Introducing Mega Surrounds

I've always wondered if I could somehow make my landscapes bigger, so they would offer a more immersive experience. Over the last year I've been experimenting with some really huge 2x2x2 km mega prims. The problem that I encountered, though, was that close to the sim the resolution of both the textures and the landscape shape was too low. To deal with that, I started to use the 2 km mega prims for the outer ring and the "ordinary" 1 km mega prims for the inner ring. After making them seamlessly fit together, this resulted in my new Mega Surrounds.



Incorporating the 2 km mega prims has several advantages. Mountain tops can be further away, and because of that they can be much higher, even without unnaturally steep slopes. This also gives room for a an inner ring with gentle slopes, rising to the foot of the mountains in the distance. The trees can be a bit further away (they look better that way), and it also makes it possible to create more open space in the middle for two, three or even four regions instead of just one.

Texturing

Not only did I use a different size of prims for the Mega Surrounds, but I also changed the way I texture them. The textures are baked in a different way, making them more natural. Also, instead of cour seasons you will have twelve seasonal textures at your disposal. In small steps you can let the snow melt in Spring until even the mountain tops are clear. Then after Summer you'll see the first fresh snow on the tops again, as the trees in the valley turn yellow and red... Visit the Alpine Ridge Mega Surround to see for yourself!



Starry Night

Last year I released the Starry Night system. The Starry Night was also made of the 2x2x2 km mega prims. I made sure the mountains of the new Mega Surround would fit just inside the stars, meteorites and planets, so they always stay behind them like you would expect them to.

Editions

The Alpine Ridge is the first Mega Surround that will be realeased. It will be available on May 1, 2021, and it will come in several layouts: for one region (with or without water next to the sim), for 2x2 regions, and in 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 layouts. They're all made of the very big prims, so you can only use them when you have a complete sim or homestead. The land impact of the full mega surrounds is 120.



Plans for the future

It is my plan to release a new Mega Surround every 3-4 weeks for the next half year. Expect volcanoes, canyons, desert mountains... Please follow me on Flickr to see my work progress and some sneak previews!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NEW Solid Sky Landscapes: sim-wide solid mesh merging into a surrounding, off-sim sculpted landscape

Image
After several months of work I've finally finished the first six landscapes of a completely new type. I call them Solid Sky Landscapes. Peaky Islands Solid Sky Landcsape These sky landscapes are perfect for easily creating an additional level high above ground level, with a naturally shaped solid surface that almost looks like regular sim land. You can use them on full sims and homesteads. They only have a land impact of 80-160 (depending on the configuration you choose) so land impact shouldn't be a problem! The Six Lakes solid sky landscape... ...with the solid mesh part in the middle, highlighted for this picture by "glow" Two solid sky landscapes are already on display, and all six of them will be available in my store this weekend or at the beginning of next week. Solid sky landscapes consist of two parts: a solid mesh part within and a sculpted mega prim part outside the sim borders. These are their properties: The mesh on-sim part: The me...
Read more

Version 6 Sim Surrounds now in Sky edition

Image
By the end of 2016 I finished a new set of sim surround landscapes (version 6.0). These landscapes are now available in a sky edition, in three sizes: Large (1x1 km), Medium (250x250 m) and Small (125x125 m). Sweetwater Valley - Autumn Tropcal Paradise It took quite some time to develop these, especially because the new type of water that I wanted to use ( see also this blogpost ) required  lots of changes in several landscape and HUD scripts. This is also why the HUD was updated to version 6.1: previous HUD's won't work on these sky landscapes. Gorges du Verdon with functioning HUD 6.1 When rezzing the Medium and Small editions you will get a menu that helps you to rez a naturally shaped and textures solid mesh platform in the middle. You can bring up this menu afterwards too by touching the landscape for at least five seconds. Mesh terrain and menus The mesh platforms themselves have a menu to change the texture to another season. They are copy-m...
Read more

Introducing: The Mirror Box

Image
Time for some true innovation in Second Life! Today I'm introducing a completely new version of an already existing kind of item in SL: a skybox made of flat screens, and I'm calling it The Mirror Box. Reflections, even at low graphics settings As far as I can tell, two aspects are completely different from what's currently on the market: The pictures for the screens were all taken in Second Life itself. You can see Second Life skies and clouds on them, and the landscapes you see are also images of 3D landscapes of Landscapes Unlimited in SL; Halfway in the box is an animated water texture. Below it, the box is textured in a way that makes it appear as if the water completely and naturally reflects the sky and landscape images. Because this mirror effect of the water is so striking and convicing, I'm calling the box The Mirror Box. The Mirror Box from a distance, with menu The Mirror Box comes in ten sizes, ranging from 32x32x32 m till 1x1x1 km. All ...
Read more