Running Out of Time

OK, I started a legacy-style family, and I’m actually having fun. Part of that is because I’m alpha-testing the Indie Stone Story Progression Rewrite Mod, which is an attempt to rewrite the Sims 3 story progression from the ground up. It’s a core mod, so I had to take out AwesomeMod (*huggles AwesomeMod*), but I like how it makes the town feel more alive.

I’m still not sure how I feel about Sims I’ve created having lives without my input, but it works wonderfully with the pre-mades. They’re falling in love, marrying each other, moving in together (sometimes; the mod has some kinks which need to be ironed out, but hey, it’s in the alpha phase), having babies, and progressing in their careers. And you can filter which updates you want to hear about. I like this because I don’t have to remember to read the paper every day just to get a feel for what’s going on in the town.

Lloyd Family

It’s also nice to have the town evolve without me having to play every single family. And if you want a Sims 3 town to feel alive, you need a LOT of families. I tried putting a bunch of singles in my empty town and put progression on “silly fast” to see if they would pair up quickly and begin populating the town. Well, even on “silly fast”, it would have taken me forever to fill up the town with Sims. So that’s why I switched back to original recipe Sunset Valley, just to test this mod and do some more exploration of the game.

Another twist I’ve thrown in is that I’m playing this family on “Short” lifespan. So they only have 25 days (maybe a few more than that) of life. I really have to decide what is important for every minute of their lives so no time is wasted. It’s hard to find the right balance. I was focusing on my founder’s career at first so she could get more money and get closer to achieving her LTW, but it suddenly became much more important for her to find a spouse and have a kid, so her family wouldn’t die out. Anyway, if you’d like to read more…there’s more!

Lloyd Family

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Exploration

As some of you know I was trying to build my own semi-realistic ‘hood in The Sims 2 for awhile. I didn’t want to attempt a completely integrated economy since I’m just not a number cruncher, and the thought of micromanaging everyone’s bank accounts makes my brain explode. But I DID want to have a more realistic ‘hood in that people have jobs where they DO something and not just hop into a carpool and disappear for hours on end. I wanted to follow a few families through their lives and explore their connections with each other.

Anyway, it seemed like when The Sims 3 came out that I would have to put that idea on the back burner for a long while until an Open for Business-style expansion is released. But darnit, I want my own ‘hood! I have nothing against the Sims and storylines that Maxis created, but I’m just weary of them. I have a tough time getting attached to Sims and backstories that were generated by someone else.

So I’m experimenting with creating my own town in The Sims 3. Until they release a neighborhood creation tool, we can’t make new terrain or even move trees and rocks around, but we CAN start afresh with an empty Sunset Valley and populate it with new lots and new Sims.

Here are some pics of what I’ve done so far in this new town, Clarey Beach.

Clarey Beach

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Don’t Mess with the Wizard King

Once upon a time, and actually, in another world altogether, a young woman named Hildy broke one of the 327 Laws of Willelda and was banished in an impressive flash of light and accompanying puff of smoke.

As Hildy hurtled through time and space, her heart thundering in her ears, she had one thought: “It’s going to hurt like the dickens when I land.”

And it did hurt, though not as much as she thought it would.

Hildy

“Ow.”

Aside from a pesky crick in the neck and a bit of brain wobble, she felt just fine.

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Hildy’s Fable

After much pondering, I have decided to attempt Pinstar’s new Legacy Challenge for The Sims 3. I had felt a bit legacy’ed out, to tell you the truth, and wasn’t sure if I was really interested in raising generation after generation of odd-looking children in some kind of mad race to the end. I haven’t been able to finish a legacy since the Shanleys; generally I get bored by 2nd generation. After nearly 5 years of playing The Sims 2, I’m more intrigued by things like hood-building and writing stories about complex and/or silly relationships between characters. But…I am intrigued by The Sims 3, and I want to learn more about the game. Playing the Shanleys taught me that letting a Sim grow old and die can be fascinating. It forced me to explore all of the careers and aspirations. And I saw the gamut of Sim behaviors. Plus it’s just fun to see if I can do it. Can I get past 2nd gen? We shall see.

So, meet my Legacy founder: Hildemunde Garovald, or Hildy for short. She’s a little bit odd because even though I’ll be playing a legacy, I want to tell it in story form. And Hildy’s story is starting out a little bit differently from my usual legacy. To be honest, I don’t even want to think of it as a legacy. It’s just a story. Hildy’s story. Hildy’s Fable.

Hildy

More coming soon…

The Beverly

I’m still on a bit of a midcentury kick, so I built a house based on a vintage 1956 house plan. I couldn’t do the windows just right, and I put a smaller fireplace in to save space, but I did try to match the crazy exterior color scheme. It is available for download from Mod the Sims:

The Beverly

The Beverly

Hope you enjoy this little blast from the past!

Up, Up, and Away

Just for fun I tried building the house from the movie Up (which is a wonderful movie, by the way — just bring tissues!). It didn’t turn out much like the actual house, but I enjoyed giving it a shot.

Sims 3

It made me really miss custom content and being able to adjust individual roof slopes. Hopefully we’ll get the roof slope adjuster in a future XP (as we did with TS2), and as for custom content, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it can be done. I’m already amazed at how quickly things like mods and custom skins have come out, so maybe custom objects will follow relatively soon.

The Charles

Hey all. I’m still having a blast building and decorating in TS3. Although I really wish there were more options for wall hangings…and deco items…and windows… (I was sooo spoiled by all of the awesome custom content for TS2! Weren’t we all?) Anyhoo, this was a house I built for a happily single Sim who was going to be the narrator for my attempt at a story. Unfortunately her family got messed up and I’ll have to re-create them. In the meantime, I decided to just finish her house and make it available for upload.

Download The Charles from Mod the Sims

Sims 3

It was inspired by a real-life house in my hometown, so it’s a bit on the small side. There’s not even room for a double bed upstairs! So it’s perfect for a lifelong bachelor or bachelorette. Or you could put another single bed in the “office” area and have roomies. You could also expand the area by the easel and make a master bedroom. The possibilities are endless.

The house reminds me of those old craftsman-style cottages, so I decorated it in that style, too. More pics after the jump!

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