The Malted Bunneh

Now THIS is storytelling..



Hilarious!

New Splodey Effects in ICS

This is essentially a repost of Justinian's from the Murakami blog, in hopes of it going out to a wider audience.

ICS 3.1 is now a reality, and UCS?, the urban combat system associated with and compatible with ICS, will soon be distributed to various ICS developers. What is in 3.1 that makes it worthy of note? Lots of things-- including "drowning", better visual and particle effects. The brand new "Splodey ball" which will show you exactly where your explosive round has landed will be part of a special "Special Effects" pack that Justinian and MrB. will develop as a freebie add-on to 3.1. That's pretty great, actually. In an ironclad combat situation, vision is often limited and one's concentration is fixed on the opposing ship. It's hard to tell where shots land. The "splash effect" for misses that was recently added to 3.0 helps stupendously in that respect, and the new Splodey Ball will make battles more lifelike and fun.

In Justinian's words:

Explosives in ICS battles have always been a bit of mixed bag. While they generally are pretty effective at destroying whatever they hit, it's very hard to tell if they hit anything at all unless you see something get damaged. The blast radius was always invisible, with no real way to tell what was caught in it. Well not anymore....

Explosive animation "ball" effect

That is a 15x15x15 blast prim effect that will be rezzed along with the explosive prim that goes off. The result is a clear indicator of the blast radius! Another nice part is it has glow and lighting enabled, making it easy to see from a distance. This is similar to the water splash effect that was added to the cannonballs when they hit the water, the point being to add better indicators to rounds so fighters can get more tactical information on the battlefield. Expect to see all explosives in our next update look like this. Also all of the cannonball rounds that did not have splash effects will have them as well.(I think the only ones that don't have splash effects are the coastal artillery)

Lupercalia et Romana

But first, a little historical diversion.

The Lupercalia proper began on the 15th of February with animal sacrifice and ritual flagellation. After slaughtering a goat and dog in the sacred grotto of the she-wolf who suckled the legendary founders of Rome, the young men would run through the streets whipping women and crops with the flayed hide of the goat to promote fertility. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Lupercalia, far from being restricted to Rome, was practised in other cities in Italy and Gaul.

Dating from remotest antiquity, the Lupercalia was celebrated until as late as the reign of Anastasius I in 491-518 CE. It was towards the end of the 5th century in 498 CE that Pope Galesius decided to dedicate the Eve of Lupercalia to the long-dead priest. The lottery system was banned as being un-Christian and the Pope did his best to make people forget about other un-Christian ideas such as fertility.

-- Dr Leo Ruickbie, St Valentine's Day and its Origins in Lupercalia

Roma celebrated the Lupercalia festival over the weekend-- Lupercalia, as the citation above tells us, is an ancient pagan festival from Rome's pre-history, dating back (possibly) to the Etruscans. The Lupercalia is a fertility festival that featured naked youths running about the city striking matrons on the hands with furry thongs, as well as a stylized Wolf Hunt. Roma, the preeminent Roman history simulation within Second Life, held a weekend's worth of Lupercalia activities. YHN's dignity and sense of modesty ruled out the running through the streets naked element of the proceedings, but he did venture forth into the great wolf chase, all over the territories surrounding Roma. This was a very well organized and executed event, and quite competitive. YHN did corner a wolf in the highest snowy reaches of the highest mountain in Roma's territory, but fumbled the "catch" and thus his furry friend bounded away unfettered.

Click picture to view as slideshow

Sky Jousting at Caer Firnas

Back in the dim mists of time, the Williams Manufacturing Company, via its arcade and pinball subsidiary Midway Entertainment, released an arcade game called JOUST. The graphics were crude by the judgment of modern times; the game play, however, was excellent-- players competed by flying in two dimensions over a cavernous pit filled with lava. Players assume the role of "Jousters" flying ostriches or storks, trying to kill enemy death knights that were flying similar mounts. Three decades after the introduction of JOUST, the genius minds of the folks at Abraminations has recreated this experience in three dimensions by bringing the video game to "life" in Second Life as SKY JOUST. Game play is very similar to the old two dimension arcade game, only movement is in three dimensions and players do not face autonomously programmed death knights; they compete against each other instead. Astute long-term readers may recognize this pastime from a posting two years ago.

