Space Colony Necronom VI

Necronom music video

2011-02-18T03:55:00.004+01:00

French italian artist AMONN, or Damien Cygnet in SL has produced a music video for his Radiohead remix using all sorts of backgrounds from Necronom. It's rare to see machinima running at framerates above 10, so be sure to check it out!

Body measurement in Second Life

2011-01-19T03:02:00.005+01:00

As I have recently been attending a lecture on Virtual Reality at universtiy I have found a lot of interesting things to take with me when designing in Second Life. Today something was mentioned that I wanted to summarize here for future reference.
The example in question was described by a car manufacturer. VR environments are often created using projections, so in this case they wanted to simulate the model of a car in real size for the customer to inspect. However, while the projection was physically the exact same size as the real life car, the viewer would still perceive it as much smaller.
The reason for this is a psychological phenomenon, that, while apparantly still unexplored, results in humans perceiving objects as much smaller as soon as they are framed in a smaller Field of View.
Almost immediately I had to think of Second Life and its avatar sizes. A lot of fuss is sometimes made about people adjusting their sizes to unrealistic values, but I personally believe my example explains and justifies that kind of behaviour. While Second Life has a scaling model that tries to attach completely arbitrary numbers to everything in world, I would personally argue that what feels right for the people is a whole lot more important then fitting into a made up chart.
I believe that efficient design is all about making the user feel comfortable and natural in an environment that is about as fake as it can get, so next time an autistic member of the bodymeasurement nazi club tries to tell you that you should feel bad for chosing your size, you can show them to this article and tell them that Oni Horan said that some dude said, that some guy said that it is simply about human nature and nothing else!

A first step

2010-09-07T18:14:00.003+02:00

Back when I set out to make Necronom about 3 years ago I never really planned to have a big store or something like a mall, those were all last minute additions. As a result the mall has always been a true eyesore and nothing but a mistake, but considering how long this location has lasted already, it was clear it had to be redone. And so I present to you the new Necronom mall:
Over the years I've come to realize that the mall is not just a necessary evil, it actually provides true value to the visitors if it has the right stores. I really hope it will be more fun to use it from now and I hope to integrate it into the RP environment a little as well, so it's not completely out there.
Most importantly however, this was a very necessary change because there are a lot of things I can only do now that the entry area has been redesigned. Keep your eye open for more to follow in the future.

The moving trucks are here...

2010-08-20T22:30:00.004+02:00

Quite a while ago Ning anounced that they would be terminating their free service of providing groupwebsites.

Essentially we have gotten used to a world where all our online activities are free of charge and come out of thin air and I am well aware that this won't be going on forever. I come from the Web 2.0 business after all and I know that times have changed and endless money bags have closed rather abruptly over the last year.

Despite that however, if you look into the specific payment models that ning is offering to it's customers it leaves no doubt that they are not interesting in dealing with little communities like our own any longer, in other words, the deal they offer is completely unacceptable for the purpose of Necronom VI.

To put it more detailed, they will be charging their customers by looking at the number of signed up members. Naturally Necronom VI has collected a fair amount of members over the last few years, but while that is a reality, it does NOT mean that all these members are constantly using the site, causing datastorage and serverload to ning.

That along with the threatening mails I have been constantly receiving from ning these last few months makes it very clear that we are outa here.
What few people know is that a year ago ning, without warning or notice, started to shut down any communities that were containing adult material of any kind on top of this, so I can't really say I regret this turn of events.

There are other providers offering fair deals and reasonable policies, so I am happy to anounce that a very capable replacement has been found:

http://grou.ps/necronomvi/ will be the new community website for Necronom VI.

All members will be receiving emails to their supplied emailadresses with the new login-infomrmation. Since the service is sizelimited, I opted for not bringing over all the pictures. Please feel free to reupload any pictures you deem important, I simply couldnt go through all the 1000 pictures you have created over the years on my own. I did howver make sure all the forumposts are transfered, so not everything is lost.

Please be patient as I bring the new site into shape, as usual I've been a lazy bastard and am doing this at the very last moment...

LOGOS cards released

2010-07-01T12:59:00.003+02:00

It's finally time to release LOGOS cards to the public, be sure to read my more detailed post here.
All you need to know is that the first 100 players will get an exclusive limited card, so be sure to grab one while it lasts!
The game launches with 100 Necronom themed cards, so I'm sure the church of LOGOS has something to offer for any player that enjoys this place.

LOGOS - Website going live

2010-04-19T16:18:00.003+02:00

Thanks for all the interest and especially to those who are currently helping us test the game as we add more features.
Today I can finally shed some more light on the project, you can now access the website http://www.logos-cards.com/ and read up everything there is to know.
On top of that I have finally finished the trailer of the game, so be sure to check it out.

