Hazbin Hotel

 

 

 There's an animated series (not for kids) on the Internet that a few of my friends have been watching, "Hazbin Hotel," by the cartoonist Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano. Not long ago, I heard there was a sim based on the show, and went to check it out. On arriving, you find yourself at the pearly gates. 

Going through you're in a room with some information about the place, along with a clerk behind a desk and a couple angel guards. Avatars need to be at least 30 days old to progress.

Greetings to new souls! My name is Michael! And here are news for you. Bad – you died. Good – you can complete the sorting and choose yourself an afterlife. Are you worthy of Heaven? Or condemned to Hell? The Eye of God will choose for you in any way. Behind me are rules regarding our home and I suggest you acquaint yourself with them to avoid problems.

There are gates to the left and right, the one to the left having a pentagram, and the one to the right looking more heavenly. Going to the one on the right, I heard Michael say, "Aren’t you optimistic! You sure this is the way for you?" Then the floor went out from under me and I plummeted through some weird darkness ...

For those unfamiliar with the show, the condemned souls rejected by Heaven don't live in fire and brimstone, but a dingy-looking urban setting. 

That looks more than a little surreal. Some of the characters aren't exactly heartwarming, "I love watching you suffer! The faces you make when you realize where you ended up. Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

But others such as this street musician can make you momentarily forget you're supposed to be in Hell. 

The products in the corner mart didn't look bad. They even had ice cream. But the prices and service were ... well, you know. 

The place was generally odd and weird.

Some of the place was a bit run down.

I'd call it the bad part of town, but well, in Hell is there a good part?

Not being a follower of the show, I had to do some reading up on it. It seems the really bad part about ending up in Hell besides the shortage of nice people is that every year angels from Heaven do a "Cleansing," and kill off many of the souls there to prevent the place from being too populated.

And among the places in the sim was Hazbin Hotel itself.

Sadly, one of the co-owners of this place had gone on to his reward, Urtm/Urtmiles/Vox.

There was a memorial up for him.

It should be noted when I dropped by, the place was due for a change soon. "Our sim is going through the stage of complete reconstruction. We fully remade the main buildings, the hotel, and build new locations." So the place may look a little different from when I stopped by to take pictures. 

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Top%20Secret/142/108/6

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Montecito Bay

By Bixyl Shuftan

I was recently contacted by BekNos (Becky Nosferatu) about a new city-themed sim in Second Life: Montecito Bay. Going over, I appeared at a beachfront area, with the ocean along the west edge of the sim, with the sandy beach and a disco dance floor and DJ booth on one side, and a street and buildings on the other. Although disco floor was clearly in a style of the 1970s and later, many of the buildings had an older appearance about them. BekNos described some as having an "Art-deco style." The sim was designed for a few things in mind, stores, clubs, housing rentals, and perhaps roleplay. BekNos told me they wanted something different than "grungy urban, post-apocalyptic, or sci-fi," which she felt "happens to be the main theme for cities."

Becky had a few people with her, and were soon joined by others. Another person involved was Moff (MoffettMephit Resident), "I've always been an art-deco fan and I dig an urban scene. But that's really all I had, a vague design idea. I also had the theater behind you, the fabulous Magnum Opus, which Klo, Dok, Six and I built and put on mainland. So I wanted that theater to be the centerpiece of the city. It wasn't really until this great team got assembled that the sim really started getting built up. This is one of those things where, you know, one person cannot do it all. A cityscape is dynamic. So with the help of this fabulous team, the ideas flowed and pretty soon, the city did as well....and if you walk around, you can see how dynamic it is. I think my favorite thing about it is, it's not perfect. It's not all shiny and new and, well, perfect."

Of building the place, Moff told me, "We've had building and design input and landscaping from Bengt and Moni and Chieko....Lem and Emorald helped with building. Mateo tested the hell out of our streets with his go-kart (grin). Baja and Lem helped build up our emergency services." Of how long it took to built the place, Moff told me, "I bought the sim in June and we opened, October? Hehe, I was not in a rush. I don't think anyone was. We wanted to move forward and make progress, but there were very few of us who wanted to jump right into something 'full time', so to speak. We kind of just messed around and decompressed for awhile.  I think that's something that helped in the long run. Because there was no 'pressure', so to speak, we, as a team, could have fun with this build. We weren't racing the clock." BekNos commented, "Because there was no clock. It was an idea that unfolded as we worked."

