Quick Pic - Machinima Studios

My breath was taken away at Machinama Studios (SLurl). Very impressive. I hope to get more time to explore here and a couple other places I learned about from the Lucky Kitty Crew group today. A guided tour is available at the entrance, but I'm going to need a handy translator as I don't read Japanese. I don't know what the rest of the place is about yet. I'll explore until my wife logs in tonight. From what I saw on the tour and this impressive sculpture I have to automatically recommend a visit.

Rezzable: Tunnel of Light

Silly me, I didn't grab any shots of the actual entrance for Tunnel of Light, another great Rezzable sim in the Second Life™ world. When you first arrive you are in a pleasant, park-like setting where signs direct you to click a paper boat floating on a small pond. Suddenly you find yourself plummeting down a shaft of lights (a vertical tunnel ... get it?) and you land at this amusement park-style dark ride staging queue. From here you summon a teacup in which you (alone, with friends, or in a special cup with a sweetie) ride through various marvelously lighted tunnels. As you are told in several places, the viewer feature glow (sometimes called renderglow) is the highlight (pun intended) in all it's neon-y glory for the next six or so minutes.

The teacup floats on a ribbon of shifting light from the departure area to a fantasy pond of Lilly pads and dragonflies. Use this interstitial time to try the big red button in the teacup. It lets you pause the ride so you can take a look around. You can cam as you normally do but mostly you'll find yourself enjoying the default view, occasionally using the left and right arrow keys. If you are like me, you'll take several rides to look around in different ways. Next time I visit I plan on using Mouselook for the whole trip.

The pond is very pretty and quite relaxing especially after the anticipation in the first tunnel. You'll find yourself wondering which elements are particles and which are prims with glow. This area is rather tame but it is a nice introduction to the attraction. Unlike the initial fall when you touch the paper boat surface-side, this is not "in your face" spectacular, rather merely spectacular in scope and design. Like all Rezzable sims, art is the clear focus at the Tunnel of Light.

After another tunnel the stream of light takes you into a forest where you will again wonder where glow ends and particles begin. Don't worry about it. Enjoy the view and look for the little froggies on the tree's trunks. If you don't see them, try the teacup's pause button and look around. If you would rather just enjoy the ride there are several ways to come back to this area (or other areas) for longer explorations. I haven't tried leaving the teacup, but I imagine the vehicle would disappear if I did and I'd have to use the room's teleporters to get out.

Each part of the attraction has a set of teleporters (just touch to go) that will take you to the room of your choice or to the ride entrance. As you see in this picture it is easy to tell which room is which, the glowing mini-worlds cleverly representing a location. It is hard to see here, but that is a paper boat on the far right pillar. Second from the left takes you back to the dragonfly pond. Wandering around on foot while others float by in teacups is strange and I worried that I was marring their experience, but no one complained. Actually, most everyone was friendly and at least said "hello." But who doesn't like an adorable lioness?

The stream of light takes a spectacular ride to the stars and if you ever get vertigo in-world, this is a place where you might want to be careful how and where you look. I rather enjoyed it, though, and often paused the ride at this point just to "float" about. When I come across virtual engineering like this I tend to toss my head into my hands crying why can't I be this clever? This is a ton of scripting and planning and my hat is off to the builders.

As you might guess from the motion of the teacup and the background becoming a starry sky, you are headed into space. This is my favorite part of the whole ride. I pause and cam about eagerly and then I use the teleporters to come back and hang out for long periods, usually flying around. The teacup seems to spend more time here than in the other parts of the ride, either in my imagination or by design, but either way I'm very pleased. I liked this room so much I used it for the backdrop of my Iron Man Fan Art Contest entry (seen here).

The next destination, the last part of the ride, is also fun to fly around in but it can be very, very disorienting. A friend went with me on one trip and she couldn't spend much time in this room. The glowing lines spin and sway and seem to pulse all around you. I can see why this was not the the introduction to the ride. The far less intense dragonfly pond is a better start, but this is far more spectacular. Not immediately apparent ... perhaps because of the visual overload ... is that one can pass through the arch marked Haze (shown here).

