Comic information: Posted: April 1st, 2010 Comments:Comments Off on Kennyland Theme Park OPEN SOON! Keywords:Kennyland, Second Life
I know you don’t believe it, but it’s true. In celebration of the comic’s 2nd anniversary, Kennyland Theme Park will have its grand opening in Second Life, in the Furnation Vista region(with easy access to the sandbox). I figure if the comic is web-only, why not have the theme park web-only? I’m pretty sure this is a FIRST in webcomics history. An independent web-only comic, with a theme park.
You have to have the Second Life program AND A VERY GOOD COMPUTER WITH BROADBAND to visit. For those with slower/older computers, I will have videos up around the grand opening.
The park can be visited now, but I still have a lot of texturing to do(plus sound effects!). Text placeholders are on the comic trail where panels of certain comics will be. If you’ve read the entire Funky Skunk storyline, you’ll know what’s going on. I recommend coming again when it’s completely finished, but it’ll be a good sneak peek. For people using the new Second Life Viewer 2.0(now out of beta), you can also see the latest comic on the stage, as well as my favorite YouTube videos.
So, judging by the zero response to the theme park post yesterday, I’ll just assume that people took my word for it that the theme park is happening. Now that it’s after April Fools’ Day, you can know for sure that this is the truth. I don’t know if anybody teleported to it, I don’t even have a feedback box set up on the property.
There’s not much to look at yet. I really hoped for an April 1st opening day, especially since I’ve been planning this since December. It seemed a good day to unveil something that’s initially unbelievable(plus, the whole 2nd anniversary of the comic thing). Unfortunately, most of the months were spent finding out what I can’t do in the Second Life virtual world. My initial plans had heavy use of springboards, but when I started testing, they never worked for other people. Turns out, many regions don’t allow objects to push avatars around, although they’ll work on the object’s owner. Bummer.
Eventually, I came up with the attractions listed in the ad. Those are the actual attractions currently. The comic trail will be like a roller coaster, but since roller coasters in Second Life often slow the entire region down, and aren’t all that thrilling in a virtual environment anyway, I opted for a runner-coaster. I actually ran on a roller coaster’s track in one region, and it still played the sound effects. THAT was fun. I’m a roller coaster, wheeee!!! This runner coaster will have comic panels telling the story of Kenny’s and Funky’s rivalry. Due to time, and space, I focus on the end, right with their big fight. I think this will be a rather innovative way of presenting comics. Plus, Funky’s robot is fully-rendered in 3D and is smacking at you(one of the few finished items currently there). Getting the comic panels inserted is the next thing on my list, as they’re crucial to the ride.
There will be a dodgeball room with one of the dodgeball comics on the wall. Currently, they’re beach balls. Because that’s what I have. Considering I had a springboard tester who simply came because they saw a beach ball, I believe at least one beach ball will stay for visual interest. Hopefully I can get some dodgeballs launching around at the visitor. Just outside the door will be Badgerkun bandages for sale.
The only finished attraction at the moment is the display of the latest comic in English and Spanish. I hope this will raise the awareness of the comic by being visible to passers-by. People can also watch my favorite YouTube videos, updated every time I hit “favorite” on a video. People are excited about YouTube finally being able to be viewed in Second Life. The comic and YouTube video are only visible to people with the new Viewer 2.o, otherwise I have it set as invisible. Eventually I’ll texture a message for people who have other viewers or have media turned off.
My goal for the rides is not to make imitations of real-world rides, but rather to make attractions as if theme parks originated on Second Life. I’ve ridden recreations of certain rides in Second Life(had to do my research), and they’re downright boring in a virtual setting. I’m working on re-thinking what a theme park should be on Second Life, focusing on things you can only do in the safety of a virtual environment, like dropping the guest 100 meters, putting them in the middle of several moving objects, overriding body movements for comical effect, etc. I’m really interested in seeing what possibilities there are with this. I have a park. Now I get to find ways to theme it.
I’ll have more updates as stuff happens at the park(grand opening is April 7th!), and videos will hopefully be soon. If you’re on Second Life, you can now visit and join the Kennyland news updates group to get those updates within Second Life.
So now you can enjoy the comic coaster or kick some dodgeballs around(or get hit by that one rogue ball). There are a few comics up there, including the panels along the comic coaster(a.k.a. “Comic Trail” or “Runner Coaster”). If you have Second Life 2.0, the latest comic is visible on the stage.
