Sometime in the next 24-48 hours, my site will be down due to my transferring to a new host. The domain name won’t change, so you shouldn’t have to redo your links or bookmarks. However, I’ve decided to put off posting the Burr update until I know everything is running smoothly on the new server. I was running out of disk space at my old host, but I shouldn’t have that problem with the new one. I’m just crossing my fingers that everything will work properly after the move! I’m sorry to keep putting off the Burr update. It’ll be posted sooner or later, I promise!
In the meantime, I figured I might as well share this little preview snapshot of Shady Bluff. There are still a few blank spaces, and downtown is only half-finished, but it gives you an idea of what I’ve been working on.
The unfinished building in the center of town will be City Hall and the Town Square. The empty lot just south of that structure will eventually be Shady Bluff’s Central Park. To the north I plan on building a public library and a museum.
I downloaded most of the houses from TSR, primarily from creators h3psibah (who did a wonderful series of Sears homes) and TigerBlue (who specializes in Tudors and Georgians). The colonial houses and little white church are by CTNutmegger. The good people at Neighborhood99 were kind enough to send me those, as they’re no longer available for download. As for the rest of the houses, I built a few myself, and a couple of others are by Mandie. You’ll see Mandie herself in the town once we get there!
The ‘hood terrain is something I created myself in Sim City 4. I had to re-do it several times before I got it just the way I wanted it. I enjoyed every bit of it, though! Building this town has been great fun, and as ever I’m thankful for Jade’s awesome tutes on ‘hood-building and the inspiration she provides on a regular basis with her tours and stories about the beautiful Isle of Thyme.
That looks awesome, Jen! Jade’s tutorials are fantastic. I wish I had the patience to actually go through and do all that stuff. I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with it and how you integrate it into your storytelling. :)
beautiful! do you have a more zoomed out pic (or just the sc4 pic) you’d let us see? I’m curious as to how much space the town itself takes up. I always make waaay too much road in my terrains.
YEHUS!!!! I can’t wait to see the update from Shady Bluff! Hope the computer transfer goes okay. Also, how do you get custom content onto your Sims 2 Game when you have a PC? I can’t seem to get the stuff to work…
Yeah! I cant wait for the next update. hope that the transfer goes well. and I also can’t wait till that burr update! (by the way, I checked out XM sims and I loved the hair! but I cant figure out where to get misty’s hair! I hope that your comments start working)
Even though you’re still working on it, Shady Bluff looks awesome! I’m totally in awe. And that’s so cool that you created the ‘hood terrain by yourself. I tried that once but realized I don’t have the patience for it. I’m looking forward to seeing what Shady Bluff looks like when it’s completed.
Yay Jen! Shady Bluff looks amazing so far! I know it takes a while to set a whole neighborhood up…I’ve been trying to do something like that in my spare time, and boy is it time-consuming! Maybe in the future I’ll actually get around to finishing it. And you used my houses!! That’s awesome! I can’t wait to see them in gameplay…I have yet to use them in my game! Bring on the Burrs and Shady Bluff!
that sooo cooool :) :) :D
Wow Jen! Shady Bluff looks wawesome! I really enjoyed that teaser a few months back, I hope all the stories are that great!
Waaaaaaaant! Shady Bluff looks gorgeous enough to be a Maxis product for goodness sake! :D Awesome job, miss Jenba. Encore! Encore!
Jen, I’ve been reading your blog for as long as I’ve been simming (which has been for quite some time), and I figured I should probably let you in on how much I’ve enjoyed it! This site is one of my regular on-line excursions. I’m amazed with what you’ve done so far with Shady Bluff! I’ve made SEVERAL attempts at creating my own town, but decided it was better to leave it in the hands of others more creative than I. (That would be you…). I’m looking forward to Shady Bluff, and of course, the next Burr update!
Wow! Shady Bluff looks amazing! *contemplates paying you huge sums of money to buy it*
Jen, you made the perfect terrain. A City Hall square and the museum and library…oooohhh…you make me want to do Thyme over again.
We just keep inspiring each other back and forth! Your hood is totally wonderful.
PLEASE, do LOTS of tours! I want to see City Hall first!
Thanks, guys! Glad you like what little you’ve seen of SB so far.
To answer some questions –
gethane – Here’s a zoomed out pic of Shady Bluff so you can see how much area the town takes up. The perspective skews it a bit, but I think you get the gist! Some earlier versions of SB had too many roads or took up too much space, which is why I had to re-do it so many times to get it just right.
Phil – Did you download the custom content to your My Documents\EA Games\Sims 2\Downloads folder? And were you able to unzip/unrar it successfully?
liz – Misty’s hair is actually from The Sims Resource, by the artist Sunair. Unfortunately you need a TSR subscription in order to download it, unless it goes into free rotation sometime in the future.
kerisma – Welcome, and thanks so much for your kind words!
Oh, and Jade! Thanks so much, I’m thrilled that you like it! It means a lot to me since you’re the Queen of ‘Hoodbuilding! I’ll make sure and do a tour of City Hall first. :-)
How do you unzip the content?
Phil – To unzip the custom content, you’ll need a program like WinZip (Evaluation version) or WinRAR 3.62 (Trial version). Once you’ve downloaded either one of those programs, you should be able to right-click on your .zip or .rar files and select “Extract here”. Let me know if you have trouble with that!
I’ve almost got it!!!! It says Extract all, though…do you have to do that before you put it in the downloads section or after?
YES!!!! I DID IT!!!! THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO MUCH, JEN!!! :) :) :) I couldn’t have done it without you! Custom Content, here I come!
hey has ne1 heard of a ps2 game series called kingdom hearts?i have them both but kingdom hearts 2 is brill i completed it two months ago in easy now i’m tryin’ again in medium these are some characters:
Kairi:a girl with a gorgeous shade of red hair who fancys sora
Sora:the hero with a keyblade weapon who fancies kairi
Riku:a wierd boy who turns dark and is friends with sora and kairi
go 2 this webby 2 find out more it is not a link sorry
http://www.kh2.co.uk
Hi I’m glad to see you’ve updated I can’t wait for your Bluff update.
Anyway I have a question you see ever since I got the family stuff pack I’ve had this bug on the sims game which makes the walls flash bright red and you can’t decorate over it either. so I was wondering if there is anything I could do about it?.
Oh yeah I almost forgot do you know any sites where you could download some sim marturnaity gear as the Maxis ones are awful.
Thanks
Keep Simming!
P.S Sorry about bad spelling
Breathtaking. Can’t wait to vacation in Shady Bluff with all my favorite sims. As always Jen, you set the gold standard.
I hope the transfer went well, but im kind of worried something went wrong. ( i no u said ud w8 awhile b4 u posted again but…) its been 6 days. Im sure there’s nothing to worry about though. ( for those of u who live in the city: happy first 5 minute snow today!)