The Forest – Winter Wonderland is a seasonal location sitting high in the sky over a full region. Designed by Alexis Rose Wilson-Versailles (LexxiHudson) and Mark Wilson-Versailles (exde) under their brand Delicate Designs, it presents a charming Alpine-like setting that offers plenty to see and enjoy.
Surrounded by snow-capped mountain peaks, it’s a place rich in detail, offering a predominantly low-lying, valley-like location that rises to meeting the mountains to the south, the land climbing in rocky steps, although a slope to the east offers the opportunity for sledging.
From the landing point – which includes a handy map of the setting (one of several to be found at the stations along the tram route) – visitors can with explore on foot, or away the arrival of the local tram and take a ride. This clatters its way along tracks built and sedately circling the landscape, passing under trees and climbing board walk slopes up to the higher locations before swooping down into the “valley” once more. Along the way, it passes all the points of interest, allowing passengers to hop on and off as they wish.
For those who prefer exercising their pedal extremities, paths through the woodlands are marked either by wooden or wrought iron fences, leading visitors to the various locations they might appreciate. These include a coffee-house, ice skating, a little Christmas village (although the shops are mostly for show), a Christmas tree farm, Santa’s farm (share your soup with Donner or Blitzen or Comet or Cupid or Dancer… I’m actually not quite sure which one it is 🙂 ), and a wintry carousel.
Travel far enough to the north-east and you’ll find the cable car ride that runs up to the southern highlands, passing over the tram tracks in the process, while for those feeling the need for further exercise, stone steps set into the snowy slope offer a the opportunity for a brisk climb.
These uplands are crowned by the North Pole Toy Co. (which seems to have relocated, given the southern setting!), wherein warmth can once again be found. This appears to have perhaps once been the main landing point for the setting – inside a sign board offers information on the setting, including how to rent the cabins that are available, as well as presenting visitors with seasonal gifts (a similar board is also to be found near the current landing point).
The rental cabins referred to in the information note cards are scattered over the southern highlands, so do be aware that they may be occupied when exploring and resist the temptation to step into any of them, particularly as the tram ride will take you past them. Those wishing to rent a cabin can do so for (at the time of writing) L$1200 per week, which also awards them 400 LI to play with. See the note cards for more on this.
The slope over which the cable cars climb is also where sledging can be enjoyed – there’s a sign close to the North Pole Toy Co that will rez sledges for you. Rezzers are also available from sign boards at the ice skating pond – although visitors can use their own skates if they prefer.
Wandering on foot will also reveal all the little touches that have been added to the setting, from the little critter’s village through to the Eskimo igloos with their huskies, to the chance to photograph yourself on a husky sled or snuggle on a horse-drawn sleigh. Those taking photos are invited to submit them to the region’s Flickr group if they so wish.
Given all that is going on in the region, those who normally have shadows enabled might find things a little heavy going and might want to disable them, other than when taking pictures. However, the default eventide windlight actually helps with this, as it can mean not too much is lost visually want exploring with shadows turned off.
With its festive setting and with the surrounding off-sim mountains nicely integrated into the scene, The Forest – Winter Wonderland makes for a delight and photogenic visit, one that definitely invites playing with your local windlight settings when taking photos (as can be seen in this article, I opted to run with a more daytime setting, simply because I love the look of a snowy scene when viewed in sunlight). Should you enjoy your visit, please consider showing your appreciation via the available tip jars.
SLurl Details
- The Forest – Winter Wonderland (Misty, rated: General)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 