It takes you through a somewhat disappointing hallway with some neon-like art and eventually into a dance club filled with glow - Club Haze. Look around carefully for a box of free dance attachments. Some are the usual particle sticks that you can get most anywhere, but some are (at least to me) new items and use glow. You will find a paper boat here that takes you to a nice little store and from there you can go back out to the first paper boat and take the ride again.

The store features artwork created to emphasize the glow feature and some really great wings that also use glow. I'm eyeing up a great pair in this picture and looking through my inventory all while asking myself do I need another pair of wings? I still haven't bought them as L$500 seems like a lot of money to me. And with all the face lights, body lights, and poor lighting designs in Second Life it would be hard to enjoy these as much as I think I could. But, you never know. I might get them on my next visit.

From what I found "outside" the planned visitor area, I will need to stop back again and again. The builder area has some really spectacular in-progress items and I hope that they find their way to the store as well as the ride. Explore Explore Explore! You might be surprised (and quite pleased) with what you will find.

Svarga ('nuff said)

Tatero Nino has a nice post at Massively about one of my favorite spots in Second Life™, Svarga! Eventually I'll do a post about this fabulous place, but for now just enjoy some of the the (pre-Windlight®) pix that I've taken over the past year.

Grendel's Children

There is no way on Earth or anywhere that I can cover Grendel's Children in a single post. Like the Isle of Lesbos, you will probably see me writing often about this amazing place. Despite covering four sims, Grendel's can be though of as three places: The airborne store, with it's amazing array of affordably-priced, high-quality avatars; the community structure, not to be confused with the loyal following called "Grendel's Wanderers," I refer to the wonderful places to explore around the store, such as the library, the greenhouse, and the art gallery; and the desert eco-system at ground level and below.

When I was dashing around looking for Shansu (more later) I ran across this, er, wall, for lack of a better term. Flea Bussy and crew have created an amazing space to hold the store and then gone beyond that in several ways. First of which is the highly-detailed and unique style. To me it is tribal, tech, and inspiring. You will find examples of these -- I guess they are horns -- everywhere, but this is the largest collection. These folks build for effect, not just utility. The rock walls you see extend down and are the base for the hovering collection of buildings that make up the store and community environment. And all around you will find places to sit but likely you will want to keep moving to see it all. Don't. Take it slow and see everything. You can -- and will -- come back.

In the center of what I call the greenhouse is this great statue. Seeing it I know in my heart that someone sat down and wrote a mythology to explain everything. This is no rez-and-texture build. Inside the greenhouse is a nice pond you should explore. Just remember to bring a dive buddy. Safety first and sharing the fun is always good. You may also find a hatching spot for the fabled Drakelet Hatching activity that crosses all four sims and leads you to great places like this.

While I was outside, setting up my next picture, I crashed, but I took a screenshot to preserve at least a little of the view. I was setting my draw distance to show all the "boats" when I went boom, but as you can see here some wonderful builds are outside the buildings, too. If you go in only to buy avatars or accessories and don't explore you will miss many great things. Click the picture for a larger view and you will see me floating some 250 meters above the ground. That means these sailing ships ride the air! Well, I'm guessing they never leave port, but it is almost as much fun to climb around them as real life boats. When you first enter Grendel's you will receive a rules card and inside it is a "flight feather" to help you fly at this altitude.

But I went to see Shansu the dragon. I think that is her name. It is a complete guess based on a bottle of barbecue sauce I bought in the store there. This is a picture of me with her from last year. It was pure luck that led me to her then and I was awestruck. Sadly I didn't find her today, but I'll keep looking. The Second Life™ environment means that change can come swiftly and drastically so she might be gone. That would be a shame, really, and if so I certainly hope she is locked safely in someones inventory.

Future posts will have more pictures from inside and around the store, but I will also post some of ground level. The desert and caverns below are magnificent, so whenever you are inside Grendel's, look for a window or a ledge and jump.

Information Center (I guess they have info there)

Pachinko, the Sport of Kings! Okies, it's not a sport and I have no idea if kings play it, but the few times I've played have been fun. I can see how it can become addictive. For those who might agree, you can now visit the Informtion Center (SLurl) to play. The island is made to resemble a pachinko machine, as you can see, but you don't play on the sim.

