Firestorm Released

The Phoenix Firestorm Viewer has finally moved from Beta to Release! The team behind the Phoenix and Firestorm viewers ( http://www.phoenixviewer.com/ ) made the announcement a couple of days ago and I've been spending what spare time I had on doing clean installs on my two PC's and Laptop.

I've still only had a chance to tweak settings and get things set up, but it's going well so far. I can finally switch on shadows, ambient occlusion, and depth of field with my Radeon HD6970 (something only my old GTX260 could do in the mesh beta) it seems faster in general too.

The bug that stopped me from saving changes to an outfit while the bridge was attached is gone.

Not everyone is finding improvements in framerate though, there are some open gl problems with the latest nvidia cards/drivers apparently but I don't have the kit to experience that firsthand.

This viewer will allow you to view Mesh items properly (joining V2/3, dolphin, & CoolVL et al). The team promise a mesh compatible version of Phoenix to follow soon.

I like it, you should try it.

Calas Galadhon national park part 2

I ventured into the cave and followed a twisting, turning path past rock formations and pools. It seemed to go back forever until I emerged with a view of the sea. The path continued into the mountain, up a narrow passage, eventual opening into a winter wonderland.

  

This is the quaint little town of  Calas Galadhon itself, there is a (frozen) boating lake, lovely little shops with gifts and information about the park and other causes dear to the creators, such as an 'HIV/Aids Prevention & Education Center.'

When I first visited the park, this sim (and the ones next to it) were still green, but with an impressive dedication to authenticity, the creators brought about a change in season (which arrived before I could come back and take pictures. So not only do I recommend you visit it now. But you should come back in the spring too!

Feeling a little under dressed for snow, I borrowed a canoe and paddled for warmer waters. I managed to avoid having my little boat capsized by a pair of playful Orca and made landfall in the Gulf of Lune

 

Another sim, another environment, coastal marshes teeming with life, from beavers building dams, otters herons, and even a seal.

Do NOT sit on the seal. It bites :(

Naturally, walking around a marsh, I got a little muddy :p

 

There's much more to explore, much more to cover. My pictures can't do it justice, you really have to see it for yourself.

Calas Galadhon national park - Misty Mountains

After all the teasing, I present to you Calas Galadhon national park: Misty Mountains

This place is remarkable. Run by Truck Meredith and Tymus Tenk the park is clearly a labour of love and can only be described as epic in scale. I don't think it's possible to cover all of it on this blog, and it's certainly not possible to do it justice. You really need to experience it for yourself, you can get there via the link at the top of the post, or via my picks inworld.

  

I started out in the Misty Mountains, walking along dirt trails and through lush grass beneath a canopy of pine trees, the birds were singing, and the sun was shining, I even caught sight of some deer. There are lots of couple's dance balls as well as poseballs to sit and relax (some more secluded than others) so you can sit and relax with a friend or loved one.

 

I found a winding little path that followed a stream, past animals looking for fish before emerging at the sea, and following the path back up to the cliffs I'd visited before.

 

 

I stopped to admire the view before heading back inland. I paused at a cottage, resting for a while by the fire as a cat dozed in the window. Calas Galadhon is founded on Openspace sims, which means there are no residential parcels and all of the houses on the estate are open to the public.

I returned once again to my arrival point, and circling around the lake, I discovered a cave.

To Be Continued...

The Hiker

I had some ideas for what to wear in the woods, but I needed some good hiking boots. I hit marketplace and came across a pair of boots by Crave. Not only that, they came with a matching outfit too! In my haste I bought the outfit thinking it included one of the 3 boot 'options'. I was disappointed when I realised boots weren't included at all, but that is what the advert on marketplace said, so I can't complain.

I felt the combined price of outfit and boots was a bit steep to buy unseen, so I visited the in-world store to see if there were any cheaper alternatives or models. PROTIP: If you like the outfit, BUY IT IN-WORLD! Don't get it from marketplace, its almost half price in the store! I snapped up a pack of boots to match my outfit, as well as registering for the midnight mania and grabbing the free group gifts (It really is worth visiting the store).

Once I put the items on, they were really well made and worth the money, only drawback is they still use invisiprims! fortunately I could just ignore them and use a foot alpha from another set of boots.
Another issue - and this is one of my pet hates - is that the leg cuffs aren't resizable. Now, in SL terms, I'm a little on the plump side. This means if a designer assumes that all avatars slide the 'fat' and 'muscle' sliders right down to 0 (along with breasts and height at 100), their stuff won't fit me. If you can resizie it - no problem, but with this outfit, no matter how much I adjusted the positioning, part of the cuff would clip into my thighs. I know I could just adjust my shape, but damnit! I like my curves! (It's worse for male avatars though, god luck finding something that fits if your shape isn't 'The Terminator') Fortunately the dark brown of the shorts helps hide the problem.

I paired the outfit with my 'sunkiss' skin ( was going outdoors after all) and tied my hair back into a ponytail.

I was dressed (which is just as well, since the park has a no-nudity rule lol) but I wasn't ready.
I grabbed a pair of binoculars by Catboy Qunhua  and a backpack by Magi Take (which was tinted to match). I also added a Moonlit Designs baseball cap and pair of shades from JubJub  to protect my eyes from the sun. A bangle (to mask the ugly wrist joint on the default avatar mesh) and necklace from LoveCat's fallen completed the look and I was ready.

