Tag: Exploring Second Life 2020

ARNICAR India has opened another region design for people to enjoy in the form of Chapel Imagination. It’s a stunning design that brings together art, architecture, water and one or two fantastical touches to present a region rich in detail, yet subtle on the eye; a place where one can wander and dream, ponder and relax – and simply be.

Simplicity of design appears to have been the watchword here, with the region sitting as a trio of islands tucked within a bay surrounded by high peaks. All three of the islands are relatively minimal in size, with the largest running east-to-west, a low finger of land marked by a shingle path looping around it to enclose the ruins of what was once a substantial structure – the chapel of the region’s title, perhaps.

This structure comprises the Looking Glass Chapel Ruins, created by Marcus Inkpen, and The Looking Glass Enchanted Ballroom Walls by Sharnee Azalee, facing each other along the island’s length, with a Gothic archway walk by Abel Dreamscape stretching part-way between them. This mix of designs works exceptionally well to present a place of ancient splendour and mystical calling, shaded by the broadly spread arms of three monkeypod trees, while the older boughs of Alex Bader’s Skye Twisted Tree intertwine with the archways of the Gothic walk.

The two smaller islands sit to the south and north of this main island – which also forms the landing point – and are reached via short causeways. One of these again uses wall sections from The Looking Glass Chapel Ruins to form  largely enclosed space marked by more of Alex Bader’s Twisted Tree, while the other again uses Abel Dreamscape’s Gothic archway, this time interspersed with Sourwood trees before giving way to more elements of TLG’s Chapel Ruins, together with some Lost Garden Columns.

It is this minimalist approach to choice of elements – The Looking Glass and Dreamscape – that gives Chapel Imagination part of its charm and appeal, offering as it does the sense of being within what was once an extensive building, which in turn gives the setting a wonderful sense of continuity as you explore.

But it is the details waiting to be found throughout that gives Chapel Imagination its unmistakable depth. Red-crowned cranes are waiting to greet arrivals at the landing point, the chapel behind them offering a fantasy garden / dressing room, a wedding dress waiting to be worn. Down through the Gothic arches are more suggestions of a wedding-in-waiting, whilst the circle at the end offers an entirely different surprise. Beyond it, a little pier extends over water rich with whimsy and fantasy as Bryn Oh’s Social Distancing canoe sits on the gentle waves.

To the north, the second chapel stands as a kind of music room, a grand piano sitting within it, together with pieces of art and more. All of this is watched over by a photographer who has found a most unusual perch – so much so, that he might easily be missed, thus adding a little twist of humour.

Despite the use of chapel parts throughout, it’s only the the south island that carries any real hints of religion within it, where pews, and a votive stand can be found, together with a curious gathering of nuns watched from a distance by a lone monk.

I’m being deliberately vague about all of this because Chapel Imagination deserves to be seen, not described – and seen directly rather than through the lens of a camera. A considerable amount of work has gone into presenting it as a place of retreat and peace, complete with a considered sound scape and a delightful sense of whimsy.

One of the most engaging region designs I’ve visited in a while, and a tour de force lesson that you don’t need to stuff a region full of bits in order to make it photogenic or worthy of people’s interest.

With thanks to Shawn Shakespeare.

SLurl Details

• Chapel Imagination (Everlong, rated Moderate)

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

Once upon a time there was a place called Venexia. A full region, it offered a taste of Venice in something of a Gothic twist, largely built with role-play in mind – although it was a highly photogenic region – it was open to Second Life users between 2011 and 2015, when it and it’s “companion” region – as in, designed by the same people – closed (see: The passing of places in Second Life, June 2015).

In 2018, the spirit of Venexia returned when Zee9, one of the original region’s designers, created a Homestead region based on Venexia that she called Venesha. Referring to it as a “stripped down” version of Venexia, Zee9 nevertheless imbued much of what had made Venexia special within the mesh and prims of Venesha.

To be honest, I’ve no idea how long that iteration of Venesha remained in Second Life – I stopped by in something like August or September 2018, IIRC, but never wrote about it – and by the start of 2019, Zee9 had moved on to her futuristic 2019-XS city design, itself a recasting of her Drune build (which it was also to morph into over time (see Time at 2019-XS in Second Life, January 2019 and Drune IV: an Aftermath in Second Life, August 2019).

