neojedi

Hello: we're a company looking at potentially developing a kids site/community based on second life. Had a few newbie questions:

1) What does a basic virtual world cost to "build" (call it 100 unique users at any one time)? We're talking the database, the 3D environment, everything. A SWAG/wide range is fine...
2) Where's a good place to find developers?
3) Does Second Life allow for completely standalone environments/worlds (i.e. no outsiders can enter and no insiders can exit via the standalone instance)?

I think that's it for now; we're looking for someone small-or-mid-sized and talented looking for a "break" to grow with us vs. a monolith developer where we're just going to be the "project of the week" with no support afterward.

Any feedback is welcome. Thanks!

Tabby Catteneo

Just to point out a potential problem, no adults are allowed on the teen grid, and no kids are allowed on the main grid.


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prinţesă nină

fyi, second life is an 18+ game and it is against the ToS for minors to sign up to sl (although there is a teens grid as a separate product).
ll has not truly gone open source yet in the sense of hosting your own region, but there is a such thing as opensim.
you can buy an island (private land), it costs 1700 up front and 300/mo. a private island can restrict entry but theres nothing to stop people from leaving the island.

Kristian

Wells Fargo previously had a 'private label' island in SL which effectively highlighted many of the platform's problems (circa 2005)

While something similar could likely be done -- you'd have to contact the lab about that. I'm sure it would be an additional cost beyond the initial island ownership fees and monthly charges.

Lewis Nerd

It is possible to get "teen grid clearance" but so far I haven't been able to get any sense out of Linden Lab as to how to. I know it involves some kind of 'police check' which I know won't be a problem to pass, just how much it'll cost and whether they would accept a UK based one.

Your best bet is to look at www.secondlifegrid.net and the 'solution providers' listing (under "Programs". There's a separate teen grid listing of people with clearance for it, but if someone else's work grabs your eye, they might well be prepared to pay out for the clearance. I only haven't paid out for it because nobody has asked me to yet.

As for cost... it depends mostly on what you are wanting done. Paying considerably more doesn't necessarily get you a better product in the long term. The biggest outlay is often the cost of land, rather than the development cost.

Lewis

FlipperPA Peregrine

Just to fix some inaccuracies in this thread:

(1) Second Life is a platform, not a game. That said, many people use it for entertainment.
(2) Second Life is not 18+ only. There is a separate teen region and adult region; teens graduate to the 18+ grid on their 18th birthday.
(3) For years, there have been private regions on the grid that behave as you describe; the simulator Brigadoon has existed for over 3 years as a place for children with Asperger's syndrome and their families, for example. They can not leave the region, the accounts are locked to it, and outsiders can not visit.
(4) As for cost, are you talking about developing your own application, from scratch? That's an expensive undertaking. If you're talking about developing a region within Second Life, that's much more affordable; $25,000 - $500,000, developing on what bells and whistles you want.

Regards,

-Flip

__________________
Peregrine Salon: Flip & Jenn's thang.

Lewis Nerd

Don't forget that apart from the "big four" developers, there are many more developers who can provide as good a job for a fraction of the cost too. You can't do much about the land costs from Linden Lab (although there is the 50% discount for education and non profit groups on land fees - and decent developers would give a discount on the job for them too).

Lewis

FlipperPA Peregrine

Then they're undercutting what has become an established market...and it is clear here you're not meaning "there are many more developers", you're meaning "I don't charge that much."

Also, another thing to consider. Lewis, I imagine that you (like me), as a one man team, don't do things like create custom textures from scratch in Photoshop, custom music, machinima, or create sculpty prims in Maya. Teams like the Sheep do that kind of stuff. One man teams like you and I have a specialty, but not the all-around capabilities of the bigger houses. Your specialty is building, mine is scripting; but it certainly is not, as far as I know, texturing, clothing/fashion, avatar creation, sculpties, machinima, or music for either of us, just to name a few of the other skill sets.

There are a lot more than the big four, and most won't touch any project for under $25,000.00. In fact, I'm not convinced that the big four are the big four; they just have the most recognizable names on their teams. I've seen a lot of good work coming out of places like Vesuvius, Purple Stripe, and Phreak Media lately, as examples.

Regards,

-Flip

Kristian

1.02 billion dollars

Jackal Ennui

They are looking for a developer to "grow with them" - this to me sounds like there will be a serious amount of ongoing support, training & other to do after completion, not a fire & forget project. I doubt that in such circumstances, the cost of the land will be the biggest outlay.