sim development « Straylight / Botanical

First off, a sincere apology for those who read this blog. RL issues had been making it difficult to keep up with everything in the Botanical/Straylight universe, so let me get started in getting everyone up to date!

A Whole New Sim!

Just when I thought I was getting Straylight wrapped up, I had to go and get a new sim, and now everything is up in the air again!

Since becoming one of the most popular places to visit in Second Life, I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure to on two fronts:

Keep Straylight a nature sim to be enjoyed visually
Maintain enough room for Botanical, which makes maintaining Straylight possible.

There are a few ways to go about this, in my opinion. I can make individual trees and plants for sale no matter where you are in the sim. I could move the store section up in the air, providing more room to visually browse, and perhaps add teleport points from areas of interest on the ground to the corresponding store in the sky. I can add store sections to each of the major themes in Straylight, perhaps tucked out of the way, but in visually identifiable areas. I’m more likely in my mind to go with the last idea, mainly because I make Straylight as a place of “natural” beauty, and even as people shop, I want that beauty to be evident. I central store level (kind of what I have going on with the center island) IS ideal, but I only have so much space. I’m thinking that specific themed store areas with teleports and paths for moving around might be the best answer for the time being. This lets me also expand my current themes more.

There are only so many things you can pack in one spot, however, and this is where my latest purchase comes in. Wintermute. (For people who are mystified about how I name my sims, I would like to invite you to read the work of William Gibson.) Wintermute will be an expansion of the nature themes that I have started in Straylight, and perhaps break into a little more fantastical bend. Botanical will be spread out across BOTH sims, from a central location to outlying shopping/exploration areas. I wouldn’t expect Wintermute to be opening to the public any time soon, as the addition of more landspace has also forced a revision of some of my ideas for Straylight. Two sims, one store, many different worlds to explore and take home with you. That is my dream and goal for botanical and Straylight/Wintermute.