Blue-News

Caledonia: Latest Step in Storied Community

// January 5th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Cities

A Great Place to Live and Visit

White sand beaches, a boardwalk, a village square, quiet country cottages; all these and more are what one would expect from a lazy beach town in which to vacation in. The cozy village setting is just perfect for mid-afternoon strolls and curling up in a window seat to read that novel everyone’s been talking about. Seagulls caw in the distance, and the majestic mountains make an impressive backdrop to this idyllic locale. Where do you book you next flight to, you ask? Nowhere of course, because all this is contained in Caledonia, one of the latest cities to spring up in Blue Mars.

Caledonia is an idyllic, quiet country village, and while it is new, it already has a rich history. If the village square and charming postcard neighborhoods get old, there are plenty of pathways to explore that snake all over the continent; there’s even a small desert for those of you who get sick of all the greenery.

Welcome to Caledonia!

Even though Caledonia is new to Blue Mars, it isn’t entirely new per se. Caledonia springs from the prolific and established community of Caledon in Second Life. Headed up by Desmond Shang, this community is more like a small nation, with it’s own history, traditions and government. The land mass of Caledon in Second Life is impressive, being around 40 sims that are all devoted to the same vision.  What’s even more impressive is that Caledonia’s land mass is about a third larger than Caledon. With around 800 regular members of this fascinating community, there’s a very real presence and passion attached to this project which was started around four years ago. The citizenry of Caledon has been noted for being a rather creative lot, and they have spent countless hours creating, expanding and cultivating the Independent State of Caledon. (more…)

First Look: Soswaewon Garden

// October 30th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Cities

Soswaewon Garden

Soswaewon Garden is another new “city” in Blue Mars, yet it’s not exactly a city.  Apart from the masses of trees in the surrounding landscape, Soswaewon isn’t exactly a garden either; there aren’t any flowers or ornamental shrubs; the garden landscaping is somewhat lackluster (no gardening going on here!).  If anything, it most resembles a Japanese garden, though there aren’t any of the typical garden furniture or garden statues associated with those types of gardens.

Soswaewon is more like a museum for sculptures, an art gallery of sorts, but there are no paintings here, just a sculpture or two and some architecture.  The garden sculptures are all loosely grouped in the arrival area,  and the architecture is in a somewhat typical traditional Asian style.  Of course, the artwork on display isn’t traditional at all; it would better classify as abstract art, maybe even modern art.

One thing about Soswaewon Garden is that the garden design is a little difficult for the uninitiated to navigate; the landscaping definitely needs work in order to enable an easier and smoother way of viewing the artists work.  However, considering the short amount of time the space was created in (six weeks)  and the creators themselves (students unfamiliar with the Blue Mars workflow) it’s actually an early testament to the power and accessibility of the Blue Mars platform.

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First Look: Gridrock City

// October 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // Cities

View of Gridrock City from Mountains

Gridrock City has been accessible for about a week now, giving everyone a fair chance to explore and have fun checking out the various places around the Gridrock City valley.  While it’s in an early stage, it’s still a good place to check out with many easy to remember landmarks to help guid friends to your secret meeting place.

The theme of Gridrock City is based on a colony created by descendants of Nikola Tesla.  Though you won’t see any stray bolts of raw electricity anywhere in the city, it still has an interesting, science-y feel about it, and the tower above the city proper resembles a Tesla coil.

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Shade City

// October 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // Cities

Very Shady Indeed!

Shade City is the newest city in Blue Mars, and shows potential for being a very interesting place.

For now, there is only one structure in the city, and it’s a highly original one at that.  The two floor, circular building is supported by fanciful, organic pillars that sweep about the space, evoking a feeling of other worldliness.  There’s also ample sitting areas located throughout the pavilion, with excellent views of the surrounding woods and ocean.  There’s even a nice shiny red motorcycle parked outside, but we couldn’t get it to do anything, despite it being clickable.

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Beach City

// October 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // Cities

The Old White Hotel

Beach City is another one of the first cities in Blue Mars, and is located on a beach (Shocking!).

On first arrival, you’ll find yourself in a sort of plaza area, with fountains, planters filled with palms, and casual seating areas.  Surrounding the plaza is a network of interconnected buildings that seem to be the bare-bones skeleton of a future retail/residential complex.  Across from these is the crown jewel of Beach City; the Old White Hotel.

The Old White Hotel is an interesting piece of architecture; it evokes the feelings of a grand old resort hotel in New England, with its clapboard siding, trim details, covered porch and sumptuous lobby.  Out back of the lobby is a lounge area where visitors can sun themselves, or just relax.  The interior of the lobby is well appointed, with a beautiful chandelier hovering gracefully over an ornamental table and urn.  While the Old White Hotel is graceful and elegant, the rest of the buildings in Beach City bear no resemblance, and frankly seem out of place. (more…)

New Venice

// October 3rd, 2009 // 5 Comments » // Cities

An example of the beautiful archetecture of Venezia

Venezia (formerly known as New Venice) has already proven that Blue Mars is a fantastic platform for creating wonderful, immersive 3D worlds.  The visual richness of the space is stunning; the textures are superb and the realism is (yet) unmatched within the Blue Mars universe.

Upon first entering the city Venezia, one arrives in a shady garden, complete with a reflecting pool.  Once you’ve ventured out of this ‘welcome garden’ you’ll find yourself exploring the many pavilions, bridges, waterways, and various beautiful buildings.  The size of New Venice is something that is sure to take you by surprise, and it’s still “under construction”!  There are also gondolas to ride and telescopes to help peruse the landscape.

Venezia is a highly imaginative and wonderful city to explore, the architecture is top-notch and the views are simply stunning.  Venezia is sure to become a classic destination in Blue Mars, if not for it’s simple and timeless beauty.