Kitten Avatar Update + New Coat Announcement!

Today, I’m glad to announce that the Kitten avatars are undergoing a long-awaited update, which includes additional Bento functionality plus a brand new animation override. This updated avatar is now available in shop, along with one completely new line – the Bicolour coat pattern!

If you already have one (or more) of either the Tabby or Cheshire avatars and purchased it off the Marketplace, you can expect an automatic delivery for each within the next twenty-four hours. A limited number of recent in-store purchases will also receive this automatic update. If you do not receive your update by Jan 17 2018 (EDT), please see below before contacting me by IM:

If you purchased in-store prior to Christmas and do not recieve an update automatically, please come to the main shop and rez your update token (found in your original Kitten package). There may be a delay but you should still get your update that way. If it times out, please contact me (Aki Shichiroji) directly by IM.

This new bicolour pattern is very much intended to reference the ‘tuxedo’ look that many bi-colour cats have. Five colours are available in this line and these new kittens will include Bento functionality, just like the updated originals!

Changes (2018/01/15):

– Facial and tail Bento support
– New Animation Overrider HUD featuring advanced facial animations specifically for this avatar
– Update system now also uses the blue circle exchanger system (Read the included notecard for full details).

Known issue: RFL Purple Cheshire has not been addressed in this update but will be within the week. Please stay tuned for further info.

Relevant inquiries:
Will the applier system used for several other recent releases also be used for the kitten avatar?
– While the possibility is not closed to this, the logistics are non-trivial. The Applier system will not be applied to the kitten avatars at this time.

Will dev-kits and/or clothing be made available for these avatars?
– Both are being taken in to consideration at this time and both are very likely. Again, the logistics of packaging and managing a growing number of coats for this avatar are something that I need to become accustomed to before I will have time to address either. Please IM me to let me know of your interest!

Will animesh support be provided with this avatar?
– It’s a bit early to comment, but animesh for this avatar is quite likely. In all likelihood, Animesh support will involve a customized kit that can be dropped in, but given that these details are rather abstract, the final execution may be somewhat different. There are also some non-mesh and non-rigged components which would need to be converted for use with Animesh should a conversion occur, so I would need to account for the additional time cost for this work.

Stay tuned to the Subscriber Kiosk or the in-world group notices for further news about this or other releases from Wilds of Organica! Join the Subscriber kiosk ( here ) or the in-world group ( here )!

Thank you for your ongoing support!


If you like what you see but don’t think it’s quite right for you, perhaps consider donating to my Patreon? Your continued support helps to produce weekly content (written, modelled, animated or otherwise) and helps to keep original content creation in Second Life!

Two More Candy Fair 2017 Releases!

As promised, a number of other new items are now also available this week (thru Dec 1!) at Candy Fair!

Alongside the Cat Ears & Tails, there will also be the following:

Much like the Cat Ears & Tails, these Bento attachments come with the short ear & long tail AO, which is intended for layering over existing human AO animations. They come with lifetime updates and are optimized for use with viewers which use the Advanced Lighting Model. They are mod, copy, no transfer , with some no-mod scripts.

This Candy Fair edition of webbed wings is much like the original release, in that it includes both small and large mesh, as well as AO, for various body shapes. They come with lifetime updates and are optimized for use with viewers which use the Advanced Lighting Model. These, too, are mod, copy, no transfer, with some no-mod scripts.

You can pick up the Cat Ears & Tail, Mouse Ears & Tail & Candy Fair Edition Webbed Wings at Candy Fair here until December 1! (Some previous years’ Candy Fair gacha releases are also available again at the Gacha Gardens there too!)

See you there!

Coming Soon at Candy Faire

A few new items are in the works for Wilds of Organica’s debut at Candy Faire (previous years it was Organica Specialty Landscaping & Decor) – What I can talk about so far includes this new Ear and Tail release for those who appreciate the feline persuasion!These Bento-enabled and animated attachments take advantage of advanced materials to produce a realistic fluffy and furry texture.

Eight treat-themed colours are available and these attachments come with an AO HUD for layering over top normal human animations! (Please note – does not come with its own human anims).

Other items are also in the works, time permitting, but this is what I can talk about so far.

