Tag: Exploring Second Life 2022

Sometimes playing pot luck with Second Life’s Destination Guide can result in the most unexpected visits. Recently, for example, I riffled through the DG and ended up dropping into a pair of builds by Mitch Charron; both are located within the same region and both offers their own sense of history, albeit in very different ways.

The first of these is a genuine page from history and takes the form of HMS Iron Duke, the flagship of the British Grand Fleet operating out of Scapa Flow in the Scottish Orkneys during the First World War. Sporting no fewer than 10 13.5-inch guns, Iron Duke and her four sister ships were, for a short time following the outbreak of hostilities, the most powerful warships in His Majesty’s Royal Navy. In 1916, three of them participated in the Battle of Jutland, the only major clash of battleships of that war – and the last major naval engagement fought primarily by capital ships before aircraft became the main offensive weapon in naval warfare.

Within Second Life, Iron Duke is offered as a WWI role-play environment, the vessel appearing to be moored within Scapa Flow. The landing point in on her main gun deck, close to the aft superstructure that mounts one of the ship’s massive twin turrets of its main armament. This superstructure provides access to the below decks areas where can be found offices, the main mess deck for ratings (complete with hammock rigged over the tables and benches), the officer’s mess with it modest comforts, etc.

Forward of the landing point, past the midships main turret, it is possible to reach the armoured steering house and the flying bridge with its charthouse that rises above the forward superstructure. Other details include the vessel’s casement-mounted secondary guns, her steam tenders and general deck details that match available drawings of the ship for the period 1914-1919, all of which make for an engaging visit.

Located high above the mists of Scapa Flow, meanwhile, sits another location risen of the history of television. Located within the magnificent desolation of the Moon’s surface over which a (rather large) gibbous Earth hangs, is the grey bulk of Moonbase Alpha, a place made famous  – and most media sci-fi fans will likely know – by the 1970s live-action TV series Space: 1999, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (and the last production in their partnership).

For those who aren’t familiar with it, the series focused on the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, a scientific research centre, after Earth’s Moon is blasted out of its orbit – and out of the solar system – on September 13th, 1999 courtesy of a massive nuclear explosion. While we now may be looking back at 1999 knowing this never happened, at the time it allowed the series to offer the 311 people stranded on the wandering Moon to partake in numerous adventures (some of them very hooky) in deep space.

The series drew inspiration from some of the production designs seen in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and this is very much in evidence within Mitch’s design, presenting as it does various interior spaces of Moonbase Alpha, all of which are intended to offer a free-form role-play space for those wishing to get involved.

Those familiar with the TV series will instantly recognise what can be found here, from Main Mission, the station’s control centre dominated by the base commander’s large desk, through the plastic-walled corridors to the recreational facilities, the medical centre, the science labs, crew quarters and even a travel tube car. Corridor intersections include the show’s iconic communications posts, while out of the landing pads a (possibly more iconic) Eagle Transporter awaits lift-off.

The interior of an Eagle forms the landing point, with a loading door accessing the travel tube (and thence the rest of the station), while the computer panel to one side of the Eagle’s pod offers teleports to the ground-level sights within the region, which may well be the subject of a future visit. Other teleports will deliver people to some of the outlining facilities around the core of the base.

From reading the notes (provided via the Communications Posts), I understand the station is to be extended, and custom props are to be developed and supplied to those involved in RP within the setting. The role play itself is apparently set some two years prior to the events of the TV series, meaning the station in not under the command of Martin Landau’s John Koenig, but will progress to that fateful day in September 1999. Anyone who does fancy becoming an Alphan should contact Mitch Charron directly.

I’ve no idea how much actual role-play goes on at either location, but for the historically-minded, Iron Duke makes for an interesting visit. Moonbase Alpha is a very credible reproduction of the environment from the TV series – so much so that I wouldn’t have been surprised if Nick Tate’s Alan Carter had stepped out of the cockpit of the Eagle interior landing point.

