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Skye Naturae Virtualis Experience now open

Alex

November 16, 2017 11:39

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https://atlas.sansar.com/experiences/alexbader/skye-naturae-virtualis

I've just  published Skye Naturae Virtualis, my exploration of virtual nature in Sansar and an homage to the intense, lush riot of textural detail we enjoy on any simple real life forest walk. 

 

I really hope you enjoy wandering through this space and if you have any feedback or suggestions please let me know here or on Discord 

 

This is Phase One which will be evolving with small changes here and there. I'll update the phase as I add new areas.

 

Enjoy

 

15 comments

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  Galen November 16, 2017 16:26

  This is excellent work. It's right up my alley. And it really showcases how much richer nature can be made to look in Sansar than in SL, which you've already mastered.

  May I suggest a small addition of forest sounds?

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  Galen November 16, 2017 16:28

  Special kudos on the animated pond water.

  

  Edited by Galen November 16, 2017 16:29
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  Galen November 16, 2017 16:32

  I think one small thing you're going to want to work on refining is the collision meshes. For people less talented than you to piece together a great landscape from these modules will require very forgiving ramps at the margins. I've run into a few invisible barriers along the path.

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  Alex November 16, 2017 18:13

  Thanks Galen :) Thanks for the feedback too. Odd you didn't hear my soundscape though!

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  Galen November 16, 2017 20:24

  Ooh. I thought maybe I heard wind, but I couldn't tell if it was in the scene or just background noise in my room. Maybe it could use a bump up in volume. Consider trying that and going in with a couple of friends to talk over it and see how they feel about the volume.

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  Whystler November 17, 2017 04:59

  Can't agree more.  This is a beautiful landscape design.  I'll have to go back to see the pond water.
  
  My problem is that I am not using a headset - I'm accessing from a monitor .. and a laptop monitor with a touchpad mouse no less.  Navigating is a challenge in most worlds, but I was able to get around your paths and into a cavey dead end with less trouble than I expected.  I also tried going off the beaten path for peeks, but as would happen in any forest, it was hard going ;).
  
  I loved that you disabled f4 somehow.  I tried to f4 and it didn't work.  This actually made me happy, because when i do this, i usually ruin the experience for myself.
  
  How do you disable f4?  And can you also disable the shift-bounce around feature?

  Edited by Whystler November 17, 2017 05:00
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  Whystler November 17, 2017 05:07

  The pond water IS amazing.  It actually has the illusion of being transparent.  When I went swimming, I was shocked that it wasn't.  It would be cool if, when walking in water, there was a swishy sound instead of the sandy sound.  I imagine the walking sound is a sansar construct - dependant on the material walking on?  If that's true, and not alterable for us yet, I'd suggest Sansar add a water material that gives a swishy sound :)

   

  Edited by Whystler November 17, 2017 05:08
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  Gindipple November 17, 2017 06:03

  I'd check your F4 key on your keyboard as you can't disable it.

   

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  Alex November 17, 2017 12:10

  Hi Whystler! Thanks for the feedback! It's very interesting to hear you had a good experience using a smaller screen (and presumably a slower graphics card?) I had to buy a PC to run Sansar (ditched the Mac) and, as this is my job, it was easy to justify spending the hard earned cash on a high end rig! But the downside is that I really have no idea if the experience is being enjoyed at a decent frame rate on lesser machines. So your report is encouraging in that sense. Especially give this is a very detailed scene!

  Regarding f4 key, I'm not actually sure what that is expected to do in Sansar!?

   

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  Torley - Sansar November 17, 2017 14:30

  Hey Alex, thanks for the heads-up about your gorgeous new scene. It was good to chat with you as always, and it'll be really cool to see how you evolve this over time.

  I liked hearing the birdsong, it seemed pretty varied as I walked up and down the paths. I think some of the other sounds are maybe even a touch too subtle, like even the water, and you could experiment with turning them up more.

  I had some difficulty walking through paths, at times, although it would also lead me to going off-path and seeing what else might be out there.

  Whystler, yes, we have a Water audio material (I call them "audmats" for short, you don't have to ;) ). If you set that for a walkable surface, you will hear SWISHY SPLASHES! It will be much better and varied in the upcoming "Fashion" release, along with all of the other materials. Also, our audio team has introduced per-material occlusion, meaning some materials will block sound more than others. We're continuing to build on these features, as we get inspired by how they're being used by our creators. Check them out and play around when the time comes! Learn more here: https://help.sansar.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002396828-Audio-materials

  F4 key does "freecam" which lets the camera fly into all sorts of perspectives not normally navigable by your avatar. Learn more here: https://help.sansar.com/hc/en-us/articles/224450488-Keyboard-Shortcuts

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  Alex November 17, 2017 23:12

  Hey Torley! Aye, and always a pleasure to chat too you too! Thanks for the feedback  - I've got some fine tuning to do and now making it a habit to fix audio material as soon as placing an object - soo much easier! 

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  Torley - Sansar November 18, 2017 00:20

  Alex, sure thing — also, if there is an object which you intend to duplicate and vary (like a rock or part of a pathway), if you set its audio material before cloning, then that also applies to any duplicates. Can make it easier since we don't yet have multi-select attributes.

  Keep on growing! :D

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  Urukan November 18, 2017 01:15

  Excellent !

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  Ambard November 18, 2017 08:43

  Very well done. After running around normally I warped up to the top of the cliffs to have a look around. It's cool to see how such great experiences are put together.

• 1
  
  Alex November 18, 2017 09:11

  Even better Torley, thanks! ;)

  Thanks Urukan!

  Thanks Ambard! Aye, it's a bit ugly from up there! A bit like going behind the scenes at a theatre and realising wow, its all made of cardboard and sticky tape!