BotCars – A Deadly Threat To Second Life Pedestrians
by Alphaville Herald on 17/12/10 at 4:32 am
Herald reporter seriously injured after driverless car hit and run
by Oswald Denimore
Corsica Mainland Continent – Alphaville Herald reporter Millennium Sands was almost killed yesterday in an accident when she tried to cross a street on foot.
"Mainland highways are usually the most deserted places you can find in Second Life, so I was unaware of any possible danger." Miss Sands recalls. "Since I’m a law-abiding citizen, I traversed the road on a crosswalk nevertheless. I had almost reached the opposite side of the road when I heard that honking noise all of a sudden – ‘BEEP BEEP’ – and then it happened!"
Herald reporter left for dead after botcar hit and run
What Miss Sands didn’t know at this point was that mainland highways see a dramatic increase in traffic lately, due to a recent contribution to the Second Life experience by AnnMarie Otoole, who livened up the streets of Second Life with a new invention: Self navigating cars.
These vehicles travel on mainland highroads in great numbers. All you need to enjoy them is to hop in and lean back. They require no steering and take you for a free ride from sim to sim all over the continent. But this new attraction can pose a deadly threat to unsuspecting citizens, as our report reveals.
Miss Sands continues her story, "Looking into the direction where the noise came from, I saw a car.
The driver seemed to be drunk, since the car didn’t drive straight ahead on one side of the road. Instead, it steered left and right, apparently searching it’s way by try and error. At first glance, I believed the driver might be a noob, or maybe an underdog like Pappy Enoch, full of self-distilled booze. But a second glance revealed something really creepy: The drivers seat was empty!"
When Miss Sands realized the danger, she tried to dodge left and right, but it was already too late. The reckless driving script that controlled the car made no attempt to brake and ran her over straight away.
"It was only a Lincoln, but it hit me like a truck. It whispered ‘Sorry’ before I blacked out." she sighed.
"Miss Sands was extremely lucky" stated the surgeon who treated her injuries. "An accident like this would be fatal for most rezidents, but she’s a real blonde. She was just too dumb to react properly and die at the spot."
Botcar pileup
While Miss Sands recovers from the accident, the Alphaville Herald has launched an in-depth investigation of what some believe to be a new malicious threat threatening life and limb of those who venture onto the mainland highways. In the Barkley sim right at the side of route 12, we discovered a suspicious gathering of botcars. Nothing can be heard, but ten or more botcars are piled up there in a heap, and some of them are in frantic motion.
What are they up to?
Are they communicating on a secret channel?
Are they forging an evil plan to hunt down more innocent rezidents like Miss Sands?
Or is this meeting a blasphemous mass orgy of botcars who dare to abuse a non-adult sim for their vile perversions? (They even have a horse there!!!)
Nobody knows, but we’ll keep an eye on this important issue!
Orion
Dec 17th, 2010
None of the above. Try right clicking one and selecting “buy”. Or on others, pay them $10L and you’ll get a tour of the mainland. Just another half baked scheme to sell more junk.
Porkpie Never
Dec 17th, 2010
What will this do to insurance rates in Second Life?
Oh, and ‘Blah.’
Alvi
Dec 17th, 2010
I think they are pretty cool, they should get some sensors on the front so they don’t run over people but besides that it’s nice to see some traffic on the mainland
Tracey Humphreys
Dec 17th, 2010
I once had an idea, but laziness meant I never got around to implementing it…
Giant airships carrying advertisements, with a script to make them fly above public roads, going from sim to sim. There are no ‘no-fly’ zones above public roads.
There are rez points on most public roads to get the thing started off, and it would keep going 24/7 (unless the sim it was in got reset).
They would not look unsightly, unlike ad-farms, so I cannot foresee many complaints.
Pappy Enoch
Dec 17th, 2010
Ol’ Rip-Snorter F-150 o’ mine needs it sum parts. I reckon them pile-ups will be pickin’ heaven for a poor boy.
Baloo Uriza
Dec 17th, 2010
Curious why that car had “SLTA” plates, given that it’s clearly not a Second Life Transit Authority vehicle.
edna
Dec 17th, 2010
A couple of things…
Millennium Sands is really hot. If she looks that good after being run over, I’ll have to eye her when she recovers.
The car in the photo is no Lincoln. It is ’80s Cadillac Deville. I think the situation is actually worse than reported. Since there is blood on the car’s back bumper/fin, it obviously must have run her down and then backed up and hit her a second time.
