Tag: My SL

Me and my pianos in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Over the years: my three pianos: rear right - the all prim Musical Alchemy; left: the sculpted PrimPossible concert grand; right foreground: the LISP Bazaar mesh concert grand
My three pianos over the years: rear right – the all prim Musical Alchemy; left – the sculpted PrimPossible concert grand; right foreground – the LISP Bazaar mesh concert grand

I love to play the piano, something I’ve mentioned in these pages before. In the physical world, I’m fortunate enough to have a hybrid piano – but Second Life allows me to indulge my little fantasy of having a full concert grand, and I’ve had one in almost every home I’ve had. It’s fair to say I don’t feel at home in SL without one.

Over the years, I’ve upgraded a couple of times – the most recent being to a marvellous mesh creation by Pandora Popstar (aka Lainy Voom) owner of LISP Bazaar I learned about via a Tweet from Skate Foss, and which prompted this article.

Musical Alchemy concert grand by Persephone Milk: still a stunning piano
Musical Alchemy concert grand by Persephone Milk: still a stunning piano some 8 years since it first appeared. Offering a rezzable set of ivory keys plus separate harp and strings inside the cabinet, relegating the texture version of both to the role of soundboard, it is still capable of presenting eye-popping detail

My first SL concert grand was the all-prim Musical Alchemy grand by Persephone Milk (L$999). At the time I first brought it, this was the Rolls-Royce of pianos (and in many respects, it still is). It is beautifully crafted and comes with a host of rezzable extras as well as multiple playing and sitting poses, depending on whether the top is up or down.

What made this piano particularly attractive to me was (and is) the selection of music, which includes a piece composed by Persephone herself, together with the option of rezzing a set of ivory keys and the also the harp and strings, both of which fit the cabinet perfectly. These all enhance the piano beautifully, the only downside being that as the piano has a base LI of 85, rezzing these parts balloons that to 163 LI.  As I gradually downsized my landholdings over the years, this eventually became too big an overhead, driving me into finding a replacement.

The PrimPossible Concert grand (now available in a new model) is a 1-prim wonder
The PrimPossible Concert grand (now available in a newer model) is a 1-prim wonder

In 2011 I purchased the PrimPossible concert grand from Ample Clarity (which has since been replaced by a newer model priced from L$950). A sculpted build, it appeared just as the mesh revolution was about to hit the grid, and offered a very nicely styled concert grand with a good selection of music at just 1 LI.  A further advantage with it lay in the fact that because the design was unconstrained by prim cutting, it could be better scaled for the “average” avatar than could be easily achieved with the prim build, meaning I no longer felt I needed the arms of an orang-utan to reach the full stretch of the keyboard 🙂 .

My only niggle with this piano has always been that as a sculpt, it stresses the rendering system with the attendant wait for it to “pop-out” from the initial spheroid shape. Hence, as the mesh market has steadily expanded, I’ve been seeking a replacement.

My new LISP grand piano - with thanks to Skate Foss!
My new LISP grand piano – with thanks to Skate Foss!

As mentioned towards the top of this piece, I finally found a suitable replacement in the form of the new LISP Bazaar concert grand thanks to Skate Foss. Currently only available through the Collabor88 event, Pandora’s piano is, in a word, beautiful. It weighs-in at just 6 LI, with and additional 2 for the padded bench, it is being offered in a choice of two finishes: traditional black lacquer and teak, all for an amazing L$288.

More to the point, it is exquisitely modelled along ornate grand piano lines, has an interesting selection of music and includes all the little details that attract me: adjustment wheels on the bench, top board prop cups, the soft and sustaining pedals offering a nice outward presentation and so on. In particular, Pandora has foregone the textured harp / strings / soundboard found in so many mesh offerings costing far more, in favour of a mesh harp and strings.

A closer look at the keyboard and sheet music...
A closer look at the keyboard and sheet music…

To be honest, there are a couple of little niggles around these from a purist point-of-view (I modified my piano to double the number of visible strings, for example, as I’m fussy that way), but these are certainly not enough to negate what is a super piano currently available through Collabor88 at a superb price. As it is, I have copies of the black lacquer sitting on the garden terrace of my “main” home, and in the lounge of my Linden Home (for those rare occasions I feel the need to go hide there).

