Building Spree

With Supernatural's release date in September and Seasons release date in November,  I decided I really needed to install Ambitions. Of course though,  installation was a pain in the back end.  Half way through the install I received an error similar to the error I  had installing WA.   Basically, I need to remember if there's an error installing an EP, I need to defrag, then run registry fix from CCleaner, and reboot my computer.  If I want to be extra sure I don't get any other problems, installing without any extra programs running in the background also.  Once I had Ambitions installed I went on a building spree adding all of the new community lots to my world.

The Whyndams

The last family I'd like to introduce are the Whyndams.  Growing up in the country twins Xander and Zachary are true outdoors-men. Little sister Alexis spends a great deal of time outdoors also, but not to the extent of her brothers.

Zachary dreams of living on a large farm breeding horses and harvesting crops.  Xander's ambitions and dreams are still coming to me.  His LTW,  is to become an astronaut. I admit I choose the wish more to experience it than for anything it has to do with a personality.  Alexis wants to become a famous chef.  She only uses organic all natural vegetables in her dishes.  Every morning she enjoys visiting the farmers market to find the best of the crop.

Sister, Sister

This is a rather short introduction.  Sometimes a personality jumps out at me and I feel an instant attachment and, other times I need time to for a personality to develop.   The next two households are that way.

The Adventurers

Above we see on the left Sinjin St. James, his beloved companion Emersen, and his best friend Finn Goodwynn.  

The Gairdens & The FitzPatricks

Feng Shui, a Visit to China

The next household I planned on sharing contained an adventure sim.  So, I sent my Great Explorer on an adventure in China.

The Brother's Donovon

I'm still playing Summerset Bay.  Shocking I know.  My friends don't believe that I actually play.  I plan on pointing them towards this blog as proof that I am progressing in my world.  Today though, before I introduce my next family, I thought I would explain a few details of my play style.  

Valentine & Rhiannon

Today I'd like you to meet the Dae Sisters, Valentine and Rhiannon.    

An Introduction.. of Sorts

Several weeks ago for my birthday, I ordered ram for my computer.  However, it appears that one of the ram slots isn't working and now I need to take my computer in to the repair shop.  I was able to install one of the ram sticks though.  Which allowed me to go from two gigs to four gigs, effectively doubling what I did  had.  For the first time since installing Sims 3, I turned shadows and super water on.  Not only that, but my sims didn't lag.  I have render lag because I do need a new graphics card.  Which is next on the list of updates for my computer.  When I take it into the repair shop, I plan on asking the technician how big a card I can install and if I need to upgrade my power supply while I am at it. 

Summerset Bay History

Today I want to share a little history regarding Summerset Bay.  The founding of Summerset Bay actually began in TS1.  When I played TS1 I played a collection of sims who were unrelated and I played them fairly independently of each other with a few exceptions.  The concept of families didn't figure into my game play style at the time.  However, when it was announced that with TS2 we had generations where sims knew their spouses, siblings, grandparents, and could distinguish them from other sims that were merely friends, I became excited.

A World of Ideas

So many random thoughts floating around in my mind that I want to share regarding my sims.  Hopefully to avoid large walls of text, I will split them up into several different posts.   First before I start on any tangents  I want to say that Summerset Bay plays beautifully. I've done moderate tweaking, which I will show off another day, perhaps tomorrow.  Today though, I'd like to talk about other worlds.  As I have been playing Summerset Bay I've been thinking, (I know, don't hurt myself) but, I have been thinking on other worlds. I really don't have any intention of starting new world projects soon.  Though, I've come to realize that for most simmers a large part of our fun is the creating of new anythings.  Which leads me to Hidden Springs.

New Summerset Bay

Baring any unforeseen major glitches or forgotten items, I want to say the New Summerset Bay is complete. In some ways this I feel this project progressed quickly and in some ways I feel as though I've been working on this world much longer. There were times I had a ton of fun sculpting and there were times I just felt as though I was beating my head against a brick wall.

Bug Testing... Literally

The last few days I've been playtesting and bug fixing my new world.  Bug fixing literally.  As I have played Maggie, my play test sim, I noticed a problem in her rounds to collect gems to fund her equestrian dreams. I have seen absolutely no butterflies. None, not even one. That is strange, that's more than strange.  I did notice I had an inordinate amount of small animals.

Character Inspiration

Several posts ago I went on a rant concerning the differences between personality in the Sims 2 vs Sims 3. Creating unique and interesting to play sims has always posed a challenge for me. I always tend to either create the same character over and over again. Such as a family oriented, green thumb sim who's a natural cook with a husband that's athletic and handy. Or I make someone so completely boring to play it becomes a chore to load that family. So, I've worked on developing a system that works for me in regards to creating fun and interesting sims.

Try, Try Again

Not long after I completed Summerset Bay I realized it wasn't exactly what I envisioned my world looking like.  Most of this was because I was learning CAW as I went.  There was so much I had to learn.  One of the biggest problems I had was sculpting the world.  I'm not very good with carving out hills, valleys, and painting terrain.  Those things as I've come to discover require practice, lots of practice.  As a result I had a very very flat world with not much in the way of interesting geological formations.

Characters, more than skin deep

So, I'm sure it seems as though I had forgotten all about this blog.  Truth of the matter is that life was busy and I haven't had the motivation to actually post.  I know I said before that life had quieted down, but I was wrong.  I'm beginning to realize that life never quiets down.