Our second destination this week was to one of the most unusual and spectacular mesh builds you'll find in Opensim. Inspired by the great city of Dalaran in World of Warcraft, it's an immense labour of love by Gridmistress Wendie Blackthorn on her delightful grid, Kinky Haven. Lots of mesh, lots of passion, but not lots of Blender, as one might assume -pro tip alert!
Wendie Blackthorn: I do not use blender to edit mesh, that program gives me a headache to look at it
Star Ravenhurst: What do you use?
 |
| The splendid floating city of Dalaran |
Wendie Blackthorn: Wings3D it's a much friendlier interface and has lots of tutorials that are easy to follow
Arielle Popstar: oh really, little more intuitive then Blender
Getting our Safari group to Dalaran, on Kinky Haven, proved tricky because - eeek - the grid experienced a DDOS attack about 30 minutes before our arrival time!
Wendie Blackthorn: everything was fine until 30 minutes before the group arrived, I never had to fix a server so fast in my entire life
Fetter Gyve: Murphy's Law
Freya Blackthorn: lol ikr
 |
| The dreaming towers of Dalaran |
If that happens on a group trip, or even when you're gridjumping alone, you may find that going back to your home grid, or relogging, you can fix the problem. Probably a lot of it has to do with just waiting a bit, say 5 minutes or so, which gives the grid you're trying to get to the time it needs to return to normal play. Another famous workaround is, of course, to go to the destination grid's Welcome sim first (eg: instead of kinkyhaven.com:8002:Dalaran, just put in kinkyhaven.com:8002) then attempt an 'internal flight' to your destination sim.
A shout out to local resident Fetter Gyve for being on the Welcome sim and helping to confirm that yes, the visit was able to continue, and Wendie and Freya, who appeared offline to me, were awaiting us and all would be well once the datastorm had died down. Kinky has exports turned off for security reasons, and that includes LMs, so use the Map to get there.
In what was only a very few minutes - but must have felt like hours for the Haven folk - things sorted themselves out. About ten of us from half a dozen different grids managed to make the leap, and we were well rewarded for our stickability!
 |
| The chapel - your tp link to the city in the sky, Dalaran |
Freya Blackthorn: Hi everyone
Wendie Blackthorn: ah there's some peoples - I really hope the technical glitches stop
Lucy Afarensis: Very difficult to tp here
Fitheach Eun: It was a rough trip
Freya Blackthorn: sorry everyone we have just fended off a ddos attack -this had to happen of all nights we are really sorry about this
Wendie Blackthorn: we may still be feeling some aftershocks
Thirza Ember: we may have lost a few, but let's enjoy the region. it's a beautiful place and cleverly made - Love the welcome sign!
Wendie Blackthorn: smaller crowd is more cozy
Freya Blackthorn: should we wait for some more or would you like to explore?
Thirza Ember: let's go, they will find us
 |
| teleporting up to the city touch the crystal! |
Wendie Blackthorn: Please everyone go inside the chapel and click on the blue triangular crystal over the alter and be teleported up to the main city.
Teleport Crystal: whispers: Teleporting you to : Dalaran
Fitheach Eun: Reminded me of the old Temple of the Update in sl
Wendie Blackthorn: for convenience chat range is increased to 200 meters
Arielle Popstar: oh good idea
Wendie Blackthorn: Welcome to the city of Dalaran. this was the main hub of World of Warcraft during the fight with the scourge and the Lich King. Many things are graphically accurate but some things are altered to better work in opensim.
Arielle Popstar: so this grid is adult focused?
Freya Blackthorn: yes all regions are adult rated
Wendie Blackthorn: this grid is adult and bdsm focused
 |
| Freya and Wendie |
Jupiter Rowland: I think I've read somewhere that clothing is optional all over the grid... But that'd be a bit inappropriate during a safari, heh...
Star Ravenhurst: It is all just floating in air
Freya Blackthorn: this region is a bit different, as it was Wendie's passion
Arielle Popstar: interesting builds
Fitheach Eun: yes, looks great
Thirza Ember: it really is amazing so big yet so much detail . Tell us about world of warcraft, I really hardly know what it involves
Wendie Blackthorn: world of warcraft is a mmorpg with players selecting either a horde or alliance character. They do quests and fight monsters or do pvp battles to advance in level and earn better armor and in game money.
Thirza Ember: what's the best horde to join? I want to be in the horde that eats chocolate
Wendie Blackthorn: there is no right faction to join, you choose what fits you best, the point is having fun.
Thirza Ember: so in a way, are hordes in WoW a bit like grids in opensim, you find the 'tribe' that suits you best?
Wendie Blackthorn: Let's move over to the pet shop if everyone can see now... These are some of the pets and creatures you would encounter in world of warcraft
Star Ravenhurst: They are adorable!
 |
| Bad behavior in the pet shop |
Thirza Ember: I don't know what I'm sitting on but it looks fierce
Wendie Blackthorn: Felstalkers on the right, they are particularly mean
Unadecal Masala: what I wanna know is... Where are their mummies?
Thirza Ember: /stands up and moves away... wait - are these babies???
Wendie Blackthorn: yeah I would say they are not fully grown
Fitheach Eun: Is that typical of the game? The style of this building?
Wendie Blackthorn: yes, most of the artwork in WoW is of the hand painted style
Thirza Ember: I may have to check it out...
