In my next installation of this series, I’m going to address the ocean view property in my meditation program.
Now, as a quick aside, I’m a real fan of those tv reality shows where people look at houses that are for sale on islands in the Caribbean or off the eastern coast or wherever. I laugh at the way the people say they have these ridiculously mediocre jobs yet have a budget of 3.4 million to buy their property. I also know that in most cases, the entire show is utterly scripted, the couple has already purchased a house and they’re now being given tours of other locations to discuss the various aspects of the property they have no intention of buying.
So, my budget for my secret island getaway is seven gigabytes. What I can I get for that investment?
It turns out that I can get quite a lot.
I wanted to create a small island atmosphere, where I could watch the sun set, with the sound of waves and seagulls. I wanted to find a way where I could watch videos if I wanted to from within the house, along with a fireplace that would provide additional ambient sound.
The structure itself needed to be a relatively open and airy area, with windows on each side so I could see the ocean no matter where I looked, except on the one wall where my back would be facing. Furnishings would be modest, with a couch, table with candles, a few paintings, and a record player on the far wall to play music files (as desired). I added an option to turn the painting of stones into a video player, similar to the laptop screen in the Space Station.
The house just needed to be a single room. I didn’t have to address real-world concerns like having a bathroom or kitchen, but I decided to add a very small refrigerator with a couple of snack-items behind the couch.
For some finishing touches, I added a couple of benches near the house and closer to the waves, so I could have somewhere to sit and take in the scenery.
Unlike the issues that I faced with Pirate Island, incorporating the seagulls into the scene worked relatively well, probably because it was such a smaller area and I only needed one flock of ~8 seagulls to really sell the scene. I was able to add a couple other visual resources (including some randomly placed seashells that I could collect if I felt like exploring the area). I toyed with the idea of adding aquatic life but decided against it as I didn’t intend to sit underwater for any length of time.
The thing is, unlike Lava World where it feels like there’s something there that shouldn’t be (making the scene feel just, off, somehow), the Beach House feels like a relaxing environment but something is clearly missing.
It could be something as simple as having a little crab crawling around in the sand to some fish in the distant water to a couple of props, or maybe a record to listen to. While I incorporated some logic to allow me to see what’s on my computer screen (and have watched a couple of James Bond movies sitting in my virtual oasis), that doesn’t feel like the missing piece.
I’ll figure it out eventually, but the selling price for the entire scene, audio and all, is about 650mb, well under the space I expected, but will garner no complaints from me.
Anyway, hope that you are all doing well! Have a great rest of the week and enjoy what remains of the summer!