Silent Hill Halloween Hunt

It's that time of the year again!! Halloween fans, rejoice and have fun! This is also my favourite time of the year not in RL only, but in SL as well: there's a lot of events, scary places, haunted houses, creepy rides and spooky hunts :D
So I opened the search panel and looked for something nice (as of...my personal definition of nice which involves corpses, ghosts, blood and violence to the least..) and stumbled upon this nice place, which is temporary so run and have a look while it lasts!

The sim is totally unrelated, this is a Silent Hill-themed hunt which you gain access to by clicking on a teleport at ground level.
I won't spoil it too much by adding screenshots, just remember to have your headphones on  and switch off the lights :D 
It is not a themes-sim, just an homage, but it's damn well thought.
Have fun!


TAXI--  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/FresH/91/70/1102

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The Hive

I've been a Resident Evil fan since when RE2 came out in the stores, ages ago and I've seen many places during these years that aimed to be Re sims but somehow failed: you usually went all hype at the sight of nice screenshots and presentation.. only to be teleported in a freebie-filled urban setting with those annoying automatic zoobies and DCS systems that lagged the hell out of every computer, even the NASA ones.

It's been a lot of time since when I last searched for "Resident Evil" in the places directory, until my curiosity got the best of me and I tried again. Luck is on my side and, should I say finally, someone created a VERY beautiful Re sim, even if it's movie-inspired (but hey, the first one wasn't *that* bad.. just a lil bit..) and not directly related to the games.

Fact is, The Hive is a perfect reconstruction of the house and underground facility from the first movie and it's so immersive that I actually got scared while I was wandering in there for the first time.. and I'm not the squishy type.

You start in an alley, just outside what they call "Spencer Mansion", in a town called Arklay..property of Umbrella Inc. (this is *so* comforting XDXD).  The entrance of the sim also gives space to a small gatcha machine (RE-themed, of course) and a few boxes with outfits from the creator's store TRB (here's the flickr page).

The mansion is just a few meters away from the entrance, with an enormous garden/park, filled with statues, alleys, even a cemetary and a fully automated shooting game. Once entered, there's only a few rooms directly copied from the movie and an hidden elevator that takes you to the underground secret train station that connects the upper floors to the real Hive. Everything is under the control of the Red Queen, the same AI that caused all the fuss in the movies.

 The Hive is eerie, filled with empty rooms left in the usual mess that follows a crisis: papers everywhere, half empty coffee mugs, upsidedown chairs and working computers and screens. Walking through these halls knowing noone is there anymore and not knowing what lies behind the next corner or door is... honestly scarier than actually seeing monsters.
For instance, monsters and zombies are usually impersonated by real avatars during rpg sessions ..so if you go there while noone is acting... there's a OMG TERRIFYING atmosphere.
I won't spoil the final rooms for you: just remember this is a game-like sim so you can't just "walk past the doors" but need to find codes and decypher enigmas (not many and honestly very easy as well..).
Also bear in mind that almost *all* of the surfaces in here aren't scripted.. ie you can't just camera zoom and sit on something to ease your trip!

Thanks for creating this place. I am *so* grateful that someone finally created a fully detailed, high res, well textured, impressively accurate  RE location!!!!!!

 TAXI:   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pollux/124/135/1998

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Halloween 11th year Haunted Mansion and Rides

It's that time of the year again!!! Spooky faces everywhere and pumpkink candies are ready for the Halloween parties and hunts and Second Life becomes a fair of orange, blood, ghosts, candy corns and whatever suits your creepy tastes.
Now, there's a lot, and I really mean A LOT, of sims with spooky themes and they grow even more during these weeks, but some of them get so many reviews that others pass completely unobserved ... yet they deserve an honorable mention. So, this year I won't talk about famous and crowded places but the less known ones.
Starting with this tribute to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (and yeah, they actually have been rewarded for that) which is quite old and "primmy", but is very detailed and has an impressive work behind it.
You arrive at a landing pad which gives acces to 4 different rides: the Haunted Mansion itself, the Asylum one, some sort of "OMG this is the most dangerous ride ever!!!" and finally a Zombie Massacre one.
I won't spoil the other rides, even if I've seen them all and they're quite enjoyable, so let's head to the Haunted Mansion right away!
The external part is a perfect reproduction of the original one: you even get to wait 70seconds before you can enter.. and it's all scripted in a way that you *must* respect the directions and timings. Just like the real ride, the first two rooms are just a presentation, then you jump onto the "cars" and let them guide you through the haunted palace.
Like I said, this is an old build and it's pretty evident: fact is, the colours, composition and audio tracks are so perfect and so deliciously trash that you will soon forget about meshes and such stupid matters... and just have fun.
This place is a milestone and I hope it'll never close.
Oh and don't forget to take the souvenir pic at the exit ;)  BUWHAAHAHAHHAHAHAAAHHHH!!

