Ghostbusters Sim

By Grease Coakes

 

An iconic movie of the 80’s was the Ghostbusters with Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. The movie where New York was terrorized by ghosts and the Ghostbusters busted the ghosts with laughs and chills. To most people it’s an entertaining movie. To Kheph777 Enoch he was inspired to take it one step further and create his own sim based upon the Ghostbusters movies.

 I warp in and land in the fire house and by dumb luck there’s the sim owner Kheph777 Enoch. I tell him I write for the SL Newser and he gives me a tour around the SL version of the firehouse where the Ghostbusters hang out at. Down in the basement is the vault of where ghosts are stored like in the movie and also where to buy my very own proton pack and trap. To do battle against slimer and his buddies costs 500L to buy the newest proton pack. There was also Kheph777’s friend Stabitha who helps build around the sim too.

 

I pay the 500L and Kheph777 shows me the tutorial. It’s simpler then it seems to blast ghosts and trap them. First you turn on your proton pack, (Everything is done in a simple HUD) then you grab you proton beam in your hand. You activate your stream and fire away! The tutorial only has you fight a class 1 ghost where you just zap to defeat. Kheph777 then showed me upstairs where there’s a phone where you click to automate a call. Kheph777 took lines from Janine’s phone calls in the movie typed out in text and then you know where to go to fight the fiendish ghost.

 

Fighting a mere spirit in the training was easy, but fighting a live class 3 ghost was tricky. It weaved and dodged my proton blasting for a few minutes hiding behind walls. Eventfully I got the bugger, but I still had to trap him! I had to bring in the ghost by walking my avatar close to the trap and then mouse click the foot pedal to trap him in the energy trap. The cash over my proton pack HUD went up some (cash within the game not Linden).

 

Now that I captured a ghost I have to return to the Ghostbusters firehouse to place the trap and drop off the ghost.  You flick the red switch and the drop box falls down, you insert the trap flip it back up and when the light it green the trap is clean. Fair warning you always want to clean your trap. 

Cash you use for upgrades from Egon’s equipment closet and also to recharge your pack. Kheph777 was telling me that your proton pack has an hour of real time charge so you always want to keep it off unless you’re fighting ghosts. He said it’s happened that Joe Birdsong was fighting ghosts and all of the sudden his proton pack turned off. That must be a pain in the butt I bet!

 

Various upgrades go to your trap capacity and goggles to act as radar to see the ghosts. Oh and fighting ghosts in New York is dangerous when you fight a class 6 or 7 ghost. They can attack you, causing you to lose in game hp/s that you see in your HUD. When you drop to zero and die, you’re penalized by having to recharge your pack for $5,000. Don’t have $5,000? Not to worry there’s a petty cash box in the fire house to help you out. You also have to recharge your pack when your hour of battery life is used up.

 

Kheph777 wants to create stronger ghosts like the staypuft marshmallow man to be a bigger challenge. Also there’s a lot of detail in the sim in not only the firehouse but all over like the keymaster and gatekeeper’s apartments. The call I took was at the hotel where the ghostbusters fought slimer. There’s also the library with the gray ghost lady. When I typed something I got a text message saying shhhh!

 

Kheph777 also says his sim is "light RP," meaning you can roleplay as a Ghostbuster or whatever you like. But it’s not required you can come in and fight ghosts by yourself or with your friends just being yourself. When you want to take a break from fighting ghosts there’s also a movie theater showing the first Ghostbusters film and Ghostbusters 2. There’s even the Ecto 1 car sitting in the firehouse for you to drive around to whatever location to reach your call. Zheph777 thought of everything to add realism to the Ghostbusters universe. There was even Zuul and the demon dogs.

 

There’s plenty to do here if you want to try something different even if you’re not a fan of the Ghostbusters. This is the right place for die-hards too who love the series as there’s even voice emotes you can activate from your proton pack HUD as the speech balloon icon. Oh by the way for kicks I tried to trap a ghost in my trap when I already had a ghost. There was a white explosion as my pixel Grease Coakes fell over and died. Luckily I had enough cash to recharge my pack Stabitha kept saying “I want to see him die!” To see my digital death I’d say it was worth blowing the $5,000 in game cash. 

 

The sim itself is loads of fun to play around in I recommend checking out this exciting sim.

 

The Ghostbusters sim and "Light RP" is at Slime Square, Whatever Burg (77, 92, 27). The group has a page on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/GBRPSL . The sim was also featured in a Ghostbusters fan website last month, ghostbustersnews.com (article here).

 

Grease Coakes

 

 

The Mama Allpa Conception HUD and Service

Virtual pregnancies in Second Life are nothing new. These services have been in Second Life for some time. Trouble is, the "tummytalkers" they have are often irritating to other residents nearby. And the setup in the hospital resembling an artificial insemination service may not be exactly ideal to those seeing a pregnancy as starting with an act of intimacy between a couple.

Yt Recreant offers an alternative with a more realistic beginning for virtual pregnancies, as well as not having the feedback that others hear: Mama Allpa, "Mama Allpa is a conception HUD system. It addresses people who want to mate in SL with the 'consequence' of having babies. Of course I am a bit biased about the product options (grin), but I can rightly say that my product is the market leader, by far, and also highly configurable."

