Wellllllll.........

I kept telling myself - and anybody who asked - that I was aiming for a soft launch this weekend. Not going to happen. Rather than stressing out over an artificial deadline - I'm going to give myself another week. And another artificial deadline. :)

Distraction

I know - you'd think I had enough to do! Spent some time this morning creating my weblin avatar. That's it on the bottom left of the screen shot. Downloaded a pic from SecondLife so my avatar would be consistent. Still have a problem with some white haloing - but it's a gif - doubt it matters too much. :)

Update: Couldn't stand it - got rid of the white halo. :)

Comfy?

Doesn't look comfortable I'll admit. But it'll do til I have time to fuss with it. :)

I think .......

When I've finished getting the island up and running I'm going to add an open space. That way I can have fun landscaping without worrying about product etc. :)

It's a risky world ....

Again, it has nothing to do with liability or insurance. Just wanted to

show that I've kept the safety of my visitors a priority. :)

Interim Safety Measures

Just so people like Wrath don't fall and hurt themselves - and that's what it's about, really, it's not about the insurance. I put up some quick temporary railings and stairs - eventually I'll get around to doing something a bit more aesthetically pleasing. :)

It's not a scathingly brilliant idea .......

Someday I'll have one of them. :) In the meantime I'll make do with what I do come up with. In this case, I wanted a tp system for the island that didn't involve a lot of signage, notecards, sound effects, special effects. etc. So I thought of a version of a sun dial - with tiny replicas of things like fountains that you could click on and then you'd be tped to that area of the island. I think I've finally got the tp script working - but if you wind up under the water just consider it an adventure. K?

One benefit to doing it this way - doesn't matter what language you speak. It'll be baffling in all of them. :)

It just sort of happened........

As I don't have any neighbours - I thought I would just set out some of my stuff in straight lines to make it easier for shoppers. Not the most attractive layout - but efficient.

It looks like a parking lot for fountains. :(

Well .........

They won't win any beauty contests ............. but they work. And that would be the point. Right? :)

2nd Draft

The latest version of the waterfall - I still need to plant a lot of trees. I've also got to build a couple of small bridges.

work work work :)

Went to check on my mainland parcels and remembered what I won't miss. That's being next to the Trilegy Corporation. It's worse for Wrath - people are always putting their houses down on his land. A woman had planted a Tuscan Villa on his parcel today - complete with a swimming pool and diving board. I just got her car.

I sent her a sternly worded IM and was looking forward to a blistering discussion. Unfortunately she apologized. :(

Progress

I've got the first draft of the waterfall done - now I'm putting in the goat trails etc. before I plant the rest of the forest.

Wrath came by and tested the pose balls I put on the rocks (so people who find their way up there can rest and look out at the ocean). It was very nice of him but there were lots of questions about insurance and the distance he would fall and "It's not a volcano is it?". Sheesh!

Not really gone .....

You should not infer from my lack of posting that I've been idle. I've been working on textures and terraforming. I decided not to build an aqueduct when I found a network of underground streams which could be used to water the fields etc.

The mess in the picture above will turn into a waterfall/forest. I promised a certain dragon hatchling that I would replace the one from the old garden.

My problem in terms of posting etc. is that I'm a superhero in an alternate universe. I can tell you that because you'll never figure out which universe so my identity will remain concealed. And that job has been very busy lately.

The good news is that I think I'll be able to launch the island next week some time. :)

Now for the square

I know what elements I want in the square .... just have to figure out where to put them. And I have to stop playing with the tiles. Have a thing for ceramic tiles.

I'd worry about that, but there are martians and robots in here - I'm relatively benign.

One of these days ...

Someday I'm going to do something the easy way. Decided to move the office/info centre - most people would take all the prims at the same time. I decided (apparently) to leave a few key ones behind. Joining them all back together was made more interesting by having rotated most of the building off of the north/south axis.

Good thing there aren't going to be a lot of buildings on the island. I don't think I would survive all the resulting adventures. :)

Ooooops

Was trying to lock the prims. Hit physical instead.

Someday I'll laugh about this.

Looking on the bright side - I have figured out how to blow things up. :)

Progress!

That's better. Can I just say that I really really don't like building a roof. That's two down - one or two more to go.

Some progress ....

I realize that this probably looks a little arbitrary. But I do have a semblance of a plan. And it's important to remember that I keep tinkering as I go - so builds go through significant change as I'm working. :)

The adventure continues ..........

One year ago today I joined Second Life. This is the only photo of me I have from back then - and that's only because when I enter a Region name at login it shows this pic.

I'd like to say I only looked like this for a brief period of time but it was really more like 3 or 4 months. I was so busy buying land and learning to build that I just didn't worry about my AV. Once I started to go out into the world I did make a few improvements. I have no idea why Wrath actually spoke to me back then - and more than once. :)

I've met the usual suspects - nice folks, nasty folks, just plain weird folks. Those with agendas, those with hormones, those who you just want to fold up and put in your pocket to keep them safe.

The best part - yes apart from the nice folks - is the learning and building. That's just really really neat. And one day I'll get good at it.

In the meantime I remain in awe of the minds and talent in this place and astounded at those who just don't get it. With any luck the next year will be even better. :)

Consider this an enormous thank you to the friends who make this place welcoming, the artists and builders who share their visions with me and the Lindens who make it possible for me to encounter all of them.

Finally .......

Well the first building is almost done - so I can move my office into the second floor. I went with decorated glass doors and windows on the front of the bottom floor because - well, why not?

And I've lost one of my cats again. sheesh

And yes I could get used to this. :)

The problem with texures .......

is that they're just textures. The good news about the wealth of prims available to me on the island is that I can satisfy my need for more realistic depth etc. So adding the cylinder tiles to the roof makes it look much better than just relying on the "texture" of the tiles. :)

Well........

There are no doors or windows yet - and it's missing a staircase. But building has started. :)

Just for the heck of it ....

I was puttering away on the island and decided, just out of curiousity, to check my stats. My FPS was 83.9. A person could get used to that. :)