YHN competed in Caer Firnas' SKY JOUST event last night as part of the ongoing Caledon games being organized to raise money for the operation of the Cavorite Mines. YHN participated in Rounds 1, where he emerged as leader (not through any cunning strategy, just a berserker approach towards constant attack). Round 2 produced Mr. Goode in the lead with one kill, and Round 3 was the final-- by this time, all participants had learned a few tricks and were hugging the stalagtites for cover. A much harder round by half. YHN regrets to admit he was unhorsed twice in Round 3's brutal melee, such is the way of life. Mr. Goode emerged the victor, Ms. Silver for Second Place, and YHN for third. YHN enjoyed himself tremendously and would do it again if this entertainment was being offered again. A cheerful congratulations to the impressively mustachioed Mr. Goode and the demure Ms. Silver, deadly lances, the both of them!

To see the larger images, click HERE and select GALLERY VIEW.

Virtual Worlds: YHN tries out Allods Online

Every once in a while your humble narrator espies an opportunity to visit an entire other plane of existence, and executes a brisk recce into that world to see if it will be his cup of tea, as in recent sojourns to BLUE MARS and an earlier visit to the spaces around EVE ONLINE. So it was with ALLODS ONLINE, a new, free 'massively multiplayer game' that recently came to his attention. Allods, run by a company called 'gPotato' of all things, is a game set in an odd mixed steampunk and fantasy universe that describes itself as "Space Opera", but that is perhaps a stretch. It is more like Star Wars than Foundation, if you understand the reference. YHN didn't think of it as being remotely a traditional SF setting. Before YHN continues, the reader should be aware that this is NOT the open universe he or she is used to with Second Life. There is a firm backstory and setting, and the player has no tools to alter this. This is not a world to create in, it is a world to play in. There are several player races-- many traditional fantasy types, a couple of cutesy, anime style critters, and basic humans. For his participation in the "Open Beta", YHN selected the equivalent of a regular plain jane human being he has dubbed "Benbow".

The results were mixed, but overall, quite pleasantly surprising. For starters, this game has the look and feel of WORLD OF WARCRAFT-- it appears to be structured that way on purpose, although it is hard to tell, YHN has not ventured far into this new plane. The graphics were fast and efficient, and quite workmanlike. From what YHN has seen of WOW, maybe even an improvement. YHN found the interface a bit difficult to pick up at first, but managed to hobble around after some frustrations and trial and error. There is a tutorial that runs in the game, but YHN found it to be of limited value (far too terse). Still, this is not Aether Science; YHN eventually found out what he needed to find out.

Here are some screen shots (click to enlarge and see more detail):

"Benbow", YHN's character on Allods Online.

Benbow having a pleasant chat with an onlooker.

Overall, YHN enjoys his first impressions. The client is quite large and slow to download, the interface needs some tweaking, and perhaps some more explanatory help would be useful. With all that said, Allods is a fun little extraplanar experience. If the casual reader does not value creation and the chasing of the almighty linden too highly, Allods may be a nice alternative. If the casual reader desires the ability to make things overall, than Allods will never be your main diversion-- it is too locked in to the interface and story choices. So, in the final analysis, a simple "if one likes this sort of thing, one will like this sort of thing" will do splendidly for a one-line review of Allods.

The Adventures of the Steam Hussars!

FORWARD THE STEAM HUSSARS

Last night, after the community IRON MELEE was concluded (5 battles, despite the lag!), Mr. AngusGraham Ceawlin and your humble narrator discussed the notion of land battles. We have experimented with these before, as landing battles, at Roatan. Miss Kandace Commons has released the first prototype of UCS, the ICS compliant land combat system, and it will be featured in the battles in the weeks ahead. YHN was lamenting to Angus about the lack of suitable land battle space, saying he had been pestering the Lindens to make a desert style "Open" battlefield similar to the Blakes Sea contested area, but on land. "No need", quoth he. "Follow me". YHN trotted after him to the edge of the sea. Faster than Moses parting the Red Sea, the water level shrank to nothing. Suddenly the ocean bottoms were transformed into vistas of a cragged and rocky landscape, the islands into giant hills or low mountains. Here was the battlefield YHN desired!

