Review - A Touch of Scotland ⭐️
How many beaches does Second Life need?
I thought of this when a friend recently commented on how most SL date experiences seem to involve either beaches or clubs.
Many beaches and clubs are fun, and many are really well made. But the point is, there are loads of them.
So here's an alternative suggestion. Take your date on an overnight trip to 'Scotland' instead. This is courtesy of Christina Hammerer's 'A Touch of Scotland - Bluebell Coast' sim.
I've now visited a Touch of Scotland four times, and each time I like it and discover more. And as Christina has now added rentable couple's tents (at 50L), it's now somewhere I can review.
Overall look and feel
Instead of a Highlands experience, A Touch of Scotland offers a taste of the Lowlands. So there are rolling hills, woods, a beach (yes a beach!) and farm houses.
Christina is Scottish herself, and it shows, as she's really done her best to recreate something authentic. The landscaping is excellent and overall the sim looks beautiful.
Overall - 4.5 / 5
The rooms
There are no rooms as such, but rather couples' tents.
These are Madpea adult camping tents, and in addition to the tent 50L a night gets you couples dance poses and a picnic area and set (rez by touching the fire). All this is in your own private area.
Clearly there are no bathrooms, but there are communal showers and outhouses (like in a real camping site).
It's obviously quite simple, but on the other hand it is very cheap, and offers something a little different to the norm.
I imagine if you come here with your significant other and set your windlight to a night one, it would be quite romantic.
Overall - 3.5 / 5
The facilities
Photo credit - Christina Hammerer
Christina is adding to the sim all the time, but a current non exhaustive list of facilities includes multiple dance areas, a small beach (obviously landscaped appropriately for a Northern European climate), a farm house, a tower with historical info about the lowlands of Scotland, an underground pub and club, horse riding and mountain biking.
Special mention however goes to the nine hole golf course that Christina has created on the sim. You buy your clubs for 50L, join the group, and then you can play.
Overall - 4 / 5
The animations
The rentable tents are adult, and then there are a variety of couples dance, cuddle and sitting anims dotted throughout the sim, all of which seemed to work well.
Overall - 4 / 5
Other considerations
The tents cost 50L a night and are adult
I found very little lag and was able to run ultra on a 2019 Macbook pro at 20 fps
Overall
When I think of other less well designed sims that overrun with visitors, a Touch of Scotland is almost criminally empty.
But I guess not many people know about it, so I am hoping this short review will help to raise its profile a little bit.
Christina Hammerer has done an amazing job here, and it's clearly a labour of love for her.
She has also geared it very much towards the date market, and I absolutely think this is somewhere fun, interesting, beautiful and a bit different to bring someone you are trying to impress.
Definitely highly recommended
