Test Run of a Secret Mission for 366 Sqn RAF

I did a test run for a combination rescue and sabotage mission in the New Bastogne Combat Regions in SL. I wanted to get an idea what roads to take, plus figure out how many bombs it would take to destroy the German V1 Rocket.

I'm disguised as a German Officer which is probably in violation of the sim rules, but hey... my team is there for a different reason. We're not there to rack up kills like the others. We're there to achieve mission objectives that don't involve them at all...

 

Take that, Adolf!

Thankfulness within SL

It's Thanksgiving Day in America. I've been reflecting on my 9 years in Second Life and today it dawned on me: In addition to being thankful for the many wonderful things in my Real Life, I'm also very thankful for the friends, experiences and memories of my Second Life.

Lately I've been thinking about the many happy years I've had in Caledon and the fun I had with the Royal Caledon Air Force.

The photo above was given to me by my SL friend and RCAF supporter Samantha Poindexter.

More about Bastogne soon...

Remember my posts about New Bastogne last year? A few of them were even featured in New World Notes. My usual roleplaying team (from RCAF, TimeForce 10, Amazon Air, etc.) will be working on our next project that combines piloting, spying, sabotage and assorted combat and rescue missions.

What's in store for us? It could be THIS target...

 It's all very hush hush.

 

More silhouettes of Zabrina and Zoe

Connolly Studios at Port Caledon

Photographs from my new studio at Port Caledon

Does this Silhouette make me look Fat?

More photography fun with filters... 

(actually it was photography fun with depth, but that doesn't make for a good alliteration)

Some light outside makes a much better contrast than an indoor scene that turns the scene a black silhouette on a gray background.

Now more contrast. But the palm trees at the next location turn out palm-less...
 

I tried a mix of hairstyles and some are great looking in silhouette. Others not so much.
 

You can see my glasses here...

That's when I remembered to take my glasses off for the rest. 

Also... I took off my dress... naked Zoe pics!

Samantha

It's about time I posted something, so here is a sequence of photos I took of Samantha. Similar pose with different Firestorm in-Viewer, in-Camera filters... 

I Always Say Never

I always say never. I stopped blogging. I stopped for almost 2 months. But here I am!

I've also said "I'm never using mesh avatars."  But I'm here to tell you I experimented with an alt. Then recently took the plunge and went full mesh with my main account - Zoe Connolly. Thousands of Lindens later it's a done deal and you know what? I love the new look. I'll keep the old look in "storage" but the new me is now - me.



Anyway, while I was NOT blogging I took steps to make my Second Life easier.

STEP 1) I deleted the accounts to most of my Alt Army. Now I'm down to an Alt Squad.

 My intention is to upgrade all my alts to mesh and it would be ridiculously expensive and wasteful to upgrade all of them, especially when they're rarely used. It's also a little security risk to have so many accounts that could possibly get hacked. So Zoe's army is now Zoe's squad.

STEP 2) I've reorganized my inventory and have deleted old folders with items that either aren't used, cannot be used due to scripting issues, or so old I can't remember why the hell I bought them in the first place. In some instances it's a combination of the above.

I'm streamlining everything I can. I've reduced the number of alts and also reduced the inventory of "Zoe Connolly" and her alts. 

At present I have no land tier to worry about so all my SL funds can now go to Mesh Av upgrades, accessories and clothing.

I was chatting with a couple of friends via Twitter and was excited about the idea of posting about my transformation from my "stuck in 2009" look and the new 2015 Mesh look. The mesh upgrades are super intimidating at first but if I can overcome it, so can anyone. The biggest part of the change for me was the sense of loss I felt. Changing looks so drastically was upsetting at first, which is why I resisted for so long and also why I wanted to start with an Alt account I used infrequently. 

I have a few post ideas planned including Inventory management, favorite mesh items, favorite new motion capture AOs and a series about the complete transformation of my Alt Zabrina McMahon from 2007 look to 2015 Mesh.

Below is a pic of Zabrina from a few days ago. Her most recent item is her hair from 2011 and skin from 2009. The rest of her...shape as well as clothing are from 2007. Her shape by the way is what I call "classic Zoe" shape. The one I've used since January 2007 and it's official name is "Sexy Alice" from a store I'm not even sure exists now.