Millennium Sands
Dec 17th, 2010
I appreciate the compliment, edna.
Right now, I hardly look any better. I was able to leave the hospital and the doctors credit the “vacuum between my ears” for the fast recovery. (I have no clue what they’re talking about – I’m not a medic.)
In any case I’m still in a bad shape. At the moment, I learn to walk with a crutch and one of my legs and my head are bandaged. It will take a little while until I can walk on my own two feet again.
I didn’t have much time to take a close look when the accident happened, but looking at the picture I believe the car was actually a Bethillac Fleetwood.
That whispered “Sorry” I heard from the script when the car hit me was a sort of consolation to me when I woke up in the hospital. It seemed to signal a degree of concern and regret. But your observation made me think twice…
Friends told me I should sue that script, and if it really hit me a second time… hmm…
Does anybody know a good lawyer who’s experienced with lawsuits against reckless driving scripts?
Pappy Enoch
Dec 18th, 2010
Miss Sands, if’n you needs a ride I gots me a rite nice truck. Bench seat ain’t got no butt-pokey springs no more, since I saved up for sum Duck Tape.
If’n you needs you a law-dog, I reccomend my distant relation, Slewfoot Hadisson. He done saved me and Jezz from the Big House and am the best dang fake lawyer in the bizness:
http://alphavilleherald.com/2010/07/fake-trial-of-century-begins.html
hobo kelly
Dec 18th, 2010
I reckon that those ghost cars and trucks what have been launched onto them thar roadways, and boats on them thar waterways too, are causin’ more lag to that thar second life world than them thar sion chickens ever dreamed of.
Iffen you all click on one of them thar ghost cars and hold it in Edit a little bit longer than the Object Return Time for that thar parcel that you catch them in, POOF you have just gotten rid of a little bit of useless lag in that thar fake world, which helps out everybody.
I caught one of them thar ghost boats goin by one way and took it into edit, and lo and behold iffen another ghost boat didn’t come by goin’ the other way, so I held down Shift and done clicked on that thar other boat, and shoot, I reckon I done blew 2 of them thar boats right outta the water by holdin them fer 10 minutes. cheap thrills yay.
SlShapeshifter
Dec 19th, 2010
I figured out how they reproduce. Apparently if you sit in one long enough, you get a offer to buy one. Most of them are free, so you think, ‘why not?’
Sooner or later, you will be tempted to use it…..
Emperor Norton
Dec 19th, 2010
Pappy Enoch @”Miss Sands, if’n you needs a ride I gots me a rite nice truck. Bench seat ain’t got no butt-pokey springs no more, since I saved up for sum Duck Tape.”
Don’t be fooled Sands, it’s a trap! Enoch is no fat and scruffy hillbilly, in real life Enoch is a twenty something she and a fashion model.
Pappy Enoch
Dec 20th, 2010
Shhhhhh…Emperor. Don’t breathe a word to Omar Sharif about what I done told Miss Sands. He’ll toss my poor butt off the yacht.
Emperor Norton hears a who?
Dec 20th, 2010
Pappy,
We had FAITH in you and you betrayed the entire Second Life Hillybiilly-Play community with your dirty little “secret”. How many sims have you lied to? All those pictures of those truck on blocks in your yard were really cute along with the epileptic dog you told us you owned. They certainly had us all fooled.
Well maybe Omar will forgive your tanned and smooth 32″ butt, we ant Pappy.
PS I bet you never ate a fried steak in your LIFE Pappy!
AVON Xeno
Dec 23rd, 2010
AnnMarie Otoole is scripting for years inworld.
She made the flying bus as well in the past.
I am glad for her that she is making progress, Her first cars
in my garage piled up underground.
Now they pile up above ground and at least they are giving some beeps now while approaching.
That change would take some more months of scripting.
I am really impressed by this and a great addition to mainland life.
Raphael Treves
Jan 9th, 2011
Ms. Otoole is a very talented scripter, and has spent very many hours scripting these cars. To see more of her work you need only go to Whanganui where taxis take you to many venues.
These vehicles are great fun, but I have to say she tested out her new tank on me. Imagine my great surprise to receive a smoking missile to the groin. Good thing the boys were in the box.
Yevad
Jul 28th, 2011
Hehehe…funny article!
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Aug 11th, 2011
[...] of the more annoying roadblocks in mainland racing is AnnMarie Otoole's notorious bot cars which pervade mainland roads. Fortunately, we were allowed to shut them down on race day. We [...]