- BREAKING: First Test Viewer Of Crystal Frost, Unity-Based Second Life Viewer, Available For Patreon Members Starting March 3!
- ZEPETO User Numbers & Demographics — Plus Why It's Called "ZEPETO"
- These Incredibly Moody & Realistic Apartment Photos Are Actually From A Second Life Skybox Using Custom EEP Settings
My Patreon Supporters
Hypnotic Romance, an SL sim with secluded spaces for couples. Click here to teleport.
“TV POWWW!” by Tom Boellstorff & Braxton Soderman. Read about the first televised videogame here.
The Fitting Room: Try out new SL fits in a secure, private space. Click here to teleport.
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Above: Improved water physics and in-world chat
It's finally here: Next week Friday (March 3), people will get their first chance to try out Crystal Frost, the upcoming Second Life viewer that runs on Unity 3D. To be among the very first, become a "Jacked In" or "Snowcrashed" level member of the project's Patreon here.
After I wrote about it last week, Crystal Frost developer Berry Bunny (Kallisti#2038 on Discord) has added a number of enhancements that will be available in this test build:
"Being able to send chat, click objects, and display and respond to IMs."
Yes, she means IM and chat through Crystal Frost on the main grid.
"I'll try but don't think I'll have group chats ready. Also I have the display of adjacent sims turned off at this time. Crystal Frost is receiving data from other sims but currently discarding it until I figure out how I want to organize it. Sim border crossings are likewise untested. So patrons should only cross sim boundaries at their own risk."
And yes, it's very much an early test build: "It won't be anywhere near finished," as Ms. Bunny puts it but it'll give people something to make YouTube videos showing."
This is not just a "port" to Unity, because Crystal Frost actually includes enhancements to the existing Second Life experience, including what you see in this video below:
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Courtesy the team at Naver, the South Korean company behind ZEPETO, here's some recent user numbers for the mobile metaverse platform that I compiled for my upcoming book:
- Monthly active users: 15M – 20M.
- User-created items sold on the platform daily: 1.5 million.
- Top markets by usage: China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, USA, France, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Vietnam. "60% of our users are in Asia, 15% Americas, 15% Europe, and 9% MENA."
I'm also grateful for getting a (very unexpected) answer to a question that's been on my mind for over two years: Why even call this thing "ZEPETO"?
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
Tess V shoots magnificent photos for her Flickr microblog. And by the title of this picture, we should send her belated birthday wishes. What I love about her pictures is her sharp black and white style and her thoughtful and brilliant use of bento in positioning her hands. It reminds me of the iconic picture of Greta Garbo taken by Clarence Sinclair Bull, I believe.
For more great black and whites, click here:
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Update: Marketplace listing and description for EEP settings has been updated below!
Elie recently posted gorgeously grungy photos like these to his Twitter and the lighting was so moodily perfect, I first thought they might be photos from his real life apartment.
But no, this is his skybox in Second Life, shot with Firestorm and some of his custom-made EEP and WindLights:
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
Nekonuko Nakamori’s stream is an extraordinary demonstration of the power of discipline and thematic consistency. Almost every picture is a landscape with her avatar in the middle distance. She is observing herself in the act of observing, the literal definition of meta. There are many other Second Life residents who take pictures of themselves while they travel from one beautiful place to another, yet somehow her pictures are the ones that capture my heart. There is something profoundly humane about her practice. Her pictures are filled with warmth and welcome and I absolutely love them.
For more, click here:
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Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
Mark Walder’s most recent picture “10-65 in Progress” is a glimpse to a completely new side of Second Life, robbers looting an armored car. There isn’t a lot of focus on the criminal side despite the many pics of crime fighters, but when do we get to see the bad guys? This is a fun pic and I am going to keep my eye out for more pics of crimes in progress. If you have a pic I might like, please tag it #SecondLifeDelicto, as in "caught in the act".
For more action pics, click here:
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- Philip Rosedale Launches New Project Using What He Learned Building A Successful Virtual World Economy To Fight Inequality In The Real World
- WATCH: Video Preview Of Crystal Frost, Unity-Based SL Viewer — Test Client Available In 2 Weeks!
- Bonnie Bots Are Basically The Chinese Gov't Spy Balloons Of Second Life
- ChatGPT Tries To Write Bios Of Second Life Avatars, Mistakes One For A Character In Greek Myth, Another As… Sarah Palin's Daughter
