Over the past few weeks I've taken a big leap into the world of Open Source development and started messing around with OpenSim, the BSD licenced 3D virtual world based on Second Life, but reinvented from scratch using C#. It's an immense project that's been in development for a while, and it's starting to look pretty good.
Getting hold of OpenSim is relatively easy, especially if you're a developer and have used Subversion before. Grab the latest code, run the pre-build tool, build the solution and you're just about ready. Make sure you run the correct exe for your system (64bit machines have to run a 32bit launcher), and you are hosting your own little simulator that you can connect to.
So, next step is to connect to the newly-created world. You can either use the standard Second Life client with a modified startup shortcut, or you can download and use the realXtend viewer and specify your server as part of the launch. And then you're in your own little world...
Now, since that picture was taken I've completely broken the server by attempting to hook it up to SQL Server, but that's all part of the fun - and there are so many bits and pieces to look at and tweak that this is proving to be quite an entertaining project.
So, why am I doing this? Well, I've been working with Kyle for a while on MS Island on Second Life, and this is part of an exploration of open source alternatives to the Linden Labs controlled world. Project Manhattan is the first project we're working on, and it's still in its early stages - but it certainly makes a welcome change from SharePoint development.