Mythra and Jaq ℛøṡε showed up this Sunday morning to meet me for a feature and interview on something new and exciting. We met and sat down on a bench, in one of their many lovely visiting areas to discuss their new addition to the world of SL.
Tabitha Mercury: This sim, features quite a bit and is quite lovely aesthetically, I have noticed. Who did all the work to make this look so amazing?
Jaq ℛøṡε: Raven ℛøṡε did most of the actual course design, the layout and such, since she has a long history with RL disc golf.. so the planning for that was mostly her…the three of us did the landscaping together and all the golf stuff is custom mesh we made for the game packs.
Tabitha Mercury: So you guys created this Disc Golf+ system or just the mesh items to use for it? (not discounting making the items, that’s hard as heck, I have tried Blender and it won.)
ℳყϯɦrɑ ℛøṡε: *laughs at the Blender winning comment*
Jaq ℛøṡε: (The) whole thing. It's a ground up build all stemming from a simple course refresh idea that we had.. then we kinda ripped up a whole sim and made an LOTR themed course next door.. which we'll have to take you on a tour of some time, we're really proud of it.. and then we were like.. we need a better game…so we made one.
ℳყϯɦrɑ ℛøṡε: Pretty much.
Jaq ℛøṡε: so the game system itself, the hud, the discs, all the course building stuff, tees, baskets, etc.. all new and unique
ℳყϯɦrɑ ℛøṡε: It's all Jaq's fault, really. It all began with a "You know what would be cool..." comment.
Jaq ℛøṡε: yeah, that's accurate lol. But given how good that sim turned out, I'll claim it lol
Tabitha Mercury: hehe, that’s how it starts.
Jaq ℛøṡε: this sim came about to be essentially a demo area, for other course builders who might want to add our game to existing golf courses, or make new, specialized ones. This is your more traditional kinda course.. 9 holes.. 3 tee options per hole.. can hold short form tournaments here and such, but it's also a really fun course.. we have people coming here and testing the new tees we put down.. we have 2 per hole that are fixed and the third we move around with the seasons to keep people guessing
Tabitha Mercury: Honestly, y'all have done something pretty amazing here. You've created a game for SL based on RL, the system, the props, all of it...Can you walk me through a "game" of it for those who don't understand what Disc Golf is still, please?
ℳყϯɦrɑ ℛøṡε: It's a lot like golf, really. Just played with frisbees or 'discs'. Rules are quite similar and scoring is done the same way.
Jaq ℛøṡε: sure .. so disc golf is similar to golf in that it uses a similar set of rules. Obvious differences being balls and clubs are swapped for discs for different lengths and styles of shot.. and the holes are replaced with baskets…you have driver discs, approach discs, and putting discs, depending on how you need to throw.. you have to aim, account for wind.. either curve your short or throw straight.. avoid obstacles.. all that fun stuff
Tabitha Mercury: Ok, thank you very much for that, I think that will help those who might be new to this! Oh wow, so it’s more intricate than I realized!
ℳყϯɦrɑ ℛøṡε: Actually (we) have a fairly large update in the works right now...in the testing phase of things.
Jaq ℛøṡε: it's as close as RL as possible.. and we're constantly revising it and trying to improve it. (It) runs on sim wind, so it's constantly variable.. although for tournaments, you can fix the wind so everyone is dealing with the same conditions
Tabitha Mercury: Whoa! Wait! What’s that? This is actually based upon the winds on SL as well?
Jaq ℛøṡε: oh yes.. Every sim has its own wind system. Our game reads that wind signal from the sim and will affect the discs accordingly, so the wind will vary every time you play but also as you go around.
Tabitha Mercury: Let's say one reads this article, then they want to try it out...What do they need to do when they arrive to use your system?
Jaq ℛøṡε: first thing to do here is to join the group. That will be the same with any golf game, because you'll need certain permissions to be able to use it. Group enables that. We have the game huds for sale in the building behind us.. they are 299, but discounted for members. They'll also be available in partner courses as and when. We already have the game in one well established golf course, Eagle Creek Golf Club.
(Jaq points to the roof of a nearby building.)
Jaq ℛøṡε: if you have a look on top of the building, there's a weather vane that shows the wind strength and direction.. that's actually the thing that talks to the game hud all around the sim, so everyone is playing under the same conditions, (so) you don't have to watch the weather vane when you're playing though, you get a little flag that follows you around when you take your shot, so you can see what the wind is doing when you need to
Tabitha Mercury: Y'all have done an amazing job here. I can't wait to see this take off! A totally new game, developed by some really creative minds. I really do thank you for your time and explanations to show me what you have created for others enjoyment! Before we wrap this up, is there anything else you would like to say?
Jaq ℛøṡε: We really just hope everyone has a bunch of fun with it like we do. All the time and effort that's gone into it is as much for our own enjoyment as it is for creating a product. We made it to enjoy it ourselves, so hopefully that will translate into others enjoying it too. We're trying to get it spread across as many quality golf courses as we can to give people plenty of variety.. and with the new update that will hopefully be released in the coming week or two, I guess.. There are some really exciting changes being made.
In closing, there is so much to do on this sim…from shopping to playing Tron or discgolf+ or dancing to some great tunes, this sim appeals to any fellow “geeks” out there. Check out the photos below for more info!
Additional Information:
Teleport: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Digital%20Frontier/221/176/23
Group: secondlife:///app/group/f7a4c471-f62b-7b9c-2083-2e00691015c6/about
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