Tag: Mesh Avatars

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: A Fifteen-Minute Vampire Makeover for Only L$150!

UPDATE Sept. 28th: For a current, up-to-date list of free or inexpensive options for mesh avatar heads and bodies for female Second Life avatars, please see this blogpost. For a current, up-to-date list of free options for free and inexpensive male mesh avatar heads and bodies, please see this blogpost. 

Vampire roleplay is a very popular pastime in Second Life, so today I decided to do a 15-minute makeover on a vampire avatar. Here’s the “Before” look, the now-familiar Iliana vampire avatar from SL’s Fantasy starter avatar collection:

Vampire Makeover Before Iliana 22 Sept 2018

And here’s the “After” look (please click on each picture to see it in a larger size):

This avatar is wearing:

Mesh Head, Vampire Teeth, and Facial AO: Maia Bento mesh head from Akeruka (this was a time-limited free group gift which is no longer available for free; the group join fee was L$150). More details here.

Mesh Body and Hands AO: Jenny Bento mesh body by Altamura (available for free at the Freebie Megastore at London City). I removed the included head to replace it with the Maia head. More details here.

Gown: Well of Souls gown by Silvan Moon Designs (free gift from the recent SL15B shopping event).

Shoes (Not Shown): Black flats by Garbaggio (part of the free sample pack for Slink feet; available on the SL Marketplace). Altamura mesh avatar bodies have Slink-compatible feet.

Jewelry: Daphne collar, earrings, and Bento ring by Beloved Jewelry (three free hunt items from the September Free Dove mini-hunt at the Beloved Jewelry mainstore). The included HUD gives a choice of 12 different metals and 33 different gemstones!

Body AO: Chubby Girl AO by [ImpEle] (free from the SL Marketplace). This is a nice, simple, calm AO with no crazy movements.

Hair: Que Bella in abyss black from Hairoin (a store which is unfortunately no longer in Second Life; I bought this many years ago and I forget what I paid for this)

TOTAL COST FOR THIS MAKEOVER (not including the hair): L$150 (the Akeruka group join fee)

Pictures taken in front of the blood fountain at the Necropolis Vamp Club.

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.

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: London City Freebies, Including the Robert and Jenny Full-Body Mesh Avatars by Altamura!

UPDATE Sept. 28th: For a current, up-to-date list of free or inexpensive options for mesh avatar heads and bodies for female Second Life avatars, please see this blogpost. For a current, up-to-date list of free options for free and inexpensive male mesh avatar heads and bodies, please see this blogpost. 

London City is invariably one of the busiest (and laggiest!) sims in Second Life. No matter what time of the day or night, there’s always a crowd of avatars present, chatting with each other or just hanging out.

Just off to the side of the main gathering spot in London City is the Freebie Megastore:

Freebie Megastore London City 29 Aug 2018.png

This is not one of my top four freebie stores in Second Life, because almost all of the items available here are dated, system-layer-and-flexiprim clothing designed for the older SL system (i.e. non-mesh) avatars. However, on my last visit, I did find a pleasant surprise: two free full-body mesh avatars by Altamura! They’re just inside the entrance on the main floor, to the left (here’s a SLURL to take you directly there):

Robert and Jenny Altamura Fullbody Mesh Avatars London City 29 Aug 2018

These are the same avatars which Rumegusc Altamura very generously gave as hunt gifts late last year: the Jenny full-body mesh avatar as a free hunt prize in the Women Only Hunt, and the Robert full-body mesh avatar as a free hunt prize for the Men Only Hunt. just click on each panel and select “Deliver” from the blue pop-up menu which appears on-screen, and they’re yours for free!

As I have said before, I have found that clothing designed for the Maitreya Lara mesh avatar body fits the Altamura female body very well, with a minimum of fuss. Also, the Altamura female mesh bodies have Slink-compatible feet, so any shoe designed for Slink feet should work well with them (the female mesh body gift comes in three foot heights, selectable via HUD: flat, medium, and high). The bodies have fully-adjustable Bento heads and Bento hands, and (in a nice touch) Altamura has included a hand AO which cycles natural hand positions, which you can use with your regular (non-Bento) AO.

IMPORTANT! There is one key difference between the Women Only Hunt freebie Jenny body and the London City Freebie Megastore freebie Jenny body. The earlier WOH version allowed you to remove the head so you could replace it with any other head. Unfortunately, the freebie Jenny body from the Freebie Megastore does not allow you to remove the head. And it’s the same story with Robert; if you picked up the Men Only Hunt version of this head last year, you can remove the head. If you pick it up here at London City, you can’t.

In addition to the Altamura freebies, you can also pick up dozens of free dresses and gowns by Snowpaws, in a small store just across from the Freebie Megastore:

Snowpaws Store London City 29 Aug 2018.png

Just walk inside, and there are two full walls of freebie panels to click (here’s a SLURL to take you directly there). Many of these dresses are mesh outfits available in five standard sizes, but note that some are older system-layer clothing. WARNING: One of the dresses on the freebie wall is actually listed for sale for L$100, so please BE CAREFUL and check before you click the Buy button! 

Snowpaws Freebies London City 29 Aug 2018.png

So, drop by the bustling London City sim, brave the lag, meet some new people, and pick up a free mesh body and some beautiful free clothes!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Tommy and Emanuelle Full-Body Mesh Avatars by Altamura Are Again Available For Free!

UPDATE Sept. 28th: For a current, up-to-date list of free or inexpensive options for mesh avatar heads and bodies for female Second Life avatars, please see this blogpost. For a current, up-to-date list of free options for free and inexpensive male mesh avatar bodies, please see this blogpost. 

Damn, I just knew I couldn’t keep away from blogging! (I lasted 48 hours. So much for my holiday…)

If you missed the wonderful, well-made Altamura full-body male and female mesh avatars that were hunt gifts in the recent Men Only Hunt and Women Only Hunt, you’re in luck! Rumegusc Altamura has decided to make the former hunt gifts available as freebies right at the entrance of her store (see the red arrows):

Tommy and Emanuelle Altamura 25 Aug 2018.png

Now, in order to get these gifts, you must first join the Altamura Design/Mesh Avatar group, which has a L$50 group join fee. Frankly, you should join the group and stay in it, because Altamura often has extra-special deals on mesh avatar bodies and heads at various events. It is so worth it! You are never going to get such a good deal on a fully-adjustable mesh avatar body at that price anywhere else!

Don’t forget to pick up the four lipsticks for Emanuelle and the nose piercing for Tommy at the smaller signs located next to the freebie panels.

For all the details on the Tommy and Emanuelle bodies, please read my previous blogpost about them.