SimStoryteller Spotlight continued.
Feb. 21st, 2011 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
genlisaeBecause the lj-user html tags were creating a mysterious black hole from the middle of the post to the end ... it has been split up. Sorry about that, I don't think that first lj-user tag liked being made smaller, here is the rest of the interview.
First part if you missed it.
What are some things that you wish were included in the Sims games (2 or 3), but aren't? (For example - social interactions, the way sims interact with objects, etc.)
I would love a whole list of the more subtle things people do every day that you don’t even really notice. The casual hand on someone’s arm or shoulder when you are talking to them or quietly getting their attention, ruffling the child’s hair as you walk past. That sort of thing. Other than that sitting closer on couches would be great! It irks me that they have these huge couches that could easily fit 4 or 5 people but only 3 sims will sit on them.
Way too much room here! Yes, it is a sectional, but the principle is the same.
Much better! Or it would be if Winston would relax and Rick would stop glaring.
I have also always secretly wished for romantic interactions on more objects (That isn’t so secret anymore now is it?). Pool tables, counters and even the floor are horribly overlooked in my opinion! Thank you to all the pose box creators and hack makers who have worked diligently to solve some of these issues!
How long does it usually take you to prepare a story update?
Way longer than it should!![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
remisims asked about this (in a lot of detail) so instead of answering again here, just scroll :D
Show and tell: Please show us your workspace (a photograph, if possible, or just describe it), and tell us about the conditions you prefer to work in.
I have two workspaces. The first is curled up on my bed huddled under my blankie with the laptop for writing. When it comes time to get the images and put it all together, then I go to my desk usually with the laptop set on the bunny cage beside me.
So this is the desk of a five-year-old masquerading as an adult. Kind of hard to get a pic of (the camera was right up against the wall)
since it is wedged in a dark corner and I like it that way! I even have a sheet of MDF (formerly was going to be supports for paintings)
up against the wall there to block the window. Light is bad!
No that is not a cigarette in the front there. It is an electronic cigarette. Not the same thing! That is a Banjo-cat in the background
though and the treasure chest my daughter painted for me for Valentine's Day in the front.
This is what is in the sideways blackbox/TV looking thing beside my monitor. I know he looks dead. He's really not.
See! Happy, very not dead, Ghost fish!
Do you have any bizarre habits or rituals?
I was going to say that I didn’t have any bizarre habits, none that I could think of anyway, then I asked Mathew just to double check. It seems I do! Mathew’s List of Kate’s Bizarre Habits when Writing:
Do you usually have your sims act to a pre-written script, just follow what they do, or some of both? what comes first - the text or the image? Is one of the elements more important than the other to you, or are they about equal?
I used to do images first for the most part with a sort of running idea in my head of what I wanted. Then through various discussions withamochan8878 I decided to try writing first. Wow! So much easier!
Now when it comes to time to take the shots I know exactly what I want and usually have the shots all planned out before hand right down to what poses I will be overlaying or which animation sequences will give me exactly what I am looking for. The story flows so much more smoothly and I don’t have anywhere near the number of useless images I used to which saves hard drive space.
I would have to say the two elements are equal. There are times of course where the image will have more impact than the text or vice versa, but overall it balances out. I have noticed though that I will alter the writing as I go along based on what I know is and is not possible in the game. The list of what isn’t possible is getting shorter though as I learn more about how to make things possible.
Can you give us any hints about what is coming up in your stories? (Oh, come on...)
I give hints all the time, the readers just usually miss them. I have a short attention span so to keep myself interested in the sometimes monotonous routine of taking one staged shot after another I work in plot hints. It amuses me to drop blatant spoilers and watch as no one catches them.
All of these people are/will be involved in the story. Not going to tell you how, but I will give you a few hints.
1 is accused of a crime they didn't commit
4 should be in prison for crimes they did commit
2 are completely innocent of everything
1 is the "big bad"
1 is Anto's mother
3 die
2 go missing
1 kills 1 of the others under the orders of yet another.
I am pretty sure I have outlined the entire plot at least once in the images and some of the text and if I haven’t then I know I did with the shot in the “thank you for putting up with my whining f-list!” post.
Whatever is going on here Dirk is not happy about it!
:D That is all.
Now having said that I know people are going to be watching for the spoilers in the images. Hmmm, I might have to be more subtle in future. I will tell you though that what you think is going on is probably not what is actually going on.
*whistles innocently*
I had more here but Mathew vetoed including it with the words “If you do it won’t have the same impact when they get to it!”. I am bowing to his wisdom here.
In your opinion, what makes a good sim story? What do you like to read in other people's stories?
Originality!
At the same time I realize that is almost impossible to do. Everything has been done before somewhere, somehow. Maybe not all combined together the way one author does, but each aspect, in one way or another, has been done before. It all comes down to how you take those aspects that have been done (sometimes to death) and mix them together.
If you can do that in a way that maybe hasn’t been done before or is at least entertaining, you have a good sim story.
How often do you check your flist to see if your favourite authors have updated?
Specifically to see if they have updated? Rarely.
I do check my f-list several times a day though just to find out what everyone is up to. I love reading the little things going on for everyone, learning more about the people behind the stories. If there is a story update that is like a super bonus!
What advice would you give someone who wants to create a sim story?
