Tag: Exploring Second life 2015

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)

 

Endless Summer (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Endless Summer, designed by Kiddo Oh, is the home to her Dead Dollz store and brand, offering mesh apparel for women. However, it is also much more than this; it is a region which has been beautifully crafted to offer visitors not only a store to browse,  but a beautiful place to be explored and discovered.

The main landing point is in the walled courtyard of Kiddo’s store, which presents the first hint that there is much to be enjoyed here. The store charmingly sits within a Tuscan villa complex built around the spacious courtyard, the walls of which are either whitewashed or stone (or a mix of both) depending on who last touched where. Between the villas and outbuildings, archways pass through the walls, enticing visitors to explore the land beyond.

Endless Summer (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Through the arch to the north side of the store courtyard. closest to the landing point, a dirt track winds its way down a gentle slope to follow the line of the island’s rocky edge as it faces the sea, leading you to a stone bridge arching its way across a narrow channel of water to a smaller rocky plateau.

Here, within the appropriately entitled Trompe Loeil Wedding Barn, can be found Kiddo’s range of bridal gowns, a little brick-built café nestled close by offers a place for unhurried contemplation of which to purchase for that special day. Sheltering under the outcrop is a sandbar where a little ice cream concessions resides, complete with parasoled seating. However, to reach it, you’ll need to return to the main island and descend the steps next to the bridge and wade through the shallow waters of the intervening channel.

Endless Summer (Flickr) – click any image for full size

These steps also provide access to the ribbon of beach which almost encircles the rocky cliffs and slopes of the main island. Follow this to the west, and more will be revealed, be it the events stage looking out over the sea, the wooden stairs climbing back up to the plateau and store above, Kiddo’s workshop house lying just off the coast, or places to just sit and watch the ebb and flow of the tide.

Around the villa complex, the fields give a hint of the time of year: grapes are heavy on the vine, apples sit ripening on the orchard trees, and corn cobs are almost ready for picking. A rippling lake of golden grass to the west of the store tells of a summer that has been rich in hot, dry days. A tall finger of a windmill rises from the midst of this grass offers a cuddle spot cradled between its feet, while the rear portion of an old pick-up positioned against the store wall nearby presents an alternative resting place for those returning from a walk around the island.

Endless Summer (Flickr) – click any image for full size

And this is just scratching the surface; there is more to be discovered as you explore, be it the little tram café  or the love seats or the offshore lighthouse and shack as they enduring a very local downpour, or inside Kiddo’s store itself. This is a place as beautifully crafted as the rest of the region; one which encourages slow browsing,  apparel displayed in such a way it’s as if one can reach out and touch items and feel the materials under fingertips.

All told, Endless Summer packs and incredible amount into it, and Kiddo deserves praise for creating an environment which is such a delight to the eye and camera, and fully deserving of the time taken in exploring it.

Related Links

• Endless Summer SLurl (Rated: Moderate)

Update: November 21st: and Mont Saint Michel is once again back on the grid, same SLurl.

Update: October 10th, 2016: almost a year after it had first been indicated the region was closing, Mont St Michel has now gone from Second Life. Tyche Shepherd noted its depature during her August end-of-month survey of the grid.

Reader Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck contacted me on Monday, November 2nd concerning Mont Saint Michel in Second Life, and passed me some – for the time being, at least – good news.

In September, and following Ciaran Laval’s lead, I reported the region would apparently be closing at the start of October, the news of the closure having been given by Moeka Kohime via her Flickr stream.

“I just discovered that Mont Saint Michel is still open,” Petr informed me. “I am standing at the cathedral on the hill.”

And indeed, a quick hop across to the region reveals that it is indeed all intact, complete with Moeka’s *Edwelweiss* next to the landing point.  So what has happened? Has Moeka decided to keep the region operating following the outpouring of support which followed the closure announcement, or is this just a temporary reprieve?

Answering these questions isn’t easy; Moeka doesn’t reply to IMs, and her Flickr stream hasn’t been updated since the announcement was posted. However, questions have been left in the comments in the hope she will reply.

In the meantime, if you’re keen for a further (or first) visit to this marvellous reproduction of the famous French historical landmark, now might be a good idea, just in case it may still be scheduled to vanish.

My thanks to Petr for contacting me about the region’s continuance.

SLurl Details

Mont Saint Michel (Rated: Moderate)

Sorrow, Paper Dinosaurs (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Sorrow is the name of an atmospheric region designed by The Lollipop Kids, led by Voshie Paine. This is a place with a tragic back story (as told by the introductory note card), something which is perhaps reflected by the sombre, rain-heavy skies with their scudding, grey clouds.

This was, we are told, once a happy estate, built on money and handed down through the generations until tragedy came upon the last of the family line. Not anything supernatural, you understand – this isn’t a story purely confined to the Halloween season – but events sufficient to cast a pall over the region and give rise to the name by which it is known.

Sorrow, Paper Dinosaurs (Flickr)

Visitors arrive at the edge of one of the two larger island making up the region, and are greeted by a heavy downpour. The rain is so dense it turns the lightning into irregular flickering of great sheets which briefly illuminate different parts of the surroundings, revealing a broad expanse of water behind the landing area and, through the dimming rain, the dark outline of another landmass on the far side.

Before the visitor lies a pathway, offering a route to the steady lights of a nearby house just visible through the rain and trees. Here can be found comforting shelter from the rain in what I assume is the cosy home of the family who were once employed as servants on the estate. Just inside the door sits a samovar, offers piping tea to warm the insides after the rain, and food is offered in the little conservatory kitchen.

Sorrow, Paper Dinosaurs (Flickr)

Beyond the house and further around the sweep of the island, sits a barn where horses graze and sheep give out the occasional plaintive bleat, as if commenting on the persistent rain. From here, more details of the island across the water can be seen, sometimes limned by the flash of lightning reflected in countless raindrops to form another bright sheet of light across the sky. However, if you want to cross the water, you’ll have to follow the shore you are on back to where a grey boat sits at the end of a small dock (sit in the middle of the boat to row it across the water).

The second island marks the location of the estate’s main house and is, if anything, riven with even more rain. Another track leads up through trees tall and aged, some so old they appear to be dying, to the main house. Or what remains of it. No longer in its prime and cleared aged, it moulders slowly, decaying from the inside out, the memories of the tragic events that transpired here now its only occupants.

Sorrow, Paper Dinosaurs (Flickr)

The final island in the region is by far the smallest. It also requires the row-boat to reach it, and is the location of a little encampment, brazier bravely trying to fight off the rain and heat a tall pot of coffee – although I think the pot of stew cooking alongside it might be a little watery to the taste!

As noted, Sorrow offers an atmospheric place to explore, although the volume of rain might impact viewer performance, so some graphics tweaking might be required. However, the atmospheric beauty of the region cannot be denied, the rain and windlight settings combining to give a very real feel of walking through a heavy rain storm on a dark night.  The back story also adds a further layer to explorations, making Sorrow a more than worthwhile destination for those who enjoy exploring SL and taking pictures.

SLurl Details

• Sorrow (Rated: Moderate)

Pulse Games have been bringing Halloween themed games to Second life for eight years. In 2014, they created Don’t Panic, an enticing and fun little adventure-come-hunt built around the story of paranormal investigators and mysterious goings-on, as I reviewed at the time, having previously encountered their 2013 event, System Failure. So when I heard the news their offering for the 2015 Halloween season was open, I was curious to find out what it might be like.

Carver’s End is billed as a trick-or-treat adventure which takes the turn for the worst. as one might expect, participants are out doing the trick or treating as things  get decidedly odd and increasingly gory as they progress  through what might otherwise be the sleepy little hamlet that goes by the titular name.

Things start innocently enough at the arrival point. Here you’ll need to grab a copy of the free play pack, which includes introductory notes, instructions on game play. Do make sure you heed the notes on minimising lag and divesting yourself of unnecessary facelights. It’s also a good idea to have sound on as well, although essential information is also delivered through chat. There’s also a game HUD in the form of a radio, which you’ll need to wear. With this in place, you’re ready to proceed via the “tunnel” leading to the town.

As Carver’s End uses Experience Keys, you must grant it permission to act on your avatar when you reach the tunnel entrance. The requested permissions are displayed in the dialogue, and as with all Experience keys activities, the permissions granted will be automatically revoked when you leave the game play regions.

On granting the permissions, you’ll be transported to Carver’s End (population 666). From here on in, what happens and where you go is entirely up to you. As with all Pulse Games, progress is very much as case of explore, touch and listen for hints (given both over your radio (local sounds) and in chat).

And when I say “explore” and “touch”, I mean exactly that; don’t take anything for granted, and take your time. There are prizes large and small to be found (with the black rats in particular handing out hunt prizes), while doors, gates, manhole covers, ladders, and so on may well teleport you to another area of game play.

It is at this point that a small problem does occur. One of the really attractive elements of Don’t Panic, was the fact it was structured around a storyline with a defined starting point and purpose. This, combined with the various ways one could progress through the challenge, made it  and engaging activity.

Carver’s End has a similar free-form approach to it, which offers the same different routes through it, allowing different things to be found over several runs through the town. However, it does lack any underpinning story. This left me leaving a little disappointed with the experience when compared to Don’t Panic; there was little to really keep me engaged to the same degree, which was a shame.

That said, for anyone who does enjoy hunts in Second Life and fancies one with a horror twist, Carver’s End will be open through until mid-November; there’s plenty on offer as you find those little black rats!

SLurl Details

• Carver’s End (Rated Moderate)