Machinima by CLARK
Originally published in RezLibris Magazine
The Texas Library Association in Second Life is currently sponsoring an exhibit called Virtual Texas. According to Valibrarian Gregg, Texas Librarian, the idea for the exhibit came about after she met Jacon Cortes, co-owner of the Antiquity Texas and Antiquity Tejas sims, at an ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) conference that had been held both in San Antonio, Texas, and in Second Life. “The Texas Library Association built an exhibit using his (Cortes’) Alamo façade as a backdrop,” Gregg said. The exhibit also includes SL universities that are in Texas, a few virtual books, and other historical and period items.
The Virtual Texas exhibit will run through April on Info Island and will then be featured at the Texas Library Convention in Austin. Gregg, along with Cortes, is conducting tours of the exhibit as well as the Antiquity Texas sim itself. The tours run for two hours and conclude with fireworks and dancing. There have been two tours and possibly a third will be given in April before the exhibit is taken down.
Antiquity Texas is a role-playing sim that is one of around 40 sims that are part of the Kingdom of Antiquity community of Victorian role-play sims, each of which is privately funded. Some other sims in this group include Antiquity Tejas, Antiquity London, Antiquity France, Antiquity New Europe, Antiquity Harbor, and Antiquity Prairie. Western, Victorian, or period dress is recommended for visitors to Antiquity Texas, and free outfits for men and women are available at the landing point where several tours around the sim originate, including an audio walking tour, horse-drawn buggy tour, and hot air balloon ride.Describing how Antiquity Texas came about, Cortes explained that he, his rl brother, Tocho Cortes, and a business partner, Pixapao Xeno, had not originally planned on creating a historical sim. They initially wanted to expand their business, Los Texanos Beaux Arts, an ornate shop selling jewelry and other items that is the main shop currently on Antiquity. “When it came time to decide for a building to place our new shops in, we thought about what kind of building we wanted and where it would be located,” Cortes said. “We thought about different buildings, different themes, that would add to designs before we decided on the Texas Capitol Building. My brother and I, both being from Texas and very proud of our state and its history, convinced our partner on the Capitol. Pixapao, in turn, had a recommendation for a builder and we set off to recreate the Capitol. Once we had the Capitol built, I placed a rough Alamo next to the central plaza. Thus Antiquity Texas evolved.”
Besides the Capital and the Alamo, there are many places to see and visit on Antiquity Texas, including the Governor’s Mansion, Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loret, and the Port Isabel Lighthouse, to name a few. Cortes described the process of recreating historical details for the buildings: “The majority of buildings were built by Master Builder Powder Pinkenba. Powder has a fantastic eye for detail. He used original blueprints that we found on the Library of Congress website to plan and build the buildings. For the Capitol, my brother, mother, sister, and I drove to Austin to photograph the Capitol to use for the textures. As for the other buildings, we tried to make them as close to possible, in our minds, as the building looked like in the early 1800's. Using images from the Net, Powder would work to create realistic reproductions.”
“I think the reason the librarians got involved in this,” Gregg said, “is because Antiquity Texas is such a wonderful example of an immersive learning environment where one can actually enter an historical era. The TLA SL group is very appreciative of the hospitality shown by Jacon and Tocho Cortes.” Cortes added, “If somebody in real life who could not come to the Texas Capitol building or to the Alamo could come and visit and learn about Texas history in this sort of way, I think it’s good on all different kinds of fronts. It is the goal of Antiquity Texas, and Los Texanos, our group, to continue to build on our historical foundations and be able to offer a fun community of role-play to enjoy it in.”
Slurl to Virtual Texas Exhibit: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/61/94/23
Slurl to Antiquity, Texas: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Antiquity%20Texas/153/38/22
Links for Further Information on Texas and Historical Sites:
Alamo http://thealamo.org/main/index.php
Governor's Mansion and Texas Capitol http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/tspb.htm
Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loret http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=754&ResourceType=Building
Port Isabel Lighthouse http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/port_isabel_lighthouse/
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