#lol my residential homes are so different from my community lots

[rheya28]

Pantry.

[pudding-parade]

Snow Mountain Ville by Angela Ester

It's Wednesday, and it's a world overview, and for once this one isn't on the Exchange. Woo! But, it is an older world, uploaded in 2012, and it's a mountainous one. Mountain worlds will catch my attention even more than desert worlds will, so...yeah.

And this one's very pretty! Perpetually snow-capped mountains with more in the distance via a distant terrain (Sunset Valley's, I think), a big waterfall, lots of evergreen trees. Feels like home, to me. Just needs some aspens. (And, @echoweaver, it could be an excellent Warrior Cats world?)

It's a fairly big world, but I think it's still 1024x1024, and the playable area is pretty condensed, which IMO makes worlds easier to play. The world requires all EPs that existed at the time that it was uploaded, which is up to Pets. I don't think it requires anything from stuff packs or the Store, and there is no CC included or needed, as far as I can tell.

The world has many lots both community/rabbithole and residential. I'd say about 40% of the houses are fully furnished, and the rest are empty. (More about the residential lots after the cut.) The world has many duplicate rabbitholes (two hospitals, three science buildings, twi business buildings, a bunch of diners and bistros, etc.), but I suspect it's mostly for the look of the buildings rather than their function. For instance, the science rabbitholes look pretty industrial, and they're sitting in the part of the "downtown" that looks more industrial. With all those rabbitholes, it means there'll be plenty of job opportunities in the town, but if you use the Job Overhaul mod, it also means that the job your sim wants (or that you want them to have) might be drowned out by redundant offers from the redundant rabbitholes. So, you could delete some of the extras and replace them with something playable but with the right "look." Or, you could use the Transmogrifier to turn the extra rabbitholes into non-functional deco buildings. Whatever. My point is, they don't have to remain rabbitholes. LOL

The world has all of the available-at-the-time spawners except the WA fish ones, and they're well-distributed throughout the world.

The title of this post is a link to the world's upload on the creator's Blogspot blog. I'm not uploading a .world file this time because this world isn't on the Exchange, and the creator is active and creates lots and worlds/neighborhoods for TS2, TS3, and TS4. She is active on YouTube, but I wasn't able to find a Tumblr for her. So, I thought I'd advertise her on Tumblr, too. :)

If you download this world and find yourself liking it, I recommend taking a look at the creator's other downloads. There are four or five other worlds as nice as this one, as well as many lots in different sizes and styles that would fit into this world or others.

There's more specific info and many more pictures behind the cut.

First up, we'll do some overhead pics of the world in map view and Edit Town. Here are both views for most of the world:

You can see the redundant rabbitholes in the map view pic, mostly in the "downtown" area in the upper right of the pictures. There are also two salons, two firehouses, and two consignment shops in the world, though only one of each is categorized as such. The others are categorized as art galleries, for some reason. Both of the firehouses are EA, as is one of the salons and one of the consignment shops. I don't know if there was a rationale behind the duplication, but if I were to play this world, I'd probably replace the EA salon and consignment shop and one of the firehouses with something else, probably lot types for the later EPs. There are also some other community lots that are missing proper categorization. For instance, there's a laundromat that's categorized as no visitors allowed. Again, I don't know if this was intentional or if something just got messed up in the packing process or when I converted the sims3pack to a .world file. Whatever the case, it's easily changed/fixed.

Here are map view and Edit Town pics of the rest of the world:

As you can see, these lots are mostly residential, and there are a number of empty lots as well. I like that the residential lots in this world are broken out into distinct sections. So, let's take a look at some of them.

First, there are some apartment lots in the "downtown" area. A couple of them are EA lots from Late Night, though they may have been edited (I didn't look), but the others are original and are furnished. Some pics:

Then, in the lower right of the pics of the main part of the map, you can see a block of 27 residential lots. These are all identical one-bedroom houses on 20x20 lots, and they are all identically partitioned inside but empty. They look like this on the outside:

I don't personally have a use for 27 one-bedroom houses, so I would switch some of these out for other small bungalow houses I have that have more bedrooms, or build some new ones. But if you do have a use for 27 one-bedroom houses and are OK with the tract housing look, you can easily change exterior colors and add different plantings and stuff like that, so that they don't all look exactly the same, and then furnish up these little guys.

Speaking of little guys, another residential area is the small island connected to the downtown area by a bridge. It's in the top center of the overhead pics above. There are 8 small lots situated on a walk path on that island, and 3 of those lots have furnished houses on them. Again, they're little one-bedroom houses, but they're really cute, and they're spread out amongst the trees, some with mountain views and some with ocean views. Here are two of them:

I'd use these as my starters, personally. Assuming I'm starting with single sims.

And here are some pics of some of the other residential lots in the more "suburban" residential areas of the world, where the step-up/wealthy lots are. Plus there's another such pic before the cut on this post:

Overall, I quite like the residential lots in this world. Some of them are EA lots, but I think they've been edited a bit because they aren't the impractical eyesores that EA lots tend to be. The yellow mansion aside, they're very much my style because I prefer more compact houses. They're just easier to play, IMO, because you don't lose your sims in them. That said, I do think there are too many one-bedroom lots in this world because I tend to think that most players want their sims to procreate, and small, one-bedroom houses aren't very conducive to that, at least not in the long term. But, as I said, this is easily remedied, if you agree with me.

Next, we'll have a quick look at some of the community lots, most of which are in the "downtown" area:

Respectively, those are:

A cat park next door to one of the firehouses

The non-EA consignment shop

The library (on the left side of the pic) and the non-EA salon

A little park next to the city hall. There are a number of similar little parks in the "downtown" area. Some of them have some playground equipment on them, some just have seating. You could easily add more stuff to them, if you wanted to. Plus there's a full-blown playground next to the block of 27 one-bedroom houses.

A nectary with a big community garden next door

A chapel set up for weddings. Directly behind is the graveyard with a mausoleum. They are separate lots, but with no space between them.

Annnnd we'll finish off with some random scenery of this very pretty world. :)

[fizzingwizard]

I got to play Life and Death a little more last night. Game was still super slow in live mode, even after I moved to a smaller household (just two sims). Better than a large family at least. The large family is unplayable right now.

I was mostly building so I didn't get to experience much of the new gameplay - although I did get a popup from a ghost who needed two whole paragraphs to tell me about the mysterious inheritance she was leaving me. Half of her speech was literally a tutorial about Life and Death. Obnoxious. I just declined the inheritance.

I did give my new lot the "hallowed grounds" trait but so far nothing's happened. It's a community lot though so that may be why.

The worst is the crows!!! I was soooo excited for the crows. The nighttime sounds in Ravenwood are great (I'm over the moon about the loon calls, it's so atmospheric), and the crow calls really add to it magnificently. BUT... again, I was playing on a community lot. I put a crow there and couldn't feed it!

This drives me crazy. It's like how you can't have sheep or cows on community lots because you're unable to care for them. Why?? Why can't I make a community farm so sims who live in apartments or whatever can enjoy animals... Since horses and cats and dogs are "sims," I understand why that's not possible. But sheep, goats, cows, llamas, and now crows are OBJECTS. As objects, they actually seem to do worse than the other animals when left alone - if you leave a household with a horse in it for a full sim year, when you go back to the house, the horse will have full needs anyway.

But the cow? I made a residential lot for a sim and gave her a cow. Then I played a different family and brought them to visit the first sim to make friends. The in-game time difference was mere minutes and the cow had been freshly fed and cleaned when I left the first house. When I arrived with the second sim... the shed was filthy, the cow was starving, AND there was nothing I could do about without switching back to the first sim! (Which if I'd done it, then the moment I switched back to the second sim the cow would have been dirty again, or very soon to be. I honestly don't know if this is a bug or just how it's supposed to be. It's dumb either way.)

Other Sims should be able to at least care for animals on a residential lot. That or the household sims should be programmed to drop everything to care for their animals. They don't. I do think ranch hands usually do their job. But this is an issue of crosspack gameplay. Who has a ranch hand outside of the Horse Ranch world (forgot its name)? But of course the Sims team does not seem Sims 4 as a single game - it sees it as a bunch of overpriced mini-games under the same umbrella. Why would someone in Willow Creek want a horse, lol? Why would a player think it's funny to have a rabbit hole from Cottage Living in their City Living apartment penthouse? It's the players who are Doing It Wrong!

anyway back to the crow.

The upside of sheep and goats, at least, is that they're small, so you can "put in inventory" and carry them to community lots. Since they're yours, you can then care for them on the community lot. I expected it would be the same for crows, because they're small and can fly... I was even hopeful they might like ride around on your shoulder or something (omg rein it in Fizz!, don't get such fanciful ideas). But at LEAST I thought they'd be able to go in your inventory.

Nnnnnnoooooope!!!

So I can't even buy a crow at home and carry it with me to the community lot. I CAN buy the crow FOR the community lot - but why is that even an option!? Why are crows purchasable in build mode IF YOU CAN'T CARE FOR THEM ON COMMUNITY LOTS? Sheep and goats need to be ordered in live mode! You can buy the cow/llama shed but you have to then order the animals themselves in live mode too! Same for chickens!

Not crows! You can just... buy them anywhere! And let them starve! Why???????????

For what's it's worth I did try buying a crow in my sim's own private lot where it's supposed to work... And I couldn't feed THAT crow either. That crow was not hungry, however, so that could be why. There was literally no "feed" option of any sort in the menu so I'm not sure if it's broken or it just only shows up when the crow is hungry.

Also I read that you can buy a crow with no hungry need (the deluxe crow) from Waylon in Ravenwood. But... it will be delivered to your household inventory. So still a no-go for community lots. It doesn't seem like an unlockable in build mode. but it's possible I could find it in debug maybe and put it on community lots - will have to look into that)

I know this has got to seem like an infinitesimally small thing to the Sims team (and probably every other player). But guyssss the combo of the crow with those loons at night was AMAZING. It's so far my favorite part of the pack. I'm all about the aesthetic do you get me. ;_; just let me have crows!!!!

update: I think Ravenwood night sounds might just include crow sounds actually. I haven't played long enough to say for sure. But yeah night in Ravenwood is really great. Also I did find the deluxe crow in the debug menu so we'll see how that goes on the community lot.

[isimchi]

My BACP (Build A Community Project) Guidelines for TS2

A couple weeks ago, I lost my Pleasantview Uberhood to corruption. I wanted to start a custom hood, and considered doing a BACC, but ultimately decided against it because my gameplay objective is to have fun, but the BACC financial aspects and challenge rules seemed a bit overwhelming; I felt like it would lead to more stressful gameplay for me personally. So I decided to come up with my own minimal guidelines to provide some level of organization and rules, without getting in the way of the creative and sandbox elements of the gameplay I love so much. So here's the Build a Community Project, guidelines that are free for anyone to use or borrow from. I may add on to this or change some things as I play my first BACP hood, Las Flores!

iSimchi's Build A Community Project (BACP) Guidelines:

How to determine the founding families:

1. Use a random number generator from 2 to 6. The number you roll is the number of households. 2. For each household, use a random number generator from 1 to 4. This is the number of adults in the household. Each adult must be either spouses or siblings. 3. (Optional) For each household, use a random number generator from 0-2. This is the number of pets for each household. Flip a coin for animal type: heads = cats, tails = dogs.

CAS Guidelines:

• No rules in terms of appearance or name, randomize or choose. • Use a random number generator, 1 to 6, to determine aspiration: 1- Family, 2- Fortune, 3- Knowledge, 4- Popularity, 5- Romance, 6- Pleasure. • Use a random number generator, 1 to 10, to determine zodiac: 1- Scorpio, 2- Sagittarius, 3- Capricorn, 4- Aquarius, 5- Aires, 6- Taurus, 7- Gemini, 8- Cancer, 9- Leo, 10- Libra. * You can adjust the personality points however you want afterward, as long as it does not change their zodiac sign. • No rules for Chemistry, randomize or choose turn offs/ons.

Move in Guidelines:

• For each household's family funds, use a random number generator from 13-20. The number you get is how many thousands they can start with. You can lower the bottom number if you want a bigger challenge. • (Optional - mod needed) When building a home, you can use the loan jar, 5k max, and must pay it off before borrowing more. • For emergency devices, your family.. needs 25k+ in net worth to use fire alarms.  needs 35k+ in net worth for burglar alarm.  needs 55k+ in net worth for car alarm or security cam. • When moving back to the hood after college, use a random number generator, 1-5, to determine how many thousands your grad is starting with. They must move to an apartment at first, and can have multiple roommates. • When moving out from a household, those moving out get a fair cut of the original household's funds instead of the standard 20k. (using the familyfunds cheat, evenly divide the total funds between those leaving and those staying). At least 1 of the sims moving out needs to have earned a total of least 1k with that household before they leave.

Hood Guidelines:

• Your first community lots must be a grocery/shopping center, and a nightlife destination (restaurant, club, bowling, combo, etc). • For every household beyond the first two, you earn a new community lot (so if you start with more than 2 households, you can start with more than 2 community lots). • Community lots can be purchased if it is not a public work (library, school, town hall, etc), but do not need to be owned or run by a playable sim. • You can chose to build multiple of the same kind of community lot (resturants, clubs, bars, malls, etc) as long as their decor themes differ. • Add a University when your first child ages up to teen, or a teen is adopted. You can use a premade Uni or make your own (I hate making my own so this is biased for me lol) • Add a custom downtown when the main hood population reaches 30, and add 3 nightlife destinations. If you add families there, you get 2 community lots for each household (since downtown is more commercial than residential). • Add a custom shopping district whenever you want, but these shops must be owned by sims, so you need at least one sim with the resources to start a community or home business to relocate there. • Add a vacation destination when you reach 50 residents across main and sub hoods.

Misc/ Optional Guidelines:

• Sim's life choices are determined by their wants, any actions you choose for them must either align with their aspiration/LTW or their current wants and fears. Other than that, I personally only direct them to fulfill their needs if they are very low, but let them pass out or pee themselves if they aren't caring for themselves. If you put their needs before their wants, that's fine too. • There can only be one level 10 career holder in the entirety of the main / sub hoods per career. If two sims roll want for the top spot, coin flip or make them play rock paper scissors or another win/lose game… or fight for it.  • Insane wants can be adjusted with LTW adjuster, must match asp or true hobby. (I hate the 20 kids/6 grandchildren LTW and feel it clogs the genetic pool, so I change those, my bias again) • Disable Rod Humble by using mods or give away/never open the computer he delivers. Sims only get a computer when they can afford it. • Multi-generational households: I don't stick to the traditional American nuclear family customs, family members can live with each other indefinitely while also starting families of their own, space permitting. • No taxes or price increases, you only need to pay Maxis standard billing/pricing, unless you use the loan jar mod. If you use this mod, you can use the Maxis level billing (level 0). • Use whatever lifespan mods if you want shorter or longer lives. • Add custom townies to the townie pool if you wish, limited to 8 for each age group (if using townie free hoods you'll need to do this anyway). If you play with supernaturals, you can add one of each type to the townie pool. • Aside from emergency devices, there are no limits on what furniture your families can purchase. • If not fond of building, downloaded lots work all the same!

[greenplumbboblover]

(Originally from my Patreon)

Heya everyone!

Hopefully things are going well with you all! Today I figured I'd show off a bit of what I've been working on :)  It's all themed around the 'environment' interest, which as mentioned in a previous post, is the first interest I'll be entirely working on ;)

Townie Interests Manager - General

The townie interest manager is a 'helper' for, well, pre-mades living in the town! It gives them random interests when you first load the world with this mod.

Some pre-mades are 'remakes' from TS2, I figured, would it be cool to make sure that those sims are somewhat true to their ts2 interests? And so, those sims now have interests that work with their TS2 interests!

All of these townies (aka pre-mades) have 'Dislike' and 'Passionate' (or neutral even)  that are all true to them:

(Remember 0 is absolutely disliking the interest, 20 is absolutely loving the interesting, 10 is neutral)

For premades, these interests can always be tweaked to your own personal liking of course! I'm just basing most off of the traits and skills :)

Townie Interests Manager - Autonomy

Currently, this is still a HUGE WIP of course! And currently, I'm testing it with in-game objects before I wanna try it with other mods out there and my own items that I'll make for this mod (See documentation: Google Docs )

I'm still expanding the 'autonomy' for this of course, but currently, I'm implementing the autonomy for sims to go to hobby lots (or any community lots that has their hobbies on it). They can also, of course, choose to do it at home :)

So how does this work then exactly? Well, in the picture above you might have seen 'Hobby lot: None' (which looks different with an actual lot though :p)

Here's the progress in an image format:

Of course, you can change or remove it ;) I do have to make the 'removing' part a bit clearer though. For now, you have to choose 'none' for that to work. Not so practical really.

What happens after setting a lot as a hobby lot?

From there, there's a 50% chance a sim will decide to visit that lot, or rather do their hobbies at home :) Since Entertainment currently does literally nothing, I'll demonstrate it with Environment:

For these sims, they'll need a gardening skill higher than at least 1, and there need to be at least some plants on the lot! Nraas SP seems really helpful here, as it does skill sims up automatically depending on their traits :)

(NOTE: this will NOT affect any households you're currently playing with, just families that you're currently not playing with. I'll make sure there's an off/on switch for families though :))

---

Here both Jocasta & Gobias have decided they wanted to do some gardening in their own garden!

And here, I turned the Library into a hobby lot for Environment! And so Judy decided to visit it! :)

Testing blunder:

At some point, I actually forgot to 'blacklist' residential lots from being 'harvested' (since if you have no hobby lots, townies will just go to any community lot that has plants on it :)) And because of that Gobias kindly kept stealing/tending other sim's gardens :p

That no longer is the case though :p Gobias won’t steal your harvest anymore lol

How will this be useful?

First off, I'm personally really happy that Jocasta, for example, is *actually* tending her garden! I remember how before this mod, no one would tend their gardens and they were just... well, there!

So now, even if you're playing your family, and you're maybe following them driving to work, you actually see your neighbors do stuff! 

Plus! your neighbors will actually skill up the skills they might need for their life wishes or just the storyline in general!

Stocks

As mentioned in the documentation, you can ask, in this case, the gardener sims here what they harvested and see their stock! This is extra great if your sim is a chef! All you got to do is check their stack of whatever-you-need, get anything with the best quality, and buy that, then make that perfect dish!

They may also donate some vegetables to you if they exceed over a certain limit (this is also so that the save game doesn't get bloated in huge MBs :p)

Researching an interest

Something for your own simmies! Now, because of some comments, I've seen on how people play their games, I figured this is the best way to proceed: Gatekeeping the interests.

What do I exactly mean by that? Well, if your sim is 'neutral' in an interest (So 10 points) they'll have to 'study' said interest they want to participate in :)  That way, it's also less annoying too, when your sim is gardening for example, that the interests mod keeps bugging you about selecting a hobby and stuff :p

How it works:

Either on the computer, or your phone, your sim can go to Lyra's Interests & Hobbies > Research X interest.

Depending on what thing you're researching, your sim will show thought bubbles on what they're researching! So if you ever forget, just check the thought bubbles!

In this case, it's 'Health' ;)

Another way is of course to check the queue and hover over the task :p

Want to speed up the progress?

The research progress is somewhat like the 'writing a novel' progress. However, I coded mine in such a way, that it's keeping in mind that sims are reading things, rather than writing ;)

So, Bookworms and sims who read over 50 books (so if both, you're extra lucky! :p) will research things quicker by 10%.

Neurotic sims, on the other hand, that's -5% of the overall speed, since they really wanna know all the nitpicky details on how, what, why, where, etc.

------

And that's all for now! it's not super impressive, but it was a hard job linking things together though! Hopefully, you all liked this first progress log! :)

[writing-prompts-for-friends]

Questions to Help World Build

I’ve realized I have a big problem with my writing. I am awful at world-building. Like, I just start writing without thinking about the world. And since I write fantasy. Well. That’s pretty no bueno and leads to all kinds of problems down the road. So I did some brainstorming with my friends and we created a list of over 100 questions to help think about our stories’ worlds and make them more concrete. Thanks to everyone who chimed in and gave me a hand! 

A traditional Japanese clock, wadokei, that counted hours from 9 to 4, starting from sunrise, and then starting once again from sunset. (1-3 were not used for religious purposes.) They’re super interesting and confusing. You should definitely check them out.

Temporal

Is your story set in the past, present, or future?

Specifically, what year(s), month(s), day(s)?

Are days 24 hours? Or does time pass differently in this world?

How many months are there in a year? Is it a seven day weekday? Does the concept of weekends exist?

Have most existing societies developed a timekeeping device?

Is there a way to communicate across long distances?

The concept of time zones is still relatively new to our world. Prior to the late nineteenth century, timekeeping was a purely local phenomenon. Each town would set their clocks to noon when the sun reached its zenith each day. Do standardized time zones exist across the world?

Geographical

From a planet perspective, is it Earth? If it is not Earth, or an alternative version of Earth, what is it like? Is gravity the same? Does it have a moon or multiple moons? Can you see other planets? Is it closer or further from the sun? If so, what impact does that have on the climate and passage of time?

What town, state, region, country, continent, planet does this story take place in? What are its bordering/nearest neighbors? Draw a world map if you want.

What kind of land is it? Landlocked? Mountainous? Along the sea? Desert? Tundra? Tropical forest? Plains? Agricultural? Industrial?

What kind of plants and animals are common to the area? Are there any that do not exist in the real world?

What are the most common crops and livestock in various regions? What geographic features influence certain regions ability to grow/raise their crops and livestock (positively and negatively)? Are the regions diets strongly influenced by what they are able to grow themselves, or do other circumstances (like strong international trade) allow them to have more varied selections? How does religion influence what is considered ‘normal’ to eat?

What, if any, natural disasters are common to the region? Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, monsoons, blizzards?

How many seasons does it have? Are any longer than others?

What is the typical weather like for those seasons?

Does the region have any unusual geographical features that set it apart? Perhaps there is some weird thing like Devil’s Tower just chilling out. Or hot springs because of volcanic activity?

Is it easy to travel from place to place within the area? Is it difficult to travel because of terrain/technology issues, or because travel is strictly regulated?

Main Locations: Cities

Many stories take place within one city. In Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, a character remarks, “So, if a city has a personality, maybe it also has a soul. Maybe it dreams.” What personality does this city have? What soul does it have? What does it dream of when it slumbers? If your story takes place within a settlement, town, or city, give these questions some thought.

Exactly where is it located within the lands you conjured up in the above Geography questions? Does it have a bay? A river? Does it butt up against mountains? Draw a map of the city.

How big is the city? Is it compact, or sprawling?

How old is the city?

What is the history of the city? How did it come to be? What tumults and triumphs has it seen?

What is the population? Is it currently increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same?

Does the town have any claim to fame? Any tourist attractions? What are they? What’s the story behind them?

If it’s a big enough city, how many and what kind of districts does it have? Residential, Commercial, Industrial, etc. Where are they?

Are there any areas that are deemed unsafe? If so, where are they and why are they unsafe?

Is there public transportation? What kind, bus, tram, train, subway, monorail? Is it good?

How do people get around this city if not by public transportation?

Are the roads narrow or wide? Crisscrossing in a methodical grid or higgledy-piggledy?

What are the buildings like? What materials are they made of? If they’re wooden, are they new wood, old wood? If they’re painted, what colors? If they’re stone, what stone? If they’re brick, is it new red brick or blackened, crumbling brick? If they’re glass and metal, are they sparkling with new hope or dull and jaded?

Are there many skyscrapers? Or are most buildings 1-3 stories tall? What does the skyline look like?

Are there many parks?

How is the city powered? Coal? Hydroelectric? Wind? Nuclear? Has it always been so?

What is the city’s main source of revenue? Agriculture? Tourism? Manufacturing? Mining? Something else? A combination? Dive deeper into this. If it’s agriculture, what do they grow? Tourism–what is famous? etc. This will help to determine what a lot of people do for a living.

What are the demographics? Ethnicity, age distribution, distribution of upper, middle, and lower class, etc.

How many schools are there? Universities? Are any of them good? Do they specialize in anything? Do schools even exist? Perhaps there are clans that teach their children everything they need, for example, or education isn’t viewed as important.

Are there any particular landmarks within the city that standout?

How many and what kind of restaurants are there?

Are there supermarkets, open air markets, or both?

Where do young people go to spend time? What about adults?

Do people there bustle or do they amble?

What are the nights like? Does the city grow quiet, or does it grow rowdy?

What does the city smell like?

If you had to give your town a color, one that represented its personality, what color would it be?

Main Locations: Houses (or buildings, but mainly houses)

There are many stories that have a house or headquarters or hospital or some sort of building as their main setting. These questions will mostly be geared towards helping you figure out a house, but you can apply these to other buildings too probably.

Exactly where is the house located within the city or outside the city? How does your character usually get there? Draw a map. 

