You’ll put your eye out…

My friend Miss Poppy has introduced me to a fencing game in SL called En Garde.  Its a turn based game of strategy thats really a lot of fun. Just a few rules that combine to create a surprisingly complex game.

All you need to do is find an En Garde game system in world, or buy your own. Then you wear the (free) HUD and rapier. You are dealt a random assortment of cards that represent distances that you can move forward or back along the playing field. Then you set about advancing, lunging, parrying and retreating in hopes of skewering your opponent. You can also join a team and make your way through the ranks of other En Garde players.

Great fun, and plenty of opportunities to chat with and taunt the enemy! :)

Just a quick link to one of my favorite SL blogs, Gwyn’s Home. Her most recent post is a detailed look at some of the things to DO and DO NOT cause lag. There are a lot of misconceptions about what affects your SL client performance, and Gwyneth sets the record straight with respect to large, crowded events.

SL Portrait Photos by Autopilotpatty Poppy

Miss Poppy, who runs the Gallery Tamrannoch, is quite active in the SL art and Caledon communities. She’s combined who love of both with her latest show, the Exotic Women of Caledon. She’s really outdone herself with this show - over 50 beautiful women are represented. You really get a sense of the culture of Caledon when you see all these wonderful pictures together. Patty took over 2600 photos while preparing this show! A trmendous effort of scheduling, shooting, and editing - but I think the results must be well worth the effort.

Here are a few snaps from the opening of the show. You can see the collection at the Gallery Tamrannoch for the next several weeks.

Part 1: Modelling

I’ve been spending more time lately learning how to use Zbrush to sculpt and texture objects for Second Life. I love the way that ZBrush works - it’s the closest thing to having a big lump of clay on your desk. I’ve learned a few tricks recently that make it easier for me to create sculpted prims, including texturing the object right in Zbrush.

Here’s a video tutorial/demo that shows how I create, model, texture and convert an object for use in Second Life. The whole tutorial is nearly an hour long so I broke it up into two parts. This first section shows my modelling process, the next will show how I texture my objects. For this how-to I’ll be making a realistic Amanita mushroom, from sphere to finished SL object.

For converting the ZBrush object I use a free program called Sculpty Maker that was made by SL resident 2K Suisei. This little program does a fantastic job of convert the shape to a sculptmap. It was the final piece of the puzzle that allows me to use ZBrush for the entire sculpting/texute workflow. You can find it on the SL forums in this thread.

Part 2: Texturing

In Part two of this tutorial I show how I use the ZProject tool to texture the object using a photo as a reference. I also show how you can easily create a shadow/ambient light map using a spiffy plugin called Material Baker by David ikeda.

By the way, you can download a free, 30 day demo version of ZBrush at the Pixologic website.

All aboard!

I spent some time last night updating my Profile Picks for the first time in over a year. :) It struck me that it might be fun to go on a little video tour of all the spots on my list. Here is the result - a casual walkabout featuring some of the places that I have created, some of my favorite galleries, and other interesting spots.

Here are links to all of the spots mentioned in this video:

• Highland Cliffs
• Africa
• Trillium Frame Gallery
• Gallery Tamrannoch
• Mysterio Gallery
• Photography Studio at Grignano
• FloraPrims
• Dreams Tutorials and Sandbox
• xyz