By Becky "Sha" Shamen
Over the last few years, we have written many articles about great adventures to sims that are fun to explore. The stories are written from the perspective of a person, going there for the first time and what fun can be found there. Since most of the research was done between midnight and six a.m., there were seldom any avs to question, as to the back story of how the sim came to be. We usually give the impression that the reader can follow in our footsteps and have the same adventure and fun. Where this story of sim development goes, few readers can follow. The opportunities to remodel an entire sim are rare and the politics involved are more than most would dare to get involved in. Still, it is a story worth telling.
My first orders were to reduce the land area to an island in the middle
of the sim. It was suggested that extending a corner of the isle, to
keep it connected to the trolley, would open the possibility of having a
public beach, to honor the sim name, so that land was left connected.
Since we both liked the idea of a central waterfall, I began making some
sketches. Selecting what had previously been a duck pond as the bottom
of a waterfall, a stream was dug to the southern beach area, giving the
island an inverted U shape. Now, the same amount of area has greater
length than width, by being folded. The effect is enhanced by adding a
backbone ridge of hills, which hosts three waterfalls, one of which has a
secret room. While we were still in our Hillbuildy mode, three towering
hills got raised. I'm kinda proud of my "Fiddly Bits." The view from
each tower is fantastic. The South Tower has a gazebo to chill in, while
the North Towers each have a cannon fortification, with working
cannons. With a little practice, Doc Philly got to where he could bounce
a cannonball off my hat. The balls do not cause any harm, unless they
hit objects with scripts allowing harm. Perhaps we can host some ship
sinking contest events, in the future.
As the island took shape, three mesh beaches were placed and wind
surfboard rezzers near each. The two beach sections on the South side
are "Sunny Beach". There is a raised platform, tiki hut club, for beach
gatherings. On the West side, we find "Sunset Beach." Several
incarnations previously, this sim featured a surfing wave. I often went
there to try improving my skill, but sometimes would just sit on the
beach, contemplating, to the sound of the crashing waves. A search on
the Marketplace turned up a similar wave generator that would just fit
the water area on the North side of the island. The wave was expensive
and could not be copied or transferred. Having seen the sim owned by
several, over the years, I was hesitant about gifting a wave to an
owner, but if I owned it myself I could always keep it set up on any sim
that was willing to host it. After several adjustments for position and
depth, it began sporadically putting out waves. A notice, at the top of
my viewer, indicated that the sim needed to be re-baked and some things
might not operate correctly meanwhile. Shortly after, Rita showed up
and restarted the sim. After that, the wave reached full functioning.
A
surfboard rezzer sits on the shore, near the boat docks. It takes a bit
of practice, but you'll be doing tricks in no time. If you fly up to it,
just above water level, the wave will face you in it's direction and
push you ahead of it, in the air. The water area, all around the island,
has been made wide and deep enough to allow for motor and sail boats.
Because of bridge height, masts must be under 32m or be set to phantom.
There is a LL freebie sailboat that is the ideal size. Travel around the
island, by boat or foot is a treat. Erik and Lilly love when I take
them on boat rides. I enjoy walking around in "mouselook". The whole sim
has a very natural look to it, at ground level. If you fly up 150m and
look down, the island looks like a giant koi fish, in a lilly pond. As
if all this beauty and beach fun wasn't enough, the owners have also
placed a Stargate on the isle. Sunny Beach is a stepping stone to many
new adventures.
Although the adventure of designing and building a great sim was
unique, the new Sunny Beach is now an adventure that the whole community
can share. I hope many will join me, in being a friend of Erik and
Lilly.
"Sha"
