New World Notes

Watch: New SeraCast Featuring Great Advice for Running a Good SL Event, a Look at Seraphim's Massive Pageviews & Much More

Here's the latest episode of Seracast, the fun and chatty YouTube vlogcast hosted by Del and Kess, co-founders of Seraphim SL. The top highlight of this show include: 

• 5:45: Details on a special live stream event next Monday at 9am SLT
• 10:45: Teaser on the upcoming Easter Egg weekend hunt featuring top brands on the SeraSim
• 11:35: Still seeking sponsors for SeraPride, including gift cards and other gifts for donations, with all L$ converted to US$ donations to benefit Rainbow Railroad.
• 13:25: Viewer question: What's key to a great SL event in terms of longevity and foot traffic? Great and valuable details here. Spoiler: Big brands are, well, big.
• 18:30: Mythbusting (with an intro rap!) rumors that Seraphim's web traffic numbers aren't accurate. But you can see Seraphim's total pageviews and estimated value right here on reputed analytics site SimilarWeb:

Watch: New SeraCast With Del & Kess, Featuring Seraphim's New In-World Event Launching Today, Literally Called FUN

Here's the latest episode of Seracast, the fun and chatty YouTube vlogcast hosted by Del and Kess, co-founders of Seraphim SL. The top highlight of this show is the launch of Fun -- yes, literally called that -- an event full of, as Del puts it, "Truly just stuff that's fun and gives us a good laugh... we don't want to show you because that just makes it more fun." 

Fun is open now for, well, fun, on Seraphim's official Second Life sim: Click here to directly teleport.

Many more highlights from this show include: 

Watch: Seracast, Seraphim's New Weekly Show on Second Life Trends

Here's a fun and chatty new YouTube channel from Del and Kess, co-founders of Seraphim SL, by far the most read Second Life fashion blog on the interwebs. (Which like I mentioned, has more readers than many top real life fashion blogs.)

Stepping out of the website shadows, Del and Kess' weekly Seracast -- highlighted on their blog here -- is the first time the ladies are featuring select SL content, events, and personal opinions from the wider Second Life ecosystem. (Including a very nice plug for New World Notes, and Cajsa's recent post on Blueberry's new metaverse ambitions.)

"It is a fun, new way to communicate with our readers and share a bit of information about Seraphim and Second Life trends," as Del puts it.

Get Wet When it Rains in Second Life! New Weather System Update Works With Items from Izzie’s, Salt & Pepper, Mina Hair -- and Blueberry!

Here's a fun new update to the Really Useful Mega Weather Maker from The Really Useful Scripts Corner launching this weekend from The Really Useful Scripts Corner (a proud NWN sponsor) -- a mesh-based rain system that drenches your avatar in real time! Even cooler, it’s compatible with select items from top SL brands Izzie’s, Salt & Pepper, Mina Hair, and Blueberry. 

Available only from the in-world store starting early Saturday SLT: Click here to teleport.

This announcement comes with a statement from Blueberry's legendary owner herself:

"At Blueberry we are always seeking opportunities to make our platform more immersive. We are thrilled to support this initiative to connect our apparel to the weather. Clothing that becomes wet when it rains? That’s brilliant. As simple as it sounds, it’s these details that truly form a wholesome metaverse experience right at home in our Second Life."

Watch the video above and check out the images below to see this effect in action. Unlike other systems, the Really Useful Mega Weather Maker has options for mesh not particle-based emitters, and is optimized to reduce lag

Here’s all the details straight from Really Useful Scripts Corner’s Grace Ling:

Give Your SL Avatar Realistic Wounds With the Really Needy HUD’s New Explosive Pack!

Just in time for Halloween and Squid Game roleplay in Second Life, the Really Dangerous Explosives Pack is a fun new addition to the Really Needy HUD (a proud sponsoring partner), which turns SL into a Sims-like game experience. Now, with the help of major style brand Izzie’s, any damage from nearby explosions will cause visible wounds to appear on your avatar. 

Here’s Really Needy creator Grace7 Ling with more details, along with some new NSFW partnerships: 

Roleplayers can now give their urban game more gritty realism with the Really Dangerous Explosives Pack, which includes a feature that auto-applies blood-splattered BOM layers onto your avatar body, if hit by an explosion.

This is a feature of the Really Needy HUD which are used by roleplayers in Second Life to simulate their avatars having Hunger, Thirst, Energy, Health, Hygiene and even Toilet and Procreation needs.

This new release builds on the different types of injuries recognized by the HUD (which goes much beyond a simple combat meter), such as burns, falls and gunshot wounds, and now blast injuries.

As covered in a prior New World Notes post, gunshot wounds automatically appear on the parts of the body where the avatar was shot. With this new release, avatars within the blast radius of a fragmentation grenade will get covered in blood splatter or bloody cuts (depending on how much gore you want), or might be bruised badly if they suffered shock damage from a nearby explosion.

