Tag: Exmachina

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: EXMACHINA Full-Body Male Mesh Avatar Giveaway!

I wanted to alert all you freebie fashionistas out there that, as part of a Stay at Home promotion during the pandemic, EXMACHINA is giving away ten of their brand new EVOLVE full-body (i.e.. head and body) male Bento mesh avatars for free every day for the next fourteen days! (You also have the option of just using the body, with a head you already own).

All you have to do is join the SL Frees & Offers group (which costs you nothing), then teleport over to the EXMACHINA store (here’s the exact SLURL), and click on the large giveaway sign there to enter. That’s it! If you are one of the ten winners selected that day, you will automatically receive the EVOLVE mesh body package the next day.

Yesterday was the first day of the giveaway, and I was lucky enough to win one! Here’s what the EVOLVE body looks like, right out of the box, with no adjustments to the sliders:

The included HUD offers seven different skin tones, as well as six different nail tones (the EVOLVE body also supports Bakes on Mesh). The package includes mesh eyes, with a separate HUD to change their colour to one of seven shades:

The EVOLVE avatar comes without hairbases, but there are a couple you can pick up for free (along with some chokers, a Celtic ring, and some Maori tattoos) from the gifts table in the EXMACHINA store (and the EXMACHINA group is free to join).

Now, one of the problems that you will encounter is that, compared to much more popular male mesh bodies like Belleza Jake, Slink, and Signature Gianni and Geralt, there are still not a lot of designers creating clothing for this body.

Here I am wearing a free gift from the SL Frees & Offers group, the Mercury pants (just click on the tophat full of red roses you see to the left in the first picture in this blogpost).

The shoes are the unrigged version of the Karmenov high-top sneakers from VERSOV, a free group gift (the VERSOV group is free to join, and you can pick up three other kinds of male footwear gifts there). Again, these appear to be custom feet, not compatible with Slink, Signature or Belleza footwear, so your footwear options are going to be quite limited (you can alpha out foot sections in this body, though).

Luckily, one of the free gifts from The Stay Club website is a coffee-themed T-shirt from IKR!, which comes in a size for the EXMAXHINA Davide body (the previous release to this one). Here’s what it looks like (and here’s the SLURL to IKR!):

The shirt comes with a HUD with four different patterns. Now, the bad news is that the EVOLVE upper body is just different enough from the previous Davide body that there are a few problems in the underarm area anyway (they’re almost impossible to see in this picture), so again, you are going to need to make sure that any clothing you buy specifically supports the EVOLVE body. And since it is so new, you are going to have difficulties finding clothing and footwear to fit properly.

Fortunately, the EVOLVE HUD has a good selection of alpha cuts, so you should be able to use them with clothing designed for other mesh bodies:

So, head down to EXMACHINA every day for the next two weeks, to enter that day’s draw! Who knows? You could be the lucky recipient of a free EVOLVE mesh body!

UPDATE May 11th, 2020: Yesterday evening, I spent a bit more time fiddling with the EXMACHINE EVOLVE mesh body. I found that the upper-body musculature and the chin and jawline were a bit extreme for my tastes, so I toned them down a little. However, I found that I could not adjust the mouth on this avatar using the Mouth sliders to remove his somewhat dour expression! And when you click on the Smile button on the Animations tab of the HUD, all you get is a grimace at best. So, if you want to have a happy-looking avatar, you might want to give this one a pass.

Here’s the face after I toned down the jawline a bit. This is the LEAST grumpy
I could make him (the mouth corner sliders barely work at all on this head!)

Also, I bought several demos of T-shirts and tank tops which were designed for the EXMACHINA Davide mesh avatar (the previous version of this one) on the SL Marketplace, and none of them fit properly. The upper arms, upper back and shoulders are just different enough from the Davide mesh body to be a problem. And, even worse, the only clothing that seems to be currently available for the EXMACHINA EVOLVE mesh body on the SL Marketplace (as of today, May 11th, 2020) are some pants by Modern Charm Man (again, you are strongly urged to try the demos before you buy).

And, amazingly, I did some right-click/inspecting, and there is zero clothing in EXMACHINA’s own small store that is actually designed for the EVOLVE mesh body! So, although you might like the look of this avatar, I am sorry to report that the clothing situation is even more dire than I first reported. There is a list of official EXMACHINA partners listed here in the store (at this exact SLURL), but that might just mean that they have clothing that fits the Davide or older avatars, not the new EVOLVE one. You may have to play a waiting game to get some clothing for this body!