What year was the house built?

Was this house built by the current family or their ancestors? Who else lived in the house before the current dwellers? What were they like? Did they leave their mark on the house somehow?

What style is the house? Bungalow? Cabin? A shed? A cave? (makes the following questions mostly useless if so lol)

How many stories is it?

What is it made of? Wood? Brick? What color is it?

Does it have a lot of windows?

Are the curtains usually open or drawn? Are thee curtains at all?

What does the front door look like? 

Is there a porch?

You enter the front door. Or maybe you don’t. Maybe you use the side door because the front door is for show or something. Anyways. You enter the house. What room do you step foot into?

Draw out the floor plans for each floor. How many rooms are there? Where are they? How big are they? How are they connected? What color are they? What style of decor?

Is there a basement? Is it used or is it just a home for spiders and darkness and unwanted things? How about an attic? Crawlspace?

How many bathrooms? 

Are there any rooms that only certain people are allowed to enter? If so, why? 

What is the flooring? Carpet? Wood? Tile? Linoleum? 

What does the house smell like?

Government/Military/Economy

In other words, “the boring stuff,” if you ask me. But this is a very important aspect of any world. 

What sort of government is in place? Democracy, oligarchy, etc? Is it a just or corrupt government?

How are goods exchanged? Bartering? Money? Coins and bills? Credit cards? A specific kind of sea shell? Lol

What are the police like? Strict? Lax? Is there a curfew?

Do taxes exist? If so, do the people feel as though they are heavily or unduly taxed?

Where is the intersection between theology and law? Is it common to have religious leaders in positions of power? Are laws based around religious ideology, or is there an effort to keep them separate?

Is there an organised structure devoted to halting criminal acts? Are they corrupt? Who runs the organisation? How does their reputation change based on demographic? What is the history of the organisation, and how does that history influence how it operates today?

Regarding potentially criminal acts, what is the elgality of prostitution, sex work, ect.?

What about drugs and other illicit substances? Alcohol, illicit drugs, recreational use. Legality, festivity, age limits, etc.

Underbelly. How prevalent is crime, what sort of crime (scaled from pickpocketing to human trafficking) is there? Are there areas that have bad reputations because of it?

Regarding war, are there currently conflicts in the world? Are they international or civil wars? How common is it to have an active war? What is the history of war? What does current warfare look like (Is it dudes in metal suits swinging swords? Have longbows been invented? Gunpowder? Tanks? Missiles?) Is military service mandatory or voluntary? How is the military seen? Is there a sense of patriotism for the military, or does the common man fear it?

Is there stigma around certain genders entering the military? Are come genders regarded as better recruits than others? Is it illegal for some genders to enter the military? Does a person's sexuality affect their ability to serve?

How has religion influenced war? Have there been holy wars in the past? Do any religious institutions hold their own military forces?

Cultural/Historical

I’ve put these together because events in history lead to cultural change. You can apply these questions not only to the world/country, but also the city or even the neighborhood, workplace, or school that your story takes place in.

What is the history of the region? Who was it settled by? Was another group of people displaced? After that, did any new cultures come in? Did they get along?

Were there ever any wars or serious conflicts in the region? What was the cause and what was the outcome of the war if there was one?

In our world, the internet, social media, and film/tv are massive cultural drivers. They determine the latest fashions, jokes, topics, and expressions. What are the big cultural drivers in your world? Books? Plays? Radio? Oral tradition?

Is it a collectivistic or individualistic society?

What languages are spoken by your characters? Is multilingualism common?

What sorts of cultures can be seen? Do any clash? Do any mesh?

What sort of foods are most common?

What superstitions do people hold? Is there a version of “knock on wood” or throwing salt over your shoulder after a funeral? What are the roots of these superstitions?

Are there religions? If so, what are they? Do any conflict with each other? Are zealots or extremists an issue?

Does slavery or indentured servitude exist?

Are there any class or caste systems? If so, what are they, and what does an average day look like for a member of each class/caste?

How does a person's appearance change from country to country? Do certain countries have very distinct fashions? If so, are the fashions influenced by religion, surrounding countries, the cultural majority or international trade partners?

How does a person's clothing relate to their social standing? Is it very easy to assume someone's roll by appearance alone? Are there punishments for dressing above or below your social standing?

Does the society place a great deal of importance on a person's presentation, or is the society more lenient on such things?

Is there an emphasis on conformity to a dress code, or is individuality encouraged? How strictly is clothing regulated by gender binary? Is it commonplace to see a man and a woman walking down the street in the same cut of clothes? Is there a social stigma when a person does not conform to the most common form of dress for their gender?

How are sexual rights viewed? Does the LGBTQ community have the same rights as people outside the community? How are sex acts between people of the same sex viewed? Is it legal? Taboo? Are there cultures that encourage those relationships in some circumstances (like how the romans were down with guys with guys in the military)?

Are there any groups of people that are victims of prejudice? If so, who are they, who holds these views against them, and what views specifically are they?

In regards to gender, do certain societies hold differing beliefs? Is there a commonly accepted number of gender identities or does it change regionally? Is the most common gender spectrum a binary, or do certain racial and cultural differences allow for a wider range to be seen as the baseline?

Are children raised by their biological parents or are children considered to be in the care of the wider community? Is it common/acceptable for extended family to raise children, such as parents needing to study, work, or serve time in the military? Is adoption a common thing in society? Is there a stigma around adoption/being adopted? Do cultural or religious views impact how adoption is seen by the wider community? What is adoption like for a single perspective parent? When adopting, is interracial adoption accepted/common, or is it seen in a negative light? Are some societies more open to adopting children outside of their own race?

How is sex and virginity viewed? Does religion influence it? What is the age of consent? What is appropriate on a first, second, third date? Is sex something that is talked about openly, or something taboo? Are you supposed to wait until marriage? Do couples stay monogamous while dating? Do some regions place higher importance on virginity than others? Do some place higher importance on one gender’s virginity than others?

How is marriage viewed? Are arranged marriages a big thing, or are people free to choose? Is monogamy common? How is a marriage symbolized? A wedding ring, or something different?

How is divorce viewed? What is the divorce rate? Can people remarry?

Magic and the Supernatural

If magic or spooky stuff doesn’t exist in your story, disregard this section.

Does magic exist? If so, who can use it? What are the limitations to their magic? What things are they capable of using their magic to do? What things are they incapable of doing?

Are there laws against what kind of magic can/cannot be used? What sort of laws? Who enforces them? What are the punishments for breaking said laws if they exist?

How does the existence of magic affect religion? Are there religious institutions that infuse magic into their worship? Are there religious sects that see magic as immoral and in direct opposition to their faith? Have there been conflicts in recent or ancient history between religion and the supernatural? Do some sects employ people to hunt and/or enforce law over the supernatural?

Assuming that magic does exist, is it taught? Are there different schools of magic? Is there a system of ranking for magic users based on their skill level?

Do non-magic users look towards magic users with respect or fear?

What role does magic play in this world? Has technology not advanced because magic solves many problems? Or has technology advanced and the use of some magics has become unnecessary?

Are there any mythological creatures/monsters, such as vampires, demons, skinwalkers, dragons, or other creatures of your own creation? Are they common? Do people believe in their existence? Do people worship them? Where can they be found? Do they interact with humans? Do humans fear them or try to put up with them as they do nature?

Do the dead continue to exist in some form, such as ghosts or zombies or the like? Can the dead be summoned or brought back to life?

Are there human/supernatural hybrids? Perhaps a half-demon half-human, for example? How are these people viewed by their peoples, and by society as a whole?

How has the supernatural influenced war? Do armies tend to have a mix of regular and supernatural soldiers/weapons? Have there been wars between the supernatural/magical and those without? How does magic influence a person standing in a mixed army? Is it more likely for a magical being to be promoted than a non-magical being? Conversely, are supernatural being forced into service and seen as pawns?

The End!

Please feel free to reblog and share, and add on any questions you think should be added!

[regencysims4]

did you ever furnish von osterly estate in your game? also do you have any tips for furnishing and building homes? I have a Pinterest board but nothing ever comes out

hi :) I remember fussing with a floor plan and throwing some furniture in there, but I don't have that build in my game anymore. but there is a floor plan and interior images for Osterley Park, which it was based on, in its section on my houses board on Pinterest! and you're in luck if you're particularly fond of that build, because it's the setting of a very sweet movie, The Grass is Greener, that shows you through the house. I also have a brand-new section full of floor plans (that I had previously kept private since they're not all from the period); anything is useful to get an idea of proportions, flow, and how spaces can be divided.

I'm not honestly sure I can give any tips that will help, but I can walk you through my process(es) and something might be of use! and my Pinterest has boards for interiors, residential exteriors, community lots, floor plans, furniture, and art, which I hope can be helpful! there's like three thousand pins total lol why am I like this

how I build:

> collect as many pictures as you can of a building, then pick a facade and go off! I tend to build a single wall as the front ground/first-floor facade and add windows and doors before building the whole shape of the building; it's easiest if you get a feel for the proportions first when you're working from an image, and then you can use that knowledge to add the other walls for that level, and then the other levels. using the window bays as a unit of measurement always helps me: you'll often have more than one of the same, so get that window and its surrounding walls right, then you can replicate that little room as many times as you need to fill out your walls. pay attention to stairwells, making sure you have reasonably-sized landings, a window for light/atmosphere, can get to each part of the house without too far a walk, all that. i like to have a shell of a building before i do anything else, and i try not to do too much laborious exterior ornamentsation before i try out a floor plan in case the room proportions need changing. > look up whether there's a floor plan or any architectural design drawings for what you want to build, because if there is you're in luck. you can use the room tool to make each of the rooms and then adjust them until they make the shape of the building; or inversely, get an aerial view of your lot and build the shape you see, then divide it into rooms according to the plan. when building shibden hall I went absolutely nuts and used the size in pixels of each room in the floor plan images to convert to numbers of in-game tiles each room should be - this is insane and you can totally just guess. once you've placed all interior walls, doors, and stairs you're in good shape.

how I furnish:

> once I have walls up inside the shell of the house, I place basic furniture in the rooms to denote what each room is (a bed, a couch, a desk, a dining table, etc). each room needs windows, doors, and a fireplace if it doesn't have them; then i start placing larger furnishings to create the layout of the room. it's easiest for me to go from the bigger things on down – placing sofas and coffee tables, then living chairs and end tables, then rugs and decorations. more historical building means keeping lighting (and heating/cooling) in mind: writing desks often go near windows, reading chairs go near fireplaces, and little tables, shelves, or torchères can go wherever your sims would need to see; and for homes classy enough to afford them, I tend to place wall sconces and chandeliers first according to the architecture of the bare room. outside-in is a good way to work if you can't visualize the layout of furniture: line the walls with bookshelves, cabinets, counters, fireplaces, mirrors, side tables, whatever; place chairs, tables, or sculptural pieces in front of windows; and then build in from there. since it's sims, I get kitchen (stove, fridge, sink, counter), bathroom (bath, sink, toilet), and bedroom (bed, dresser) squared away first so that all the necessary functions are usable. hypothetically, decor and clutter go last, but there are no rules in creativity ;)

general tips

when in doubt, do a bunch of googling/pinteresting, and then just copy what you see!

whatever inspires you will motivate you, so if a color scheme, furniture style, a set of CC, or any detail sparks joy, don't be afraid to start from there.

zoom out! when you're staring at a screen for a long time, ya lose perspective. literally zooming out and asking myself if where everything is makes sense always helps me.

if you're wondering why your build doesn't look quite right, the answer is usually proportions: changing wall heights, roof pitches, window sizes, and especially the wall length/amount of space between corners-windows-doors-et cetera (relative to the size of said architectural details) often fixes it!

watch filmed-on-location tv/movies and look up filming locations. built sets often have wonky unrealistic proportions and although interiors and exteriors are sometimes shot different places, a period piece shot in a real historic place gives you a feel for how spaces are lived in (plus it's fun).

did any of that help anyone? I can try to answer any question, the more specific the better, to the best of my ability!

[trackerhunter995]

Almost Done With Darlingtongames123 Nr2003 Designs

Darlington Designs is the leading residential design & build firm in New Jersey. Specializing in major home renovations from landscape and hardscape projects to. Nov 16, 2014 - FREEBIES - Darling Designs 4 U - Merry Christmas Tree. Nov 16, 2014 - FREEBIES - Darling Designs 4 U - Merry Christmas Tree. Craft Instructions For Kids. Saved from darlingdesigns4u.com. Saved by Brenda Liston.

