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

As you can see it’s still basically Sunset Valley, but I am re-doing the rabbit holes. I turned the lots down by the beach into community lots and placed the diner, bookstore, bistro, and spa on them. Then I added new landscaping such as trees, flowers, benches, sidewalk, parking spots, etc.

Clarey Beach

The bistro, which I’ve tentatively called The Palms, has more outdoor seating now, and is kind of an upscale hotspot. There’s a stereo outside, hopefully to encourage dancing.

Clarey Beach

The building next to The Palms isn’t a rabbit hole; it’s a placeholder for a bed and breakfast/boarding house, which is another experiment. Nobody runs the place, but I’ll have a Sim “own” it and venture down there everyday to tidy up and make food. Sims who are from “out of town” or who maybe partied a little too hard on the beach and want a place nearby to crash can sleep on the beds, watch some high definition TV, drink some non-fat lattes or eat “quick meals” (no stoves allowed on community lots), and check their e-mail.

Clarey Beach

In the pic above are the Fly-By Diner and Dragon Books bookstore. These are all along Sun Song Avenue, which is a pretty name, but I wish I could change it to my own. I probably will in my head. ;)

Clarey Beach

Above is an overview of my nearly empty town, with my shops down by the pier. I’m kind of bummed that we can’t move that big biodome thing. I’ll probably just stick the science center back up there. And the military base will go in its old spot, because what the heck else would I build next to a space shuttle hangar? Heh.

Clarey Beach

The buoy pic is just a random shot. I so love the scenery in TS3.

As for my legacy play, it’s not going so well. It’s fun but my attention is being pulled elsewhere. I thought maybe I had just designed a boring founder, so I tried another. When she got married and had a baby, I lost interest. So…I tried again with a new founder. She has already aged up to adult and hasn’t found a suitable mate yet. And I don’t feel like forcing her to marry any old Sim just because. I think I’m just not into Legacy play anymore. It’s too much “been there, done that” for me. I want to learn TS3, but I can do that through regular play, without feeling crunched for time and worrying about heirs and spares and all that.

So…no more Hildy for now. Or MAB, for that matter (though she may appear again). I’m sorry I keep starting and stopping on you guys. What I realized yesterday (after kicking myself in the head repeatedly) is that I am still in the “exploring” stage of the game. (Well, DUHHH, right?) I will keep trying things to see if they work or not. Eventually something will stick. Until then, I’m not forcing myself down one path or another. (Sheesh, talk about “commitment issues”…)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the pics of Clarey Beach. Stay tuned for more of…something. Whatever I do next. I’m like the wind, baby!

22 thoughts on “Exploration

  1. Wow, that’s amazing, what you have done! Looks like a lot of work, but I bet it was fun for you. :-) Yeah, I’m still exploring, too. Not quite ready for a Legacy yet, either.

    • It was very fun. Also time-consuming. It’ll be awhile before I have a “complete” town!

  2. I love what you’ve done so far! I don’t blame you about your legacy. I was just thinking the same thing yesterday. I just want to play. There is so much I haven’t experienced in the game yet, that others have & I want to find these things.

    Look forward to seeing more of your creations!

  3. It looks good! Very inspiring already.

    I’ve been thinking about trying something like this myself. Try to make it more personal, y’know?

    • That’s exactly it. Without a neighborhood creation tool, we can’t make our own “vision” of a Sims town. The least we can do is personalize it somehow.

  4. Huh. My anti-spam word is oddly appropriate: “toast”. Hehe. You’re burned out on the legacy gameplay. And I’m hearing you on that. That’s why I keep trying to challenge myself to step outside of my usually safety box when it comes to doing things with (to) my sims. I still enjoy doing the legacy challenge, but I can’t play it straight. I somehow have to make a story out of it.

    But your neighborhood is tres cool. I likey very much. Do you think you’ll ever upload it for download? I like that you have all the shops and things down by the water (kinda like a boardwalk situation). *thumbs up*

    • Oddly enough, I think trying to make a story out of my legacy challenge is part of what was frustrating me. It’s hard to just PLAY and learn the game when I’m putting myself into corners because of my storyline. I’m just too much of a control freak when it comes to stories. You’re good at going with the flow!

  5. I totally agree with you about not being able to get attached to premade neighborhoods. I never could in Sims 2 either, I had to make everything my own. I love what you’ve done so far, and I can’t wait to see it develop as you go.

    I remember hearing rumors of neighborhood creation tools that were supposed to be released soon after Sims 3? Does anybody know what ever happened to that idea?

    • I’ve heard those aren’t due to come out until 2010. :-( I hope that’s wrong, though. That seems like a loooong time.

  6. I totally getcha. That is why I still play the Babii family. they’re my exploration test subject family.
    I love what you’ve done with the hood. its fabulous! I look forward to seeing you playing around there and make sure everything works the way you want them to

    • Thanks, it’s a work-in-progress and kind of in statis until some more mods come out. I need more control! Heh.

  7. Nice neighborhood, Jen! I’ve caved and got myself a copy of the game, and my ma is letting me kidnap her laptop whenever I want to play, which is even better, since hers is the only computer in the house that can run it. I thought I might write a few stories of my own again, but I have no enthusiasm for it.

    As for starting things and then dropping them, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Where’s the fun for you if you lose interest in something? If you weren’t having fun, I think your writing would probably reflect that, and your blog wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it is.

    • Thanks, Scally. Glad to hear you got the game! Are you having fun with it? I understand about having no enthusiasm for writing stories…it takes a lot of time and energy to do stories, and if you’re not really into it, then it’s no fun at all.

  8. Aww, too bad no legacies no more ;)
    But don’t worry, some aren’t into that gameplay that much. I’m totally freaking out at the moment as to how long housebuilding and -decorating takes with TS3… it makes me crazy!! I wanna PLAY, not sit hours looking at which type of grey suits the type opf purple better *sheesh* ;)

    • Maybe no “official” legacies…but I do want to play families into future generations, so… and yeah, I totally hear you on decorating. I can spend HOURS just furnishing a house and getting all the colors right! haha.

  9. hehe my spam word is ikea.

    On that note, what a lovely town!! “The Palms” is absolutely gorgeous, and I love the bed and breakfast idea. On the legacy thing: dont worry! Once you have explored all the aspects of the game you will figure out something to do.

    I have a confession: I have other motives in commenting besides complimenting your beautiful ‘hood. My sims 3 game got that pesky “Disc Error”, and so like a good little simmer I called Tech Support. Yeahhh not my best idea. 6 hours, 7 phone calls, and 5 emails later, nothing. Zippo. Uninstalled game, but now it won’t reinstall. How fun! Life lesson ladies and gentleman? Ask for a supervisor. If they refuse to connect you, hang up and call again and again and again. Or just give up and cry yourself to sleep with a tub of Baskin Robbins Double Chocolate Chip and mourn the loss of your favorite pasttime and the $75 you paid.

    • Oh no, Rose! :-( That stinks. Have you tried taking the disk back to where you purchased it? Maybe they could replace it for you? It doesn’t seem right that you can’t play and you’re just out the $75. :-/

  10. Awesome to find another player who created a custom town! I’ve done that with my Victoria Gardens hood. I used the clean template that still had the community lots and have slowly built up “districts” in different areas, so I have my Victoria Gardens community that I’m following, my downtown, a slum area behind downtown near the criminal workplace, and am starting on my beach area. I’m finding now that I have my own town, and pescado’s mod, I’m finally having fun with the game.

    • Wow, I really like Victoria Gardens so far! It’s cool how you’ve set it up as a small community trying to keep from being gobbled up by the downtown area. Very creative. This is the kind of thing I would like to do with the game. My only thing is that I want to have a large, living breathing town, but I don’t want to play everyone…so I’m hoping the Indie Stone mod will make story progression better and more controllable. Anyway, I’m linking to your site!

      • I just realized in my post, I didn’t tell you how great I think your town is :)I think it’s neat you’re building it yourself from the ground up. I wish I could build lots myself, but I’m terrible at it so I find it best to just download. What is the indie stone mod? I have the EA patch and pescado’s mod, and I find story progression works pretty well. One house I didn’t play with at all, when I went to check, had a job, a promotion, a love interest, and her teen on the honor role.

  11. Very neat experiment you’ve got going on here! Much more detailed than I think I’d be up to tackling, but it looks really nice. :-D

    Wow, that really is a pretty empty town! I kinda like everything being along one strip, right across from the beach. It looks cool like that. Do you still have a large park somewhere, that sort of acts as a congregation point or are you hoping the beach will become that?

    Besides, I dunno about you, but I wouldn’t want the freaky-deaky science experiments or the loud military vehicles or space shuttles smack dab in the center of town, making people start to glow at night or keeping them awake at all hours with tons of noise. ;-) (How’s that for justification of keeping them on the outskirts?)

    And hey, this is a game we play for fun. No need to apologize, if you stop doing something that you don’t find fun! *tickles Jen* So long as you keep sharing what you’re doing, especially how beautiful your pictures always seem to be, it’s all good by me!