SL Video (Science Circle) : "Dinosaurs by William F. Schmachtenberg"

 

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 From The Science Circle on June 2016, "

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

Saturday November 1

 

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

Virtual Worlds in Education and Museums III: Triassic Dinosaurs

https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/triassic-dinosaurs/

 

Dr. William Schmachtenberg

 

Auditorium 

 

    ~*~

 

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝  

 

 

 

 

Ark Fiction: Unhappy Thanksgiving

 

Officially, the game of Ark Survival Evolved is gone. The company closed down the official servers, leaving those with the game only the player-run servers or to play it single-player.  But for those who spent hour after hour on it, there are the memories. Among them, when there was the Thanksgiving event, and the "Super Turkey" that took forever to kill. So a Thansgiving joke by a friend had me thinking about this mutant bird that could easily have you for dinner, and I was inspired to come up with this piece of creative fiction.

 

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

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 

Saturday September 7

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

    VR In Science And Education

    By Dr. William F. Schmachtenberg

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/vr-in-science/

    At the Auditorium

   

      

    ~*~

 

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

Game Review: Ark Survival Ascended

 

With everything going on in Second Life (and a busy editor), it's been a while since our last game review. However, Nydia Tungsten had a little time to check out one: Ark Survival Ascended.  The sequel to the long-running Ark Survival Evolved, the game has been mired in controversy with it's producers accused of cheating those who bought the original. So what did Nydia think of this game?

 

Read Nydia's review in Other Grids MMOs and Games. 

Jurassic Park

 

Almost thirty years since it's release, the movie "Jurassic Park" continues to wow people and stir memories of those whom saw it. At the time, it was praised for both it's special effects and reviving interest in scientific study of dinosaurs. The first time the heroes see live examples of the extinct beasts walking around ranks as one of the most stirring moments in film. Here in Second Life, a tribute to the movie was made high above the River sim. Recently, the Newser gave the place a visit.

Read the story in Places.
 

Announcement: This Saturday at The Science Circle - "Early Cretaceous Meat-Eating Dinosaurs of Maryland and Virginia"

 

"Early Cretaceous Meat-Eating Dinosaurs of Maryland and Virginia"

Saturday April 3

10 AM to 11 AM

512 fossils from the Early Cretaceous of Maryland are currently stored at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, USA. Of those most are bones of a large, long necked 4-legged dinosaur called Astrodon, which belongs to the Sauropod group. We also have bones from armored Ankylosaur dinosaurs, ornithopod or bird footed dinosaurs, and two meat eaters, Acrocathosaurus and Deinonychus. Acrocanthosaurus was almost the size of a T. rex, and Deinonychus was a raptor. A group of high school students in Virginia and New York collaborated to analyze teeth from these meat eaters in order to reconstruct the ecology of Maryland and Virginia during the Early Cretaceous.

Dr. William Schmachtenberg will present the results of their research during this meeting. The students work have been submitted to the New York Paleontological Society for publication.

For more information, Click Here. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/67/129/32
 

Ark Survival Evolved Update: New Map, New Version, and Lots of Mods

It's been a little over a year since I last wrote about Ark Survival Evolved. In that time, quite a lot has happened. Mods have been introduced to the game to give it interesting and helpful twists. There's a new official map: Ragnarok. There's a new version of the game out: Aberration. And of course there's more dinosaurs to fight or tame. But the game itself remains the same: survive hostile dinosaurs, and in certain servers hostile players, and improve yourself, your tools and weapons, and your home base.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Back in Ark: Boats In The Sunset

Since last writing about "Ark: Survival Evolved," the survival MMO with dinosaurs, earlier this year, things have continued to move on with the gamers at Nydia Tungsten's server. Eventually, there was a reboot, and we began building all over again. I've been too busy in Second Life lately to describe our adventures, at least so soon after our last time. In short, we started in the southeast and after making rafts made our way to "Herbavore Island" and leveled up in it's relative safety. But a funny thing happened. People found out one could put floors on the rafts and began making boats. These mobile bases became very handy as you could build smelters, smiths, fabricators, etc. on them. One monster ship was a huge "aircraft carrier" many stories high. My own just had a couple storage cabinets.

