Category: creations

So this morning, somebody asked me an interesting question. They said, “Cubey,” and then I waited while their hands did that Second Life air-typing animation, and several seconds later they continued, “where the heck is this steampunk airship you keep talking about?” And then they walked right up to me and said, point-blank, “I want a frackin’ steampunk airship NOW!” Then, pulling out the largest hand-cannon I’d ever seen, they blasted me across the sim, shouting “PWNED! LOL!!!1” (Alright, none of this actually happened. I just thought a little narrative would liven up an otherwise dull blog entry.)

Functionally, the airship — or the Merlin* as it will be known — is almost complete. All of the features are now installed, so now we pause and review what we have and break out the spit and polish. Hopefully more polish than spit. Spit-encrusted vehicles are upopular for some reason.

Also, designer Reitsuki is currently refining the model, smoothing the sculpted prims, and adding new features like flags and (this part is pretty awesome) an exterior rack of torpedoes. Yes, you will be able to launch actual torpedoes and send enemy ships to Micky Dolenz’ locker. I mean Davy Jones. His locker.

So keep your eye on this page for news (did you know I have an RSS feed?). I expect we’ll launch Merlin possibly on the second weekend in September, or thereabouts.

*Nope, it’s not named after the wizard. It’s named after the bird.

Do you own an airport in Second Life? A helipad? A waterfront in need of a float plane?

As of today, I’m giving away free, scriptless display versions of my line of Terra aircraft. These display models are exactly like my actual aircraft… except that they don’t fly, of course. For that, you still have to buy the real thing.

Included as an extra with my TerraVend package, they were initially intended for aircraft sellers to spruce up their sales displays as they used the vendors to earn a little extra L$. (If you set up a TerraVend vendor next to the display model, you earn a portion of each vehicle sale.)

Inside the TerraVend box, you get to choose either:

• permanent models, each averaging about 30 prims, or
• “auto-rezzers” that rez temporary aircraft models.

Since temp rezzers can adversely affect your sim performance, I suggest that you try one or the other depending on which is better for wherever you’re putting them.

Permissions on the models are “No-Modify/Copy/No-Transfer”. So you can make as many copies as you like, but you can’t modify them, resell them, or give them away.

So grab a copy from XstreetSL.com, unpack it, and choose one of my shiny planes, helicopters, or floaty type aircraft. And if you like, set up a TerraVend and earn a few L$.

Get the latest TerraVend package at these locations:

• Xstreet SL
• Abbotts Aerodrome’s Flight Shop

Work is progressing on my next collaborative effort with designer Reitsuki Kojima, who handed off his model of a “steampunk” airship. In Second Life, large airships were traditionally no more than thirty meters long — a limitation that was intentionally built into the build tools. Some time ago, I built the Aerius blimp, which measured at an enormous 55 meters.

(In this image, the ruler above the vehicle shows 5 meters intervals.)

Reitsuki’s airship model is 80 meters long! You may now gasp.

The big roll-out of the Terra Stingray went mostly without a hitch — there was only a database glitch in the SL shopping website, Xstreet SL, which meant that it wasn’t available to Xstreet shoppers for a few hours. That’s resolved now, so you can pick up your very own Terra Stingray in Abbotts or at Xstreet SL. And of course, if you want to try before you buy, the free Stingray demo is available at the sales display in Abbotts.

In other news, as you know I like to put a fuel gauge on my aircraft and provide fuel cans for refueling. I know how annoying it is to have to stock up on fuel cans, so now I’m offering the Terra Fuel Pump. Add one to your airport and you’ll never have to handle another fuel can. Like the fuel cans, the fuel pump is free.

Almost two months ago, I settled my avatar into a scriptless prototype of an amphibious plane. That’s when I decided that I had to make it fly. And float. And… uh… submarine. Is that a verb? It is now.

This week, it’s ready for the world. The stage is set quite literally: there’s a stage in Abbotts with the display model that in about five days will offer up demo flights and sell Stingrays to virtual pilots.

Add this date to your calendar: Saturday, July 25 at 9:00am (Pacific) at Abbotts Aerodrome.