Tuesday, March 14, 2023

The Spaxiest Place on Earth

 If there is one thing opensim people like less than reading Notecards, it's following rules. But you, of course, are the exception to all that, which is why we like you. And why you're going to love Dismayland. The address is, as always, at the end of the post.
Spax Orion: This idea came up 3 years ago. I loved snapshots of Dismaland in England, I thought it would be fun to take their idea and go a step further.
Spax Orion
Proving virtual is superior to RL in such things, Spax's creation is way better than Banksy's effort, and will probably last a lot longer. That said, there are some 'terms and conditions'. No Notecards involved, but before you venture to visit Spax Orion's latest pleasure dome, Dismayland, You probably should take a moment and absorb the FAQs in his Brochure, on the OSW website
To paraphrase the rules: 
1. use a legacy avie,  
2. leave ALL your mesh and prim bits (including hair, shoes, etc) at home, and 
3. don't be an ass. 
Bring your best observational powers, and read the signs, some will save you from being booted, others will just have you laughing like crazy.
Two out of three ain't bad
If you're no good at making a legacy avatar, or at this point you are so mesh-dependent that you can't recall how it's done,  there is good  news,  Spax has prepared some legacy looks you can use, for free. You will be amazed at how low your complexity will go!
Since the grid where Dismayland is located  is set to No Export, the legacy avatar freebie shop is on a separate sim on OSGrid,  at hg.osgrid.org:80:XOAOX

Thirza Ember: what was the hardest part of the build to make?
Spax Orion: scripting the park. It was a tremendous learning experience. I learned a lot from Satyr of Opensimworld and Greybox Darkward of Port Vesper. I try to be meticulous in my work. Every chair must work and every ride must function smoothly; all do except wheel of fortune, that ride is not so smooth but I used that to my advantage to make a really scary ride.
Trauma Twirl
Thirza Ember: Best ride ?
Spax Orion: I love them all! Trauma twirl is my favorite "sideshow ride" and Leviathan's Fury is my First and Best roller coaster I have ever made... it is based on Inferno at Ozone (Ozone is closed now for renovation)
Leviathan's Fury 
The visit begins in a skybox set up like a ticket hall (complete with mouthy security guards and then tp down to the ground. The sim comes alive with NPCs, animals and people, and not the usual welcome bots who endlessly repeat one or two cheesy welcome phrases. 
Spax Orion: the birds have an interesting conversation about the goings on here. the same is true for the CEO and Chopsy {Bode}at the diner. It is all rubbish talk but it adds atmosphere. I use Active NPC framework, I did my own modifications to it. I helped opensimworld improve it and add a lot of features it is free and opens software anyone can use to populate their sims with NPCs. just ONE notecard powers this conversation. It's available in the script library, and you can find some of my own contributions there too. When we share knowledge openly and freely, EVERYONE BENEFITS!
Chopsy's diner / the Souvenir Gift 'shop'.

Spax Orion: Chopsy from OSgrid donated a lot of the buildings and gators. She gave me a copy of her skin and shape so I could put HER in the diner. Since content cannot leave the grid it makes sense that the prize machines hand out nothing, but I will eventually offer free Dismayland SWAG at Xoaox (OSgrid), shirts that say 'I got killed 50 times at Dismayland '  'I lost my dentures at Chopsy's Diner and they ended up being served in the stew'.
Thirza Ember: yes. In the gumbo
Chopsy and a client

Spax does warn that the easily scared/offended may do well to give this place a miss, yet really I saw nothing that wasn't enchanting. While it's fun to take the rollercoasters, especially in mouselook, there's so much else going on, games you can click on and a million things to photograph. 
Like these bees.... who are the bee's knees when they take off.

Spax Orion: I set the health detector to give you a little health before teleporting you to the afterlife to prevent people being TP home. The only way you can get booted is if you are playing a click game which depletes health and you are clicking the mouse too fast. The health meter is in the viewer, and I have a scanner which detects your health once a second, when it drops below a certain threshold OR you interact with an instant death scene, you are teleported to The Afterlife. I thought that would be better than TP people home... that is the default setting in SL and opensim BUT the catch is... your health can only regenerate by going through the portal in the afterlife which drops you in the security landing. Eventually I will place a "fountain of youth somewhere hidden in the park which will also regenerate health... but it will be dangerous to find it !

There are at time of writing eight big rollercoasters in the park, and maybe two dozen other attractions including rides, booths, sideshows, scary and visual jokes, all laid out comfortably around wide boardwalk that circles the dangerous looking lake. 
Flying is disabled, but thank god point to point teleports are fine, so you don't have to wear out your wasd getting from one place to another. Respect the Perimeter though = the park is surrounded by a beautifully crafted no-man's-land that you can cam out to - but think twice before teleporting outside the safety of the main area - you will end up in the Afterlife! 
 In front of the 'Nuclear Haste' ride, for example, there are three absolutely adorable kiddie rides. 
A giraffe ! Want Want!
But that brings us to another point, nothing on the grid is meant for export. Not even, ironically, the crappy gifts in the souvenir shop! Harsh?  Not really, since we have the gift of being able to ride here, and freeloaders, whether mindless or malicious, are annoying. That's not to say there's a lack of generosity here - quite the reverse, as this sign points out. Friendly help is available, willy-nilly copying no.
So much to see here, this post really only touches the surface - the  petting zoo, the Complaints Department, and underwater close encounters that will give you goosebumps - and Spax is continually coming up with new rides and repurposing come of the current items to do more ghoulish stuff.
All in all, whether you're out for a pleasant walk, want a scary adventure, or seek inspiration for your own builds, there is literally something for everyone here. It's a place where dreams come true, and nightmares too. So get working on your best looking Legacy avie! 

HG Address:   xoaox.de:7000:Dismayland

Hop:  hop://xoaox.de:7000/Dismayland/477/261/595

Address of legacy avie supplies sim:   hg.osgrid.org:80:XOAOX

4 comments:

  1. Thanks Thirza for such a thoughtful review of Dismayland! I am adding rides to "The Afterlife" so anyone who avoids danger will miss out on the latest attractions! -Spax

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  2. TP'd and not only did I get banned with my own legacy AV but Firestorm crashed !! I TP'd to get Spax's Legacy AV but after touching one and getting message of recieving a folder ... nothing showed up in my suitcase :( NOT HAPPY ABOUT Firestorm CRASHING ! )
    ROBUST ERROR: "[HG SUITCASE INVENTORY SERVICE]: GetFolder: folder My Inventory/3e0836b4-9f0c-44a6-be9e-dff2fce5fa72 (user 580424ce-027a-4539-bdde-dc83bb6a14b9) is not within Suitcase tree"

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    Replies
    1. The stuff should be in your travel suitcase next time you log in

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  3. @Al: Clearing cache in your viewer may be helpful, always empty your suitcase before hypergrid travel, ensure your graphics drivers are up to date. If you are unable to enter from one grid, try using an avatar from another grid. We do not (and never will) use any code to crash viewers. Avatars not in compliance with our rules will be LOGGED OFF by scripted agents since "TP home" is unreliable.

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