New Desperation Isle is open to the public!

New Desperation Isle is an adults-only kink and fetish playground in the virtual world of Second Life. If you have Second Life installed, you can teleport there now. If you're new to Second Life, visit What is Second Life? to learn about it and sign up for a free account.

This post covers the following topics:

• Recent history
• Getting to the island
• Improving your experience
• Improving your performance
• Exploring the island

Recent history
The adult playground and kink mall New Desperation Isle is officially open. Old Desperation Isle was shut down on October 18, but most of the attractions there have made their way to the new island in one form or another. My slaves and I built the new island with our guests in mind, and with a goal of delivering a more focused and immersive experience for you to enjoy. Note that the old island has been renamed to Desperation East, and become one of the rental islands in the Desperation Isle Estates. To see if any land is available for rent, go to Search > Places and look for "desperation." All our rental properties are listed there.

Getting to the island
If you have Second Life open now, you can teleport directly there by clicking this link. You can also find us by going to Edit > Search and looking for New Desperation Isle on the Places tab. I also have a link to the island in the Picks tab of my in-world profile. While you can get there by simply flying West from the old Desperation Isle, I strongly recommend you update your landmarks and profile picks because the old island will be going away soon.

Improving your experience
(Note: If you've got an older, slower, computer, skip this section and move on to the next section about improving performance.) New Desperation Isle is a lot more scenic and visually dynamic than the old island, and if you've got a fast, recent computer and a good broadband connection, here are some suggestions for getting the best total experience during your visit.

• Edit > Preferences > Graphics > Draw Distance. I recommend between 192 and 256 meters. Any higher doesn't add too much, but affects performance.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics Detail > Lighting Detail. Set to Nearby local lights for the best effect.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics Detail > Terrain Detail. Set to High.
• Edit > Preferences > Adv. Graphics > Nighttime Brightness. If things seem too dark, increase this value until they look better. I strongly recommend doing this instead of using World > Force Sun, because the island was designed for a nighttime experience.
  

Improving your performance
The sim performance at New Desperation Isle is near-perfect. In other words, the island is not bogged down on the server side and all scripts and download services are running at full capacity. However, if your computer is old or you don't have a very good broadband connection or graphics card, you might have to make some compromises in order do get around easily on the new island. If updating your computer, graphics card, or RAM are not options for you, here are my recommendations:

• Play in full-screen mode. Generally you can get more frames per second (FPS) by running Second Life in full-screen mode, instead of "windowed mode." You can switch between full-screen and windowed modes at any time by pressing ALT+ENTER. To see what your current FPS is, enable View > Statistics Bar. Your client-side FPS is the number at the top of the statistics bar. This is different from Sim FPS, which is a measure of how fast the server is operating. If you find that your FPS actually drops when you enter full-screen mode, it might be because your computer's screen resolution is very high. If you set your computer to a normal resolution like 1024x768, full-screen mode will likely be faster for you than Windowed mode.
• Edit > Preferences > Network > Maximum Bandwidth. Set this slider to match your broadband connection's speed. The default is 500 kpbs but most cable modem connections are much faster than that. This slider has a maximum of 1500 kbps. It probably will not help you to increase the slider to a speed greater than your broadband connection.
• Edit > Preferences > Network > Disk Cache Size (MB). If you have the hard disk space, increase this slider to expand your cache, which will cut down on the time you have to spend re-downloading assets at places you frequently visit. The maximum value is 1000 MB, which is around 1 GB.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics > Draw Distance. Lowering this value will increase FPS by limiting how many distant objects your computer has to display. 96 meters is an acceptable distance, in my opinion, and I wouldn't recommend any less than 64 meters.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics Detail > Lighting Detail. You can get a minor boost by switching this to Sun and Moon only. If you select this, I recommend that you drastically increase your nighttime brightness or force daylight so you're able to see where you're going, as New Desperation Isle makes heavy use of local lighting for visibility and atmosphere.
• Edit > Preferences > Graphics > Terrain Detail. Setting this to Low will give you a 1-2 FPS boost. The ground won't look as nice.
• Edit > Preferences > Adv. Graphics > Filtering. Uncheck Anisotropic Filtering if it's checked. You probably won't miss it.
• Edit > Preferences > Adv. Graphics > Graphics Card Memory. Select the highest number that isn't grayed out. If your graphics card has less than 128MB of memory, you're not going to have the best experience.
• Edit > Preferences > Adv. Graphics > Max. Particle Count. New Desperation Isle uses many particle effects to enhance the atmosphere in several parts of the island. Lowering this number to something like 1024 or even less will improve performance in these areas.

Exploring the island
There are many places to discover on the isle. Here's a short guide to the major locations:

• The Mall. When you first teleport into New Desperation Isle, you land on the top level of our kink and fetish mall. Please support our vendors- they pay our bills!
• The Castle. Seven rooms for seven sins, each area in this castle is outfitted to cater to different kinks and fantasies. See if you can find the hidden dungeon! There have been rumors of dark rites being performed in the ancient ruins behind the castle... are they just stories?
  
• The Treehouse. This scenic location features a bar and slave parking downstairs, as well as a forniphilia lounge and a comfy private area on the second level. Use the teleporter inside the big tree to get upstairs.
• The Medical Center. Our experienced medical technicians specialize in gender reassignment (or enhancement) and a variety of brainwashing and fertility services.
• The Goliath Tree. Just West of the Medical Center looms the immense Goliath tree. Ride the teleporters to the top level for a 360-degree view of the entire Desperation Isle Estates.
• The Atrium. This is Wildefire Walcott's personal gathering place and office, surrounded by trees. Visitors are welcome; it's perhaps the only "safe" place on the isle.
• The Barn. At great expense, the Walcott Family contracted to have the most popular building from old Desperation Isle moved to its new, more private location, enshrouded in a ring of trees. Everything you remember is still there, although some stables have been added for keeping your pets where they belong. (The pony wash is now located on the South side of the barn.) Visitors will also find an inviting bonfire outside the barn.
• The Love Nest. One of the Walcott slaves contstructed this heart-shaped building as an expression of her devotion to her Mistresses. Find a comfy hammock, warm (scripted) bearskin rug, and a roomy jacuzzi on the top level. This structure has the best view of the giant waterfall and the tragic shipwreck of the Blessed Hellride.
  
• The Pirate Ship. (Coming soon.) This giant unmanned vessel floated into harbor one gloomy Fall morning; no trace of its owners was ever found. It seems too beautiful to dismantle, so we're looking for a use for it.
• The Cave. Like old Desperation Isle, the island sits upon a vast network of caves. Explore our 9,600-square meter cave and unlock its mysteries. Note: There is a secret entrance to the cave tucked away somewhere aboveground, but it can also be accessed from the island teleporters.