I’m still partial to my Musical Alchemy piano, simply because it was the first piano I purchased in SL; it has stood the test of time exceptionally well, and is still worth considering if you have the land capacity to see it at its fullest advantage. But that said, if you are looking to replace your existing piano because it is a prim or sculpt build, or simply because you fancy a change, you really cannot go wrong with the new LISP Bazaar concert grand, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

The LISP grand piano's plate and strings (both slightly adjusted by me for a better fit within the cabinet)
The LISP grand piano’s mesh plate and strings add a nice level of detail to the instrument – I later modified this piano to double the number of visible strings (mainly because I’m a fuss pot)

Thank you, Skate, for sharing your discovery!

A little More time in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Lacy Muircastle chatting to me on the garden terrace at home
Lacy Muircastle chatting to me on the garden terrace at home

I was recently contacted by Lacy Muircastle of More magazine if I’d be willing to be interviewed about my Second Life and this blog. The request came via note card, often the easiest why to contact me in-world and was, in all honesty, something of a surprise.

For those unfamiliar with the title, More is a monthly magazine published in-world and on-line by Maxes Loon, who runs the moolto.com social network site for avatars (I actually reviewed Moolto back in 2011, alongside of 2nd Friends – although that review is likely to be very long in the tooth). More covers range of topics – fashion, blogging, writing, photography – and is available through kiosks in-world and through the Moolto website.

As noted, the request for an interview came as a surprise – I genuinely don’t consider myself to be interesting interview material; but I agreed, and in due course was able to address Lacy’s questions, which were considered and framed in such a way that I quite possibly got rather verbose in my replies – she’s a very skilled interviewer!

At the time, I hadn’t appreciated that the piece was intended to be the feature article for More’s July issue, and was again genuinely surprised when Maxes, who also works as the magazine’s photographer as well as its publisher, dropped by to discuss photos, and mentioned this into the conversation!

The July issue is now available, and I have to say that Lacy has done a marvellous job in turning my ramblings into something cohesive and (I hope!) readable. As those who know me are only too well aware, once I do get going, I’m a little hard to shut up 🙂 . I’m also very flattered that Maxes opted to use a number of images I’d taken from locations (Flux ser Mer and the now sadly gone Venexia).

As well as yours truly, this month’s issue also features photographer Isa Messioptra, Mr. Virtual World Canada, Barney Helendale, blogger Capricia, a useful resource on in-world writing groups compiled by Lacy and, well, More.

So, even if you don’t fancy reading about me, there’s plenty more of interest in the magazine to make reading the July edition worthwhile. You can also keep up-to-date with each month’s issue from the home page of the Moolto website.

My thanks to Lacy and Maxes for the invitation and their time. 

Strawberry’s Ask Me Anything challenge

Posted on by Inara Pey

Berry has been at it again, offering up a Monday Meme challenge 🙂 . This one is based around her creating an Ask.fm account, on which she invited people, via her blog and her social media accounts, to ask her questions. She was challenged to share some of the results on her blog, and the result is her latest (as of the end of June) challenge.

It’s another of Berry’s challenges that tweaked my curiosity, so I decided to give it a go  – in part, at least. I’m not intending to create an Ask.fm account at this point in time – not out of any fear of the questions I get, but because my time is such that the account would likely end-up languishing as I fiddle with other things. So, I’ll content myself with addressing her questions.

L'Arc-en-Ciel, WinterFall; Inara Pey, July 2014, on Flickr
Standing at the bows of Exotix 2, my Loonetta 31 sailing cruiser, moored alongside my island home

If Linden Lab shut the door on Second Life, what do you think you might do to replace it, or the time you spend on it. Gaming, school, work, reading, other virtual world, etc? I was writing on-line prior to my involvement in SL, and have recently been engaged to write on subjects related to technology(!) and other things elsewhere, so I’d likely focus far more on that, and switch back to broader writing under my given name. I’d also probably get a lot more reading done!

What would you consider your mission statement for your blog? Well, first and foremost to educate myself. I’ve said elsewhere that I’m generally not a technologist, nor was I particularly au fait with Second Life when I first started blogging (not that this ever stopped me from being critical or sounding off!). So this blog (under the Modemworld title, at least) has been very much about my desire to learn more about the platform, the Lab, to understand how things actually hang together (rather than just relying upon my own assumptions and misconceptions), and to try to be objective in my critiques and opinions, as and when given; when it comes to news articles I try to steer clear of subjective editorising.

On a broader scale, I hope people enjoy what they find here, and that my travelogue pieces and arts reviews offer sufficient interest to encourage folk who might otherwise not travel to places far and wide, or who have thought much about art in SL to go and take a peek. I also hope the personal notes I slip into the blog help people understand me a little better.

