Poseball Rezzing System

There are a variety of “posing” systems in Second Life which allow you to put multiple animations and pose sets in furniture, rezzing poseballs on demand as you need them which eliminates poseball clutter. However, all of these systems seem to suffer from one drawback or another. (a) They take ages to load pose sets; (b) They perform poorly in sims which are not well below peak loads; or finally, (c) They force content creators to put copyable poses in the system, forcing the object to be sold as non-transferable.

So, because my Emmalyn needed a solid, high quality poseball rezzing system (and really, so do I) for some products she’s planning….. I’ve been working on a poseball rezzing system which eliminates all of the above….. and should perform even in all (but the very worst) sim load conditions. Not only is this system solid, stable, and quick….. it’s an absolute breeze to setup. A general philosophy I follow is, “If a newbie can’t figure it out, then it can be done better.”

The core system is complete, and I’m tickled pink with myself, now I just need to uber it up.

My, I’ve been a busy duck lately!

Matron is Open

A couple days ago I opened Matron, the 2nd island in the Matriarch Estate. Four plots have already been claimed by various residents, with a few requested reservations. Matron is a part of the Matriarch Estate, and is, of course, continuing the FemDom community theme into this sim. If you’re a Domme or Domina and want a nice place to live….. then drop by and check out the plots which are currently available.

Cage Script Upgrades

The first line of cage upgrades has hit the market.

The Jail Cell, Holding Cage, Slave Cage, and a new Bamboo Cage have been released using version 2.0 of my cage scripts. The new functions of the cages center around access and usage permissions. The cages now support the follow user modes; anyone, anyone can lock; group, only group members set the same as the cage can lock/unlock; owner only, only the owner can unlock the cage; list only, only people on the access list of the cage can lock/unlock the cage. The access list also applies to other modes of cage functionality. For example, people on the access list can also lock/unlock the cage if the cage is set to any other mode allowing you to create unique usage permissions. Also new to the regular line of cages is SmartLock, which is optional. If activated it will unlock the cage if it detects itself empty. This makes using the cages much easier for public use, because they never will become “locked solid” by a user who leaves without unlocking it. Next up, all the 2.0 cages have been fitted with timer locks, allowing you to set the cage to be locked for a specific period of time.

And that is the base upgrade for the current line of cages, with more potentially on the production line.

Cages, Cages, Cages

So, I spent a little bit of time rewriting my cage scripts….. and within the week, all of my lockable cages will be upgraded with some vastly (and I mean vastly) improved scripts/functions. I’ve been out of the cage market for about nine months, as my last released cage was sometime in November 2006. After that….. I wasn’t particularly interested in continuing or expanding the Dictatorshop cage line. I just wanted to work on different types of products and projects. However, Emma took it upon herself to convince me that it would be in my best interest to, at the very least, maintain status quo in the cage market. Of course, anyone who knows me, knows status quo just doesn’t cut it for me….. and when I make a release, it’s never a half assed effort….. when I go for something, it’s a Do or Die mission. So, it goes without saying that the Dictatorshop will once again take command of the cage market with wreckless abandon and unfathomable force!

Of course, those of you who have purchased older models of my lockable cages will be able to trade them in for the upgraded versions (once released) at no charge, as per Dictatorshop policy.

Oh, so many projects….. so little time! I need two or three of me, I really do.

Matron

It has been awhile since I have posted a blog, hasn’t it?

Well….. the island of Matriarch is growing, and now, a second island is on the way, the island of Matron. As with Matriarch, only five businesses will be permitted to operate on Matron, the rest of the island will be strictly residential. Three businesses have already reserved positions in Matron, one potential, and one spot being still up for grabs. Businesses which have established themselves in Matriarch found success in sales, and I expect no less to occur in Matron. For those who have set up homes in Matriarch, these past few months, have found themselves a lovely neighborhood to live in. I will admit that Matriarch has a stronger covenant than most islands and demands adherence to the zoning rules, but this is what gives Matriarch its wonderful rural ambiance, and prevents the sim from becoming “just another” residential island. Matron will continue the theme of Matriarch, inspired by the natural beauty of the quiet, rural neighborhood. If Matriarch was any indication, the plots of Matron may go just as fast, or even faster….. since many have expressed interest in moving into the “always” full Matriarch.

My beloved Emmalyn Wei is starting her own pose business, rather….. has started. And Emma offers some of the most natural poses you will ever find in Second Life. She has a wonderfully natural talent at making avatar poses. Her poses are definitely among the best you would ever find in Second Life. I’m not that just because she’s mine, but because her talent is really quite obvious. Several sets of her AO poses and FemDom poses are available for demo and/or purchase at the Dictatorshop.

And what have I been doing lately? Well, I’ve been designing a Paintball Combat System for Second Life….. a custom order for a dedicated paintball sim. Of course, this system goes “beyond” your typical shoot and record hits….. it’s a complete paintball system, supporting Deathmatch, Team Play, Capture the Flag….. all handled by a central control unit which automatically delegates the game, hits, players, etc. During testing, myself, and many others have play dozens and dozens of rounds of paintball for hours on end…… and it is quite a blast to play! I can’t wait until it’s done and “officially opened”!

Okay, that’s it for now!

Playboy…..

There’s very few things that interest me outside my own little secluded piece of Second Life. I rarely leave my property, but when I do….. it’s generally related to businesses. It’s rare I make an excursion of any sort….. however…..

I heard the Playboy sim was open, and well, was rather interested in what kind of presence Playboy was bringing to Second Life. Curiosity, in other words. After all, Playboy is Playboy….. a corporate brand which is a little less boring than say IBM, Dell, or Coca Cola.

Sadly, I didn’t find what I was hoping to find….. instead of something which reflects Playboy’s “style”….. I found an island which could have been set up by Joe or Jane Doe, and a very uninspiring landscape. While the building itself was nice, it was more or less an empty sim with a patch of mild inspiration here and there. The sim itself, was incredibly laggy….. and at the time of my visit, there were only seven people. I left, went back again later, and still only nine people….. the sim was still incredibly laggy. Sadly, it seems the lag is attributed to the scripts running in the sim. And given the lack of content….. I suspect inexperienced scripting to be the cause.

Outside of that, the other criticism I could really make would be about the branded products for sale in the sim. Listed for sale, Playboy SL products for ridiculous amounts of money. Playboy branded outfits were listed for 300+ L….. which, out of all honesty, almost anyone with the slightest bit of experience could make within 10-20 minutes. In fact, you could get much higher quality outfits in a single trip to Sarah Nerd’s freebie place for 1 L. If you want much better for your buck, visit Dark Eden or Barerose. And if you try to tell me a plain, simple “red shirt and bikini” with the word Playboy pasted across it is worth more than a Toyoto Scion….. well….. you’re off your rocker.

In summary, my excursion to the Playboy sim was an absolute disappointment….. Instead of finding a Playboy inspired sim, I found a laggy corporate business model looking to fleece people into buying simple products at outrageous prices for a brand. At least other corporate business models I’ve seen in Second Life give you quality products for their prices….. Playboy, however, does the very least while asking for the very most.

Bad form, Playboy, bad form.