New World Notes

Blaze Borgin Builds Mesh-Based Terrain in Second Life

A humanoid lizard named Blaze Borgin has been building physics-enabled mesh-based terrain, to make the ground under his scaly feet seem much more realistic, and the results look like this:

"Adding physics to the mesh allows the use of functional terrain surfaces made from mesh objects," he explains. "This eliminates the need for invisible prims placed under phantom sculpties. Proper texture painting can give the illusion that you are actually walking on terrain." Because when you're a six foot bipedal reptile who likes to chill on a floating tire, the last thing you want is unrealistic terrain.

SL's Spirit Art Installation's Free Fantasy Mesh Avatar are Stunning (If You Can See Them)

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

A few days ago, Airedine Poe (creator of this rad Lichtensteinian makeup) plurked a picture of herself wearing an incredibly unique and eye-catching mesh avatar, and of course the av leapt right to the top of my "to buy" list. Never mind buying it though, because it's actually a freebie available at an immersive art installation called spirit, by claudia222 Jewell,on the Art Screamer sim [Click here to teleport to spirit in ART SCREAMER].

The exhibit itself is a surreal landscape of alien anatomy and organic oddness, spread out across rolling hills and swamps filled with stalks of insect wings in the place of reeds. It's a great place to take pictures, or just roam around. Check out this video to see what I mean:

SL Men, Want More Mesh Fashion? Share Your Avatar Sizes (Update: Broken Link Fixed)

Click here if you want more mesh-based fashion for your male avatar, and share your avatar proportions. It's a survey being conducted by ENTENTE, a well-known SL brand, to create a new line of mesh clothing. "We are currently working on a lot of mesh items and we realised, just as with women, mesh is not 'one size fits all' for men either," as the site explains. This poll has been pushed by mesh master creator Damien Fate, who said on Plurk, "The goal has almost been met but needs a final push to get the total number of avatars required to make a nice average set of shapes." NWN style columnist Iris Ophelia in turn pointed it out to me, noting how valuable this could be, "especially given how many guys whine a me in the comments about mesh availability." And yes, this means you also have to share your "Package" size. But at least it's anonymous. And I'm sure all your packages are leviathan anyway. So click here to take it already.

Iris Rants: Linden Lab's New Third Party Viewer Policy Could Help Bring the SL Fashion Industry Up to Date

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

I'm not going to pretend that I completely understand the implications of Linden Lab's new third-party viewer regulations, which prohibit TPVs from altering the shared experience of Second Life. A lot of TPV users and developers are complaining about how it might exclude or hold back new features, but few are talking about how it could also be a good thing, by forcing third-party viewers to keep up with the features already offered by the official SL viewer. This would be especially good for SL's fashion industry, which is often held back by popular but outdated TPVs which haven't kept up with the times. Here's why:

Start this Month in the Latest Second Life Mesh Fashions at March Mesh Madness

 

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

Second Life's first major Mesh-only fashion fair, March Mesh Madness 2012, opens to the public today, and is undoubtedly worth a visit for both fashion-forward fashionistas and the mesh-savvy home decorators. Womenswear, menswear, jewelry, hair, furniture and even weaponry are all represented. It's the perfect kind of shopping fair in my eyes-- not too big and not too small, with a build that's uncluttered and easy to navigate.

Keep reading for the details on the marvellous mesh items pictured above, all available at MMM12!

Celebrate Oscars in SL with Rebel Hope's Latest Mesh Gown

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

I'll admit that I'd nearly forgotten that The Oscars are taking place this weekend, but it makes the release of this new gown from Rebel Hope Designs quite well-timed. If you're unfamiliar, Rebel Hope Designs is practically an institution in the SL fashion world; they're an enduring and high-end brand that's recently embraced mesh wholeheartedly. Their latest dress, Stephanie, comes in ten different colours to satisfy any palette preference, and the sheer ruffles along the bust are adjustable and removable (in case you prefer a sleeker silhouette).

Animated Mesh Tears Will Win Your SL Heart By Breaking It

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

Nyagos Kidd of ++NODe++ [Teleport to NODe in SLOW] recently released a set of stunningly animated attachable mesh tears that stream down an avatar's cheeks when worn, and understandably, they have fashionistas all aflutter. I'm no stranger to tears in Second Life-- at least, trying to find a good set as an accessory for a photo-- and these are easily the best ones I've ever tried. Tattoo layer tears never look as crisp as they should, and many sculpted tears look goopy and cartoonish.

So naturally I was so taken with this new alternative that I slapped together a melodramatic little clip of them in action. See the video (and read more about these beautiful tears) after the cut!

Perfect for Your SL Valentines: Sexy New Releases from the Dynamic Designers of Collabor88!

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

Yesterday, the latest round of themed designs were released at Collabor88 [Click here to teleport to Collabor88 in TAILS], and it was love at first sight. If you're unfamiliar, Collabor88 is a collaborative effort from a large group of SL designers who release exclusive themed items (ranging from furniture to clothing to poses) for L$8, L$88, or L$888 on the 8th of every month.

This month's release revolves around literature, and even though my inner English major was fully prepared to geek out, it was this Valentine-themed lingerie ensemble I ended up settling on. Although I may be single, I still have a weakness for the romantic aesthetic that wafts through RL and SL fashion at this time of year.

So here's the full breakdown of this sweet and sexy look:

Give a Warm Reception to coldLogic's New SL Mesh Fashions

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

coldLogic [Teleport to ColdLogic in ZYRRA] is a brand new all-mesh venture from Janie Marlowe, Zyrra Falcone, and Damien Fate that has a lot of fashionistas in a flutter. If those names don't ring any bells, here's a little background info: Zyrra was a prim hair innovator from the bad old (pre-sculptie!) days of SL, while Janie ran Mischief for years but more recently relaunced as Jane, a shop that had some of the first mesh clothing releases. Damien of course is the force behind some of the first and most popular mesh fashion templates, as well as being the original designer behind Loco Pocos, and the father of an adorable baby boy named Linden. But it's not just the all-star designer list that has people talking.

Because of the way that mesh and textures interact on a well made piece of mesh clothing, I decided to photograph these pieces a little differently. I've cropped these shots close and put the sun behind me so you can see the shading and detail without shadows or anything else too distracting. Without mesh, none of these pieces could look even half as good as they do, and this is definitely the clearest with the Kelley jacket, pictured above. Every crease, fold, flap, and button is modelled and textured to make it stand out with striking realism.

Keep reading to see two more favorites from coldLogic up close!

Second Life Mesh Stats, January 2012: 22% Sims Have Some Mesh From 240 Daily Uploaders for 140K+ Total Objects

The growth of mesh across the Second Life grid has reached an adoption rate of 22%, according to Linden Lab. That's up from 16% last month, when CEO Rod Humble reported those stats. By "adoption", Linden spokesman Peter Gray tells me, the company means "the percentage of regions on the grid with at least one mesh object rezzed on them, which now is actually above 22%." So if you're to walk around SL at random, there's nearly a 1 and 4 chance you would see at least one mesh object in every region you encounter -- such as this mesh parka Iris wrote about last year.

How many SL content creators are making this mesh? Pete also has stats there: "We average more than 240 unique uploaders every day, who in total have uploaded almost 140,000 models to the main grid." No word on how many of those unique uploaders do so regularly, but I think it's fair to estimate there's less than 2000, all told. And while 140,000 is a large number, the number of prim-based objects in SL probably runs into the hundreds of millions. Notwithstanding calls to make mesh-enabled viewers mandatory, my take is that mesh is still very much a niche product type, and may take a couple more years to predominate the economy of SL.