At the moment, I cannot seem to find any T-shirts or tank tops that fit this avatar, even at EXMACHINA! (Of course, you can always pick shirts, sweaters, and jackets that cover the upper body more fully, and simply use the alpha sections on the included HUD, as pictured above. But it is rather a disappointment. You would at least expect the creator of the mesh body to have some clothing options designed especially for it!

This almost reminds me of the situation one finds at TELLAQ: a good-looking male mesh avatar with extremely limited clothing options. So, caveat emptor! (Of course, if you win a free one in the two-week giveaway like I did, that’s a different situation. You can just keep it packed up in your inventory until you can find clothing and footwear for it, or try your best to make clothing designed for other bodies fit.)

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: The Davide and Sascha EXMACHINA Full-Body Male Mesh Avatars Are 50% Off!

You might remember that I recently raved about the Sascha special edition of the Davide version 6.0 EXMACHINA male mesh head and body package that I bought for just L$2,900—a real bargain compared to other male mesh head and body combinations.

Well, guess what? I discovered today that EXMACHINA is having a 50% off sale, both in their in-world store (here’s the SLURL) and on their SL Marketplace store:

So both the original Davide full-body avatar and the Sascha special edition of the Davide full-body avatar are only L$1,500 each! Now that I have had mine for a while, and tried out all the options, I can recommend this body very highly. And if you want just the body (no head), that is just L$800! It’s a stupendous deal.

I have no idea how long this half-price sale will last, so don’t wait! Here’s a few pictures of my Sascha avatar:

Even better? The entire outfit I am wearing today—right down to the socks and shoes—is free from the Kauna menswear store (SLURL). This grass green plaid jacket and pants, the sage green dress shirt, and the black socks and Oxford dress shoes are just some of many free wardrobe items you’ll receive when you click on all the vendor panels in the tiny Kauna store! There are literally dozens of high-quality menswear items, mostly formal wear and suits, but other men’s clothing, too! It’s the best deal in menswear on the grid!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: EXMACHINA Sascha

O.K., this is not a freebie, but it is a great deal, especially when you compare it to the alternatives for a full-body male mesh avatar!

I first blogged about the EXMACHINA male mesh avatar head and body package back when they still had a free, wearable demo version. Well, today I paid a return visit to the EXMACHINA male mesh avatar store in Second Life, and I instantly fell in love.

I fell in love with the Sascha special edition of the EXMACHINA Davide avatar (version 6). I mean, look at him. LOOK AT HIM!

EXMACHINA Sascha with the Alpha HUD and Eyes HUD

And the best part is the price! You get everything you see here—the Bento mesh body, the Bento mesh head, the eyes, the gorgeous Sascha skin, the gym shorts, everything but the hair—for only L$2,900! Now, compare that with the competition:

  • The Jake Belleza mesh body will set you back L$2,999 and doesn’t include a Bento mesh head. Add a Catwa Bento mesh head for L$5,000, but the head and body skins won’t match, so you need to buy a skin from Stray Dog (L$590 for the head applier and another L$490 for the matching body skin applier). Grand total is L$9,079.
  • The Signature Gianni and Geralt mesh bodies cost L$3,500, and don’t include a Bento mesh head. If you want the Gianni or Geralt heads, they are L$3,500 each, for a grand total of L$7,000, which would be your cheapest option. If you add a Catwa head at L$5,000, then your grand total is going to be higher, and you’re also going to have to buy a skin applier for the head and body to get them to match.

So, for less than half the cost of the popular Belleza/Catwa and Signature mesh head and body combos, you get a really good-looking male mesh avatar, with nine built-in skin tones, and a complete set of alpha selections (see top picture). Here’s a look at the skin tone and nail tone selections on the included HUD:

I have not adjusted any of the face sliders, except to make his ears bigger (the default ears were ridiculously small for some reason):

Just drop by the store, and the vendor for the EXMACHINA Davide version 6 (Sascha special edition) is right behind the front desk (here’s the exact SLURL):

Pay the vendor L$2,900, and this handsome stud is all yours! Seriously, it’s gotta be the best deal for a complete male mesh avatar on the grid (aside from the Altamura freebies and the Altamura Romeo group gift from last Valentine’s Day). The wide variety of alpha selections on the included HUD means that you can wear just about anything and make it fit (and you can take some of your savings and apply them towards clothing designed for the EXMACHINA Davide avatar, located in the same store where you bought the body).