Lem Aiko (LemonPledge Resident) was considered the mayor of the sim, and made decisions with a "city council" of four advisors, Moff telling me, "They are Becky, of course, Ink, MagpieHyena and one current open seat."

Not everything built was modern day in style. Beknos told me that earlier, "we had an event for Prehistorica, who released an excellent dragon and we built up a medieval village for the dragons to burn down. (grin)" She told me it was the first big event in the sim and an avatar release party, "We built the village in a span of a few days and it housed about 50+ dragons. Wanders was just so moved by our build and everything we did for him." The villiage of course was in a different place on the sim than the city, in a level high above out of sight, Moff saying, "That was Becky's idea, to use a tiered building system. So at various levels, we can build whatever type of setting might be needed." BekNos added, "And Moff went from there, a club of ours, the graveyard, and our rentals are in the air." Moff went on, "We have three permanent entertainment venues with the capability of throwing an event anywhere on sim with our modular venue. The graveyard and the Avagora are two places where we can throw special events."

One thing they were proud of was their Avatar Avagora, BekNos telling me, "It's a sim-wide store we have about 700 meters in the air, dedicated to avatar makers and modders. It gives them all one location for people to shop; remember Northstar or Rocket City? That was my inspiration for it. I've not seen another mall like them in the past, and since Modding has become such a go-to, I wanted to offer people the option to revist a store again, in world." Of the graveyard, she told me it had, "a neat little exploration that I hope to make a full time hunt system for people. There are caves under it, and I hope to find a scripter to help me set up a hunt system for it." Emorald Resident commented, "those caves were both fun, and a pain to set up."

They soon offered to show me around. Lem offered to take us around by bus, but others suggested we just walk, "You may wanna make sure your life (insurance) policy is payed up, Bix, before you get on a bus with Lem driving." The street near the beach, Moff told me, "This is Sunset Blvd. The 'Main Drag' so to speak. Little bit of shopping, some entertainment, but really built to project a, setting or atmosphere." BekNos added, "We don't have a lot of shopping just yet, but we have plenty of rentals up for anyone who's interested." We walked some distance north to what Moff called the "Corner of Sunset Blvd and Palm St. Got the Sunset Diner, some beach shop rentals, and the building that gets you to the Avagora. ... Cabana and Mission. You can get a good look at a custom building I had commissioned for this place., The Fox, and its counterpart on the other block, The Crow." "There's a lot of unique buildings here," BekNos added.

Moff led the group around the street intersection, "Now heading east. You're going to feel the city begin to change, where, you know, you could identify the beachfront as the 'tourist area' .... the nice, shiny, pretty part. Now it's going to change into more of a city feel. It's a city. It has its city things and its city issues. Fuel station, for example." It wasn't long before we were on the Eastside, "So, here we are, the 'older' section of town. It's not so pretty. Not so clean." Beknos responded, "But it has some of our favorite clubs." He pointed to one building, "Here's one of our venues. Envy Nightlife. It's for some of our more mature shows." This wasn't the actual club, but rather a "prop building" that would teleport people to the actual place four thousand meters in the air. Although some friskiness was allowed in the club, "you can't have open sex. That boils down to them renting the hotel room. ...we stay within the bounds of an 'M' sim."

If one was looking for a motel, there was one nearby, "Here it is. Our seedy motel (grin). I am reminded, it needs a marquee sign stating that it has 'Color TV'." I noticed one of the doors had police tape. BekNos responded, "Yeah, uh... don't go into that room." Moff went on, "Well OK, there is some lore here. The police are still investigating, but, umm, a bad thing happened there (grin)." Lem commented, "There was a fridge monster in there." Moff responded, "I have no idea (about that). What I do know is that there are giant spiders in room 3." "(The) spiders must have eaten the fridge monster." Next, Moff pointed out a small street corner shop, "S-Mart convenience store, complete with 'Clerks' reference and porn (grin)." "Porn is the best part," joked Lem, "They don't take cards. They have an ATM though." For those who don't know, the "S-Mart" was the store in the movie "The Evil Dead."

We then came up to what looked like a statue of Cthulu, Moff saying, "You might notice this weird spot right in the middle of the street. Would you like to hear the actual story, or the lore?" I asked for both, and Moff told me, "The lore is, this is a weird spot. We don't like messing with it. It felt wrong to build here. Every time we tried, it just didn't work out. It's weird. We don't know why. It's feels weird to go here. There's just something, WEIRD, about it!" He then looked over, "Lem get off the plant." Lem did so with an "Awww." BekNos added, "We don't need the statue coming to life again." I asked about that, and Moff answered, "The statue just showed up. Who knows what these eyeball plants are about. We just.... We put a fence around it and went about our merry way." BekNos remarked, "It's best not to question this spot."

"Now, the actual story?" Moff offered, "When the sim was empty and flat, Twocoin studied the ground cover and noticed this spot here was a little barren. the 'sim bald spot' so to speak. He put a fence around it, and then proceeded to take, like, a month off of Second Life (grin). Nobody had his edit rights, so it could not be moved. And I don't like returning things. So for the hell of it, we came up with the 'weird' story and built around it." BekNos commented, "And, I used it as my excuse to build the graveyard; the prim around the statue will teleport you to it, which also allowed me to make it creepy."

They then showed me something that looked much more normal, a city park with a baseball field, Moff saying, "Now over here, is our park. Some team members missed having plant life and stone walkways. And truth be told, every good city needs a great park." BekNos commented, "Hey, there's a GREAT barbecue spot, okay? You can grill and watch the baseball game!" I asked if they played games there, and BekNos answered, "It's actually our sandbox. haha," Moff continued, " And from here, as you face the park. To the right is our police station which is a fully functioning RP type police station. And to the left is our fire station. And again, fully functioning (smile).  And, dead ahead is our sandbox, the baseball field (smile)." Lem joked, "We use the heads from dead trolls. Kinda like stickball but more intense." BekNos informed, "Magpie gave me the idea to make the sandbox a baseball field, a play on 'sandlot' I'm sure. I liked it enough, so I made a texture for it."

We soon got to a brick building with "Studio 86" painted on the side, Moff saying, "Now here we have another one of our 'on the ground' venues. Let's go inside and sneak a peak." Inside, there was a club that was a combination of bright lights, graffitti on the walls, and Greco-Roman style statues. Moff went on, "This is a prefab from Z.O.E., but what a great party venue. The building is called 'Mix Tape' from the creator, but we call this place 'Studio 86'." BekNos stated, "his is by far my favorite of our venues." I asked how often it had events, and Beknos answered, "Practically every weekend, it tends to be one of the favorites." Lem added, "It gets used through the week too." Moff told me, "Our entertainment staff has a choice of venue and time. We try to get every venue in once a week. As we are new, it's tough to fill up a venue during the week. So weekends are our best party days."

After leaving the club, we started heading back west. We saw one building with a snowflake decoration, and several palm trees around it. Moff commented, "We're starting to decorate for the holidays. Being a tropical environment means few pine trees and lots of palms (smile). For the record, we still need staff to decorate the tree in there." I asked where was the city located, and Moff answered, "Think, like Key West or Tampa, Florida? It's a western beach, so....either there or California. But I lean towards a Florida like location," BekNos commented, "I'd go with Flordia; cause Lem is our Florida man." Moff then pointed out two other buildings, "And here we have City Hall ... and this big ugly building that's slated to be razed."

After that, we headed back to the corner of Sunset Blvd and Palm St to the small building that teleported us to a large mall area, BekNos telling me, "Welcome to Avagora. It's a full sim-sized mall dedicated to makers (of) all kinds." There were a large number of shops, though most were empty, at least for now. In the middle was another baseball field, presumably the sandbox for opening goods. One board had a list of days of the week with information on each, BekNos saying, "This is showing our upcoming events, while the tall (board) behind me is our directory and recommended / affiliates. Each store has a modder or their business partners in it. Naturally, since this *is* dedicated to modders and makers, it's main spot in the center is the sandbox for easy modding." She pointed out another building, "I run the Avatar Maker's Guild. This is the AMG headquarters. People can come and go as they see fit to talk about avatar making and modding, and I plan to put up a bunch of tips for people to use, as well as resources." She grinned, "Mind you the sign has sharp edges, be careful with that." Explaining further, she spoke, "The top level was originally for avatar makers only, but as they seem to be a bit harder to find, I just went ahead and let modders have them too. ... This took me, what, two months to build?" Moff grinned, "It was open well before the sim was."

Moff also told me, "This year, we're going to feature an advent calendar. Every day from 12/1 through 12/24 there'll be a gift!" BekNos remarked, "That's the one I told you that Zombiecandy is running, Bixyl." Moff smiled, "I was hoping someone knew more than me about it!" BekNos added, "She's got the whole thing going. Well, I mean, that's the extent I know, heh. I don't know who all is going to be giving out the event prizes, but they're going to be modders from all over. (grin)"

With the tour mostly over, people began heading to bed as it was late in real life, Lem saying, "If I haven't annoyed you enough make sure you come back often!" But Moff had more more place to show me. We went back down to the city, clicked on another building's TP point, and ended up in a club with a distinct sci-fi look with lots of green lights and holographic displays, Moff saying, "And this is Envy Nightlife." I remarked, "Well, this is definately after the mid-20th Century." Moff grinned, "Well, ya know, that's how the nightclub scene is. We try to have at least one show here a week. It's a popular venue."

With Envy Nightlife, the tour was pretty much over. Moff did say part of the beach was "clothing optional," and that the sim had a VIP group, as well as a group on the Discord computer chat program. It was also added besides more merchants, they were also looking for hosts, DJs, and security for the clubs, details in the City Hall building, Emorald saying, "You can tell we are a pretty chill bunch."

And that was my introduction to Monticito Bay. The place is new, but the people are friendly, creative, and have big plans. We'll probably hear from them again soon.

Bixyl Shuftan

Pine Lakes

By Theonlyjohnny Resident

 An unending friendship, and a place to call home are just 2 of the many things offered at Pine Lakes. I have spent just a few days at Pine Lakes, and I can assure you, it is something that is amazing, and something different from other places.

While other town/city RP sims have just the basics, houses, law enforcement, fire station, and shops, this has more. This has a deli that seems to be 5 stars, or at least 4. It has a church, with active priests. The houses are affordable, and there are enough for a lot of people to live here. There is even an adoption center.

This reporter decided to stray from the fire department and join the PD instead, and within only a few days, I am having so much fun here that I can do nothing but give it good reviews. There is no discrimination, take it from me, I'm using a female furry av here, and they don't care, they treat me like one of them.

The design of the sim is very easy to follow, and difficult to get lost in, since it's not made like a labyrinth. Not to mention, the people here are nicer than ever. I am not kidding, you may feel a bit threatened at first, because of how they act, but when you get to know them, you will see that they are awesome people, and even better friends.

I would definitely recommend this sim to anyone reading this sim. It's amazing, and worth a look.

Johnny

Virtual Museum of Architecture Closing It's Sim

 By Grey Lupindo

On October 31, 2012 the Virtual Museum of Architecture plans to close its sim, located at Purdue University (69, 55, 35).   The VMA will still remain in Second Life, however.  Djinn Dasmijn, Co-Director  of the Museum, said the group plans to focus on the educational aspects of architecture through lectures and Build-offs.   
 

     The VMA celebrated its achievements and allowed its friends and supporters a final party on Saturday, October 27.   Bluemonk Rau served as DJ.   The plaza area was decorated for Halloween, with ghosts, spider webs and a revolving pumpkin dance floor.   Most partiers came in costume, and many participated in the best costume contest.   A lot of residents attended, including my former neighbors and friends, Erin Fensen and Asana Trudeau.   Asana had initially worked with the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum.     

      Like many organizations in Second Life, the VMA has been struggling with the high cost of maintaining a sim.   The reorganization will allow it to continue with its prime objective of education.   Rosalie Oldrich, who is the other Co-Director, stated that Builder’s Brewery is providing space for the lecture series that will accompany future Build-Offs.   

      During the party, Djinn Dasmijn and Katsii Tennan invited supporters to take a final tour of the sim. The next day I decided to do that.  I went back to the Museum to take a closer look at the offices and snap a few photos.   The offices are in a three floor structure that is a model for what real-life offices should be.  There are skylights and large windows to let in light, fountains to provide soothing water sounds, and even a small urban garden.    The interiors were modern, yet warm and inviting.    

      While I was there I ran into Sandi Glas, who has been a long-time supporter and builder.   She had also been associated with the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum.   Sandi has participated with the VMA since its beginning.  She told me she competed in their first Build-off and has continued to compete in all of them except the “green” build-off.   But she jokingly said that everything she builds has a 0 carbon footprint.

        The next Build-off is scheduled for March 1, 2013.   Djinn Dasmijn will be announcing the theme soon.

Grey Lupindo

Virtual Yosemite

Wandering around SL the other day, I was informed of a place called Virtual Yosemite. It is touted thusly: "Enjoy the natural scenery of Virtual Yosemite. This virtual version of the famous national park in the USA is an example of a whole new generation of sculpted off-sim environments by Sominel Edelman (Landscapes Unlimited). More info at http://landscapesunlimited.blogspot.com."

