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Two new bikes take to the sky!

If you’ve visited Bay City — Second Life’s newest urban environment — recently, then you’ve probably seen me zipping back and forth along the main drag on one of my latest toys: the Terra Kestrel and Terra Raptor.

Terra Kestrel SkyBike
Terra Kestrel

Terra Raptor SkyBike
Terra Raptor

Basically, riding one of these is like strapping a jet engine to your crotch and blasting into the sky. Well maybe less painful than that, I guess.

If you’d like to try them, drop by the runway at Abbotts Aerodrome and look for the little green “demo” buttons next to the skybike displays.

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Buy my stuffs kthxbye

Ever thought to yourself, “Gee, I wish I had an Abbotts Aerodrome tee shirt in real life”? Well, you probably haven’t. But I did, and so now you can get the official Abbotts Aerodrome tee shirt at Cafe Press. I have one of these myself (though it has the older logo on it), and it’s indeed a high-quality shirt that I’m happy to say covers every part of my upper body that I’d expect to be covered while I’m clothed.

Not only that, but I’m drinking coffee at this very moment out of an official Terrabucks Coffee mug. Mmm. You can really taste the plywood.

Link: Terra Aeronautics shop at Cafe Press

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Prototyping the perfect hoverbike

Someone approached me in Second Life the other day and was astounded that I’d been in SL since 2003. “Whoah, the oldest person I’d met until now was from 2005!” What keeps me in the metaverse year after year? In SL I can create anything I can imagine.

A motorcycle grip sculpted in Wings3D

In the past week, for example, I’ve been prototyping the next-generation Terra hoverbike. This means playing ideas and themes, sculpting shapes in Wings3D, and realizing the creation in three dimensions in Second Life. From there, all I have to do is drop in one of my scripts and I have a fully functional vehicle.

This latest hoverbike is a prototype of a racing bike, destined for a racing sim. It’s a first draft, to be revised and improved upon, but I’m happy with the direction it’s taking.

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It hovers, it’s a bike, but… what to call it

For the last little while, I’ve spent some time playing with shapes in Wings3D, a mesh sculpting tool. It’s easier to learn than Blender, whose UI looks like it was vomited by a team of drunk chimps, but it’s still a little tricky. Despite a few setback, the results are encouraging.

My first mostly-sculpted vehicle is this hover bike — an early prototype now, but in time it should eventually evolve into something that I’ll sell. And why would a hover bike need shock absorbers? To absorb all those hovershocks, of course.

So when I do eventually sell it, what do I call it? I already have a Terra Hoverbike and a Terra Skybike. I think I’m running out of names.

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Build your own race track

Starting today, I’m giving away the Terra Race Track Kit — a box with everything you need to build your own vehicle race track. This kit helps you get more out of your vehicle purchase, and helps island owners create a new attraction. Hold air, land, or sea races, using any vehicle at all.

The kit includes:

  • A multi-lap start/finish line
  • Race gates
  • A race clock
  • Unscripted race course markers

Pick up the Terra Race Track Kit free at Abbotts Aerodrome. You can try out the track at 450 meters above Abbotts Aerodrome (free planes available at the start line).