H22O

Have an umbrella handy? You might want one when you visit H22O, a new water sim by Squonk Levenque and Miuccia Klaar that officially opens its doors tomorrow, Saturday, May 3. Even if you don't have something to keep you dry, don't hesitate to come — just be prepared for drenching rain and one sim-wide deep puddle. Famed for his earlier Treptower Park and the very short-lived but spectacular 2304 Rain, Squonk had previously teamed up with Miuccia to produce Felona e Sorona (and probably other things that escape my memory).

From the landing point in the sky, click on the center of the standpipe to teleport below. (Honour McMillan and I were here exploring together, and she experienced a little trouble with the main LL viewer cooperating on that teleport — see here if it doesn't work for you (plus her post is great).) You'll drop down to a lighthouse that's the only relatively dry spot, with a bit of water leaking through and a portrait of the hermitic Squonk on the wall. Outside, your water-logged journey begins, with an incessant and fantastic rain accompanied by lightning and roars of thunder. Ravens circle incessantly overhead, swooping over the view, looking down on bits of land, trees, remnants of buildings and pieces of debris — boats, cars and other rusted shapes. Central to the entire scene is an enormous figure, kneeling in the water, head thrust below (a creation of Ub Yifu) being examined by a straightjacketed woman who stands on the edge of a pier.

It's a place of haunting and austere beauty that will immediately become a favorite destination for explorers and photographers. If you're not using automatic parcel windlight settings, I strongly recommend switching to that of the region, Annan Adored Darkness (or something like it), and, if you're using a viewer that supports alternate cloud textures, Cumulo-Nimbus. Usually in exploring a place like this I have my draw distance way up, but I also discovered, quite by accident, that it was interesting to lower it to a minimum, so that as I walked around through the water objects and shapes that I hadn't seen would suddenly appear before me. In contrast to the two-week lifespan of 2304 Rain, Miuccia assures me that H22O should be with us for a good long while. If you'd like to make a contribution to support the sim, there are a couple of rusted containers around ready to accept your donation. And, as the parcel description directs us, "Never run in the rain with your socks on."