At The Crucible, The Ancient Sim Of Endless Storm

When you're at the Crucible, be sure to wear something warm, because you're bound to feel a subconscious chill.  (Even if you visit, as I did, with a sunny San Francisco in the windows outside.)  At the Crucible, it's eternal midnight, it never stops raining, the waters are always churning with foam, and your best source of illumination are the sheets of lighting that cause the water and the clouds to glow a milky white.  I first got wind of Crucible from this powerful New World Tableau by Solange Korobase, and the moment I had a chance, I went to look for myself.  (To travel there yourself, here's a direct SLURL teleport link.)

The creation of Cuwynne Deerhunter, Crucible is easily among the most vivid and realistic enviromental simulations I've so far seen in Second Life; for that matter, I'm inclined to rank it among the upper ranks of online worlds in general.  It's actually just a smaller part of an equally atmospheric whole, "the third piece of a three sim set of 'ancient ruins' sims," Deerhunter tells me, then proceeds to give me a glimpse of its place in the larger picture: 

"Wolf Hills, Quaddryl and Crucible all contains ruins from three ancient cultures." Crucible is the darkest of those.  "It is still under construction and will incorporate an underground flooded ruins on its West side. The darkness and storm are intended to segue the entire estate to the final sim, Templum. Templum ex Obscurum is a masterpiece sim built by Baron Grayson. This sim was entrusted into my keeping and Crucible is a companion sim to extend the ethereal quality of Templum beyond its current border." 

On the technical side, the rain comes courtesy of the Damani particle system from Damanios Thetan.  And while the level of detail and artistry suggests Deerhunter has a professional background in 3D content creation, he says not so.  "I am told I have an eye for this," he'll only allow, and shrugs. "That may be true. I enjoy building very much. But I only started a few months ago."

All this is part of the Cariwynne estate, which Deerhunter has built as a tribute to his early experiences in Second Life.  "I was amazed at the sims that people built and then shared freely," Cuwynne Deerhunter tells me. "I  want to contribute a part of my vision back to Second Life." 

He laughs.  "Crucible is my attempt at reducing the incessant sunshine running amok through this world." Seeing as I was eager to get back to the sun-lit deck of my office in Waterhead after a half hour there, I'd say he succeeded.

Comments

[Solange Korobase]

As I wandered out of Templum ex Obscurum into Crucible I didn't notice that the two are creations of different people. Embarassingly I thought Baron Grayson was also responsible for Crucible, so seamless was the transition and mood.

[Damanios Thetan]

Just a little correction:
It's Damani and Damanios Thetan.

[[email protected]]

Sorry about that Mr. Thetan, fixed.