I have been trying out some new things in SL and found out how to incorporate my Photoshop skills into my avatars appearance. Below are just a few things I put together, nothing to fancy just playing around. I see thta a lot of people do this and then try to sell their creations to others inside of SL. A cool idea, and somehting that I could proably get into, but way to time consuming. I made just a couple shirts and then a pair of pants, and aside from the copyright issues I might face in the future I was pleased with the results.
At 2-8 this year it's hard to stay a fan
My ghost buster shirt with pants, belt, and knee pads included.
Anyone else creating their own wardrobe in Second Life? Any pointers on how to edit your shoes or advanced objects for them to hold? I think the opportunity to truly customize your avatar to your liking is very unique and offers a greater connection to them and thus to the game itself.
Within Second Life there are so many locations to visit but where to start and what to expect? Taking advise from those who have previously explored the SL depths is not a bad place to start. That is exactly what I did here, I followed an Ancient Civilizations Tour that had been previously created adnd left for others to follow. Below are pictures from my tour.
e-wrecked moon..cool
visiting the Goliath, ROMA
Museum Island
Hittite Empire, and a swing
Apollonian Empire
Overall these places are really slick. Well themed and as realistic graphics and decorations. A very intresting visit to SL tonight.
Where are your favorite hangouts in SL? Where do you spend your time when you visit? Let me know, maybe I'll see you there sometime.
As my journey continues into second life I constantly encounter individuals who have designed a pretty unique looking avatar. I began to wonder how might I also change the way I look and what are my options. Although you can spend money to get fancy clothes I think to start off with I will create some of my own. It is also possible to change your avatar entirely to either a human, robot, animal, or other type of vehicle. Personally I found this a little goofy but I tried it out anyway to see if I truly looked better as a virtual human, or a virtual machine. Below are some of the looks I tried for, again all on my own. As you will see quickly a designer I am not and your options for this are limited, at least as far as I have found they are.
I tried out a few looks including a sleeveless and jeans ensamble. A nice looking short and t-shirt combination (Thanks for the shirt Dr. Z). Last but not least I tried on some artifical intelegence.
IT Rules!!
Overall the controls were a little confusing and they were a little slow on the response. You can go into the appearance settings and change not only the outfit but things like facial hair, body shape, leg length, how many muscles you want, and much more. Overall they seem to do the job and allow for a very customized representation.
Dancing Machine..literally
So what do you think? I know a designer I am not, but in my defense it take an awful lot of time and the controls are a little "jinky" at best. For you second-lifers let me know what you are wearing, better yet show me a pic of your avatar. How are you customizing your look in the virtual world?
So my latest exploration had led me to the hallowed halls of Lionheart Orientation Island (if you would like to visit, and you have a SL character click the link). It was a nice place to further my knowlege about SL. Things I learned:
Vintage DK in SL
All about opening packages in SL (Three different Ways....Who Knew you could do more than wear the big boxes on your person)
Setting a Land mark (Essentially a bookmark) to save a location in SL for return later. (World >Landmark this place).
Some dude has an arcade in his basement...and there's a vintage Donkey Kong machine you can play.
You have to be Age Verified (over 18) to get into club passion. There looking for bouncers and singers by the way, if anyone is interested.
If you fly around the city the music changes from techno, to rock, to Electric Avenue by Eddie Grant. "You got to rock down to.....Electric Avenue...And then we take you higher....." Too cool.
Overall this is a great launching pad for getting used to SL and the nuances therin. I like it so far, it's unique.
So my questions here are to the SL veterans. Can you actually get a job in SL? Has anyone been hired? Whats it like? I am curious how all of this works.
So I visited a new location today in Second Life, Iowa Island. Getting to know Second Life a little better, at least how to move around. Flying and trampoline are the best ways of locomotion I have found so far. Took some pictures of my latest trip.
I was flying...then falling
Sitting on the fountain water
So there is is a few pics of my last trip to Second Life. So far the one thinkg I have not done a lot of is interacting. Now that I am more comfortable moving around and with the environment I think that would be a good next step.
Zombie Meltdown was cool...lost to the boss fight but now I'm packing heat
What is your favorite mode of transportation in Second Life? Where do you have the most fun in Second Life?
I am a very big fan of technology, however I have always been a little resistant to social media, virtual simulations, and MMORPG's (I know "What else is there on the Internet?"). I have very little time in the real world to spare, much less engaging a make believe one. So over time I have caved on the whole social media thing, and it was better than I thought, but I have still held out on the other two. Well I am going to be trying out the virtual world in an upcoming assignment in my Emerging Instructional Technologies class so I thought this would be a great opportunity to blog about the experience from a virtual newbie perspective.
What is Second Life? Check the video Below.
I have to say that I created an account on Second Life about a year ago just to try it out and see what people had been talking about. Starting out in second life was relatively easy, installation, update, then boom your in. Now I had messed around a little when I created my account before, enough to have an Avatar already set up, so I started off on Help Island without having to do any of these steps. First off don't teleport off of Help Island until you have walked through all of the help topics, just some advice for the beginner. I found the most exciting term I could, in this case "teleport" looked good, what's the worst that could happen, and like a true man I moved on without following all of the instructions. It didn't hinder me too much, basic movements and the like were not to hard. I immediately hear and see many people interacting and making noises. Not speaking, not moaning so much, just a clucking into a slight screaming like noise, and it was irritating. Not a great start to my virtual experience but I moved away, found out how to teleport elsewhere and tried out a few things.
The end of the road....but I have a killer Zebra Skinned jacket.
After about 25 minutes of exploring I have some takeaways from my first in-depth virtual experience:
You can create your own wardrobe which was pretty cool. I would not have been able to figure this out on my own though. I watched a walk through video that showed where the options were and from there it was not to difficult. I ended up with a zebra skinned jacket and a clear conscience in doing so. Sweet!
I apparently found the end of the world, at least the area I was in (see image above).
You can fly by Pressing the E key. Very Cool!
If you fly over the water then stop flying it drops you into a sort of limbo of nothing-ness and gives error messages about completing your travel time. Oops.
There is no filter for any conversations that are going on. I walked on a few that would make a sailor blush.
Overall my first real foray into the land virtual was OK. I can see the appeal to meeting others in the virtual world, it's big, colorful, and similar to that of a game. I will keep trying things out and see where it goes.
Has anyone used second life before? What was your first time like? How do you like it now?
