CDS weather

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Laura Azalee
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CDS weather

Post by Laura Azalee »

I recently received the invite to fill in a survey about environmental settings. One of the questions ran:
Do you prefer realistic environmental settings that reflect what you might see in RL?
I guess most people would answer yes to that one - it would just feel wrong if it were a bright, sunny day and snowing, or if it were dark and foggy at the Tropics!
So, as a European who LIVES in an Alpine are and has been countless times to Mediterranean places please let me tell you a few things about the climate in those areas, as I understand that Friedsee and Alpine Meadow are supposed to be "Alpine" while Locus Amoenus and Colonia Nova are supposed to be "Mediterranean".
1. The Mediterranean is not the North Sea and it hardly ever snows there. It might happen once in many years but when it does, because of its milder climate, it goes away in a matter of hours - maybe a day or so if it has been really extraordinary. It can NEVER stay the whole winter. Seeing a Mediterranean village sprinkled with snow just feels wrong.
2. Mediterranean countries are not Scotland, nor Maine, nor Norway. Fog, simply, does NOT exist there.
3. Alpine areas can get fog but only with bad weather - that is, very low clouds. And only in Autumn/winter. Otherwise, if the weather is fine, it's all very bright and sunny. Even in winter. Even more so in winter, because the sun is reflected by the sea of fog on the plain, if you know what I mean.

I went to CDS this morning to do some EM work and I was appalled to find fog everywhere, again, even at Colonia Nova. If CDS is going to be Halloweenland fine, but not for me - I know I CAN change my settings but I don't want to have to every time I go home - so I will simply stay away. It's spring. We've had enough of winter darkness. I will NOT set foot on CDS again until that darn fog is gone.

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Sudane Erato
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Re: CDS weather

Post by Sudane Erato »

I appreciate the directness... we dearly do need to gather honest and sincere opinions about this topic, since we have now control of something about the SL experience that we've never had before.

You note the differences between the "Mediterranean" and "Alpine" weather environments in RL, and of course we are discussing those because we have both in our tiny area of 6 sims (each being the equivalent of RL 16 acres, so the total being 96 acres of land). From a weather POV, 96 acres of land is microscopic... the only possible difference of weather across 96 acres might be the difference caused by clouds at one layer and not at another.

I bring this up, because, of course, we can only set the environment for each sim. And because 96 acres is so tiny, I have argued that all 6 sims should be set the same, since, to me at least, it is utterly jarring to walk across a sim line and have the weather completely change.

Laura, perhaps you, and others, might comment about this issue. If instead of setting the weather the same in all sims, we might try to tailor it more closely to the proper weather for the sim style that you are standing on. I would personally like it less, but if the majority of the community feels that would be better, that might be the way to go.

Also, with regard to the current "fog" (the fogginess is greatly reduced from the original cloudy weather that I had created and that we used in the first trial period), please remember that we tentatively proposed to have cloudy weather one week per month... and we are currently in that week. If cloudy weather feels unpleasant for a full week, may we ask for proposals for other intervals? (keeping in mind that each weather change involves a person going to each sim to reset the weather).

Proposals for alternatives REALLY are needed. The alternative is simply that we return to sunny weather all the time... which... ok, we are a democracy and must come to a common resolution. But that just sadly seems to give up a really marvelous new option for setting our SL experience.

Sudane......................

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Laura Azalee
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Re: CDS weather

Post by Laura Azalee »

I am sorry, I missed that one on cloudy weather - one week per month is far too much for me and considering that it takes someone to work on it every time, I'd dismiss it for good - maybe have a few days once in autumn would be more than enough. In winter, well, where it's snowing... you gotta have clouds too...
As for having the same weather on all sims, ok, but then it will have to be sunny with bright colours everywhere - Far more realistic, much less depressing.

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Rosie Gray
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Re: CDS weather

Post by Rosie Gray »

This has turned out to be quite a contentious issue!

I agree with Laura that having the same weather in NFS and the other mountainous regions the same as in the Mediterranean regions isn't the right solution. To me, there should be a big difference in them, as there is in real life. With the ability to make your settings give a gentle change that blends from one environment to the other when you cross a sim border, I personally don't find it jarring. I just have that blend set to about 6 seconds which is enough to segue nicely.

The northern (and in our topsy-turvy CDS world, the southern) regions with their rainy days and often overcast winter skies makes a really nice change, to me, from the sort of bland default sunny day of SL. I'd also like to see the Mediterranean regions give a more saturated light, perhaps not all the time, but as you would have on a hot sunny day there. And NFS et al could still have bright winter days too, such as you have in the mountains above the cloud-line even when it's cloudy below.

Isn't it great that we have these options to think about?

Once we get some more responses on the environmental survey (we have 21 responses right now), I really think it is worth taking a hard look at what people like, expect, and are capable of seeing with their settings.

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Rosie Gray
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Re: CDS weather

Post by Rosie Gray »

Laura Azalee wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:46 am

I am sorry, I missed that one on cloudy weather - one week per month is far too much for me and considering that it takes someone to work on it every time, I'd dismiss it for good - maybe have a few days once in autumn would be more than enough. In winter, well, where it's snowing... you gotta have clouds too...
As for having the same weather on all sims, ok, but then it will have to be sunny with bright colours everywhere - Far more realistic, much less depressing.

Providing we have the 'environment' already made, it only takes a couple of minutes to go around and change all 6 sims. It's actually really fast.

I don't think that sunny days with bright colours everywhere is more realistic though, for all the regions. As I look out my RL window today it is heavily overcast and raining. In fact it looks a LOT like the current cloudy settings we have set.

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Laura Azalee
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Re: CDS weather

Post by Laura Azalee »

Rosie, it can be *occasionally* overcast anywhere - even at the tropics I guess... but please keep in mind that the weather is very, very different in Canada to the one in the Alpine area where i live ... and I didn't say that the Mediterranean regions must be very different to the Alpine areas ... they are not that different. We are about 150 Km from the coast here. The light near the sea has a special brightness, but in the mountains if the weather is good the light is bright too and the colours vivid.
Going back to the question of "cloudy" weather in CDS, one or two days, occasionally, in autumn, might be ok - a change from the usual sunny days - but this has to be "occasional" - one week a month is far, far, far too much for me.
And as for realism... we have enough unpleasantness in our real lives... do we really need to create a sad, gloomy, depressing environment in SL too because it's more "realistic"?
Everybody else is happy with that? OK - Enjoy! ... I'll just go live on a tropical beach and leave Friedsee for good.

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Re: CDS weather

Post by Brooke Brandenburg »

I fully support Laura's thoughts and ideas on the weather in CDS. I had not really noticed the changes, because I take my own 'weather' with me from sim to sim and owned parcel to owned parcel. I typically use brighter settings so that: a( I can see!, and b( because as Laura pointed out, we all have quite enough gloom in RL at the moment, thank you very much! :)

Most of us are in SL because we can enjoy a self-tailored life experience in here, under our own control for the most part. I for one, do not come here to live in a post-apocalyptic environment. Please, spare us the gray gloom!

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Lilith Ivory
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Re: CDS weather

Post by Lilith Ivory »

I fully agree with Lara and Brooke
While I enjoy to explore dark and mysterious Regions from time to time I do prefer to have sunny weather at places I call home. If I see too much grey around me it does not only look cloudy for me but gives me the impression things around me have not fully rezzed - and this gives me a very negative SL experience for sure.
Of course I can just act like Brooke and carry my own settings around with me, but I think it is most important that people who come visit CDS want to stay and buy a parcel - and that those who already live here don´t feel the urge to run away to some sandy beach. Sunshine in CDS is helpful for that I guess :)

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