Eventually, we were looking to make other bases. I made a small base on the island's western peninsula. But a larger one was made further north near the top. Nydia took this screenshot from there.

"I have always enjoyed sunsets, and this is from the balcony of our westridge base built by out tribe's master builder Jaz, you can see our hunting rafts in the protected bay below"

There have been some frustrations of course. One recent update had the "flying nerf" that put big limits on our birds and pterodactyls, and introduced a big fish that would attack boats on sight, smashing them into smithereens. Once that center portion was gone, the rest of even the biggest ships would disintegrate. Needless to say, that made sea travel a lot more complicated. Nydia grumbled this update was the result of the developers giving in to demands by the PvP crowd. And then there's the upcoming update which introduces active volcanoes, and almost certainly wipes out our best source of iron, crystal, and obsidian.

So how will the tribe deal with this new complication? Like with everything else, find a way.

Picture and quote from Nydia Tungsten

BREAKING NEWS!! Linden Labs Postpones Sansar Release Until 2019, Annouces Joint Development on "Ark Park" Vitrual World

Update: April Fools

In a surprise move yesterday, Linden Lab announced in a press release that it was postponing the release of the Sansar virtual world until "sometime in 2019." Partially, this is due to a Windows 10 update that rendered the Sansar viewer unplayable, and partially due to difficulties in making Sansar playable on older computers. "We thought these problems would be quickly solved," the statement read, "but our early optimism was disproved and dealing with these problems will take a while.

Linden Lab also announced it was cooperating with two gaming companies, Studio Wildcard and Snail Game, in developing a third virtual world: "Ark Park." Based on the survival game "Ark: Survival Evolved," the virtual world allows users to interact with the dinosaurs without attacking or being attacked.

(Click here if the video fails to load)

"Dinosaurs have always been popular in computer gaming," the statement from Linden Lab read, "And we are happy to be a part of making a virtual world around them in cooperation with Studio Wildcard and Snail Game."

To see the statement from Linden Lab in it's entirety, Click Here.

Video from Gamespot.

Latest Misadventures in Ark Survival Evolved

It's been a while since I've last written about "Ark Survival Evolved" as my friends who were playing it moved on to other frontiers. But they recently returned, and have found there have been many changes over time, and a few that just happened. These changes include some new dangers, including new deadly beasts. But with the dangers come new opportunities. And the Ark veterans along with some players new to the island are once again taking on the dinosaurs.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

King Kong's Skull Island at LEA9

Even if you're just remotely familiar with the classic movies of Hollywood's Golden Age, chances are you've heard of King Kong. Recently, the Newser found out about Skull Island, a build at LEA9 based on the home of the famous movie monster. Gemma Cleanslate went to the island, and there was a lot more to see than just the giant gorilla. It's a big jungle out there with a lot to see, plus there are the activities and events.

Read Gemma's article in Places.

Announcement: "Dinosaurs at The Science Circle"

Saturday 11th  10 AM PDT (in Voice)

                                    "DINOSAURS"
          By William F. Schmachtenberg  – Dae Miami
      Abstract http://sciencecircle.org/?page_id=1374

 Hosts: Jes & Chantal

"Dinosaurs were a remarkably successful group of animals for 175 million years. In my presentation, I will discuss their biologic relationships to other animal groups, the different groups of dinosaurs, recent research on dinosaurs in Virginia USA, and theories for their extinction."

