France3D Futuna: Perfect textures and an amazing techno-industrial environment

Since I’ve become a world explorer, I make it a point to constantly solicit my friends for LM’s to amazing places and builds found during their adventures in Second Life. Zachh Cale is one such friend who sent me a ticket to France3D Futuna a month or so ago. Upon my initial visit, I was in total awe. This has to be one of the most beautiful and well constructed sims I’ve been to. Okay, so some of that opinion could be due to the apparent steampunk influence found here. From past posts, many of you know I enjoy steampunk….but regardless this place is amazing.

So, I returned home, briefed Devin on the find and we began our preparations. After doing a little shopping for new shmexy steampunk duds…primarily for Devin ; ) we were ready for the full explore. The SLurl we’re providing will place you on the lower level of the sim, just below a tower wrapped in a winding staircase – http://slurl.com/secondlife/FRANCE3D%20Futuna/120/181/110.

After the slow rez completes, I recommend climbing the staircase. Once at the top, you’ll have a full view of what’s before you and can choose your path accordingly. France3D Futuna seems to be a three-tiered city. The ground level contains shops, towers, museums, carnival rides and a full-scale Leviathan-style ship that you must see to believe. The industrial part of the city floats above the rest with steam hissing and gears churning. A long skywalk connects this area as well as connecting to small grassy rest areas along the walk (an odd sight for this all-metal environment). The lower tier (for which the entrance is a small island) is submerged…and comprised of workshops and interesting rooms …perfect for taking pics. If you have the Bristol Windlight setting, which many of us lost with Emerald, then I suggest using it here.

This is one of those places that is almost too amazing to properly describe in a short blog post. So, take a few minutes and go see it yourself. You can view the photostream of our adventure at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavingarfield/sets/72157624788543811/.

Also, be sure not to miss the Aeronautical Museum while at France3D Futuna…. you’ll find some amazing prim engineering there. Post comments about your explore for us to review and be sure to check back soon for the next adventure of SL World Explorers.

-Gavs

South Purden – Cari Lekebusch – State of the Art – Hybrid Productions: Amazing lighting on this gothic spooky sim

Hello all and welcome to another installment of the SL World Explorers blog. For this little adventure, Devin and I dusted off our goth getup and prepared for a spooky little explore. The skin I’m wearing is by Hellfire Skins and was purchased at Potter’s Field (Slurl:http://slurl.com/secondlife/Abacus/113/31/27), a place recommended to me by my good friend Aisling MacMoragh. My outfit is “Shadow Hunter” Dark by Dans Belgar. Devin also found her awesome sexy dress and horn combo while we were shopping at Potter’s Field. I’ll let her comment on the specifics.

I originally found South Purden via a photo post on Koinup, and once I visited knew it needed to be blogged. The build is awesome and after reading up on the notecards and web sites referenced on the sim, I realized that it was built to host Cari Lekebusch, a Swedish techo artist’s CD kickoff party. You can read Cari’s full profile here – http://www.lekebuschmusik.se/cari.html.

As you enter the sim (SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/South%20Purden/113/163/29), you’re immediately immersed in a spooky atmosphere complete with screams and nighttime sounds. A faceless phantom marks the landing point. You’ll find a teleport map at this location, but my suggestion is to follow the yellow tile pathway….and yes Devin did get tired of hearing me singing the age-old Wizard of Oz tune as we meandered our way down the road. The lighting here definitely lends itself to many great photo opportunities. So, be sure to check out all the little diversions off the pathway. There is even one place to stop and do a little pixel hookah smoking if you’re so inclined…lol. You can see our full photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavingarfield/sets/72157624706908162/.

This road will take you to many cool little areas and as you travel. Be sure to look for the glowing white owl, lion and spider prims along the way. Right-clicking those items will give you some nice freebies left over from the CD release party. The path ends on the dance floor, featuring Cari’s stage and a techno laser show that also makes for great pics. I wish I would have known about this before the kickoff party, so I could have seen this DJ in action. I’ll simply have to watch his blog site in hopes that I can catch the next one.

