The Strange Effects of Effects

Eons ago I began making particle effects. Lately they seem to be changing. The new ones, I mean. My original items were quite simple, although I probably didn’t think so at the time. However, over the past year they’ve gradually become more complex, sometimes involving multiple emitters, timers, chat commands, linked messages and other tricky bits.

But more recently I’ve noticed a strange effect: the usage and purpose of new items are changing. At first I only made items to wear while dancing. Then it was items to place on a dance floor such as colourful fogs and eventually items to enhance your property, such as ground fogs or mists.

Then strange things began to appear on my store’s shelves. First it was a series of gadgets and fireworks sculptures.

And last week, it was Weather! The new Rainmaker, complete with sound, can cover up to 192m across. Pictured here getting very wet are Second Life hockey player Dyz Warburton and master builder Anhalya Lycia, who recently won a building contest at Dreams.

A similar Snowmaker produces the most amazing thick snow. Why snow in May? I’m not exactly certain how it came about, but I did sell some to a very nice fellow from Dubai this week, who said it cooled him down from his RL temperature of +48C (118F).

This week it’s a continuation of something that started earlier: Particle Fashions. I’d already made a very popular series of colourful particle halos, but this week it’s Twinkle. Twinkle produces tiny stars around your face. Sounds entirely crazy, but if you match the color to your avatar, it can look very beautiful.

But that wasn’t all. It was extremely late and I was somehow still online (from Las Vegas, where There Are No Clocks) having a late chat with Belgian Blogging Buddy Miss Vint Falken. I learned the distinguished Euro-blogger was ill and Not Very Happy. Determined to cheer her up, I quickly whipped up a “Drippy Nose” effect. It makes your nose red and continually drips offensive yellowy material. Ick. But the mission was accomplished, as Vint tossed me a =)

Except she still had a bit of a cough days later...

Hmm. Perhaps I should make a line of sickly effects? Imagine the possibilities!