By Klaus Bereznyak
There's still time to dive into the sights and sounds of the sweltering delta on the Bayou Chat Noir sims and participate in the Cat People hunt until the end of the month. At any time, these districts are worth wandering, but the hunt is the perfect opportunity to immerse in the swampy atmosphere and see some of the most atmospheric locations.
Bayou Chat Noir, is modeled after French Louisiana in the early 1900s. The personality of one of the notorious sim owners, SL impressario 'Kitty' (Vinje), looms at every turn and it is popular with former residents of the similarly themed St. John sims which closed in December 2017. Kitty's love Shack was a popular venue in the St. John community and has been transplanted here to continue business as usual.
The Cat People hunt is based on the story of the 1942 horror film directed by Jacques Torneur. It tells of a Serbian woman, Irena, who cannot keep the 'cat' part of her true nature hidden for long. Participants begin in the zoo, by the panther cage, to pick up the first clue. Each of the ten clues, obtained by clicking on a found object in the location, unfolds a little more of the story and tells you where to go and what to look for next. Local windlight and volume up is recommended for the best experience. If there's some slow loading, you can drop the draw distance without missing much, because it's fairly gloomy anyway.
I found most of the items relatively easy to find. The locations themselves take a little more exploration but can all be reached on foot and pretty much follow a linear route that doesn't involve any back tracking or teleporting.
The town and swamp is eerily lit for the season and decorated with pumpkins and lanterns and haunted by glowing wraiths. The hunt covers shops, and galleries as well as taking in the residential areas, a church, a graveyard and a hunted house where there is a 'forgotten room' to discover. The final clue unlocks the room full of prizes, five in all plus directions to a bonus prize that can be picked up at Kitty's bar. Not surprisingly, the prizes are cat themed and well worth while for the hour or so it will take to get around.
SLURL:
Bayou Chat Noir: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BAYOU%20CHAT%20NOIR/164/203/21
Klaus Bereznyak