You play in a giant pachinko machine at the northern edge. Essentially, you become the ball that is thrown to the top of the board and then you bounce downward. If luck (and a little skill) falls in your favor then you will win one of several prizes, including an avatar. Most signs in the sim can be changed to English if you don't read Japanese.

Explore around and you'll find some free shirts and a place to "camp" for other goodies. As you go around, at some altitude in the south-west corner is a cool sculpture and a shopping cart that zooms around a platform. Don't ask me why. Just be amused.

On a side note, some the pictures were taken with the Advanced Sky Editor on "other than normal" settings. I like to play.

The Isle of Lesbos: Part I

In Second Life, I work at a wonderful place called the Isle of Lesbos (SLurl). Well, work is not entirely correct. Really I play there and the results usually appear that I had actually worked.

This first picture, for example, shows me working. I'm fine-tuning the 7Seas fishing setup for the mall. It took over an hour of hard relaxing to make sure everything was just right.

In the next picture, Janeforyou Barbara, the sim owner (and Miss Jane to all us who love her) is reviewing my work right around sunrise. She, too, was tireless in her quest for perfection.

Sunrise is the key to the Isle's dance club, hence the name Sunrise Dock and Club. Events are held here almost every day, often a couple times each day, and everyone has a chance to walk away with at least L$500. On Saturdays the prize is L$3000!

Another view of The Dock with the sun position changed. That is me on the left. I'm not hosting this event, but I do host the Saturday events. This is the only "job" I have at the Isle that has regular pay. Bouncing in the air there is DJ Kuthola Homewood. She rawks!


Another 7Seas fishin' spot has been put on the beach. If you look in the water you'll see some fishies! I hope to hold tournaments here and build the traffic to the Isle. Well, that and build traffic to other parts of the Isle, too. Many girls (yes, it's an all-female resort) visit The Dock and nowhere else. Yet there is so much more to see.

Like the Jungle! When the Isle was remodeled last year I was honored to be asked to help. This waterfall and the basic landscaping for the Jungle was one of my first projects. Recently I was asked by "Chief Architect" Threshin Barnett to enhance the waterfall. If you get a chance to visit, try walking through the falls. Near the Jungle is a bath house with some nice animations for those inclined to be intimate. Mostly, though, this area is designed to be romantic and relaxing. And you can even fish here.

Above the falls is my pride and joy. Really, it isn't much if you are looking for spectacular, jaw-dropping, or an engineering marvel. But it is (IMHO) a really nice Winter skating pond. I was given free reign to terraform (so long as I added the waterfall to the Jungle) and even encouraged to expand. What I really love is the ice. Again, not a difficult build but so few people make seamless semi-transparent ice when they make frozen water. Look around for the hidden wolf's head. And the sunken boat for a tribute to an Isle friend. Eventually I'm going to upgrade the trees, if I'm permitted, but I rather like the look right now as I skate around or make snow angels.

The beach (Sappho's Point, but I'm the only one that calls it that) was not my creation but I hold a monthly "Nakie Beach Party" there. At other times it is simply a great place to relax. A steam house and a spa are nearby and it is just a short climb to the forest or castle.


On part of the beach is Tikachu's! This is a little bar I made for a previous remodeling of the Isle. It is fully stocked and has a great sunrise view. In the pic here you can see one of the many signs/posters I make for the Isle.

The forest above the beach is filled with wondrous things and leads you to the dark castle. Like the rest of the Isle of Lesbos, if you explore the forest you will find places to cuddle and "play" with someone special. Heck, if you wander the skies you'll find similar places ... we have airborne gazebos!

Miss Jane would have my buns on a grill if I forgot to mention the mall. It is one of the largest and certainly one of the best in all of Second Life. Threshin is the chief architect here, too, though I was asked to make all the domes (the one in the back is complete, but it doesn't show in this pic), the center hub, the teleportation system (for both sims), landscaping, the fashion show area, and little things. I'm really proud of the work I did on the mall.

You will probably read more about the Isle of Lesbos (provided you come back) as I spend a lot of time there and things are always changing.