What would you change about your Second Life right now if you could just press a magic button and have it automatically happen? Have circumstances change such that I’d never allowed a couple of friendships from a good few years ago slip away prematurely. The people concerned subsequently ceased being active in SL. While I don’t presume that my friendship would have prevented them vanishing, I do wish I’d taken better care of things so we might have enjoyed more times together in conversation and bouncing around places before they opted to take flight. 

What topic would you like to see explored in a non fashion blog post? Anything you are curious about and want someone else to do all the research? Umm… honestly don’t know. I actually like researching and delving into things myself (one of the reasons some of my own posts take time to appear – I easily go off at tangents when researching, as I love discovering things & information!).

Ichi-go Ichi-E, Fantasy Faire 2015 Inara Pey, April 2015, on Flickr Ichi-go Ichi-E from Fantasy Faire 2015 (Flickr) – Fantasy Faire is always one of my favourite annual SL events (see below)

Do you have a point of contact in SL? Someone that a person from your RL knows to contact in case something happens to you or you are unable to get online for an extended period of time? No. But now you’re raised the question, and for those I’m am close to, it’s something I should consider.

What provides you the most inspiration and motivation to keep learning and growing? What keeps you from being held back by the common negativity in Second Life and elsewhere? Negativity doesn’t really annoy me per se, it’s a fact of life. Misconceptions and  / or misrepresentations of issues and matters do tend to irritate, however. Inspirationally speaking, I am constantly inspired by people’s creativity, in SL and elsewhere. Our capacity for learning, for self-expression, to explore, learn and understand – all of these inspire me, be it through activities, things like space programmes, the art of others or the words they have written or spoken or sung.

How do you deal with other bloggers (who don’t know you personally) that are spiteful towards you? I can think of no better reply than Berry’s: “I ignore them and pretend they don’t exist because I have better things to do with my time then worry about what some random person on the internet thinks of me.”

What is your advice to those that admire you and what you do, hoping to be able to do some of the same things with as much confidence as you often seem to have? Don’t try to emulate me. I’m as flawed as the next person. Set aside time to listen to your own voice; look to the things that you like / enjoy / find important to yourself. And don’t take any externalising of confidence as a sign of anything from anyone; we’re all human, and masks are easy to hold up to the world and are not always as revelatory as we so often quote Oscar Wilde as being the case.

Name 5 favourite events in Second Life

Name three of your favourite blogs

(OK, I admit that’s more than three for SL, etc. But do you know how hard limiting it to three is?!)

Thanks, Berry! Looking forward to seeing what else you think up through the summer! 🙂

Lindens on the beach in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The gathering of the gathering for the meet-up ...
The gathering of the gathering for the meet-up …

Thursday, June 11th saw the latest get together between Linden Lab staff and residents. Perhaps learning from the lessons of the last event, this one was focused on a 2-region venue in order to help spread the load. Given that when I checked at one point, there were over 110 people in attendance with more arriving, then just as well.

Coming ahead of the 12 anniversary celebrations scheduled for June, the event was marked for Premium members only. On offer for those attending was a chance to pick-up the 12th anniversary avatar ahead of it being made more generally available (and  for those who missed the event itself, the kiosk offering the avatar will be available at the meet-up island until midnight SLT on Friday, June 12th).

Dino-ing out to celebrate SL12B? The hat and shades may not win the approval of palentologists (or Steven Spielberg) - but they help give velociprators less of a bad rep ...
Dino-ing out to celebrate SL12B? The hat and shades may not win the approval of palentologists (or Steven Spielberg) – but they help give velociprators less of a bad rep …

The idea of providing a celebratory avatar for SL’s anniversary is not new; in the past we’ve had the likes of bears and robots. This year the rumour mill was that a dinosaur would be on offer. And by “rumour mill”, I mean the original e-mail and blog post put out by the Lab which accidentally gave the game away. Oops 🙂 .

The choice of velociraptor is interesting. On the one hand, dino avatars have been popular in SL for a while now – I’ve visited a number of regions over the past few months only to find various dinos also taking in the view. On the other hand, the choice of velociraptor and the release of Jurassic World in cinemas around the world did have the words “oh, bandwagon!” echoing faintly.

The island for the get-together itself provided plenty of space, with a couple of bars, a dance floor and a crocodile wrestling ring, with a bridge crossing the water to a beach on one side, and a boat offering crossings to the jungle over the water on the other. As it was, most people gathered at the main bar and showed little willingness to risk moving around too far, although as things got ever more crowded, some opted to chillax on the beach.

