Once inside the eting room that could be completely converted into a solid holographic projection, Max created four desks and a pair of small couches.
"Welco to my first actual attempt at teaching a class. Forgive 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 what the first elent 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 sothing 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 ho 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 so 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.
Build it out of stone that fits your setting and then scatter dirt over it, so it doesn't stand out unless it is supposed to be incongruous with your setting. Now, we have our basic setting.
The easiest way to build a scenario is ground up, so next cos the ground cover, with shrubs, so 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 imrse 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 so opal stones and gems into the river as well as the mountain face. There, see how it makes the surface seem to shimr. Those little details will matter a lot later, so don't forget why we added them.
Next, I think we need so 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 so native Innu trees?"
"You can do that?" One of the mothers asked.
"Of course. We have Innu working on the ship. They have programd 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-ter-long leaves curved upward to trap rainwater in them, creating small pools that the Innu kids loved to play in.
They stood hundreds of ters 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 sa 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 howorld yourself." One of the Mothers sighed before getting up out of her chair to go touch and sll the trees.
"That's another point. Don't forget the scent. It is programd into the default data for the elents, 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 so small flowering plants, vines, and other natural elents, 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 ant, 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 ti is moving. Now add so 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 movent, 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 elents just for the ambiance.
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