Introduction To Second Life Geography

This article is made for newcomers, to help them find a way through. However, since the orientation tools we have (world map or minimap) are sometimes very confusing, many residents (including me) spent months or years to find their way through.

## Overall

Second Life is composed of many places that are part of a very large global structure, just the way in real world land from various parcels are continued to form the Earth. There are a few important differences:

1. The land unit of Second Life is the **region/sim**. The official name is Region. But, since the word 'region' can also mean a part of a land structure, we will use the word 'sim'. Each sim is operated by a server (or a simulator). You will encounter problems when you move from a sim to another, because you need to exit a server and enter another one. Each sim has the same dimensions, 256/256 meters. The sim is the unit used in Geography. They are the bricks that form larger map structures.
2. The grid (or Agni) is the virtual world. It is made of about 26000 sims. There is another smaller grid, Aditi, used for testing, with only 120 sims, but that is not important.
3. Void Ocean is between remote sims. This is a place where there is nothing. Really nothing. Sometimes you might see a hologram (sim surrounding environment) but that actually is projected from inside the sim. New sims are created inside this void, while old sims vanish and are replaced with void. This is why you cannot walk or sail through the entire grid. The presence of this void is what actually divides all grid structures.
4. Dryland covers a large part of the sims, but not all. There is also submerged land, covered with Water. Water is also blue, but can be differentiated from void. Unike real world, Second Life hosts skyboxes. These are floating structures in the sky. They can be small, sim-size and sometimes they can cover many sims. They create a second world, elevated.

## Map structures

By the way sims are grouped and separated by void ocean, they form a larger map structure. Currently, there are the following structures listed:

* Continent is a structure made of more then 30 sims, connected one with each other and with common Geographic and transportation features.
* An Ocean is part of the map, divided by continents and imaginary lines (coordinates).
* Subcontinent is a part of a continent.
* Microcontinent is a structure with less then 30 sims, connected one with each other and with common Geographic and transportation features.
* Sim Cluster is a structure with 10 or more sims, not connected one to each other, but not too far one from the other.
* Sim Group is a structure with less then 10 sims, not connected one to each other, but not too far one from the other.
* Isolated Sim is a sim located too far from any other sim.
* Unassociated Sims are sims that cannot be grouped into other structures. They have the same density and look like they are placed at random.

To help Geographic research, Second Life Geography team divided the grid into smaller structures like Grid Sector (a square of 100/100 sims) or Microsector (10/10 sims).

## How to find my way through?

This is an exercise that will help you learn in half of an hour what others couldn't in months. Do it slowly and if you don't understand, return and try it again. We will start from sim Da Boom because this is the oldest of all sims and it really is the center of the map. Any orientation exercise should start from here. You can teleport to Da Boom or you can open the interactive map and search for it.

The world map can be zoomed to many levels. Some of them can be called *sim view*, *area view*, *subcontinent view*, *continent view* and *transcontinental view*. It is like in real world, where we can zoom Google maps to town view, region view, continent view and world view. To make things more logical, we will start with the highest resolution, sim view. After this, we will zoom out.

## Sim view

After you landed in Da Boom and wait a bit for the world to download around you, it is time to start the orientation lesson. Open the world map and zoom at highest resolution. You will see something like the image visible here on top-right. The map clearly displays the sim of Da Boom and its surrounding sims.

A Sim is a square measuring 256/256 m. Our world is made of them. If you zoom, you will see that the whole map is divided into similar squares, each one with a different name.

**For newcomers:** Crossing a sim border is a bit risky, especially if you have an old computer. It is good to stop a while and wait a few seconds before attempting a sim cross. Each sim is handled by a different simulator (computer). when you cross, you are handled from one computer to another. Be careful.

Also, if you look on the map, you can see a lot of things. There are buildings around to you. You can look around and verify them. There is a big structure at your left and there is something with open space to your right. If you look forward (North), there are some letters on the map. They are not on the ground but at high elevation. To get them, you need to fly. If you are a newcomer, you now can learn that many things are not on the ground but at high elevation, up to 4096 m high. We call them *skyboxes*.

The piece of land you sit on is public land (it is owned by the Linden officials, by *Governor Linden* or by *Linden department of public works*). That means you are safe to stay. However, if land is owned by somebody, that person might not be happy to see you there. Da Boom is one of the friendliest places on the grid and visitors are more than welcomed. So, here you can venture inside other parcels and see what is around. However, if you start randomly teleporting, you will quickly learn that not all land is opened for you.

## Neighbourhood View

Now, if you zoom little bit out, you can see something like in this image. The whole area surrounding you is visitor friendly and you can explore. But before this, it is time to learn a bit about Land. This map is very helpful for that.

Protected Land is Linden-owned land that you can use to move around. It consists of roads, railways, waterways, parks and sandboxes. This is the kind of land you can use without problems to get around. You can find more about reading articles like List Of Roads, List Of Railways or List Of Waterways. The map reveals a large waterway to South and a few small roads to North-West. They can easily be located on map.

Land For Rent Or Sale is another type of land. If you decide to have your own piece of land, you must look for it. Land for sale appears yellow on the map. Land for rent can often be identified by the skyboxes advertising this. It is safe to use such land to move around.

Inhabited Land is land owned and used by someone. Some people might be happy to have visitors, others might not. Be aware that some of it is Land With Restricted Access that has ban lines and entity orbs, which will block you or teleport you away. So, while planning to explore land, be aware of this.

Unused Land has bare ground texture with no objects. So, if you see empty land, there is a high chance that access is easy. It can be land for rent that has no tenant or land that has recently been purchased. A special type is Abandoned Land, which is land that previous residents have abandoned. If you see abandoned land (and in some areas there is plenty of it), you can use it to walk around and explore.

Now, if you are a newcomer, you know the differences about various types of land.

## Subcontinent View

Let's zoom further out. At this point, you would see something similar to this image. You can notice that some parts of the map look different. There are some large bodies of water, which can easily be identified, like Bay Of Space Pigs, L - Shaped Lake or Gulf Of Lauren. Also, there are large pieces of land. If you look close enough, you can see slight differences between them. To West, you can see Bay City, which is a large city. There, if you zoom in, you can see many roads and water canals as well as groud with a different texture. To North, you can see the Color Sims, named so because they are named after colours. To North-East, you can see the volcanoes: West Volcano Subcontinent and East Volcano Subcontinent. Notice that each one has a slightly different ground texture. And finally, far to South-East you can see the white, ice-covered Snowlands Subcontinent.

This is the next lesson, to learn that the world is divided into subcontinents. Sometimes it is hard to spot differences between them. Each subcontinent is somehow different in a way or another. The List Of Subcontinents has them all grouped together.

## Continent View

Let's zoom out further and try to see something like in the image here. You can notice that there are a few continents. You now can see that you are in Sansara, the oldest continent and one of the biggest. To North lies Heterocera, the second continent built and the most symmetrical one. Further South starts another one, Bellisseria, the newest one. And you can see to South-West the Estate Continent, a private-owned one.

At this point, you can notice that the continents are surrounded by something like a sea with many islands. The islands that you see are sims unconnected one to another and surrounded by Void Ocean. This is a major difference between Second Life and the real world. In the real world, continents and islands are separated by oceans that *exist* and have a surface, although deep under water. In Second Life, the ocean is a big void where nothing exists. You cannot walk along the ocean floor, you cannot swim through, you cannot sail its waters or fly an airplane over it.

Second Life continents include both dryland and waters, while Second Life oceans include sims (as you can see here a microcontinent and a sim cluster) and plenty of void.

## Mainland View

As you zoom out more, you can notice that continents are close one to another and everything else around them looks like a large, homogenous and diffuse maze of small sims. Let's stop for a second and look at this. There are two different parts of the world. One is called **Mainland** and refers to the traditional, Linden-owned continents, which are almost all interconnected. The other world is called *Estates* and consists of private-owned sims that you can see all around.

Mainland usually doesn't change. It stays as it is (although it sometimes does change). Estates often change. What you see now might completely vanish in a few years. SLGI team did a survey and came to the conclusion that private-owned sims have half-life of 11.4 years, that is, in 11 years half of them vanish and are replaced with new ones.

Mainland is divided in two worlds:

**The Old World** lies in West and consists of the oldest continents: Sansara, Heterocera and Jeogeot. They were the first to be built. Many residents associate these continents with the real world. Sansara is associated with Asia, Heterocera with Europe (as it's smaller) and Jeogeot with Africa (as it is in South and indeed looks like Africa turned upside down).

**The New World** is in East and consists of a second generation of continents: Corsica, Nautilus, Satori and Gaeta 5. Satori looks somehow like South America, which is in the New World. These continents were built in a hurry (at that time Second Life was in an expanding boom). They have less Geographic features and a far lower density of roads, but have their own beauty.

There are a few unconnected continents. You can see Gaeta 1 further North-East and Sharp Continent further South-East. They have their own history too. You can check the List Of Continents and see them all. For now, it is important to understand that this is the center and everything in this world is placed with respect to Da Boom's position and that the mainland continents are close one to another.

Also, you can see that oceans surrounding the continents have names too.

## Transcontinental View

Now let's zoom to the maximum! You will not be able to view the whole map in one. Some viewers might work better (I use Alchemy which allows me to zoom out a bit more). You can, at this magnitude, to clearly see that mainland continents are the dominant feature of the map and are easy to identify.

**North:** You can look North and you will notice more small structures: microcontinents, sim clusters and Unassociated Sims. This is the Northern Ocean that lies North to the mainland continents. As you look further North, beyond what is on this image, you might notice that at some point sims completely vanish and all you can see is the Void Ocean, where nothing exists at all.

**South:** There are a few continents located further South. They are the Premium Continents. Also, Bellisseria, which is the newest and largest continent, is premium. That's where you will receive a premium house if you opt for one. These continents are also used as a way to separate the South - West Ocean and South - East Ocean. There are four old premium continents and the fifth one is Bellisseria.

**East:** This is where sim density decreases fast. There are a few remote sim clusters separated by a lot of void. But don't be fooled. Far, about twice the length of this image, you will find Zindra, a highly isolated mainland continent. Why is it so isolated? Because it is *adult*. Just like adult movies need to be kept away from children, this continent needs to be at some distance.

**West:** The Western Ocean is continued with Far Western Ocean. About the same distance as between the mainland continents and Zindra and you will hit void again. There are far more private-owned sims in West than in any other direction. In fact, as 70% of sims are private-owned and 70% are located West, you can clearly see that half of land (and half of residents) can be found there.

You can learn more from the List Of Oceans about this.

I hope this short training was useful as a quick intro into our virtual world.

## See Also

* Second Life Geography
* List Of Oceans
* List Of Subcontinents
* List Of Continents
* List Of Microcontinents And Sim Clusters