LOGOS - Work in progress

2010-04-04T08:31:00.003+02:00

As some of you have noticed, I have been burried deep in the Necronom labs, brewing dangerous things. Essentially, over night I had to focus on the two biggest planned projects of my SL career at once, so that means I have two big anouncements to make and today it is time for the first.
After a long time of development I am very proud to anounce Logos, a brandnew collectible card game for Second Life and Necronom in particular. Darien Caldwell and me have been working on it for a very long time now, getting it into a playable state and since we finally reached that goal, we are actively looking for testers, that will hopefully help us polish everything for the release.
If you have serious interest in helping us out, while being among the first to set their eyes on this unique new experience, please send me an IM in world.

New things to do...

2010-02-22T07:07:00.005+01:00

It's been a while that I have touched the mission games, but since I still get asked about it almost daily I figured it's realyl about time for a long overdue update.
First off, I have restructured the missionboard completely. Now there is information about the difficulty of a mission, as well as wether it's a minigame or a puzzle. That should help players to find what they want much faster.
Next, what would an update be without new missions and with that I have added some long planned missions to the mix, I surely hope you will find them enjoyable
And finally, of course I am aware that an update doesn't matter to you people because you are merciless vultures and only care about free stuff. So obviously I have added some brandnew mission rewards to the panels on top of all that. Enjoy!

Headaches

2010-02-15T04:59:00.003+01:00

I finally sat down and built the body for a design of an alien head I created years ago. I present you the mantipod:

NECRONOM LEXICON

--Mantipod Alien--
This predatory lifeform is sometimes found after hatching in freight areas of deepspace cargo ships. It is currently unknown where it was discovered, but it has been confirmed that humans have transported them to various planets accidently where they quickly adepted to the local environment. This shows their extremly intelligent nature, they adjust to new prey very quickly and are generally classified as highly dangerous.
While the creature posseses a basic pair of eyes for short sight, it mostly experiences its environment by vibrations that can be felt by its extremly sensitive legs. The behaviour of a mantipod can only be descriped as extremly agressive, as they quickly attack and kill anything that comes closeby, in many cases even their own kind. When they spot another lifeform they send out pheromones to mark their prey. After that they will hunt it down mercilessly, attacking with their sharp teeth and their venomous stingers, which paralyze the victim instantly.
Rarely do crew or passangers of a space vessel survive an encounter with this creature, which is precisely why their eggs fetch for incrredible amounts of money on the blackmarket as rivaling syndicates have started using them to get rid of unwanted competition.

As always check it out in the necronom store.

Need your help!

2010-01-26T00:43:00.004+01:00

So for a few... years... I've been getting reports that sex devices don't rez poseballs, every time I investigated it myself and couldn't find an issue. When I went and tried it out it worked just fine.
Well now I know why!
Thanks to a fun little bug everything at Necronom that is supposed to rez things works flawlessly.... only while I'm online. Basically as soon as I go offline, all the fun stops for everyone. No sex devices, no random creatures spawning, many missions not working and worst of all, a few really cool projects in the future will be impossible as well.
Since we can't have that, please take a little time and vote for this issue here: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-3145
Thank you for your support!

Portal to other worlds

2010-01-15T20:34:00.003+01:00

I finally got around doing something I promised around two years ago, since I always try to make things as detailed and special as my mind allows it takes ages until I actually get to sit down and finish it.
This is basically a traveller terminal, which allows station visitors to select from various locations to travel to. Essentially it is nothing but a simple landmark hander, but it finally lists all the locations that are 100% compatible with the Necronom universe.
Currently these locations are: Doomed ship, Splintered rock and the Vortex ship.
It is supposed to help players migrate with their characters, because always sticking to one place can be pretty boring at times.
If you know any more areas that might be compatible (which means you can take 100% of your character and background and play there without difficulties) then be sure to inform me and I'll add them too!