Both Moonbase and battleship make for very eclectic visits, but both offer multiple opportunities for photography, (although the battleship could perhaps benefit from the use of materials to help bring the texturing to life, land impact allowing; it also would also perhaps be nice if the ship had an information giver similar to the ones at Moonbase, but this is a minor quibble.

SLurl Details

Andorra is rated Moderate.

• HMS Iron Duke
• Moonbase Alpha

Back in late 2021, I revisited Lam Erin’s Cherishville, which at the time was dressed for winter. Unfortunately I didn’t blog about it at following my visit for assorted reasons, and by the time I did hop back to refresh my memory, I knew I’d be better holding off until the region had been redressed for 2022. So when Lam re-opened for spring 2022, I made sure to hop over at the earliest opportunity, and this time make sure I completed a write-up, even though by doing so, I was leaving almost exactly a year between covering Cherishville in these pages.

At that time of my 2021 visit, Cherishville presented a coastal setting that perhaps leaned towards being somewhere in North America more than, say, northern Europe (although it could perhaps have been part of the latter). For this year’s spring, the setting shares some of that past life; it again has a waterfront area, this a little more established than in 2021 in terms of the working buildings that back the wharves, although at least a couple of the the boats also offer a link back to that former build.

However, this time I’d say that we I to hazard a guess as to where this iteration of Cherishville might be were it to exist in the physical world, I’d likely point more to Europe and perhaps the Baltic coastlines of the northern European counties, simply because of the overall styling on buildings, landscape and vehicles. Although that said, there are elements that suggest we could be in North America, perhaps somewhere around the great lakes, rather than on the coast.

To the south of the region a single-track road loops around a small town nestled on the upland to the region, the upper reaches dominated by a chapel with what appears to be a rather extensive manse sitting alongside it, the tall tower of an ancient stone gatehouse sitting just across the intervening passage of the road. Down slope from these, the houses and shops are partially furnished to give them a sense of depth and life from the roadside, but the chapel and the buildings around it that share the hilltops are shells, their presence also giving depth to the setting but without burdening viewer with yet more to render.

The land to the north of the town is largely flat and broken by the passage of waters that drop from just below the town to cut a broad, rocky path north and west until they meet a substantial opponent in the form of a humped rise of land which forces them to branch west and north in order to reach more open waters, which a further, narrower channel even tracking back eastwards.

This narrower streams splits the region’s northlands into an island on their own, home to large, wood-build house that sits upon it as a further empty shell reached by a single, frail-looking bridge. The L of the house are positioned so the wings look west to the low, stubborn hill that forces the river’s waters to split, and the windmill that sits upon it, sails turning lazily. Reaching this windmill most directly is best achieved going via the wharves on the region’s west side. However, at some point in the past, it appears some started putting together a very makeshift bridge to cross the rocky waters between house and hill, leaving it unfinished and apparently abandoned.

Extending northwards and bounded on one side by the broader passage of the river whilst end at the banks of the east flowing stream, is a tongue of land, a branch of the single-track road winding into it. Here, guarded by the dropping arms of weeping willows and the hunched forms of aged trees, is a place given over to festivities lights having been strung from a central raised post to a ring of posts surrounding it. Caravans and makeshift shacks have been circled here, tables and benches of food and drink scattered between them in readiness for music and dancing. All that is missing are the revellers themselves, frolicking through the knee-high grass – although even without them, the imagination conjures the sounds of bows and penny whistles giving life to a happy tune.

This is a setting that has been put together with the photographer in mind – hardly surprising, given Lam is himself an accomplished landscape photographer – with details large and small awaiting discovery and lending themselves to lens, angle and lighting, all set under a spring sky with clouds lit by the Sun. For those who love photographing SL architecture, there is particularly a lot to appreciate within this version of Cherishville, as I hope the images here show!

