Children’s Quiet Space

To complement the online virtual church, the 1867 team have also constructed a similar online experience but in a format that is more accessible to children.

(This clip has explanatory subtitles, that can be activated, whilst watching the video.)

Anyone, especially children – who may be more familiar with the Roblox platform, is welcome to simply visit this church and its peaceful surroundings at any time, if they wish to find some peace and solitude at this time of international crisis.

Click on this link to locate the virtual Pfaffenthal church.

Visit an Online Church this Sunday

If you missed this week’s service within Sansar, you are welcome to come next week instead. This is a little of what you missed.

You are always welcome to simply visit the church and its surroundings at any time, if you wish to find some peace and solitude at this time of international crisis.

Click on this link to locate the virtual Pfaffenthal church.

1867 Promotional Channel

Some of you may know about my love of Victorian history and children’s education.

I’m currently working (with an online friend from Luxembourg) building a ‘free-to-play’ game for young children, to teach them a little about the life and goings-on in the city of Luxembourg during the year 1867. Although this game is aimed at young children, you are still interested to look if you wish. If you are interested, please feel free to watch (and laugh) at my silly promo videos for the game!

1867 Promotional Channel

The game is hosted upon the children’s platform, called Roblox. You can access it here:

1867 (Roblox Game)

1867

You will most likely already know that I am working with a friend (cyberpiper) on the production of an authentic historical reproduction of 1867 Luxembourg, using the Roblox platform. Using old photographs and other historical documents, cyberpiper and I are producing a realistic computer generation of how this part of Luxembourg would have looked in the mid-nineteenth century. If you are interested, this video clip will give you a flavour of how the project is progressing.

You can visit the game here.

1867 Update

If you follow this blog, you will already know that I am currently working with a friend (cyberpiper) in the production of an authentic historical reproduction of 1867 Luxembourg, using the Roblox platform.

Using old photographs and other historical documents, cyberpiper and I are producing a realistic computer generation of how this part of Luxembourg would have looked in the mid-nineteenth century.

If you are keen to see how the work in progress is faring, you are welcome to view the following video clip of a basic walk around the Rue des bons Malades. Cyberpiper and I are now working on buildings on the opposite side of the river, before proceeding to complete the section of the city beyond the church.

There is a great deal of work to do but you are welcome to visit what has been done so far, if you remain interested.

Click here for a link to the1867 game.

Can you recognise the location shown in this photograph, by visiting and playing the game?

Ultimately, our aim is to produce a working game that may encourage gamers to enjoy and respect our amazing shared historical heritage.

1867

You may have seen very little activity from me, over the past few months, and wondered what I am up to.

You will already know, if you have read any of my free eBooks, that I am interested in Victorian history. Many of my stories are based around this era or set in a Victorian steampunk genre. You would be correct in thinking that the Victorian period is a favourite point of interest for me.

Since the start of 2019 I have paired up with an Internet friend of mine (cyberpiper) and, together, we have worked on the construction of a computer-generated reconstruction of 1867 Luxembourg. My friend lives in Luxembourg and has an avid interest in the year 1867, due to its importance in the history of Luxembourg. As for me, as you will already know, this project marries very closely with my own interest in history and my background in the education of children.

Although a great deal of work has been completed, there is still a vast amount of work left to do. It will be a long time until we can both realise our goal of a fully functioning game, set in 1867, where gamers can live, work and explore the city of Luxembourg, in 1867. Even still, this short video should give you a taste of what has been achieved so far.

If you are interested you can access the game by clicking on this link.

Fantasy Faire

Today at 12:00 noon (Second Life Time) I have been asked to participate in a literacy event at Second Life’s Fantasy Faire. I have chosen to read one of my stories, one that was pictured within the now redundant Pfaffenthal sim of Second Life: Professor Nibbler’s Most Amazing Mouse Circus.

If you are free in three hours time, you are welcome to log in and listen.

“Have you seen a real live mouse circus? If you have, you’re very lucky indeed, as very few other people have ever seen one. When Professor Nibbler brought his most amazing mouse circus to Pfaffenthal, two homeless children (Jacob and Molly) were enchanted by the posters that were pasted across the city. However, as is common with other stories from Maxwell Grantly, things don’t go according to plan. Discover how Jacob and Molly got to see the most amazing mouse circus in the world and find out what they saw there.”

You can find more details here.

The Time-Travelling Mirror

You may already know that I am active, assisting Hauptmann Weydert with an online computer-generated three-dimensional reconstruction of 1867 Luxembourg. Just recently this project developed a most unusual twist, linking the past with the present.

Visitors to two local history museums in Luxembourg are already able to wander through a digital reconstruction of the Pffafenthal district of the city, using virtual reality headgear or computer screens. As they meander through the city’s streets, they are able to witness first-hand the architecture and layout of the city, as it appeared one hundred and fifty years ago.

Now this computer generated reconstruction has a very usual addition: a time portal to the current city of Luxembourg in the form of a ‘mirror’. The surface of this ‘mirror’ displays a live stream, taken from a webcam mounted in a shop front in modern day Luxembourg. At the same time, a computer screen has been placed within the very same shop window, showing time-travelling visitors to the museum wandering around the very same position, but one hundred and fifty years in the past. This means that, as museum visitors explore the digital reconstruction of their city, they are able to look at a live stream of the very same location, outside in the modern day streets of today. However, the passers-by in the streets are also able to use the computer screen to peer back into the antics of the museum time-travelling visitors, as they explore the city one hundred years in the past.

So time-travelling museum visitors are able to view the modern-day Luxembourg citizens and, at the same time, these modern-day citizens can watch the time-travelling museum visitors. The two different parties are even able to communicate using text, animations or basic gestures.

Isn’t that a really incredible concept!

The Pfaffenthal Adventure

Work is continuing on the Pfaffenthal comic project. The completion date for this publication is set for midyear 2017. I hope that this video clip may whet your appetite.

Pfaffenthal Update

Next year (2017) will be the 150^th anniversary of the Second Treaty of London.

For people living outside Luxembourg, this date will have very little significance. However, for those who live and work in Luxembourg, the year 2017 will be an important opportunity to celebrate the reaffirmation of the neutrality of their city and a chance to remember the starting of a new chapter of this important European location.

The Second Treaty of London was an international treaty signed on 11 May 1867. It was agreed in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War and the Luxembourg Crisis and it had wide-reaching consequences for Luxembourg and for the relations between Europe’s Great Powers.

As part of the many celebrations planned for 2017, I am currently working with a team from across the whole of Europe; helping in the production of a transmedia comic strip set in a computer generated reconstruction of the 1867 city. The story revolves around a young Luxembourgish boy named Steft and it explains how his vivid imagination caused him to cross the paths of many different characters in and around his home city of Luxembourg.

If all goes to plan, the comic strip will be released some time next year and it is hoped that it may be a unique way of retelling the stories of the inhabitants of this important European City.