Candy Faire opens on November 17 and runs thru December 1st! This and other products will be exclusively available there during the event! (They’ll hit the main store and Marketplace afterward) Further info on this next week!

 


Did you know I have a Patreon account? If you enjoy this content, please consider becoming a Patron! It helps me create more like it and offers a variety of rewards. Alternatively, if you like the sorts of things that I make for Second Life, drop by my Marketplace listing or my in-world stores and check out what I have to offer!

Unless otherwise noted, I (Aki Shichiroji) and this blog are not sponsored in any way. My thoughts are my own and not indicative of endorsement by any associated or discussed product/service/company.

Drider 1.01 Updates

An update is now available to the Drider avatar as the result of feedback accumulated over the past week!

After a considerable amount of time spent testing various mesh body demos (both male and female), I was able to ascertain that the vast majority of mesh avatars fit the initial mesh body shape with minimal issue, assuming default male or female body shapes were used. A small number of mesh bodies did not fit this norm (or did  not have sufficient alpha granularity). For these, a special version of the avatar mesh was made, featuring a wider and slightly deeper hip area.

There have been additional resources added to the main documentation, including a full list of bodies tested, whether they are compatible and, if so, what the appropriate alpha settings would be.

Additionally, after some feedback regarding attachment points, I was able to go back in to the avatar file and reposition a fair number of attachment points. Attachment points for the front legs should now all match up to their appropriate bones. Wing attachment points now match up with the second set of legs (lowest joint). Hind attachment points now match up with the third set of legs (lowest joint). Tail base and Tail tip were found to not be movable, so tail base fits the top of the right hind leg and tail tip moves to the top of the left hind leg.

Additional testing involved the most ideal attachment point for adding things to the abdomen – For this purpose, I recommend Pelvis. Spine is affected by the position of the torso, groin doesn’t play well with the bones being used for the spider thorax & abdomen.

Please note: One attachment point will give you up to five attachment slots to use at that one point. To use multiple attachments per point, simply ‘add’ instead of ‘wear’.

All vendors and marketplace listings have since been updated – to check if your package is up to date, please check the description field of your avatar’s box. If it predates 2017/10/21, please exchange your avatar at the Wilds of Organica Avatar Exchanger, which is currently located here (but which you can always find a SLURL for in Aki Shichiroji’s profile (under Picks> Gacha Exchange Policy and exchanger location).

Lastly – there have been some inquiries about a dev kit for the drider avatar. There are plans for this, but it is not available at this time. Interested parties should keep an eye on this blog, join the in-world group or the Discord server for announcements regarding applications and availability.

The Driders Are Here!

Just in time for Halloween, the Driders have made it to Wilds of Organica!

This avatar is a lower body, Bento-rigged attachment designed for use with both male and female shapes! Six coats are available and each package includes the avatar body mesh, an alpha layer, and animation overrider. The avatar is mod, copy, no trans, with some no-mod scripts for updates.

Full, most up-to-date documentation can be found here!

Please note! This avatar uses hind, wing, and tail bones! It may be incompatible with other Bento-enabled products – please try a demo first, as I cannot give refunds (other than for duplicate purchases).

Available in store or on the Marketplace!

 

Work in Progress: Drider Week 4

This week has been a little crazy in meat-space; after taking care of some familial obligations and picking up some supplies, some long needed house-painting took place on Monday. A little later in the week, I was able to put in a couple more sessions working on this staff sculpt for HelpfulNerd, who’s printing, painting and finishing this for one of his clients’ costumes! 

In particular, I’ve really been enjoying ZBrush 4R8’s new live boolean functionality! It takes a little bit of figuring out, but once you get the hang of working with positive and negative shapes, you’ll probably find that it’s quite flexible and like playing with invisible clay.

That doesn’t mean progress has stopped with the Drider, though, and I’m happy to show some sneak peeks of the looks that’ll be available:

Moving forward, I’ll be seeking out testers, tying up necessary animations, packaging and doing some more detailed photography for promotional reasons. We are getting very close to release and I’m super excited!

Finally, here’s a quick snapshot of some #inktober – related artwork I put together a couple days ago. It still needs a few tweaks, but I’m glad I was able to rattle off something topical for this event!


