Its a 3D Experience

Club Nepture - Lighting Specialists

2008-05-11T12:02:00.004-07:00

A few day ago I visited Club Neptune with my friends Hyang, Kel and Chalice. In a deserted old London like street it's a small building on the corner of 2 crossing streets, and apart from a large, golden globe there is nothing really remarkable at first. Until you step inside the jaw-dropping experience of what has to be the best display of lighting/shadow in Second Life.

The experience is really something else, the emotion and realness hidden in simple shadows is really something you'd have to experience. It moves objects beyond just 3D mashes and prims to almost tangible objects. We might not have to wait too long, as Chalice showed me this the other night. Apparently it's one of the Windlight developers experimenting with lightsources and shadows! (look on the floors :D)

Chou Chou / Islamey: Musical tranquility

2008-05-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

Quick post on one of those must see places again. Chou Chou is a SIM with a twist. Though the actual environment is not incredibly spectacular, the music, but most of all the HUD handed out to you make it really really amazing. Walking with the HUD will make it look like you are playing a part in a machinima, and results in the most beautiful, cinematic and tranquil experience.

Persian Jungle Palace Svarga

2008-04-27T08:08:00.004-07:00

Oooooo another update! This time a dozen of snaps taken at the beautiful sim 'Svarga' - an amazing persian palace in a jungle type of setting. A brief guided tour over the island becomes a truly wonderful experience as you are shown the wonders of this gorgeous sim. Visit Svarga if you haven't already here!

Steam Punk Tinys!

2008-04-19T08:25:00.001-07:00

Every now and again Juliet Ceres manages to amaze me with yet another completely unexpected novelty. This time she joined forces with artoo Magneto and 713 Ayres (Amy Weber) and created Bright Relics - Tiny Steampunk avatars, of which I was handed a 'Beta' model. Fitz The cat is the cutest avatar I currently own and the whole initiative is just pure creative genius.

Each avatar has a small story and some 'random facts' about the avatar, making the pink kitten really come to life. Normally I'm all against ears and tails, but for a steampunk version I'll make an exception ;) Thank you Juliet!

Glamour Magazine: Amazing photography

2008-04-08T08:08:00.003-07:00

GlamSL Magazine's April issue is now out in-world and available as a pdf download here. The articles include an exclusive interview with Lyra Muse on her new venture, Jaywalk - Coverage of the RFL Clothing Fair - Features on prim artist Fallingwater Cellardoor, and Tya Fallingbridge of Pixel Mode , and last but not least, a preview of the new line from Archange.

You can get an inworld copy at Glam World (96, 179, 23)

I'm on Twitter!

2008-04-05T18:19:00.001-07:00

Yes I've entered the Twitterverse too, after a tip from a friend who prefers to remain anonymous :p Mostly logged on during my time in SL but now I can stay in touch with people outside of SL as well. Add me if you read this!

http://twitter.com/ViolaGemini

Rezzable: The Black Swan

2008-03-09T13:25:00.005-07:00

Last is this weeks Rezzable sim, as reccomended by someone I met at the . The rezzable 'Black Swan (Follow the Path)' sim is a collecion of Starax Lightwaves best scultures, an amazing display of skill and feeling for drama.

In a surrealistic mix between heaven and hell you are taken trough what looks to be the memories of the bound angel you find at the end, defeaten and looking back at his life. The sim uses some of the most amazing effects, whisp like bolts, water geysers, light teleporters and plenty of the best structures in Second Life.

Steampunk Vernian Sea Lighthouse

2008-03-09T13:10:00.003-07:00

The second sim I visited saturday was a location recommended by my dear friend Hyang Zhao and was truly impressive. Though not as large as Arcana Nuveau it was very much the same, steampunk/victorian style. A beautifull little island with a marvellous lighthouse in the Vernian Sea, located in one of the four Babbage Sims, a steampunk community much like Caledon.

The site is an absolute must see, and windlight really makes this place come to life. The detail is realy well dome, and the 4 floors make the tower look completely convincing.

Hi-Tech Mall: Hybrid Productions

2008-03-09T13:02:00.002-07:00

First sim I visited this weekend was the Hi Tech mall made be the Swedish team 'Hybrid Productions'. An impressive build which offered disappointing content to be honest, most of it just the shops you can find anywhere. The sim was very well build however and well worth a visit if Sci-Fi is your thing (or just apprciate craftsmanship).

