Insilico: Roleplaying on Mars of the Future

By Ozymandius (0zymandi)

“Welcome to INSILICO” My cybernetic guide Star Raven typed, punctuating her greeting with a smiley face, "This is East, our homestead. We have a few rentals here, but not many due to prim space limits. We have two venues here for role play and any event. The Buddha Bowl was a landmark of West INSILICO (which is no longer with us for various reasons), so we moved it here and upgraded it to mesh.”

I looked around at all the neon signs and strobing lights. This was not my first visit to INSILICO but the futuristic cyber punk sim is so immense that even the most road savvy navigator could run the risk of losing his way, so I thought to call on one of the sim admins to see if they would be willing to show me around. The admin board is close to the teleport landing zone so I looked over the profile pictures and thought to myself; “The girl with the green hair looks friendly."

Shortly after clicking on her picture I was hailed by Star Raven and, after appearing before me in the form of a metallic humanoid, I was pleased to learn she was INSILICO’s Public Relation’s GM.

    "INSILICO was founded in 2008 by Skills Hak along with a few guest artists, some of which still build here art projects time to time.” The glittering silver android explained in her own peculiar grammatical style. "Insilico itself was an art project in the creators eye as a vision of the future, but as soon at it was done, role players came in and made it a home with Skill's blessing."

I listened to Star Raven with curious fascination as she shape shifted into the girl with the green hair. Perhaps she had greeted me with a metallic form on the chance I might be hostile or maybe she had been doing industrial work in deep space where the lack of oxygen and warmth would have been too severe for her more fragile shape. Whatever the reason was there was little time to wonder as INSILICO is a big place, and I had opted for the walking tour.


    "Skills founded our RP website and helps us run the sim as we help her in turn together. She doesn't RP, but helps maintain and rebuild along with our new builder Stark Osterham.” According to my green haired guide, INSILICO is a multi-tiered sim that includes INSILICO City, Mars, Cyberspace, Lyra Station, Kill City, and Earth Ruins.

    "Insilico takes place in the year 2485 where humanity has made Earth uninhabitable due to wars and pollution.” She elaborated as we strolled past hotels, restaurants, sushi bars and private apartment buildings. "We have many groups in Insilico. Metro is our fan group, we have a renters group and small groups for establishments in sim. We have only one roleplay group that is open to all factions to get up to date RP local, requests, and story lines."

Above our heads the flashing lights of air cars swished past like fireflies in the twilight sky and I instantly felt I had stepped into a scene from the movie “Bladerunner".

    "Insilico also has real artists, DJs, and other media come into sim from ti\me to time to play such venues.” Star Raven said as I took a quick snap of a building illuminated by fluorescent Korean text. "The Aftermath is more punk, Reaktor is more adult, Fusion more class, and Asylum on Mars more adventurous."


It was truly remarkable the depth of the design, the vastness of the future city and yet I did not experience the lag I had experienced on far smaller and less complicated sims.

    "We are more than just a roleplay sim, we like to help out the bloggers, shop owners, shoppers, photographers, rpers, and vistors in sim with what ever they want.” She said as we approached an Arabesque cafe known as the "Kasbah Cofeehouse”. "In Central we also have the K9 Fight Club for combat and The Blue Ant, a great and starter rp spot."

After passing through the cafe we ascended a flight of stairs into an art gallery and after taking a quick look at the Second Life snapshots that graced the gallery walls I inquired as to the means by which artists exhibit their work.

    "They can ask us and we would be happy to set them up at a fair rental price, beside they can sell their art work in gallery as we promote it on our Facebook, Twitter and main Insilico site.” She replied before commenting on some near bye apartment buildings. "not everyone can afford our rent, so we offer limited space at 25 prims in an area for 100L a week for a great test drive so to say."

Again my guide changed forms, adopting a humanoid shape with a glowing skin that seemed to be covered with pulsating circuits and binary code.

    "This is south the corporate area and the most rentals are here in Tokuma Tower.” She said as she floated around my primitive human body. "Behind is IPS HQ the protectors of the city. There is Hot Chicks a burger joint, Terra Firma a coffehouse and bar, AGIS Medical, and Tra's Diner car which was in West too. We also have a moving Sky Diner but at the moment is parked to request by renter. The sim is slowly getting upgraded from sculpts to mesh on all parts.”

So that explained the lack of lag, I concluded as we entered a darker and more daunting part of the city.

    "This is where we test weapons and combat meters. Its based off of Kowloon and Shanghigh” Star Raven explained. "a small city perfect for urban combat, we know some of the main city due to the shops and what now can be laggy, so we off here for some fun ... We try to make it easier for everyone. We know how lag kills fun :/"

I had to agree with the little shape shifter, lag does kill fun. But the technology of INSILICO was astounding and our trip to Mars, a six month voyage by space shuttle in 2015, took less than a blink of an eye as we teleported to the dusty red planet.

    “Welcome to Mars, land of rust and blood.” The glowing guide said with a gleam in her translucent eyes. "Mars RP is more driven by combat then just story. The colonists are attacked by the 1st colonists, the local D'naa, who want to keep the land for themselves after they were abandoned by Earth long ago in its first attempt to colonize. They over time survived and grew its own culture and language. So these new colonists seem like invaders to their land. Nothing is black and white on Mars, only shades of red. The Colonists want to take the land by military force, and the D'naa use terror to claim it back."

I looked around nervously. Happily, the tour through Mars continued without incident but we had teleportation problems getting to the Lyra Station so my guide decided to transport me using a space plane. For a glowing humanoid covered with microchip tattoos, Star Raven was an excellent pilot and I only vomited once during our ascent to the Lyra station.

At this point in the tour it was getting late so I thanked Star Raven, who had spent more than two hours showing me around INSILICO. However it seemed I had only seen the tip of the iceberg so I look forward to my next visit to the future, and hope that the dark prophecy of a dying planet Earth, destroyed by war and pollution will serve as a warning to all of us, that what we need most in this life are keepers and caretakers of this beautiful planet and not destroyers.

Ozymandius

The Island of Lost Dreams

By Bixyl Shuftan

Second Life has a number of combat areas. And there's no shortage of places offering adult action. The Island of Lost Dreams combines both, but there's a lot more to the place as well.


The Island of Lost Dreams is a "Capture / Roleplay" or CARP sim, or a "slave hunt" sim as the group calls itself. The players are in three groups, Preys, Hunters, and Amazons. Preys are the more submissive players, armed only with slings with stones, and can only shoot back when attacked. Mostly made up of females, the girls are pursued by the Hunters, and the guys by the Amazons. The Hunters are male players armed with bows whom try to capture female prey or hunters. The Amazons are female hunters, armed with bows and melee weapons, whom protect prey girls and fight the Hunters. Players are required to wear a combat GM meter and hud, with Preys also needing a collar.

In one on one combat, the participants fight one another until one runs out of hit points and falls unconscious. A victorious hunter can capture and bind Preys and Amazons he bests. Amazons can also capture hunters.

According to the notecard, outfits were to be Fantasy Medieval or Gorean-themed. The rules stated only humans, elves, and possibly demons could be active participants. Child and four-footed avatars are absolutely not allowed.

I was invited to get a look at the island, by the leader of the role-play Lisa Salvadori. The LM provided takes one to a platform high over the sim, where one can get notecards explaining the place and weapons appropriate for the role you join. We used the teleporter to drop down to ground level near the village. The main building there is the tavern, which is considered a safe or neutral zone, and is the main social spot. She then led me to one of the tunnels there, "We have several tunnels here, leading to different places." There was one point in which the wooden walkway we were on was interrupted with an underground stream under the gap, "Have to jump up here." While she made it, yours truly missed and took a bath, getting some girlish giggles in response, "Ha ha! You could have also went down underwater. Just have to find the secrets (laughter)." At least one of the tunnels offers a secret entrance to the castle dungeon.

Lisa soon had to go, so one of the Amazons, Raven, took me around. The scenery was very good once rezzed. Besides the village and the tunnels, there were waterfalls, hills, and the castle in the distance. Sometimes one needs to jump to get to a spot without taking a long way around, but Raven loved it, "running and jumping I love sooo much. (grin)"

We went up to one spot in the hills for a picturesque view, "This is my favorite spot to sit and look at the water." For traveling over the water, there's a boat, "it's fun to ride in, but we found it can't hold a lot of people (laughter), it will sink!" The boat can hold a driver, two "holding" and a fourth. At one point, we passed a hammock, "you can lay in solo or with a partner." With 58 animations, it didn't take much imagination to figure out what a couple could be doing there. In another part of the sim were ruins one could hide in, or fight from behind a wall. And there were more tunnels. Raven used some to get away from Hunters when outgunned or when her hitpoints were low.

In the main field there was a dummy for combat practice. To keep one from being ambushed while distracted, the location it was in was considered a safe zone. Once activated, it could move around and return fire on one attacking it. It had adjustable settings so beginners could start low and work their way up.

Back at the tavern, Raven introduced me to one of the hunters, Keven, whom was dressed in a modern hunter's camo outfit. The conversation soon got to some friendly bickering, "Lisa a Miss, since when?" "(laughter) Careful, you know if she hears you, she's going to spank you." "(chuckle) More like she gets spanked." "(raspberries)." Looking to me, Raven told, "Keven here put an arrow in my (behind) earlier." "Poor Raven, I make her blush, and it makes me feel so damn good." "Hee-hee. … I'll get you yet, Sir, you can count on that." They described earlier that he had captured her and taken him to his home, locking her up. But when he had to leave she escaped, after getting her bow and dagger. She explained for melee weapons, Amazons could use "swords, whips, hammers" or most anything that could be easily used in one hand inland to hand combat and could reasonably be found in this kind of setting.

