Second Life performance and the state of Game Engines

Nalates recently published a post on the state of Game Engines and the performance of the Second Life platform in comparison. The article has also triggered an interesting discussion in the comments section.

Nalates thinks that the current batch of game engines in the gaming world exceed the capabilities of Second Life and she doubts that Second Life will ever catch up. Nalates shows a demo of the Unreal Engine 4 platform called "Infiltrator" and she comes to the conclusion that making something like Infiltrator in SL is currently not possible.

She says that in SL we have had the ability to use most of the tools professional game designers use; 3DS, Blender, Maya, and others for over a year. So, we could build pretty much everything one sees in games designed with the Unreal engine [...]. 

We can make the buildings, the characters… mostly, the clothes, and most of what you see in the demo video. We can even make most of the particle effects. What we can’t do is have the action displayed in the video; fast moving characters and massive explosions with shrapnel flying everywhere amid great balls of flame.

Can Desura become a platform to promote game mods in Second Life?

There has been quite a lot of blogger coverage on Linden Lab's move to buy the Desura platform. So far Desura is Steam for indie games. I am wondering if the purchase of the platform hasn't the potential to bring game developers closer to Second Life. As Inara Pey points out  in the blog post, "Desura - grand ambitions", Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble expresses the aim to enlarge the portfolio of Desura:

[We want] to make it the most open, developer- and user-friendly distribution service for all kinds of digital goods, starting out with games and mods and going from there. For us it’s a natural step… We’re about user-to-user transactions and empowering people’s creativity. [Rod Humble]. [Inara Pey concludes:] This is a pretty hefty ambition, and [...] while this is pure speculation on my part, could it perhaps also be that LL have their eye on content creators interested in being able to sell their mesh creations to users of virtual worlds – not just SL, but OpenSim (and perhaps even Cloud Party)? (Inara Pey)

Desura - Now by Linden Lab

What I found even more interesting was the subsequent  discussion in the comments - as the new Desura product range wouldn't just have to be mesh creation:

What happened to "Attack on Titan" fan game mod? And how could LL support users to build legal fan made content?

My previous posts: 
1) "Attack on Titan" fan game mod becomes a big hit
2) Copyright holder stops fan game mod 

NWN blogger Hamlet Au has published a post reporting on the discontinuation of the "Attack on Titan" (AoT) fan game mod in Second Life. There is also an interesting discussion going on in the comments. As a professional journalist he highlights the fact that there has been no official confirmation that the game has been pulled back due to a copyright claim. Hamlet mentions my blog post and that I stated that it was pulled for copyright reasons.

I have to admit that the game creators and supporters have NEVER officially confirmed that the game was closed due to a copy right claim. However the Youtube video presenting the fan game mod and the Flickr pictures of the Second Life game gear have been taken offline due to copyright claims (according to statements on both websites) at exactly the same day as the vendor of the SL fan game mod has been removed. So there is no witness testimony but the circumstantial evidence suggests it.

Some thoughts on Second Life as a platform for games and scripted experiences

I came across a really well written article by Mona Eberhardt on the potential and limits of Second Life as a game platform. She centers her article on MadPea Games and the Drax Files - which I have already covered before and which I will therefore not concentrate on in this post:

"We often go to great lengths to point out that Second Life is not a game, as so many people tend to say in order to dismiss it, and rightly so. First of all, because, from a technical standpoint, Second Life indeed has none of the ingredients we expect to find in a computer game: there is no scenario, no goal or sub-goals, no levels, no score-keeping mechanism, no specific objectives etc. But that doesn’t mean that SL is not a viable platform for gaming: from role-playing games to thinly-veiled gambling and from combat to adventure, in-world games are one of the reasons that keep many users faithful to this virtual world. Indeed, Second Life, despite its many technical shortcomings, is no slouch as a game development platform, and the variety of in-world gaming experiences is testament to this."

Picture of Mona Eberhardt

Copyright holder of "Attack on Titan" stops fan game mod in SL

Rest in peace, Attack on Titans in SL. It was good as long as it lasted but the copyright holders of the manga series closed it down. Well not entirely: those people who bought the gear can continue playing. The battle arena is still up and running. But it is not possible for new players to buy it. Luckily I got my gear before the vendor was closed.

At least the battle arena is still up and running

I really hope that the developers will now create a new gear that is different from the manga series but with the same/similar game mechanics. It would be too bad if other people couldn't join the fun!

The development of fan art based articles has become a minefield in our digital times and a lot of items that have been tolerated or even supported in the past are now banned. Second Life user Nathan Adored explains in a blog post comment how a vendor of Star Trek fan art got into troubles (full comment here):

Slug Fest 2013 - The Second Life United Gamers Gaming Festival

I received a notcard last night about a gamers festival going on this week-end. So you have today for stopping by and having a look. The best overview on the festival that I could find is on the Virtual Outworlding blog.

I also received the following notcard:

Slug Fest 2013 Information 
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LSL - the reason why there isn't much interactive content in Second Life

I have been planning for a few months already to write a blog post why there isn't much interactive content in Second Life. Today I saw a post by Loki Eliot, usually one of the most enthusiastic game creators. I have covered some of his game creations and other activities on my blog. Two days ago he needed to relieve his heart from some frustrations that he experienced while working with Second Life as a platform. 

Loki Eliot on his sim "Escapades" (photo taken from his SL feed)