Month: November 2018

UPDATED! AviLife: A Brief Introduction

And wouldn’t you know it, just as soon as I decide to take a vacation from the blog, I find yet another new, as-yet-unreleased virtual world! Damn it, people, I am supposed to be taking a vacation! 😉

It’s called AviLife (not to be confused with Avakin Life, which is primarily a mobile virtual world app aimed at the tween/teen market), and it appears to be desktop only (no VR). Here’s a preview video:

All I can find for it now are some online user forums. The FAQ (posted July 22nd) says:

What studio is developing this game?

FlammableStudios (British indie developers)

What engine will it support?

Unreal Engine 4

What platforms will it support? PC. MAC. Steam. X-Box. PS4. PS5?

PC, PS4, Xbox

Will this game be free to play or subscription based?

Free to play

What is the intended ESRB rating for this game?

18 In the EU, M in the US

What are the intended core features for this game?

Advanced avatar customization (Including layered clothing, so you can wear a jacket over a shirt for example)

Advanced personal space customization (Item placement, wall papers, flooring, lights colors, etc)

Cross-platform (Certain consoles may have to be excluded from cross-platform play)

Shops

Environment interaction

Many social features (Dancing, Actions, Poses, etc)

YouTube & Soundcloud integration (Media players)

Clubs

Mini-games (There’s going to be a high focus on providing fun mini-games once the core of the game is finished)

Locomotion Items (Jetpacks, skateboards, wings, etc)

Pets

Physics Items (Example: a ball that you can freely kick around, etc)

Modern arcade games

A theme park (A full theme park, this won’t be in for a while though)

+ More

Who is funding development, content and server costs?

We’re currently self funded, we will have a kicksrtarter/indiegogogo once we have the proof of concept demo ready.

There are currently no plans for VR support or mobile device support. They plan on launching a kickstarter where investors will get exclusive early access and unique items.

From watching the video, it seems a lot like Second Life. Which leads me to ask: why do we need another Second Life? What will AviLife offer that is different and unique from SL? This appears to be primarily a free-to-play console-based game. The FAQ states:

What makes this game any different from what’s already presently available; Nebula Realms, Atom universe, Four King’s Casino And Slots? If I’m loyal to Atom Universe for example, what would make me support this game?

Without commenting on any other world, we believe AviLife will be the most advanced console world. I was also [a PlayStation] Home user from the original closed beta, I understand what works, what people want, and what will make AviLife the best place to play.

I also notice this strange, rather stern “anti-marketing reminder“, which appears to discourage people from comparing AviLife with other virtual worlds:

We have informed the community numerous times that within any aspect of our community, that be on PS4, on here, or even in discord, or in-game you’re free to talk about other worlds in the context of comparing them to AviLife, as this is a great way to talk about how worlds can be improved while also discussing the impact, AviLife has, or can give to others. However when you discuss virtual worlds that have nothing to do with AviLife, and do not include AviLife in this discussions you do nothing for the AviLife community. Not to mention that the logo’s belonging to these virtual worlds are usually on or around the images being posted, and that means we are marketing content that is not ours to market.

I bring this concern up because of a misunderstanding the community seems to have on what we consider to be allowed, or disallowed. This is another reminder on the topic. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly, or reply to this post. Keep your comments non-biased, and fair. Please remember that we want a just and fair community, but we also have rules that every member must follow, there are no exceptions.

Well, good luck with clamping down on that, hun. You all already know how I feel about virtual worlds that try to throttle any discussion of competitors.

I also find it frustrating that I cannot find very much information at all about AviLife, other than a few videos and this forum. I only learned about the existence of this virtual world in a discussion thread over on the Second Life Friends group on Facebook, where people were talking about where they would go if SL suddenly shut down. I guess we’ll all find out more when they launch their kickstarter!

UPDATE Nov. 12th: TheRealHuggablePanda has posted a 12-minute YouTube video describing some of the screenshots, images, and other information currently available about AviLife:

It seems clear from this fan-made video that AviLife is targeting the former PlayStation Home crowd, a console-based virtual world which closed in 2015.

UPDATE Dec. 31st: I now have news of a Discord server for AviLife, which you can join if you are interested in this project. Latest word is they will launch in 2019.

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Free Altamura Estephania Mesh Full-Body Avatar for Women in the SL Frees and Offers Hunt!

*Checks his watch*

Damn it! This is all Altamura’s fault!! I was all set to take a vacation from the blog and then she issued yet another fabulous, free mesh female avatar as a hunt prize in the First Annual SL Frees and Offers Hunt, which runs from the 3rd to the 25th of November. You are looking for a beautiful golden autumn leaf in the store that looks like this:

HUNT item for SL F&O HUNT.png

When you find it, click on it, select Deliver from the blue pop-up menu that appears, and you get your hunt prize: the Estephania female mesh full-body avatar (head and body together in one package)! Estephania has a lovely darker skin tone, as you can see from these pictures:

Altamura New 1 3 Nov 2018.png

Altamura New 2 3 Nov 2018.png

In what now appears to be a trend for the company, this is another one of the Altamura freebies which does not allow you to remove the head (in order to replace it with another mesh head). This is rather disappointing, but it’s such a beautiful head that you can hardly complain (see picture above)!

Estephania is a fully-adjustable Bento body which comes with a HUD which allows you a complete set of alpha selections to make just about any clothing fit well. I have found that clothing designed for the Maitreya Lara mesh avatar body tends to fit the Altamura female bodies very well, with a minimum of fuss (and more and more designers are now creating clothing specifically designed for Altamura mesh bodies).

Please note that, like all the other free mesh bodies Altamura has put out, this body is not Omega-compatible (you have to buy a full-price version to get that feature). You get the one skin tone with this body, which is actually quite lovely. There are simply not enough free/inexpensive options for darker-skinned avatars in Second Life, and Estephania is a welcome addition!

Also, the Altamura female mesh bodies have Slink-compatible feet, so any shoe designed for Slink feet should work well (the female mesh body gift comes in three foot heights, selectable via the HUD: flat, medium, and high). The bodies have Bento hands, and (in a nice added touch) Altamura has included a hand AO which cycles through natural hand positions, which you can use with your regular (non-Bento) AO. There’s also a facial AO.

This avatar is wearing:

Mesh Head and Body: Estephania full-body mesh avatar (free hunt prize from Altamura in the SL Frees & Offers Hunt).

Hair: free Pulled Back Bun (brown) from the Library / Accessories / Hair Design Options / Pulled Back Bun folder in your SL inventory. Free, adjustable, tintable, uncomplicated.

Eyes: brown Dream eyes by YS&YS (free gift from a previous Second Life shopping event; no longer available).

Dress: Faith gold metallic minidress by Justice (free group gift if you join the SL Frees & Offers group for free); the Maitreya Lara version of this dress fits the Altamura Jenny body well. The dress comes in three colours—gold, copper, and rose gold.

Shoes: gold Olivia heels (free gift from Ello); the Altamura Estephania body has Slink-compatible feet.

TOTAL COST FOR THIS AVATAR: FREE!

There are dozens of other wonderful hunt gifts available in the hunt, mostly for women but some for men also; here is a complete list of locations. Have fun!

I’m Taking a Vacation from the Blog

I’m feeling kinda cranky and out-of-sorts, I have been all week, and I think I need to take a vacation from this blog.

ethan-robertson-134952-unsplash
Photo by Ethan Robertson on Unsplash

I don’t know when I’ll be back. When I feel like it. I just need some time and space away from virtual worlds and social VR and blah blah blah… all that stuff. And when that stuff starts to irritate me—when it stops being fun—then it’s time for me to take a break.

See you when I get back!

UPDATED: Rough Notes from Today’s Sansar Product Meeting, Nov. 1st, 2018

Please note that my notes are rough notes only, and may contain errors.  Inara Pey was present and recording the meeting, so there will be a full report from her at a later date. But for now, here is what was discussed at the well-attended meeting.

UPDATE Nov. 2nd: I have added Inara Pey’s excellent notes from this meeting. They include audio excerpts.

