Winter is coming to the northern hemisphere, and for Second Life, it means regions are starting to get snowy make-overs and – in some cases – Christmas and end-of-year holiday décor has started to appear. Given this, we’re entering the time of year when a lot of winter / holiday themed regions will be subject to blog posts and Flickr photo streams.
This being the case, I thought I’d get things started here after Caitlyn and I received an invitation from Milly Sharple to visit this year’s edition of her Let It Snow! region design. I’ve actually been writing about Milly’s wintertime designs since 2014 (allowing for a break she took with them), and I’ve always looked forward to seeing them each year, as they’ve tended to offer something beautifully photogenic and with a sense of magic.
For 2019, Let It Snow! offers something a little different to previous years – at least to my eyes. There is the same winter feeling – a crisp, cold looking sky which looks as if the air entering your lungs would give you that cold, hard thrill of being alive; there’s the familiar blanket of snow thrown across hill and dale with the trees coated in frost, and there are the trappings of the season: hot chocolate, holly strung above shop doorways, lights strung across lintels and over tree branches and so on.
But at the same time, there is something that feels a little different with this year’s build. In the past, Let It Snow! has perhaps been a contiguous landscape, flowing from place to place, while the flow is present in 2019’s design, but so to is a feeling that elements of the setting stand a little apart from the rest, as if they are mini vignettes, the surrounding landscape as much a buffer between them and the rest of the region as it a means of connecting them.
Which is not to say this year’s Let it Snow is any the less photogenic than previous years or is in any way disjointed in its presentation of its different locations. There is still a lot – as always – to appreciate, from the little village square that brings with it a touch of England with its red telephone box, Royal Mail pillar box and country-style pub, through the crystal palace crowning a flat-topped hill and the skating rink and cabins sitting among snow and frost heavy trees.
From the landing point, visitors can turn north to the village or south towards the crystal palace or eastwards across the low-lying part of the region. The latter direction leads visitor past some of the detailed touches within the region: one of the furnished cabins, stone rings, snowmen and ruins.
Scattered throughout are places to dance or to sit – one f the more amusing of the latter being the opportunity to pose with a seated snow sculpture in the village.
There are also some familiar touches to the design – motifs seen in past iterations of Let It Snow! – that help to give a sense of connection between this and the past versions of the setting for those who remember them. Chief among these is the aforementioned crystal palace, whilst elsewhere are deer wandering in the snow, and little hideaway snugs.
For those who like a little activity, the skating rink to the west of the region, while the cable car close by offers a ride up to the hilltop overlooking it, where a toboggan-style sled rid awaits those waiting to ride back down the hill.
With plenty of opportunities for photography, Let It Snow! once again offers a charming visit and opportunity to welcome in the coming winter season in Second Life.
SLurl Details
- Let It Snow! (Sun Sky, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 