29 December 2013

Some Year's Review

One of the big events in 2013: SL's 10th birthday. I doubt the LL-humans did expect SL lasting that long ;-)


2013 was quite an eventful year for SL and myself too. Things like server-side baking and the long needed improvements in sim-crossing with a vehicle (hello Blake Sea) really brought quite significant performance benefits of our favorite virtual world. The only complaint I have is: Dear LL, why didn't they happen already years ago???

It was also the year when meshes had their big breakthrough. You began to see them mushrooming everywhere: as building and landscaping structures, furniture, vehicles, clothes or even full avs - and they just make things look so much better :-) Oh, and I finally became a mesh creator too. But more of that later.


February


After a large rebuilding of Lady Walworth's Estate in Kraizek, my partner Emma proudly opened her new Sunshine Technologiy Store there - yay!





March

March saw us participating at the Festival of Steam which was held at several german-speaking sims, like Virtuelles Köln (Virtual Cologne), where we did present my steampunk Airplanes and the brandnew Prometheus-Class Aircraft carrier:


@ Virtual Cologne


@ The SL Planetarium


It was a nice event, And I met my old friend Randy there. The festival was followed shortly after by the Steampunk World's Expo in...



April

It was epic in every regard. Every day interesting and fun events: music, games, exhibitions, presentations and readings - for almost two weeks!! Hats off to its host Cyhtleen and chief scientist and tinkerer Zen Wickentower who did an awesome job!


Wooooow - Steampunk!






The Expo-grounds with the tower of the Morlock's Revenge-Pub in the center.


One of the many fun events was the squid-tastic game Kraken Polo!


The Prometheus had a prominent role at the Expo too...


I gave it a glass roof for obvious reasons!


...as take-off platform for our exciting airshow:






Oh, and a general remark about steampunk: there can't be too many gears:


Emma in full steampunk - gear!


June

The big thing in June was SL's 10th birthday, abbreviated as SL10B (you know, using abbreviations make you look like an expert!). A huge event, taking part on more than 20 sims with dozens of different installations. I spent days there taking photos.



A look down at the Cake-Stage - which was actually a tree - with a cake on top ;-)



The Cake Stage!



One of the most impressive installations: The Behemoth! It likes bunnys!



One of the rather contemplative exhibits.



Bobbekins! Another favorite of mine. And of course I went on exploring with that hopping ball for the rest of the day!



Emma had her fun too ;-)



Does this exhibit needs a caption? I don't think so ;-)


July


The Drow Science mainstore with Drow scientist!


...before I jumped straight into learning blender (its really been time!) and making my first mesh in...



August

Changing to meshes was perhaps the biggest step Drow Science had ever. The improvements in details and land-impact-efficiency are just spectacular!


My first mesh: the Steampunk Gramophone.


September

Using what I have learned while making the gramophone and other mesh items for my store I designed a set of RLV mittens for Sunshine Technology too. While I have to say I'm proud of my design, I am amazed by the scripting she did for it!







October

Was again quite busy. It saw me and Emma working intensely on the gift for the Femdom Hunt and on my first mesh airplane, the classical biplane "Kestrel".


Our friends Vila and Antony kindly showing off our Femdom Hunt gift. The Yoke's clearly on him!


The hunt also saw the continuation of a fun tradition and was a welcome change from doing the final tweaks on the plane. Its good to let projects rest for a bit and then having a fresh look at them again - and it turned out very satisfying:



The Kestrel, more detail, more fun, less prims ;-)


Lets call this picture "Wheeeeeeeee!"


November

In November I was learning the basics about Dr. Who (he is a Doctor and lives in some kind of phone box, you know!) and making a scarf for the series' anniversary and for another fun tradition which got somehow established this year.



Robin Kalamunda wearing the scarf proudly (and not much else).



December

Of course the most important part in December is Christmas! And air delivery is simply the fastest way sending your parcels:





21 December 2013

Christmas Greetings!

Its the time of the year again! Yummy gingerbread, spiced hot wine (or mead), christmas cookies and the stores crammed up with humans hunting innocent consumer products - Christmas time!

I wish all humans and other creatures reading this blog merry Christmas!



8 December 2013

A Field-Trip Through Our Cosmic Neighborhood...

...can be made here. Nice to see more and more complex interactive 3D animations for the webbrowser!



Our close neighborhood...


...our distant neighborhood. can you find your house?


If you haven't clicked already the link on top of the page, try this one ;-)


Insilico II

Part two of my explorations lead me from the highest peaks to the deepest underground - either way great photo opportunities:






















































Check it out. Its really worth a visit!

6 December 2013

A Great Film That Never Been (At Least Not In Our Reality)



If you are into science fiction you might have heard that it was a rather long and painful story to eventually get Frank Herbert's epic space opera Dune to the big screen in 1984. And if you find the way David Lynch did adapt the story odd or too "artsy", then you perhaps should stop reading right here.
Ah you didn't! Well, about 10 years before him, the Chilean-French filmmaker and author Alejandro Jodorowsky had its go on the story too. Sadly the project got abandoned. It would have certainly been a memorable experience as this quote from Jodorowsky's concepts shows:

I do not want that the man conquers space
In the ships of NASA
These concentration camps of the spirit
These gigantic freezers vomiting the imperialism
These slaughters of plundering and plunder
This arrogance of bronze and thirst
This eunuchoid science
Not the dribble of transistorised and riveted hulks
The divine one
The delirious one
The superb one
CHAOS
UNIVERSAL
I want magical entities, vibrating vehicles
To prolong to be to it abyss
Like fish of a timeless ocean. I want
Jewels, mechanics as perfect as the heart
Womb-ships anterooms
Rebirth into other dimensions
I want whore-ships driven
By the sperm of passionate ejaculations
In an engine of flesh
I want rockets complex and secret,
Humming-bird ornithopters,
Sipping the thousand-year-old nectar of dwarf stars... 


Oh, and Salvador Dalí was cast as emperor - read the full story here!


3 December 2013

Insilico I

Insilico is a pretty cool cyberpunk-themed sim. I didn't yet really took the time for it (partly because the huge shopping area at the start always turned me a bit off), but finally I made it for a more thoroughly walkaround. Here is the first batch of pictures. More to come soon!





























Most of the shots were taken at Insilico North. This way please.