Yt got the idea for Mama Allpa when she looked into virtual pregnancies on Second Life. She checked the services already on the market, and found them lacking. So she created the conception HUD. "I had for example all these questions that simply occur when one commits to something that lasts longer than a day, like, how much time is available, how long do I want this commitment, how realistic do I want it to be, and all that."

Yt described it as, "a couple HUD system, people can see the other gender, by a small sign on their display. so if you are in a club, and wear it, you can identify others wearing it too. That saves the awkward question … then, when male and female mate, the success of conception depends on some factors, like how often did the couple have sex. But a lot more so, such as in which stage of her cycle is she? The HUD is also configurable … cycle and gestation length adjust automatically … as well as the option to multiple births."

The Mama Allpa HUD is not too expensive, at 249 each, "the system itself comes without any 'hidden sidecosts.' … As I have had the intention to make pregnancy and delivery of babies an affordable potion for everyone," Yt explained, "the HUD also comes with support for prenatal care and delivery, for free, supplied by a team of 50 doctors." The doctors work without charge to clients at private locations, "plus we also provide a clinic here at our island." The Mama Allpa team has personel fluent in Spanish and other languages besides English, "from all time zones and many countries."

The HUD also has the option to suspend fertility, as if the male was using condoms or the female on the pill. There's also a "multiposer" built in, "if one has the mood but not the place (grin). The poser is loaded with mocap animations."

Of when the pregnancy comes to an end, "when the days are up, the HUD simply sends a message, that the days are up, that the HUD now stops counting, and just waits with the delivery, when everything is set. So the mother-to-be can deliver her baby at any stage past month 6 when she and her partner, and whoever else they want around, have the time." The gestation and cycle are also highly configurable.

There is one feature found in other virtual pregnancies that Mama Allpa does not have and will never have: "tummy talkers." "Mama Allpa does not make tummy talkers. Third party people make them. … I would be (pause) pretty much wondering if my belly talked (grin) however, i understand the motivation why people want them as they need kind of an advice, how to do what in a pregnancy. But there, i prefer the 'advisory' that comes the silent way with Mama Allpa. Which is the only HUD system of its sort that does so."

Yt then razzed a box on the ground, "this box for example, picked this one randomly," inside was a display on what Week 9 or a pregnancy is like, suggesting the lady might feel sleepy and have mood swings, "It says, one should see to drink a lot of water and stuff. This box holds then a freebie item, a glass of water (grin), just a small thing. Other boxes hold some wardrobe, games for playing with the partner, cuddle pillows, and more. It's like each week they get a surprise."

Yt mentioned another detail. In real life, "if you are pregnant, you want an ultrasound of course also done by your doc. Mama Allpa is the only system that gives you personalized ultrasound printouts with your name and week on them." She razzed a random one from her inventory, "So, upon examination the doctor just presses 'print' and then there comes the picture, with development, stage, name and week, also for free."

Of the people who use the conception HUD, "there are many different people, and they all have this for different motivations. Some do it for some extra fun. Some do it to 're-live' the parenthood they had in real-life for here. Some do it because they are not having kids in real life," whether from choice or infertility in real life, which can be emotionally devastating to some women, whom may find therapeutic value in a virtual pregnancy, "so really, the motivations vary greatly."

"The support group, which holds roundabout 5000 active people, shows that there are really all different sorts of people. (There are) very 'kinky' ones, and then there are also very normal families." Some are from role-play areas, while some are "who do not roleplay at all, but use this as (an) add-on to their daily SL." The people include all age groups from young to old, as well as all kinds of species of avatars, "it's not really nailed down to … 'humans having kids.' "

"Another big point is also the RL/SL (time) conversion rate. In Second Life, the SL weather system changes day & night in an interval of 4 hours. this value is set 'just so' by Linden Lab. So, the HUD comes with 1 day in SL is 4 hours real-life. But one can change it, from having one SL day = 2 hours up to 1 SL day = 24 hours. And one can change that at any given time, without harming an ongoing pregnancy. That way people can be pregnant really as long as they want, as fast or as slow as they want."

Of the conception HUD, the unit purchased is ready to wear without packing. Upon wearing it, the activation of Xcite scripts is announced. Two sex symbols, male & female appear (Mars & Venus) if there's someone of the opposite sex nearby also using the HUD. But if the wearer is alone, only his/her symbol appears. If a female is willing, the male's HUD will tell him of the girl "opening" herself to him, and no longer being open, "no one except the two get any notices."

The HUD itself also has an option of six languages to appear in. A nonhuman can also set it to his/her species.

A one of a kind, and well supported, virtual pregnancy service in Second Life.

The Main Mama Allpa store can be found at Mama Allpa (156, 202, 28) (Adult). Besides the conception HUD up for sale, there are a number of other vendors from other businesses selling wares at the store. While some are clearly of an adult nature, some are more family-friendly, such as maternity wear. More information about Mama Allpa can be found at the Mama Allpa Times blog, or the help website (Click Here) (note, both sites have an occasional nude picture, so careful about reading from work).

Bixyl Shuftan

Addition: The Mama Allpa blog is no longer active, so the link has been removed.