Next Patch Coming Next Week
// October 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // Rumors // Rumors
The long awaited patch is coming next week! Though not much has been confirmed, we do know that there will at least be a new city to explore; Gridrock City. It was announced on the forum that there will be two more meet and greets next Wednesday and Thursday in Gridrock City.
Given that at present the only method to get more cities in world for everyone to enjoy is through patches, it’s certain that the next patch may be even coming by next Tuesday, or even Monday.
We’re still counting on all the other goodies we speculated about in our last post about this upcoming patch, such as individual profiles and more robust messaging, the banishment of the dreaded chat bubbles, the introduction of the official in world currency (the BLU) and maybe a few more surprises!
We’re also convinced that there will be other cities introduced with this coming patch, notably the Qin Tomb being developed by VSE in partnership with National Geographic.
Meet & Greet: Beach City
// October 14th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Rumors // Rumors
Hey everyone, just a friendly reminder about todays meet & greet in Beach City! If you missed the last one, this is a great opportunity to get connected with other people in the Blue Mars community, hang out and just have fun! If you’d like to go, be sure to be there in one hour (9:30 HST, 19:30 UTC). The last one lasted about an hour/hour and a half, so plan on staying a while and help build the strength of the Blue Mars community!
Insight: Bettina Tizzy
// October 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // News // News
If you’d like to read a great article about Blue Mars and how it’s evolving into a more fascinating and wonderful virtual world, Bettina Tizzy has written an excellent in depth article with some fascinating insight and thoughts about this new, emerging platform. Throughout her post, Bettina does a great job of pointing out that it doesn’t matter what virtual world or platform one decides to use and admire; what matters is that there are more and more options every day to enjoy the wonderful places we call virtual worlds.
Bettina’s article can be found here.
Showcase: Wild West Games
// October 13th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Showcase // Showcase
Next stop: Blue Mars!
Blue Mars is shaping up to be a gateway to many avenues of creative expression in their new virtual frontier. Though the name has the word “mars” in it, it can be anything, really. Wild West Games happens to be in the process of developing a city with a wild west theme, which would host a space for western role play and an historically accurate exploratory space. The core group that makes up Wild West Games has been in Second Life for quite some time, where they supply historical western themed items and land for all the western enthusiasts in Second Life.
Gus Castaneda is heading up their development team and is still looking for fellow developers to add to the Wild West Games developer team. They’re already cranking out content, but still would appreciate some more help, as their project is quite large. Here’s a taste of what they’re making for Blue Mars:
They’ve also been so gracious to give us some sneak peeks on some other content they’re developing, such as this bank, bakery, and night stand with detailed picture frame:
If you’re interested in hopping on board with the development team over at Wild West Games, send them a message here. They also have their own forum that you can check out over here.
New Poll, Check it Out!
// October 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // News // News
Hey there, we’ve posted a new poll, located conveniently on the right sidebar. We would love it if you participated, and it’ll help all of us (yourself included) understand the Blue Mars community.
Thanks,
The Blue-News Team
Where Blue Mars is Coming From
// October 12th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // News // News
Beautiful Blue Mars
There are many people all over the internet that are predicting Blue Mars to be a complete and utter failure. Most of these people seem to think that they will be somehow excluded and that Blue Mars is going to be a “rich person’s game”. We, however, understand that these ideas aren’t true, and firmly believe that Blue Mars is here to stay, and that it’s going to be wildly popular. Why do we think this? It’s because of the people that it’s coming from and their track records in the gaming industry.
Here is a review of the management of Avatar Reality, the company bringing Blue Mars to us. Continue Reading
Showcase: Pixel Bunneh
// October 10th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Showcase // Showcase
A dress designed by Pixel Bunneh
Here’s some more evidence that people are already creating things for Blue Mars, and some evidence that these same people are helpful too! The helpful person we’re particularly referencing is Pixel Bunneh.
Why is Pixel Bunneh so helpful, you may ask? Well, she’s already created a couple of informative how-to’s over at her website.
These how-to’s should be especially interesting to those of you out there who are thinking about maybe putting some time into making things for Blue Mars, but aren’t quite sure about the processes. Though these tutorials need a little bit of prior knowledge, Pixel seems more than willing to address your particular questions about the procedures.
The two tutorials that she has so far are one for using the cloth editor and one for using the item editor.
We’re hoping that she expands on these and creates new how-to’s on other topics in the near future.
- Edit -
Here’s a related video by Corey Evans on using the cloth editor:
Blue Mars Cloth editor walkthrough from Corey Evans on Vimeo.
Under the Venezian Sea
// October 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Updates // Updates
A Tale of Two Cities
We’ve heard word that there will be an underwater city of sorts coming to Venezia, and it looks like it’s taking shape already.
The submersed portion of the growing locale is very different from the topside. Whereas the buildings on land are very classical in design, the undersea quarter is very futuristic, almost alien.
U.S. Army Coming to Blue Mars?
// October 8th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Rumors // Rumors
It’s looking like the United States Army could be coming to Blue Mars. They’re currently running a challenge to anyone who can develop a virtual world where the Army could train and collaborate. The only requirements for the submissions is that there be no modifications made to the client or server software, not something that is currently being worked on on behalf of the federal government, and that any world may be used as long as it’s free and open, and that you’re over 18 (unless you’ve obtained written permission from parents). Submissions must be entered no later than November 15, 2009. Continue Reading
Showcase: Skribe Forti
// October 8th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Showcase // Showcase
Skribe Forti is already demonstrating his worth to the Blue Mars community. Being the creator of great tutorials for the all the new Blue Mars users out there, he’s also an accomplished machinimator and possesses a strong knack for editing video. While Blue Mars is still in beta and not fully developed, Skribe has already shown that he is eager and able to create timely, helpful content for the Blue Mars community.
We’re impressed with what he’s come up with at present, and can’t wait to see what he creates next! We’d love to see some videos on moving objects in world, purchasing objects, and other things that are coming in the very near future, as well as giving some hints and tips on creating machinima in Blue Mars.
The Future Economy of Blue Mars
// October 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // Rumors // Rumors
We’ve been seeing more and more hints around the internet that the costs associated with rental of land and sales in Blue Mars are going to follow a favorable path for all those involved. Though some tools for development cost in the thousands (3DS Max, Maya, etc…), there are alternatives that are relatively cheap and free. However, the topic of content creation tools is something for a more in-depth post.
Foundation of Blue Mars Questioned
// October 5th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // News // News
There’s been quite a stir in the forums over a post made over at the Pixels and Policy blog. The writer makes the claim that Blue Mars is being crafted to specifically cater to large corporations (think Coca Cola or American Apparel) based on their misinterpretations and knee-jerk reaction to the process Avatar Reality have set up for content creation.
While it could be said that this is true, they fail to take into consideration that sole individual are not barred from content creation (they hint at this being so) and even go so far as to put words in the mouths of those at Avatar Reality (“When asked more directly why individual creators had to fill out forms of intent and partner with the large corporate creators responsible for building the structures and shops of Blue Mars, my guide deferred.” Notice the bit about having to “partner with the large corporate creators”? This claim is unfounded.)
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