Octoberville - Master Kaos - Grand Opening at 5:00 PM SLT

Portrait of Professor Dalton, Octoberville's resident mad scientist and the reason for the odd happenings in the sleepy town (Portrait provided by Master Kaos).

Master Kaos of the Octoberville/PixelTrix group.

From left to right: Cherub Spectre, Master Kaos and Nathan Oddfellow of Octoberville (photos by Adian Brouwer).

Shortly after coming to Second Life in 2005, Master Kaos began a small build that grew into the most anticipated Halloween attraction on the grid. Together with his partner, Cherub Spectre and their business partner, Nathan Oddfellow, he created Octoberville. By incorporating the elements of a haunted house with an amazing story line and the interactivity of a scavenger hunt, the PixelTrix group continues to draw new visitors and engage past fans each year. I had the opportunity to speak with Master Kaos about the history of Octoberville, the Crowbar club and the trio's plans for this year's Halloween build.

inVogue: I'm very excited about Octoberville. When I started SL, this was one of the first places I explored.

Master Kaos: Oh really? It's the first place that I ever experimented building. We have built a pretty big following since it started. I get emails and threats daily about Octoberville. Friends warning if I don't get started and have it done they are gonna kick my butt. Jokingly of course, but there are some die-hard fans now.

inVogue: What inspired you to take on such a massive build?

Master Kaos: Well, at first it wasn't massive at all. It quickly became so, but I was very new to SL myself and Cherub and I had purchased a part of a sim. Inspiration came from my love of autumn and growing up on a farm in a small town with gorgeous forests and the local fall festivals. I just started collecting fall themed things, trees, etc from around SL and never really thought about doing much with it all. One day, boredom set in and I just started creating a very cozy, little forest very much like the one we are in now. Slowly my forest got bigger and I was adding little details throughout: pumpkins, graves, hidden things.

inVogue: Did you add Halloween items in 2005?

Master Kaos: Yes. People kept flying over and seeing the forest and dropping in and sitting with me. Cherub loved it and we started to spread out more, we bought a little more land and by October that year, we had worked together to build a small town, graveyard and a large winding haunted house, and we pulled all of it together with a story.

inVogue: Nice. Did you work together to create the story?

Master Kaos: Yes, we all pitched in our own ideas. Nathan Oddfellow is our third partner in Pixeltrix and he and Cherub added scripts and sounds and we came up with some pretty interesting ways to animate things with ghosts popping out, etc.

inVogue: Did PixelTrix come before or after the first Octoberville?

Master Kaos: PixelTrix actually came from that very first Octoberville. We realized very quickly that we worked well together and had something special. People just kept flooding our little plot. So we decided to see what else we could do and wanted to continue the Octoberville tradition. Cherub and Nathan are the masterminds behind the products of PixelTrix. They are amazing programmers. I just work here. lol. I'm the artist. But Octoberville really does come from my heart.

inVogue: It's wonderful to see people working so well together to make both a business and an attraction succeed. I attended both the 2006 and 2007 Octobervilles and saw a huge difference in the hunts. How much of a role do Second Life improvements play in hunt improvements?

Master Kaos: Well the hunts came out of thinking that we wanted people to really go around and explore the place--to see all the details tucked away. SL does have its limitations and last year’s hunt was very ambitious. It did raise some problems last year, but I think we handled them pretty well and everyone seemed to enjoy it, some multiple times.

inVogue: Do you intend to play off any of the Windlight features this year?

Master Kaos: That would be ideal. There are some really cool effects I would like to include in Octoberville this year, but we are going to have to test and see what is possible. We have to be careful with what we do because of the crowds we get at one time. We got filled up very quickly last year.

inVogue: I'm sure you intend to have the Crowbar Club in full force again this year. Do you expect to have as good of a turnout as last year?

Master Kaos: Oh yes. The Crowbar itself became very popular on its own. I opened it up quite a few months this year whenever I had the time. Anytime the word gets out that Crowbar is open, many people show up.

inVogue: Octoberville is always an intense build with a strong storyline. How much time goes into planning and building the site?

Master Kaos: You want the truth or should I tell you we spend months and months planning it? Honestly, I love to improvise. Some of the programming starts a bit early. So that we can test hunts, etc to make sure they are gonna work correctly. Building wise, I just look at the blank canvas each year and go to work. I always throw in my favorite things that I've come to love over the years--like hanging up your favorite Christmas ornaments that you've had since you were a child.

inVogue: The mystery is a big hit. And exploring and finding new surprises is what draws me to the attraction.

Master Kaos: Maybe Octoberville itself is just another mad experiment created by Professor Dalton, our resident insane scientist. He is the reason for the madness that has occurred in this little town. Murders, experiments, explosions, monsters, etc. Most of those bloody trails lead up to Dalton's residence, which he has rebuilt many times. Roleplay here is a big part of the fun and we encourage everyone to come be a part of it and add to the story.

inVogue: Will it be detective roleplay again this year or are you using a different role?

Master Kaos: We really incorporated the scavenger hunt into the story last year. I don't really want to give too much away, but we have been working on something a bit different this year that we hope will be a lot of fun. I would say yes, there is a detective aspect to it.

inVogue: The hunts are a combination of puzzles and mazes in a macabre setting. How do people respond to the variety of challenges and fear factors?

Master Kaos: We have literally scared the BLEEP out of people in past years in the haunted house. With the introduction of voice chat to the game, I have nearly fallen out of my chair laughing while listening to people screaming or jumping, and most everyone I've talked to loved the challenge of the hunt. I've had people curse us for keeping them up for days at a time trying to find the last couple items. We like to make some of them especially difficult for the die-hards who can't go on living until they find every single clue. We also make it mean something by recognizing people who found all the items, who participated and roleplayed. We threw a huge private party last year for Octoberville elite, a group you could only get in by achieving certain goals in Octoberville.

inVogue: Roleplaying really makes the fun and mystery more complete. Do you have any advice for those who have never roleplayed before?

Master Kaos: Hmmm...well, here it is very open. We invite people to be creative and just enjoy themselves. Become a part of what you see around you. Get in a mind-set and really become a character. Last year we had people just playing citizens of the town, wandering around, lying in the houses. We had ghosts, skeletons, etc in our graveyard played by real people. It's always fun to see what people will do here.

inVogue: Is there anything else you wanted to add about Octoberville?

Master Kaos: We just really hope everyone comes out and enjoys it. We put a lot of love in to it and it’s a completely free attraction. If I had any advice for enjoying Octoberville it would be to always make sure it’s set to darkness outside and to use your camera wisely.

Octoberville is a must-see attraction for the Halloween season and is holding a Grand Opening tomorrow evening. It's more than a build, it's a fully interactive experience with a running plot that will get you hooked. Whether you spend day and night searching for all the items and solving the mystery or not, you'll be glad you took the time to explore. The PixelTrix team takes Halloween to a new level with this annual attraction.

Octoberville