The perfect gift

2008-03-06T13:17:00.004-08:00

Still looking for that perfect gift? That one present to surprise a friend, a loved one, a neighbour, family or your favourite escort? Look no further because the people who brought you 'the sword' present: The Warhammer! A wonderfull, completely safe, fully functional hammer with no push scripts, no laggy animations or slow loading redundant prims or textures (but very shiny) can be your perfect gift for 600L$? 300L$? Surely not... 100L$! Yes I think it's just AlleyCats studio's way of saying 'Thank you to loyal customer, here is our gift to you'.

Architecture at its Best: Princeton U

2008-03-02T12:34:00.003-08:00

Arcana Nuevo is still at the very top of my list of examples of great architecture in Second Life, but Princeton University, and in particular the Alexander Beach house certainly give it a run for its virtual money. The way they played with lines, shapes, sound en the overall impression in the modernistic auditorium is brilliant. (In the slideshow this is the grey and orange building)

Other then the modernistic building they have several traditional Victorian buildings - A library, a small auditorium and a meeting room. Next to those is a strangely shaped building which looks like it has fallen over, housing a great collection of modern art presumably made by the students.

Last of the dozen great builds I've captured is the entrance/shop, where you can find all sorts of free clothes and avatars (some of them not even half-bad), and again, really great architecture, creating a colorful building with the help of strange shapes and a sort of optical illusion in the big window above the entrance. Well worth visiting and impressive work from the guys and gals at Princeton University.

The Japanese Garden Kenrokuen

2008-03-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

The second sim I visited this weekend is the Japanese garden of Kenrokuen. I expected a nice, natural park with the Straylight (botanical) trees, but what I found was an absolutely amazing mix of cultivated land in the traditional manner, completely integrated in its natural environment. It felt so real it am thinking this has to be based on some real life park.

At the entrance the sim proudly displays its award for best virtual experience, and after taken a few steps this is not all that surprising. Besides a beautiful park with some of the best shadow effects and texturing I've seen so far, the sim houses a huge traditional castle, and a small Japanese village including the sumo wrestling arena.

The eye for detail in the sim is simply overwhelming. They even placed Koi carps in the huge pond in the water. The only downside is to be able to pick up one of the amazing 2 to 9 prim trees you need to be willing to part with anything between 800L$ and 4000L$. A neat feature worth mentioning about the single trees of 2000L$ (no copy) is you can control the seasons trough a HUD.

Grendel's Children: Fantasy Wonderland!

2008-02-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

Grendel's Children is a phenomena in Second Life - you are bound to have heard of them one way or another. Either because of their amazingly cheap avatars (complete avatars between 50L$ and 250L$), or their impressive dragon builds, huge prim-made avatars with great animations overrides to move these giants.

But who knew one of Second Life greatest (and cheapest) avatar shops also housed one of the most beautiful, natural role play areas for dragons and fairies? The shop of Grendel's Children is well done (especially the 2 docked airships) but the really amazing experience starts underneath the sky shop, in the 4 sims wide savanna/desert area with lots of secrets to explore.

Rezzables Crimson Shadow

2008-02-24T14:15:00.004-08:00

After Yesterdays 'Carnaval of Doom' I visited another Rezzable sim that has been around for a while, but for some reason has always escaped my attention. The Crimson Shadows is a Vampire Haven, and does the name justice. Rivers of blood flowinside the impressive mansion which is rumoured to even have links directly to Hell itself...

One of the must see places if you are into goth or dark fantasy, this is eithert he best, or clsoe to the best sim made in this setting. The textures and architecture are nothing short of amazing. I recommend visiting all 4 area's (The Mansion, the Gallery, the Room, and Hell), Each one is part of this impressive build.

Rezzables ~Carnival of Doom~

2008-02-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

Today I visited Rezzables ~Carnival of Doom~. A themed sim with the suggestive tagline 'The Last Ride of your Life'. You start at the ticket booth where you simple have to click to get a 'ticket', a HUD attachment that tells you your life percentage...

It didn't take long to find out WHY exactly I needed this Life percentage as after sitting on the carousel for over a few minutes and trying to get off I found myself the victim of an 'accident' which apparently caused the death of me, sending me straight to hell! (And here I was thinking I had been such a good girl).

After waiting for the gods to pass judgment I was send back to the realm of the living, re-entering the carnival at the ticket office. Lesson Learned. Carefully avoiding the merry-go-around I saw several interesting tents and booths, most of which seemed to be out of order, and judging by the amount of blood spatter presumably after some of the tricks as performed on the 'wheel of death' for example ended with well... death.

