http://secondlife.com/index.php
Still seems like a glorified chat experience like “There” but it looks like it has a few interesting differences like being able to create 3D content with proprietary content creation tools.
http://secondlife.com/about/features.php
Has anyone checked this out yet? If so, how is it?
It’s only up from 14:00 to 23:00 Pacific Time, that’s how it is.
I would never sign up for a beta that requires a credit card number.
Color me trusting.
Anyway, I got on for about a half hour before they went down for the night. There sure seem to be plenty of options for customizing your character, but what you actually do in the game has yet to be determined. I didn’t get to “make things” yet, or really try anything at all beyond the begining tutorial on basic movement and commands and such.
My last gig was doing work for 2nd Life.
I produced the Badlands Wall and the Casino, as well as a fully scripted object called “The Mesmerizer”.
The streaming technology is excellent, but I thought they had some fairly serious “there is no there there” issues in terms of user interaction. I’ll be interested to hear what they’ve done since January.
wow- the model and skinning stuff sounds pretty damn neat. I’ve been waiting for a game to attempt this for a while (it’s one of the things text-based MUDs have had over the 3d ones up til now). I might have to try it out…
Andrew, was this developed first as a Mac project? The menus seem lifted straight from Mac standards.
Just played…too many hours on it.
I am very impressed on what the company came up with. Second Life can be literally described as a giant sandbox where you can do whatever you want.
Besides building stuff, you can also use your phat photo-shop skills to create clothes and sell them. Or buy a gun and go to the “PvP zones” and start fragging (not the best FPS, but its something). Or…script something out of the ordinary.
Just now, before I logged off, a guy is actually trying to make a car script for his garage that he built (he did a great job too). Right now the only thing the script can do is let you sit on a box and drive around, but the point is…it is possible to even script that and doesn’t require a server update, I’m impressed. The streaming technology seems to be very well done even though my performance could’ve been a much better. The appearence modifications you can do is very…unique, I’ve seen guys who used their hair as “spikes” like the people in hailraiser, to realistic looking people to even total cartoons.
My guy happens to look like a rip-off of GTA3, the name is Carver Taylor if you are interested.
are there “events” and/or structured activities as well or is it strictly free-form?
I’d check out the game myself but I just don’t have the time to commit to anymore betas
I have enough trouble with my first life.
are there “events” and/or structured activities as well or is it strictly free-form?
I’d check out the game myself but I just don’t have the time to commit to anymore betas[/quote]
Yep.
One was a caption contest where they put a picture on a cube and everyone started talking. Another was a ‘treasure hunt’ where you had to find 300 cash and blast others along the way (FPS, I repeat, isn’t that good. If you are looking for an online deathmatch, this isn’t it)
The last event I attended was pretty swank, where people built statues of creatures both real and fictional. While not many entries were in, we got to see a cute bird, a unicorn, and knuckles from the sonic series. People actually spent 3 or 5 hours using blocks like 3D Studio max to make this structures.
It isn’t up 24/7 though, which is pretty annoying. But its for free for now, and if any 3d modelers here want to build a building for Quarter To Three, its possible :P
http://people.clemson.edu/~schmidt/temp/sam.jpg
That’s what I spent my half-hour online last night doing. Now if only I knew scripting. If I can figure that out, we can designate a no-fly zone :)
How are they policing the user made content to ensure no copyright infringement and no ss uniforms or whatnot?
I mean, I can see a lot of skinrips happening, especially if they get money or whatever to advance their character. Not a huge issue I suppose but it seems like it’d attract that sort of behavior.
damn, now I’m kinda interested in the game
I’d make a huge french Tom statue for my front lawn and have it motorized the vomit moo3 boxes at the world.
So far I haven’t seen any form of policing yet, but I have seen some copyright infingement such as Boba fett helmets and knuckles structure.
There’s somethint that’s quite clearly TIE fighter-esque near where I 'live", though I’m not sure if it’s an actual ship from Star Wars or not.
I’m really liking this so far. It is the kind of open-endedness that I have been looking for in an MMOG for a long time. It’s incredibly flexible, and I spent almost an hour just messing with my avatar. Not only can I choose what it wears, but I can alter it’s every nuance, from size of the nostrils, to the angle of the ears. This stretches over to the objects and buildings you can create, and there seems to be extremely powerful tools for their creation, as you are allowed to import textures and scripts. This, in turn, tailors for different creative skills sets.
The system seems set up so that the users can create the entire content, from the buildings to the events. This means that you can play the game on many levels, from the minimal investment of joining in with other people’s games, to designing and producing a whole experience of your own, like a Casino, or any number of other imaginable things. You don’t even have to spend the entire time in the game, as you can work on the scripts, textures and models in your own time. The whole system appears very powerful, and I think I could be fascinated just watching what people come up with, and I’m sure the designers will be too.
The downsides to it are that it is so free for all that you can be at a loss to know what you are supposed to do, but there are plenty of events to join in on while you settle in, and the whole “reputation” system works to encourage people to talk to you and help you learn the complex rules and expected behaviours. There is also a lot of lag to go with the immense content. Because everything is created by users, it has to be downloaded as you arrive in the area. This seems to work reasonably most of the time, but when you get to busy areas, and people are blasting out their scripted noises from all over, it can slow down considerably.
If they can get the lag fixed, I think they may be on to a winner. It certainly ate up several hours of my time without me even realising it, and I did little more than go through the excellent tutorial, and wander about and explore the island.
I’m balking at all the personal info they want.
Home address and credit card?
Quite annoying.