Ball of Confusion

I’m increasingly using low poly assets from Luma Genie to populate my builds. They’re not a patch on custom-made mesh (as per Encantada plants, for example) but they’re available quickly unless you want a hi-res version and generally you can get something that approximates your need. The downside is that objects created separately like tables and chairs are unlikely to match.

I did try looking for freebies on Wolf Territories Grid but the link that automatically appears in Firestorm takes you to a spot that doesn’t have much (if anything) of that ilk. Likely it’s gone elsewhere and I should check the Welcome area for links (see below for update). I’m fairly sure there’s commercial mesh available inworld but it means yet another digital currency which I’d rather avoid. So Genie it (mostly) is.

The grid owner appears to endorse such methods as they have made a video demonstrating an alternative source, Meshly. This appears to have a more conventional experience compared to the minimalistic but highly effective Genie, somewhat akin to NightCafe which I have used for images.

As far as textures are concerned, I’m currently mostly using the OpenSim Library although there are plenty of websites I could use, plus textures licensed for export from Kitely. Leonardo.ai is another possibility as is the forthcoming withpoly.com.

Of course, I’m operating at the freebie tier where possible and may have to think again when monetisation inevitably intrudes.

Update: Inworld assets, including freebies, via the website

We were given a DVD for Christmas called Loving Vincent. This chronicles an investigation into the two months artist Vincent Van Gogh spent in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise prior to his untimely death. It follows one of several less conventional theories as to how the artist met his end but is most notable for its beautiful rotoscope-style integration of the story with the many paintings dating to that summer of 1890.

My interest piqued, I found that there had recently been an exhibition at the Musee d’Orsay on this subject and I bought the handsome volume that accompanied it. This locates some of the paintings onto a period map of Auvers so it became possible to consider doing an OpenSim build on the topic. This is not a novel idea; there is already an excellent build of part of Arles in much the same vein on the Littlefield grid and for all I know someone may have recreated Auvers as well. Doing my own build, however, is an interesting challenge and an excellent opportunity to explore the environment that attracted so many painters, not just Vincent.

Accordingly, I have acquired an inexpensive 1km x 1km sim on the Wolf Territories Grid (WTG), half of which will be devoted to virtual Auvers. I have been resident on a number of grids over the years and they all tend to have their own idiosyncracies and that is often part of their charm. So I look forward to exploring WTG and what it has to offer in terms of developing this new build while tentatively blogging my progress here on micro.blog, another platform new to me.