Tested, Working And Ready To Play

It took longer than expected, but it appears that I'm almost done with the Archaeorama center in Second Life. Everything is there -- tested, working and ready to play.

I just need some finishing touches before the official opening. I'm pleased to inform you that Archaeorama, the 3D extension of this blog, will open to the public on Sunday, May 18 at 9:00 am Second Life/ PDT Time.

I'm particularly proud of "The Secret Chamber", a free adaptation of the "Amduat - the Book of the Secret Chamber" and the "Book of Gates".

These were important ancient Egyptian funerary texts, and were believed to contain the secret to eternal life.

In order to gain eternal life, everyone who died had to complete a 12-hour journey mirroring the journey of the sun god Ra from dusk till dawn.

At the Archaeorama center, avatars who enter the Secret Chamber will have to take that difficult itinerary, and go through twelve dangerous regions of the ancient Egyptian underworld, each one corresponding to an hour of the night.

Here is a video preview of what your avatar might expect to find once s/he enters the Chamber.

The video is called "A Pharoah's Journey To The Afterlife" and was partly produced in-world using the machinima technique and hi-res photos of Egyptian tombs.

Pictures are courtesy of Sandro Vannini/De Agostini and are taken from Zahi Hawass' fascinating book “The Royal Tombs of Thebes: A Gateway Through Eternity", published by De Agostini .

In the next postings, I'll give you more information about the Archaeorama opening. Stay tuned!

Comments

[Prof. Muhammad Barker]

Excellent. The artwork and continuity worked well, and I really would enjoy playing a full game of this.