Sunday, October 31, 2010

all things must pass

I'm leaving the haunted house up until November 3rd; so if you haven't seen it, and want to, go through it before November 2nd! There's around eight hundred prims of haunt, there, that the land owner would like to have back at some point. (My gracious thanks to the lady in question, and to Solace Beach in general, for hosting the haunt.)

In the meantime, I'm contemplating new designs for frocks, but I've decided my first priority is to track down the store texture sets I was plotting out, and finish them. Woefully past the season of spooking, but I will be putting them out. Look for the finished sets in November, on the second floor of the Treehouse of Doom.

And that's all for now. Ta!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

I made a group!

Why yes, I have lost my mind, why do you ask?

*cues lightning and thunder*

See, this all started because I came in to the shop to change the Midnight Mania board. (By the way--if you're reading this, and you got a package from my Midnight Mania board last night, contact me? It sent out something bizarre that shouldn't have been in there and I'd like to fix that.) It's now changed from the Bloody Carni outfit to the Darkest Carni outfit:

Darkest Carni outfit

but that's ancillary. To the group news:

There is now a board in the main store on an easel. Perky red text floats above it if you aren't rezzing sculpts that quick. Touching it should give you this message:

[04:57 PM] Lady Disdain Group Join Board: Yes, this will take up an in-world slot, but do consider it. My Subscribe-o-matic systems aren't functional at present. Just copy this line out of local chat and join up!
[04:57 PM] Lady Disdain Group Join Board: 3fbf40da-5457-7a56-c6de-d23640c054fb


It sits between the Sukkot kit and the fireplace. If you have the group space (and I know, a lot of folks don't), consider coming down and joining up. It'd be a kindness to me, and I promise, I will endeavor to make it worth your while.

In the meantime, I'm contemplating Sukkot animations for the Sukkot kit. Would that be blasphemous? Because technically, they're only supposed to be held by Jewish priests, right?

Or can anyone shake the lulav bundle? Inquiring minds and all that...

Monday, October 11, 2010

all alone, flesh and bone, evil carved in stone

I break with established tradition because I am pairing this with an entry on the Train Wreck. This was too good not to announce in both places.

The past week, I have been spending nearly every hour possible in Twilight Tears, building a haunted house. It's named "Hunt House" partially because I wanted something simple and memorable, but also because, with very few exceptions, what I didn't create on my own, I acquired on various sim-wide and grid-wide hunts. While there are items I've bought in there, even some of those items I bought while on grid-wide hunts.

It's also a hunt on its own. There are fourteen (I tried for thirteen; I went one over) pumpkins to find and buy in the house. There are three levels to search. It's a Linden per pumpkin not because I'm wanting to make money--I won't--but because I did put a bit of effort into everything I put out.

With every pumpkin, you get the pumpkin you see (included in its decorated shell) and an item. Warning to the arachnophobic: Spiders are involved in the prizes! And the house, sort of. I'll explain.

Two of the hunt gifts are spider silks; they're all prim-based, because the spiders are talented, hand-trained Chechoslovakian clinging spiders: Primmatica adhesiva, in natural orange, and in specially bred pale, glowing green. There are also four variants of the spider crown.

In addition to those and to the pumpkins themselves, there is a bloodstained clown dress (that I may be inspired now to make additional versions of!); a box of radiant moss textures (you can see examples on the first floor of the house); a box of glowing light beams for spooky ambience; the rest are things I've had up in the store, but don't any longer.

Oh, one more spider thing--the clown dress? Comes with glass spider eyes.

You start here:

Hunt House,haunted house,haunted,horror,halloween,Second Life,virtual worlds,building,texturing

Yes, it's a door, standing in a field of black grass! I was amused by the concept of the cornfield with a door, but it struck me that it worked better as just a door, fairly unhidden.

It has an "ENTER" sign above it, that might help. Also a pumpkin tree. And a grave with floating ghosts.

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(I love the grave, actually. Click the mound of earth--you're a zombie! Click the headstone--you get to float with the ghosts!)

Hunt House,haunted house,haunted,horror,halloween,Second Life,virtual worlds,building,texturing

Each level is a mini-maze; or maybe just a maze of corridors. You'll be going in the right direction, you won't get lost unless you turn around, and in general, if you've heard the sounds before, you're going backwards. It's not that confusing.

Hunt House,haunted house,haunted,horror,halloween,Second Life,virtual worlds,building,texturing

Some of the props used in the house are also for sale. If you just want the prop itself (mostly collider sound panels), just buy it when you find one you like. If you'd rather have the sounds full-perm for your own creations, drop me a notecard, we'll work something out. Nearly all the sounds I have--and all the sounds I used in the creation of this house--I either created and imported myself, or I got from royalty-free sites and imported in.

Hunt House,haunted house,haunted,horror,halloween,Second Life,virtual worlds,building,texturing

Go up level by level until you reach the attic. And there, you will find a lovely Victorian lady...who still thinks she's alive. Poor dear. But she's very loquacious, and just...dying...to talk with you. Something terrible happened to her, after all...

