The Girls Who Can’t Do Math – Relay Wizards for Spunky Speed Build

By DrFran Babcock

The excellent residents at Builders Brewery have been generous in offering their sim so that the Relay Wizards for Spunky could hold a week of events to raise money for the American Cancer Society. We have a silent auction, a few dances, and the week will culminate in a huge dance that really going to be a pajama party.

Anhayla Lycia is our master builder and a veteran of numerous Speed Builds. She and I set out to create a Speed Build for our week of events. The event was held on Wednesday, June 24, 2015.

What Is Speed Build?

You have missed out on one of the best uses of Second Life if you have never attended or competed in a Speed Build. Contestant arrange themselves on prim platforms and as the event starts they are given a theme. The build begins, and goes on for a specified time after which the builds are judged (usually by the audience), and prizes are awarded based on the votes. Different contests have different rules, but the format is generally the same.

For our Speed Build we decided that all prims had to be original and that sadly no mesh could be used because it could not be created on the spot. We did allow sculpts provided they were created by the person competing.

Our Math

Anhayla and I are creatives, which often, but not always, implies less skill with numbers. We decided on very generous prizes for the winners of the contest: 2000L for the winner, 1000L for second place, and 500L for third place, for a total of 3500L in prizes. We each contributed that money.

Our plan was to have contestants “buy” a build platform from a Relay for Life vendor in order to participate in the Speed Build. By this time you are starting to see the potential for problems, which is that we would have to have a lot of entries to break even. To make a profit, even more entries would be required.

The Event

On the evening of the event we had already spammed Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google+, the Builders Brewery, Relay for Life Volunteers, and Thinkerer Melvilles entertainment groups.  At the start of the contest we had six very enthusiastic builders, and a large audience of residents in the seats usually used by the Show and Tell event (Sundays at 1PM SL).

In my opinion, building events such as classes and contests, showcase on the best features of Second Life—you can build and build and create here, and your results are immediately visible and usable. Prims may be old technology, but they are still a wonder.

The theme for the builders was: The Future is Now. You may know that this is the same as the theme of the 2015 Relay for Life in Second Life. Anhayla told the builders they had 50 minutes to build, and we began the competition.

The audience seemed to be delighted with the activity and cheered on their favorite builders. When time was up the audience walked around the builds and noted their favorites. They instant messaged their choices to Anhayla who tallied them up, and the winners were announced:

First Prize: Trixie Seomun for her steampunk gears turning the globe

Second Prize: Toxic Darkmatter for her computer with a hand coming out of it.
Third Prize: Anthony (ADudeNamed Anthony)

The other contestants in the contest were cuddly waffle (Barry’s Coffee Shop), A Rose by another name (bellarosamaria) for her sky balloon, and Thickbrick Sleaford (Futuristic skyscraper).  

The Results

Thanks to ADudeNamed Anthony for donating his winnings back to the Relay For Life team kiosk. Aside from that, we lost money on this event. However, it was the most fun I have had in SL in a long time, and Blue Myanamoto (another Relay Wizards for Spunky team member) and I are considering asking Builders Brewery if we can turn this into a regular event. Speed Builds are fun.

Please see the photos for the work of these accomplished builders. Bellarosamaria showed up almost an hour early, and although a newer builder, she gave it her all.

Thanks to Builders Brewery for allowing us to use their land.


Thanks, Doc

DrFran Babcock

SL12B : First Impressions

by DrFran Babcock

This is the first SL Birthday that I have ever attended without reading everything I could find before entering. I usually have a build as well, that allows me early entry, and the ability to preview everything, and to know what is going on from lurking on the group builder chat.

This year I am so busy with First Life that I entered the sims on Press Day, and had the “kid in the candy shop” feel of seeing a vast world for the first time. I had no preconceived notions, no advance plans to see any particular build (beside SLNewser, cough, cough), and I got to wander around, and look at whatever shiny thing caught my eye. Thus, what follows is very much based on the few builds I saw after I landed, and teleported around randomly.

I love the theme What Dreams May Come, because it allows all the exhibitors to unleash their creativity—something they seem to do regardless of the theme. Below are two exhibits that exemplify the best the best of this world of wonder and intelligence.

Asmita’s Dream by Asmita Duranjaya (http://slurl.com/secondlife/SL12B%20Pizzazz/218/183/30)

I was drawn to this parcel as I flew around SL12B because of the bright pink and magenta patterns and turrets. I landed in a whirl of fractals and dance balls. Asmita is a Second Life™ artist who has exhibited at a lot of venues in world, including the Linden Endowment for the Arts: http://giridevi.blogspot.com

The build in SL12B is very pink, and full of fractals. My very first build at Burning Life in 2006—which was called Burning Life back then, and not Burn—was made of walls covered with fractals, so I was drawn to it from the start.

There is no great, deep message here. This is a place to come and enjoy, and the dance balls make it clear that we are meant to have fun in this pink paradise. I hope you will come and do just that.

The Stuff of Dreams – iSkye Silverweb (http://slurl.com/secondlife/SL12B%20Spectacular/14/251/26 )

For the most part, when you wander SL12B you have no idea who has created the plots you are visiting. I use the inspect tool in the viewer. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the giant green bed to which I was drawn had been built by iSkye Silverweb. I know iSkye for her tireless work with Gentle Heron and Virtual Ability, and have noted that as time has passed she has developed into a competent and creative builder.

What I really liked about this build was that it had been well thought out with the theme in mind. It had a completeness to it that was probably attributable to the use of color, and the scale of the objects. The giant bed is more than pretty; it’s fun. You can jump on it all you want and your mom won’t tell you to stop. Here are iSkye’s words about the exhibit, taken from the notecard on her parcel.

        This world teems with life, with variety, with possibilities. There is so much to do and see and experience that one person cannot possibly do it all in just one lifetime. The world is just too big. But we can dream, and some of our dreams can actually come to pass. Wishes we had when we were young, but as we got older they became less important to us. Then we have other dreams to pursue... Life is about things we imagine, that become real. Have you ever rested on a hill watching clouds go by, lost in daydreams? Perhaps your dreams talk to you at night, in the moments between waking and sleeping? Life is constant change, always seeking...something. Our wishes and hopes may change, but the magic stays with us. Our lives can be the stuff of dreams.

The display is cut into two diagonally, with the bed on one side, and a dark green forest with candles on the other. It is meditative and speaks to the hope of dreams. I spoke briefly with iSkye and she was eager to answer any questions I had, but it seemed to me that her creation had said it all.

Come to SL12B

SL12B will be running all week with exhibits, interview shows, music, comedy and the final realization that, as iSkye asserts: “…the magic stays with us.”

DrFran Babcock

A Visit to Linden Endowment for the Arts 17

The Greatest Story Ever Told—The History of Second Life™ 1999-2015

By DrFran Babock

Perception is Everything

Over the years there have been numerous displays that covered the history of Second Life. It’s hard to deny that SL was and is something new and different and completely different. A lot of the past has been destroyed and built over, but the facts remain, and they chronology of this virtual can be laid out. What differs in each presentation that has been created is perspective and viewpoint. Different displays have focused on different aspects of the evolution. This is perfectly understandable. At the risk of getting too philosophical, it has to be said: The way in which a person sees things is clearly their truth and their reality.

Marianne McCann’s Second Life Tenth Anniversary (SL10B) build (http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/2013/06/sl10b-interview-marianne-mccann.html ) focused a lot on the early days. There is hardly anyone around who has a bigger collection of SL memorabilia than Marianne, nor anyone who can speak to it with as much eloquence.

That said, there is yet another display now that focuses on the history of Second Life™, and it opened February 8^th on the LEA 17 sim. It is the work of Sniper Siemens, who had attempted this challenging task once before on very short notice in LEA6 last year and was determined to try again.

I ran into Sniper, perched on an interesting armchair at the entrance to the installation, and she told me that she was very pleased with how this year’s version had turned out.

What about perception? Well, I found that a lot of the time, as I walked through this amazing installation, that I thought I might not have covered things the same way. Everyone loved the Greenies, but Sniper spent a lot of space covering them. It could have been that she had a lot of content from that time, but I can’t really know.

From 1995 to 2015

I loved the intelligent design of this exhibition. There is a definite path (a beautiful stone walkway that has outstanding specularity, created by Kriss Lehman of Botanical) that meanders from 1995 to 2015. The specularity is important, because it adds to the overall look of the build. As I wandered from year to year, the gleam on the ground and the trees that surrounded the paths created a sense of unity that was artistic at the same time that it decreased some of the confusion that often occurs when trying to get the sense of a large installation.

I won’t spend a lot of time covering the individual exhibits, because I just noticed that genius writer and blogger Canary Beck has discovered this gem of a build, and will focus on the history details and the quiz contained on the sim. (http://canarybeck.com/2015/02/08/take-the-second-life-history-quiz/ )

What I Noted

The installation is a knockout for those of us who love and appreciate the history of this virtual world. One thing of note: If you don’t like to read a lot when visiting, you will miss a lot. There are many signs with a lot of writing on them. I don’t know how to get around this, when there is a detailed story to tell, but I am not sure many will stop to read unless they want to complete the History Quiz.

The only other comment I have is that Sniper is a good builder. Her mesh seemed to add a lot to the build, especially when there is not a lot of 3D content about the early days. 

For anyone who has ever built a history build (as I did for SL10B and SLL11B) the big problem is always how to represent residents, because the human/furry, etc. form has a high land impact. Sniper’s solution was to use these bean type cartoon characters along the paths to represent the human aspect of SL. They added color, and another level of uniformity to the build, but they didn’t really seem to be part of SL history, so they struck an incongruent note to me.

What I Loved

It is clear that this build is a labor of love, and that Sniper poured her soul, and her time into its creation. I especially loved the Linden Lab San Francisco build, and the silliness around the Zindra build.

This build is a must for anyone who wants to learn about the history of Second Life™. Sniper had a vision for creating this history, and it is accessible and understandable.

The build focuses a lot on the financial aspects of the history, and for me, it provided a revelation. I never knew that the “haptics” equipment that is now becoming so popular with the current virtual reality craze, was actually the catalyst for Phillip Rosedale to create Second Life™. The Rig, as its called, supposedly still sits in boxes in Linden Lab.

There is a great display for those of you who don’t remember a time when Burning Life was very much a part of the culture. I have always thought, along with many others, that Phillip Rosedale was trying to create a virtual Burning Man when he first envisioned Second Life™.

The Greatest Story Ever Told—the History of Second Life™ 1999-2015 will run through the end of May of this year on LEA 17, allowing you plenty of time to learn about what came before, and what might come in the future.

LEA 17: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA17/26/237/22

DrFran Babcock

My Take on SL11B, By DrFran Babcock

By DrFran Babcock 

This is going to be a completely subjective view of the Second Life Birthday party. I have heard many people put down this event for a few reasons. First, and somewhat valid, is that last year was a landmark anniversary, being the tenth year celebration, making this year a little less shiny and exciting. Second, there is such a dearth of Lindens. My first SL Birthday was the third. The heady thrill of wandering the exhibits and going to live events was one of the reasons I am still here. I sat next to Torley Linden at a concert, and we chatted amiably. Philip Linden was everywhere, and was as enthusiastic as any of the other residents. Those were new frontier times, even though I wasn’t an old-timer. I suppose I sound like an old lady with a bad case of nostalgia. However, my love and passion for Second Life™ has not decreased at all. If anything, I care for it even more.

It’s impossible to deny the buzz created by the announcement that Linden Lab is working on a next generation virtual world. I think that some of this has had an effect on the usual festivities along with the two points I made above. I will not comment on this now; I want to share with you the builds and things that I enjoyed. Please remember that these are my views, and reflect my wholly subjective take on things.

My Very Favorite Build

I find that builds that are simple, yet deceivingly detailed are the most pleasing. Pygar Bu’s build for this year’s auditorium blew me away. On the surface it looks just like a peaceful glade with flowers and neutrally colored stone elements. However, the more you explore and look, the more you realize how much thought went into this spot. It will never steal the focus from the interviewers and interviewees on the simple, stone slab stage. It might not even be noticed by most, because it fulfills its utilitarian role of being a place for folks to sit and watch. Take some time to wander around and enjoy the care that went into placing the ground cover in layers, so that the three-dimensional effect is enhanced. It’s hard to write about things that are so visual, but I hope you understand how entrancing I find this build. It really is my favorite.

Disturbing, But Fun

I happened upon Snail on a Virtual Razor Blade by accident, as I wandered the roads of SL11B. I couldn’t find a notecard that explained the build, and all the signs on the parcel were written in gibberish. The build is the collaboration of Liz Venenbaum and Tesla Miles, and depicts a giant virtual reality headset atop a gory bar in which the beautifully rendered bartender is axing a brain open for the customers. There are vendors that give away the Blammo Yom Yom gift pack, that when opened, reveals a sculpture of your last meal there: a head and brain. Yum. The creators are gifted mesh artists, and the materials and textures used reveal a sophistication usually associated with high-level gaming components. The creators describe it thus: “This is a philosophical and metaphorical art work that delivers a cautionary tale about the potential for a nightmarish VR experience. Inspired by movies like eXistenZ, The Matrix, Inception, and The Naked Lunch.”http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL11B%20Enchant/231/190/22

Enhanced mind: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL11B%20Enchant/228/31/22

I loved this build for one main reason. Solkide Auer has a way with glass, and his build delighted me. He is Italian, and described his sculpture as: “A mind protected and enhanced by the energy of his affections that sustain and push to give the best.” I am not quite sure what that means, but I think it relates to stretching one’s mind to be the best one can be. Sometimes, I just love the way something looks, and how I feel when I am immersed in it. This is one of those builds. If you like textures, this build will fill you with admiration and envy.

Uan Ciriaptrix’ An Open Core SL11B http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL11B%20Spectacular/232/196/22

I love anything Uan bulds, and his contribution to SL11B was not disappointing. His work is ethereal and whimsical, and even better, he is giving away a free avatar that blends beautifully with the build. If you become the Spiny Avatar you will lose a ton of weight, and you can still dance and move the way you like. Come and adore at the guitar that resides in a pod at the center of this spare installment. Uan has many admirers, and there are often crowds around his parcel. Go see it before it disappears.

Quick Shots:

To finish, am going to share two quick pictures and places that caught my eye. The Live Stage, where (d’oh) live performances take place (no more after June 29^th), is a stunning build. My only criticism is that the build is too huge for the intimacy of live performers. I attended a live concert by my friend Grace McDunnough, and she ended up hopping of the stage (a giant hand), and coming closer to her fans. She said she felt too distant on the stage. Otherwise, this stellar build creates a subtle blue mood, and serenity. It is a wonderful venue for live performances.

The other quick shot is A Little Dream of Italy (http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL11B%20Pizzazz/73/

48/22 ), that is nothing more than a sweet little village street. I am not sure why I love it, except that I feel as if I am in Italy when I go there. I suppose that’s the intention of the build. I inspected the objects in the build, and they were from so many avatars, that I have to assume this is a group build. Mission accomplished: This build really takes you away. Isn’t that one of the goals of Second Life™?

So, there you have it. This is just one person’s take on SL11B. There are as many reviews as there are folks in SL. The entertainment may have ended after June 29^th, but the builds remain until July 9^th, so you can still take in all these sites. Enjoy, and happy birthday Second Life™.

DrFran Babcock

LEA13 – The Work of Xineohp Guisse

By DrFran Babcock

I was amazed and entranced from the first day I came into Second Life™. I have never lost my enthusiasm for this virtual world, and its ability to continue to surprise and delight. The thing I like to do most after socializing with friends and creating content is to explore in hopes of finding magic. Thus it was, that I stumbled upon Xineohp Guisse’s ethereal and wonderful build.

I was with my friend Brick, exploring the soon-to-be-opened Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) builds. He had shown me the gigantic Dragon Curves fractal installation by Mac Kanashimi on LEA 26, covered by Inara Pey here: http://modemworld.wordpress.com/2014/02/02/enter-the-dragon-curves/ . After spending some time there, I began to sim hop, and upon landing on LEA13 I stopped, drew my camera back and smiled.

Whenever I find something I like—clothing, furniture, landscaping, hair—I immediately inspect it to see who is responsible, and the creator of this green and intricate sim was Xineohp Guisse. Even better, he showed up on the sim as a green dot. Thinking of nothing more than complimenting him on his work, I IMed him, and said: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this build! Thus began an hour long exploration and visit with one of the LEA’s artists.

Xineohp was modest: “I’m still building, sorry about the mess (smile),” he replied. He is also a great jokester. After I told him I thought the build was gorgeous, and hardly a mess, he responded with what I later realized was an out and out pun: “Nope. Not mess; old-school build (smile)," by which he meant that he had used not one sculpt or mesh object, but used prims for the entire construction!

The build is in two folds, and contains an interactive piece. Xineohp, a cello player, used cello notes that sound as you collide with the flexi glass on many parts of the build. “So you can make your own music,” kids Xineohp.

On the main tower, there are two creatures, that to me looked acquatic. They moved around on the grass creating tones as well, and because they are random in their movements, the sounds evolve and change. When two notes are struck, it creates a third resounding note. I walked around and loved the experience of the sounds, and the cello notes were just perfect with the swaying grass. Xineohp was working on a pod chair when I finally joined him on one of the towers. He asked me to test it out, and I ended up with my camera trained on one of the two wriggly creatures. The two creatures on the main towers are named: Connie and Blyde (a spoonerism reference my older readers may get).

The LEA grant runs for five months, and Xineohp plans to do a different chapter of a story each month, starting with the current build: The Lost Garden of Sundarya. Chapter Two will be under water, and tell the story of Connie and Blyde, focusing on how creatures come into being, and how they end up being a symbiotic musical link. Chapter Three will take you to the middle sky and deal with wind and birds, and flying “stuff.” Chapter Four will go higher, and be in the spirit world, but Chapter Five will be a secret.

Xineohp was still debating some of the details of the build, set to open on Saturday, February 8^th, but he was still willing to talk about it. He also told me he is the alt of an older resident, so watch for an Oldbie Project from him in the future.

We went on to look at an old THiNC Book that had pictures of older avatars, and quotes about their relationship with their avatar. We poured over it for a while, and I was pleased that he was so willing to spend time. He reminisced about his early days: "I remember when I first came into SL, and started building. I was a total massive crap at it! I built a swimming pool, which even I wouldn't want to swim in!"

"You remember free 512 land when you signed up as a premium member? I went from owning my first 512 to buying an entire island. That was fun.

"I did a charity art thingy on my island for World AIDS Day that ran non-stop for an entire weekend, and we raised just over 500USD. Then I kinda gave it up … Real Life, work, yada yada. Then I came back and lived in a rock, after killing my first avie in a big swan song. I burnt the entire island, and reinvented myself as Xineohp Guisse. Xineohp is Phoenix backwards, by the way."

Cube Project posted by Bix: http://slnewser.blogspot.com/2012/09/sl-video-cube-project-lea-2012-second.html

<-- About the build --->

For the SecondLife LEA round 6 2014, I present to you Chapter One of my 5-month long build - The {Lost} Garden Of Sundarya Lahari.

The build is based on live sampling of my cello "plucking". Each "reed" in the build, upon collision, produces a specific note. The build is made up of two chambers - An interactive chamber where avatars can move around, collide with the reeds and make their own music. And a second chamber, where the musical notes are produced in total random fashion by the collision of the creatures "the pentapuss" - Thus creating a musical score that is ever-changing and evolving.

Resonant sounds/notes are produced when two notes are simultaneously struck.

I hope you'll enjoy this build...... Just as much as I have building it.

Xineohp Guisse xxo

P.S. This build would not have been possible without the help of my dear friend (and darling sweetheart) Nava Muni, and the generosity of Linden Lab with the LEA initiatives.

 

So, you absolutely must come see this build at the Linden Endowment for the Arts. Here’s the information from the notecard for the event:

SLurl to installation: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA13/125/82/29

DrFran Babcock

The Gacha Show Premieres on Templar

By DrFran Babcock

I am not an oldbie, but I have been in Second Life™ long enough to have witnessed many ideas sweep the grid. Some come and go, and some stay. Right now gacha madness is in its ascendance, and few residents are without at least some awareness of what it’s all about.

What is Gacha?

The main gacha event is the Arcade Gacha ( http://thearcadesl.com ) held several times a year. Major content creators are asked to create a series of items, and place them in a machine where residents pay a fee to get the prizes that have been placed within. Most creators make one or a few items RARE, in that the odds of getting them are more difficult. The real coup in designing this event is that the items in the gacha machine are no modify, no copy, but transferable. This means, if you don’t like what you got in the machine, you can trade it for something else. An entire Gacha Culture has sprung up with residents running yard sales to sell their extra and unwanted items. In addition, some items that are RARE, especially items from earlier gachas fetch prices of several thousand Lindens! There is even an entire sim devoted to the sale, auction, and display of gacha items: Gachetopia.

Gachetopia is a sim-wide yard sale along with several stores dedicated to selling items from the past gacha events. The sim is the work of Morbid and Luke Templar, who are dedicated gacha addicts. They have been selling items and holding auctions for a while now, but on Saturday, November 16^th, they hosted the first of what should be many live shows called: The Gacha Show. Each show is planned to host a content creator, and an interview with them to explore their work, their lives, and their gacha goods.

I am fascinated always by the content creators with consistently innovative, detailed and improving work. For the first show Morbid Templar interviewed the genius behind O.M.E.N.: Damien.

Damien and O.M.E.N.

A sampling of the wise words of Damien is below. Damien was very measured and wise in his responses, and the crowd was clearly eating out of his hand. He even got a marriage proposal from someone in the audience by the end.

 I found out that O.M.E.N. actually stands for Ominous Meaning Elude No one, that Damien created as a comment on all the business names in SL that actually mean nothing.

Creative inspiration that might be saleable is hard to come by, and Damien admits that he does rely upon his manager, Aarin Jennifers, to help him with his creations. He has several ideas that were rejected by his manager  (farting tacos ), but he has held on to them for the future. His personal favorite gacha creation of his own is the Panda Sushi (http://www.flickr.com/photos/75496317@N07/8799819073/ )

Morbid bodly brought up the subject of the odds on the machines. My own experience has been that some RARES in the machines are harder to get than others, and my visits to yard sales have confirmed that certain objects are much harder to find. Damien felt that no RARE should be impossibly hard to win, especially if someone plays a machine very often.

He was asked what other creators he admired and he mentioned two of my favorites, Apple Fall and Anya Ohmai (Nu’ville), and one I didn’t know: Rose of Olive. Of great interest was the fact that all of the designers in the Arcade Gacha Group get free copies of the gacha items. This tidbit had the crowd murmuring in jealousy.

However, no matter how much the crowd begged, Damien would not let people know what would be in his December 2013 Arcade Gacha, but he had sage advice for new content creators: Be willing to embrace being small to be big.

FREEBIES!

A big surprise was announced after the show. Each person who had attended was treated to a detailed globe made by Luke Templar that was only for this show, and would be retired. In addition, Damien promised a free gift to the attendees of this first Gacha Show.

The next guest is already lined up, and is Contraption, who makes…well, contraptions. It is set for November 30^th on the sim of Templar, and if it is run as professionally and welcoming as this first show, it will be a hit.

If you are interested in joining the Gachatopia group, you can teleport to the sim here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Templar/121/179/41

DrFran Babcock

Nu’Ville Will Haunt Your Soul

By DrFran Babcock 

 During the month of September I was immersed in the Arcade Gacha Event, because I was trying to complete sets of items that I liked. My favorite items of all are the OhMai Spice Jars and the Teacup Piglets, both of which were created by Anya Ohmai. I also adored the Hamster avatars that were all the rage in the last September’s Arcade Gacha. These pint-sized marvels were created by Suetabulous Yootz, the owner of Beetlebones, who, it turns out, is the real-life sister of Anya Ohmai. Together, they have teamed up with a scripter named Biblar Heliosense to create the Nu’Ville Horror sim. My guess is that they had planned to role this out for October and Halloween, but if you still feel the need for a scare, and some amazing gifts, head over to Nu’Ville. 

 Full Disclosure on Pricing 

 I have no connection to these creators; I only wish I did, the things they create are things I want. Nu’Ville is not a free sim. For a 24 hour pass you will have to pay 100L, and for 800L you get an unlimited pass, and group member gifts throughout the month that the sim is open.  

 This is not the first time that this kind of pricing has been used. MadPea has had several events for which an entry fee was charged. I am not adverse to this if I believe there is value in the event. I never hesitate to pay the shocking entry fees to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, because I want to see the art. The work of these sisters is art, and worth the charges paid. Plus, I got a bunch of items made by Anya and Suetabulous that I would have paid for anyway. 

 I paid for my membership in the group, because I wanted to remain unbiased in my views towards the event, and let my dear readers decidre for themselves. 

 What’s On The Sim of Nu’Ville? 

 Once you have paid either for a pass or an unlimited membership, you can find your way to a bus stop where you embark on a ride through scary, dark and foreboding Nu’Ville. The bus drivers offer commentary along the way, as their skeletal hands clutch the wheel to navigate through the horrors. If you press your Escape key your camera will point in the manner intended by the creators, and you will see the gates of Nu’ville open to welcome you. The cemetery on the right has a tombstone that reads: R U Next.  

 The bus ride takes you through the village of Nu’Ville and over a bridge upon which a car accident seems to have occurred in the fog. You wish that the driver would stop and pick up the girl in the middle of the road asking for help, but he’s just a bony civil servant, making his way along the road, and refusing to stop for passengers that don’t know enough to wait at a bus stop. Perhaps you can imagine what happens to the girl? 

 When you arrive at your destination, the bus drive and bus poof in a cloud of brown smoke, and you are left at the entrance to a huge apartment building. It is there that the hunt begins. 

 Nu’ville Hunt 

 I don’t want to give away too much, so I will tell you that Anya and Suetabulous have filled this apartment building with gifts and prizes that are as much fun to have as they are to find. It took me a few times to gather all the prizes that are shown on a HUD given out for the hunt. Some of the better hunters finished quickly. I still haven’t found the rumored 13th floor as of this writing, but I continue to try. There are 50 prizes in all, plus extras along the way. In addition, residents who join the Nu'Ville Group will receive gifts throughout the duration of the event. 

 My favorite hunt gift is the bat avatar, that is the opposite of the cute, harmless little hamsters that were all the rage a year ago. 

OMG, It's Them!!!! 

I am honored and amazed to tell you that I was able ato catch up with both Anya and Sue, and they agreed to speak with me about their work. I will present a combination of their answers below.  

My aim in conducting these interviews was to learn about Nu'ville and to get a peek into the minds of these two creative genuises. 

SL Newser: What was the inspiration for Nu'Ville ? 

Anya & Sue: We have always dreamt of making a theme park/amusement park sorta sim, but that particular idea had been held and shelved for years now. We decided to do a miniature version for Halloween to see if we can even finish something smaller scale compared to our initial idea. The inspiration was mostly Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ride and it really spun off into something entirely different. It was meant to be an animated gallery of our work, but  most importantly, we wanted to build a theme park where Secondlife Families and Friends can spend time together and have fun! 
 

SL Newser: What would you like Second Life residents to take away from their experience there? (Besides the great hunt gifts )? 

Anya & Sue: We really want SL Residents to take away the experience and the ride more so than the apartment/hunt itself. The main focal point of it is to show a combination of passions - Sue loves meshing and modeling, I for one love texturing and Biblar (Heliosense) is a huge scripter extraordinaire. So with three of our passions, we hope to bring you an idea of the potential SL has in having something that just takes your imagination into another place. We wanted people to see the possibility of what mesh can offer when you combine scripts, sounds, lighting and animation together.  

 
(ED Note: I have come back to the sim and taken the ride about five times now, so I guess the plan worked) 
 
SL Newser: What projects do you have for the future ? 

Anya & Sue: Of course, one of the projects would still be creating that theme park/amusement park idea—it'll be a sim called NuWiggles. We also are working on The Clove, which is a more realistic, beautiful sort of Tuscan village. The Clove hopefully brings back the malls and rentals we use to have in Second Life™.   For the Clove we are using an architect we commissioned from www.deviantart.com because we wanted to see what it would be like to collaborate with artists from different communities. We are also trying to create more places and items that would be fun and interactive for Second Life™ users. 
 
SL Newser: Personally, I am always interested in the workflow people have. What tools do you use to make the enchanting objects you create?  

Anya & Sue:  We always joke around because Sue says the entire place is a walking Zbrush (from Pixologic) advertisement. That's really the main software we both use, but we do also dabble with Hexagon, Blender and Maya—oh, and how can we forget Photoshop?! Those are the main tools we've used for modeling and texturing. Most of our rigging is done using Avastar for  Blender (http://blog.machinimatrix.org/).  
 

To speed up the process for some of our avatars, we actually used Makehuman that creates amazing base models. We bring those into Zbrush and touch them up. This time round Sue dabbled with Audacity for mixing sound effects that you'll hear throughout the ride.  
 

And finally, Dropbox is our savior! We are real life sisters but we currently live in different parts of the world. So having Dropbox to exchange files is the best way to go. The work flow for us is always: 1) Sue gets the base meshes done,  and then 2) Anya finishes it with a texture. That has been the way we worked for several collaborations now! 

Is It Worth It? 

I am a satisfied customer. I have shown my avatars and transfusion bottles to many people, and they went immediately to Nu'Ville. I was impressed with how well the ride worked. The number of avatars is limited on the sim, the build mesh has been optimized to keep down lag, and the experience is so multi-sensory that you can almost smell the Vampire Chocolate Kisses. 
 
Duration of Opening: Nov 2nd, 2013 (8AM SLT) - February 2nd, 2014 (12AM SLT) 

 Entry Fee: 100L for a Day Pass (12hrs) to Nuville Horrors 

Group: Or join the "NU'VILLE" Membership Group for 800L for a permanent access throughout the time we open. 

*Additional group gifts will be given throughout the time we open via the Membership Group as well. 

 Landmark:maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Clove/244/ 

DrFran Babcock