Ebbe, Eliot, Landon, Cara, and Nyx (among several other Linden Lab staff) attended the Product Meeting today, which (at least according to the Sansar Atlas display) seems to have set a record for the number of avatars in a single Sansar experience!

Product Meetup 2 1 Nov 2018.png
Questions I asked Landon and the other Linden Lab staff are bolded.

Why has Linden Lab decided to make Sansar available on Steam?

Landon: We think we’ll be ready to launch on Steam after the next couple of Sansar client updates. Also, people cannot find us (they expect us to be on Steam). Steam is where the highest density of people who meet our hardware requirements are found (VR users and gamers).

Will Sansar still be available outside of Steam, as it currently is for Oculus Rift users?

Landon: Yes, absolutely.

Why is Linden Lab pushing to release Sansar on Steam before the end of this year, rather than wait another six months to a year to further polish the platform and add new features?

We want to get more people in, to help refine the product and make it better. We want to start building a community on Steam.

Re: dealing with any negative feedback on Steam, Eliot will pass that along to the appropriate people to deal with and respond to.

Besides losing the SandeX, what other major changes to Sansar are going to be required before it launches on Steam?

Landon: No other major changes to the platform.

What steps are you going to take to promote Sansar once it launches on Steam?

Eliot: expect some significant ad spend, expect some original assets. Linden Lab wants to build a community on Steam.

Linden Lab is also working towards launching on the Oculus Store, but they are prioritizing Steam first. (Sansar is already available on VIVEPORT.)

Some notes on the economics (Warning: economics is not my strength, so I may have some of the finer details wrong):

The buy rate will be set to 100 Sansar dollars to 1 US dollar. The exchange rate back (the sell rate) will be set to 250 to 1. However, the sell rate will be grandfathered for current Sansar users at the “legacy” rate of 143 to 1 until at least the end of next year (2019). The fees for process credit will stay.

Steam will not be part of the process of Sansar dollars, that will be entirely internal to Sansar. Cashouts will be entirely within Linden Lab, not Steam.

Users will be able to buy Sansar dollars on Steam and Steam will make 30% on that transaction. The division is: roughly 30% Steam, 30% Linden Lab, and the rest goes to creators. Note that there will be no 30% cut to Steam if you buy Sansar dollars on your credit card (as you do now).

The plan is to remove the transaction fees on sold items, but keep the transaction fee in gifting (which is a minor part of the economy). Galen said that he thinks that giving up the 15% transaction fee will lubricate the Sansar economy.

Linden Lab told us that they will be building a hub (or hubs) for a better first-time user experience.

Ebbe: Sansar will be listed on Steam as an Early Access game.

The Steam refund policy will not/does not refer to microtransactions within Sansar.

There are currently no plans to integrate with Steamworks.

Don’t expect Linux or Mac clients at the time of Steam launch.

Eliot: We want to be an alternative to VRChat. VRChat users are telling us that they are looking for something different.

Expect an influx of Steam users into the Sansar Discord channel. We now have over 1,000 users in Discord (including LL staff).

Oh, and Landon wants more male outfits and hair in the Sansar Store! 😉

Product Meetup 1 Nov 2018.png
Product Meeting, Nov. 1st, 2018

And the next client release is anticipated for next Wednesday, November 7th (no promises!).

Also, there was a complaint about a continuing problem with the mouth and teeth of the female avatar. Chic Aeon noted later on Discord:

AND —- I want to put in a pet peeve for the gals again. At the end of the meeting someone asked if the female teeth would be fixed and got brushed off with a “that’s just the smile” comment that seems to be the party line. That did NOT go over well with most of the gals I am thinking. Wondering if that would have been fixed if it was the MALE avatar that is “messed” up. (insert stronger word if you like). I was pretty insulted on many levels. Doubt I was the only one.

Note to Linden Lab: FIX. THE. TEETH. ALREADY. People have been complaining about this for weeks now. Please listen to them.

Eliot livestreamed the meeting to Twitch, if you happened to miss it, or were late.

Inara Pey 2 Nov 2018.png

Inara Pey has also posted her detailed notes from this meeting on her blog, along with audio excerpts. Thank you, Inara!