Dee, Alexa, Oz (with the wonderful Chantal Harvey behind him) and Michael were all at the bar, as were Torley, Shaman and Xiola, while Patch and Vitae took to the beach, quite possibly with other Lindens I missed...
Dee, Alexa, Oz (with the wonderful Chantal Harvey behind him) and Michael were all at the bar, as were Torley, Shaman and Xiola and Guy, while Patch and Vitae took to the beach, quite possibly with other Lindens I missed…

Michael Linden was the first to arrive, in full mole guise, and served briefly as boat pilot and then as bartender. The Watermelon punch ensured Torley’s participation, and Xiola, Guy, Patch, Vitae, Alexa and Shaman were all noticeably on-hand, while Dee’s diminutive presence (she always has the most wonderful petite avatars) perhaps went unnoticed by many in the crowd.

Conversation was, as usual loud and hard to follow in open chat. An unintentional error at the bridge meant a few people needed rescuing after finding themselves stuck under rocks – I sent Xiola a teleport offer at one point after Kerena nudged me, but she managed to extricate herself without needing the help.

Some of my favourite people: Brock mcMillan and Tomais Ashdene, Ziki Q catching the sunshine, and Rocky constantine looking cool in the shade and shades :)
Some of my favourite people: Brock McMillan and Tomais Ashdene, Ziki Q catching the sunshine, and Rocky Constantine looking cool in the shade and shades 🙂

There was a good ebb and flow of visitors and a far few velociraptors within the crowd, with Vitae leading a small group to go sun themselves on the beach. Ziki and I opted for swimwear, but while there were a few bare-chested males on the islands, most people opted for lightweight summer wear. I managed to catch-up with a number of friends, mostly through IMs, although at one point I forgot to turn shout off. My apologies for anyone sitting / standing near me at the bar I may have deafened with my bellowing; which I think may have actually sent Michael scampering for cover, as he was absent the bar shortly afterwards.

Maxwell Graf and I chat at the bar ...
Maxwell Graf and I chat at the bar …

It was particularly good to catch-up with Karsten Rutledge, although I failed miserably in capturing him on camera.  Chantal Harvey and I made the most of the bar barrel seats… and he availability of the bar itself while chatting, but I think the crowd may have prevented Torley from actually getting to the watermelon punch as it sat between the Chantal and I.

Looking across to the beach, I had hoped to see the velociraptors there perhaps engaged in sunbathing on the hammocks or playing a game of beach volleyball. But sadly no; they seemed content to stand or lie on the sand chatting.

As I mentioned last time around, it’s easy to dismiss events like this on the basis of the numbers or question their value. However, to do so is to really miss the point.

Not everything that goes on in SL need serve a specific purpose beyond bringing people together and allowing them to share time in one another’s company. That they may be doing so in a crowd of 100+ doesn’t matter; the act of being there and just enjoying the moment brings its own satisfaction. It also lets Lab staff to mingle and relax among residents without worrying about being bonked with this or that question or one problem or another, allowing them to get to know people and make friends / acquaintances.

Raptors on the beach...
Raptors on the beach…

As noted earlier, the use of the two regions did help considerably in terms of people coping with issues such as rendering, “lag”, and so on. People were encouraged to spread between the two as some of the Lindens moved between them, encouraging the crowd to spread naturally and thin itself. Hopefully this approach will continue at future meet-ups.

The demands of the physical world (in particular those of the kitchen) meant I had to depart the party before things started winding down, but was very clear that folk were having a good time, and many were seeing the event as a early kick-off for the upcoming anniversary celebrations.

It’ll be interesting to see how many raptors are roaming the roads of SL12BCC in a little over a week’s time. Or, indeed, if we get any performing on stage during the SL12B music festival…

A fistful of Lindens

Posted on by Inara Pey
People start to re-gather for the meet-up following the region restart
People start to re-gather for the meet-up following the region restart

The sun was high overhead, the stones of the piazza baking under its glare, the wet splash of the fountain seductive in the heat. The rumours had clearly spread well beyond the high walls and paved paths of the town; with ninety minutes to go, folk were drifting in from far and wide, all drawn by the rumours: the Lindens were heading back to town!

Keira Linden slips in...
Keira Linden slips in…

Speculation was rife; how should the local law enforcement, known for their tough line on dress code and appearance, handle things? Would the Lead Cheese of this notorious gang of in-world outlanders be present? Would there be …. bears?!

