Siden, a horror, survival and combat sim in Second Life

This might sound strange but I am actually not spending much time in Second Life playing all those games that I write about. I only have a very limited spare time each day and I need to make a choice if I want to blog or just enjoy playing for myself. The last days I have been immersed in two Second Life shooting games leaving me less time to write texts for this blog.

Is it a picture or an apparition?

One great roleplay and shooting game that I can't stop playing is the so called Siden combat system on the Siden Survival/Horror sim. It has been around for some time, but I only recently discovered it. The Siden combat system has the most detailed combat system that I have seen so far in Second Life and I am still discovering new things. That's why I hopefully will write a full review at a later stage. Here are what some other bloggers wrote about Siden:

The Grim Combat System - A game construction kit for Second Life region owners

Back in February I reviewed a zombie fighting sim called "Axis of Evil". I was amazed by the game mechanics and the density of NPC monsters on the sim. I also mentioned in the post that the shooter is based upon a system called Grim Combat System (GCS).

The GCS creators claim that their combat system is the fastest growing combat system in Second Life and their region list shows that about 80 regions are offering shooter game experiences based on their system. The GCS approach is different to other Second Life combat systems. GCS does not only provide weapons and a meter that measures the players health. They provide a whole game construction kit for region owners. The GCS system includes - amongst many other items - all kind of monster spawners; exploding cars, barrels and dumpsters; low lag city building kits; scoreboards; recovery systems; fog machines; breakable glas; quest items and even quest NPCs (non playing characters).

First preview pictures of the upcoming Madpea game Unia

Last week Madpea owner Kiana Writer has published first preview pictures of the upcoming game Unia. She also wrote some background information on the origins of the game itself - which isn't revealing anything we don't  already know from Draxtor's video on Madpea.

Image taken from the Madpea blog

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):

A free Star Trek game mod in Second Life - by Loki Eliot

What is Loki Eliot doing if he doesn't work on SL Goonies adventures on his sim Escapades, when he isn't developing his Bashables system and NPC fights, when he isn't developing mini games (or working on his virtual fashion line)? Well he is probably putting together a Star Trek game mod - because he isn't busy enough and because he can.

Picture by Loki Eliot

Loki Eliot has released a first freebie demo pack with two ships and a medical base to regain energy. He explains that the aim of the game is to outfox your opponents and blast them into submission. As you get damaged your ship will emit smoke until finally you will drift in a spin for 30 seconds before regaining control and health. You can get full health back by clicking the Medical Space Stations, but be quick as there is a 60 second wait before the option to click the station returns. Each ship has their advantages and disadvantages.

Attack On Titan 3D fan game mod in SL becomes big hit!

Be aware that the HUD is not sold anymore due to Copyright claims. Find more information here.

Today I discovered that there is a lot of coverage on a new game in Second Life by gamer communities and blogs: the fan game mod is called "Attack on Titan". 

This is the first time ever that I see reports about an SL game outside of the Second Life community and it's a great sign. This could mean that more people start exploring the SL platform for its gaming opportunities. Here are some quotes from blogs about the game:

It may not have an official game yet, but hot new anime "Attack on Titan" (Shingeki no Kyojin) is getting the next best tribute from its fans: a 3D game mod. Second Life builder Moeka Kohime created the mod for the "Second Life" game, including a moddable uniform and the 3D Maneuver Gear used by the anime's characters.GMANEWS

Photo by Ramona.Forcella

Loki's "Bashables" 4.0 and NPC melee fights

When opening his Escapades sim in September 2010, Loki also introduced a 'Bashables' game where you can smash things up using a stick. This system allows you to activate a stick or other weapons to bash things on the island with one click on a bash button of a HUD (heads up display) . When hitting a bashable object, it will dissapear. Sometimes a gift is found when the object is destroyed or the player gets "a monstrous surprise": some of the bashable objects have different monsters that appear when being hit.

Loki has enhanced his Bashables game over the years and with his "Rabbid Rabbits" game and the Bashables 4.0 update, he has added a health status and a "game over" feature. Players without life energy get teleported to a "lost point" on the island.