• Charter
Kazenojin ("People of the Wind"
is devoted to the creation, maintanence, and the distribution of knowledge about airships and other flying machines in Second Life, and to the ongoing expansion of its airdock and related facilities in Gray and other locations.• Formation
In May, 2003, Linden Lab announced that it was getting ready to float up an entire new continent, and four of the sims in this new continent were to be awarded to the winners of a theme contest. (Two additional sims, Gibson and Dark Wood, were also attached to the existing mainland, and given to the Nexus Prime and Dark Wood projects.) Goodwill Epoch and Realtime Rogers decided to enter the contest, and the Kazenojin group was formed to create an airship community. (Historical note: The proper name should be "Kazenohito," but Kazenojin was selected because it sounds better. I refer to the group as Kazenojin, and to its constituents as Kazenohito.) The idea was to construct a gargantuan airship dock that would dominate an entire sim, and service various flying machines (stationary and otherwise) that would dock there. The group's proposal was submitted, several parties and other meetings were held, a model was constructed, and lots of people showed interest. In the end, Kazenojin was one of the four groups selected, and subsequently took posession of Gray at the beginning of June. At the time, Gray was a private island out in the ocean, unreachable except by those who had a landmark for direct teleportation. We were bordered on the north by Blue, which had been given to the Americana project.
• The First Airship Dock
We set to work building the first incarnation of the air docks, which you can see at the link above. Goodwill and Realtime were the chief architects, but almost everyone contributed. It stood the better part of a hundred meters tall, and was the dominant feature of the sim. The ground level consisted of the bases of the two support pillars, and each contained small hangars, shops, and office areas. These were not heavily used, but they looked real nice. The pillars themselves each had elevators that led up to the docks, as well as the gondola level just below. The docking level was impressive, consisting of a promenade and a number of airship berths large enough to accomodate ships that were tens of meters across.
• The Second Dock
After some months, the original airship dock was copied and put into a rezzer by Xylor Baysklef, and torn down so that the second incarnation could be constructed. Ananda Sandgrain was the chief architect. At the time, you had to pay tax on each prim, and altitude increased this tax, so the land in the center of the sim was raised to create a mountain. The new station, built over this mountain, had fewer prims and was closer to the ground, so taxes became a little more bearable. It centered on the idea of a skyhook - a huge tether going from the ground to a geostationary asteroid. (Space tethers are an old concept; see The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke.) The docking level was supported by the tether. The mountain itself lent a somewhat rustic appeal to the whole sim, and became a sort of nature area. At the same time, Athos Murphy and others began construction of Gray Field, a ground-level airport complete with traffic control, hangars, air traffic control radar, and other amenities. Meanwhile, high above the station proper, Kazenojin members had begun to construct various sky platforms, all of which centered around the center of the sim, with enough room left in the middle for the skyhook elevator. The elevator was eventually programmed to be able to stop at each level.
• SLU and SLRA
Ananda, Xylor, Satai, and others started up several side projects late in 2003. Second Life University was a project to set up class areas where tutorials and other lectures could be given. To this end, the SLU building, still a fixture of southwest Gray, was built by Ananda and Xylor. Additionally, Ananda and Satai (and probably others who I've forgotten) started the SL Racing Association, which has thrown a number of events, such as checkpoint races and dogfights, in the vehicle sims. The dogfights use prop planes specially designed by Garth Fairlight for use in areas where bullets cannot be rezzed (such as the vehicle sims.)
• The Third Dock
Early in 2004, the decision was made to tear down the station yet again and replace it with a new multilevel Eiffel-esque tower. Again, Ananda Sandgrain was the chief architect. The space tether and elevator were left in place, but no longer supported the skydock; instead, huge iron support struts were built. The third station has an open upper deck (which can also rez a protective dome) as well as a mid-deck with access to a Kazenojin/SLU/SLRA meeting room, Satai Diaz' "Finish Line" club, and a power generation facility.
The Future
At this writing (July 2004), the Kazenojin and their builds in Gray are an unusually stable point in a constantly changing world. We don't know what the future holds, but we do believe that the Kazenojin will continue to provide a significant contribution to the landscape of Second Life.
Forum Rules
This forum is for discussion of the Kazenojin group, its members and projects, and of topics that may be of interest to airship enthusiasts. It's alright to start an offtopic thread once in a while, but please prefix it with [OT]. It is alright to debate in this forum, but flame wars will not be tolerated.
As this forum is hosted by Linden Lab, it is subject to the same set of rules as any other forum. The following actions, quoted directly from Haney Linden, are forbidden:
- Personal attacks on the character or reputation of another Second Life Resident
- Accusing a specific Resident or Residents of Second Life Community Standards and Terms of Service violations or real-world crimes
- Inviting or encouraging other Residents to target a specific Resident or Residents in a manner objectionable to the targeted Resident
- Inviting or encouraging other Residents to violate Second Life Community Standards and Terms of Service or real-world laws
- Revealing personal or real-world information about a Resident beyond that contained in the Resident's First Life Profile
- Using hateful or derogatory language to describe a specific Resident or Residents.
- Linking to third-party content that violates the Second Life
Community Standards and Terms of Service