 More mesh-goodness to come. SLater!

My last blog post

My blog ends here, but I'm still on the web in a few different places...

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/zoeconnolly

Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/zoeconnolly

Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zoeconnolly

and Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/zoe.connolly.sl

New horizons and new adventures

New Life, New Sailboat

The new IF sailboat from Bandit is available for 3000L$ at the following SLurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dutch%20Harbor/92/37/21

Here are some notes from the Manual Notecard:

The Bandit IF is based on the real world Folkboat, a one design racing class that thanks to its unsurpassed sea going capabilities for its size acquired fame as a low budget passage maker for blue water cruising. The design may be over 70 years old, Folkboats are still being built and raced today, where the traditional wood has now been replaced by the more modern glass reinforced plastic or "GRP". The Second Life version is made in the same tradition, The focus is clearly placed on the sailing and racing aspects, but it can equally be your "home away from home" when exploring all corners of the grid.

The Bandit IF is powered by the 3rd generation BOSS Dynamic Sailing Engine. Everything about the boat is aimed at giving you a fun and realistic experience, while being both cruise friendly and accessible for beginners, yet when its manual control is fully utilized so challenging it will even inspire the most seasoned sailors to give it all they have in exciting close quarters racing!

More information on the building of the Bandit IF can be found here:
http://www.virtualworldsailing.com/index.php?/topic/561-building-the-if/

The online version of this manual can be found here:
http://www.virtualworldsailing.com/index.php?/topic/707-bandit-if-manual/

Combat Roleplay Region in SL: The Walking Dead (is now Dead)

Yes, Virginia. There IS a Walking Dead sim in SL. The latest re-creation of The Walking Dead features bits and pieces from each season of the show.


The Walking Dead sim at Village of Pandora uses the Grim Combat System.

SLurl:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Village%20of%20Pandora/121/248/22

UPDATE (June 3, 2015): No Virginia, it's gone! Oops! I visited recently and the whole region is transformed into a totally different and NON-Zombie theme. That didn't last long.
 

Thanks SL Go. You were fantastic!

Many thanks to OnLive and the kind folks at SL Go who were very generous with their time. You set a great standard in exceptional customer service.

I'm still reeling from the news about the near end of SL Go. The service lasts until April 30, 2015 and then it ends. 

When the last of my high-graphic SLGo photos are posted here, my blog will end activity. It will remain dormant until I can afford an upgrade. 

In the meantime, I'll be here and there in SL and on Twitter.

My new Spad from Niki Wilder

For the first time over 4 years I was able to participate in a dogfight. Did I win? If by winning you mean NOT get shot down, then I won. I need lots of practice, and thanks to SLGo it's able to happen again.

Spijkers & Wingtips MD 500E Helicopter (aircraft machinima by Natascha Randt)

Spijkers & Wingtips MD 500E Helicopter

(SL aircraft machinima by Natascha Randt)

Percival Vega Gull (aircraft machinima by Natascha Randt)

Percival Vega Gull (SL aircraft machinima by Natascha Randt)

A short testflight with the Vega Gull in SL. Built by bunnys fride. The Percival Vega Gull is an absolute awesome elegant aeroplane of the 1930s, designed by Edgar Wikner Percival.

Machinima Test

This is little test machinima I created at Cornelius Fanshaw's Tarington Aerodrome. He redecorated his WW2 style RAF Tarington Field to resemble a Royal Flying Corp World War 1 era aerodrome complete with trenches between his parcel and Niki Wilder's place at Rundlelawn.

 I would have planned the shot much better, but I was just winging it as an experiment - just to see if it was possible. It's been a very long time since I last created a machinima and to be honest I forgot a lot of basics. Yay Google!

This is a single shot using 3D Space Navigator.

I used music from a YouTube approved download-able list (avoiding copyright trouble this time). The track is called "Vespers" by Topher Mohr and Alex Elena.

YouTube detected a little bumpiness on the video, so I approved some smoothing, which accounts for the dreamy wave images you see here and there.