That said, the very fact there is so much detail packed into the region means there is a lot for the viewer to tackle, particularly if you’re running with settings at the high-end for photography and are not on a high-end system. At the time of my visit, there were also some rough edges that could do with some smoothing as well – some elements floating in the air, some prims / mesh elements with overlapping textures (the stone courtyard around the chapel, and part of the waterfront area), a car sitting somewhat sunken in the road; but these can be ignored with suitable camera angles (if noticed at all), leaving the region ready to be appreciated.

With thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the reminder.

SLurl Details

• Cherishville (Neomah, rated Moderate)

For some reason, my favourite places on Earth seem to be islands. On numerous occasions in these pages I’ve mentioned that facts that I have spent time in Hong Kong both in childhood and as an adult, and that I consider Sri Lanka a kind of “spiritual home”. Another place – vastly different to either of these two – that holds a special attraction for me is Iceland.

It’s a place I’ve been fortunate to be able to visit several times, most of them initially spent in and around Reykjavík on arrival before heading north by air to Akureyri (the so-called “Capital of North Iceland” with a spectacular approach to the airport running down the fjord), and thence onwards by road to the Mývatn region and the great volcanic caldera and fissure zone of Krafla (where tours are available of the geothermal power plant as well as out onto the lava landscape that is indescribably stunning). So when Shawn Shakespeare informed me Serene Footman has settled on another part of Iceland for his latest region offering, I had to hop across and take a look.

For his latest 2022 build, Serene has chosen Dyrhólaey (“Door Hill Island”), a place almost directly opposite my stomping ground (so so speak) of Akureyri, being located on Iceland’s southernmost reach of coastline. It’s a part of the island I’ve not personally visited – although it, the village of  Vík í Mýrdal and the area around Katla have been on the list of potential visits for a future return to the island.

Dyrhólaey started life around 100,000 years ago as an island resulting from a volcanic eruption. Today, it forms a small promontory sitting between the North Atlantic to the south and the Dyrhólaós estuary to the north. Rising some 120 metres above sea level, it runs eastwards and links to the Reynisfjara, the black sand beach that runs west from the mainland, and which in 1991 was ranked one of the ten most beautiful non-tropical beaches in the world, and in 2021, the 6th best beach in the world.

With views across the beach towards the Reynisdrangar that sit off-shore to the east and inland toward the glacier Mýrdalsjökull and the uplands of Katla, Dyrhólaey is a popular attraction for both tourists and Icelanders alike, being a 2-hour drive from Reykjavík. However, the two things that make it most notable is the sweep of the beautiful – if at time treacherous – Reynisfjara sands, complete with their basalt columns, and the a gigantic black arch of lava standing in the sea that gave the promontory its name.

The latter two – the basalt columns and the great arch – are features of Serene’s build, but rather than confining himself to the landscape around Dyrhólaey, he brings together elements from across Iceland (and another from the imagination) to capture the sprit of the island. As  he notes in his own blog post, Iceland has many waterfalls, a good many of which are stunning.

To honour theses waterfalls, Serene includes a set of high falls within the build whilst also mentioning the glorious Svartifoss (“black waterfall”) which lay 140 km east of Dyrhólaey. It’s an apt choice to mention: the falls drop over a set of basalt columns of a similar nature to those at Reynisfjara – columns that have influenced many an Icelandic architects, one of whom built the unmistakable Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavík (a building with which I’m very familiar, the bed and breakfast we use during visits being located a short walk away, on the route down to the harbour area.

Iceland is a genuinely dramatic country – and one that isn’t the easiest to visualise, not when it comes to trying to fit that drama into the 65,536 square metres and just 5,000 LI available within a Homestead region.

However, from the high cliffs through gathering the black sands of the beach around the base of the cliffs, from the tough grass that makes a good portion of the island’s vegetation to representing its rich diversity of wildfowl and birds – and even the hardy Icelandic ponies – to the off shore rocks that capture the spirit of Reynisdrangar, this is a region that does so admirably. Even the touch of American architectural visualisation inspired by  Alex Hogrefe fits right into the setting; while he may not be a son of Iceland, Hogrefe’s  work is very mush in the style of forward-thinking Icelandic architects.

Once again, a marvellous visualisation by Serene – so be sure to see it while you can!

Related Links

• Dyrhólaey (Aride Isle, rated Moderate)
• Serene’s blog post

Hi Inara! Sending my best regards to you – remember when I told you that we had a sim project on the go already? Well, finally we feel like it’s ready to be opened. – So I’m introducing “Bamboo”, and Yu and I would love if you came by. There’s a lot to explore and look at, scenic. Looking forwarding to having you as always as our guest 🙂 .

Jin Zhu (KidDreamz)

Thus was the invitation I received from Jin Zhu (KidDreamz) and Yu Zhu (JamaicasianBaby) to visit their latest region build which they have just opened to the public. I’ve always enjoyed touring their work, so as soon as time allowed, I jumped over to Bamboo to take a look – and it is an impressive build, richly oriental – as is Jin and Yu’s style – in content with much to see and photograph.

Surrounded by high mountains, the region is divided into three elements linked by bridges. The largest of these is home to the landing point, and sits as a formal gardens built around a large building with a temple-like feel to it that dominates the island’s plateau. Facing east, the building sits over water that has been carefully penned by the gardens around it, the water allowed to flow through pipes to a lower pool before which a meditating carved bodhisattva sits under a Torii-style gate, a miniature Zen garden adding to his journey towards Buddhahood.

An aged peach tree faces the carved figure, occupying the heart of the landing point square, which is again surrounded on three sides by water. To the west sits more water drops away via a single fall to lower steps of the landscape – mortals will need to follow the paths and steps to descend to these lower reaches, sitting under giant willows and oaks, houses sitting under the shade thrown by board boughs and cooled by the passing waters.

Northwards are two further islands that are richly diverse, mixing trees and paved walks, houses and temples, gardens and places to eat, torii gates and grassy walks, waterfalls and rocky climbs, stone bridges and rope bridges, snowy highlands and cliff-side shrines, and rickshaws and tuk-tuks – and a lot more!

Such is the beauty of the region, I really don’t want to waste time burbling on here, but rather encourage everyone who enjoys exploring Second Life to make sure Bamboo goes to the top of their list of places to see – and to allow themselves a decent amount of time to explore, as there is a lot to appreciate and a lot of little touches that can be missed if you’re not careful. Make sure as well, that you have local sounds enabled for the fullest experience.

My thanks to Jin and Yu for the invitation, and also to Shawn Shakespeare for also poking me about Bamboo.

SLurl Details

• Bamboo (rated Moderate)

I dropped back into Nelipot, the Homestead region held and designed by Shawn Shakespeare (SkinnyNilla) and Lien (Lien Lowe) to both catch it in its Spring 2022 dress and to give the Firestorm implementation of the 360º snapshot floater, which will soon be coming up for release. Not because the implementation really needed testing – Firestorm look to have adopted LL’s code pretty much “as is” – but just to satisfy myself; plus – and quite frankly, Nelipot deserves to be seen in its full glory.

For its spring 2022 look, Nelipot moves from what had been something of a North American lean to something perhaps a little more European in tone.

The landing point sits on one of two small islands that brace the main land mass for the region. Sitting to the south-west of the region, this landing point island sits in the jaws of the main land area, separated from it on either side by the waters of an inlet that cuts its way into the region. To reach the rest of the setting, people can either swim or – as might be easier – jump into the pedal boat moored at the island’s little dock and paddle across the bay (don’t double / single-click TP off of the boat when you get to shore or you’ll be returned to the landing point; instead, stand and wade ashore).

The core of the main part of the island is given over to a small farm that appears to be split between growing grapes and raising livestock. Given its Tuscan look, the farmhouse and the vines suggest this might be somewhere in Italy – but that’s for visitors to decide.

Across the bay, and bracketing the farmhouse, are two windmills sitting at the end of the finger of land. The wharf and barn here suggest the farm might supplement its income by offering tourists the chance to go fishing out on the surrounding waters, or simply take a kayak or rowing boat out onto those same waters.

To the north-west lies the second little island, another low hump of land rising from the waters, this one the home of an old shack, now used as another fishing retreat. Across the water from it and back on the main island, what might be a holiday cottage lies nestled on the far side of a low rise which separates it from the farm.

With a hilltop café providing a picturesque view across the water to the farmhouse and several places to sit, the pedal boats available for paddling around on the waters in the bay and around the island, and plenty to photograph and explore in-doors and out, Nelipot once again offers a lot to appreciate and enjoy.

SLurl Details

• Nelipot (Safe Haven, rated Moderate)

Inara, unfortunately I have to inform you that Sheepville is gone. Since my retirement, I can only commit to running half a region, and I think that eight years of running Sheepville are enough 🙂 . I hope that you will visit my new location, I think it looks nice also even its just half of a region.

With these words, Micky Woodget both informed me of the sad passing on Sheepville, his charming village setting I first visited in 2013, and to which I returned in 2021 (Return to Sheepville in Second Life), a timeless setting both in terms of them mix of eras found within it and in terms of Second Life, where regions can so easily come and go or change beyond recognition from build to build, and invited to visit Seagull Rock, his new setting – and invitation I could hardly refuse.

Although “only” occupying a quarter Homestead, Seagull Rock captures the spirit of Sheepville perfectly; while the buildings may be more modern in looks than the Tudoresque shops and houses of Sheepville, they sit around a piazza shaded here and there by mature trees and with a fountain sitting towards its centre, all of which helps the setting provide an echo of Sheepville.

Unlike Sheepville, however, Seagull Rock abuts the sea via a small fishing harbour tucked into the south-west corner of the town and from which fresh fish are delivered to the local restaurant as it sits just behind the wharves, and the fish market next door. In fact Seagull Rock takes fresh food very seriously, as can be seen at the local butcher shop, bakery and fresh produce market shop, all of which suggest the local countryside has some rich farmlands tucked away beyond the trees.

North of the square, a country track winds its way past a meadow that has been given over to a camp site that allows visitors to make use of the local beach, to arrive at a set of steps leading up to a country pub – the Sheep Inn. This again offers a hint of Sheepville in its look and feel; and although this appears to be a popular stopping-off point for locals (and visitors!), it doesn’t prevent the local fallow deer wandering out of the woodlands (which are presented as a backdrop image to one side of the parcel) and availing themselves of the local pond.

The deer, together with some of the signage to be found within the setting (perhaps most notably at the Post Office, complete with its distinctive pillar box outside) once again suggest this is a place for be found somewhere in the UK – although one of the town buildings offers a touch of Tuscany in its lines.

South of the town, and passing by way of an arch, another track leads to a small cottage. Whilst it might stand empty, the track that connects it with the southern headland’s lighthouse suggests it might have once been the home of a lighthouse keeper, a role that might no longer be required in this age of automation.

One of the things that gives Micky’s builds a certain charm is that although he uses mesh extensively in his designs – the majority of the buildings are those he has made himself – they carry with them a nostalgic feel of being “classic” Second Life, something that can catch the eye and raise a smile among long-term SL users.

Also, with Sheepville, Micky added a degree of depth to the setting through this use of his own animated characters; with Seagull Rock he continues this theme, but using static characters of the kind that have, over the course of the last year or so, become a staple of many public regions. While no longer his own creations, these characters nevertheless again give Seagull Rock a further depth.

Nicely photogenic under a number of EEP settings, easy to explore, rich in detail and nostalgia, Seagull Rock is a delightful successor to Sheepville, carrying much of its memory while offering something entirely new to appreciate. My thanks to Micky for the invitation!

SLurl Details

• Seagull Rock (Adana, rated Moderate)