Abertun Upon Whyburn, Ruritania - A childhood dream of a Southern English Countryside

• Theme: Old fashioned village scene with mystery game
• Grid: Littlefield
• Owner: Xi Shi
• Maturity rating: A
• Rating (1-6):
• Lag:4
• Design: 5
• Scripting: 6
• Experience:5
• Address (Copy and paste into map search box):
• Local: Ruritania-V
• Hypergrid: lfgrid.com:8002:Ruritania-V

Ruritania is such a rich and complex sim, we can't cover it all in one blogspot. We have to take one bit at a time and let's start with the first thing new visitors see: the charming little 1950s style village of Abertun Upon Whyburn.

Example of a local to talk to

It seems to be such a charming, quiet little place but don't let it fool you, there are secret mysteries hidden. Talk to the local NPCs and they wil start you on what can only be described as a combination of a mystery game, and adventure game and a treasure hunt.

It's a tricky one, I'm not sure if anybody has ever managed to finish it, but there are rewards to collect on the way and it takes you all over Ruritania.







Or you can skip all of that and just enjoy the scenery - that's your choice. The sim is A rated and some parts of it are very much so. Not Abertun though, it's just nice. Except for this house:

The hospital, that's where you can play ... ummm... doctor and nurse - or possible nurse and nurse.

Xi Shi is one of Second Life's all-but-forgotten masters of prim building (her SL name is Followmeimthe Piedpiper) and the village is mainly based on mesh versions of her old prim buildings. That gives the whole place the rather angular look that isn't very fashionable today but even so, it still feels so much more real than most modern highly detailed mesh scenes.
There are several reasons for this: the relatively low lag, the consistent style (no sore thumbs sticking out here), the movement (animated birds, chimney smoke, moving cars, trains and canal boats, NPCs who actually interact with you in sensible ways...) and - perhaps most of all - the scale. It's all done close to real life size, no oversized buildings towering over the avatars here:

Enough said! Or not nearly enough... I could go on for ages. But a picture says more than a thousand words, so here we go:

The entry point

Other hypergrid directories and blogs

A list of other resources for people who want to explore the hypergrid. Updated regularly (hopefully).

Web directories

• OpensimWorld

Grid specific directories 

• Kitely
• Osgrid Destination Guide
• Osgrid Grid Map

Zombies!, Outbreak

• Theme: High speed zombie shootup game
• Grid: OS Grid
• Owner: Total Sorbet
• Maturity rating: M
• Rating (1-6):
• Lag: 5
• Design: 5
• Scripting: 6
• Experience: 6
• Address (Copy and paste into map search box):
• Local: Outbreak
• Hypergrid: hg.osgrid.org:80:Outbreak

 A high speed shootup game on the hypergrid? Is that even possible???
No, of course it isn't but Total Sorbet made one anyway. She's a master scripter after all so impossible is no hindrance.

The instructions are simple:

She should have added:

• Always run! and...
• Wear a low lag avatar

Yes, that is important. Total Sorbet may be able to do the impossible but only if we help her. Keep the lag down.
No slow loading mesh avatars or mesh clothing. Nobody has time to see how gorgeous you look anyway.

A simple system avatar with a few essential attachments is all you need. That's more like it!

This is not only for your own sake but for other players too because:

 

That's right! The zombies are all NPC clones of former players. Next time you play, yu may even have to kill yourself in there. I once shot OS Grid Head Honcho Dan Banner and only seconds later the whole game crashed. They say it was just a coincidence but I don't kow...

Once you're in, accept the gun and the HUD, go into mouselook mode and run to the central plaza.

The zombies are few, slow and easy to kill at first so in the open space and with a bit of luck (and if you rememebr to watch your back) you shold be able to finish off a few even on your first run.

But don't get too cocky, they are growing tougher and faster as the game progresses. And they start to gang up to. When the game runs full tilt, there are no less than 40 zombies out to get you!

The zombies sometimes drop items and you can pick them up by running over them. It's the health package (restoring all your health point), the speed package (increasing your speed) and above all, the bomb that clear the entire area for zombies in one go. You really, really, really want those.

And then there are those orange OS Grid symbols that give you a few extra points (only go for them when it's safe) and the shotgun - slow to reload and it wears out after a minute or so but it backs a much heavier punch than your little handgun.
I didn't get pictures of those - I was too busy trying to survive - but you get the point.

So head over for an exciting experience. OS Grid is the grid, Outbreak is the sim, zombies are the game.

What is this thing called hypergrid and who wants to explore it?

The Hypergrid is a virtual world...

No!

It's a lot of interconnected virtual worlds! Anybody can create their small or big world and connect it to the grid. Some of these worlds are private but many are open to the public.

If only we could find them...

Hopefully this blog will help a little bit.