Second Life Navigation Event

Second Life is a virtual world filled with exotic and unique destinations. Some are based on actual locations in the real world, but most are created from the minds of the games users. Being able to navigate through these various worlds is a very enjoyable experience of the game. For our Navigation Event, we explored several locations and the various ways of traveling within the game.

Probably the easiest and most pleasurable experience of the game is flying. It gives you the freedom to fully explore all the various locations within the game. It's something you can't do in real life, and something you can rarely do in other games. 

My favorite part of exploring is finding little secrets that world creators put into the game that can only be found by the most thorough explorers. This image is of a secret cave that I found. The entrance to the cave was a small drain pipe under a major temple structure in the dragonfly world.

I also found this Weighted Companion Cube in the same world, an homage to the game Portal.

One of the most difficult and frustrating aspects of the game is the way the camera is set up. The camera controls are difficult to use and sometimes it makes navigating difficult. I often find myself zooming into the avatars point of view in order to make my way through the environment.

navigating in game is very different from navigating in the real world. Unaided flight is impossible for humans, and we also don't have the luxury of seeing the world around us from a third person perspective. We cant zoom out our field of vision to see more of what is around us, and we can't see whats happening immediately behind us. 

I think the type of technology used in games like second life could be put to use in making virtual maps. Maps of locations can be created in a virtual world where users can fly through and find exactly what they are looking for before they actually step out the door. A person will be able to really know a location before they actually step foot on the location. It would reduce the chance of someone getting lost because it allows the user to see the location from a first person perspective instead of the typical fixed aerial view. Someone could also plot out a scenic route or avoid shady neighborhoods.

Exploration Story

Location: Vernian Sea

SLurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vernian%20Sea/105/130/18

After months of searching, i finally found someone willing to take me the Vernian depths where I can conduct my research on the unique species of endosymbiotic zooxanthellae found only in the coral of this remote region. Immediately upon arrival, doubts began to rise about the crew I so eagerly hired for the expedition. The vessel on which we would be traveling on seemed worn to the point of crumbling, but my eagerness and hunger for discovery kept me from turning back. Besides, the men had already been paid, and to take it back would be nothing short of cruel.

As our vessel made it's way closer to the desired location, I entered the pod and made preparations for the journey ahead. All of a sudden, there was a sharp snap, and my stomach lurched up into my chest. It was the feeling one experiences in a fast moving elevator. There was no doubt about it, I was falling. I tried the radio, but there was no response. What's worse was the fact that the pod was letting in water. When the pod hit the sea floor, the hatch sprung open. Not far from where I had landed, I found several other pods of the same design. I wonder how many others have been duped into paying for their own demise before me. Before I could die from drowning, or the sheer pressure of water at this depth, I climbed into my M1923 SeaSplunker and left the deathtrap of a pod.

 Before I could make my inevitable journey to the surface, something caught my eye, and my sense of adventure kept me from simply leaving. The closer I got to chromatic object, the more it revealed itself to me. It was clearly manmade, something large and metallic. The object was immense. As I got closer, I came to the surprising realization that what I had discovered wasn't simply a relic or exploratory vehicle, but an entire city hidden to the rest of the world!


The structures were clearly made for human inhabitants. Luxury chairs, spiral staircases, and expansive dining halls were  all visible through the thick glass walls , but I could not find a single soul in or around the structures.

Not only couldn't I find a single person or evidence of human inhabitants, I also couldn't find an entrance to the structure before me. It was clear that the structure was filled with oxygen. There was a cozy fire burning in the fireplace within. I don't believe the fire would even be burning without the presence of oxygen. I knew I had a better chance of survival within the structure, than on the surface of the water in the middle of nowhere. My vehicle wouldn't have gotten me far before running out of fuel, and I could not have survived more than two days without any food or fresh water.

When I finally came across what appeared to be an entrance, I was attacked by a massive octopus! The creature was far larger than any I had previously encountered, and filled with a fury I had no idea a mollusk could possess! The creature jostled and slammed my vehicle with a force comparable to the heaviest of storms. I must have struck my head, because what happened next is beyond me.

The next thing I could remember was waking up in my vehicle floating by the dock of Clockhaven with no evidence of the ordeal I had just survived, or the mysterious city located at the bottom of a sea.