Jason

Hi,

I want to create a model of a little village as a supplement for a Pathfinder game, which can be altered as buildings get added or destroyed. I have a lot of computer design/drawing and CAD experience but so far none with 3D.

Could you recommend an environment-creation package that doesn't cost a grillion dollars and ideally comes with a bunch of canned objects like grass, rivers, bushes and trees? I was hoping to try Blink 3D but that doesn't seem to be available anymore.

I've read a great many explanations about lunar tides, and I'm so dense that none has completely gotten through to me yet. Basically, if the moon is to the right of Earth, I think the water on Earth's right side should be pulled to the right - and the water on Earth's left side should ALSO be pulled to the right, just a little less strongly. So the gravitational explanation for a high tide on the side farthest from the moon doesn't seem right to me.

http://www.29tharmor.com/images/probably-wrong-abo...

Here are some figures showing what I think about tides. There are almost certainly errors in them, but could you please show me exactly where?

You're in space, zero gravity, and a pencil is floating in front of you. If you tap the end of the pencil with your finger, my sense is that it should float away from you and also start spinning.

1. Is this right?

2. If this is right - I've learned that producing a moment on an object requires a force couple. Your finger on the pencil is one force; where is the other one coming from? (Do I need to think of the pencil as a chain of mass elements, or something? Would the answer to 1. be different if the pencil were infinitely rigid?)