World Planning: Big isn't always better.

[THX]

I know with the fantastic  new World Editor, and the great foundation we have to work with has made us want to go big and grand, I'd like to offer an observation, Size does matter.

 

Having visited as many places as I can, and seen some absolutely fantastic ideas I would never have thought of, I'd like to address the size issue. Having made many places that were simply to big in the past in another world for six years, i'd like to emphasize what can be lost going big - interaction. I've made this mistake over and over again.   So many places are simply built too HUGE. It spreads people out far too thin and decreases interaction, Some places are built for 500 or more. Yes, it's great to be able to build a grand vision, but if having it busy and enjoyed is your goal, too big just doesn't work far too often.

 

Also, when walk times for many  are so long, they will simply poof from your place and at best they fly to see your efforts before leaving. Consider size very carefully. How much space do I really need before I lose my audience? How long to I expect people to CLICK CLICK CLICK before they click - leave.

 

Consider when  building a sex based theme, consider what would be a place YOU'D want to be in RL. What you, and what you think others would want in a place to have a sexy vibe that is alluring and erotic.. Would you want a big warehouse vibe, or smaller and intimate?  Do you want people searching over long distances for where the action is, or do you want to keep things closer and keep people tighter together? Certainly things to be considered.

 

When it comes to interiors, consider cam angles, Some hallways I've walked through are simply too small and narrow.  They have to be exaggerated  bigger because of third person perspective and fly mode.

 

Just some thoughts mostly for the new world creator to consider.

[Nikki]

Nice heads up. I ve noticed that with many rooms too. Also less is more sometimes.

 

Big no go for me is a huge fire in the spawn point. While it might looks cool it makes me Instantly leave the room before taking a closer look.

 

Effects are nice. But not right in your face when you land

[TashaTight]

You did highlight one main problems i always feel there been is people spreading out, another is people staying around many come visit sims it seems in search for something happening. If not they leave look other places but that become problem in it self, because if many do same where is the interactions going to actually start, if most just stay 2-5 min then leave again.

[Riela]

On the other hand I would also love to say something about tiny places.

 

Realistically if you are trying to build replica of 1:1 of house it's going to have some hallways and some stairs etc... please consider making hallways and stairs wider, It's just not enjoyable walking through tiny corridors and no F5 doesn't solve that when you are surrounded by walls on 2 sides.

While I love cozy houses every time I see people with home that got one or few large narrow corridors it instantly loses appeal for me. I am just not going to fight the game and camera twisting, I will instead go elsewhere. 

[Nikki]

1 1/2 or 2 times the size of the avi is usually the optimium height and width dimensions.

 

We just need to look at current MMO's out there. Usually the interiours are slightly bigger then they would be in real due to the 3rd person cam movement.

[Rob.]

Big or small, found out the smaller you built the more chance you will get people that encounter lag, just due to too much data in a small area, avi, tables, chairs and other decorations are data. What i have learned is if you want to make something for everyone then make something for everyone. The visual, sound and reason. The visual is the room,people will fly cam but if you make something worth going to see they will not fly cam. There are multiple DJs out there the ones that interact with people tend to get people that stay longer, as reason that happens when you name the room. 

[JessicaX]

I know with the fantastic  new World Editor, and the great foundation we have to work with has made us want to go big and grand, I'd like to offer an observation, Size does matter.

 

Having visited as many places as I can, and seen some absolutely fantastic ideas I would never have thought of, I'd like to address the size issue. Having made many places that were simply to big in the past in another world for six years, i'd like to emphasize what can be lost going big - interaction. I've made this mistake over and over again.   So many places are simply built too HUGE. It spreads people out far too thin and decreases interaction, Some places are built for 500 or more. Yes, it's great to be able to build a grand vision, but if having it busy and enjoyed is your goal, too big just doesn't work far too often.

 

Also, when walk times for many  are so long, they will simply poof from your place and at best they fly to see your efforts before leaving. Consider size very carefully. How much space do I really need before I lose my audience? How long to I expect people to CLICK CLICK CLICK before they click - leave.

 

Consider when  building a sex based theme, consider what would be a place YOU'D want to be in RL. What you, and what you think others would want in a place to have a sexy vibe that is alluring and erotic.. Would you want a big warehouse vibe, or smaller and intimate?  Do you want people searching over long distances for where the action is, or do you want to keep things closer and keep people tighter together? Certainly things to be considered.

 

When it comes to interiors, consider cam angles, Some hallways I've walked through are simply too small and narrow.  They have to be exaggerated  bigger because of third person perspective and fly mode.

 

Just some thoughts mostly for the new world creator to consider.

 

This

This 

and THIS!!!

 

Lag should not be an issue anymore because we are using actual models that are larger and taking the place of something that used to be 300 objects. 

 

I have seen some fantastic creations but the size.. omg     most people's rooms are way too big. If there's 50 people in the room it should not appear empty. To touch on what Rob said... If you can see it.. it's being loaded. The idea that a larger room is less laggy than a small room is quite the opposite actually. 

 

With that being said.. i am shocked and surprised daily by what I see people coming up with. Keep up the good work all!

[Anaganda]

I personally am a fan of big rooms... big halls that inspire awe, where the people who want to dance and party can enjoy them selves, people who want to just cuddle with someone can have a place and people who might have picked up someone during the party don't feel the need to leave the room to continue their date... I know some people are advocates of "one use room" but personally I like a room where people with different moods can find a place... as for people being spread too thin, it's just an issue of zoning if a room was designed with clear and smartly placed zones, that invites people into it depending on what they want to do, people will naturally find them selves being drawn to these zones, you will find the party people gathered together around the DJ station on the dance floor... you will find the cuddling types on a well placed couch that wont kill their mood... and you will find those who want to get naked and make babies doing so in the place that you the designer intended them to do so at... well at least the ones who don't enjoy just going at it in the middle of the dance floor

 

And about lag issues... really size doesn't have any thing to do with it... you can make a 5 m2 room, cram it with details, items that require many objects to build...tiny stuff that glows, reflective materials and it will lag the best of us and you can make a big ass room with smartly built decoration that doesn't take a lot of object count and it will run as smooth as butter.

 

But all that is just my view... in the end difference in opinion is what makes us all intresting.

[ZaraUK]

Big or small, found out the smaller you built the more chance you will get people that encounter lag, just due to too much data in a small area, avi, tables, chairs and other decorations are data. What i have learned is if you want to make something for everyone then make something for everyone. The visual, sound and reason. The visual is the room,people will fly cam but if you make something worth going to see they will not fly cam. There are multiple DJs out there the ones that interact with people tend to get people that stay longer, as reason that happens when you name the room. 

 

The Unity engine creates a sphere around your camera, anything inside that sphere is rendered in HD, outside it is SD.

 

It's good to have big spaces if you create detailed structures so they're each out of the spheres range at any one time. 

[Keely Kat]

This is good advice.   I will say that if you build big, then create a central meeting place or focal point.  Also, when placing you spawn point, the temptation is to put it at one end and have the player walk to other end or focal point. The point was made that they will poof if it takes too long to get to other people.  This is all too true.   I usually place it close to the focal point.  This allows visitors to congregate and gives them option of exploring the rest of the build.  . 

[JessicaX]

I personally am a fan of big rooms... big halls that inspire awe, where the people who want to dance and party can enjoy them selves, people who want to just cuddle with someone can have a place and people who might have picked up someone during the party don't feel the need to leave the room to continue their date... I know some people are advocates of "one use room" but personally I like a room where people with different moods can find a place... as for people being spread too thin, it's just an issue of zoning if a room was designed with clear and smartly placed zones, that invites people into it depending on what they want to do, people will naturally find them selves being drawn to these zones, you will find the party people gathered together around the DJ station on the dance floor... you will find the cuddling types on a well placed couch that wont kill their mood... and you will find those who want to get naked and make babies doing so in the place that you the designer intended them to do so at... well at least the ones who don't enjoy just going at it in the middle of the dance floor

 

And about lag issues... really size doesn't have any thing to do with it... you can make a 5 m2 room, cram it with details, items that require many objects to build...tiny stuff that glows, reflective materials and it will lag the best of us and you can make a big ass room with smartly built decoration that doesn't take a lot of object count and it will run as smooth as butter.

 

But all that is just my view... in the end difference in opinion is what makes us all intresting.

This update will help a lot but in the past I can say that i have never seen a single large room run "smooth as butter".

[Xanar]

The thing is: You need to find the balance. If you want to make a club, make it big, but not too big. Maybe 2x the size of Apartment 2. If you want to create your own house, keep it small.

At the end it's important that your room looks crowdy. Doesn't matter if there are 10 or 20 people in it.

If you leave too much space, the room will always look empty.

 

I remember rooms with 50+ people in it and it looked really really empty.

[Anaganda]

This update will help a lot but in the past I can say that i have never seen a single large room run "smooth as butter".

and since we live in the era of world editor... talking about "the past" is  "pointless" now 

[JessicaX]

and since we live in the era of world editor... talking about "the past" is  "pointless" now

 

Not when people are still trying to apply the same logic from the past.