Nika Talaj Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 When I read about the Linden fireflies, I actually had to go find some because there were none near my place(s). They're cute - they differ from the usual freebie fireflies in that they are actual insects, they float beguilingly, and if you look closely they sometimes turn, like they're changing direction. The usual freebie firefly scripts make glowing, short-lived blobs, I use that kind when I put fireflies around a candle that I sit next to. I fiddled around on and off and made some similar to the Linden ones. I'm so happy to be able to share the occasional script - this forum has been a big help to me during a tough RL year! I love talking to you guys here You can pick up a firefly folder at my alt's place on Loon Lake (or Little Bird Lake, I like that name too), SLURL below. There are 3 sizes (Small, Big, and Landscape). There's an example of each on the parcel. The pack itself is a rotating Earth on the porch, and it is using the Small size (just left click it to get the folder). If you sit at the picnic table facing the pizza oven, you're about 5 meters from the Big size (and you can have some watermelon)! The Landscape size is over in the bushes past the fire pit. These default to running only at night, but you can also set them to run all the time or on a simple schedule. The pack has an incredibly wordy notecard. You can mod the big transparent box they come in, but not the script. You're welcome to wander into the house, but we're not done with it. It's at that stage where a lot of stuff is rezzed but maybe not the RIGHT stuff, and a few things are missing. Privacy is set because I haven't bothered to set furniture with adult anims to group. I'm not going to mention these in Belli chat - firefly scripts have already been made available there. Maybe there's a freebie like this, I dunno. I'm just a tiny bit paranoid that I might see these Linden clone fireflies on every third parcel! More realistically, quite possibly no one will want them, but I thought a few of you might like them. Plus, creators charge for fireflies - and I'm not looking to hurt anyone's business, even a little. I'll leave the pack out for a week or so. Comments/critiques are welcome - just post. Maybe I'll revise them if a few people want the same thing. Enjoy, hopefully! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aconti/26/215/55 5 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvia Tamalyn Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Thank you! I just popped by and got a folder, and took a moment to enjoy watching your fireflies while I was there. Very nice! The only tiny suggestion I might make is maybe make the fireflies themselves a bit smaller? (I admit, I don't know if this is the size of the Mole-made ones.) Anyway, I love the color and movement of them, and they are more realistic than the ones I bought on MP. I will definitely scatter these around my parcels. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elena Blossom Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 @Nika Talaj, thank you so much for your generosity. I just visited your (by the way, lovely) place and got them. They are really well done, I specially like how bright and yellow they are. I agree they are a bit big for fireflies, but otherwise, we might not even see them at all!!! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nika Talaj Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 I went back and forth on the size - actually, the code to have them be smaller is just commented out, not removed! So it's no big deal to change back. They become less visible from farther away when smaller, but then again, if your camera is near them they can seem to be BIG BUGS. Note that the size of the particles is different for each of the 3 sizes in the box. How about you live with them for a couple days and post if they still seem kinda large? Maybe @Garden Mole would like to weigh in! 🥰 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Krokus Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Oh these are just lovely! thank you so much, Nika 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nika Talaj Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 You're welcome! To expand on the size thing: the Landscape ones are really meant to be seen from about 8 meters away. So if you want to cover a larger area, but still position the fireflies ON your parcel, a couple Big ones might be a better bet than one Landscape. The fireflies themselves will be smaller. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karynmaria Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 I grabbed them too! Thanks so much for making these . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madelaine McMasters Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 (edited) Nika, I popped over to your place and observed the bugs. There's a trick I've used to allow the creation of tiny "looking" particles that are still visible from substantial viewing distances. Take your current bug image and pad the texture with additional transparent area. You should be able to do that by changing the canvas size in your graphics program, using transparent as the fill texture. The SL viewer culls particles it deems to small to see, so when you cam away, they start to vanish. By making the particle texture larger, but keeping the bug the same size, you increase the distance at which culling occurs. The downside of this is that the particles consume more texture space and render time, but I don't think that will be an issue for your firefly generator. I have a particle generator that creates either stars or dandelion seeds that float on the SL wind. The stars are visible from hundreds of meters away, and can appear as single pixels. Edited June 1, 2020 by Madelaine McMasters 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleanor Anderton Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Thank you, Nika! I just popped over for the fireflies and stayed to see your lovely cabin - such a restful spot by the lake. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvia Tamalyn Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 I am rethiinking my request for resizing now, as I kind of like the idea of having a swarm of trained BIG BUGS as security on my parcels. (It may have been Maddy's appearance in the thread that triggered that thought. Fire, fireflies....) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakura Sands Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 9 hours ago, Nika Talaj said: When I read about the Linden fireflies, I actually had to go find some because there were none near my place(s). They're cute - they differ from the usual freebie fireflies in that they are actual insects, they float beguilingly, and if you look closely they sometimes turn, like they're changing direction. The usual freebie firefly scripts make glowing, short-lived blobs, I use that kind when I put fireflies around a candle that I sit next to. I fiddled around on and off and made some similar to the Linden ones. I'm so happy to be able to share the occasional script - this forum has been a big help to me during a tough RL year! I love talking to you guys here You can pick up a firefly folder at my alt's place on Loon Lake (or Little Bird Lake, I like that name too), SLURL below. There are 3 sizes (Small, Big, and Landscape). There's an example of each on the parcel. The pack itself is a rotating Earth on the porch, and it is using the Small size (just left click it to get the folder). If you sit at the picnic table facing the pizza oven, you're about 5 meters from the Big size (and you can have some watermelon)! The Landscape size is over in the bushes past the fire pit. These default to running only at night, but you can also set them to run all the time or on a simple schedule. The pack has an incredibly wordy notecard. You can mod the big transparent box they come in, but not the script. You're welcome to wander into the house, but we're not done with it. It's at that stage where a lot of stuff is rezzed but maybe not the RIGHT stuff, and a few things are missing. Privacy is set because I haven't bothered to set furniture with adult anims to group. I'm not going to mention these in Belli chat - firefly scripts have already been made available there. Maybe there's a freebie like this, I dunno. I'm just a tiny bit paranoid that I might see these Linden clone fireflies on every third parcel! More realistically, quite possibly no one will want them, but I thought a few of you might like them. Plus, creators charge for fireflies - and I'm not looking to hurt anyone's business, even a little. I'll leave the pack out for a week or so. Comments/critiques are welcome - just post. Maybe I'll revise them if a few people want the same thing. Enjoy, hopefully! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aconti/26/215/55 How wonderful! Thank you so much!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ardy Lay Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Lampyridae attack ! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karynmaria Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Well I tried them and I absolutely love them! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Luckstone Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Thank you Nika ☺️ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nika Talaj Posted June 2, 2020 Author Share Posted June 2, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said: Take your current bug image and pad the texture with additional transparent area. I considered it, actually. I instead opted for a small texture (256x256) that's only half transparency. I was hoping to have them rez quickly for everyone, no matter how bad their graphics hardware. I remember hating it when I TP'd into a place only to be confronted with big gray sheets that eventually resolved into individual snowflakes, lol. Now that I have better graphics, it's hard for me to test those end conditions. Maybe I should just up them to 512. That's not a big burden. Thanks. Edited June 2, 2020 by Nika Talaj 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nika Talaj Posted June 2, 2020 Author Share Posted June 2, 2020 6 hours ago, Eleanor Anderton said: Thank you, Nika! I just popped over for the fireflies and stayed to see your lovely cabin - such a restful spot by the lake. Thank you! We have grown to really love it. Fingers crossed the parcel still has that feeling when SSPE1207 is eventually built out! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madelaine McMasters Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 46 minutes ago, Nika Talaj said: I considered it, actually. I instead opted for a small texture (256x256) that's only half transparency. I was hoping to have them rez quickly for everyone, no matter how bad their graphics hardware. I remember hating it when I TP'd into a place only to be confronted with big gray sheets that eventually resolved into individual snowflakes, lol. Now that I have better graphics, it's hard for me to test those end conditions. Maybe I should just up them to 512. That's not a big burden. Thanks. You can shrink the fireflies, too. Resolution will suffer, but people won't be looking at them up close. You can also use two emitters, one for high rez bugs, one for bugs visible from afar. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 I grew up with fireflies back in the Midwest, but we don't seem to have them here in Colorado. Or, if we do, I've never seen them in the 30 years that I've lived here. Therefore, fireflies have always been my one favorite outdoor item in SL, but I've never been overly happy with any that I've gotten before. These are great - thank you very much for creating them and just letting us have them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eirynne Sieyes Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Nika, I can't wait to rez them! Thanks much for your work and generosity. By the way, we are neighbors a few homes over. That's one beautiful lake we live next to. I hope our dear buddies The Moles don't terraform any hills on the SSPE region between our homes and the gorgeous lake. Maybe you can script those fire flies to otherwise persuade any mole who intends to block that view. 😜 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoiraKathleen Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Thank you! (and wonderful documentation on the enclosed notecard) 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nando Yip Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 @Nika Talaj fireflies are already shining here at home. Thank you they are beautiful !!! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rileyxrose Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 Those are lovely. I've set out a particle script as a gift in the Bellisseria headquarters - so you can drop the script in any modifiable object. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nika Talaj Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 Just to clarify, Riley's is not the script used for the fireflies I have out. But those are pretty too 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamara Adored Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 Thanks Nika. I’m now blinding my neighbours with a firefly overload. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eirynne Sieyes Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 34 minutes ago, rileyxrose said: Those are lovely. I've set out a particle script as a gift in the Bellisseria headquarters - so you can drop the script in any modifiable object. Hi I'm there now but don't see it. Maybe the Belli Bureau of Bureaucracy is the wrong place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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