Keven explained given patience, most anyone could learn how to fight here, "a newcomer … would need to learn fast as some of these Amazons are hard to take down." Raven stated fights could be over in less than five minutes or go on for a half hour. At one point, Keven and Raven demonstrated a capture, with Raven letting him win a fight, the combat meter declaring her unconscious, and Keven tying her up. While unconscious, one could be aided by someone on their side. But once captured, the captive could be taken away, "Once she is leashed, I can drag her over the sim." "Like this, I can't run, unless he loosens my legs, and if he doesn't leash me when he loosens my legs, I can run."

Recorded damage slowly healed over time. Unless reset, a combat meter takes up to thirty minutes to fully heal wounds. While there was an option for "arena mode," it wasn't used normally as once someone was beating, it was soon reset. It wasn't good for the CARP fighting, only PvP combat in which the only objective was how many wins. It was also mentioned that "splash" damage arrows were active at the moment, which Raven disliked as it made for easier ambushes and captures.

They got along well, though there was no shortage of rivalry and scheming, albeit in a friendly way, Keven himself saying, "One thing to remember is never trust a Hunter, they are evil." "Or an Amazon," Raven quipped, grinning evilly. Keven smirked, "Its good we are friends." At one point, Raven accidentally activated a music gesture, singing "Bad to the Bone." Keven chuckled, "See, if you tickle her good, she will sing all happy like." "(laughter and raspberries) I am the one here you will find just randomly dancing (laughter)." "Yea, I remember not too long ago she was dancing and captured me. (laughter) But I do have to say, her (behind) looked good." There were more chuckles, Keven saying, "Well, you know most of the girls chase me, only one can really catch me, and I'm not pointing her out," then he looked at Raven and grinned.

Soon we were joined by another Hunter, Kairos, "one of our Russian Hunters." "We have Hunters all over the world," Raven told. Then came a scantily clad Amazon, "Sweet Honey Pot." Raven spoke of her, "Sweet started as Prey, then learned to pick up a bow. Now she's my sister. (smile)" We were then joined by another, Olivia Direwytch, also lacking much cover, "Darn, lost my skirt again." Raven remarked, "As you can see, we all dress differently, but we chicks are hotties." Keven drooled, "Hot hell, I melt any time I'm around any of ays." Looking to me, Raven warned, "Don't let any of these girls fool you, we all love a good fight." One of the girls looked at me, openly wondering what it would be like to go after foxboy prey.

Over time, there have been some crazy happenings. Raven described one time in which some Amazons had captured a hunter, and after tying him to a pole were having fun with him by taking turns spanking his behind.

Besides the CARP action, there are also "Capture the flag" battles. The usual roles of hunter vs prey and Hunter vs Amazon are cast aside for "Red vs Blue." Here the normally submissive players are free to attack as they please, and only one item counts as a capture: the opposing team's flag. Whoever swipes the opposing player's flag and can bring it back to base wins.

On some weekends, there's music parties at the tavern or castle, with either a DJ or live musician. Raven commented, "There's also 'Spin the Bottle' up in the castle for naughty times - shhhhhh!" The parties can take all sorts of fun, "We have fun, one night we got all these bouncy balls and were bouncin' all over the place and hidin' in the bushes!" Sweet commented, "A couple weeks ago, we had a love concert, er live concert in the castle ballroom." She giggled, "The love concert came after."

Most of the houses and other buildings in the Village are available for rent, with a 50 prim limit available for 360 Lindens a week, 75 for 575L and 100 for 680. One could be rented for a home, or a store. There were already stores in the area where one could get clothing, furniture,  weapons, and a few adult items.

Finally, there are the roleplaying classes. The ILD Roleplayers group is ranked "Mature" and not adult. These are taught by Rayah Marenwolf at 2PM on Wednesdays in the Tavern. There's also RP practice in the Tavern on Sundays at announced times. Once a month is the "Virtual Live Band," with four people from four different countries.

The builder behind the Island of Lost Dreams was Jenne Dibou, whom is also known for her Steampunk designs and builds.

With the adult themes in mind, the main objective was for everyone to have fun, with the rule book on occasion getting tossed aside when everyone desired. Sweet told, "The best thing about this sim is the people. Everyone I've met is very open and friendly and willing to help." "A sense of humor helps too," Olivia added.

The entrance is at Lost Dreams Island, (129, 82, 3506). For more information, there's also a Island of Lost Dreams Blog at http://islandoflostdreamscarpsim.blogspot.com/ .


