More Linden Home theme ideas

[Kylie Jaxxon]

No, I think the next one will be 1024's...

But I would really love to see the Santa Fe types & 2048

Edited December 18, 2023 by Kylie Jaxxon

[Persephone Emerald]

4 hours ago, Ellen Cordeaux said:

I love so many of these ideas, especially the Gothic and Santa Fe'!  I still vote for a Sci Fi theme, with a central space station and space homes, etc.

What concerns me is that every cool new neighborhood going forward will be for Premium Plus.  I support the economy by being Premium already and shopping like a dervish.  Why's all the cool new stuff require me to have a higher level of membership?  Probably an unpopular opinion but I can't be the only one who feels this way. 

I know, first world problems.  Still tho.

😒

Whether the next theme is a 1024 m or a 2048 m one may depend on how quickly the Mediterranean theme fills up, as well as how quickly the new Victorians and Stilt Homes fill up. Linden Lab is not going to spend time and money on a theme that is unlikely to pay for itself. Maybe they'll monitor our comments on these forums to see what people want too. Maybe they'll host some kind of inworld focus group? At any rate, I don't expect another theme in the near future, partly because the spaces for demo homes and teleporters to them at the demo regions will be full after this Mediterranean theme.

[Ellen Cordeaux]

1 hour ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Whether the next theme is a 1024 m or a 2048 m one may depend on how quickly the Mediterranean theme fills up, as well as how quickly the new Victorians and Stilt Homes fill up. Linden Lab is not going to spend time and money on a theme that is unlikely to pay for itself. Maybe they'll monitor our comments on these forums to see what people want too. Maybe they'll host some kind of inworld focus group? At any rate, I don't expect another theme in the near future, partly because the spaces for demo homes and teleporters to them at the demo regions will be full after this Mediterranean theme.

Yah I hope they are low key listening.  Because as much as I love that theme, I'm not upping my membership for it and likely won't for any other theme, even if it's one I really covet.  

[Nika Talaj]

ICELAND!!!! Yes, the RL land of FIRE and ICE  

Iceland is spectacular, there are many reasons why epic film crews and video game developers go there.  Just a few thoughts on what would be fun to see in SL, where we could live/visit without investing hundreds in clothing to keep from being cold and wet all the time.

• Build it similar to the Log subcontinent - a large island ringed by VERY high peaks. However, leave room for villages at ocean level.  Icelandic villages are mostly wooden frame houses (odd because there's no longer much timber in Iceland).  Other common homes are cement modern block homes & townhouses.
• Spectacular waterfalls everywhere ... just like RL.
• Interior land at 2 levels: one green, one alpine.  
• Some decor elements: 
  • Caves (sandstone, lava, ice)
  • Exotic ice/stone formations (we hiked past a huge, circular portal formation; the glacier dropped away swiftly on the other side of it.  Step through and, one way or another, you WOULD be in a different existence.)
  • Volcanos, maybe just oozing along rifts. Black lava fields dotted with sturdy wildflowers.
  • Black sand beaches with crystalline basalt cliffs.
  • Geothermal ponds/lakes (check out Lake Myvatn)
  • Little spas or geothermal lagoons for neighborhood gathering spots
  • Viking wreckage and decor.

It would be fun to have this be a 2048 theme so people could have sheep or Icelandic Horses (unique breed with 2 special gaits, that to this uneducated eye look like high-stepping prances.  I would prance too if I had to walk through geothermal marshes.). 

[Nika Talaj]

I'm back with yet another new theme idea!!  I keep on hearing that some folks want urban.   I remember Abnor firmly nixed "urban" once with a Brutalist apartment block he tossed into Millbank.  But ... does it have to be that way?  I'd love some feedback from folks on this idea.

Walkable Urban Neighborhood

The basic LH plan of 1 owner per parcel, 1024 & 512 parcel sizes would still be in force.  The moles would provide homes of 1-3 stories, mostly townhomes, generally with only 1 or 2 floors actually open for furnishing.  There would be small grass patches in front, and an actual back yard. Here are some ideas for homes:

• Triple-or-double-decker wood or brick townhomes.  One or more floors would not be usable.  These might APPEAR to be separate apartments on one parcel, and perhaps an owner could furnish them separately for alts or friends, but there would be no way to set up separate LI allocations per floor, or sound insulation lol.  Interior staircases.
• Some styles may have a choice of faux shops on the 1st floor
• A style may feature a very large, open studiio on the top floor as living space, with roof garden optional.
• A single wooden frame small house (yes, in US cities you still see the occasional little house still persisting in a row of denser homes, which is a charming look).
• Narrow alley-like spaces between homes, if any.  In order to avoid encroachment of all kinds, the "rooms" near parcel boundaries might actually have VERY thick walls lol.