Wendie Blackthorn: I played WoW for several years but Dalaran was always a favorite place of mine... oh I think the eye is watching Arielle
Arielle Popstar: eek ...monsters eyeing the human females.. they have uhm adult themes in wow? like ....sex?
Wendie Blackthorn: WoW does not allow nudity or sexual acts in the game tho many players have tried, so I brought it here and can add what ever nawty I want to it
Unadecal Masala: I bet. Rule 34 applies
Thirza Ember: what is rule 34
Unadecal Masala: Rule 34 of the Internet: If it exists, there is porn of it
Freya Blackthorn: we also have an entire sewer system running under the city which can be explored with different types of sections. Would you like to see the prison area or the sewers next?
Thirza Ember: I really like sewers, I can't lie
Jupiter Rowland: Another vote for the sewers. Although I should have brought rubber boots.
Wendie Blackthorn: yay for the dirty parts of Dal
Unadecal Masala: I have never played WoW, but I have heard stories of a time when the developers introduced a contagious disease in-game, which turned into a full on outbreak, and the case was even studied by real world epidemiologists
Thirza Ember: wow ... no pun intended
Arielle Popstar: like to see what sort of bdsm you have
Freya Blackthorn: this region is still a work in progress so there isnt much bdsm on this region but you are welcome to explore the rest of the grid any time including the mile high club
Wendie Blackthorn: the nawty stuff is being implanted as I go along, not much has been put in place yet but I'm trying to work it into the environment as best I can... OK, I think I heard we are going to the sewer - this is the longer tunnel
Unadecal Masala: I think I left my mind around here...
Wendie Blackthorn: I don't recommend swimming in that water
Arielle Popstar: looks toxic
Thirza Ember: thank goodness it's not smellyvision
Fetter Gyve: wow, the sewers are super amazing too
Wendie Blackthorn: in this area there are regular pvp battles between horde and alliance, also some rather unsavory characters to interact with in the game
Arielle Popstar: weapons?
Wendie Blackthorn: weapons are usually medieval type, lots of swords and bows, and even some guns, but also magic
Freya Blackthorn: if everyone looks down you can see the long drop
Fetter Gyve: I did, the water flowing is super cool too
Wendie Blackthorn: yeah that's a very damp landing down there
Arielle Popstar: really well done ... / makes sure to stand on the grate, not the holes
Star Ravenhurst: It all looks amazing!
Thirza Ember: is dalaran a city in the sky in WoW or only here in opensim?
Freya Blackthorn: its a city in the sky on wow
Jupiter Rowland: /me takes a big step across the stream
Arielle Popstar: so the unsavoury types rape and pillage or just pillage?
Freya Blackthorn: lol there is no adult content in WOW
Arielle Popstar: oh right... but this is wow in opensim!
thirza ember: it is wowow
Freya Blackthorn: lol yes adult stuff is slowly being added to this region
Wendie Blackthorn: on this side of the sewer are where more shops for the not so common items would be... mostly spent potions in the flowing water
 |
| Wizzina tries to keep her feet dry |
Fitheach Eun: Terrific build
Unadecal Masala: how close are the models and texturing to the original?
Wendie Blackthorn: very close, as most of this is from the game models
Thirza Ember: i am blown away just by the logistics of this build. it must have taken ages to figure it all out, with the right heights etc
Unadecal Masala: indeed
Star Ravenhurst: Me as well Thirza!
Arielle Popstar: I didn't think something like this was even possible in Opensim, or even S.L.
Wendie Blackthorn: some artistic license had to be taken in a few areas but it was for the better of appearance... this build has taken about 9 months to get this far, while learning to edit mesh for the first time.
Fitheach Eun: Only 9 months, wow?
Fetter Gyve: that is impressive
Freya Blackthorn: we are heading back up to the surface now. By the way, if anyone likes surfing or kayaking we do have a beach and also water rapids in the forest
Fitheach Eun: very peaceful
Unadecal Masala: Ah! Fresh air!
Wendie Blackthorn: this is the central courtyard of Dalaran, to me it's just about as peaceful as it can be in the middle of a major city. You all should have recognized where we came up out of the sewer, it's where you all came into the city, we walked completely under all of this.
Freya Blackthorn: thank you everyone who came despite the issues we had tonight it really means alot to myself and Wendie
Star Ravenhurst: It is a beautiful build. I am not disappointed! Well done!
Fetter Gyve: It all worked out nonetheless :) Totally fab!
Fitheach Eun: It did, great tour
Arielle Popstar: this was really impressive, very unique
Aphra Hendrix: oh yes very nice
Wendie Blackthorn: here's where I'll shamelessly beg for positive reviews and likes on OSW
Arielle Popstar: haha without a doubt for me
Fetter Gyve: what is OSW?
Jupiter Rowland: OpenSimWorld.#
Fetter Gyve: ahhh
Freya Blackthorn: also feel free to explore the mainland anytime, we have a go kart track and the water rapids can be fun, we plan on making it more challenging soon!
Thirza Ember: thank you so much for sharing this build with us
Fitheach Eun: Thank you Wendie and Freya
 |
| Grace under fire - Wendie Blackthorn HG Address kinkyhaven.com:8002:Dalaran |
No comments:
Post a Comment