Tag: Exploring Second Life 2021

I’ll start out by saying I’m getting to Curiosity Lake, the homestead region designed by SadyCat Littlepaws somewhat late in the day – or rather days, given it will closing on February 28th. I’m not sure how it slipped through my net of landmarks of places to explore, but it did. So to fix matters, I  suggested to Caitlyn we hop over and take a look this past weekend.

It is a place clearly put together with both a love of, and attention to, detail – which might actually be something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it means there is a lot to see and appreciate and photograph; on the other, it also  means that in some places there is a lot of mesh and texture data the viewer has to grapple with, and this can be reflected in some hiccuping of performance.

This is a setting evocative of the changing of the seasons. The two islands that make up the region are cast with autumnal colours, with trees heavy in browns and golds and fading greens, while the hills and peaks of the off-sim surround have their peaks crowded with fir trees frosted white with snow that also lies in drifts and patches on the slopes running down to the water’s edge. It’s a combination that suggests that while the island has yet to feel the first bite of winter, it is eyeing them from across the water, just waiting for the opportunity to throw a white blanket over them.

The islands are fairly low-lying and rugged in places. Three houses sit upon them, two on the larger, which includes the landing point, and a cosy lodge on the smaller. All three homes are fully furnished, and it is clear considerable time and effort has gone into their décor to make each one photogenic and home to a wealth of ideas visitors might find useful when decorating their own places.

Both of the houses on the larger island sit reasonably equidistant from the landing point with its gazebo warmed by a wood fire – one of several outdoor sitting points waiting to be found. which house you visit first is up to you, although I’d be tempted to suggest heading north to the imposing bulk of the large stone-built house with its tall chimneys.

As well as allowing you to take in the house, this route will take you past a couple more places open for visitors to sit outdoors in the form of a blanket-strewn rowing boat and a wooden pergola, it will deliver you to stone steps that will take you up to the islands “highlands”.

Forming a flat-topped low hill, there are home to a trio of further outdoor spots that are all attractive in their own right, two of them fashioned as little camps set around a couple of old vehicles and the third a tree fort platform. These are all close enough to be within easy walking distance of one another but far enough apart to be nicely separated as individual spots to share times with someone close.

Southwards from the landing point, steps also lead up to a low thrust of land and a wood-and-stone cottage where the garage has imaginatively re-purposed into a lounge, giving far more space for an expansive kitchen in the house proper, and comfortable bedroom at the back, exiting onto the rear deck.

More steps run down from the eastward brow on which the house sits and point the way to the footbridge that connects to the circular dome of the smaller island and its chalet-style lodge, the verandah of which is set out ready to entertain with a filling meal warmed by the outdoor fireplace.

It is around the houses that we found performance issues came to the fore – as noted, there is a lot of mesh and texture use around them, and this did make itself known during initial loading. However, it’s worth bearing with such niggles if encountered as the region is extraordinarily photogenic and naturally invite exploration.

However, if you’re going to do pay a visit, make sure it is in the next few days, because the region is due to close on February 28th, again as noted earlier.

SLurl Details

• Curiosity Lake (Divine Comedy)

 

 

VARGSÅNGEN (Wolf Song in Swedish) is a homestead region designed and held by Camila Runo that has been coming in for a lot of attention of late, having been featured in a number of blogs and in a Destination Guide short video. And it entirely right that it has, because the region is home to an engaging build that is fully evocative of the Viking era.

A regular meeting place for the SL Norse and Viking Society (group joiner at the landing point), the region’s About Land panel describes it thus:

A land in the far North, a long time ago when there were gods and giants, Valkyries, dwarfs and trolls. A land where the winters were long, dark and cold and the summers not so warm either but exploding with flowerage for a short period of time. Everyday life was a challenge, sometimes ending way too early.

And I have to say, having just waded through all six seasons of Vikings, with its re-imagining of the legends of Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha, Björn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson, Horik I, et al, on landing within VARGSÅNGEN, I felt as if I had just arrived in Kattegat, not far from the town of the same name held as the setting for so much of that series.

The region presents a small settlement straddling two islands occupying what might be the mouth of a fjord – it faces an opening to the sea on one side whilst a river flows through the surrounding mountains from the other. It would appear to be of some strategic import, as a huge craved figure towers over the islands, sword held aloft. shield at the ready. Whom it might be – god or man – is yours to decide.

This statue stands on the southern tip of an island dominated by a huge domed hill of rock and grass, doubtless formed by its resistance to the passage of ice down through the fjord, and which is now home to a (quite literally) high alter where blood sacrifices appear to be a part of the order of ceremonies, watched over as they are by standing stones.

