Well gang I tried like anything to make this pretty and professional looking but sadly while I may be aces when it comes to LSL and RLV, I suck profoundly when it comes to HTML and WordPress, so I’m afraid it’s going to be kind of a user unfriendly info dump instead of the pretty document I was trying for.
But hey, the Saddletree is awesome! See:
The Saddletree came about when my friend Debbie asked if I could make this device that she’d seen in a drawing by Robert Bishop many years ago. She’d been looking for it in SL for years with no luck, so how could I say no, right?
The name comes from another friend – Xena, who upon seeing it for the first time told me “that looks like a saddletree”. It turns out that Xena knows something about horses in the real world, and expensive leather saddles – just like expensive leather shoes, have to be stored on something which helps them keep their proper shape. Shoes get stored on shoetrees, saddles get stored on saddletrees, and apparently I inadvertently built one.
Except the real ones probably lack the D rings, ominous bumps down the top, and the dangling electrical… Implement.
Other than that though I bet it’s a dead ringer :).
If you’re just looking for a really quick “how to” scroll on down to the Using The Saddletree section. Otherwise let’s get started with…
Setting Up The Saddletree
Rez your Saddletree and position it as you like it, annnnd we’re done.
Okay there are a few settings but for the most part it’s drop and play. As you can probably guess, clicking on it will bring up the main menu. If you’re the owner of the device that will look something like this:
Being the contrary sort that I am we’ll start the button on the far right, so click on the Settings button. You’ll get another – somewhat wordier menu – that looks like this:
Most of the buttons are pretty self explanatory – the two Access buttons raise or lower the access level. There are three settings:
Public – Anyone can use the Saddletree.
Group – Only active members of the same group can use the Saddletree.
Private – Only you can use the Saddletree.
The two Range buttons control the distance the Saddletree will scan when you’re looking for victims – err, playmates. Each click will increase or decrease the range by five meters up to a maximum of 90 meters.
Likewise the two Volume buttons raise or lower the volume of the sound effects.
The Reset button simply performs a script reset. The Saddletree saves the settings in the device description field so resetting the scripts won’t reset the settings.
The only thing that’s not self explanatory is the Self Bondage button. When the Saddletree scans for potential victims it intentionally ignores the person operating the menu. Instead there’s a button which will attempt to grab that person and set a random release timer – and no, they don’t get to see the menus so they have no idea how long they’re stuck. And we call that the Self Bondage button.
The Self Bondage button in the settings menu allows you to set the maximum upper limit for that random timer. Keep that in mind, just because you set it to 99 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes that doesn’t mean that it won’t randomly pick two minutes when the time comes. The Self Bondage timer menu looks a little something like this:
The two 10 Min buttons increase or decrease the maximum time by – you guessed it, ten minutes. 1 Hr increases or decreases it by an hour, and 8 Hr increases or decreases it by eight hours.
The Settings button returns you to the Settings Menu, the Main button returns you to the Main Menu.
And now you’re all – heh heh – “set”.
Using The Saddletree
Wow, the setting up section was pretty long for something that I said was really easy wasn’t it? Is it too late to warn you that I’m justifiably referred to as “long winded”? Luckily using the Saddletree is really simple. No, really! Go on and click it. You should get a menu like this one. See. Simple. Two options unless you’re the owner.
Don’t click the Self Bondage button unless you’re tired of reading. It does pretty much what it says it will do, tries to grab the person operating the menu and lock them on the Saddletree for a random amount of time. Once you’re on board you lose menu access, so the only way you can get free is either wait it out, safeword, or convince a passing stranger to help you out.
The Scan button is pretty much the same as any other scan button. It will check for active relays within the Saddletree’s range and – assuming it finds any, present you with a menu of delicacies from which to choose.
Here my evil test alt Winifred “call me Fred” Hinchcliffe (whose official SL name is DiabolicalSuperScience Resident which does NOT roll trippingly off the tongue) is presented with that most succulent of morsels – me. Clicking the button causes the Saddletree to attempt to grab the selected target.
Once someone is on the Saddletree they are prevented from standing, teleporting, or initiating any new IM sessions. It doesn’t have options for removing clothing or setting the victim’s environment settings for two reasons:
First off, the odds that the victim is wearing a collar which already handles all of that are pretty good. On top of that there’s also a good chance that the person working the menus also has something like a CC One Ring, Dahlia’s Owner’s Remote, Satomi’s Witchy Remote, or Susan’s Remote which also lets them do any RLV things their twisted little heart’s desire. Adding that same code to the Saddletree means a bigger script which uses up more resources. And makes me have to type more.
The other reason is logic. It’s a bondage stand, why should it be able to remove your clothes?
But mostly it’s the typing :).
Once your victim is securely – err, secured, you have a few additional options. Click on the Saddletree – make sure you don’t click on your victim yet, that’s a special surprise for later. You should see a menu not unlike this one. Just a few options at this point.
The two Volume buttons control the volume of the sound effects.
The Release button frees your captive and resets the Saddletree back to its standby state.
The Timer button lets you set a delay timer to release your victim at some point in the future.
And now the special surprise I mentioned. Notice the black and red shock wand dangling at the end of the beam? It’s not just decorative. Its true purpose is sinister. You can move it across your victim’s body by clicking and holding your mouse button, then dragging your mouse across them. The wand will follow your mouse pointer, orienting itself as you move.
But that’s not all. I mean what fun is an animated 3D shock wand that doesn’t… Y’know. Shock? When you’re ready to give your victim a jolt just release your mouse button and ZAP!
Seriously, there’s a zap sound along with the appropriate female or male sounds of distress, and a small shower of sparks. That photo is totally unedited other than cropping it down to size and adding the oversized mouse pointer.
And yes, working the mouse and taking the snapshot at the same time WAS a nightmare than you for asking.
And that pretty well covers Using The Saddletree. Just one short little bit left to go, and that’s…
Being Stuck On The Saddletree
This is pretty simple. Like most RLV bondage gear once you’re on board the ride is pretty much out of your control. The only thing you can do is keep your hands inside the car, and frankly the chains pretty much ensure that :).
But there are two things you can do. First off when you’re placed on the Saddletree you’ll get a big menu pop up that will look a bit like this:
The Saddletree has built in sound effects which are – as you can guess from the menu pop up – gender specific. So when you see this click the button that closest approximates the sounds you want to make. If you don’t pick one the Saddletree defaults to female because it was much easier for me to find and edit together the appropriate sounds for girl victims than for boy victims so those were all I had when I was writing this.
The other thing you can do is adjust your position on the Saddletree up or down. I’m pretty short and tend to build everything as if everyone in SL had the good taste to be my height. Alas that’s not the case, so pressing the Page Up and Page Down keys on your keyboard will raise or lower you slightly so you get the maximum Saddletree experience 🙂
Please drop me a note in SL – Wilhelmina Hinchcliffe if you have any questions suggestions or just want to shower me with extravagant praise. If you’d like to take a look at the Saddletree in person click here to visit my shop in Orbitalis 🙂