New World Notes

Crystal Frost Update: Customizable Avatars for SL-on-Unity 3D Project Coming Soon!

I mentioned the Unity-based mobile app for Second Life this week, so I should also mention the latest update to Crystal Frost, the crowdfunded project to convert Second Life to Unity for PC and VR.

"Provided I can figure out a few rigging issues, I should have the base Linden avatars and body shapes fully supported by August," lead dev Kallisti tells me. 

And yes, she adds, that means Crystal Frost will eventually support mesh bodies:

"Afterall, there's things that happen to the underlying [default] Ruth mesh that affect mesh avatars in general. Namely to the skeleton. Examples of skeleton changes are head size, arm length, leg length, etc. So when I get the Ruth avatars replicating correctly on screen, I can be certain that rigged/fitted/bento mesh avatars will line up too once they're implemented, since they use the same skeleton."

Join the official Discord server for more info and to chat with the creator, and consider joining the Patreon to get premium updates and accelerate development. And yes, I do mention Crystal Frost in the book:

Blog Devoted to Décor & Food Spreads in Second Life Somehow Making Us Hungry in Real Life

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

Luna Morineaux’s self-titled blog drew me with its common-sensical humor as in the title of a recent blog post, When Life Gives You Lemon, Take It, Don’t Waste Food.The unexpected ending of a somewhat overworked motto made me laugh. Her table, though, makes me want to visit. I think a lovely lemon curd with krumkake and a cup of coffee is just what the doctor ordered. 

• apple fall lemon soiree - lemon & olives bow
• apple fall lemon soiree - lemon sorbet
• apple fall lemon soiree - lemon sprig

For another delicious snack, click here:

Today's Flickr Pick: Steampunk, Gangster & Ocean Adventures in Second Life

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

Alsatian Kidd is showing us that you can live a thousand lifetimes in one Second Life. Here he is, participating in The Valentine’s Day Massacre in which seven members of the North Side Gang were killed which pretty much left Al Capone and his gang in charge of importing whiskey from Canada. Of course, he could be a cop. A couple of the shooters were dressed in police uniforms, but that could have been subterfuge. The really amazing thing about the The Valentine's Day Massacre is that it was never officially solved. And of course there is the song…

For more of Alsatian’s lives, click here

 

Ask Me Anything on Reddit Today!

I'm the author of “Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to A Virtual World Worth Fighting For”, aiming to cut through the hype and tell the true story of the Metaverse and the people striving to make it fully real -- AMA!
by u/slhamlet in IAmA

Today's SL Flickr Pick: Ninoo Vita Takes Terrific Pics Full of Virtual Sunlight, Reflection, and Shadow

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

Ninoo Vita shoots pictures of himself and his significant other sailing around Second Life, occasionally visiting a town here or there, strolling on a beach, and otherwise just living the best life. “Sweet Stillness in the Golden Hour” is a gorgeous, peaceful picture of a sailboat at rest, at anchor for the night. 

The “golden hour” is that short time right before sunset or right after sunrise where the sun is gentler, less stark, and usually there is a golden, reddish tinge to the light. It’s a favorite time of the day for photographers. The world just looks prettier. Don’t we all stop sometimes in awe of a beautiful sky? 

The golden hour is parenthesized by the blue hour, coming just before in the morning or just after in the evening. I mention that because to me, this looks more like the blue hour, though that makes a less poetic title. Of course, he could see the whole sky so he would know whether the sun had set or not. Golden hour gets most of the attention, but several people think blue hour is better. 

For more snaps of Ninoo’s life, click here:

BREAKING: New Second Life Mobile App Preview Shows Off Greatly Improved UI, Graphics & Avatar Rendering -- Aiming for Late 2023/Early 2024 Beta Release

Just posted by Linden Lab: This long-awaited update to the Unity-based Second Life app for smartphones project teased back in March. In all honesty that early preview seemed a bit pokey, but the current build being unveiled now is much more impressive.

"It looks like they're greatly limiting the texture resolution, which makes a lot of sense," expert developer Kallisti tells me, approvingly. "It looks like they have some very good framerates, much better than I expected for the amount of stuff they're showing, and I'm very happy that they're making the progress they are." (Kallisti, of course, is the dev behind Crystal Frost project, converting Second Life to Unity for PCs/VR, so knows from Unity.)

Some screengrabs below. Even more important to me than the graphics: Greatly simplified and much more intuitive user interface. When I talked to Philip for the book, he strongly suggested that an SL app for mobile should have most/all the features of the standard viewer, but this demo suggests they're going for simplicity.

In other words, this could be Second Life's first chance in a long time to actually grow its user base! The only drawback is Grumpity Linden suggests the Beta version won't be available until late this year/early next. It would be kinda ironic if VRChat's mobile viewer came out first.

Anyway, click for screenies!

Save the Date: Ask Me Anything This Thursday at 9am PT on Reddit!

I'll be on Reddit's /IAMA this Thursday at 9am SLT for anyone to ask me anything! Sorry for the excessive self-promotion, but I'm hoping longtime New World Notes readers come by to ask interesting questions. Here's a handy timer thingie to watch the countdown! 

These Amazing Images Were Not Made in Midjourney, But Second Life

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

Duna Gant takes such remarkable Second Life photos that I had to write to her and ask which pics were SL and which were Artificial Intelligence (the fad du jour.)

She wrote back that they were all created in Second Life. That means this stunning picture is from SL, I love modernist work like this. It’s simply gorgeous. It is stunning. 

For more “I can’t believe it’s SL” work, click here:

 

I Wrote About Second Life's Unique 20 Year Longevity for The Atlantic!

"There Will Never Be Another Second Life" is a new essay I was thrilled to write for The Atlantic to mark the virtual world's 20th anniversary. Hope you read the whole thing, but here's some key highlights:

The reasons for the virtual world’s longevity are as paradoxical as they are inspiring, especially in this moment where traditional social media seems to be eroding in on itself, or flailing for new relevance, even as the rise of generative AI promises an uncertain, discomfiting future. Developed by a company called Linden Lab, Second Life was inspired in part by the Metaverse as first described with Biblical specificity in Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk classic Snow Crash: a massive virtual world created by its users and connected to the real world economy. Countless technologists who began their career in the 1990s were also inspired by that novel. But Linden’s charismatic founder, Philip Rosedale, added to this geeky conception a distinctly bohemian muse: Burning Man, the orgiastic art festival held every year in Nevada’s Black Rock desert...

For its first three years, Linden Lab contracted me to be the virtual world’s official “embedded journalist”—a roving, avatar-based reporter wearing a white suit (my pretentious tribute to Tom Wolfe), impertinently asking the early user community about their virtual lives—from ambitious collective art projects to savvy business ventures to the pixel sex they were having with the attachable genitals they inevitably created.

Top 5 Posts Including a Brain-Melting VRChat Experience & a Deep Chat on Kent Bye's Voices of VR!

• Listen: Kent Bye & Me On Making A Metaverse That Matters For Voices Of VR
• VRChat's Recursive Room Is Among The Most Brain-Melting Metaverse Experiences Ever. Creator Thad Gyther Reveals How He Made It!
• Read Second Life's Official 20th Anniversary Magazine -- Here's A Preview Of Cajsa's Moving History Of SL As Told By Lindens & SLers!
• Roblox Finally Allows Adult-Age Experiences -- But Still Super Restrictively!
• I Tell FastCompany Why The Metaverse Must Always Offer Playfulness