Free SLB Shop and Hop Car

 

 By Bixyl Shuftan

 

 As of the writing of this article, there's still several days left in the SL22B "Shop and Hop" shopping event. Each of the stores has freebies, or a gift certificate. For the Olympus Motors store at Zinnia (227/102/23), they have something just about all of us in real life could use: a free car.

 

The car boasts 64 colors of paint jobs, a realistic looking engine, realistic sounds, an alarm, and more. 

To get it, click on the vendor and select "buy." You then get the giver. You select "add" on that, click the giver HUD, and you get the car in your inventory.

The interior is well detailed. 

Remember to turn off any AO of yours when you take the wheel.

I took it out for a short spin. It seemed to handle sim borders okay. But it could have a little trouble rounding corners. So be careful on bridges over water. 

Once again, the free car is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/227/102/23 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

"The Mouse," The SL18B Gift Car

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

There's a number of freebies being offered at the SL18B, between the gift shop at the SLB sims and the free items at the Shop and Hop. One item I've heard in SL group chatter a few times is a little yellow car that's been described as cute, "The Mouse." In a Flicker page shown to me, there was a picture, a description, and a SURL.

777 Motors' Gift for Second Life's 18th Birthday!
🐭 MOUSE Car - Fully scripted and super cute! ❤
You can get them here for completely free:

The vehicle is available at the "Shop and Hop" area in the Poppy sim at (152/30/53). Heading there, the 777 Motors shop,  there's an example of the car, and a picture. This little two-door car would be considered a "subcompact" in real-life, and would be a poor fit for taller and larger avatars. Besides it's size, it has a couple round ears on top, and a tail on the back bumper, making it look even more mouselike.

Clicking on the picture gets you the car in your inventory, listed as "[777] Mouse-lite [SL18B Gift]". It comes already unboxed and can be rezzed on your land or places that will allow it, such as rezz zones on Bellisseria. The two doors are openable, as is the trunk. It has a detailed dashboard, with steering wheel, gas and break pedals, a speedometer, a radio (nonfuctional), etc. To ride it, right-click on it and select "ride." Clicking on the back will bring up options, such as shifting the gear up or down, honking the horn, pulling the parking break, and others.

Taking it for a drive in my home area, the main road of the Sunweaver community, I didn't find it too difficult in first gear, though I had to slow down when making 90 turns. I then decided to give it another test: the streets of Bellisseria. I found a car rezz area at Red Hook (112/178/32), and took it for a spin. It handled fairly well, though on the arch bridges that rose up in the air some, I had to put the car into third gear to make the climb. It handled the sim crossings mostly well. I probably could have gone to the northeast end of Bellisserisa if I had enough time (and my lag wasn't getting worse the longer I was online, car or no car).

I recommend getting the Mouse. It handles well, a smaller avatar won't look undersized behind the wheel, it has a certain charm, and of course one can't argue with the price: completely free. It is unknown if the car will still be available, free or otherwise, after the Shop and Hop ends on July 1.

Hat tip: Prudence (PrudenceAnton Resident)

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Real Life Businesses in Second Life (2008)

Second Life was much more in the public eye than it is now, seen as the darling of the tech media, and attracting attention among those whom would ordinarily dismiss such things as "geeky." It was to the point real life businesses wondered if they could use Second Life as a means to make money. I myself saw numerous companies such as Circuit City, Manpower, IBM, and many others here. Among these were car companies. In March 2008, James and Dana decided to take a look at the virtual cars these companies were putting on the market here. This article was originally published March 28 2008.

*  *  *  *  *

Recently James and I set out to look at the real businesses in our virtual world, mainly looking at the car industry. We are all aware of the hype surrounding a new RL business coming into SL, and lately, more often pulling out of Second Life, Mercedes are the latest to announce their departure after Pontiac.

My honest opinion? Considering I am a non driver in RL I had a great deal of fun! Zipping around the tracks trying out the huge loop-the-loop on Nissan island, finding the code to get your own free car or answering the challenge of Mazda, jump the gap and keep the car :) (It took James 3 tries LOL)

From what we saw Nissan have certainly got the right idea of how to show their product to its best advantage with plenty of information and a lot of fun activities which had kept people coming to the sim even though there were no staff on hand at any time we visited, there were still avatars having fun. The only disappointment was the boxy look of the virtual model, with sculpties nowadays a better model could be constructed although the internal detail was good. Mazda also was populated and set in beautiful surroundings too. The Mazda Hakaze was also one of the best built representations we saw, although, only having a simple drive script it may have limited real drivers enjoyment.

Peugeot disappointingly were actually selling their models rather than giving them away and we were quickly bored, very much set out as a RL showroom - yes there was a road but if you wanted to see it you had to get a bike since you couldn't Rez your car to get around. All in all a disappointment they obviously had spent no time in SL and had no idea how to best use it to sell their product.

How should Real businesses set about using Second Life? Well I am no marketing expert but if you don't make it fun and give people something to do then you are unlikely to succeed. You need to provide the information in a fun and interesting way, I believe Nissan have seen the possibilities the best out of the ones we visited, closely followed by Mazda.

To an extent it's the same as browsing the Internet for information on cars, BUT its much more fun and relaxed, Why go to a stuffy showroom if you can walk on a tropical beach and and enjoy the looks of your new car at sunset?

Can Second Life be used to sell real products? I believe it can if it is done in the right way. Just don't take us all for suckers and give us some real info to go with the free models!

Dana

*  *  *  *  *

Real life companies more often than not found Second Life a confusing place. It didn't help that most didn't try to recruit local talent, but try and learn and do things on their own. As James and Dana wrote, the results were often disappointing for Second Life residents and real life companies themselves as they didn't get the results they desired. Eventually, the car companies would move on, leaving the Second Life auto market to local talent.

LEA2 : The History of the Vehicle

By Gemma Cleanslate

I am so absolutely blown away by the exhibit that Sapphire Hotaling, Chief Exhibit Builder & Designer,  has put together in LEA2 . It is The History of the Vehicle in Second Life. According to Sapphire’s notecard, “Thank you for your interest in this 6-month long project; hoping you enjoy it and have as much fun as we all did in the build and creation of this exhibit.  Feel free to invite friends, and share the notecard through your groups.” At the entrance you will see the names of some of those involved in the project.

After taking the TP in the police box, I landed in front of the Museum building and found in there exhibits of the early forms of building vehicles , prim and texture and sculpts. Even then the vehicles were very impressive. Moving out into the parking lots you will be amazed at the cars, trucks and other forms of transportation. On one side of the museum building you will see the cute shopping cart and even Flintstones' roller car where I took a seat, and some other oddities. On the other side wonderful early trucks and cars. There is a sections of parts and shells. These are all from various companies in sl that are identified on signs near the builds. The racing section has some absolutely spectacular vehicles . The effort and work put into the cars is amazing . 

When I have gone to a race I have not really taken the time to examine and admire what I am seeing in the cars or whatever is racing. I am there for the race itself.  This exhibit is giving me time to really examine and appreciate them. The parts themselves are "wowing," (not sure that is a word but fits).  One whole section is for the Giant Snails with so many examples of the variety of the snails themselves . There are giant cutouts of all those involved in the snail racing fun. 

All along the way you will find notecards with information on what you are viewing. Go out into the grassy area too where you will find some more to see.  Those who are older in Second Life will have lots of nostalgia and laughs, and those who are new will really find so much to help understand about the background of building moving objects in sl from the early days to now. There are a few air vehicles around, but I think there might be another exhibit sometime for air and water moving objects. 

This exhibit will be open until the end of May . I will certainly be going back for several more looks. It takes time for so much to rezz . There will be events every weekend so pick up the schedule at the entrance. 

This is  the best set of history exhibits I have seen since Marianne Mccann’s build at the SL10B. Do not miss it!  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA2/129/127/1501

Gemma Cleanslate