​Most of us know of Joe Builder, because when we first create our Outworldz DreamGrid we see all his .oars and freebies he offers us through Fred Beckhusen’s DreamGrid apps.  When I featured Fred’s grid Outworldz, I discovered then that many of the regions were created with Joe’s help. What I have come to understand about Joe Builder is he is a most kind and giving person to opensim.
Did you know that he has been building in opensim for 11 years? Or that he owned the Body Shop which was rated number one in SL for shapes and skins?
The builds and items he creates are detailed realistically, and I wanted to feature his grid Lost World so that you too could see what an amazing talent he is to opensim.
 I also learned he has yet another grid Galaxywarz (Galaxywarz.com:8004) that features every genre of sci fi.
Joe explained that in the beginning that both grids were combined but then realized it would be better as two grids.  You can enter Galaxywarz at Lost World through a portal in a tiki hut!

Upon arrival at Lost World, you are greeted by a lovely tropical landing area where you can choose all the destinations of the grid.
Water World
Body Shop
Mermaids Cove
Ancient Rome
Dump
Airport
Flight School
Paradise Cove
Temptation Island
Castaway
Enchanted
Dino Park
Hogwarts
Lost Canyon
Devils Playground
Tornado
Bullet Racing
Race Track
Speedway
Smokin Joe's
Mad Max
Flying Mountain
Magical Kingdom
Medieval Times
Fantas Land
Fantasy Land
Combat Zone
Under World
The Swamp
 
Our first stop was WaterWorld, the open expanse of ocean here combined with cool mountains you feel immediately on vacation.  Tropical and lovely beaches, cruise ship, water spout too.  It is such a nice place to relax and soak up some rays.

​Reyn loved the region, “It’s a region rich in color and ideas about an idealized lifestyle. I would want to be here.”

​We decided to venture to Tornado thinking, would this be Kansas?
Entering the region, much to our delight we see that Tornado is an excellent roller coaster!  

    Now this is fun! The kinetic energy works even in opensim!
  Joe offers this coaster for sale, please ask Joe about the details.
 
 

​We venture on to Enchanted, a perfect name for this region. Lush, gorgeous landscaping here.  Huge mossy trees with filtered light shining through.  You feel completely relaxed here. This is a soothing region.

                                         Enchanted is definitely a place to unwind and relax.

​Have you ever wanted to see Ancient Rome? Joe has created a region where you can immerse yourself among the Roman builds with full military.

This is the perfect entrance for Dino Park!! Inside you will meet prehistoric dinosaurs!

Joe has created many of the regions I have often dreamt of creating!!  Especially a dino world!
We could not possibly cover all there is to explore here, we have yet to venture to GalaxyWarz! We will feature that in future issue too!
When you venture here, make sure you visit all the regions, we covered only a few.  Each has special features that will bring many hours of discovery.  It feels very much like the early days of Secondlife when you would teleport to a region and immerse yourself in awesome builds, losing time and spending hours there, only to find yourself returning time and time again.  You will visit Lost Worlds over and over again, it has that appeal.
Very nice work Mr. Joe Builder, I look forward to visiting your regions and inviting my friends to see too.
Joe Builder - YouTube 
Please add this to your map lostworld-os.com:8002:Lost World
​

​Zweet Zurroundingz, winding my way down the path I am met with luxuriant gardens and flourishing, terraced hillsides. What a spectacular place this is.  First impression is this is a very complex well laid out region.  You have to stand in one spot for an hour, and take it all in to see all the details, impeccable details here.  Captured images breath a life of their own.

​This is the kind of place where you can immerse yourself in romance, the ambiance lends itself to love.
 
​Creator Peter shared with us what inspired him,
 
“It all started in 2007.
I was eating my dinner and watching a program about recent matters of interest.
Then a new topic started, about university students who had created their university in Second Life, and introduce people to the virtual world.
What struck me though, was what happened on the screen; an avatar was quickly throwing a prim chair together and textured it.
Now that was something.... a complete new creative canvas! With no limitations but your fantasy.... how cool could that be.
I logged in....and didn’t leave for 3 days:)) 
I was so lucky to discover an amazing sim on my first day, The Lost Gardens of Apollo. Beautiful design, dancing, meditation, the lot.
So, I decided to give it a shot, bought my first mini-plot, tore apart the ugly villa on it and started to experiment.
I haven’t stopped, since then!
 I had a great mentor in my early days, member of a mostly Dutch group of IT experts; I was new to the virtual, but not my pc and things, so she could explain the how’s and what’s in no-time.
 One important element I understood quickly; with the textures, you can make or break an object. And, my other experience with arts, was a great help 
 In my first year, I moved 3x to a new plot, growing from 64 m2, to a quarter sim. Then I decided to rent a full standalone sim.
 Since then, I have learned a great deal about building, terraforming, and, later on, creating mesh.
 Simple stuff at first, with a neat little app called Sculptypaint by Second Life resident, Cel Edman...it’s still exists!

After some time though, I realized that for more detailed and complex design, I would need something like...Blender.
 My first glance at the fresh install, was enough to close it down again; being a licensed teacher myself, I was sure that in the development of the program, not one woman was ever involved.
 
 
The LEAST intuitive application I had come across in decades!
 But it didn’t take long to see that no matter the program, it would be a hell of a task to master in any case.
 
​I can safely say, I have an intense love/hate relationship with Blender:)
 In 2012 I had closed my Zweet ZurroundingZ in SL.....relocating in RL caused my monthly spending to go through the roof, so...
 I was asked by some good old friends and group members, to come to Osgrid and rebuild my ZZ there, they would make me a sim.
 
That didn’t last longer than 3 months before I had figured out, how to create my own sim, on my own computer!
 Since then, ZZ has steadily grown, from one single sim, into an 81-sim VAR region.
 
 I’m still having a ball creating new stuff; the difference is that by now I have the experience to create what I want. The past year though, I have spent mostly on redoing everything, making it lowpoly.
 A lot of work, but time well spent, given the performance of the place. And, slowly, it all comes together now.
 A truckload of animals added in the past weeks, and a lot more on its way!”
 
As you can see Peter is an amazing creator and I am looking forward to watching ZZ flourish even more so!
 
 
 https://opensimworld.com/hop/75130