Moon [ Imagination ]

The moon does indeed loom large at ARNICAR India's new sim, Moon [ Imagination ], hovering over the eastern horizon. Like ARNICAR's previous builds, it's a sim that mixes beauty and fantasy, landscape and detail into a delightful whole. The ground level, where one arrives, is built just off the water, with a walkway extending most of the length of the sim, connecting visitors with little vignettes or scenes — a wrecked roller coaster, a funny encounter with paparazzi, the gnarled tree at the base of the moon, and others. It's important to set your draw distance up as far as it can go, because you'll want to be able to see the entire landscape at a glance, including elements that are set in the sky, including a biplane navigating through a field of airborne boulders.

But there's more than first meets the eye. Click on the front of the time travel device near the landing point (you might need to be close), which serves as a teleporter. From there, you have a choice of three additional destinations: Earth, House and Planet Station. You can spot the house far overhead in the air — a quirky home on a huge boulder (bottom image). And earth is, quite charmingly, contained inside a terrestrial globe, where a streetcar and other items are reflected in empty space (image immediately below). At the planet station (not pictured), we're off in the heavens, surrounded by planets and the constellations.

In all of the four areas of the sim, opportunities for photography abounds (these images show the sim's default windlight setting, but others work well too), and there are plenty of cozy spots for couples to relax or pose — even a horse you can ride together around the ground level. ARNICAR opened the sim about three weeks ago, and told me this morning that she's not certain how long it will stay around, so be sure to visit soon, and please consider offering a contribution at one of the various tip jars.