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Alternatives
I have been left somewhat drained of inspiration in Second Life recently by continual catastrophe and general malaise, and I have been thinking of alternative Models for Industry, as I am of course in constant need of funds, as are we all. Caledon is not free, you know.
Despite my general antipathy towards the production of custom builds, I was thinking that I might offer a service whereby a customer would suggest a specific model of firearm, and I would endeavour to create a replica. I have stated before that I find such things quite relaxing, though it can be quite a bit of work. I would wish to be able to sell the finished product to other customers afterwards, unless a great deal of money was forthcoming, but on the other hand, the purchaser would be able to say "it was I who gave Ordinal the idea for this device, it is special to me" - and they would receive a personally customised version which was not for general sale.
I would be obliged if any readers with Opinions would comment on the matter, and particularly as concerns the matter of price. I would be charging more than the standard for such a service, perhaps twice the subsequent sale price, or more for something that might not sell? It would depend on the difficulty of the thing.
Incidentally, yes, I have noticed the possibility of Restrictions regarding Scripting for certain Members of Society that have been proposed, and whilst I have been commenting on the matter on certain Aethernet Forums I consider that it would be somewhat premature to make a definitive statement, seeing as how the announcement was of such a speculative nature. Idle speculation is the Devil's Playground. If firmer proposals are made I will certainly be making my feelings known. Incidentally it is interesting to see that the Linden "Blog" is at First Place in the rankings of its current publisher, wordpress.com. Apparently there are many curious residents out there demanding immediate information, and good luck to them, say I!
If the demand is commensurate with your willingness to accomodate it, I say forge ahead on custom work. My only caveat is from personal experience. Ensure that you and the customer both have a clear understanding of how much you're willing to change direction midstream if your understanding of the specifications is somehow different from the customer's.
Regarding price, I imagine that would scale with dependency on several factors:
-- likelihood of strong demand for the custom device beyond the original purchaser. If the item has not yet been fabricated and requires custom attention, how likely is it to have widespread appeal?
-- the balance of labor as divided between modeling scripting and texturing. Are you more at home with one versus the others? How relaxing will a custom project be that emphasizes that with which you are less a past master? That was a convoluted sentence, just now. I had better stop here.
I consider this a capital idea, Madam, and, should you implement it, it will be a boon to firearms enthusiasts throughout the Grid. As a purely un-scientific guess, I would think that anywhere from double to triple the price of the eventual item as placed for public sale would be an appropriate figure for the commission, perhaps more if it required exceptionally intensive modeling and/or scripting for whatever reason. You, of course, have such faithfully-replicated pieces as the Webley revolver and Shanxi pistol to act as your "calling cards" for this endeavour, so I anticipate there will be customers willing to meet your price. (Of course, I am not a market analyst by trade, so, should this prediction not pan out, please refrain from having your solicitor pursue me...)
Another possibility is to make the content for a Caledon sim in the future!
Generally this involves some sort of constructive project that defines the character of the sim, and other structures / homes / whatnot that I give 'free' to people who first sign in. Of course, I foot the bill for the first ones and you retain full selling rights after.
If you are making things throughout the course of your Second Life anyway, you might find such a proposal interesting.
I've already worked with Jessica, Charlene, Serra, and now Chrystin in such endeavours, and have spoken about further content development with a number of others.
I do this by invitation only; consider yourself invited and all that matters afterward is to decide upon a sim-specific theme and when we can proceed (takes some time for me to save up for sims, &c).
I would be interested in custom firearms and the possibility of somewhere to use them without greifing. Two that come immediately to mind are the Martini-Henry rifle, a big hard kicking thing that really bruises your shoulder up from firing it. It is the rifle used in many classic colonial campaigns, the most of famous of which would be the Zulu War of 1879.
Another useful firearm to have commonly available would be a sporting shotgun of some sort. This could be combined with some scripted pheasants left around Caledon so that folks could wander about and try to pot them. Perhaps the gun could keep a running total of birds hit so that sportsmen could have contests and the like.