Bixyl Shuftan

The Agapeo Roleplay Sim

Second Life is indeed a vast realm and recently I found a neat treasure as the roleplay sim Agepeo Seas. It was certainly a new experience. For starters, furry avatars are not allowed. Luckily I invested in a human avatar for my brahma yoga class for a certain class during the week.

When I talked with Agenor Resident, he talked about his sim being a very real role play environment. For example if there was a dispute within the game, it would not be handled by a moderator. Instead the person who felt he or she got the short of the end of the stick can go appeal to the king, which happens to be Agenor Resident. Also to add to the realism IM/s are blocked within the sim. For example when I tried to IM Bixyl, the owner of the SL Newser, from within Agenor’s sim it was blocked by the sim. That way people inside the sim aren’t turned into avatar stiffs standing still in an IM.

The backstory is that a king named Agenor sends his two sons as scouts to search for his daughter Europa. When they do not return, the king and his army discover an island named Agapeo as they search through South Africa. When staying at the island, the king and his men discover there are many different women  of different races living there on the Island, teasing them in their dreams at night.

What do you roleplay in this sim? Basically it is a Gorean environment where women are treated as property and be captured by men. But don’t be fooled. Women have the ability to fight as well the men. One of the times I was knocked out, it was done by women. Also to balance the role play environment: men can be killed, women cannot. However women can become pregnant. But capturing a woman doesn’t mean you automatically get her. She could easily roleplay breaking the leash and run away making the hunter or bull chase her again. I used the example of "Fox and the Hound," the Disney movie, to Agenor and he said that’s a good analogy to describe his sim. But beware the fox can hunt the hound back as I learned in exploring the Agapeo sim.

When you arrive at the sim there’s a large shopping area various adult skins and sex related poseballs and weapon vendors. Being new there was a lot to absorb. Following some steps like buying a HUD and clicking to a free rp meter. Also you have to be using an RLV viewer like Singularity, or else you will not be able to teleport to the main sim.

When I finally got the correct HUD and everything together. One of the steps was joining the group and loading an rp meter. Joining the group itself was free. I was able to teleport down and I thought it would be a bright idea to teleport down without clothes or a weapon. Luckily some women who were ooc (out of character) advised me this was a bad idea as I would get shot down right away. I looked around at the vendors and found an eagle bow package for the price of 600L or so. Next I bought a HUD that I would need to involve myself for sexual roleplay for any woman that I captured via knocking her out with stone arrows for 125L.

When I got my bow and HUD together playing around with it then I teleported down now that I was able to do battle with the bulls and hunters of the sim also to knock out any woman. When you teleport down it looks like a wild forest area with wildflowers and trees the graphics were great adding to the realistic feel of the environment. The men and women were scantily clad or some cases fully nude. I played along wearing pants with my bow but no shirt.

The bow HUD had a radar system that allowed me to track down women which I was having with in this roleplay environment. Later I was chided however for shooting down two women at once and being selfish I got the woman’s meaning. I was new to this so any help was welcome. Eventually I ran into a pair of women equipped with bows and they knocked me out. When you are knocked out you are unable to move and anything you type just comes out in dots like “…” A minute or so later you receive a message that you feel groggy and get back up, but not with full health.

For men only, if a person knocks you out and then attacks you while you’re unconscious, you end up dead. Which has the consequence of being banned from the sim for a half hour. Not like the ban of being banned from a club. Also you lose any women you may have obtained by hunting them. Kind of hard for someone to own something or someone when you no longer live. Also someone could be branded for breaking one of the king’s laws, so the king places a bounty on someone’s head so everyone would want to hunt down the now infamous “Sam resident” for the linden reward. When Sam would be killed he is then banned for a full three days not the usual ½ hour. Everyone could see Sam is branded by a certain tattoo on his body.

Agenor explained the difference between hunters and bulls. Bulls just want to impregnate women; Hunters are more interested in gaining women as property. Another interesting thing about the sim was there was a board offering selling a hunter’s woman for a linden price. I remember seeing one at around 6k. That’s a steep price in my opinion like a tail sale when bidding on a furry.

Agenor’s sim overall is a very unique experience as a whole new world within Second Life. What’s a plus too is when I started people were there to give a hand helping me get started. Agenor also mentioned when his first land owner in SL bankrupted the people who supported him donated 100,000L to get a sim back up so his fellow roleplayers could play in their fave sim once again.

Anyone is welcome to give Agenor’s sim a try, with lots of people to help you get lost. Just don’t get upset if you shoot the wrong person and next thing you know your character is banned for a ½ hour. It’s all part of the roleplaying experience.

Grease Coakes

Editors Note: Hat tip to YT Recreant of Mama Allpa.