Burn2 Art Car Races

 

On Friday night, November 7, I heard about one more event at the Burn2 area before things were cleaned up, an Art Car race event. Dropping by, some people were dancing, but others were on the tracks. 

 

The art car races are getting rolling. Choose from 24 race cars that go 100mph on our 12-region track. Lily is DJing some great tunes in the stage area. Come join us! Burning Man- Deep Hole (127,83,25) 

 

 

People would drive solo in cars or bikes, seeing how fast they could make the track.

 

 Or race with one another. 

 

 On occasion, a care of motorbike would have some mechanical difficulty, "Don't hurt yaself Sam, accidents happen."

 

So it seems the Burners were, burning rubber.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

Drivers of SL

 

Sometimes when driving, you just want to get where you're going. And sometimes it's the journey itself that's more important, listening to the radio, and taking in the scenery. And on occasion, there's no particular destination, except maybe back home, eventually, the journey made just to see new things and new places. If this is something you like doing, there's a group for you, the "Drivers of SL." The Newser interviewed a few people behind this large group of people here in Second Life.

Read the story in People.

 

Rust: Automotive Addition and "Wacky Races" Part Deux

 

Months ago, Nydia Tungsten and a number of our Second Life friends started playing Rust once more, and with the addition of cars decided to hold a race.  About a month ago, I joined up with them. And when there was talk of another race, I was interested. The moderator build the course, and a date was soon chosen. Several people, including myself, would take part in this new round of "Wacky Races." So who won?

Read the story in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

"The Great Wacky Race" on Rust

 

As a multiplayer survival game, Rust has a reputation for ruthlessness with its player versus player actions, such as rading bases and making trap bases to deal with raiders. Fortunately for more peaceful-minded players, there are PvE servers in which players are free to build without the worry of other gamers wrecking their progress. But that doesn't mean there's no competition. Recent updates to the game allowed for players to build cars. With the Nydia's Angels server in Rust back up and running, a number of players decided to make their own. Then came the idea of a race between players, which came to be dubbed "The Wacky Race." So how did it turn out?

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.
 

Pod Car Sightseeing

 Yours truly saw a number of sights while taking the Yavascript pod car tours. Among them was in the Bay of Space Pigs in the Omidyar sim where the pod boat turned submersible and took a dive.

 From my point of view, it was going along a trench in the ocean floor.

Panning around and looking up, it showed that the groves were in fact the hand symbol of Linden Lab. This is why the sim shows up on the map as a hand.

Bixyl Shuftan

Mainland Pod Service To Stay Running

Some good news for the Yavascript pod car tours on the mainland. In the pod riders group earlier today, Yavanna Llanfair announced, "I've just had an extremely constructive meeting with Patch, Tommy and Derrick." And would explain more in an attatched notecard.

Dear pod riders,

I am very pleased to report that I've just had an extremely constructive meeting with Patch Linden, Derrick Linden and Tommy Linden. Hopefully I won't get suspended for a pod crash again! (It was clearly a mistake). I have therefore removed the server block on the pods.

It's actually better than just that though. We were able to discuss possible future joint ventures, and how they could help me going forward. So I'm very happy about the outcome of all this.

I'm extremely grateful to you all for your support. It's not been an easy time for me lately for reasons I've talked about before, but your good wishes have made me feel so much better.

I'm still going to be mostly keeping out of SL for the moment, but as the winter nights draw in and I feel better in myself I hope to be working on more pod projects.

Patch would also make an announcement in the forums.


I have returned with an update!  😁  We have just met with Yavanna and I am super excited to say that we will be working more closely together going forward on not only helping to support the pod tours system as it currently exists, but also expanding it in to other areas it does not reach today.   I'm sure that as expansions and other fun add-ons unfold, there will be more updates on those as they happen.  For the immediate future, the pod tour system should be returning to normal functionality.
Thanks to all for the feedback!

So the pod tours are staying up, and with the blessing of Linden Lab. This is certainly good news to the Pod Rider fans, whom cheered in the group and Discord page when it was announced.

On a follow-up to an earlier article, one of the tours I took earlier that was glitched appears to have been fixed and is in good working order. I also noticed that on the rides I (or rather my alt) got off, the pod would usually soon vanish. Also, the pod stations at Bay City are different than at the other ones I'd seen, with the pods already rezzed and needing a minute to start.