Devin and I highly recommend checking out this build. Bring your camera, bring a sack lunch and check your fear of spiders at the door…mwha ha ha. Happy exploring everyone. We’re already working on our next post.

♫Follow the yellow brick road…follow the yellow brick road♫

See ya,
Gavs

Jaded Wings: Step into the mystic world of dark fairies

I ran across Jaded Wings one night while out exploring sims that I’d come across via pictures on the KoinUp web site. After first seeing the lighting and textures here, it was apparent that we had to do a dark fairy blog post from this location. The SLurl is http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jaded%20Wings/212/79/43.

Devin and I set out to choose our explore costumes, which is half the fun you know. She quickly located a very sexy little dark elf outfit on XStreet, where I took a little longer and ended up buying an elven ranger outfit from Fire Horse. Yeah, yeah, I know we bought elven outfits to explore a fairy sim, but it’s all about having fun…right? …chuckling.

This sim is actually very well designed, is not too crowded and has somewhat of a path to lead you around. There are a number of places to take great photos and also some hidden pose balls here and there if you just want to relax and maybe even cuddle up with your fairy sweetie. We tried our best to take advantage of the lighting and some cool angles to really show off this location. You can see the full photostream from our adventure here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavingarfield/sets/72157624157896398/. Pay extra attention to the glowing grasses and the textures of the trees as you explore.

So, if you’re into role-playing sims, or have been looking for a place to take some really awesome pics, then we have to recommend Jaded Wings. Just be sure to watch over your shoulder as you explore…dark fairies could be hiding anywhere.

Happy exploring and watch for most posts soon!
Gavs

Lashes of Earth by Kolor Fall: An Artist’s Virtual Playground

It’s been a while since our last post. So, I wanted to do a quick write up for Lashes of Earth at KolorFall, for which the explore was completed a while back, in order to kick the SL World Explorer’s blog back into gear.

Lashes of Earth is different than most sims that we’ve blogged about in that it’s a testing ground and a blank canvas for SL artist Kolor Fall. We discovered the sim during an old fashion map jump session. Map jumping is something I used to do alot in my early SL days. You simply go into map view, scan around until you find an interesting looking sim or an area with lots of people, and then you teleport…lol. And yes it has gotten me into trouble a couple of times. On this particular night I jumped into Lashes of Earth at http://slurl.com/secondlife/KolorFall/236/139/91 and brought Devin in right behind. As we were exploring the colorful mountain ranges, interactive art exhibits and underwater playground, we met Kolor Fall. We spoke to him for a while which sparked a new SL friendship with a very creative artist. Kolor seems very happy to tell you about his sim and projects going on there, including an illuminated art exhibit by Glyph Graves.

I suggest that everyone stop by and explore this place on your own. Feel free to touch things and see how they work. Before you know it, you’ll have spent two hours dancing on floating blocks or touching the artwork just to see pieces float out in front of you. The photostream of our explore can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavingarfield/sets/72157623490615069/.

Watch for another SL World Explorer post coming very soon!

See ya,
Gavs

Racers Island Raceway: Professional style racing in SL

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an expert on racing by any means. I am, however, a World Explorer and a guy…so I can appreciate the time and planning it takes to construct something like Racers Island Raceway. I’ve been to this sim several times to enjoy my custom GT500, built by Abacus Mimistrobell and given to me as a gift by someone special. On my last visit I thought, hey this would be something a little different to blog about.

To access the sim, follow http://slurl.com/secondlife/Racers%20Island/128/128/22 and you’ll end up in the very center of the shopping area. Here you can purchase racing clothing, biker clothing, cars, bikes, go-carts, etc. from most of the major vendors in SL. There are some very cool items here for sale. Be sure to at least window shop a little. Don’t have a car or Lindens to purchase one? Some of the tracks at Racers Island allow you to rez 60 minute demo cars to try it out.

Racers Island boasts 8 phenomenal tracks to choose from all of which we tried out personally. Each track has its own unique theme from dark city garage to neon-lined highway. Devin and I decided to invite a friend along and pull out our cars for the photostream of the explore. You can take a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavingarfield/sets/72157623247928233/.

