By DrFran Babcock
You may, or may not remember my story about the wonderful
Christmas Town that I wrote for this esteemed publication. (
http://slnewserplaces.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-town.html
). Well, it seems that Laura Liberty, a builder I have admired for many years,
does a build for most of the holidays, with themed building activities, and
shops. I figured it would be worth it to see what she had in place for
Valentine’s Day. I was not disappointed. Valentine Town (
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Elizabeth Town/151/170/36/
) is a joy for all whether or not you have a loved one.
The Build
Laura Liberty is the creator of Valentine Town. Of course,
the color palette is what you would expect, reds, pinks, purples and baby
blues. What was uncanny to me is how well Laura works with her prims and her
colors. I was sure that the cartoony houses that surround the perimeter of the
sim were made of mesh, but I was told that was not the case, as I found out. I
had the great fortune to run into Laura Liberty when I dropped in to do my
story. I gushed like the fan I am over her work, and asked her what program she
used to do her meshes. Here is the exchange:
DrFran Babcock:
what do you use for your 3d software? Your stuff is always so coordinated and
well done?
Laura Liberty: I
use Photoshop Elements, and thank you.
DrFran Babcock: But
the 3D??
Laura Liberty: 3d
textures?
DrFran Babcock:
no the building It's not all regular prims, is it? It has to be mesh.
Laura Liberty:
the buildings are just prims and some other bits are sculpts. I think I have
one or two small mesh things.
DrFran Babcock:
you are even more amazing then.
You simply must come to Valentine Town to see this build,
and tell me if you thought it was mostly regular prims. The secret, I suppose
is in the carefully thought out color scheme which cannot help but lift your
spirits and feed your eyes.
The Activities
There is a lot to do at Valentine Town once one is through
wandering around and admiring the look of the place. In the center of the
village square stands a huge gumball machine spitting out giant colored
spheres. There are two ways to dive in here. You can sit on any of the dark
maroon gumballs and “mosh pit” your way around, or touch the sign and get a
bunch of free, floaty gumballs. On my last visit, an international assortment
of residents was rolling an laughing all around.
You can also leave your mark on Valentine Town by taking a
photo of yourself there, and sending it, full-permissions, to Laura Liberty.
She will put it up on the Snapshot Board located near the giant gumball machine.
In addition, you can get a free face emoter HUD, so you can be smiling in all
your pictures.
There are two fountains in the central square, and both of
them have great animations for hanging out and chatting, or taking pictures to
give to Laura. I spent some time dangling my feet in the water while I tried to
speak Italian with a handsome guy.
Shopping
Valentine’s Day is a day that is often about gifts and
flowers, and jewelry and lingerie, and…love. There is no shortage of all of
this at Valentine Town. Absolutely anything that you can think of that relates
to Valentine’s Day is on sale here: Animated furniture with models to try, full
perm textures and sculpt texture maps of valentine-related shapes, flowers,
landscaping, decorations, clothes, lingerie, sweets, balloons and cards.
Everything you’d expect, but with a special twist. My favorite store was the
LOL Anti-Valentine Gifts. There’s a certain someone who is going to get the
blow-up doll with curlers that is in the shop.
Are you pining for someone, still in love with your ex, or
do you have a secret crush? Well. Laura Liberty has a solution for you. No, she
won’t get that person for you, but you can send them an anonymous gift. All you
have to do is buy something on the sim (just about everything has transfer
rights), put it into a folder along with a notecard with the recipients name
and the date you want it delivered, and give it to Laura Liberty. Gee, I think
I have about five of those to send out.
But, Wait, There’s
More
When you love someone, sometimes you hold on to a little
suspense to keep the tension going. Therefore, I will wait for another time to
tell you about the little corner of the sim, hidden away and cloaked in yellow,
purple and green. Can you figure what holiday uses those colors? Stay tuned for
more about this astonishing builder, and the holiday sims she features.
DrFran Babcock
Inside the shop there
are some wonderful vendors and gachas and at really neat prices too for
those of you who are looking to save a buck like myself for other
things. The items range from Valentine's Day themed to sweet treats,
clothing, accessories, and other assorted goodies which you can't go
wrong on!
Inside the shop there
are some wonderful vendors and gachas and at really neat prices too for
those of you who are looking to save a buck like myself for other
things. The items range from Valentine's Day themed to sweet treats,
clothing, accessories, and other assorted goodies which you can't go
wrong on!