Anyway, ideas are far cheaper than the work to produce them, and I am as yet far too unskilled for this sort of work, so I would happily pay a good fair market value for either of the above.
Hm, the Martini-Henry is a good point - I have already done the Webley if we are considering things in the Imperial military theme, and it is certainly another iconic firearm of the period. That would certainly go on my list. I may contact you regarding it at some point.
As for shotguns, the ducks around Caledon can be shot down with the shotguns which are freely available from dispensers around the place - I'm not sure how many sims the ducks breed in, but they are lousy around Caledon, always bumping into my lighthouse.
I am in the process of developing an open damage system, which would be available for both objects and people, enabling the scoring of hits without having to put oneself into a damage zone, which is not always convenient. The emphasis is less on security than on ease of implementation for all; it would not be suitable for a detailed tournament game, though individuals would be able to pick their own specific channel to use.
Thank you all for your comments by the way, I take each and every one into account. I usually sell weapons for L$300-400, and I would imagine that a commissioned work would be double that for something relatively generic, or around L$1,000 for careful fitting to an avatar, repeated iterations of testing animations and so on. It is something that I shall think upon and announce herein.
Hi Ordinal,
I'll second a long-lever Martini Henry, especially since Alex Chadbourne has period uniforms avaialble. And as I have mentioned before, it really would be nice to have a working Maxim gun--everybody used a form of Maxim it seems, and it's the sort of thing that could go either on a tripod or wheeled mount (depending on what nationality you want to make it) or if you put it on some sort of pintle mount they would make nice secondary armament for airships and patrol boats.
The other thing that would be nice would be a common form of earlier bolt action rifle--someone made a No.4 Enfield that's pretty good, but that of course is a WWII era piece. Maybe a 71/84 or a 93 Mauser?
It all reminds me of the problems involved with animating a bolt- or lever-action rifle, which I had previously encountered. However, as we all know, "there are no problems, only challenges" (and other motivational phrases). And the emplaced weapon at my lighthouse has been some experience which may help with a Maxim gun. I shall see on the matter.
A SMLE would be a good thing to produce as well, and it would *just* fit into the period I think.
Hadn't noticed what you have at the lighthouse..I shall have to check it out--there other thing about a maxim (along with how they are in use for a very long time, and that alsmot everybody except the French use them), is that its a pretty simple series of forms to make the gun itself. A large cylinder for the water jacket, small one for the part of the barrel that shows, big rectangle for the receiver, hollowed square for the feed block and a couple of angled bits for the grips. The complex shapes are fuzee spring cover and the cocking handled. The real adventure will be the mount depending on which kind you want to try.
I llke the thought about doing the SMLE, such a distinctive piece and it would make the Caledon Militia happy. I was just thinking something like a Mauser that could represent the multiple models that are basically in the configuration of a '93 are very simple and elegant, and showed up under different nomenclatures in lots of places like Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Orange Free State, etc. And for that matter, a plain straight stock bolt gun like that could pass for a number of things ("Looks good from 20 meters on a galloping horse" rule). covercnhuses them
I cast a vote in favour of your undertaking custom builds. By sheer coincidence, I am in the market for a Gatling gun system (gun, ammunition, wheeled carriage with separate caisson and horses, aerial (framework) mount).
A version that shoots bees (as ammo, not targets)? Even *better*.
Go figure. :-)
I would love to see some period pieces from across the pond, such as the very modern Winchester Model 1894 repeating rifle, or the Colt Single Action Army. Say what you will about those Yanks, they certainly have ingenuity when it comes to putting holes in things.
I would think that upwards of L$2-3000 would not be unreasonable for custom work, particularly if you have any doubts about being able to recoup expenses for time spent by sale of the item to others. I am often appalled at how little people ask for custom work in Second Life, particularly when you take into account the value of the Linden dollar with respect to that of the United States. Though there is something to be said for the reward of pride in one's own craft, and the intangible aspects like the relaxation that can come of building something.