How to use 5000 Li in a Homestead and make it look like 20 000 Li?

[Marianne Little]

Since LL will let people with Premium Plus buy a Homestad without buying a full region first, I predict it will be a lot more new Homestad owners.

Me? I am thinking about it, thinking about the costs, VAT and all that. But it sounds tempting.

So are there people who has owned or rented Homestads and filled them up so well that they are 100% satisfied with only 5000 Li?

I love to fill up empty spaces. I want houses that has clutter. More than one house. I am also really into landscaping. I want flowers, trees, grasses and rocks.

And a Homestead is a really big palette to fill. How do you manage it? I am thinking that landscaping 1/3 to water is maybe the way to go. But I want things under water too. I will find it hard to ignore the sea totally and let it stay 0 Li.

Using low li forests on parts of the land is a good idea, but it must be parts of the land I don't live in or walk through. Because if I do, I want better quality trees and landscaping details.

We can choose textures freely on a Homestead ground? I have never owned land that let me do it. Is it so that several parts can be textured? Like under water, one texture, the 0 - 10 m, a second texture, 10 - 20 m, a third texture? What is the number of ground textures one can use?

I am thinking that really good textures may reduce the need for landscaping, there is no need to hide ugly textures anymore.

[Alwin Alcott]

29 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

 

We can choose textures freely on a Homestead ground? I have never owned land that let me do it. Is it so that several parts can be textured? Like under water, one texture, the 0 - 10 m, a second texture, 10 - 20 m, a third texture? What is the number of ground textures one can use?

I am thinking that really good textures may reduce the need for landscaping, there is no need to hide ugly textures anymore.

yes you can re texture homestead terrain. BUT it's less easy than "under" water or up at a hight ... the region mixes those between levels that you can set for individual parts on the region, and also these will mix smoothly.
There are 4 textures to use, and also can adjust level of terraforming hights and water hight.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Alwin Alcott

[Marianne Little]

29 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:

yes you can re texture homestead terrain. BUT it's less easy than "under" water or up at a hight ... the region mixes those between levels that you can set for individual parts on the region, and also these will mix smoothly.
There are 4 textures to use, and also can adjust level of terraforming hights and water hight.

So if I want a steep hill where two textures meet, it will be a blurry stretch. When I landscape default Mainland, I see that hills look ugly because the terrain texture is stretched.

But it is some beach builder packs sold, including the sand texture. Maybe using that texture on the ground, reduces the need for beach dunes. I could use only the waves and some rocks. 

Mesh landscaping elements look so nice. Can ground textures really look as good? After I cover the parts where the textures stretch.

A smaller land like 1/4 region with 5000 Li, is less ground to fill up. If I shall spend more money in SL, perhaps that is better for me?

Is it some Homesteads where I can go and look? In the Destinations guide maybe?

[Love Zhaoying]

@Marianne Little, this is an interesting topic - thank you for posting i! 

I missed that PP can now get Homesteads. Maybe that would have been smarter for me than what I did!

FYI, I did not remember hearing ever that you can change "water texture"! (Only if you are making you own prim water.)

I am looking forward to seeing what kind of answers you get, so I am following the post!

 

 

[Marianne Little]

17 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

@Marianne Little, this is an interesting topic - thank you for posting i! 

I missed that PP can now get Homesteads. Maybe that would have been smarter for me than what I did!

FYI, I did not remember hearing ever that you can change "water texture"! (Only if you are making you own prim water.)

I am looking forward to seeing what kind of answers you get, so I am following the post!

 

 

I was writing it wrong, I meant ground texture under water level. 😊 Sea bed?

LL said that PP can but Homesteads, but not when.

No date set.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Marianne Little

[Gabriele Graves]

In the Lab Gab they said 1st or possibly 2nd November.

[Qie Niangao]

29 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

So if I want a steep hill where two textures meet, it will be a blurry stretch. When I landscape default Mainland, I see that hills look ugly because the terrain texture is stretched.

There are two different effects at work here. The texture stretching over steep terrain is a limitation regardless of whether the terrain is spanning different textures. That is, it will get ugly there, even if there's just the one terrain texture defined for the whole region. Some regions spend LI (and rendering lag) on mesh hills to avoid this problem, but some terrain textures look better than others when subjected to such stretching. (More on that below.)

The other challenge, as noted, is transitions between terrain textures and part of the difficulty is getting them set to transition somewhere near the levels you want, and the other is that those transitions change all the time, even when you don't do anything to make them change. This is very evident on the Atoll shoreline, which has funky terrain textures anyway, where a carefully terraformed stretch will be one color today, and totally different the next time you login. 

The problem I have with terrain texture is the pattern that emerges when they repeat over a wide area. And this is why I actually like to stretch textures over "rocky" rough terrain: stretched around different forms, those repeat patterns are only visible from high above, with the region in "plan view". I've noticed that some textures are way better at this than others, but it's all trial and error for me. That can be fun, or annoying, depending on one's patience I suppose.

Oh, also, I heard recent rumblings somewhere that the Lab is considering higher resolution terrain textures. Unfortunately I can't remember anything more now, so I'm not sure if that would change anything on homesteads or whether only Mainland is currently limited to low-res textures. Somebody must know more.

[Love Zhaoying]

17 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

Oh, also, I heard recent rumblings somewhere that the Lab is considering higher resolution terrain textures. Unfortunately I can't remember anything more now, so I'm not sure if that would change anything on homesteads or whether only Mainland is currently limited to low-res textures. Somebody must know more.

Was it this thread? I am not sure I remember seeing your posts there.  It certainly discussed the "issues".

 

[Flower Caerndow]

There is so much you can do with terraforming and textures when you have a homestead and the ability to adjust both!  I like to make lots of hills and mountains in the distance and by using a good texture no other landscaping is needed in that area.  The textures by Vita are great for this, they are 1024 but they minimize the need for lots of additional landscaping, so I think they are worth it.  Many of the Vita textures do look best on ground that is not flat because of the repeats, but it is fun to terraform to accent the details in the textures.  It can be frustrating to have a specific idea in mind and try to make it look like a certain preconceived plan, so I like to let the land tell me what to do.

Another thing I have seen people do with a homestead is to make a smaller island surrounded by lots of water if you like landscapes very full of plants and a big over decorated house.  You could check out the destination guide under the photogenic and nature and parks categories, or whatever else you're interested in.  Visit different regions and compare the landscaping on the full regions to the ones on homesteads and get lots of ideas.  I find I like the homesteads better because there is less to rez so I do not need to wait a long time to be able to look around!

If it is in your budget, you could try renting a homestead for a week and see if you enjoy the terraforming and texturing.  Sometimes I rent one for a week or two just so I can make mountains  My problem is that I enjoy the terraforming and texturing so much that I never finish and keep redoing it so I can terraform more.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Flower Caerndow said:

There is so much you can do with terraforming and textures when you have a homestead and the ability to adjust both!  I like to make lots of hills and mountains in the distance and by using a good texture no other landscaping is needed in that area.  The textures by Vita are great for this, they are 1024 but they minimize the need for lots of additional landscaping, so I think they are worth it.  Many of the Vita textures do look best on ground that is not flat because of the repeats, but it is fun to terraform to accent the details in the textures.  It can be frustrating to have a specific idea in mind and try to make it look like a certain preconceived plan, so I like to let the land tell me what to do.

Another thing I have seen people do with a homestead is to make a smaller island surrounded by lots of water if you like landscapes very full of plants and a big over decorated house.  You could check out the destination guide under the photogenic and nature and parks categories, or whatever else you're interested in.  Visit different regions and compare the landscaping on the full regions to the ones on homesteads and get lots of ideas.  I find I like the homesteads better because there is less to rez so I do not need to wait a long time to be able to look around!

If it is in your budget, you could try renting a homestead for a week and see if you enjoy the terraforming and texturing.  Sometimes I rent one for a week or two just so I can make mountains  My problem is that I enjoy the terraforming and texturing so much that I never finish and keep redoing it so I can terraform more.

That's interesting!  The lack of "tons of LI" on a homestead is made up for, by your ability to do "real" landscaping (not just hedges, not just mesh surrounds).

[Chic Aeon]

2 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

I was writing it wrong, I meant ground texture under water level. 😊 Sea bed?

LL said that PP can but Homesteads, but not when.

No date set.

While in theory you have "some" control over the ground textures it really is pretty iffy and getting sand on a seabed that moves into grass above and rocky  is VERY iffy. Not only that just like on mainland the exact melding of the lines changes from time to time. My suggestion would be to rent a homestead for a week (mine is $4600 ish) and see if you can get the effect you want. 

 

There have been some outstanding notable homesteads in the past.  Many have used big expanses of water and waterways to make the areas seem more "decorated".  Finding sculpt plants that look good at any size helps a bunch.  Landdforms - either rocky or ground texture covered can be used to give a sense of MORE with minimal land impact.  

So yes, I would look at "photogenic places" in the destination guide and then check whether they are homesteads or not and get an idea of what you want.  I don't know how the tier pencils out and of course the Premium Plus cost but right now most folks rent homesteads. You have a lot of control on rental homesteads so personally I am not seeing a huge advantage in buying. 

What you can get on a homestead land impact budget will partly depend on who you are styling for. If it is JUST YOU and you run at LOD4 then you can use some very low impact items that fall apart at a close distance. If you are styling for the masses then what you can use changes dramatically -- so that is part of it also.    

 

[Qie Niangao]

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Was it this thread? I am not sure I remember seeing your posts there.  It certainly discussed the "issues".

That's a fascinating thread that I'd overlooked before. In it, animats mentions a Content Creator user group where some noises were made about improving terrain stuff, which I might have read about in a contemporaneous summary on Inara Pey's blog, which is how I learn most things. Anyway, whatever they have in mind apparently won't be limited to patching Mainland.

I'm also realizing that nobody but me still talks about the randomized-each-login effect layered on terrain textures, and I probably haven't seen the waterline of my Atoll beachfront in a decade or more, so that may all be obsolete information now.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Qie Niangao said:

I'm also realizing that nobody but me still talks about the randomized-each-login effect layered on terrain textures, and I probably haven't seen the waterline of my Atoll beachfront in a decade or more, so that may all be obsolete information now.

I thought a similar effect / issue was mentioned in that thread, is why I mentioned it. 

[Flower Caerndow]

Here is a link to a blog post about a beautiful region that used terraforming and textures on the land to set the mood and not use many prims. The region is no longer there, but there are some good photos in the blog post.  https://modemworld.me/2019/05/12/the-wilderness-of-killary-in-second-life/

[Marianne Little]

1 hour ago, Flower Caerndow said:

Here is a link to a blog post about a beautiful region that used terraforming and textures on the land to set the mood and not use many prims. The region is no longer there, but there are some good photos in the blog post.  https://modemworld.me/2019/05/12/the-wilderness-of-killary-in-second-life/

That one was too wild for me. 😉 But Inara Pey visit so many places. I took a look around in her blog.

And I found a region with 30 000 Li that I totally adore. But next to it is a Homestead with the same owner. It is under construction, but has used only 3000 Li so far. And from my point, the best is that included in those 3000 Li is 2 houses. Most of Homesteads I have seen is a single house, or only landscaping. I wonder what the owner of this homestead will do with the last 2000 Li.

A day in Provence in Second Life – Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

The Homestead region is to the left of this region. Second Life Maps | by Albane

 

[Alwin Alcott]

5 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

So if I want a steep hill where two textures meet, it will be a blurry stretch. 

But it is some beach builder packs sold, including the sand texture. Maybe using that texture on the ground, reduces the need for beach dunes. I could use only the waves and some rocks. 

Mesh landscaping elements look so nice. Can ground textures really look as good? 

A smaller land like 1/4 region with 5000 Li, is less ground to fill up. If I shall spend more money in SL, perhaps that is better for me?

Is it some Homesteads where I can go and look?

The stretch won't be really blurry, but the textures will blend on places where two meet ( on the border of a hight setting)
With some fiddling with the height settings it is indeed possible to use sand or other textures for certain areas of the region, and yes.. fitting textures will mix quite well with mesh/object textures if you use the same. Might be needed to change the repeating on the object ( or in viewer for the groundtextures, but this works only on personal level)

If you go to a region and rent 1/4 you won't have the ability to change the texture, at least i never seen a landlord giving manager rightst to a quarter renter.

You can look at the results at any region, it's no difference for all types of regions, also full regions work the same way.
Perhaps have a look at the regions from Studio Skye by Alex Bader, you also see plenty of examples of groundtextures and mesh additions.
 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Alwin Alcott

[Alwin Alcott]

2 hours ago, Flower Caerndow said:

  Sometimes I rent one for a week or two just so I can make mountains  My problem is that I enjoy the terraforming and texturing so much that I never finish and keep redoing it so I can terraform more.

same here, rent one, play with it, sometimes quite a bit longer than a few weeks   

push return objects and move on
often already fill it itching again to get back the moment i tp out

[Rowan Amore]

6 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

Since LL will let people with Premium Plus buy a Homestad without buying a full region first, I predict it will be a lot more new Homestad owners.

Me? I am thinking about it, thinking about the costs, VAT and all that. But it sounds tempting.

So are there people who has owned or rented Homestads and filled them up so well that they are 100% satisfied with only 5000 Li?

I love to fill up empty spaces. I want houses that has clutter. More than one house. I am also really into landscaping. I want flowers, trees, grasses and rocks.

And a Homestead is a really big palette to fill. How do you manage it? I am thinking that landscaping 1/3 to water is maybe the way to go. But I want things under water too. I will find it hard to ignore the sea totally and let it stay 0 Li.

Using low li forests on parts of the land is a good idea, but it must be parts of the land I don't live in or walk through. Because if I do, I want better quality trees and landscaping details.

We can choose textures freely on a Homestead ground? I have never owned land that let me do it. Is it so that several parts can be textured? Like under water, one texture, the 0 - 10 m, a second texture, 10 - 20 m, a third texture? What is the number of ground textures one can use?

I am thinking that really good textures may reduce the need for landscaping, there is no need to hide ugly textures anymore.

I owned a homestead for 2 years and loved it.  I had 2 fully decorated homes plus a friend used part of the land and had a home up also.  I didn't have a thick forest but the entire homestead had trees throughout.  I partitioned it using a river so I had 3 separate land masses.

Dark Skies | Taken at Hamba Kahle, Salt and Pepper (50, 72, … | Rowan Amore | Flickr

Rain at Home! | Kev is my rainman. Taken at Hamba Kahle, Sal… | Flickr

Happy Labor Day Weekend | Rowan Amore | Flickr

 

[Feorie Frimon]

6 hours ago, Marianne Little said:

I was writing it wrong, I meant ground texture under water level. 😊 Sea bed?

LL said that PP can but Homesteads, but not when.

No date set.

You get three or four layers to work with for the terrain textures to play with. And they sort of blend /transparency over the other where they ‘meet’ at the altitude you select. They aren’t blurry, per say. 

And it’s SUPER fun.

Terrain textures really can help a lot.

 

[Feorie Frimon]

1 hour ago, Alwin Alcott said:

same here, rent one, play with it, sometimes quite a bit longer than a few weeks   

push return objects and move on
often already fill it itching again to get back the moment i tp out

Me too! Sometimes you just gotta get an idea out in prims  

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

To get an idea of what controls you will have, go to the Terrain tab under Region. You can choose four terrain textures to use, and arrange them from lowest to highest elevation. You can also set elevation ranges for each of four quarters of the region/homestead. This not only controls what texture each elevation uses, but how they blend, and that latter is the tricky part. I found it takes a lot of experimenting to get near to what I wanted, since changing those elevation numbers often gave not-so-expected results!

 

[Marianne Little]

4 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

To get an idea of what controls you will have, go to the Terrain tab under Region. You can choose four terrain textures to use, and arrange them from lowest to highest elevation. You can also set elevation ranges for each of four quarters of the region/homestead. This not only controls what texture each elevation uses, but how they blend, and that latter is the tricky part. I found it takes a lot of experimenting to get near to what I wanted, since changing those elevation numbers often gave not-so-expected results!

 

That looks very interesting! I had no idea I could do so much with textures - changing elevation was totally new to me. I thought the numbers were fixed and that I only could select textures in the layers.

Do all who rent out, allow tenants to change textures? 

[Rowan Amore]

25 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

That looks very interesting! I had no idea I could do so much with textures - changing elevation was totally new to me. I thought the numbers were fixed and that I only could select textures in the layers.

Do all who rent out, allow tenants to change textures? 

The place I rented from allowed all estate rights including ground textures. Most probably do.

[animats]

There are various ideas kicking around on land textures. I've suggested a way to hide texture repeats. At Creator User Group, some of the Lindens have mentioned the possibility of per-parcel textures, or texture patches. Nothing definite yet.

[Katherine Heartsong]

I'm pretty sure that 5,000 would be enough to do a lot on. On my 8192 with under 2,000 prim/LI used, I have:

1. My own house on a rocky, nicely decorated island
2. My male alts house, also well decorated
3. My large warehouse gallery, art, and a wharf with a cafe and two shops on it
4. My sailboat always rezzed
5. A well decorated rental home for a friend
6. A skybox to store things and set up art displays for shows/expos etc

I could easily stay under 5K on a homestead even with an extra house or two, and some well decorated garden/treed areas, with nice shoreline, suitable enough for photography. I hope.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Katherine Heartsong