Besides the entertainment there where some food stands. Corn-on-a-stick (which make you puke), Cotton Candy (which make you puke), Slushies (Which make you puke even more) and Hot Dogs made with grade A dog meat (which obviously make you puke). Next up was were the oddity shows, a cow with 2 heads, a fat woman and the brilliantly made living marionette puppet.

Saving the best for last I was excited to get on the giant wheel, but once there I was disappointed with yet another 'Out of Service' sign. Looking back that was probably for the best, because the booths inside the wheel literally come crashing down every now and again.

Overall I really recommend Carnival of Doom, a sinister, well made interactive sim with a good amount of humor and clever builds. (Especially the little bug and the magnifying glass in the oddities show).

AMAZING medieval architecture: Arcana Nuevo

2008-02-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

One of the most beautiful builds I've encounteres so far is undoubtedly the beautiful 'Arcana Nuevo'. The Luxerious villa is really SL architecture at its best, with large libraries, labratories, studies, pools, balconies, dungeon and much more this has been build to impress. I recommend setting sun to midnight and spend some time to explore this sim, I was most impressed.

UPDATE - Chalice Yao made this beautiful slideshow:

Little Japan: Kowloon

2008-02-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Another quick photopost of the beautiful sim called Kowloon. This Japanese city reminded me of Midian, but its not a role play sim (in fact, its a PG sim). Its created by magnum Yoshikawa of Jet-Graphics.com.

Gorean Sims

2008-02-03T06:40:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows I have an undying love for our Gorean Friends! Thats why I went over to the Gor sim 'Tainted Rose' to pogo amongst our 'master' friends and 'Kajira' woman friends. Much To My dismay I found the sim deserted, but my disappointment didn't last very long as I was overtake by the beautiful setup of this 'carp' like sim.

Japanese Sims make cliches come true

2007-12-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

Engrish, second language to all Japanese. The 'creative' use of the English language trough translators or simply spelling vocally has reached Second Life and has lived up to its standards. Giving birth to classics such as 'All your base are belong to us' the oeuvre is getting richer on a daily basis. More examples can be found at 'Plim Hair - Fine your S.Life'.

Rezzable Hallucinogen

2007-12-10T06:04:00.001-08:00

Rezzable Hallucinogen - 18
Originally uploaded by Nebulosus Severine

If you are in SL - Just go see it.
slurl.com/secondlife/Rezzable%20Hallucinogen/244/124/39

When you come here, adjust the sun settings to make the sky really red, like a sunrise or sunset, but not the pre-set ones in the force-sunset list.
(Ctrl-Alt-M & for Mouse Moves Sun, then go into Mouselook to put the sun where you want it).
And turn your draw distance (Edit-Preferences-Graphics) WAY up. It's WORTH IT.

New home!

2007-11-12T12:25:00.000-08:00

Winter Wonder Land?

2007-11-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

Today a friend teleported me over to a very special scene, something in the spirit of the upcoming holiday season with a typical snowscene. This brought to you by none other then the creators of Second Life most intimate organs, Xcite. They have really upgraded their store and its interesting to see how they have progressed over the last year, going from a fun label to an A brand in virtual terms.

Long time no see?!

2007-11-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

Yes yes, its been a while since my latest post, 6 weeks even, and I was hoping being able to avoid ever writing a post like this, but... here we go.

The blog was not updated because basically... my SL was hardly updated up to a week ago :) Lack of time became lack of motivation and there you have 6 uninteresting weeks. But that means i hope to find out what I've been missing and show you some new sights and thoughts!

Finally: Avilion photoshoot

2007-09-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

A photoshoot report from the gorgeous medieval role playing sim 'Avilion'. It consists of a total of 5 sims. The Castle, the residential area, the 'center of town', the residential area and a new, forest like area which reminded me a lot of Straylight.

Google goes head to head with Second Life?

2007-09-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Though its just an unconfirmed rumor, the well researched article here indicates a university linked to none other then Internet giant Google might have shown an interest in a new 3d environment. From unconfirmed, though reliable sources in-world I have heard there have been active recruitments trough a person linked to Google for possible (content) development. There is no direct evidence google is involved however, but I for one welcome the involvement of the media giant. Their distribution channels could skyrocket the 3d platform a lot sooner as 'Prometeus' predicts.