Bellisseria Choo-Choo Train Thread

[Seba Serpente]

Since there is no thread yet about it, and it has been pretty much confirmed (atleast the plans) that there should be a Train sometime in the future roaming areas of Bellisseria... here it is!

Patch Linden talked about plans of a new train for Bellisseria at the SL16B. No details were really given, but it was mentioned that would relate in some way to the current SLRR.

Here is a view of Mole Island 30 where appears to be train tracks in an oval shape, with a locomotive at the north side of the tracks, a small train station and couple track switches (Blue rectangle). This could be or could be not the actual train being developed, but is a good conversation starter.

 

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

I love the SLRR, and have a place near the tracks on the Atoll. Can't wait to see railways come to Bellisseria! I think I have a train or two in my inventory, though not nearly as nice of one as I would like to have. I've seen some real beauties out there.

[Seba Serpente]

@VenKellie what you think?

[animats]

Some trams, maybe. New Babbage seems to have the best surface tram system. It looks good, it corners well, and it's popular.

[EmmeElise]

Wouldn't it be cool if it was like, an Orient Express party train?!

[Nika Talaj]

All I know is that my friend, who was deep into all things mainland and particularly the SLRR, has been inworld a LOT in the mornings.  I'm hoping the base technology changes from the old SLRR SetPos to use KeyFramedMotion, similar to the cars at major events like SL birthdays.  Maybe that's happened already - haven't ridden an SLRR train for aeons!  Movement is smoother, and they wouldn't be freaked out by objects in the path.

I'd vote for having both a local Belli streetcar system and an express train to a mainland station.

Edited July 20, 2019 by Nika Talaj

[animats]

11 hours ago, Nika Talaj said:

express train to a mainland station.

Now there's an idea. Except that neither Sansara nor Jeoghot has much of a rail system. So there's nothing to connect to. Only Heterocera has much SLRR.

A road connection, though...

While you can sail from Bellesaria to Sansara, there's almost no place to go when you get there, as sailors have discovered. Going either east or west along the south coast of Sansara, you quickly run out of navigable water.

As Bellesaria expands (and there's clearly demand for that), one possible expansion area is above. That's conveniently near the end of the Linden road system in Sansara, marked by the big red dot above.

End of the road. Linden-owned land all the way to the coast, down a steep hill.

This would be an excellent starting point for a big bridge to the potential Bellesaria expansion area.

[Vega Firelyte]

13 hours ago, Nika Talaj said:

I'd vote for having both a local Belli streetcar system and an express train to a mainland station.

I love the streetcar idea.  I think it would lend character and a little added fun to the continent.  It would be a fantastic way to sightsee, explore, and just spend a nice time looking around.  Heterocera has the rail system, which is quite developed and Bellissaria could be similar but also different with the streetcars.

[Alyona Su]

23 hours ago, EmmeElise said:

Wouldn't it be cool if it was like, an Orient Express party train?!

 

23 hours ago, EmmeElise said:

Wouldn't it be cool if it was like, an Orient Express party train?!

I have the Orient Express. "Have train, will travel." https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Express-d-Orient-luxury-long-distance-train/8741012

//Grinz

[LibGwen]

I worry that people are getting their hopes up too far.  You may end up with a trolley/train that's nice to look at going by but you can't really ride.  In my experience, you can't ride an automated vehicle in Second Life for long before you get queasy.  When you're the one driving the vehicle, you're looking where you intend to go, so it's not much of a problem.  But when something else is doing the driving, your eyes work a lot harder.

There's also camera position.  If you move your camera from the position the vehicle puts it at, the scene gets jerky.  It would be interesting if different seating sections on a train put your camera position in different places, or even had the option not to see outside at all if you want to chat with a friend on the journey, so you wouldn't *have* to move your camera.

 

Edited July 22, 2019 by LibGwen

[Vega Firelyte]

29 minutes ago, LibGwen said:

I worry that people are getting their hopes up too far.  You may end up with a trolley/train that's nice to look at going by but you can't really ride.  In my experience, you can't ride an automated vehicle in Second Life for long before you get queasy.  When you're the one driving the vehicle, you're looking where you intend to go, so it's not much of a problem.  But when something else is doing the driving, your eyes work a lot harder.

There's also camera position.  If you move your camera from the position the vehicle puts it at, the scene gets jerky.  It would be interesting if different seating sections on a train put your camera position in different places, or even had the option not to see outside at all if you want to chat with a friend on the journey, so you wouldn't *have* to move your camera.

 

Actually, the Ville de Coeur sims have an automated trolley system, a horse and buggy ride and a walking tour that you can go on, and it's not jerky or anything.  It's a wonderful way of exploring their sims.  I find it very smooth and fun.  Maybe if they have a system like that, it would be a great addition to Bellisseria.  If you have not seen it, you should drop by and check it out.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aquitaine Coeur Nord/43/75/25

[Seba Serpente]

I am a bit worried that comparing the SSP continent with Bellisseria, there is just around 30% of undeveloped areas left to work out a train. I find hard to believe they would lay any kind of tracks on already developed regions. This means, the train if is going to happen on the continent we know, it would only cover a small portion of it, and every day they build on more regions, the plausible space a train could occupy, is reduced.

[Fionalein]

1 minute ago, Seba Serpente said:

I find hard to believe they would lay any kind of tracks on already developed regions.

They still could add one, here's an ages old solution.

[Seba Serpente]

1 minute ago, Fionalein said:

They still could add one, here's an ages old solution.

If we go with that idea of placing a system on areas that already been developed, just to not limit the system to the small area that is currently available, i can totally vote for a tram.

However, i don't see fully appropiate to place a tram on regular residential roads. If there were main roads/avenues around bellisseria, just like bay city has one, it would be more fitting.

[animats]

1 hour ago, Seba Serpente said:

 If there were main roads/avenues around bellisseria, just like bay city has one, it would be more fitting.

There's not enough traffic for "main roads". I'd like to see a few through routes on existing roads marked, maybe with a solid yellow line, so you could drive or bicycle without reaching at dead ends. Some of those might become tram lines.

By the way, is the ferry to the fairgrounds island only running during events, or what? I went there and waited at the ferry sign, but nothing showed up.

[Seba Serpente]

4 minutes ago, animats said:

There's not enough traffic for "main roads". I'd like to see a few through routes on existing roads marked, maybe with a solid yellow line, so you could drive or bicycle without reaching at dead ends. Some of those might become tram lines.

By the way, is the ferry to the fairgrounds island only running during events, or what? I went there and waited at the ferry sign, but nothing showed up.

There is not enough traffic anywhere in Second Life. Mayor roads like avenues and highways are just part of the themeing. If you mean in a more technical way, Bellisseria has enough homes to have avenues and mayor arteries, if we take United States as a model for calculating vehicles per household.

I think i heard someone saying that there was some work being done with the ferry today.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Seba Serpente

[Alyona Su]

7 hours ago, LibGwen said:

I worry that people are getting their hopes up too far.  You may end up with a trolley/train that's nice to look at going by but you can't really ride.  In my experience, you can't ride an automated vehicle in Second Life for long before you get queasy.  When you're the one driving the vehicle, you're looking where you intend to go, so it's not much of a problem.  But when something else is doing the driving, your eyes work a lot harder.

There's also camera position.  If you move your camera from the position the vehicle puts it at, the scene gets jerky.  It would be interesting if different seating sections on a train put your camera position in different places, or even had the option not to see outside at all if you want to chat with a friend on the journey, so you wouldn't *have* to move your camera.

 

Mouselook is your friend.