Coming soon will be virtual merchandise, a more fully-textured dodgeball area, and sound effects! Videos are still on their way. I want to get the theme park more finished before I record. I now have a tips booth, in the style of a ticket booth. The suggested tip equals around 10 cents(US). Also, the grand sign is in front now! I decided it would be most visible at ground level.
If you look at the top bar of KennyChronicles.com, you’ll also see a link called “Theme Park”. That’ll make it easier to find the link to teleport there. Speaking of that, you can teleport also by clicking here! Requires the Second Life program, a Second Life account, a fast computer and broadband internet. This is why I’m also making sure to have videos soon.
If you don’t have Second Life, this is your chance to experience the comic coaster at Kennyland! This attraction takes you through the storyline that starts with Kenny’s attempted murder on Funky Skunk. The ride’s finale was the main selling point for choosing this storyline.
Editing out all the times Second Life lagged, or times when my computer wasn’t fast enough for more than 5 frames per second, is hard work. Also, finding a screen recording program that works, is free, AND doesn’t bog down an already RAM-hogging activity. Eventually I found Camstudio, which I recommend for recording Second Life activity now.
…across the walkway! The new plot is more open and is connected to the sandbox. I figure connecting my hangout with the main hangout can only be good, and the previous owner happened to miss their last rent payment, leaving it free for me(or someone else) to grab. I think all links are updated now, except those in past posts, which I don’t plan on updating since this is an update already.
Also, last week I added a water slide!
To coincide with the geeky holiday “Towel Day“, I now have beach towels at Kennyland! For today only, the towels are free. What’s more, there’s a Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy towel that’s ONLY available today! It can be sent to friends so that you can be sure that they know where their towel is.
Got Second Life or want it? Get to Kennyland by clicking here!
UPDATE: Towel Day was a success! Over 80 towels were given away. Now that Towel Day is over, the towels are L$10, which equals 3-4 cents(U.S.). If you want the Don’t Panic towel, you can just contact Kenny Panache and I’ll send it for free look in the freebie box up front! I’d like to see it get spread around more.
UPDATEUPDATED(July 12): I now have a freebie box that has the Don’t Panic towel in it, as well as a Kennyland beach ball!
From the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value — you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-tohand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you — daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
Hence a phrase which has passed into hitch hiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)
There will be a fireworks show in Second Life today! Well, there will be many, but there will also be one at Kennyland, the official virtual theme park of Kenny Chronicles!
In front, you can find a bbq grill that gives hamburgers, a box that gives sparklers, and a cart that gives ice cream cones, all free! On the dancing deck, there’s a cannon that shoots beach ball cannonballs, and there are 2 small fireworks shooters on either side of the swimming pool aimed at each other. After Independence Day, the firework launchers, sparklers and hamburgers will go away. I’ll try to find reasons to bring the grill out more often, though. It may stick around an extra day.
If you have Second Life, come join us at 6pm Second Life time(that’s 8pm CST) for a fireworks show with a nuclear finale.
Comic information: Posted: July 29th, 2010 Comments:Comments Off on Full-On! Keywords:Kenny, Kennyland, Second Life
I have created a FULL-ON DOUBLE-RAINBOW behind Kennyland! It’s so intense! WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
If you’re not familiar with this particular meme, please watch this video, and maybe even some of the funny parodies that YouTube suggests.
In “Double Rainbow Land”, as I choose to call it, I’m also selling virtual t-shirts for your Second Life avatar with a double rainbow. It’s a double-pack, appropriately. The two shirt designs are shown to the left. Â Also included is the rainbow you see in the comic(includes a resizable version and a texture). The park now has a box of Lucky Charms and a bag of Skittles at the end of the rainbows, just because.
ALSO: Double Rainbow beach towels with scrolling rainbow texture! Yes, an animated texture on a beach towel. The wonders of virtual environments.
It’ll be rainbowing for a limited time, so check it out before I build the next park, which realistically might be in a month. Depends on how long it takes to build that thing. I’ll give you a little warning before the rainbow fades away.
Coming soon will be virtual merchandise, a more fully-textured dodgeball area, and sound effects! Videos are still on their way. I want to get the theme park more finished before I record. I now have a tips booth, in the style of a ticket booth. The suggested tip equals around 10 cents(US). Also, the grand sign is in front now! I decided it would be most visible at ground level.