The path up to this summit comes via the lowlands on the north side of the island, using a combination of stone slabs that have in places been set as steps into the steep slopes, and short climbs over grass that feels both slippery and wet to the eye in perfect accompaniment to the overcast sky.

These low northern reaches of the island also contain reminders of the harshness of life back in the times of the Vikings: bears are to be found among the trees together with wild boar, whilst a stag attempts to defend its already dead mate from the wolves that brought it down and which are hungry to finish feeding on the carcass.

The second island is smaller and lower in nature, separated from its neighbour by a small neck of water easily spanned by a couple of hewn tree trunks. This is the location for the setting’s landing point and settlement. The latter is made up of half-a-down structures presided over by a stone-and wood watchtower where keen eyes keep watch on the fjord’s mouths, and strong legs are ready to descend and run to the great horn in order to sound warning should anything undesirable opt to slip into the channel.

Within the settlement is a wealth of detail that really needs to be seen to be appreciated, and it is clear that a huge amount of care has been taken to present life in those times as we currently understand it to have been. Humans and livestock share living spaces (making it easier to protect the latter); food is taken wherever it may be found, be it grown from the land, slaughtered after rearing, or taken from the sea in the form of fish or whale meat.

The ties to the sea are also much in evidence: a longship is drawn up at the settlement’s wharf, shields still in place and cargo (the haul from a raid, perhaps?) is being off-loaded. Just across a low ridge from the wharves lies an second ship under construction, the shipwright’s house close by. Could this be Flóki developing his improved hull that would make possible voyages so far out to sea, he’d be able to make his expedition to Iceland?

Norse mythology is touched on throughout, from the little carvings of Odin (some of which stand as teleporters along with the smaller boats that can be found), through the the menacing form of Jörmungandr, one of Loki’s three children. It circles within the fjord rather than encircling the world – so perhaps Odin has only recently tossed into the waters of Midgard?

And what of the name of the region itself – VARGSÅNGEN? Whilst meaning wolf song, as noted above, might it also be perhaps taken from the writings of Astrid Lindgren?  Specifically, the lullaby from Ronja Rövardotter (Ronia the Robber’s Daughter)? It’s a haunting song that both in tone and lyrics fits the region perfectly.

The latter is pure supposition on my part, but to me it adds twist of mythical romance to the region. However, even if the lullaby has nothing to do with the region’s name, VARGSÅNGEN is a rewarding visit in and of itself, and offers a doorway through which enquiring minds can discover more about medieval Nordic life.

SLurl Details

• VARGSÅNGEN (White Widow, rated Moderate)

 

 

 

 

Busta (BadboyHi) has a well-deserved reputation for designing eye-catching regions – so when I heard he is behind the new design for the Poison Rouge store in-world, I had to jump over and take a look.

Occupying half of a full region, the setting has something of a Dutch urban feel to it around the landing point – tall, slim town houses built along cobbled streets that line the banks of canals spanned by little bridges – with more to discover beyond.

The landing point itself is located within a large square. Facing this on three sides, and separated from it by the above mentioned canals, are the town houses that form the home of the Poison Rouge fashion and accessory brand, operated by Shena Neox, who is also the parcel holder.

It’s a visually appealing setting, the square with water features and places to sit, whilst in the streets surrounding it and the store buildings are other little attractions: a little outdoor coffee bar, boats (with sitting poses)  on the canal waters, little overgrown garden plots, while bicycle racks add to the feeling we’re in The Netherlands. To the north of the square lies open water, a row of moorings home to sail boats and fishing trawlers. Further moorings can be found to the west of the square and store, watched over by a lighthouse.

However, this is very much a location of two halves – whilst the west side is devoted to the urban environment with shops and canals and streets, the east side presents an entirely different setting – although still one in keeping with lowlands that might be found in The Netherlands.

It is reached by way of a railway station that effectively splits the setting in two as it runs south-to-north, from tunnel to terminus. A familiar DRD Arcade Express sits at the station, and with no footbridge over the track, visitors can either pass through the train’s carriages to reach the far side of the station, or follow the footpaths around the northern end of the terminus.

Beyond the station is a remarkable garden area that is also part cemetery. Of great age, overgrown and rich in features and detail, this is a place to capture the eye and imagination – and time really should be taken in exploring it, as there is a lot to see.

The north side of the cemetery includes the ruins of the church, with further ruins beyond, sitting between open waters and a wetland cove that naturally intrudes into the landscape, gulls circling overhead.

