There’s a new fitness game in the Really Needy HUD system (a proud sponsoring media partner to New World Notes) and it brings a fun new way of exploring and socializing in Second Life -- basically, you earn points by doing physical activities through the virtual world.
“You start at level 0, and by jogging outdoors or running on a treadmill, you gain Fitness Points, and level up,” Really Needy HUD creator Grace7 Ling explains. “As you unlock new levels, there are a wider variety of activities you can do to earn Fitness Points, such as swimming, boxing, weights, or you gain new abilities, for example, making protein shakes. Most importantly, your avatar’s Health meter, which normally has a maximum of 100, can rise above 100. This simulates the avatar’s physical constitution improving as fitness increases.”
So basically, it’s a Sims-meets-MMO mini-game you can play in Second Life -- but Ms. Ling hopes it also leads to a deeper experience in the virtual world:
“One of the design principles behind the game is to encourage people to have their avatars try new things in SL they have not tried, and interact outside their usual circle,” as she puts it.
“I visited a popular gym in SL, and I asked a few people why they workout their avatars, since their avatars won’t become healthier. Some say they go to the gym to chat, and working out is just something to occupy their avatar while the user is there. Somebody said it cleared their head before starting their RL day. They all thought it would be intriguing if their avatar could actually become fitter, or simulate the effects of becoming fitter.”
The fitness game works through a clever combination of scripting and interaction with locations compatible with the Really Needy HUD system:
“For outdoor jogging, the HUD detects the avatar is running and measures for how long.
For fitness machines, the HUD interacts with the machine and knows what animation (e.g. run) is playing. For swimming, the HUD is compatible with two popular third-party swim systems through an API that is free for sim owners.”
When you’re playing the fitness game, as you level up, you have an incentive to visit new places or try new fitness activities as they award more fitness points.
Top three players on the leaderboard will also split a cash prize of L$2000 at the end of every 2 months, starting March 19th.
Much more detail here. I’m highly biased of course but I love how the game encourages more exploring of SL. And who knows, it may even encourage some players to exercise more in RL too.
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