FURZONA II – FRACTURED – A MARVEL IN HIGH-TECH: BYJOSH (THOMAS1 BELLIC)

I recently attended the Grand Opening of the hottest, most creative, and arguably the absolute finest club to be found anywhere on the grid in the past 16 years! Furzona – Fractured.  The first impression you get when you land at the arrival area for Furzona 2020, is one of space.  The sightlines extend off into the distance.  As you look out over the expanse, your eyes are drawn to the DJ platform at the far end of the massive dance floor.  Almost three stories tall from floor to ceiling with balconies and comfortable lounge areas, interspersed with expansive gaming areas. This sim is the result of a true team effort, using a software development approach, with Game as the designer, and Aki Norin as the builder, bringing the dream to (second)Life.

And then there are the people.  The electronic energy of the room is magnified by the bodies of the dancers, Club staff, and other onlookers. While the bulk of the group is on the dance floor itself, others wander around the club grounds, exploring this monument to Imagination, descending the grand staircase, admiring the artwork, or exploring the many kiosks that line the entry area with items found nowhere else on the entire grid.

It was there, tucked away in the corner of the room, I found Game Wylder, one of the true Visionaries behind Furzona.  

JOSH BELLIC (JB): Hi there, Game.  What an amazing new place you have here.  In what ways is Furzona II different from its predecessor?  What makes this place truly unique among sims?

GAME WYLDER (GW): The difference between V1 (our anniversary build) and V2 (Fracture), is mostly our expansion. We wanted to expand the entire venue, expanding upon not only the physical form, but also the concept of the club. We wanted to re-incorporate EVERY aspect of the original build in the new one. We didn't just want to build it bigger, but Better. We wanted to take the six months of research and development into a massive overhaul of the entire experience.

JB:  Fracture is obviously much larger than the original Furzona. In fact, with few exceptions, it is probably larger than most every club out there today.  What is the capacity of Club Fracture?

GW:  Since we used to share the sim with other parcels, it used to be under 100 patrons, but now, we can go as high as 110. We've fit up to 90 people in the previous club, but it felt claustrophobic. Now, we can stuff 100 people in here with it still feeling spacious.

JB:  Are Mesh builds really that much better? What advantage does a “Full Mesh Build” have over a Prim- build?

GW:  Prims are good, but when making complex structures, Mesh is the way to go. We can make way more dynamic builds when we do it straight from Blender. The biggest advantage is the optimization when the club is empty, a moderate machine should be able to run up to 90 FPS. We wanted to make sure Furzona can run on almost any machine.

JB:  This is the first I have heard of Furzona II.  How long has Fracture been in development?

GW: It's been in development for about 2 months, we've kept it a very close secret between managers. We wanted to take our time on this project. The last build felt somewhat rushed, whereas this one feels extremely flushed out and optimized.

JB:  I see signs around the place that talk about “Red versus Blue”?  What is that concept as it applies to your club here?

GW: Furzona has always been a Red and Blue themed club. So, we like to play on the Red vs Blue theme, that is prevalent in most games like Halo.

JB:  You have an area on the upper level called the Wall of Gratitude.  What is that all about?

GW:  We recently started up a Patreon for any people who wish to support the club ( http://www.Patreon.com/clubfurzona.  We had a lot of people approach us, and ask us how they could donate, so we decided to setup a way for them to do it proper. The Wall of Gratitude is a wall designed for those who support us at the $5 tier.

JB:  Tell us about some of the events you plan for Fracture?

GW:  We will continue to do our weekly events.  Our next event after Fracture is the GYC pride event on the 26th.  GYC is one of the Adult Furry Clubs on the Grid, it stands for Gay Yiff Club lol. It's the #1 Furry club in SL. So, we wanted to work with GYC to do a LGBTQ+ Pride event, and we're hosting that next week. Outside of that, we are planning seasonal events, like a summer event, some video game themed events, and community events!

JB:  Are you already thinking about your next grand Project?  And what might that be?

GW:  One step at a time, we wanted to put all our focus on Fracture before thinking about the next big thing. Rest assured, now that Fracture is open, we have begun planning for our next big thing.

JB:  Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about Fracture? The floor is yours, Sir.

GW:  We wanted to thank all of our staff and patrons for supporting us through these past 6 months. We couldn't have made it without your support. Fracture is our gift to all of those who have supported us. We wanted to re-design the club to feel more like a home to all of you. So please, enjoy.

So, there you go, Folks.  If the clubs you are used to visiting have become kinda cold and stale, then you need to TP your pixeled buttocks on over to FURZONA FRACTURED for the HOTTEST tunes, the HOTTEST lightshows, and the HOTTEST  DJs on the grid!    See ya there!  Aloha!

Josh 

SURL:   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Furzona/64/71/2013

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CLUB FURZONA – THE SL HOME FOR RL DJs – JOSH (THOMAS1 BELLIC) REPORTING

When I first met Game Wylder, he was live mixing for a Pirate-themed event at Furzona, one of the hottest clubs on the grid.  Just when I thought I’ve seen it all, I stumble into a nightclub full of peg-legged, eye patch wearing, parrot carrying Furries, dancing to some of the HOTTEST music anywhere on the Grid!  Over the next few minutes, Game described how Furzona  is a club run by RL veteran DJ's who have been mixing for years, and the place is built solely on the passion of Music.  Later on, in between gigs, Game was able to speak with me in greater detail

Josh Bellic (JB):   What inspired you to open Club Furzona?

