A Question of Size

Hello,

My question is regarding the plot sizes. Talking about them in terms of 512's and 66383's is all well and good, but I'm having trouble visualising how much space that really is.

On a 512, is that about the eqivalent to a house with a little land? Or is it more like three cottages and a toolshed?Would a small shopping plaza fit there? And I am terrible with measurements, so if you were to respond by saying "Oh, it's relative to 42 feet by 52 feet," it would leave me just as lost.

Good question, I have wondered the exact same thing... can't wait to find out the answers...

for a 512m, you are accurate in saying "a small house with a little bit of land", but what you also have to consider is that a 512 only offers 117 prims. that is what limits you most.

A 512 m2 plot would support a small house with just a bit of land for a yard. 117 prims total so it would have to be a very small shopping plaza but, if done with care a small store would work there.

512 land has 117 prims, a mall would probably have 1117 prims, so yes it's for a small house with furniture and maybe some plants

1024 - is bigger (is it 4 times the area and twice the prims?)

Depends on the size of the house, but it's a pretty small piece of land so this is probably closest. Remember though: when you buy land, you own all the airspace above it too, so the thing which really limits you is the prim allotment. 512m only gets 117 prims and that isn't much.

A 512 is big enough for one small house and a very small yard. Most houses that fit on a 512 lot tend to be one or two rooms and feel cramped. There are some very creative houses that can be more than that, but not much. Also, with such a small plot, you won't usually have a side or back yard, so your neighbor could build right up next to your house.

Most 512 lots are 16 x 32. Most avatars are over 2 meters tall. Most avatars can walk across the entire width of that lot in about 16 steps. It is small.

The other problem with a 512 lot is that you will normally have only 117 prims. A house can easily eat up half that before you put furniture in it. Once again, creative people have built houses with fewer prims.

I would recommend turning on View Property Lines and going to look at some plots that are for sale in order to get an idea of the actual size.

I had forgotten about prims- what size would give you about 350-400 prims?

117 prims per 512 meters

400 prims / 117 = 3.42

3.42 x 512 = 1750 meters

Here's what you do, if you want an idea of the size of a 512 plot, physically.

Go to a big sandbox. Create a cube, flatten it, and stretch it to a 10x10 plane - that's a 100 square meter object. Now drag and copy it until you have 5 of them.

You now have a way to visualize about 500 square meters.

This will be the last time you say that

imogen

Thank you- just some simple math would have done it for me. ooops....

lol I guess I am set in my house and haven't had to worry about prims, so I really don't think of them anymore...not right now at least

Rez a cube and make it 10m x 10m across both ways. Now make three more and push them together to make a large 20x20 square. That's about the maximum size of a house that will fit on a 512 (with just over 1m to spare around it), although plot shapes vary, depending on how they've been cut.

your welcome

and keep in mind that if you are a premium member then you get 512 meters tier free.

so that means you could actually own 1536 (1024 + 512) meters and still only get charged for the 1024 meters.
(woo hoo...117 MORE prims! )

Hi Morgana and Dare!

I'm terrible with math and visualizing sizes of plots myself.

I have a prim in my inventory that is a 512. I won't be going in world til later today but if you send an IM to me in world I will drop one on you when I go in. You can take that to a sandbox and rez it to see the actual size.

Another way to see the size of homes that will fit on a 512 is to go to Coco's Cottages (I'm sure there are many other places, just the one I've been to). She has an area of homes on display for the various lot sizes, beginning with 512.

Here is an excellent thread from some months ago about the creative uses for a 512 plot of land: /327/69/254601/1.html

With imaginative builds and careful use of prims, a 512 plot can be lovely. Also, as for people building very close to your home - I have generally placed my home in the sky and adjusted the height to not be close to other structures, so that has never been an issue with me.

Another great way to utilize a 512 is to build upwards. Some great homes on 512 plots I've seen are two stories with a roof-top balcony.

Hope this helps

ooooh it gets better every time you reply- have any lottery numbers that I should play today??

Thank you all very much for your great responses! You have all been extremely helpfull and it sounds as if my best bet for a small shopping plaza would be a 1024 or even the next size up.

Thank you all again!

I gotta say, there is a lot possible within the 117 prim limit you get with a 512 parcel. The only problem I have is that mine is a bit oddly shaped, so I'm losing a few prims to a 'panhandle' of sorts that pokes out the side of my parcel. (>_<

The region was built on prim land about 30 meters over the regular ground, so in staying with the theme, I'm built up in the same way with a little basement loft for my own personal hangout. Detailing it hasn't been a problem. I do run a little store on top. And, so, it's really just a little juggling act of what to keep and lose so I can maintain my 10-free-prim personal goal. (^_^)

Here's an idea of the layout of my plot as it exists now... (^_^)y


By immysideways at 2008-08-14

One other way to help you visualize the size of a standard 512 lot is to look at the freebie house on display at Help Island Public. It fits on a 512 with just enough space for a very small yard.

If it is a very small house.
Closer to one cottage and a toadstool.
No. A single shop, like a leanto or a gypsy wagon would fit.
Scale can be skewed in SL and sometimes it has to be. So don't worry about measurements anyway.

You know those tall, rectangular spining ad-farm signs? Imagine a plot of land filled with them; 4 deep and 8 wide. That's a 512sqm plot.

(EDITED: Initial calculations for size of suburban lot were incorrect. Changed to correct figures.)

A 512 M2 lot is often 16 M by 32 M in size. That's pretty small. And you get 117 prims for that. I've seen a single bed that used that many prims, by itself!

This is about the same as a "typical" USA suburban house lot, which is roughly 50 ft by 100 ft in size

BUT!

In SL, we tend to build things about 1.25 to 1.5 times as large as in the real world, because our avatars are larger than real-life, and we have to deal with follow cameras that are above and behind us... so scale up the lot size by 1.5, to accommodate that perceptual difference... Call that a 24 M by 48 M parcel or 1152 M2, but you'd probably find it easier to get a 2048 M2 parcel, which is 32M x 64M.

You would need a 1152 M2 parcel to have the feel of the same amount of land and floor space as you get in a real-world suburban city lot. 1.5 times the size of a 512 M2 parcel. That would get you only 176 prims to build and furnish it with, which isn't much.

In my own experience, I didn't feel I was able to make a "normal" sized house until I had a 4096 M2 parcel to work with (936 prims to work with). That allowed me to make a furnished home with a reasonable ground floor and a second story that covered half as much space, and left a small yard in front, and enough prims free to also have and furnish a 2-floor, 20 M x 20M skybox.

Depending on how you utilize a 512 plot, it can be very spacious, but the 117 prims is the main barrier for creativity. I myself own a 512 16X32 plot and it is enough for a small but spacious store. the prims run out quickly though.

The prim limits are different on Private Parcels too, the don't necessarily go by the 117 per 512. SOme private estates will give you bonus prims (like the one I live on) but with private you have to make sure you read the covenant to ensure commercial is allowed. Also, some mainland have bonus prim factors which can be better value, sometimes.

Best way to find 'size' as in area to give yourself a feel is search land for sale, teleport there and click the about land .. it will put a yellow perimeter around where youa re so you can not only see the size but the shape of the land. One 512 plot can be very different to the next which can be vital.

It's big enough to make ME happy.

Hey, I resisted as long as i could

TMI. I admire your staying power, however.