Terrain Work in Progress - Rocky Outcrops

If you are anything like me, you will have spent most of your Second Life dreaming that one day maybe, just maybe, some decent rocks would turn up. As an SL old timer I predate sculpties and therefore can remember quite clearly the trauma of making rocks from deformed sphere prims, hiding the crappy texture wrapping under the ground. But hey, they looked good… in the same way that Joan Rivers does: fantastic from a distance, but just don't check too closely round the back.
And then sculpties appeared. Great God in Heaven! Now we could make rocks that resembled great lumps of stuff that elephants drop casually behind them as they chomp their way through another half tonne of eucalyptus forrest. Result!
But now we have mesh. Oh yes. Predictably, I have now made it my mission in life to make, using the dark magic that is mesh, the best rocky outcrops in Second Life. I have no idea what the best rocky outcrops in Second Life are at the moment or who makes them, so equally, I have no idea how to gauge whether I have succeeded or not in this mission.
But I guess I'll know when I've done it - cos I'll have that little warm glow deep down in my mesh winkles that tells me it's ok to unleash new stuff on YOU - my wonderful, loyal, and ever-so-discerning customers.
And if the worst come to the worst, at least I'll have made the best elephant poo in the virtual universe!

Here's wot I dun so far:

The Willow Pond - An Interactive Scene for Second Life

OK, it was the teasiest of teasers  - so sorry! But finally (after about three times more work than anticipated) it finished! My new Mesh Scene for Second Life is a quaint old mill pond complete with willow tree, pier, small stone bridge and bull rushes. It comes with complete with a lush, mossy textures and a full animation set. 

Modelling took a little while - just getting neatly mapping and tiling textures was a challenge. The willow tree saw at least three versions before I was happy (trees in SL are soooooo tricky!). Anyway, I hope you like it! More details here.

Inlaid Wood Textures for Second Life : Free Sample Textures

I've been browsing through some of my older wood texture sets, designed around three years back for Second Life and thought it may a nice idea to offer a few samples of my favourite texture as free samples. Of course, these are now available from my website for use in any virtual world or games application. The inlaid wood texture were a delight to make and are a particular favourite of mine. More details here. Please feel free to use these free texture samples in your commercial project, but please do not resell or give them away as textures only. Enjoy.

Any Bright Texture Ideas?

One of the most rewarding things when making Second Life texture sets is the feedback I get from customers. It's motivational to get positive comments and know that my work is appreciated. So thanks to you all for that :)

From time to time you guys come back with a suggestion or request for a texture set. Generally these ideas fall into the "I was looking for this kind of texture but I can't find a decent one anywhere"  category.

So my principle on this is If it Will Make a Good Texture Set That I Can Sell to Everyone I will Make It!
In other words, if I can invest the time (it can take up to day or more to make a set) and it will benefit you, me and the rest of us, then it's a fine idea. The good thing I find is that these kind of sets usually sell pretty well, as they directly fit into market gaps - it's a WIN-WIN, yay!

A good stucco texture is very hard to find? Not any more ;)

Coming Next - Second Life Mesh Scenes

I think this is about as vague as teasers get! A wire frame image indeed! Actually it's a new Mesh Scene for Second Life - a Mill Pond. It will feature the usual detailed textures and modelling with interactive animations. It may take a little while to complete, the weeping willow must be about a day's work just on it's own! It's designed to be terraformed into your sim using SL water an tie in nicely with my other mesh scenes - should be a peach! More soon :)

Free mosaic stone texture samples

Here's some more tester Second Life textures, this time from my Fragment Mosaic stone set. Feel free to use in your commercial project but please don't resell or give away as individual textures. To buy a full commercial licence for virtual worlds, indi game and 3D work see more details here.