#but when i was involved in ts4 community…people are just so. like most of the creators are stuck up assholes

[cetoddle]

i love the sims 2 community so much. everyone is so respectful and truly kind

[mori-vibes]

Hello! I don't know if you'll see this, but I figured I had to try! I found a video on youtube of someone doing a menhera/medcore bedroom build in ts4 and it looked like some of the stuff said it was made by you (littlegigglefitz), so I was just wondering if there was any way to get ahold of it? I appreciate your time, take care. <3

Oh really?! Wow, that's a bit of a surprise. There was barely anyone downloading it back when I was semi-active. I didn't think people liked it all that much 😳.

Unfortunately no, I retired all of my stuff back in August (with only the most popular files archived on SFS or MF), and the Menhera kei/yami kawaii files have been deleted since I originally planned on redoing all of them + they weren't very popular at all. I have no idea if I'll ever actually remake any of the Menhera kei stuff since I'm currently more interested in other projects, and I don't know if/when I'll even share those due to personal -health- issues and an inability to handle the drama/discourse in this community (aka the reason I went inactive for almost an entire year- it was too stressful to even look at, despite the fact I was never involved in the first place). If I do, it won't be for a while yet 😞.

I'm so sorry if I have disappointed you in any way, and I hope you're able to find what you're looking for cc-wise. Thank you for reaching out to ask, I appreciate that you were interested in my old content enough to enquire if there was a way to get the cc at all.

Have a good rest of your day, and I wish you good luck in finding what you need. Take care as well 🙂.

[tripstaysnoided]

Flow Just Like Water

Story and writing-related transparency update and my many shames...

The Question on Everyone’s Mind

“Hey you haven’t updated No Stars over Uptown in almost a year...”

Hmm, I hate it when you’re right. (This section has been rewritten ad-nauseam to curb back the bitchiness by the way)

So back in early/mid 2018, the idea was to divorce Uptown from a person who influenced it (and myself) heavily. She was my most important audience member, the closest friend I ever had, and unfortunately someone who used her power to bully, ostracize, and hurt others with my help. I cut contact when the hurt + some self-awareness finally reached me. Apologies were made and I feel like my work will never be done with it, but there was still Uptown.

Between censored comments, entirely recasting Axel’s save, different plot threads, and a load of disclaimers, there was nothing that would scrub her influence from the story. There was no way to cleanly drop everything because of how deep her influence went. It disgusted me to look back at it, and I had to private the blog because I feared what it endorsed, even if just in the past.

I pulled back from that sims writing community. I had its main thread on the Official Forums removed too (I guess if that was a mystery to anyone). It was a surrender that I never wanted to do, but I had it in my mind that if I was gone, then she wouldn’t be there either. Uptown became this cursed item, and as I quietly retired it, I noticed that she went quieter too. Not gone, but enough to make me sleep easier at night and even occasionally say hello to old friends.

And I hope deep in my heart that no one else is getting hurt in my place, but now this is gonna haunt me all day huh!

The two paths forward...

1) Complete Uptown rewrite that I’ve been threatening everyone with all year. While it won’t ever be clean because I can’t undo time, I do have a sound outline for a story that is much more true to my actual vision and how I’ve evolved, with a few necessary boundaries in place that are going to be there for all stories moving forward: no more casting calls and no more collaborative efforts. I am not going to open myself up to this happening again, even if the people have changed.

2) Same as above, but I continue the original Uptown as a favor to loyal readers alongside the rewrite. I would try to put the effort into it that I initially did, but with no promises on an update schedule and no advertising. I did ask myself “is there Patreon but without pledging money, just the private posts function” but it could operate as part of a private forum, a members-only part of a website, etc.

Also readers of the original would be beholden to a rule of “don’t spoil the rewrite for new readers, c’mon guys”. I mean, not really, but it is a good courtesy to extend to people.

Priority on this isn’t high but you at least will see what is!

I will probably make the blog public again either way due to the many broken links on my Tumblr but we’ll see. There are other things to deal with as I shall list!

Where Life’s Been Regardless

Been spending more time with my grandpa every weekend. Life’s pretty good and he’s warming up to my dogs.

Shiny New Webbed Site

Cucumber Fields Forever is a site I own now. We have a full domain, cucumberfieldsforever.com, a blog with one post, and the framework needed to host stories the way I want to and still through WordPress. The functionality of likes, comments, and following should still be the same but you know...I’ll take feedback too...

The main blog still has an undefined purpose though I do have drafts sitting around about:

The maybe/maybe not hoax band that was on the Metal Archives and the history of Funeral Doom Metal.

The curious case of when Sims 4 babies get their genetics and my only collaboration (read: was talking about it with a friend and might quote her if needed, it’s actually a bit of a doozy)

Amazon.com’s fake dried udon noodles, an actual issue by the way.

Things I’m reading! (This’d be a monthly feature if so)

For the sake of unity, I am thinking of solutions for hosting old and shameful content there including Uptown and for the real fans in my followers feed, Eight Cicadas...a world I totally have plans for too (not really). I don’t want them to be front-and-center, and that’s why I mentioned forums/members-only content. I finally have that power! Maybe.

Ooooh but what are the costs? Not too much to handle, that’s what. 😉 (Like really, I don’t need any hand-wringing about this, I can manage my finances)

Project Queue (In Order of Confirmedness)

Outrun the Scythe: have you seen me post out-of-context Sims 3 pictures? Did you want more? Did you hope it was Linda in Custody? If the answers are yes, yes, and “meh, whatever you want”, then you’re in luck.

Outrun the Scythe is a Sims 3-based tale of a young gay man and his zombie grandma, as they are both offered separate roles of being the undying intermediaries between the world of humans and the influence of a race of space daemons. It’s pretty familiar if you’ve been following me pre-Uptown, taking some cues from stories I’ve kept under lock and key like Eight Cicadas, The Chains of Lyra, and the not-so-locked-up Ironstar Immortals (of which Outrun is just the direct sequel to sans any retconning...ah the smell of early 2013 and performative heterosexuality)

Ah, back to my roots.

It’s a hybrid of gameplay, story, and lore about my little race of daemons with a lot of my own idiosyncrasies that I’m not really ashamed of: basing it off a super-polarizing Sims 3 challenge from a site I moderate, using a lot of EA’s pre-made townies and their genes, lots of unnecessary posemaking, stupid references. It’s a comfort to have in my roster.

While the first few chapters are in the middle of revision, I have around six in the queue and will be making this public when I have ten. I’m guessing December then?

Undocumented Black Widow Challenge: I just did this for fun/forum kudos (yes, in fact I have joined many forums), there was going to be a short story but it was quickly becoming something against my code of ethics. I mean, sims die and all. (read: I had to choose between “heterosexual widow” and “widow with some same-sex marriages that still end in tragedy, reinforcing negative stereotypes to the public for the sake of me not getting bored and detached during gameplay” so there were no good choices. Except for her affair with the mailwoman, 10/10) I hope to finish this before October ends and get my medal on Boolprop, I’m pretty far through it all. I might upload the sims involved anyways. This is for TS4.

I mentioned it because it’s keeping me busy. But not for long!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Dipping my toes into that again! It’s not sims-related, just a tale of lesbians, nosy neighbors, a haunted beach house, and some light murder and kidnapping. And I actually got my brother to scout out locations for me this weekend. If there’s any demand, I can share chapters as the rough drafts are finished, especially for the sake of proofreading.

Not saying I’m publishable, but wouldn’t it be nice? Will keep me occupied for much of November.

Untitled “Dear Diary” Challenge: Tired of feeling left out of the fun on the Boolprop forums, their “Dear Diary” challenge was the one that appealed to me the most on first glance. Why? Probably once I found an idea that let it be set in the early/mid-2000′s to begin with and explore some interesting characters through diary entries (which I have mixed feelings on as a literary device but I think that’s just me saying “well I didn’t like Dracula”, yes you get bonus points for writing it like a diary)

Also writing is the one skill I’m good at across multiple games. Wanna hear me bitch about the cooking skill tree in TS4 or riding in TS3? I’ll spare you.

I guess I could have included “spending time on Boolprop with old and new friends” in where my life has been. It’s a nice lil community if also a place with its own idiosyncrasies as well. So it doesn’t feel like I’m promoting another community if/when I make a thread there for Outrun the Scythe, I want to have a couple chapters of this ready to go by Outrun’s release, though it’s not gonna be the highest priority compared to it nor as long because I think I can blast through the gameplay quickly.

This one will be played in TS4 due to it having the easiest writing skill/I dunno variety is the spice of life. And hopefully another December release.

Defunded or Forgotten?: Oh shit I actually released stuff in 2020 and told no one? I do have a “mortifying ordeal of being known” sinking feeling whenever I get a site hit because it’s not my best work (but good enough) and veered sharply into issues I may be over my head in, though I try to be a good noodle with research and listening. Maybe hiding is bad after all.

Being based off a very flawed and incomplete Sims 3 challenge I found in the annals of the Official Forums, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work just making sense of things. And I’m scared of working on reconstructing the house but I haven’t abandoned the project yet. The story has eight chapters so far and is pretty game-based with some additions here and there. Scared of how long it could be though!

Date for this unknown.

Untitled Sunlit Tides Decadynasty: another year-long abandoned TS3 project with a much stupider reason why. Last update was about Hua getting ready for her wedding, and I wanted to do some poses for a bait-and-switch wedding chapter because to put it mildly, her real one was an absolute disaster.

Blender decided to fuck up its interface again, I got discouraged (this probably does account for some of the Uptown delays too), and when I decided to plow forward, it was for other projects instead.

Meanwhile I played all the way to Gen 5′s teenhood and the only thing stopping me is time (it takes almost 30 minutes to load the file right now, though they’ll be looking at moving towns in a couple gens) and maybe fear of the Logic skill.

Date for this also unknown but it’s easy to pump out updates once I’m in the groove for it. My third heir had a difficult life so maybe I’m just trying to bury it.

Also I just noticed the view count there was really good and probably because I linked it here on Tumblr last year. Thank you so much guys. I can’t really fret over views on Carl’s forum these days thanks to the years-long death spiral pretty much every forum anywhere has been riding on. But it’s a nice surprise. And it’s an alright little challenge recap to read during your lunch break or whatever.

The Wawas

I figured I’d end on the real news everyone wants! Both the chihuahuas are a year and a half now and reached their adult size around a year ago. For the most part, they are happy and healthy dogs.

[melien]

Re: Sims 3 community

Didn’t expect to get so many responses on that post! Apparently I’m not the only one who feels this way and it seemed to have resonated with others. Here are some more thoughts of mine on this matter (warning: I talk a lot...)

borderlinedub said: Dying? I’d argue it’s already dead. You’re the only active ts3 blog on my dash right now.

I have, like, 10 (?) active ts3 blogs on my dash, but most of them are semi-active and some are alternating between ts3 and ts4. As someone who enjoys stories, I feel like a couple years ago I could always find a compelling legacy/story to read, and now there’s only a few blogs who post them at all (and I do have some genre preferences too, so it’s even harder to find what I’m looking for). I feel like the only way out is to start paying attention to ts4 stories because I don’t mind them (for me good storytelling and personality of the blogger is more important than the game part), but... it’s a shame so many ts3 storytellers are no more, the aesthetic of the game in combination with stories worked so well and I had an easier time getting attached to the characters.

dandylion240 said: I still have running TS3 stories but I only update them on the weekend because of how long it takes to open the game and get pics. I love your stories but I understand the struggle. I enjoy your stories but I also know you’ve got to enjoy what your doing otherwise it’s not fun anymore.

I totally understand that and while I’m sad so many people switched to ts4, I absolutely get why they did so. The loading times and lag of ts3 requires a lot of patience, and I mean a lot, so just because I have this patience doesn’t mean others do (to be honest, I don’t always have it either, and there are times when I’m also considering switching, but I gave a lot of chances to ts4 and it just doesn’t catch my interest. Not saying it can’t change in the future when there are more packs and interactions). And thank you for sticking with my stories, it’s appreciated!

starsweeperskies said: You’re one of the few that I follow and are still active. :c I wish the community could come back…

starsweeperskies said: And queuing this is admittedly why I stopped posting pics of my game. :t just was such a pain.

Yeah, maybe my mindset has changed over the years and it’s normal, but like... in the past I was so excited to post stuff, I was even a little anxious in a good way and was looking forward to it. But now, even though I get sparks of excitement now and then, most of the time I feel like all the effort is not worth it, as drafting takes so much time and often just feels like a chore, combined with the community’s inactivity (therefore lack of people to share ideas and be excited with, because even some of my friends moved on), long loading times, tumblr being glitchy, my general tiredness and health issues etc. I’m considering doing casual gameplays/photoshoots/short stories instead of legacies because that’s something I can do on my own terms and not be like “ugh, I have such a cool idea for this next generation but I’ll never get through all the boring stuff prior to it” and then force myself to play and draft this boring stuff. I’ve always liked the legacy format but it’s tiring sometimes.

amixofpixels said: I’m not the only one yet. I’ve been trying to find more active 3 blogs and it’s not the easiest but they are still there. I do believe I’m in the minority who’s game doesn’t cause them issues, but then, again, I play in a very unusual way. 😅

I actually tried playing in a way similar to yours (cas rainbowcy that I’m yet to post), and even though I’m more of a storyteller, it works pretty well when I just want to generate some cute sims and make them over (I do get those urges from time to time). I always preferred following blogs similar to mine (ts3 legacies, preferably story-based but not necessarily), but now, as I said above, there’s not even a lot of blogs to choose from. Maybe I’m a bit picky, but the blogger themselves is a defining factor as well - I had to give up on a few good blogs that liked to be involved in drama or acted arrogant, even if I enjoyed their content. Generally, it’s a huge bonus for me when people are really attached to their sims characters and enthusiastic about them - it’s always been infectious and inspiring and you wanted to know more about their babies. But I feel like this aspect also died down a little, and I don’t blame people. Maybe I should research writeblr community and see what’s it like there.

[purplesimmer455]

50 Questions for your Sim

I was tagged by the incredible @izayoichan ☺️😄 thank you! 

And I chose Maya Feldman to do this tag cause she’s so gorgeous and sweet and on of my fave sims, plus I based some of her on me (the anxiety part, the being Pakistani part, the awkward and tending to ramble part, etc.) also those pics are of her thru the gameplay 

1: How old is your sim? Oh man, I’d say 23 cause (for my own sims game since everyone has different aging) I just assumed that once my sims turn into young adults their aging slows down, plus I have MCCC so Maya has 1000 days left of being a YA

2. When is your sim’s birthday? June 23 ♋️

3. What is your sim’s zodiac sign? Cancer 🦀

4. What is your sim’s ethnicity? Part Pakistani on her dad’s side (her dad’s bio mom and bio dad were from Rawalpindi and Islamabad respectively) and part Greek from her mom ☺️

5. Does your sim have any nicknames? Kaitlyn calls her Feldman

6. Do they have a job? If so what is it?  Maya is a freelance digital artist for now, cause tbh I love exploring any new career options that come with packs and and patches so I change up her career

7. Where does your sim live? she lives in Brindleton Bay 

8.Who does your sim live with? With her wife Kaitlyn, their daughter Luna, her sister Abby, Abby’s daughter Yaritza and the two pets, Cosmo and Coco

 9. What environment did your sims grow up in (strict, loving, cold etc.)? Very loving, and a little strict, but her mom and dad were also really affectionate with her and her siblings

10. What are your sim’s favorite food? Chocolate chip cookies 🍪 

11. What is your sim’s favorite drink? Coffee, especially cappuccinos 😄

12. If they have one what is your sim’s favorite color? Pink for sure 

13. Does your sim believe in any clichés (like love at first sight, etc)? Oh definitely, Maya felt like the first time she saw Kaitlyn, it was love at first sight

14. What is your sim’s sexuality? Lesbian 👩‍❤️‍👩

15. What is your sim’s gender identity? Female

16. Is your sim type a or type b? A for sure 

17. Is your sim introverted or extroverted? Maya’s kinda both, cause she likes socializing and being friendly, but she also likes time to herself to just read a book or play the Sims Forever

18. What is your sims favorite woohoo position? Oh my god 😳😅 um, that might be TMI also cause I’m like oh man which would it be? 😅

19. Is your sim a pet person? If so what is their favorite animal? Yup, Maya loves dogs, especially her pet pit bull Roxy and his son/her current dog Cosmo ☺️

20. Does your sim have a best friend? Kaitlyn, Miko, Abby and Salim for the most part ☺️

21. What is/was your sim’s favorite school subject? She loved English and Art 

22. Is/was your sim a high, mid or low achiever in school? Maya was a high achiever and did really well

23. Are they planning to go or have they already been to college? If so, what would be or what was their major? Yup, Maya went to Sims University (story wise in ts3) and she majored in Communications

24. What are your sims political beliefs (if they have them)?  Oh man, I’m not sure 🤔

25. What is one thing your sims wants to do before they die? Maybe see her future grandkids? One part of me wants to turn her into a vampire too cause I don’t want her to die 😅

26. Does your sim have a favorite TV show (cable) and/or movie? Strangerville Mysteries, where host Erin Vasquez and her crew investigates creepy mysteries and hauntings first in Strangerville and then the show expanded to include other places

27. Is your sim a Netflix viewer? If so what are their top 3 shows. Of course, Maya loves Rumor Gal(a TS4 version of gossip girl), Goosebumps & Young and Hungry

28. Does your sim like books? If so what’s their favorite one? Oh man, yup 😄 Maya loves the confessions of a shopaholic series, and anything with horror, mystery, scandal or comedy

29. Does your sim enjoy video games, if so what is their favorite one and do they play on PC or console? Yup, she loves The Sim Forever and plays it on her laptop

30. What is your sim’s personal style? Girly, but casual and comfy mostly as well

31. Does your sim have a lucky charm? Hmm, I don’t know, maybe the necklace Kaitlyn gave her that has ‘Kaitlyn’ engraved on it?

32. Is your sim religious? Not really

33. What kind of music does your sim listen to and who is their favorite artist? Maya mainly loves pop songs, and also she loves Disney movie soundtracks, like the ones from Moana

34. Is your sim a festive person? If so what’s their favorite holiday? Maya loves festivities (it’s just that I keep forgetting to decorate for Winterfest and New Years Eve in game 😅) also Maya loves Harvestfest, especially a relaxing one spent with her family

35. What is your sim’s favorite type of weather? Spring weather, when it’s cool and fresh but also warm and sunny 

36. Does your sim prefer to start fights or finish them? Neither option as well

37. Does your sim have a dream job? As a kid, she wanted to be a mermaid* who was also a fashion designer 🧜‍♀️ , and as she got older she wanted to be involved in fashion, but without the mermaid part (kinda, cause if the Island pack has mermaids she is so becoming a mermaid, also I love mermaids as well so yup)

38. Does your sim have any siblings? Yup. Luke is her older brother, Angie and Abby are her baby sisters and they’re twins

39. Does your sim get along with their family? Heck yeah, she loves her family, even if she and Angie used to bicker over the The most random and dumb things as teens

40 What is your sims favorite hobby? Reading or painting, it’s hard for her to choose between the two

41. What does your sim look for in a romantic partner? Someone with humor, and someone who she can goof around with and talk with and be herself with, and she found that with Kaitlyn 🥰

42. What is a secret about your sim? Okay so for some reason my mind’s blanking right now, but I might come back to this

43. What is a wish your sim has? That she’d never have to lose her family members and loved ones

44. What is a flaw your sim has? Stubborn, Maya can be pretty stubborn on things 

45. How do others generally perceive your sim? A lot of sims think that Maya’s friendly and sweet, and she’s always helping people out 

46. Does your sim have a greatest achievement? If so what is it? For Maya, it’s her baby Luna, and the fact that she and Kaitlyn raised such an amazing daughter so far. Maya’s really proud of Luna

47. If they have one, what is your sim’s greatest regret? Maya regrets that once she turned 14 she got so involved with other stuff (like her writing and art clubs and hanging out with her friends) that she spent less and less time with her dad even when he wanted to spend time with her like they used to do with their father daughter fishing trips or lunch outings, and then he passed away when she was 16

48. Does your sim have a favorite emoji? 🥰☺️

49. Does your sim use simstagram? If so what’s their @? Her simstagram is @MayaFeldman💛 And Yup, she posts cute pictures of her and Kaitlyn, Coco, Cosmo and her family and random funny stuff

50. What is the last text your sim sent (and who did they text)? She sent this  to Kaitlyn: “Hey babe, do you want me to get you anything from Target? 🤔☺️”

Okay, so I tag @pink-chevalier @indecisivesimblr @kymmaisims @fataleromeo @nternet @ohphoebelay @citrusswig @sensitive-simmer @toffeetip @thedonutsquad @kris-sims @angelisims @klauseconfessions and anyone else who wants to do this tag 😄 (also it’s totally not mandatory so I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to do this tag, or do it right away or anything 🤔😊)

[aleniksimmer]

TS3 First impressions

Disclaimer: these are MY PERSONAL OPINIONS.

As you know (or probably not) I bought TS4 in 2017 (April?) and it's the first The Sims game I ever played. I came across the "brand" during TS3 era but I was young and didn't have money to buy it, so never even joined the community. Tbh when I bought TS4 I didn't even know how to play, I learned through LP videos and the forum. Now, let's talk about TS3 BG that I bought and played in these days.

CAS: as soon as I downloaded the game I started playing. Useless to say I spent more than an hour in CAS (with a single sim) to try everything and didn't enjoy it at all. The base models are kinda ugly, the sliders are kinda useless (aka, unless I dragged them on the edges, the sim always looked the same), I was surprised to not find any body areas slider (hips, legs, arms, belly, back etc), like for real? Every sim has a similar body?? The clothes and hair felt limited in terms of number and style (but I haven't counted them) and the color wheel offers TOO MANY OPTIONS. Most patterns are questionable, for a person like me who likes to have categorized things and easy access in terms of choices, it has been a nightmare. About the sim personality (5 traits, favorite things, Zodiac) it's a big YES, just because it felt like having more unique Sims. Anyway, made the sim, placed it in a pre-made house and closed the game. Second time I decided to create a new save, randomize the sim completely, let the game decide her aspiration, and placed her in an empty lot.

BB: didn't use this that much. Just created a square house with the cheapest furniture to make my sim survive with the given money. I just find the UI a mess in general with all that blue, and the color scheme they decided to use (no vibrant colors for the objects) kinda blends in. Not a fan. But it was "nice" to see my sim react to the fact that I didn't use wallpapers. In TS4 Sims seem to be unaware of the space they're living in except the "good furniture buff" (idk how it's translated) based on a sum of points given to objects around them. It could literally be pile of clothes and they would be happy anyway.

Living: I found it easy to maintain high the needs of my sim. I didn't had problems while I was just doing survive+work. When I started collecting seeds and have a garden and look for people I had some needs in red, but I had her fall asleep outside the house just once and only because she was in prison (she started the criminal career due to the aspiration). In TS4, give me a week of just work and my sim has probably already fallen asleep on the floor 5 times, peed itself 2 and in a constant state of tense and sadness due to low fun and social.

Career: these are way more difficult compared to TS4. The fact that you also know people from work and your relationship with them is involved in your promotion is very nice.

World: I understand the appealing of an open world. Even if I had to reduce the lot loading to one due to my laptop (and see people floating on the background) I had way more fun visiting community lots instead of every time waiting on a loading screen. The only complaint is that with that color/render style finding collectibles is difficult.

Relationships: is kinda hard? And I can't understand who are the teens and the adults. I was looking for a partner for my sim and spoke to more or less 5 Sims. While all the men found her boring and stopped the conversation immediately, the women hated her at first sight for no reason. Plus I think a couple of them were teens because after a while I found no romantic interactions. I was finally able to find a man because he was the only one who reacted positively and kinda accepted the flirt immediately. While in TS3 relationships feel more harsh at the beginning but then go smoothly, in TS4 the outcome seem more random? It's easier to move the relationship where you want but it's a matter of trial and errors, a sim can randomly decide it doesn't like that interaction or find it boring and you have to change "subject".

Random: I can't stand the robotic animations, in fact I always played far away from my sim (almost always with the whole lot loaded on the screen) while in TS4 I like the smooth animations, the funny facial expressions and the unique look of the sims in general. But I loved that my newly married couple was "spooning" in the bed, or had a buff when their partner was in the same room. It makes them feel more connected and not like in TS4 when you just have random romantic interactions and a constant look at their relationship bar. As I said before, in TS3 sims seem more aware of what happens around them, while in TS4 they feel isolated "in their own ego".

And I think that's all for now, I'm probably going to do more of these posts about TS3. I was just very curious why people still love it so much and I wanted to try by myself.

[kosmokhaos]

Does your sims 3 run fast with a lot cc? If so teach us some tricks & tips🙇‍♀️

I probably have about 26gb of CC in my game which is the normal for me lol My game does run pretty well. No mass lagging or jerky jittery movements and most of my saves take about 10-15 to load the first time I open them and a little bit less time if I closed them and reopened them again. To keep your game running smoothly the best way is to simply have a computer with enough processing and graphical power to run a game like TS3. When EA made TS4 they downgraded the graphics which is why most people can run it on their old cheap community computers so well. And before I am asked these are my specs:

Manufacturer: ToshibaModel: Satellite P750Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM CPU 2.20GHzRAM: 8GBOperating System: Windows 7 64bitGraphic Cards:Intel® HD Graphics Family (Integrated Graphics) Nvidia GeForce GT 540M (Stand Alone Card) 

My laptop is actually about 7 years old now lmao I’m looking to get a new one simply to upgrade and have more space but I still have no problems running TS3 on here.

My number one suggestion for smooth running of CC would be 

ORGANIZATION!!!

People have a habit of just DLing things and chucking it into their games with no kind of organization involved so when something they put into the game breaks it they don’t even know where to start to fix it. I do merge my CC both with CCMagic and less often, with S3PE but I keep backups of ALL my single files. Then I organize those files by the type and category of CC that they fall in. For example I have Folder for Makeup, Clothing, Accessories, Objects, Hair, Skin, Sliders, CoreMods, and 3D Replacement Mods. And yes that applies to when I stick it into CC Magic too lol You don’t have to organize your CC the exact same way I do but its best to do some kind of organization that you can understand is the best way to go about things.

Another suggestion

COMPRESS AND MERGE YOUR CC!!!

Run it through the Compressurizer even before you dump it into CCMagic! I have no idea how people just dump things in their mods folder nowadays unless they operate on the bare minimum of CC. I love my CC so I’m always trying to find a way to make it run even smoother.

Lastly

PLEASE READ THINGS BEFORE YOU DL THEM

Some people have a hard time doing this and end up with easily avoidable problems. Whenever you’re DLing a new Mod that changes anything about the gameplay of you sims game, READ WHAT ITS COMPATIBLE WITH. Make sure it matches the patch level you’re at and make sure that it doesn’t conflict with any other kinds of mods you may already have. 

Its a slight learning curve to playing the sims with CC but its not rocket science (most of the time lol). But the Sims 3 community is still kicking so if you ever need clarification for things, just ask. :)

[paechey]

How to I grow out my blog and get my posts noticed by people. I keep posting stuff but then noone notes it so i feel like none of my stuff is worth putting out there if noone is there to see it ;-;

it took me a while to answer this cause i had to think about it for a while but here we go!! i’ve managed to put it down into 4 points i think are the most important to gain followers/likes/reblogs/comments that doesn’t involve giveaways or making cc. if you want to read everything in depth, click keep reading! there’s also an extra comment i added at the end that isn’t mentioned in the image! :+)

communicate!communicate with the simblr community by sending people asks, comment on their post and actually talk to other simblrs. i know that when i see blogs send people i follow asks, i usually check out their content, or when i get asks from people not on anon, i also check out their blogs. being interactive with the community in general is beneficial, however dont confuse this with thinking befriending simblrs gives you a free shout out!!

timezone reblog!save this for the posts you really love as not to clutter your blog, but reblog your posts under tz reblog so that those who live in a different timezone can see your posts! part of why you might not be getting as many notes is because you may be posting during a period where majority of your followers are asleep.

tag well!tumblr’s tagging system works where the first 5 tags will show up in the search tumblr feature, so tag your posts appropriately and well. use the main ones like ts4 and the sims 4, etc for the first 5 and then save any of the remaining ones (like if you have a tag system on your simblr page) for last. this will help those who are browsing these tags find your content better.

quantity≠ quality!a reason why it may appear as though you’re not getting many notes is because you’re posting quite frequently. you should make sure that you’re not spamming your followers with posts and should focus on more about achieving higher quality posts. if you’re comparing your posts to other peoples, you should consider that theirs is an amalgamation of over the course of a few days, a few weeks, etc. just like yours will be over time.

and most importantly!it’s 100% completely okay to want more notes on your posts, humans seek out validation and appreciation so dont worry if you’re feeling bad about wanting this even though lots of people will say “dont worry about not getting notes!! it’s not even that big of a deal!!”. it’s going to be difficult to gain likes/reblogs, etc from people if you aren’t able to churn out these insanely godlike amazing posts. however over time, you’ll either figure out what works for you and what pulls in the notes you want ooor you’ll gain a steady amount of notes from a dedicated base of followers or both. dont feel discouraged and keep on trying new things! :+)if any of you wanna talk in more detail about this and get my opinion, dont be scared to send me an ask or message and i’ll do my best to offer any advice!!

[aharris00britney]

ASKS 09

random stuff, some facts about me, some sims questions, video requests, hair sneak peaks, umm and other stuff too…. also I am 10 candies from being able to evolve that dumb fish so wig

Anonymous said: Do you have a car?

Nope!

Anonymous said: Hi wcif the shirts in your coming soon in June update ps I love your cc x

hey! for any WCIFs for that stuff, I am probably going to wait until the posts for the hairs are up because I know that people won’t check when the hairs are posted for my old wcifs.

@angelamariacalle​ said: you could make a WIP the eyes that you use in your post with ice cream?     

i have no idea what you were trying to say ;-; the eyes I used are my default ones which you can download here

@ayoshi-sims​ said: Once you get this SHARE 6 facts about yourself and send it to your 10 favorite blogs ✨

I still play pokemon go (fight me)

I think that pop music was the best in 2007-2011 (One of the Boys, The Fame/The Fame Monster, Circus/Blackout, Animal/Cannibal, The best damn thing)

I am a super middle child! (two older siblings, and two younger ones as well)

I keep all my kpop albums on my dresser, with my Red Velvet one hanging in a red/white flower crown I own :)

My favorite food to snack on is either a tuna kit, or pickles

I am a bottom XD

Anonymous said: When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy! Then, send to the last ten people in your notifications anonymously. You never know who might benefit from spreading positivity!

aaaaah okay um

my kpop girlies i stan

my angel rocky (my old af pug)

my friends (irl and online <3)

the concept of love is always something that makes me happy omg i know that is cheesy but like… imagine finding someone that is perfect for you will always be there when you need and like just GOD I NEED A MAN NOW

charli xcx music umm yeah it’s 5 in the morning

Anonymous said: Hello, I was wondering if you have your sims on the gallery? Thanks for your time. :)       

Yeah! I have a few sims for download on my origin which is SPOTHARRIS I also have them for download on this page

Anonymous said: Hello!! Just wondering wicf the freckles from the discontinued model in your older posts (e.g. momo buns) thank you!!! BTW I love your stuff soo much! :)

Hey! I no longer have that file or even know where I got them from :( Here is an OLD af wcif I answered of them though

Anonymous said: Where are you from?

I am from Virginia, which is on the east coast of the United States :)

Anonymous said: Hi!! I feel like this is such a silly question but oh well I’m a noob. If I use your Quartz eyes V2 will they be inherited in the next generation if my sims have kids? Same with your hair colors as well?

I honestly have no idea how any of that stuff works :( I’m sorry! I assume it should but also maybe not? ;-; again, sorry!

Anonymous said: omg the hair with the flowers in it! *-* i love!! will you also make a version without the flowers? I also wanted to say I’m really happy your life is going well and congrats on the 30k followers

thank you so much!! and I the hair will obvi have no flowers :P the flowers should be accessories if everything works out. There are some clipping issues rn but I think it is fixable :) here is a pic without the flowers. If you guys have any recommendations about then pls send them my way

Anonymous said: Would you ever consider doing really long curly hair like the singer Sza’s?

I personally don’t like super long hair in TS4, it just doesn’t look well with most clothes and has clipping/weight issues :( I’m sorry!!

Anonymous said: Do you know what happened to SimpleSimmer?

I don’t, no. But I am sure she is fine :) sometimes people just take breaks

Anonymous said: Hi! So, i really love your sim with the dark brown hair (for your hair cc) and i was wondering if you could ever share that sim! Because she has a beautiful face. Also i am wondering which skin overlay (etc) you are using! You can find me in the gallery under the name: xThisGirl (if that is an easier way for you to respond :)

Hey! You can find her download here, along with all my other sims :) I am glad you like her <3

Anonymous said: Hey! I know you probably won’t read this as fast but I wanted to ask, how do you shift the hairline to the side or any of that? Like your daisy hair, briana hair, and that one wip you had in a tutorial video of yours! I really want to do that but I just don’t know how :(

I will maybe record something for this! No promises bc I have to get someone to edit the videos for me and I don’t wanna bug him but I will see if he can edit it for me if I film it :) It is pretty simple to do once you get the hang of it

@sims4storiesandstuff​ said: I just wanted to say, your hairs are the shit! Absolutely stunning. I rarely use the EA hairs anymore! I think you deserve every follower you have.            

Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate stuff like this <3 I don’t play the game myself much so it makes me happy knowing that my hairs make other peoples games so much more enjoyable uwu

Anonymous said: hello can you make please a video when you make a hair and upload it?

I would like to! I just do so many random things while doing a hair like showing pictures to friends and getting their advice. So I will have to see, would you guys mind if the video had conversation stuff in it? As I said earlier, someone edits the videos for me so I don’t wanna get him to do more work for it by editing them out :( I will look into it for sure though!

Anonymous said: That hair wip in your lil video tutorial is absolutely beautiful!! Can’t wait until it’s released !! 🧡🧡

thank you so much!! Here are some more pics of it:

Anonymous said: are you korean? If not, how can you like kpop if you dont understand it?

I am not korean haha, but music is about more than understanding. It is about the feelings it vibes you get from it and the moods it puts you in. People love screamo music even though it is hard to understand, and music like instrumentals and dubstep heavy are just… what the music makes you feel. I listen to ‘normal’ pop, kpop, instrumentals, artists like grimes that mumble their songs a lot with production heavy stuff. I think that as long as the music is something you enjoy, you shouldn’t be judged for liking it. I know you aren’t trying to be rude with this ask so don’t think I am attacking you please! I am just trying to give you some insight into why different music interests people :)

Anonymous said: I’m so happy to see that you’ve made a patreon account! you really make amazing CC and that’s such a gift to the community, I’m happy that now I get to feel like I can give something to you haha :) have a great day/evening!

thank you so much! and thank you for supporting <3

@lesyatim​ said: Hello,  it’s not ask. I only want to say that you make very beautiful hair and  THANK YOU! I Love You💕💕💕💕💕 P.S. I’m from Russia and I don’t now English very well♡)

thank you so much!! Спасибо большое (that is suppose to say thank you in german lmao)

Anonymous said: When did u make a skin?

it is a hidden gem :P It is mainly to fix the collarbones bc I use multiple skin overlays so I that is why is was never posted :)

Anonymous said: Congratulations i hope you have a happy family 😄

ummm?? I GOT IT I GOT I GOT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT

@dangerouskindofmind said: I actually don’t have a question! I just wanna say you are one of my favorite sims 4 creators out here. Your hairs; snatched. Your clothes; beautiful. Your sims; amazing. And your personality looks just as good lol. I’ve probably downloaded like 99.9% of your content and I just wanna say thank you for all you do to make my sims 4 experience loads better. I also hope you’re having a great day

thank you so much!!!! I appreciate it a ton, I love that my content makes people love this game more <3

Anonymous said: Just wanted to say that literally all of your CC is beautiful and from what I’ve seen, I absolutely adore your personality. Keep it up my dear, you’ve got crazy talent. Much love <3

thank you, thank you!!! My personality irl is kind of shitty lmao I am really shy and like reserved ;-; and it is just memorizing how to do some editing to hair meshes, not much talent involved <3 thank you so so much again though!! I love getting these kind of messages

Anonymous said: Are you gonna make an outerwear cc pack when the seasons expansion pack releases?

I don’t make much clothing CC so I highly doubt it. I am working on a swimsuit that I might post later this month though! We will see what happens though :D

Anonymous said: thank you very much for a playlist that you shared with One Shot,Two Shot,I’m totally in love ur the best

yesss BoA is such a queen, listen to the full mini album if you can! It is one of her best releases in my opinion.

Anonymous said: aharris00britney awnsered me,cuz I remember my question and it’s on the asks recent post AND i’ll shake this print in all my enemies face thx,I asked about the patreon and I’m doing it right now bby <3            

hehe thank you!! <3 you show them enemies

– just so the eating ass juicy booty ask so yep that is all I have gotten in the past month that I can answer :P

[thesims4blogger]

SimGuruGrant’s Tweets The Sims 4

SimGuruGrant on twitterdiscuss various topics related to The Sims 4, and the series in general.

Not planned currently, but maybe some day?

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Maybe!

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

I guess I'll just say there are many others we think will be more fun.

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Nope. https://t.co/x1EQilUo9Y

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Nope. https://t.co/uuxxb9f09v

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

I think we'll be doing different things to ultimately improve the experience in this regard. It probably won't be "story progression" as many people believe it to be. https://t.co/ItuhkNpqTS

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

They're possible. https://t.co/NHiAMpqjhK

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

The number of things that are possible versus not possible in TS4 is a pretty wide margin. So, saying something is possible isn't saying much, sillies.

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

I want us to do so. No idea when. https://t.co/uK9l5SaUBA

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Maybe. We're not sure. https://t.co/q4xOl0k1Nf

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

It's more thinking about all the things we can do and deciding which ones to focus on, and when. https://t.co/1dmvNFSLY1

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Arcades are in Get Together.

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

*shrug* Not sure. It's difficult to spend time on a feature that's not "really" new.

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Purses, bags, backpacks are *incredibly* difficult. https://t.co/SENi5qlRBT

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Animations, our existing skeletons, a lot of factors. It's the type of feature that may not pay off what it costs us to make. https://t.co/IsvcTSd40O

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

I like this idea. https://t.co/qATZdIWlaw

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Qualitative surveys, fan feedback (forums, twitter, etc), game changers input, past Sims sales data, things the team wants to make, cultural trends. https://t.co/wFeKpx3p2K

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

We basically split clothing by Tops, bottoms, and fully body, so probably not right now.

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

As I said, it's possible. But, most things are. https://t.co/KoUKBIrOrX

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Yes. We are actively pondering this right now. https://t.co/NQdtWe3Xqe

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Give us a little time. It's important.

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Retroactively? Not super possible. Moving forward? We don't like to do this for this exact reason. Live and learn. https://t.co/a69IHwUUFN

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Data, team desire, technology needs, seasonality. It's a lot of factors. https://t.co/Pu1G9s2OUQ

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

With the August Caribbean update we released new lipsticks and eye makeup designed for darker skin tones. We're still struggling with good blush. It's important to us, we hear you, and we're trying to improve this. https://t.co/RWzGWvKc2u

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Environment team. https://t.co/rqQyZaS9Mc

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

I need more than 280 characters. We're constantly learning. https://t.co/ptJemA3d4I

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

As a senior producer I'm more involved with high level theme decisions, early pillars, and marketing work. Folks like Dave and Jill and Steph drive the packs as leads. And the FPs/Designers oversee individual features. https://t.co/d8KOwG59Hb

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

We usually do something. I'm sure we'll figure something out...but we're so busy.... https://t.co/zUhelHrN3P

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

I don't see us ever being a Rated-R or M for Mature Game. But, otherwise, I don't want to say never to anything within our rating. https://t.co/BMdKIloESd

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

We evaluate bugs based on community input (we have ratings based on community sentiment and daily stand ups to evaluate). We evaluate based on our own experience. And we look at where things fit and fix as many as we can as fast as we can. https://t.co/uh7ltjqGkD

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Maybe.

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 5, 2018

Because if I tell you what I *want* to add I'm effectively announcing what we *will* add. https://t.co/HRjisshEnQ

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 6, 2018

This one is tough. The Sims isn't built for combat and fighting and massive world changes. I think we can do a killer super hero lair, team dynamics, costume design, training. We can do the Hover carrier scene from Avengers, but not the NYC battle. https://t.co/CwQb7DmP7L

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 6, 2018

We really try to work for this more and more. We're trying to feature more women of color in particular on our pack art. It's a long road to really be great at this, so thank you for bearing with us.

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 6, 2018

Mostly because that's what happens in comic books. We have to figure out how to align The Sims with expectations for comics. https://t.co/I3Ba58tBEe

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 6, 2018

Traits are great. We like to add them when we have good ones to toss in. https://t.co/eCsmotydJT

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 6, 2018

We tend to add aspirations for every game pack and expansion, give or take. We also add lots of perks and rewards, which act like traits. They just aren't always called traits. https://t.co/6dai8Nb4Oi

— Grant Rodiek (@SimGuruGrant) September 6, 2018

[plumbobpost]

Fanfic Friday: Spotlight on Skell’s Fortune & Romance

Sul sul!

Today Week of Woohoo continues with a very special twist. I have had the opportunity to ask Skell a few questions as part of a new series of posts about storytelling in The Sims community.

Skell’s Fortune & Romance serves as a prequel to the Pleasantview and Strangetown storylines in The Sims 2 from the perspectives of the Caliente sisters, hence the title which references their aspirations. Her story takes place in the time period between the first and second games and fills in the gaps between the contradicting timelines of The Sims, The Sims 2, and The Sims 3. Although the story is largely from Dina’s perspective, it features most of the iconic The Sims 2 characters ranging from Olive Specter to the Tricous to Bella and Mortimer Goth, establishing its own vivid mythology in the process.

In addition to writing, Skell has also created beautiful Maxis-Match content for The Sims 2 and is a frequent contributor to the Totally Maxis Tumblr and the fansite Garden of Shadows.

Without further ado, I’ll let Skell speak for herself.

You’ve said in the past that Fortune & Romance started out as your attempt to make sense of Maxis canon for the premade characters of Neighborhood 1, Pleasantview, and Sunset Valley. How did this evolve from your personal headcanons into a full-fledged story?

“I had played TS2 off and on for years before I was part of the fandom, mostly just goofing around but I had a lot of fun taking pictures and experimenting with posing. One day I discovered Strangetomato’s “Strangetown Here We Come” on TVtropes and was amazed at the way she fleshed out the premade stories from the game. Through her comment section, I discovered the whole fandom and started paying better attention to the premades. Eventually I came up with a backstory for Dina that I really wanted to write and share.”

Why did you choose Nina and Dina Caliente to be your protagonists? Did you ever consider different lead characters?

“It was always gonna be Dina because I was intrigued her backstory with the mysteriously inconsistent Michael Bachelor and the fact that she’s part alien. I wasn’t as interested in Nina until I noticed that she was shy (like me in RL) and also autonomously beating people up all the time. That’s when I realized she was gonna be a co-star and balance to Dina’s antics.”

Instead of ignoring Maxis’ characterization of Dina as a gold digger, you embraced it and made it a focal point of her character. Similarly, you fully acknowledge Nina’s romance aspiration while not making her a heartbreaker. How did you find a balance between their implied “villainy” in The Sims 2 and making them more sympathetic characters?

“I enjoy classic movies where Marilyn Monroe or Thoroughly Modern Millie is like “teehee I’m gonna marry a millionaire,” and it’s quirky rather than villainous. In those stories, she usually falls for a poor guy and chooses love over money (and often he turns out to be secretly rich.) Since Michael didn’t give her a “married a rich sim” memory, I wanted to write Dina the gold-digger as a modern version of that kind of story.”

“Maxis kind of setup Romance sims for “villainy” by not allowing for casual or open relationships, but of course that can be fixed with mods. With Nina, it’s interesting that she doesn’t really fit the “outgoing party girl” type. I think of her as a quiet person with a very intense energy. She needs lots of exercise and woohoo so that she doesn’t explode.”

There are a lot of unconventional relationships in your story. Nina and Servo. Olive and Ichabod. The Tricous. Even Dina and Michael. That being said, there is very definitely a theme of “love conquers all.” What motivated your approach to these relationships? How does that relate back to your attempts at reconciling Maxis canon throughout different games?

“I have a thing for mixed supernatural relationships. Dina and Mike bonding over their hidden supernatural heritages was always key once I figured Michael had a magic side. I knew I wanted to have Nina be intimate with a servo because that’s HAWT, but I didn’t foresee how intimate things would get until I figured out Servo’s character. The Tricous’ happy polyamory was my explanation for all the weirdness going on with their relationships and family tree. And I wanted Olive, Ichabod, and DJ make up this very loving and weirdly “normal” Unholy Family.”

Speaking of reconciling Maxis canon, you created your own version of Michael Bachelor in order to match his appearance in The Sims better and to create a resemblance between him and his famous sister, Bella Goth. Why do you think Michael was depicted so differently throughout the first three games? What did you draw inspiration from in creating “The Ultimate Michael Bachelor?”

“I think it mostly comes down to them wanting to use a familiar name for Bella’s brother/Dina’s husband in TS2, and carrying that forward. In TS3, I saw a boy who had his life all planned out for him by his father. In my headcanon, he screwed that all up and became the graduate of TS1 who had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. His relationship to Bella is the reason why he’s still single by the time he reconnects with Dina, who helps him find direction.”

There is an abundance of strong female characters in F&R, some of which were not originally portrayed that way. Why did you feel that it was important to write them as such?

“Well, because I’m a proud “SJW,” of course! But seriously, it’s less about being strong and more about seeing them as people?”

^Best answer that I could have asked for.

A large portion of Fortune & Romance is dedicated to the mythology of The Sims universe(s) and to supernatural sims. How did you go about the process of world building? Did you draw inspiration from different games in the series and/or from outside sources?

“My biggest worldbuilding is the explanation of where the supernaturals came from. The fairies are sort of fallen angel types who each have an animal form, and their magic rubbed off on human sims to create the supernatural life states.”

“I try to base the worldbuilding off things in game or aspects of game play. The fairy backstory was heavily inspired by fairy tales, in the way they morally test humans for punishment or guidance.”

Aside from premade supernatural sims such as the Smiths, Calientes, and Summerdreams, how did you go about deciding which premade sims were supernatural and which weren’t? How did you decide what life state they were?

“Bella has that awesome bio about being descended from “occultists, decadents, and mystics,” but then in TS3 the Bachelor family is uber-normal, so it eventually became that Jocasta is a squirellier version of Samantha from Betwitched.”

How has Fortune & Romance evolved since you started? Are there things you would do differently if you were to restart it?

“I was such a younger, different person when I started it, and yes there are many things I would do differently. (Michael’s skintone, for example. I tried to split difference between games with a custom skintone in between S2 and S3, but everyone assumes he was whitewashed to S2.)”

“When recreating families for TS4 I came up with a backstory for Dulcinea and Nestor’s relationship as well as a backstory for Don that explains how he got to be the way he is. I still can incorporate these things, but it would have been nice to bring them in earlier.”

With your story having reached a climax, many readers are wondering whether or not F&R will come to an end sooner rather than later. Not to spoil anything, but will the story continue after the party and if so, do you intend for it to last until the events of The Sims 2?

“I never intended for it to last until the events of TS2 because then it would be really depressing. There is more stuff planned for after the party though!”

Aside from writing Fortune & Romance, you have also created a variety of Maxis-match custom content. Why do you prefer working in this aesthetic? How do you feel it complements your writing?

“The game is cartoony, and I like to use that style to tell the story. I prefer to keep things heightened and silly rather than realistic, which very much fits into The Sims aesthetic.”

Speaking of Maxis-match, you have been working on a project for The Sims 2 that involves adapting Maxis-based custom content to blend in better with the game files. Would you mind elaborating a bit on The Maxis Match Repository Project?

“The TS2 repository project is made up of conversions/separates/or otherwise adapted Maxis which pull their textures from the ones that are already in your game, rather than creating new ones. This makes the files much much tinier. I also wanted to create a catalog where you can easily find it all in one place rather than hunt all over the internet. Check it out and don’t miss out on the gems in the back of your catalog!”

You’ve played every main game in The Sims franchise, and you’ve even made some very popular 2t4 recreations of the Calientes and Michael Bachelor. Do you have a favorite game for playing? Creating sims? Making Content? Building?

“I enjoy a lot of things about TS4. The game looks great and CAS and Build Mode are the best of any game. My favorite aspect is making sims, especially that you can share sims with traits/careers/skills so they have their own little story packaged with them. However, it is much more difficult for storytelling since there’s not even a way to pick up sims and move them around.”

“TS2 is still the best as far as premade sims go, and it’s the only one I make content for. I’m a bit of a control freak with my sims, and TS2 has been mastered by fans at this point where you can have ultimate control.”

Why do you continue to play The Sims? Do you feel that the games provide a creative outlet?

“I always loved playing with Barbies as a kid and The Sims really is the ultimate dollhouse. The first time I ever heard about TS1 I knew I HAD to have it. My aunt bought it for me while I was on vacation, but I couldn’t play it until we got home! During the car ride back home and I read that manual from cover to cover multiple times, so many ideas buzzing in my head.”

Any parting comments, teasers, spoilers, public service announcements, etc.?

“I’ve been on hiatus a long while and am just now getting back into the swing of things. I’m currently working on finishing up the chapter I started posting on Tumblr but never finished. It was FreddyAirmail who got me back in the TS2 spirit by asking me to help out with the Crystal Springs neighborhood project. It’s a community hood with houses based on each of the Stuff Packs, and I made the families for Teen Style and Family Fun!”

Thanks again to Skell for answering my questions. To those of you out there who aren’t familiar with her work, go check out her Tumblr and make sure to catch up on Fortune & Romance.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to visit my ask box. If you are interested, give Plumbob Post a follow, and reblog for anyone else who you think would enjoy this blog. Stay tuned for upcoming posts!

Dag dag!

 *Photo Credits go to Skell*

[simmancy]

I was wondering how you first started your berry legacy? Did you make a new simblr for it? How did you first start posting and getting into a routine? I really want to make a legacy myself but i'm scared that it would look really mediocre and unorganized! Any tips on how to plan out the storyline and start posting? Thank you!! (asking this to a few different blogs so sorry if yo see this question somewhere else)

I’m honestly super honored that you’re asking me! I’m still a pretty small simblr compared to a lot of people.

I’m going to put this under a cut, just so it doesn’t clutter up people’s dashes because I RAMBLE (like seriously, I’m re-reading it all now and I go on and on and on) but I’m gonna cover everything you asked!

TL;DR: get mildly inspired, get involved in the community and have fun with it!

I cannot recommending creating a new blog enough. While it’s definitely easier to just create a sub-blog off your personal, you’ll have a harder go at keeping things separate once things take off. Plus then you probably won’t have ALL your million tumblr things that you’re already following mixed in with your sim stuff, making things so much harder to follow.

Once you start your simblr (whether a sub-blog or whole new tumblr), TAG EVERYTHING. XKIT SAVES LIVES. Not really, but it will save you a lot of time once you install the Quick Tags and make tag bundles. Seriously.

At least once a day, a “reblog if you’re a maxis match simblr” thing comes across my dash–don’t be afraid to reblog those when you’re starting out. (Or the alpha equivalent if that’s your thing).

Seriously, don’t be afraid to reach out to people and get involved. Ask for sim requests, reply to things, join a Discord server–don’t be afraid to talk to people! I’ve actually made a few good friends this time around. It’s awesome.

This is just one of the unfortunate realities about things–if your pictures look good, you’ll get noticed quicker and blah blah. You can get by on just writing, but it’s a lot harder. This is still tumblr. It’s microblogging. LOOOOONG text posts (like this one lmao) are not what it’s geared towards.

Anyway. I play TS4 on Ultra, and that does a lot of work for me. Sometimes all you really need to do is sharpen and brighten things up. Reshade is another good alternative, if your computer can handle it–that takes a lot of the decision making out because it edits for you! I used to use PickyPikachu’s reshade presets. The downside is that it’s pretty resource heavy.

The basic point here is that having good lookin’ pictures goes a long way to making your stuff look “not mediocre.”

Also, and this is a side thing–find a good theme for your simblr, something that looks good for both text posts and pictures, probably something with either a sidebar or header (or both).

This is the meat of the section and it’s all really Kit/Pastille-specific.

I started up the Pastel Pastilles because I saw Berry’s challenge–I had already read Splash of Color a long time ago, and had a (now obviously abandoned) TS3 rainbowcy. But TS4 was fun and ran like a beast and I liked berry sims, so I dove in. If you were to go back in my archives, though, you’d see that I started posting a TS3 LEPacy, and that’s not even my first one.

I’m not going to even talk about the Grims in this post, since they’re really new. But they’re a prime example of using community involvement to stay interested haha. I’m very excited to play with Ruby and her future family because of all the nice sims people sent for her to eat alive become friends with. 

Planning with the Pastilles

With the Pastilles, I honestly got a little tipsy one night and did my initial planning based around Halsey’s Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. Like… Not even gonna lie. That was honestly my starting point. You can almost see hints of this in some places. From there, I had certain scenes I wanted to hit.

Gen 1 - Luna - “Hopeless”; it’s about being in a shitty relationship and hoping that changes lmao (“I hope hopeless changes over time”). Luna and Dianthus were meant to have a much more obviously toxic relationship but Luna ended up having four kids by her second pregnancy and I just couldn’t play and write that fast. However, I always knew that Luna’s big moment would be telling Dianthus to get out.

Gen 2 - Verity Vine - “Now or Never”/“100 Letters” - There are a couple things that have stayed consistent in this gen: Veri and her dreams, the peach spouse’s dad was gonna be a dick and they would be separated for years, and they were gonna hook back up at a wedding. 

My very first concept was that Riesling was going to be a bit more wishy-washy and bend to his father’s will (hence “Now or Never” being the song). By the middle of the generation, it was clear that Veri would become the distant one (“he said ‘please don’t go away,’ I said ‘it’s too late’”).

Part of writing a sims legacy sometimes is… letting the sims do the writing for you. Meri and Forest weren’t supposed to be the ones getting married (it was supposed to be Chai Tea and Black Cherry) and they definitely weren’t supposed to have the twins but honestly the story is better for it, you know? And obv most of Veriling’s story isn’t the way I initially planned.

All this said, once I knew where I wanted the story to go, I knew I wanted to plan around a few set-pieces: the fountain scene where Riesling trips onto Veri and she realizes “OH SHIT,” the scene where Eiswein walks in, Punk!Veri’s “I don’t dream at all anymore,” and Riesling’s “Hi, I’m Riesling Puck, you might recognize me from your dreams.” Those were all scenes I knew I HAD to get.

Gen 3 - ??? - “Angel on Fire” - it’s about anxiety lmao so I don’t mind linking it, it’s pretty obvious. Gen 3 has an anxious heir, a song about anxiety was on the nose.

I don’t really recommend the getting tipsy part, but definitely do recommend going in with a basic concept.

The cool thing about challenges is that you already have the guidelines as a starting point. One of my favorite parts about this challenge in particular is seeing how people re-interpret the rules–for instance compare the Gumdrops, Frosts, Amours, Pastilles, Fairyflosses, Prisms–we all started from the same basic rules and there’s still a lot of variation, especially once you get past the initial introductions.

Also, SERIOUSLY: don’t be afraid to take inspiration from crazy places–a song you heard on the radio, a movie, your own life, whatever. Like, I decided Veri’s generation would have it’s first Act at Oxtail University because of the “dream of ivy covered walls and smoky french cafes” line in “Beautiful” (from the Heathers musical). The song otherwise has VERY LITTLE to do with Gen 2. It’s just that line became a starting point for me.

Keeping Things Lookin’ Snazzy with the Pastilles

Looking back, you can kind of see Gen 1 was a bit brighter and lighter/different in editing style than Gen 2. I purposefully set out to get a “dreamy” feel for Gen 2′s pictures. It works for me and the Pastilles–it might not for your legacy! Play around with things to see what works.

I’ve also noticed a lot of banners nowadays (they weren’t as big my first go around here on simblr, but they’re everywhere now). I think that helps to keep things “on brand,” organized and consistent too. I personally don’t use a banner for the Pastilles–I didn’t start with one, and now it looks super wrong to me when I try to use one…. So instead, I’d recommend looking at @frost-rainbowcy–she is SUPER on-brand. I can only aspire to reach that level of #a e s t h e t i c.

HOWEVER, I do keep everything on my blog hyper-organized–there’s a main page where everything’s pretty much linked, and the character page. 

TBH, you don’t need to go that in-depth. I just like leaving weird easter eggs in places. You might too.

Posting Consistently

So, I started posting the Pastilles officially almost a week after I made the first post with Luna. That’s because I played a BUNCH right at the beginning, so I’d have something consistent to post for a while. It wasn’t initially as story-heavy as it is now. That’s something you probably want to decide before you start posting.

Right now, I’m posting inconsistently because I’m trying to wait around for Cats and Dogs and not give into the temptation to give Veri and Ries the babies they keep wishing for, but….

I’m in game almost every day–I get off work most days between 2 and 4 now, so by 6 PM I’ve eaten/showered/started up TS4. Even if it’s just to make a sim for someone.

I tend to do all my picture editing on Sundays, as it’s my day off. Sometimes it bleeds over into Monday, my other day off. I don’t always write posts up those days, but I at least stick them in the queue so they’re THERE. For me, it helps giving myself that weird deadline lmao

As a result, I almost always have something queued up.

I utilize the queue like MAD. Right now it’s set at 6 posts a day between 3 PM and 12 AM EST, but I change it up depending on what I have going on and what I can crank out. Usually I leave it on 13 posts a day.

Basically, learn what works for you. It does take some trial and error, but you’ll get it eventually.

Now here’s the real truth: you won’t post consistently if you don’t love your game or your sims.

I love playing the Pastilles as much as I love writing them. To the point that I have them backed up in several places just in case. I’m genuinely attached to the family, and that makes it worth it to me. Sometimes that doesn’t happen immediately (I love Luna, and Vino, and even Dianthus that shitbag, but you can tell that I got invested with Veri and Ries–Gen 1 is 30 pages long on my blog. Gen 2 is 92 and counting).

Storywise, I stay interested because I love the fluffy romance bits and snappy dialogue as much as the Drama Bombs, and also (spoilers) I’m a sucker for supernatural stuff. So I tailored my legacy to fit that.

But when I don’t want to play sometimes I just go in game, grab a few pictures of them in CAS and redo the character page for the 25th time. And that’s okay too. I just always try to make sure I have something to post, even if it’s a small (even if it’s just Riesling’s face. Because I know that’s what y’all want. It’s cool. I get it).

I seriously rambled a lot, but I hope this helps!! Once you get started, please let me know too! I’m rooting for you, non, and any nons to come after you.