Cubey’s retirement

As you may know, the avatar known as Cubey Terra is old and grey. Eventually, the time comes when one has to set aside the business, sit back in the Lay-Z-Boy rocker-recliner, and put up the aching feet while enjoying a nice cold one.

As of today, I’m retiring as “commander” of Abbotts Aerodrome. It’s been an amazing and enriching experience, engaging in almost unbridled creativity in Abbotts since February 2004. I’d like to send my thanks to Apotheus Silverman, co-founder of Abbotts, without whom the Aerodrome would never have been called into existence. Also I’d like to thank the mysteriously-absent Reitsuki Kojima, whose friendship and creativity was inspiring to me (where the heck are you??). And thanks to Chage McCoy, whose enthusiasm for the Aerodrome led to new aircraft, new security, and a piece of corporate artwork in the lobby that I can’t begin to describe. Really, I can’t describe it.

My corner of Abbotts will be empty for a while. When I figure out what to do with my massive inventory of aircraft and gadgets, I may build something new to leave there. I’ll be around on occasion, though not very often. Although I won’t be designing anything new, I plan to continue to sell Noir SkyLife skyhome kits (as Blanc Noir), and perhaps wander around as a tourist.

To all of the aircraft builders in SL, Abbotts Aerodrome has always been, and will continue to be, a centre for the development of cutting-edge aviation. I hope you’ll all lend your support to the remaining members of Abbotts Aerodrome: Chage McCoy, Reitsuki Kojima, Apotheus Silverman, Rei Kuhr, and Arrekusu Muromachi.

Cheers!

Vehicle testing in SL 1.7 preview

This week Linden Lab opened up the Second Life 1.7 preview grid to volunteer testers. Although I’m thrilled with some of the great new features, like rotating attachments and the new HUD, that’s tempered by the fact that most of my vehicles are currently “b0rk3d” by 1.7.

I’m sure it will be fixed before release — well I hope it’s fixed before release — but at present, most moving parts on my vehicles will rotate in unexpected directions. For example, the Ornithopter’s wings and stabilizers rotate right off the vehicle.

Also broken is the WARP and Infinity speed boost packs, as well as my parachutes. In any attachment where a part resizes, the part slides way out of position. Hopefully that will be fixed too.

But because I have so many vehicles, I can’t test them all adequately by myself. I’m hoping people will pop into the preview and take one or two out for a spin, and maybe report new issues to me (by IM or e-mail) and report SL bugs to LL (Help > Report Bug).

You can find the test vehicles at Busy Ben’s in Oak Grove. Just right-click the gigantic cube and “Buy” it for zero L$ to get copies of several vehicles and attachments. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Aerodrome update: new things and stuff

Although I’ve been pretty busy with non-SL things, there are some new developments that you may (or may not) be interested in.

First — and this announcement is greatly overdue — I’d like to welcome the two new Aerodrome Liasons to Abbotts: Rei Kuhr and Arrekusu Muromachi. These two aviation buffs have been very helpful in the past in promoting all things that fly in SL, and I’m very happy to have them around Abbotts to answer questions, run events, and look cool in matching flight suits. Say hi to them if you get a chance.

Second, there’s a new aircraft lab for the use of any aircraft designers in the northwest corner of Abbotts. It’s not very big, but it’s semi-isolated and less likely to have gun-toting griefers. Think of it as a mini sandbox for aircraft builders.

Third, and this is partly connected with the first point, be sure to check the event calendar for weekly events in Abbotts, like build contests and skydiving competitions. See you there!

My very first SL swag!

Not long ago, thousands of SLers logged on all at once in the grid-wide stress test. Of those people, only a handful won the coveted SL pendant. Guess what finally arrived in the mail today?

The official Second Life pendant.

Lookit! Innit purty?

Back to “real” life

Real life demands that I pay attention to it again, so I’ve spent the last few days finishing up projects, tying up loose ends. After today, I won’t be able to spend much time in SL, except on weekends.

Abbotts Aerodrome will continue to run as usual. In fact there’s more now than before… I recently added a new teleporter system to help people get around. It’s slower than a regular “sit target” teleporter, but it has more special effects. It was something to do.

And for fans of Apotheus’ 737 and my airship tours, I’ve added two new AI flights.

An AI-controlled Whistler light aircraft leaves Abbotts every 15 minutes.

Every 15 minutes you can catch a flight on a single-engine light plane (“Whistler”) to the city of Nova Albion and back. Every 20 minutes, you can catch a flight on a stripped-down L-18 Lodestar transport to the northern continent and back.

Hm. As I type that, it occurs to me that the flights will synchronize occasionally and rez two planes simultaneously on the runway. I’ll have to fix that… or hire an air traffic controller.

So have fun with those, and I’ll see you on the weekend! If you need immediatel help with something, you can try me at my e-mail address: cubeyterra[at]cubeyterra[dot]com. Change the “at” and “dot” to the appropriate punctuation.