjack. Such is the power of this imagery that it is hard not to view it as a metaphor for the whole of Second Life and our varying attitudes toward it. Many do see the platform as slowly dying, perhaps a victim of its own initial rapid growth as a result of premature exploitation; and this is perhaps mirrored by the encroaching sand in the region, and the broken pumpjack and shattered warehouse with the deserted house beyond. Everything is washed out, dull, empty. People have moved on, leaving vacant spaces in their wake. Certainly, I couldn’t help but find strong symbolism in the fact that the only real colour in this part of the region comes from a couple of lifebouys floating in the water…

Yet here is also hope for the future, crops are still being gown; sheep and cattle still graze, ducks swim and feed – and new life is still entering the world, as shown by a nest box filled with eggs and watched over by a mother bird; it’s almost as if nature is whispering, “There is still hope.”

I’ve no idea if any of this is intentional on Sey’s part, or simply the wanderings of my over-active imagination. And it doesn’t really matter. The Sand Hills Country is a beautiful and creative study, whether you are simply looking for a new place to visit and share, or if you are seeking a place which offers a rich vein of photographic opportunities or if you’ll feeling somewhat philosophical about (Second) Life, the universe or everything – or whether you feel a combination of all three.

Why not go see for yourself? I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Related Links

• Lust / The Sand Hills Country SLurl (Rated: Moderate)

With thanks to Miro Collas.

I’ve been thinking rather a lot lately. That’s not always a good sign. There is a lot going on around SL right now, not that there isn’t generally anyway; it’s just that these things are the things I want to blog about – but the words really aren’t coming together in anything like the right order.

It generally takes me a while to order thoughts at the best of times – hence why thinking isn’t always a good sign. Thoughts must percolate, and ideas form. And it has to be said, that the prospect of me thinking deeply has in the past had members of the family hiding behind sofas and the like, fearing the potential for my head to implode …

Recently, however, it has been different; almost akin to a bout of writer’s block. Blogger’s block, perhaps? More articles have been started and then tossed aside than I care to mention.

I’m not sure why this is; perhaps it’s just the fact that the year has had something of a bumpy start for me. Perhaps it’s just the weather. God knows the rest of the country goes to pieces so fast at the first fall of snow it’s a wonder the rest of Europe doesn’t get hit by the shrapnel; so perhaps this slight blogging malaise is simply me joining with the rest of the country’s panic over the recent snow in my own peculiar way – which would be a trifle odd, as I’m generally a snow-lover.

I decided that if it is simply the over-reaction to recent weather that is affecting me (“unseasonal weather”? Really, BBC? Have you forgotten we’re in the northern hemisphere and it’s mid-winter?) – then a change of scenery and season might do me some good. So I set out to seek out something warm in SL.

Just Visiting, on the Homestead Region of Annwn Willows, proved to be just the ticket. Here is a region seemingly gripped in a perpetual spring – or perhaps the first blushing of autumn – with flowers turning their faces to a westering sun in a rich, blue sky.

My love of water-themed regions is a matter of record, and Just Visiting easily sits in the category, comprising a series of ground-level scenes visitors are free to wander between and through. Each might be considered a little vignette in its own right, given the care with they have each been put together; however, such is the scrambled state of my little brain that I decided to forego any thoughts of stories  – or anything else, really, and simply enjoy.

For those not into walking, there is a cunning teleport system for getting around the various vignettes – as a little birdie may well tell you when you visit. However, I much preferred wading through the water and letting each scene unfold before me. Although that said, if you want to see all the region has to offer, then you’ll have to make use of the teleporters at some point, as not everything is on the ground. Indeed, not to take a trip aloft would be to miss out.

Escapism is something we all need for time-to-time. Indeed, it sometimes strikes me as interesting as to how something like Second Life, which for many is a form of positive escapism in that it allows us to break out of the confines of real life, and more really touch and mix with others of similar mindsets or who enjoy similar pursuits, and engage with them, or which allow us to experience a myriad of activities which might otherwise pass us by, itself sometimes needs escaping from. We pour so much of ourselves into it, it becomes as intense or burdensome as other aspects of our lives, and we simply need to take a break.

Perhaps this is why I like regions which have a number of common themes running through them – they are my “escape from SL within SL” …

… Or maybe part of my brain is trying that “thinking” mullarky again …

Whatever the reasons for my mental meanderings, the best way for you to enjoy Just Visiting is to … just visit. It’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed.

Related Links

• Just Visiting SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
• SL Destinations in this blog

(view slideshow full-screen)

Last year, I wrote about my explorations on land and water around the community of Second Norway – a place I still visit as it has the added attraction of being able to fly in / out of the new airport there.

