"The Well: Ultimum" By Loki Eliot

By Bixyl Shuftan

Loki Eliot, the self proclaimed "digital mischief maker," is noted for two things. One is being the leader of the "Goonies,"  a group of adventuresome Second Life child avatars. The other is for being a skilled and creative builder, such as builds for the Second Life Birthday "The Behemoth" and "Dungeons and Nightmares."  A few days before Halloween, he came up with an adventure named "The Well: Ultimum."

"Ultimum" is the fourth installment of "The Well." The first he opened in November 2012 after Loki and his fellow Goonies visited a haunted hospital, and he decided to try and make something scarier. He came up with an adventure in which the player investigates the disappearance of a team that went down an old well to find a boy that fell down it. The second adventure took place a year later, with more areas to explore. The third, which ran from Halloween to early December 2015 started with the player waking up in a mental hospital and having to make his way out. Loki promises the latest "The Well" will be his last, describing it as a prequel that takes place before the other adventures.

To play "The Well," head to Escapades (218/232/3002). One board shows the recommended settings to view the game. Another has three buttons to click on. The first is to allow the games experiences to automatically affect your avatar. The second allows you to purchase a pass to the game (200 Lindens). The third allows you to start, you automatically having the game's HUD attach to you, showing your avatar's level of sanity (your own may be another matter).

The story starts in a boy's bedroom. Looking around, you find a boy's diary with all the pages torn out except one, in which he describes himself as being scared of "the THING." Leaving the room, you find yourself outside the house at night, with a station wagon still running and shining it's headlights onto a path into the woods. Looking around, you find a flashlight, and more pages of the boy's diary. Occasionally you will see a TV with a video, which require media to be enabled to view, but are not necessary to progress into the adventure. The pages help explain what's been going on, and one needs to get all of them to descend down the well, located at the end of the forest path.

Down the well, the player has to navigate a dark maze of tunnels. Unfortunately for you, the passages have ghosts floating around that in the darkness are barely visible. If one touches you, you hear a loud scream (real fun when you're wearing a headset), and your hud loses some of it's sanity level. Once you run out of sanity, you start back at where you first appeared under the well. Depending on your tolerance for shrieking, you may find yourself more terrified than frustrated as you try to get pasts the ghosts and tunnels.

There is a video available of the game, made by Strawberry Singh as she braved the spooky woods and terrifying caverns under the well along with Draxtor Despress and a few friends. There are more than a few spoilers if you watch it, so consider yourself warned. She found the ghosts more than a little frustrating, "Loki's trying to give me a heart attack! ... I don't have much sanity left, in both worlds."

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fc_0xrFzu18" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

All in all, a worthwhile adventure that fans of horror should enjoy that takes good advantage of Second Life's capabilities. Whatever Loki will offer next year, he's set the bar high for himself.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Escapades/218/232/3002/

Bixyl Shuftan

Games in Second Life: Linden Realms and 7Seas

By Gemma Cleanslate

Bixyl asked what games do we play. I looked back in my life in sl and I still miss the old casinos , especially the camping casinos ,sorry to say. Sigh. I am not fond of the new gaming possibilities. So far I have not attempted any mostly because of laziness.

One game I still like is chasing crystals in the Linden Realms. It is "stupid fun" to run and escape the rumbling monsters that watch over the crystals and will get you if you are not fast or careful enough. That is okay because there are resurrection sites where you go after they kill you and begin again from there. You never lose the crystal points you have captured and when they are enough to matter you can go and exchange them for lindens. 

Each part of a realm is large and encompasses many adventures to run through. When you first arrive in the realms for the first time you will be asked to complete a quest. I did that years ago, but then you are free to run to any area of the forests, caves, mountains, hollows and find the varied colored crystals that stick out of the ground. Each color offers certain points to exchange. Not only do you have to watch the rock monsters but watch for falling rocks and many other very scary dangers. Try it for yourself. Read the rules and follow them or you will find yourself at home once in a while. 

You will automatically be wearing a hud that keeps track of your crystals while you are in the realms but don’t worry if it does not appear, your points are still added. The entrance is by teleport through a blue arch found at the Linden Portal Park.    

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Portal%20Park%201/69/66/23

Another game I play almost every day I am in Second Life for at least 30 minutes or possibly more if I have time is 7Seas Fishing Contest. I have been fishing for almost 10 years and not only fishing in contests but hosting them for various places. It is a social activity as well as a contest. All the fishers who are mostly too lazy to hold a rod so fish automatically with invisible rods. It is all random. 

As soon as the cast begins the fishers begin to collect various fish with points that are registered on a leader board that keeps track of the points of the top 5 fishers. At the end of the contest the top winners are rewarded with lindens and possibly trophies and other rewards. Bait is used in almost every contest and we must purchase our own bait. There may be a lot of grumbling taking place as time passes and the fish are not biting. 

Trivia questions play at some of the fishing holes and help pass the time. Conversations can range from fashion to food. Greedy game is available at some of the sites but I have never tried that. And there are many Krafties (another game I have not tried) enthusiasts who come fishing too and have their battles while there.  

There are other forms of fishing in sl but this one is my favorite. There are custom fish to be caught at many of the sites that people love to collect as well as the trophies. Those trophies belong to Grey Nacht who collects them and more. 

You can learn about 7seas Fishing at the website  http://www.7seasfishing.com/  or you can visit the headquarters inworld.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Flotsam%20Beach/39/104/22

Gemma Cleanslate

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