Life In Blue Mars

Content creation within Blue Mars seems to be a very hot topic right now, what with one of my previous posts showing that it is being grossly misrepresented in other blogging venue's as well. However, as a fellow BM member said to me on a thread, "Don't Feed The Troll." and I have to agree. I got my word out on their first article i was shown, and everyone else seems to have taken care of the second one (which is just as bad). The issue that seems to be on a few minds is the fact that creation is entirely out of game. Ive met some SL creators that rue this idea so much they feel it is necessary for them to forget they ever heard about Blue Mars in the first place. That extent of disapproval for the system seems to be wholly unnecessary. What is one thing people have been bothering LL about for since the beginning of SL? A backup of your own personal assets. People have done just about anything (some even illegally) to get their own objects out of world which has lead to both a set of good tools like Second Inventory and the other spectrum with software like CryoLife, CopyBot and a number of other things that threaten product safety, although provide a means of exporting objects if you only take advantage of it legally. What so many creators should be GLAD about when talking about BM's creation system is that all of your own content is stored on YOUR own hard drive, and not shoddy LL's unstable network. This means no more loss of content, as well as already having the original on your PC, backups are unnecessary unless you wish to copy your 3DS files or your Maya files and so on and so forth. Another issue that many people seem to be latching onto is pricing for the modeling programs available. Now some people would make you believe (PixPol) that since 3DS and Maya and other rather expensive programs are supported by BM that they are the only programs supported by BM. And this is wholly and categorically untrue. Blender, which some would argue is just as powerful as 3DS or Maya, and even in some cases possibly more powerful. Blender is free, highly documented, and anyone with the time and dedication can pick up this amazingly flexible platform and create amazing content. Google Sketchup, another free option has an amazing user interface, some very interesting tool sets and ontop of that has many good tutorials, access to the google warehouse (thousands of objects) and is equally supported by BM for creation. Ive personally used Google Sketchup (as well as 3Ds Max) and i can ensure you that they are indeed supported. So where as some people may be worried that Blue Mars is headed down a corporate restricted path, all I would ask of those people is to take the time to thoroughly research Blue Mars' wiki, Blue Mars' Forums (beta and dev.) and even further more go in world and TALK to the many INDIVIDUAL creators that are so excited to get to work.

Until next time, love you guys.

-Zetsumei Ieyashi