Almost Done With Darlingtongames123 Nr2003 Designs For Beginners

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123456789colton

Senior Member

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Well as I am almost done with the original track update, someone on this forum sent me 2 tracks asking to take a look at them. They are basically broken and useless for now. I got to thinking, maybe just MAYBE I can take my track editing to another level. I want to try and fix the 'broken' tracks of NR2003. So i wanted to see if you guys could send me tracks via links on this thread. Maybe this can bring some of the other nr2003 players back to this community or even new people to the game. I'm not sure, but I would like to try and fix these tracks! Not sure when or even if I can fix them but I am willing to try over time. Also, tracks that need graphics updates or mips and such might be last on my list. I've been wanting to learn how to do all of that and I have somewhat of an idea not am not experienced with that yet. So with that being said send me any links you have! The message I received was for Melbourne. So i am working on that track and it is a pain! Haha.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I haven’t blogged in months. It should be expected by now, lol. There’s been a ton of things that’s happened since my last blog, much too many to write about here. Basically in the end, a bunch of things went down, none of it really bad, and I just neglected the blog for a while, and I’ll end up neglecting it again. But as the title of this post suggests, I’m slowly returning to my old ways. What does that actually mean to anyone that reads this? Well, let me think here…

I’m a fan of the racing sim NASCAR Racing: 2003 Season (NR2003), this blog was intended to showcase work I do for the game, provide me a private space to share files, and allow me to blog any ongoing projects. Instead I kinda posted a lot of stuff on other topics, which I’m sure I’ll do in the future as well, but hopefully not as much. So with that said, I’ve been working on a project that is mainly intended for NR2003, but anyone can enjoy this one. I’ve been making some new Sprint Cup Series models. It’s a big project for me, 5 makes in total. I just got tired of not having something that was much more accurate to the real cars to play with. Originally I wanted to get back into painting a few cool cars I seen from the 2016 NASCAR season, and I found out the models we had, just were not accurate. It forced me to change the scheme a bit, much of which was a pain because it really was quite a intricate paint job. so much of what I recreated after using photos for reference didn’t fit on the model. This was the reason why I quit painting cars in the first place. So instead of doing a half-ass conversion and ruining the original artist’s interpretation, I decided I’d just go ahead and make my own damn model. I made the Chevy SS and was just gonna leave it at that, but I had a lot of fun that I haven’t had in a long while so I decided to make even more models. In the end, I made 5 models total, the 2016 Chevy SS, 2016 Dodge Charger, 2016 Ford Fusion, 2016 Toyota Camry, and even the 2018 Toyota Camry. The models were a blast to make, especially the Charger. Seeing Dodge pulled out of NASCAR a few years back, I had freedom to kinda freestyle how I think it would look in NASCAR trim. And I feel I nailed the look. Even if I didn’t, the model looks bad ass nonetheless.

You can’t be a NASCAR fan and not love the looks of that, lol. So far, the bodies are complete, the mapping is mainly complete, though I might have to add a couple of things before release, and I’m almost done with the chassis and interior for the Chevy. These models, once finished, will be posted online for all to enjoy. I will be including the models (3ds Max 2009, 8 formats and obj), textures, and whatever else is required. They will be free to use for non-commercial use only, so you can use them in other games, apps, or whatever as long as you’re not profiting from them in any way, shape, or form. And you can bet your ass, they work in NR2003, I’ve already tested them in there. I did this once before with the Xfinity Series cars. only difference is they did not have any textures, it was just the bodies, rollcage, and wheels. In fact, here’s the link if anyone wants them…

These weren’t perfectly modeled, but they’re pretty damn good. In fact, I’ve actually started updating the models a little because I came across some reference to help make them way more accurate. But I won’t be able to get to them all till a while after I’m done with the Sprint Cup Series models.

Almost Done With Darlingtongames123 Nr2003 Designs For Beginners

Almost Done With Darlingtongames123 Nr2003 Designs Free

So for now, this is what I’ve been doing with my time. I’ve returned to my NR2003 roots, and man I can’t wait till this project is finished and people can get a up close and personal look at these models. I hope people get to enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them. Catch ya’s later. 🙂

[peacemaker-ic]

Welcome To StrangerVille: Residential and Community Lot Dump

I love StrangerVille. I love the desert landscape, the cacti, the rock formations and the neighbourhood story. Most of all I felt this world gave such a different vibe from anywhere else i didn't feel confined to building the same sorts of lots. That freedom really can spark the imagination and I went about building new lots for how I envision the world. That resulted in 2 community lots (you can't make over the lab unfortunately), and 10 residential lots with the Old Penelope and the 2 versions of the trailer park lot being furnished with the remainder being shells for you to decorate. The Gothic style items were so lovely to work with, and I will definitely be looking at expanding those at a later date.

Outback Olly's

The home features:

price: $96,338

Bar

20x20 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

Not Quite The Parapet Addons

C+D Buildmode Addons

Derelict Delights

Rustic Planks (large)

Plasticbox Liberated Garden Stuff

StrangerVille Information Centre

The home features:

price: $ 134,658

Library

20x20 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

Not Quite The Parapet Addons

Bay 42

The home features:

price: $ 20,883

1 bedrooms

1 bathrooms

Furnished

20x15 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

none

Bay 42 Deluxe

The home features:

price: $34,597

1 bedrooms

1 bathrooms

Furnished

20x15 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

Unlocked StrangerVille World Objects

Old Penelope

The home features:

price: $153,247

2 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

Furnished

50x40 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

Rustic Planks (small)

Buckhorn House

The home features:

price: $45,312

3 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

Unfurnished

30x20 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

none

Saguaro Grove

The home features:

price: $47,354

3 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

Unfurnished

30x20 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

C+D Siding Recolours

Barbary Outlook

The home features:

price: $75,469

5 bedrooms

3 bathrooms

Unfurnished

40x30 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

none

Whipple Place

The home features:

price: $34,177

3 bedrooms

1 bathrooms

Unfurnished

30x20 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

Simple Siding

Parenthood Window Addons

Cereus Plateau

The home features:

price: $48,927

4  bedrooms

3 bathrooms

Unfurnished

40x30 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

none

Sisal Overlook

The home features:

price: $ 33,058

3 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

Unfurnished

30x20 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

none

Chaparral Point

The home features:

price: $30,993

4 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

Unfurnished

30x20 lot size

check image for required packs

Required Custom Content:

C+D Siding Recolours

Recommended Custom Content

I use default replacements and unlocks, as they add new, pre-existing items to the game that we previously did not have access to, or made items more usable. These aren't needed but they come highly recommended.

Unlocked Plants By plasticbox (link to MTS garden centre uploads, just grab everything LOL)

Unlocked GT objects

Clutter Everywhere

Fran89 Unlocked Outdoor Retreat Plants

C+D Unlocked World Objects by BrazenLotus

Unlocked Vampire Pack Plants

Unlocked StrangerVille World Objects

You can find the house on the gallery under my origin ID: peacemaker_ic. Be sure to turn on "custom content" filtering in advanced options.

Alternately, you can download below. To install, extract the archive using WINZip/WinRAR/7Zip/Unarchiver and place the contents into your Tray folder in \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Tray.. If you are having issues check out my Installing Content help page.

Download: SimFileShare | Google Drive

My content will always be free, but if you are so inclined and able, you can show your support and buy me a coffee

[carrioake]

The Sims Lifetime Want (LTW) Challenge (TS4)

AIM  

To achieve as many of the Lifetime Want goals (or adapted variants) from The Sims 2 within as few generations as possible as part of your Sims 4 legacy. If you run out of successors to your legacy then you fail the challenge and are free to start again (using the same sim if you wish). Some of these are a piece of cake, and others.. not so much. Enjoy! 

Note: The LTW goals and scoring vary depending upon the packs you have – LTW goals are listed by pack (in release order) with your maximum total score beside it. 

RULES  

- Start with 1 YA sim  - Keep life stages at normal (or short if you’re a masochist) - Unless stated otherwise, only ONE sim is to complete a LTW goal, but each sim can complete multiple LTW goals, e.g.:   Bob, Betty, and Brandi can all work towards/complete as many LTW goals as they want, but they cannot help eachother (no sim can work on the same LTW goal at the same time as another sim).  Brandi can inherit some LTW goals, provided Bob and Betty do not keep working on them. Brandi must do it on her own.  

Not Permitted: 

- No cheats (MO and testingcheats are permitted, provided that the latter does not affect the legacy or LTW progress such as relationships, needs, income etc (e.g: no tampering with motive/need decay, no add/remove from family, no clear marriages, no tampering with public image, no using the gigs picker) - No mods that affect the legacy or LTW progress such as relationships, needs, income etc (see above) - No resetting the age of a sim (e.g.: with Potion of Youth, the essence from a cow plant, Age-Away serum, or in CAS etc) - Ghost and vampire sims cannot contribute towards/complete LTW goals - No reloading (for any reason!) - No death flowers 

Permitted: 

- The Wishing Well (Romantic Garden Stuff Pack) 

 LTW GOALS – BASE GAME (score out of 23) 

 Reach Golden Anniversary (Adapted for TS4) As you cannot throw an anniversary party in Sims 4, you instead must earn Gold on your Wedding social event by completing the following tasks:  

- Betrothed sims to have full Romance and full Friendship bars - Get married (who knew?!) - Have at least one guest sim watch the ceremony - Kiss - Make 3 drinks  - Talk to guests for 2 hours  - Take the first slice (of cake)  - Eat food 4 times  - Make a toast 

Then (because that was far too easy), you must earn Gold on a Dinner Party when the couple are both Elders, completing the following..  

Dinner Party: - Married couple to have full Romance and full Friendship bars (put the effort in - I know I never do..) - Call guests to meal  - Have 3 sims listen to music simultaneously  - Thank sims for coming  - Make party-sized portion of Garden Salad  - Tell 2 jokes (whoa, calm down)  - Have 3 sims be playful simultaneously - Have 3 sims drinking simultaneously (tea and coffee also count)  - Make a dessert - Make tea or coffee  - Make 3 drinks (from the bar) - Make a toast 

 Marry Off 6 Children  - All marriages accepted and celebrated, whether straight or LGBTQ+  - All must earn a Silver or Gold Wedding social event score 

 Have 6 Children Abducted by Aliens* Rather self-explanatory 

 Have 6 Grandchildren - The sim must be alive for the birth of all 6 of their grandchildren, but not necessarily present/living on the same lot  - Alien babies do count 

 Earn $100,000  - By any means necessary provided it is earned (not inherited or scammed - I’m looking at you, black widows)  - You are allowed to use the Nanocan Touchless trash can - Only one sim can contribute to the total, so keep track of their income separately (this is earnings, not net worth/profit/anything complicated - just add up everything they earn) 

 Max Out 7 Skills (Adapted for TS4) - Max out 7/10/15 skills   

Have 20 Simultaneous Best Friends (Adapted for TS4)  - Full Friendship bar with 20 sims simultaneously 

 Have 20 Simultaneous Lovers (Adapted for TS4)  - Full Romance bar with 20 sims simultaneously 

 Woohoo with 20 Different Sims  (It’s up to you whether Mess Around counts or not, personally I would feel weird encouraging that) Sidenote: If you find relationship building  too easy, feel free to try for 50 and just mention it in your score! 

 Have 50 First Dates   

 Have 50 Dream Dates* - Can be with the same sim or as many sims as you like 

 Eat 200 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches  -   ..Eat 200 grilled cheeses dude - Complete the (hidden) Grilled Cheese aspiration* 

 Become Hall of Famer  - Reach the top of the Professional Athlete branch of the Athlete career track - Complete the Bodybuilder aspiration  

Become Business Tycoon  - Reach the top of the Management branch of the Business career track  - Complete the Mansion Baron aspiration  

Become Criminal Mastermind (Adapted for TS4) - Reach the top of the Criminal career track in either branch (Oracle or Boss) - Complete the Public Enemy aspiration  

Become Celebrity Chef  - Reach the top of the Chef branch of the Culinary career track  - Complete the Master Chef aspiration  

Become Professional Party Guest (Adapted for TS4)  Sims 4 doesn’t have the gem that is the Slacker career track, so instead fulfil the following:  - Earn Gold for at least one of every social event* - Complete the Party Animal aspiration 

 Become Game President (Adapted for TS4) - Reach the top of the eSports Gamer branch of the Tech Guru career track  - Complete the Computer Whiz aspiration 

 Become Space Pirate (Adapted for TS4)  Unfortunately there’s no Adventurer career in Sims 4, so we’ll settle for:  - Reach the top of the Interstellar Smuggler branch of the Astronaut career track 

 Become Media Magnate (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of the Journalist branch of the Writer career track - Complete the Bestselling Author aspiration  

Become Rock God (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of the Musician branch of the Entertainer career track  - Complete the Musical Genius aspiration 

 Become Presitidigitiditigiditdititator (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of the Comedian branch of the Entertainer career track  - Complete the Joke Star aspiration 

 Become Visionary (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of either branch of the Painter career track (Master of the Real or Patron of the Arts)  - Complete the Painter Extraordinaire aspiration 

 Become City Planner (Adapted for TS4)  Yes, the gaming community that loves to build has no in-game Architect career, so we’ll have to go for this instead:  - (Re)Design and (re)build all lots in all neighbourhoods, including residential and commercial.  

  LTW GOALS – GET TO WORK (+4 points) 

Own 5 Top Level Businesses (Inheritable goal) - Can be passed down or across to a successor (sibling/cousin/child/niece/nephew) but can only be owned and run by one sim at a time. - All 5 businesses must be one of the following, though you do not need to make every type: Store Bakery  Restaurant (Dine Out Game Pack) Vet clinic (Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack) - Items crafted by your sim do not count unless they are sold within a shop format. They do not count if sold from the inventory/easel/Plopsy etc 

Become Captain Hero (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of the Detective career track  

Become Chief of Staff  - Reach the top of the Doctor career track 

 Become Mad Scientist (Adapted for TS4) - Reach the top of the Scientist career track  - Complete the Nerd Brain aspiration 

 LTW GOALS – GET TOGETHER (+1 point)  

Become World Class Ballet Dancer (Multiple sims permitted) (Adapted for TS4)  - Every sim in the generation must max the Dancing skill 

 LTW GOALS – CITY LIVING (+1 point)  Become Mayor (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of the Politian career track  

 LTW GOALS – CATS & DOGS (+3 points) 

Raise 10/15/20 puppies or kittens  You may choose easy, intermediate, or hard mode here (easy being 10, 20 being hard) - Puppies or kittens must be bred by two parent dogs/cats that live in the household, not created in CAS or adopted into the household 

 Have 6/10/15 Pets Reach Top Career Level (Adapted for TS4) Sims 4 pets have no careers and the cats cannot be trained, so instead you can try the following:  - Max out the Pet Training skill (5 levels)  - Teach 6/10/15 pets all trained commands (again, an easy/intermediate/hard version) 

 Have 20 Simultaneous Best Pet Friends (Adapted for TS4)  - Full Friendship bar with 20 pets simultaneously 

 LTW GOALS – GET FAMOUS (+1 point) 

Become Icon (Adapted for TS4) - Reach the top of the Actor career track   - Complete the Master Actor aspiration 

 LTW GOALS – STRANGERVILLE (+2 points) 

Become General (Adapted for TS4) - Reach the top of the Military career track  

Become Head of SCIA (Adapted for TS4) - Reach the top of the Covert Operator branch of the Military career track    

LTW GOALS – ISLAND LIVING (+2 points) 

Become Hand of Poseidon [yas queen] (Adapted for TS4) - Reach the top of the Marine Biologist branch of the Conservationist career track   Become Ecology Guru (Adapted for TS4) - Reach the top of the Environmental Manager branch of the Conservationist career track  

 LTW GOALS – DISCOVER UNIVERSITY (+4 points) 

Graduate 3 Children from College  - Each of the 3 children can live anywhere except the original home lot that houses the rest of the family - You may allocate them as many funds as you wish (no financial cheats, including freerealestate) 

Become Game Designer (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of the Computer Engineering branch of the Engineering career track  - Complete the Computer Whiz aspiration 

Become Education Minister (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of the Administrator branch of the Education career track 

Become the Law (lol) (Adapted for TS4)  - Reach the top of the Judge branch of the Law career track 

 SCORING 

Your score is the number of generations it took you to complete all of the LTWs (so the lower the better) out of how many LTW goals you had access to, for example:  

Base Game (23 goals) + Get Together (1 goal) + Cats & Dogs (3 goals) + Island Living (2 goals)  

= 29 total LTW goals and therefore possible LTW goals available to complete. 

So imagine I completed these 29 goals in 8 generations, I would post my score as:  

G8:29LTW 

The higher your LTW number (here as 29), the harder your legacy was because you had more LTW goals to achieve.  The lower your G number (here as 11), the faster you achieved your LTW goals. 

 Feel free to share this with your simmer buddies, and to post your experiences, screenshots, questions, tips, or scores!  You can check out more of my Sims 4 content on my YT channel (carrioakeSIMS)    

*Shoutout to the team @ carls-sims-4-guide.com/ - I highly recommend it for amazing tips and guides if you’re ever stuck or feel like you’re not getting the most out of the game. 

Enjoy! 

[ramblesofadreamerofthestars]

Anne With An E S03Ep08 “Great And Sudden Change”

 - Ka’kwet! Oh you brilliant starfish child, you saved yourself and got away. Also, this milkman, is this the same one from the beginning of s1? 

- Ahhhhh Diana and Anne. This h u r t s

- Fucking hell I knew it.They burned down the school. Bitch what the Fuck. They really going to try and pretend like this was an accident? You Stole the Printing Press.

- Wow props to the actors for this scene, their devastation over this cruelty cuts deep. And Ms. Stacie coming through once again as a brilliant teacher, and someone to look up to. 

- Anne your fury is as always righteous and you’re doing amazing sweetie but Rachel probably isn’t the right target. Oh... Rachel. Her character definitely has it’s ups and downs but I’m glad she’s taking an active stance in this.

- Ka’kwet is so capable and intelligent, I Love Her. I hope she makes it home so badly, she deserves to be loved and cherished and I hope I hope I hope that this leads to the rest of the children at the residential school being saved. Knowing what I know of history, I doubt it. 

- Once again, I’m really glad Moira chose to include this and made it such a major plot in season 3, because this is a part of history that is glossed over in classrooms and absolutely should Not be

- Ooooh Hazel LaCroix has arrived. This should be interesting, based on how Bash has spoken about his mother in the past. I hope she’s here to reconcile and make up for past mistakes, Bash could really use some good things going for him right now. 

- lksjdlfjfldsj Moody and Ruby are so cute they snuck up on me and I adore them

- Anne and Gilbert sitting together by the window... completely relaxed and bodies angled to each other... poetic cinema

- Lol, Ms.Stacie being a mood as always

- Shirbirt is so cute I can’t

- aslkdckej what is this trilling music?? Is she casting a spell???

- oof. sorry Anne

- OOF. DIANA AND JERRY. WOW THIS HURTS! WOW THIS HURTS A LOT. Diana. Diana you don’t have to do this. Literally all you have to say is “no of course I’m not too good for you. This is just... painful. 

- AUNT JOSEPHINE? how did she know to come? Disturbance in the force? Also loving this music as Diana walks toward herself in the mirror’s reflection, very reminiscent of montage music set to a character undergoing a significant change in who they present themselves to be.

- Diana. I could write an entire essay on my feelings about Diana. She feels so trapped and for a few brilliant moments it seemed like she was breaking free and learning to take what she wanted in life, but she seems so scared now, and so lost and confused. Of course she’s going to say she’s going to finishing school - it’s what her parents have been molding her into for her entire life, and of course in this moment when she’s so lost on what to do next she’d fall back on the already laid out plan for her. And yet even so, I wish  she would write the exams, just like Josephine says. Better to try, and know that it’s an option then shooting yourself in the foot. Oh Diana, my beautiful imperfect daughter, I want you to have all the happiness and freedom you deserve, not to be stifled by ridiculous notions of society

- (I have a lot of feelings about Diana Barry)

- ayyyyy Auntie Jo really went “ya basic” huh. Diana please wake up, listen to your aunt. But wow, this must be heartbreaking for Diana, it must really feel like everyone is leaving her. 

- Oof and here we have Hazel’s first big indicator that her son’s life is not the same as her own. I really don’t blame her for falling back on the only thing’s she’s known her entire life, but you can see where that desire and drive to protect her son ends up hurting him. 

- ... Anne’s geometry prep seems so easy is this really all you needed to get into uni

- Matthew. “You’re as smart as they make them” he as so much faith in her, both him and Marilla and WOW I love the Cuthberts. 

- LET! KA’KWET! MAKE! IT! HOME! SAFE!

- this is the most awkward tea everYES! YES DIANA PLEASE BE GOING TO WRITE THE QUEEN’S EXAM. Josephine’s little knowing smirk is everything I Love This

- Wow. Ya ok wow this is exactly what exam prep is like and I feel this panic in my soul. Y’all are going to do great!

- Ahh! Their shouts of Diana are so good for the soul and look at how alive she looks this is So Good!! She’s so happy and proud of herself, I’m so proud of her

- No seriously, was this literally all it took to get into university....

- ... Y’all this pen going to come back isn’t it

- ahhh this is giving me flashbacks and anxiety No Thanks. Good luck to all of them (except Billy if he’s there, fuck Billy)

- Absolute legend Marilla teaming up with force of nature Rachel, get fucked you angry old boiled socks

- YES! YES LOOK AT THEM GO THEIR SO BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL AND ALIVE AND THEY’RE STILL CHILDREN AND YET NOT QUITE ANYMORE AND LOOK AT HOW HAPPY AND FREE THEY ARE RUNNING OUT OF THE EXAM.

- wow it’s real “Excitement over one stage of life ending but what comes next hours” huh

- yes Diana live your best fucking life! I’m so proud of all of them but her especially I’m so glad she chose this. 

- Ah. The Rose household. So glad we’re here.

- In all seriousness though, nothing against Winnie she’s amazing in her own right but she’s not the one for Gilbert and the sooner he realizes this the sooner they can both move on with their lives.

- Wow. Mr. Winnie’s Dad sir, you’re sure being super subtle about this

- Side note, I know their all growing up and it’s different back then with expectations of age, but he’s just... so young. Gilbert is so young and Winnie is already so much more experienced then him. 

- Yes! Yes this is what I want! These kids deserve a night to just Have Fun and be as wild and carefree as their hearts desire. Their growing up yes, but they’re not grown up now, and I’m so happy with the pure light and joy emanating from these kids. 

- Oh my gods. Oh my Gods. The soft fairy music, the fire light. Anne is a beautiful creature of sparks and magic, ethereal and fae and look at how Gilbert looks at her. He loves her so much oh my gods this is perfection thank you Moira for my life. 

- ...I’m so soft

- Holy Fuck my heart. “Just...one thing” he’s so gone on her and she’s falling so deeply for him. 

- lmao Anne’s drunk out of her fucking mind Gilbert this was a terrible time to do this is2g these two

- He’s so fucking heartbroken baby. Y’all need to learn to communicate Gilbert she wasn’t rejecting you I’m so ahhhhh

- Wow! These two really be on the same braincell energy. Soulmates!

-Bash, I adore you so much his and Gilbert’s relationship is so well done and I love him and the way he teases Gil. Also Bash has been team Shirbert since the beginning and his little dance is everything. Lmao the difference between when he though Gil was going to marry Anne vs when it was Winnie...telling.

- “Now now, no need to be hysterical” FUCK EM UP MARILLA AND RACHEL!!! FUCK EM UP RACHEL!!!

- I have no words for Ka’kwet’s reunion with her mother and her people besides that now I’m crying

- wow, Minnie May serving up truth to both Diana and about the unrealistic expectations placed on siblings when placed in competition with each other

- yes Marilla! look at her go! Also Anne I know you’re dealing with a lot but like... you maybe want to show a bit more enthusiasm?!?!

- thank you. Thank you So Much for Diana and Anne, this is amazing and I’m so glad my two beautiful daughters have come through this stronger and better than ever. 

- “ Here's the truth: friendships between women are often the deepest and most profound love stories” - Emily Rapp            ~perhaps a point was made

- Wow that’s really how we’re going to end that huh!

Final Thoughts:

F i n a l l y Anne has said it out loud. I can’t wait for the absolute disasters that are sure to prevent these one braincell geniuses from actually talking to each other. No but for real, I’m so excited for the next stage of their relationship, though I’m sure it will be just as agonizing to watch them figure out how to move forward. Ka’kwet is home safe! While I really just want her to stay and be happy with her life, I doubt that is what will happen. Nevertheless, she’s amazingly strong and intelligent and the injustices done to her in the series are sickening, and it’s important to remember that all these things really happened to the indigenous population in Canada, and that reconciliation and amendments are still in the works today. The last residential school in Canada close in 1996. This is not a distant memory of the past, it is a crisis, the ripple effect still being felt in the indigenous communities today. Bash and his mother have such an interesting dynamic, as it’s clear that her life experiences and her love for her son cause her to act in ways that while done with the best intentions, end up hurting him, and it will be interesting to see how awae handles this. And finally, my girls, Anne and Diana. I’m so proud of Diana this episode, for taking yet another step closer to her own freedom, and I’m so proud of the two of them for recognizing their mistakes and refusing to let it come between them. Next episode, I assume will deal with the fallout of Ka’kwet running away from the school, Gil about to propose to Winnie and what Anne plans to do now that she knows what she is feeling, and expansion on Bash and Hazel’s relationship and I can’t wait. 

[bettsfic]

life update i guess

ultimately things are not terrible but. there’s just a lot.

i’m working too much to get anything done at my house, which means it’s just sitting there, un-lived-in, while i continue paying the mortgage. it’s not even on the market yet. i had my realtor do a walkthru and start the paperwork, but we’re still maybe weeks out from putting it on the market, and potentially months and months out from sale. the houses in my area have all taken 6+ months to sell. 

my mom wants to get back with her alcoholic husband. i can’t even begin to dip in to this situation because it is so totally fucked, but tldr i am really tired of women prioritizing the shitty men in their lives over their female family/friends. i felt bad about eventually moving to mississippi and leaving my family, but now i don’t.

and now the job. 

yesterday i worked 9am to 10pm and friday i’ll be working 7am to 5pm. the frightening thing is that this is considered the “slow time” of the year, and i’m not even fully onboarded yet, meaning my duties aren’t all implemented yet. so, first problem: the work-life balance here is not reasonable.

the second problem is the disability accommodations issue. HR will not afford me temporary accommodations (like moving cubicles, working from home, etc -- things i think are perfectly reasonable but which they will not budge on without a doctor signing off on it), and i can’t find someone to assess me until mid-july. moreover, i don’t have time to be making calls and find someone who can get me in sooner, because the job packs my calendar every minute of every day. AND the day i have my appointment scheduled is a day i have a mandatory cybersecurity training. so it might be pushed back further. there’s also a chance it’ll take multiple sessions to sign off, so i’m looking at august/september before i get any accommodations, which is the “busy” season.

the question becomes -- can i last that long without accommodations? my cubicle is in the middle of major foot traffic, with my back to the room and a fuckton of noise. i have absolutely no privacy. but mostly i’m not in the office at all, so i don’t know how big of a deal it really is. i can stand it for a few hours at a time. 

those are really the only problems. my accommodations are delayed, and i am encouraged/forced to work 45+ hours a week, and it’s making me feel like i’m handing my entire life away. like last night was the first night fireflies were out, and i wanted to stop and look at them and take pictures, but i was with a group of volunteers and had to consider propriety, and moreover had to move things along so i could go home and sleep. i haven’t had the time or energy to keep revising baby, and i’ve stopped querying agents. everything feels like it’s on hold.

as for the neutralizing stuff -- it’s summer, which for me means depression, so there’s a chance if i didn’t have this job, i would be falling into terrible habits. sleeping in until noon, eating one big meal a day, not getting dressed, only getting a couple things finished in the afternoons, spending too much time on tumblr, getting overly (unhealthily) engaged in fandom. potentially working toward another breakdown. but also, i feel like i’m working toward a different kind of breakdown with this job. and it’s possible i wouldn’t do any of these things because i’m living in a better place now. 

now for the good things!! i do get to teach with this job (but rarely). i finished up a series on health and wellness, in which i taught a group of 11 to 14 year old girls about emotional validation and teamwork. it was so much fun and i really, really loved it. unfortunately i don’t know how frequent these opportunities are. 

i also get to hang out at camp, which is fun for now but i have a feeling it’s going to get old fast. the days are long and hot and there are just so many girls. on tuesday i had a big group of 7 to 9 year olds, which i’m much less familiar with as an age group (they are too young to have seen harry potter, and too old to baby talk at, so i’m lost). friday i’m going to a residential camp and i have no idea what that will be like.

i get to work with volunteers, who are generally amazing and kind and organized, and have the best intentions at heart. these are women who (like in fandom) prioritize community and the greater good, and put love into everything they do. unfortunately, my job is basically to deal with the few bad things peppered among the good -- volunteer disputes, mom entitlement, “my daughter’s cookie reward sleeping bag is broken and i need a new one RIGHT NOW,” etc. there are two moms i know who have a restraining order on a third mom, and i’m grateful i missed that whole thing, because dealing with it would have been my responsibility.

i am constantly driving into the sticks, which would be a negative for most people but is amazing for me. the places i serve are all out in the middle of nowhere, these tiny towns with only a couple roads apiece, and take an hour or more to get to. i get great mileage reimbursement and fabulous future writing fodder. moms and kids and small town drama -- this is all the stuff i love to write, and i’m getting a lot of great aesthetic from it, but no energy to write anything that isn’t fic (which is energy-filling for me rather than draining).

and my favorite thing is that i am doing Good Things. i really love this organization and believe in it, and working here is the first time i’ve really felt like i’m making the world better instead of worse. the more i learn about it and everything it does, the more i love its structure and purpose. the people who work there are such good and kind people, and the work they all do is genuinely, unequivocally amazing. 

there is just a lot of it, and it doesn’t pay well.

no matter what, i’ll only be there a year (i’m doing a phd in mississippi but deferred my acceptance), and they don’t know that, and i feel bad for deceiving them. i feel bad for joining these volunteer communities with the assumption i’ll be around a while and make friends. and as much as i need the health insurance, it’ll take a long time to find doctors and get appointments for all the specialists i need, and then i’ll be moving out of the state and having to find new doctors anyway.

so my options are thus:

stick with the job for a year

pros: no stress about paying mortgage while house is on the market, ability to buy stuff i need and pay off my car, save up for big move, structure/keeping busy over summer when i’m normally really depressed, ability to do meaningful work i believe in, really good health insurance

cons: no time/energy to write, guilt over deception of coworkers and volunteers, a potentially unmanageable amount of stress, poor work/life balance, not a lot of teaching

resign and return to alma mater to teach comp next semester

pros: summer off to work on my house/writing/freelance work, don’t dread waking up every day, may potentially be able to move to mississippi in winter and start the phd spring semester

cons: no income over summer, no health insurance for the rest of the year (and will have to re-apply for medicaid), lack of structure may make me more depressed, i hate teaching comp (and i would have 3 sections of it, god help me -- but at least i’d be teaching)

this is the pickle i am in. i know this is a lot to read but mostly i wrote it for myself, to see it all written out. half of me thinks it’ll get better and right now i’m only intimidated by the workload because i don’t have an expertise in the job yet, and once i do, it’ll be a breeze, or at least more good days than bad ones. this is also the part of me that wants a backup plan post-phd in case i can’t do academia anymore and my writing career tanks. the other part of me is like, this is useless, you’re a writer and a teacher, why are you bothering doing anything that’s not writing or teaching? and that is also the part of me that’s like, lol you are not a neurotypical person, you are always going to struggle in these types of environments, and you have an environment available to you in which you do not struggle, so go for that instead (even if the pay is shitty and has no benefits). 

i just don’t know.

[dramallamadingdang]

Annnnd some replies.

For @penig, @scribblingsim, @taylors-simblr. @freezerbunny-sims, @tamtam-go92, @dunne-ias, @holleyberry, and @scibirg...

penig replied to your post “Every time I think I’m going to get back on track with keeping up with...”

Bonk the guilt on the head. Following someone is not the same as promising to view all the content. Anybody you're particularly interested in, you can go to the individual blog sometime when you're in the mood. You never get to do all the things you want to do and that's life. Don't turn your leisure into work.

Intellectually I know that. Thing is, there are some things I really do want to catch up on, but then when I sit down at the computer, I end up doing something else. Like, going off and looking at Photoshop tutorials or something because an idea strikes me and I want to check out some ways to make it happen. In short, I need more hours in the day and being able to stay awake for them. But don’t we all, I guess? :)

scribblingsim replied to your link “ModTheSims - Orchard Fruits Gussy Up”

Oh, of *course* I'd find out about this after I finally get my game loaded. LOL ah well. A good download for later.

Ain’t that always the way! *laugh* My game was already loaded, too, when I looked at the downloads on MTS, so adding in the mod will have to wait until the next time I exit and reload it. But it’s in the Downloads folder, waiting for that to happen, at least. :)

taylors-simblr replied to your post “Every time I think I’m going to get back on track with keeping up with...”

Same here, I think ooh I’ll catch up and comment on recent story posts, but then I also want to read a book or play a game or maybe I have ironing to catch up on and then I forget and feel guilty and then the dash moves so fast anyway. It is one of the ways that livejournal/dream width is slightly better. The posts don’t get lost forever in the sheer amount of posts even on one persons tumblr

I actually like the journal system better, overall, for lots of different reasons. (Properly threaded conversations is the main one.) But its downside -- at least the last time I used my LJ -- was that it’s a pain to post pics. Gotta do the upload the pics somewhere and then link to the post thing, which is tedious if it’s a lot of pics, rather than just dragging/dropping like you do with Tumblr. Since Sims-posting tends to be pic-heavy, that’s a real bummer. Buuuuuut yeah, it’s nice that it doesn’t move at breakneck speed like Tumblr does. Tumblr’s definitely meant more for the short-attention-span crowd, I think.

And then people post saying their “dash is dead,” and I’m like, “What? HOW??!!” :)

freezerbunny-sims replied to your post “Question!”

Never tried that but it's a great idea. Wasn't there an option for sims with high enthusiasm in a hobby to instruct other sims? Or does that just increase hobby enthusiasm, not skills? On a side note, maybe some skilling objects could be modded to have an option to instruct other sims, like some of the career rewards already have. I don't know how hard it would be though.

Yeah, the instruct thing does only affect enthusiasm. Which is good, too, for my purposes. Because ultimately skills don’t really matter in this neighborhood. No one has a job and most of the skills, except maybe cooking, are most useful for job promotions and whatnot. They don’t actually have too much of an effect on a Sim’s daily life. What would be good is if instructing would increase badge levels. But I think maybe SimWardrobe’s vocational training podium can do that, now that I think about it. I’ll have to track that down...

tamtam-go92 replied to your post “Oh, I didn't know that "send grave to the community lot" thing didn't...”

I didn't know the sent to graveyard doesn't work probably too! And I always sent ma ghosts there ��

Using “Move This Grave” works in the sense that it does move the grave and doesn’t break anything in ways that would cause neighborhood corruption, but if keeping the ghosts’ colors/behaviors is important to you, that’s not the way you want to do it. So far as I know, the interaction hasn’t been fixed so that it preserves the colors/behaviors.

holleyberry replied to your post “Hi iCad. I have a morbid question. How do you deal with graves in your...”

I didn't know that about letting the ghost spawn.

Yeah, the issue is that when a Sim dies, a certain amount of time has to pass before the ghost will spawn. I think the time is randomly determined when the Sim dies, but it seems like it can be anywhere between the night of their death (if they died during the day) up to three or four nights after the Sim’s death. If you move the grave to a community lot before the ghost spawns for the first time...Well, time doesn’t actually pass on unowned community lots because they don’t save, so an “unspawned” grave on a community lot will never reach its designated “spawn time.” 

So, if you want ghosts on community lots, you have to let the ghost spawn for the first time on a residential lot, where time DOES pass. If you don’t want it to be their home lot (so you don’t have to deal with haunting, for instance), then you could use a gravekeeper, go to THEIR residential lot, and have them plunk the grave down there. Then make motives static and put the game on ultraspeed until the ghost spawns. THEN put the “pre-spawned” grave on the community lot. Then the ghost will appear there.

tamtam-go92 replied to your post “Question!”

It's not quite in topic but in my normal gameplay I pretend that teens that don't attend University do an apprenticeship. They have to get a Job and when they go to school I tell it trade school. But since neither exist in your neighborhood I think your Suggestion seems a good Option! As someone who did an apprenticeship I wish there Was something like that in game.

I tend to not like the schooling in the game at all. Probably because I’m not a fan of the “standard” public school system in the US, which is what the game’s school is based on. :) For instance, I violently disagree with the entire concept of “homework” IRL, so I homeschooled my real kids, and in my game, I come up with alternative ways to educate kids/teens that are actual practical (As in, they gain actual skills or badges or whatever) as opposed to just something that sends them off the lot for X hours and all they get is meaningless “grades.” I’ve not done apprenticeship before, but that sort of system makes logical sense for this neighborhood, since it is mostly trades-based, so I’m going to work out some kind of system.

dunne-ias replied to your post “Question!”

I played it once similar to your plan. The teen would move in with the mentor (unless the mentor was their parent) but I would have them stay there, not move them back to their parents's house as I think that made more sense. They were often invited home though for big events and sometimes just dinner. I also made the parents pay the mentor. I think a certain amount of days of apprenticeship would be reasonable, or a certain amount of work done so that skilled workers-

2/2 - would be able to finish their apprenticeship faster. Once they were done they were moved back in with the parents until they had enough money to move out, so the cost of moving out wasn't subtracted from the mentor, but the parent (I had the no20Khandouts.)

With the Sim Transporter, I can move individual Sims into and out of different households at will, without the moving-around affecting anyone's money. (Although there is no money in this neighborhood, so it doesn't really matter. :) ) I use it to run daycares and schools in my game. For this neighborhood...Teens will all leave their birth household on the morning after their teen bday, mostly because space will be at a premium and they’ll need to get out to make room for their younger siblings. :)  They'll move to the communal lot, going into the queue to earn their own house. So I was thinking that when playing the communal lot, any apprentices would just get transported out somewhere for a block of days -- to simulate being "at training" -- and then transported back. Then when I play the mentoring household, I can use the transporter to move their “assigned” apprentice(s) in for their days of actual training and then transport them back when they're done. I think it'll work....

The detail I'm not really clear on is how to run the training. I suppose they can just do all the mentor's work, give them a break. *laugh* But I'd like there to be some interaction between mentor and apprentice as wel. It'd be nice if there was some sort of social interaction to “pass on” skills or badges, sort of like how you can pass along earned business benefits... Maybe I can rig something up with Sophie-David's "opportunity" items (There's a thought...) or maybe SimWardrobe’s vocational trainer or both. Maybe have them do hands-on work one day and then “classroom”-learn from the mentor the next and switch off that way. That might work...

I've got time to think about it, though; it'll be a while before there are any born-in-game teens in this neighborhood! *laugh*

tamtam-go92 replied to your post “This looks crazy. I wonder, how do you take the second baby out of the...”

It's still possible that the fences of the cribs can be put down to put the babies in ��

Now that I think about it, I don’t actually recall if the crib “doors” are animated on those cribs. Of course, that’s how such a thing would work in real life, but I’ve not paid attention to whether or not those cribs are animated in-game....

scibirg replied to your post “This looks crazy. I wonder, how do you take the second baby out of the...”

I once played a medieval game and the Picaso's were living in a tiny hovel and just kept having kids (ACR of course). With the shelf beds from simlogical I was able to cram an amazing number of sims into their one bedroom house!

Oh, yeah. Shelf beds will definitely be used! (That’s why the second bedroom in the houses is three tiles deep. :) ) I’m figuring I can stack three of them per side of the room and then maybe put a floor mattress underneath the “stack,” thus cramming in eight kids. If there’s more than that at a time, tents will be broken out! :)

tamtam-go92 replied to your photo “Attempting to befriend another wolf. This one’s a female because I...”

Won't they bite the sim and turn her into a werewolf?

(This is an old reply. Sorry about that, dear; I missed it when I did the last batch of replies.) 

Anyway, no, only the “Leader of the Pack” -- the wolf with the glowing yellow eyes -- can turn a Sim into a werewolf. The others are just really aggressive big dogs that are rather hard to build relationships with because many interactions are rejected at first and the wolf tends to leave before you can get very far, so you have to wait for the same one to show up again to continue to work on the relationship. I do want someone to befriend/adopt the Leader, though. Mostly because I’ve never had anyone become a werewolf by the “real” in-game method. *laugh*

[dalashas]

Hiii. This is very random but I'm probably going to uni of Bristol this September and was just going through related tags where I found you. I'm going for vet med and I think you mentioned zoology. Since they're similar faculties and you're also Indian (as am I) , I was wondering if you would mind giving me some insight on Bristol? I'm desperate for any info lol

Hello! So sorry if this is a late response, I never check my inbox!

So, first off there are very few Indian shops near uni, most of the Asian community here are East Asian so there are East Asian shops, but I spoke to an Indian girl when I was in first year and she told me that there are distant Indian shops but you have to get on a bus and it's a trek, so I just bring stuff back from home (London) or get stuff from the big Asda.

There is a society called IndiaSoc that you will see at the fresher's fair, but I never joined it, I just know it was pretty busy when I saw the stall and got their emails so I doubt covid decimated it (like what happened to Roots the gardening soc- the conservation society BUCG took over their niche after they vanished, also I'm in that one and its nice), so if you feel homesick for Indian people, check them out and maybe you'll make friends!

My friend is in the vet course, I don't know what work they do but I know she went to Langford for placement, and I've been in the vet building, there are bone collections in it and it is the only building I've been into where you have to show the receptionist your ID card before they let you in, very spooky. My main building is the life science building (LSB), I don't believe you'll be working in there though. I know my friend did dissections of animals much bigger than what I did in first year, she did different mammals such as dogs so be prepared for quite a few dissection practicals.

In terms of accommodation, I would say be near the city centre because you will be within walking distance to everything. I was in the East residential villiage (Riverside specifically, which is a cheaper option. Orchard Heights is one of the more expensive options and IT HAS A RAT PROBLEM), I advise against living in Stoke Bishop, which is really far away and you need a bus to get there and it is very expensive.

I can't tell you much about vet course I'm afraid, except that you will have animal handling tests where you have to demonstrate how to hold a beast such as a rabbit, but you do it on a plush toy?? I know the vet cohort wasn't happy with some of the exams for being difficult and having niche questions, but we did our exams over covid when support was very low (not having in-person teaching sucks no matter how hard they try to mitigate the circumstances) so that could have played a large part in how successful their year was. I know the vet school is generally rated very highly.

Let me know if you have any specific questions, I hope I can tell you more or ask someone else if they know. I'll be graduated by next year but I love the city so much that I hope to stay if I can get a job. Bristol is beautiful, the history is very interesting, there is a lot of old architecture which is really interesting, and while it is an expensive place to live like London, I've found it is worth it. There are lots of places to eat and drink, and the uni's society game is strong (no matter how much people complain about the student union for double booking lmao), there is a goodly variety of groups you can join.

[marvelbuilt]

you guys are going to think im a hoe but im gonna list the potential boys in my life. also just like so you dont think im really slutty?? i have never gone the entire way with any of these dates.

andrew - my ex lmao. okay so this is like lowkey never gonna happen but we still see each other and talk and like we have a kitten together so like it’s having a kid lite so we still see each other and the boy he left me for in january after 2 years, broke up with him in a month and we hug and they’re lingering hugs? but again like prolly never gonna happen bc he’s a DISASTER and hooks up with everyone.

dylan - okay lowkey this kid would have probably been my first choice? we started talking and kind of stopped for some reason and then i saw him on grindr when i was home bc he lives closer to my hometown than my school but anyways we’re both like relationship oriented and like our first date went so well?? like he had told me prior to coming that he wasn’t ready for a relationship and i was like okay well i mean im probably not either bc it was kind of like a month or two after andrew but he BOUGHT ME FLOWERS??? and i cooked him dinner and we like cuddled and made out and stuff and it was so nice. he’s part of that school that did 13 reasons why not and he like goes to suicide prevention conferences and he’s going to be going to a different university than me but it’s like technically better than mine and he’s so smart?? and our second date was good as well and idk? i like him so much and we snapchat everyday. but he stopped calling me cutie? and i still call him that and sometimes he calls me “b” but iDEK like i think he’s probably talking to other boys or something and he always avoids when i ask if we can hangout again but hes always working now so idk.

andrew - okay this is another andrew and he lives in the town next to mine and he works at the capital of my state and he like studied political science and our politics are very similar and we are just similar in general. his parents are trump supporters so that’s yikes. also he’s not out to his family at all WONDER WHY and he’s very?? like he plays soccer ALL THE TIME. anyways aside from that, our personalities are very similar and we hung out like 4 times in a row and idk? he’s kinda cheap ngl, but i can’t blame him too much bc we are young still. but anyways all the dates went well and it seemed like we were really into each other. then i had finals so i was like yo i cant hang out until theyre over. and then the week after, i got sick so i didnt want to hang out and then like he was playing soccer all the time? and then he got sick? and now like? ugh he’s the worst texter and i texted him and asked him i did something wrong or anything and he was like no of course not im just busy and soccer and then he did say anything else? like jfc i dont want to do all the chasing so i just havent texted him in like a week or 2 and so i dont even know? like everything was fine but he’s such a boy when it comes to texting i fucking cant

patrick - okay this kid omfg probably never going to happen but i just want to talk about it. so this kid is in my program at school and so we started talking bc grindr and we matched on tinder and he’s cute and really smart. so anyways, the weird thing was that i literally never met the kid and he’s in the same residential college as me and like we’re in the same grade? so ODD right? well anyways i tried to schedule a date about 800 fucking times and he cancelled so many times omfg. like constantly cancelling. and he was really sweet to me and stuff over messaging. so school FINALLY ends and im like okay maybe NOW we can have a date. he cancelled a couple more times and FINALLY he’s like okay sure. so he picked me up from work, which was lowkey nice, but then we went to starbucks and he like?? spent most of the date not understanding why anyone would major in my major and how international relations and arabic are the most important majors and how he’s going to get such a good job and like he doesn’t understand why some things need to be equal and he’s like “ive never voted republican but” and im just like jfc i cant handle you insulting my major. but outside of my major, he was nice enough i guess? he’s hot so there’s that but he then just dropped me off and now he’s in jordan until like august and he’s like “yeah i’ll hit you up when i get back so we can hang out again” LIKE LMAO DONT FUCKING LIE. and he like didn’t respond to my message about adding him on social media after the date so lol this kid is like whatever

skyler - okay skyler was the date i had last night and i just met him last night? and omfg i dont think ive ever met someone more different from me that was still gay? okay so this kid is my age, but he goes to the community college, so i hadn’t met him until just recently. so he’s like? nice af. he’s half-mexican, half-white (this comes into play later) and from a small town. but omfg, we got lots to discuss. so he openly considers himself conservative. said that “if i could choose to be straight, i would be”, said quote “i dont believe in pride parades and i dont fuck with blm” AND IM STRAIGHT CRINGEING and like? i presented my arguments in a civil manner im so proud of myself for not popping off but like he listened and everything but i dont think i changed his mind at all because lol the hardest thing to do ever. anyways, super sweet to me, and very relationship oriented. he gave me a hickey last night whoops luckily it’s on my collarbone so people wont see it. but anyways im really worried that he’s moving too fast at this point? and he like is SO different like he called himself “a manly gay” and im just like fuck off honestly bc that’s so not me and THATS OKAY TO NOT BE A MANLY GAY. and he said he agreed. some of my friends think that maybe i can “educate him” or change his mind. but idk guys this might just be a little too different and im really worried that he mightve voted trump or something and im sorry but i let shit like that ruin relationships bc politics?? it’s my world and i just cant handle people who dont study what i study telling me im wrong about stuff i study? and like if you’re a half-mexican gay man idk how you can be conservative but go off sis be a tree for deforestation. but anyways NOW HE’S TEXTING ME ABOUT A SECOND DATE AND ASKED IF I WOULD GO TO A CLUB? WHICH IS SO NOT MY SCENE. ugh he’s super sweet to me personally but i just think we might just be too different.

SO BASICALLY BOYS ARE JUST SO FUCKED AND I AM JUST LIKE WHAT DO I DO HONESTLY LIKE THE BOYS I LIKE? DONT LIKE ME OR ARE FLAKY AF OR THEY’RE SO DIFFERENT COMPARED TO ME AND I JUST DONT KNOW HOW DIFFERENT I CAN HANDLE PLEASE HELP ME

also i know someones gonna be like “YOU AINT NEED NO MAN” you’re right karen i dont but dating is lowkey fun but now im just conflicted about all of these things i could scream. like i am just getting back out there and seeing where things go and i really dont see what’s wrong with that

[vannidajoaneblog]

Melbourne 2019

I’ve been to Sydney, Brisbane and now off to another popular place down under. Yes, I’ve been to Australia a lot! My latest trip was in Melbourne this time. 

Sorry for the very late blog post. Fourteen days plus two more for a cancelled flight back home is not an easy trip to microblog. The best thing I can do is provide the most concise paragraph and just mesmerize you with the photos. 

Anyways, here we go!  

Tullamarine

Direct flight from Manila to Melbourne via Cebu Pacific (not highly recommended). I arrived in Tullamarine - aka Melbourne Airport (MEL). From there, I met my high school bestfriend Cindy is responsible for my trip. 

Skybus

Off to the City Centre. The most convenient way to travel between the airport is by taking the SkyBus Express Airport Transfers. It is a double-decker bus that runs for 24 hours (varying frequencies throughout the day). The journey lasts 30-45 minutes. Riding this will give you a great view of Melbourne. 

Travel Essentials

First thing’s first - get your transportation card. If Sydney has the Opal Card and Brisbane has Translink Go Card, Melbourne has Myki. It is your ticket to travel on trains, trams and buses in the City and many parts of regional Victoria. You can easily buy it at a station and top up at a huge range of shops (including all 7-Eleven stores), Myki machines and station ticket offices.

Southern Cross Station 

From the airport via Skybus, we arrived at the Southern Cross Station. This is one of Australia’s most popular destinations - all sorts of enticing things you will see - cafes, restaurants, etc. I think it is a melting pot of people coming from every nation, speaking different languages. 

It is actually the most preferred station for various distances and directions from the centre of Melbourne is just a straight-forward train ride away from here, providing perfect day trips for the savvy traveller. 

MELBOURNE’S COUNTRYSIDE

Bird Feeding - Dandenong Ranges

From the City, down to the countryside - just like any other places in Australia, I started my trip by feeding them birdies. Melbourne also offers a variety of birdwatching niches to explore. 

#BirdBite

Tesselaar Tulip Festival

Then off to somewhere I’ve never been before - Tesselaar Tulip Festival. This festival began in 1954. Held over four weeks. It offers various themed days and weekends including Turkish, Dutch, Food, Wine & Jazz and Irish along with eight days packed with school holiday fun. 

When all the tulips are in bloom, there are nearly one million tulips on display. There are 130 varieties of tulips at the farm, so you could literally spend hours ogling and taking photos of them and their kaleidoscope of colours.

Orlinda Heritage Walk

Then we passed by the charming village of Olinda found at the highest part in the Dandenong Ranges. It has craft shops, antique stores, boutiques and cafés. It is renowned for its European influence and features a selection of German- and French-style restaurants and enjoy some of the region’s local produce. 

St Paul’s Cathedral

Now off to the City the next day. First off is the St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is located at the opposite of the Federation Square, on Melbourne's busiest intersection. 

This neo-Gothic St. Paul’s Cathedral is a Melbourne landmark, built between 1880 and 1931. Designed by William Butterfield, the cathedral’s architecture is described as Gothic transitional, combining Early English and Decorative Gothic styles. Highlights include the fine polychromatic brickwork, beautifully patterned floor tiles and mosaics, banded stonework, fine timbered roof and tiled dado walls.

Graffitti

Your city trip will not be complete without going through these  alleyways where you will find awesome graffiti. Artists change it every now and then. 

In these alleyways, just say “pssssst!” and they will turn around and look at your camera.. lol!

Footy Weekend

It doesn’t take long to see how much the locals love sport in Australia, especially in Melbourne. They would even consider it as a holiday. 

Australians love a huge number of different sports, including cricket, soccer, rugby union, rugby league and basketball, but nothing quite matches their passion for Australian Rules Football. Originating in where else - Melbourne Victoria, it has spread around the country.

PINOY COMMUNITY

Sunday Church & Community Services

It was nice to be adopted by a Pinoy group for two weeks. They still carries Filipino culture and tradition even if they are in a foreign country. 

Fratelli

But then we ate at an Italian restaurant :) Your trip will never be complete without a trip to an Italian restaurant here. Melbourne has a big Italian influence. 

Frankston Pier

Frankston Pier has always been a popular fishing destination along Port Phillip Bay. The pier offers a good range of fishing species for anglers all year round. You just have to deal with the birds and the crows. 

Lexie

Coming from Dubai is another best friend. This trip is sort of a reunion after the last one we had in Dubai. We just like meeting up in different parts of the world. Sleep over in her place is the first agenda :)

Grilld

Back to the city. Just along the Southern Cross station, you will find Grilld. It is a self-proclaimed 'gourmet burger' franchise Grill'd rolled into hipster laneways and streets across the country. If you want a change from the usual KFC, Hungry Jacks or Maccas, Grilld offers hand-crafted burgers made with high quality ingredients and interesting flavour combinations.

Grocery

Before sleeping over at Lexie’s, we did some grocers. Of course my fave Honey Soy Chicken Chips. 

Just Chill Indoors

Taking a break from all the traveling and sightseeing.  It is so nice to just have a chill day and have a movie marathon and do some laundry. 

Deakin University

The main reason why we came to Melbourne - to witness my HS bestfriend walk on stage and graduate at Deakin University. Stage bestfriends. It was an experience witnessing a graduation in a foreign country. Best part is the post-ceremony function :)

Great Ocean Road Arch

Off to the Twelve Apostles. Our first stop was the Memorial Arch, which is located just past the city of Torquay. The arch is a symbolic monument as it represents the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. Not only that, but the Memorial Arch also represents a piece of history. It pays homage to the soldiers who survived World War I and built the Great Ocean Road. If you’re an avid history geek, there are actually a handful of plaques on-site which you can read up on. 

Oorla Lodge Forrest

Because we arrived almost night time, we had to stop over at the Oorla-Lodge Forrest. It is situated at quiet residential street. Surrounding the area are cool waterfalls, lakes, dams and rivers. We just spent the night chilling at the lounge room over a wood fire and did movie marathon.

Platypi Chocolate Factory

The next day, in Victoria's Otway region,  we visited was the Platypi Chocolate in Forrest. It is located on the township mountain bike and walking trailhead, Platypi Chocolate is a great place to break a trip, finish a walk or ride or start a leisurely day. You can sit amongst the trees and enjoy a hot chocolate that comes with a little theatre; sip a wine or an iced chocolate while listening to the birds sing; look for a real life echidna from the balcony while munching a honeycomb-filled chocolate variety.

Stevensons Falls Walk

There is a lot of bushwalking you can do in AU and one of them is walking towards Stevenson’s Falls. These falls are located at the end of a gravel road approx 6 kms from Barramunga. The valley has a campground available from the day picnic area. You can have the 500metre walk on a graded trail.

Port Campbell National Park

The Port Campbell National Park is a national park in the south-western district of Victoria, Australia. It features an array of sheer cliffs overlooking offshore islets, rock stacks, gorges, arches, and blow-holes. As part of the Shipwreck Coast, it hosts several tourist attractions; including The Twelve Apostles, the London Arch (formerly London Bridge), Loch Ard Gorge, the Gibson Steps, and The Grotto.

Twelve Apostles

The Twelve Apostles were formed by erosion. Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. The harsh and extreme weather conditions from the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then become arches that eventually collapse, leaving rock stacks. These massive limestone structures tower 45 metres above the ocean and were formed some 20 million years ago as the sea gradually eroded the soft craggy limestone cliffs.

Though the view from the promontory by the Twelve Apostles never included twelve stacks. Seven of the original eight stacks remain standing at the Twelve Apostles viewpoint, after one collapsed in July 2005.

Loch Ard Gorge

Loch Ard Gorge is amazing and only a few minutes drive west of The Twelve Apostles. It was one of the most stunning beaches on the Great Ocean Road

Loch Ard Gorge is named after the ship Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island at the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne.

Take the stairs down to the beach and sit in wonder. And there are three easy walks you can take to discover the area and getting viewpoints.

The London Arch (Bridge)

London Arch was formed by a gradual process of erosion, and originally was a complete double-span and was attached to the mainland.

The arch closer to the shoreline collapsed unexpectedly in 1990 leaving two tourists stranded on the outer part until they were rescued by a helicopter. Prior to the collapse, the arch was known as London Bridge because of its similarity to its namesake.

The Grotto

The Grotto is perhaps the most enchanting of all the rock formations in this part of Australia. Part-blowhole, part-archway, part-cave, it offers a peaceful place to enjoy the sea views and soak in the wonderful things nature is capable of.

Standing about halfway up the cliff from the sea level, the geological formation is reachable via a decked staircase that leads down from the viewing platform at the top. You can either view the wonder from above, or head down and explore it at eye-level.

Inside, the Grotto is filled with smooth boulders and serene rock pools that have been carved out of the limestone. For the best view, look into the Grotto from the lower viewing platform, where you can see the horizon, the pools, and the jutting rock formations in one go.

San Remo Coastal Circuit

San Remo is the gateway to Phillip Island, a lively seaside town where fishing and dining options abound and pelicans keep watch along the foreshore. Yes, it was my first time to see some Pelicans. The town of San Remo sits at the end of the bridge connecting Phillip Island to the mainland. 

If you love yourself some good ol’ fish and chips, San Remo Fisherman’s Co-op serves up some of the best fish and chips in the area. We bought some before heading over to Phillip Island. 

Phillip Island

Located a few hours from the city, Phillip Island is a weekend hot spot for locals looking to enjoy some beach time. The island is renowned for the nightly penguin parade (when thousands of penguins return from the sea to nest), its koala sanctuary, and the huge seal colony that lives offshore. The island can be visited as a day trip, but due to infrequent buses, I would recommend spending at least a night here!

Panny’s Chocolate Factory

Panny’s Amazing World of Chocolate is a series of experiences, each dedicated to another facet of the story of chocolate. Visitors embark on a self guided exploration of the wonders that come from the humble cocoa bean.

There are machines with buttons to push and levers to pull, games of skill, lots of chocolate exhibitions and attractions and a unique hands-on chocolate making device where you create your own chocolate masterpiece that travels along a conveyor belt and is delivered to you, ready to eat. You can learn everything about chocolate making from the bean to the bar and watch Panny’s creations being made by our chocolatiers. 

On top of all this, you can produce your very own extraordinary chocolate bar with Panny’s Amazing Chocolate Machine and fill it with the weirdest and wackiest tastes you’re ever likely to find.

Philip Island Koala Conservation Sanctuary

A trip to the land down under can’t possibly be complete without seeing some koalas. Just a 15-minute drive away from Churchill Island is Phillip Island’s very own Koala Reserve. Here, you can get up close to and observe the koalas in their natural habitat, the Australian bushland. Along these boardwalks, you will have exceptional views and exclusive photo opportunities with the koalas. Not only that, but if you’re lucky, you might even get to spot some adorable wallabies and native birds!

 The Noobies :)

The Nobbies is a must visit. Next to the Nobbies centre is a boardwalk. It is a short and easy walk with only a few steps and you are welcomed with some amazing views of Point Grant, Seal Rocks and Bass Straight… From the spectacular view of the boardwalk, you will see nesting penguins in the natural sea bird gardens. 

Offshore from The Nobbies are Seal Rocks, home to Australia’s largest Australian Fur Seal colony, so drop a coin into the viewing binoculars and see how many you can spot.

Watching the waves pound against the 50 million year old dark basalt rocks is simply mesmerising and a bold reminder of how formidable Mother Nature really is spectacular!

Melbourne CBD 

Back to the City to see more of Melbourne’s Sights and Sounds. First, a drop by to the Post Office to deliver something and the rest.. Just walking around. Here’s more: 

The City Circle Tram

More than just a means of free transportation, the City Circle Tram provides “hop-on, hop-off” service between Melbourne’s sightseeing attractions, including Federation Square, the Old Treasury Building, Parliament House, and the Princess Theater. There’s a running recorded commentary as you pass or stop at a place of historical, cultural, or architectural significance.

Flinders Street 

Right along the route of the free City Circle train and across the street from Flinders Street Station lies Federation Square. This open square also serves up stellar people-watching. I like to take lunch here and just watch the city go by. Below the square on the river are also a number of restaurants and outdoor bars.

Brunetti

State Library of Victoria

Originally built in 1856, the State Library of Victoria is a historic institution that sees 8 million visitors a year. The library has grown into an event space that’s a source of pride for city residents. There is always a queue of people ready to pounce on the open desks. The famous central rotunda with its octagonal shape, original dark wood furniture, and book-lined walls is definitely something not to miss.

Just fixing my baggage

The highlight of my trip was when my flight was canceled. I had to stay in Melbourne for a couple of days more. It was stressful but I just tried to enjoy the free accommodation and food. Anyways, cant really rely on Cebu Pac when it comes to long haul flights, I decided to book Qantas Air on my way back to Manila. 

Between all the various day trips and the plethora of activities in the city, you won’t find yourself short on things to do while you’re visiting Melbourne.