First, a word of self-introduction. Operating in Second Life as Cyberstar Heavy Light Industries, I am a scripter. I also have the singular misfortune of being a RL friend of the ḈḁṇṇḁḇḭṦḼ developer. I've done quality testing for ḈḁṇṇḁḇḭṦḼ for a very long time. \
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Flowering male (left) and female (right)
with Liquid Plant Food |
About two years ago, the developer (who will remain nameless) suggested that we explore making a more realistic mesh version of the CannabiSL system. Neither of us being mesh designers, we shopped around and found a cannabis mesh that had what we envisioned: distinct seedling, vegetative, and flowering plants ... with clear differences in male and female plants.
After false starts, failures, and forlorn misery, the newest ḈḁṇṇḁḇḭṦḼ product is almost ready for beta testing! ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 is a mesh breedable! It retains many familiar features and is compatible with ḈḁṇṇḁḇḭṦḼ Liquid Plant Food, Plant Auxin, and Grow-Lites.
PROJECT GOALS
There were a few expectations going in regarding the project.
First, the mesh plants and the way they grow should be realistic. The mesh model we used distinguishes between different growth stages and frankly, it's much more realistic than the old prim sculpty. Plants grow, but they aren't improbably small or large. Growth is smoother, thanks to a completely new growth mechanism; instead of jumping by 2 or 3 percent maturity at every 90 minute growth cycle, ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 plants grow at a constant one percent at growth intervals that occur more frequently. The end result is the same: an unfed or "very slow growing" plant takes 6.25 days to mature in either system.
Second, the "one prim weed you don't have to feed" rule was fundamental. The mesh had to stay at one LI even with data and scripting. (Those who've meshed around probably know that scripts can increase a mesh's prim equivalency and that LI can balloon if meshes are grown too large.) This required a bit of testing and research to explore the limits of the mesh model.
Third, a major goal was to use less script memory. The latest ḈḁṇṇḁḇḭṦḼ version (4.19.925) has two large scripts ("Main" and "Lib") that together comprise 2,880 lines of scripting. The current testing version of ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 has less than 1100 lines of script. Now, "lines" isn't a very accurate metric, but it is the old pay standard for IBM. In practical terms, the single script in ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 does 90% of what both ḈḁṇṇḁḇḭṦḼ scripts do and uses about 75% as much simulator memory.
Third, ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 does not use an out-world database for it genome. Thanks to a relatively new scripting method called LinksetData (LSD), ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 contains all genetic information without relying on external data. For the paranoid, this means you can't be tracked. It also means fewer simulator resources are used. And it means that ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 is powered by LSD!
NEW TWISTS
Additionally, there are a lot new twists on old features:
- A completely new growth engine. Instead of varying the percent a plant grows during each 90 minute cycle, ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 plants grow 1% at each cycle while the length of the cycle varies. The result is the same (very slow, slow, medium, fast, very fast) time to maturity, but the visual process is smoother. And the amount of scripting to make it happens is smaller and faster.
- Streamlined menu. This has been done by setting new defaults, eliminating seldom-used options, and off-loading some operations to the HUD. There is no color coding option in the menu. The plants automatically color code (pink for females, blue for males). This streamlines the menu layout and makes for a smoother work flow.
ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 plants use only Liquid Plant Food. So there is no food type option in the menu. Also, the plants automatically scan for food at every growth interval, so there is no "feed" button in the menu, either. To feed a plant, put a Liquid Plant Food dispenser in range; move the dispenser away if you don't want to feed your plants.
- Different visuals. Because the mesh model isn't a great "canvas" for fancy artwork, ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 plants won't have wild (and improbable) graphics, cartoons, and so forth. The primary goal was a more realistic breedable cannabis project. The chief "visual" variations for ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 are the foliage tint and, of course, plant size. (For example, crossing Panama Red with Acapulco Gold would produce an orange-tinted offspring.)
WORK IN PROGRESS
ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 is not a finished product. We're still contemplating more fun with the genetics, including FX. The HUD isn't pretty yet. But we'll be ready for limited beta testing in early 2025. Watch this space and the ḈḁṇṇḁḇḭṦḼ Growers & Breeders Group for details. If you're interested in testing ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420, contact djeaux@gmail.com or bluenote.cyberstar@gmail.com to get on the list!
In the meantime, you can visit the ƜȅȇĐăßĨê 420 Growers Guide for more info.
