Wolf Ridge Asylum

By Bixyl Shuftan

Halloween season in Second Life means plenty of haunts to visit. There are too many for the Newser to write in-depth about, and too many for most residents to visit. So to stand out, some are making an extra effort to give the audience a more exciting time. But Wolf Ridge Asylum is going all-out to give it's visitors a scare they'll never forget. Located in the Geerkil land sim, this isn't a run of the mill spook house, but a three story maze of horrors with traps, reactive mobs, and volunteers playing the part as monsters. But the journey isn't the only reward. There's also a scavenger hunt with a prize for finding all the items.

1-quarter sim... Three stories high... Featuring Hidden Traps and Live Adversaries! All-Fur Radio Media in association with Club EFS present you... The Wolf Ridge Asylum! Come to Geerkil Land at Club EFS for the Halloween Fright of your un-life! Join the party at the club, and then dare the horrors of the Asylum Labrinth! Win prizes and have fun, now until the lights go out on the 31rst!... And be prepared to make the Ultimate Sacrifice!

I met up with one of the staff, Tod Heat (Okori Inaka), the designer and general manager. Speaking to me in Voice, he called Wolf Ridge Asylum a "funhouse for SL-goers" with "traps and live enemies. It was made by the staff of Club EFS, which was nearby, "It's open at nights run by a bunch of furries. You enter a game with scripts. Big Linden prizes. ... something special for the adults once the kiddies go to bed." Unlike most haunts, it's only open at certain times as "people where cheating when it was closed." So when it's not operating, those dropping in not on an approved list will be booted out. Tod did say on Halloween, they'll give some extra time for people to finish up." The location is "music powered" by  All Fur Radio.

Tod called the Asylum an "absolute labyrinth" with all kinds of features, and horrors. Playing it properly requires a HUD. The place has barely visible, or outright invisible, traps that will "kill" your avatar and send it back to the safe zone next to the entrance. There are also animesh and mesh mobs that move about, or pop out from some hidden location. Some of these will react to your presence and will also teleport you back to the start if they touch you. And then there are the "volunteer frighteners," human-controlled avatars like you playing the part of monsters whom will be unpredictable. Will they just sit around, or will they be relentlessly trying to hunt you down like no script-controlled animesh bot ever could?

As an extra incentive to brave this nightmare, there's a scavenger hunt with prizes. Scattered around the Asylum are dozens of raccoons (a scavenger hunt for scavengers?). There are sixty raccoons, fifty regular and ten golden. If you manage to find all fifty of the gray critters, you get a 3000 Linden prize. If you find all of the golden raccoons, you get 5000 Lindens. If you find all five dozen of the regular critters *and* the golden ones, you get a whopping 10,000 Linden dollar prize. At the time of the interview, Tod told me so far no one had been able to collect enough raccoons to get the top prizes.

There is no fee to enter the manor to make a try for the prize, "It's all free." They do accept donations. Besides Tod, others on the team included Kate (Katelynni Resident), Correzz Resident, and MetalWolf Nootan. JB Raccoon came up with the original concept of Wolf Ridge Asylum.

Along with the HUD, I got a short tale of the haunt's supposed origins, a place of refuge and healing that was made following a terrible war that people, human and furs alike, felt had cursed the land. Over time, conditions in the Asylum deteriorated, until an investigation revealed conditions that shocked the most war-hardened veterans among the police and the place was closed. Supposedly few have dared to go in, one who did and managed to escape saying:

"Be warned of the Wolfridge Asylum!! The nightmare begins as you walk in the front doors! No! It's the very grounds itself! Oh, gods. Guns don't work for long! Blades only hamper them!! Light only keeps them at bay! Nothing you carry in there will save you!! The way the Asylum sucks you back and forth in time, forces you relive any tiny mistake you make; to re-live the pains again and again again!! One inmate told me that if you stay too long?... You may just become one of its residents yourself, becoming the very things that chase, punish and torment!! I've seen it myself!! It's all worst on the Pumpkin Month!!! Then, it becomes three times its former power, and it's only growing year by year! There's no end to the pain, suffering and torment!! The Asylum is pure evil! Please!! Please, don't go in! You'll be lost forever!! Forever!! FOREVER!!!"

Both the story and announcements warned, "Be prepared to make the Ultimate Sacrifice!" So what is the "Ultimate Sacrifice?" That's something you may have to find out for yourself.

The Wolf Ridge Asylum is located at Geerkil Land (165/122/2251), and is open Thursday to Sunday from 9PM to 2AM SL time, with the last day open being Halloween, in which it will be open a little longer for people to finish.

Can *you* rescue all of those poor innocent raccoons from the nightmarish horror and walk away with the prize that has eluded everyone else?

Bixyl Shuftan

Note: The notecard I was given told me the times open were from 5PM to 10PM SL time, though I was told differently. Also, I had been told All Fur Radio had been a co-sponsor of the event. I was later contacted by someone saying they were providing the music, but that was all.

"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

Furry Fashion's Halloween Area

By Bixyl Shuftan

Furry Fashion is going all-out for Halloween. Besides being part of the "Quest Fur Cover" shopping hunt, they also have a special Halloween area above the sim. Besides the frightfully fun scenery, it also offers a Halloween Hunt with thirty items to find.

I had a few words with the owner of Furry Fashion, Amethysia (Amethyst Crystal), about their display. She told me, "Albright and I are both pagan and adore Halloween, witchcraft, etc. And we went to the occult shopping event a few months back and got the idea from buying way too much there, heh. Then she managed to get hold of a rare DRD mansion from a gacha that was just perfect as a witch house. And we just built around the house using it as the centrepiece. Over the years we've done everything fr a sim wide maze to a zombie game map to a asylum so we wanted something we hadn't done before. It's getting quite difficult to come up with new ideas after so many years.

"There's not only the witch house, but a skeleton basement (decorated by Klomonx), and a graveyard and a maze hidden under the basement. The hunt objects are red balloons - inspiration taken from the new "It" movie and encouragement from FF Admin I might add. And as usual QFC and Sim Merchants got offered free shops too for displaying their Halloween/fall products on top of the hunt. We'll be having a full weekend of Halloween parties in the Halloween area for the final October weekend."

Asking about the influence of the movie "It," Amethyst told me, "Yeah, 'It' is the new remake of the Stephen King movie. (I'm) not a clown fan myself, but several of the staff got hyped about it and when the suggestion of balloons was made for the hunt item, I was encouraged to use it, heh."

So what was the feedback from those who braved the area? "Most enjoy it," Amethyst answered, "Some say it's too scary, especially with windlight, heh. I plan to add extra prizes towards the end of the month as we get closer to Halloween too. Security have been doing shifts up there to make sure cheaters don't win. They've got to dress up in  Halloween avatars and outfits, and I think enjoy it." I asked what kind of Halloween avatars, and she pointed to the small avatar near me, "Rick behind you has been making Halloween stuff too. That's a mod he made that he's wearing right now. It's a Halloween pup version of the Crux. Rick's one of my staff leads." The pup's ears showed a definite Crux style, but the modded avatar was less strange and more cute in appearance, "He might even get me to wear it," Amethyst told me with a smile.

Amethyst reminded me as a business, Furry Fashion had multiple openings for jobs, "I've been pretty busy anyway. We're open for every position right now, and all staff are pitching in (smile). (It) always gets this way for Halloween. It's our favorite time of the year. I'll do a Xmas thing as expected, but Halloween is everything for me." Amethyst stated she wouldn't play Christmas music until well into December, "I was in catering, in a hotel kitchen, the same Xmas CD on repeat Oct to Jan., 7AM to Midnight every day..." One of Amethyst's staff spoke up, and that led to a conversation on the subject that lasted a few minutes.

Finally someone came over inquiring about where to find the Halloween area. Amethyst mentioned of the people doing the Halloween hunt, "we've had over 500 hunters so far." She offered to show me the place. Looking around, what I noticed the most was the darkness and fog, which gave the place an erie spooky air. There were various stalls, made to look like old buildings, where various merchants had their goods, outfits, avatar mods, and other goods.

There was also the witch house, which had a few cats and a "broom parking" area on the outside, in addition to a spooky cemetery next to it. One could open the door and to inside, looking among the rooms. Some rooms were stranger than others, one room full of books, another with ingredients, another with scrolls. Underneath was the cellar, which had a few skeletons and the entrance to the maze. I had my headphones on, and could hear various barks in the distance, screams, cries for help, and near the witch house cats meowing.

In places were various tombstones of the Furry Fashion staff. The first I noticed was Amethyst's: "I told you I was sick." I asked her about it, "Yeah, I let all staff pick their own graves, heh." She pointed to the one for Minty Melody: "Rainbow Overdose." Amethyst explained, "Minty is a unicorn in SL and rainbow addicted." She showed me a few others, which included, "should have gotten decaf." Amethyst grined, "I take no blame for the sayings, they all picked their own." She did say they tried to be fairly PG about their epitaths. Other than that, they all had a free hand with them.

Remember, there are 30 red balloons around the Halloween area to find, each with a free item. Looking around I found a number in less than a half hour. While many are just for women, some can be used by the guys. So visitors get some treats along with the tricks.

To get to the Halloween area, head to http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Furry/217/197/3501.

Happy Halloween from Furry Fashion,

Bixyl Shuftan

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