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Education Earth Media News

Second Life Mine Simulation Receives an Emmy Nomination 65

An anonymous reader writes "The Virtual Mine, an interactive simulation set in the virtual world of Second Life designed to examine the effects of mountaintop coal mining, has been nominated for an Emmy Award for new approaches to news and documentary programming. From the article: 'The Virtual Mine allows visitors to take a closer look at the challenges of balancing the environment, power demands, and economic interests by inviting them to take part in a story as it unfolds through a series of three games. While it was created with educators and students in mind, the games can be played in groups or by individuals alike.'"
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Second Life Mine Simulation Receives an Emmy Nomination

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  • by DataDiddler ( 1994180 ) on Wednesday July 20, 2011 @12:59PM (#36826144)
    ... if they used Minecraft.
  • by shoptroll ( 544006 ) * on Wednesday July 20, 2011 @01:04PM (#36826188)

    ...someone did something remotely interesting/useful with Second Life. Congrats to them.

  • They should have simulated their server load on Second Life, as well...

  • by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@gm a i l . com> on Wednesday July 20, 2011 @01:10PM (#36826268) Journal
    Do any of the simulations let you decide how to rip apart the township where you're mining [thisamericanlife.org]?

    You know like send out two different letters to townspeople [post-gazette.com] in order to play them against the local township that's seeking to put regulations on your drilling? Maybe imply that if the people who hold mineral rights don't get a huge chunk of cash from your business they can sue the township board?

    Maybe refuse to meet with the township [patch.com] and just turn their own people against each other just so you can drill without local permission?

    Because after reading about Mount Pleasant in Pennsylvania, I really have to wonder where someone gets that particular skill to be such a ruthless asshole.
    • Because after reading about Mount Pleasant in Pennsylvania, I really have to wonder where someone gets that particular skill to be such a ruthless asshole.

      Business school.

    • That's not all. People in the valleys that get filled in have to move. People in West Virginia tend not to have a lot of money for relocating. Sometimes they move in with relatives.

      The Clean Water Act has some things to say about poisoning the streams at the bottom of the valleys, but it happens anyway.

      Legal recourse is theoretically possible, but Massey Coal's CEO spent $3 million on one judicial race.

      • That's not all. People in the valleys that get filled in have to move.

        Sorry, just got a cross-flash of Arthur Dent laying down in front of a bulldozer coupled with Ford Prefect's rant about British constantly droning on about the obvious...

    • That reminds me of that time that a elite group of people managed to manipulate the media into such a place where it polarized the populace into two different groups that were, at their core, basically the same people with the same core. This elite group of people then went on to do as they please, further enriching themselves at the cost of said populace.
  • by slshwtw ( 1903272 ) on Wednesday July 20, 2011 @01:14PM (#36826342)
    The virtual mine homepage is here [deepdownfilm.org].

    In the video (spoiler alert!), after players accomplish the three stages of the challenge (extracting coal, 'conserving energy' by turning off electric devices in town (including stoplights??), and constructing alternative energy devices, they go to the town square for a celebratory country ho-down. No joke.
  • A video game got nominated for an Emmy. Say it isn't an art form now.

    Er, vocode it....

    Crap.

  • Am I the only one who thought "landmines" when reading the title?
  • You mean there are still people who play that who aren't 50+ year old house wives? Since when? I seem to remember reading not too long ago how the average SL user only stays logged in for a very short period of time, something like 5-10 minutes.
    • Having just hit my 5th year in SL yesterday, what we call a "Rezday" I really ought to respond.

      It's not 50+ year old women....it's 25-35 year old women. :-) They're probably the biggest subgroup of users now, and drive the SL economy, and everyone knows it.

      The report you saw probably dealt with the amount of time a new user stays after first logging in, the retention rate is low, in part because SL is very complex and there's not really any handholding quest givers like WoW has, so newbies are overwhelmed.

      • by Zebai ( 979227 )

        It might also have something to do with having crap for gfx that would have been subpar even 10 years ago. If they want to be even remotely serious about gaining new audience they should invest in a graphics engine upgrade. I can forgive sloppy graphics if it has great gameplay, and even sloppy gameplay if it has great graphics, but having the worst of both and it will go no where.

        • Actually they are about to release 3d model import as a new feature, along with improved lighting and shadows, so yes, they are upgrading the graphics.

          • Lighting and shadows are already in the client, have been for a while. Mesh is coming "soon", and you can test it out with a Mesh enabled viewer with the Aditi test grid.

        • It might also have something to do with having crap for gfx that would have been subpar even 10 years ago.

          That's hyperbole, since one of the biggest selling games of 2001 was Diablo II, #1 was the original version of the Sims, neither of which match SL graphically. When was the last time you used SL anyway? You do know it looks the way it does because EVERYTHING is dynamic and can change at a moments notice, there's no "fixed assets" like in a traditinal game. It isn't like Tribes or something where shotgun wielding Power Armor clad grunt #1 looks exactly like shotgun wielding power armor wearing grunt #221

          I can forgive sloppy graphics if it has great gameplay, and even sloppy gameplay if it has great graphics, but having the worst of both and it will go no where.

          S

  • How about "The Incredibly Dangerous Process of Drift-Mining: Strip-Mining's More Eco-Friendly Cousin" and "Daily Life Without The Electricity that Coal Fire Plants Produce"?

    • Actually those issues are addressed in the simulation. There is a HUD that has a health, happiness, and power meter. You start my destroying a mountain for the coal, and once you see the effect then power goes up, but health and happiness go down. So then you are prompted to conserve electricity by basically turning off everything in the town. By doing that healthy goes up, power is kinda neutral, and happiness remains down. Obviously, living without power isn't possible so you are prompted to explore
  • as the software engineer behind the project, i'd be happy to answer any nerd-questions you might have. for example - the code was around 7000 lines of LSL.
    • by qqqqarl ( 678615 )
      slashdot - where dumb jokes are widly upvoted and genuinely pertinent information sits on the bottom.

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