Riverblossom Redux

Fran decided to furnish her home with flea market/junkyard finds, since she didn’t have all that much money, and they seemed to fit with the rest of the house.

Fran in Riverblossom

Fran in Riverblossom

Even though Fran liked having a house all to herself and would have been content to just play computer games and read books all day, she thought she might as well get out and about (she loves the outdoors, after all). So she said goodbye to her dreary shack for awhile and headed to the park downtown.

Fran in Riverblossom

Ahh, nature! Fran had a wish to finish the book she was carrying in her magical back pocket, so I had her read for awhile. She chose to sit at a picnic table far away from the action.

Fran in Riverblossom

Eventually she grew tired of reading and introduced herself to some of the elegantly-dressed elders having a picnic nearby. Well, elegantly-dressed aside from Professor Burnt Toast…

Fran in Riverblossom

Fran found out that Annabelle Goldstein was now a local representative in the state government, so Fran, being the well-rounded Sim that she is, had a lively political debate with her.

Fran in Riverblossom

Just then a lady ran shrieking out of the community building. (I was too slow to get a pic, but that’s really what she did.) Fran was too caught up in her discussion to notice, however, and so was unconcerned. When she went in there later on to get something to drink, however, she was faced with a receptacle of pure evil.

Fran in Riverblossom

Can you believe this is the first time I’ve seen an Evil Sim in-game? The funny thing is, this Jamieson Moriarty, Emperor of Evil, so horrible that he glows red and makes people run shrieking in fear (or walk away in mild disgust, in Fran’s case)…well, he was doing jumping jacks to the overhead music. Eeeevil jumping jacks, no doubt.

Fran, despite her discomfort, chose to sit right there and drink her juice, staring at his eeevil jumping calves.

Fran in Riverblossom

Meanwhile, outside, Leod McGreggor was fishing and enjoying the gorgeous sunset (dDefinder’s light mod + Kiwi’s worldbuilding skills + Late Night water effects = pure awesome).

Fran in Riverblossom

The next day, Fran realized that §11 was not going to pay the next rent check, so fished her paper out of the brambles and looked for a job. Since she’s a Bookworm and Computer Whiz and loves to write (hey, she was a blogger, after all), I had her pick Journalism.

Not long after, a car showed up and whisked her away to her first day on the job as a Papergirl. On the way, she passed this very cool custom billboard with Tia Palm on it (Tia is one of Kiwi’s custom celebrities in Riverblossom. There are neat custom touches like this all over the world).

Fran in Riverblossom

I was intrigued to discover that the car was taking her to Rothco Square, home of the Roth dynasty. Well, it’s a dynasty now — back in TS2 they had a modest home next to Fran’s, and Morty Roth was a Relic Liberator (I remember that because I was developing a whole story around it, involving Fran’s dad).

Now they have a whole section of town named after them.

Fran in Riverblossom

The office building rabbithole is buried in a basement, and this sleek monument to cold, hard cash has been built up over it.

Fran in Riverblossom

That’s Cassidy Roth (whoa, that link has a bit of a spoiler, watch out!), Morty’s dad, in the picture on the wall. He’s at the Sherry Bottle Rest Home now (with those other elegantly-dressed elders, perhaps?), so his grip on the Roth empire may be fading, but I’m sure Morty has been well-groomed to take over.

Fran in Riverblossom

At this point, my game crashed to desktop (boooo). Not sure if it was one of the many mods I have installed, or something to do with Kiwi’s world (which was a bit laggy, but never gave me an error 12, at least not yet!). I plan on trying it again sometime soon to see if I can replicate the issue.

If you are at all curious about Riverblossom Hills, I encourage you to check it out. It’s a huge world full of creative and custom touches that feels very Maxis-like, and I mean that in the best possible way! Apart from the Simbot, I saw a vamp family, and I know there are supposed to be hidden lots and/or tombs somewhere in town, too. I’d play it more myself but I don’t want to get to distracted from Ely Corners. It’ll be a nice break once in awhile, though.

20 thoughts on “Riverblossom Redux

  1. Very nice world! And fun update. “Hooligan”. HA! “…staring at his eeevil jumping calves.” Ha ha!! Made me laugh, you did! As always. ;)

  2. Ooooo I have never seen an evil sim so evil he glows red, that is so cool.
    the hood is gorgeous. shame it crashed on you!

    • Yeah, I guess they only glow red if they’re the Emperor of Evil? So maybe you don’t even have to have the Evil trait, just attain that level of the career. So many things I still haven’t played with in this game…

  3. Ooooooh, nice! And Fran’s back! I remember Fran, Bernie and the gnome incident best out of all the Fran stories (er, my memory is working for once, maybe I should give it a medal). And, after a couple of weeks of trying, I finally got my Sims 3 working again, but on my Ma’s laptop. Mine just refuses to read the disks.

    • Hee, your memory *should* get a medal for remember the gnome incident — that was a long time ago. Glad to hear you can play S3 on your ma’s laptop, but I wonder why yours won’t read the disks? I would think you could get replacements from EA if that’s the case…maybe?

  4. I like this world – I just barely remembered Riverblossom (I hardly ever played it). It was nice to see an up-dated version. Fran is even prettier S3 style. You play the part of an excellent tour guide Jenba.

    I particularly liked the evil jumping jacks. *rofl*

    And how strange is it that poor Fran’s family never even bothered to leave a forwarding address?

    • Glad you enjoyed the brief tour, Velvet! Fran probably knows where her family is; she just wanted to visit Riverblossom again. Actually, I just needed an excuse to not re-create her entire family (there were a lot of them!).

  5. How I’ve missed Fran!! But that bites that her family totally bailed on her … and they didn’t even have the common decency to tell her where they moved to! I can’t believe she’s taking it so well.

    Fascinating custom hood though. Sorry that you crashed though. :( Are you saving frequently? I find that if I go more than 10 minutes without saving, the game will crash.

    • She probably knows where they moved to — she just chose not to go there. :) I probably should have thought of a better reason why I didn’t re-create the whole family. But oh well. ;-p I do save frequently — well, at least every 30 minutes since I use Twallan’s Saver mod. But maybe I need to save more often than that?

  6. lovely! Good to see Fran again. I downloaded Riverblossum but didn’t actually created a neighborhood in game and explore. Next on my list!

    I had to go grab that lighting mod you mentioned. Beautiful pics! Do you use any camera mods? I don’t have any in and I often feel frustrated at the movement.

    I’m still struggling with the game. I want to want to play, but I can’t seem to emotionally connect with the sims 3 sims.

    • I do use a camera mod — right now it’s HystericalParoxysm’s Late Night Camera Fix. It helps a ton! The un-modded camera drove me absolutely bonkers, so I feel your frustration. I hear you about struggling to connect with Sims 3 Sims, too…I haven’t quite gotten to where I am connected to them as much as TS2 Sims, but this project is helping. I’m even getting used to how the toddlers and kids look (though they’re still not as cute as TS2 kids).

  7. I was dead curious about this world, I’m glad you decided to *play guinea pig* and download it – it truly looks fabtastic. I have no idea how you keep all these projects on the go, unless that’s how you keep yourself interested in it all? I know someone else that does that… name starts with *W*… know her???? :oP

    Love Fran’s overjoyed *I’m having a poo* face when she found something in common with the blond blokey with the pudding basin hair! I’ve never seen a truly evil sim in my game either, but you gotta love the fact that he’s doing excercises whilst exuding evilness. It’s what keeps us all coming back for more ;o)

    • LOL…yeah, I think WebbyMom and I approach the game in a very similar fashion! That is most definitely how I keep my interest in the game. If I stick with one thing for too long, boredom sets in. ;-p And LOL at “having a poo” face! That’s perfect.

  8. “The paperboy tried to hide the paper in the thicket, the little hooligan.\” – Made me cry with laughter! I just love the way you write Jen and this lovely story has peeled me about of some serious post surgery boredom. The town looks great, I might just check it out myself :)

    • So glad you’re doing well after your surgery, LemonJelly! And I’m happy my blog entertained you for a little bit. :) Definitely check out Riverblossom if you get the chance — it’s a lovely world!

  9. Fran looks awesome in TS3! I love those glasses, too. It’s so nice that we’re getting items like that for TS3.

    Oooh, Riverblossom Hills is intriguing. I may have to check it out. :P

    I love evil sims! My one legacy heiress had Death run screaming from her. It was hilariously awesome. Wimpy Death is wimpy!

    • LOL! I have never seen Death running from Evil Sims. Hilarious! And Riverblossom is very neat…definitely worth checking out.

  10. Fran’s really cute (in both versions of the game!). That stinks though that her home got so drastically changed and her family up and left. :( Poor girl.

    Whew, that really is a dilapidated house, isn’t it. *grimaces* Nice though that at least the objects that did such damage were also able to be sold for a tidy sum. ;)

    Maybe the paperboy was afraid of what was lurking in all that overgrown dead grass and didn’t want to go all the way up to the porch. *wink*

    At least the professor was walking IN and not OUT. I’d be afraid to eat there if that were the case! Ew, that cheese looks scary! *wrinkles her nose*

    Not a bad way to furnish, if that’s all you can afford. Looks like she even found a used computer! The little daisy on the table is kinda sweet/sad.

    Does that professor blow herself up a lot? Or just not care that she’s walking around in her skivvies?

    Huh. None of my evil sims have ever glowed red. *pouts* And they were EVIL too! (Although I don’t know if they were Emperors of Evil, so it must be from the job, not the characteristic.) Hehe, good for Fran, not being intimidated by his evilness!

    Beautiful sunset shot! (Gotta look for that lighting mod.) Love the office building there! Looks like a neat world. I’ll have to check it out and maybe my Fountleroys will find themselves replaced. *nod*

  11. Another fun comment to read, Aer! Thank you. :) I’m not sure what the deal is with that professor…I think she blows herself up a lot AND doesn’t mind running around in her skivvies. I also think it might be a game glitch, as I read something on Twallan’s site about the “burnt” outfit being put into a Sim’s regular wardrobe or something. Weird!