In my last update, second generation heiress Belinda Burr and her brother Basil (wow, that’s a lot of alliteration) packed up their wagon and rolled off to university, a little place called Fernley College.
Now, it’s no secret that I’m not fond if playing my Sims through University. To me, it’s a notch above watching paint dry, just barely. It takes too darned long, and it’s horrendously repetitive gameplay-wise (sorry, Maxis, I’m still your slave and will buy anything you produce). But I am determined to send each generation to college, because…well, because it’s the right thing to do.
To make it more interesting for myself, I built a pseudo-Victorian dorm for the Burrs, who time-wise have moved into the 1880s.
“Isn’t it it grand to be here? In the middle of somewhere?â€
That’s right, the “Middle of Nowhere†handicap doesn’t apply to Sims at uni, so I was able to build a decent dorm for them. No half-finished bathrooms for these kiddos!
Here are close-ups of each kid, all grown up:
Belinda Burr, 2nd gen heiress
Basil Burr, her brother
I think they both turned out pretty cute. OK, I’m lying, I think Basil is downright handsome – “hot pixels†as Mao says – but I’ll try to refrain from going too gaga over the poor boy. It’s embarrassing, really.
Ahem…moving onward! In keeping with the period feel of this legacy, I used a hacked clothing rack to change the clothes and appearances of the dormies who moved into Ivy Hall with the Burrs. I figure that’s OK rules-wise since it doesn’t interfere with gameplay one whit or give me any kind of advantage – it was strictly for looks.
Here’s Belinda gettin’ her groove thing on while one of the dormies, Farley Dahl, tickles the ivories in the parlor:
“I beg your pardon, but it’s called ‘dancing’, and I must say, I’m not half bad!â€
Since the Victorians didn’t have computers yet, Belinda and Basil couldn’t write term papers, so they had to raise their grades the old-fashioned way.
“Are you calling books ‘old-fashioned’? Tsk! You ought to turn that machine off once in awhile.â€
Of course, all of that studying lowers the fun score pretty handily. Thank goodness the Victorians had dartboards. I think they looked different back then, but what the heck.
“Is it OK if I stand this close to the board? You won’t put my eye out, will you?â€
Basil in particular seemed to enjoy the game.
“Yes, I am Professor Burr, Master of Fine Darts!â€
Of course, after a late night of carousing, it can be quite difficult to get up in the morning.
“Great Scott! Maybe I did get a dart in the eye.â€
I took the above picture mainly to show that even though the rest of the dorm is somewhat luxurious, the students’ rooms are furnished with the basics: cheap single bed, desk, chair, and lamp. Lacy curtains and a washstand add to the period flavor and maybe raise the environment score a little, but that’s it.
“Be honest now – you just wanted to take pictures of me in my pajamas, didn’t you?â€
Basil, you’d better quit addressing me directly, or people will think I’ve really gone off the deep end.
Anyway, I had to make sure the kids did their homework assignments on a regular basis…
“45 take away 7 is 38…plus 18 is 56…multipled by 9…erm…is it time for dinner yet?â€
(In profile shots, you can really see that Bazzie has his father’s honker. I mean nose. Did I just call him Bazzie?)
(continued on Page 2)
Hah! I love it when Sims have seemingly fated romances like that. :D And Farley is so cute too, that round anime/doll-ish face is my favorite.
You seriously have me contemplating doing something with a historical theme too, Jen! Clothes so pretty. *drools*
And Basil is way too handsome for his own good. He looks straight out of a 19th century portrait!
You rock, ma’am. And are you doing anything different with your pictures? The quality’s just really up there, I feel like I’m looking at snapshots from a tv show. I think that’s why I like them so much, the close angles you use gives a feel of being right there next to the Sims. I like it! :D
I love your updates again! I especially liked this update because of all your custom content. All those Victorian downloads are beautiful, and the buildings you built for the university are incredible! From what I could see of the campus and the dorms, it looks amazing! I can’t wait to see your list of downloads for the Victorian era (I’ve already scoured the Timely Finds page!).
Kay – Actually, Farley has the same face as Thatcher/Robi. But when I changed all of the dormies’ appearances, I softened their features a bit, so he’s just a little off. I’m not doing anything differently with my pics — just maybe getting better with the lighting? Thanks for your kind words — your comments always make my day, Miss Kay!
Mandie – Thank you! Glad you found the Timely Finds. I apologize for some of that page being terribly out-of-date. I need to fix up some of those links.
