The North Sansara Sea Forts and the White Islands Quest

Map 

A Short Adventure

A confusion of names:

If you read the Second Life Wiki (http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/North_Sansara_Sea_Forts) you will find that it calls the small islands to the North of the Color Sims the "North Sansara Sea Forts". I first heard of them as "The White Islands", and the clues for the Quest that starts at Gisela calls the Quest "The White Islands Quest."  I have heard them referred to as "The White Castles" and I have also heard the islands called "The Marble Islands". The five main islands are all made of virtual white marble and the fact that Hildegard is called "Hildegard Marble Island" and Bertrada is called "Bertrada Marble Oasis" when you check object profiles makes calling them "Marble Islands" or "White Islands" more appropriate than calling them  "North Sansara Forts."

I enjoyed visiting the islands, whatever they are called. If you want to see them by boat, you can get a free boat at the pier at Shamwari. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Shamwari/169/52/26 . Just rezz a boat there and sail north. You could also teleport, walk, or fly. A YavannaScript Pod tour also goes through this area.

If you decide to sail from Shamwari, Grifo is the first sim you come to after you've gone through the Fuschia Passage. Grifo is completely underwater. It is a nice place to sail, but there's not much to see as the sea floor is empty*. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Grifo/130/128/5

Below Grifo

Next you will come to Bertrada. This is where you will get the first clue for the White Island Quest. I won't tell you anything more about the quest, but I have put some clues at the bottom.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bertrada/127/141/21

Next stop is Gisela.  At the center of the island is the Gymnast Fountain.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gisela/146/129/22

Sailing towards Adelais

Next you will come to Adelais. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Adelais/138/138/21

Next stop is Lothair: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lothair/144/153/22 This is a more detailed structure, and a great place to just sit and enjoy the view. See if you can find the Misty Mole teddy.

Hildegarde has a lovely Moon Gymnast Fountain in the center.http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hildegarde/51/184/24

Theodrada is another underwater sim like Grifo, but it has some fishes and some plants on the sea floor. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Theodrada/40/123/6

Theodrada

Valda Wave Energy Experimental Station http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Valda/158/133/26 is a very interesting structure to explore.

Inside Valda Wave Energy Experimental Station

Lutgard has a rez zone http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Luitgard/248/209/6 but not much else. You are literally on the edge of the Nothing at the Rez Zone.

At the edge of nothing. You would have to teleport if you want to go straight North from here.

Cyclops is another submerged sim but it gets a lot of water traffic because of the public ferry and because it is the main sea route to the next continent. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cyclops/89/173/3

There is a public pier near the lighthouse at Purple where you can either take the SecondLife Railway back towards Sansar**, or take a public ferry to Cecropia. Be careful in the area west of the lighthouse - some real estate person has put ban lines all around her new project***. You can also sail North to Cecropia from this area.

If you go to the Cecropia pier you can see the Grief Containment Pond right beside it.

The Calleta Airport is also close by, and an interesting monorail system. I didn't have time to explore further, but you can catch a YavannaScript Pod for a ride from a place close to the pier. One of the first stops is at an Arkady Asylum Freebie Center! There is also a YavannaScript Pod Center just before you get to the Freebie Center where you can connect to other pod tours.

That's it for now.

*You may see people standing on the bottom of the sea for long periods. They may be playing a game called "Tiny Empires" so best not to disturb them.
**A scenic trip, but unfortunately too short.
***I am assured by the real estate person that the ban lines will be removed Friday, August 14th. If so, you might want to stop by and look at the rentals - they are in an ideal location.

Clues to The White Island Quest:
Sometimes you have to look at an object's profile, sometimes you have to touch something, and sometimes you have to just look at something. Also, it is not where things are, but what they are.

How to get inside the Moon Base at Mos Ainsley in Second Life

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mos%20Ainsley/160/152/48 (you should arrive in flying mode, just in case.)

