Hey all (if anyone is even reading this blog anymore)! Turns out the book thing didn’t go so well, which I doubt will surprise anyone who knows me, heh. I tried to do some writing, but I missed having pictures to go along with my stories. I missed building houses. I missed watching families grow. And to be honest, I didn’t even try the book thing for very long. I got sucked back into Lord of the Rings Online for several months, and that was fun, but lately I’ve felt a void in my life, and I realized it was partly because I wasn’t doing anything creative.

So I thought I might get back into Simming and Sims storytelling. I decided to start afresh – I completely reinstalled TS3 and added World Adventures to the mix. The first thing I did with WA was to send a hapless traveler to Shang Simla, but for some reason I got bored quickly. I know, I don’t get it either, since it sounds like people are having so much fun with it. But I couldn’t find the location of her first opportunity before she needed food and got tired. And even though the scenery is gorgeous, I could only gape at it for so long before I realized this was not scratching that creative itch at all.
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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.

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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.

“Ow.”

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

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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.

More coming soon…