Free Life in the City

This week's trip took us first to FreeLife Grid, the home of Victor DeAngelo. Our handsome host, noted for his many freebies and his kind and helpful spirit, awaited us on his Central City region. The HG Address is of course in the usual place.

James takes a seat at the arrival area on Central City

As you know, the Safari generally avoids malls because the combination of thousands of textures, a dozen avies, and less than an hour to take the tour makes for a lag challenge of immense proportions, so you may notice some of the pictures - and Jessica Pixel's livestreamed video walkthrough - had a few details missing here and there. 
If you are interested in having the Safari come visit your grid? Please, read this page it's just for you! And then come on a couple of Safari trips - there is no better way to get a feel for the dynamics of group tourism in virtual worlds, and it will help you plan your own hosted event.

Ange Menges: Bonsoir à tous

Ayla Alvarez: Bonsoir, Ange

Victor DeAngelo: i am seeing everyone pretty much.....rezzing is happening and you all look amazing

Thirza Ember: this is a Dreamgrid grid, right?

Victor DeAngelo: yes, Dreamgrid

Forest Azure: we now are all Dreamgrid experts... well, except me

Victor DeAngelo: The grid uses the Outworldz.com software for OpenSim that makes it as simple as possible for non-tech individuals like myself to be able to host an OS grid.  My own virtual vision has been to create a large city that would provide free content for those who visit and explore the eight 4X4 sims that make up what I call Free Life City.  It is my personal commitment to keeping OS a place where content is freely shared that motivates me to continue adding content to the sims as well as adding free content regions.  I always have a new sim that is under construction. Should you be interested in having a more thorough description of the city, here is the address to the website I created for that purpose....  https://freelifeestates.weebly.com/ The Free Life website also includes a description of all of the objects that I have created that are to be found on my Free Life Freebie Factory sim.

Victor DeAngelo: The other seven city sims include... Central City: It's a downtown with tall buildings and the look and feel of a clean modern urban center with over twenty-five stores filled with free content. Freebie Freeway: Where the large Free Life Mall is located along with a shopping center, various fast food restaurants, a movie theater, etc.  Much like the typical suburban shopping area to be found in any American styled suburb or town. Happy Harbor: It's a nautical neighborhood filled with any kind of boat or ship you might want to find as well as some stores and homes that fit that theme.

Auto Avenue: Over 250 scripted cars on an automobile themed sim from classic to contemporary vehicles. Eloquent Estates: Over 50 houses that are either displayed around a lake in the center of the sim or in a warehouse and, of course, all free. Junky Junction: It's a rust belt neighborhood on the other side of the tracks but a fun place to explore with plenty of free content. Nostalgia Neighborhood: This sim is a recreation of my memories of being born and raised in Butte, Montana.  Everything, including the cars, houses and buildings, etc., are from the time period of my childhood including a built-from-scratch recreation of the house in which I was raised.

Victor DeAngelo: By the way, the newest sim on the grid is called Eliseium Elfinland.  It was just listed on OpenSim World last week.  It was created by Elise Dior.  It's a tribute to the Lord of the Rings on a 6X6 sim featuring over 100 costumes and 50 shoppes. My current project is also a 6X6 sim entitled Great Gatsby from the book and movies of the same name.  It is a 1920s and 30s themed version of the book that will feature clothing stores for that period of time for men and women.

lifted pixel: collecting and displaying goodies you've come across is one of the fun parts of opensim

Victor DeAngelo: This complex belongs to Elise Dior, she makes outfits and her own designs available to everyone, the complex includes this store, the fashion design building, and the second store all joined together, fashion shows are held here in this building and her design studio is in the back. Elise just opened a 6X6 sinm in the grid using the Lord of the Rings as her inspiration

Roffellos  Kisses: how often are the shows? do you advertise them?

Forest striking a pose on the catwalk.

Forest Azure: ooh nice pose

Victor DeAngelo: she likes to put outfits together and then make them available to the ladies if you find yourselves freezing or walking just click the floor where you are and wait a few seconds.  freezing is an issue that the owner of outworldz is now working on to fix...sorry about that.

James Atlloud: It's nice the store doors auto-open.  I heard an alarm?  Nothin' in my pockets!!

Ayla Alvarez: I see a shadow and scrubbing bubbles

James Atlloud: I can see the frothy bubbles and the shadow.  Still waiting for the mesh.

Thirza Ember: same, many shadows! i hope i'm not standing in front of a bus! oh it's rezzing!! what is it?

Nara Nook: I think it is a car

James Atlloud: It's the cute street sweeper.

Nara Nook: oh yeah so bubbles

Ayla Alvarez: giggles = the bubbles tickle

Forest Azure: /me has that marilyn feeling

Ayla Alvarez: clean me up scotty...

Thirza Ember: I want to ride in the back, i bet it is like bubble bath

We love our vehicles!

Victor DeAngelo: are you all seeing the buildings okay

Ayla Alvarez: I can see the buildings

Thirza Ember: I think there are just too many darn textures for us Victor

Nara Nook: things are starting to appear for me

lifted pixel: most of the buildings but no textures on anything

Roffellos Kisses: so is it an ever expanding project? how do you find the time to keep up?

James Atlloud: Victor, did you design the roads first or the layout of buildings first?

Victor DeAngelo: the roads sorta followed the city as I added to it, all eight sims that comprise the city are intended to look and feel like a typical city

Siobhan Muir: It definitely feels like a city

Thirza Ember: tell us how you got involved with Dreamgrid Victor, and did you have your own grid or regions on some other grid like osgrid, before you went Dreamy??

Victor DeAngelo: no....outworldz is my first grid. I had some regions on other grids for awhile but have so enjoyed having my own grid. I am not one to host concerts or dance parties so having this many avatars at one time is prob taking up a bit of memory to affect rezzing

We took a nice stroll up the hill to a vantage point

Victor DeAngelo: so, as you can see, there is much more surrounding the high rise central part

James Atlloud: ooohh, lower levels too.

Victor DeAngelo: the auto dealership is an extension of my auto avenue sim where i have over 250 scripted cars. And the university on the other side of the bridge helps newbies learn how to navigate OS and use the edit tools

Thirza Ember: cool idea Victor, to make opensim easier to understand

Nara Nook: I visit your grid a lot. I really like how you make it feel like a real place

Victor DeAngelo: thank you

Forest Azure: yes, aren't we going to see the lord of the ring sim?

Thirza Ember: not today forest there's no more time

James Atlloud: I'm imagining the LOTR grid must be like the one Ferd Fredricks made?

Victor DeAngelo: it is quite different than Ferd's, and huge. you will be thrilled to see the costumes that elise has made for everyone in her Eliseium Elfinland sim, based on the elfin in lord of the rings

James Atlloud: oh fun.

Victor DeAngelo: i can provide tp links to any sim in the grid upon request

Nara Nook: I'd like one for the car sim - we'll come back

Siobhan Muir: This is cool. We'll definitely be back. There's plenty to see here

Taarna Welles: I come back for sure

Victor DeAngelo: opensimworld has all of my free life sims listed. I am so happy that all of you came to visit my sim, as you know, we builders love showing off what we have made

Ayla Alvarez: tks Victor...its been fascinating to see your work

Dorena Bree: Thanks Victor

James Atlloud: It's so much work!  And very detailed... thank you Victor.

lifted pixel: we def gave your regions a hard time :D

Forest Azure: thanks Victor

Victor DeAngelo: thank you all for coming to the tour...hope you enjoyed it,  come back and visit any time

HG Address: freelife.outworldz.net:8002:Free Life Central City