So what's become a popular feature of the mainland is here to stay.

Bixyl Shuftan

Shockwave and Cynthia's Bumper Cars

Tomorrow is the Carnival and Bumper Car Contest by Team Sunbeamers for Relay for Life. Taking place Saturday from 8AM to 4PM, the main feature will be the bumper cars. Not long ago, I had a few words with Shockwave Yareach and Cynthia Farshore about them.

"This event on the 18th will be epic!" Shockwave commented, "Bumpercars AND a full sized carnival. ... I've always thought that SL was the perfect place to make games of your own. I was playing with collisions.  And I figured out that making a shaped prim on the back of a car, the impacts from side and back would register.  But the front wouldn't. So bumper cars were born. I  bought the cars, and modified them for the job."

A sign near the course tells people how to play, touch the starter cube while green, then touch the coin slot inside the car. You're then all set to do some not-so-defensive driving. Shockwave explained, "You have to hit the sides or back with enough force.  Just tapping wont' do. You can take 10 hits.  First, you start smoking.  Then you burn, fire leaping out from the damage. And the fire and smoke, gets in the vision of the driver, makes it harder. So you have 5 minutes to inflict damage on the other cars.  10 points and that car is out. Five people can play at a time.  and I have bleachers so friends can watch. And coming up will be moving walls to give more of a challenge.  And cannons so the audience can try to take out cars too."

When asked how tricky was it to design, "Well, I took a shortcut by buying the cars from a existing builder.  Adding the code to make a working game out of it, was a bit complex. Since they are set physical, I had to turn off the physics to move them back to their pens, then back on again."

Shockwave and I would give the cars a try. Then Cynthia Farshore stopped by. She explained that the festival and contest's date in mid-April was to avoid bumping into too many Relay events, "We looked at the relay calendar and March is filled up." Shockwave added with a grin, "It gives us time add obstacles, cannons, explosives."

Prof. Grey's Arcadia Asylum freebie store and carnival came up, Shockwave saying, "Look at the carnival he added to the event." The place had some old time games, and a Moon Cannon, Cynthia commenting, "I told Prof. Grey I hope he gets attention since he helped in this."

Shockwave would add, "The ride is free.  But we ask for donations to our team.  Its at Sunlight Bay (15,157,26). It's running now if people are needing something to do while stuck at home, due to the virus, grab your friends, smash them up." Cynthia grinned, "Just know that when the event occurs it won't be so easy."

Later on, I would find barriers, and Cynthia had installed the cannons, "Muhahaha! ... Cannons to shoot at the contestants." There were a number there of various sizes and rates of fire, "Last night we were trying different cannons to see what worked best, might just use this mix instead of one type. Oh, and since last time you was here Shocky got the shifting barriers working. That rubber chicken like noise is a warning they are changing."

So it's official. The bumper cars are a real blast to play.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunlight%20Bay/15/157/26

Bixyl Shuftan

Update on Montecito Bay

It's been about a month since the discount motel in the eastern part of Montecito Bay was seized by the mysterious Azucar entity under eminent domain laws. While there's no new information on who or what Azucar is, another property has come under their ownership. This time it's the Quality Used Cars lot on Palm Street. The cars are all gone and the building cleared out. There's not a great deal left besides the business sign and the "googly eyes" glued on it.

The car lot and the motel may be coming down soon. On another street, I saw a bulldozer and a excavator (or steam shovel/power shovel) parked next to one another. So it seems the razzing of one or both buildings can begin most any time.

For the most part, the seizure of the two places doesn't appear to have affected life in the community. Dropping by a club over the weekend, the people were talking about a furry wrestling league, not Azucar. Then again, used car salesmen don't exactly have the best of reputations. There was one place however that was making an slight extra effort to show others they were still in business. The S-Mart Express convenience store at the corner of Venetia Blvd. and Palm Street, which is near both the car lot and the motel, put up a sign, "I assure you we're open." The sign was hastily-painted words on a cloth. Although the place looked well-stocked, there was no clerk on duty when I stopped by. Maybe the worker was taking a bathroom break, but outside the store trash was piling up.

So will Montecito Bay soon be minus a motel and car lot? Will there soon be a "Rumble in the Bay" as furry wrestling comes to the community? Stay tuned for more information.

