Displaying articles for: 11-27-2011 - 12-03-2011
Guest Games blogger: Aries Oh
Linden Lab
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1. Where do you get inspiration for your mysteries? Any famous sleuths stand out?
I get inspiration from logical puzzles in magazines or books. I have always loved books with mysteries — especially murder mysteries. "Springtime Slaughter" was created based on a logical puzzle. The challenge was to bring it into a 3D world. And using a murder as theme for it made this easier.
As we have a lot of other games here at Heart of Dragons, like fencing and various board games, I am constantly looking for ways to combining one of more of those games into a bigger setting. In that way, other in-world games are an inspiration too.
2. Do you plan out the clues in advance or just make them up as you go along?
Yes — I plan everything out in advance — or most of it. It is easier to check the logic and solutions on paper, or on a "map.” Usually, I start with a puzzle, and then I have to find a background story that fits with the sims here. My partner, Eden, helped me with the backstory of Springtime Slaughter. Creating the clues is easy once you have those two in place. Sometimes the best ideas can pop up at a late stage, and you have to have room for some late adjustments.
3. What historical stories or figures do you look to for ideas?
Oh, I am easily inspired! But I can't name any in particular. The fantasy theme of my sims really makes it easy to make a "parallel" universe, rather than recreate a real story, event or person. I want the players to focus on the game, the puzzle and the logic, and not get hung up on historical incorrectness. That way SL is excellent. You can create your own reality and universe.
4. What are some of your other favorite mystery or game spots inworld?
My top three favourites must be "The Pot Healer Adventure," "Black Heart of New Babbage," and MadPea. I love the immersion in all of them, and they are challenging. They are great games to play with friends.
5. What are your tips for getting over “creative block” when you’re building your games?
If I only knew that there is a "cure" for that! Hehehe. What I do is either to take a complete break, do other things (RL or SL), to go exploring in SL to get inspiration (I never get tired of that) or I even try to see if I should start from scratch on a new one...
Visit Springtime Slaughter inworld.
SL Flickr Pic of the Day
Linden Lab
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Check out the SL Flickr Pic of the Day for Nov. 29 "Yes?," by milady Guillaume. Visit inworld here.
1. Your firm TRP360 does quite a bit of development in Second Life. What made you decide to choose racing as a theme for your game?
We have all always liked the idea of racing in Second Life, it's fun but we were hoping to do more than just race on a race track on the ground. We wanted to use the 3D element to race on, over and around anything without getting stuck.
2. What is a “zipper car” and how does it work?
The zipper and zippa cars used in 360 Global Racing are named because they do not drive they zip along — whoosh! They work using a combination of speed — fast but not too fast, extremely sensitive steering to turn sharp corners without slowing down and collision attraction to drive on any surface even if that surface is upside down.
3. How do people typically find out about your game? Do you advertise it heavily across your various builds?
We can not advertise 360 Global Racing across our other builds as the majority of them are private educational builds. The students use Second Life for education however we do provide links to our simulation and from there they can use any of our many teleporters to find the race. We occasionally host races for prizes but our main draw comes from the Second Life Destination Guide.
4. Your team also develops “virtual emergency exercises” for educational use in SL. Do any of the gameplay elements and mechanics play a role in these simulations?
We use the idea of role play for our Virtual Emergency Exercises but we do not role play per say. The idea is for each student to learn the protocol for all first responders, city coordinators and public relations. We provide all clothing and tools with instructions of their use and their individual educational institutions provide their lesson plans as required.
Exercises are carried out for a week until all understand the entire situation then they are to hold table top exercises in Second Life using the exercise they learned as their subject matter, (e.g.: Series of events, logistics, media, witnesses, restoration). There are no actual gaming elements in these exercises, they do not win or lose, they are marked on attendance and their individual written portion of the table top exercise.
Visit 360 racing inworld here.
Guest Games blogger: Xxander Snook
Linden Lab
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1. Despite some of the technical challenges, combat gaming in SL seems to have a good following. Why do you think that is?
I think we have a strong following because of two main factors. One, the combat system is solid and provides a really awesome experience. I constantly get IM's from new players telling me, "I didn't know SL could do this," which really motivates me with pride. The other main factor is the players. We've been lucky to have a strong and devoted following through all the ups and downs over the last 3+ years we've been running MCM.
2. Tell us a bit about how you got started in SL.
It's an odd story, actually. I used to play a lot of MMO's, and one day back in 2005, a friend of mine told me about this game that had no point called "Second Life.” I was confused by his statement and asked, "What do you mean there is no point?" He said I would have to download it and check it out. This was back then you needed a credit card to set up an account, and so after getting it all set up, I logged in for the first time and realized that it wasn't really a game but another universe. I was hooked shortly after that and started exploring.