An aged path runs south through the old churchyard to reach a second square. neatly paved if starting to be overgrown. It is dominated by a large square water feature and grand statue, bordered on three sides by more structures.

The first of these is an elevated walkway that offers a good vantage point from which to observe the square. It looks westward to where a pavilion is slowly breaking into ruin. This appears to form a stage area for music events. Behind it lies another garden space, forming a quite waterside walk, in turn bordered by a rushing stream pouring over rocks from narrow southern falls. The south side of the square is house to tearooms fronted by a raised terrace.

Throughout all of this is a wealth of detail awaiting discovery: inscriptions on water features, the flight of butterflies, the multiple places to sit through the the looks wildlife – all of which also heighten the photogenic nature of the setting.

Definitely not a place to miss.

SLurl Details

• Poison Rouge (Poison Rouge, rated Adult)

Lightning Bolt is the name selected by Valarie Muffin Meow (Zalindah) for her latest region creation. It’s an interesting name that appears to be less connected with the region’s presentation than with the fact that it is likely only to be around for a limited period of time, as the About Land description notes:

Made for a special wolf. A temporary nature escape to explore & spend time with love ones. Full of animal friends to hug.

I assume the wolf in question is Dice Starlight, Zalindah’s SL partner – but the region is going to appeal to anyone who appreciates the more unusual, and / or places with a focus on animals and / or with a lean towards the oriental and / or who enjoy whimsy and a twist of fantasy.

Those who visited the now-closed Kintsugi – which I wrote about back in May 2020 –  will know that Zalindah very much the eye for creating environments that are captivating and which can, as with the now departed Kintsugi, tickle the grey matter.

With Lightning Bolt, this eye for design and attention to detail is very much on display through the setting, although rather than tickling the grey matter, this is a location intended to simply delight the eye and lift the spirit, and it does so quite marvellously.

Forming a curving island that captures within its open arms a north-facing bay, the landscape rises from the landing point on the western headland to the hills enclosing the bay, before dropping gently down to lowlands on the eastern side.

From bamboo groves to walks between tall fir trees and over razor-backed ridges and through grass and wetlands and with a mix of building – some with a Japanese lean – scattered throughout, the setting offers a lot to take in without even getting to what makes it even more appealing to eye, heart and camera.

This comes in the form of a series of animal-focused vignettes, each of which exists within its own space and can be taken as being independent of the rest whilst also being fully a part of the overall setting. From lions to deer to cats to dogs, with pandas, otters, pine marten  foxes, rabbits, bears, red panda lynx and orca, all in the mix. Lightning Bolt is even a place where we can even say, “here be dragons!”, as witnessed at the landing point and up on the hills above the bay. And,of course, there are the wolves.

Not only do these animals come in a multiple of species, they also come in a wide variety of forms, large and small and even entirely plushy and  / or cuddly. The best way to see them all is to follow the path from the landing point as it winds up through the bamboo and fit trees and thence around the hills.

Doing so with introduce you to the lynx, lion and the first of the dragons, before moving you on to some of the smaller critters – and be sure to take a careful look at the stone tiers of the garden on the slopes below to catch the otters.

From the top of the hills the path curves onwards past the strangest collection of sheep you’re likely to see, to dragons that look to have a hint of gryphon blood in them. The route then drops down to the eastern side of the island, where more awaits.  A nice touch is that as you explore, you’ll more-than-like encounter collision triggers that will use local chat to display a description of the vignette you are about to enter.

Within the buildings spread across the region are further scenes to appreciate. These range from the cosy / romantic and little places simply to sit and pass the time, some of them including their own little critters to appreciate.

There are also numerous outdoor spots to visit, from the wolves in their ruins through a little bamboo pond of koi, to my favourite the piano (surprise!) on its own little island where you can play to an appreciative red panda, enjoy a cup of tea and watch the orca in the bay.

Throughout its design, Lightning Bolt offers a tremendous amount to see and enjoy. No specific region environment has been set, so I do recommend experimenting with your EEP setting as the region’s depth can be greatly added to with a well selected Fixed Sky setting.

Given its proposed short-term availability of the setting, I strongly recommend that if you haven’t already done so – hop along and pay visit.

SLurl Details

• Lightning Bolt (New Horizon, rated Moderate)

Skrunda-2 is a Full region design that has – and quite rightly -been receiving a lot of attention since it opened. Held and designed by Titus Palmira with the assistance of Sofie Janic and Megan Prumier, the build is a representation of what was once a top secret Soviet facility that throughout the cold War era was never acknowledged to exist, but which today is now a most unusual tourist attraction.

