The Electric Sheep Company have launched the Nissan Sentra car, along with four sims for driving in, and it is a triumph. Thought, time, effort, organization have gone into this project, and it shows.

If you are in the Counting Sheep group for Electric Sheep events, you will have received a copy of the car to try. If you are not, you simply have to IM Toast Alicious for a key, which will enable you to go to the vendor on the Nissan sims to get your own. The cars are customizable through a menu system, and so you can change the colour by clicking on the car.

There are four sims to try your driving skills at, with different terrains, with a linking bridge on one to help keep the speed up even when your draw distance is high. I know that vehicles have the reputation for being difficult to control and not much fun in SL, but these are different. Believe me!

In the past I have been known to abandon the attempt to drive my open Porsche project car along a small straight stretch of road, due to my inability to keep it on the straight and narrow, and to maintain control. Imagine for a second me climbing out of that Porsche, muttering and grumbling, kicking the side as I leave it buried in a ditch. That was my driving experience in SL until today.

With the Nissan, it couldn't be more different. It was easy to steer, while the addition of gear changes adds to the skill needed to get a smooth driving experience. The sims have been set up to be low-lag, and the car drives amazingly. I enjoyed it immensely, and can see this being the craze for some time to come. There are remote control cars to use too, but I was too busy enjoying the full-size model to go look at them, you'll have to check them out for yourselves.

I think the Sheep have got this project exactly right: you can drive the free car anywhere; it is available to everyone who wants one; you can drive other cars on the Nissan sims; they have put time and thought and effort into making the product the best it can be, within the limitations of the platform. Add to that the fact that anyone can join the Counting Sheep group to get information about their events, and that their blog is regularly and literately updated with information, and this project is damn near perfect. It is adding good experiences and items to the community, and both Nissan and ESC have given that side of things a lot of time, thought and money.

I hope that the project is every bit as successful as it deserves to be. You know me; I tell it like it is, without fear or favour. In this case, I think it is a model of its type, and thanks and congrats are due to the sheep. The full credit list is Morton Darkes, project manager; DNA Prototype and Narmotur Pendragon, Sentra and RC cars; Makaio Stygian, animated vendor; Cory Edo, Makaio Stygian, Rez Menoptra, sim design.