Tag: Exploring Second Life 2022

On the advice of the Destination Guide – and also to give Firestorm 6.6.3 with the Lab’s Performance Improvements something of an exercise, I hopped over to Sainte Rose sur Mer. This is the 21,000+ square metre parcel designed and held by Dandy Warhlol (terry Fotherington) occupying most of the eastern aspect of a Full private region that has the additional Land Capacity bonus available for use by those renting there, and which I last visited in December 2021.

At the time of that visit I noted that Sainte Rose sur Mer presented “a refreshing break from the current round of winter-themed regions by presenting visitors with a little corner of Mediterranean France with a beach to the southern aspect … and a coastal, almost rustic corner of a town … that offers little walks and corners to explore”.

This is still very much the case with the updated design for the setting, which sits now dressed for the autumnal season. within it, there is much that echoes the look and feel of the former design in terms of architecture and layout, something that gives an overall sense that this is a further, and previously unseen, part of that little town Dandy first revealed to us in late 2021.

The landing point is located towards the south-east corner of the build, at a point where a small cobbled square opens to one side to overlook what might have once been a natural cove, but which has been built up over the years such that it now sits as a home to little wharves and a tiny, trapped shingle beach. Facing this overlook from the opposite side of the cobbles is one of the entrances to the BarDeco club.

Always a staple of Dandy’s personal builds, BarDeco here retains its open-air look and feel, sitting within a large courtyard area now bounded on all sides by buildings and high walls. It has an attractive, ramshackle look to it which is always instantly engaging – a hallmark of the BarDeco designs over the years -, the broken floors of the upper level suggesting that at least part of the area occupied by the club might have once been roofed over, although what it may have housed if so is entirely a matter for the imagination.

Bracketing the club to either side are two south-north thoroughfares which between them offer routes of exploration. The first of these, which includes the cobbled landing point, connects the southern beach and the tall form of houses, hotels and beachfront places of business overlooking it, with a small “residential” area (not rentals, just a grouping of publicly-accessible houses) at the northern end of the setting. In doing so, it passes through a cosy street of little businesses and tall townhouses, arched gateways and tunnels denoting the limits of their influence.

Along this street are reminders of the prior iteration of Sainte Rose sur Mer I visited in December 2021 – the steps gently connecting the different levels of the town, the gateways, the little stone bridge (now rubbing shoulders with building either side of it) which now takes the street down to the narrow little Rue du Petit Pont. This narrow street runs behind the local hotel and parallel to the beach before opening out into an fountained square which in turn links to the raised waterfront and the beach beyond.

Steps on the far side of this square rise up to another terrace, also with its own fountain.  Backed by local residences, it has clearly been laid claim to by cats, birds and children. Steps on the same side as those leading up to it, but without any gated access, drop back down to provide access to the second of the north-south thoroughfares.

This second route is more informal in nature, being marked not by cobbles but by gravel pools and paths which both sit alongside two further entrances to BarDeco and  also meander northwards past gazebos and trees and over bubbling streams to reach a stone and steel framed greenhouse. Imposing is size and form, this greenhouse carries an air of having once been a proud garden feature, complete with its own clock marking the passage of time; now sits in the midst of a wildling garden, apparently now the house of occasional piano recitals.

Both garden and pond – which has a large deck extending over its southern side from the bank just below the greenhouse – offer a picturesque view over to the gardens of the houses at the northern end of the setting. The latter can actually be reached by means of a little bridge and rock path which skirt around the west side of the water to pass by way of an old gatehouse tower. At the houses, an overgrown alley running between two of them leads visitors back to the cobbled “main” street, thus allowing them to literally circumnavigate the entire setting from landing point back to landing point.

As is the way with Dandy’s build, there is a richness of details to be found here throughout, and there are a lot of nooks and crannies and little side passages and alleys to be exploring I haven’t touched upon in this piece.

Normally, the high level of attention to detail can lead to hits on viewer FPS. While this is still the case in places with this build, thanks to LL’s performance improvements, I found I needed to jiggle with settings a lot less than has often been the case when dropping into Dandy’s builds (although I did have to derender a lot of the mesh rain sheets, as these have always been a bane to my PC).

Picturesque, rich in the use of local sounds and with much to see appreciate and photograph, Sainte Rose sur Mer remains an engaging destination.

SLurl Details

• Sainte Rose sur Mer & BarDeco (Sereno Bay, Moderate)

I think I’ve sort-of hinted at the fact that I’m something of a Tolkien fan once or twice (at least!) in this blog, and with Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power now showing on Amazon Prime as a charting of the Second Age of Middle Earth, I thought I’d bounce my way over to Fellowship Falls, a Full region utilising the private region land capacity bonus to present a setting that offers an engaging mix of elements from Tolkien’s novels with some hidden extras.

Designed by Celerdir (Chappers101), the region is described thus within its About Land description:

An Elven & Tolkien-inspired sim where all free folk are welcome. Rez a horse to ride through the forest and over hills and make your way to Rivendell. Also explore The Labyrinth of Light…an underground maze of lights that leads to the Fantasy Forest.

The landing point sits tucked right into the south-west corner of the region, where information on the design can be found – and it is worth a read. Not only is Celerdir still relatively new to Second Life, having been active for less than 18 months at the time of writing, Fellowship Falls is also his first region build; and it is more than a creditable design, being very well put together for both Second Life explorers and photographers, regardless of any specific knowledge or interest in matters Tolkien.

From the landing point, the region is set out in a manner to encourage exploration either on foot or horseback. Trails run from the landing point into the setting at large, while those pressed for time might make use of the stone teleport discs to hop to the major locations – although I’d recommend against this, as it risks missing  a lot of the region’s beauty.

The north side of the region is given over to Rivendell (aka Imladris aka the Last Homely House, the seat of Elrond half-elven during the Third Age). Whilst surrounded by off-region mountains, it sits atop a rocky table of land separated from the rest of the region by a deep valley.

This might give some Tolkien purists cause to frown, given Tolkien states Rivendell sits within a hidden valley – but this is a region inspired by Tolkien, not representative necessarily of his world as encountered in book and film. As it is Rivendell has a suitably elven feel to it, with a richness of character strongly suggestive of an elven enclave.

The trail climbing up through the hills to reach Rivendell passes over a couple of bridges, one of which sits below a hilltop marked by ruins which look to have been built by the hands of men rather than elves. A broad stone causeway, this bridge is guarded at one end by the presence of the Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings. Again, for Tolkien purists, this might seem anachronistic, but here the scaled-down figures of Isildur and Anárion (I’m sticking with the books here, rather than the films) work.

The reason for Rivendell being set so high is provided in the region’s description – the Labyrinth of Night. I’ll leave to you to find the entrance, but will suggest you should take time exploring the tunnels of the labyrinth, as there is more than the forest awaiting discovery, including a further Tolkien echo, this one from The Hobbit, this one a reminder of what lay deep in the halls of Erebor and gave rise to Thorin Oakenshield’s Quest.

This is where my one small quibble with the setting lay – not in what is presented, but in the fact that the tunnels of the labyrinth are best experienced with the viewer set to Midnight – but given the layout of this part of the region, it could have been parcelled and set so that the tunnels have their own low-level EEP, making them a little more immersive. But this is a very, very minor quibble.

It is clear that throughout the region considerable love and consideration have been poured into is creation, with many small touches awaiting discovery; there are also many places offering visitors a chance to sit and pass the time. Finished with a local sound scape (one that can be a little interrupted by the surprise in the labyrinth!) and sitting beneath a rich sky (not seen in the images here), Fellowship Falls offers a richness of exploration and photography waiting to be appreciated – so be sure to visit soon!

SLurl Details

• Fellowship Falls (Aspire, rated Moderate)

Shawn Shakespeare recently pointed me towards Lavender Bay, a Homestead region designed by Clifton Howlett, working with Camilla Lupono.

Cliff is formerly one of the creative hands that brought us the likes of Hidden Lake (more here), Hidden Bottle (which I wrote about here and here)  and the celebrations of the Zamonia series of books by German comic creator and author, Walter Moers, The Empire of Dreaming Books (see here and here for more). Given this heritage, I was keen to see what might be found at Lavender Bay.

Perhaps the easiest way to convey the setting is is quote from the About Land description / introductory note card available at the Lavender Bay Landing Point:

Welcome to Lavender Bay.

A SIM inspired by the Italian Tuscany. Make yourself at home and find your new favourite photo spot.

– From the introductory note card for Lavender Bay

From this, it’s easy to guess that Lavender Bay is a place that is easy on the eye and engaging to the camera lens.

Located on the west side of the region on a small sandy headland, the landing point provides a keen senses of the region’s core theme – as a place of relaxation : several places to sit and takes things easy lay within in a few short paces away. Also close by is a boardwalk that climbs over the rocky south extent of the the headland and the bridge spanning a narrow gorge separating the headland from the rest of the region.

The main part of the region offers exactly what its name suggests: a richness of lavender;  some of which is being cultivated within a large field rolling away from a hilltop farm villa, some of which is growing wild lavender which climbs the remaining hills of the island, mixing its colours with wild flowers.

