Tag: Forest Floor

Is it greed, is it lust?

I wish I could understand the mind of privileged Mainland land-lords/ladies. Is it greed what drives  their lust for virtual land, or is there an altruistic end of some sort? Do they believe they’re doing SL and hence its residents a favor when they grab all the good land they come across and then put it up for rent? Do they realize that maybe someone else may want or need or desire the land they hoard for their private business? Can’t they see they’re depriving other individuals the same chance of owning land as they do? If on seeing someone inspecting an available parcel, couldn’t they just ask you, out of courtesy at least, if you’re considering buying that lot instead of clicking and buying, even from far away, as in a rush, robbing you the chance to even get the funds in order to complete the process? Or is it that they don’t think other people buy land, that only they do or have the right to?

Bay City

Since, in a sense, SL is no more than a game (a race for buying land in the case of business-people), are their minds powered by the same psychological (addictive) boost that “gambling” does for gamblers? Do they think SL is all about their class, them against other land barons? Or is it the action of an egotistical impulse that blocks their minds and only allow them to think of themselves? Are their social values different from the rest of us, or is it that SL twists their morals in a way that they can’t see beyond the tip of their noses? Do they believe in friendship or is it only a matter of business to them?

Bay City

Are we tenants worth anything to rental services, or are we just what we are: a disposable wallet that is easy to replace with another one if it happens that we, out of disgust, go away? Is there an escape to that? Are we hopeless? Are we doomed to live under this “business model” if we want to “own” land?

Bay City

Why does Linden Research, Inc. allow virtual land speculation to escalate to the point of having 512/1024 square meter plots selling for hundreds of real life money? Is it even right? Or is it that the Lab thinks all of us have the tools, abilities and skills to make our SL self-sustained? Or is it that they think their world is just for those that are capable of earning their living by such means? If so, why do they sell virtual currency with real life money in an uncontrolled economy base?

Bay City

Ah well… nevermind. Sorry for having such a depressing view of SL in Christmas. Blame me for trying to figure out the way things are not from a –probably– too idealized and hence distorted point of view anyway. When things like this happen they make me wonder why I invest so much time and effort in things that end up troubling me more than they please me. Is it some kind of virtually induced nonsexual masochism? I don’t know… I think it’s me doing things the wrong way for sure.

In the pics, some of the things I’ve put in a rented parcel in Bay City that may not survive the coming of the New Year.

Veggies:

Everything else:

  • bbqq – Humble Abode
  • Zigana – Ladder; Chime (neutral); Holiday spirit ornaments (Arcade Dec. 2013)
  • Lark – Winter Bunting
  • Myrrine – Christmas wall deco without planks
  • Dysfunctional Designs – Holiday Tree
  • Alouette – Toy Soldiers, Ho Ho Ho Decoration (Arcade Dec. 2013)
  • Vespertine – Nutcracker, Starbead curtain (Arcade Dec. 2013); Reading armchair (gatcha)
  • Trompe L’Oeil – Bird On A Stick (Arcade Dec. 2013)
  • Tia – Watercan Twig Deco, Winter Phrase Hanger, Let It Snow Blocks (gatcha)
  • Casa del Shai – Papaya Crate 2 (upside down)
  • we’re closed – old ladder with poses (group gift)
  • ILO – Milk Can; Garden set
  • floorplan – Three apple crates; Sleigh bed (rustic); Midsummer retreat
  • Botanical – Hanging Capiz Lamps
  • Cheeky Pea – Autumn Fly To the Sky Bench
  • lame – Woodruff Sofa (color modded)
  • What Next – Pine tree wall decal; Pallet log box (sans logs)
  • Pilot – Christmas Village – Sign [North Pole], Springfield (gatcha); Water Hose
  • Apple Fall – His Sideboard, Jute Natural Rug (gatcha)
  • TBF – Telefunken Animated Television
  • Honey Apple (aka MudHoney) – Curtains (cream)
  • Seven Emporium – Hanging bulb (triple)
  • Art Dummy! – Wintertide (chairs and sofa)
  • Warm Animations – Table with plant
  • Culprit – Victorian gazebo (Neva)
The wetlands

Spacious: The Wetlands

The Wetlands

Yesterday I posted about Nowhere’s living quarters, that is the islet  with the red shed and the banyan tree. Today, I’ll show you two adjacent sections that together represent the wetlands. The first one is a swamp located to the southern side of the islet. This area is dominated by a “grove” of swamp cypress trees (of which I blogged a few days ago). It has also grown some shrubs around a central mini-hammock to make it a little bit more dense and less monotonous. I was going to use this area as a camping ground, but I gave up the idea fearing mosquitoes might try to kidnap me. On the other hand, frogs and bugs are liking it, so I think it’s better this way. This shrubbery is actually a prim reservoir: in case I need to free resources to add some extra element to the surroundings, I can trim a shrub or two and still have a woodsy swamp up. At the same time it’s a decent, though vulnerable, psychological deterrent: “Tempted to make more changes? Impossible because I already used the reserves.” I know it won’t work –lol–,  I’m just conducting an experiment.

As the swamp gives way to a clearing, the next zone becomes a marsh. It is the biggest of the two regions and covers most of the central portion of the parcel, to the east of the islet. This area is mostly covered with cattails and other more or less aquatic plants, such as several varieties of water lilies (it seems every garden center in SL has a different one) and grasses.

Water lilies and cattails

While 937 is a nice parcel land capacity number for a 4096 sq.m. lot –even when I’m prone to run out of prims in a flash– it’s somewhat tricky in a homestead. Because it is a low density sim (fewer prims per sq.m.), you have to distribute things carefully, as to not let empty gaps ruin the view. But of course, it’s an easy to remedy situation: you dig a low basin and fill it with water, lol. So that’s how the marshland came to be. A pond or a small lake would have been a great addition too, depending on how much land you would want to keep dry for terrestrial objects or man-made structures.

[ Items in the pictures ] Nature: Happy Mood, Fallen tree with colored leaves. 3D Trees, Weeping willow; Forest plant, grass & branch (from Forest accessories 2); Swamp cypress, roots & mossy ground (from Swamp cypress pack); Marsh plant; Jungle plant, tree & fern (from Jungle valley pack); Garden shrub (gift from August 2012); Mangrove. Forest Floor, Potted scrub maple (sans the pot). Garden World, Bamboo palm & Hosta Corfu lily. XED Design, Banana tree, Rubber plant, Garden aspidistra & Elephant ear. Botanical, Waterlillies & Cattails. Transparent Banshee, Victoria waterlily pads (not for sale). TUFF, Water leaves. TBF, Lily pads. Animania, Grey crowned cranes (consider these as an introduced species since these Central-South African settlers, though marsh visitors, really prefer the savannah; but hey this is SL. I may replace them with more proper birds such as herons later on). Kidd Grass Garden, Reed cattails.

To read the first part of this series, go here. That should also be the place to find the slurls to the apparently missing store slurls in this post. Tomorrow I’ll be presenting the last part, which will properly introduce the woodland previewed in some to today’s shots. So see you in a while.

The lives and times of Birches, Part 2

Things keep improving with time, to our decorating pleasure. As botanists –in this context, Second Life content creators who specialize in plants– refine their skills, new birch trees hit the market. In no way the following products replace or make obsolete the ones covered in the preceding post. They just bring additional colors and shapes to Second Life’s forests and gardens.

Forest Floor birches

Forest Floor –a funny name for a store that lies in the clouds– has always specialized in low prim plants. Trees in particular are sold in packs containing small, medium and large, and sometimes thin, standard and wide, sparse or lush versions, with ground covers, falling leaves, grasses, and lately some handy extras such as rocks and fences. Another plus for these trees are the dozens of different combinations you can come up with by mixing an assortment of bark and leaf textures for every growing stage (from sapling to young to mature) and season imaginable (including illuminated for festivities or fairy settings). The first trees were –frankly– Frankensteinish, combining some interesting trunk and branch structures with so and so foliage. However, they were quite popular because they were sold at a nice discount for members of certain themed regions. The Birch pack in the picture above is part of what could be referred to as second generation, when leaves got some love and became distinguishable. They are not only fabulous as trees, but also make perfect shrubs. They’re 2 prims too, so what else could you ask for?

Green & Wild  birch set

Another store with second generation trees is Garden World. Their first Silver birch set was very similar to this one, except for the bark texture, which was… erm… too unreal to be cute. Being the narrowest exemplars in this review and at 3 prims per object, these trees are simply perfect for birch groves. Make sure to rotate and resize some of them to get a varying look because placing a lot of these together could be somewhat monotonous. The pack comes in green, winter (bare) and four shades for autumn.

Post's Paper birch

POST is well known for the splendid detailing and texturing work in all of this store’s products. Hence, it came as no surprise that the Lutsen Paper Birch set released last year was of the same high quality. The only peculiar thing to notice is that these 3 to 7 prim birches come in spring and summer variations only, so that’s why there are no vivid autumn colors or a bare option in the pic. Taking into consideration the temperate character of most, if not all, POST builds, one has to wonder when the missing fall and winter sequel will be announced. Me crosses fingers –would it be worth sending a “reminder” too?

Post Gnarled Birch Tree

Or is it that Post is working in updating the trees to mesh? Maybe that’s what the Gnarled Birch Tree (8 LI) released this year suggests. As for the sculpted ones, you can get them as a pack of seven trees (from 12m to 20m tall) or individually.

3D Trees regular and autumn birch

If you desire –as in some kind of gardening lust– an alluring vista instead of a regular landscape, the natural drooping “stance” of 3D Trees‘ Silver birches deserve your full attention. After examining all the trees in this review, perhaps you will agree with me that these seem convincingly life-like, so it won’t hurt to add a few of them to your yard (if birches are what you’re looking for, that is). Though they were originally released in green only, with a LI equivalency of 6 prims, an autumn version later added its orange hues to the combo. Apparently, a winter version is not in the works right now, judging by the fact that 3D Trees has already released the winter collection, and a snowy birch was not included. Let’s see if it shows up later on.

Studio Skye silver birch

Studio Skye recently introduced an all-in-one Silver birch set by way of a scripted unit. Clicking anywhere (in the tree of course) will pop up a menu from where you can choose the season you want. As simple as that. Out of the package the tree is only 5 LI and about the right size, but if you want it bigger (hello, the tree), you can stretch it up as needed, but do it with caution because this is a mesh product, so land impact is prone to increase as the object gets larger. This birch also makes for good bushes, and in that case, shrinking its size will reduce the land impact requirement. Now that’s an absolute advantage.

Buddhabeats Birch 1

Finally –wait, what?– Buddhabeats has been selling good-looking plants for some time now (and yes, there’s some music to the name as well). The first version of his birches (picture above) was already quite attractive. The trees came in two sizes (big, at 10 prims, and small, at 8), and as in the Studio Skye set, a menu would let you change seasons and turn on/off an elegant falling leaves particle effect.

Buddhabeats Birch 1

Sometime later (it sounds like a long time ago, but it was actually earlier this year) the classic birch tree received a stunning makeover that not only lowered the prim count to 2 LI, but also turned it into a beautiful chef-d’oeuvre. I may be exaggerating a little bit (as usual), but hell, the change is really astounding. And what did the creator do? Believe it or not, it’s actually the same tree, textures and all, but with a different foliage arrangement made of a new sculpty base. Compare the two pictures and see what a great difference such a little change can make. Isn’t it obvious that I love this tree?

Ok, so here you have fifteen birch sets to choose from (plus a couple more that opted for retirement). I hope you didn’t fall asleep (did you?). And, by the way, thanks for coming back to this second part (if you did).