Tag: Exploring Second Life 2018

Storybook Forest – click any image for full size

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.

– Albert Einstein

The first sentence of this quote is to be found in Storybook Forest, the second of two regions designed by Nessa Zamora (Noralie78), and which Caitlyn and I visited recently as a result of a suggestion by Miro Collas (the other being Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary which, along with Lost Unicorn Gallery (designed by Jennifer May Carlucci (JenniferMay Carlucci), you can read about here). At the time, I noted that Storybook Forest deserved a post of its own – so here it is.

Storybook Forest

As the opening quote and the name of the region suggest, this is very much a place focused on the fairy stories and a love of books and reading.  Linked to Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary by a bridge that also doubles as the region’s landing point, Storybook Forest is another immersive environment rich in detail. Like Lost Unicorn, it is richly wooded and divided into islands. In places the walls and towers of a fairy tale castle compete with the trees in matters of height. In others the trees, with paths and trails winding under their boughs, are left to their own devices.

Within the walls of the castle, just beyond the landing point is a village teeming with animal folk waiting in greeting for visitors. They have taken Einstein’s words to heart: everywhere are books of poems, fairy tales and adventures – there’s even a little library in the shape of a shelf of books! Wonderfully cluttered yet carefully laid out, it is the first hint of the care Nessa has taken in bringing things within the region together to create what feels like a story in and of itself.

Storybook Forest

A second arched gateway leads the way further into the region, but I urge you to spend time  taking the longer of the two routes to it, so that all of the delights of the village might be seen – and there are a lot, not all of them immediately obvious. When you do reach this second gateway, you’ll find it guarded by a dedication:

To the boy or girl who reads by flashlight
Who sees dragons in the clouds
Who feels most alive in worlds that never were
Who knows magic is real
Who dreams.

This is for you.

Storybook Forest

As well as a dedication, it stands as an invitation to let go of adult things, embrace our imaginations and let them roam free alongside us through the rest of the region, and immerse ourselves in all it offers and brings to mind.

And there is so much to find here: from Peter Pan – delightfully encapsulated in a little diorama using figurines by Silas Merlin – to Cinderella, complete with pumkin-turned-coach, to Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White (complete with an interesting twist on the Seven Dwarves!). Each tale and fable is presented in its own setting, reached via winding trails than offer hints of other stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood, the Frog Prince and Bambi, and further little vignettes of local characters and creatures.

Storybook Forest

Central to these vignettes is a certain tea party, set against a backdrop of water falls, presided over by a “Deppian” (so to speak) Mad Hatter, with a White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat and – of course – a young Alice – all in attendance. There are further elements and hints of Lewis Carroll’s tale to be found here – the deck of cards with a heart on prominent display, the sign post (which admittedly can be found elsewhere), and a rabbit hole with its invitation to jump down it. This should be heeded for an extra – if brief – adventure fully In keeping with the theme of the setting.

As well as a the vignettes and dioramas retelling their tales, Storybook Forest offers many places where visitors can sit and allow memories wash over them or have their imagination take flight – or rest their avatars while their camera takes flight across the landscape. These places can be found scattered through the woods, out on the waters than split the land and – in the case of a harpsichord awaiting a player – up atop Cinderella’s tower.

Storybook Forest

A delight for the eye and the imagination, Storybook Forest has been beautifully conceived and executed, forming a marvellous destination either on its own (which I recommend, if only to give it the time it deserves whilst exploring, and to avoid any overloading of the eye and imagination), or as a part of a broader visit that encompasses Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary and the lost Unicorn Gallery. When visiting, please consider making a donation to the region’s continued existence via the little book piles scattered throughout the land.

SLurl Details

• Storybook Forest (Storybook, rated: General)

Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary – click any image for full size

Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary is the full region component of a trio of regions we were recently pointed towards by Milo Collas. Designed by Nessa Zamora (Noralie78), it is themed after an elven fantasy setting, routed somewhat in Tolkien, but with enough departures to make it clear this is not in any way a Middle Earth clone. It is, however, one of the most visually impressive and  – when taken with its two neighbouring regions, Faerie Tale and Storybook Forest – creatively intriguing settings we’ve recently visited in Second Life.

Such is the scope of all three, that I’m devoting a couple of posts to them, with this one focusing in Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary and Faerie Tale. I’ll look at Storybrook with a follow-up article in the near future.

Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary

A journey begins towards the north-east of Lost Unicorn, within a stone tower. Beyond it, an entire world awaits visitors. Distinctly elven in design as noted, it feels somewhat Sindarin in nature: rich woodlands with tall trees that support the flets of elven tree-houses.

A more direct Tolkien symbol faces south-east: the great Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings. Carved in the likenesses of Isildur and Anárion in Tolkien’s mythology, they stood on either side of the River Anduin, guarding the northern borders of the realm of Gondor. Here, the great figures stand either side of a river much narrower than the great Anduin, and which winds its way inland, one of three that cut the region into several landmasses, each connected to the next by bridges that invite visitors to explore them all.

Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary

Across the landscape unicorns roam, keeping watch whilst resting under the eaves of trees or in the shafts of sunlight rotating through them. Within the water, mermaids swim And which may trap you in the water if you’re not careful – just look for the whirlpool, and great sea beasts raise their heads from the coastal seas.

Throughout this landscape, coloured by plants and the changing colour of leaves overhead, paths and trails wind their way. The more obvious lead to the tree-houses, others point the way to secret glades and places hidden among trees and hills,  awaiting the chance to delight the eye. Some of these – such as the entrance to the crystal cavern – again carry hints of Tolkien (the gate into Moria). Others draw on other realms of fantasy, such as faery gardens.

Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary

Not all of these places are necessarily easy to find, so there are teleport points also waiting to be found offering a short route through the region. For those who prefer other means of travel, a flying horse rezzer can be found close to the landing point.

However, I strongly recommend taking the time to walk along trails and climb steps lest you miss things along the way. This is certainly the best way to reach the great council house to the north-west. Located above falls that tumble into a slender pool below, this can only be reached on foot by climbing up into the flets of the elven tree-houses. Watched over by dragons circling overhead, it is a place of rest and serenity, a kind of inverse Imladris, sitting above the lands, rather than hidden in a valley below them.

Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary

Nor is this all; close by the landing point tower, at the end of a short path, a rowing boat can be found. Sit in this, and you’ll be transported across the waters to Faerie Tale, one of the neighbouring regions, and home to the Lost Unicorn Gallery. Here you’ll be delivered to a wooden wharf within a great cavern, with signs inviting you to ascend by stair, platform and bridge – although for those who prefer there is a bubble car rezzer or  – for part of the way up – a rope climb. At the top of the climb is the gallery: a fairytale castle sitting on a great finger of rock around which a great dragon is coiled, apparently at war with a powerful unicorn.

This is a magnificent setting, designed by Jennifer May Carlucci (JenniferMay Carlucci). An entire story unto itself, time should be spent camming around it and appreciating it. The halls of the castle form an exhibition space for art. Climbing through the different levels of the castle are displays by Iruki Levee, Aleriah, Ursula Floresby, Pretty Rexen (prettyparkin Rexen), Freyja (Freyja Merryman), Natalie (Natalie Montagne), Luka Henusaki and Efinyn Jinx. Together they provide a wonderfully mixed exhibition of landscape and avatar studies.

Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary

However, the gallery isn’t purely about displaying art, it also serves to support First Book, an organisation dedicated to providing access to new books for children in need, and which since 1992 has distributed more than 100 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families throughout the United States and Canada. A portion of all donations made to the Lost Unicorn Gallery go directly to First Book.

Should you opt to make your way back to Lost Unicorn, there is a path running south that will take visitors by bridge and tower to Storybook Forest – but that is a journey for another blog post.

Lost Unicorn Forest Sanctuary

For now I’ll leave you with thoughts of visiting Lost Unicorn and, should you enjoy it as much as we did, I hope you’ll consider a donation towards the upkeep of the regions – and perhaps in support of First Book.

SLurl Details

• Lost Unicorn  Forest Sanctuary (Lost Unicorn, rated: Moderate)

If you are, like me, a cat lover, you might like to take a little trip out to the Cat Museum in Second Life. Curated by Selena Alexandre, it makes for a curious, playful visit – in much the same way as cats are curious, playful companions.

Currently featured in the Destination Guide, the museum occupies a 2048 sq m parcel of mainland, making for an easy visit. It is divided into a number of areas, again for easy browsing; on the ground floor, to the left as you enter through the front doors are plaques and boards honouring famous cats from the physical world, film and cartoons – with 10 Downing Street’s cats prominently featured (pity they aren’t actually running the country, particularly given Larry’s Twitter account 😉 ), together with Félicette, the first of two cats to fly in space (launched by the French Centre d’Enseignement et de Recherches de Médecine Aéronautique (CERMA)) – and who was also recovered after her 15 minute flight.

At the back and two the right of the ground floor are information boards with factoids relating to cats, together with information boards spanning the meanings of a cat’s tail and ear movements, their general anatomy and information on plants they can enjoy or prove harmful to them.  This section also presents visitors with the opportunity to have a photo of their own real cat(s) in the museum. All that’s required for this to happen is to send a 512×512 full perm image of your cat(s), together with its / their name(s) to Selena in-world.

On the upper floor of the museum, things are a little lighter in tone, with a series of LOL Cat posters – some of which may be familiar to cat lover, particularly those who join in with the Caturday Tweets on Twitter on the weekends. There’s also a video screen on the upper floor, although at the time of my visit, it didn’t appear to be working.

With cat-related paraphernalia and information boards evenly split between Spanish and English (click on the flag where boards are in a single language), the Cat Museum is, as noted, a fun little visit for cat lovers. Just ask your furry boss for time off before you book a visit – after all, and as they saying goes: dogs have owners; cats have staff 🙂 .

SLurl Details

• Cat Museum (Shishapangma, rated: Moderate)

Destiny Gardens – click any image for full size

Update: Destiny Gardens has closed. SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

Destiny Gardens is a fully region island primarily landscaped by Adalynne Romano (AdalynneReed) and held by Destiny Milos. Making use of the additional 10K land capacity available to full region owners (to give a total capacity of 30K), Destiny Gardens is a veritable temperate summer paradise – but visits to it may come at a cost to some.

This is a place that, from the landing point in the south-west through to all three other corners, is awash with colour from trees, shrubs and flowers. The landscape, raised to the south and low-lying to the north, is cut by waterways and pools, some of the latter quite large, the channels themselves crossed by a variety of bridges, all of which make for interesting rambles along trail, through grass and across shady glades.

Destiny Gardens

The landing point, in the shape of a paved terrace atop the raised landscape to the south-west, offers gazebos in which to sit, together with outdoor seating, opportunities to play chess, and the first hints of the art to be found scattered across parts of the landscape in the form of a sculpture by Mistero Hifeng. It is also a place where bicycles can be obtained for those wishing to take a ride – but I’d suggest the great part of the region really doesn’t naturally support bike riding. Take the way down from the landing point, for example: this is marked by steps cut into the grassy banks and slopes, and also by wooden suspension bridges that can end in some precipitous slopes, while some of the log bridges down in the lower areas don’t naturally lend themselves to being ridden over 🙂 .

To the northern side of the island sit two little cottages built to identical lines, each within its own garden, their wooden roofs overlaid with turf. Cosily furnished by Destiny, these both appear to be open to the public. Also to the north side of the island is a topiary garden and shaded sitting area for visitors to enjoy. Meanwhile, south and east, the trees give way to more open land surrounding a large body of water in which merhorses swim, the banks of the pool again rich in flowering plants while water tumbles from the neighbouring upland of the landing point.

Destiny Gardens

This only scratches at the surface of the region’s delightful colour; the use of flowers throughout the region is among the most extensive I’ve seen recently. There are additional places to sit and enjoy the scenery, be it in waterside gazebos or pergolas on a stone patio or bridges strung between tees and bowing over streams. It is also true to say not everything in Destiny Gardens is above ground. Search carefully, and you may find the entrance to a network of tunnels  – but be warned; not all of them are entirely dry!

It’s not quite all plain sailing – or walking – however. There can be cost for some visitors, as I mentioned towards the top of this article. The volume of plants  – even when repeated across the region – means there is a lot of texture handling to be done as you explore or cam. There’s also a lot of alpha meshes used in the creation of things like drifting dust clouds, all of which additionally keeps the viewer busy in rendering. For me, these combined to drop my frame rate to single digits and forced me to disable shadow rendering when not taking photos.

Destiny Gardens

However, this does not detract from the sheer natural beauty of the region, or its photogenic qualities. In terms of the latter, a contest is running through until September 10th, with a L$6500 prize pool. Images should be posted to the region’s Flickr group, which can also be joined at the landing point, where full rules of entry for the contest can be found. Photos not intended for the competition are also welcome in the Flickr group.

Destiny Gardens makes for a fun, colourful visit. There’s a lot to see and find, and there is a grace about the design that makes it instantly welcoming. Our thanks, once again, to Shakespeare and Max for the pointer!

Destiny Gardens

SLurl Details

• Destiny Gardens (Destiny, rated: Moderate)

[Eclectica] A New Dawn – click any image for full size

Update: [Eclectica] A New Dawn has closed. SLurl details have therefore been removed from this article.

Maddy  (Nibby Riddler) has a eye for region design; she has shown this through at least two iterations of her region designs carrying the name of Eclectica (about which you can read more here and here). So it was with delight we received an invitation from her to visit the latest incarnation of her work: [Eclectica] A New Dawn – and we weren’t disappointed by all that we found.

For this iteration, Eclectica has returned to the ground, the last time we visited, it was a skyborne archipelago. It forms two large islands separated by a narrow ribbon of water splitting the land between east and west. Both islands are richly wooded, the trees giving rise to a lush landscape, within which are hidden Maddy’s trademark skills in presenting an environment that is rooted in both the natural and the fantastical, both intertwined to present a magical environment in which it is easy to relax and lose oneself.

[Eclectica] A New Dawn

From the landing point on the southern tip of the eastern island, surrounded by the vibrant colours of summer, a grassy path leads forth through iron gates, then branches to the left as well as running northwards.

The former path leads to a waterside gazebo presenting a view out towards a marvellous vignette encompassing Maddy’s love of the fantastical: a giant hand reaching down from the sky, a carousel caught within long fingers, the cups of the ride falling into the waters below, surrounding the legs of a woman forced to dive from the ride as the carousel is swept upwards, as if snatched from the grassy shore. It’s a marvellous scene, unexpected, a scene capturing both fantasy and offering a nod and a wink of humour. It is also one of several vignettes scattered through the trees.

[Eclectica] A New Dawn

The path north along the edge of the eastern sea is marked by pools of flowers floating mist-like above the grass. It leads the way to a gabled set of gates. Beyond these, a covered bridge reveals this eastern island is not one, but two: its northern “headland” in fact a small isle topped by an elven arched circle, a place to dance amidst the bloom of trees, flowers and vines.

Between the southern landing point and northern isle are numerous points that offer places to sit and enjoy time alone or with a friend / lover. these range from individual seats, hammocks and beds, through a fenced garden with little hints of Asia, a pool and folly, to a conservatory looking north over the waters – and more to be discovered beyond.

[Eclectica] A New Dawn

The garden, surrounded by a ring of trees and shrubs, feels like it has been lifted from the comfort of a childhood story and set down within the middle of the island to offer a place of peace and sanctuary. This is a place where time can be passed in reflection. Not even the motorbike and side-car parked within it really look out-of-place, but more another echo of a memory.

The conservatory, meanwhile, looking north across the waters of a small bay, flowers clinging to rocks, has a more open, social feel to it. This is a place for sitting and chatting, relaxing and just being in the moment. Chairs and sofas can be found indoors and out, a deck extending out over the water offering a place to watch swans on the water, the little ice cream carriage adding a sense of easy relaxation to the setting.

[Eclectica] A New Dawn

Beyond the conservatory familiar pools of flowers in the grass point to two paths. The more eastern runs to a little glade-like setting atop a shoulder of rock, a place with further touches of Asia mix with a little soupçon of fantasy in the glass-like flowers and gently floating spheres. The second path leads by way of trees arched as if to form a gate, to a Romany caravan hidden within its own encircling glade. With its gaily coloured tents pitched in the grassy clearing, benches and little beds of flowers, this has all the feeling of being a home, and place of warm safety, familiar in its bric-a-brac, where cares and worries can again be put aside.

To the west, the second island – reached by a single log bridge spanning the channel between them – is very much a place of two halves. More rugged in nature, it is initially a lush, temperate woodland , cut by a single path climbing west to where temperate gives way to tropical, the trunks of great palm trees rising skyward, while the grass gives way to sand, descending to the broad, shallow sweep of a beach.

[Eclectica] A New Dawn

Dominating the view is a play on classical mythology: a great figure rises from the waters, supporting a great cup on his shoulders, the Moon lying within its bowl. While it may well be the Moon he holds aloft, rather than the celestial sphere, the allusion to the fate of Atlas could not be clearer – or more romantically phrased: just as Atlas was confined to the western extreme of Gaia, so to does this figure, rise from the western extremes of this world. It’s title meanwhile, I Will Bring You The Moon, offers its romantic touch.

It’s a most unusual sight to behold from the beach and yet, within this setting, does not remain in any way incongruous. Rather, it adds a sense of mystery to the beach, one perhaps coupled by the remnants of a submarine caught in the southern rocks. Facing this across the sweep of sand, a board walk points the way around the northern headland to where a beach hut guards the estuary of the region’s stream, perched on the back of a rocky islet: the perfect end-of-day location.

[Eclectica] A New Dawn

With scrupulous attention to detail, rounded off with a matching sound scape and – for those who like music to accompany their explorations – a gentle audio stream, [Eclectica] A New Dawn is, simply, a delight.

SLurl Details

• [Eclectica] A New Dawn (Kymor, rated: Moderate)