Question for Sim Builders

[Karlee Heartsong]

Hi,

I have built a few sims during my time in SL, but I have always had trouble with getting a nice winding river running through a nice canyon, like this beautiful gorge in the Grand Canyon (see image below). I want the river lined and the water flowing over rocks etc. Now to my question:

When building a sim with parts like I described above, do you put in the river and build everything around it? By putting in a river, I mean putting in a rive like Fanatik, Skye and probably

other manufactures make then terraforming? How do the experts do it? I need to learn this!  Which way is better.

Thanks,

Karlee Heartsong

Edited February 10 by Karlee Heartsong

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

I am not a professional region builder, but I do love terraforming and making landscapes.  I would start with the terraforming.  For me, it is much harder and more intricate work that takes quite a bit of time.  It is much easier to fit water in after the groundwork is complete.  (I love that literal pun!)

Then the icing ion the cake is putting in the plants and animal decorations.

No matter how you choose to do it, I hope you come back and share your progress and the final creation.

[diamond Marchant]

46 minutes ago, Cinnamon Mistwood said:

  I would start with the terraforming.

Me too

[Alwin Alcott]

When using mesh parts like rivers and canyons as you mention from skye and Fanatics,, i partly terraform the idea i have in mind, after that i put in the mesh landforms i want to use.
After that the manual finetuning( can still also contain a lot of work and large parts) and also masking the transitions where the mesh ends and "land" begins for most natural effects.

Sometimes, when it's really complicated, i lower the whole region under water level, put out the mesh main leading structures, and slowly work the land up where it needs to be. To keep a good view on what you do, dont texture the region upfront, or in a contrasting way.

[Karlee Heartsong]

7 hours ago, Cinnamon Mistwood said:

I am not a professional region builder, but I do love terraforming and making landscapes.  I would start with the terraforming.  For me, it is much harder and more intricate work that takes quite a bit of time.  It is much easier to fit water in after the groundwork is complete.  (I love that literal pun!)

Then the icing ion the cake is putting in the plants and animal decorations.

No matter how you choose to do it, I hope you come back and share your progress and the final creation.

Thanks. I will return to let you know.

[Karlee Heartsong]

7 hours ago, diamond Marchant said:

Me too

Thank you.

[Karlee Heartsong]

4 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

When using mesh parts like rivers and canyons as you mention from skye and Fanatics,, i partly terraform the idea i have in mind, after that i put in the mesh landforms i want to use.
After that the manual finetuning( can still also contain a lot of work and large parts) and also masking the transitions where the mesh ends and "land" begins for most natural effects.

Sometimes, when it's really complicated, i lower the whole region under water level, put out the mesh main leading structures, and slowly work the land up where it needs to be. To keep a good view on what you do, dont texture the region upfront, or in a contrasting way.

Thank you.

 

[Karlee Heartsong]

All these replies helped. I have been trying to terraform it first and will keep at it. I really like terraforming. So, I will lay out some pieces that will help me layout exactly what I am wanting to do. Then do the terraforming. I will try all these suggestions. Thank you all, very much.

 

Karlee Heartsong

[Karlee Heartsong]

I said I would come back with what I finally came up with. I tried many different things and then terraformed the land and did not use any of the rivers or anything else from Skye, Fanatik or any other on the market item. Here is a pic of what I did do as promised.  Of course, I haven't finished the rest of the sim. Only this small part. Once again, I thank all of you for the ideas and suggestions. If you see anything that I could do different, please, let me know.