Support my content creation in SL and other virtual worlds by becoming a patron on Patreon! Along with keeping up with new releases, you can keep up with personal and work project writeups, see sneak-peeks of upcoming content,  be informed once new videos are up, access to Patreon-exclusive content, giveaways and more! Check out my Patreon page, here: (link)

 

Work in Progress: Drider Week 2/3

The Drider’s moving closer to release! If all goes well, you can expect to see a release within the next 7 to 14 days.

On top of some client work I undertook earlier in the week, a variety of under-the-hood changes and additions took place for the Drider, involving animations, HUD graphics, additional leg hair geometry, LOD optimization, & documentation.

The avatar comes in at about 8LI, which is quite good considering LOD compromises had to be made in order to maintain silhouette at the ‘Low’ level. A fair number of my other gacha avatars are also in this range.
Over the next couple of days, I’ll be refining the documentation, working out final textures, refining animations, packaging and seeking out testers for feedback! If you’re already a Patron at any donation level, you already have preferred access for beta-testing this avatar – Otherwise give me a shout and I’ll put you on the list of folks to nag for feedback 😉

I’m really happy that this has come along as quickly as it did and really look forward to releasing it for the Halloween season. If you have any particular colour/pattern requests, this is probably the time to IM me with them. I can’t guarantee they’ll make the cut, but I will certainly consider them.


Support my content creation in SL and other virtual worlds by becoming a patron on Patreon! Along with keeping up with new releases, you can keep up with personal and work project writeups, see sneak-peeks of upcoming content,  be informed once new videos are up, access to Patreon-exclusive content, giveaways and more! Check out my Patreon page, here: (link)

 

Work in Progress: Kitten update progress

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a variety of changes have been in the works for the kitten avatar. This week has been characterized heavily by creation of two new series of coats for them – you can look forward to bi-colour and siamese coats in the short term future. Additionally, updates are being made to the existing tabby & cheshire coats which take in to account new geometry and animations.

New mouth textures. Tooth geometry to follow.

There’s still a ways to go – part of the new work on these kittens has to do with a new mouth – and I still need to propagate these to all of the head textures. Teeth will also be added. Edge touch-ups and tail coat matching are also necessary.

I’m still thinking about the best way to implement facial animations for this avatar – In all likelihood I’ll be implementing it in much the same way that facial animations were handled with the FishEyes and Yetis, although this would confine the provided animations to a maximum of eight. Additional tinkering will also be possible using facial HUDs like the one put out by LightStar.

LOD optimizations are complete. Some tweaks to the top level mesh are also in order. Setup for compatibility with the exchanger/updater is in the works. Testing and repackaging are on the horizon.

I’ve had the chance to explore SL a little bit as the drider this week and (apart from a common unease around spiders 😉 ) generally have received positive response. Animation for the avatar continues and I’m looking forward to making at least one version of the avatar available some time in October.

Additionally, some time this coming or next week I’ll be working on landscaping and accessory items for both the Halloween and Xmas season, with Candy Fair stuff next week as well. If there are particular things you wish existed in SL that fall in my wheelhouse, do give me a shout via IM and I’ll consider putting it on my list!


Support my content creation in SL and other virtual worlds by becoming a patron on Patreon! Along with keeping up with new releases, you can keep up with personal and work project writeups, see sneak-peeks of upcoming content,  be informed once new videos are up, access to Patreon-exclusive content, giveaways and more! Check out my Patreon page, here: (link)

Centaur Avatar Updates & New Coats

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Centaur avatar has been awaiting some pretty major updates as the new applier system has been in development.

The system wasn’t quite ready for prime time when they were first released, but over the past week or so we’ve had the opportunity to buckle down on all the necessary functionality and to offer additional coats while we’re at it.

What’s changed?

So let’s start off with the major changes – The new applier system shall allow third parties to easily & quickly offer new textures for the centaur body without having to worry about potential issues giving textures away.

To use the new appliers, all you’ll need to do is either wear or rez the applier in a script-enabled area  (while wearing your avatar body) then click to apply. Once all aspects of the applier have been sent to your centaur body, the applier can either be detached or deleted.

What does that mean for people who’ve already bought the avatar?

Moving forward, the Bay coat will be the default coat that comes with the centaur body. All other coats will be made available separately using the new applier system.

In order to take advantage of the new appliers, all existing holders of the centaur avatar will need to update to the new version by rezzing a copy of their avatar body on the ground in the blue exchanger circle, located here: (link)

These packages will each include both one copy of the mesh body AND a copy of the appropriate applier.

Cool, but what happens to those people who bought multiple coats?

Each existing avatar holder is eligible to update their avatar and receive the appropriate applier via the exchange process. (Yes, even RFL edition avatar holders!) Additionally, appropriate refunds for the difference in cost between full body & applier shall be handled individually upon request (please be patient as there may be a sizable queue).

How do I create for this avatar?

Finally, as a reminder for interested content creators, applications for dev kits are now open – you can check out the full details in this recent post: (link)

Last but not least, here are four new coats offered as appliers!



Do you enjoy keeping up with my posts but find this product is not quite for you? You can otherwise support my content creation in SL and other virtual worlds by becoming a patron on Patreon. Along with keeping up with new releases, you can keep up with personal and work projects, see sneak-peeks of upcoming content,  be informed once new videos are up, access to Patreon-exclusive content, giveaways and more! Check out my Patreon page, here: (link)

Centaur Developer Kit Availability

The dev kit is nigh! Wilds of Organica has been working hard (with NeoBokrug Elytis of Desolate Studios) to prepare not only the next generation of Centaur coats but an applier and dev kit as well!

This kit, provided on a case by case basis, will provide the opportunity to explore:

  • Texturing – coat, tail, hoof, hoof fringe
  • Animation
  • Accessory/clothing-making

Provided will be several components, including UV maps , applier system (both provided in-world), armature and a decimated version of the model via .blend file format (provided by email).

Terms and Conditions:

A successful application will license you to use the dev kit with some conditions.
Centaur dev kit resources are released as several different components, each with additional separate expectations.

UV layouts & Applier Scripts

  • You may make derivative content based upon the UV layouts. (for example: coats, tail textures)
  • You may make commercial use of your derivative works either with or without the use of the provided Applier scripts.
  • You MAY redistribute the templates, but ONLY as part of the original UV layout notecard.
  • You MAY NOT redistribute this resource notecard or its contents for more than L$0.

Under the following conditions:

Attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified below (but not in any way that suggests that Wilds of Organica endorses you or your use of the work):
Custom coats made with these layouts are intended for use with the Wilds of Organica Centaur avatar. Redistribution of items derived from these resources must be accompanied by a landmark to the Wilds of Organica shop, the SLURL for which can always be found in the profile of Aki Shichiroji.

Armature with decimated model

  • You may make derivative content based upon the work (for example, animations, accessories, clothing)
  • You may make commercial use of your derivative works.
  • You may NOT redistribute the .blend file.

Under the following conditions:

Attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified below (but not in any way that suggests that Wilds of Organica endorses you or your use of the work):
Custom animations, accessories, clothing, and other derivative work are intended for use with the Wilds of Organica Centaur avatar. Redistribution of items derived from these resources must be accompanied by a landmark to the Wilds of Organica shop, the SLURL for which can always be found in the profile of Aki Shichiroji.

Additionally,

The following terms apply to ALL parts of the dev kit:

  • You acknowledge that each application applies to you and you only. If you require a separate license for another avatar, please note the alt account name next to your main in the questionnaire, along with any changes in operating business if necessary.
  • You acknowledge and assert that you do not create products which violate intellectual property rights.
  • You acknowledge that your products do not violate Linden Lab Terms of Service.
  • You acknowledge that the information provided above to be truthful and accurate.

Failure to adhere to the above agreement will result in a DMCA takedown request of infringing works.

When?

Applications are open TODAY via this questionnaire, while final testing and preparation is being undertaken over this week. All applications will be reviewed and developer kits will be sent out within two weeks.

Testing & Feedback

Because developing for Wilds means I’m not always logged in to SL *and* sometimes I’m not able to log in for various reasons (usually working on something else or not at home), Wilds now has a text channel on Discord over here, where testing and feedback can take place. The in-world group will continue to exist, but just be aware that I can’t monitor it all the time.