Don’t do it for the “fame” or “popularity” or whatever you want to call it. Do it because you want to, because you enjoy it. Any other reason is just going to kill the whole thing.
Storytelling aside, what first drew you to The Sims? What do you like most about playing The Sims?
My ex-husband bought Sims 1 when it first came out. I think he had just barely gotten his first sim created and moved in to a house when I said “Oh! It’s Barbie for big kids! My turn!” That is still what I like the most about playing Sims 2 (I am working on liking Sims 3, that is not going so well), it can be whatever I want it to be.
Another 'hood pic. This time Downtown. This one changes the most in terms of what is where and the stuff that is in it. I haven't
even come close to what I want it to look like and for now I am using it to experiment with the mountains of 'hood deco that are
sitting in my downloads folder.
1 - Cal's apartment
2- Anto's apartment / O'Malley's Bar.
3 - PURE
4 - FM
5 - Police Station
6 - Location of second alien corpse.
7 - Location of first alien corpse.
8 - Rick's place of employment.
How long have you been playing The Sims? Have you been playing since Sims 1?
When did Sims 1 come out? I have been playing almost that long. There was a year or so break in between Sims 1 and Sims 2. I didn’t really start playing Sims 2 until Mathew installed it on my computer, but once he did I was hooked. It was so much more open ended and I LOVE that the children actually grow.
Do you only play the game with stories in mind, or do you also play just for fun? Do you record everything with photos anyway?
I rarely play without stories in mind and when I do something story related pops into my head anyway. Occasionally I will take a break and just sit back and watch what they do on their own. This is good to do sometimes since the characters in the stories do draw a lot of their personality from how they act in game. It can have ramifications though. Sometimes what they do will trigger a “what if” and then there is a good chance I will be reworking at least part of the plot!
Do you have a self sim? (We'd love to see him/her, if you want to share a pic.)
I have been dreading this question. You don’t really want to see her do you? I have to mention she long ago stopped being any sort of representation of me, round about child #4. By then she had inextricably inserted herself into the lives of several story characters. It was not my intention. It just kind of happened.
SimGen in her usual spot behind the bar. I have no idea who the blond is :/ She needs the juice, really ...
Count the children! Yes, SimMathew (the one who won't shut up) counts too! All hers and there are two missing from this shot.
I blame SimMathew since that is the only time he does shut up!
One of these days I might explain just how badly she wove herself into the plot. It is all a little difficult to explain and of epic soap opera proportions so maybe I will let Rein explain it. She explains it so much better than I ever could.
dinuriel asked:
You do such a great job of making the pre-made characters your own. Did you play your main pre-mades before you started writing Pleasantries and find that they developed personalities beyond the Maxis-endowed implications?
First, thank you!
I have played some of them well into the future. Certain members of the cast, (who will not be named for spoiler reasons) were actually aged back down, divorced from future spouses, resurrected and/or had children put into “storage” for the duration of the story. One of them got all but one of the above! Obviously a lot of their personality stems from familiarity there.
Others, Rick for example, not so much. His personality sort of just jumped right into my head. Ripp is another one who made his character known immediately and Tybalt wasn’t even supposed to be included as more than image filler until Damon made “I want that one!” face at me. More still I am making up as I go along! That is always fun when I am reading back through and go “Oh, Dirk is channelling Tel again … awesome. EDIT!”
Do you enjoy reading stories with different takes on the same Sims?
I do! At the same time it is always a bit of a shock.
Different takes on Ripp especially always throw me. There have been times when I have been so far ‘in his head’ that I have reacted to things going on around me the way he would, so for me the personality he has in Pleasantries is pretty deeply engrained. It is so strange to see him in a different light.
There are times I avoid reading other’s stories as well because I don’t want to accidentally get my character versions crossed. Any time I have to write Mary-Sue Pleasant for example. She is particularly susceptible to being influenced by other’s takes on her (I’m looking at you remi!). I also have stories I will not read like Strangetown, Here We Come. It is on my to be read list, but not yet. I have skimmed parts of it (which really didn’t help with sorting out the read/don’t read dilemma. I didn’t skim enough I think), but any time a significant portion of the simming community takes the events of one story to be “cannon”, that is something I want to avoid. More so when I was discussing a plot issue with someone who has read it and they said “Hey … that sounds similar to what Strange_Tomato did with …”. I don’t think I have ever closed a messenger window so fast in my life! I don’t want to know! lol If it is similar it is similar. Whatever it is was not intended and the less I know about it the better.
This is the only "custom 'hood" I have at the moment. It gets limited play right now, but will be getting a lot soon.
1 - Talbot (this is the house Winston's father left to his sons)
2 - Juliet's blind date from chapter 4 lives here. :oP
3 - Adam from Chasing Daylight lives here.
4 - East Pleasantview High School.
5 - Angelo from Chasing Daylight lives in this apartment.
6 - Remember this random little abandoned building. It has a big future.
In your opinion, what constitutes good use of a pre-made Sim?
I had to think about this one, because I am really not opposed to tossing everything that is in game and completely rewriting the history for them. At the same time I will admit that kind of feels like a cop-out.
I guess if you can take the often jumbled, frequently confused, totally nonsensical mess that is the history/backstory/family trees that comes with a lot of the pre-made sims and make them make sense. However you happen to do that. As long as it makes sense in your world.
wanderingjasper asked:
Why is Tybalt always seen in that mask?