Check YouTube for the latest:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwzjCyt-9dyG80g5NdeckLQ

The Science Circle (114/206/30)

SL Video: "Jurrasic World - Second Life Machinima"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Mistral Production Films, March 14, 2016, filmed on Prehistorica - The Dawn Kingdoms

SL Universe in Ark

When it comes to games and Second Lifers, there's no shortage of them inworld, as "Tiny Empires" demonstrates. Outside of the grid, "Ark Survival Evolved" continues to be the favorite among the "Furry Gamers," the group of Second Life residents whom love playing games. But as it turns out, they haven't been the only ones in the Ark game lately. Another group of Second Lifers has given it a try: the Second Life Universe Forums.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Further Adventures in Ark Survival Evolved

It's been about a month since the Newser did a review on "Ark: Survival Evolved," the survival game on an island filled with dinosaurs. Since then, Bixyl Shuftan and some of his friends have continued playing the game, in both public and private servers. Here, he writes about some of the adventures, and misadventures, he and his fellow survivors have gone through, as well as a few more helpful hints and observations about the game.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Review of PaleoQuest

A few days ago, Linden Lab announced the opening of a new game in Second Life, courtesy of their Department of Public Works, "Paleoquest." In the game, Magellan Linden is opening up a "Jurassic World" style park, and needs help dealing with an evil plot that threatens not just the park but the whole grid. Gemma Cleanslate, who played Magellan's previous Linden adventure game, took a try at this new challenge. So did the game roar like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, or is it doomed to go extinct?

Read Gemma's review in Design.

Linden Lab Announces New "PaleoQuest" Dinosaur Game

On Friday July 30, Linden Lab announced details about a new game for the residents to play within Second Life: PaleoQuest.



(Click here if the video fails to play)

Magellan Linden put the moles to work building a theme park on the latest hunk of land discovered in Second Life… but something’s gone horribly wrong! Uncover the mystery of a menacing plan and explore six exciting regions teeming with dinosaurs and valuable collectibles in PaleoQuest. The evil Dr. Talpa has mangled space and time - colliding past, present, and future into a single point in time - which happens to be at the PaleoQuest Theme Park. Are you the dashing hero the world needs to stop Dr. Talpa from taking over? The rewards are great - but so is the risk! Dare the treacherous obstacles that lay in waiting,  and uncover a wealth of hidden tools and items that will aid you in your quest for fame and adventure. Fortune may await those with bravery and determination - you can redeem your findings for prizes and Linden Dollars!*

To play the game, Head to Portal Park and look for the sign that says "Paleoquest." The path it leads down goes to a glowing portal. Going through it, requires accepting "Experience Keys," meaning a HUD will be attached to your avatar, and if you get clobbered, you'll be sent back to the game's home base. The home base is the first place in the area you see, which has a video explaining the plot if the game, and some of the prizes you can win,



(Click here if the video fails to play)

Paleoquest is just the latest interactive experience for the residents by Linden Lab, previous examples being The Cornfield, last year's Haunted Halloween Tour, and Linden Realms. It's also the second dinosaur themed thing they've gotten into this summer, their first being their "Party velociraptor" they offered the residents for the Second Life Birthday.

Gemma Cleanslate has been exploring Paleoquest, and we should have her review of the game soon.

Portal Park 1 (133/119/23)

Game Review: Ark - Survival Evolved

With "Jurrasic World" in the theaters in recent weeks, it's no real surprise a dinosaur game would be released to the public around this time. And on Steam, the latest wilderness survival game available, "Ark: Survival Evolved," takes place on an island full of dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts. While some are strict plant eaters, and a few are completely harmless to even the clumsiest players, anyone who knows anything about dinos realizes any encounter with a meat eater bigger than you can end very badly. So does this game offer a T-Rex sized bite, or is it as dead as a dodo?

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

Prehistorica: The Dawn Kingdoms

Earlier this year, Second Life Newser went to the dinosuar-themed Prehistoria area. Several months later, Xymbers Slade found an LM and decided to give his own report on the place. Xymbers own report focuses less on the land and more on the avatars. So what did he have to say about them?

Read Xymber's article in Design.