Terraforming or texturing ?

hi ! i am gonna work on a brand new private island and i am gonna terraform that island and texture it also.I have that question: what is better to do FIRST . texture the island first and after that terraform it? or terraform the island first and after that ,texture it? thank you

I dont understand. i ask a SIMPLE question and no answer. are they any sim owners they can answer me? dont you understand my question? . so i am gonna buy a private island. i am gonna change the ground textures and terraform the island. what is the best to do FIRST ? terraform the island first and after that change the textures of the ground? OR change the textures of the ground first and after that terraform the island? thank you for your future answers to my question

Hi Matthias, it's important to realize that many regular forum people aren't here right now. It's now early morning in Europe, and very late at night on the U.S. east coast. Even here in California it's pretty late.

And the people still up? A lot of them are having fun inworld, or (hard to believe, but it happens) may actually have gone out for a RL night on the town.

So just be patient, and the knowledgeable people will eventually come back and give lots of help (unless you start acting like the volunteers here owe you something... that's not a good way to start).

In the meantime, I suggest you tell us what you already know. For instance, which Knowledge Base articles have you read on the subject? (I would suggest some to you, but it looks like the Support Portal -- where the KB is located -- is down for maintenance until 5am SLT).

To get you started, I googled it for you and came up with this helpful PDF:

http://www.exo.net/~pauld/secondlife/PrivateEstateGd_Winter2006.pdf

You will find useful information starting on page 15, with some very in-depth tips at the end of the document.

Actually for me it depends on how much of the design has been thought through. I started with the default textures, started terraforming (to no clear plan) and then changed textures to suit the new geography as things dedveloped & changed; you could just as easily do it the other way round.

One point - as a sim owner it is a very simple process to change ground textures, but it affects the whole of the island - so if you intend to sell plots on, your buyers need to be aware of what your plans are.... waking up to blood coloured grass isn't everyone's idea of fun....

Thank you very much for your answers,Ava and Incanus. i am gonna see the general knowledge.maybe they have answers. yes,i know,i posted my question in a strange time http://forums.secondlife.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Smile .i am gonna buy the island type 1. but i wonder if i change the textures first,maybe it will be easier for me to terraform. and then,adapt the good textures. i wonder: i have a hill that has texture 2 at the base and texture 3 on the top. now,i am gonna remove the hill,with the terraforming.no hill more. all the texture at this place will be at texture 2 or there will be a "spot" of texture 3 at the height of texture 2? normally,no. all the area leveled has to be on texture 2. yes or no? thank you.

The basic answer is that textures are set by height, so in youe example above, if all the hill is removed you would only have texture 2 showing. You can of course set the various textures to whatever heights you want.

terraform first, once your land has it's final shape you will have all the time to tweak the texturing

Thank you, Incanus and Kyrah. My opinion is (but the experience 'll learn me ) that once you textured the sim,you have a better idea to adapt different heights for your sim/island. you have to see your land textured to modify his height. it seems to me easier.ok; i opened a big chat in the forums now. everybody will wonder: but finally,what is the best to do in that case. i am waitng for a enraged debate here right now on this post. LOL hehe

somehow Matthais, I think you may be disappointed..... but you do make me wonder what the textures are you're going to place. Perhaps when your island appears you'll invite me over for a look see?

i know the textures that i am gonna put and that, at wich height,Incanus.i saw the type 1 island at Linden Estates Services. this is the island that i am gonna buy. you can see it there.and i have a plan for the island. so i wondered what is the best to do. now,you say that there wont be a "spot" on the leveled area ( the hill example).i know also that the textures will be blended. so,i have to work on the different heights points.i know that.ok. if i have problems,can i im you and then you'll see the island? thank you very much for your help,Incanus

sure, IM me any time, but bear in mind I'm in the UK so am 8 hours in advance of Linden time....

I do a mixture of both. I terraform first with the standard textures in place and then add the other textures..then go back and terraform some more based on what I see, then go adjust texture ranges, then to terraform some more.... There is no "right way" or "wrong way" there is only the way the works best for you.

ok,Incanus. thank you.thank you,Isablan. this is clearer for me now with all your advices. and thank you at you,people, who helps.this is great.Thank you

Hi Matthias,

This is also the holiday season, so don't be too surprised at a lack of response. I have just got back myself.

Having terraformed a great many sims now, these are my main tips:

1. PARCEL first! I use some tools I developed myself, and I can now parcel up in minutes instead of in hours. Parcelling a terraformed island is a pain ITA.

2. Texture to a plain colour, I choose a colour relevant to the type of terraforming, such as mountain, tropical, water, snow etc.

3. Terraform (but I rarely terraform inworld now, I do it all in external software).

4. Apply textures. This is the part over which the greatest care and time should be devoted. Getting the textures right makes all the difference between a nice sim and a great sim.

Rock

The last set of 5 sims that I made, I determined what textures I wanted for each height first, then terraformed all 5 sims in one pass using external tools and having the sim owner upload the .raw files that I provided. Then I set the terrain textures, and adjusted the heights so the beach only went just so high, and the snow on the peaks only came down just so much, etc...

I also tend to do a lot of tine-tuning to the terraforming after that, adding an additional hill here or there, lowering an area so it looks better for the build, excavating for pools and basements and caves...

Hope you have fun with your sim creation!

Yes.

Do your initial terraforming and get your basic look down. Doubly so if you are using a RAW file. Then come in with the textures. You may have to do some fine tuning to get things just right. Then fine tone your land to match what you want. You may find yourself tweaking it for some time.

As an aside, I've found ground textures to be very... inprecise. We never were able to get our beach to look good and sandy, without having sandy spots all over the rest of our island (even on ridges!). This might play into things as well.

(What's your trick, Ceera?)

Mari

I am trying to texture my island and am having the same problem! Does anyone know how to get around this? Ceera? Anyone?

; - Dave

There is a "blend zone" between any two textures that seems to average about 10 m. In order to get your beaches sandy, you need to raise upwards the sand texture so that your beaches are clearly sand, then start your second texture higher. Yes, this will leave you with sand going higher than you would like. There just isn't a clear line where one texture starts and the other stops, they always blend for a bit where you get both in patches.

Ah - a blend zone - now it makes sense! I wonder why LL don't document that somewhere! Anyway, I'm getting the results I wanted now (well, nearly).

The other thing I found out myself is that when adjusting the heights, you can use negative numbers. I found putting a negative number for the 'low' elevation range on any shores that don't have beaches can help reduce the blend zone for the shores that do.