there are three main ways that i build -

1. super formal plans where blueprints or CAD drawings might get imported in and placed onto a big prim,
2. sketched plans where i draw in a notebook or a moleskine (yah, i’m one of those pretentious peeps that carries around a quad moleskine), or
3. freestylin’ it!

as much as i’d love to be organised enough to be the first, super formal, i am not. it would undoubtedly save time overall but OpenSim is more than just a tool to make specific things, it’s a recreational outlet for me – i truly like to build =)

the second one, loosely sketched plans, often discussed with subQuark, is the way i build for the most part. off the top of my head is a close second to that and if i were to try to guess at the proportions it would be like 10% formal, 65% sketched, and 25% freestyle. the formal one comes into play when it’s a really specific build meant to model a real venue. it’s the least fun, for me, because it has the least creativity. the sketched one i like because i can daydream about building it by drawing it all out when i can’t be in-world. much of that is almost doodling and drawn in parts and pieces. i am not organised enough to make full comprehensive drawings (although subQuark will sometimes sketch stuff out in pretty fine detail with top and side views for me). my sketches will have smilie faces, flowers, butterflies, and “extra” stuff depicting a mood for the build (little smiling suns and happy clouds too!) =)

freestylin’ is a fun way to unwind but usually ends up getting scrapped – although the rocket junkyard, forest island campfire teaching spot, and forgotten tropical shack meeting space all came from that and are builds that are included in the Enclave Harbour field trip book =)

even though much of what i build is pretty loosey-goosey there are still “best practices” to take into account. easy access is one if dealing with builds for n00bs as well as keeping it easy to see yourself by having tall ceilings. another one is chat distance

in Second Life, chat distance is 20 metres, whisper is 10 metres (and in italics), and shouting is 100 metres (in bold). for whatever reason, OpenSim had chat set to 30 metres until just recently when it was made 20 metres by Justin as the new default. these distances can be changed if you have access to the ini files and here is how you do it

in building places where i want separate areas for people to be able to hold conversations, i just make myself a measuring stick. in the image below, i have a 20 metre long yellow stick to check chat distance between activity rooms. once everything checks out, the stick gets deleted