The air was heavy with an expectation that weighed people down more than the heat of the sun; the town’s Mayoress was on-hand, keeping things as relaxed as possible as slowly, the clock ticked towards high noon, and the final hour before the Gang were expected to ride into town.

Then, without warning, the ground started rumbling and excitement grew; were the Lindens a-ridin’ in early? And then IT happened …

The region you are in now is about to restart. If you stay in this region you will be logged out. Seconds until restart 298.

With characteristic bluntness, the mayoress summed-up the crowd’s unspoken reaction to the announcement, “WUT?!”

Some thought it a ploy by those sly Lindens, perhaps to clear the town so they could enjoy their revelries alone. Others pointed to the hand of Hamlet, Prince of Negative Blogging trying to disrupt matters. Some opted to retire to the hills (or at least another region), some elected to stay, determined not to miss a thing … 

Xiola (l) and Shaman (r) make their way towards the town square
Xiola (l) and Shaman (r) make their way towards the town square

OK, so maybe it wasn’t quite like something out of High Noon (although Wurfi only needed a cape and he could have been a passable Clint from the Dollars movies!). But the number of people gathered at Basilique Town ahead of the Linden meet-up scheduled for Thursday, May 14th was impressive, and the expectation / excitement was high – and the re-start really did happen, leading to claims that the region had been moved to a more robust “events” server to handle the load.

Ziki looks on while Max takes an opportunity to whisper sweet nothing to Froukje ... or something ;-)
Ziki looks on while Max takes an opportunity to whisper sweet nothings to Froukje … or something 😉

Whether such speculation was accurate or not is a matter for debate elsewhere; restarting the region may have been enough to ensure a reasonable level of performance without additional special actions on the part of the Lab. Suffice it to say that it did handle the load very well for most people, considering over 100 were present at the height of the event. And despite concerns ahead of time over Basilique Town’s access code, avatars of all shapes, sizes and origins were on-hand to join in.

Of the Lindens, Dee was actually the first to arrive, although going by my radar, she opted to hop-in some distance from the main landing zone and then hopped away shortly thereafter.

Keira was the next to wander into the square, her presence seemingly unnoticed at first, such was the attention being directed at the blue tag of a Mole. Patch, Xiola, Shaman and Michael all arrived in short order, and did their best to mingle and chat.

Thus people got to learn a lot about the Lindens’ liking for crepes, which were apparently on the lunch menu at the Lab, and Shaman’s choice of fillings in particular left me feeling a tad hobbit-like: in need of a second dinner, while for others the mention of crepes with fishy fillings prompted speculation on the advisability of eating anything with salmon in it at a corporate event …

Given the numbers in attendance, organised group photos, etc., were a non-starter; even mingling was a tad bit difficult, with many fearing to move in case they crashed. I managed to hold still, leaning against a lamp-post to one side of the square, keeping away from the core crowd, and gently cammed around looking for suitable snapshots and finding a good few friends and acquaintances I haven’t seen in a while, whilst also losing myself in IMs not a few times.

Basilique's owner, Canary Beck (l) and Xiola Linden (r)
Basilique’s owner, Canary Beck (l) and Xiola Linden (r)

Ebbe did not put in an appearance this time around; given the numbers squeezed into the town square and the sheer amount of conversation going on in all directions, this was perhaps no bad thing, although it did leave some a tad bit disappointed.

A lack of a Xiola bear also caused a tiny amount of disappointment as well among the bear collectors, although Michael appeared to be darting hither and thither in a brave attempt to greet folk and hand out bears in response to the deluge of IMs he received after offering to do so.

There were one or two in the crowd who seemed to have popped along in the belief that that meeting was a more formal affair rather than simply being a social gathering – I saw one or two calls in chat of people being there to represent this or that, and received a couple of IMs about asking questions – but on the whole everyone quickly settled down into the spirit of things.

Dawny Daviau demonstrates she can be quite the pixie :)
Dawny Daviau demonstrates she can be quite the pixie 🙂

This was by far the largest turn-out for a Linden in-world meeting since they resumed. It is true that the Adult rating did put some off from attending – not I hasten to add because of any risk of (to borrow from Honour) “wild monkey sex”, but because of concern about reaction to their apparent avatar age – which is something to be considered for future meet-ups, if held in Adult-rated regions. Others were a little put-out by the greeter warnings  – and lesson here for future hosts of events like this is to turn off such greeters alongside any relaxation of normal sim rules so as to avoid the potential for misunderstandings.

