Help! I’m Stuck In My Skybox!

I think I’m in love. And its with my skybox.

You see, recently in Prim Perfect, I wrote an article about the R&R Holodeck system. (If you want to see the article, its in the June issue.) I had stumbled across this holodeck system by mistake when I was map hopping, and immediately became fascinated. I went back several times to play with the demo at their mainstore. I highly recommend going and seeing the demo systems! You will be absolutely amazed. Here is the slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Reich%20Rexen/60/64/3801

Anyway, after the article came out, one of the creators of the system was extremely kind and sent one to me as a thank you for writing the article. I swear to God, I think this is my favorite thing in SL. I get bored fairly quickly with whatever current skybox or build I have, and I try to change it often to keep things fresh.

The holodeck system absolutely blows me away. Hundreds of scenes to chose from.. the ‘box’ that the scenes are inside will rez as small as 20×20, or as big as 100×100. I have mine set to 70×70.But it looks much.. much bigger.

The first thing I did after setting up the holodeck was start trying to decide what sort of home or skybox to put inside it. I tried several from my inventory. Each one was discarded as soon as I rezzed it. Either the style was wrong, or it was too big, or too many prims, or not enough views. I thought about building a little ‘outdoor area’ with some simple cushions and maybe a chair or two. But that would clash, depending on the holodeck scene. What I really wanted was something that would normally be the opposite of what I like- one nice sized room, with lots and lots of glass. I ended up pulling out my Pacifica prefab from Funky Modern Prefabs. But it was too big- and I really didn’t need all that room. While the views were great, it was too much for what I wanted, at 166 prims and three levels. So, I unlinked it. And prim by prim, I began tearing it down until I was left with one room on the ground level, and half the floor left over from the other room. Shift-dragging some of the borders and resizing some of the walls, I turned what was left into a very spacious and simple skybox, with fantastic views, and a deck. I turned some of the open spaces into more walls and windows, and was VERY pleased with the end result. For those that don’t remember, I originally blogged the Pacifica in Glass Houses. Here was the original image:

As you can see from all the after shots, its changed a lot. I still want to retexture it. And I haven’t figured out how I want to decorate it, just yet. But the important thing is, I never have to worry about getting tired of the view.

No matter if I want to look at a sprawling countryside of wheatfields, a busy city street, or a breathtaking oceanfront view, all it takes is a click of the holodeck controller.

Oh, and I’m not stuck just staying inside and looking out. If I feel like taking a hike across the scenary, the 70×70 size holodeck I have rezzed allows me plenty of space to run and explore. It really feels like you’re there.

It is so amazing, and I love it. Which brings me back to the title of this post. The downside is, I haven’t gotten anything done in two days! I have my holodeck set on slideshow so the scene changes every 5 minutes.. and I spent all my time running from window to window, looking out and marveling at all the pretty views. 🙂

If you are reading this and own any sort of land in SL, even if its just a 512, I would visit the slurl above and think about getting one of these systems. I think it is probably the best investment any home owner could make. Especially if you live on mainland and you’re sick of seeing ugly builds! The holodeck system is super low prim- I think the whole setup is under 10 prims.  Incredible.

~ by Nika Dreamscape on July 7, 2009.