I've already written off any idea of a usable railroad anywhere in or around Bellisseria, which will leave me with exactly what I expect or leave me pleasantly surprised. Either way, even if there were an RR on Bellisseria, what decent, logical way would it connect with the only other *decent* RR system at Heterocera Atoll? Smells like a lot of hard work to accomplish, so whatever it is that Patch was teasing at his Meet the Lindens talk, I'm suspecting it's nothing at all what we expect or even would like hope to have.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Alyona Su

[Nika Talaj]

Well, OK, if y'all are going to talk about reality ...  Patch spoke of 'railroad' as one of several upcoming themes, didn't he?  Was the magic number 8 new LH themes in total?  So on Belli we'll have at least 3, Traditional, Houseboat and Campground.  I can't believe that they'd actually return to already released regions and add a railroad ... considering their QA process, it would be horrendous, with all the user content in place.  So yes, I guess that reality is disappointing me a bit, lol.

That leaves the currently undeveloped portions of Belli for a rather localized railroad theme, or, possibly, another continent.  I don't see how they'll fit 4 more themes on Belli, so I guess it's kind of a foregone conclusion that there will be another new LH continent at some point.  If you wanted a railroad that actually went a real distance, as opposed to a cute San Francisco-style streetcar, it would surely be easier to do on a new continent.  But, in the southern part of Belli, you COULD fit another theme, perhaps a localized streetcar city one.

[Seba Serpente]

75% Traditional homes and houseboats, 15% camper trailers,  3% train, 7% whatever else is left?

Sounds like we need more continents to make that many more themes happen.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Seba Serpente

[Fionalein]

12 minutes ago, Seba Serpente said:

75% Traditional homes and houseboats, 15% camper trailers,  3% train, 7% whatever else is left?

Sounds like we need more continents to make that many more themes happen.

well sounds like we also need more continents to meet the demand... 

[Seba Serpente]

6 minutes ago, Fionalein said:

well sounds like we also need more continents to meet the demand... 

that also sounds about right

[LittleMe Jewell]

4 hours ago, Nika Talaj said:

Well, OK, if y'all are going to talk about reality ...  Patch spoke of 'railroad' as one of several upcoming themes, didn't he?  Was the magic number 8 new LH themes in total?  So on Belli we'll have at least 3, Traditional, Houseboat and Campground.  I can't believe that they'd actually return to already released regions and add a railroad ... considering their QA process, it would be horrendous, with all the user content in place.  So yes, I guess that reality is disappointing me a bit, lol.

That leaves the currently undeveloped portions of Belli for a rather localized railroad theme, or, possibly, another continent.  I don't see how they'll fit 4 more themes on Belli, so I guess it's kind of a foregone conclusion that there will be another new LH continent at some point.  If you wanted a railroad that actually went a real distance, as opposed to a cute San Francisco-style streetcar, it would surely be easier to do on a new continent.  But, in the southern part of Belli, you COULD fit another theme, perhaps a localized streetcar city one.

Based on various comments that Patch has made over the last year+ time, I fully expect the Bellisseria continent to be expanded southward down to Jeogeot.  Even the entire actual SSP regions, that have that mountain range on their southern edge, aren't nearly enough to fill the void down to Jeogeot.  As they expand southward, they can also expand out eastward (there are sailing lanes to the west), so I can envision room for 8 or more themes.

 

I do also think that the 'railroad' comment was more about an upcoming theme and will not necessarily meaning an actual railroad that covers most of the remaining regions.  

 

[Coby Foden]

8 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Based on various comments that Patch has made over the last year+ time, I fully expect the Bellisseria continent to be expanded southward down to Jeogeot.  Even the entire actual SSP regions, that have that mountain range on their southern edge, aren't nearly enough to fill the void down to Jeogeot.  As they expand southward, they can also expand out eastward (there are sailing lanes to the west), so I can envision room for 8 or more themes.

There indeed is plenty of room for the expansion of Bellisseria - in the east and in the south. In the snapshot below I have the whole SSP continent pictured in correct scale.
Even more additional huge space for Bellisseria expansion will be on the east and the south sides of Jeogeot continent.

[Nika Talaj]

Thank you for those visions, Lil & Coby.  Mind-blowing.

[Seba Serpente]

Spotted at SSPE185: