The last time I made anything new or created something myself in #SecondLife was February 2019 for an inworld hunt I had participated in for years.
Then I got sucked into the inworld farming game (DFS) and spent all my time feeding, tending, planting, cooking, and photographing products for selling in the DFS markets.
I could go on about the mini-economy that Digital Farming Systems has become, but my personal experience is that it’s just taking up too much time and prim usage, and marketing the stuff is stressful and profitless for me.
I’m literally distilling my unwanted inventory down into a valuable object that can be auctioned; I’m going to grow and tend minimal stuff that won’t be marketed or photographed, and store what I don’t use.
More later. But I’m taking Blender classes and thinking about Making Things again.
From my flic.kr feed: “Two Steampunk mesh hats for the STEAM XIV Hunt”
I’m participating, although Dhughan is sitting this one out. The theme this time is “Romancing the STEAM IX” so many treasure hunters will be looking for a big heart-shaped emerald of some kind, but with a steampunk twist to the narrative.
It seems like most would need protective headgear while hunting, and a nice dressing-room screen for trying on clothes afterwards. I started off by trying to make clothing, but ran out of time on my desktop computer, which has all of my graphics files and what-not. I’ve been voluntarily marooned on a desert island for the last two weeks, so I went with the accessories I had ready, rather than the full on outfit I’d been working on. The laptop I’m on at the moment isn’t quite the thing for serious texture work, but I’m providing 3 different versions (these aren’t texture change, just different bands) and a men’s and women’s version.
This is one of the women’s versions – they have flexi ribbons off the back and and no strap on the front brim. The men’s versions have a knotted band, and a leather chinstrap flipped up on the brim.
In addition to the different pith helmets, I’m throwing in 2 folding mesh screens – they both have exotic temple carving images.
The fun starts at midnight and goes through March 31 – so get ready to find some amazing things!
(and maybe, just maybe after the typomonkey gets back to the home desktop, I’ll get that outfit finished)
It was a lot of fun listening to Krypton Radio tonight, in spite of some technical glitches. They’re going to get to do an interview with Bruce Boxleitner (yes, yes, Captain Sheridan and Tron and all). He has a new project coming out sometime, a Steampunk one at that, and fan friendly as well: Lantern City.
Well, this looks like exactly the kind of thing I’d like to watch:
The new Steampunk show Lantern City, from executive producer Bruce Boxleitner, is an exciting foray into fan-inspired and fan-created television. It combines first-rate storytelling, innovative production design, and a rich world that fans will fall in love with. Even though it will blend great science fiction with dynamic storylines, at its heart the show asks two questions: how far would you go to be with the person you love and what lengths would you go to in order to survive?
Lantern City highlights the steampunk genre to create a one-of-a-kind television experience. Other properties have had Steampunk elements, but this is the first mainstream television show to proudly wear the label of Steampunk. Current fans of the subgenre will not be disappointed and it will attract a much wider audience to the long neglected world of Steampunk. The show is unique in that it allows viewers to be involved in the process – a first for any television show.
So I’ve signed up to the forum and will check back for updates, it looks intriguing. I’ve been aware of the project for a while, and I even twittered back and forth with whoever is behind @LanternCity. They’ve been going to a lot of cons and making a lot of new fan friends.
In other totally unrelated news, I got 3 more scripted folding screens made (yes, from a kit, but hey) and fixed perms on the first one. Curse you, perms issues! The thing I have to remember is to set everything globally to “modify and copy” and then tweak the folding script to “no modify, no transfer” since there’s no reason for a customer to mess with it.
And after all that, and after laughing at the silly stuff Krypton’s Gary Da Baum and Steelhead’s Willow Leafstorm were playing on the music stream, I threw on some pixel duds and went to the Friday night dance.
It got a little weird, but what else is new?
At this week’s Friday Night Dance, the theme was supposed to be “Monty Python” because Krypton Radio was going to do set on that, hosted by our own Marshal Fuzzball Ortega (Gary Da Baum). I was listening via aetheric connection at the time because I was working on my screens. But the Fuzz had technical issues, so another of our Steelhead DJs (also a Krypton staffer) took over for a while with an equally demented set. It was fun hearing the shout-outs to Steelhead, though. Finally, I finished up and put on something Victorian so I could enter the ball saying “Shot off? Completely?!?” but the music was already on to another theme by then. Still, it wasn’t too late for more dead parrot jokes.
Our benevolent despot, TotalLunar Eclipse, hosted the ball in a brand new castle currently sitting in the newly emerged Steelhead City sim. Some of the old stores have come back with brand new makeovers; this castle is for public events and general mayhem.
For example, Lunar put out the ceremonial Steelhead trout cannon, which anyone could fire. The trout were about a meter and a half long and were temporary objects that persisted for about 3 minutes, so they built up pretty fast. I didn’t get any good shots of those, but there are some visible here:
After that, I went off taking pictures under a rather moody Windlight setting – Misty Day? at sunset.
It all looks like much fun to be had – but it’s also something that can be experienced in Second Life. 2-gramophone decks? We has them.
Rideable dinosaurs? Check. This is just my 2-seater pterodactyl, nothing special. I saw some wearable tyrannosaurus avatars the other day where your lifeless AV body hangs from the gaping jaws of a hungry T-rex, no biggie.
Oh, goodie!! The fish-flinger cannons are still rezzed out at the castle ballroom, I can demonstrate!
So like I said, it got a little weird at the end, but was a lot of fun.
Animated folding MESH room divider screen adds Asian style and modern flair to any room. Touch to fold screen to the side, touch again to open. The screen panels are one retexturable face, as are the wood frames and the hinges. Keep a backup copy if you retexture (remember to retexture the folded screen too).
I have included the screen panel image in case you retexture and wish to revert the original design.
I hope you enjoy this product as much as I did in creating it, from an original kit by Sea Warcliffe and script by Tapple Gao
The screen is copy and modify when rezzed out, only a script is no modify.
Simple antique room divider or boudoir screen. Semi-transparent, so best if placed in front of a solid textured wall. Works with many different styles of decor and eras.
It’s copy/mod/no transfer, so you can take the transparency to 0 and switch it from “phantom” to solid. Keep a backup copy if you edit, though.
This is pretty primmy – my next screens are going to exciting, animated MESH, as I cracked loose for a really nice builder’s kit. It’ll be fun texturing it, and I’m going to try to make a short video clip to demonstrate the folding action on the next one, too.
There was, until a year ago, a little and very grimy-looking shop near Seven Dials, over which, in weather-worn yellow lettering, the name of “C. Cave, Naturalist and Dealer in Antiquities,†was inscribed. The contents of its window were curiously variegated. They comprised some elephant tusks and an imperfect set of chessmen, beads and weapons, a box of eyes, two skulls of tigers and one human, several moth-eaten stuffed monkeys (one holding a lamp), an old-fashioned cabinet, a fly-blown ostrich egg or so, some fishing-tackle, and an extraordinarily dirty, empty glass fish-tank. There was also, at the moment the story begins, a mass of crystal, worked into the shape of an egg and brilliantly polished. And at that two people who stood outside the window were looking, one of them a tall, thin clergyman, the other a black-bearded young man of dusky complexion and unobtrusive costume. The dusky young man spoke with eager gesticulation, and seemed anxious for his companion to purchase the article.
Right, then! The ideas that I’ve had swirling in my mind for the duration of an enforced absence from Second Life during my adventurous vacation can finally be virtually realized.
There may be some opportunity for a real Easter Egg-style joke, too. The prize has to be placed by the 30th, but this time I’d like to finish it far enough in advance to post a sales texture on the STEAM blog (many other creators are well ahead of me on this).
What I have in mind could be a simple few prims, or it might become pretty elaborately textured and animated. I’ll start with the simplest option see how it goes. My idea for the elaboration (which would act as a display pillar or plinth) might end up becoming a separate new sales product. Either way, now that I’ve finally read the story (Internet access was tricky when we were traveling, and I was incubating ideas anyway), I see the way forward.
UPDATE: Apologies to the person who tried to buy an item from a non-working vendor. New vendor goes live tonight. /me whacks head with stick
Dhughan here, finally getting “on the stick” as it were. Rather embarassed to admit how little headway I’ve made with my products since this pompous and self-important post. However, the new shop in Tweddle is open. my parkland in Steelhead St Helens is soon to sport a wee cabin, and I’ve finally begun making new items and improving older ones.
There is now a free AO (men’s and women’s) in a box at the Tweddle shop (the landmark is in my Picks).
Must add it as a freebie to my Marketplace listing and also add it to existing walking stick listings. The gent’s version has been added to the Swirled Steampunk and Ivory-Headed walking sticks listings.
On my list of Things To Be Done:
Must retire the older Jade stick (unscripted) and replace it with a better jade one now in development. Perhaps put it out as a freebie in the AO box after updating it with the cane-control script, people could try as a demo.
Must continue to invite customers to my Further West Updates Group, in spite of near-fatal Shy Person Syndrome.
Must test another good cane AO and see if the cane configuration card can be adapted to work well with it.
Must photograph self in various poses with my free AO along with the infinitely more dapper poses offered by Posture is Everything’s GJ Cane and Gentle Jim AOs. And then add those to my cane listings.
Must make some more lamps, photograph and list them.
Must finish the new vendor(s) tonight, lost another sale due to my incompetence setting up that gorram 1-prim vendor currently in the shop.
Must gift all past purchasers of sticks with the AO. STEAM hunters got an older version, pity I was too shy to put out a spammy group inviter. Must photograph the Shanghai stick and list it on Marketplace. Current update group members will also find the Shanghai stick, which was the most STEAM 5 gift, in the group notices (BLATANT CLUE, SEARCH FOR THE GROUP AND JOIN, my minions).
This looks intriguing, especially with the audience engagement piece.
Also, it’s in glorious BROWN.
The new Steampunk show Lantern City, from executive producer Bruce Boxleitner, is an exciting foray into fan-inspired and fan-created television. It combines first-rate storytelling, innovative production design, and a rich world that fans will fall in love with. Even though it will blend great science fiction with dynamic storylines, at its heart the show asks two questions: how far would you go to be with the person you love and what lengths would you go to in order to survive?
Lantern City highlights the steampunk genre to create a one-of-a-kind television experience. Other properties have had Steampunk elements, but this is the first mainstream television show to proudly wear the label of Steampunk. Current fans of the subgenre will not be disappointed and it will attract a much wider audience to the long neglected world of Steampunk. The show is unique in that it allows viewers to be involved in the process – a first for any television show.
The typist has a long history of getting her fannish heart broken but her greatest joy in life came via her involvement with fandom, so she’ll pass this along to her DH Rock Fall in the hopes that we’ll have a new favorite show again soon.
So what do we get to see? When do we get to see it? And can we build it inworld or is the “interactive” part more like “buy our Steampunk stuff?”
Neither Dhughan nor I are participating as merchants, as our holidays conflicted with deadlines and such. Also, it’s daunting how many much more creative merchants were in it last time, so we had actually decided to bow out immediately after the last STEAM hunt. Too many late nights getting ready, only to feel our offerings didn’t hold a sculpted candle to those of other merchants.
Perhaps next time; for now we (and Bugginia) will enjoy the Hunt.