The easiest way to explore the region is to take the track that winds up to the villa from the bridge, and the path running down the hill from the villa, paralleling the lavender field before climbing the hill to the ruins of what might have once been the original farmhouse, from whence an old, broken cobbled path climbs the tallest hill on the island to the local windmill.

Throughout all of this there is much to see, all of which is easy on the eye and presents multiple places to sit, relax and appreciate the region’s natural looks and beauty – and one or two places that offer the more unusual ways to sit (keep an eye out for the wooden chair being held aloft just off the coast by a single balloon.

Finished with a subtle soundscape, Lavender Bay is another place that requires little in the way of description and it speaks loudly for itself – so do be sure to hop over and appreciate it first-hand.

SLurl Details

• Lavender Bay (MissLaura, rated: Adult)

Now open once more in Second Life is Storybook, held and designed by Natalie Starlight and Nessa Nova. It is a setting, alongside of their Lost Unicorn I have long loved because I have always found both to be personally appealing with each visit I’ve made over the years, and because they are so visually rich and imaginative. Hence the multiple appearances of both within these pages, together with the Lost Unicorn Gallery.

The region started life in 2018 as Storybook Forest, and was immediately captivating in the manner in which it embraced the universe of fairy tales (as I wrote about in September 2018); and it set its tone with a quote that perfectly defined all that awaited visitors as they set out to explore its many paths:

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

After also two years of continuous life, Storybook endured a brief closure in mid-2020 before re-emerging in a new form a few months later, only to remain conspicuous by its absence when Lost Unicorn itself was rebuilt and re-opened in March 2022. I was therefore overjoyed to receive a personal invitation from Nessa to drop in and see the new Storybook design as it was being prepared for its official Grand (Re)-Opening.

It took a while to rebuild Storybook after our two previous versions, but we promise you it’s better than ever! All your favourite fairy tales are represented in a gorgeous forest. Picture perfect spots around every corner, loads to explore, both on land and underwater. Come prepared to take pictures, we will be introducing a Photo Contest as well!

– Nessa Nova in her invitation to visit the new Storybook

Sharing its Full Region home with the Lost Unicorn Gallery – which, in celebration of its Grand Opening is playing host to a special exhibition of art by Jeanette StellaMarina (LoredanaStMa) within its first floor display area – Storybook is a rich re-imagining of the original, brining back many of the popular fairy tale vignettes from that 2018 and 2020 builds, as well as ordering new touches of its own.

The landing point is located on an octagonal terrace sitting at the foot of the grand staircase leading up the great halls of the Lost Unicorn Gallery. The latter is located on its own island around which the rest of the region curls protective arms, a broad bridge spanning the waters between the gallery and the land,  connecting the landing point (which can also be used to host open-air events) with a town square those who remember the original Storybook will likely find familiar.

Here the shops are packed with detail, and the townsfolk are invariably cuddly – although as most are going about their daily business, permission might best besought before any grabbing and cuddling goes on! The town is also where details of the Grand Opening photo contest can be obtained by those wishing to participate, whilst Mary Poppins keep an eye on things from overhead.

Within the wider setting are paths and trails leading to little scenes some might find familiar – such as a certain Tea Party or a rowing boat occupied by an infamous one-handed Captain (and followed by a certain crocodile, clock held in its jaws!). Elsewhere visitors might come across Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood (looking oddly friendly with the BIG wolf), or Cinderella, the Queen of Hearts, Sleeping Beauty, the Darling Family, Snow White (in repose and surrounded by friends) and more.

Also awaiting discovery is the storybook circle, where visitors can relax around a campfire and enjoy a good book or two  – although not necessarily by reading them! Not far away, within a little cove, people can also enjoy a ride on a whale’s back, or drop under water to a little mer-retreat – one of several under the waves, and which are connected one to the next along the channels that run through the region and also separate it from Lost Unicorn to the north.

When exploring, do keep an eye out for the interactive elements. Not just the places to sit – mouseover objects carefully, as you never know where you might find a waiting pose, be it peeking around a line of giant books or floating serenely above an oyster under the sea, or something else. Travel far enough, and you might get to find yourself on a yellow brick road or have the opportunity to “borrow” Prince Charming’s horse.

And also in your explorations, keep an eye out for the signage along the way, as many will provide you with a wealth of information on the tales by which they reside – information which may be familiar, but which also may make for new reading for you are not familiar with the full richness of European folk tales.

Obviously, given all that has been packed within the region, some viewer adjustments might be necessary (I personally switched my viewer down to a draw distance of 70 metres – given the forested nature of the region, this lost me little in the way of the detail but did help me boost FPS quite comfortably), and some things might require a little time for their textures to render. But these are minor points of niggle, easily put aside in the face of the sheer beauty and charm of the setting.

Once again completed with its own EEP settings and bearing a custom sounds cape, Storybook is a place heart both young and old can visit and appreciate, and find much that will being a smile to the lips and  – perhaps – a song or two to mind!

SLurl Details

• Storybook (Lost Unicorn Gallery, rated Moderate)

As many doubtless already know, thanks to the work of other bloggers and also Lab Gab, NatureCon is currently underway within Second Life, and runs through until August 31st. Despite being offered the opportunity to preview it – my apologises to the organisers – the week ahead of the event opening was a little chaotic for me (hence the slow-down in general blogging), and I was unable to accept the offer. As the opening weekend in the regions was also super busy, I decided to hold off blogging until slightly quieter times allowed for more relaxed exploration.

NatureCon’s mission is to inspire connections between related SL communities and organizations from Bellisseria and the Mainland through a shared love of exploration and expressions of nature in SL.

In celebration of creative natural spaces and the folk who share them, NatureCon 2022 aims to unite Mainland’s and Bellisseria’s natural spaces and share a love of travel with the greater SL community.

– from the NatureCon 2022 Guide

The event is located within two Full regions on the southern tip of Sansara and connects to the open waters that offer passage to and from Bellisseria. As such, the event can be reached via direct teleport, by water from Bellisseria, by road from anywhere in Sansara or by air from the grid as a whole via the Gateway International Airport.

Between them, the two regions offer much to see and do, and features both groups and individuals from across Second Life, some of who I’ve been only too happy to cover in these pages – such as the Zany Zen Railway (see: Letting off steam with Zany Zen Railway in Second Life), one of the Great Little Railways of Second Life (alongside of Dreamshire Village – see here, and the Valkyrie Light Transport Railroad – see here, both of which are represented through advertising in the regions), and the Nature Collective by Emm (Emmalee Evergarden), which I wrote about in July 2022.

Within the inland areas are trails and boardwalks to be followed (and climbed or descended!), which provide access to the various stages of live events, info and activity areas, allowing visitors to go horse riding, ride zip lines, try their hand at rope climbing or hang-gliding, and so on – and even tickle a volcano into an eruption(!). Down along the coast meanwhile are beaches, opportunities to mess about on (or in and under!) the water, the chance to catch the ferry to Bellisseria, and a special info centre by the SL Coast Guard.

As a celebration of Nature, there are multiple exhibits focused on the diversity of life on this planet, with a special habitat by the BB, a bird observatory, Emm’s aforementioned Nature Collective, undersea seas which include links to external  resources on ocean and aquatic life conservation, and information boards a-plenty found throughout the regions, offering visitor plenty of opportunities to learn more about nature, conservation, and about communities across Second Life. In all, the event has involved the collaboration of some 60 people, including the Moles of the LDPW, and Mainland communities such as Bay City, and famous Mainland sites such as Mount Campion (see here and here for more) as well as those already mentioned.

From the main info hubs, visitors are free to wander as they will; the trails and boardwalks offer the most direct means of getting around, but people can also avail themselves of the ChedderWorx Railway and any one of the many horse rezzers scattered around the landscape and hills – or can wear their own horse, as I did whilst exploring the greater part of the regions.  Those who enjoy a hunt will also be rewarded by a visit, thanks to the NatureCon 2022 Artist Hunt – details via the posters at the two landing points. Art is also well represented through the event regions, with displays to be found under canopies of tall trees, along some of the trails and within places such as the Park Office.

Given all that is going on, a visit can put something of a strain on a visitor’s computer, so do be prepared to make some adjustments to your settings if you encounter issues – lowering draw distance may limit your view, but if it means you’re able to explore with greater ease, it’s worthwhile doing so. Also, for a fully immersive experience, do be sure to have local sounds enabled.

It’s clear that considerable thought has gone into NatureCon 2022; so much so that drawing attention to personal niggles might seem a little unfair. However, whilst wandering, both Imp and I couldn’t help but feel while undoubtedly useful in some places, the boardwalks within the setting were in others a trifle over-used; this is a nature reserve after all, so why c;lutter so much of the landscape with (what felt like in places to be acres of) wooden planking? And while not exclusively affiliated with the Mainland, given their love of all things aquatic and for undersea life and nature, it would have been nice to visit the (otherwise bland) Mermaid’s Grotto and find information on Second Life’s mer communities.

But niggles aside, NatureCon 2022 is an obvious labour of love from all concerned, and well worth a visit. Details of facilities and events are in the images supplied here, simply click on any one of them for the full size, if required.

SLurl Details

NatureCon 2022 is rated Moderate.

• NatureCon 2022 – Ruthenium landing point
• NatureCon 2022 – Osmium landing point