Channeling Jacques Cousteau

April 23, 2008

Zee wreckage of zee Santa Rosa lies deep in dangerous waters. Naturally, I sent my son Philippe down to explore. I always send Philippe. Zee wreckage was surrounded by a school of poisonous deep sea scrod, and the curious fish moved to examine zis intruder into their realm. Unfortunately, Philippe is a very slow swimmer. Fortunately, I have more sons.

For all the water in Second Life, we don’t spend a lot of time under the surface, probably because there’s nothing much there. Most SL water is for swimming on or sailing on (or, frankly, making for beautiful sunset pictures).

PADI Group is a real-life diving company that would like to whet your appetite for the real thing by giving you that experiance in Seond Life. While a good portion of their Dive World region is taken up by land, there is still plenty of space for some interesting sights under the sea.

Strangely enough, PADI doesn’t offer any freebie diving gear. There is, however, an atoll attached to their island where a variety of vendors can get you suited up. I bought a package from Heps Virtual Divesystems and jumped into the water.

A word to the wise: Read the instructions before you go diving wth equipment like this. Under the water you get nice swimming animation and bubbles, but I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t just move up and down the normal way. After a lot of frustration I finally gave in, checked my male genes at the door, and read  the manual.

Under water, there is plenty to see. Manta rays, squid, whales, shipwrecks, and strange smoking… somethings. Maybe a information would be helpful here. PADI is very good at placing underwater signs here and there that suggesting that you might want to try diving for real. Whatever.

Back on land, if you join the PADI group you can rent a DPV, a little motorized device that will move you faster under the waves. In theory you can also use a personal submarine just offshore, but that doesn’t work. The same goes for a gear demonstrator in the main building. The buttons you click for information don’t give you information. There’s a very sparse club on one corner of the island. So while the undersea experience is lovingly executed, the stuff on shore is a work in progress.

No matter. In Dive World, what’s under the water is all that matters.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dive%20World/123/134/29

2 Comments | commercial, retail, sports, tourism, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

Castle in the sky

April 21, 2008

For reasons of blog space and sanity I try to limit myself to no more than six pictures per blog post. Otherwise I’ll show you everything there is to see in a region, and then what’s the point of you going? I like to leave you a littlemystery. That said, it was damned hard to narrow down the thirty or so pictures I took of Saarpfalz Kreis (Saarpfalz Circle, in English), where the main attraction is a magnificent castle in the sky.

Just outside the gates to the castle is what seems to be a wizards laboratory, but I had to cut that picture. Just inside the gates is one of those nice touches I love. Two skeletal guards in armor watch over the palace entrance. You head up the stairs and then you notice that their heads are always turning so they can keep an eye on you. (Okay, and eye socket on you).

Hey, there’s a table, and it’s round! Hmmm. There are a number of interesting rooms like this in the castle — you just have to go looking for them. I’d have shown you more of them but I had to cut those pictures.

The palace stands on floating rock, and if you find an entrance to the underground areas (underground areas in the sky?) you’ll find yourself in a maze of maze of twisty little passages, all alike. Well, actually, they aren’t all alike. Some are rough stone, others are bricked, and there are huge chambers, as well. But I had to cut most of those pictures.

Down on the ground is a lake surrounded by a village and a forest. This includes what appears to be a church courtyard, but I decided not to use those pictures. There’s also a non-working clock in the lake. I have no clue what that is for.

In one corner of the region is a welcome area where a greeter robot exhorts you in German to enjoy yourself. I agree. The region is decidedly empty, which is a shame. It doesn’t appear to be tied to any roleplay group and there are none of the usual things meant to attract visitors. It just stands there on it’s own, content you please you on the strength of it’s merits.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saarpfalz%20Kreis/117/44/243

Leave a Comment » | builds, wow | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

My worshipers are an organized bunch

April 19, 2008

Yes, my minions, kneel before me! Know that I, Garth, am your master. You may be grey, you may be Ruthed, you may be naked, but you’re mine! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Okay, they’re not my worshipers. I don’t have worshipers, that I know of. These are a just bunch of particularly well-hidden bots on Echo Island. Usually I see them milling around in a skybox. This bunch looked so dutiful kneeling there that I had to take a picture.

For those of you who don’t know what bots are: Have you ever gone to an island that looked like it had a lot of people on it from the number of green dots on the map, but when you get there the place is empty? Chances are the place is using robot avatars (bots). Usually they’re sitting on poseballs in the sky or hidden in a windowless skybox.

The bots are just like any other user, only there is only one person behind the group of them. Having bots on the land increases the visitor count and thus improves the landowners position in searches. No one thinks it’s particulrly ethical, but people continue to do it because, “everybody does it.” Until Linden Lab finds a way to ban bots, people will keep using them.

This group was especially well hidden. As I increased altitude to find the skybox, I was suddenly ejected from the region by a security system. That’s the first time I’ve seen someone take hiding their bots so seriously.

Not to be deterred, I returned to the region, put on my shield, went non-physical and soon I was gazing at my kneeling acolytes. The owner even went so far as to hide them in a skybox made of invisibility prims, so someone flying casually by at 752 feet won’t see them.

Of course, I couldn’t resist sending a copy of the picture to the landowner, who will just have to be that much more clever next time.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/ECHo%20Island/19/155/752

4 Comments | cute, retail, silly | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

Hail Estonia

April 17, 2008

Estonia is the third nation to build an official virtual embassy in Second Life. As buildings go, the embassy is a magnificent piece of modern architecture. It makes you wonder how they did it.

The only problem with the building is that it is a cold grey and white. Grey carpets, white walls, white furniture. The occasional dash of blue. It’s beautiful and futuristic and reflects the colors of the Estonian flag, but bland.

Luckily the helpful staff and selections of Estonian artwork add color and interest The missed opportunity is surprising: No displays about Estonian history, culture, or why ou might want to travel there. On the other hand, this is an embassy, not a tourism office.

On the top floor is the most interesting piece of artwork. It’s a blue head. Click different parts and a short paragraph is displayed, the imaginative recollections of a person in a distant future. It definitely gets you thinking… “Why not?”

The main attraction is still the building, though. It’ a very complex “real life” piece of work. Just take a walk around inside and you’ll know what I mean.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Estonia/202/135/29

Leave a Comment » | builds, international | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

Just for show

April 16, 2008

Mazda Nagare Island is Mazda Motor Europe’s virtual showcase for their Hakaze show car. Since the Hakaze isn’t something you can actually buy in real life, the island is more of an image builder for Mazda. While they haven’t gone to any great lengths to build a gathering place or community, there are some nice diversions.

The main atraction is the Hakaze car. If it looks odd it’s because, well, it’s a show car. That said, the model is very well executed and looks remarkably like the real thing, complete with rippled metal and ginormous windshield. While the car is a freebie, you have to drive it around the island-encompassing track and make a successful jump in order to make it yours. You can have the car in any color you like, as long as it’s yellow. There are no gears to shift, yet the car is surprisingly easy to control for a Second Life vehicle.

Hakaze kites and boards

Take a walk to the docks and you can pick up a free board and kite, which you can then kite-surf through a well-marked water course. It’s harder than it looks, especially the jumps. Why kite-surfing? Because the Hakaze concept is supposed to represent the emotional embodiment of wind-surfing, that’s why. Although after failing at the jumps a few too many times, for me the emotional embodiment of wind-surfing is frustration.

The island is named for an earlier concept car, the Nagare. If Mazda is periodically updating the island to include different concept cars, I’m looking forward to seeing what they drop into Second Life next.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nagare%20Island/185/114/38

1 Comment | automotive, commercial | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

You’re so funny

April 14, 2008

Friends don’t let friends SL on Ruth.

What’s your caption for this photo? Leave it in the comments!

6 Comments | cute, sick, wow | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

Not in the demo

April 14, 2008

As young at heart as I like to think I am, I’m at an age where I see a lot of products targeted to younger or older people than me. If I find the pitch confusing or unappealing, my wife and I conclude figure that I’m not in the demographic to which the ad is meant to appeal. It could be that the ad is bad, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately, I find myself not in the demo a lot these days.

Millions of Us has created a set of Scion City regions for Toyota’s Scion car brand, and I’m not in the demo. It’s certainly nicely done, if you like a bleak, urban landscape surrounding a Scion showroom. The showroom itself is nicely done, showing off the three Scion models to nice effect. The display units are always changing color, though, so they are constantly blurring as the textures rez.

One downside: They want to you pay L$300 for each of these cars. No freebies here. To their credit, they do come wih a HUD that allows you to select different colors and wheels from presets. More importantly, you are allowed and encouraged to extract and modify the textures, creating your own custom ride. Along the way I met a “Sciontiist” (what, no Sciontologist?) who did just that. He would do the same for me, for a price, of course.

Near the showroom was a gallery of more extensive modifications people had done to their cars. There’s a nice connection to a community of builders and modders here, though over the month that I’ve peeked into the Scion City regions the gallery has been pretty static.

The most unusual thing about Scion City is how open-ended it is. Very little of the city is dedicated to Scion vehicles. Much of it is retail space around which you can drive (although most of the retail space is empty, you can see that they hope to expand). Along the way I found a dance club and a skate park. The surprising thing is that the area hasn’t attracted some of the more popular vendors that would fit well in this gritty, urban landscape — FORM and Renegade come to mind. Maybe the area is intended to give the small fry a chance?

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Scion%20City/86/63/23

Leave a Comment » | automotive, commercial, retail | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

Break a leg

April 10, 2008

hakuba1.jpg

Hakuba is a nice little Japanese ski area. The L-shapred run is short, but challenging. Slap on your free boots, skis and poles and head down the hill…

hakuba2.jpg

Oops.

It’s easy to lose control and the animations in the skis will send you rolling and tumbling if you’re not careful. Now, I don’t ski in real life, but I’m sure I pulled a Sonny Bono 5 or 6 times. It’s a good thing damage isn’t enabled.

hakuba3.jpg

Oh, watch out for the wall on the last third of the run. I suppose something has to keep you from flying into the ocean, but… ow. Alas, there is no ski lodge wth snow bunnies serving me hot cocoa to comfort my battered ego.. and spleen… and sternum… and cranium…

http://slurl.com/secondlife/HAKUBA/225/241/56

Leave a Comment » | games, sports | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

Driven to distraction

April 8, 2008

nissan1.jpg

Nissan has built some islands in Second Life with the intention of selling you Altimas. Whether or not these islands will you the trick, you have to give them an A for effort.

Let’s face it, if you wanto to drive a car around a track you’ll have a much better time playing a purpose-built game than you will in Second Life. Your speeds are often limited to either STOP!!!! or FAST!!!!, handling is overly sensitive, and tracks large enough to be interesting involve jarring sim crossings. Nissan has wisely dispensed with that (mostly) and concentrated instead on cute and quirky freebies.

nissan2.jpg

So your Altima isn’t jus an Altima — it’s an Altima with a hover mode (wouldn’t that be nice in Real Life). Fly to the Sky Track region next door and you can try your hand a timed route in the air. The rings through which you mmust fly are spaced in such a way that you’re going to have a hard time pushing the limits of Second Life physics, but they still ake for a good test of skill. Nice.  

nissan3.jpg

Back on the ground, there are almost too many interesting freebies to mention, and not just vehicles. Many of these are based on Nissan show cars from Japan. Each vehicle is meant to mke a sales point about the Altima. So the wheel-like Xtronic CVT Avasphere pushes the virtues of the Altima’s Xtronic continuouly variable transmission. The 270-HP V-Questrian Ava-Suit (a car you wear) tries to sell you on the 270-hp V-6 engine available in the Altima. And so on. All the vehicles are interesting and very different from what you usually see around SL, and the sales pitch is limited to the sign where you pick up the freebie.

nissan4.jpg

Non-vehicle freebies include an Intelligent Bumble-Kee pet (like the inteligent Altima key… Nissan makes my puns seem absolutely clever), a navigation HUD, and a grappling hook. If you really do feel like driving around you can scoot on over to the Nissan Road Driving Course in the region just beyond the Sky Track. Beyond that is the region for the Sentra… but that’s a story for another day. (Okay, I probably won’t get to it. Check out the Loop-D-Loop and the giant Sentra vending machine).  

If you’re interested in building vehicles of your own, Nissan gives away the scripts in a nearby “factory” kiosk. It almost makes we want to get into building mode again.

The interesting thing is, Nissan achieved their goal with this one. Prior to playing with these freebies I didn’t know about the Altima transmission, or engine, or intelligent key. I’m not in the market for a car right now, but if I were… I might actually take a look. But first I have to wait for my Honda to die…

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nissan%20Altima/122/180/28

Leave a Comment » | automotive, commercial | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

What a relief

April 6, 2008

secondearth1.jpg

When I landed in a region named Second Earth 1 I figured I’d see something different. What I didn’t expect to find was a giant region-filling sculptie relief globe of the world. In a word… impressive.

secondearth2.jpg

Beneath the globe is a platform where you can enter a place name. A red dot will appear on that second of the globe. There’s not much more to it than that, but it is pretty amazing to see.

secondearth3.jpg

It loos like the region is sponsored by Intel. Adjacent to the island are 8 more Second Earth regions, empty except for some terraforming. I hope tat the remaining regions are just as cool.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Second%20Earth%201/128/122/29

1 Comment | builds, wow | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Garth Goode

« Previous Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.