Elvis is alive

2009-09-17T01:52:00.003+02:00

As some of you have painfully noticed, ever since last week the Sim that Necronom VI is located on is set to adult. Personally I strongly feel it would be worth to argue that it is just a mature area, because I do not feel that Necronom VI is a project that primarily focuses on adult aspects, but due to a technicality there is no other choice.
Now what does this mean for players? As player, if you want to get in, you have to do one of two things, either link a credit card of your choice to your profile, or get age verified.
Basically this whole issue is a huge pain for us, because from now Necronom VI will be blocked from the Second Life search for anyone who doesn't have adult content enabled. A lot of people don't know about this yet, so what is missing is those people who find Necronom just randomly. In most cases, from what I've seen, bypassers really like what they find here, so I consider this a huge disservice to both me and the Second Life players. It vastly decreases the amount of players and shopcustomers that find the place, which on the longterm poses a huge threat to the whole project.
But all the trouble is worth it, right? It makes sure only adults get access to this content and SL becomes a safer place right?
Well, let me tell you about the sad truth. One thing Linden Labs promises is that all the data they receive for age verifications is stored neither with them nor with their data processing partner. Think about what this means for a second, it means that they are not able to crosscheck new data they receive, in fact, every single Second Life resident is able to verify with the exact same information, without any consequences whatsoever.
Kind people have already provided a list of various identities, whose real owners really won't mind anymore.
Let me make this clear for you, Linden Labs has spent enormous amounts of resources and money to develop these adult features for over a year and the result is a system that is fooled with one single copy/paste by a toddler. I would wonder when they'd start asking why Elvis Presley has so many Second Life accounts, but like I explained, they have no legal possibility to even find out.
Well played, Linden Labs, well played.

Roleplaying guide

2009-08-17T15:31:00.004+02:00

Yesterday I have released a guide that sums up a basic behaviour codex for roleplaying on the station. It contains a set of rules on what to do to NOT step on other peoples toes and thats its whole purpose. People have shown to increasingly ignore others space and I think it was more then necessary to release a guideline on what's okay and when.
It is meant to be the general standard, so when someone does not follow it you have this guide to point at and tell them they are breaking the norm.
It is not meant to be instructions on what stories to RP, how to make your character, etc, because I still firmly believe that it's important to leave the door open for imagination and creativity, it is only a guide on how to respect other people and merely common sense, of which I have noticed a dramatic lack in recent days.
To read the guie, check out this thread I've prepared.

Entry area

2009-08-05T03:00:00.005+02:00

Since the entry of Necronom VI has been rather confusing for a while I decided to create a new improved one. Products should be found much more easily now and passing to the RP area is as easy as ever. Also I can finally collect all important things at one point, which is especially important for some of the bigger upcoming additions.
For roleplaying just jump into the hole below the entry and youll get to familiar grounds.

Storing bodies

2009-08-01T19:17:00.006+02:00

Ever had a slave turn moldy long before the expiration date?
Well this is a problem the past because now there is a way to conserve them for a long time to come. We austrians have a long tradition of storing bodies in deep cold cellars so we know our stuff!
Mennisco Volitant has come up with an awesome new ice effect, that really looks quite fantastic, but have a look for yourself.

As always its available at the shop in world and ill leave a unit somewhere around the lab for RP.

Fresh

2009-06-16T07:09:00.006+02:00

So one of the first ideas I had back when I set out to do a virtual spaceenvironment was a shower in Zero-G, but like everything it took ages to be finished and finally be released. Thanks to Lexbot Sinister who has made the animations I finally managed to put on some final polih and finish it for the Necronom sote, where oyu can find it as usual. Enjoy.

G.Bar

2009-05-18T07:40:00.011+02:00

With a huge party we finally kicked off the new bar that will be accessible in Necronom from now. Big thanks to Rangiku Nakamori for putting up the music and everyone else who helped making it a fun event.

The bar itself will be accompanied by a new and improved teleportation system that will also allow easy movement into many areas that have been added over time, or that will play crucial roles in future updates.

The bar itself will hopefully cover all the desires of needy guests, you can spend your well earned credits from the mission games on cocktails, float around in zero gravity or just spin around the bar chairs. It's a pretty immersive area, which is mostly thanks to the animations that Lexbot Sinister either created or helped selecting so if you enjoy them be sure to let her know.

Free stuff for everyone...

2009-04-26T19:48:00.004+02:00

... or not, nothing is free in life and neither are the new mission rewards that i finally managed to put up today.
From now on you will be able to put those hard earned credits to good use. I think I managed to put together a selection of things where everyone should be able to find something usefull. From RP items, to BDSM gear, to accessories, just have a look yourself. And the best of it, none of it will cost cost a single L$.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped putting this together, namely Lexbot sinister, Xentory Delacroix, Mennisco Volitant and Dvorin Radek.

Where's the tentacles?

2009-02-20T06:33:00.003+01:00

So I realize I've been busy with a lot of things completely out there for a while, neglecting the very basics that adult space exploration is all about: brutal tentacle rape.
But now I finally sat down and finished a device you may have seen before in its prototype form. I'm a bit tired today, but by tomorrow it should be available in the store for your garden. Not only do I believe it offers a very ncie effect, it also comes with a copyable flowerbud so you can decorate it all you want and fit it into your environment.

Great thanks go to Enkina Trenchcoat for patiently assisting with the video, I had forgotten how much fun it is to put those together, look forward for more on that regard in the future.

Drama Threat

2009-02-13T03:30:00.005+01:00

February 13, 2009 - The Necronom VI intergalactical drama threat level is Elevated, or Yellow.

From this day on I'm providing a service for our fellow players, so they can know how high the risk of innocently getting involved with a drama incident. Unfortunately we have had a lot of regrettable victims in the past, so from now on just head here to be prepared!

Recommended Activities

All Roleplayers should continue to be vigilant, take notice of their surroundings, and report suspicious items or activities to local authorities immediately.
Everyone should establish an emergency preparedness kit and emergency plan for themselves and their friends, and stay informed about what to do during a drama outbreak.

Real update

2009-02-11T01:37:00.006+01:00

As most of you have already known, back in december I started to work on the original areas of the station to polish them. Today I have finished the laboratory, which marks the completion of this project. There's still a few things to be done here or there, but overall I'm satisfied with the way it turned out, so it's now time to go back working on the new things I was preparing then.
If you haven't been around for a while, be sure to check back some time for a small tour, theres dedinately a few new exciting things you'll find of interest.

Special Monopoly celebration sale: 50% off

2009-01-24T02:28:00.001+01:00

As you may have heard, Linden Labs has purchased the online shopping site OnRez, only so they can shut it down before it becomes a competitor.
I stopped updating the store there a while ago since it wasnt very usefull anyway, but now that its shutting down I have decided to let it go out with a bang.
All products that are up will have a reduced price of -50% for the final two weeks of operation, so if theres something you had your eyes on for a while be quick:
OnRez-shop

Boom

2009-01-18T01:04:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately, updates always end up being of such enormous proportions that by the time they are finished it's hardly worth pointing out anymore. The current renovation of the station that you experienced back in december is not really finished yet, but there's really many things going on at the same time, so it's just not done yet, but that doesn't mean things are standing still.
Take the latest finished project for example, the guns. Finally after having to postpone it for about 9 months now I got to release the first model.
The purpose of this is simple, the Necronom plot has a distinct entry for weaponry, that has been released a very long time ago but rarely finds use because there's imply no guns like it in SL:

--Weapons--
Over the centuries ballistic weapons have been optimized to a point where they leave little room for improvement in efficiency. A long time ago it was common practice to use blunt explosive rounds, which would damage the target in a completely unpredictable way. For some time now the use of precise needleprojectiles has become standard. Accelerated by either airpressure or, in more heavy weapons, electromagnetic coils, its very easy to disable a person precisely. The impact of the needles themselves renders the target immobile without causing unnecessary tissue damage, but can also deliver fatal effects by targeting head or spine. Additionally such needles are commonly used to carry biological or chemical compounds that help to deliver the desired effect.
In recent days a countermeasure has been witnessed. The quick advancement of magnetic technology seems to have made it possible to deploy small devices that allow influencing the trajectory of the metallic needles, rendering them useless under certain circumstances. Only a limited number of weapons is not affected, like handguns depending on airpressure that can also use ceramic ammunition, or electric weapons. Both of these alternatives come with severe limitations however, which is why close combat alternatives enjoy a renaissance.

To provide equipment that reflects this there will be a series of different guns that are designed for Necronom specifically, where there is no rezing and no fighting scripts. They are supposed to look and sound unique and they also include a very special feature that I will formally introduce some time later in connection to the missions, that will give using these weapons an interesting twist.

Mission Update

2008-12-15T00:18:00.003+01:00

After collecting and executing ideas for a few months, I'm finally able to release a whole bunch of new missions to play. This should add a lot of variety, from minigames, to cooperative tasks, to puzzles there is even one mission that tells the detailed backstory of Necronom VI for the very first time. To sort the misions a bit there is now a new Omega mission board, where tasks will have a slightly scientific theme.
All in all I think if you enjoyed the previous batch of tasks, you will find the new ones fun as well and if you never checked the mission out before, it's all the better because now there's a really big variety to chose from.
Personally I think we now got enough content for the system to enterain someone for a while, so the next time you hear from NeMit should be when I finally managed to put together a reward system for you to spend your well earned credits on.

Micro-update

2008-11-23T01:43:00.003+01:00

As some of you have probably noticed, today I decided to update the quarters a bit. It's an area I put together very hastily a long time ago and still very unfinished, so considering it's were you guys spend 70% of your time I figured I could AT LEAST improve it a bit.
Things may have been quiet lately, but that doesn't mean things aren't moving. I actually have started to wok on a very fun new project that could provide a lot of fun if it works out. A lot of work too, but well, what doesn't.