The original Skrunda is a small and fairly unremarkable town in western Latvia, with a population of some 3,000 people, and granted “city” status in 1996. However, five kilometres to the north lies Skrunda-1, and it is this enigmatic place that is the focus of the design by Titus, Sofie and Megan.

In brief, Skrunda-1 was established in 1963 as a radar surveillance and early warning centre intended to track incoming ICBMs using two Soviet Dnepr (NATO code-name “Hen House” on account of the two enclosed arms of the array resembling two lines of chicken coops). As a military garrison, the base was essentially a self-sustaining town, a home to an estimated 5,000 personnel and their families when at its peak, and with all the facilities and amenities one might expect of such a town: its own power and water supplies, 10 large apartment blocks to house families, a school, gymnasium, theatre, swimming pool, and of course all the facilities required to support the base itself – workshops, administration offices, an officer’s club and so on.

During the late 1980 / early 1990s, attempts were made to update the base with three installations of Russia’s latest phased array radar early warning systems. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union means this work was never finished, although the Russian Federation continued to use the base and the Dnepr radar until 1998, when they withdrew after negotiations to continue to lease the base to the start of the 2000s, fell through.

In leaving, the Russians took with them all sensitive material and equipment, but left the 60 buildings of the town as something for the Latvian government to deal with – and they pretty much left the structures to rot where they stood. It is in this decaying, deserted stated that Skrunda-2 in Second Life presents the town – and does so very impressively.

Titus notes that the build was “inspired” by Skrunda-1, suggesting that it uses the original as a foundation before striking off on its own. however, while there is some artistic licence (Skrunda-2 appears somewhat coastal, whilst the original is more inland), the overall attention to detail and care taken in design means the Skrunda-2 is actually very reflective of the overall look and feel of its namesake.

Take, for example, the landing point at the town’s main gates. It is marked by two aged block houses and iron gates with a road barrier beyond. They perfectly echo the original entrance to the Skrunda-1 base as can be seen in numerous Internet photos of the ageing town.

And while the hulking, featureless forms of the apartment blocks here may only number four rather than 10, they more than reflect the great white blocks of Skrunda-1 as they sit in lines facing one another across overgrown lawns and broken roads. Meanwhile, beyond the apartments sits a low-slung bunker that, while it lacks the out-flung “chicken coops” of the radar arrays, is an easy stand-in for their central block house command centre.

After twelve years of neglect, the Latvian authorities decided to auction Skrunda-1 as a development site in 2010. It did not go well: bids started at just US $290,000 for the entire site, rising to U$ 3.1 million – only for the winning bidder and the runner-up to then pull out of any deal. A second auction was hastily arranged, with the town selling for just US $333,000 – but it remained abandoned for a further five more years.

In 2015, the Skrunda municipality purchased the site for just over US 14,500, ceding half of it to the Latvian army for training purposes and with the idea of redeveloping the other half. However, during this time the town started to attract tourists, drawn by its Soviet-era mystique (perhaps the rumours that it once being a centre for mind control experiments gave its allure an extra edge. While plans are apparently in-hand for the demolition and replacement of some of the buildings, the local government has acknowledged this interest  – by charging admission to the town at US $5.00 per head.

Skrunda-2 perhaps represents the original not too long after its abandonment: old vehicles are still to be found in parking bays close to the apartment blocks, rubbish bags are still piled in some places, and so on, all of which adds to the location’s atmosphere. indeed, there is something to capture the eye literally at every turn, making the setting a photographic delight. And there are also little gems and secrets awaiting discovery – such as the inner workings of a bunker to one side of the town, or the Soviet-era posters and paintings, and the post-Soviet era graffiti and wall paintings that give Skrunda-2 its own unique sense of place.

But for me, the most fascinating little gem awaiting discovery is the one that might be so easily missed. It sits within one of the apartment blocks: a set of rooms still occupied – perhaps the home of the last inhabitant of the town, who departed towards the end of 1999. It’s a quite wonderful setting, that conjures mental images of someone perhaps elderly and clinging to a way of life that has now passed.

Feeling a lot larger than a single region, Skrunda-2 is a tour-de-force in design and presentation; a place that really does carry within it a sense of history, offering insight into a past era that encourages one to go diving into the Internet to seek out more information on this strange town. At the same time, it offers the visitor and the photographer alike a grand amount to take in and appreciate.

Kudos again to Titus, Sofie and Megan for a superb design.