The preceding was written as a "fun article" for Montecito Bay

Bixyl Shuftan

Car Event at Bellisseria Fairgrounds

There's a car event of some kind at the Bellisserian Fairgrounds today. The track set isn't good for anything more than drag racing, so not sure what kind of race it will be. But there will be music by the looks of the dance floor and stage. The event is from. 10 AM to 4PM SL time

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Whiskey%20Bay/173/11/23

Axtel Motors Closing, Most Vehicles Free

For auto fans, and anyone else looking for a great deal, there's been a development you'll want to here. There's a location where you can get dozens of cars for free.

In Sunweaver chat last night, Cynthia Farshore announced, "Axtel is closing down and has set several hundred vehicles to free status at their main store. LM is attached. Once they fully close, the vehicles will no longer be available so act soon if you're interested." She would then say the place was in the Osla sim. So I headed over. There were a number of vendors for various types of cars, each vendor able to hold several. There was also a sign with the following message:

Final Closing Sale

Axtel's Autos will be closing soon. All cars are free until we take down the store. We are aware some of the vendors are broken. Please try to take turns on the vendors and do not spam click them because they will break and even less people will be able to use them. Axtel will have to come back to fix these in a few days. Meantime you can visit Highflyer location to get some of the cars that are in the broken vendors. Join the Axtel's Autos group for updates and to request a link to this location. For those who use combat HUD systems in SL, this is mean to be a place for everyone to get free cars. Attacks on each other will result in freezing or a ban from the property. You will be warned only once. Please rez only Axtel vehicles here during the duration of this sale. The sim is VERY laggy due to all the scripts running. For that we apologize. We ask only axtel's vehicles be rezzed to people can test them and to keep your personal scripts down to a minimum. If you would like to advertise for your business here, please ask management first.

Lady Death (Selenia Galicia)

There were many types of cars available from early roadsters of the 30s and 40s, to classic cars of the 50s, 60s muscle cars, sports cars, even a few subcompacts and vans. There was also a "modern Batmobile" available. There was a vendor full of motorbikes. But when I looked, it was inoperable. Although the price listed was one Linden, I was refunded it after the purchase was made. So these really were free cars and bikes.

Each car comes with a HUD which one can use to keep an eye on the speed, shift gears, turn on the lights. Some cars will also drift if you hold the shift key and make a sudden turn. The instructions had a warning not to press a certain button on the HUD, but I didn't see it in the cars I tried out.

The mainland highway is next to Axtel's, so you can drive onto the road and test out the car. I found driving them to be a little tricky, especially when crossing sims. But it was smoother than jerky ten year old freebies whose scripts were designed for a much earlier Second Life. There were the sounds of the engine revving as I drove.

Of the group to join, I noticed no announcements. So it's unclear how long how long this great deal will last. Happy driving.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Oslar/107/154/104

Bixyl Shuftan

Bay City's Demo Derby and The Last Summer Fireworls

Last week on Thursday August 31, Bay City had their Demolition Derby Event. Bay City had only recently concluded it's "Hot Bay City Nights" car show a few days earlier. But none of the cars involved here had been in it. Instead, these were specially-designed cars made so outer parts such as doors and fenders would take damage when hit and eventually fall off, leaving the central frame and engine vulnerable to hits and eventual destruction when banged enough. The arena was set up in the North Channel sim.

Eight people took part in each race. Besides Marianne McCann, among those taking part were Pygar Bu, GoSpeed Racer (no, she didn't use a Mark-Five), and Anthony (Adudenamed Anthony). Almostthere Inventor had made demolition derby arenas before for the Relay for Life and Creations for Parkinsons. But I never did ask who made the cars for this rumble of smashing virtual metal. Not everyone at the event took part. Many were content to watch the derby from the sidelines, including my alt Rezzdammit.

Frankie Lindman and Chrys (chrysanthemum.zuta) won the two races I was around to see, Chrys calling her victory "beginners luck ... I want a my own plate now." Indeed, she bumped her car into some wreckage a couple times after she was declared the winner of her race, and her vehicle came apart. People hung around for some joking around for a few minutes before going their separate ways.

But a couple days later, many of them and others would meet up again at 8PM SL time on Saturday September 2. Every Saturday night this summer, Marianne had been setting off a fireworks show at the school in the Livingtree sim. And with Labor Day weekend being the end of summer, it was time for the last show.

GoSpeed Racer was playing the music for the event. But this time she was doing so with a tiara. She had been the winner of the Miss Bay City Beauty Pageant at the tail end of the car show days earlier.

Eventually, it was time for the show to end, and the last of the fireworks formed a rainbow as "Man Or Astroma," the Mystery Science Theater 3000 ending theme music played as the night sky was turning to the pink clouds of dawn. "Thank again to GoSpeed Racer of KONA Stream for all the great tunes tonight," Marianne told everyone, "And Robin Sojourner for letting me blow up Livingtree all Summertime, each

Saturday at 8:00 p.m. SLT. And a special thank you to each of you for coming out for tonight's show. I hope you had fun!"

And so, the weekend fireworks shows at Bay City had come to an end, at least until summer comes again next year. But Bay City is an active place with things going on often, and will certainly be having some Halloween hijinks in October next month. Things don't stay too quiet for too long here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Weekend at a Glance

There were a few things going on this weekend. Among them, the "Hot Bay City Nights" car show event at Bay City. Still going on at North Channel (128/128/24) until the 27th, you can see a number of classic cars there.

It was also the first day of the new game at Madpea, "Lost Treasure of the Inca Warrior." "People Embark on an epic expedition, solve puzzles and dodge deadly traps as you navigate your way through the Devil's Cave and crack the vault where precious treasures are waiting to be discovered." To play it, teleport to MadPea (218/60/2224), pay for the gaming HUD, and brave the tunnel.

The weekend was also the last couple days of the "Lovefest," or Lovecraft festival, in Umbra. This wasn't about romance, but an event for fans of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft best known for "The Call of Cthulhu." Taking place on the week of the writer's birthday, it's over now, more info available at the website: https://lovefest.wordpress.com/ . Besides the shopping, there was a passenger ship, and an island with things Man Was Not Meant To Know. Read more about the event later this week.

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Hot Bay City Nights 2016

BAY CITY, SL (18 August 2016) - Celebrating Bay City's mid-century theme as well as its vast network of roadways, the "Hot Bay City Nights" event in Second Life® showcase vehicle makers who create automobiles from the Bay City "theme era," stretching from 1940 to 1965.

The event is held in the the Bay City Fairgrounds, in the North Channel region, from the 20-27th of August to present the best in vintage and retro vehicles. Each designer is hand-picked, and presents great road vehicles for use in Second Life.

Additional events will provide plenty for all to do, including the crowning of 2016s Miss Bay City on the 27th, and a series of virtual car washes for charity. The first of these virtual car washes will be held on Sunday, 21 August at 1:00 p.m. SLT

The event will raise funds for Child's Play Charity, an organization that provides toys and games for children in hospitals around the world. Bay City is a silver-level sponsor of Child's Play.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life™ and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

For more information, contact: Marianne McCann

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/North Channel/128/128/24

ZZ Studio’s Car show

ZZ Studios has been noted for producing exotic adult media over the years. But "blue movies" are not all that they do. Some of the staff have been admirers of classic automobiles, and once a year they hold a car show. The Newser found out about this year's event, and sent Grease Coakes to cover it. So what did he find?

Read Grease's article in Events.

Second Life Cheerleading Squad "Funday" Gets Bronze

This weekend saw a number of events for the Relay for Life. Among them was the "Funday" event by the Second Life Cheerleading Squad. This twelve hour event lasting from 9AM Second Life time to 9PM (Midnight EST) had a number of musicians performing live, and raised thousands of Lindens, enough to put the team total to 81,500 and into Bronze rank for fundraising.

Please join the Second Life Cheerleading Squad for a day of fun and doing good as we present our first FUNDAY of 2016 on March 13th from 9 am slt to 9 pm to raise funds for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life program.

Our theme this month is CARS. We will have a full slate of live singers as well as some great DJ's to entertain

The event, which took place at the Squad's Cheertopia sim, had eleven singers: Marqs, Harmonia Trefoil, Stinna Celt, Phemie Alcott, Maximillion Kleene, Madmax Huet, Phillip Moura, Laidback Celt, Gibson, Aria, and Dj Dione.

We have some awesome cars on display and raffles to win your own cool car.

At there event, there were a number of cars lined up, each with a kiosk in front, and people could "vote" for their favorite one via donating. There was also a raffle, in which a donation of 50L got someone a chance at winning a purple race car.

Despite some "unscheduled maintenance" of the Grid by Linden Lab, in which "some residents may experience login issues and residents in-world may be logged off or experience degraded performance," the event was a success, and the Second Life Cheerleading Squard joined the handful of teams which had reached the Bronze rank a week after the Relay's start. Two teams have already reached Gold, the Relay Rockers and the Gorean team, and one Platinum, Unmasking A Cure. As of now ten teams, including the new Builder's Brewery and the team of the Newser office neighbors' the Sunbeamers, are in the newly created "Rising Star" rank (25,000 to 75,000 Lindens raised).

The Cheerleading Squad's Funday wasn't the only event going on. T-1 Radio's Trader Whiplash played some music at a Narnia-themed stage at Fashion for LIfe7. There was a "breedable" pet lion wandering about. But fortunately the only complaint was about cat hair around.

Stay tuned for more Relay events, including Trader's "Bid Me Bald" and the first Giant Snail Cross-Sim Race.

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From Hot Bay City Nights at Bay City.

For the fourth year in a row, Bay City is holding it's "Hot Bay City Nights" event. Described in the press release as "an event celebrating Bay City's mid-century theme as well as its large network of roads," a number of inworld automakers are showcasing vintage models there.

Dropping by the car show North Channel sim, there were a number of vehicles up for display. Besides the classic Cadillac of there era, there are other cars available, from trucks, to racers, to the humble Volkswagen, and others. There are also a few freebies up for people to take, such as a go-cart.

There's a car wash area nearby, for those who want to pose and take a picture of themselves giving their wheels a little care on the chrome. And on Sunday Sept. 20th, the last day of the event, the "Miss Bay City" Beauty Pageant takes place.

"Hot Bay City Nights" raises money for the "Child's Play" charity, "a charity that provides toys and games for children in hospitals around the world."

For more information on the event, IM Marianne McCann.

North Channel (128/128/24)

A video of the car show was made by Hexapoda.



(Click here if the video fails to load)

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Hot Bay City Nights in Bay City

HOT BAY CITY NIGHTS ROARS ON

2015 event features top Second Life™ vintage automakers.


BAY CITY, SL (9 September, 2014) - "Hot Bay City Nights" an event celebrating Bay City's mid-century theme as well as its large network of roads, is celebrating its 4th year. The event will showcase vehicle makers who create automobiles from the Bay City "theme era," stretching from 1940 to 1965.

Established vintage automobile designers will be found in the Bay City Fairgrounds, in the North Channel region, from the 12-20th of September to present the best in vintage and retro vehicles for all Second Life™ avatars.

Additional events will provide plenty for all to do, including the crowning of 2015's Miss Bay City on the 20th, and a number of charity car washes. The event will raise funds for Child's Play, a charity that provides toys and games for children in hospitals around the world.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life™ and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

For more information, contact: Marianne McCann

Scenes From Team Sunbeamer's Road Rally

Last weekend on Saturday June 27, Team Sunbeamer, the Relay for Life team of the Sunweaver and Angels communities, held their second annual Road Rally in the Pacific Waters sim. The event took place over several hours much of the day, involving quite a bit of car and motorcycle racing, as well as showing off some wheels. The one with the winning lap took home a prize. But more importantly, this was the event that got the Relay team into Gold level.

See the pictures and story in Events.

Press Release: Relay For Life Team Sunbeamers 2nd Annual Farshore Field Road Rally

    Team Sumbeamers welcome you to the Relay For Life 2nd annual Farshore Field Road Rally. The event will be on Saturday 27th June 2015 located on  Pacific Waters (77, 87, 31). This year the track is much longer and filled with twist and turns. There are even a few road hazards. The result is you will need to rely on skill rather than speed. The rally will have two classes consisting of Cars/Trucks and Motorcycles. You can race in both and the best time in 5 laps is taken. Racing starts at 8AM SLT and runs until 4PM SLT where afterwards the times are tallied and trophies given.

Questions can be sent to Cynthia Farshore via IM, notecards, or used the phone located inside The Puddle Jumper Mall located on the field.

LEA2 : The History of the Vehicle

With residents being able to teleport and fly around, some might not see vehicles in Second Life as being of much use. Others can't do without their mechanical workhorses. However you see them, vehicles have been in Second Life since it's start, and have had quite a history. Sapphire Hotaling has a series of exhibits in LEA2, titled "The History of Vehicles in Second Life." Gemma Cleanslate went over to take a look.

Read Gemma's review in Design.