Snow machine

This snow machine can create snow over an arbitrary large piece of land, without the need to place many snow generators in the sky manually. This machine does it all for you automatically... One satisfied customer used it to cover two complete sims :-)

*** Note (2012nov16) ***
In some rare cases, the snow is less than satisfactory due to viewer limitations or too many other particle sources being around. If you want to be sure, try the free demo version (limited to 2 minutes) to check if it works for you (see related items).

*** updated (2011nov29) ***
Fix: no problems now to cover a very large area, like a complete sim, with a single machine

*** Note ***: do not unpack the box, the box itself *is* the snow machine.

Features:
- easy menu operation: just touch it for a self-explanatory menu
- snow can be set to light, medium or heavy
- length and width of area to be covered can be set in increments of 10 m
- automatically rezzes enough snow generators in the sky to cover the whole area
- each snow generator covers a 10x10 m square
- configurable height of snow generators: 10, 15 or 20m
- efficient particle use (many snow flakes per particle)
- snow generators in the sky are automatically deleted if snow machine is removed

Prim usage:
- 1 prim for the snow machine
- 1 prim for each 10x10 meter to be covered

Limitations:

- the total number of particles you can see is limited by the Second Life viewer. If there are a lot of other particle generators within your draw distance (smoking chimneys, fire, fountains etc), then the snow might not be as thick and even as intended. Try the demo version first to be sure that it works satisfactory on your land

- snow particles have a limited lifetime. If you place the machine on top of a tower, then the snow flakes will not reach the ground.

- one machine can only cover a rectangular area. If you want to cover, for instance, an L-shaped land, use multiple machines, each covering a rectangle.

- the covered rectangle is always aligned with North-South, East-West lines.

- the rectangle can not be rotated over arbitrary angles.

- works only within a single sim

- snow doesn't stop at the roof, so it will snow inside your house too :-) use multiple machines that each cover a rectangular piece of land outside your house.

How to use:

- Place the snow machine in the center of the area to be covered
- The default coverage is 20x20 meter. To change the size, touch the machine, click the X-size and/or Y-size buttons to call up the X-size or Y-size menus. The size can be changed in 10, 20 or 50 meter increments.
- Select the type of snow you want: Light, Medium or Heavy
- Click Start button to start, Stop button to stop.
- Wait about 10 seconds for the first snow flakes to reach the ground
- If desired, you can change the height of the snow generators.
- If you later change the size of the covered area, you must stop and start the snow

Tips:
- For nice snow textures to cover the ground, look in the Library section of your Inventory: Textures/Terrain Textures/Terrain Textures - Winter

Particle usage:
10x10 m square, light snow, height=10m --> 150 particles
10x10 m square, medium snow, height=15m --> 400 particles
(max number of particles for many viewers = 4096)

Permissions:
- Copy: Yes, so you use as many as you wish
- Modify: Yes, so you can adjust size, color etc of the machine (but not the scripts!)
- Transfer: No, so you cannot give this to a friend as a present.

• easy menu operation: just touch it for a self-explanatory menu
• length and width of area to be covered can be set in increments of 10 m
• automatically rezzes enough snow generators in the sky to cover the whole area
• efficient particle use (many snow flakes per particle)
• snow can be set to light, medium or heavy