OpenSimulator is an open-source technology based on Second Life. It enables me to host an entire region on my own computer. I could connect my region to the OSGrid for free to share the project.
A while back, I set up an OpenSim region and did some landscaping. This was great to do as I only own a tiny parcel in Second Life and this was the first opportunity I got to play with the land editing tools …
The downsides to using OpenSim to make my project are that the scripting language is not fully implemented yet (in particular, I can't use loops) and that it is very very buggy and unstable.
I opened an account on OSGrid to explore the possibilities, but spent most of my time crashing. There are new grids based on OpenSim starting up almost daily. Most are based on the same economic model of renting server space, but there are a couple more out there which allow you to host your own region, and which I intend to explore.
One important consideration in the current economic climate is whether these new startup businesses will still be around when it is time to show my work. For this reason I am hesitant to invest much in any of them just now.
This technology is very new and exciting, especially as research is underway to enable inter-grid teleporting, and I intend to stay involved with what's going on in this area. However, I have made a decision that for this project it is just too risky. If I can make my code interoperable between Second Life and OpenSim (both use lsl) then there is no reason I can't tour my work in both locations. Given the problem with looping, however, at this point I doubt that this will be possible.
