Review: Bentham Skyboxes, Danika Alice in Naughty Land

You're invited to a tea party... a magical tea party in the wonderful land of your imagination!

In looking for our next photo shoot location for Jackie Graves, I happened to stumble across a rather spectacular duo of sims, and in the middle was a very small store.  Mom and I went in, had a look, and I instantly knew that this was our next post; or duel post.

Meet Lauren Bentham, the young and upcoming lead designer for Bentham Manor, a high-end design store specializing in dark fantasy landscaping items, mesh avatars, and a new line of skyboxes that she has just released.  Her items are available online or in world, and given her amazing quality and attention to detail, her prices are reasonable.  Full mesh avatars average cost only L$349, and her most expensive product, her large 59x59 skybox, is a reasonable L$1,499.

We decided, seeing we were there, that we had to do a review of her large skybox for everyone to see.  Two things immediately struck us:  it seems larger than the designated 59x59 meters, and there is this amazing soundscape.  In fact, it seems that Ms. Bentham almost specializes in these two effects.

I am sure that everyone has had an opportunity to see what 59x59x23 meters is in SL terms, however, I encourage you to find a sandbox or piece of land where you can rez out a cube this size.  Look at in, especially with the default plywood texture courtesy of Linden Labs.  It is stark, enclosed, and almost suffocates just on its own; but somehow Ms. Bentham has managed to evade these facts from her audience. The space is decorated with one of her mushroom homes, paths, graveyards, statues, and is bathed in an eery dark light.  We toured it at midday windlight settings, and it was just right for our graphics and for us to see (sidenote: while we usually darken and create a haze for our photos, all photos shown here in this post today are photographed in the midday windlight setting and are not edited; we are showing our raw unadulterated photos).

The space seems large, even looming, and makes your avatar feel smaller than it really is.  Though it is only 59x59, Ms. Bentham has managed to make the area feel so much bigger.  That prim I made you rez?  In comparison, your prim is now small.  Ms. Bentham uses optical illusions to make the area seem so much bigger.  And her ability to create an atmosphere is amazing.  You are transported to the dark dreams of a childhood influenced by Tim Burton, early Pixar, and Victorian era children's tales.  Everything has a slight cartoonish feel to it, which makes you feel both incredibly safe and yet taunted by a dark lurking danger.  Her soundscape, a mix of familiar and unknown sounds, heightens the senses to the dark misty reality around you.  You are safe, you are at home, but at the same time, able to control, explore, and defeat your darkest childhood nightmare.  Have a look yourself (note: video has a blur effect added to enhance the dreamlike quality of the skybox).

Looking at Ms. Bentham's other products is amazing as well.  She manages to take this amazing storyboard art concept and make it three-dimensional via sculpts (for landscaping) and mesh (for avatars).  Her ability to control the experience and the scene is absolutely amazing, especially for someone who seems to be just starting her graphic arts career (as determined by the still small inventory in her store).  Yet, despite her relatively small inventory, everything is needed to create her unique atmosphere.  She is mature in the definition of her art and style, something seen more in very veteran content creators in SL.

Ms. Bentham's soundscapes are also amazing.  Being a veteran gamer myself, something that is often lacking in sims in SL is a custom soundscape.  Some sims have managed to get them going, but often, most designers disregard this element in favor of a radio station or silence, often using the excuse of the audience listening to other music, being on Skype, or just not having a headset or speakers available.  How many times have you in SL been near a waterfall and heard the rush of... Nickelback.  It doesn't work.  The sound of a waterfall should not be an over-used rock band, it should be the sound of water rushing, storming, over ageless rocks that have been there longer than anything else on this earth.

Listening to the soundscape while walking through Ms. Bentham's sim that we will be photographing fully immerses you into her fantasy.  It doesn't matter whether you are on the sim she designed, her store, her skybox, or anything with her influences.  It is there, you are there, and what she has done is not done nearly enough in SL, and when it has been done, it has been tossed to the wayside.  We loved Legacies 1891 because of how immersive it was.  Mom loved the previous design at NeuroLabs because of the immersive soundscape. A successful experience in SL requires that soundscape, and Lauren Bentham has mastered that.

Ms. Bentham's products reflect her attention to detail, from her pre-war style radio that plays eight tunes and has been a constant companion on Mom's desk to her affinity for Alice avatars, her products are amazing.  Yes, Alice avatars - we made a game while briefly scouting her sims of finding all of her different avatars.  So far we have found three Alice avatars; two are up for sale in the Marketplace (traditional Alice and steampunk Alice), and others are scattered about.  Try to find the third we found, and see if there are more.  As for Alice, we paired Ms. Bentham's setting with our own Alice in Naughtyland from Danika Designs for L$399; the rabbit made and irresistible companion for this setting.

Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Amazing detail, immersive experience, full soundscape.

Cons:  May appear too dark with lower-end graphic cards.