Mos Ainsley Moon Base

When I arrived at Mos Ainsley I was able to open the underground hangar.

Hangar, opened.

I was even able to rezz a shuttlecraft and fly it around a little.

Sign on wall of hangar.

Flying the rezzed shuttle -
Note that there are several Void Intersims around Mos Ainsley -
try to navigate over an active region.

But I was frustrated because the round airlocks were all sealed and the only door I could open still  left me outside of the main interior.  Apparently the outside airlocks have been sealed for some time. Some say they are hiding an alien.

This is the only door I could get to open.

I could still cam around inside the structures, but I couldn't get my avatar inside.
I even tried "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." in chat.

Then I remembered an old trick I had learned years ago for going through walls.
Go to your Build menu and rezz a cube.

Rezz a cube

Using your edit tools, push the cube through the door to the inside.

Make sure it is a clear space

Your "Linksets" Window - this is also a good tool to use to make sure you haven't
left anything behind when you are building. (Use the 'take' or 'delete' option then).

Then, in your Build tools, look for "Linksets". Click on the object, then click "Teleport me to it."

Teleported to the cube. My avatar is inside!

Here's another tip - some parts of the interior can be rather dark. You can select the cube and check 'light' to brighten things up a bit. Just attach it to yourself to take it along, and you can make it transparent if you want.

Now go have fun storming the Moon Base. Be sure to get your free spacesuit.

Note: There are other ways to go through walls in Second Life. See http://slresource.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-walk-through-walls.html

Another Machinima - A Visit to the Lilliputian Isles in Second Life

I've made another Machinima. It is actually in two parts starting at https://youtu.be/A_Q_RX_p8Eo. I made it because I read an old post in the Second Life forums where someone wrote that http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danu/190/57/40 was the start of a mini-quest. There were no details.

I went to visit Danu, but it took me a while to figure out that the key to solving the mini-quest was that you had to have a tiny avatar -- if you were a "bigger" you couldn''t see some of the clues, and it wasn't until a few days ago I found that the island chain starting with Danu Sim had been called "The Lilliputian Isles." The only Region that was specifically mentioned was Formidable, but as far as I can determine the sites include:

An island in the Danu Region of the Coastal Waterway below Satori continent.http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danu/159/102/21

Island in Danu Sim. The gate will only open for tinies.

The Lighthouse in Redoubtable and the Tiny Isle of Mist in the Intrepid Region.

The lighthouse in Redoubtable, and the Ruined Tower
 and Tiny Isle of Mist in the background.

My viewer lists the Lighthouse as a "Quest Hub" but I could find no clues there.*

The Fairy Grove in Brillant.http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Brillant/90/31/31

Fairy Grove - the YavaPod Tour goes through, but does not stop.

An island in Genereux where there are large pots which are big enough to be houses for some tinies.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Genereux/163/53/22

An island in Generous

A depot for the Moles of the Linden Department of Public Works in Glorieux.

The equipment is just the right size for my tiny avatar,
but all the vehicles were locked.

The large sim of Meauxle Bureau in the sim of the same name which recreates a mole village.

Meauxle Bureaux

The "Mole Village" was originally built by Kayle Matzerath for the 2013 Fantasy Faire. The annual Faire raises money for the American Cancer Society. Usually these builds are taken down at the end of the event, but this one  was acquired by Linden Labs and in November 2014 they moved it to its current location. Now the spaces that held Faire merchants have been furnished to represent the moles' homes. It is full of interesting things to see. Unfortunately, when I visit it takes a while to rezz, but I think it is worth the wait to see.

The last island is an old fort damaged by volcanic activity in Formidable.

The Fort at Formidable. The guns are fun to play with.

If you want to visit you can teleport directly, or you can take a YavaPod tour from Basilisk that goes by most of the islands.

Part of a YavaPod Map.
The small pale blue loop is the route that goes past the islands.