You can obtain an information note card near the landing point referenced above that describes the sim as follows:

“Whether you are looking to see the cutting edge of what is brilliant building in Second Life, or you like to zoom in realistic fast cars and tracks that adhere to first life physics, or simply like to find super shopping and a place to gather with friends and relax in our spacious Racers Lounge -Racers Island is a must see spot in Second Life!”

There are some rules…yes rules…all of which are also provided in that same card. One important thing to remember is that the sim is closed during races to minimize lag. The schedule for races is as follows:

Racers Island League
Tuesdays – Formula 1 @ 5:30 pm slt
Thursdays – Drift Racing @ 5:30 pm slt
Sundays – Stock Car @ 5:30 pm slt

You should also check out Racers Island’s own blog at http://racers-island-raceway.blogspot.com/ for more photos, information or just to stay up-to-date on SL racing. Hope everyone enjoys this explore and be sure to watch for the next one coming very soon. We’re prepping for it now : )

-Gavs

Steelhead Shanghai: Asian-themed steampunk and awesome architecture

Ah it’s good to be back! With the holidays and yeah a little procrastination on my part, it’s been a while since my last post to the SL World Explorers blog. Alas, I’m still alive and exploring the far reaches of SL for awesome builds and fun things to do.

For this explore Devin and I reverted back to blogging another steampunk sim. Why you ask? Because we like steampunk it seems : ) Steelhead Shanghai is part of a much larger group of steampunk themed sims collectively called Stealhead. For this post, we’re only concentrating on the asian themed area. As usual, we started by getting into character. I dropped by the Black Opal store located at Steelhead Shanghai and picked up a cool airship pilot outfit and a pair of black lace up boots. Devin decided to wear a little more clothing than usual…chuckling…and went with a full kimono. Her outfit consisted of the Kimono and Hakama Gakudan from Nonko as well as the Hermia Scarlet Red hair from ETD.

We initially rezzed into the sim at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Steelhead%20Shanghai/86/155/24. This is a great central starting point for your explore. As the city begins to rez, you’ll immediately notice the asian-style architecture and the fact that a lot of care went into the building of this town. The waterways are aligned with intricate little flatboats as we’ll as fantastically-shaped steam-powered vessels. If you’re using the Emerald Viewer, you should test some of the new lighting settings while at Steelhead. They make for awesome pics. Go to WORLD > ENVIRONMENTAL SETTINGS > ENVIRONMENTAL EDITOR. Then click on the ADVANCED SKY EDITOR button and choose from the Sky presets.

Be sure to explore each building to get the full feel for the city. Click on the gongs placed throughout the city to hear them thunder, take a load off in one of the small bath houses, or stop by the sake bar if you need a little something to wet your whistle. There are also a number of stores scattered throughout the sim to purchase steampunk and asian-themed items. 

While exploring we ran into Caliburn Susanto who was taking photos for his flicker photo set, “365 days”. Check it out at http://www.flickr.com/caliburnsusanto/sets. His photo shoots are pretty amazing.

As we were finishing up our explore near the large asian tower, I ran into a local named Krystine Qinan who shared her thoughts on Steelhead and also gave some additional reference information.

Krystine says “Steelhead is a place of warmth, friendship, and above all else….fun! We are truly a community, in every sense of the word. Our weekly town hall meetings keep us laughing, and we always have a Friday night event planned. Anyone interested in joining the merry madness can check out our Ning at http://steelheadsl.ning.com or our newspaper/blog (of which I, Krystine, am the Editor) at http://steelheadsentinel.blogspot.com. Did I mention I love Steelhead? :-)”

As I close out this post I’d just like to add that I very much enjoyed the detailed architecture at Steelhead…maybe more than any sim I’ve explored up to this point. I definitely recommend checking it out, and who knows maybe you were even meant to become part of the community.

Check out the full photostream for this explore at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavingarfield/sets/72157622771285429/.

Happy exploring and watch for our next post very soon. You can join the World Explorers group in Second Life to receive new blog post notices and occasional notes about cool places to explore.
-Gavs

Action Surf & Sk8te: Virtual Surfs Up Dude!