SLurl and Details

• Skrunda-2 (Rockford, rated General)
• Selected websites on Skrunda-1
  • Abandoned Spaces, April 2020
  • Ex Utopia, February 2016
  • The Baltic Times, April 2015
  • Skrunda-1 Wikipedia entry

Golgothica’s story has yet to be written … The detailed, rich mysterious, Gothic landscape will hopefully inspire those who come here to discover with others what it’s story is and why things are as they are. It is an open book, the first chapter is a simple description of the place and the locations. But who lives here, what they do, and why, is in the creative minds of those who come to dwell here?

So reads, in part the introduction to Golgothica, the latest region-wide setting that has sprung forth from the eye and imagination of Hera (Zee9). Sharing the same Full region as the latest iteration of her famous Drune cyberpunk environment (which sits high in the sky overhead), Golgothica is – and I say this without any hyperbole – a simply magnificent build.

Located on the ground level of the region and reached via the main landing point that also offers a way to the current iteration of Drune, the setting is presented as a medieval style coastal town or village, with a small wharf, numerous houses and places of commerce, a church that at first glance appears to perhaps be under repair, and with outlying farmlands, woods and roads that cross the countryside while the high walls and towers of what might at first be taken as a mighty castle rise to the west, dominating the skyline.

It all looks typically Middle Ages on being seen for the first time – it is only as visitors explore, that the darker side of the place, caught in the growing shadows of twilight, starts to reveal itself. The local inn, for example, carries the name The Slaughtered Lamb and has hanging over its door the image of a severed wolf’s head on a pike; thus neither name nor sign are particularly welcoming – although inside, all is undoubtedly cosy.

And what is one to make of the Romany camp  at the edge of town, the caravans carefully arranged around a stone pentagram lain within the ground, or the riverside statue seeming to celebrate the blood lust of werewolves? What sinister rites might be performed out at the henge where fires burn – one within the rune-inscribed round stone at the centre of the henge, and the other at the feet of the great wicker man watching over the ancient stones, apparently awaiting someone to occupy its woven form…

A walk in the opposite direction to the henge raises further questions: what has happened to the local church?  A visit to it will reveal that rather than being in a state of repair, it has in fact been left to ruin, with nature slowly claiming it as a place of her own, all former signs of devotion long removed saved a single statue – and even that is far from saintly.

Across the waters of the local stream, the woodlands add to the mystery, strange lights illuminating the tree trunks, casting haunting light across glades that offer the unexpected, from statutes to shrines that hint towards unnatural acts.

Then, beyond this all sits the castle that is in fact a monastery – at least according to the map that can be obtained at the main landing point, or which is automatically delivered as visitors land aboard the vessel moored at the village quayside, and which marks the start of all journeys through the setting. With its foreboding walls and towers and great gates, it has all the look of a fortification designed to keep people out, rather than welcoming them in for worship, whilst the shape of the many watchtowers that line its walls imply something of a far eastern influence.

Caught against the setting Sun in the default environment for the setting, this great complex is no home to the chanting of your usual monks, Gregorian or Buddhist, however; although it is clearly the seat of some form of learning, given the Maester’s library on the upper level of the southern keep-like structure.

Instead, this appears to be a place where deities of a more forbidden kind are paid homage, as can be witnessed by the Bosch-like murals in the sleeping cells of those who reside here and through the design of the main chapel. And what of the dungeons lying below that chapel, what do they say of those who might occupy them – and the fate that might awaited them?

Two interlinked elements are always apparently within Hera’s builds that makes them ideal for visitors and role-players alike. The first is narrative: all of Hera’s builds from the 2019-XS pre-Drune, through Drune (covered numerous times in these pages) to the likes of Venesha and on to Golgothica carry within them threads of narrative and imagine just waiting for those coming into the region to pick them up and follow them or weave them together.

The second is attention to detail that both helps to strengthen these threads and gives the more casual visitor touches to be appreciated. Take, for example the beehives behind the mead house; a small detail they might be – but an important one. After all, what is mead without honey, other than water with some added fruit for taste? Add to this the fact that the major structures within Hera’s builds are of her own design, thus making each setting genuinely unique in form and character.

I have yet to be disappointed in any of Hera’s designs; they never fail to to engage, surprise and enamour. However, with Golgothica I cannot help but feel she has created something very special, perhaps her most engaging, immersive design to date. I’ve no idea how long Hera intends to keep Golgothica open – I suppose that very much depends on her creative spark – but it is quite genuinely not a setting to be missed. or avoided.

SLurl Details

• Golgothica and Drune main landing point (Blissful Summer, rated Adult}