"Getting it"

I've often felt a bit of an outcast in the real world for my Second Life usage. I explain Second Life to non-residents and I get a variety of reactions, but they all center around "I wonder why anyone would do this". Gwyneth Llewelyn wrote a great article in her blog that really helped me understand the different types of views that people have of SL. I still feel like and outcast, but now understand it better!

--DrawDweeb Latte-

Speed Build at Dreams

Yesterday I went to the Speed Build hosted by the Dream Travelers' group. I don't think of myself as building "fast" so I went in "shy" mode, thinking I would just watch the building. But as soon as I got there I couldn't help myself and hopped on on of the building platforms.

The rules are:

You may use up to 60 prims. All builds must be made from your own NEW prims. You may use scripts and textures. Builds must stay within the edges of your 10X10 platform, but you may go as high as you desire. You have 50 minutes to build. A 5 minute warning will be given. When the host says "STOP" , everything stops. The builders in the contest will then vote for 3 of the best builds. Builders cannot vote for their own build. TIes will be determined by the host. Cash prizes to the 3 top builds.

So there I am, expecting the theme to be like "car", "airplane", "office building". Instead it was "purple"! So I spend the first five minutes thinking "maybe I can just slink away quietly". But I finally thought "grapes" and decided to build a bowl of grapes.

I'm so glad I hopped in. It was great fun. And while competitive, it was extremely friendly competition, with people walking around at the end complimenting each other and giving suggestions.

This is my bowl of grapes.



And this is the winner, Sunn Thunders.



--DrawDweeb Latte-

Start or Dweebtitechture II

If you've been reading this blog, you've heard I've recently become a fan of megaprims. I've redone the free houses display in a new location. This original was 60 by 60 and the floor took 36 prims. The new one is twice the size, 120 by 60. But the floor of this one only takes two megaprims. I love this stuff!



--DrawDweeb Latte-

For the love of slopes

In Second Life, flat land draws a premium But somehow I find it lacking. maybe it comes from living in Florida where flat is the norm. But I find repeatedly that when I'm turned on by a piece if SL land it tends to be (a) by water and (b) steep.

I know, I know. It so much more difficult to build on sloped land. Those flat lots are so nice to throw those blocks on. And to have a nice even lawn.

And then there is the reality of most of the buildings on slopes. Oh my God. Do people really think a flat floor jutting out of a mountain looks good? Many of these look like a piece of wood that was driven into the mountain by a hurricane. But then there are the beautiful slope builds. Looking like some of the best architecture in California and Oregon. Builds that don't fight the mountain, but take advantage of it. Builds that look like the have support for the weight. That add to the scenery like a Frank Lloyd Wright house.

My first piece of big land was selected on a slope. I spent a large amount of time searching and narrowed it down to four lots i liked. I picked the one I bought precisely because it was on a slope. They were all good, but the slope added a certain something to this one. It made it stick out and set it apart from the others. All four had water. The slope made this one special.

My builds may not be the greatest. But in both buildings I tried to make them part of the slope.

My first building tried to hug the slope while giving good views of the water. I wanted to make sure it didn't look just glommed on to the mountain. I wanted the people behind me to be able to keep their view....to enjoy my building rather than resent it.





The second building was all about the slope. It was at the top of the mountain (yes, Mt Dweeb!). It had to have great view and really fit in.







I think there'll be more on this subject. Why shy away from slopes? They can be put to great use and the results can really stick out.

--DrawDweeb Latte-

The start of the rental houses

Most of the stuff I've built for myself has been at the top of Mt. Dweeb. But I have all this land below it kind of wasted. I want to keep it to guarantee my ocean view. But why not do rentals? Under my control, so hopefully no view problems.



I put some placeholder blocks where I thought I might be able to place houses. I was able to fit six houses comfortably. This was keeping with what I wanted from layout.

1. That my view would not be blocked.
   
2. That each house also have a decent view.

This is the view from the house farthest form the water.



Will now replace the blocks with hopefully gorgeous houses. ;-)

--DrawDweeb Latte-

The speedboats

I've been playing a bit at Second Life with some of the family kids. Naturally I try to show them the cerebral aspects. But one of them could not help but notice my neighbor's Offshore Tornado speedboat.

I'm not much of a buyer, but I do have to admit it looked like a pretty nice build. And kids have those big brown eyes that say "Oh, I understand. No problem at all". So naturally I broke down and bought two of them.

They really are nicely put together. The shape is super. You can change the color. The scripting is pretty good (though the boat tends to capsize if pushed into a turn too hard). And details like the motors turning and the throaty sound really add a nice touch.





Highly recommended. http://www.apolon-online.com

--DrawDweeb Latte-

Next Monday, May 18th, MacArthur Foundation opens MacArthur Island

Jonathan Fanton, MacArthur Foundation President, and Cory Ondrejka, co-creator of Second Life, officially launch MacArthur Island and discuss the future of virtual worlds and philanthropy, Worth a look.



--DrawDweeb Latte-