Non-plot answer: I wanted to leave some of the Maxian characters untouched to start with. It seemed more streamlined for getting right into the story rather than having to make lengthy, boring sidetrips into “And this is Pre-made sim X who you don’t recognize because I screwed with them.” Even working the introductions into the story there is only so much of that a person can handle before they want to jab their thumbs in their eyes.
Tybalt was one of the “lucky ones” that got to stay untouched to start with (he has been changing gradually over time though; I just don’t think anyone has noticed). Partially because he is not the easiest sim to make-over. Half the time he ends up just looking down-right goofy!
Plot answer: I’m not allowed to talk about it. First, because it would be a bit of a spoiler. Second, he hasn’t totally come to terms with it yet. Give him ‘til the end of Chapter 5.
amochan8878 asked:
What was it that initially inspired you to write a maxis-based simstory?
You know, I don’t really think of it as a Maxis-based story. I mean I know it is, but it never really seems like it is for me. I certainly wasn’t trying for a “Maxisverse” story, just writing down what was in my head.
Where did it all start though? Rick Contrary.
The Contrary house was the first house I loaded in the Uber-Megahood and here was this kid who just for some reason, despite them seeming to be perfectly reasonable people, didn’t like his parents. That didn’t make sense to me so I sat back and watched for awhile.
They ignored him.
He would try to talk to them; poor kid would stand there for hours sometimes with one interaction after another popping up in his queue.
No response from parental units.
When Edward did finally get around to remembering he had a son it was to yell at him. Got me thinking “There is something else going on here …’
That something else started to form as I went around the various houses and started piecing together the bits of backstory with the relationships and watching who met whom and how they interacted and the plot just kind of unwound in my head, or maybe I should say it got all tangled up in my head weaving around itself and I have been attempting to unravel it ever since!
remisims asked:
How long does it take, from writing a scene out, to planning poses and expressions, to going into the game and recreating those poses/expressions (then working out alternative poses if things don't work out as planned) usually take?
Oh gosh. That really depends on the scene and my mental state! lol.
It’s hard to say. Some of it I have had written for over a year, like the entire end scene with Ripp and Tel in Chapter 4. Posing was done then as well and I think that one took me about 8 days (I think?) At that point I was still doing shots first writing second for the most part so making what I wanted to happen actually happen was a bit more of a struggle. I did end up redoing the images for that as well when I moved the scene from inside to outside, but that only added a few hours.
On the other hand the entirety of Chapter 2 Part 5 was done in just under 23 hours. I knew it was coming, just didn’t have a clue what was going to be in it until I hit the publish button on Part 4. I think it worked out though because it added more to what is going on with Dustin and Angela and was the first real glimpse inside Ripp’s head.
It is by far the writing that takes the longest. Posing is pretty simple by this point. I have my “go to” boxes and hacks that are on every lot and only haul out other ones if I need something a little different, so planning the poses/anims is kind of an ongoing thing I just do in the back of my head as I am writing. I make notes on anything I think I am likely to forget or haven’t tried before (Some of this occasionally spams the f-list when I can’t find a pen, sorry about that!). When something doesn’t work as planned, that can slow things down a lot! Some shots I have spent over 3 hours on. Interestingly those are usually the ones that end up looking the worst with disjointed limbs and weird clipping.
Sometimes they work out better though.
This is the most recent example of one that worked out better. Originally Tel was supposed to be sitting on Ripp’s lap for this. None of the in-game animations were working to convey the feeling I was looking for and I spent hours pouring through the posebox catalogue looking for anything that would even sort of work even with a leg overlay. Nothing was working at all.
I threw a bit of a hissy fit and then rethought out the entire scene, only to realize Tel wouldn’t have deposited himself on Ripp’s lap anyway! In this situation, that is not a Tel thing to do. So it really does work better and conveys the feeling I was looking for all at the same time. It just ate up a huge chunk of time doing it!
The main issue on how long it takes to get an update out though is I don’t work in anything resembling a linear fashion. I have a folder (actually it is two folders; one on my desktop and one on the laptop) that are absolutely crammed full of “snippets”. To quote amochan, “You have a skippy brain” and she’s right! I do. While the published portion is still back here on Chapter 5, and Chapter 6 is not even completely written yet, I was just working on a scene that takes place almost six months in the future somewhere around Chapter 12. I have had the ending written since some time in May of last year, and more “random moments” than I could reasonably count. While this means that I do have a lot written already, it also means there is less ‘room for error’. It is harder to just go and change a little detail early on since I will have to go back and look at everything it may impact in the future. This has been known to cause a few headaches! (Thanks Tel!). I know exactly where everything is going and what has to happen along the way, which sounds really awesome, but in reality it means I get frustrated and angry with myself when I can’t make it work. Character development for example. That one trips me up all the time. Getting them from where they are to where they need to be without a radical shift in personality along the way. Many, many, “Conversations with Ripp” have happened because of that! It is very likely if I did work in a linear fashion updates would happen a lot more often; but if a scene is talking to me at the time I am going to go write it down! lol
Long winded and confusing question is long winded and confusing. :D
:D Long winded answer was longer and more confusing than the question!
What would be your favorite 'hood? Are there any 'hoods that stand out to you are far as the pre-mades that populate them go?
I don’t think I have a favourite hood. Before I trimmed down the cast list there were main characters from every hood. It was purely co-incidence that Pleasantries has the cast it does now. They were the side of the story that was talking to me the most and whose lives were inextricably interconnected.
Stand out? Riverblossom Hills and not in a good way! The sims that came with it are just … uninspiring. It is possible I simply haven’t spent enough time with them yet, but none of them spoke to me right away either. Also plantsims. I am not a fan outside of a heavily fantasy based universe. I don’t currently have a heavily fantasy based universe. Maybe when I do I will find them more interesting. Aside from that, no, not really. I have favourite sims of course, but they are from all of the hoods.
Last 'hood I have changed at all, Bluewater Village. The rest are pretty much untouched. The occasional house makeover here
and there but nothing spectacular. Even the changes here aren't much at all.
1 - Landgraab Commercial Photography. This is where Tybalt works. Caelen lives in the apartment upstairs.
2- Landgraab Gallery. Upcoming set.
3 - J'Adore. Heavily made over.
4 - Nakai's Dinner. Anto's Mom and Nate live here, Brandi Broke works here.
5 - Malcolm's house, because the "mansion" he came with was fail.
debbycus asked:
Although still at chapter 2, I already noticed that you seemed to have somewhat changed the nature of the pre-mades. I cannot yet see exactly what changed, but I know that I certainly did not imagine, for example, Lilith and Angela behaving the way they do in your story. Have you really, consciously altered some aspects of their personalities? Or maybe it's just me; you might have only added depth to what Maxis originally imagined (or not), and it steered things into unexpected directions.
This comes back to making them make sense. If I have changed their nature it was not intentional. More of a taking the information available and the relationships and personalities and working out how that would all come together to shape a real person. Obviously some of it had to be guess work (I am still looking for a definitive answer on the birth order of the Capp siblings for example. No one’s memories add up so I just went with what felt right to me). From there they have pretty much evolved on their own.
Also, you play a megahood, right? If so, will other pre-mades who are not already in the story make appearance in the future? Oooh, you could do that in a spin-off! Come to think of it, are you planning one (to focus a minor character who could not have the importance you wanted him to have)? I imagine it might come in handy when/if you have writer's block and/or whan to concentrate on other sim-things for a while.
I do play a megahood, yes. HP’s Uber-Megahood specifically.
The first part of this is difficult for me to answer. At the currently published point in the story it is kind of like there is this nebulous “Them” just out there affecting the lives of the characters but you never see who “They” are. Most of them are pre-made. I know who they are of course and what they are doing, so to my mind they are already part of the story, though it certainly wouldn’t appear that they are for anyone not in my head. I suppose that makes this both a yes and a no. Yes, there will be more pre-made Sims making an appearance in various capacities. No, they are not new to the story.
Oh wow! Don’t get me started on other projects! I have already split the story just about right down the middle. Malcolm and Gilbert, the Newson’s, half of Veronaville, the Curious brothers (you get the idea here) … all removed in the interest of things not getting completely out of hand. They are the other half. Their lives (occasionally crossing over with the lives of the Pleasantries characters as has been seen) are equally interconnected but in a parallel story arch.
Chastity Greene. One of many cut to go in the other half of the story. Chastity is a straight Romance Sim. Can you guess what her
LTW is? Can you guess how well she's doing when these are the type of guys she keeps following/bringing home from school?
I will leave you to caption the slide.
I’ll get to it :D
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Mathew. He gets all grumbly when I try to give him any credit, but he really does deserve it. There is not a single plot line that I haven’t been over in detail with him to find out if it will work or if I am coming from somewhere well beyond left field. If I am way off, it is his input that brings it back in line.
I would also like to thank the readers. I am continually amazed that you are reading! Sure I have plot lines and know mostly where it is all going and even how it will get there but there is so much that amounts to making it up as I go along. That none of you have called me on “Hey, you really haven’t got a clue what you are doing do you?” yet is sometimes baffling. I am slowly getting a clue. That you are still with me on this adventure while I figure it out is awesome.
First part if you missed it.
What are some things that you wish were included in the Sims games (2 or 3), but aren't? (For example - social interactions, the way sims interact with objects, etc.)
I would love a whole list of the more subtle things people do every day that you don’t even really notice. The casual hand on someone’s arm or shoulder when you are talking to them or quietly getting their attention, ruffling the child’s hair as you walk past. That sort of thing. Other than that sitting closer on couches would be great! It irks me that they have these huge couches that could easily fit 4 or 5 people but only 3 sims will sit on them.
Way too much room here! Yes, it is a sectional, but the principle is the same.
Much better! Or it would be if Winston would relax and Rick would stop glaring.
I have also always secretly wished for romantic interactions on more objects (That isn’t so secret anymore now is it?). Pool tables, counters and even the floor are horribly overlooked in my opinion! Thank you to all the pose box creators and hack makers who have worked diligently to solve some of these issues!
How long does it usually take you to prepare a story update?
Way longer than it should!
remisims asked about this (in a lot of detail) so instead of answering again here, just scroll :D Show and tell: Please show us your workspace (a photograph, if possible, or just describe it), and tell us about the conditions you prefer to work in.
I have two workspaces. The first is curled up on my bed huddled under my blankie with the laptop for writing. When it comes time to get the images and put it all together, then I go to my desk usually with the laptop set on the bunny cage beside me.
So this is the desk of a five-year-old masquerading as an adult. Kind of hard to get a pic of (the camera was right up against the wall)
since it is wedged in a dark corner and I like it that way! I even have a sheet of MDF (formerly was going to be supports for paintings)
up against the wall there to block the window. Light is bad!
No that is not a cigarette in the front there. It is an electronic cigarette. Not the same thing! That is a Banjo-cat in the background
though and the treasure chest my daughter painted for me for Valentine's Day in the front.
This is what is in the sideways blackbox/TV looking thing beside my monitor. I know he looks dead. He's really not.
See! Happy, very not dead, Ghost fish!
Do you have any bizarre habits or rituals?
I was going to say that I didn’t have any bizarre habits, none that I could think of anyway, then I asked Mathew just to double check. It seems I do! Mathew’s List of Kate’s Bizarre Habits when Writing:
- Creative Cursing
- Poking Mathew while thinking
- Throwing random small objects at Mathew while waiting for the game to load.
- Making up stupid songs usually involving some sort of mild violence toward Mathew (Smack the Foo with a shoe and then cover him in glue. Paint him blue is what we do cause he’s a Fooie and he’s screwy this is true …)
- Singing about the cat (Usually Cicero, more often called Toad, Toadum, Scissortoes, or Toadumpole). No suggestion of any sort of violence here, that is reserved entirely for Mathew.
- Singing about the rabbit (Cordellia, usually referred to as Bunny Butt).
- Making random stupid statements such as “There is something fishy about that Tuna Cat” (her name is actually Luna, more often she gets called Fishface)
- Chair Dancing
- At some point Cicero will wrap himself around my neck and drool in my face. A conversation explaining that I love him but not enough to bleed for him will ensue while extracting the claws he sunk into my shoulder when I attempted to remove him.
- Hyper focusing on what I am doing to the point of blocking out everything else.
- Intentionally blocking out everything else with my MP3 player. I am told this is known as “being in Kate’s world” and involves me smiling serenely and saying things like “Keep talking, I can’t hear a word you are saying.”
- Pouting that my coffee cup is “broken” but it is a magical cup and if I wait long enough it will be “all fixed” until Mathew refills said cup just to shut me up.
I am sure there are more I am not aware of, This was just what he came up with in about 30 seconds. Having just read through all of this I realize I sound insane and potentially homicidal. I assure you Mathew does not ever actually get smacked and gives back as good as he gets in the “stupid song” department. - Poking Mathew while thinking
- Throwing random small objects at Mathew while waiting for the game to load.
- Making up stupid songs usually involving some sort of mild violence toward Mathew (Smack the Foo with a shoe and then cover him in glue. Paint him blue is what we do cause he’s a Fooie and he’s screwy this is true …)
- Singing about the cat (Usually Cicero, more often called Toad, Toadum, Scissortoes, or Toadumpole). No suggestion of any sort of violence here, that is reserved entirely for Mathew.
- Singing about the rabbit (Cordellia, usually referred to as Bunny Butt).
- Making random stupid statements such as “There is something fishy about that Tuna Cat” (her name is actually Luna, more often she gets called Fishface)
- Chair Dancing
- At some point Cicero will wrap himself around my neck and drool in my face. A conversation explaining that I love him but not enough to bleed for him will ensue while extracting the claws he sunk into my shoulder when I attempted to remove him.
- Hyper focusing on what I am doing to the point of blocking out everything else.
- Intentionally blocking out everything else with my MP3 player. I am told this is known as “being in Kate’s world” and involves me smiling serenely and saying things like “Keep talking, I can’t hear a word you are saying.”
- Pouting that my coffee cup is “broken” but it is a magical cup and if I wait long enough it will be “all fixed” until Mathew refills said cup just to shut me up.
Do you usually have your sims act to a pre-written script, just follow what they do, or some of both? what comes first - the text or the image? Is one of the elements more important than the other to you, or are they about equal?
I used to do images first for the most part with a sort of running idea in my head of what I wanted. Then through various discussions with
amochan8878 I decided to try writing first. Wow! So much easier! Now when it comes to time to take the shots I know exactly what I want and usually have the shots all planned out before hand right down to what poses I will be overlaying or which animation sequences will give me exactly what I am looking for. The story flows so much more smoothly and I don’t have anywhere near the number of useless images I used to which saves hard drive space.
I would have to say the two elements are equal. There are times of course where the image will have more impact than the text or vice versa, but overall it balances out. I have noticed though that I will alter the writing as I go along based on what I know is and is not possible in the game. The list of what isn’t possible is getting shorter though as I learn more about how to make things possible.
Can you give us any hints about what is coming up in your stories? (Oh, come on...)
I give hints all the time, the readers just usually miss them. I have a short attention span so to keep myself interested in the sometimes monotonous routine of taking one staged shot after another I work in plot hints. It amuses me to drop blatant spoilers and watch as no one catches them.
All of these people are/will be involved in the story. Not going to tell you how, but I will give you a few hints.
1 is accused of a crime they didn't commit
4 should be in prison for crimes they did commit
2 are completely innocent of everything
1 is the "big bad"
1 is Anto's mother
3 die
2 go missing
1 kills 1 of the others under the orders of yet another.
I am pretty sure I have outlined the entire plot at least once in the images and some of the text and if I haven’t then I know I did with the shot in the “thank you for putting up with my whining f-list!” post.
Whatever is going on here Dirk is not happy about it!
:D That is all.
Now having said that I know people are going to be watching for the spoilers in the images. Hmmm, I might have to be more subtle in future. I will tell you though that what you think is going on is probably not what is actually going on.
*whistles innocently*
I had more here but Mathew vetoed including it with the words “If you do it won’t have the same impact when they get to it!”. I am bowing to his wisdom here.
In your opinion, what makes a good sim story? What do you like to read in other people's stories?
Originality!
At the same time I realize that is almost impossible to do. Everything has been done before somewhere, somehow. Maybe not all combined together the way one author does, but each aspect, in one way or another, has been done before. It all comes down to how you take those aspects that have been done (sometimes to death) and mix them together.
If you can do that in a way that maybe hasn’t been done before or is at least entertaining, you have a good sim story.
How often do you check your flist to see if your favourite authors have updated?
Specifically to see if they have updated? Rarely.
I do check my f-list several times a day though just to find out what everyone is up to. I love reading the little things going on for everyone, learning more about the people behind the stories. If there is a story update that is like a super bonus!
What advice would you give someone who wants to create a sim story?
Don’t do it for the “fame” or “popularity” or whatever you want to call it. Do it because you want to, because you enjoy it. Any other reason is just going to kill the whole thing.
Storytelling aside, what first drew you to The Sims? What do you like most about playing The Sims?
My ex-husband bought Sims 1 when it first came out. I think he had just barely gotten his first sim created and moved in to a house when I said “Oh! It’s Barbie for big kids! My turn!” That is still what I like the most about playing Sims 2 (I am working on liking Sims 3, that is not going so well), it can be whatever I want it to be.
Another 'hood pic. This time Downtown. This one changes the most in terms of what is where and the stuff that is in it. I haven't
even come close to what I want it to look like and for now I am using it to experiment with the mountains of 'hood deco that are
sitting in my downloads folder.
1 - Cal's apartment
2- Anto's apartment / O'Malley's Bar.
3 - PURE
4 - FM
5 - Police Station
6 - Location of second alien corpse.
7 - Location of first alien corpse.
8 - Rick's place of employment.
How long have you been playing The Sims? Have you been playing since Sims 1?
When did Sims 1 come out? I have been playing almost that long. There was a year or so break in between Sims 1 and Sims 2. I didn’t really start playing Sims 2 until Mathew installed it on my computer, but once he did I was hooked. It was so much more open ended and I LOVE that the children actually grow.
Do you only play the game with stories in mind, or do you also play just for fun? Do you record everything with photos anyway?
I rarely play without stories in mind and when I do something story related pops into my head anyway. Occasionally I will take a break and just sit back and watch what they do on their own. This is good to do sometimes since the characters in the stories do draw a lot of their personality from how they act in game. It can have ramifications though. Sometimes what they do will trigger a “what if” and then there is a good chance I will be reworking at least part of the plot!
Do you have a self sim? (We'd love to see him/her, if you want to share a pic.)
I have been dreading this question. You don’t really want to see her do you? I have to mention she long ago stopped being any sort of representation of me, round about child #4. By then she had inextricably inserted herself into the lives of several story characters. It was not my intention. It just kind of happened.
SimGen in her usual spot behind the bar. I have no idea who the blond is :/ She needs the juice, really ...
Count the children! Yes, SimMathew (the one who won't shut up) counts too! All hers and there are two missing from this shot.
I blame SimMathew since that is the only time he does shut up!
One of these days I might explain just how badly she wove herself into the plot. It is all a little difficult to explain and of epic soap opera proportions so maybe I will let Rein explain it. She explains it so much better than I ever could.
dinuriel asked: You do such a great job of making the pre-made characters your own. Did you play your main pre-mades before you started writing Pleasantries and find that they developed personalities beyond the Maxis-endowed implications?
First, thank you!
I have played some of them well into the future. Certain members of the cast, (who will not be named for spoiler reasons) were actually aged back down, divorced from future spouses, resurrected and/or had children put into “storage” for the duration of the story. One of them got all but one of the above! Obviously a lot of their personality stems from familiarity there.
Others, Rick for example, not so much. His personality sort of just jumped right into my head. Ripp is another one who made his character known immediately and Tybalt wasn’t even supposed to be included as more than image filler until Damon made “I want that one!” face at me. More still I am making up as I go along! That is always fun when I am reading back through and go “Oh, Dirk is channelling Tel again … awesome. EDIT!”
Do you enjoy reading stories with different takes on the same Sims?
I do! At the same time it is always a bit of a shock.
Different takes on Ripp especially always throw me. There have been times when I have been so far ‘in his head’ that I have reacted to things going on around me the way he would, so for me the personality he has in Pleasantries is pretty deeply engrained. It is so strange to see him in a different light.
