Workin' nine to five

Well, working anyway. I am delighted to announce that I've been hired by Pulse as their store manager / assistant / fixit-girl. This means that I will be spending even more time hanging out at the shop than I already do — but getting paid for it.

In the interests of clarity and disclosure of interests, I should point out this is a new development. My mentions of Pulse in previous posts were not paid for or directed by Eidolon and Lorac, but simply outpourings of my own enthusiasm. I wrote about their clothes and skins because I like them.

In other news but further in the same vein of own-horn-blowing, the Cushicle is damned nearly done! Woot. Stand by for photos.

Facelight

I made a menu-driven, adjustable facelight for Pulse this week, and I'm quite pleased at how well it has worked out. It will be distributed free of charge at the Pulse store in Nip Tuck Island (the dispenser will be there quite soon, in the meantime IM me in-world if you want a copy right now).

Making it was something of a public service, really, because SL is over-full of people with facelights that are just hideously bright. I've seen some that light up entire clubs, and others that were so badly tuned that you couldn't see the wearer's skin at all: the over-bright light washed all the detail out of their skins.

I am surprised to infer how few people really look at their avatars, when I see such things. Why would you spend thousands of L$ on a skin, then wear a badly-made facelight that obliterates all its details? How could you look at yourself wearing it and not see that your skin is utterly featureless and bleached out? Odd.

So, we are distributing dim facelights! They cast just enough light to let people see your lovely features, without blinding other people or spoiling the lighting effects of the sim where you are standing. They are free, adjustable by on-screen dialog, and they work really well. Come and get them!

Busy

My buddy Lorac has been making skins to sell in her shop Pulse, and Corvi and I have been up late every other day for two weeks "test-driving" them for her. Curse the round world and its timezones!

They are lovely skins, quite beautiful, handpainted in a great range of skin tones* and makeup styles — and different appearances of nipples too! Some will be available with freckles, which I like, and she has promised to make a few with the appearance of real lived-in skin: moles and marks and little scars. They are still prototypes so I can't post photos yet, but they should be in the store this weekend!

[Update: they are indeed up, and Eidolon blogged about them, with pictures. (Warning: virtual nakedness. I don't know why it should be necessary to say that, but apparently it is. Sigh.)]

In other news I have also been working on my Cushicle, and it too is progressing quite well as far as appearance goes. The body is made, and has working canopy and propeller; I still want to improve the inside fittings though, to make it softer and more comfortable. I want it to feel more like a living room in a holiday house, than a vehicle. Unfortunately, there is a maximum of 31 prims in a vehicle! I have only three more prims with which to complete the interior furnishings. /me muses quietly.

The Cushicle's flight script is still terrible, though. It will not fly straight up or down, but always moves forward or backward at the same time — randomly! And while flying it changes attitude, its nose sometimes points quite steeply up or down. Ah well, at least I will have something to do this weekend.

* Clarification, to avoid confusion and unhappiness: Pulse released one skin tone last weekend, a lovely light tan in sixteen makeup variations; Lorac is now working on the second tone which will be a Nordic type, a healthy pale-pink skin.