Ancient Alexandria is an Amazing Place in Second Life - What Others Must I Absolutely See Soon?

Last night I floated high above a beautiful Second Life sim called Ancient Alexandria -- (map location and SLurl right here, please go visit yourself ) -- and yes, it looks like this, with the graphics turned up full: less like an ancient Greek city, but something out of Skyrim, but with a city square with air ships and such which overall seems more steampunk. (Skyrim mod idea: Steampunk Skyrim.) And now that I find myself with more time and opportunity to explore more in Second Life, I find many old beloved sims are long gone, but others remain, and still others have risen as well. Many of them are fully mesh-made, and so seem to remake Second Life anew, so that it can (as you can see here), visually compete with the best that 3D gaming has to offer.

Along those lines, what others should I see in my next few visits?

Please post map links below, and a short description if you have time. Hamlet the in-world reporter is back at his desk (at least a lot more than he's been for quite awhile), and he's looking for tips!

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[Inara Pey]

Well, in a shameless bout of self-promotion, you could try my travelogues.

Or if you prefer, use the top menu on my blog (http://modemworld.wordpress.com): PEY'S TRAVELOGUES > EXPLORING SECOND LIFE - and the side menu options there which present places by year visited.

[Eupalinos Ugajin]

Maybe you'll like our collective project "Moving Islands" [Rafts]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eupalinos/10416511245/

[Masami]

You want to see something that can compete with 3D gaming?

Check out Carima on the Metropolis OpenSim grid. It's not a sim but a world, spanning 30 regions featuring medieval towns, forests, rivers, farm houses, mountains, castles, bridges, harbors and beaches, designed and arranged in a way that feels totally seamless. The place is so large, you can literally get lost and walk around there for hours and never stop discovering new things that you haven't seen before. There is nothing comparable in Second Life. In fact it doesn't even feel like SL any more. It feels like the map of an open world game.

Carima will give you a glimpse at the upcoming post-SL future. The place is run by members of a fantasy roleplay community that had a considerable presence in Second Life which they had to scale down at some point. I think they now have only one sim left in SL, which of course still costs them more than the entire spin-off version on the other grid that is 30 times larger.

[Cake]

My favorite hangout right now is Lil' Nono's. It's a cleverly built jazz club that resembles the type of hole-in-the-wall you'd find in NYC. You can also take an elevator out to view a street scene, or visit the coffee shop and laundromat outside.

Very cute, not crowded, nice people.

http://secondlife.com/destination/lil-nonos-blues-social-club

[Jess]

@ Masami

I just visited last night It's a nice build but you wrote 'Carima will give you a glimpse at the upcoming post-SL future'

No it will give you a preview of 2008 because its a nice old build who uses many items from dead SL creators including my old account.
using over 90% prims is 2008 but its still a nice build..smiles

How about this you create everything mesh from scratch in blender or some other program and be sure to add baked shadows with lighting then do this for your 30 regions
then you can say this without everyone needing to lough ' There is nothing comparable in Second Life. In fact it doesn't even feel like SL any more. It feels like the map of an open world game.'

[Masami]

@ Jess

You've got that entirely backwards. Baked shadows is 2008. Dynamic shadows is state of the art. If you still bake shadows today, then you're doing it wrong.

By the way, it's funny that you bring up mesh, considering that most of the mesh content in SL is garbage because few creators bother to upload more than one level of detail (LOD) per item. I'd rather look at a 90% prim build than a mesh with 10 times more geometry that disappears or turns into crap at 4 meters distance because the creator was trying to game the land impact system.

In case you didn't know, Second Life's definition of quality content has become the laughing stock of the game design community.

[Jess]

@ Masami

Well I still like OS and to compare to SL is apples & oranges debate.. Smiles
But your work is still very subpar for your remarks I was expecting to see this amazing build then all I seen was reassembled junk from around the metaverse its that's simple.

I know a lot about prim building I've been known to have made a few things here & there its a true art to master you just slapped some of my old textures & sculpts on your work then called in a day ..smiles

This is your post below not mine...smiles

You want to see something that can compete with 3D gaming?

Check out Carima on the Metropolis OpenSim grid. It's not a sim but a world, spanning 30 regions featuring medieval towns, forests, rivers, farm houses, mountains, castles, bridges, harbors and beaches, designed and arranged in a way that feels totally seamless. The place is so large, you can literally get lost and walk around there for hours and never stop discovering new things that you haven't seen before. There is nothing comparable in Second Life. In fact it doesn't even feel like SL any more. It feels like the map of an open world game.

Carima will give you a glimpse at the upcoming post-SL future. The place is run by members of a fantasy roleplay community that had a considerable presence in Second Life which they had to scale down at some point. I think they now have only one sim left in SL, which of course still costs them more than the entire spin-off version on the other grid that is 30 times larger.

[Masami]

@ Jess

you just slapped some of my old textures & sculpts on your work then called in a day

I did no such thing. You obviously have no clue who you are talking to.

However, I'm sure the makers of those regions will be surprised to hear that someone accuses them of theft. I will contact them and ask them for a comment.

[Jess]

@ Masami

So its not even your regions now huh ..smiles
like most of the stuff there besides the linda Kelly stuff its all just rehacked stuff from the big grab of 2007/8

Big grab of 2007/8 was when the opensim software was released the copybotters went on a huge rampage on the mainland so they could fill their new little worlds..smiles

Any ways my old stuff no longer matters to me but its as common as dolly heart trees in osgrid

[Masami]

@ Jess

No, it's not my regions, Einstein.

Anyway, let's recap:

- You claim that the OpenSim version of Carima uses stolen textures from "dead SL creators", including your "old account". I guess that means you have no evidence to back up these allegations, because your old account is no longer accessible and all the other creators happen to be "dead". Am I right?

- The fact that the creators of Carima run a similar (albeit much smaller) place in SL means that you could easily file DMCA notices against them. But you won't do that, because "your old stuff no longer matters", which in this case translates to: it doesn't exist.

Let me put this in simple terms, Jess: You are a liar.

However, there is something I would like to understand: Why Carima? Do you have a personal beef with them? Do you feel envy, because their stuff looks so awesome? Did they eject you from their RP group? Or is this some pathetic attempt to spread FUD about the platform they are moving to? Please explain.

[Issa heckroth]

lol, well since this Carima is so amazing, it seems all screenshots have been removed from google search to protect us from the sheer awesomeness of it. I somehow doubt it can rival the latest SL regions.

I have seen some nice mesh in Kitely, and a bit in Inworldz, but most elsewhere is stuff mostly ripped directly from 3D websites. Not that I am accusing Carima of that.....I cant find any pictures to accuse them of anything =)

[Masami]

What makes Carima special is not individual builds. As Jess pointed out already, most of it uses traditional prims and sculpties, not mesh. It's the sheer size of it that makes all the difference. Point me at an SL island featuring 30 sims with a common theme, a seamless landscape, without shops, skyboxes, welcome areas, banlines, repetitive or disruptive builds, rental parcels and all the other stuff that breaks immersion in SL on a regular basis. Carima is large but full of small details that add to the experience. There is no way to express this in a few screenshots, because screenshots fail to convey the feeling of depth.

The problem with doing such a thing in SL is that no individual SL builder or small team of builders can afford 30 regions for a non-commercial purpose. It's prohibitively expensive.

More and more SL regions try to appear larger by using off-sim geometry. There is an example of it right there in Hamlet's picture. So don't tell me that size doesn't matter. Immersive roleplay needs more than a checkerboard. It needs a country.

If you are a frequent reader of NWN or SLU, you may remember that I have been promoting the concept of themed SL mainland for years. I proposed it when the previous CEO took office, but I won't do it again because OpenSim is now delivering a better solution to that problem: huge amounts of land, affordable by anyone who wants it. It gives builders air to breathe. Carima is an example of what SL could have been but was never allowed to become.

[Issa heckroth]

Don't get me wrong, the concept sounds great, but when you come along first and say “CARMINA IS THE GREATEST THING EVAR!” in open comments, people are going to challenge you.

Land cost in SL makes MMOs a non-starter from the word go. But a bunch of semi empty fields and no SL gizmos and gadgets is not going to get anyone excited either.

“There is no way to express this in a few screenshots, because screenshots fail to convey the feeling of depth.”

And that's just a crock. So how do we sell the latest video games these days? Telekinesis?

CARMINA IS THE GREATEST THING EVAR, SO GREAT, THE SCULPTIES BREAK THE SNAPSHOT TOOL! AVERT THINE EYES UNWORTHY SECOND LIFER!!!”

[Masami]

@ Issa

So how do we sell the latest video games these days? Telekinesis?

Downloadable demo levels, HD trailer videos, time-limited free trials, feature-limited free accounts.

[Issa heckroth]

"Downloadable demo levels, HD trailer videos, time-limited free trials, feature-limited free accounts."

Yes....but before all that, we need pictures, dont we?

I dont know many people who will download a demo level or go for a free trial if they cant even see ONE PICTURE of what they might expect.

Don't get me wrong, if your saying Carmina has no screenshots but a HD flythrough, free donloadable level (OAR maybe?) or somesuch, just point me in the right direction! Oh, you don't? What a surprise!

When was the last time you saw an MMO with downloadable demos but no promotional pictures? Your venturing into very deep derp now.

[Masami]

@ Issa

You wouldn't be asking for promotional material if the place I mentioned was in SL. You know very well that I can't produce such material or give you an OAR without infringing the makers' copyrights. And finally, you know that producing such material would take hours, just to save you a minute. You know it's not gonna happen, so stop being obtuse.

[Gordon]

Masami wrote:
"There is no way to express this in a few screenshots, because screenshots fail to convey the feeling of depth."

Muhaha
Please don't stop. I love comedians!

[Guest]

Masami stop being a troll

[Masami]

You're all just butthurt because the good stuff has started moving out of Second Life and into the hypergrid.

Screenshots, give me a break. If moving beyond your walled garden is too troublesome or scary for you, then you're not ready for this whole 3D web thing. Stay in your Linden Homes, hermits! :P

[Aliasi Stonebender]

I think it's more the factual things. Lack of real interactivity, lack of seven years of stuff I've got in my SL inventory, lack of people.

Something can be technically better but stil feel like a failure, just ask Sony about Betamax, sometime.

[Masami]

Aliasi wrote:

lack of seven years of stuff I've got in my SL inventory, lack of people.

Yes, and the former explains the latter.

Jo Yardley (of "1920s Berlin") recently said she would not move to High Fidelity or any other virtual world, even if it was technically superior and cheaper, unless they would make it easy for her to move her stuff to the other world as well. Which is never going to happen of course.

I remember a documentary about animal life in Africa that I watched as a kid many years ago. There was a scene where the locals caught monkeys by storing peanuts inside a whole in a tree. After the locals left and the place felt safe, the monkey would approach the tree, put its hand into the hole and grab a fistful of peanuts. Since the fist with the peanuts was larger than the empty hand, the monkey could not pull it out of the hole. Surprisingly it would not let go of the peanuts either, even when the locals came back to catch it.

That's Second Life in a nutshell: trapped monkeys with peanuts in their hands, unable to let go. ;)