That was great, whew I bet it was interesting w/o them using computers, huh? Basil was great. Aww well maybe Thatcher can marry a future heiress later down the road.
Wahoo, back from Delhi and two new entries, how GREAT!!! Thank you so much Jen! You know what? Since Basil has become an artist, he reminds me extremely of Basil Hallward, the painter of ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’. Let’s hope your Basil won’t have to find the same end as Basil Hallward did in the novel *g*.
And after all that reading and enjoying I guess I’ll get started and begin my new legacy just aswell… my founder has finally graduated, so let’s see what she’ll be up to ;).
Thank you again!
Awesome as always Jen… I can tell you really like Basil! I almost thought he was the heir before Belinda started popping up again! ;) The dorm is very nice, and the dressed up dormies are even better! Shame about that darned True Love handicap, but at least it gives you a challenge during college.
About your blue screen o’ doom… you mentioned it happens whenever you run the game at full speed? Is it consistent? Like, after an interval of time passes, you can anticipate the error? And what’s the error message that you are receiving? I’m not sure, but maybe I can help. Just let me know the details, if you can. I’d hate for you to lose all this wonderful progress!
Ooooh I loved this update, and I love Fernley College! It all seems so interesting. I hope you’re having fun…it looks like it. I also hope you’re not going to have Belinda keep that hair and glasses…blech…Anyway, lovin’ the Burrs VERY much. You have inspired me to do a moving through the decades legacy myself. Great job!
Oh, here I go again adding comments after I’ve already posted…but I need to know where to get old fashioned: telephones, smoke detectors, and burglar alarms…I need them to look somehow hidden or old…have any ideas?
Loved your update as always, and I’m very much looking forward to your updated “timely finds,” too! I’ve been playing around with an 1800s legacy, and I went a little download-crazy yesterday… but I need MORE, MORE, MORE! ;-)
Just curious, which clothing rack hack do you use? Is it Christianlov’s from MtS2?
I love Basil. Even more than I did before (if that is even possible). And you did get some wonderful shots in there! Many of Basil’s expressions.. and the one of Belinda at the dinner table talking to Basil. The streaker in the picture with Basil looks weird.. like he has that “my mouth is open, but my teeth are still closed!” thing going on.
But! Lovely update, as always! :D Reading about the Burr’s got me all excited about sims again.. so I went in and played with my Legacy’s again last night. I even posted a new update (*GASP*).. though it’s mostly just a quick run through as I try to get back in the swing of things. I’ve hardly played them in MONTHS.. hard to remember what was going on in the family back then, lol.
Hi Jen… I have been reading your blog for a little while now and I just wanted to say that I think it’s absolutely awesome! Definitely keeps me entertained when work is boring =). Which is most of the time. I just have to say that I think Basil is the most adorable sim ever! His red curly hair… sigh… so cute. You should enter him in some sim man of the year competition… I totally think he would win. I have to say that from reading your blog… and then discovering the whole world of sim blogs… (hooray, I am not alone in my sims addiction) I got inspired to start writing my own. So thanks =).
Awesome update, Jen! I love it so much! (As always) I think Belinda turned out BEAUTIFUL. I think the more she grows the better she looks. Anyways, of course, Basil is still delicious, he’s one hottie sim :P Haha. But I DO agree about the honker, lol, he does have a big one.
Oh, I forgot to mention in the last post when you mentioned that only townies bring a lot of money in, but I learned that after OFB the NPC’s bring in around the same amount…
Cannot WAIT for the next update! I also really wanna see Basil’s choice of bride. Does the True Love handicap apply for him as well?
Thanks!
Leslie
Term papers without computers? Dear lord…You are one determined simmer! :D As always a very lovely update. Too bad about Thatcher, but atleast Belinda found her love in the end!
Marcie – Good point, I’ll have to keep Thatcher in mind for future heiresses. He’s a Family Sim, after all, and those are great for legacies.
Eva M – Wow, Delhi this time? How cool! That’s hilarious about Basil from Dorian Grey – I didn’t even think of that. I think you just gave me some ideas…heh. And are you going to post your new Legacy? I hope so!!
Mao – Thanks for your concern about my blue screen o’ doom problems. This was the same prob I had with my regular Sims account, and I discovered it was due to my graphics card + Open For Business + too many downloads. On my other account, it doesn’t even go back to the game – it just goes bluescreen and stays there until I have to reboot. According to this thread at MTS2, the only solution so far is to get more memory. So I’m saving up my moolah for another GB of RAM. I hope that works! I don’t want my 2nd account to suffer the same as the 1st, so I’m in the process of cleaning out my downloads (somehow I ended up with about 5,000 — yikes!).
Katie – Haha, I thought Belinda looked pretty good with the red hair. And the glasses are definitely nerdy, but she’s a Knowledge Sim now, so I figured the schoolmarm look suited her. Hee. But who knows, maybe she’ll get back to her blonde roots eventually. How cool that you’re doing a historical legacy, too! I’ve been able to find some old-fashioned or hidden smoke detectors and things on MTS2 in the past. Just go to Downloads and do a search on whatever you’re looking for. Sometimes the medieval stuff works well for the Victorian era, too.
Annette – It’s hard not to go download-crazy with all the awesome stuff out there! And yes, I do believe I use Christianlov’s clothing rack — it’s so handy. Are you going to post your new legacy, too? :-D
Audrey – Yeah, the streaker looks odd in his pic with Basil, but I was amused by it (I’m very easily amused, if you haven’t noticed.) And…YOU UPDATED?? Sweet! I gotta go check it out…
Verity – Welcome, and thanks so much for your comment! Your blog looks great – I’m adding it to my blog list. You are most definitely not alone in your Sims addiction!
Leslie – Oh, really? That’s interesting about the NPCs bringing in more money now! I’ll have to see if that’s true. The True Love handicap does not apply to Basil, but I love the dude so much I can’t bear to marry him off to anyone unworthy — they’d better have at least 2 lightning bolts! Heh.
Jadice – Thanks for your comment! I see you’ve updated again also! *runs off to read*
Burrrrrrr! I loved it! You had SO MANY great one liners in this. I loved seeing Basil in the shower! (how improper!) He does give you some great expressions. I’m glad to see that Belinda found true love, even if she did have to accessorize a little. But my LOL favorite was the cafeteria worker. “You’ve seen one college romance, you’ve seen em all” Perfect expression. Loved Basil looking out the window. You have created such an authentic environment. I’m totally buying the entire time period and the implications. I loved the dorm and the other building on campus – it looks like a real – old college campus. Can we have a tour??? I am totally loving this! And the best part is I can tell you are too! Long live The Burrs!!!!
That seems really odd… as the only blue screen I’ve encountered with Windows XP has been the Hardware error. Where it tells you a piece of hardware is incompatible… which is normally due to driver issues and whatnot. I don’t know why that would have anything to do with downloads, even after reading the thread… but RAM, I can totally see that if you’re having actual loading problems. I’m assuming you have at least a gig? You do have a lot of downloads–but so do I… except, only four or five are objects. The rest is all hair and whatnot, but there’s nearly 5,000 and I have no issues.
I had the blue screen issue when I got my new card, but changing the drivers fixed that right up. (ATI cards are infamous for this, unfortunately!) I have 3 gigs of RAM, too… but the blue screen still occured. Have you tried changing your drivers? I never, ever updated the one I had for my Nvidia Geforce 6 series… and I had no issue with it whatsoever. Depending on the amount of RAM you currently have, it might help with booting, but if you get the hardware compatiability error… I doubt it will solve anything to get more. I’d suggest searching and finding functional drivers and see if that helps, if you haven’t already.
This is part of my major, so it is kind of interesting to apply my skills outside of the classroom for once and not on my own computers. So I hope you don’t mind my prying! Just hoping to help, as it made me panic when I got the screen so quickly after I had those issues with my old desktop.
Amy – Thanks so much! I’m glad you’re enjoying the Burrs. :-D
Mao – You’re not prying at all! You’re very helpful. From what I can tell it’s a problem with a certain group of Nvidia cards — as soon as we installed OFB, the bluescreens started up. We keep trying the new drivers, but that doesn’t seem to help. I actually tried the latest driver last night, and everything was great until about 3 hours into the game — then the screen went blue, and I got the hourglass. It went back to the game, but happened again 10 minutes later. I’m going to keep this driver, though, because it went longer without dying this time. Heh. Apparently the best solution is to just get more RAM. I have one GB now and plan on getting another Gig in a few weeks. Hopefully before Pets comes out — who knows what havoc that expansion will wreak!
I just like everyone else, am loving this new family Jen! I think it’s cool also that a female, Belinda, got to go to college at that time. Wasn’t it pretty rare back then? Nonetheless, girl power! Haha. Speaking of, I await your next update!
I Love the Burrs! They are so cool and really interesting the way you work in the time periods and it’s just awesome.