The Town of Calico

The Town of Calico, Mississippi, has seen better days. Founded in the 1950s as a fishing community, it became a township in the 1960s. But a decade later marine life began to die off, investigators arrived, and things just went downhill from there. Sim owner Dax (a.k.a idakotapawz), who along with his partner, Psyclon, is building the sim, says, "We originally designed this place for roleplaying, photography and machinima, but it has since evolved into what's going to become a fully-interactive survival/horror game." Although the sim is under construction, it's a lengthy process, so they've opened the build and welcome visitors. Keep an eye on their tumblr for updates.

"Our goal is to create such a detailed locale that the player feels immersed to the level of realism," says Dax. "We're currently building models in Blender that will eventually replace everything you see with mesh. Vehicles, buildings, street decor, right down to the very trash that you see littering the ground will all be made by our staff...When you walk into one of the homes, everything will appear as if the inhabitants left suddenly. Scattered clothing, toothbrushes, aftershave, electric shavers, everything will be modeled."

I should warn you that if you're using a viewer that switches to the region windlight, you might need to make one adjustment: it's nearly pitch black when you arrive. Dax remarks, "It's the default setting for this region. When we actually implement the gaming HUD that we're programming, the game itself will focus around using a flashlight." And the flashlights (which are intentionally very dim) are already for sale (check the general store near the landing point), adding a completely different layer to the experience.