539 539 Building A Feeling
Once inside the meeting room that could be completely converted into a solid holographic projection, Max created four desks and a pair of small couches.
“Welcome to my first actual attempt at teaching a class. Forgive me if I’m not good at it, but I can assure you that I am quite good at building realistic simulations. Now, which of you can tell me what the first element that needs to be determined is?” Max asked the kids.
“Would it be the type of planet that your simulation is set upon?” One of the Innu girls asked.
“Not bad. That is right. Start with the sky and bare ground. Today, we will make something spooky but beautiful, so what do you think we should make the world like?”
Sandy’s hand shot in the air. “The scariest movies are always the most realistic ones. Alien horror movies are only a little scary, but ones set in your own home are the scariest.”
“Alright, then, we will start with a basic M Class planet, blue skies, soft black dirt, and lots of water.
But that’s not enough. You need to create some terrain in your vicinity. It can be auto-created randomly, but today we will do it manually. A romantic mountainside dinner sounds fun, so first up, we are going to need to create a mountain.
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The easiest way to build a scenario is ground up, so next comes the ground cover, with shrubs, some grasses, and a nice river, coming from an artisan spring on the mountainside.”
While the description sounded random, it was actually the scene from near the Innu family’s vacation cabin in the mountains, perfect for helping to immerse the adults into the scenario.
The scene was already beautiful, with the low grass and shrubs and the sunlight glistening off the water, but it was still far too barren for anything but a basic combat simulation.
“We want spooky and beautiful, so we need the beautiful. Let’s add some opal stones and gems into the river as well as the mountain face. There, see how it makes the surface seem to shimmer. Those little details will matter a lot later, so don’t forget why we added them.
Next, I think we need some trees. Sasha and Sandy, have you ever been to the forest?” Max asked.
“Nope, but we’ve been in lots of woodland simulations, so we know what they look like.”
“How about everyone else? Do you think this would be better with some native Innu trees?”
“You can do that?” One of the mothers asked.
“Of course. We have Innu working on the ship. They have programmed a huge variety of familiar plant and animal life to the database.” Technically Nico stole the data from their ship and added most of it herself, but that wasn’t the point.
Max added the Pool Trees, as the Innu knew them, whose five-meter-long leaves curved upward to trap rainwater in them, creating small pools that the Innu kids loved to play in.
They stood hundreds of meters tall, so he could create a fairly dense canopy, reducing the direct sunlight that they were standing under and adding a feeling of being at one with nature.
“Beautiful.” Sasha sighed, smiling at the trees.
“They are pool trees, so we need an extra step. Who knows what is next?”
“WATER!” Both Innu girls cheered at once.
They were an aquatic species, and being on dry ground when everything in this scenario should be soaked with water felt a bit wrong.
Max set the scenario to shield their work area and then made it rain for a few minutes, filling the leaves and turning the pathways on the ground into slow-moving streams.
“But a forest doesn’t only have one sort of tree, so we will add a few more to make the area feel natural. Smaller trees have grown in the clear areas by the pathways where the canopy overhead isn’t as dense. Then we will upgrade the pathway itself so that it is made of natural stone, the same as the mountain that the path leads to.”
“It’s incredible. If I didn’t know better, I would think you had been to our homeworld yourself.” One of the Mothers sighed before getting up out of her chair to go touch and smell the trees.
“That’s another point. Don’t forget the scent. It is programmed into the default data for the elements, but if you modify them or want a specific ambiance, you need to make the scent of the area match what the user will expect it to be.
Now, we have the basic scenario down. This is all the major plant life that would naturally occur in this area. But we are far from done. Next, you need to add details. Add moss to the trees and rocks, but only on one side, to give the users a sense of direction since the moss likes the sunny side of the trees. Add some small flowering plants, vines, and other natural elements, and you have the forest complete.
But it still feels empty, doesn’t it?” Max asked.
All of the kids looked around, trying to understand what he meant, while the parents nodded.
“It’s too silent. Not in an ominous way, but it’s like we are standing in a picture.” Sasha finally decided.
“Exactly. We need to add weather and the small creatures that give the forest a feeling of life.
A light breeze will make the leaves flutter and bring the scents of fresh water and wet trees to the users, making the forest feel like time is moving. Now add some insects and small birds. Not the biting or hostile sorts, since this isn’t that sort of scenario, and place them further away from the pathway.
That will have them out of sight, but you will catch hints of their movement, and the birds may fly overhead with their randomized flight paths and simulated daily patterns.
That’s much more realistic.
Now we have beautiful and realistic down. Who knows how we can make this spooky without making it too dark to see?”
That brought excited looks to everyone’s faces, but they were clearly waiting for him to explain it to them instead of making their own guesses out loud.
Max compiled the ideas they were thinking of and added a few more elements just for the ambiance.