I don't know what I was expecting, but when I got there, whatever original expectations I'd had were quickly shattered. This is one of the best sims I've seen on the grid in a long long time, and the effort really shows. It's a pretty open sim, surrounded on all sides by off-sim mountains representing the area around Yosemite. There's a little campground, a store to buy the off-sim mountains and environments, a little wooden lodge, and... well, that's it, really, but no one ever said a sim had to be full to bursting of prims to be attractive. I looked around and then got in touch with the creator of this wonderous landscape, Sominel Edelman, to talk to him about his masterpiece of Virtual Yosemite.

Sominel Edelman, "Hi, welcome!"

Xymbers Slade, "This is quite the landscape. I haven't seen many, if any at all, better than this one in a long time. (smile) How long did it take to design all of this and put it together?"

Sominel Edelman, "It may very well be unique in SL; about a month, perhaps even a bit more. I've used a new technique on this one. That's why it takes so long, the first one is the hardest."

Xymbers Slade, "Was it a difficult process? Or do you find generating landscapes comes natural to you?"

Sominel Edelman, "The technology can be difficult, but the process of sculpting itself is fun. Nothing but fun (smile). I'm a geographer myself in real life. I studied landforms like these."

Xymbers Slade, "What got you interested in landscapes specifi... well, I guess that answered that, then. Heh."

Sominel Edelman, "At first I did jewelry, but I didn't find that very motivating. I'm not a jewelry type of guy (grin)."

Xymbers Slade, "So you go around looking at landscapes all the time?"

Sominel Edelman, "No, I don't go around that much. Except in real life, I love to travel there, visit new places. in Second Life, I'm mostly just busy making new things."

Xymbers Slade, "I guess I was expecting to see Old Faithful or something here. I don't see it included... didn't want to add the most famous part of the place?"

Sominel Edelman, "Uhm... Old Faithful is part of a different park (grin). That's Yellowstone, this is Yosemite."

Xymbers Slade, "Shows how smart I am, I have the direction sense of a brick and the geography sense of a bag of apples."

Sominel Edelman, "This is what it should look like: http://www.yosemitedistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/yosemite1.jpg "

Xymbers Slade, "What do you use to make these kinds of wonderful landscapes?"

Sominel Edelman, "A few 3D programs and a couple of scripts. I won't be very specific about that.... I'm sorry."

Xymbers Slade, "Ah, ok, no problem. I can understand not wanting to 'reveal trade secrets.' Is there something you want to do landscape-wise but can't, due to limitations in SL or something else?"

Sominel Edelman, "Well... The amount of detail you can get in off-sim builds is not that big. It would be great to be able to use mesh, but meshes can't be that big."

Xymbers Slade, "I wasn't aware meshes had a limit but then again I don't build."

Sominel Edelman, "The waterfalls, for example, I wish I could make a more natural shape. They can just be 64x64x64 meters... this is 1024x1024 so they [mesh] would be way too small."

Xymbers Slade, "What's your next planned project? I find this hard to top off the top of my head."

Sominel Edelman, "I do have the Grand Canyon high on my list, but... there are not that many trees there, and I do love the off-sim trees."

Xymbers Slade, "Heh. Maybe add a little creative artistry then and add more trees (grin). I've never been out there so I don't have a clue (I live in a major city, so)."

Sominel Edelman, "I have a couple of other environments that I want to make, I think they should all be on the Unesco World Heritage list."

Xymbers Slade: "You mean the Grand Canyon isn't?"

Sominel Edelman, "I want to go all over the world (smile). It is, this is too, but it should be special to people, and well-known all around the world."

Xymbers Slade, "Ok, last question in this little rapid-fire... do you do commissions?"

Sominel Edelman, "How do you mean, commissions?"

Xymbers Slade, "Like if someone asked you for a specific landscape or skybox (off the top of my head I know a dragon looking for a new lair, so to speak)."

Sominel Edelman, "No, in general I don't. I did that for a while, but it made me go off-track. I want to keep my focus."

Xymbers Slade, "I know what you mean (smile). Keeping focus is definitely a skill in Second Life when there is so many things to see/do/create and whatnot."

Sominel Edelman, "And, it's hard to create something someone else has in mind. They can almost never show me a picture, and that makes it hard."

"That's great, thank you Xymbers! How did you find this place?"

Xymbers Slade, "Honestly, my editor mentioned it to the rest of the reporters and went 'who wants it?' --- I haven't done a piece in months, so I said I'd take it on. (smile)"

Even as a big open space, it's a wonderful quiet spot for when you need to unwind from the hustle and pixel-flavored mayhem of SL. Without a doubt I'm giving it 5 Dragon Hoards out of 5, and I'm not even a huge wilderness buff!

Virtual Yosemite can be found at the Landscapes Unlimited sim: Landscapes Unlimited, (99/143/22)

Xymbers Slade

Skyrim-Inspired Sim and Builder Merceal Smythe

A few months ago, the computer game Skyrim was a big hit. With it's popularity came parody Youtubes and online comic references. It was probably inevitable someone would try to duplicate it in Second Life. And someone has been doing just that.

MistressBubbles Bondar, or just "Bubbles" to her friends, recently came back to Second LIfe after taking a break. After a while, she got the idea of doing a sim based on the world of the Skyrim game. She wasn't alone. She managed to get some talented help from sim builder Merceal Smythe.

After some work, Bubbles invited me over to see what she had. Yours truly hasn't played the game. But it's been in the media so much, the sim was recognizable as the setting. Rustic wooden buildings with a Norse feel to them in a snow covered winter area. "The whole sim is still very much a work in progress," the elven lady told me, "but I figured I'd show off what we have done so far. The castle is Merceal's work. Well most everything here is. My job is to find the materials so he can build (laughter)."

She offered to show me around, and we walked through some scenery, across a bridge and into a fortification structure, "This is one of my fave places so far aside from the castle. We hope to have battle scenarios through here." We walked further, and came to a cabin, "And here's my little cottage (smile). This is the biggest one of the batch. I have two more smaller ones I'm going to make to place around the sim. … I had fun with making a close to period timber frame house. … Still have a few things to fit properly. Like I said we are still building things (chuckle). So there will be snow drifts and more structures and a farm or two. … We will have a small port as well."

Getting to the riverbank, she teleported across and sent me one, "makes it easier untill we have a boat set up to ferry is across." Going to a settlement, she showed me an incomplete marketplace, and a windmill which would later be moved to a farm yet to be set up. She then offered to show me the castle, "it's not finished yet, but it's still really cool. It's pretty close to Dragonsreach, but with enough difference's to be on the safe side. (laughter)"

Going inside, there were still some things yet to be placed such as no throne on the platform yet. There was an upstairs with a good view, "and for sniper archers (big grin)." She thought when finished, the castle would be 300-350 prims, "not bad when you look at the size of the structure."

"The sim is not officially open yet, and we are looking at doing a soft open with personal invites going out to help us 'Beta test' the story lines and systems we are working on. We are starting out as a text base or freeform role-play. But we do also plan to bring on a simple combat meter to help us keep track of stats for full on battles."

Bubbles wanted to make two things clean, one that the sim wasn't really her effort, bringing up Merceal Smythe, "He's the main builder and the one in charge of this project." She also pointed out, "Just remember it's not a Skyrim sim,"it's loosely inspired by Skyrim. (Giggle) We don't want to get into any legal issues with the game's makers."

As it turned out, Merceal was soon available to chat to. He appeared before us, clasping his hands together, "So! yes, I'm the developer and renderer for the sim. the concepts were inspired from several points of interests, but primarily historical and mythical Lore. ... my main sources of inspiration are Viking, Gaelic, and Norse Mythology, as well as their corresponding cultures. What helps is that recent popular game releases, such as Skyrim, are based of like histories and lorries. So the storylines wont be too far off from one another." "And there is a lot of interest out there for a role play world of this kind," Bubbles added, "because of the said popularity of those games."

Merceal went on, "I've tried to make a name for myself in reguards to an understanding and respect in the art of role-play, and understanding of the need of an immersive environment to correlate with it. The problem is Second Life is capable of so much, but due to its... engine and server designs, limits its own potential. So the trick, is creating such worlds and stories in this 3D environment, without the world itself taking up too many resources. A single avatar, if designed improperly, can lag a viewer. Viewers, rely not just on the data being received from the Asset servers, but the performance of the computers themselves. if the Viewer takes up the majority of the systems resources alone, and suddenly has new avatars appearing in and out, it'll overload the RAM and create a lot of problems.. so like i said, the trick is keeping the surrounding environment... simple, yet detailed and immersive. This is from my experience and observations over the course of over four years."

