The Alphaville Herald

Motoring Around the Learning Curve

by Alphaville Herald on 23/02/05 at 12:30 am

by Walker Spaight

When is a newb not a newb? When his name is ahkenatan Grommet. Having been an SL resident since only the first week of January, ahk has already managed the beginnings of a notable building career that has had some residents wondering whether he isn’t really a feted inner alt.

At Primouth Motors, ahk’s garage in Dosojin sim, he has spent his young Second Life building stunning if prim-heavy replicas of classic cars from decades gone by, as well as a few of his own design. To look at the plot, you’d think he’d recruited the help of one of SL’s veteran builders. Ahk says that on seeing his builds, several residents have asked him whether he isn’t really an alt. But he assures the Herald that he built the entire place with his own two virtual hands — thus begging the question: Is there really a learning curve in Second Life?

A refugee from Star Wars Galazies, ahkenatan, of course, is modest. “I still have so much to learn,” he said when I saw him at his garage. “I haven’t even scratched the surface.”

Though ahk, a helpdesker for a pharmaceutical company, now drives a Hyundai in RL, he says he loves 1950s cars and has owned at one time or another a ‘59 Chevy, a ‘52 Chevy and a ‘64 Imperial, among other vintage wheels.

His vehicular interest is inherited from his father and grandfather, who both owned auto garages in RL. Ahk’s garage in Dosojin is a replica of his father’s garage, where ahk worked in the 1980s. Scattered around it are impressive vehicular builds, including a Primouth Edsel, a Woody, an Imperial, a 50s cop car, and a Primouth Falconbird of ahk’s own design (as well as, strangely, a Delorean).

Ahk’s cars are beautiful, but that beauty doesn’t come cheap to the builder. A Primouth takes anywhere from 140 to 255 prims to assemble, ahk says. To support such objects, ahk has bought up 21,552 sq. m. in Dosojin alone, and also holds land elsewhere in the grid.

It’s not all prim farm in Dosojin, though. Besides the garage, ahk also plans a ‘50s sock hop, a diner, a drugstore, and a five and dime, though the buildings will be confined to only a few streets.

While the cars will eventually be available for purchase, there’s currently a small problem with them: they don’t run. Luckily for ahkenatan, his build came to the attention of SL’s premier vehicle manufacturer Cubey Terra, who offered him scripting help to get his cars on the road.

Hopefully the Edsels will work better than the originals.