TAXI:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LandOurs/211/39/601

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Haunted Halloween Tour

Non nutro una grande simpatia per i Linden, ma quando decidono di creare qualcosa di particolare, di solito ci riescono bene.
Ho visitato e "subito" tante, tantissime Halloween rides, ma alla fine della fiera mi sono sempre ritrovata con un WTF? stampato in faccia, perchè ...perchè le sedie sono scomode, i fantasmi non fanno paura, i manichini col pongo li abbiamo abbandonati tanti anni fa, la nebbia in particles ha smesso di far paura nel 2007 e le mele caramellate sapevano di stantio.
Così, quando ho letto "oooh zio, la Linden ha fatto la sua ride da paura!" mi son detta "vabbhè. sarà un'altra delusione di diludendo."
E qua casca l'asino. Non ho mai visto ride più bella, fatta bene, pensata nei minimi dettagli, graficamente al limite del perfetto e soprattutto spaventosa. Ammetto che se non fossero le 8 di mattina e non avessi la luce accesa, mi sarei dovuta munire di bagno chimico.
L'accesso alla ride si ha dal Linden park : seguite la strada sotto al cartello "Halloween" e giungerete a destinazione. Se avete l'oculus rift c'è un teleport personalizzato per voi, non oso immaginare come sarebbe vedersela così *_*!!!!
Vi lascio qualche teaser image. Aspettatevi gore, spavento, luoghi che dire spettrali è ancora poco e.....se qualcosa di storto più andare, state certi che ci sarete "in mezzo". XD


TAXI --> http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LR%20Portal%20Park1/119/137/23


 

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Trick or Treat?

E' di nuovo il mio periodo dell'anno preferito e le sim a tema orrorifico spuntano come funghi. Nel marasma di  vecchie solite case infestate (da prims antichi come il cucù) si trovano sempre più spesso dei progetti davvero interessanti e ben costruiti, come Havenhollow.

Al secondo anno di attività, questa sim propone un classico di Halloween : il giro delle case per ricevere caramelle.

 

 Appena arrivati, riceverete una cartella con l'hud, una torcia e il cestino per i dolci, in tutte le misure.

Il vostro compito sarà di bussare alle porte, rompendo le scatole ai vari abitanti (e ce ne sono di ogni genere, credetemi), come in una qualsiasi notte di Halloween.
Il paesino offre scorci davvero suggestivi:

Ma non è finita qua! Non vi posso spoilerare nulla, ma cercate attentamente nell'ombra e troverete un passaggio per la seconda parte dell'avventura, che dalla tranquillità della festa vi getterà nel terrore puro (non disattivate l'hud o non funzionerà più nulla) di cui vi do solo un piccolo assaggio.

Alla fine di questo incubo apparentemente senza uscita, arriverete, con un po' di fortuna, al campo di zucche, dove vi aspettano alcuni freebies e una divertente asta di cui non anticipo nulla :)

Havenhollow è terrificante e stupendo allo stesso tempo, soprattutto se ci andate di notte, con le cuffie, da soli.
Buon divertimento!!! *grins*

TAXI -->  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Havenhollow/163/36/2222

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Second Life si tinge di arancione!

Halloween si avvicina e come di consueto la mania delle zucche sta dilagando in tutto il globo.. anche quello virtuale.
Girando per SL in questi giorni ho incontrato molte iniziative interessanti, ma dato che non sono per niente obiettiva.. inaugurerò la settimana sabbatica con il mio club preferito .

Al Club Industry (Amberville) qualcuno ha chiamato la strega dell'ovest come decoratrice ;)




Zucche, calderoni, fiamme ruggenti, alberi stregati e nebbia assassina popolata da creature volanti poco rassicuranti hanno preso possesso della pista da ballo e del palco. Anche i colori sono tornati per poco ai vecchi albori : rosso fuoco e nero metallico hanno sostituito il bluette e grigio che fanno tanto ufficio di periferia. Peccato duri solo una settimana.
Più avanti tornerò a parlarvi di questo magnifico luogo di perdizione. Per il momento, godetevi l'atmosfera incantata.

Dolcetto o scherzetto?



V.


http://slurl.com/secondlife/Amberville/182/36/35

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