On the whole, however, everyone appeared to have a good time, the chat was light and fun, those seeking bears did – as noted – keep poor Michael pretty well occupied, and doubtless went home happy to have one more to add to their collection.

The general conversation rolled far and wide, with most people welcoming the Lab’s continuing efforts to reach out and engage with users in this way with the past gatherings at Meauxle Bureaux getting a mention, together with the Christmas snowball fight, and even the old Halloween parties being recalled.

A lot might not happen at gatherings like this, and it’s easy to dismiss them as mere PR for the Lab – but they do have one benefit, as was again demonstrated at Basilique Town: they serve as a reminder that the folk who run Second Life on our behalf aren’t faceless corporate minions; they are engaged, enthusiastic individuals, as colourful as any one of us and – in many cases – actually drawn from the ranks of users themselves.  And if that helps us treat the Lab with a measure of respect, whether or not we agree with all that they do, so much the better for all.

The only really observation to make about the event is that if these kind of numbers are to be repeated at the next meet-up (and to end on the same note as I started, albeit from en entirely different movie genre), , then I think it’s likely that we’re going to need a bigger boat /me offers a sideways glance towards the SS Galaxy, shortly to be under the Linden flag, with her three regions of space.

Ruins on the rock

Posted on by Inara Pey
Remodelling the home island so that it gives the impression of a modern home sited in an ancient coastal ruin
Remodelling the home island so that it gives the impression of a modern home sited in an ancient coastal ruin

In the latter half of April I wrote about the most recent changes to my little island home, which followed the purchase of Alex Bader’s wonderful Skye Luxury Forest Cabin. As I noted at the time, the cabin was an accidental find – I was looking for good mesh trees when I happened across it.

Over the weekend, I resumed my quest for the “right” style of trees for the island. I’m clearly not very good in the tree buying department, because this time I eventually came home with … the Forest Ruins Tower by Kriss Lehmann.

Kriss Lehmann's Forest Tower (to the right of the picture) forms the entrance to my "gardens" above the pier and moorings
Kriss Lehmann’s Forest Tower (to the right of the picture) forms the entrance to my “gardens” above the pier and moorings

Truth be told, I’ve admired the tower since Kriss first introduced it, having seen it in many regions around the grid. More particularly, I’ve been wanting to give the impression my home has been established in the ruins of an older structure or at least on the foundations of one. Seeing Kriss’ tower at his store gave me the push to realise the former.

So for the last couple of days I’ve been reworking the island (yet again), which has involved incorporating not only Kriss’ tower, but various elements of mesh ruined walls by Reid Parkin, and medieval ruins sections I picked-up from Rya Nightly’s in-world store.

The mesh parts from Nya Nighty and Reid Parkin work well together and are good low LI items
The mesh parts from Nya Nighty and Reid Parkin work well together and are good low LI items

Alongside the Forest Tower the land now sports some additional, strategically placed towers, the ruins of a couple of buildings and various ruined or broken walls. As I didn’t want everything to be in a tumbledown state, I’ve kept most of the boundary walls near the house whole, to suggest they’ve been re-built as a part of the modern occupancy of the island, while those bordering the cliff edges further from the house have been made to look a little more decrepit.  To help blend the various items together, I used Alex Bader’s stone textures to re-face all the stone work, and it seems to work quite effectively.

The re-texturing of the stone meant I could return Cory Edo’s Rustic Pavilion to almost it’s original state, although I dispensed with the larger lamps and engaged in a little retexturing. As a final part of the remodelling, I picked up IvanBenjammin’s modular wooden pier set, which I’ve had my eye on for a while, and rebuilt the moorings at the north end of the island, again hopefully suggests a modern occupancy on an old island…

I've restored Cory Edo's Rustic Pavilion it its original state, as it fits the overall design pretty well
I’ve restored Cory Edo’s Rustic Pavilion it its original state, as it fits the overall design pretty well

The re-working has led to an overall increase in used land capacity, but it’s pretty modest, all things considered. In April I had the house and gardens, etc., hovering at the 880 LI mark, and the total is now 906; when you consider the Forest Tower alone is 41 LI in its modified state (it is 45 in its default state), that’s not bad, if I say so myself. Ah, the magic of mesh and convex hull physics!

Does this mean I’m finally satisfied? Well… yes.

At least for now 🙂 .