The only problem I have found so far with this body is that the alphas sometimes glitch out, but that can easily be fixed with a few clicks. Other than that, he’s perfect!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that this body does support Bakes on Mesh. There’s a free BoM applier available at the EXMACHINA store, just click on the sign near the entrance.

UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Free EXMACHINA Male Full-Body Avatar

UPDATE March 13th: EXMACHINA has completely redone their store, and the new demo version 5.03 of the Davide mesh body has a large logo attached to the head, making it unusable. Also, the free tanning beds to change the skintone of this body are no longer available. Sorry!

PLEASE NOTE: For a current, up-to-date list of free and inexpensive options for male mesh avatar heads and bodies, please see this blogpost. 

There are three options for male avatars who are looking for a free/inexpensive mesh head and body, all from Altamura:

  • The two versions of the free Altamura Max avatars at the freebie stores at UniHispana Crea and Ajuda SL Brasil (see here for more details). Note that you cannot remove the head to replace it with another mesh head.
  • The free Altamura Robert avatar from the Freebie Megastore at London City (see here for more details). One advantage of this body is that you can remove the head to use another mesh head with it (like the recent freebie mesh head from Akeruka).
  • The free Altamura Tommy avatar at the Altamura mainstore (you do need to join the Altamura group for L$50 to get this freebie; see here for more details). Again, you cannot remove the head to replace it with another mesh head.

Well, EXMACHINA has just released version 4 of their full-body Davide male mesh avatar, and you can pick up a free demo version at their store. You do have to join the EXMACHINA group for free to use the vendor.

One drawback is that the included shape that comes with it is NO modify, which is a real pain in the ass. However, there are a couple of ways around this limitation. You can click on the Giorgio and Andrew skin and shape panels located on the wall to the right of the demo version vendor, and buy those for L$0 (you must be in the EXMACHINA group). While you cannot use the skin appliers with the free demo version of the EXMACHINA mesh body, you can use the modifiable shapes. Also, there is a L$10 Diego shape available on the SL Marketplace which you can use with this body, and you can modify it as you like. I bought the Diego shape and used it for the pictures below.

Here’s what my avatar looks like with the slightly adjusted Diego shape (I had to play around with the eyes, mouth, nose, torso muscles and arm length a bit):

Exmachina 1 16 Sept 2018Exmachina 2 16 Sept 2018

The avatar comes with the mesh eyes you see here. It also comes in two versions: nude, or with the blue bathing suit you see here. It’s actually quite a nice-looking avatar! Please note that you cannot change the skin colour (remember, this is a demo, not the full version).

The hair is Minato by Argrace, a free group gift (the group is free to join). The AO I used is the Daily sLife free Bento male AO (available free from Tuty’s). The total cost of this avatar is FREE! You can’t beat that!

Another serious limitation with the free EXMACHINA body is that it does not come with alpha sections on the HUD (in fact, there’s no HUD at all!). So, basically, you’re going to have problems getting clothing and shoes to fit, unless they are designed for this body. Note that there are a few clothes for sale, designed to fit the EXMACHINA mesh body without the need for alphas, so you can try those. I did spend another L$250 on a muscle shirt and a pair of jeans, both of which fit this mesh body perfectly!

UPDATE Oct. 19th: I paid a second visit to the EXMACHINA store and discovered a few changes. The panel to get the freebie version of the Davide body is now at this SLURL, located in the Freebies section.

And the default skin tone is quite pale, as you can see (this is the slightly modified free Giorgio shape):

Pale Exmachina 19 Oct 2018.png

BUT, there are now two tanning chairs just outside the store, where you can “tan” your freebie avatar to any shade you desire! (Here’s the SLURL.) The longer you sit, the deeper the tan!

Tanning Chairs 19 Oct 2018.png

Here’s the same avatar, after using the tanning chair for about 15 minutes:

Tanned Exmachina 19 Oct 2018.png

I tested it out, and it appears that the tan you get is permanent on the freebie Davide avatar, even if you sign out and sign in again. In other words, you can’t “untan” him. However, if you make a mistake and get too dark a tan for your liking, you can always pick up another freebie version of the avatar and start over.

The ability to pick your own skin tone sets the Davide mesh avatar body by EXMACHINA apart from the other freebie male mesh avatar bodies. It’s a great option if you just want a good-looking avatar for the beach, or you can dress him up in clothing sold at the same sim, designed for the Davide body.