Bubbles commented, "Merceal is a bit of a master at things like prim management and efficient use of textures. He's worked on a number of sims in the past. Most of them Star Wars related I believe." Merceal replied, "So far, I have a vast amount of experience in it. And even when my other associates are offered free building services, they come to me, because I create the worlds the right way. I take pride in my work, and if I'm not happy with something, I wont call it complete, and will even start over. (And) yes, most of my sim projects have revolved around sci-fi roleplay sims, namely, Star Wars and sci-fi RP."

As it turned out however, many of those roleplays were ruined by internal drama, "However, due to the struggles and ill management of that RP community, i can no longer role-play or do deep association with a lot of the ... sim owners, because their interests lie in personal gain, rather than community development and immersive roleplaying. My sims were always top mark, mostly prim, to save on latency. And in addition, individuals from several RP environments came to the sim. During nearly every sim opening, the sim capped on the limit of players that could enter the sim. The last sim we did came out great. And it's pretty popular as far as a Star Wars role-play sim can be at present. I always enjoy seeing individuals enjoy an immersive world. I just wish I had more trade skills in the scripting and mesh field to offer more creations. However, due to my ... real-life conditions, I'm limited on such resources, but I still provide the best i can with what I have."

Bubbles commented, "But Star Wars roleplay is dying for the very reasons Merc mentioned." Merceal agreed, "Yeah... sadly too many people want control, as in, they want to dictate the every action of each individual RP'er, and they don't like losing. The thing about RP, is no one can control the flow. The stories write themselves in the environments they cake place in. The stories are written by the events, not whoever screams 'I own this sim and RP group' the loudest, and throws the most money at it. Sadly, that isn't understood by a lot of sim and group owners. They feel because they front the money, they get to decide everything in such an environment. The most anyone can do is 'guide' the flow of events. But there is no control over human will and spirit." Bubbles added, "It was hard walking away from Star Wars roleplay. But we are looking ahead to a bright new future with this place."

"Where there is one group of people with the desire to create such a world, there is another, with a different personality, and different approach and vision to it all. Its just a matter of knowing the individual, and when they'll be around, if they aren't already. For example this sim. I don't own it. A friend of mine owns it, as I wish all those I associate with to be. However, I place most of the prims, and do the work, and we work together. Bubbles has been a huge help in reguards to research and locating materials needed and necessary for the sims development. The team work and chain of roles has been very beneficial to its development, considering I just started this new sim design yesterday (laughter)."

Bubbles responded to the complements by blushing, "I like to hunt stuff down and find the best deals. It's a lot of fun watching how the tools I find are used and come to life. Besides, I am also learning how to build better along side of everything else. … compare my little cottage to the ones I made a year ago."

Merceal went on, "I just wish it was easier. I don't think people realize how to price what they've made that makes economic sense. … personality characteristics that show signs of greed, but i cant say for sure (grin). I made this sim for free, and when i do need lindens for more projects I charge very little if anything. The other thing is if i have the time and patients for these projects (laughter). Sometimes sim owners who hire me for work tend to want things done yesterday, when I started the project 3 days ago, and I have at least 4-6 months to work on it (laughter). However, I normally complete my projects take normally half the time."

Bubbles noted, "I remember one of our projects that was like that. You were working on it for a week straight, getting a lot done. We projected it would take a month and the client comes up and dumps another three months of work on top of it and asks if it can be done in half the time. (grin)" Merceal responded, "That is the WORST situation I come across. We come in agreement of a verbal contract of how the sim will be built or designed. And suddenly, out of no where, they redesign the whole thing, no warning, and expect me to scrap the whole sim. That is, rather frustrating. Not to mention the projects are normally three times larger, and require more supplies than I posses. I mean, my inventory is HUGE with primarily building supplies, like sculpts, textures, and meshes. sounds, scripts... etc."

Merceal went on, "But I build in all sorts of themes, and make little to no lindens... so when my generosity and flexibility of work is taken advantage of beyond the original concepts, demanding more work and resources from me, and disrespecting me because they decided to be a pain and change things? Just indecent and rude... I've sadly had to drop at least half the projects i've taken on due to things like that. just flat indecency and inconsiderate actions." "It's shocking how often that happens too," Bubbles added.

"Of course, I get a bad rap for doing nothing wrong but the right thing," Merceal commented, "so I can make myself available for another client who is A, more respectful, and B, more deserving and willing to create worlds for RP and living this 3D reality. It's hard to put a price on a way of life, and I try to avoid that (grin).