More recently, I decided – mainly thanks to popping into Ziki Questi’s blog, to continue my Nordic adventures by “hopping over the border”, so to speak, into Finlandia. This is Daniela Finchy’s marvellous build, which offers visitors a slice of rural Finland to explore and enjoy.

This is another of those “natural” regions which tends to draw me in, and there are many aspects to it which do leave one feeling one has merely “hopped over the border” from Second Norway, rather than having teleported a good way across the grid.. Here are fir trees, rugged slopes, cobbled paths and roads and the familiar slanted fencing which I’ve been told is common in the Nordic countries and which is certainly found throughout Second Norway.

Finlandia offers the explorer various things to see and do – you can visit the farm, take a canoe out on the water, share the warmth of an open fire with reindeer or warm you hands in front of a roaring log fire in the lodge – or around a cup of moonshine, fresh from a still by the water. If you want to ease away the stresses of the day, there is a wood-burning sauna, or for those with a loved one, the lodge offers a dance floor and comfortable sofas for a cuddle or a chat.

Getting around the place is easy – the paths are all cobbled, signposts point the way here and there, and for those who prefer to use their pedal extremities in other ways, bicycles can be used to ride around the region.

Finlandia is rich in opportunities for the SL photographer as well. The default windlight settings work well, but the region really lends itself to experimentation and ideally suited to settings which give a more ambient look and feel, although I experimented with a range of options and settings as I walked around and through the region.

All-in-all this is one of those regions well worth a visit, whether you’re a romantic, a photographer, and explorer, or any / all of the above, and worthy of taking the time to wander through and experience. So why not go and enjoy a little piece of Finnish nature? Just don’t forget Daniela’s tip jar to help with the maintenance of the region, which sits just inside the windmill which forms the teleport landing-point!

Related Links

• Finlandia SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
• SL Destinations in this blog

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft a-gley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promised joy.

– Robert Burns, To a Mouse, 1786

I don’t often start a blog post with a poem, but in this case, it seemed appropriate, because this last week or so has been marked by my schemes going awry on an almost daily basis, particularly where Second Life is concerned. Following the deployment of the new interest list code, for example, I jumped over to one of my favourite regions I know to be running on BlueSteel, intent on giving a write-up of how the new code works – only for the code to be rolled back …

Nor have recent attempts to blog about another region I frequently visit, but have yet to blog about go any better. Such is the popularity of that region that my PC decided that repeatedly keeling over in a heap and whimpering quietly was preferable to struggling with the load…

Sometimes, however, such upsets in the road of life can prove to be serendipitous. For had the best laid schemes o’ avatars named Pey, nae gang aft a-gley (so to speak mangle), then I’d probably not have stumbled upon Teresa Matfield’s wonderful Morning Dew in her region of Westdell.

The home of Teresa’s T-Spot  Design, which provides a wide range of full permission sculpt kits for builders and content creators, the region describes itself as “A peaceful place in an old world theme,” and invites people to, “Visit the old village, the tower ruin, Merlin’s cottage or have a drink at the old Tavern.”

The arrival point delivers visitors to the gates of a walled village. Here the weary traveller can seek spiritual sustenance at the little church, cool their feet in the pond or seek sustenance of a different sort at the Drunk Monk Tavern before buying provisions at the little store. Geese and chickens wander the rutted tracks of the village, watched over by a cat who may also have thoughts of sustenance on his mind. It is a tranquil scene, ideally suited to an early morning or late afternoon setting. Amble through the village and you’ll come to the bakery, where you’ll find the teleporters to Teresa’s store in the sky overhead, itself worth a visit if you have any interest in building and / or landscaping.

Beyond the walls of the village, tracks and paths wend their way across the region, each leading to one or more points of interest – such as Merlin’s cottage, as mentioned in the region’s description, and in which a broom busily sweeps the floor, reminiscent of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, albeit without the water.

Walk through the woods and past leafy resting spots with birds calling from overhead, and you’ll come to fields of grass where sit cottages and, on the horizon, a tall windmill and house atop a hill. Ruins are also waiting to be found by those willing to seek, rising up against a backdrop of distant hills across the water. There are hills to climb as well, passing standing stones and with paths leading up to a high observation point with a waterfall rushing downward. Here one can stand and watch the sun set between the hills sheltering the bay, or sit with a close one and talk away the hours until the stars come out to share their secrets.

Morning Dew is a superbly photogenic region, with everything within it  – both Teresa’s own creations and those made by a number of noted talents in SL – bought together in a magnificent blend to create an idyllic setting ideal to escape the pressures of the world, and which offers the imagination a myriad of openings for tales to be woven.

As is probably more than obvious to regular readers, photogenic, natural regions are a magnet for me; so it’ll come as no surprise that Morning Dew has, from my first visit, captured a part of my heart. Truth be told, there has been a something of a void in my SL in the weeks since Scribbled Hearts at Water Reserve went away. In happening upon Morning Dew, I may just have found something to fill that void quite perfectly.

I didn’t set out to discover or explore Morning Dew; as I said at the top of this piece, my focus for SL today was very different up until things went a little higgledy-piggledy. All-in-all, I’m glad they did, because this is where the magic of Second Life remains; no matter where you roam or what you see, there is always something new to be discovered, and there are always opportunities by which frustration can be turned to joy. Morning Dew has been a joyful discovery for me, and I’ve little doubt I’ll be back as and when I can, if only to sit under the trees and listen to the birds.

So don’t be surprised if you trip over me during your own visit!

Related Links

• Westdell / Morning Dew SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
• T-Spot Designs teleporter

Not long ago, Honour McMillan wrote an article on the matter of griefing and potentially criminal activities in SL. I actually quoted her in my own piece on the same subject. The images she used with the article were of a place called Rosemist Isle – which I admit to having been entirely ignorant of until I read Honour’s article and found myself not only in full agreement with her thoughts, but also captivated by the images themselves. As a result, Rosemist Isle immediately went on my “must visit” list for SL destinations.

I just didn’t expect to be visiting the region quite so soon as happened to be the case.

Honour visited Rosemist Isle to calm her temper and immerse herself. After having something of a crappy weekend (partially my own fault for being a bit of a twit with things I’m not going to bore you with), I felt that anything which captivated Honour would more than likely do the same for me.

It did.

The description for the region , designed by Nila Byron for the Rosemist Management group of KJ Kiranov, Xyza Armistice and Light Kaestner, reads in part, “The sim is dedicated to the Wonderment of Life, and the pursuit of Peace and Tranquility,” which is followed by an invitation to explore and enjoy the beauty of the isle.  And truth be told, there is a lot to explore and enjoy here, both when exploring on your own or with like-minded friends.

This is a place deserving of time taken to immerse yourself within it. If you are fortunate enough to be able to run your viewer in deferred mode, I strongly recommend you do, even if you leave shadows & lighting set to none. Make sure you have in-world sounds enabled as well to further enhance your experience. There is an audio stream as well, but whether you turn it on or not, I leave to you.

The region has its own windlight setting, but for the majority of snaps I took, I opted to use Annan Adored Realist Ambient, as it softened some of the glow used within the region and which, if I’m honest, I felt in places made some shots look over-exposed.

One of the things I love about Second Life is the freedom it provides to simply just be. A great deal of my time in-world is actually spent on my own, exploring places like Rosemist Isle. This is not necessarily because I’m particularly anti-social (although I am very definitely very insular); rather it is more because when exploring on my own I have the freedom to really experience a place and both escape pressures (RL or SL) and also find space to listen to myself as well as letting my imagination run free in response to whatever I discover.

Rosemist Isle is perfect for this; the woods invite one to roam and put cares off to one side, while the various places were one can sit naturally invite one to stay and simply contemplate. Which is not to say it should be experienced alone; the very nature of the region does much to also encourage companionship, be it wandering or sitting together.

The imagination can certainly take wing here: there are unicorns in the woods, a tall ship, her gun ports open, lying in the lee of the isle, and carvings of dragons abound, all of which add to the fantasy feel of the isle and suggest stories waiting to be told.

And lets face it, anywhere which features dragons is liable to get a big tick in my book!

Regular readers of these pages will know that music plays an important role in my life; it is something I have with me almost constantly, and while my tastes might be eclectic, music if often a favoured companion. Sometimes the initial impact of a region is much greater for me as a result of the music I happen to be listening / is playing on the region stream to when I opt to make a visit (although there are times when the look and feel of a place suggests suitable music to me).

When I teleported to Rosemist Isle, I happened to be listening to Passacaglia by Bear McCreary. Nothing unusual in this, as it is a piece I listen to a lot – McCreay’s work is genius. However, with Rosemist Isle, the fit seemed to be perfect for me given my mood, and I confess that rather than exploring on foot, I found myself simply sitting in an armchair and camming slowly though the region, allowing my imagination to create scenes and stories to me as I “roamed”.

Even without music – streamed or personal – Rosemist Isle offers the perfect means of calming ruffled nerves and soothing the mind of stress, as such I have no hesitation in recommending it as a destination well worth a visit. It certainly eased my mood and raised my spirit.

Related Links

• Rosemist Isle SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
• SL Destinations in this blog