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Chapter 1 for the other story is up. Oh nerve wracking!

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Sims 2 hiatus?

I sort of hate to say that, but I didn't play this weekend at all like I had planned.

Lately, I've been writing a lot. About a year or so ago, I ran across my old 3.5 floppy disks (circa 1995-- that's way longer ago than I remember it) which were all neatly organized in an interestingly surreal way that would only make any sense to me. The stories on the disks were boring. Very snooze worthy, but the world and the characters were different. (I think that's a good term for it.)



So I've been doing a lot of work, rethinking old ideas lately. And after a bit of inspiration, I decided that I would give Sims 3 a shot as a story telling vehicle since I wasn't playing it as a game very well. So boom, the two ideas crashed together and I thought I would use Sims 3 to try and tell at least one re-worked story from this world I create so long ago.

This project has totally consumed me. Now I could have tried using Sims 2 to tell the story, but there are certain advantages to using Sims 3. For one, the body shapes. It's horrible that I can't adjust the heights, but I think body shapes are a little more important right now. And two is that the facial expressions are actually very complex at times. They're also very very creepy at times. But over all, they are complex as I can sometimes read multiple emotions in their faces. Their traits affect the ways they express themselves during interactions, so it's actually really fascinating...

Ahem... anyway. Nerdy gets the better of me at times.

This story will have an ending (it's looking like it's going to be about 12 or 13 chapters right now), so once I finish writing the chapters, my boyfriend is going to take me out to get a delicious burger at my place of choosing because I don't finish stories. Ever.

My sims 3 blog which I am using to document the trials and tribulations of working with Sims 3 as a story telling vehicle.

From my test shots:


Edy says, "You're mean!"

Poor Michael can only shrug, "What do you want me to do about it?"


I will give it a journal of it's own and put up a mature warning. Genre? Science Fiction Fantasy Horror. I mean, if you want to label it. XD

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Amberle says Hello

Samantha walked around the classroom, her heels clicking on the linoleum. She scanned the back of heads and peeked over shoulders checking their work.


Sam passed by Gabe. He wasn't very far along. Clearly something was on his mind. Samantha had watched him closely these past few years that he had been her student. These years before a sim became an adult were an amazing period where a child grew into an adult. Each year after summer, she was surprised at the change they had each taken.

When Gabe had been a freshman, he had been so quiet and introverted. By the end of that year he discovered girls. The next year, after summer, he had turned his quiet introvert nature into a mysterious cool that even Glenda Stratton had noticed. She was sure that he'd spent that year quietly not getting caught causing trouble with Rich who was an entire year older than him.


This year, without Rich and with Alberta, his girlfriend (Sam would dare even say his first real love), there seemed to be something off about him. His mysterious cool was gone, but he was no longer a quiet introvert. There was something almost angry about him. When he fell into his own thoughts during the lessons, his eyebrows often knitted together folding the skin between them. It was a remarkable change after only one summer.

Sam was sure that he knew. Water had told her that he'd just found out, and that he knew exactly who was Gabe's mother. Gabe had to know.

It was five minutes until class was over. All of the students were becoming distracted. "All right, turn in your workbooks everyone. I think you all deserve to start the weekend early. Just remember! I want to see you all at the opening of the Museum this weekend. It's an assignment!"

Kate groaned loudly and Aaron laughed at her over-reaction.

As the children piled out of the room, Sam softly called out to Gabe. "Gabe, can I speak with you a moment?"


He glanced at Alberta and even Kate as both girls stood looking at the two curiously. "Oooo," Kate softly murmured.

Alberta poked Kate softly, "We'll be outside."

Gabe stood as tall as she did now. She would never get over the change a sim took in the four years they came to visit her. "Yeah?"

She hadn't fully thought out what she could possibly say to him. She wanted him to know that someone was there for him, but she wasn't sure that he would open up to her. "I saw Amberle over the weekend. I'm supposed to tell you that she says hello."


"Oh, well, uh, tell her I say hi back." Gabe looked at Sam in slight confusion. She was sure that he would let Alberta and Kate know that their teacher was crazy.

"Well, that wasn't all. She said that she hasn't seen you in a while. She'd like you to come visit her one of these days, you know."

"Um, sure. Okay. Bye, Ms. Kerr."

"Bye, Gabe." She was sure he'd think her weird now for sure. As for Amberle, she hadn't exactly said any of that, but she would have if Sam had told her that Gabe seemed a little off and her own thoughts on why. Though Amberle hadn't really heard from Gabe since he was a very young boy, she still at least cared.

