Hunting and Racing: the Penultimate Safari

               Our last trip out and about took the intrepid Safari goers to two activity sims, one golden oldie, and one so brand new that it was still being tweaked a couple hours before our arrival.   

 

              Kodinpump is a twist on the word 'pumpkin', for this is a Halloween Hunt build from 2015, one of a long series of fantastic ephemeral builds in SL and opensim by nani Ferguson and Ange Menges, who put it back online especially for our visit.

           Thirty prizes await the visitor. They are scattered in plain sight all over the region, some are located on the strange, dark streets and others are to be found in the strange, brightly colored underwater realm located just offshore in the bay - shown here is nani Ferguson walking her world. 
          Only the careful and tenacious prize hunter will find the place, the single point along the shoreline where you can slip beneath the endless rolling waves and find the passage down to the drowned town.

 There is something of Lovecraft's Innsmouth about Kodinpump, with its grey looming buildings and bleak unwelcoming alleys and cobblestone pavements, and one can't help to feel that there is an indeterminate rottenness in these lanes. 

Ange Menge

A zombie game on these streets wouldn't be amiss, you can quite easily imagine figures coming at you through the gloom.

Despite their clearly forbidding aspect, it is spookily delightful to wander the streets, looking for more pumpkins, looking up at the perfectly atmospheric textures on the old homes. This skinny horse and cart is my favorite bit.

 If the virtual worlds of opensim had a 'smellyvision' feature, then one can't help suspecting that there would be a nauseous fishy odour among these melancholy houses. 

  But Kodinpump has a personality of its own, marked by the pumpkins with their gruff, boisterous responses to the innocent phrase 'Trick or Treat'. some insult you, some bounce you back to the landing point, some ignore you and some, of course, give great gifts, like vehicles and complete avatars.

The Ferguson/Menges builds of a later date than this one (I'm thinking of builds like Teraphosa, or Nephtys) feature NPCs, often locked in mortal combat. Kodinpump has static figures, caught in long confidential discussions, muttering among themselves about how the game works... 

and who knows what else.

When you eventually find your way to the Netherworld (an obvious second step, to be hazarded only after you have completely exhausted all the pumpkin-present possibilities on dry land) ou will enter the amazing environment out in the bay.

Pro tip - you have to be standing very close to the pumpkins before saying Trick or Treat, otherwise they cannot hear you and give you your prize.

It seems like hundreds of fish and associated marine creatures have  a pretty cool lifestyle, with plenty of lively entertainment going on, yet they manage to retain the lightly sinister sensations that are so pervasive on the dry land.

There's a band, a very busy theater, even a pretty little cemetery, as well as lots of elegantly dressed guppies and a very odd looking starfish. Don't miss the military looking crab armed with a telescope. Dead fish make the place pong virtually. 

There are quite a few chilling areas and quite unpleasant skeletons, but also lots of flamboyant flowers and implausible pumpkins that yell at you in a hilarious and occasionally insulting way.

Sometimes they'll send you back to the Landing Point, and sometimes they will give you a gift, so keep trying! you can't win if you don't play.  It was a joy to bring the Safari gang back here for one last trip, and a truly enjoyable visit.

eTrack on Endivatomic - our second destination

Our second stop was way more racy! It was a combo dance and drive event, planned by Thai Low and his companion, the lovely Christine.

eTrack is a brand new region on Endivatomic grid, and it features a fine choice of vehicles for your racing pleasure, ranging all the way up from a nice red Harley Davidson bike, to several luxury sedans, and a range of old fashioned trucks, so there is something for every taste. The vehicles are set up so that you can take a passenger with you - in some cases up to three extra people can ride. 

This is a nice feature for those of us who are crappy drivers, but enjoy the fast and furious experience. For example Lux Tergeste, famous for her dodgy driving,was far more at home dancing in the back of Thai's truck as he swept around the circuit, a palmy balmy setting that will time your speed and put you on the board, if you're that way inclined.

Christine dancing with Safari's dance machine, Aime Socrate

For those who like to dancing and camming more than cars, then DJane Lucrezia Flores was on hand spinning the tunes and along with some pals, filling local chat with lively gestures. The fun is yours to make here, whether it's flying the mini helicopter as Mal did (thank goodness he was off the track!) ...

Thai Low pilot

... or, like Thai did,  driving right up onto the dance floor to show off his maneuvering prowess... 

...it's a fabulous destination, and a lovely way to end our grid trotting adventures. Next week is the final Safari which will be three hours of live music on the hgsafari region on Francogrid.

HG Addresses

Kodinpump, when it is online, is on OSgrid and Metropolis. The region is not usually up, except by special request to the builders. If you wish to visit you should contact Ange Menges on either of those grids.

eTrack                          endivatomic.eu:8002:etrack