The Graphics on Metaplace are Crap! Or maybe not...
Utopika World
by The Allseeing Eye, staff reporter
While Pixeleen and Uri sit in Metaplace and marvel at its egalitarian tools and its democratic Terms of Service and its we-are-of-the-web philosophy, I've been wondering about something else. Given that it's more or less flash based or whatever, aren't the graphics going to be craptastic? That's what I thought until I bumped into some self-described Metaplace pixel artists the other night. Here are some screenshots brought to you at great personal risk, given that Raph enforces his NDA with led pipe wielding thugs -- the kind that kneecap figure skaters without a second thought! Anyway, pics are below the fold.
Athkala World
Athkala
Athkala
Dreams World
hey somebody send me an invite to metaplace
Posted by: Jumpman Lane | March 21, 2009 at 11:48 AM
looks like clipart pasted into a scene. Meh...
Posted by: Darien Caldwell | March 21, 2009 at 02:48 PM
Most of the Metaplace screen-shots that have been released so far look pretty bad. I think this is because the builders of those example worlds were inexperienced/not artists, and I'm expecting to see better in future. (There are poor-quality builds in Second Life, too...)
As I understand it, Metaplace is designed so that anyone can write a client with extra graphics abilities, like 3D. If lots of people want a client with 3D and texture mapping, I'm sure someone will code it up.
Posted by: SusanC | March 21, 2009 at 04:46 PM
The art in Metaplace is as good as the artist who created it. Since you can import anything you create in various modeling programs or Photoshop - the quality ranges greatly. :)
Posted by: Cuppycake | March 21, 2009 at 05:52 PM
I'm not one to defend SL or anything, but does anyone remember the last wannabe SL-killer that the herald jerked off?
It was Lively.
Posted by: Alyx Stoklitsky | March 21, 2009 at 06:22 PM
Yea. metaplace can display a jpg file from 1992...wooo wooo.
Posted by: chris | March 21, 2009 at 07:16 PM
went there (thanx tizzy for the invite) It SUX!
Posted by: Jumpman Lane | March 21, 2009 at 08:37 PM
Most of the first art in sl looked crappy too. Metaplace is still in beta and thus has a small userbase, which more enthusiasts instead of skilled game designers or artists. This also similar to the early time of SL.
Posted by: Frans | March 22, 2009 at 12:12 AM
Good point Alyx.
I've seen nothing out there that's the equal of SL. SL has survived all comers in the virtual world space and I expect that will continue. From what I've seen, "There" came close, but there's a reason there's an SL last name of Thereian...for all the There expatriates. Kaneva, meevo, Metaplace, There, IMVU, Dotsoul, none of them come close to what SL is.
If SL was to shut down tomorrow, where would we all go?
Posted by: CronoCloud Creeggan | March 23, 2009 at 11:49 AM
outside
Posted by: mootykips | March 23, 2009 at 02:27 PM
to a shrink,
then outside, where you would be blinded by natural light and choked by fresh air before coming to the realization that you've turned into a lifeless pixel idiot!
Posted by: Mrs. Ruff Ruffman | March 23, 2009 at 06:17 PM