New World Notes

This Artist Turns Second Life Screenshots Into Fantastic Still-Life Paintings

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Carelyna takes Second Life screenshots and uses filters to turn them into digital paints that feel three dimensional. You can imagine the build up of paint and the textures of the brush and palette knife. I love “Single” which gives us such a gorgeous color story of gold and purple. It is a mix of complexity in texture and simplicity in form. I love it. 

More stunning SL screenshot to art ahead.

Philip Rosedale Issues Metaverse Challenge: What Virtual World Besides Second Life Has Collaborative, Dynamic, Complex Content Creation?

Here's a great Twitter thread: Second Life/High Fidelity founder Philip Rosedale challenging people to name a virtual world besides Second Life that enables collaborative dynamic creation of "interesting things" while users inhabit the same space as avatars. Based on his follow-ups, "interesting things" means it must enable complex scripting/interaction and 3D objects. So not just simple building blocks but, for exaxmple, a fully interactive 3D recreation of Van Gogh's "Starry Night", as in in this classic machinima above.

On that view, Minecraft wouldn't count by Philip's lights: "Love Minecraft, but: Can't build together without elaborate specific permission from admins. Can't build many important things (jointed objects, curved surface)."

Second Life is the only virtual world that allows people to build interesting things while also being together in one place. Despite being 17 years old, no other game or world has yet fully achieved that goal. Agree? Have at me.

— Philip Rosedale (@philiprosedale) January 17, 2021

Also, by one "place", he means a single shard world that many thousands of users can inhabit at the same time, and not instanced mini-worlds or rooms: "Try making a pocket world like Anyland or Horizons or VRChat seamless," as he explains. "Very difficult issues with asset transfer, serialization, load balancing (for example)."

Do any come close to meeting this criterion? A few standout candidates:

Watch: Epic BattleBots Duel, Fire-Breathing Slapbox vs. SL Fave Sharko!

In case you missed it last week, here's the Discovery Channel's BattleBots fight between SlapBox and Sharko, prototyped in Second Life by Artorius Constantine, owner of SL's Nano Station Technologies store.  Sent to us via BattleBots super-fan Devin Vaughn, it is almost more brutal and merciless as a major fashion drop in SL, which is saying something.

"Overall that was one of the best episodes of BattleBots I have seen in a long time," Devin reports. "Good even matches, much spark and explosions! Sharko had a good match against a rookie bot SlapBox, and a crazy moment: Shark bites down good, but then SlapBox lifted the entire shark, all 250 pounds was lifted into the air, totally inverted and shot flames down the mouth of poor Sharko who refused to let go. Wow."

Watch above to see what happens next! As to why it happened, Constantine and his crew have a good post-mortem in Reddit's /BattleBots community: 

This Artist Creates Beautifully Composed Images from Cyberpunk 2077 Screencaps

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Cyberpunk 2077 was probably the most-anticipated game of last year. I’ve been looking for homage photos in Second Life, my main focus. While searching I found Wýstrach. She has several screenshots from the game itself and displays an artistic eye in all her pictures. For example, “Patience” shows her use of leading lines with the floor and ceiling leading us toward the avatar placed by the Rule of Thirds. The dark foreground and light background also creates a sharp division that directs us to the avatar. 

More lush Cyberpunk photos ahead.

Open Forum: What Should New World Notes Feature This Week?

Events, announcements, products, videos, social trends, research, anything roughly related to virtual worlds and VR, Second Life and its many official and unofficial spinoffs -- and definitely also great Flickr feeds for Cajsa's column -- please post details and links in Comments!

Monday Memory: When MLK's Face Shone from the Second Life Sun

Gone a decade or so ago after an update to the environmental system, the face of Martin Luther King Jr.'s face once emanated from the surface of Second Life's virtual sun on this day of the year, to celebrate the civil rights icon's birthday:

In honor of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., a special sun is made to arc across the grid of Second Life today.  If you look close enough, you'll see it's inset with the face of the man who was so untimely cut down, when far too much of his work remained.  In his country, the world beyond, and, perhaps, in worlds he never could have imagined.

It's more than likely that Linden Lab the developer who added it no longer works at the company, and just as likely that none of the developers now working for the company even remember that it did. But it's worth remembering today, and everyday, in hopes this special sun is brought back again.

Top 5 Posts Last Week Including a Battlebot Prototyped in Second Life for the Real Life Show & a New Blockchain Currency People Might Actually Use

• Inventor Prototypes Battlebot In Second Life -- Then Creates It In Real Life To Fight On Discovery Channel's Battlebots!
• Second Life Community Launches Powerful Image Challenge To Promote One Billion Rising's Mission To End Violence Against Women & Girls
• High Fidelity Provides Spatial Audio For Live CES Show Featuring Billie Eilish
• Despite Amazing Creativity, Why Does PS4'S Dreams Have So Few Users?
• IMVU's Plan To Make VCOIN The Most Used Blockchain-Based Currency In Virtual Worlds -- And The Real One

Fashion Friday Blog: Belinha Aquina Highlights Kawaii Style in Second Life

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

“I bought my snacks, now I just need Netflix” appeals to me. I love the convenience store and snacks and want some. In fact, when I finish this post, I think I will make some popcorn. The power of suggestion. The post features items from The Food Court, a semi-annual event that is going on now. 

• NINI Planet. Netflix and Chips : candy earring A@The Food Court
• NINI Planet.  Netflix and Chips : jelly mouth A@The Food Court

A fabulous blouse features in the next pic.

TONIGHT: Inventor Prototypes Battlebot in Second Life -- Then Creates it in Real Life to Fight On Discovery Channel's Battlebots!

• 
• 

Above: Sharky in SL and in RL (images courtesy Constantine of Nano Station Technologies

Tonight at 8pm on the Discovery Channel (check your local listings!), there's a chance for Second Life users to cheer on a hometown champion: Episode 6, third fight of the night, it's Sharko (woot woot!) versus Slap Box (boo! hiss!) on the popular Battlebots reality TV show. 

Sharko is the creation of Edward Robinson, known in Second Life as Artorius Constantine, owner of the Nano Station Technologies store.  For the last few years, Constantine has not only been making a real life living from his SL inventions (animesh roleplay bots and so on), but taking what he's learned from the battlebots he's made for Second Life fights, and applying what he's learned to design real life battlebots:

Second Life Community Launches Powerful Image Challenge to Promote One Billion Rising's Mission to End Violence Against Women & Girls

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Lawrence Pryce, whose several virtual world screenshot challenges have been featured here in the past, has a new SL community awareness drive in support of the One Billion Rising movement to end violence against women and girls in real life. (Look for news at the One Billion Rising in Second Life page, though no announcements are there yet.) I like “No More Stolen Sisters” by Charlie’s Rain (above). It’s sort of an anti-Rockwell, isn’t it? Like Rockwell, she catches a moment in life, but a heartbreaking moment. Rather than full color, it’s mostly black and white except for the red highlights. It’s a powerful image, made more so by its naturalness. 

The One Billion Rising in SL campaign celebrates rising from despair, as in this next picture: