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Inworld

A group blog by Secondlife in General

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A showcase of featured content from our community. If you're interested in being featured, submit your pics to the Official Flickr Group.

Looking for places to visit inworld for pics and adventures? Check out the Destination Guide for places to explore. 

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Grant Linden

marketplace.jpg

We are thrilled to announce that the SL Marketplace is the new destination for online shopping for all things Second Life. We invite Second Life Residents to visit the redesigned site, check out all the new features and start loading your shopping carts with the amazing things only our creative community can deliver. The purchasing functionality on XStreetSL is being disabled as of today. So, if you’re shopping for avatar skins and fashion, home and furnishing needs, scripts and objects for getting your groove on, or almost anything else  you can think of....you’ll find it on the SL Marketplace.

We’re just getting started
When we set out to reinvent XStreetSL, we looked to emulate the experience of other online shopping sites that provide a smooth and enjoyable  experience for the customer. Looking at XStreetSL, we realized we needed to revamp it completely and create a brand new site as well as develop a new process for building cool, new features in a more rapid way moving  forward. We are committed to giving both merchants and shoppers the  tools and functionality necessary to have a great experience on the new  site and we’ll be adding new features weekly. Today’s launch is just the  starting point; the new SL Marketplace is poised to become a more integral part of the overall Second Life experience for everyone.

Notable features and what’s ahead
New features we love include the modern, clean look and feel, which makes the flow of the shopping experience better than it’s ever been before.  Also, customized online merchant stores allow shoppers to easily find  all the creations of their favorite designers. And the new shopping  cart! XStreetSL had limited capability when it came to loading up the shopping cart full of goodies, which is now totally streamlined. Over the next few weeks we will add the Favorites feature and we will migrate over the Favorites list from XStreetSL. We will also be adding an easy way for shoppers to find the purchases they have not reviewed.

SL Merchants... the key to our success
Our commerce team has worked very hard to make the SL Marketplace a professional and modern hub for Second Life sales, but the merchants who participated in the beta truly made this effort come together. While we were working hard evenings and weekends, the beta merchants were there to help test and provide feedback. We look forward to continuing this partnership as the SL Marketplace becomes more and more central to the Second Life experience.

What will happen to XStreetSL?
The XStreetSL Exchange will continue to operate independently of the new SL Marketplace through the end of November. This means merchants can continue to access history, sell L$ and cash out as they do now. The XStreetSL website will remain up for several months beyond the closure of the Exchange, and all non sales and exchange features (including history) will remain available during this time as well as the ability to redeliver items. When we close the XStreetSL Exchange, L$ and USD balances will be moved over to users’ Second Life accounts.

We hope you enjoy using the new SL Marketplace and look forward to hearing what you think!

Sincerely,
Grant and the Commerce Team

Quick Links:
SL Marketplace Help Pages
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Brett Linden
One of the most acclaimed and creative spots in Second Life is the Nemo trilogy, consisting of three distinct virtual world locations inspired by the three natural elements of water, earth and air. Designed by Sextan Shepherd, this impressive steampunk-themed creation takes inspiration from the works of author Jules Verne and even inventor Nikola Tesla. The Destination Guide's Brett Linden recently toured the Nemo trilogy with creator Shepherd, who shared his thoughts about this ambitious project.

Watch the video below to view the tour and hear the interview. There's also full text of the Q&A below.

 

DG: Your trilogy of NEMO areas has been among the most acclaimed and popular spots in SL. What inspired you to undertake this ambitious project?

SS: I have always liked the steampunk style in books with Jules Verne that I read when I was a child, and with movies such as "Steamboy" or "The Illusionist." So, when I started to build in SL I built steampunk stuff naturally. Concerning Nemo, it all started with the mechanical manta ray. I built it just for fun, then I thought it was cool so I built the shrimp and the horseshoe crab. Once the creatures were built, I decided to build a room to put them in, and then a tunnel, an entrance and then yet another room. Nemo 1 was born!

 

For the rest of the sim, each build inspired another one...and then another one. I don't plan anything. I just build with instinct. Once a build is done, I don't know what I will make next until another idea comes. I am lucky...I have a lot of ideas!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4930518768_4caf139348.jpg

DG: Jules Verne-inspired fashions and steampunk imagery seems to be particularly popular in Second Life. Why do you think that this genre has caught the interest of SL residents?

 

SS: My definition of the steampunk style is "a romantic kind of old timer science-fiction" and I think that it's what people like: the romantic side with that old-fashioned architecture -- the mystery of science and the imaginary part of science fiction.

nemo-shepherd.jpg

DG: In creating NEMO, did you work alone? Or, were there other developers and designers that helped out?

 

SS: I work alone as much as I can. I build and make all the textures myself but when I need a very specific item, such as a 45° gear wheel or a specific prim movement, I call on my friends who are talented sculptors and script writers. Morpheus Merimann has drawn some specifics sculpties for me, two gears, a column and a boat wheel. You can't miss those beautiful sculpts. I use them everywhere!

 

Christy Mansbridge, bestmomo Lagan, Lancelot Joubert, Tigerfly Wardark and Elenia Boucher has developed some specific and complex scripts for me and they were always by my side to bring me advice and support.

nemo-tesla-coil.jpg

DG: What other designers and developers have inspired you in SL?

SS: To be honest, I spend all my time building and I rarely "go out," but I remember that I had a real shock when I saw Grey Kurka's work and AM Radio's artistic projects.

 

DG: The level of detail within each of the NEMO areas is astounding! How long did it take you to construct each section?

 

SS: I have spent about 40 hours building each section, so it's about 120 hours for the whole SIM. I have a day job and a family, so I can rarely spend more than two or three hours a day on SL. I have learn to work fast, so half of the time involved in the building process was spent on Photoshop.

 

DG: Did you hide any secrets or obscure details that might be missed by casual explorers?

 

SS: Well, there are a few items hidden, some high-quality freebies, but you must have the mind of an explorer to find them. But this question just gave me the idea of building a secret laboratory hidden somewhere in Nemo!
nemo-planets.jpg

DG: What was the most challenging part of the building the trilogy?

SS: The most challenging part? Well...when I finished Nemo 1, I thought that I had reached my building and texture skills limits. Because of the success of Nemo 1, the challenge for me was to find the courage to start building Nemo 2, but I also had the feeling that I didn't have the right to make an error or to build something not as good as Nemo 1 was.

 

DG: The third installment of the NEMO trilogy only recently debuted in SL in mid-August. Was that design informed by any learnings from the previous two builds?

 

SS: Of course. The learning process is something that never stops. Each previous building showed me the errors that I must avoid to progress. There is always something to improve in a new build compared to a previous one. For example, I have improved the number of prims involved and the glass textures.
nemo-mirrors.jpg

DG: Many people have been commenting, in particular, on the "reflection" effect found in Alnitak's House of Mirrors. Can you shed any light on how that came about?

SS: I will tell you my secret.. I didn't know it was impossible to make a mirror, so I just did it! The idea came while I was searching and working on some glass effects and textures. The idea was so simple, was right in front of my face! So, I tried it.. and wow! It was working! I was the first person surprised by the result.
nemo-jewelry.jpg

DG: What's next for you and SXS Design in SL?

SS: I am gonna leave the megaprims and big structures for awhile to focus on something smaller..much smaller! I will launch a Steampunk Jewelery Collection in a few weeks, so for now I will just explore the world of nanoprims.

 

Looking for more cool places to explore? Check out our Destination Guide or submit your own!

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