Return to The Deathlands

 

Today, the Newser takes a look at the location of one of our sponsors, "The Deathlands." Run by Rebel Wolf, aka "The Baron," the place is "an isolated post-apocalyptic island community where a handful of hardy survivors desperately cling to what passes for life after the nuclear winter." I dropped by to check out it's shooting area, and ran into Rebel who showed me around. There was plenty to see.

Read the story in Places.

The Caledon Downs Halloween Ghost Hunt

It's Halloween, so time for this year's spooky attraction at Caledon Downs. In the past, they've had haunted trails and a spooky shooting gallery. This year combines a bit of both with a "Ghost Hunt." A notecard about the event had the following

We are fed up with the high population of ghost that appear all across our region. Therefore we are announcing a bounty on them. There are 4 levels to achieve. The levels are for who gets the most of these ghastly specters. The rewards are for the most L$1500, 2nd most L$1000, 3rd most L$500, 4th most L$250. You may use what projectile firing weapon you like. These ghost are popping up all over Downs but only appear for a few seconds before vanishing again so you will have to watch carefully and move around.

 The "hunting lodge" so speak is the Goblin Cave Community Center located in the center of Caledon Downs. In there is located the information panels and the totals counter. The hunt will last till the end of the Halloween Dance at the Goblin Cave at 8PM SLT on Oct 29th then the winner of the bounties will be announced. Course there is no bag limit and season ends on the morning of Nov 1st. giving more time to just enjoy hunting.  Have any questions contact Dame Cynthia Farshore or Duke Shockwave Yareach.

As the notice says, any projectile gun can be used in the hunt. I just used an old freebie popgun. Presumably those interested in taking part know how to go in and out of mouselook. Looking around the sim, I found ghosts in various places. A few places on the sim have more concentrations than others. When hit, the ghosts say one of several various comments, "Hey, I'm already deceased!" "Dead again!", then vanish. They won't be gone long, and will soon reappear, sometimes with the sound of spooky laughter, but only for a few seconds. They still count as additional kills for score

The kill counter as stated is in the Goblin Cave, located not far from the bar counter. It lists the best several scores. Also as stated, Linden cash prizes are being offered to the four best shooters, with 1500L going to the top scorer, 1000L to second place, 500L to 4rd, and 250L for fourth. It should be noted that just because you're on the scoreboard doesn't mean you'll stay there as new hunters enter the game and those already in get higher scores. Those whom want the top prize can't relax until the contest is declared done at 8PM Thursday October 29 at the end of the Goblin Cave Halloween Dance. But the game will go on until early November 1, the morning after Halloween, for those whom want to keep on hunting ghosts.

A very Halloweenish and fun shooting game.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Downs/123/102/31

Bixyl Shuftan

Game Review: Tom Clancy’s "The Division"

In Wesley Regenbogen's latest article, he takes a look at the game "Tom Clancy's The Division." Inspired by a real-life US government operation designed to test America's response to a bio-terrorism attack, the player takes on the role of a secret agent trying to help restore order in New York City after a plague has resulted in a breakdown of society. So what did Wesley think of the game?

Read Wesley's review in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Bryn Oh's "Strange Bedfellow's" event. Looks like the sausage is about to get "peppered."

Bixyl Shuftan

Game Review: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Nydia Tungsten is back with another game review. Today she writes about the third game in the "Borderlands" series, "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel." Taking place between the first and second games, it covers the events that result in the character Handsome Jack becoming the villain he is in Borderlands 2. So what did Nydia think of the game?

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

Hoverboard Wars

For those looking for new games in Second Life, there's a new one out by Selc Resident: Hoverboard Wars. In this stylish, high-tech looking sim, after reading the rules, players get on a hoverboard, and sail out into the obstacle course. Recently Wesley Regenbogen gave the game a try. So what did he think?

Read Wesley's review in Design.

