October is a busy time in Second Life, with many Halloween-themed hunts and events. It’s a great time to pick up some free and inexpensive items for your wardrobe!
Let’s start with a casual outfit with a couple of Halloween hunt freebies:
The T-shirt (which comes in a wide variety of sizes to fit both male and female avatars) is one of two free gifts hidden away in the truly maddening Halloween maze at Haunted Frolic, stop number 48 on SL’s Top Haunted Places Tour and Hunt.
And the sneakers are a free hunt gift too! The web chuck sneakers are a gift hidden at the Petite Mort/Oubliette booth at the Trick or Treat Lane event, running from now until Nov. 1st:
There’s also a Halloween Hunt going on at Brii Underground Wear, with ten easy-to-find pumpkins, each containing a different Halloween outfit. Here’s one of those ten prizes:
The Mary Salem outfit includes this elegant black strapless gown and the matching wrap, as well as some gothic cameo jewelry and a top hat, both of which I did not include in this picture. As you can see, this beautiful formal black gown can be used for more than just Halloween parties! Find pumpkin #2 at Brii and it’s yours for just L$6!
The last freebie isn’t a Halloween hunt gift, but it is free. This lovely strapless satin cocktail dress comes in black and pink, with an optional black or pink ribbon at the neck, and it is a free gift from C!L Boutique to mark October as Pink Ribbon Month for breast cancer awareness. You don’t need to join any group to pick it up; just teleport to this SLURL and click on the panel on the wall:
It can be tricky to find free or inexpensive footwear for female avatars, so in this blogpost I will be pulling together all the information I have about finding free or cheap shoes and boots for women.
One wardrobe staple I turn to time and again is this free set of women’s classic pumps by Marquesse, available from the excellent freebie store at Ajuda SL Brasil on the third floor (here’s the SLURL):
They come in white, black, red, and nude, and fit Slink mesh feet:
Wander around the women’s section of the freebie store at Ajuda SL Brasil (on both the first and third floors) and you will find many other pairs of free footwear for female avatars, everything from sneakers to thigh-high boots! Here’s just a sample of shoes from Nala Design:
If you join the Rowne group for free, you can pick up this lovely pair of Jai women’s pumps at the Gift Wall in their store (here’s the SLURL), which comes with a 15-colour HUD:
The Jai pumps come in sizes to fit Maitreya, Belleza and Slink mesh feet.
The set consists of flats, mid-height heels, and high heels in four colours: white, red, black, and nude. Here’s a close-up look at the mid heel along with the colour HUD:
Baby Monkey has some nice freebies at a couple of locations. At the Free*Style store you can pick three different sets of footwear—pumps, hiking shoes, and boots—in grey, green, and blue (here’s the SLURL):
Here’s what the Leana pumps look like, along with the colour HUD:
If you go to the Free Dove freebie store, there’s an updated “basics” set of Baby Monkey Leana pumps available in sizes for Maitreya, Belleza, and Slink mesh feet as well as classic avatar feet, along with a 10-colour HUD (here’s the SLURL):
There are many other high-quality freebies in the shoe section at the Free Dove, so be sure to pay them a visit and check out what’s available:
And finally, there are dozens and dozens of pairs of stylish footwear available for only L$10 each in the Baby Monkey sale section, located in a skybox high above the main store on the Keraxic sim (please note: this is an adult-rated Second Life sim, so you need to set your viewer settings to include Adult content if you want to be able to visit the Baby Monkey store). Here’s the SLURL to take you directly there.
Each set comes with a 32-to-35 colour HUD, which should allow you to match just about any outfit you are wearing! This is an incredible deal, so you should visit and flip through the vendors just to see what’s for sale. Depending on the style, there are sizes for Maitreya, Belleza, and Slink mesh feet, as well as classic avatar feet.
Another place to pick up many pairs of free shoes for female avatars is Hilly Haalan. Simply join their group for free and click the panels at the landing point, or the nearby freebie store! Here are just a few examples:
The suede Sonnet pumps (upper right in the bottom picture) come with a 20-colour HUD, and are available in versions for Maitreya, Belleza, and Slink mesh feet. I find myself using them quite a bit.
If you join the Legendaire V.I.P. group for only L$49, you can pick up quite a few pairs of trendy shoes and boots from their group gift wall:
If you join the S@bbia group for free, you can pick up a nice pair of brown penny loafers for free at their store (here’s the SLURL):
If you join the Versov group for free, you can pick up a pair of Jumpov sneakers as a free group gift from their store (here’s the SLURL):
The Jumpov sneakers come in sizes to fit Maitreya, Belleza, and Slink mesh feet, as well as an unrigged pair which you can adjust to fit just about any foot (it also comes in men’s sizes). The included HUD allows you to customize every aspect of these sneakers as you wish!
If you join the Petite Mort & Oubliette VIP group for free, you can pick a couple of neat pairs of sneakers as free group gifts. Oubliette has a pair of floral skull chucks at this SLURL:
And Petite Mort has a nice pair of black floral chucks at this SLURL:
And, if you like flowers on your sneakers, there’s another free pair available at the entrance of the Baby Monkey store at this SLURL:
So, as you can see, it’s not hard to find some fabulous footwear for nothing, or next to nothing, in Second Life! Happy shopping!
Hunts in Second Life are a tried-and-true way to get some truly fabulous steals, deals, and freebies. For example, Petite Mort and Oubliette are currently having an hunt for six white Easter bunnies on their half a sim, with each clothing prize only L$10 each, a significant saving:
I have spent almost 13 years doing hunts in Second Life, and I have learned a lot along the way. So here are my top 6 tips for Second Life hunts.
Please note that in the following tips and tricks I am using the Firestorm viewer; if you are using another Second Life viewer, like the default SL viewer, you might have to use different keystrokes to get to the features you want. I rely on Firestorm daily, as most people do, and I honestly don’t know the equivalent keystrokes for the default Second Life viewer.
1. Know what you are hunting for
This may seem obvious, but sometimes people engage in an SL hunt without even checking the associated website, which usually contains a picture of the item you are searching for, a list of store locations, and a hint for each location. Freebie blogs can also be valuable sources of information, showing you what the hunt prizes look like before you go to all the trouble of trying to find them. (Don’t forget about Cat Pink’s hunt videos, too!)
Finally, there are SL hunt blogs that tell you about upcoming hunts, like Hunt SL and SL Hunts (the former even has a ten-step plan for how to do a hunt). Visit them every so often to see what’s coming up.
2. Learn how to use your camera
This is also a basic rule: learn how to move your camera around the scene. You don’t even have to move your avatar around; just cam around the store to find what you are looking for. If you learn nothing else, learn how to use your camera.
In Firestorm, the camera controls can be brought up either by clicking the Camera Controls button on the bottom button bar, or by going to the top menu bar and selecting Avatar → Camera Controls.
The camera controls are divided into sections, as follows:
The leftmost circle allows you to rotate your camera.
The vertical slide to the right controls zoom; you can drag it or use the +/- signs for finer control;
The arrows in the square pan the camera left/right and up/down.
Across the top are six buttons. These are:
Front view – places the camera in front of your face, and facing you.
Side view – place the camera over your left shoulder, looking forward.
Rear view – places the camera behind and slightly above you; this is the default position.
Object view – allows you to zoom in on objects by clicking them. Hit ESC to leave object view.
Mouselook view – places the camera in front of you; the camera then moves with your mouse; the camera controls disappear in this view. Hit Esc to leave mouselook.
Reset view – restores the camera to default.
There are also keystroke commands for most of these options; you don’t necessarily have to use the on-screen widget. Here’s a list of camera controls. After countless hunts, by now they are second nature to me:
Key
Function
Alt-up/down arrow
Zoom camera
Alt-left/right arrow
Rotate camera left/right
Alt-Ctrl-up/down arrow
Rotate camera up/down
Alt-Ctrl-Shift-arrows
Pan camera
3. Turn on the lights
Are you hunting for an object in a dimly-lit store, or a sim set to midnight? One recent hunt had black eggs hidden in black corners of the store. Drives me absolutely bonkers. Here’s a tip: turn up the lights. If you are in Firestorm, Click on World in the top menu bar, then select Environment Editor, then Sky Presets, then Edit Preset, as shown here:
From the list of sky presets, scroll down and select one called CalWL:
Et voilà! Sharp, bright, clear light by which to properly conduct a hunt. In addition to CalWL, you could try out the presets named Nam’s Optimal Skin 1 and Nam’s Optimal Skin 2, which are also very bright.
4. Use a little helper
Now, this tip is controversial, because some would consider it cheating. Some vendors will go so far as to ban you from their sim if you are discovered using one of these little devices. I’m talking about object scanners, items which automatically search the area you are in for a specifically named object. If all the objects you are searching for have a naming convention (e.g. they all start with “POE” for the Peace on Earth annual hunt), then you can find them more easily using an object scanner. You just have to attach it, then walk around the store.
You should be aware that many store owners deliberately use misleading names (e.g. “Pine Floor”) or even gibberish (“asdfghjkl”) when naming hunt prizes in order to thwart people using object scanners. I’m not going to tell you which model to use; you can find them yourself on the SL Marketplace. In fact, you don’t even need to buy one, since there is already a perfectly good Area Search tool built into the Firestorm viewer (you can find it near the bottom of the World menu). And if the idea of using one feels like cheating to you, then just ignore this tip.
5. Use your X-ray vision
Here’s another really useful hunting trick that most people don’t know about. Did you know that you can toggle to wireframe mode in Firestorm, and literally see through objects? If you are using the Firestorm viewer, just pres Ctrl-Shift-R, and you turn on wireframe mode. Pressing Ctrl-Shift-R again takes you back to regular mode. Try it and see! (Note that you will get a momentary black screen when doing this. This is normal.)
Here’s an example to demonstrate. This is the normal view:
And here is the wireframe mode:
6. Only as a last resort: derender the sim/store piece by piece
This last tip is only if you have exhausted all other methods of hunting, and you still cannot find that elusive prize which you absolutely must have! Essentially, you select walls, floors, fixtures, and temporarily derender them (i.e., make them invisible). Keep doing this until you find what you are looking for.
To do this in Firestorm, right click on the object you wish to remove. From the menu which appears, click on More, then More again. You will see Derender as one of the options on the pie menu. Click on Derender, and select Temporary. And poof! It’s gone. Handy, eh?
Here’s an example of why hunts in Second Life can be so rewarding. This outfit consists of two pieces from the Easter bunny hunt at Oubliette and Petite Mort (the flower basket is a freebie at the landing point, and it comes with a hold animation).
This avatar is wearing:
Mesh Head: Giselle Bento head by Altamura (no longer available for free; this was an Altamura gift from Christmas 2017 at the eBENTO event, and you had to join the Altamura group for L$50 to get it).
Mesh Body: Jenny Bento body by Altamura (this was a free gift from the 2017 Women Only Hunt, and on this version, you can remove the head and replace it with any other mesh head, as I did here. Note that this free mesh body is now available at the Freebie Megastore at London City (more information here), but you cannot remove the head on the newer free version.
Hair: Hannah by MINA Hair (this is an old gift from a previous Second Life shopping event, no longer available for free)
Top: Lace trim sweater by Petite Mort (hunt prize; L$10)
Skirt: Cream midi skirt by Petite Mort (hunt prize; L$10)
Today, the 10th Annual Fantasy Faire opened in Second Life. This long-running and popular benefit for the American Cancer Society is described as follows in their press release:
Celebrating its tenth year, Fantasy Faire 2018 is the largest gathering of fantasy designers, enthusiasts, roleplayers and performers in the virtual world. From Thursday, April 19 to Sunday April 29, treat yourself to eleven days of shopping, dance and theater performances, DJ parties, auctions, questing, Literary Festival, fantasy art, events and roleplaying as thousands of Second Life residents and creators bring their own visions together to support the American Cancer Society’s vision of a world without cancer.
Avatars, clothing, furnishings, gadgets and exclusive items are available from more than 200 of Second Life’s top Fantasy Creators across ten stunning shopping sims designed by some of the visionary artists behind many of the hottest spots on the Second Life destination guide.
In addition to the ten shopping regions, there’s also five whole Fairelands dedicated to various Faire events from Memorial Garden to the Fairelands Quest, from Literary Festival to Performance Stages, from Art Galleries to the Worldling Collection. This brings the Fairelands count of 2018 into fifteen sims, just waiting for you to come and explore them.
Of course, no big Second Life event would be complete without technical glitches! I crashed out of Firestorm just about every single time I tried to cross from one Fantasy Faire sim to the next on my journey today. I almost literally had to crawl my way through the lag to get into the Aetherea sim, home to the Silvan Moon Designs store, where I bought this beautiful Lady of Shalot gown in sapphire blue for L$350:
Here is Vanity Fair, wearing the Lady of Shalot gown, feeling every inch a princess! The detail work on this gown, like all the work that Bee Dumpling and Solas NaGealai do for Silvan Moon Designs, is astoundingly good. (The crown Vanity is wearing is the KrisCar Queen crown from Alienbear Design.)
At Silvan Moon Designs I also bought myself Le Carnivale Baroque Gown set in blush for L$450, just the thing for those days when I want to roleplay as Marie Antoinette at the Versailles court!
From the Oubliette store on the (much less laggy) Severina sim, I got my medieval roleplayer avatar, Scarborough Fair, the lovely Snow White Maiden Gown for only L$185! (The Varda roses circlet, necklace and earrings were from Illusions, a store that has since closed in SL, so it is sadly no longer available.)
The Fantasy Faire runs from today until April 29th, so you only have eleven days to take everything in! Here’s a link to their calendar of events, so you can start making plans.