3. What do you think are some stereotypes about the combat community in SL?
Stereotypes? Well, since I've been running MCM, most of the cliché stereotypes I originally had have been shattered. I used to think that SL militaries were just drama junkies who would pretend fight each other, similar to flaming on forums, but my assumptions have been proven wrong many times. I don't really think that there are many widely held stereotypes, at least in the community that plays in the MCM sims. There is always bickering but that's the nature of competitive combat systems — people don't like losing. As a whole, I've been rather surprised by the majority of people.
4. Any changes or new features we can expect in the coming year?
MCM has been growing for almost four years now, but we try to include new features whenever we update the combat system. There was a planned patch roll-out around Thanksgiving, actually. This update is very technical — mostly centered around saving memory in the scripts by converting from integer flags to bit-wise flags — LOL — without sounding too nerdy. We have also been working on a very ambitious clan-ladder system, aimed at being a web-based mini game that plays out in world. It's a hugely complex system that has become like the "Duke Nukem" of MCM. In other words, we have been working on it for almost year 
. We plan to have it out soon though, before the end of this year.
5. What advice would you give a new SL resident to help them get started in this community?
We've spent a lot of time trying to make the learning curve as smooth as we could, because early on we realized that the system — with all its levels, gear, perks and Mechs — could quickly become daunting. So, for new people we have a training area, training videos, a player-run academy, and countless notecards and walk-throughs on the web and inworld. What I normally tell new players is to read the notecard that comes with the system first, and then go play in the training areas for a little while. It's pretty intuitive, but veteran players know all the tricks, so there is something for everyone.
Visit MCM Combat Systems inworld here.
1. Neo-Realms Fishing is one of the very first games in SL! Yet, it remains quite popular. What inspired you to develop the game originally?
I joined Second Life in 2004 because it sounded like a cool place to create games without having to do a lot of the complex graphics coding that would be required on any other platform. I was an avid fisher in other MMORPGs at the time, and my friends and I thought that Second Life needed a fishing game too! It turned out Second Life was in fact a great place to make games, and after a few months of development the first version of the fishing game was up in December 2004!
2. How has it changed over the years?
In 2004, fishing started as a game where players packed together in a sim while their rods talked to a local buoy that ran the game, but over the past 7 years, Neo-Realms Fishing has evolved with 5 major updates into a global fishing system. Nowadays fishers can participate in daily global tournaments and minigames at any fishing location on the grid, enjoy a personalized fishing page on our web servers where they can track their real-time rod stats and catches, join fishing leagues and more!
One thing that has not changed over the years is the awesome community surrounding the game. We still have many fishers that were here near the beginning. It is our community of wonderful fishers that really keeps fishing going!
3. How many types of fish are there to catch? Any secret or rare types of fish?
There are 5 different categories of fish to catch, plus quest items. In all there are about 450+ fish and other items to catch, plus custom fish that the community has created and distribute at their own fishing locations. In addition to fish and quest pieces we have fishing charms that grant xp to your rods, reward points that can be traded in for prizes like arcade tickets, and XP crystals that have the chance of triggering global double XP days for all locations.
There are several super rare fish that only spawn at certain times, or are only
available if other fish are not available. Our highest tier of fish, the Super Epics, are only available with special Super Bait that has to be won or earned via quests and rewards.
We also have a fishing quest where the reward is a "Spawnometer" that tells you if some of our rare fish are available or not.
4. How does one get on the “leaderboard” to show off their accomplishments?
To make it on the leaderboard, all one has to do is place in an official Neo-Realms tournament. Official tournaments are global tournaments run at a certain time every week with guaranteed prize money. We have run over 10,300 official tournaments since fishing started!
We also track lots of individual achievements on our Hall of Fame page, where super rare catches, highest rod scores and the latest daily best catches and minigame scores can be found.
For fishers who are more team-oriented, we also run the Neo-Realms Team Fishing League. Players compete in 2v2 matches over the course of a season, with prizes going to the league victors. Our past team leaderboards are available at tfl.neorealms.net
Other ways of showing off their accomplishments in-world include Achievement Hats, which display fishing badges earned by completing achievements.
5. Explain the “Gold Camps” concept and how other locations can participate.
Gold camps are a premium service that expand the features of the standard fishing camp. With Gold Camps, we offer a higher commission rate on sales (25%) as well as our popular mini-games with a ton of daily prizes for the winners provided by Neo-Realms. These minigames include Crabbing, Depth Charger, FishGolf, Simwide Small/Medium/Best Catch, and our newest minigame: Clamming!
Gold camps are also entered into a twice-daily drawing for XP Happy Hours which grant double XP bonuses for catches to their sim for an hour. Gold owners are also eligible to host Global Fishing Tournaments based in their sim, which acts as a central hub for all fishers to register and receive prizes during the competition.
Our Gold Camps are a great way to draw traffic to an area with contests and prizes run by Neo-Realms that take place around the clock.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions about Neo-Realms Fishing please contact Sweegy Manilow or visit our website at fish.neorealms.com.