Sam would have to be sure to tell Amberle to expect a visit from Gabe. Not that Sam was sure he would even take up the offer, but she did hope.

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Thoughtful

He had seen her in the flesh. She hardly looked older than Gabe. The image that came to him when he heard the word "mother" was not some woman in a slinky dress working in a night club ordering around men who almost seemed to fear her.

His other biological parent was hardly any better. Water Mellon was just as much of a mess as his mother was. The tabloids reported frequently on his activity since he was the biggest name in town. The man seemed to shrug off losing his "love" and his family like it was no big deal. He'd moved into a penthouse apartment on the fancy side of town where "numerous" women were seen entering and exiting. Some hardly older than Gabe.




Gabe rolled his eyes at the thought. Was he doomed to become like his biological parents? It was possible that he was heading down the same path as one of his parents now. Did that mean that at some point he'd do the same to Alberta as Water had done to his wife?


He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. It was weird the way he felt about her. He found himself thinking about her at the oddest times wishing she was there with him or wondering what she was doing. Sometimes he found himself worrying about her, but he stopped himself when he noticed himself doing it since it was the last thing she had wanted. If he worried about her and she knew it, then she wouldn't tell him when she had other problems.

The more he knew about himself, the more he felt less worthy of her. Even with her experiences, she wasn't bitter or depressed. If anyone had the right to be, it would be Alberta.

He had just learned of his heritage, and he couldn't help feeling bitter about it. Of course knowing that your own mother hadn't wanted you in the first place (and your father probably wouldn't have wanted you, nor would his family) sort of had that effect.


"All right, turn in your workbooks everyone. I think you all deserve to start the weekend early..." Gabe didn't hear much more than that. He packed his books quickly into his back pack as Kate groaned from the other side of Alberta.

Then Ms. Kerr softly called to him. "Gabe, can I speak with you a moment?"

****************************

As a refresher, I'll throw up this link about the society of my little hood. We know that Water Mellon is his dad, but what may easily be forgotten (because he never thinks about it so it would rarely be mentioned) is that he was in the running for Legacy Heir which I'm holding onto as a tradition of their old life in the old land. Gabe is pretty sure that he would not have been wanted in that family because of the woman who gave birth to him.

And Alberta would be seen closer to a townie by any sim snotty enough to care about such things. Not that Gabe cares, but he's sure that there are sims who have probably mistreated her for it.

And before I forget, let me share another blog I've found that's really awesome and is using Sims 3 to tell a really good story. Marooned on Tuesday She's not too far in yet, and I think some of you might like it.

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How I select couples

Lately, I have just noticed a lot of bloggers noting ACR scores for their couples, and so I started to think about that myself.

I am mostly going to blame Water Mellon (And by proxy Samantha and Demi) for this post because I was sitting and thinking about those three characters in particular. They are the perfect example of how I hook up sims.



Water was in college, being the Big Man on Campus, when he got fake arrested for the Secret Society. The police officer who arrested him was none other than Demi.

As soon as I saw her, I simply wanted her in my game. It was love at first sight-- for me. I didn't really care what Water or Demi felt chemistry wise. (It was a plus when I saw they did have at least one lightening bolt, but that wasn't until a bit later when they actually got to know each other.)

I could see Water being absolutely fascinated by her. They'd shared a car ride and a fake arrest. A girl who'd fake arrest somebody as a side job would have to be interesting, right?

The fun part came when it was time to find her. I really did have him call the police station hoping she'd show up. When they stopped showing, I had to reload the lot and try some more. But no, we didn't find her that way. He actually ran into her again one day and that's how we got her.

Well, after that sort of chase, how could he not fall in love with her and give her some life? (referring to my poor restriction on the NPCs of course-- in game they live forever unless one of the playables "marry" them to bring them to life) Their chemistry wasn't the best, but I imagine that he really did/does love her.

For the most part, this is exactly how I pick out sim couples. It's like a whisper from a sim muse in my ear (or possibly from the sims themselves while I'm playing).

It sort of makes for interesting relationships. Like Water's mother, Ann Mellon, and his father, Alec. They had no bolts (though they didn't have negative bolts either), so I imagine that they were best friends throughout their lives. They just happened to get lucky that they never found the kind of chemistry that Ann's brother Walter has with Lucy.


Anyway, just thought I'd share because I'm thinking about it now and I always find it interesting to see how other people play their games. Ever have couples where you just feel they must belong together in each other's lives despite the chemistry?

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