Second Life Meets The Sims: Roleplay System Makes Your Avatar Look Wet, Sleepy, Dirty, or Even Drunk Based on Your In-Game Behavior

Here’s a huge and fun new update (SLurl to check it out) from The Really Useful Scripts Corner, a proud sponsoring partner of New World Notes -- a major expansion to its Really Needy roleplay HUD (created in collaboration with top SL cosmetics brand Izzie’s):

Visible, physical changes to your avatar body based on how you interact in-world. (Watch the demo above!)

“If your avatar dives into water or goes swimming, he or she will emerge with water droplets on the face and body, and dripping wet,” says HUD creator Grace7 Ling. “If your avatar is tired or sleep-deprived (according to the HUD), they will get eye bags. Don’t drink enough water, your avatar gets chapped lips; don’t shower for days, your avatar starts to look grimy! Izzie and I think this will raise the level of realism for roleplayers who desire a truly immersive experience.”

So pretty much Second Life meets The Sims. Here’s all the details from Grace herself:

SL Roleplay System Adds Jobs for Players Who Want to Make a Virtual Living as Barista, Tattoo Artist, Etc. -- Sim Owners Can Use It To “Hire” SLers!

Here’s a fun new feature to the Really Needy HUD roleplay system from The Really Useful Scripts Corner, a proud sponsoring media partner to New World Notes:

Jobs for avatars! (Watch above.)

If you’re a Really Needy player (or want to try it out), you can play with the job system on the Really Needy sim now: Click here to teleport.

“Rainy City in my sim is offering jobs like Barista, Bartender, Receptionist, and Tattoo Artist, as a start," creator Grace Ling explains. "Really Needy HUD users will get paid on the job with coins they can use to buy food in the city to replenish their Hunger and Thirst.” There’s even openings for janitors and garbage collectors.

Rainy City also has an “Adventure Hunt” quest where they can investigate the disappearance of a reporter -- join the Really Needy Roleplay group to get started: “Visitors will be equipped with an Experience version of the Really Needy HUD, as they go about exploring the city and talking to different Non-Player Characters powered by my chat-bot script to solve the mystery.”

Sim owners can use this system to turn their region into a fully functioning urban roleplay community:

Just in Time for Tokyo, Dive and Compete in the Really Olympic Swimming Pool -- With Wet Hair, Skin, and Clothing When You Get Out of the Water!

The Really Olympic Swimming Pool is a new product from New World Notes sponsor Really Needy HUD, which turns activity in Second Life into a fun Sims-like roleplaying game. As you probably guessed, any swimming in the pool is tracked as exercise on the Really Needy HUD. As creator Grace7 Ling explains, you just need to click on the pool’s life buoy, to get started:   

“By clicking the Swim HUD it will auto attach as a temporary attachment, and your avatar can swim forward, back, up, down, and also make a jump dive. It also tracks how long you are in the pool’s mesh/prim water and communicates to the Fitness script in the Really Needy HUD”. 

As befitting style-conscious SL users, the pool also enables users to look wet, when they get out:

Really Needy HUD Seeking Food-Related Brands in Second Life -- And Visit the 725th Street Bar & Restaurant to Try the Roleplay Dining Fun!

Click here to visit the 725th Street Bar, a ship-based food and drink establishment perfect for dates and other social get-togethers in SL -- and which now serves food and drink compatible with the Really Needy HUD (a sponsoring partner to New World Notes), so that a meal consumed there fills the Hunger and Thirst meters of anyone wearing the Sims-like roleplay system. (More about that here.)

Bar owner Drogo Bartholy, who even employs live waitstaff to serve his customers, added the Really Needy system to further enhance users’ experience:

Add Combat to Your Really Needy HUD Roleplay System with an Injuries Add-On & Futuristic Gun for Taking & Giving Damage (Partner Post)

Here’s two new items from proud New World Notes sponsoring partner Really Useful Scripts Corner which effectively turn its Really Needy HUD roleplay tool into a combat system:

• The Injuries add-on for the HUD
• The new release of a sci-fi themed submachine gun that’s compatible with the HUD.

Ably demonstrated by Really Useful’s lead developer Grace7 Ling above, these items aren’t technically part of a combat system, but they can certainly be used as such:

“It is a natural extension to simulating physiological needs (hunger, thirst, energy, etc.) that roleplayers would also like to simulate health damage as a result of not meeting those needs, or due to injuries,” she explains. “The Linden Lab damage system is too simplistic and inflexible, while some other systems are focusing only on combat rather than roleplay.”

“The Injuries add-on enables wounds that automatically appear on your avatar’s body if shot by a firearm, courtesy of tattoo layers made by cosmetics creator Izzie Button, who is a partner.” It even displays bloody splatter and mist when a shot hits home, and also comes with walls that display bullet holes. (More features here.) 

It was inspired by Second Life’s many roleplay communities where some users take on roles such as the police and EMT workers: