#but for the sims 4 to be in the state its in after 10 years is nothing short of sad

[fadedflora]

incoherent sims rant

i always find myself getting burned out anytime i start a new save bc i either didn't move fast enough or moved too fast and i have no idea how to find a healthy balance.

i also hate playing directionless gameplay, so i look to challenges to give me an idea of what to do, but then i get bored of challenges because i either accomplish the goals too quickly and am left with nothing for my sim to do for the rest of their generation OR i take forever to accomplish the goals, so by the time they start having children i'm nowhere near done with their goals and i feel overwhelmed because i'm trying to focus on raising their children but also accomplishing their goals at the same time

i also, despite owning majority of the packs, have never fully played with/experienced ANY of the packs. so anytime i think about starting a new gameplay, i think about trying to play through one of the packs, but then i want to focus on more than one at a time so i get overwhelmed again and the cycle keeps repeating

i wish it was easier to enjoy this game without having to look to challenges or my own creativity to find interest in it. i know every sims player goes through times where the last thing they wanna do is play this game, but i think a lot of us also go through this, where we WANT to play the game, but no matter how we approach it, we find ourselves bored before we get that far

i think it all just comes back to how lackluster the sims 4 (specifically) is. half of the packs (especially expansions) could have easily been made into one big pack including content from all of them, rather than multiple different $40 packs that feel unfinished and are often times bugged beyond belief

no one should have to wait months after a packs release for the bugs to be patched so they can consider purchasing (as i did with wedding stories and am still doing with for rent). no one should have to spend the equivalent of a single game's cost on an expansion pack that really doesn't expand upon the game all that much

and i think where the problem is glaringly obvious is when you look at the base game. obviously i know the game is going to be more fun and have more things to do with pack content. but even basic things like shower woohoo, the playmat for infants, bathroom stalls, are all locked behind packs.

when growing together first came out, i didn't consider buying it because i figured we'd at least have enough infant content in the base game to make it worthwhile. but i found myself purchasing growing together IMMEDIATELY after updating my game for infants because without it, infants are just a more annoying version of the base game babies. they are ONLY fun and interesting if you have this pack

and yes, i know we have gotten a LOT more stuff in the base game in the 10 years the sims 4 has been around. i've been playing the sims 4 since it released. i've seen how the base game has grown and changed. i watched how we went from the saddest excuse for "range" with the skintones to the skintone update. i was there when we didn't have POOLS or TODDLERS. i've seen them finally start to add more ethnic and diverse hairs and outfits. but is it enough?

i'm not a game developer, i'm not a cc or mod creator, i have no idea how much effort, time, or resources it takes to make content for this game. and yet, month after month, cc and mod creators manage to do more than ea and the sims team have done for the sims 4 since it released. month after month we see these creators come out with new and unique content for this game, mod creators working as hard as they can to get any broken mods updated as soon as possible. yet the sims team and ea themselves will let bugs, some even game breaking, go on for months or even years without so much as the slightest acknowledgement.

i don't really have a goal in all of this. i don't have a solution and i know i'm preaching to the choir. i know thousands of players have complained about every single thing i've mentioned in this post and nothing has changed and nothing will change. i just felt the need to get it off my chest.

i hope, somehow, before the sims team and ea move passed the sims 4 onto the sims 5 and/or other projects, that we get more for this game and that none of it is locked behind a $40 (or less) paywall. the base game has come a LONG way in these last 10 years. but it can still use a whole lot more

[t-sizzler]

Pride Collection CC Kit by make_it_sizzle

I’m excited to announce the release of my Pride Collection CC Kit. On this special month of June, we celebrate Juneteenth and Pride month. As an African American man who also happens to be gay and play The Sims, creating this CC kit was so important for me.  I truly feel as though the spirit of Storme DeLarverie should be in each and every one of us, which is why I named one of my CC items after them.

Below is a brief history of the two holidays.

If you do not already know, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Celebrated annually on June 19th, its origins date back to 1865. On June 19, 1965, General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people were now free. However, the enslaved people had no idea they had already been emancipated. That June 19th announcement arrived 2 and a half years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863.

The first Pride was a riot. Pride Month is an annual celebration of many of the contributions made by the LGBTQ+ community to cultures, society, and history worldwide. Pride commemorates its roots in the Stonewall Riots that occurred on June 28th, 1969. As was a common practice in many cities, the New York Police Department (NYPD) would occasionally raid bars where gays and lesbians were known to gather. On June 28, police dragged patrons and employees out of Stonewall In, a popular gay bar in Manhattan, New York, and several people fought back against the NYPD. It was said that Storme DeLarverie, a gay rights activist, threw the first punch at the riot. A crowd of people slowly but surely grew which turned into a 6 day protest which was led largely by Black LGBTQ+ women that marched the streets of Manhattan.

Patreon: Download (Free)

Included with this CC kit:

Pride Hat:

Gender inclusive

9 swatches

Teen-Elder

BGC

High-top Converse shoes

Gender inclusive

4 swatches

Teen-Elder

BGC

Pride jean shorts

10 swatches

Teen-Elder

BGC

Pride tank top

Gender inclusive

4 swatches

Teen-Elder

BGC

Necklace (2 lengths)

5 swatches

Teen-Elder

BGC

Leggings

3 swatches

Teen-Elder

BGC

Socks

3 swatches

Teen-Elder

BGC

BONUS CONTENT:

DeLarverie Hair

Hat Compatible

Maxis 24 swatches

Teen – Elder

BGC

Vertices: 11195 Polygons: 18604

[pastellapixels]

The Family Dynamics Challenge (TS3 Edition)

Greetings, fellow simmers! Welcome to the landing page for the family dynamics challenge, The Sims 3 Edition! This challenge was originally created for The Sims 4 by @solaria-sims (originally standingsimmer) and @jaanie (originally pastellapixels), but three to four years after its birth, it is FINALLY being converted to The Sims 3 for those who don’t fancy The Sims 4! The goal is to set forth a unique (and fun) set of guidelines for a ten-generation legacy challenge centered around a variety of, you guessed it, family dynamics.

If you choose to play this challenge on any platform, please feel free to use the hashtag #familydynamicschallengets3 or #fdcts3 so we can see and enjoy your gameplay too!

English Sims 4 Edition ; Korean Sims 4 Edition

Rules Below the Cut >>>

General Rules:

1. Begin with a single sim.

2. No money cheats, with the only exception being purchasing the first home.

3. Custom worlds are allowed, and even encouraged, to provide an infusion of new townies, lots, and gameplay opportunities.

4. Each career and lifetime wish must be completed unless expressly stated otherwise.

5. If a career branch is not specified, then the choice is up to you.

6. Must use all of the “Required Traits” for each heir, but the other traits are up to the player.

7. Have fun! Don’t let the rules of this challenge confine your gameplay and inhibit your creativity. Adhere to them as much as possible, but ultimately make the gameplay your own.

Generation One - “white picket fence”

From the time that you strike out on your own as a young adult, you dream of cultivating loving familial relationships as rich and unique as the dishes you love to create. You marry younger than some of your friends, raise a bundle of children, and enjoy entertaining groups of close friends and coworkers. You consider gardening a true passion and love show off your plot to anyone who happens to lend a spare minute. All your many obligations aside, you still devote a portion of your life to your hidden dream: becoming a master chef.

Required Traits: Family-Oriented, Green-Thumb, Natural Cook

Lifetime Wish: Surrounded By Family OR The Culinary Librarian OR Celebrated Five-Star Chef OR The Perfect Garden

Career: Culinary OR Self-Employed Gardener

Rules:

· throw five (5) feast parties and serve two (2) homecooked meals at each

· master cooking skill

· optional: own a bakers station from the sims 3 store

· marry as a young adult and stay happily married until “death do us part”

· have 3-4 children

· maintain a garden with at least ten (10) plants of different varieties (NO money tree)

· optional: have a cowplant

Generation Two - “why ever leave?”

You were raised to believe that “home is where the heart is.” And because of this, you rarely venture into the outside world unless given a good reason to do so. You choose not to leave your parents’ home to pursue your own path quite as early as a lot of your peers. Hacking became your passion while holed up in your basement bedroom, and thankfully your career of choice doesn’t require a lot of social interaction. Leftover pizza, anyone? But with your increased knowledge of technology, you desire to create artificial intelligence… and you do!

Required Traits: Couch Potato, Slob, Computer Whiz

Lifetime Wish: The Tinkerer OR More than a Machine OR Monster Maker

Career: Self-Employed Hacker

Rules:

· as a child, teenager, and young adult (until parents pass away) you live in the basement and do all of your science stuff down there

· create a plumbot OR a sim bot

· master either the inventing (simbot) OR the bot building (plumbot) skills

· optional: marry your plumbot

· play the guitar as a hobby (no skill requirement)

· order pizza for at least one meal per week

· never move out of childhood home

Generation Three - “support my family”

Being raised by a parent with an affinity for keeping close to home only encouraged your sense of adventure and attachment to the great outdoors while growing up. You love finding hidden treasures and collecting “useless” items, hoping to convince others of their value. Being made a single parent at a young age only helped to grow the desire within you to remain free of the clutches of a “normal” job or relationship. And so, while you devote your heart to traveling whenever you can, being the best parent that you can be is your number one priority.

Required Traits: Nurturing, Adventurous, Loves the Outdoors

Lifetime Wish: Private Museum OR Seasoned Traveler

Career: you make your money from collecting and selling relics

Rules:

· become a single parent as a young adult

· master handiness and charisma skills

· optional: master martial arts (could be gen 3 heir or gen 3’s spouse who masters this skill)

· travel to each travel location

· complete a tomb in each travel location

· make a bottle of nectar you pass down to the rest of the generations

· optional: master nectar making (could be gen 3 heir or gen 3’s spouse who masters this skill)

Generation Four - “laugh away the pain”

Let’s be honest, you had it pretty good growing up. Even though there were some rough patches, you know that your parent did the very best they could in raising you alone. But, deep down, being alone is the very thing you fear more than anything. So, you cover it up by surrounding yourself with people who can’t get enough of you. You make them laugh; you make them cry. But, it’s not enough. You marry young in a desperate attempt to fill the emptiness that drives you, only to find later that your spouse has chosen another. Eventually, you have to face the fact that your family is enough to hold you up.

Required Traits: Star Quality, Irresistible, Athletic

Lifetime Wish: Superstar Actor

Career: Film (Acting Branch)

Rules:

· master charisma

· reach level five (5) in athletic skill

· write one (1) non-fiction book later in life (give it an applicable title)

· marry first significant other as a young adult

· spouse must have non-committal trait

· turn a blind eye to spouse’s cheating

· eventually divorce your spouse and never remarry

· become a level five celebrity

· make sure you are best friends with your child(ren) after you have divorced your spouse

Generation Five - “struggling in the city”

You come from a broken home. Growing up, you witnessed first-hand the havoc that infidelity can wreak on a family, and are determined from a young age that you will pour your heart and soul into building close relationships with your own family one day. The city life draws you in, and it is there that you decide to make your home. However, no matter your effort as a parent, tragedy claims one of your children long before their time. You wear a shroud of sadness from then on; all you ever wanted was to protect those you held dear. You later come to find that the love of your remaining child(ren), coupled with the release of your sadness in the form of song, might just pull you through in the end.

Required Traits: Over-Emotional, Genius, Virtuoso

Lifetime Wish: World Renown Surgeon OR Become an Astronaut

Career: Medical OR Military

Rules:

· master two (2) different instruments

· reach level five (5) of the logic skill

· live in an apartment from the time that you move out of your parents’ home until an adult

· have more than one (1) child

· do karaoke once a week

· lose one (1) child to death (could be baby, toddler, child, teenager, or young adult)

· mourn at the child’s grave at least once per week and leave their bedroom untouched

Generation Six - “living with a broken heart”

You lost a sibling at a very young age and witnessed the grief of your parents while still trying to process it yourself. Rather than trying to pick up the pieces, you let the sadness consume you. You give in to your darkest thoughts. Theft and criminal activity become you, and eventually, you give yourself over to that lifestyle wholeheartedly. And even though you’re usually more at home in your contemplative solitude, you take comfort once in a one-night stand. But, there’s a surprising side to you; the raging in your heart is only calmed by the time you spend bringing life up from the soil.

Required Traits: Kleptomaniac, Loner, Vegetarian

Lifetime Wish: Become a Master Thief OR Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law

Career: Criminal (Thief Branch)

Rules:

· run away from home as a teen and never speak to parents again

· do not “inherit” any money from parents

· master logic and gardening skills

· steal at least ten (10) items over the course of the generation

· have a one-night stand with a coworker that results in pregnancy

· never marry

· never become more than “friends” with anyone (except your accomplices)

Generation Seven - “here to make a difference”

There is only one word to describe your childhood: lonely. You knew from a young age that the parent you lived with took very little pleasure in your company, and you’ve always felt that you were the “mistake” that resulted from a careless decision. As a result, you pour effort into building relationships with those who really care about you, and even look to mend relationships with those who don’t. You have a core group of people who mean the world to you, and as a result, try to spend as much time with them as you can. Your career choice was a given from the start, as it provides you with the tools to make an impact on the world around you. And, while you’re a social creature by nature, you never turn down the opportunity to curl up with a good book.

Required Traits: Good, Social Butterfly, Bookworm

Lifetime Wish: Super Popular OR Leader of the Free World

Career: Political

Rules:

· attempt to mend relationships with estranged parents and grandparents (you do not have to succeed... just try)

· have four (4) best friends you don’t live with

· invite your four (4) best friends to every social event and birthday (even if there is no party)

· master the charisma

· marry one of the four (4) best friends

· read at least ten (10) books over the course of the generation

· have at least two (2) biological children and then adopt at least one (1)

· optional: Record at least three (3) home videos

Generation Eight - “working with animals is what I love”

Growing up, you were always surrounded by family and close friends who loved you. But, you desired more than just human interaction. Working with animals is your passion. Riding horses is all you can see yourself doing, but it costs some of your human interacting in the process. Furthermore, making money while riding is hard to come by, so you never venture out to buy a place of your own. But whilst riding around town, you find love in someone who has interests similar to your own. In your incredibly limited spare time, you enjoy photographing places near and far, just looking for that perfect frame. Between riding your horses and your photography, you’re not really able to spend as much time with your children. But that’s okay; you’re out there living your dreams.

Required Traits: Animal Lover, Ambitious, Socially-Awkward

Lifetime Wish: The Jockey OR The Animal Rescuer

Career: you make your money riding your horse in races

Rules:

· live with parents until their death

· become romantically involved with someone with the equestrian trait

· master riding and photography skills

· win at least four (4) races

· have at least two (2) horses, one (1) dog, and one (1) cat

· take at least ten (10) photos

· take a picture of each of your pets

· optional: have the Hates Children trait

Generation Nine - “business-minded and musically-inclined”

Your parents worked hard for every single penny that they earned, but you were just left feeling like they didn’t really care about you as much as the animals they tended. Your grandparents are your closest friends while they’re still alive. After all, they practically raised you. As a young adult, you desire the family you feel you never had, and start a family quickly…only to find out that you’ve married someone whom you don’t really love as much as you should. Being successful in your career of choice classes you as a responsible, functioning member of society. However, you also possess the real musical talent and, even though you would never really consider leaving your current job, you invest in your music quite regularly. You eventually remarry after finding true love and enjoy the rest of your life playing mediator between members of a mixed family. Will you find real happiness amidst the wealth and a high-powered career?

Required Traits: Ambitious, Clumsy, Virtuoso

Lifetime Wish: One Sim Band

Career: Business

Rules:

· become good friends with one or both grandparents

· marry and have at least one child, then later divorce spouse

· eventually remarry and have at least one child (think the movie “Yours, Mine, and Ours”)

· master charisma skill

· hire and keep a butler or maid (a butler would be live in, a maid would not)

· eat out at a restaurant at least once per week

· optional: host a sim at a venue

Generation Ten - “I will make our happy ending”

Objectively speaking, your life is great. You never really wanted for anything as a child. The overactive imagination that you possess lends itself perfectly to your love of writing. The supernatural fascinates you, but more than anything you wish to find true love. When your significant other dies unexpectedly, you immediately begin to seek out a way to bring them back to you. As you search, drinking becomes your method of coping; it quiets your breaking heart and provides the sense of peace you need, even if it’s false. But, at a time when your hope begins to dwindle, your decision to open your home to an adopted child is the final push you need to persevere. You succeed in creating your own happy ending following a long line of sims with odd stories; some happy, and some not. All you know is, a family is a family, doesn’t matter its dynamic.

Required Traits: Hot-Headed, Artistic, Neurotic, Supernatural Fan

Lifetime Wish: Professional Author

Career: Self-Employed Writer

Rules:

· master writing and cooking skills

· achieve level five (5) of mixology skill

· find true love at a young age; significant other dies prematurely

· successfully resurrect significant other into a ghost with philosopher’s stone

· adopt a child before spouse is resurrected

· optional: drink the bottle of nectar from generation 3 if you still have it

· optional (for generation 11): have the child be a fairy, witch, or vampire (you’d have to cheat it)

Optional Generation 11- “our story isn’t quite over yet”

You had a strange household. When you were adopted, it was just you and your parent. But then their lost love came back into the picture… as a ghost of all things! As you grew up in your odd home, you realized you weren’t so normal yourself. Whether it was your toys vanishing before your eyes, your unnatural thirst for sim blood, your strange feeling at the twinkling of the full moon, or the glowing wings that sprouted from your back, your parents knew you weren’t like the rest, and they loved you despite and because of it. You grew from this love into a caring supernatural who only wanted to help others with your strange gifts. You always held a soft spot in your heart for humans… you even fell in love with one!

“This generation is broken up differently than the other ten. There are four (4) optional paths you can take. The one you pursue depends on which supernatural your generation eleven (11) heir is.”

Generation 11- “fairy”

Gardening has been in your family for generations. Though you’re adopted, the love of the outdoors still flows through your magical veins like it did with your great ancestors so many generations ago. And with your gifts, you can make your ancestors proud with the most beautiful garden of all.

Required Traits: Good, Hopeless-Romantic, Green Thumb

Lifetime Wish: Greener Gardens

Career: Self-Employed Gardener

Rules:

· fall in love with and marry a human

· have at least one (1) human kid and one (1) fairy kid

· master gardening skill

· stay best friends with parents until they pass away

· plant every type of flower

· optional: grow a plant sim baby

· reach level ten (10) in fairy skill

Generation 11- “witch”

Your parent used out of this world knowledge to bring the love of their life back from the dead… sort of. Now it is up to you to carry out their legacy and create cures and potions and magic that could do that for anyone. You dream of using your witch abilities for good and to help those in need, just like those before you.

Required Traits: Good, Hopeless-Romantic

Lifetime Wish: Mystic Healer OR Master of Mysticism

Career: Self-Employed Alchemist OR Fortune Teller

Rules:

· fall in love with and marry a human

· have at least one (1) human kid and one (1) witch kid

· master alchemy skill

· stay best friends with parents until they die

· make every elixir

· optional: turn a family member or friend/housemate into a witch (voluntary)

· optional: have a cat become your familiar

· reach level ten (10) in witch skill

Generation 11- “vampire”

You hate the fact that you thirst upon the blood of those who saved you, the humans. You only dream one thing, to become a human so you can live and die and not worry about who you’re going to get your next meal from. You love the speed and agility of being a vampire, but you hate the lifestyle. But will you hate the lifestyle when your kid is a part of it?

Required Traits: Supernatural Skeptic, Hopeless-Romantic, Athletic

Lifetime Wish: Perfect Mind, Perfect Body

Career: Professional Sports

Rules:

· fall in love with and marry a human

· have at least one (1) human kid and one (1) vampire kid

· “accidentally” turn a sim into a vampire and regret it forever.

· reach level seven (7) in alchemy skill.

· cure self with potent cure elixir

· travel to China with family after cured

· optional: offer to cure vampire child with potent cure and they reject and you lose friendship with them OR offer to cure vampire child with potent cure elixir and they accept

· generation doesn’t end till generation 11 heir and their spouse die of old age after being cured of vampirism

Generation 11- "werewolf"

You have always felt drawn to the moon ever since you were adopted. The nighttime calls to you and you tend to answer. But one night you discover you're not just drawn to the night, you're one with it. You turn into a werewolf and crave the moonlight even more. It fascinates you and you decide to seek out more people like you. But despite your love of your species, the humans will always hold a soft spot in your heart.

Required Traits: Hopeless-Romantic, Family-Oriented

Lifetime Wish:

Career: Make your money with the gem cutting machine

· fall in love with and marry a human

· have at least one (1) human kid and one (1) werewolf kid

· create a pack of werewolves (they can be turned into werewolves or found)

· optional: offer to turn your human child(ren) into a werewolf and they accept, joining your pack OR offer to turn your human child(ren) into a werewolf and they reject you, losing your relationship forever

· master lycanthropy skill

· redeem alpha wolf lifetime reward

(THIS GENERATION WAS NOT OFFERED WITH THE SIMS 4 EDITION AND IS A GIFT TO ALL SIMS 3 PLAYERS WHO WAITED 2 WHOLE YEARS TO RECEIVE THIS VERSION OF THE CHALLENGE!)

If you choose not to continue, we hope you enjoyed generations one (1) through ten (10). If you did choose to continue on through generation eleven (11), go you!

Happy simming! 😊

[mack3030]

Things the Sims 4 Community Can Do About Paywalls...A Post...

[This is going to be a bit long, so you may want to save it and read it when you have time, or just...you know, buckle in.]

I thought I would ring in the new year by talking about something that I feel we as a community need to finally decide on. (It’s been debated since 2017 or so, and it’s now 2021...) I’d like, if possible, to try to suggest some real solutions and choices that we can make that will hopefully create a better and more honest community out of all of us.  Now I would like to start by making some postulates. In geometry, postulates are facts that do not need proven with a mathematical proof. They are assumed to be true. Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers would call these “Self-Evident Truths”. I would like to use these as a bit of a basis for my arguments. 

Truth: The Sims 4 has been enough of a cash cow for EA.  If you buy the base game ($40) plus all expansion packs (40 each x 10) + all game packs (20 each x 9) + all stuff packs (10 each x 17) you would come to a total of seven hundred and 90 dollars ($790) plus tax. This is of course, without sales, bundling, etc, which many people DO take advantage of, but STILL. That is a TON of money for EA’s pockets.  EA makes a majority of its money on the fact that the Sims 4 is an “incomplete game”. It “completes” the game further and further by adding more “expansions” to the game to the point that it seems almost useless to buy the base game alone without adding to it. 

Even with sales and other things, it’s easy to spend over $500 dollars on the sims 4 game + expansions. Still a lot of cash for a game that is years old. This is just money that is spent on the game that goes to EA. This does not account for:  * Money spent to buy a new computer because your old one wouldn’t run the sims.  * Money spent supporting CC artists who have donations open or early access.  * Money spent on access to sites that have ads/paywalls/exclusive sims 4 CC such as Leosims, etc. (Which are the problem, frankly)

We should be able to respect the fact that a majority of us paid a hefty amount for this game. It is unfair, and frankly greedy to REQUIRE people to pay MORE just to unlock or gain access to specific user created content. 

I am not talking about a VOLUNTARY support or donation because they like what you offer. I am talking about FORCING people to pay if they want to ever be able to use the CC or mod you offer. 

Now, the typical defense for this is “Well, I’m an artist! I spend time/effort/etc working hard on these meshes, the code, etc to make this content!”  Which leads me to point #2. 

Truth: Mods, CC, and other content for the Sims 4 are useless without the game. Once they are created/uploaded to the game, all copyright to those objects IMMEDIATELY transfers to EA. 

I teach art in a Missouri public school. Our state standards dictate that when art students are in middle school grades, they have to learn about copyright, fair use, and creative commons. While I am not a copyright lawyer, I have had to learn enough about this subject to teach it. So allow me to break down a few facts about copyright: 

First, when ya make it, ya own it. There’s not a process to apply for a copyright. The moment you create something that is 100% your own work, you hold the copyright to it. 

Second, when you make something that is created based off of or USING someone else’s intellectual property as a reference or resource it is a fan creation. In art, we call this “fanart”. It is not 100% your own work. Someone else’s intellectual property is involved. 

Fan creations always have tread a very thin and shadowy line when it comes to different companies and the legality of them. You can easily search google for various articles explaining it, but to summarize it in a short method: 

Most companies do not actively go after those who create fan creations unless they are making profits that could instead be going to the creators of the intellectual property. If the fan creation is discovered to be making profits and/or taking the intellectual property in a direction the creator does not approve of, they have legal options to pursue (court, cease and desist letters, etc). 

Third, Copyright can be transferred from person to person. In most cases this is done through a written document that both parties sign, however there IS an exception to this that EA uses to allow itself to transfer your copyrights to your content to them: 

EA’s agreement with you is non-exclusive, meaning that the moment you hit “agree” on the sims 4 terms and conditions, you have handed over your rights to any CC you create for the game. 

If you want to maintain full creative rights over the mesh/mods/etc you make then, you have to not make that content for the sims 4 and make your own platform to host it on. This is way easier said than done. 

Truth: There have been various examples in the past of CC creators who have stolen meshes, bases, bits/pieces of work, or “inspiration” for CC from other sites/companies, who have been called on it publicly. 

The most recent event concerning this was drama concerning itsbrandysims and their use of meshes from imvu/secondlife (you can see my opinion on the subject HERE), but there have been other documented cases. Leosims, for example, has been listed as an example of someone taking meshes from secondlife creators and reuploading them (when it was told to me, I was shown THIS thread as evidence). Another well known creator was accused by a former sims 4 cc creator (who now makes content from second life), and was called out in THIS post in 2019. 

The horrible part of this? Many of these creators are charging people (often at not so great rates as well), for STOLEN content. Content they don’t even own, that they ripped from another place. This should not be accepted by a community that loves a game as much as the Sims 4 community.  Truth: EA has provided a way for people to make money while not hiding content behind paywalls entirely, and the INTENT of this was to OFFSET COSTS.  Almost every post about content locked behind paywalls features this post found on the Sims Forum from 2017. In it, SimGuruDrake, who was the community manager at the time (she has since left the Sims 4 team for another job).  Most of you who have seen this discussion topic before know this post by heart, but I’d like to highlight one important aspect of it: 

One thing that is always important about communication is the intent behind it. The intent for people to be allowed to make patreons and allow early access wasn’t so people could just make money for themselves, the idea was to offset costs to buy programs to make the content. For example, a yearly subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud (which has photoshop, illustrator, etc) costs a couple hundred dollars US a year. If someone was using photoshop to help them create their CC in addition to blender or other free programs, EA/Maxis wanted to allow the creator to not have to pay for making the CC out of pocket.  Can EA/Maxis control what people spend the money they make off of patreon on? No. But it should be noted that the intent of this action was to help people pay for supplies for their hobby more than to make a business out of it. 

Onto the next truth! Truth: There is an image that disputes this post above, however the authenticity of it and timing of it are very disputed. 

This image is often thrown around by people who lock content behind paywalls, but I would like to take a second and try to provide an honest assessment of it.  First of all, I have a bit of a problem with the fact that the original person who “messaged” SimGuruDrake this question has not been identified. This image was not posted on the tumblr of a CC creator who claimed “Hey I reached out to a sims guru and this is the answer I got!” The main pages that have this image are either tweets from CC creators using it to defend their stance on paywalls (ex: here), or tumblrs/tweets “debunking it” (ex: here, here).  I even reverse image searched this image using google, and another platform and could not figure out where this originated from. Of course, I’m not an expert, but...still. 

The fact that the origin of this picture is unknown casts doubt on it. If it were a well known CC maker who is known for being honest, that’s one thing. But the fact that we don’t exactly know where it came from is suspicious. Because frankly, anyone with some decent editing ability could photoshop this. 

Here’s my imperfect edit, but I’m just a self-taught graphics nerd and I am not as dedicated at faking screenshots as some. (And the crap photo quality didn’t help.) Another common issue is that at the supposed “time” that this question was being asked, some state that SimsGuruDrake had already left the Sims 4 team. I will admit, this photo is within the correct timeline, as SimsGuruDrake did not officially depart the sims 4 team until February 2018. (There is a post on the sims forums that has a timestamp that confirms this.) But, if you were in the process of leaving your job within the next month (as a two week/30 day notice is common when leaving a job), would you REALLY be answering questions in DMs on twitter, or be focusing on packing up, and training your successor?  The last thing that really makes me doubt the validity of this picture is the fact that it’s not really easy to message the sims gurus on Twitter. This appears to be twitter from the screenshot (although there are some things that are a little out of place from the current UI): But when I attempt to direct message a sims guru I get this message: 

I even tried seeing if I could reach out via DM to Drake herself, (who now posts under a different twitter) to see if it was possible: 

Could the policies have changed since 2018? Possibly, but I feel that opening up direct messages is just asking for Sims 4 team members to get angry messages, so this could very well be a long running EA policy. I have also reached out to her via a twitter tag (as of 1/2/21), and will update y’all if I get a reply:

Okay, so now that we’ve gone through all of this, let’s talk about the last truth that’s really important:  Truth: Putting content behind paywalls has generally been considered disgusting by many in the sims 4 community, and TAKES AWAY the choice of people to support CC creators they love/appreciate WILLINGLY.  A few notable posts sharing the disgust with this practice can be found: HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE). And these are just what I can find from a simple precursory search.

Okay, Brainiac. So what can we do to solve this problem? 

Well, there’s a few methods we can employ, and sadly, it’s going to take a bit of a commitment and concentrated effort from the community. 

Step #1: Make the COMMUNITY the VICTIM instead of EA. 

Now when I say this, I don’t mean we’re actually victims, but mean that instead of constantly saying things like “WHEN YOU DO THIS YOU VIOLATE EA’S TOU!”, thus making EA the “victim” of the crime. We change the dialog to saying “When you lock stuff behind paywalls, you cheat the sims 4 community and disrespect their choice to support you or not.”  Because let’s be honest. Maxis/EA really doesn’t give much of a care about if people aren’t following this rule. You can report people to the team, but as far as most people have seen, it doesn’t get anywhere. But if we make it where the community is the party being “wronged” it is much harder for those who have paywalls to not be scared. Because the community, in the end, has to be with them.  DepthofPixels had a really amazing post about this HERE. 

Step 2: Decide to not support anyone who puts their content behind exclusive paywalls and do not hesitate to spread the word about why you choose not to do so. 

By that, I mean

not paying any patreon accounts that don’t offer either their content 100% for free, or offer early access.

And sharing about why you choose to do that on your social media. Something I might suggest would be to make it a bit personal and share something like:

Instead of spending $15 a month to get exclusive content from Leosims (or any other patreon/paywall creator here) I’m spending that $15 supporting creator x, creator y, and creator z, who don’t put their work behind paywalls! 

Link their patrons, share why you like their content, and why you take the stance to make the community better. Make it a positive thing, praising the people who are doing RIGHT by the community. 

Yes, you may not get their content for a while (although there are some different places (

x

,

x

) to find them *cough*. But in the end, is it worth supporting someone’s content when they’re treating the community badly? 

Step 3: Report creators who actively steal content from IMVU/secondlife to those respective companies, and all others to EA. (Even though nothing may happen.)

Here’s the deal. When people steal from either of those sites, they are infringing on someone’s copyright, as well as Imvu/secondlife’s copyright as well. It’s not okay, and they should be held accountable for it. Here’s the LINK for submitting a ticket to Secondlife. I haven’t been able to find one for IMVU, but maybe someone else will find one. Let those companies know and allow them to handle those specific creators.  As to the other creators, EA may not handle them at the moment. But IF (and this is a wishful thinking “if”) there were suddenly a flood of messages about certain creators...? I think they might have to pay attention to some of those messages. There is an official report form, but it might even be worth tweeting to SleddingGuruFrost, who is the current community manager asking about their stance on paywalls.  And last but not least: 

Step 4: Make sure that those who are doing the right thing and not putting their work behind paywalls feel appreciated. Show them some love via a tumblr ask, or by tagging them on twitter, or by going up a tier on their patreon (or pledging for the first time). Celebrate these heroes who are creating content and not forcing it on us. 

Us asking for people to give us a choice to support them isn’t being greedy, or disrespecting their time. We just want transparency, and respect from those who create content for the game we love so much versus them treating us like we’re just a source of income. I know it might seem a bit hard to do this for some of you, and for some it may seem like I’m preaching to the choir, but we have to decide where we stand on this issue and stop letting those who abuse this system keep doing it. We can make a difference if we decide as a COMMUNITY to work together.

With commitment,  ~Sunny

[urnooboo]

LIFELINES AND LEGACIES - A D&D inspired TS4 Legacy Challenge

By me, @urnooboo!

Even though I’m not active, I wanted to start another legacy challenge, but I didn’t want to do a normal one. Since my friends and I play D&D and love it, why not take inspiration from there? And so here is the culmination of that little brainstorm! It’s my first time making a challenge like this, so hopefully it won’t be that bad. :D It’s a legacy challenge based on the Dungeons and Dragons classes!

If you want to try this challenge out, please use the tags #L&L challenge or #ts4 L&L ! I’d really appreciate it if anyone tries this out just for fun! 

Bit of a warning, this challenge gets a bit chaotic in the middle because...honestly, I dunno,,,,

Rules and requirements under the cut!!

Pack Requirements: All the EPs and GPs except for Star Wars (ew), but you can always skip some requirements if you don’t have the packs for them

You can choose to do this on normal lifespan, but playing on long is allowed too.

So, how do you want to do this?

GENERATION 1: Fighter

You don’t have much right now, but you’re determined to build yourself from the ground up and start a family. You have a strong will to fight when needed and you’re quite athletic. You don’t have to be completely alone at the start of this journey, however, and a long time best friend of yours can be part of your party.

RULES:

Must have Active trait

Fight/”Friendly Spar” with at least 3 different sims and 1 occult sim

Complete Successful Lineage aspiration

Starting funds must be less than 20,000 simoleons after buying a house

Get a job in either the Fitness career or the Military career

OPTIONAL: Can have another sim in the household when starting out, and must be friends with them. They can be your family, childhood friend,existing lover, or just some random roommate. (Also yes, you’re allowed to romance them. Unless if they’re your family, yikes)

GENERATION 2: Druid

Your family may not have had the best financial state starting out, but you don’t let things like money phase you. You’ve always loved nature and going out, and dreamed of wanting to do more for the environment as an adult. You like to take things a bit slowly, and love to lounge around. 

RULES:

Must have Vegetarian, Lazy, and Loves Outdoors traits

Lot must be off-the-grid

Have a green eco footprint

Marry in adulthood instead of young adulthood

Meet and become friends with the hermit in Granite Falls

Max out the Gardening skill and grow your own food

Optional: You must only have one lover and you must woo them with bees

GENERATION 3: Artificer

You’re dissatisfied at how your family lounges around most of the time, and you’re quite the workaholic compared to them. Your career is your life, and you happen to be both ambitious and gifted. Though you love your child but you have absolutely no idea how to be a parent. So you might end up being a bit of a helicopter parent… 

RULES:

Must have Ambitious and Genius traits

Graduate college on a scholarship

Get a job in the Scientist career

Have at least level 6 Robotics skill

Have only one child, born from a one night stand/fling

Never get married

Only do strict parenting interactions with your child

OPTIONAL: Complete the element collection

GENERATION 4: Wizard

You grew up in a house with high expectations, and always wanted to please your family. You worked hard in your studies and in the end- it paid off. But at the cost of you not having much of a social life. However, that really isn’t your priority. Instead, you chose to start learning the magic arts, enthralled by its mystic ways. You were always good at school, so why not start getting good at magic now? As long as you put your mind to it, it shouldn’t be that hard...right? 

RULES:

Must have Perfectionist and Loner traits

Have less than 5 friends

Must finish Whiz Kid child aspiration

Become an “A” student in both grade school and high school

Must have “Responsible” trait when you reach Young Adulthood (via high responsibility value)

Graduate college with a distinguished degree

Become a spellcaster

OPTIONAL: Take the teaching or doctor career

GENERATION 5: Sorcerer

You were born with a magical bloodline, and you love to show it off. You want the whole world to see that you’re a cool prodigal spellcaster. You’re the complete opposite of your parent; loud, outgoing, quick to make friends. You’ve even developed a knack for acting in order to impress people, and you dream of becoming a famous star in order to show those who wronged you before that you’re the best thing on earth. 

RULES:

Must have Self-Absorbed and Erratic trait

Must have weak bloodline trait from parent and become a spellcaster

Reach the Adept, Master, or Virtuoso rank 

Become at least a B-Lister

Get to level 7 of the Actor career

Have some sort of rival

Must have “Good Manners” trait when reaching Young Adulthood (via high manners value)

Must have good reputation

Optional: Be the leader of a popular club and have the Insider trait

GENERATION 6: Bard

You’ve got it all. Rich and famous family, a magical bloodline, musical skill, lots of friends...but something inside you just feels...missing. Thanks to this, you started going around looking for lovers, carelessly tossing aside those who happened to not meet your indecisive standards. It would probably take you years before you calm down and settle with someone you truly care about, but all the heartbreak you’ve caused before that is quite impressive, to say the least. 

RULES:

Must have Romantic, Music Lover and Non-Committal traits

This sim has to be the hottest generation. Go all out yo!!!!

Must have strong bloodline trait but cannot be a spellcaster

Complete the Serial Romantic Aspiration

Work in the Entertainer career as a musician

Have as many affairs as you want and have illegitimate kids BUT…

Your heir must be the result of an affair with an occult sim that isn’t a spellcaster. See rules for next generation below

OPTIONAL: Only get married in late adulthood or elder life stage. You can’t have kids with this person.

GENERATION 7: Warlock

You never really had a close relationship with your “famous” parent, and spent more time with your occult family, making you pretty close with each other. Your half siblings don’t like you because you inherited a part of your famous parent’s fortune, despite being...you know...a paranormal freak? To get around this, you developed quite a skillful tongue, and you know your way around words. Now you’re looking for someone to get some more money from... 

RULES:

Must have bloodline trait AND be part of an occult race that isn't a spellcaster. Like, you could be a mermaid, vampire, or alien with the bloodline trait, or even a half alien or half vampire.

Have a high relationship with your occult parent

Reach level 10 charisma skill and get yourself a sugar daddy/mommy. :D

Now, your path for this generation will differ depending on whether your parent is an alien, vampire, or mermaid, and is based on some of the D&D warlock patrons. However, this divergence is completely optional. and you can just focus on finding a sugar daddy/mommy only

ALIEN PARENT (Great Old One patron) You can be either a full alien or half alien for this one.

Get a job in the Astronaut career and visit Sixam

Max out your Logic skill

If you’re a full alien, memory wipe at least one person who you had a high relationship with if they find out you’re an alien.

Must have Insensitive trait when you reach Young Adulthood (comes from having low empathy)

VAMPIRE PARENT (Undying patron) You can be either a full vampire or half-vampire for this one.

Max out your vampire lore skill

Own a cowplant for as long as possible

If full vampire, turn at least one person into a vampire

Become friends with the Grim Reaper, by any means necessary :)

MERMAID PARENT (Kraken/Lurker in the Deep patron) (UA) You can only be a full mermaid for this one.

Max out your fishing skill

Try to have one child with Sulani Mana trait

Collect 5 rare fishes

Die from polar bear plunge (jumping into a pool outside when it’s freezing cold)

GENERATION 8: Cleric

The generation before was…chaotic, to say the least. You may have occult blood in you but you’re gonna try to set things straight for future generations. How are you gonna do that? BY GETTING RICH, OF COURSE! SPREAD THE WORD OF CAPITALISM AROUND BY STARTING YOUR OWN RETAIL STORE! Or a restaurant, that works too. The most prominent thing that you’ve inherited from your parents is your love of money, and you’re constantly coming up with schemes to get more. Gods may not exist in The Sims, but you might as well worship something that’s powerful. And money is power.

RULES: 

Must have Materialistic trait

Have a job in the Business career, Politics career, or Civil Designer career (Civic Planner) and bop bop bop, bop to the top

Own at least one retail store/restaurant with a rating of at least three stars

Complete the Fabulously Wealthy Aspiration

Eventually move to a penthouse OR one of the big apartments in the business district in San Myshuno

Have only one child

Fall in love with someone from work, then divorce them after having a fight

GENERATION 9: Paladin

Despite the unique circumstances that happened before your birth, you grew up...pretty normal. There’s not much to say about you since your magical bloodline and occult genes are probably dwindling from here, and sooner or later your family legacy will go back to being humans. You’ve always wanted to protect this world and be the one to bring justice to it, so you take up a job in the police force. You and your lover unfortunately had a kid, and even though your lover may have wanted it deep down you actually hate kids. You’ve heard about strange events going on in a town called Strangerville, and you’ve been itching to investigate… 

RULES:

Must be close with Generation 8 sim

Must have Hates Children trait

Have a job in the Police career

Complete the Strangerville Aspiration and become the Hero of Strangerville

Have the “Mediator” trait when reaching Young Adulthood (from high conflict resolution)

Stay in the penthouse/apartment your parent got

OPTIONAL: Complete the “Rambunctious Scamp” child aspiration and get “Physically Gifted” trait

GENERATION 10: Rogue

Ironically, despite your upbringing, you ended up becoming a deviant that has constant run-ins with the law. Your relationship with your family isn’t great, but you’re determined to make a name for yourself as a slippery troublemaker. Your true dream however, is to find your one true lover, since you’re a secret hopeless romantic. Your flirting skills are laughable though, and you tense up whenever you have to do something romantic. How are you gonna find love like this? 

RULES:

Have bad relationship with Generation 9 sim

Must have Kleptomaniac, Gloomy, and Unflirty traits

Reach the top of the criminal career

Complete both the Soulmate aspiration

Whenever you visit another sim’s lot, steal something from their house

Have up to two exes before finally settling on the one you wanna marry

Get friendzoned at least once

Move out of your parents’ penthouse/apartment and into a small 20x15 lot

OPTIONAL: Have negative reputation

OPTIONAL: Be BFFs with your other parent

You can end the challenge here, but there are still some more D&D classes left to do, so here they are, the optional generations!

GENERATION 11: Barbarian

You take after your parent a lot, and you’re skilled in making people absolutely hate you. Your emotions are just as stable as Philippine wifi, and you have this terrible habit of getting into fights a lot. But just because people don’t like you doesn’t mean you can’t go out and have fun. In fact, you’re quite infamous for going out to parties and starting bar fights. 

RULES:

Must have Hot-headed and Mean traits

Must have “Uncontrolled Emotions” trait when aging up into Young Adulthood (from low emotional control)

Fight as many people as possible, make lots of enemies

Throw a lot of parties and go to lots of bar nights and events

Complete Public Enemy aspiration

OPTIONAL: Die from cardiac arrest

GENERATION 12: Monk

For someone with a public nuisance for a parent, you’re pretty chill. You love to make stuff, and your way of life is quite tranquil, to say the least. You’re handy and artistic, and love to do things yourself, even if it does give off the impression that you’re super cheap. You’ve always got a gift for someone during christmas, and your inventory is full of stuff that you’ve made, or components to make stuff with. The world is cool with you, and you’re cool with the world. You’re not the type of person who could hold down a regular job though...

RULES:

Max out the Wellness skill

Must have Maker trait

Be at least level 4 in the all following skills: Handiness, Fabrication, Painting, Writing, Flower Arranging, and any instrument skill. (Also Knitting, if you have it)

Always change jobs when you reach level 4 in them, and your only truly stable source of income is from selling the stuff you’ve made

Live on an off-the-grid lot, preferably somewhere near the water or near a forest

Have twins for kids and only those twins (you can cheat to get this ahhaha)

Elope only, cause weddings aint your style

Explore Selvadorada with your family at least once

GENERATION 13: Ranger

After you and your family went on a vacation to Selvadorada, you decided that you’d travel the world, no matter what! Your twin sibling was originally gonna help you complete this dream, but unfortunately they died due to mysterious circumstances. While you mourned away your sorrows, you came across a stray animal that reminded you of your late sibling and decided to take it in. Once you got yourself together out of your slump, you decided to pack your bags and start travelling around the world for realsies.

RULES: 

Be BFFs with your twin

Twin sibling must die during their teenage/early young adult years

Adopt at least one pet after that (yeah, you can have more)

Complete Friend of the Animals aspiration

Visit all the vacation worlds at least once in your lifetime

Discover all the secret lots except Sixam

Visit at least one lot in each normal world with your pet

Move household at least once

Don’t have children

And that’s it! I hope you guys enjoy this challenge!! I’ll try to play this too, though I might be even more inactive since school is finally starting hnnng you guys are free to tweak some requirements to better suit your gameplay so just have fun and enjoy!!!

[transparenttriumphzombie]

Danielle Bunten Berry (February 19, 1949 – July 3, 1998), formerly known as Dan Bunten, was an American game designer and programmer, known for the 1983 game M.U.L.E., one of the first influential multiplayer video games, and 1984's The Seven Cities of Gold.

In 1998, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Computer Game Developers Association. In 2007, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose Bunten as the 10th inductee into its Hall of Fame.

Bunten was born in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas as a junior in high school. She was the oldest of six siblings. While growing up in Little Rock, Bunten's family didn't always have enough money to make ends meet, so Bunten took a job at a pharmacy. She also held a leadership role with the Boy Scouts.

According to Bunten, one of her fondest childhood memories involved playing games with her family. She was quoted saying, “When I was a kid, the only times my family spent together that weren’t totally dysfunctional were when we were playing games. Consequently, I believe games are a wonderful way to socialize.”

While attending the University of Arkansas, she opened up her own bike shop called Highroller Cyclerie. Bunten acquired a degree in industrial engineering in 1974 and started programming text-based video games as a hobby. After she graduated from college, she was employed by the National Science Foundation, where she created urban models before starting a job at a video game company.

In 1978, Bunten sold a real-time auction game for the Apple II titled Wheeler Dealers to a Canadian software company, Speakeasy Software. This early multiplayer game required a custom controller, raising its price to USD$35 in an era of $15 games sold in plastic bags. It sold only 50 copies.

After producing three titles for SSI, Bunten, who by then had founded a software company called Ozark Softscape, caught the attention of Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins. M.U.L.E. was Bunten's first game for EA, originally published for the Atari 8-bit family because the Atari 800 had four controller ports. Bunten later ported it to the Commodore 64. While its sales - 30,000 units - were not high, the game developed a cult following and was widely pirated. The game setting was inspired by the novel Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein.

Along with the success of M.U.L.E., Berry also had close ties with the games Robot Rascals, Heart of Africa, and Cartels & Cutthroat$. Throughout her career, she was involved in the creation of 12 games, 10 of which revolved around multiplayer compatibility. The only two which didn't have a multiplayer focus were Seven Cities of Gold and Heart of Africa.

Bunten wanted to follow up M.U.L.E. with a game that would have been similar to the later game Civilization, but after fellow Ozark Softscape partners balked at the idea, Bunten followed with The Seven Cities of Gold, which proved popular because of its simplicity. By the time the continent data were stored in the computer's memory, there was little left for fancy graphics or complex gameplay - the game had only five resources. It was a hit, selling more than 150,000 copies.

The follow-up game, Heart of Africa, appeared in 1985 and was followed by Robot Rascals, a combination computer/card game that had no single-player mode and sold only 9,000 copies, and 1988's Modem Wars, one of the early games played by two players over a dial-up modem.  Modem Wars was ahead of its time, as few people in the late 1980s had modems in their homes.

Bunten departed EA for MicroProse. Allegedly, Trip Hawkins, CEO of EA, did not feel that pushing production of games onto a cartridge based system was a good idea. The shift was important to Bunten, as computer games had previously been distributed on floppy discs, and a changeover to a cartridge system would allow games to be played on Nintendo systems. This was a significant factor in her decision to leave. She then developed a computer version of the board game Axis and Allies, which became 1990's Command HQ, a modem/network grand strategy wargame. Bunten's second and last game for MicroProse was 1992's Global Conquest, a 4-player network/modem war game. It was the first 4-player network game from a major publisher. Bunten was a strong advocate of multi-player online games, observing that, "No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer.'"

A port of M.U.L.E. to the Mega Drive/Genesis was cancelled after Bunten refused to put guns and bombs in the game, feeling it would alter the game too much from its original concept. In 1997, Bunten shifted focus to multiplayer games over the Internet with Warsport, a remake of Modem Wars that debuted on the MPlayer.com game network.

Less than a year after the release of Warsport, Bunten was diagnosed with lung cancer presumably related to years of heavy smoking. She died on July 3, 1998. At the time, she was working on the design of an Internet version of M.U.L.E..

The game's primary premise consisted of players playing with and against one another to establish total control over a planet. The name of the game stands for Multiple Use Labor Element. The game was originally made for the Atari 400 and Atari 800 but was later developed to be compatible with the Commodore 64, NES, and IBM pcjr. The game has a maximum of four players. Players are given different options and choices, and are allowed to create their colony the way they see fit. This can be done by changing races and giving respective colonies different advantages that will impact the way the game is played and determined later on down the line.

Ultimately there are two ways in which players can win the game. The first way is by having the most amount of money out of all four players, and the second way is by being able to survive the colony itself. The game focuses heavily on going out and retrieving resources that can be used to benefit their character. Items such as food, energy, and crystite are some of a number of in-game items that players are able to retrieve and use to better themselves. In order for a player to be able to access these items, they will first have to have access to a M.U.L.E. The acquisition of these items has a direct reflection on what the player will be allowed to do. For example, if a player doesn't have enough food, they will have less time during their turn.

The Seven Cities of Gold was originally intended to be another multiplayer game. It was originally a single player format, focused heavily on having the players travel around the map and collect items to help them strengthen their colony. Once they felt as though they had a solid colony, the players could battle each other to see who could overtake who After much consideration, Ozark Software came to the conclusion that this would not be doable. Instead, they went with a formula that had the game focus solely on developing a colony.

Ozark Softscape was a computer game development team consisting initially of Danielle Bunten, her brother Bill Bunten, Jim Rushing, and Alan Watson. Ozark was run out of Bunten's basement. The company was based out of Little Rock, Arkansas and had profound success with a few of their early titles. Ozark Softscape had a publishing deal with Electronic Arts for several of its groundbreaking games. In the early 1990s, Ozark Softscape left its partnership with Electronic Arts over a dispute to port some games to cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It began a partnership with MicroProse to produce two more titles: Command HQ and Global Conquest. A dispute occurred over creating a follow-up to M.U.L.E. with Sega in 1993, and the company dissolved. The employees of Ozark Softscape moved to different areas of the software industry. 

Bunten was married three times. Bunten had three children, one daughter and two sons. After a third divorce, Bunten, who had until then been living as male, transitioned to living as a woman. Bunten underwent sex reassignment surgery in November 1992 and afterward kept a lower profile in the games industry. Bunten later regretted having surgery, finding that for her, the drawbacks of surgical transition outweighed the benefits, and wishing she had considered alternative approaches. She joked that the surgery was to improve the video game industry's male/female ratio and aesthetics, but advised others considering a sex change not to proceed unless there was no alternative and warned them of the cost, saying "Being my 'real self' could have included having a penis and including more femininity in whatever forms made sense. I didn't know that until too late and now I have to make the best of the life I've stumbled into. I just wish I would have tried more options before I jumped off the precipice."

After her transition in fall 1992, Bunten stayed out of the video game spotlight, mostly keeping to herself. She felt as though that after transitioning she was not as good at video game development as she had previously been, stating "So, I'm a little more than three years into my new life role as Ms. Danielle Berry, and her career looks to be somewhat different from old Mr. Dan Bunten's. For one thing, I'm not as good a programmer as he was." On July 3, 1998, Berry died of lung cancer.

Wheeler Dealers (1978)

Cartels & Cutthroats (1981)

Computer Quarterback (1981)

Cytron Masters (1982)

M.U.L.E. (1983)

The Seven Cities of Gold (1984)

Heart of Africa (1985)

Robot Rascals (1986)

Modem Wars (1988)

Command HQ (1990)

Global Conquest (1992)

Warsport (1997)

Although many of Bunten's titles were not commercially successful, they were widely recognized by the industry as being ahead of their time. On May 7, 1998, less than two months before her death, Berry was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Computer Game Developers Association.

In 2000, Will Wright dedicated his blockbuster hit The Sims to Bunten's memory. In 2007, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose Bunten to be inducted into its Hall of Fame. Sid Meier, the mastermind behind the video game series Civilization, inducted her at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

Bunten was a true pioneer for the video game industry, especially its multiplayer aspect of it. She is regarded by many as one of the best designers to ever grace the video game industry. Her success has even led people to make the claim that the work she did with games like M.U.L.E and Seven Cities of Gold was the inspiration behind highly successful modern multiplayer games like World of Warcraft.

Bunten was known as someone who was very easy to talk to. If someone recognized her in public, she would be more than delighted to have a conversation with them.

[antoine-roquentin]

Curtis: I am nervous about saying this to you, but I do think computer games have played a very powerful role over the past 20 years in reinforcing that managerial way of seeing the world. I’m nervous because you know much more about the games than I do. But it has always seemed to me that, at some point, as well as running around and shooting and solving puzzles, games introduced this other thing. Which was that you spend a lot of time choosing and managing things – not just how you looked, but what weapons and what powers you had, and how you could balance one against the other to produce the most effective online-being for the system of the game. That computer games were one of the pillars of the modern ideology which says that the most important thing is to keep the system stable

Booker: I’m sure you’re right about the influence of games, but I think you’re describing the front-of-house user experience, which is probably the part that’s influenced the wider world the least. Games where players are juggling equipment and abilities tend to be combat-heavy exercises in perpetual instability, and any kind of management game I’ve ever turned my hand to, where the aim is basically to build and maintain a stable system – whether it’s The Sims or Tropico, or whatever – usually ends in stressful chaos. Although maybe that just underlines why I shouldn’t be running the country.

But I agree that the principles of game design, the background structure, are popping up everywhere. A few years ago I fronted a Channel 4 list show about influential video games. They were listed chronologically, so we started with things like Pong, and the final entry on our list was Twitter, which I described as a “multiplayer online game in which you choose an avatar and role-play a persona loosely based on your own, attempting to accrue followers by pressing lettered buttons to form interesting sentences”.

At the time people sort of scoffed at that, and I was slightly taking the piss, but I do think we were right to classify it as a game, because it’s designed like one. Not just in terms of the “score” feedback, the retweets and likes and so on, but the rhythm of it, the flow of little moments of delight or disappointment, just like a Mario game. There’s a clear gameplay loop where, the more you engage, the less you want to put it down. If Twitter didn’t already exist, you could launch it today on the Steam game store as an RPG.

I don’t want to just dunk on social media, because it gives voice to people in a way that wasn’t really possible before, but its inbuilt tendency to encourage escalating, heightened speech seems guaranteed to ultimately turn a lot of users into performers, a bit disconnected from the complexity of what they feel. Sort of like the way people talk after a couple of drinks. Actually, I don’t know why I’m telling you this, because you touch on it in the series.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard the gaming term “grinding” – it’s sort of half-pejorative; it basically describes a player happily and voluntarily performing a series of repetitive tasks over and over, for hours or sometimes weeks on end, in the hope of some eventual reward. It requires some quite sinisterly well-calibrated game design to work properly. It has to feel like popping blisters on an endless sheet of bubble wrap – monotonous and fulfilling at the same time. If I had to invent a word to describe it, I’d say “emptifying”. I don’t know if it’s as evil as some people think – playing a game like that can be really soothing and oddly meditative. Like knitting. But I remember reading that these grind-y gamification principles are creeping into lots of real-life situations, like Amazon warehouse jobs, to make them feel less tedious.

Anyway, I’ll shut up about games now. I’d love to see you explore game design though.

Curtis: I think that’s a brilliant observation about Twitter. That makes a lot of sense. And I really like the idea of the gamification of everything. It’s also true in politics. Do you remember that man who Tony Blair brought into be his press person – Alastair Campbell? He immediately set up a thing in Number 10 called The Rapid Response Unit. Its job whenever Blair or the government was attacked was to immediately attack back, and monster them before they had time almost to breathe. It was very Twitter before Twitter – but it also had all the attributes of a video game. Number 10 became a place under constant attack from zombies, or whatever, from outside, and you had to spend your time stopping them coming through the windows or up from the cellar. And there was never a time to relax because there would always be another wave.

It was something that Armando Iannucci captured very well in the Thick of It – that constant attack sensibility. But that mood of constant crisis that Campbell created also had another function. It was a brilliant way of hiding the fact that you as politicians didn’t have any real ideas any longer. Gamification as a way of creating a world of constant hysteria that never allows you to stop and ask, “What is this all for?”

And I think that idea of “grinding” touches on something that I know in myself. That sometimes having to do an extraordinary set of repetitive tasks is really calming. I find it when I am editing – when at points I have to do some logging or checking, which is very time consuming. It does allow you to drift into a dream state, which liberates you from all the inner voices. You lose yourself, which, in our very self-conscious age, is something quite unusual. I read a piece a while ago that argued that people’s relationship to factory work in the age of mass-production was much more complicated than we think. That of course it was depressing and exhausting, but many people also liked the repetition in a strange way precisely because it allowed them to move into another state, into a form of calming and liberation.

[echoweaver]

Your thoughts on the Sims 1-4

Guess I’m in the mood to do these. Grabbing a tag from @mosneakers​.

Sims 1: The big thing I remember about this game is that it could take your sim hours to cross from one end of the house to the other. Thus, if the sim got up at the normal one-hour-before-work, they often wouldn’t have time to both pee and eat. I got obsessed with designing and efficient house, with the kitchen right outside the bedroom door, so that my sims could get to work with the best mood. 

Then I let the garden go bad, and it would destroy my sims’ mood on the way to the carpool, and it took me forever to figure out what was going on :-D

Sim 2: I remember being thrilled by how much easier it was for sims to get around their house. The introduction of lifespans intrigued me. However, I hadn’t really figured out what I wanted to DO with this sandbox game yet. Playing Sims gets boring if you don’t have some kind of a goal. I’d never heard of a generational challenge, much less rotational gameplay, and I hadn’t plugged into the fan community yet.

I did dabble in mods -- mostly the mod to drastically increase the chance of a sim being abducted when using the telescope so I could make alien babies. I built a household from two CAS-built sisters who were of different races. One of them married a man, and the other a woman, and then I got frustrated that the lesbian couple couldn’t make babies. They adopted, but I was annoyed by how genetically boring their adopted son was. Then I got obsessed with trying to get one of the lesbians to cheat on her spouse to make a baby without being discovered. Where is artificial insemination when you need it?

Later, I created a new sim who married into the Broke family. I got bored and tried to starve Dustin to death to make a ghost. when I removed the door to his bedroom and his needs got very low, he got down on his knees to beg the Watcher for his life. I felt so guilty that I actually turned off the game and never went back!

Sims 3:  This is where it happened for me. Open world and a town that aged with my active household just better matches the way I imagine playing. I even figured out generational play, at least somewhat, before really plugging into the fan community.

I didn’t realize until reading @mosneakers and @natolesims‘s memes that there was so much hate floating around for Sims 3 art style! I admit that I do dislike the child faces. I thought Sims 2 faces were too long and thin. Sims 3 faces seem to have overcompensated by being just a bit too round. Otherwise, I’m quite sure I don’t know what you guys are talking about. LOL.

I don’t think I’d still be playing if it weren’t for NRaas, though. Sims 3′s open world was pretty ambitious, and their data management was totally not up to the task. I spent years offering tech support on people’s blogs when they started to suffer data corruption in generation 2 or 3. You just can’t play without at least minimal mods to clean up save files. It’s unintuitive that a modded game is more stable than vanilla, but it’s just true. Sad, but true.

Sims 4: I have played this very little, not because I hate it but because I am stubbornly determined to finish my 10-generation legacy. A lot of folks just rebuilt their household in Sims 4 and continued to play. At the time Sims 4 came out, I was playing supernatural-heavy games with custom skintones, so I’d lose almost everything if I ported them over. It also turns out that it’s hard to face going from a heavily-modded, 11-expansion experience to a game with base or just one expansion. I have a lot more sympathy for Sims 2 players who skipped Sims 3 entirely.

I have a hard time facing the color presets and closed world, but the game in its current state really seems to have done great things with gameplay. If/when I get the Samples done, I’ll take a look at making the switch. Of course, by then Sims 5 will likely be out, so maybe I’ll skip....

What is your favorite Expansion pack

Generations and/or Seasons. But it’s really hard to choose.

Small pets or Horses?

I really,  really love Sims 3 horses. Since I’m modding pets, it can probably be guessed that I like the animals in general :).

What is your favorite active career?

Yes.

I have had a ton of fun with almost all active careers. If forced to choose, I might go for firefighter.

What is your favorite Lifetime Wish?

Buh. I really dug the Photography one I guess. I just like doing different ones.

Whims or Wants?

I’m sorry. I have no idea what this question even means (blush).

What is your favorite Occult?

I feel like all the occults in TS3 are kind of underdeveloped. That said, witches are pretty cool.

Cowplants, Bonehilda, or the Social Bunny?

Bonehilda

How do you pick your sims names?

I am absolutely OBSESSED with names. I’m sorry I only got to name one flesh-and-blood child, so I let it all out in naming my simmies. I get into the head of the parent(s) and come up with lists from whatever they would like. My saves are very gameplay-directed, and tend to randomize most traits, so I intentionally don’t build a sim to a name or try to make a sim’s name suit their personality at all. After all, when we name our children, we get no say over who they eventually become :).

Do you create a spouse for a sim, or do you go after a townie?

Townie! My gaming style is heavily gameplay-oriented. I want my sims to choose their partner using wishes and attraction and whatever else the game provides. However, I also am incredibly interested in genetic experimentation, so I do allow myself to change the physical appearance of some sims before making babies with them if they are too bland. I populated my Samples save from scratch, largely using downloaded simalikes of real people. I have NRaas set to use existing sims in the town or in my sim bin, to generate new ones. So basically I do my best to have the most interesting genetics pool I can so I don’t need to edit faces.

Do you prefer to follow storytelling Simblrs, or do your prefer gameplay Simblrs?

I’m not totally sure what this is asking either :-D. Are “storytelling” simblrs the ones that largely use the game as an artistic medium for screenshots using poses and whatnot? My play style is to play the game and build stories from it, so I’m not entirely sure what category I fall into myself.

I suppose it doesn’t matter because I follow both. I’m not terribly drawn to dressup challenges and lookbooks.

What year did you join Tumblr/Simblr?

I have absolutely no friggin idea. I tried to look back in my email archive to track notifications, and that failed. I came back after three years, so it has to be at least for years before I returned....?

[guigz1-coldwar]

'An savior' : an new chapter for "The woman with an strange name" is out !

Chapter Summary : After helping the gunsmith to make an delivery to 'Fort Hollister', Bell is returning to Redemption with him before the end of the day.....and the invitation to Adler's place.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart , @smokeywhalee (If anyone want to be added, feel free to tell me, same thing for my main fic "Redemption of an Spirit in an Cold War')

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She did what she had to do but she never thought about what will happen during that protection of the gunsmith's wagon to deliver boxes filled with either guns, ammo or both at the same time to the US Army fort connected to Adler's gang. To say that in two days, she killed 3 person in legitimate defense....it was looking like the city of Redemption was maybe going to face more events like this that could change everything but for the moment, it wasn't the time to think about it.

It took almost more than 10 minutes for the soldiers to take out every box from the wagon and it was 10 long minutes for Bell & Woods, surrounded by walls & soldiers that were still curious about her presence here. Then, the two could finally breath freely as they were authorized to go away, leaving the fort behind them to go back to Redemption, an bit exhausted from the events of the day but for Bell, the day wasn't really over....she still has to go to that invitation with the sheriff to see the mayor....

"Woods." Bell started, wanting to have an talk with the gunsmith as they were at 1 kilometer from the city, she was curious about something that she heard about in the fort. Of course, she was still armed with the Winchester 1886 he gave her in case.

"Yes, miss ?" He said, looking in front of him at his seat, focused on making the wagon arrive at its destination.

"I have heard something about you in that fort that is making me curious." She told him directly, causing him to make an questioning face. "I heard the commander calling you 'Sergeant Woods'." She added, her eyes on her rifle before looking back at him. "You were in the army ?"

"Of course, I was." He replied, not sure if he needed to be proud or not about his service in the army. "I served in the army for almost 10 years and I resigned an year ago." He continued, giving her more infos about himself.

"I can see that war wasn't something to be proud of." Bell stated, seeing his face going slower to not be too proud of the army....must be the state of the army they saw back in the fort doing that.... "Why did you resign ?" She demanded.

"I was having enough about been ordered to do this, do that, you know." He responded as Bell was already knowing what he was talking about, Woods wasn't the man to like authority of his superiors and his voice....it was sure saying the truth. "It was at the end of the Spanish-American War that I resigned before coming here."

"You were born in here, maybe ?" She questioned but he shook his head.

"No, I was born in Philadelphia but I didn't want to return over there, it had changed too much, that civilization." He claimed, preferring the Old West than the modern technology except if it was about guns...there, he was liking it, the only exception...."And also because I wanted to stay with my friends : Lawrence & Alex." He added.

"The priest and the doctor ?" He nodded to her question, revealing two others veterans at her eyes.

"Yes, we were friends back in the days but war did change us : Mason had an troubled past so he became an priest to try to change things & Sims became an doctor, still staying in his domain like me." He expressed, an little smile on his face as the wagon was arriving in the city limits on an side road. "What about you ?" He asked her as for him, he was the one wanting to know now.

"I don't know if I can talk about this." She whispered as this subject was hard for her to talk about.

"Come on, I told you about me, talk about you." He pressed her to talk as the wagon was coming near his shop.

"Maybe later but not now." She affirmed again her opinion as Woods finally stopped the wagon in front of his armory, ending the ride back here. The two got off the wagon without any talks and they entered his shop, looking not sure to talk about this anymore.

"So, thank you again for helping me." He thanked again as she was putting the Winchester on the counter but he gestured to her. "No, you can keep it if you want, it's your reward." He explained, putting the rifle back in her hands even if she didn't have any holstler for an gun like that with her.

"I don't know..." She chuckled, checking her rifle in her hands before nodding, taking it with her. "I will buy something for it tomorrow to hold it and some bullets along it." She said, an smile on her face as she hold the rifle with her right hand by its cannon.

"You will not have to pay it, I can offer it to you." He proposed to her about that.

"If you want but only tomorrow, I've got an invitation to honor." She announced to him but on his face, it was looking that he was aware of the situation about her, Adler & the sheriff.

"Yes, I heard of it, Adler invitating you & old Lazar to his house...that's an first." He exclaimed, going back on the other side of the counter to face her, biting her lips to think about the leader here, invitating an friend and an stranger to his house. "Anyway, I hope that you're good now."

"Yeah, I'm good." She confirmed before she decided that it was time to maybe go and leave him alone, her task now done with him. "Well, I'm leaving you now, good day, Woods." She make an sign with her hat to him as he salute her as he didn't wear any hat before she left the shop.

She didn't receive any money but that wasn't something she wanted actually, an talk was just all she wanted and adding to that, she received another gun from him : an Winchester 1886. It was almost making her the most armed person in town with 4 guns on her : two semi-automatic pistols, an revolver and now an repeater rifle. But she preferred to not have too much on her, she was good with her pistols & revolver for the moment.

At first, she decided to return to her hotel room, saluting the sheriff still at his porch along the way, to put her rifle in it, not wanting to keep it when she will have to go to the mayor's house, she knows that her guns are maybe going to be confiscated by Adler's men. Once she put it back on the only chair in the room, she didn't know what she could possibly do after helping the gunsmith to make his delivery.

Now, she didn't want to kill anyone else as her last job involved her to kill 2 mexicans thieves and she couldn't go back to the sheriff, preferring to talk to him once the two were ready to go to the mayor's house and like he said, there were other person in town than him. There were either the priest, Alex Mason or the doctor, Lawrence Sims to go talk to....she went for the second option as she wanted to know how was her horse for the moment.

"Doctor !" She started after arriving near the stables where she saw him working, the door were widely open and she entered the stables, seeing him near the box her horse 'Butterfly' was.

"Oh, hello, miss Bell !" He saluted her as he was cleaning the gloves he was wearing, removing them to shook hands with her. "I'm surprised to see you here." He claimed after the shake of hands.

"I wanted to know how my horse was." She told him clearly, gesturing to the box he was near before she arrived here.

"Your horse is fine with me." He explained, gesturing to her to follow him near the box where she could see her horse, still laid down but looking better than last day. "I gave her more meds and she's looking better but I think that she should stay here for an few days." He continued, crossing his arms on the box's door, an smile on Bell's face to see her horse.

"So, I have to stay here for an few more days...." She whispered, putting her hands on the door too. "That doesn't really bother me to be honest." She revealed to him, remembering the sad nodding he did with the sheriff an day ago.

"Really ? I thought that you were an bit disturbed by that ?" She shook his head to him.

"That's okay, I met fine people in town that make me pass the time." She affirmed, her eyes looking outside the stables and removing her hands from the door.

"Yeah, I saw that you came into help with Woods earlier." He said, also removing his arms from the box to look at her. "How did it goes by the way ?" He asked her.

"It went fine if we don't count the fact that we got attacked by an group of mexicans." She replied, not sure about how she could feel about them despite their attentions. "You know anything about that ?" She demanded from him even if she wasn't sure if he was going to give an answer to her.

"Not so much but I heard things from the few Adler's guys that come to get heal." He expressed, moving away to lean against an barrel as Bell was staying at her place, her full attention on him. "They said that the gang was having troubles with an mexican gang in the south." He declared, getting Bell's curiosity to the max.

"Adler's gang seems to be at war with them, according to what I heard from the soldiers in the fort." She recited, mentioning the few talks she was able to catch in that fort from the soldiers that was passing near her when she was still on that wagon. "To change, I heard that you, the priest & Woods were old buddies from war, is that true ?" She changed the subject, seeing Sims wasn't so comfortable with talking about Adler.

"That's true, miss." He responded in an low voice, taking an ledger in his hands to check something. "We were in the US Army and our last war we did....."

"Was the Spanish-American War." She completed, cutting him gently as his eyes went wide at hearing her. "Woods told me about it, said you were the best in your domain." She admitted, causing an little smile to appear on his face.

"Woods been Woods." He scoffed, putting the ledger away back on that barrel to walk near the stables doors, soon followed by Bell. "He did tell you why we installed ourselves here ?" He questioned her and she nodded despite that Woods didn't really tell her much.

"He said that he didn't want to return to the East." She said, leaning herself against the door frame.

"Yeah but also because the sheriff, the old Lazar, I'm an friend of him so we all decided to install ourselves here to be with him." He responded to her, giving more informations about how three old veterans decided to live in Arizona in that city. "Guess that it was the good choice even with everything that happened."

"Yes, seeing this city like that isn't very enjoying." She proclaimed, looking outside, seeing the few people walking on the main road, the few wagons and also, the armed men making patrols around the streets. "How long this is happening ?"

"Been months that we all live under occupation, an few days after we got here." Sims replied, crossing his arms, also looking outside. "We could have run away but we preferred to stay despite Adler ruling the city." He added.

"You did an good choice, maybe." She suggested as living under that state wasn't an lot pleasant to do but then....her eyes were focused on someone that was passing through the street with an red dress....Miss Park....she was walking alone with an little umbrella and even of the rules....Bell couldn't remove her eyes off her.

"Are you looking to her ?" Sims asked, seeing Bell almost in her thoughts and knowing that she was having her eyes on the only person it's forbidden to look.

"Well....yeah, I'm looking at her." She answered, not even ashamed of doing so, looking back at him for an second. "It's not because there's an rule about her that we can't resist to look at her." She exclaimed, giving her thought about that stupid rule in place but then, she could see miss Park getting diverted on her way by two men behind her between two building....something was off..."Uhm....I have to go, thanks an lot, Sims." She told him, making an sign with her hat.

"I do what I need to do, goodbye miss Bell." He saluted her, going back inside the stables as Bell was slowly walking into the main street.

She knew that something was off when she saw this two men behind miss Park, they weren't looking like Adler's men to her, very different and it was looking like an kidnapping, having seen the men holding each of miss Park's arms to get in an alley between 2 buildings. She looked around her, seeing no armed men from Adler around, meaning that she needed to do the job and to maybe help miss Park. She arrived near the alley they took, preparing her two pistols below her elbows.

"Hey, let me go !" Bell could hear Park's voice in the alley as she peaked her head to discover the two men, looking like undercovers mexicans, holding her with her back on the wall.

"Cállate, chica ! [Shut up, woman !]" One of the mexicans ordered, putting his hand on her mouth to avoid her to scream for help.

"Karla la necesita para un rescate, ten cuidado. [Karla needs her for an ransom, watch out.]" The other mexican warned to his friends, giving more informations about the situation about Adler's tensions with the said-mexicans to Bell. "Debemos llevarla sin ruido y sin lastimarla. [We need to take her without an noise and without hurting her.]" He added, Bell understanding everything as she was taking her two Modele 1899 in hands.

"Claro, pero nos lo pondrá más difícil si sigue moviéndose. [Of course but she's going to complicate the job if she doesn't stop moving.]" The first mexican expressed as he was trying to stop miss Park to move too much away from him but it was then time for Bell....

"Let her go !" Bell intervened inside the alley, aiming at the two mexicans with her guns and making them almost jumpscare from their spot, the first mexican still holding miss Park against the wall.

"Gonzalez, es una chica. [Gonzalez, it's an girl.]" The second mexican chuckled, his hand on the grip of his revolver and unadvertantly reveal the first mexican name.

"Vete, no es tu problema, chica.[Go away, that's not your problem.]" Gonzalez demanded, his voice trembling to be hold at gunpoint.

" ¡Tendrás problemas si no la dejas ir! [You will have problems if you don't let her go !]" Bell spoke up, using an perfect spanish accent to them, taking an step forwards slowly to advance to them. her two Modele 1899 aiming at each mexican.

" Hablas buen español, cual es tu nombre ? [You speaking well spanish, what's your name ?]" Gonzalez asked, his hands still on miss Park's mouth and her left shoulder as his friend was still frightened, his hand on his holstler.

"Me llamo Bell ! [My name is Bell !]" She replied, taking another step arriving at almost 2 meters from the group. "I'm not repeating myself, let her go !" She asked again, returing to english, pulling the hammer of her pistols down, ready to shoot both.

"¡Ven y tómalo! [Come get her !]" Gonzalez exclaimed, making an sign to his friend to attack while he was keeping miss Park away

"As you wish." Bell scoffed as the mexican was starting to charge at but the only thing he received was an punch from her with her pistol still in her right hand, causing the mexican to fall behind him on an wall. She got her left pistol back on her holstler, keeping her right one in her hand, moving to attack the mexican against the wall.

"Putà ! [Bitch !]" Gonzalez shouted, seeing his friend getting overpowered by an woman until suddenly, he screamed in pain, miss Park deciding to bite his hand that was covering her mouth, making him fall on his ass, holding his hand in pain before getting ready to pull out his revolver until....

"Don't think about it, friend !" An voice came behind him, revealing the sheriff Azoulay himself before he punched in the voice, breaking his nose and then, moving quickly to take Gonzalez's revolver off his holstler.

"Sheriff, what are you doing here ?" Bell questioned him as he finished with the mexican, throwing him aside next to Gonzalez.

"I saw you following miss Park and I knew that there were something wrong so I decided to see what was going on." He responded, moving to take the other mexican's gun in his hand as miss Park was taking an deep breath aside.

"You're alright, miss Park ?" Bell was the one to ask that question, worried about her.

"Yeah...I'm alright, thank you, miss." She replied, relieved to have been saved by these two person as Bell offered her hand, an bit trembling in front of miss Park in person.

"I'm Bell." She whispered in an low voice, blushing to be honest.

"I'm...Helen Park, thank you both to having save me." She said, bringing an smile on Bell's face as the two shook hands, the sheriff keeping the two mexicans on the ground.

"It's miss Bell that did the work, miss Park." The sheriff told her, not wanting to share the honors as he was just here to help, it was Bell who managed to get this situation to end better. "No need to thank me." He added before Bell moved to get next to him, still blushing from talking to miss Park.

" Dile a tu jefe que no buscamos problemas con la señora llamada Bell y sus amigas.[Tell your boss to not search troubles with the lady called Bell and her friends.]" Bell ordered to Gonzalez, still holding his nose in pain who nodded.

"Si, senora Bell.[Yes, miss Bell.]" Gonzalez chuckled, seeing the deadly glare on his face as his friend were slowly getting up along with him, scared by her and the sheriff.

"Ve o te la regalamos a Adler. [Go or we're giving you away to Adler.]" Bell threatened and the two mexicans nodded, quickly fleeing away out of the alley in fear, leaving the trio alone in it before suddenly, out of nowhere, Bell could feel lips on her left cheek, discovering miss Park making an little kiss to her, blushing to the maximum she could.

"Thank you, miss Bell. You're an real savior for me." Miss Park expressed, full of joice before she start to leave the alley too, to return to the mayor's house as she needed to do and when she left, Bell's eyes never got off her, still stunned by that kind of move from her, even the sheriff couldn't believe it, making an tap on Bell's shoulder to pull her out of her thoughts....

"Wow, it seems that she like you....it's time for our invitation to go to Adler's house."

[quaculaarchive]

the

Sims is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling video game series of all time.[1]The games in the Sims series are largely sandbox games, in that they lack any defined goals (except for some later expansion packs and console versions which introduced this gameplay style). The player creates virtual people called "Sims," places them in houses, and helps direct their moods and satisfy their desires. Players can either place their Sims in pre-constructed homes or build them themselves. Each successive expansion pack and game in the series augmented what the player could do with their Sims.The Sims series is part of the larger Sim series, started by SimCity in 1989. Game designer Will Wright was inspired to create a "virtual doll house" after losing his home during the Oakland firestorm of 1991 and subsequently rebuilding his life.[2][3] Replacing his home and his other possessions made him think about adapting that life experience into a game. When Wright initially took his ideas to the Maxis board of directors, they were skeptical and gave little support or financing for the game. The directors at Electronic Arts, which bought Maxis in 1997, were more receptive—SimCity had been a great success for them, and they foresaw the possibility of building a strong Sim franchise.[2]Wright has stated that The Sims was actually meant as a satire of U.S. consumer culture.[4] Wright took ideas from the 1977 architecture and urban design book A Pattern Language, American psychologist Abraham Maslow's 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation and his hierarchy of needs, and Charles Hampden-Turner's Maps of the Mind to develop a model for the game's artificial intelligence.[2] The Sims was the first game in the series. Developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, it was released for Microsoft Windows on February 4, 2000.[5] The game used dimetric projection and featured open-ended simulation of the daily activities of one or more virtual persons ("Sims") in a suburban area near SimCity. Seven expansion packs and two deluxe editions with exclusive content were released. It was repackaged in several different formats, and different versions of it were released on several different platforms. By March 22, 2002, The Sims had sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide, surpassing Myst[6] as the best-selling PC game in history at the time. The original game, all seven expansion packs, and the two deluxe edition content packs constitute the first generation of the PC. Maxis developed all PC releases. By February 2005, the game had shipped 16 million copies worldwide.[7]

Livin' Large

House Party

Hot Date

Vacation

Unleashed

Superstar

Makin' Magic

The Sims 2 (2004)[edit]

Main article: The Sims 2

Electronic Arts released The Sims 2 on September 14, 2004. The sequel, developed by Maxis, takes place in a full 3D environment as opposed to the dimetric projection of the original game. Sims age through seven life stages, from infancy to old age and subsequent death. Another major feature is the aspiration system. Each Sim exhibits wants and fears according to its aspiration and personality. Consequently, the level of the aspiration meter determines the effectiveness of a Sim at completing tasks. The fulfillment of wants provides aspiration points, which can be used to purchase aspiration rewards. The game also features clear days of the week, with weekends when children can stay home from school and vacation days when adults can take time off work.

The Sims 2 is set some 25 years after the original game. For instance, the Goth family has aged significantly with Bella Goth mysteriously vanishing ("dying") at some point in the 25 years. Because the entire game has progressed from 2D sprites to 3D models, all content in The Sims 2 had to be created from the ground up. Due to this, The Sims 2 was not made backward-compatible with any content from the first generation of the main series. However, some objects and features from the original series were remade for the sequel.

Electronic Arts released eight expansion packs and nine stuff packs for The Sims 2. Over 400 items were also released for the game via The Sims 2 Store. Also, items, including pre-order items, were released over the life cycle of this generation.

The Sims 2 had received eight expansion packs:

University

Nightlife

Open for Business

Pets

Seasons

Bon Voyage

FreeTime

Apartment Life

The Sims 3 (2009)[edit]

Main article: The Sims 3

Electronic Arts released The Sims 3 on June 2, 2009.[8] The sequel was announced by EA in November 2006. The game is set 25 years before the original game and features an open, seamless neighborhood, improved Sim creation tools, enhanced build and buy mode functions, and the introduction of wishes and goals. The game introduced a new form of directed gameplay through small, step-wise goals presented as opportunities for the player to pursue or refuse. The Sims 3 sold 1.4 million copies in the first week, making it the largest release in PC gaming history at the time.[9]

The Sims 3 is set 25 years before the Sims 1. For example, the Goth family is much younger, and Bella Goth, an adult in the first game, is a child and is named Bella Bachelor.

Eleven expansion packs and nine stuff packs were released for the third generation of the series. Also, many items are available online for additional fees at The Sims 3 Store.

The Sims 3 had received eleven expansion packs:

World Adventures

Ambitions

Late Night

Generations

Pets

Showtime

Supernatural

Seasons

University Life

Island Paradise

Into the Future

The Sims 4 (2014)[edit]

Main article: The Sims 4

Electronic Arts announced The Sims 4 on May 6, 2013.[10] The announcement stated that the game was in development by Maxis. The Sims 4 takes place in an alternative setting/timeline from the game's previous installment. Later in 2014, further details on features and gameplay were announced. The release date of September 2, 2014, was announced at E3 2014.

As of November 2020, ten expansion packs, nine game packs and seventeen stuff packs have been released, and updates have added content that was previously absent due to time constraints, such as basements, ghosts, pools, modular stairs, toddlers, new careers, terrain tools and additional skintones.

The Sims 4 has received ten expansion packs so far:

Get to Work

Get Together

City Living

Cats & Dogs

Seasons

Get Famous

Island Living

Discover University

Eco Lifestyle

Snowy Escape

Spin-offs[edit]

The Sims Online[edit]

Main article: The Sims Online

In December 2002, Electronic Arts released the Maxis-developed The Sims Online, later named EA Land. It recreates The Sims as a massively multiplayer online game, where human players can interact with each other. The spin-off did not achieve the same level of success as the original. Reviews for The Sims Online were lackluster; many likening its experience to an enormous chat room. On August 1, 2008, EA Land was shut down.

The Sims Stories[edit]

Main articles: The Sims Life Stories, The Sims Pet Stories, and The Sims Castaway Stories

The Sims Stories is a series of video games from The Sims series released in 2007–2008 based on a modified version of The Sims 2 engine. The modified game engine is optimized for play on systems with weaker specifications, such as laptops. As such, its system requirements are lower than that of The Sims 2, but it can still be played on desktops.[11] The series is introduced mainly for three segments of the market: those who wish to play The Sims 2 on their laptops (which usually have lower specifications); those who wish to engage in other activities such as instant messaging while playing the game, and; those who are new to the franchise. In addition to a Free Play mode with classic, open-ended gameplay, the games contain a structured, linear Story mode where players are required to complete a series of goals to progress in the storyline. While Life Stories and Pet Stories each contain two separate stories, Castaway Stories contains one story that is double the length of any one story in the first two games. As an introductory series, major features are removed or modified from those in The Sims 2. For example, fears are completely removed in all three games, and the elder life stage is completely removed in Pet Stories. Officially, the save files from this series are not compatible with the main The Sims 2 games. However, players have experienced success in adapting some files.

Three games have been released to date.[12]

The Sims Carnival[edit]

Main article: The Sims Carnival

The Sims Carnival was a casual game brand of The Sims. It had two separate product lines. First, it was an online community of crowd-sourced web games. Second, it was a line of packaged game titles sold via retail stores and digital download.

The Sims Medieval[edit]

Main article: The Sims Medieval

The Sims Medieval is an action role-playing spin-off game released in 2011. It is set in medieval times, and although it is based on The Sims 3 engine, it plays very differently. The Sims Medieval has one expansion pack, Pirates and Nobles.

The Sims Social[edit]

Main article: The Sims Social

Launched in August 2011, The Sims Social was a Flash-based game developed by Playfish for Facebook. EA announced the game was upgraded from Beta to Live status in a press release issued on August 23, 2011.[13] Due to players' negative responses, the game has been shut down and was removed from Facebook on June 14, 2013.

Console and handheld versions[edit]

The Sims era[edit]

Main articles: The Sims (video game), The Sims Bustin' Out, and The Urbz: Sims in the City

The Sims is the first console release that shares the same name as the base game in the first generation of the main series.

The Sims Bustin' Out is the second title in The Sims console series. Bustin' Out was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and N-Gage in the fourth quarter of 2003. Sims can get out of the house to visit other locations such as Shiny Things Lab or Casa Caliente. There are two modes. Bust Out Mode, which has mission-based gameplay, and Freeplay Mode is open-ended gameplay very much like the original The Sims PC game. The second Sims game was not on the PC; it was a follow up to The Sims, which was very similar to Bustin' Out, except the aims were shifted to getting job promotions and constantly fulfilling goals to get ahead in the game. The PlayStation 2 version also features the option to play online, though EA no longer supports it.

The Urbz: Sims in the City is a game focused on Sims living in an urban setting, presumably within Sim City. The player must earn a reputation and complete tasks for characters. It was released for Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. It features Black Eyed Peas as NPCs.

The Sims 2[edit]

Main articles: The Sims 2, The Sims 2: Pets, The Sims 2: Castaway, and The Sims 2: Apartment Pets

The Sims 2, The Sims 2: Pets, and The Sims 2: Castaway have been released for various platforms including the Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, and Nintendo DS systems. The Sims 2: Apartment Pets, considered a sequel to The Sims 2: Pets by Electronic Arts, was only released for the Nintendo DS.

In addition, EA has released several The Sims titles for the iPod Nano (3rd and 4th generation), the iPod Classic, and the iPod (5th generation). Some of these titles include: The Sims Bowling,[14] The Sims DJ,[15] and The Sims Pool.[16]

MySims[edit]

Main articles: MySims, MySims Kingdom, MySims Party, MySims Racing, MySims Agents, and MySims SkyHeroes

MySims is series of console games created by EA for the Wii and Nintendo DS (with SkyHeroes being the exception). They feature Chibi-like characters (a tiny bit smaller and similar to the Wii's Mii avatars). The first game in the series was released in September 2007. It is also known for being the first Sim game released in Japan. MySims SkyHeroes, the newest addition to the MySims line of games, was released in September 2010.

The Sims 3[edit]

Main articles: The Sims 3, The Sims 3: World Adventures, The Sims 3: Ambitions, and The Sims 3: Pets

The Sims 3, The Sims 3: World Adventures, and The Sims 3: Ambitions were released for the iPhone/iPod Touch. In addition, The Sims 3 was also released for Android mobile systems and the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS in October 2010, and the Wii in November 2010, and the Nintendo 3DS on March 25, 2011 in Europe. The 3DS version of the game was launched with the console. The Sims 3: Pets was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS.

The Sims 4[edit]

Main article: The Sims 4

Versions of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles were released on November 17, 2017.

The Sims FreePlay[edit]

Main article: The Sims FreePlay

The Sims FreePlay is the first free-to-play version of The Sims for iOS and Android, was released worldwide on December 15, 2011 for iOS devices, and on February 15, 2012 for Android. The game made it to Kindle Fire on October 2012, to BlackBerry 10 on July 31, 2013 and Windows Phone 8 on September 2013. Unlike other Sims games, The Sims FreePlay runs in real-time and takes real-time to complete actions. Players can progress through 55 levels and unlock new content, create up to 34 Sims, build town map buildings, complete goals to earn Lifestyle Points, Simoleons, Social Points, and XP (Experience Points). All of these (except for Social Points) can be obtained by baking, planting, going to school (Only for preteen and teens), or working. To get Social Points, you will need to go to neighboring houses or add your Facebook friends.

The game is updated with new content and has events and competitions, announced on the official Facebook page. Several updates for the game have been released.

The Sims Mobile[edit]

Main article: The Sims Mobile

The Sims Mobile is the second free-to-play version of The Sims for Android and iOS, The Sims Mobile was announced on May 9, 2017, in a launch trailer with a soft launch for Brazil, and was released worldwide on March 6, 2018. It features multiplayer and story-mode elements in an attempt to offer a playing experience akin to the main Sims installments.

[signalterminated]

Altered Item S-96 (Control/TMA crossover)

a while ago when i was playing Control i wrote up a little crossover fic for fun. a week or 2 later i found out jonny was streaming control on twitch which was one hell of a coincidence. i figured i might as well post this here in case anyone else finds the concept interesting or fun to play around with.

------------------------------------------------------------

ALTERED ITEM S-96

Description: 

A black and white children's book titled A Guest for Mr. Spider. Story details a cartoonish spider greeting flies as "guests" to his house. There are two doors on each side of the house but no furniture save for a single table with withered bluebells. Each fly has a moniker as a name that refers to their individual species.

Setup for the story is cyclical: one page introduces a fly offering a gift to the spider in an attempt to appease him. Subsequent page heavily implies Mr. Spider ate them after being dissatisfied with the gift. The final fly is shown offering his own son to the spider for reasons unknown.

The doors and Mr.Spider are depicted as being progressively bloodier. Mr.Spider's abdomen is also swollen to gargantuan proportions but the text states he wants more, even desiring another guest for dinner. Last page of the book is a cutaway of the right hand door that simply says, "It's polite to knock."

Ability:

While unsettling, the pages themselves possess no visible paranatural qualities. The reader is instead put into a trance while reading that can only be broken by an outside force or intervention. Age, gender, height, or any other physical characteristic does not seem to affect the potency nor threshold of interruption for this trance. 

The reader is rendered oblivious to their surroundings but is capable of walking, oftentimes significant distances. Furthest distance recorded for this effect was [REDACTED] observed at [REDACTED]. So far no measurable distance has been noted as a "minimum" requirement, though a median of approximately [REDACTED] has been recorded for all controlled tests.  It's possible that the distance a reader must travel is random, or (more possibly) is quantified by factors we are as of yet unable to ascertain. 

The reader eventually reaches a stained door. The door is different colors depending on the environment but the stains remain consistent regardless of locale. If left uninterrupted, the reader will place the book against the door and knock on it. It's uncertain if this is necessary to prompt the next part of the ritual or not, as testing beyond this point is fatal for any subject. 

The door opens to reveal pitch blackness. Shortly after, the reader is yanked inside by limbs described as [REDACTED]. No one taken by the creature behind the door has ever been seen again. 

See S-96-CV-1 for further details regarding testing.

S-96-CV-1

Variables:

Various factors have been tested to determine the strength of the book's controlling properties. Photography had proven to be impossible in both digital and film formats, as any photo taken always comes out completely black, damaged, or distorted beyond recovery. Video recordings of the book being read have been tricky to establish, as digital equipment will almost immediately glitch and stutter within a range of [REDACTED] of the book. Attempting to use even an advanced zoom feature from far away results in similar phenomenon. 

So long as the patient's back is obscuring a view of the book, it's relatively safe to record. Additionally the effect operates in a far more reduced capacity while S-96 is closed, causing glitches and technical issues within a range of [REDACTED] instead. 

Strangely enough, motivation presents more of an obstacle in attempting to monitor S-96. Nearly every agent instructed to photograph or record the book reported a sudden lack of motivation to do so when approaching the containment room. Many formulated excuses for why they couldn't at that very moment. Others simply forgot why they were there. Installing sheets of Black Rock within the containment room helped reduce this effect considerably but did not eradicate it.  

See JS-P1-95 for an interview from the only known survivor. 

JS-P1-95 

Transcript for an audio recording between Jonathan Sims, aged 8, and a child therapist appointed by local protection services. Interview occurred approximately 2 days after the disappearance of [REDACTED].

Therapist: Hi there, Jonathan. 

Jonathan: Call me Jon please, ma'am. 

Therapist: Right, of course. How are you feeling, Jon?

Jon: I'm not sure, ma'am. 

Therapist: Please, call me Imogen. And that’s alright. After what you went through, that’s a very normal reaction.

Jon: Noth—

(There is a brief moment of silence followed by the sound of clothing rustling. Jon is shifting uncomfortably in his seat.)

Jon: Yeah. I guess.

Therapist: What were you going to say, Jon? Remember, I’m not here to judge you.

Jon: O-okay. It’s just...nothing about this feels normal. 

Therapist: How so, Jon?

Jon: You won’t believe me.

Therapist: You told the police that you saw [REDACTED] being kidnapped. They believed you, right? So will I.

Jon: I didn’t tell them everything.

Therapist: And why is that, Jon?

Jon: Because what I saw, it...it doesn’t make sense. It was really dark out but I know what I saw, and...

(Small set of hitching breaths followed by a deep breath. Jonathan appears to be repressing a breakdown very well for a child.)

Jon: It happened so fast but I saw it. It took him. 

Therapist: What took him, Jon?

Jon: Mr. Spider.

(There is a brief onset of soft static here. Most likely due to the age of the recording.)

Therapist: ...Mr. Spider?

Jon: From the book.

Therapist: What book, Jon?

Jon: A Guest for Mr. Spider! He took the book when he pushed me and I followed him a-and he knocked on the door and --

(More shifting, this time including papers and seats. Jon is breathing harder and the rest of his sentence is unintelligible.)

Therapist: Jonathan, take a deep breath. There you go. You’re okay.

Therapist: Now, tell me about this book. The police never mentioned finding a book by that name.

Jon: That’s because he was holding it. Don’t you understand!? The book, it made him go there. It forced him to knock on the door and...and then...

(A small sob followed by the hushed cooing of the therapist. Jon seems unresponsive and there’s the creak of a chair, followed by silence.)

Jon: I don’t want to talk about the book anymore.

Therapist: Okay. That’s okay. You’ve done very well so far.

Jon: I’m not a toddler.

Therapist: I’m sorry, Jon. I know you’re not a toddler, this is a lot for anyone. Even an adult.

Jon: I knew you wouldn’t believe me.

Therapist: Now what makes you think that?

Jon: I can see it. I see a lot of things.

(Recording ends here.)

There are no other audio logs regarding this incident. Additional services were turned down by Jon’s grandmother, [REDACTED], and there are no other records of him seeking out professional treatment in the following years.

For more information regarding Jonathan Sims, refer to JS-19-UAE.

JS-19-UAE

Initial Impressions: 

Jonathan Sims displays a very high intelligence for his age. Whether due to trauma or his orphaned status, he exhibits a world weariness rarely found in a child. This emotional aloofness coupled with a lack of any close relatives might indicate an affinity for future leadership. 

Bureau agents stationed in the UK are instructed to closely monitor his activities for the following 2 years. This is to determine potential eligibility in the Prime Candidate Program and to assess if the Altered Item will return to claim its intended victim.

Pre-Adolescence to Early Teenhood (10-13)

Jonathan Sims has exhibited no further paranatural abilities. He appears to have thrown himself into academic pursuits and has not made contact with any other Altered Items. The book mentioned in his initial therapy session has not appeared within his vicinity, nor has it been reported by any other agent stationed in Great Britain. 

As of now, surveillance will continue, albeit in a reduced capacity.

Teenhood (13-17)

Still no indication that Jonathan Sims possesses any paranatural talent. However, he appears to have a heightened sensitivity to paranatural events and items. There have been at least 4 instances where he nearly stumbled upon AWE’s or Altered Items, only to just skirt by them. Each instance has been logged in a separate report and successfully apprehended before it could catch public attention. 

Whether this is a 6th sense keeping him out of danger — or drawing him to it — is currently unknown. 

Early Adulthood (18-21)

Agents recently discovered the book mentioned in Jonathan Sims's therapy session. It does not appear to be tied to him in any way, given the fact it was found in a check-out bin at the [REDACTED] Library in [REDACTED]. It was contained successfully by [REDACTED] and shipped back to the Oldest House in a crate lined with Black Rock. 

Jonathan himself has become a full time student in Oxford. He has exhibited no latent talents or abilities of interest. Due to his growing age and the fact the book has been found, his eligibility in the Prime Candidate Program has been revoked. 

That being said, he is an excellent accidental bloodhound. More than once his intuition has led him within the range of an AWE or Altered Item. By proxy, we are made aware and are able to act quickly to avoid further disaster. 

Whether these items are reacting to his presence, seeking him out purposefully, or this is all simply coincidence is not yet determined. Closer study could risk exposing Bureau operations, as Jonathan has grown increasingly paranoid since teenhood. Measures have been taken to avoid any further unintended alterations in his usual behavioral patterns. 

Adulthood (22-24)

Nothing to report between college and entering the workforce. His grandmother's death led to a period of instability but nothing atypical of a grieving individual. 

ADDENDUM: Jonathan's habit of accidentally brushing up against the paranatural has culminated in a job at the Magnus Institute.

While not tied to the Bureau, the Magnus Institute has been partnered in some capacity with the Bureau for over 2 decades now. This coincidence has been logged as potentially being influenced by paranatural forces. 

An ambassador will be sent to the Magnus Institute to investigate and negotiate with the current Director of its operations, Elias Bouchard. Extra caution should be exercised to avoid arousing further suspicion from Jonathan or the Institute. 

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Defend activists and organizers under attack! Defend Black lives!

As the anti-racist uprising of 2020 roiled business as usual in cities across the U.S., many protesters have been hit with severe charges after being arrested for offenses that would normally be considered violations or misdemeanors. Many arrestees are facing possible sentences of years in prison or even life sentences.

 In a dangerous attack on our right to protest, Attorney General William Barr in a recent conference call with U.S. attorneys across the country even encouraged sedition charges be widely used against anti-racist protestors. Sedition means conspiracy and intent to overthrow the U.S. government and can result in life imprisonment. 

The Socialist Unity Party has issued an appeal to all revolutionary left organizations and activists to unite in defense of those facing repression from the capitalist state and its allies in the white supremacist-fascist movement. (Read the appeal in English or Spanish) 

Please share widely. This list will be updated regularly. If you know of a case that should be added, send details to: info@struggle-la-lucha.org. 

Here are some important cases and actions that your organization or you as an individual can publicize to help: 

San Diego   

Denzel Draughn, a well-known San Diego anti-racist activist and supporter of the African People’s Socialist Party, was arrested Aug. 28 at a demonstration in solidarity with the movement in Kenosha, Wis., calling for justice for Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back by police. Draughn is charged based on the ridiculous claim that he pepper-sprayed nine cops. He is facing 19 felony charges as a result. The allegations stem from an incident when a group of demonstrators tried to defend themselves against a violent police assault. Ten people were arrested, but Draughn has been singled out for the harshest treatment. At the request of San Diego cops, his bail is set at the outrageous amount of $750,000 – an amount usually reserved for kidnapping or murder. 

●��     WATCH: Interview of Muambi Tanga of African People’s Socialist Party about Denzel Draughn case

●      Donate to $ParrishDavis on CashApp, @Parrish-Davis on Venmo or the Dede McClure Community Bail Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-raise-funds-to-support-our-community

Denver 

On Sept. 17, police agencies in the Denver area arrested anti-racist organizers in a coordinated assault. Russell Ruch was arrested while in a parking lot at a Home Depot. An hour later, five police cars surrounded and arrested Lillian House while she was driving. That afternoon, S.W.A.T. teams arrived at Joel Northam’s home and arrested him. Eliza Lucero has also been arrested. All four are members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and organizers of protests to demand justice for Elijah McClain, who was brutally murdered by the Aurora Police Department. They are still in jail, with the exception of one person, and face multiple felony charges and years in prison in an obvious frame-up aimed at stopping the movement for justice for Elijah McClain. 

●      Emergency Mobilization at the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver, noon Saturday Sept. 19.

●      Sign the petition to drop the charges: https://www.pslweb.org/dropthecharges

●      Donate here to the legal and political support campaigns for these organizers: https://www.pslweb.org/donate4denver

Tallahassee, Fla. 

On Sept. 5, Tallahassee police and Leon County sheriffs attacked a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration. After pulling a Black woman organizer from her car, 300 police attacked around 75-100 protesters. Fourteen were arrested on the spot and five more have been arrested since, including members of the Students for a Democratic Society and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The majority are facing multiple charges, including felonies, that could result in fines of $10,000 and 10 years in prison. Others face up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each misdemeanor they’re charged with. The demonstration was to protest a grand jury decision not to indict the police officers who murdered Tony McDade, Mychael Johnson and Wilburn Woodard. The three were gunned down by Tallahassee police in March and May of this year. 

●      Call State Attorney Jack Campbell at 850 606-6000, or email saotech@leoncountyfl.gov

●      Click the “File a Complaint” button on Tallahassee Police Department webpage at https://www.talgov.com/publicsafety/tpd-compliment.aspx

●      Go to the GoFundMe page to help with the legal fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/community-supportfor-blm-protestors-in-tally

Portland, Ore.

The battle against police racism is raging in Portland. Nightly demonstrations have entered their fourth month. Since the end of May, hundreds have been arrested. In August, hoping to quell the protests, incoming Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt dropped charges against protestors. Demonstrations continued to challenge systemic racism, arrests and brutality continued, and charges have become more severe. On Aug. 27, a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s District of Oregon office announced that it is going ahead with prosecutions of 100 people who were arrested since May, many by Trump’s federal officers. Seventy-four of them are facing felonies that could result in prison sentences of years. A Sept. 5 NPR audit of the felony charges concludes that the actions protestors were accused of and arrested for were minor and should never have resulted in felonies. 

●      Call the District Attorney’s office at (503) 727-1000 or comment on the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Oregon website by emailing usaor.webmaster@usdoj.gov to demand that charges be dropped against anti-racist protesters.

Oklahoma City

In Oklahoma, where the entire Black community of Tulsa was burned in 1919, and where a white supremacist attack killed 168 people in 1995, Oklahoma County District Attorney Lewis Prater has charged three teenagers, Malachai Davis, Haley Lin Crawford and Sydney Lynch – as well as two other participants in protests against the police murder of George Floyd -- with terrorism. The bond amounts for a dozen other arrestees are between $200,000 and $1 million. The harshest treatment has been directed at those arrestees who are African American. Terrorism convictions could mean years or even decades in prison for charges that should have been misdemeanors. In May, DA Prater refused to charge cops who killed Isaiah Lewis during a mental health crisis in September 2019. When 42-year-old Derrick Scott was in custody of Oklahoma City cops in May 2019, he told them he couldn’t breathe and asked for his medicine. The cop’s response was “I don’t care.” Scott died soon afterward, but Prater brought no charges against those cops either. In August of this year, James Harmon was shot in the head by cops, also in Prater’s jurisdiction, and there is no indication that charges will be brought against the cops who killed him.

●      Call DA Lewis Prater’s office at (405) 713-1600 and demand he drop all charges against anti-racist protesters and bring charges against killer cops.

Salt Lake City

In Salt Lake City, a group of protestors are charged with felony criminal mischief. District Attorney Sim Gill added a “gang enhancement,” which could mean life sentences for seven people who were protesting Gill’s decision not to file charges against two SLC cops who shot Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal in the back and killed him. Gill justifies the gang enhancement by saying the activists conspired to splash red paint and break the windows of a building. The gang enhancement is an inherently racist feature of the criminal justice system, and the fact that it is being used against people protesting police murders of people of color is a further travesty of justice. More than 30 others in Salt Lake City have been hit with serious charges stemming from recent anti-racist demonstrations, including some felonies.

●      Call District Attorney Sim Gill’s office at (358) 468-7600 to demand he drop charges against anti-racist protesters.

Miami

Jonathon Gartrelle, a leading gay, African American, anti-racist activist in Miami, is charged with strong-arm robbery and escape – both felonies – as well as two misdemeanors. Jonathon is accused of removing two Trump flags from parked vehicles and dropping them on the ground while counter-protesting at a pro-Trump caravan. Gartrelle himself was hit by an SUV, which drove away and was not pursued by the cops, who are falsely claiming that Gartrelle declined to press charges. Gartrelle wanted to press charges but refused to go with them in a police cruiser to fill out a report at a precinct.

●      Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/miami-police-department-justice-for-jonni

●      Call Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundel at (305) 547-0100 to demand she drop charges against Jonathon Gartrelle

Appeal to revolutionaries: We must defend each other from state attack

Llamado a los revolucionarios: debemos defendernos unos a otros del ataque estatal

[geezsims]

Doctor Amber Gonzalez — interview for @toxoplasmajuice​’s Atkins’ MMBC!

1. Tell me a little about yourself. Y'know, name, pronouns, age, where you’re from, anything else you might say if I asked you, “Who are you?”

I’m Amber. Well, I should say Amber Gonzalez, or Dr. Gonzalez if you want to be formal. I’m hoping you won’t be for too long... [chuckles drily] It’s hardly the time for formalities, wouldn’t you agree? I feel similarly about pronouns, if you must know—a tedious necessity while we remain shackled by language as it is now. [another chuckle] TL;DR: you’re welcome to use whatever pronouns take your fancy, though I tend to default to ‘they/them’ for the sake of ease. I’m 21 years, three months, and sixteen days old.

As for who I am... I am an acolyte of science. Always pushing the boundaries of what can be accomplished through the power of the mind. [momentary pause] I’m not sure there’s much to know about me beyond that.

2. Before the world ended, did you have any long-term goals? Where would you picture yourself in the future if the future didn’t crumble in front of our eyes?

There were countless projects amongst which I was dividing my time. The memory’s a bit... blurry around the edges, but I’m pretty sure my primary focus at the time would have been cloning. Or was it robotics? [shakes head] No matter. Many of my resources have gone kaput in the aftermath, but that isn’t going to stop me from dedicating myself to other scientific endeavours. Even if I have to resort to... [shudders] anthropology.

3. Any talents or skills? What about hobbies?

My skills are mostly restricted to science and research, though I’ve been known to dabble in the occult when the mood takes me. Alchemy especially is a dear hobby of mine, and one that doesn’t require anywhere near the amount of power demanded by my large-scale experiments.

Mh... after giving it some thought, I should also add that I have another hobby. One that doesn’t slot quite as neatly into my pioneering lifestyle, but that may be of interest to Clyde. It may also shed some light as to why I’m here, ah... [coughs] Let’s just say that some of my bags coming here are weighed heavy with hurriedly salvaged romance novellas. For reasons I cannot rationally explain I simply can’t get enough of those formulaic love stories!

4. If you feel like sharing, what was your love life like before this? Totally fine if you don’t wanna talk about it.

[another cough] If you must know... apart from the aforementioned literature things have been pretty quiet on the romance front for me. I’ve just never found the time for anything more serious than the occasional fling with a spicy lab assistant.

5. Besides the sanctuary part, what made you sign up for this BC?

I, ah, would like to meet Clyde. Very much, in fact. But I won’t pretend that some safety and security to get back on track with my experimentation doesn’t hold a certain appeal. Given the circumstances, I’m sure most if not all the contestants are going to be bringing some sort of ulterior motive to the table.

6. Okay, okay, hot take: this question is fucking stupid. First of all, MMBCs have happened even with this question, so it’s not even protecting anybody. Second, if we really needed this information–or if the network did–there’s better ways to do background checks. You can just lie here. You can literally just lie.[*] Third, it’s just so vague. Sure, if you’ve got some degree of murder on your record, maybe that would be important, but–what, being caught with a gram of weed in the summer of ‘15 is supposed to tell me you might be a murderer? And, most importantly, it blatantly contributes to the stigma against felons. Non-violent criminals, people who’ve changed for the better, people who were falsely accused–we’re basically saying all of them might as well be murderers. And I’m not for that. But the program we’re doing this through is requiring that I ask, so, whatever: do you have a criminal record?

Not that I know of. I seem to remember some former test subjects, ah... holding a bit of a grudge, but I don’t recall any charges. As I’ve mentioned previously, my memory is not the best, but I doubt I would forget something as grave as that.

7. Anyway. Random fact about you?

Hmm... how about this: due to a past experiment, there is always a slight current of electricity about my person. My hair often crackles and stands on end depending on what sort of floor I’m standing on. Oh, and I’ve taken to wearing these gloves most of the time to avoid giving people nasty electric shocks when they come into contact with me.

8. Is there anything important I should know about you? Health-related stuff, ancient curses following you, that sort of thing?

Barring my spotty memory, my body and mind are pretty robust. There are some other side-effects from my experimentation which surface from time to time—glowing eyes, erratic sleep schedule, energy bursts followed by severe lethargy...—but nothing so serious as an ancient curse. Apart from my own hubris, which is scheduled to catch up with me any day now. [laughs] That was a joke.

9. Is there anything or anyone you had to leave behind to come here? (This one’s optional, too.)

Ah, no. No one. [drily] Just the proverbial smoking ruins of my life’s work and a dozen or so lab rats.

10. What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when things calm down and we can leave the BC house again?

It all depends on the state of the world then. I’m a highly adaptive person. If my abilities are required in the aftermath, I’ll provide as best I can, but I’d be equally happy to seal myself away hermetically at the first chance and simply get back to work. There is so much left to be discovered!

OOC questions:

1. May I draw your Sim? (No one’s ever said no to this, but it never hurts to ask, right?)

Of course!

2. Do you have any tips for writing your Sim that you feel the interview and/or your intro post don’t already give me?

She’s often sarcastic and prone to long tangents. And she alternates between quite formal speech and casual informal, bordering on the over-familiar when presented with strangers. Just quite chaotic in general. I can see her not getting along with everybody as she can be pretty wrapped up in her own shit at times, which can come off as self-absorbed, but she also won’t ever judge a book by its cover.

As for the clone thing—she isn’t one, as far as I’m concerned, but due to her excessive experimentation she sometimes worries she can’t prove to herself or others that she isn’t. It keeps her up at night sometimes.

3. I want to start decorating contestants’ rooms this time around. Do you have any pointers as to decorating your Sim’s room? General themes are fine, and if you have any specific objects you want me to put in your Sim’s room (EA content or CC), that’d be great.

Aw, that’s a cute idea! Really just any odd gadgets and doodads, maybe the robot stuff that came with Ambitions (I think? It’s been a while, lol!) rather than the overly fancy/modern stuff from ITF. I’m picturing kind of Spartan sleeping arrangements, metal flooring and/or walls, maybe those biohazard posters (no idea where they were from, sorry). Don’t worry if you can’t find any of those things, that’s just kind of the general vibe I’m imagining. Her favourite colours are bright orange, grey, teal-ish blue and neon green, if that’s useful at all :v

4. Will you generally be around for random questions I have regarding your Sim? I might need random bits of information from everyone from time to time… for reasons. :)

If not here, then on Twitter for sure!

[far-off-flower-fields]

Weird Questions that say a lot

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? Teacups!

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? Lollipops

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? Cotton candy

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? We call elementary school primary school. It depended which teachers you asked, my favourites always said I was “conscientious, kind, and a pleasure to have in class”.

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? Glass cups or bottles.

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear? I have like 4 looks, pastel, boho, and goth/witchy/grunge, also vintage-inspired which wasn’t mentioned but I love it.

7. earbuds or headphones? Depends on the shape, I love my Razr headset because it doesn’t squash my ears, and I like galaxy bud shaped earbuds, the ones with the little rubber doo-dads that fit actually in your ear. Apple or a lot of older flat earbuds cause me a lot of pain.

8. movies or tv shows? TV shows. Movies are getting longer and longer and my focus is getting shorter and shorter

9. favorite smell in the summer? Rainy days!

10. game you were best at in p.e.? The game of queue-ducking (where you go to the back of the queue to avoid your turn), or dance, or the less strength intensive parts of gymnastics. Or crying, always been great at that xD

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? Muesli, or nothing.

12. name of your favorite playlist? I prefer to listen to full albums rather than playlists, but I have a few favourites on Spotify. Born to Run 150BPM, Infinite Indie Folk, Irish Folk: Jigs and Reels, All Out 80s/90s/00s. I also love scene/pop-punk playlists.

13. lanyard or key ring? Key Ring

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? Message Hearts (or anything with that texture), the red pack of starbursts (the UK version is vegan). Does Turkish Delight count because if so then that is my fave. I also like gummies if they’re vegan.

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? To Kill a Mockingbird (high school), or The Bloody Chamber (uni), or Hamlet (uni)

16. most comfortable position to sit in? One foot under me, the other foot out to the other side, but both in the same position (if the surface is flat), or knees up.

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? I own a lot of shoes so there isn’t really a single pair I wear the most. Recently my Air Force 1s, I’m trying to wear them in because the previous owner didn’t so the cause blisters.

18. ideal weather? Cold, overcast, rainy, still. Or without the rain. or snow (as long as I’m not going in the car and I can go crunch my shoes in it xD

19. sleeping position? Either side, but my body is kinda rotated towards the bed so it’s like half way between on my stomach and on my side. 

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)? Notebooks

21. obsession from childhood? Animals, dinosaurs, goddesses, magic, crystals, neopets, sims. I still love all of these things, I am a rotating door of obsessions, usually a bunch of the same obsessions on repeat.

22. role model? I don’t have one particular role model, I do have tons of people that I love and respect.

23. strange habits? I have so many strange habits that I have become one myself. Nothing actually stands out though because 99% of it is because of my brain.

24. favorite crystal? rose quartz or moonstone.

25. first song you remember hearing? Maybe Dancing Queen by ABBA, definitely the first I remember dancing to, but my dad loves music so I grew up with a constant stream of it.

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather? Suffer xD when I’m able to do so comfortably I’d love to go out looking for pretty stones, and nice sticks with my fiance, also would like to go on picnics with him, or a friend if I had one.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? Baking, drawing, crafts, standing in the rain. Everything.

28. five songs to describe you? 6/10 - Dodie Robert Frost - Mal Blum Caught in the Middle - Paramore Side Effects - Jade Bird Snitches Get Stitches - Onsind  Bonus track: The Seed - Aurora I wish I still had the playlist I made of songs I relate to, several of these were on it though.

29. best way to bond with you? Oversharing, or telling me about things you’re into.

30. places that you find sacred? Nature. My favourite spots are little creeks/rivers in wooded areas, but just like, all of it is special and should be treated as such. Also bedrooms.

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? I think maybe I’m not gutsy or whatever enough, but also unpredictable. I wear whatever I like, and I’m just as likely to cry in all of them as I am to accidentally get in a fight.

32. top favorite vines? I feel so basic because I never really did the vine thing.  There was one that nearly killed me because I literally started to choke that was in some kind of office and the bit like can you run this past me again, and they just fucking legged it past them holding a folder up, Saw it once, never saw it again. Road work ahead. Why you can’t lift a house (might be a tok?) Brass dad and oven kid Look at this graaaaph Never learned how to read I can’t sit I have hemorrhoids The one with the people in blankets bobbing the nana nanana song Fr esh avo ca do Look at all these chickens

33. most used phrase in your phone? I love you - if I had to guess

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? right now, nothing. I often get the old Super Liquor jingle lodged in there though.

35. average time you fall asleep? 6am?

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? Charlie the unicorn or that one Noodles video by Cyanide and Happiness. Are those even memes?

37. suitcase or duffel bag? Depends. I mostly use a bag though since I never go anywhere for long.

38. lemonade or tea? Tea? Usually if you ask for lemonade here you get Sprite which is not lemonade.

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? I had a vegan lemon meringue pie once, so good. Cake is easier to make though, and I can eat more in one sitting without getting sick xD

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school? Um, the principal in my last year of school got caught for being a peeping tom a few years after I left.

41. last person you texted? My Fiance.

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? Jacket pockets

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? Depends on the rest of the outfit and the weather. I wear Jean jackets most though.

44. favorite scent for soap? I love lavender, or vanilla/candy/fruity/baked goods type scents. I still have a bottle of Sugar Fairy spray from lush from a year ago and I love the smell of that.

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? Fantasy I think.

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? Nekkid?

47. favorite type of cheese? As a kid it was feta. Now I only eat vegan cheese. I was never a huge cheese fan tbh.

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? Rotten xD um probably a cranberry or something because I’m small, and I’m not a fan of cranberry.

49. what saying or quote do you live by? An it harm none do what you will. Or treat others as you wish to be treated.

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? Probably one of the vines I listed above, either “run it past” or “can’t lift a house” because both of those resulted in crying and choking.

51. current stresses? My cat has been throwing up and having diarrhoea the past week or so, she’s been to the vet, it got better for a bit, but tonight suddenly got worse. Living with my parents who I have a very toxic relationship with. Living in a single very overfilled room. Trying to not spend money so that I can save up to move next year. Nightmares about my trauma. Either the house is haunted or there’s a build up of negative energy (probably that).

52. favorite font? I always liked the look of all of the script style fonts (freestyle, french, lucida, lucida calligraphy, Edwardian, Palace) but they’re not accessible so for anything people will actually see (which is literally nothing) I always go with arial.

53. what is the current state of your hands? Slight rash on one finger because I’m sensitive to what is in a lot of hand washing products apparently (never an issue until the pandemic), one broken finger nail that is a bit shorter than the rest. Not painted nails because energy. I always wear my engagement ring, usually I wear several other rings but with how my skin is being I thought I’d better not for a while.

54. what did you learn from your first job? Bakeries are hell, my circadian rhythm will not adjust to anything besides its natural state for longer than a couple of days at a time no matter how long or hard I try. I can absolutely fall asleep standing up.

55. favorite fairy tale? Ugly Duckling

56. favorite tradition? I don’t have anyway... Yet? Hopefully when I move this can become a thing.

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? I’m interpretting overcome loosely here, meaning “I have not died from this” - Suicide of my first love - Bullying - 3 different jobs that all nearly killed me

58. four talents you’re proud of having? Literally can’t think of one. I’m not talented. I’m passable at a couple of things, but I worked for those things and I’m still not good enough for anyone to confuse me for being talented xD Those things I care about that I’ve worked on a lot are singing, art, languages, crafts? I still struggled to come up with 4. My bad.

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? Aw jeez xD

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? Magical Girl! This is an easy one, give me the powers and the clothes yessss.

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? Literally sitting here drawing a blank, so instead of favourite here is the first one that came into my head “eyes are the genitals of the head” (may have that wrong, I’m watching the Office for the first time rn)

62. seven characters you relate to? Clementine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Amelie from Amelie Matilda from Matilda Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notredame (also my favourite plush as a kid) Iris - The Holiday Jess - New Girl Amelia Shepherd - Grey’s Anatomy Struggled with this because suddenly I drew a blank and also couldn’t remember who my Fiance was talking about every time he’s watched a character and said “that’s you” repeatedly.

63. five songs that would play in your club? Starlight - Superman Lovers Pump It - Black Eyed Peas I Bet that You Look Good on the Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys All the Things She Said - tATu Doctor Jones - Aqua Bonus: Push Up - Freestylers These are ones  I have memories of dancing to when I was younger so that’s how I picked, but I’d absolutely be a themed night club with different music on different nights.

64. favorite website from your childhood? Neopets, which I still play daily. The first I played was MaMaMedia, then Bubblegum Club.

65. any permanent scars? That’s a SORE subject heh get it heh

66. favorite flower(s)? Lavender, rose, peony

67. good luck charms? I usually carry gemstones if I’m needing to be particularly lucky, or sigils.

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? I hate anything spicy. I had rootbeer candy that tasted like literal dirt. I can’t eat banana stuff without gagging and getting a headache. I hate anything that is artificial blackberry or blackcurrant, tastes like shitty cough syrup.

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? Sea Monkeys breathe through their feet, but I remember where I learned that.

70. left or right handed? right

71. least favorite pattern? depends entirely on the colours, I like patterns. but certain stripes do make my eyes feel funny.

72. worst subject? If PE counts, then that. If not, math.

73. favorite weird flavor combo? I love pineapple on pizza but that’s not weird. Iused to eat cheese and jam sandwiches as a kid though.

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? I operate on how long it has lasted instead of how bad it is, essentially I get so desperate so I’ll try it even though it probably won’t help. I have the resistance of a rhino to most meds.

75. when did you lose your first tooth? No idea, like 4 I think? I did keep them in a weird little box for no reason though because they never got taken away from under my pillow.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? I’m a fan of a good mash if it has lots of flavour (like gravy). Otherwise, crisps or fries.

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? I grew a radish once! Something cat safe though these days, also maybe something heavy, and hard to knock over?

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? Grocery Store sushi, if it’s just veg.

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? My only ID is my passport, and it is BAD.

80. earth tones or jewel tones? Both.

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? Fireflies (ten million of them to be precise)

82. pc or console? Grew up with PC. Now play my switch mostly.

83. writing or drawing? Both. Wrote more as a kid, draw more now.

84. podcasts or talk radio? Podcasts.

84. barbie or polly pocket? Both. But I prefered pollies as a kid

85. fairy tales or mythology? mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes? cupcakes

87. your greatest fear? Based on my nightmares, stairs.

88. your greatest wish? To live in a comfy house, in the country, with my Fiance, I have travelled the world, we have pets, I can function, we are free.

89. who would you put before everyone else? My Fiance and out animals.

90. luckiest mistake? Can’t think of any, most of my mistakes have been more like bad choices, also never turned out well for me.

91. boxes or bags? Depends what it’s for?

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? lamps, or fairy lights. Unless I’m particularly anxious, then overheads.

93. nicknames? None.

94. favorite season? Winter

95. favorite app on your phone? LINE, it has my fiance, and animated stickers.

96. desktop background? Little Twin Stars

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? My own.

I never get asks and needed to distract myself so I’m going to just answer these anyway, like a survey or something. Original post by tr33-g1rl 

[how-i-met-your-mulder]

"I want to play games!" Boss: What game to play, teach you to make a smart snake game!

If we say that the most common words on the Internet in recent years, one of them must be mentioned is artificial intelligence. The development of artificial intelligence has affected our daily life. For example, facial recognition in our lives uses facial recognition in computer vision; product recommendations during online shopping and topic recommendations when reading news are also based on user usage records Search intelligent optimization; and include computers instead of game players to play games and so on.

Among them, the commonly used methods of AI games are not actually the first to bear the brunt of neural networks, because neural networks require higher requirements for computer servers and other complex games, and the optimization is complicated. Then it is particularly important to build machine learning algorithms for specific games. We often encounter examples of machine learning to build AI games in our lives. The "The Sims" series is the best example. That's right, in this game, after you carefully set the character's constellation, personality, and preferences, it will act on its own according to the setting, with the theme of the game, almost no doubt human. To do this, rely on the "behavior tree". The behavior tree is very similar to the decision tree introduced before. The behavior of the characters in the game is designed through state enumeration and process control. It's just that compared to the decision tree that simply makes IF and THEN judgments through each node, the behavior tree is full of conditional nodes, action nodes, selection nodes, sequence nodes, and so on. Coupled with some random actions, the NPCs under the behavior tree can almost be fake. As shown in the figure below:

As shown in the figure above, the yellow rectangle is the execution node, and the white font is the condition node. In the "eating" node, the Sims must first determine whether they are hungry and whether there is food in the refrigerator. If the result is "yes", they will perform the act of cooking. This is only for this game, but the principle is similar. For example, for the smart snake that we want to do, what we have to do is to first judge the position of the fruit, and then according to the position of the head of the snake, we can determine which direction the fruit is in, and then decide which direction and how many squares to move. To put it bluntly, it is just a simple calculation of addition and subtraction. So far, let's start building our smart game.

**Preparation before experiment** ** ** First of all, the python version we use is 3.6.5. The library used has random, the purpose is obvious, it is used to randomly generate the fruit position; pygame is used to build the game framework to realize the overall operation of the game; sys is the framework to facilitate the operation of the computer system , Because the computer needs to have operation permissions to perform actions.

**Build the game framework** 1. Initialize variables and import the library: The necessary parameters involved in the game framework include the size of the game window, the definition of the direction, and the variable used to store the length of the snake's body. The detailed code is as follows:    import random import pygame import sys from pygame.locals import * # Error code ERR = -404 # Screen size Window_Width = 800 Window_Height = 500 # Refresh rate Display_Clock = 17 # The size of a snake body Cell_Size = 20 assert Window_Width% Cell_Size == 0 assert Window_Height% Cell_Size == 0 # Equivalent motion area size Cell_W = int(Window_Width/Cell_Size) Cell_H = int(Window_Height/Cell_Size) FIELD_SIZE = Cell_W * Cell_H # Background color Background_Color = (0, 0, 0) # Snake head index Head_index = 0 # Movement direction best_move = ERR # Different things are represented by different numbers in the matrix FOOD = 0 FREE_PLACE = (Cell_W+1) * (Cell_H+1) SNAKE_PLACE = 2 * FREE_PLACE # Movement direction dictionary move_directions = 'left' : -1,'right': 1,'up': -Cell_W,'down': Cell_W 2. Game framework functions: These functions have nothing to do with the intelligence of the game, but are only necessary functions of the game framework. In order to facilitate the calling of the functions used, we need to pre-set them. What is necessary is to close the interface function; the score update function; the function to obtain the fruit position and so on. The detailed code is as follows:    # Close the game interface def close_game(): pygame.quit() sys.exit() # Detect the player's keypress def Check_PressKey(): if len(pygame.event.get(QUIT))> 0: close_game() KeyUp_Events = pygame .event.get(KEYUP) if len(KeyUp_Events) == 0: return non-e elif KeyUp_Events[0].key == K_ESCAPE: close_game() return KeyUp_Events[0].key # Display the current score def Show_Score(score): score_Content = Main_Font.render(' Score: %s'% (score), True, (255, 255, 255)) score_Rect = score_Content.get_rect() score_Rect.topleft = (Window_Width-120, 10) Main_Display.blit(score_Content, score_Rect) # Get the fruit location def Get_Apple_Location(snake_Coords): flag = True while flag: apple_location = ('x': random.randint(0, Cell_W-1),'y': random.randint(0, Cell_H-1) } if apple_location not in snake_Coords: flag = False return apple_location # Display fruit def Show_Apple(coord): x = coord['x'] * Cell_Size y = coord['y'] * Cell_Size a pple_Rect = pygame.Rect(x, y, Cell_Size, Cell_Size) pygame.draw.rect(Main_Display, (255, 0, 0), apple_Rect) # Show snake def Show_Snake(coords): x = coords[0]['x '] * Cell_Size y = coords[0]['y'] * Cell_Size Snake_head_Rect = pygame.Rect(x, y, Cell_Size, Cell_Size) pygame.draw.rect(Main_Display, (0, 80, 255), Snake_head_Rect) Snake_head_Inner_Rect = pygame.Rect(x+4, y+4, Cell_Size-8, Cell_Size-8) pygame.draw.rect(Main_Display, (0, 80, 255), Snake_head_Inner_Rect) for coord in coords[1:]: x = coord['x'] * Cell_Size y = coord['y'] * Cell_Size Snake_part_Rect = pygame.Rect(x, y, Cell_Size, Cell_Size) pygame.draw.rect(Main_Display, (0, 155, 0), Snake_part_Rect) Snake_part_Inner_Rect = pygame.Rect(x+4, y+4, Cell_Size-8, Cell_Size-8) pygame.draw.rect(Main_Display, (0, 255, 0), Snake_part_Inner_Rect) # draw grid def draw_Grid(): # Vertical direction for x in range(0, Window_Width, Cell_Size): pygame.draw.line(Main_Di splay, (40, 40, 40), (x, 0), (x, Window_Height)) # Horizontal direction for y in range(0, Window_Height, Cell_Size): pygame.draw.line(Main_Display, (40, 40, 40), (0, y), (Window_Width, y)) # Display the start interface def Show_Start_Interface(): title_Font = pygame.font.Font('simkai.ttf', 100) title_content = title_Font.render(' Snake ', True, (255, 255, 255), (0, 0, 160)) angle = 0 while True: Main_Display.fill(Background_Color) rotated_title = pygame.transform.rotate(title_content, angle) rotated_title_Rect = rotated_title.get_rect( ) rotated_title_Rect.center = (Window_Width/2, Window_Height/2) Main_Display.blit(rotated_title, rotated_title_Rect) pressKey_content = Main_Font.render(' Press any key to start the game! ', True, (255, 255, 255)) pressKey_Rect = pressKey_content.get_rect() pressKey_Rect.topleft = (Window_Width-200, Window_Height-30) Main_Display.blit(pressKey_content, pressKey_Rect) if Check_PressKey(): # Clear event queue pygame .event.get() return pygame.display.update() Snake_Clock.tick(Display_Clock) angle -= 5 # Display end interface def Show_End_Interface(): title_Font = pygame.font.Font('simkai.ttf', 100) title_game = title_Font.render('Game', True, (233, 150, 122)) title_over = title_Font.render('Over', True, (233, 150, 122)) game_Rect = title_game.get_rect() over_Rect = title_over. get_rect() game_Rect.midtop = (Window_Width/2, 70) over_Rect.midtop = (Window_Width/2, game_Rect.height+70+25) Main_Display.blit(title_game, game_Rect) Main_Display.blit(title_over, over_Rect) pygame.display .update() pygame.time.wait(500) while True: for event in pygame.event.get(): if event.type == QUIT: close_game() elif event.type == KEYDOWN: if event.key == K_ESCAPE: close_game() # Determine whether the location is empty def Is_Cell_Free(idx, psnake): location_x = idx% Cell_W location_y = idx // Cell_W idx = 'x': location_x,'y': location_y return (idx not in psnake) **Game intelligence design** ** ** 1. Judge the execution direction according to the position of the fruit: # Check whether the position idx can move in the current move direction def is_move_possible(idx, move_direction): flag = False if move_direction =='left': if idx%Cell_W> 0: flag = True else : flag = False elif move_direction =='right': if idx%Cell_W Cell_W-1: flag = True else: flag = False elif move_direction =='down': if idx 2. Shortest path selection:

There are tens of millions of roads to reach the location of the fruit, and what we need to do is the most effective method, that is, the shortest path needs to be found. The detailed definition of the function is as follows:    # Choose the shortest path from the 4 field points around the snake head def choose_shortest_safe_move(psnake, pboard): best_move = ERR min_distance = SNAKE_PLACE for move_direction in ['left','right','up','down']: idx = psnake [Head_index]['x'] + psnake[Head_index]['y']*Cell_W if is_move_possible(idx, move_direction) and (pboard[idx+move_directions[move_direction]] min_distance = pboard[idx+move_directions[move_direction]] best_move = move_direction return best_move # Find the position of the snake head after moving def find_snake_head(snake_Coords, direction): if direction =='up': newHead = 'x': snake_Coords[Head_index]['x'],'y': snake_Coords[ Head_index]['y']-1 elif direction =='down': newHead = 'x': snake_Coords[Head_index]['x'],'y': snake_Coords[Head_index]['y']+1  elif direction =='left': newHead = 'x': snake_Coords[Head_index]['x']-1,'y': snake_Coords[Head_index]['y'] elif direction =='right': newHead = 'x': snake_Coords[Head_index]['x ']+1,'y': snake_Coords[Head_index]['y'] return newHead 3. Decision optimization:

When the snake body is too long and other problems occur, the program may not find a suitable solution, so we need to deal with this, that is, we cannot find the right behavior to eat the fruit. code show as below:    # If snake and food between paths# You need to find a safe path def find_safe_way(psnake, pboard, pfood): safe_move = ERR real_snake = psnake[:] real_board = pboard[:] v_psnake, v_pboard = virtual_move(psnake, pboard , pfood) # If there is a path between the snake's head and the snake's tail after the virtual operation, choose the shortest path operation if is_tail_inside(v_psnake, v_pboard, pfood): safe_move = choose_shortest_safe_move(real_snake, real_board) else: safe_move = follow_tail(real_snake, real_board, pfood) return safe_move # When all the solutions are invalid, just take a step def any_possible_move(psnake, pboard, pfood): best_move = ERR reset_board = board_reset(psnake, pboard, pfood) pboard = reset_board result, refresh_board = board_refresh(psnake, pfood, pboard ) pboard = refresh_board min_distance = SNAKE_PLACE for move_direction in ['left','right','up','down']: idx = psnake[Head_index]['x'] + psnake[Head_index]['y']* Cell_W if is_move_possible(idx, move_direction) and (pboard[idx+move_directions[move_direction]] min_distanc e = pboard[idx+move_directions[move_direction]] best_move = move_direction return best_move Game running

** ** Call the main function to initialize and run:     # Main function def main(): global Main_Display, Main_Font, Snake_Clock pygame.init() Snake_Clock = pygame.time.Clock() Main_Display = pygame.display.set_mode((Window_Width, Window_Height)) Main_Font = pygame.font.Font( 'simkai.ttf', 18) pygame.display.set_caption('AI_snake') Show_Start_Interface() while True: Run_Game() Show_End_Interface() if__name__=='__main__': main() The final effect diagram can be seen as follows:

That's it, if you are interested, you may wish to give it a try. Welcome to discuss with me in the comment area! about the author: Li Qiujian, CSDN blog expert, CSDN master class author. He is currently studying at the China University of Mining and Technology. He has developed a taptap Android martial arts game, VIP video analysis, text conversion tools, writing robots and other projects, published several papers, and won many high-level competitions.

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Every "watching" you order, I seriously treat it as an AI

[indowolfgang]

About Jurassic Park’s lack of feathers: (y’all this is long)

most dinosaur related media doesn’t have feathered dinosaurs and a lot of people blame Jurassic Park. dinosaurs are my special interest and Jurassic Park is a big part of that so ima prove them wrong. first off i wanna say haters get owned: 2011: NASA scientists said it was the 7th best SciFi movie and 2012: Popular Mechanics said it was the 6th accurate and “was faithful to early '90s speculative genetics theories”

anyways... lets get into it

Games (that i have lol):

Ark: Survival Evolved: 10/29 dinosaurs

Compsognathus,  Deinonychus, Gallimimus, Megalosaurus, Microraptor, Oviraptor, Raptor, Therizinosaur, Troodon, Yutyrannus (this dino was actually found with direct evidence of feathers!)

at first i had no idea what type of ‘raptor’ they were referring to, but i checked and its a Utahraptor. the largest-known individual of Utahraptor was about 7 meters (23 feet) long so size is a-okay with me

i debated including the Pegomastax because the wiki says it has fur and quills, which could be argued as protofeathers, but since its from the early Jurassic its hard to say.. just to be safe i left it out

i only looked at dinosaurs cause there are a ton of made-up/mythical creatures, prehistoric birds/reptiles, and just a straight up vulture

The Isle: 3/30 dinosaurs 

Therizinosaurus, Orodromeus (AI), Austroraptor 

none of these are playable in survival mode btw

also i’m not sure if the game is going for accuracy or not, Dilophosaurus and Velociraptor are the right size but still... no feathers on known feathered dinos: Velo, Rex, or Utahraptor

technically feathers have never been found on Utahraptors but there is strong evidence that all dromaeosaurids had them since Microraptor and Dakotaraptor had them

Jurassic World Evolution: 0/69 (nice) dinosaurs

based on the movies Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom, and eventually they added a Jurassic Park DLC. despite the Jurassic World movies not counting the Jurassic Park sequels (Lost World and JP3) as part of its time line, the Jurassic Park DLC includes skins from those movies. not much to say here... i’ll get into the movies further down

i didn’t count the pteranodon, cause its not a dinosaur and, still, no feathers

Saurian: 4/8 dinosaurs

Dakotaraptor, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Acheroraptor, Ornithomimid

i’ve only included the dinos that are currently in-game, the wiki says they are planing to add another playable dino, Anzu (feathered), but so far it hasn’t even been added as an AI yet

they are actually going for scientific accuracy so all the dinos that should have feathers do and they are, as far as i can tell, realistically placed. Good Job!

games are hard to talk about... usually games that feature dinos will have an element of ‘fantasy’ (Ark especially) and JWE is based on the Jurassic World movies so its dinos can only look like the movies dinos. The Isle is most likely suffering from the status quo, most dinos in popular media look like big lizards so they didn’t want to take a risk. the game isn’t finished and its possible it’ll go from a dinosaur sim to a shooter, since there are human models in game and controls for weapons. i’ve also heard players rumor that you’re not actually playing as the dino but as a camera that follows it around (which would explain the nigh vision mode). chances are The Isle will end up like Ark: man vs dino

Movies:

i thought about discussing The Land Before Time movies (cause i was obsessed with them as a kid lol), but that was pre-Jurassic Park so i’ll give it an honorable mention. ANYWAYS... Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: Lost World, Jurassic Park 3, Jurassic World, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. none of them have feathered dinos. lets look at why that might be 🤔

Jurassic Park:

no feathered dinosaurs. BUT, feathered dinosaurs were not very mainstream in the scientific community until about 3 years after the movie came out,

“Three years after the first Jurassic Park debuted, paleontologists announced that the small theropod Sinosauropteryx was covered in a fine coat of fuzzy protofeathers. This was just the initial drop in a flood of feathery dinosaur discoveries which confirmed that a wide variety of dinosaurs bore archaic forms of plumage, from simple filaments to asymmetrical feathers that would have allowed them to fly.”

[from this National Geographic article (x)]

looking more into the history of feathered dinos, i found well... a lot. its really difficult to find a concrete time for when paleontologists discovered (and agreed on) feathered dinos, some places say 1860, 1923, 1979, 1983, it goes on forever, one source even said 2001. Archaeopteryx, which an early Jurassic creature, had complex, bird-like feathers. so why no feathers on other dinosaur reconstructions? its possible these discoveries were ignored by the larger scientific community in favor of the well established depictions of big, slow lizards

[if u wanna do even more reading about feathers check out this All About Birds article (x) and the History of discovery section on the Archaeopteryx’s wiki (x)]

JP definitely upped the Velociraptor’s size and did my Dilophosaurus dirty, so i will fault them for that. the big ass raptor has stayed in pop culture for-fucking-ever. it feels like everyone is making naked Utahraptors and calling them Velociraptors. and g*d... my poor Dilophosaurus... why’d they make you spit? and why so small? you’re really 6-7 meters (20-23 feet) long! you are a large carnivore!! also it is possible that Dilophosaurus had feathers, though again, because its from the early Jurassic, it would have been more like a fur

Lost World:

no feathered dinosaurs. i cant really fault them for not changing the dinosaurs looks in a sequel, also trust me when i say it could have been worse the dino depictions in the book are insane... Chameleon Carnotaurus anyone?

the movie also didn’t explain why there were different dinos at Site B compared to the actual park. my best explanation is from the book: Site B was where the dinosaurs were actually hatched and raised, they were moved to the park just before they got to big to handle. so we are to assume that any non-Jurassic Park dinos we saw in Lost World were originally planned to be moved. sucks that they left this detail out of the movie adaptation, cause a lot of fans got confused (including me lol)

Jurassic Park 3:

no feathered dinosaurs. an incredibly mild attempt at ‘feathered’ raptors was made in JP3 by giving the males quills, but at that point the movies had an established ‘science’ and completely changing the look of the animals at the end of a trilogy might have confused a few people (even if it was more scientifically accurate)

Jurassic World:

no feathered dinosaurs. they literally stated in the movie that they left out accurate feathered dinosaurs because Dr. Wu was asked to create: “Dinosaurs that look like what the public expects dinosaurs to look like. Scary. Scaly. Wild.” Dr. Wu also states that the dinosaurs have never been actual dinosaurs. their DNA is a melting pot of DNA.

(i swear i read something about Dr. Wu attempting to make feathered dinos, but because of all the non-dino DNA he couldn’t get the genes to stick, i can’t find a source or any proof of this so i guess that can be our lil headcanon lol)

though for a more real life reason,

“The reasoning behind this being continued through the subsequent movies, though, is more about how imposing the featherless versions look.” ... “It seems more likely that the filmmakers went with how most people would perceive dinosaurs in the hopes that dino experts would take notice.”

[from this Screen Rant article (x)]

so basically JW cared more about scary, recognizable dinos than accurate ones

Fallen Kingdom:

no feathered dinosaurs. again a sequel is a bit too late to change up your designs. unfortunately the change had to happen in JW or not at all

In Closing:

basically Jurassic Park came out just before paleontologists announced Sinosauropteryx, which popularized feathered dinos. even then Jurassic Park was restricted by the technology of the time. the early ninety’s was not the best time for CGI and i can’t imaging making feathered animatronic dinosaurs that could stand up to the rain they filmed in. new media is definitely stuck in the past, look at the movies that come out and compare how many are sequels or prequels or remakes or whatever. Jurassic Park was a great movie and obviously the vultures that make movies are gonna try and ride its brand into the sunset. blaming the movie for stopping new scientific discoveries from entering the mainstream isn’t fair. the movie did a lot to bring current science into the lime light, it popularized warmblooded, avian dinos and showed them as intelligent, fast moving animals instead of slow movie monsters

but JW had no excuse!  they should get majority of the blame for making the public afraid of feathers cause they themselves were afraid of feathers! they had the technology, the budget, and the opportunity to follow in its parent movie’s footsteps. they could have at least TRIED to be accurate but they just stuck to what people knew cause that was more profitable. science is only as interesting as the toys you can make of it i guess...

a final note, just for my sanity: JP dinos aren’t real dinosaurs. not even in fiction. they’re DNA is so full of garbage that their inaccurate appearances could be explained away with that alone. the books get into this more, talking about all the failed embryos and how many diseases these creatures had. even delving into their lack of social skills and how the raptors didn’t act like a pack, but a group of aggressive individuals. unfortunately the average viewer isn’t gonna know about all this set dressing. hell, i didn’t even read the 2 books until recently (end of 2019/ start of 2020) so i was as ready to believe whatever the movies showed me. honestly the books and movies are all good in different ways, not accurate, but good. read the books if you want more gore and technical explanations and the movies if you want, well... more story, they add a lot of stuff that wasn’t in the books

one day i’ll get into the differences in the books and movies.. one day

[ this was originally a response to someone but tumblr hid it, cause links. so i’ve edited it to be a standalone post and also WAY longer. feel free to add on or correct any mistakes i’ve made (be respectful tho) ]