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About

The people and the sims behind Black Box

Black Box is made by two people in Second Life, with help from a few more, and runs the game side of roleplay sims across the grid.

Who makes it

  • Kanika Parnass

    Also FireFox BreedSystem manager · PHP and SQL

    Manages the whole of Black Box and writes its server side: the PHP and SQL behind the HUD, every sim's website and every rule, along with the in-world scripts that tie them together.

    Second Life profile

  • Shadoskill Heckroth

    React and JavaScript

    Builds the screens people use: the HUD players wear in-world and each sim's website, both written in React.

    Second Life profile

With help from

  • Madpeter zondORM and frameworks
  • Archie Atheria and LuwethLogic support and combat system planning
  • Kal SouthpawPHP
  • Sorin AndricPHP

How it came to be

  1. The start

    Built for Remnants of Earth

    Black Box began on Remnants of Earth, a science fiction, post-apocalyptic sim, to replace an older HUD that kept its records in Dropbox. It was Kanika's first roleplay HUD, and the first time Shadoskill wrote PHP.

  2. v1

    The core it still has

    What that sim needed became the heart of Black Box: more than one character per account, inventory, crafting, trading and vendors, the whole item system, and groups. HUDs that show a web page weren't in common use yet, so the first HUD did without one.

  3. v2

    A new server side

    The backend was rebuilt on the ORM framework Madpeter zond wrote, which replaced SQL written by hand.

  4. v3

    Rewritten from the ground up

    A full rewrite in modern, class-based code, with a HUD that shows a web page on a media prim and a push to automate combat. It moved into its current projects in August 2025, and it's the version running today.

Roleplays on Black Box

Each of these sims runs its own Black Box, with its own rules, theme and website.

  • Fantasy

    Norune Roleplay

    A fantasy world on Black Box's own d20 rules, with a HUD theme for each of its factions.

  • Medieval

    Karhu

    Medieval roleplay on 3d6 rules with magic, runes, songs and professions.

  • Prison

    Red Rock Detention Center

    Prison roleplay, with characters approved by staff, ID numbers over every head, and doors and alarms run by the game.

  • Nova Reach

    Roleplay with classes and levels, in its own Nova Reach theme.

Black Box has also run

  • Crosswinds Roleplay
  • Requiem by Night
  • Voidline
  • Morgantown

Run a sim and want it here? Tell us on Discord.