Of the Skyrim inspired sim, Merceal spoke, "I'm hoping things go well here. I also am crossing my fingers that drama-proned individuals will not repeat unfavorable habits while here (grin). i plan to write broad but fair guidelines and regulations to make this environment enjoyable for all, mainly in the approach of the storyline and sim lore itself." Bubbles nodded, "we are looking to build this place up with the goals of offering a clean, low lag sim that allows the freedom of roleplay without personal agendas to mar the way."

Oh his plans, Merceal stated, "my goal is to lead in project developments that 'enhance' the role-play experience, and do not get in the way and make over all performance degraded by the new addition of aids and features. I wish it was easier to add scripts into the viewer itself as a type of add on feature. But the SL viewer's.... normal performance is far below capable of even achieving it at the moment (grin)."

The talk soon drifted to Bubbles thinking of getting her old friend Aiko Swashbuckler to work on the trees, and we ended up talking some about our days in Woodlin. Eventually, we went our separate ways. And it was goodbye for the moment to this tribute to Skyrim with a promising future.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoonimals Changes Hands

In January, the Cartoonimals sim, noted for it's virtual critters, amusing gadgets, and other fun items available for purchase, was in danger of closing. In mid-February, I heard the sim had been saved. A buyer had stepped forward and took the place under her wing.

Dropping in to take a look, the place had been changed a bit. Much of the sim was bordered by cliffs and trees, including some picturesque waterfalls, and there was a stretch of beach with crashing waves. And the layout of the attractions and vendors had been rearranged some. But it was still basically the same place, with their critters and whimsical goods still up for sale. Near one waterfall, an elephant stood in the water and hippos were swimming. At the beach, seals were jumping out and back into the water.

While looking around, I noticed a couple people nearby in a building and went over. And there was Duggy Bing, the builder of the cartoonimals and the old owner of the sim, and Ima Flanagan, the new owner of the place. Ima greeted me with a joke, "Hi Bixyl! Lovely avatar you have there. Be careful ... Duggy might make you into a tip jar." After some initial laughter, Duggy Bing told me, "It's Ima's sim now." "I did a bit of rearranging , but not to difficult when you have these great creations to work with. I purchased it , hope to save it. Hate to see this leave SL."

The two were currently working away, Duggy saying, "We're trying to get the stupid messed up vendors to work. The transfer messed things up." "Makes for extra work," Ima told me, then leaned closer to whisper with a grin, "Of course they came back with my name on them. … shhh, don't tell Duggy."

Part of the reason Duggy had sold the sim was he was increasingly busy in real life, "lots of projects." Asking him if there would be any more of his products, he answered he was, "taking a break. It will be a while."

I asked Ima what plans she had other than giving the sim a new look and the vendors straightened out. "There will be a large freebie store," she told me, "not the usual minor items, but many things people need to get started in SL. There will be more stores, but I hope to keep it on this sort of theme. I am not a fan of a sim full of buildings. This is a joy, because these items, play well with landscaping."

I asked them what reactions they heard of the sim up for sale and it's purchase. Ima answered, "One woman dropped by, she gave me an article her friend had written about the sim, and Duggy selling it. She said she didn't want the sim to go. She had a look about and was pleased with the changes. That was good to hear. Loyal fans of sims are sometimes unnerved with changes. She was pleased and was off to tell her friend the sim survived the change."

Duggy Bing was happy at how things turned out, "I'm delighted that Ima Flanagan agreed to take over Cartoonimals sim. She is a longtime freind, and a creator who has built some marvelous environments. She's the perfect person to not only maintain Cartoonimals, but also reinvent it as a whole new experience for SL residents to explore and enjoy." Ima considered it fortunate for her that she was able to get the sim, "I'm the lucky one."

Talking a little more, Ima did have some plans for a social center where people could hang out. After saying goodbye, I looked around a little, and away from the main area saw a small deck next to the beach, animated by waves crashing onto the shore, and the silence interrupted by bird calls.

And so the sim built around Duggy Bing's whimsical creations continues under new management, and with a slightly new look. It should be interesting when Duggy is ready to resume making new goodies once again.

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes from Alien Isle

Pictures taken on the Alien Isle sim before it's fading from the Grid.

The Alien Isle from a distance.

The free gift package at the scene of Madpea's party.

An illustration of some of the 7Seas fishing pets available at the place.

That's gonna leave a mess on my feet.

For the story, Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan