RFL: Settlers of Hope And Fiona Fei's Ribbon Hunt

By Bixyl Shuftan

The theme of this year's Relay season was "Game On, Cancer." And at the Relay track this year, the camps often had a tribute to a game. Several of the camps had builds inspired by Monopoly, such as the Sunbeamers. And some had actual games such as the Second Life Cheerleading Squad's playable game inspired by Donkey Kong. Two I came across offered prizes for completing games. One was in RFL Encourage: "Settlers of Hope."

Sandie Loxingly told me that the game had been made by her Relay Team "Seekers of Hope." It was based off the board game "Settlers of Catan."

 I would come back later with an alt.  In this SL game, a player had to purchase the HUD for 100L.

 As one goes down the track, one clicks on the people next to the signs to get a resource. You only get one good per station. There's also several games on the track, such as this Bejeweled spinoff.

Usually you get the same kind of good as the station. But sometimes a different one will appear. If you prefer the usual kind, click on the person again once or twice again.

Besides the game, there was a little scenery to explore.

At the end of the course, click on the chest at the end to get a prize. What you get depends on what combination of the six resources you have. For instance, one of each will get you a "Gamer Signs Fatpack." But there are others. Trying a combination not mentioned in the notecard, what I got was a token prize. Oh well, next time.

Oh, and Sandie told me one can get an online version of "The Settlers of Catan" for free on Steam (link).

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Encourage/194/113/22

Of the sims, RFL Courage was a unique one, as it was designed by an artist.

Fiona Fei (Fionafei Resident) had designed the exhibit.

One place was meant to say "Pencil and paper games," which certainly described the sim.

Much of the place looked like landscape covered in various scribbling and simple games on paper.

But the place wasn't just scenery. There was also the "Black Ribbon Hunt."

 Clicking on the sign, one would get the first clue, and would find the eight others by finding the eight black ribbons in the sim.

 There were several tiny critters in the sim, that when clicked on would say something, occasionally offering a clue to finding a ribbon.

Some of the ribbons were clearly in plain sight, though others took me a while to find.

 A few of the ribbons had little gifts, such as this overhead, "Game on, Cancer!" (those in furry avatars, don't wear but add).

For getting all of the ribbons, the player gets a tiny "Toontoons" avatar. It seems to be one at random from a couple dozen, in my case getting a female panda.

There are of course more games in the rest of the sims, and a lot to explore. While some people have picked up their camps, there's plenty to look over. But not for long. Eventually the sims will be gone, so look around while you can.

Bixyl Shuftan

RFL Courage 2016: Null Aries' Designer Sim

By Bixyl Shuftan

The Relay for Life brings out many talented creators whom over the course of the season use their skills to create some very artistic and detailed builds. This is particularly the case for the Relay Weekend, in which not only the various camps show of what they can do, but also some artists whom get to work on special "designer sims," usually having a whole sim to work on. For this year's Relay Weekend, Null Aries got to work on the designer sim of RFL Courage.

With the theme being "Once Upon a Cure," I had adopted the look of a "dragonkin" fighter to look around the place that day.

RFL Courage was on the east side of the Relay Track, with the suggested direction of traffic going east then south.

Looking around on the right side of the tracks (right going clockwise on the course) was the "Lake of Despair." But where there is despair, there is also courage.

 Not far away was a small shopping area with a few wares.

The area had much detail in the scenery. I would check out things out in more detail later, but I had heard about a cavern I wanted to explore first.

On the left side of the track was a stairway leading up the hill to the "Trail of Tranquility."

 The trail itself is a peaceful one, a path through some woods.

 Next to the path was a hole, which led down to the "Cave of Unknowing."

 At the bottom of the entry ladder, things seemed a little slimy and sluggish.

The cave was very detailed, with features such as mushrooms and this fountain, fed by water coming from above.

 There were dark, misty, passageways between rooms.

 "Courage to be aware."

In the middle of this cavern of fungi, a monster lurks.

 And the monster has a name: cancer.

"Courage to find out."

 The monster can take different forms, and names.

 "Courage to fight."

Fighting cancer isn't easy, needing the right medicines and care.

It's a disease that can strike both the old, and young.

 "Courage to Triumph."

 What everyone fighting cancer thinks of is the victory, of finding out the monster is defeated.

 Support, Courage, Faith, Determination, all are needed to beat the monster.

"Courage to Endure," After the victory, it isn't necessarily easy going on.

 "Courage to Accept." One has been through a struggle.

It soon dawned on me the journey out of the caves looked just like going in.

In the aftermath. one looks back at the journey they went through, but one finds the "Courage to Survive."

And the caves end like they began. It probably was"U" shaped with two mirror ends, with the other sides of the passage signs with a different set of letters

"Immerse yourself in our fairytale quest. Locate a book. Then travel the Trail of Tranquility. Help us give courage in Second Life and real life."

 Getting out, it was back on the trail.

The Cave of Unknowing was worth an article in itself. But there were other sights in the sim yet to see.

 The Brook of Encouragement.

 Nearby. also on the left side of the track,  was a small village.

One could pick up a notecard with a small Fantasy tale.

Back on the right side of the track, I decided to check the trail up "Triumph Mountain."

Like most everything else about the sim, the trail up was well detailed.

 At the top, I found a heart, and a little something else.

There was a freebie display case for a hunt. This was for nine geodes hidden about the trail. I just had to find them.

 So I began looking.

 And I began finding them

 At the base of the mountain was a farmer's building with a few piggies.

 Sometimes you wonder what else is in the area besides you.

 The search for the geodes continued.

 Eventually, I would find all nine geodes.

The 2016 Relay Track, and its RFL Courage designer sim, are now gone. But I still have the the nine geodes as a souvenir. For now, they're on display at the Newser office building.

Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan