Thursday 15 October 2009

Blue Mars - first impressions

It took a few adjustments and some upgrades to firmware and software, but last night I managed to spend an hour 'in world' chatting at the 'meet and greet' event. There were several familiar names and friends from Second Life and it was really good to meet Glenn and some of the other staff. At peak time, there were around 40 people present and absolutely no sign of lag from anyone. The fps was pretty good - most people reported around 15 whilst in the crowd and around 35 when looking at the sky (that will mean something to some people!). My main frustration is suddenly having to use Windows on my Mac and all the software that I am used to, not being available. I particularly missed the video capture programme I use to do movies 'in world' and will have to find a Windows compatible alternative.
See some images of last night's event here

So, the next task is to plan out the Blue Mars stage of the Spacexcape Project. First, there is the new building software to conquer though with experience in Second Life and Hexagon, I don't anticipate this being too bad. When the ideas for the project were first thrown into the arena, most of us were keen on the idea of a participatory 'game' that engaged elements of art, science and philosophy and this has been the focal point of the planning for the work in Blue Mars. I am going to expand the website to discuss some of the ideas and to look for new people to join the project or at least to help with it.

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