I've been increasingly concerned about our terrain textures as we find ourselves more and more using the beautiful woodland modules and rock formations that are available. These really stunning bunches of woodland and masses of rock are extremely low prim, and HUGELY add to the beauty and realism of our sims.
The problem is that both of these products need to blend in with the existing ground. The ground on SL sims has always been composed of 4 textures (in each sim) which are combined in very mysterious and computer-blended ways. We go to great trouble to make sure that sim borders don't look like straight lines, but in fact are invisible, which is often very difficult to do. And on top of this we change these textures at least twice a year (summer to winter... and sometimes other seasons too). It's a fairly complex process making everything look right.
But with the new woodland modules and rock formations, the problem is MUCH worse. Some of those new products are season change, some not. But whether they are or not, the seasonal textures may not at all match the terrain textures in the areas in which they are located. As we've added new modules, we've tried to match as best we can the surrounding terrain textures; in one case this year modifying one of the terrain textures. But the problem is going to get much worse when winter comes, and in the long term we haven't even begun to deal with the problem.
I propose that a "Natural Scenery" group be convened to work together on this problem. What we're going to need to do is to collect samples of all the various textures for the woodland ground and the rock formations that are being used, for all the seasons that they provide, and then match those samples to the various textures available to us that we use for terrain textures. We'll need to create a master database of workable textures for the various slots in each sim, so that whoever is charged each year with season-change duties is NOT making this up each year as they go along, but rather pulling from agreed upon matches and settings. More, this group will need to keep track when the creators of the woodlands and the rocks add new season-change textures to their products... something that happens often with Studio Sky, for example.
This won't be a quick process. And it eventually may require modifications of existing landscaping in order to achieve coherence. But in the long run I feel the beauty and realism of our estate depends on dealing with this problem in a group-organized way.
Sudane.......................