Game Wylder (GW):  When I first joined Secondlife, I spent a few months figuring out what I wanted to do. I eventually stumbled upon Furzona. I don’t know what, but something enraptured me. It could have been the lights, the people, or the club itself. But something made me want to stay.  I eventually became a DJ at Furzona, and started out as a playlist DJ, just having stupid fun, but over time, I developed my skills and taught myself how to mix. Eventually, I found myself being promoted to Host Manager, and then eventually a Director.  About 5 years ago, the club went on hiatus, as the previous owner wasn’t able to dedicate any more of his time or money to keeping the club open. Around this time, I was already on a hiatus myself.

When I came back a year or so later, now about 3 years ago, things had changed in SL. Many clubs were focused around adult content, and the quality of music had died down. I spent some time club hopping, and decided to hang around a few clubs that somewhat reminded me of Furzona, but just left more to be desired.  I noticed that the problems we had before only got worse, with there being places where people just go afk and poseball. It didn’t sit well with me.  

After someone random accidentally called the Club Furzona Group in SL, an old friend of mine and I started talking, and I had that crazy idea: Let’s Revive Furzona. He and I just started talking logistics for a bit, and eventually, we decided to reach out to some old team members, we immediately got a yes from them, and once we had a handful of people, I reached out to the old owner, to see if we were allowed to use the Furzona name, and we got approval. At that point, there was no turning back, we decided to bring back Furzona for good.

       

JB:  So then, do you have business partners?

GW.  While I am the primary owner, my colleague Todd Squall is in equal ownership. Furzona is not a business, but a passion project of everyone who works here. We're a club run by DJ's with a passion for music, for everyone who's passionate themselves about music.

       

JB:  Tell me about your clientele, please? It seems like a rather eclectic group of music fans.

GW:  We cater to everyone who enjoys music... everyone comes, not just Furries. We have several staff members who don't have furry avs.  While we are more focused towards Furries, we want to provide the best club experience in SL, for everyone to enjoy. Our target is to provide a place with a really cool atmosphere, and to make sure everyone feels welcome.

       

JB:  What types of events do you run here?

GW:  Every Week, we run various events and contests, like game shows, or themed parties, but every quarter of the year, we host giant festivals, akin to Burning Man, or Qlimax.

  

     

JB:  Where do you find your staff?

GW:  Our staff typically start out as patrons who become passionate about the venue. They really get hyped up about the music and the staff. As I said previously, we're all passionate about what we do, and that passion shows. We're all about supporting our patrons, and making them feel welcome. A lot of people have simply turned around and said "I want to help", and they submit an application.

JB:  Do you have plans for expansion of the club and sim?

    

GW:  Oh yeah, we've been working on something. We have a dedicated team of engineers that are constantly testing new technology within Second Life. We have mesh modelers, programmers, and audio visual technicians who work together to bring our stages to life, and we're constantly looking into new ways to improve performance as well as visuals.  Recently, we debuted our new screens. Using video game practices (such as culling) to hide parts of the screens that patrons won't normally see, we can improve render performance for everyone within the club. And these are just the beginning, we wanted to see what was possible within the limitations of SecondLife.

Orson Welles once said; "The enemy of art is the absence of limitations."  When you look under the hood, Second Life is full of limitations, and this results in typically poor performance due to an aging engine structure. So at Furzona, we are presented with the following challenge; How can we emulate an EDM Night Club experience without requiring a monster of a computer?  And that's the challenge we're constantly facing; building new HUDs, mesh, and screen technology, while breaking our limitations. Needless to say, I'm proud of the work my team has done, and we cannot wait to debut our new technology, and for those who are interested, you won't have to wait too long.

       

JB:  Anything else you would like to tell our reader?

GW:  When I decided to re-open Furzona, I wanted to do it with one goal in mind; Make people smile. It's not uncommon for me to get a message from a patron or a staff member letting me know just how happy they are to be here, and every time I read those messages, it makes my day.   I didn't rebuild Furzona for myself, I rebuilt it because I felt like something was missing from SL. I wanted to rebuild the one place that was always focused on it's passion for music, events, and most importantly; it's community. We constantly are trying to empower our patrons and staff to share their artwork, share their photos, their projects, and to take pride in their passions, as we take pride in ours.  If you want to stay up to date on our events and community, feel free to join us on Discord, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Here's our links;

Discord: http://discord.furzona.club/

Facebook: http://fb.furzona.club/

Twitter: http://tw.furzona.club/

Website: http://www.furzona.club/

So there you have it folks.  If you have a hankering for one of the best, most realistic nightclub experiences anywhere on the Grid, grab a ride to Furzona – and listen to music played the way it was meant to be.

SURL:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bikini%20Bay/218/166/1501 

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