LL could set up a variety of small community gathering areas in the regions, like:

• Skate park
• Farmer's market
• Basketball court
• Bowling Alley

So you could end up with something like this, which I believe is DC:

Or, less upscale, Baltimore brick & Formstone row houses:

Or 2-story wooden ones, (Annapolis, Maryland):

 

Would this have any appeal?  Or, when they say "Urban", are folks looking for something more post-apocalyptic or modern?

Edited February 6 by Nika Talaj

[Raspberry Crystal]

It's hard to come up with an actual home style which might realistically be picked up by the Moles but I love the idea of 'garden streets' in urban areas, ie small front 'yards' which are bursting with colour, and a walkway rather than road in front of the houses (with maybe a residents rez area for vehicles close by?)

What if the joined buildings were alternated by dummy dwellings, to avoid the intrusion problems? 

I must admit thought hat I am doubtful that 512s will be looked at this year when the ranch and med plots are doing so well. It must be tempting to try for an even larger, 4096 even? Though they would need to choose the style for those very carefully.
 

[Nika Talaj]

On 12/14/2023 at 9:50 AM, Persephone Emerald said:

For another 2048 m theme, how about Gothic mini-mansions?

If you broadened the theme to just DARK or SPOOKY, it seems like a possibility.  The market for such a theme would probably be Harry Potter/Twilight/Addams Family/Coraline fans, tho you might be able to appeal to Gothic Romance novel fans as well, if you spun the landscaping right (Wuthering Heights-ish rather than Tim Burton-esque)   One might say that Twilight etc. is all passe now, but the genre of fantasy horror is as old as cinema (Nosferatu, anybody?), and new interpretations show up every year. I could see decorating one of these with Edward Scissorhands hedges.  Put a Goth Vic on a hill and I'm sure its yard would sprout Sandworms and a gateway to the afterlife's version of the BBB.  Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

It might play best as a 2048 theme, and you would need some variation in home styles (unending rows of gothic mini-mansions would be kinda funny, but ...). 

You could throw terrific costume parties in such a theme.

Some style thoughts ... you might want to try to make this sort of timeless by going for a run-down look, rather than placing it in a specific time period:

• Goth Vic (House of the Seven Gables-ish, as in Persephone's pic)
• Manor home, brick -- something that you could decorate more sunnily
• 1950s home
• Farmhouse
• Ruins
• Graveyard/Mausoleum
• School
• Chapel
• Spooky cottage in a marsh
• Drive-in theater!

Edited February 6 by Nika Talaj

[Ellen Cordeaux]

Just gonna bump my idea here...

Space Station living.  A central community hub with activities in the middle, with branches from it leading to private homes of various sizes and levels of spacy-ness.  Could be super cozy while also being...in space!  Vast space outside, rather than a "space city" although I could live with that.  

Honestly...I would consider bumping my membership up for that IF it was done well.  🫢

 

 

Edited February 6 by Ellen Cordeaux

[Love Zhaoying]

19 hours ago, Nika Talaj said:

I'm back with yet another new theme idea!!  I keep on hearing that some folks want urban.   I remember Abnor firmly nixed "urban" once with a Brutalist apartment block he tossed into Millbank.  But ... does it have to be that way?  I'd love some feedback from folks on this idea.

Walkable Urban Neighborhood

The basic LH plan of 1 owner per parcel, 1024 & 512 parcel sizes would still be in force.  The moles would provide homes of 1-3 stories, mostly townhomes, generally with only 1 or 2 floors actually open for furnishing.  There would be small grass patches in front, and an actual back yard. Here are some ideas for homes:

• Triple-or-double-decker wood or brick townhomes.  One or more floors would not be usable.  These might APPEAR to be separate apartments on one parcel, and perhaps an owner could furnish them separately for alts or friends, but there would be no way to set up separate LI allocations per floor, or sound insulation lol.  Interior staircases.
• Some styles may have a choice of faux shops on the 1st floor
• A style may feature a very large, open studiio on the top floor as living space, with roof garden optional.
• A single wooden frame small house (yes, in US cities you still see the occasional little house still persisting in a row of denser homes, which is a charming look).
• Narrow alley-like spaces between homes, if any.  In order to avoid encroachment of all kinds, the "rooms" near parcel boundaries might actually have VERY thick walls lol.

LL could set up a variety of small community gathering areas in the regions, like:

• Skate park
• Farmer's market
• Basketball court
• Bowling Alley

So you could end up with something like this, which I believe is DC:

Or, less upscale, Baltimore brick & Formstone row houses:

Or 2-story wooden ones, (Annapolis, Maryland):

 

Would this have any appeal?  Or, when they say "Urban", are folks looking for something more post-apocalyptic or modern?

It "looks" on the surface like these style homes would have smaller footprints than normal LH's. Or are they "deeper" (go further back) to make for for having a narrower front?

I'm trying to figure out why they would still be 512/1024 plots if not.  Perhaps they could be "smaller" plots, and that would allow for more LI in each home / public amenities in the Regions...?

[Sid Nagy]

Yurts.
Circular tents of felt or skins on a collapsible framework, used by nomads in Mongolia, Siberia, and Turkey.

 

 

[Love Zhaoying]

2 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

Yurts.
Circular tents of felt or skins on a collapsible framework, used by nomads in Mongolia, Siberia, and Turkey.

 

 

Will we be able to dig communal pits to bury things that should be buried? Assuming yurts don't have toilets.

[karynmaria]

@Ellen Cordeaux

Is that a skybox?  and if so what one is it if you don't mind me asking.

[Ellen Cordeaux]

14 hours ago, karynmaria said:

@Ellen Cordeaux

Is that a skybox?  and if so what one is it if you don't mind me asking.

Sadly no, these are just pics I pulled from the web for reference.  

[diamond Marchant]

Just Water Theme

I propose a 2048 theme that consists of water regions with empty (other than water) 2048 parcels.... and maybe a few decorative sandbars, similar to the traditional houseboat regions. No Linden docks.

Belli covenant applies with the addition that any structures must conform to a nautical/marina look (which we get to debate incessantly).

Alternately, a program could be created that allowed creators to create/sell structures for this theme following an official approval process.

This might be a cool way to connect Sansara to Belli.

Edited February 7 by diamond Marchant

[Persephone Emerald]

37 minutes ago, diamond Marchant said:

Just Water Theme

I propose a 2048 theme that consists of water regions with empty (other than water) 2048 parcels.... and maybe a few decorative sandbars, similar to the traditional houseboat regions. No Linden docks.

Belli covenant applies with the addition that any structures must conform to a nautical/marina look (which we get to debate incessantly).

Alternately, a program could be created that allowed creators to create/sell structures for this theme following an official approval process.

This might be a cool way to connect Sansara to Belli.

This is an interesting idea that would be relatively easy for the Moles to implement. We'd probably still need to have something like a mailbox though, so parcel owners could get a content pack and covenant notes. At first I was going to say "this sounds like Mainland", but having a Belli covenant does make a difference. 

What about small islands? - partly water, partly land - with no homes built into a rezzer system?  What about a Mainland 2.0 with 1024 m, 2048 m and 4096 m parcels under a covenant similar to Belli's, but where owners can rez their own buildings? 

[Persephone Emerald]

Updated ideas:

512 m urban shot gun houses, photos from Bayou St. John, New Orleans

1024 m (rectangular parcels) urban Garden District houses, New Orleans

These 2 styles could be combined on the same region by leaving Protected Land behind the 512 m parcels. Corner parcels would probably need to be square 1024 m ones.

I see 2 main problems with creating 512 m parcels though. Most importantly, the 512 m parcels haven't been very popular, so there would be little benefit for Linden Lab to create more of these. Secondly, it would be unrealistic to mix lower income style houses with higher income style ones in the same neighborhood.

Edited February 7 by Persephone Emerald

[Persephone Emerald]

A Bayou neighborhood, on the other hand, would naturally have larger parcels (1024 m) with both small rustic homes and larger 2-story mini mansions. There could be waterways and lush foliage on the Protected Land between them, as well as a few dirt roads. I like the idea of using uniquely South-eastern landscaping such as hanging moss, climbing floral vines and bottle trees. Pet alligators and cranes would be perfect here, as well as dogs and cats sleeping on the front porches. Water rezzing zones would be best-suited for small boats, though a large river-boat could fit in a community region.

Do enough people really want a Bayou home though? 

Edited February 8 by Persephone Emerald
Typo

[animats]

On 12/16/2023 at 11:54 AM, UnilWay SpiritWeaver said:

In theory you could do it in the next 512m plot. Ste them all side by side in small blocks.

A given region would have 2-4 "city blocks" with 20 houses (current 20 seems the norm in other themes).

Around the block are lots of streets.

No front yard (or ultra tiny paved lot). A small backyard. Behind that a narrow alley.

Done like houses in San Francisco or what I have seen of pictures of English Council homes.

First image is San Francisco, second is somewhere in England that turned up in search of this (purposefully going for less attractive looking examples here):

What you lose:

no space on the sides, no front yard. It's intentionally visually unappealing for the 'grungy' look.

What you gain:

alley ways, sidewalks, likely driveways, a sense of being urban.

There are mainland and estate rental row houses, if that's what you want.

[Jadziyah Nova]

On 2/6/2024 at 2:00 PM, Ellen Cordeaux said:

Just gonna bump my idea here...

Space Station living.  A central community hub with activities in the middle, with branches from it leading to private homes of various sizes and levels of spacy-ness.  Could be super cozy while also being...in space!  Vast space outside, rather than a "space city" although I could live with that.  

Honestly...I would consider bumping my membership up for that IF it was done well.  🫢

 

 

I have long been a proponent of a scifi theme. Yes it's quite a long shot. Patch once cheekily said in Belli chat "Horizons was your scifi " and I want to again say PLEASE, NO 😬 Let us have a futuristic theme designed and built by the very talented current team. Let us have it in Belli style, with lovely on point environmental designs. A neighborhood that keeps it all cohesive under the covenant.

My previous suggestions were what you might think of when you hear scifi- Jetsons shiny futuristic, etc. But this spherical space station idea is great too! The last build that the extremely creative Scifi Expo team did was about a year and a half ago was exactly this: 4 regions holding a large, connected sphere running the outside, with spokes and hubs in the middle. It was brilliant, less lag than most conventions, and extremely atmospheric. Honestly no matter what futuristic sub genre LL could pick I'm sure it'd be spectacular.

I know the reticence is "Well, we still have to get people to live there". They pick themes that appeal to the biggest audiences. It's understandable for a business of course. But I believe we have enough wide reaching ones already that a fringe one or two could really show the world that Second Life is still a place that values and champions creativity.

Edited February 7 by Jadziyah Nova
autocorrect

[animats]

1 hour ago, Jadziyah Nova said:

"Well, we still have to get people to live there"

It's really hard to design a livable futuristic house. A competition for architecture students would be a good way to explore that. They'd have to design houses which would then be rented out, and after a month or so, the occupants would rate them.

[animats]

The people proposing ideas here need to go visit some of the better-run estates in SL. Visit the Chung operations, the Fruit Islands, Second Norway, the Grove Estates, New Babbage, and the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. See what's working. There are many people quietly living the good life in SL and not in Bellessaria.

[Leora Greenwood]

1 hour ago, animats said:

The people proposing ideas here need to go visit some of the better-run estates in SL. Visit the Chung operations, the Fruit Islands, Second Norway, the Grove Estates, New Babbage, and the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. See what's working. There are many people quietly living the good life in SL and not in Bellessaria.

Add in there Gulls Wing Estate as well; I live there and in Bellisseria and love them both.

[UnilWay SpiritWeaver]

5 hours ago, animats said:

There are mainland and estate rental row houses, if that's what you want.

Personally no. That could appeal to some, but I put that idea in here as an idea for Belli homes.

Now that Sims 4's rental apartments expansion has come out - I can further see how the idea can be done.

In one way this was already done in the old linden homes:

You build a single building on the corners of 2 to 4 plots.

Or the homes link up and have one exit to a common space (linden land outside the parcel - a hallway)

 

This could be a 'tunnel hallway' underneath a balcony that physically connects them all while it's actually on a 4m wide strip of linden land.

So two patterns emerge as the initial ideas:

One	Two
Three	Four

- All four touch.

or:

One	Two
----	----
Three	Four

- One and Two touch, Three and Four touch. 4m wide covered hallway between them.

The rest of the parcel land is then used to make it appear like one building sharing a common lot. It'd need some added covenant rules for theme in that outside land.

 

 

I think once they finish all their main themes, it becomes the perfect time to do small scale builds of niche themes. Something like this wouldn't want to be done on more than 6-12 regions. Niche themes could appeal to some, but wouldn't have the same mass appeal. you could toss them around the map in quirky places.

Other niche themes could be underwater builds, sky builds, cliffside houses, etc.

 

[Persephone Emerald]

On 2/6/2024 at 11:00 AM, Ellen Cordeaux said:

Space Station living.  A central community hub with activities in the middle, with branches from it leading to private homes of various sizes and levels of spacy-ness.  Could be super cozy while also being...in space!  Vast space outside, rather than a "space city" although I could live with that.  

Honestly...I would consider bumping my membership up for that IF it was done well.  🫢

22 hours ago, Jadziyah Nova said:

 

...I have long been a proponent of a scifi theme. Yes it's quite a long shot. Patch once cheekily said in Belli chat "Horizons was your scifi " and I want to again say PLEASE, NO 😬  But this spherical space station idea is great too! The last build that the extremely creative Scifi Expo team did was about a year and a half ago was exactly this: 4 regions holding a large, connected sphere running the outside, with spokes and hubs in the middle. It was brilliant, less lag than most conventions, and extremely atmospheric. Honestly no matter what futuristic sub genre LL could pick I'm sure it'd be spectacular.

What about region-wide space stations above 2000 m, at a height where the environment could be set to look like outer space? What about an alien planet at ground level? Maybe there could be homes on ground level, so people could still have their own skyboxes above 2000 m?

^ A central space station hub, with private apartments in a ring around it ^

^ Alien houses on an alien plant ^

Or maybe an alien planet is already what we have with Fantasseria?  🤔 

Edited February 8 by Persephone Emerald

[Nika Talaj]

3 hours ago, UnilWay SpiritWeaver said:

I think once they finish all their main themes, it becomes the perfect time to do small scale builds of niche themes. Something like this wouldn't want to be done on more than 6-12 regions. Niche themes could appeal to some, but wouldn't have the same mass appeal. you could toss them around the map in quirky places.

Other niche themes could be underwater builds, sky builds, cliffside houses, etc.

I've been wondering if they'll do "niche" builds as well.

There's a number or posts in this thread about row houses, and frankly I wouldn't want to live in any of them (including the one I posted).  None of the townhouse/row house proposals so far pass my 'smell test' for LH themes: "I've always wanted to live in a " .... Townhouse?  Not so much, and besides it's fairly easy to do in RL.

Row houses/townhouses inch toward an "urban" environment by making it seem like there's more density with facades that appear continuous.  But actually, I doubt whether that's what people mean when they say they'd like "urban" Linden Homes; I suspect they mean more of an Inner City feel.  Real cities fill up frontage with 1st floor retail, services like police stations and clinics etc.; and while I've seen several successful "city" builds, they all mirror real cities in having a lot of non-residential frontage.  (Actually, many of the most successful urban builds I've seen have been roleplay regions).  I can't see that sort of build in a Linden Home densely residential model.  Really, aside from the "look" of the build, real cities ARE cities not because of how they look, but because they provide a lot of things to DO in a small area.  It's activity, not decor, that makes a city FEEL like a city.

6 hours ago, animats said:

The people proposing ideas here need to go visit some of the better-run estates in SL. Visit the Chung operations, the Fruit Islands, Second Norway, the Grove Estates, New Babbage, and the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. See what's working. There are many people quietly living the good life in SL and not in Bellessaria.

Also, The Realm of Rosehaven.  Been around forever, medieval/fantasy.  But ... I don't think LL has it as a goal to offer what other estates are doing, only with better mesh and administration.  Or, at least, I hope not.

9 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Do enough people really want a Bayou home though? 

Broaden the theme to New Orleans Garden District AND Bayou, and personally I think it could be really attractive.  New Toulouse had one or two regions of each, and people loved it there.  There was a hurricane with flooding every year   We used to go around in a Tuff boat and "rescue" people.