Be aware that the sailable water in this area is very narrow (the light blue bordering the land). The dark blue represents the InterSim Void, or a big area of Nothing which you can't navigate.

There is a Nemo boat dispenser near the dock in Basilisk, but you can also pick up a simple free boat at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Barbarossa/170/20/21

These islands have been furnished with items that are sized for tinies, but they can be visited by larger avatars. The Tiny Isle of Mist is the only one I am aware of that has a mini-quest with clues only visible to a tiny avatar.

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*I do not know whether the "Tiny Isle Quest Hub" at the lighthouse in Redoubtable was ever finished, or if it was finished and then fell out of use. The interior furnishings and a few interactive gadgets look like they would fit in a quest, and there are blank visual display stands in the lighthouse which resemble the 'live' ones in the recreation of Garden Mole's residence in Meauxle Bureaux. Just another mystery which will probably never be solved, as Second Life seems to be steaming ahead to their "new and better" vision of the future.

For now, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Second Life Cartoons & Other Attempts

I sent a cartoon in to the SLNewser, which they published under "Reader-submitted Cartoons".

A lot of people in Second Life made machinimas about "What Second Life Means to Me" to celebrate Second Life's Twelfth Birthday.  For what it is worth, you can see mine on YouTube at https://youtu.be/BIwM43F9G8g

Screenshot from the machinima. I liked the dinosaur avatar, but it was hard to find clothing for it.

A "Birthday Party" photo I sent to the collection on the SL Forums.

The Art of Moya in Second Life

Today I visited Moyaland in Second Life. Moyaland covers a large area that covers four sims. The large expanse is filled with the work of the French artist Patrick Moya.  The artist is said to be one of the first people to explore digital art. From Wikipedia:

"Moya's maxim has been "to please everybody while remaining avant-garde; to be everywhere without wasting oneself; to touch each medium while staying perfectly recognizable". He credits his time as a nude model for his healthy degree of exhibitionism and narcissism that gets duplicated as his cartoon alter ego. The result is art that crosses generations and genders. His work is often described as positive and jubllant."

 What this boils down to is that much of his art consists of sculptures and images of his last name, "Moya", and cartoon and sculptural self-portraits. 

At first I felt as if the artist was a little full of himself, but after a while I began to understand, and grew to enjoy it. Certainly, if you see four huge three-dimensional letters, an "M", an "O", a "Y", and an "A", it is easy to identify them as the work of the artist "Moya". I found some of the small sculptures, with the four letters intertwined, to be very charming.

Although his art is exhibited in real world galleries, I think this virtual space is a great place for his art. Where can you find a gallery that would hold a five-story statue, or that would pay for the electricity for the myriad lights and animations.

Moya's self-portrait as an angel overlooking part of Moyaland.

Here a giant 'noob' statue is collared by an "O"
while another "Moya" representation looks down.

The works cover an immense space, and so there are vehicles you can borrow or ride to get from one site to another. If you can find the Tourist Information Office, there is even a system of teleports you can use.

If you can find the tourist information center,
they have teleports to take you to all the different installations.

You can borrow this plane, and there are also cars and trolleys
you can use to explore.  

 

A room full of illuminated circuitboards and scrolling displays.

I climbed and climbed to get to the top of this building,
only to find that it is another Moya sculpture.
(See helicopter on shoulder for idea of scale).

Looking down from the neck, you can see some cartoon gears.

If you go still higher, you can see the statue's brains....

 

In another part of Moyaland there is a carnival with a parade.
Notice the Moya's in the audience. The "Moyas" and "The Lambs"
were everywhere.

Map of Moyaland

 

I ended up in an amusement park with a 'haunted house'. I never knew that going to an Art exhibit could be so much fun. It is certainly not like wandering through most art galleries. His work is like nothing else. I hope to visit Moyaland again.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moya/117/116/22 

Here is a link to a nice English-language PDF about Moya