We each pulled out various steampunk and historically inspired vehicles, many of them ICS compliant. Instantly dubbing ourselves the Steam Hussars, we entered into a pitched battle. The results were astonishingly fun! The Lady Sharrah Bredel is now working on putting a trench system on the ocean floor at Sanctuary so we can occasionally hold a land battle there. YHN has been looking for this kind of event in SL since 2006. It is exciting that it may soon come to fruition.

An irreverent view of the proceedings. Click to enlarge and see details.

We are all quite excited about the potential for a true, refereed, non-griefing and gentlemanly land battle using ICS style vehicles. See hotspur otoole in world if you wish to participate with the Steam Hussars.

In anticipation of future land combats, YHN has created a group called "The Steam Hussars". Apply within SL if you are interested.

Regular Ironclad Battle Information in Second Life

VIRTUAL CORDITE AND STEEL

Regular battles using the ICS Combat system are held in many locations in Second Life. The original, and I dare say best known, might be THE IRON MELEE, which started in Roatan on the edge of the Blakes Sea about a year ago.

THE IRON MELEE continues to thrive, but has transitioned from one location (Roatan) to several, in order to spread the gospel of 19th century naval combat around Second Life. I (me, Hotspur O'Toole) can be contacted for the current location at any given week, just IM "hotspur otoole" in world.

At the moment, we are holding events on Thursday evenings as per usual at the usual time of 730 PM SLT, but the hosting is split up between myself, Justinian Huszar, AngusGraham Ceawlin and Sharrah Bredel. Our current battle launch locations are:

Sanctuary Rock at Blake's Shore (for naval battles) Sanctuary Rock takes advantage of the Blake Sea Contested Waters (BSCW) battle circle which includes events which will take place in the four Linden Lab owned Contested Water sims (Blake Sea: Kendra, Thunderer, Cannonade, and Beaufort)and the privately owned sims: Blake Coast, Blake Shore, and Blake Cove, Roatan, ZATZAi and Artificial Ilse. See a map, HERE. For more information, view the Blake Sea Contested Waters blog, run by Nber Medici

Port Merrimac at Roatan (for land and naval battles). This is part of the Blake Sea Contested Waters Battle Circle

Sanctuary Shoals Pier (for naval battles, SLURL Forthcoming)

in addition, Steeltopia hosts BATTLESTORM SATURDAYS at Obsidian Pier, Port Tiburon in Steeltopia. Battles are roughly the same format as Iron Melee Thursdays, on Saturday Nights. Contact Steelcobra Calamari in world for details. (Slurl forthcoming)

If you have a relatively lag free location with a lot of water in it and a desire to play naval combat games in world, please contact either myself (Hotspur Otoole) or AngusGraham Ceawlin in world, and we'll try out your location in the rotation.

Keep your powder dry!

Hotspur

Farewell, Dame Ordinal Malaprop

Perhaps it's a sign of how blase I have become with Second Life of late that I am so late to the party on the subject of Ordinal Malaprop leaving Second Life, seemingly forever. I haven't visited a neighboring SL-focused journal in well over six months, so I did not know. I am profoundly distressed at her departure. Dame Ordinal and I were never close colleagues or friends in a conventional sense, yet I have always found her to be a decent, caring and an outstanding contributor to that whimsical, unvoiced element that made Second Life a better place, at least, "back in the day" as we veterans can call it. Her sense of acid wit, so cunningly displayed on her journal An Engine Fit for My Proceeding, was an early attractor for your humble narrator to participate in the genteel society of Virtual Steampunkery that was Caledon in those days. I remember a time when there were only a few SL Steampunk related blogs (or SL blogs at all), and Ordinal's was preeminent among them. I'll miss her writing, even about the stuff that distressed her. I'll miss her clever gadgets, of which I may boast I have one of all of them, or at least I think I do. Ordinal was a virtual celebrity that enjoyed the foolishness that can be Second Life (and certainly the in world communities we both belonged to) on her own specific terms. She clearly was involved in inworld activities for the joy she garnered from building and making things, and helping other unfortunates (including your humble narrator, more than once).

