How do I buy "open sims"?

What I'm referring to are the sims where all 4 are located on the same processor, you buy them all in one go, you basically get 1/4 prim allowance etc (x 4) and all for $295.....

I've looked in the Land Store FAQ, the SL Wiki, done a thread search in the fora.... and nuffink!

Any suggestions? And if anyone who's already done this has any hints/tips, feel free to share

Inc

Off topic, but if someone could also answer the question of whether the 1/4 prim limit can be shared across all 4 sims, I'd be grateful. If so, then it would be worthwhile to buy one and just leave 3 of them as empty wild space - so you basically get a regular sim and a load of empty space too. I expect LL have thought of this and stopped it happening, but thought I'd ask incase.

I don't think they are 1/4 prims, aren't they 1/8 prims?

I found this thread about them:



It says they are indeed 1/8 the prims of a normal sim, you have to own a full prim island sim already to be able to purchase them, and I don't think there is anyway to share the prims across them. Also, they support fewer avi's than a full class 5.

Of course, it is another forum thread and not from the knowledge base so this is still unofficial info.

Really, it seems, these low prim sims are designed to enhance existing sims - like suburbs tacked onto a city - rather than to exist independently in their own right. If I owned an island I would certainly get some of these to go with it in order to pad the island out a bit, but buying just these low prim sims alone seems pointless.

To buy 4 open sims, which come with a prim limit of 1875 prims each, you first need a full sim to attach them to. Once you have a full sim you order another full sim and tell the concierge team that you want to make 4 open sims, tell them the locations and names. That is all there is to it.

I wouldn't think of them so much as suburbs as a way to extend the space around your island. Remember, if you own a single island that expanse of "water" you see heading to the horizon is a wall right at the edge of your sim. No airspace to fly in, no water to sail in other than what you leave within your island sim. To me, this is a major disadvantage to island ownership.

I agree that they are pretty pointless all alone, and LL probably never intended them to be used that way which is why you have to have an island already to buy them.

**edit** thanks for the explination Svar**

Thanks all.... the idea is to enhance my existing island set up for the benefit of my tenants, so it looks like this all fits


Do drop by ... search for Fatimas Love or Fatimas Desire and tp in

Inc

They may be intended to support fewer avi's, and if you took the concurrent stats for all four void sims together, they no doubt don't support as many avi's as four full sims, but I've been in a void sim with a fairly texture-rich build, plenty of animations and scripts (dancing), and 100 avatars present.

I even got a few pictures:

http://otenth.homefries.org/archives/132

Thanks for correcting. I warned that my info was only from previous threads and had no real facts to back it up lol.

Looks like quite a party!

Yes - that was quite an incredible time! Void sims are where class 5 hardware *really* shines. I wouldn't even attempt that on class 4 hardware.

Another interesting point about voids, and, well, any sim really, but voids in particular. A sense of scale. If you just have open water or flat land (worst cases) a sim will seem reaaaaally small.

Of course this is a psychological effect, but, try it: if you block sightlines with mountains or buildings or trees, suddenly the region will seem far larger.

In a way, it kind of is: nooks and crannies define more spaces, places, and environments. Conversely if you are standing at one corner of a large square, the mind takes it all in and says... oh, okay.

Thanks Desmond.. this confirms what I wanted to do. Crater Lake, anyone??

That's what I was meaning. It gives your sim more depth, but isn't really for building on in itself. They'd make great hiking/horseriding/driving/sailing/dirigible flying spaces though