Now, with Venesha, the enchanted isle, Zee9 has brought all the magic of Venexia back to Second Life – and more. Once again occupying a Full region, Venesha, the enchanted isle has given Zee9 to completed rebuild the original and enhance it to offer a setting that is utterly captivating and rich in nuance and style.

Situated as a sky build in order to make use of the better performance people can oft experience with the viewer (no pesky Linden Water to render, which can affect viewer performance, particularly for those running EEP-capable viewers),  Venesha offers an enticing mix of classic Venice with canals, gondolas (some of which act as site-to-site teleports within the build), humpbacked bridges, waterfront houses, narrow terraces, inner courtyards and one broad square that takes its lead from the famous Piazza San Marco.

But mixed with this is much more – the aforementioned Gothic element for example, together with something of a steampunkian edge, like the clockwork elevator that will take you up the inside of the clock tower, and the street lamps that look like they might be gas-powered. The docks, meanwhile are strong Renaissance period in styles (and shipping). Meanwhile, the taverns and tea houses look as if they’d fit into any period from the Renaissance through to the present day, whilst the preferred (but not enforced) dress-code is Victorian / Edwardian.

If all this sounds a bit of a hodge-podge, rest assured, it isn’t. Thanks to the architecture of the region, everything naturally flows together from waterfront to streets, to island gardens, going by way of theatre, churches, clubs, taverns. Rather, Venesha the enchanted isle is a genuinely immersive setting that suggests a place cut-off from time, and where role-play opportunities abound throughout. Those with a Gothic / supernatural bent will find places like the Tomb Garden and the great basilica to their liking; the interior of the latter is certainly not what you might expect from a house of God – but who said churches have to be places of worship in one particular direction?  Across the region, the dungeons may similar offer opportunities for some role-play scenarios, whilst the island gardens and the library sit as quieter retreats.

Those with an interest in magic can always enrol in the local magic school, tucked away behind the Basilica and occupying a little island of its own. For the adventurous there is the ride to the top of the clock tower and a zip line ride down to a nearby tower, where a treat of wine and cheese awaits those who dare – just down drink too much, as the way back t the ground is via a pair of ladders!

As noted above, some of the gondolas found along the canals offer the means to teleport around Venesha, but I really recommend talking your time and walking around; there a lots of little corners and terraces that might be missed otherwise, as well as one or two secrets. Can you find the hidden entrance to the catacombs, for example?

Currently there are no plans to re-introduce formalised role-play into Venesha, Zee9 preferring to leave things open to visitors who wish to do so to engage in free-form RP. She does note, however, that any of the old Venexia RP groups that might still be active are welcome to hop over and try the region on for size.

Zee9 describes Venesha as her best build to date – and while I have always enjoyed her region designs, I’m not going to dispute her on that point: Venesha is fabulously designed and executed, and perfectly recaptures everything that made Venexia so popular. The default environment settings are recommended for maximum enjoyment, but with care, others also work well with the design.

I’m totally up to my ears in a variety of things at the moment, which has had something of an impact on my ability to blog with the usual frequency. Hopefully, I’ll be all caught up over the next couple of days, but I didn’t want to mission the opportunity to write a few words about Swan, the Homestead region held by Keely Mistwood as her personal space, but which she has opened to the public to visit.

The landscaping for the region is by Tab Tatham, whose design work is always worth seeing as she has an considered eye for creating natural environments – as can instantly be seen with Swan.

The region is largely given over to a mountainous off-sim surround that joins with the island to present a low-lying tongue of land extending out into the waters of a bay, several other peaked islands rising from the waters to suggest a coastal archipelago, while the the trees of the lowlands suggest this is somewhere in the northern latitudes.

Rocky in nature and split by a stream that issues from one of the landscape’s rocky faces, the landscape is rich in fir and oak and climbs back to a high table close to the mountain backdrop, a finger of rock connecting the two, a screen of trees helping to curtain the join between region landscape and surround.

This high bluff has prevented the sea complete separating the headland from the mountain, and thus turning it into an island. To one side is a channel that has eaten its way between headland and mountains; on the other is a sheltered arc of beach reached by wooden steps that descend from the flat top of the rock and watched over by a wooden deck.

The top of the plateau is largely given over to Keely’s house, which like the rest of the region, is open to the public. It has a delightfully bohemian feel to it, the indoor spaces open and breezy, seamlessly with the decks around it, and a cool looking rocky pool alongside in place of a more traditional swimming pool.

Packed with detail, the house looks down on a further curved bay, this one with shingle rather than sand, this one arcing to another, lower table of rock, home to a more traditional swimming pool. It can be reached via the wooden steps leading up to the house from the landing point or via one of two zip lines.

The second zip line descends to the north-east and the tip of the headline, where an old cabin, now converted into a hidden summer house – although be warned that the trip down the line will take you through the local fir trees, so you could end up getting a few slaps from the boughs!

Between the cabin / summer house and the landing point, the land is again rich in detail beneath the canopy of trees. Here might be found an open-air theatre, old terraces, open walks, decks and more, all making for a richly photogenic setting – although you’ll need you own pose HUD for avatar photography, as Keely hasn’t opened rezzing the region to avoid littering.

Superbly made, packed with opportunities to wander and / or relax (including the little island off-shore, although you’ll have to fly to it), Swan is a perfect destination for the SL traveller. I’m not sure if Keely intends to keep it open to visitors or if it may be a limited time opportunity to make a visit;  so if you’re interested, hopping over sooner rather than later might be the way to avoid disappointment.

SLurl Details

• Swan (rated: Moderate)

Dim Sum Gardens is a Full region on the Mainland that has been given over to a quite spectacular oriental themed public garden space that can be deceptive in its breadth and depth. Designed by Wee Willian Wylie, the gardens are built around a large lake, and are rich in features and details that can make any visit a voyage of discovery – although that said, it would be remiss of me not to note that such is the depth of detail within the gardens, a visit can take a lot out of older systems; so if you do tend to travel with a high draw distances or shadows always enabled, be prepared to make adjustments so that you might better enjoy things.

A visit commences on the south side of the gardens within a Japanese-style walled terrace area. Here, on a platform guarded by Japanese hunter / warriors and sinuous water dragons, sitting over a rectangular pool water and beneath a stylishly modern Torii gate, the landing point looks out across the lake as it spreads itself to the north, water falling from a low lip in the edge of the pool to add to the lake’s fill.

This is a place where the term here be dragons has genuine meaning: as well as the two water dragons busily keeping the pool under the landing point topped-up, dragon heads decorate a stone fountain on the terrace below, and two more are waiting to greet visitors as they descend the steps from the terrace to join the path that offer routes of exploration along the south side of the gardens. In addition, all of this  – landing point, terrace and all – is watched over by a large water dragon that raises its head out of the lake to also examine arriving visitors.

Bracketed by trees and woods to the south, west and east, the lake reaches north to where the land rises in grass-topped bluffs that arc around the back of a large island that proudly rises from the waters, a couple of smaller, low-lying islands between it and the landing point to the south. This sheer-faced island is topped by a quite marvellous Japanese tea house that mixes modern and traditional design in a manner that delights the eye. Like the landing point, this tea house is also guarded by dragons as it sits over a water feature that is home to fountains and Japanese crane, whilst waters tumble from the rocks of its perch to also add to the lake below.

The tea house is just one of many buildings and structures to be found throughout the gardens, some of which may be easy to spot as they raise their roofs above screens of trees or sit out over the waters whilst others may only come into view as you wander, and some attempt to remain hidden right up until you are almost literally on top of them.

Most of the larger structures are distinctly oriental in design, although a further café, sitting on the north shore of the lake and tucked behind the bulk of the island tea house, is of western design, and several of the smaller hideaways and romantic spots could hail from anywhere around the globe, whilst a dance pavilion on an island tucked into the south-east of the lake carries an elven air about it.

But no matter what their heritage, the placement of all the structures, large and small, within these gardens means that they all simply work and come together with the landscaping to capture the eye and heart.

To get to all of them really is an exercise in exploration: whilst a trail runs east and west from the path leading outward from the landing point terrace, it quickly becomes sporadic and overgrown or broken, although in places fences and old wall may offer hints of where to go. This allows things like bridges out to islands or the rediscovery of the trail after losing it in long grass and wild flowers, to add to the sense of adventure – as can coming across the unexpected, near-unseen house and courtyard or Japanese pavilion hiding within a curtain of bamboo.

For those who tire of wandering – something hard to imagine here – or who simply want to sit and relax, Dim Sum Gardens again offers a lot, from simple benches in the shade of trees, to the aforementioned cafés and tea houses, to the many pavilions and picnic spots and decks built out over the water and rafts floating upon it.

Nor is the lake home to a lone dragon; ducks swim among the lily pads, puffins perch on rocks, and heron and pelicans keep an eye out for unwary fish that might stray too close to where they stand. rowing boats and lanterns also sit on the waters, whilst several pieces of art rise above the rippled surface. This is a place rich in the colours of nature: multiple hues of green from grass, flowers and trees, reds and pinks and whites of cherry trees, and where the reds and greys and browns of rooftops add their bursts of colour to the mix.

With something new to see wherever you look and surprises to be found wherever you wander, Dim Sum is a perfect setting (if, again being honest, a possible heavy load for some systems). Such is its design, more than one look might be required to find everything – as I found out when I returned to take photos and came across the orangery with its piano inside, so well hidden under the boughs of a cherry tree I’d completely missed during my first visit!

SLurl Details

• Dim Sum Gardens (Malrif, rated General)

Annie Brightstar recently and indirectly reminded me that it’s been nigh-on two years since our last visit to Dream Shadowcry’s Homestead region, Winter Moon and that as such, a return visit was much overdue.

Dream’s designs are always places that draw lovers, romanticists, grid travellers and photographers; rich in detail, perfectly  designed and steeped in evocative elements, they’ve never yet failed to capture the eye at the heart – and this latest iteration is no exception, returning as it does to one of Dream’s themes of balancing land and water in a way they is both natural and visually engaging.

 

For this build, Dream presents a circle of islands, each sitting between the surrounding sea and a broad lagoon caught within them. Such is the shape of the two larger islands that it’s hard not to see this as the rim of an ancient crater, the crown of a volcanic mound that once reared its head above the waves, only to fall silent at some point in the past, its walls then beaten down over the aeons by wind, rain and sea until in time they in part collapsed, allowing the sea to rush in and fill the extinct crater bowl, the last remnants of the one proud walls now restricted to the north and west of the setting, where high cliffs rise.

The landing point for the setting sits to the south-west, on a slender finger of an overgrown walkway that reaches out from the largest of the islands to tickle a low mound of rock that has been used as the foundation of a lighthouse (the lighthouse being something of a motif for several of Dream’s Winter Moon designs). A second walkway, this one with it paving still very much intact and resistant to the grasses that have overgrown its twin, points eastward to reach the second of the large islands at it arcs from south to north on the east side of the region.

Predominantly low-lying, the island raises a sinuous, wooded spine perhaps as much at 10 metres above the waters either side, prior to dipping down to a sand bar that shows every indication of being the next point where the sea will overcome the land and cut a new channel into the lagoon, running between the wooded spine and the narrow curtain of rock that risks above the sand at the island’s northern end.

Here, in a sign that the waters around the islands tend to be generally calm, a board walk steps out over the waters snaking over the shallows to pass around the sheer cliffs of the larger island’s northern extent to eventually meet with the beaches that hug the feet of  those same cliffs. Passing around the northern side of the table cliffs, the path then proceeds onwards, using a more rudimentary board walk to step over the water flowing outside from the cliffs as it drops over a number of the great falls that adorn the high rocks.

From here it is possible to follow either the beach around the north and west sides of the major island and back to the old walkway, or pass over the centre of the island, taking the path through a strange ravine and the woodlands beyond to reach the same point. As simple as either route sounds, both are worth exploring because there is a wealth of detail to be found along both.

For the adventurous, a second board walk extends out over the eastern waters of the lagoon from a point close to the one mentioned above. this stretches to where a pair of narrow screens of rock rise from the water like the prow of a ship. they guard a narrow path that connects the board walk to a small island crowned by the spread of an ancient oak-like tree.

 

One of the great attractions of Dream’s builds is the sense of age and purpose given them – and this is again true here, particularly with regards the many aged stairways, complete with broken or damage balustrades, that help connect different parts of the islands. Their presence suggest that this place was once one to a people at peace with both lands and sea, with the many scattered statues and carvings adding to this feeling as one explores, together with the gentle ringing of wind chimes.  Even the singing happiness of an old phonograph isn’t out of place, offering as it does and echo of more recent times past with some classic oldies being played.

With a well-rounded soundscape, lots of details I’ve barely touched upon (go fine the chandeliers and all the places to sit and relax- alone or with someone special) for yourself!), this iteration of Winter Moon is idyllically sublime.

SLurl Details

• Winter Moon (Winter Moon, rated General)

Note: Glitch Social has closed; as such SLurls are removed from this post.

Glitch Social is a public space developed by KaidenTray, owner of the Glitch brand, and who is also a region designer / Second Life photographer. Located on a 1/4 region parcel within a Full region, it is offered as beach-front hang-out for people to enjoy, complete with a range of activities to partake and places to simply sit down and relax.

The landing point is located towards the southern edge of the parcel and sits above a fast-flowing stream and right on top of a little picnic area with a bonfire that may or may not be lit when you arrive. The stream is an odd little beast, lying as it does on a raised arc of land than falls away it either end such that the stream appears to be following both eat and north before dropped down into a depression fed on its far side by more waterfalls, and south and west to were it splashes down a lip of rock into a much wider, deeper pool of water that is also served by a series of large falls erupting from the surrounding rocky hills.

This large pool offers the first hint of recreational options in the parcel. Once you’ve passed the black bear and her cub as they stand on the far side of the stream, a structure somewhat like a diving board  extends an arm over the water, dangling various rope climbs abov the waves, with poses available on them with a right-click. Rubber rings also float on the water for those who fancy a dip.

Just behind the landing point and hidden from it by bushes, a set of stone steps wind up the hill from the grassy knoll between “diving board” and picnic area. Rising along the slope in a gentle arc, it offers a way up to a large house and yard. While this may at first seem to be a private dwelling, it actually appears to be open to the public: a sign on one of the other routes up to it from the beach – of which more anon – offers a welcome to visitors as they approach the front yard area of the house.

A sprawling setting, the house squats rather uncomfortably on mesh landforms (and in one place is in need of a measure of support as it does so!) surrounded by a mix of gravel, vegetable garden, wild grass and chickens. The house is comfortably furnished, again with opportunities for couples and groups to gather, sit and chat indoors or out, those opting for the latter possibly coming under the watchful eyes of a heron perched at the edge of the large stone pond sitting on the front gravel.

Despite its elevation, the house is set far enough back on is perch so that a screen of weeping willow and maple trees hide it from the beach below, and vice versa – although admittedly the high dormer roof of the house does raise itself sufficiently enough to be seen through the trees and bushes from below. Three tiers of stone steps connect the front yard of the house with the beach, these being the way up to the house marked by a welcoming sign mentioned earlier.

A third way from / to the house sits on its north side, where a rock path slopes down to a cinder path and boats docks. The path pushes through a narrow ravine of rock to link up to a meadow sitting back from the beach as it curves east and north around the land. The north western end of the docks are marked by a squat lighthouse that appears to be hiding behind a tall shoulder of tock, rather than giving warning of its presence.  Alongside of it, the cinder track turns sharply inland to climb up the hill before the cliffs, passing between them and the house.

The top of this climb is marked by a café / music venue built over a shelf of rock and looking down onto the large pool – so much so, in fact, that the daring can use the platform extending over the water from one side of the venue’s deck to do some spectacular high diving into the waters. For those less inclined to daring-do, the deck and café offer a further place for relaxation and passing the time.

With bumpers boats available in the waters by the beach, a camp site in the meadow and little details tucked away here and there, Glitch Social has much to recommend it, all wrapped in pleasing sound scape.