When the joy dried up, she didn't want to play any more. It happens. I have seen some luminaries depart that seem irreplaceable in context-- their absence leaves a void that seems impossible to fill. Arcadia Asylum and Alley Arai were among these. Ordinal is another.

Thank you, Ordinal, for all of the silly gadgets and the great writing over the years. Should you decide your self imposed exile isn't permanent, I will be first in line to welcome you back home.

A Proposal to Linden Labs: Desert Combat Space Similar to the Blakes Sea

Let us make a landing!

The ICS combat system "Goblin" tank vehicle, capable of combat with other ICS vehicles

Dear Linden Labs:

Hello there, I'm Hotspur. I've been a customer since 2006. My primary activity in world is simulated nautical combat using simulated ships crafted to achieve either a historical or semi-historical appearance. There are many communities that engage in this activity, some with wooden ships style vehicles (using a combat system called SPD or TCS?) and some with more modern ships that emulate a more steampunky, late 19th century historical style (using a combat system called ICS). The details vary but essentially either combat system rezzes a projectile, heaves it at another nautical vehicle, which senses the projectile and calculates how much damage it may do, then decrements that number from the ship's damage point total until it reaches zero and goes BOOM (sinking).

Combat systems such as SPD and ICS are natural candidates for a fracas on land. Elements of SPD and ICS already are in use on land (melee weapons and cannons for SPD, cannons and the tank you see above for ICS). The principles that work on water work just as well on land, although they are more challenging as a land system must negotiate new challenges such as terrain fluctuations, line of sight and range.

Groups such as the Pirate communities, the Duchy of Brunswick, and the Fleet of Wrath Exiles (which I have the honor to lead) have experimented with land combat in small doses, as "landing party battles". These have been great fun-- we all use a common combat system, agree to a set of rules in advance,and usually have someone referee the combat.

Recently, through the tireless efforts of Mr. MarkTwain White and Ms. Nber Medici, a large area of the Blakes Sea opened up for regular sea battles for both our sailing and ironclad communities. I am happy to report that the "Contested Area" of the Blakes Sea hosts regular pirate and ironclad battles, held in a sportsmanlike fashion, with an eye for the rules of the road that are clearly posted before battle is engaged. Similar events also occur in Sanctuary Seas under the auspices of Mr. AngusGraham Ceawlin and Ms. Sharrah Brendel. We appreciate your concession of the area for a combat community and we will work hard to earn the trust you have shown in our communities.

With that said.. allow me to put a bug in your ear for a future project. Many of us like the "landing party battles" and would like to resume having them soon. However, the pace of change with combat systems in world promises that larger scale and scope battles may very well be possible. Land battles, with armor support and infantry actions. Snipers hiding under cover. Air assets dropping bombs that can attack ground positions. Artillery firing in support of an attack or defending a position. The technology is already in place... but we don't have anywhere to use it. So I'm proposing that Linden Labs considers the creation of a largish land mass, roughly 4 or 5 sims large, in primarily desert terrain with many natural terrain features to hide behind-- hills, scrub, wadis, rock formations. This terrain mass would have a name, and could be administered by groups using a shared battle calendar (not unlike the arrangement you have created with the Blakes Contested Areas). Combat systems and a Code of Conduct would be authorized and enforced.

Many SL citizens are not interested in combat simulation sports in world and consider it tantamount to griefing. However, there are also many communities that can agree upon a code of behavior and stick to it (as has been demonstrated by our historical RP nautical communities). I encourage you to look behind the misconceptions and consider putting in a neutral combat space, preferably next to the Blake Sea.

Your Humble Servant,

Hotspur O'Toole
Steelhead City, Second Life

The Art of Whimsy: Steampunk Artists

Beware: this is a Flash-Enabled Slideshow application. Give it time to load. For a less dynamic, MUCH LARGER display, I strongly recommend visiting the non-dynamic slideshow at THIS LINK. Once there, select GALLERY VIEW for best results.