The Harry Potter franchise is enormous, so not surprisingly there are a number of virtual interactive adventure worlds out there.
These 'worlds' are places where fans of the books and films can meet up and chat, or play games inside a virtual 3D environment, which is faithfully modelled on the films.
Some of the best virtual worlds I've found include:
The World of Hogwarts
The World of Hogwarts is based within the 3D virtual reality game, Second Life. It's run by fans of Harry Potter as a non-profit venture.
This is a role-playing world, so players are able to join in as themselves, a non-human character, or a special character from the series itself. The game engine limits the number of 'special' characters available, in order to stay faithful to the books.
Chamber of Chat
Chamber of Chat was developed as a custom-built 3D virtual world. The system doesn't seem as advanced or sophisticated as The World of Hogwarts, but it also seems less crowded, so there's a better chance of being able to play the character you want to be.
Pottermore
Although it couldn't really be described as a fully-immersive virtual world, Pottermore is the official online Harry Potter world and community, created by J.K. Rowling herself.
The central idea behind Pottermore, is that it allows fans to explore 'behind' the books and gain a greater depth of understanding of each one. Pottermore also allows readers to discover new writing by Rowling herself.
These 'worlds' are places where fans of the books and films can meet up and chat, or play games inside a virtual 3D environment, which is faithfully modelled on the films.
Some of the best virtual worlds I've found include:
The World of Hogwarts
The World of Hogwarts is based within the 3D virtual reality game, Second Life. It's run by fans of Harry Potter as a non-profit venture.
This is a role-playing world, so players are able to join in as themselves, a non-human character, or a special character from the series itself. The game engine limits the number of 'special' characters available, in order to stay faithful to the books.
Chamber of Chat
Chamber of Chat was developed as a custom-built 3D virtual world. The system doesn't seem as advanced or sophisticated as The World of Hogwarts, but it also seems less crowded, so there's a better chance of being able to play the character you want to be.
Pottermore
Although it couldn't really be described as a fully-immersive virtual world, Pottermore is the official online Harry Potter world and community, created by J.K. Rowling herself.
The central idea behind Pottermore, is that it allows fans to explore 'behind' the books and gain a greater depth of understanding of each one. Pottermore also allows readers to discover new writing by Rowling herself.
