Our second stop this week was with the magnificent Mike Townsend, friend of the Safari and frequent tripper with us back in ye olden days when it was a three hour, uncertain slog through any number of destinations. These days, Mike is busy with his Tropicana sims, where you can rent a bit of pixels for yourself in some very atmospheric places! HG Addresses at the end of the post - but you knew that already.
Coming from another grid, we all met with a fair dose of lag but the welcome was warm from both mike himself and a bunch of Tropicana friends.
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| Mike Townsend, flanked by Blancanieves and Tina Bey |
Mike Townsend: Welcome everyone to Tropicana Village, If everyone is ready we can start the tour
Leoa Urmah: (pt:en) I'm very ready
This part of the build is a great mix of grunge and rundown architecture, with everything from nodding donkeys to a nice red phone box. Walking among all these detailed elements proved to be tricky, to say the least, but while we lost Mike for a moment, most of us were able to power through it. OSgrid's ongoing inv issues and unexpected kicks, when paired with a mass avatar event, kind of reminds us what a privilege it is in reality to be able to be part of a global community, despite the ructions of RL with its solar flares and political shenanigans.
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| Trailer Park |
Mike Townsend: We take a step back in time and visit the Medieval village deep in the chasm of a mountain. With its market stalls, the Lord's Manor and a variety of interesting places to visit. Don't miss the Pirate's shack, the small homestead and the hidden gems that this small medieval town has to offer.
Thirza Ember: is this just set up for the Fall months, or is it a year round thing, Mike?
Mike Townsend: This is all year round, There are a lot of animesh scenes. Even a guy stocks with people throwing tomatoes. The pirate ship over the bridge is worth a look, with animated drunken pirates.
Petlove Petshop: the best kind... Isee a halloween castle over yonder too
Thirza Ember: it's kind of magical, the underground aspect of it
Mike Townsend: Yes Petlove thats our next stop
Star Ravenhurst: I feel like I have been here.
Neo Cortex: why did you put this underground?
James Atlloud: yes, wonder that too.
Mike Townsend: So its kind a hidden village, The approach is by boat through the waterfall. You have to know its here to navigate to it by boat
Neo Cortex: Ah, now I see!
Star Ravenhurst: Very interesting to build it that way Mike.
Mike Townsend: Its different yes and quite tricky to build but as you walk around the animesh characters bring it to life
Star Ravenhurst: I can imagine. You did well.
Thirza Ember: that bird on the bridge is pretty spooky... it looks like the thanksgiving turkey from hell
Luna Lunaria: lol bird on the bridge
Tosha Tyran: Pirate Jenny:
And they'll ask me "Which one's should we kill?"
And this afternoon it will be silent at the ports,
And when they ask me who must die,
You'll hear me say "All of them!"
And when the heads fall I'll say "Whoops!"
And the ship with eight sails,
And fifty canons,
Will disappear with me...
Mike Townsend: lol Tosha... Just watch the angry geese on the small homestead
Thirza Ember: oh i will try to cam to that, I'm not sure walking is my best bet right now
Mike Townsend: I tend to agree. This will test our cam skills
Luna Lunaria: my camaraderie skills are good
Thirza Ember: so what inspired you to make a cavern-based township?
Mike Townsend: It was more the pirates and the smuggling aspect of it being tucked away and hidden
Neo Cortex: Well, maybe they wanted to hide from that spider woman thing outside...
Thirza Ember: plus i guess a good way to save space
Luna Lunaria: a cool idea
Mike Townsend: It does save space although that was not really a consideration at the time it was more about doing something a little different
Thirza Ember: we've just come from a Roleplay sim - this makes me think what fun they could have on a star trek mission, over here
Mike Townsend: Well they could try and negotiate the Enterprise through the waterfall and then land by the pirate ship and join the Captain for some rum
Thirza Ember: looking from outside you'd never guess what is in here for real
Mike Townsend: Yes. Most people know the castle but often miss this
Neo Cortex: Do you do any roleplay in here too, or is it more about the building process?
Mike Townsend: I haven't thought about role play but it is ideal for that I suppose
Luna Lunaria: It's really hard in Opensim to get people to commit to RP... I remember how widespread it was back in SLs early years. I was in 2 or 3 of them back then
Mike Townsend: I know Luna its not easy at all. Even in SL they struggle these days
Neo Cortex: It is quite hard to keep that for more than just a few weeks. Star Trek is one of those groups that really keep gong on
Thirza Ember: that's what amazes me about the Infinity people, they have been going for over 10 years ... you'd think the RP groups in Opensim would make the most of the possibilities to take their stories off their own grids and explore other venues
Mike Townsend: I agree, organising any role play either in your own region or someone elses needs a lot of time and commitment
Neo Cortex: But hey, consider what we are doing right now and here. We are actually inside someone's dream. Someone imagined this and made it become a "reality" for us to see.
Star Ravenhurst: Good point Neo.
Mike Townsend: Thats what we all do in Opensim I think
Leoa Urmah: (pt:en) I had never thought about it like that
Neo Cortex: I think we are much closer to things like the Oasis or the Matrix than most people think
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| Tina Bey paces as Luna shows off her dark October locks |
Luna Lunaria: That's exactly my process. I see a region in my head fully formed then spend a year creating it lol
Mike Townsend: That's how it works Luna absolutely and with AI who knows where it will take us in the future
Neo Cortex: Maybe we do not have the full immersion a'la body suit or neuralink, but it is pretty close
Star Ravenhurst: Not me Luna, I plan, but a lot of it evolves as I go along
Thirza Ember: in the end though it's really about the individuals and the community, if you don't have a group of friends and fellow players, any amount of building is rather like a tree falling in the forest when nobody hears it
Star Ravenhurst: That is one good reason of many to have Safari Thirza.
Lifted Pixel: that's why i like safari. people get to show off their felled trees.
Mike Townsend: So if everyone is ready we can visit the Castle where all the Halloween items inside are also free... This large creepy Halloween Castle is packed full with the horrors of Halloween. Help yourselves to the freebies on offer and explore the castle and the misty castle grounds. Recommended time at the Castle is 15 minutes.
Our final stop was a magnificent castle, combining Opensim's 2 favorite things, Halloween and Freebies
Mike Townsend: Again apologies for not wearing my t shirt and having missing hands but hey thank your lucky stars it wasn't my shorts that fried on relog he heh
Thirza Ember: the no hands kind of matches the halloween look
Neo Cortex: We are kind of used to see all kind of missing parts ^^
Mike Townsend: At least we still keep our hair these days
Neo Cortex: Nowadays you rather have your butt stuck inside that giant hair after a teleport
Thirza Ember: I don't know if you guys remember but if you look back on the safari blog you'll see Mike was a regular traveller with the group so he knows all about the olden days of safari
Mike Townsend: I was and I intend to be again when I finally complete the last region next month. Its taken 8 months to upgrade all the regions
James Atlloud: trick or treat
Mike Townsend: After visiting the castle take some time to explore the rest of the region. The regions of Tropicana used to provide over 300 rental properties but nowadays we keep that quiet and only offer it to known residents or by recommendation. We hope you find time to visit our other regions. Everything at Tropicana has just been upgraded to include more detail and a host of new places to visit. Our Welcome region at Tropicana provides you with more information and a number of teleport boards to our hub regions and specific places of interest.
Thirza Ember: for a moment I thought the guy on the throne was a avie who was having outfit issues... but maybe not... can we all go up by the throne and attempt a photo op?
Luna Lunaria: this was fun Mike
Mike Townsend: Thanks Luna I am glad you enjoyed it your castle keep is still online on our castle region
Mike Townsend: This floor is spooky too we keep falling through it into the mist below
lifted pixel: a cool mix of stuff, thanks for having us!
Thirza Ember: I think we did good considering the challenges of lag and viewer stuff
Mike Townsend: Yeah its always tricky with this number of people especially on days with OSGrid is already a little wobbly
Luna Lunaria: warbly
Thirza Ember: just three more safaris before the season finale, so I hope you all can make it next week
Luna Lunaria: great seeing everyone... I plan to be there as long as work doesn't kidnap me :-)
Mike Townsend: Thanks Thirza and thanks everyone for visiting Tropicana Village
Mal Burns: yes - thanks Mike
James Atlloud: thank you! what a place!
HG Addresses:
Abandoned Village hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/Tropicana%20Village/676/715/22
Medieval Village hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/Tropicana%20Village/335/424/24
Halloween hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/Tropicana%20Village/299/412/75
Wonderful posts again, Thirza!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I am still fighting with my computer and - again! - could only be present at a little part of the trips.
So all the more I like your posts. It is the next thing to have been there myself!
The part of the poem "Pirate Jenny" is of Brecht's Threepenny Opera