LL Automated Tree/Vegetation Planter From 2008

[Lenny Stickfigure]

Way back around 2008 I came across some new mainland regions being set up by LL and I saw a little object that was a small green cube that had a sphere under it as well as an upside down pyramid pointing downward.  It was called "??? Tree Planter" - not sure if it was LDPW, or Linden, or Mole for the first word, but Tree Planter was the rest of the title.

Anyway, it appeared to be a scripted tool that would run along the ground unattended, following the elevation of the ground, and randomly planting trees at the proper depth.  If I recall, it would run back and forth over the ground, slowly going forward so that the trees it planted were not too close together and it avoided going back over land it previously covered.  Kind of like a zig-zagging Roomba. 

Since then I have looked through every resource I could find and have yet to find an automated tree planter script.  I have 64 regions in OpenSim that depict a large island and about 50 of those regions I want covered in trees.  The idea is to gradually remove trees as structures are constructed and lumber is harvested for a project I'm doing (visual depictions of deforestation in the Amazon).  Since every region has different terrain I can't just duplicate the same regions and I really don't want to plant several thousand trees manually.

Anyone familiar with what I'm referring to?  Oh, and though I'm referring to using a script like this in OpenSim, it would obviously be very useful in Second Life, especially for those who own whole regions.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Lenny Stickfigure

[Wulfie Reanimator]

The basic components of a "tree planter" like that would be very simple.

• Moving the planter can be done with llSetPos or llSetRegionPos.
• Getting the right elevation can be done with llCastRay downwards.
• Planting a tree can be done with llRezObject.

As for a good/natural looking tree pattern? That's a whole other problem.

[Qie Niangao]

4 minutes ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

• Getting the right elevation can be done with llCastRay downwards.

Right. Raycasting, though, is much newer than those old automated tree planters, which instead must have used llGround() and maybe(?) one or more of its friends, llGroundCountour, llGroundSlope, and llGroundNormal.

The original tree planters can still be seen stranded around the Mainland, although I'd be hard-pressed to locate one now.

[Fritigern Gothly]

3 hours ago, Lenny Stickfigure said:

I have 64 regions in OpenSim that depict a large island and about 50 of those regions I want covered in trees.  The idea is to gradually remove trees as structures are constructed and lumber is harvested for a project I'm doing (visual depictions of deforestation in the Amazon).  Since every region has different terrain I can't just duplicate the same regions and I really don't want to plant several thousand trees manually.

OpenSim has a tree planter module in which trees are planted and over time grow to maturity.
http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Trees_Module

I have some trouble reaching the wiki at the moment but I know I have used the module in the past. I do not remember ALL, but I know you can set the min and max (terrain) height at which a tree should be planted (this way you can, for example, have leafy trees at the foot of a mountain, but pines near the top), you set the tree type. IIRC you can also set the density, growth rate, etc.. 
You define these things in a so-called copse (a group of trees). You then activate the copse(s) on the (running) server and watch the trees grow.

About cutting them down, I don't know how you plan on doing that, but let us know how things will go.  

[Mollymews]

4 hours ago, Lenny Stickfigure said:

I have 64 regions in OpenSim that depict a large island and about 50 of those regions I want covered in trees.  The idea is to gradually remove trees as structures are constructed and lumber is harvested for a project I'm doing (visual depictions of deforestation in the Amazon).  Since every region has different terrain I can't just duplicate the same regions and I really don't want to plant several thousand trees manually.

for a project like this then a way is to use a bot account

the bot can be set to run/navigate in automode and if/when needed the bot account can also be logged into with a standard viewer and operated manually

i probably also chop the terrain into parcels so that - this parcel is a river/water - this parcel is a river bank - this parcel is marsh -  this parcel is a plain - this parcel is hills, etc. Put this info in the parcel description so the bot can know/read what type of vegetation to rez on the respective parcels

with clearing the forest then I would have the bot chop a clearfell parcel then go thru the objects felling/deleting trees on the clearfell replacing them with tree stumps. Then can come back later on and rip out the stumps and plant soy or whichever on the clearfell

with forest regeneration then do it in reverse, bot progressively replacing the soy with forest vegetation. Eventually when all the soy has been removed then the clearfell parcel can be rejoined to the forest parcel from which it was chopped

other thing is can do vegetation that grows. Rather than put a script in each plant, the bot can manage this as well. Periodically comes and replaces each, from seedlings to full mature trees/bushes/etc. Can also simulate what happens to vegetation when there is a fire, a change in weather patterns, etc

this kind of project can get pretty complicated and I think that using a bot(s) as the planter/manager would make the project a bit more manageable

Edited March 18, 2021 by Mollymews
tpyo

[Lenny Stickfigure]

1 hour ago, Fritigern Gothly said:

OpenSim has a tree planter module in which trees are planted and over time grow to maturity.
http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Trees_Module

About cutting them down, I don't know how you plan on doing that, but let us know how things will go.  

The Tree Module was discontinued a couple years back.  It caused a wide range of headaches (trees popping up where buildings were, and causing some OS servers to crash due to memory hogging gone haywire, as examples).  So it has been completely gutted from the core OS code.

My plan in removing trees would be simple.  Like in the Amazon, trees are often cut down forming 'bald' strips of land.  I can easily just create a small parcel in the midst of the trees, then return all objects within that parcel to clear out the trees.

It can still be implemented, but it's complex and very finicky. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by Lenny Stickfigure

[Lenny Stickfigure]

6 minutes ago, Mollymews said:

for a project like this then a way is to use a bot account

this kind of project can get pretty complicated and I think that using a bot(s) as the planter/manager would make the project a bit more manageable

You provided some excellent ideas I'd not even thought of!  Thank you Mollymews!  Running with your train of thought, I could even create a series of Non-Player Characters like little Lumberjacks and heavy equipment hacking down the trees. 

I'm busy making notes now!

I have been learning LSL the past few months and I realize now that this would be a fun project for me to use to learn even more LSL.

[Mollymews]

24 minutes ago, Lenny Stickfigure said:

I could even create a series of Non-Player Characters like little Lumberjacks and heavy equipment hacking down the trees.

suggest that you use NPCs for large wildlife characters who can wander about within the habitat/parcel

with the lumberjacks and soy planters (humans) then I probably go with bots, wearing the equipment like chainsaws, wearable bulldozers, wearable seed sowing machines, etc, As the bots can do stuff like chop clearfell parcels and and manage the object removal and replacement of vegetation as they work thru the parcel a littler bit more easily. For example, able to rez directly from account Inventory rather than from NPC Contents 

 

edit add:

another reason I would go with bot accounts as the humans, is that these accounts can be logged into by a user resident who can then play in world as a clearfeller, farmer, forest regenerator, etc. With the added capabilities that the bot account has

Edited March 18, 2021 by Mollymews

[Lenny Stickfigure]

On 3/18/2021 at 3:13 PM, Mollymews said:

suggest that you use NPCs for large wildlife characters who can wander about within the habitat/parcel

another reason I would go with bot accounts as the humans, is that these accounts can be logged into by a user resident who can then play in world as a clearfeller, farmer, forest regenerator, etc. With the added capabilities that the bot account has

Great points!  And the animals would be a good touch with animations of them coming out of the woods into clearings and looking lost and nervous because those areas were once their home.