Dear Residents of Angel Manor Estate!
I hope you’re enjoying summer and making the most of the summer weather. I know I and Her Grace live in a location in which sunny weather is rare, and we are making the most of it!
I would like to take this chance to welcome a number of new residents to the estate and hope they are settling in well. As is the case with many new residents, I hope they are not getting too lost as they start to explore the depths of the estate! And for our exsisting residents, I know you'll be making everyone new very very welcome.
As always, these updates are to give you, the residents of the estate, an update on future plans and areas of focus and development. We welcome your feedback as some of the most successful updates have come as a result of ideas from residents sharing their thoughts and wishes for the estate and our activities and facilities.
Summer can be a quiet time in Second life as people are off out enjoying the weather and we also have Second Life's Birthday just starting also, but we always know that once the weather starts to get colder that the whole Second Life community return to the warmth of home and seek to enjoy activities in this world, we call our second home.
So, what is new and coming to the estate?
Date for the calendar! Ladies Tea Party
Baroness Lady Elicea T invites the ladies of the estate to a traditional tea party, which is very fitting with the theme of the estate. One of the unique aspects of a themed estate such as Angel Manor Estate is that people who come here often have shared interests, which allow people to make new friends and enjoy community life. I encourage the ladies of the estate to attend and get the chance to meet others on the estate. I would like to thank Baroness Elicea T for her time in creating this community event and hope you shall support her time in creating this event for the ladies of the estate.
This event starts at 1pm SLT on the 30th of June in the West wing formal gardens. Look out for group notices with more information!
If you would like to run a future community event for residents of the estate, do get in touch with Her Grace, Kezzy, and we look forward to what you come up with!
Second Life Updates Coming!
For those that follow the development of this world of ours I'm excited to see that Second Life has been working on the materials system within this world. Materials, for those that may not follow the technical side of SL, reference the way textures work in world. Materials refer to the use of textures which can be used to make a more interesting visual experience. For those that have a computer to fully experience materials in SL you will have seen that Angel Manor makes full use of the current system - whereas many other sims just use a standard texture, our estate uses not only a texture but additionally uses a normal map which simulates a 3D element to the texture and a specular map which adds a level of shine and reflection. The combination of these textures overlaid on each other gives a more realistic visual experience. Linden Lab have been working on a new materials system which will bring SL more in line with the systems used in many virtual worlds. This will really improve how our world looks and you can be assured I shall be taking full advantage of the new system to enhance the whole estate and your homes to ensure you get the best from what this world has to offer.
Here are a few examples of what is in testing at the moment and will be coming to our world soon.
Estate Updates!
Summer beach!
As always, I’ve an eye on areas that can be improved and I’m always looking for ways to add new things to see and do. Not all of you may have found the quiet little cove beach on the estate, but inspired by my favourite season, summer, I would like to make this a larger and much more fitting location to top up the tan or enjoy some summer activities. I did hope to do this before summer and looked at beach tools to make this a larger beach, but I felt if I used existing tools, it will just be like many other beaches, and I do like to make you something more unique in look and feel so I hope to soon make a large more summer worthy beach for you to enjoy. I shall update once this is ready for you to explore!
Major Landscaping
The estate gardeners will have a job with this one! The garden sim has had a few changes over the years, but I feel it would be really nice to give it a major update and really give you a new area to explore and enjoy. The key focus on this update will be all about levels and views! On the whole the estate is rather level and flat and it would be nice to add some levels to the estate which in turn provide new views. Inspired by some gardens I’ve seen of late I would like to have some fun with a major update to the garden sim. This is the area with the stables and the stables and existing home on this sim will not be too affected but the rest of the gardens I would really like to update. This will be a large update so I need to find the right time to do this so it causes the minimum amount of mess but should provide you a new area to explore and enjoy. Please bear with me during this creative process!
Many may not have seen a video I made when these garden were first opened and its so strange to think this video was made 8 years ago! But I thought you may like to see how things were all that time ago, and how we are constantly changing and improving the estate to meet your and our visitors needs.
Your help and input needed!
As I've said many times, some of the best developments have come from resident ideas and things you would like to have as a facility here on the estate. There are two areas that I don't think serve the community well and need to be changed to serve you better. The Duchess and I would like to hold a dinner party with you, the residents, to discuss options for the following areas as your view and perspectives would be of great interest but would also really welcome an notecard with any ideas you may have for what else you may like to have here on the estate. As ever, you can contact us at any time with ideas or suggestions.
The first is the courtyard area of the West wing. These rooms were originally made for a number of reasons, with the lower floor being a suite of offices for staff and the upper floors being a suite of rooms for residents to host private parties but as many of you have large enough spaces in your home these areas are not often used. Therefore, I wanted to get your view on how these may become facilities or areas you can make use of? There is always the option to make these into more homes although its complex with how they connect to The Rose Theatre part of the palace and the reception rooms over the arch leading to the residents’ homes so I would much rather keep them as community space if we can create them into something you can use.
The second area is the the gallery! The Gallery, for those that might not have visited it, is part of the main estate, quite close to The Rose Theatre and The Rose Lounge venues. Over the years the gallery won many community awards which are still displayed in the reception hall of The Rose Theatre, but the nature of a gallery in SL has changed over the years and to that end, we haven't had a permanent gallery or interest in visiting it for several years. Therefore, I’ve never been sure what to do with this space to make it of interest to visitors to the estate, so I welcome any views on this.
I’m sure I’ve given you enough to read and with respect for your time I shall end the update here. Thank you for taking the time to catch up on estate news and aspirations for the future. Keep an eye on coming events and news, and get in touch with either the Duchess or I at anytime for a chat, suggestions and good conversation.
Many Thanks
Kaya Angel
Duke of Angel Manor Estate