New Island: Fiji

Have been so busy with custom islands I haven't had a chance to blog them...and since SL is down, I guess this is my chance!

Fiji has two main islands and countless (well, i don't want to count them, feel free) smaller islands surrounding it. These islands are perfect for any aquaphile - plenty of room for surfing, yachting, jetskiing etc...so much water, so many little places to explore. Fiji was hard, because there are so many levels of detail you could include or discard. I think I reached a happy medium by discarding all the reefs surrounding the islands, and compressing the islands into the space available. I will be putting up better pictures soon, when SL is up again.



Some clients (not this one, thank god) get very squeamish about devoting so much room to water, like if it's not land it's just a "waste". I *can* understand that in *some* situations, ie. if you aspire to become a slumlord in SL, packing in as many people as possible into one sim...and that is perfectly alright, if that's what you want to do. I was awaking from a nap when it came to me. Designing islands is like designing golf courses. You can pay a couple bucks and play golf at Putt-Putt or Golf 'n' Stuff or Gooney Golf, which is completely landbound and designed to fit as many holes as possible in the smallest space, or you can play on a stunning golf course, full of wasted area like sandtraps, water obstacles, trees, ocean views etc....Is the "wasted" space worth it? Hell, I don't even play golf, but I think it is.

My friend Anya said it a different way: "The default islands that they give you when you buy a private island are like the default skins you get when you first start SL...newbie skin... but on a bigger scale." I couldn't agree more!