I decided to finally present a formal post about what's going on in the skys of Cordova lately.
I've been experimenting with a sim-wide platform, to get away from the all-too-common mess on the floor.
I set up an automaticly rezzing platform at approximately 256 absolute z, and it turned out it provided many of the comforts of building on the ground, without the clutter. I just today finished a scalable elevator system to travel to and from the platforms and the ground.
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The problems:
Rendering land == Unnecessary FPS drop. The FPS drop on a platform, even one composed of many prims, is considerably less then the FPS on the ground.
Many prims condensed together, AKA, prim litter, leads to even more unnecessary lag.
Particle effects occuring in the same relative area start to effect one another dramaticly.
Ground vehicle experimentation is impossible in Cordova.
More space means more freedom to think and experiment.
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The platform is ideal for experimenting with vehicles. Since you have lots of flat open space, some have commented that 'driving is a dream' on the platform. Since building in vehicle sims is virtually impossible, Cordova is the only sim where people can build their vehicle, script it, test it, tinker, rinse and repeat with little risk and inconveinance
Simulators can take approximately 15,000 prims. Im almost certain that when used under the current system, that Cordova barely scratches that number. The reason for this, is that people like to build on a flat, solid, semi-uniform surface. Without platforms, the only surface meeting these requirements is the ground. Ground-space is limited, and, as many have witnessed, is becoming more and more scarce as an increasing amount of builders experiment in cordova. The fact that the builds are condensed on the ground has made Cordova quite tiresome to build in as well, since FPS drops when the agent travels near high-prim-density areas.
The solution: Spread out!
The less condensed builders are in Cordova, the more people can take advantage of the sandbox area's full potential. I saw an extreme amount of volume being unused, the sky, so I endeavored on the creation of a place as suitable as the ground to build on, that would ease the stress on people experimenting, and people building complex structures.
So... come check out the platform! Look for the sign that says "More room to build upstairs!" click, and enjoy
==Chris
PS: Lindens, please please make the entirety of Cordova's land buildable and scriptable, it currently cuts off a vast amount of space that could be used more productively.
