My Chill Spot

So I started building my chill spot, I only call it that because I don't believe I could call it a house, I mean it doesn't even have four walls. But despite it obvious "hole in the wall" build, I wanted it to be that way. I wanted it to be a place I could just sit and enjoy the view, although I am thinking about adding a flat screen T.V. I also want to add an elevator, which I have tried to do but when I scripted it to go up by touch it would give me an error message, I know the scripting was correct because I changed it to go up only a few feet and it worked fine. I think it's not working because of how high I originally wanted it to go, so I'll have to figure something out so I don't have to fly up there every time. I'm also pretty sure I built my crib the hard way, I used two cubes flattened out for each side of the house and one on the inside and I used a few different prims for the roof. I built it this way so that the textures I applied wouldn't look huge and disproportional from the rest of the structure. I will keep adding to my casa throughout the year, I might even add a second floor and garage to park my shoes.

This is the most recent update to my house, I added a wrap around porch where I can park my bike, although it's not the easiest place to park a bike, and changed the a-frame texture to match the porch.

VWBP and the Beatles

The Virtual Worlds Best Practices events were great! It was so different to be at speech or concert with an avatar and to see all the other avatars there as well. One of the speeches I went to that I really enjoyed was the EVE online. They brought you through the basics of EVE online and how it works. I actually enjoyed it so much I started an account so I could see more of the incredible MMO. The graphics were breathtaking and how complex the gameplay is at first takes you by surprise but just like Secondlife once you are walked through it is very fun and easy and fulfilling. To see all of your hard work and time actually amount to something. You can also make money on EVE by buying and selling game time which I found interesting. But by far the best venue I went to was the Beatles cover band that performed at the end of VWBP. I did stay to see the fireworks show but I think I might have been in the wrong place because the cover band just kept playing and I didn't see any fireworks. I really wanted to go to a few other venues but because of work and school I was very limited to the ones I could go to. My eyes have opened up to what is possible to not only Secondlife but all MMOs and virtual worlds and the possibilities they can bring to a class. I am really looking forward to next years VWBP and as far as that goes any upcoming events in Secondlife!

So Far...

I haven't had the chance to really sink my teeth into Secondlife yet but as of Tuesday I received my Alienware M17 laptop, finally! So now I can explore the world as it was meant to be explored, on it's highest settings with no lag. With my old laptop I couldn't even log on, or I could but it was unplayable. Now I can freely explore the world and see all of the incredible things in Secondlife. I am very anxious to expand my knowledge of SL, to learn how to build better objects and manipulate prims, script and customize my avatar. I am also excited about our upcoming projects and have a few ideas but need to learn a little more about SL before I can bring my ideas to fruition, I know right, what a nice word. So now I have my incredible laptop that can run Secondlife on the highest setting with ease and it's like a whole new world that I am really want to explore. I'm going to start with finding something a little more fitting for my character, then I will start to create a nice little spot for my avatar to relax in. I have also been trying to get some of my friends and family who have never been to secondlife to start their own avatar. I have a friend who has wanted to open their own store to sell cloths and I told them about SL and how they can have there own store and sell cloths here. This weekend I am going to help them with there avatar creation but I still have a little more to learn before I can get there store going, but I do believe it will be a great way for me to learn with a "crash course" by learning from my mistakes, which is the best way for me to learn how to do something. So far I'm still a noob, but I hope to get past that ever too common turn of phrase by learning everything I can.

Prim Head

So this was the prim head assignment, I made a yellow cone head and put the shine up to 1.00, I then added glow. I made black pants and then a shirt with a texture that showed diamond patterns. But for some reason when presenting the shirt disappeared so I will have to either find it or make a new one so that everyone can see it I will then re-post a picture of the shirt. This was relatively easy to do, the only thing I had trouble with thus far was the shirt texturing. Trying to get it over to secondlife was a problem not because of what I was doing but because of my broken laptop at home. So the only thing that was a little challenging was the shirt. There are a few ways to put together a shirt with a texture or picture on it. One is to simply use a shirt from the game and import a texture from a place of your choosing i.e. Photoshop, Illustrator etc. for this you have to pay I believe 10 linden dollars. The other way is to design your own shirt from a template, which is a little bit tougher to do. When making mine I chose the easier way because unless I am at school it is difficult for me to get on to secondlife. The only computer I currently own is a piece of crap laptop which can barely run secondlife on the lowest settings, but I will have a brand new laptop by next week, so no more excuses for me. Anyways, back on to my costume, for the pants all I did was create new pants, pull and stretch them to a comfortable fit then slap some black coloring on them. The prim head was also easy, I simply built a prim, attached it to my skull, re-sized it then messed with the color and texture. All in all it was fairly simple except for when I was on my P.O.S. aka my laptop, at home.

Interface

At first glance Second life can be pretty overwhelming, there are a million different options to choose from. This is a place where you can quiet literally play god. Now I know you believe that with most sandbox games this is the case but in all actuality you can not do whatever you want to do. In second life you can build anything you want and with the proper knowledge of how to script you can make your objects do whatever you want them to do. For example, I made a broom the other day and if I wanted to, we'll not if I wanted to but if I knew how to, I could make the broom a vehicle that you could ride or fly. The options are limitless, from making a soda machine to a gun. Or in my case I built a super Broom that I was attempting to script to be able to ride it.

   

  As I started working on making my own objects and trying to script it was very tricky at first. Trying to figure out how to work with the X, Y, and Z axis' or better yet trying to figure out how to get the object to work on these axis was very tricky at first but I quickly learned. That's not all, there was the texture size color and shape of the object. Then you have to fit other shapes together to make whatever it is you want to make i.e. a gun or chair or.... well whatever. This is all a small part of it, there is also the scripting then you can name your object and even sell it. So like I said on the surface Second Life can look pretty but underneath it can be overwhelming. As long as you have the patience and proper knowledge second life can also be very fun, being able to become whomever you want and better yet do whatever you want.

My New Secondlife

After a four mile walk from La Grange Pk. to the train station and then a twenty minute train ride to Union Station, then another three mile walk to class I arrived at 916 S. Wabash, the Interactive Arts and Media "department". I wasn't sure what to expect here at Columbia College. I was a little worried it would be like my previous college Lewis University, where the teachers were twenty years or more out of touch with the profession they taught. Walking into class I immediately felt at home, being greeted by the other students and talking about what games we played with the teacher.

  One of the first things we did in class was jump onto secondlife.com and make our avatar. We then got our self familiar with the controls and layout of the secondlife world. I couldn't believe what I was doing, in class and playing video games, wow! But that wasn't all, I was learning how the world of games worked, something I have wanted to learn for as long as I could remember.

  I'm 28 years old, I've been playing video games since I could remember but never considered pursuing a career around them. Not that I didn't want a career in game development but I just never thought of it as a career, if that makes sense. It took me a while to finally get into college as I have been on my own financially since high school. I've always loved flying as my grandfather was a mechanic for United and never stopped talking about flight. It only made sense that I go to Lewis University since that was where my grandfather graduated from back in 1947. Unfortunately flight as a career wasn't for me, I did get my private pilots license while I was there but I soon realized that was as far as I wanted to go. I was left to think about what I wanted to do for a living again. No matter how many ideas I came up with I never felt confident about any of them. Until I was playing Battlefield 3 with my brother and brought up how I was having trouble figuring out what I really wanted to do. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, duh, games! I've been playing games since 1984, I have played almost every system made since then and even before then. Every time I'm upset or stressed I jump on my 360 or PS3 or computer and all my troubles seem to fade away.

  Needless to say being in a class that revolves around gaming and game design just feels right. As I had said before, I was a little nervous with anticipation wondering what was in store for me. But for the first time  since I could remember I finally feel like I belong. When I leave class for the day and head home I don't feel like I just got out of class, instead I feel a little down like I left a friends house after playing online for hours. Even though It's a long walk home and a long walk back to school I'm more than happy to do it because I love what I'm doing, and that's what you need to make it a career.