(There's a door to the side that will let you come back down to the main store, so you don't have to retrace your steps. And if you haven't gotten the gift for the Unknown Hunt, stick around and pick it up.)

I'm looking forward to this. I may tweak some things, as I said, but really--it's open, it's live!

Well...in a sense.

Come join us. We'll be waiting for you.

Friday, October 8, 2010

A few brief announcements

The yard sale is still going strong while I finish up the haunt on the parcel just in front of mine. (More to come on that later; I'm not done yet.)

And new in the store today: a Sukkot kit. Sadly, I have been working on this for three years, and I'm finally realizing--it's just never going to go anywhere unless I put it out. So, if you come by, and are interested, here's a list of what's in the box:

* a small and large Etrog. These are modifiable and copyable, but not transferable.
* a sharp-tipped and blunt-tipped 12-inch-long lulav; these are also mod/copy, no trans. The texture is handmade and based off of bamboo (I've also tossed in a young bamboo texture, also hand-drawn.)
* a mid-green Aravot; I have other colors of willow that I made up, but this one seemed 'accurate'. Ish.
* three different textures of Hadassa, myrtle branches; this includes two different shades of single branches, and one tricolor texture of three branches combined.
* a palm branch, in case more than a stalk is desired.
* three different hand-drawn etrog textures.

All textures are full permissions. I would prefer that you send people to the shop to get their own copy, but I've also made the box itself no copy/no mod/trans, in case you're looking for a friend.

I've enclosed a note in the set, and a picture of some of the items is on the box. I have no animations, no gestures, and really--I think it needs more, but in a pinch, I figure this will work, so...there you go.

It's a freebie. Partially because to me, the set is not complete, and I feel squeechy charging for something that's not all there; but also, because this is an important part of Jewish religious faith, and I'm not Jewish. I'll charge for things from my own religion; I figure that's fair. Not sure about the ethics of charging for someone else's faith...

Anyway. That's about it. Oh! And the Unknown Hunt has started! Remember, my prize has been moved, and the hint is now "Going up?" Come by the store to pick it up.

There's a male and female prize in the hunt box, as mentioned. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

oh, come on now.

Group Notice From: The Unknown Hunt

OK so some of you have hidden your hunt items early. 2 days early. I need you ALL to move you hunt item. Why? Because if people have already been to your store they will know where the hunt item is!! That defeats the purpose of it being a HUNT! Please move it ASAP because Ronnette will be doing a walkthrough TOMORROW. This is why I told you to PUT IT ON YOUR SIGN! I'll also need new hints.
Thanks. Evelyn


Okay, so, because I'm efficient--and I want people to find the damned thing--I have to think up a new hiding spot and a new hint, and man. It irks me, it really does. And all my old objections about grid-wide hunts come surging to the fore.

So, I am "re-hiding" my hunt item. The new hint is "Going up?" If that doesn't help people locate it, I will gladly take IMs and notecards.

*grumbles and wanders off to move the hunt prize and build more on the haunted house*

Sunday, October 3, 2010

introducing Hauntine!

I know, I know, nothing's up now, but I promise, by the weekend, there will be! And in the meantime, my hunt gift for the Unknown Hunt is live in the store, so you can start that hunt on the 9th, or come by and pick it up early.

What you'll be getting:

Lady Disdain,Twilight Tears,virtual worlds,virtual fashion,fashion,frocks,Second Life,Hallows,Halloween

This is a very simple, casual outfit, that's much the worse for wear post-zombie apocalypse. I made it for guys--and believe me, without the aid of sales at Nightshade (for the skin) and Discord Designs (for the hair), I wouldn't have been able to pull a male avatar together. Since, you know, I'm not a guy.

(Bizarre side note: I essentially took my base shape, switched the gender, made him taller, then tweaked here and there until he "looked right" to me. Then I tracked down the Nightshade skin and decided on black hair, and...realized what "looked right" to my eyes? Was young Asian male.

(Miss Neome tells me it doesn't surprise her, but--considering I'm also not Asian? Is kind of perplexing to me. Still, I think he looks good--young, and fey, but good--so I'm happy with him for occasional male-avatar needs.)

Now, on the fun side? I made the top and the jeans for guys, but they look pretty decent on girls, too.

Next up: Hauntine in green:

Lady Disdain,Twilight Tears,virtual worlds,virtual fashion,fashion,frocks,Second Life,Hallows,Halloween

Last Friday, Twisted Thorn Textures had a texture hunt, and tossed up some similarly-themed Halloween fabrics in various prints, stripes and solids. They went together wonderfully for a set of dresses, and I'm definitely planning more with the series. In the meantime, this is the Unknown Hunt prize for women: it includes a dual-layer cocktail-length flexi skirt, bloomers on two layers, a striped corset, self-stockings, and two versions of the off-the-shoulder top (one with the fingerless gloves, one without). It's a fun little dress, and it's yours for the finding (along with the Zombie Hunter outfit).

Want more information? Drop by the store. Consider going for a dip in the pool...

In the meantime, I made two other versions I plan to put out for L$100 each, Hauntine Orange:

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and Hauntine Purple:

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They came out great, too. They'll be up in the next few days, so check back!