Game Review: Borderlands & Borderlands 2

Second Life Newser has a new reporter on it's staff. Nydia Tungsten, whom regular readers will remember for her several reader submissions, has officially joined the newsletter. In her first article, the self-professed "Jill of all Games" reviews two favorites: Borderlands, and Borderlands 2. "There Ain't No Rest For The Wicked," and there may be no rest for you either as you find yourself unable to take yourself away from the 'puter if you get this game.

Read Nydia's review in Other Grids and MMOs.

Reader Submitted: Game Review "World of Tanks"

Nydia Tungsten's a longtime friend and reader of the Newser. With all the article's she's read, she recently sent us a reader submission of her own. A lover of games, she sent us a game review: World of Tanks. This unique MMO stands out in a collection of "World of Warcraft" clones as they player controlling not a man, but a tank. So what is there to the game and what is there to expect?

Read Nydia's article in Extra.

Scary Fun at ZZ Studios

Grease Coakes was recently invited to the ZZ Studios sim. The sim of Cindy"Zig Zag" Babii is showing a little less of it's adult media theme, and much more of a Halloween one. Grease attended a costume party, then got a look at a zombie maze, and tried to get through "The Madhouse."

Read about the Halloween madness in Events.

Game Review: Borderlands2

Grease Coakes took a break from Second Life to look over a game talked about by some players: Borderlands2. So what's the plot, how does it play, and is it a great game? Grease provides the answers to these and more.

Read more in Design.

SL Youtube: Drone War

An interesting youtube of a sci-fi shooter game in Second Life. The objective, shoot down the robots, and get to a nuclear bomb in time. More info here.

"Drone War is an innovative first-person shooter game in Second Life. Your mission is to deactivate a nuclear bomb in a hidden laboratory while being pursued by several drones and enemies. Can you complete the challenge before time runs out?"

Eye on the Blog: “Beginner’s Easy Guide” to Zombie Games

With the popularity of zombies and zombie games, it’s no surprise this Halloween season that Linden Lab did a “Beginner’s Easy Guide” to zombie games on the Grid. They highlighted three different games with three levels of complexity, “select the one that matches how much time you have to kill (bad pun intended).” They gave “The Dead Zone” as an example of a Zombie shoot-em-up that was fairly simple for those with less than an hour to play, join the group, grab the free gun, then go into mouselook and start shooting.

For those whom wanted something a little deeper for several hours of gaming fun, the Lab mentioned “Urban Zombie,” an abandoned city filled with “haunted alleys and dark passageways” where the undead lie in wait. This game is a little more detailed, involving getting and wearing a HUD, which keeps track of your score, as well as experience points, quests, and missions. There’s also a free gun available. After that, you can head out into the streets. For more serious players, there is armor and other items up for sale.

For the truly serious zombie slayers, aka the “zombie maniacs” as the blog called them, there were places “that will immerse you deeper into the combat gameplay.” The Linden article described game in this third category, “Bloodbath and Beyond,” which could be described as a Medieval Fantasy MORPG. In this sim, “you fight zombies, skeletons and elves, complete quests for prizes and rewards, drink potions to rejuvenate, and much more. Play with friends and even level up.“

Before playing, residents are asked to spend about 20 minutes or so reading the rules, background story, and other information. Then join the group, wear an appropriate outfit (the Linden blog showed a picture of a revealing Fantasy outfit for women fighters), then get the starter pack with a HUD and a longbow & sword (no guns allowed in the Medieval area). The HUD also keeps track of your score, and the highest ones are publicly displayed, so along with the guts comes glory.

Although the blog article showed a variety of action games in Second Life, not everyone was overly impressed. Hamlet Au, although he called it “a good resource guide,” he commented it “reminds me how much Second Life’s Development tools need to improve.” Simple games from Facebook could be downloaded in less than a minute, he argued, and more detailed video games could be downloaded via “Steam” in as little as five minutes, “Hopefully this is just the kind of time-consuming pain that Linden Lab CEO and game development veteran Rod Humble is now working hard to improve.”

Despite the lag and the bugs, these are still good games, and an example of the fun one can have on the Grid. But, there is room for improvement.

Sources: Linden Blog, New World Notes

Bixyl Shuftan