Guest Games blogger: Sean Martin
Linden Lab
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A Simboard is a mix snowboarding, skateboarding, and hoverboarding, with a sci-fi twist. The FS model lets you customize nearly anything on it, with engine settings to change physics as you see fit. The CS Simboard is designed specially for SimBall, a sci-fi game concept of a high contact sport on Simboards with weapons. Thus “CS” model, or the Combat Simboard. The rules are simple. Grab the ball and score it for your team! Avoid opponents weapons and pegs. The game strategy comes from board types, and mixing board types to work together.
2. How can someone get started to play?
There is a free basic CS board available at Vetox HQ or at many affiliate vendors near public arena's around Second Life. These allow anyone to play in the arenas. Paid-for boards will have special powers and/or weapons depending on the type bought.
3. Are there advanced tricks that one can do once they get comfortable on a Simboard?
Yes. Simboards have an open control system. This means you can mix any set of keys, up to about four at once, and get a result that changes how the board reacts. Typically the best way to think of it is that holding the E or C keys (Page up and Page down) will change the primary control which are WSAD to a new actions. Turning left or right becomes spins or rolls for example. These effects are instant and only active while holding the E or C keys down, which allows for fast action and reactions. There are also weapons, or powers, in the CS model that are active only during an arena game. By pressing Page up and Page down at the same time. These weapons are usually AOE (area of effect.) And anyone nearby will be affected.
4. What locations do you recommend for the best simboarding?
For Simball, there are new arenas that pop up every week. There are too many to keep track of at the moment! However, there is a list of recent games at this global log here. Note that this feed may soon change over to our website at www.Vetox.biz. Also, some locations can be found on all arena servers in the pop-out community panel. Currently SIA is one of the top arena's ran by SLTV in the Japanese community, run by mato Jetcity. There are also the JBall tournaments. There is also a small example arena located above the Vetox HQ store. There is a Simball Network panel located there as well. The Vetox HQ is at this location. I do not own a Sim – rather, we let the community build arenas as they see fit on land they own – another reason to own land?)
– and then network their games to the global log. Soon there will be a list of top used arenas which we will feed back to all game servers inworld.
1. What inspired Olds Airforce Base?
At the time we planned Olds, there was no specific sim for modern jet combat. That was our first aim. As we started all places for dogfighting been World War II-themed.The ground combat part came a bit later into consideration as more and more residents asked for such a feature. The general storyline of Olds AFB is that of a remote US/NATO airbase in the mediterran to counter USSR/Soviet threats in the Cold War.
Another question not directly mentioned here but which i got asked A LOT is: What does the name Olds mean? Short answer: The base is named after the famous air force fighter pilot from Vietnam, Robin Olds. The gentleman maverick with the mustache!
2. What can Residents do there?
In our sims we got alot of manufacturers of VICE combat vehicles and infantry arms. A whole lot freebees are aviable as well and we got demo rezzers for all sort of things. This all takes place in 9 sims which get overseen by 9 admins and mods to make the gameplay as fluent and as enjoyable as possible.
The gameplay is team based with 4 base teams:
Team 1 is the NATO forces located in the mainsim Undine States.
Team 2 is the Warsaw Pact and Arab League troops in the Sim Undine Shore and North
Team 3 is the so-called Undine Liberation Front (for short ULF) which are a little ragtag rebel force located in Aeronautica Straight.
Finally there is Team 0, or Team 4, which is open game – just want to blow off some steam and blow things up. Just lock that team and go in – but be advised you, are on your own.
These teams come into importance with our interactive flag system. The capture-the-flag system has 16 sectors with 48 flags all over the estate. An interactive map shows progress of each team on how much ground they hold.
In our sims there is a multitude of vehicles aviable and to be seen in engagements. Foremost, naturally, all kinds of jets and attack helicopters, but also tanks, artillery and natually infantry. Unlike many places our gameplay is not very infantry-centric. In our sims infantry is quite vulnerable and you really need to get some teamwork going to succeed.
3. Have you remodelled the sim since it first debuted a few years ago?
As we opened Olds we did had a desert set up. It was very low-lag for jets and helicopters but it lacked the cover for ground forces. As this part grew larger and stronger in the community we decided to "green up" Olds and now feature a rich and flush green, Mediterranean setup with plants made by the extremly talented Uni Ninetails and her brand Forrest Floor. We allready plan a new outfit which most likely be the Estate covered all in snow. But when and how this will happen remains to be seen.
4. How large would you say the modern military combat community in SL is?
I am not shy to say that Olds kicked off some dust. After Olds opened and succeeded it showed the community another way to do combat games. Subsequently other sims came up: Gungnir/Prypyat, Oceana and the large Outcast community. Times where not allways easy but as a whole the modern combat community profited from the development. There are alot of small and large groups with different topics inside Modern combat, from more role-play oriented groups to pure combat teams and simple user groups. The community is live and prosperous, and usually open-minded to newcomers and help out with freebees, advising and training.