There are times I avoid reading other’s stories as well because I don’t want to accidentally get my character versions crossed. Any time I have to write Mary-Sue Pleasant for example. She is particularly susceptible to being influenced by other’s takes on her (I’m looking at you remi!). I also have stories I will not read like Strangetown, Here We Come. It is on my to be read list, but not yet. I have skimmed parts of it (which really didn’t help with sorting out the read/don’t read dilemma. I didn’t skim enough I think), but any time a significant portion of the simming community takes the events of one story to be “cannon”, that is something I want to avoid. More so when I was discussing a plot issue with someone who has read it and they said “Hey … that sounds similar to what Strange_Tomato did with …”. I don’t think I have ever closed a messenger window so fast in my life! I don’t want to know! lol If it is similar it is similar. Whatever it is was not intended and the less I know about it the better.
This is the only "custom 'hood" I have at the moment. It gets limited play right now, but will be getting a lot soon.
1 - Talbot (this is the house Winston's father left to his sons)
2 - Juliet's blind date from chapter 4 lives here. :oP
3 - Adam from Chasing Daylight lives here.
4 - East Pleasantview High School.
5 - Angelo from Chasing Daylight lives in this apartment.
6 - Remember this random little abandoned building. It has a big future.
In your opinion, what constitutes good use of a pre-made Sim?
I had to think about this one, because I am really not opposed to tossing everything that is in game and completely rewriting the history for them. At the same time I will admit that kind of feels like a cop-out.
I guess if you can take the often jumbled, frequently confused, totally nonsensical mess that is the history/backstory/family trees that comes with a lot of the pre-made sims and make them make sense. However you happen to do that. As long as it makes sense in your world.
wanderingjasper asked: Why is Tybalt always seen in that mask?
Non-plot answer: I wanted to leave some of the Maxian characters untouched to start with. It seemed more streamlined for getting right into the story rather than having to make lengthy, boring sidetrips into “And this is Pre-made sim X who you don’t recognize because I screwed with them.” Even working the introductions into the story there is only so much of that a person can handle before they want to jab their thumbs in their eyes.
Tybalt was one of the “lucky ones” that got to stay untouched to start with (he has been changing gradually over time though; I just don’t think anyone has noticed). Partially because he is not the easiest sim to make-over. Half the time he ends up just looking down-right goofy!
Plot answer: I’m not allowed to talk about it. First, because it would be a bit of a spoiler. Second, he hasn’t totally come to terms with it yet. Give him ‘til the end of Chapter 5.
amochan8878 asked: What was it that initially inspired you to write a maxis-based simstory?
You know, I don’t really think of it as a Maxis-based story. I mean I know it is, but it never really seems like it is for me. I certainly wasn’t trying for a “Maxisverse” story, just writing down what was in my head.
Where did it all start though? Rick Contrary.
The Contrary house was the first house I loaded in the Uber-Megahood and here was this kid who just for some reason, despite them seeming to be perfectly reasonable people, didn’t like his parents. That didn’t make sense to me so I sat back and watched for awhile.
They ignored him.
He would try to talk to them; poor kid would stand there for hours sometimes with one interaction after another popping up in his queue.
No response from parental units.
When Edward did finally get around to remembering he had a son it was to yell at him. Got me thinking “There is something else going on here …’
That something else started to form as I went around the various houses and started piecing together the bits of backstory with the relationships and watching who met whom and how they interacted and the plot just kind of unwound in my head, or maybe I should say it got all tangled up in my head weaving around itself and I have been attempting to unravel it ever since!
remisims asked: How long does it take, from writing a scene out, to planning poses and expressions, to going into the game and recreating those poses/expressions (then working out alternative poses if things don't work out as planned) usually take?
Oh gosh. That really depends on the scene and my mental state! lol.
It’s hard to say. Some of it I have had written for over a year, like the entire end scene with Ripp and Tel in Chapter 4. Posing was done then as well and I think that one took me about 8 days (I think?) At that point I was still doing shots first writing second for the most part so making what I wanted to happen actually happen was a bit more of a struggle. I did end up redoing the images for that as well when I moved the scene from inside to outside, but that only added a few hours.
On the other hand the entirety of Chapter 2 Part 5 was done in just under 23 hours. I knew it was coming, just didn’t have a clue what was going to be in it until I hit the publish button on Part 4. I think it worked out though because it added more to what is going on with Dustin and Angela and was the first real glimpse inside Ripp’s head.
It is by far the writing that takes the longest. Posing is pretty simple by this point. I have my “go to” boxes and hacks that are on every lot and only haul out other ones if I need something a little different, so planning the poses/anims is kind of an ongoing thing I just do in the back of my head as I am writing. I make notes on anything I think I am likely to forget or haven’t tried before (Some of this occasionally spams the f-list when I can’t find a pen, sorry about that!). When something doesn’t work as planned, that can slow things down a lot! Some shots I have spent over 3 hours on. Interestingly those are usually the ones that end up looking the worst with disjointed limbs and weird clipping.
Sometimes they work out better though.
I threw a bit of a hissy fit and then rethought out the entire scene, only to realize Tel wouldn’t have deposited himself on Ripp’s lap anyway! In this situation, that is not a Tel thing to do. So it really does work better and conveys the feeling I was looking for all at the same time. It just ate up a huge chunk of time doing it!
The main issue on how long it takes to get an update out though is I don’t work in anything resembling a linear fashion. I have a folder (actually it is two folders; one on my desktop and one on the laptop) that are absolutely crammed full of “snippets”. To quote amochan, “You have a skippy brain” and she’s right! I do. While the published portion is still back here on Chapter 5, and Chapter 6 is not even completely written yet, I was just working on a scene that takes place almost six months in the future somewhere around Chapter 12. I have had the ending written since some time in May of last year, and more “random moments” than I could reasonably count. While this means that I do have a lot written already, it also means there is less ‘room for error’. It is harder to just go and change a little detail early on since I will have to go back and look at everything it may impact in the future. This has been known to cause a few headaches! (Thanks Tel!). I know exactly where everything is going and what has to happen along the way, which sounds really awesome, but in reality it means I get frustrated and angry with myself when I can’t make it work. Character development for example. That one trips me up all the time. Getting them from where they are to where they need to be without a radical shift in personality along the way. Many, many, “Conversations with Ripp” have happened because of that! It is very likely if I did work in a linear fashion updates would happen a lot more often; but if a scene is talking to me at the time I am going to go write it down! lol
Long winded and confusing question is long winded and confusing. :D
:D Long winded answer was longer and more confusing than the question!
What would be your favorite 'hood? Are there any 'hoods that stand out to you are far as the pre-mades that populate them go?
I don’t think I have a favourite hood. Before I trimmed down the cast list there were main characters from every hood. It was purely co-incidence that Pleasantries has the cast it does now. They were the side of the story that was talking to me the most and whose lives were inextricably interconnected.
Stand out? Riverblossom Hills and not in a good way! The sims that came with it are just … uninspiring. It is possible I simply haven’t spent enough time with them yet, but none of them spoke to me right away either. Also plantsims. I am not a fan outside of a heavily fantasy based universe. I don’t currently have a heavily fantasy based universe. Maybe when I do I will find them more interesting. Aside from that, no, not really. I have favourite sims of course, but they are from all of the hoods.
Last 'hood I have changed at all, Bluewater Village. The rest are pretty much untouched. The occasional house makeover here
and there but nothing spectacular. Even the changes here aren't much at all.
1 - Landgraab Commercial Photography. This is where Tybalt works. Caelen lives in the apartment upstairs.
2- Landgraab Gallery. Upcoming set.
3 - J'Adore. Heavily made over.
4 - Nakai's Dinner. Anto's Mom and Nate live here, Brandi Broke works here.
5 - Malcolm's house, because the "mansion" he came with was fail.
debbycus asked: Although still at chapter 2, I already noticed that you seemed to have somewhat changed the nature of the pre-mades. I cannot yet see exactly what changed, but I know that I certainly did not imagine, for example, Lilith and Angela behaving the way they do in your story. Have you really, consciously altered some aspects of their personalities? Or maybe it's just me; you might have only added depth to what Maxis originally imagined (or not), and it steered things into unexpected directions.
This comes back to making them make sense. If I have changed their nature it was not intentional. More of a taking the information available and the relationships and personalities and working out how that would all come together to shape a real person. Obviously some of it had to be guess work (I am still looking for a definitive answer on the birth order of the Capp siblings for example. No one’s memories add up so I just went with what felt right to me). From there they have pretty much evolved on their own.
Also, you play a megahood, right? If so, will other pre-mades who are not already in the story make appearance in the future? Oooh, you could do that in a spin-off! Come to think of it, are you planning one (to focus a minor character who could not have the importance you wanted him to have)? I imagine it might come in handy when/if you have writer's block and/or whan to concentrate on other sim-things for a while.
I do play a megahood, yes. HP’s Uber-Megahood specifically.
The first part of this is difficult for me to answer. At the currently published point in the story it is kind of like there is this nebulous “Them” just out there affecting the lives of the characters but you never see who “They” are. Most of them are pre-made. I know who they are of course and what they are doing, so to my mind they are already part of the story, though it certainly wouldn’t appear that they are for anyone not in my head. I suppose that makes this both a yes and a no. Yes, there will be more pre-made Sims making an appearance in various capacities. No, they are not new to the story.
Oh wow! Don’t get me started on other projects! I have already split the story just about right down the middle. Malcolm and Gilbert, the Newson’s, half of Veronaville, the Curious brothers (you get the idea here) … all removed in the interest of things not getting completely out of hand. They are the other half. Their lives (occasionally crossing over with the lives of the Pleasantries characters as has been seen) are equally interconnected but in a parallel story arch.
Chastity Greene. One of many cut to go in the other half of the story. Chastity is a straight Romance Sim. Can you guess what her
LTW is? Can you guess how well she's doing when these are the type of guys she keeps following/bringing home from school?
I will leave you to caption the slide.
I’ll get to it :D
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Mathew. He gets all grumbly when I try to give him any credit, but he really does deserve it. There is not a single plot line that I haven’t been over in detail with him to find out if it will work or if I am coming from somewhere well beyond left field. If I am way off, it is his input that brings it back in line.
I would also like to thank the readers. I am continually amazed that you are reading! Sure I have plot lines and know mostly where it is all going and even how it will get there but there is so much that amounts to making it up as I go along. That none of you have called me on “Hey, you really haven’t got a clue what you are doing do you?” yet is sometimes baffling. I am slowly getting a clue. That you are still with me on this adventure while I figure it out is awesome.