A new discovery

One day, while sitting in a bar, sipping my drink and having a nosey through the other patrons' profiles, I found a pick for a sim called 'Misty Mountains' the picture showed a woodland scene, and the description simply said: "Wow"

I teleported to the pick location and found myself by a lake in a forest. The scenery was beautifully done, with sun rays beaming through the canopy and wildlife in the air land and water. I walked a little further and found a small cottage with a kitty puring in front of the fireplace, a little further and the woods gave way to a clifftop path, with a view over the sea to an island covered in beautiful buildings with a distinctly Mediterranean feel. I returned to the TP point and ventured the other direction down the path, where I found a board that told me I was in the Calas Galadhon national park, a collection of TEN! openspace sims dedicated to the recreation of the American countryside. And I thought greater Ireland was big.

I resolved to explore all of it, but of course, the countryside can be a dangerous place:

The Fast Show - Rambling Hiker

I needed to be prepared... I needed a new outfit.

To be continued...

Hot pink for a hot night.

In the pink at REZ

This is an old outfit for me.

Not long after I took part in the 'Best in black or neko' competition at The Galaxy they had a 'Best in pink'. Not only that, but Rez another one of my regular hangouts at the time was... well it was pink.

So I set about putting together a pink clubwear outfit, and it just goes to show, in SL you can be as Risqé as you like! You can tell from some of the screenshots that it's an old outfit, as well as an example of how an outfit evolves as you get new stuff. I don't want to sound like a snob, but with the exception of some group gifts, prizes or other promo-priced items, you can often spot a freebie. The textures might look flat or the prims might look chunky. Don't get me wrong, I love getting stuff for free (or for L$1) but sometimes... you just have to pay.

Based around a translucent pink latex catsuit from Plausible Body, this outfit is made to turn heads on the dance floor. Depending on how daring you feel there are the optional band-aid pasties over the nipples, and a pair of Ronjas 'Kim' pink panties. Originally the outfit was accented with further pieces from the free (and widely resold) Ronjas 'Kim' Black and pink set, with a black corset from LC focusing attention on the bust. More recently the skirt was replaced with a black and fuchsia number from Nico Soulstar sheltering my 'almost-bare' behind, and black and red striped gloves, also from LC. Knee high colour-change leather kinky boots by PG complete the look.

Best in Pink at the Galaxy

Out in the updated outfit with Imogen.

Depending on my mood hair is either 'Rayne' with pink streaks by Truth, or Milan Pink by Amacci.

Nothing is true, everything is permited.

Inspired by the Secret Order of Hashashin (or more specifically Ubisoft's Assassins Creed games) This outfit, based on 'Deadly Assassin' by Little Brittan Designs Kicks ass and takes names. (As well as showing I don't buy all my outfits from LC lol :P )

The base outfit was good, but I had a couple of issues with it:
First,it didn't come with boots.
Second,  it was more 'Sexy Assassin' than 'Deadly' and while sexy is good, I wanted to look badass.

A trip to marketplace, turned up 'Fur and Fringe flat heeled boots' by Vlad Blackburn which matched the style of the outfit and with the flat soles, they offered the function over form befitting someone chasing over rooftops to hunt down their prey.
The ripped top was replaced with a white 'Gypsy Tunic' from League, for more of a robe look, with the leather corset from LoveCat's Natasha on top giving an armour effect.
Additional detail was added with a tattoo layer from LoveCats Nisha, covering the remaining exposed skin with Sanskrit writing, lending a mystical element to the look. The mystery grew with the addition of blue glowing eyes, hinting at hidden power, (matching blue lipstick by MissMurder).

The outfit comes with swords, but the signature weapon of the assassins is the hidden blade. Another trip to marketplace and I found Ani Aunerfal's Concealed Blades. They were good, but 'activating' the blade required replacing a bare bracer with an exposed one. My friend Rax pointed out they came with mod permission and that if blade was a single prim I might be able to add a script to 'hide' the blade. He pointed me to a free script that did what I wanted but only with a chat command. I reached out for help at the Fermi/Blue island sandbox and the lovely Saitech Soulstar came to my aid with advice on how to modify my script so it worked on touch and eventually writing it for me when I ran into trouble. After adding a dark tint to match the colour of the brown leather to the rest of my outfit, and scaling it to a more feminine size, it was perfect.




The scripting fun wasn't done there. After visiting the marketplace listing of the base outfit for the link above, (I'd bought it in-world) I realised that my swords were supposed to be scripted too. I sent a note to the creator, but I wanted it NOW so back out came my original show/hide script. I modified them so the swords in my hands would show when the ones on my back disappeared, and vice-versa (at least they did once Saitech taught me about linksets lol) all with a single chat command.



The outfit was complete, but I realised my usual 'Luscious' AO by pearl designs didn't fit. I visited several animation shops (Always preview anims in-world before buying) before settling on the 'Assassin AO (Female)' by ORACUL-U. This is an excellent AO, with over 60 fluid and properly looped animations in child, teen, AND adult sizes, all for L$300. It has a sophisticated HUD too, although I must admit I just cracked it open and dropped the adult animations into the Firestorm AO.


This has got to be one of my favourite outfits ever. I love mixing and matching different pieces to make a unique look, rather than just wearing something 'off the peg'. Thats not to say I don't like pre-made outfits (most of LC's stuff is pretty much perfect out the box, just needing accessories) but when you create your own you never have to worry about bumping into someone in the exact same outfit! :)

Edit : Bonus Picture to celebrate my first comment lol, TY Joss :)