Well, Before the official end of summer, Devin and I were attempting to take a little beach vacay. In the process, however, we came across the Action Surf & Sk8te sim which was so cool that we decided to go back on the clock to bring you a little explore action.

As you enter the sim at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Action%20Surf%20Sk8te/128/128/23 you’ll be in the center of town surrounded by shops specializing in surf/skate hair, swim suits, boards, shoes, accessories and vehicles. There are dune buggies designed for any taste. Devin and I perused the shops, buying some swim gear, before making our way to the skate park in one of the back alleys. I’m not a skater and don’t know all the terminology, but the park seemed to include every type of ramp and trick area imaginable.

Devin had found a hot little bikini in one of the shops which she was ready to try out at the beach, so we headed to the pier, called the “Action Extreme Zone.” Now this was the coolest part of the explore. On the beach is a terminal that allows you to rez a demo surf board or you can bring your own. You can paddle the board out into the water and actually interactively surf the giant waves as they roll in. Clicking the board gives you a hud to attach and enable some pretty complicated surf tricks. Before we knew it, we’d spent almost an hour surfing and taking photos for the blog…lol. We had lots of fun in the process. When surfing, you’ll also notice a pirate ship out in the water which is fully furnished and makes for some great pirate role play..me matey!

We highly recommend checking out Active Surf & Sk8te. It’s a great place to take a date or just to have some SL fun on your own. Check out the photostream from the explore here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavingarfield/sets/72157622413881670/. The surfable waves are also sold in the stores on the island and can be incorporated into your own build.

Happy surfing,
Gavin

Carnivale Amusement Park: Coasters, copters and cotton candy

For this installment of the SL World Explorers blog, Devin and I decided that we needed to put ourselves into the shoes of two college kids…which isn’t too hard considering I’m just a kid at heart anyway. We first needed to secure a few items to pull off the youthful look…lol. So that meant backpacks, headphones, new clothes and accessories most of which were purchased at Dinzeo and Gritty Kitty. Devin can comment and add more about the shopping experience if she likes. My manly tattoos and big guns were a little harder to camouflage, however, in order to pull off the look…chuckling.

This explore was at an amazing ride park called Carnivale Amusement Park that covered an entire sim, Carnivale Quarry. The entrance is located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Carnivale%20Quarry/117/121/50. It looks as if the park actually acts as a huge showroom for the many rides that the park owner has for sale or rent. They have the widest assortment of rides I’ve seen anywhere in SL – from ferris wheels to waterslides, tour copters to shooting galleries. Even if it is primarily a showroom, Carnivale Amusement Park still makes a terrific spot to take a date.

We started out by taking the giant waterslide for a spin. Okay…okay, I pushed Devin down fully clothed and then flew to the bottom to watch her come down ringing wet…lol. We were playing the role of immature teens ya know. While at the bottom waiting, I met Sean Dorchester and his wife…a very cool guy. Here’s what he had to say about the build:

“Carnivale Amusement Park is vividly decorated and has plenty of rides and attractions. It’s a well planned sim and I will definately return again.”

Devin and I then hopped on a tour copter, little two-man flying cars stationed around the sim that are very simple to navigate with only arrows and page-up, page-down. Take one for a spin. It’s the fastest way to see this monstrous sim. After landing, we rode the gravitron, the log flumes, the spook house, roller coaster and even took some time to try out our skills at the shooting range. For the most part, I was just watching Devin shoot… she’s actually a great shot and very cute to watch with a gun…I must say.

The lighting at Carnivale Amusement Park is simply fabulous; Coupled with sim’s vivid coloration, this ambiance makes for some really cool photos around the park. Most of the rides are also equipped with animations and facial expressions to help further enhance the photo fun.

So grab your baby or just a friend and head on over to Carnivale Amusement Park at Carnivale Quarry. You’ll need a few hours to really explore the sim in it’s entirety…but I promise you won’t regret it.

Want to see the photostream from our explore? Go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavingarfield/sets/72157621914603615/.

Happy explorin’,
Gavs