Life Unlimited - Episode 2 is out!

Sorry for the long wait! Episode 2 of my relatively new TS4 series LIFE Unlimited is now available on my Youtube channel.

So, why did it take this long? I had to come up with a better technical solution because when I started recording, the quality was much worse than when episode 1 was produced. I think I found a good routine, meaning the wait will be way shorter for episode 3 :)

Newcrest: Arena Shopping Mall - part 2

(TS4 Get To Work) Welcome back to my mini series where my sim Corinne Dougham will establish a shopping mall located in Newcrest. The build is actually named Arena Shopping Mall and contains 4 sections, or different stores if you like. Bakery, Clothing store, Retail and Photo Studio. It's small for a mall, but still quite a handful to run, especially for Corinne who started straight from CAS and with zero skills or business traits. This update will focus on the bakery, but first a few more words about Corinne Dougham...

I told you that she has no home but spends the nights on park benches. Well, that is no longer true, Corinne resides a spacious 2 stories townhouse located at Crestville. Crestville is one of 3 hoods at Newcrest, so it's not that far away from the mall at main Newcrest. Yes, I told you that she would only be used for building up the business, but then I started to like playing a sim with lots of money owning a whole shopping mall, so I figured she can stay. She will still not be a central part in my ongoing video series, Life Unlimited, at least not that I know of at this point.

Schwaini and Day of the Dead (TS4)

In my TS4 town Gloomville, there reside a large number of families that you probably never heard of. Some of them were background characters in my story Gloomville Diaries, while others never made it to the story line. The Schwaini family belongs to the latter category, I think. They are the quite poor and eccentric family, and they live their rather shady lives in the subhood named Muggerdale Hood.

Their old introduction reveals that they made a living from collecting stuff to sell at Muggerdale Fair, next door, but truth is that today this households are criminals. Well, elderly Miri and Corinne (pictured) both retired, but their kids Rambo and Sculla grew up to become nice, criminal young adults.

Get Creative with the Photo Studio Object

One of the features that I really looked forward to when buying Get To Work, was the cameras. Your sim can own a camera that makes it possible to create decent photos for the walls. But there is also the Photo Studio object that makes the photographed sims pose a bit more in a professional and fun setting.

But you know how it is, after using a feature a number of times, and intending using it for all my existing homes in Gloomville an the other regions, it became a bit worn out when families had to choose from a limited number of backdrops and poses. I had to develop this a bit further to secure enough variety for my sims...

So I did, and now you can see some of the result in a brand new video that was posted on my Youtube channel. Duration 4:39. I plan to post more short videos with tips & tricks.

Hopefully you are inspired to make more photos with your sims. Let me know how you like your sim family portraits :)

New video series released: LIFE Unlimited

So, I finally made it! I'm proud to show you the first episode of my new series LIFE Unlimited! Not proud because it is perfect or anywhere close, but that I completed the task and managed to convince myself that this is okay, no need to edit and tweak for weeks :)

Story is about the siblings Fredric and Barbara, and in the first episode they are heading into the deep forest with their parents. This first part [duration 07:06] is a tad loose, avoided to add too many advanced settings and complicated plots. I never before made film with TS4, and the editing program was new as well. Lots to learn, many ideas to test out. When I get more used to all the tech the story will probably get more advanced too :)

I hope you enjoy LIFE Unlimited - Into the Woods!

Newcrest: Arena Shopping Mall - part 1

(TS4 Get To Work)  So, I recently added a few packs to my The Sims 4 game, and have so far just about started to check them all out. One of those additions is the Get To Work expansion pack. Being a 2015 release, this pack is already well documented on the web, so I won't get very detailed on the features on this blog, but rather share a few thoughts while I check out parts of it.

I'm planning a new video series, Life Unlimited, that will start rolling in October. Setting everything up includes building a new hood in Newcrest. I've picked a 5 lots hood, and thought that one lot should be commercial, so I've built a small shopping mall on a 30x40 lot. The mall needs some active play to get established, and this gives me the excuse to write a few posts on the progress :)

Today you'll get to see the build and thoughts around the set up. In a couple future posts I'll go more in depth concerning the 4 specific stores that exists in the Newcrest Mall and how the mall is managed. I will try to keep everything simple, and there is no CC involved. My current packs are Get To Work, Outdoor Retreat and Dine Out.

So, this is Newcrest Mall. There's just one floor, which I think fits the quiet residential hood the better. It's got a typical, rather boring exterior, plain and gray. It might get improved later on as the mentioned series rolls out, although the mall will not get much focus besides being a location.

I created a test-sim to actively build up the business, it's a lot harder than I expected. But first, let's take a tour.

The Sims 4 - City Living EP announced!

Yesterday EA announced the upcoming TS4 expansion pack, City Living! Here are a few screenshots from the trailer:

The skyscrapers finally reached TS4! Welcome to San Myshuno!

Rewind The Sims 2: The Soap Box Show

Back in my TS2 days, I created many films and TV shows. Some clips even made it to commercials on my local TV station.

Today I found this 2007 clip in my old back-up files, the Soap Box Show! It was meant to be a series of short episodes where locals were given a chance to climb that stage (soap box) and speak freely about something that annoyed or bothered them.

In this first episode Mrs Tess Appleton is the main guest. Show also featured Nelly Wolmipot (not actually a Simmerville hood resident, as she lived in SimCity) and was hosted by April Briggon (daughter of the Home Sweet Home show hostess, Germine Briggon). Unfortunately I think this was the only episode ever recorded - enjoy! :)

Duration 1:33.

Back to The Sims 4 - Dine Out

So, I'm currently planning to create a new series as a movie instead of lots of pictures and text on this blog. Movies will be much easier to follow, and I think it will also be easier for you to pick up clues to understand the plot. Even quicker to catch up for those coming late to the party.

A more instant experience.

I've not yet decided whether this will be filmed in TS3 or TS4, there might be several series because I want to try both. I'm hoping to introduce the first episodes during September. Because both «Seagull Cottage B&B» and «Hope Terra» takes place in TS3, the first movie is likely to take place in the TS4 universe.

Recently I got the rather new game pack, Dine Out, and along with testing a new install, I also had fun testing the art of running a restaurant. This was one of my favorite things to do back in TS2.

In my old TS4 hood, Gloomville (used in story Gloomville Diaries as well as Sims by Numbers) the old trad Muggerdale Fair got a slight makeover, and I created a new elderly woman to manage the place.

This is originally an old farmers' market. Now also with a thriving backyard restaurant :)

The Ugly Wickerwood - Chapter 23 (season 1 closing)

Welcome back to the world of the Ugly Wickerwood! This chapter will end the first season, so a little drama was in place!

Albert Wickerwood, the guy who was raised to believe that ugly is better than nice, resides in his house with wife Myrhna and their two ugly kids Hui and Edna. No wait, Myrhna's elderly mom Anna Eastwood also lives there together with her fresh husband, Jonas. In fact, Jonas is convinced that the house belongs to Anna and not to Albert.

The elderly couple took over the master bedroom downstairs, and Albert and Myrhna were forced to move upstairs. Jonas thinks of them as renters, but they don't really mind a lot. It shouldn't make much of a difference, should it?

TS2 Rewind: Rebecka's Kissing School

Hello! I found a funny clip in my old files, Rebecka's Kissing School! It's a very short clip (1:25), it's just a silly glitch presented in a funny way :)

Rebecka (Goth) Mervil married Egoon Mervil, one of the two criminal sons of Simmerville Hood's wealthy Mervil family. This was actually my hood's evil couple. I still like to add a few evil characters to all my hoods and worlds.

What this autumn brings

Hello! I just wanted to share a few thoughts about what to expect from this blog and my new Youtube channel during this autumn. It's pretty typical that I get into my games and sims projects again, now that my real life actually looks too busy for this all. Been there before, I know that it will be trigging my creative juices.

Well, like I promised earlier, two of my long going stories will be back this autumn, it seems to be «Hope Terra» and «Seagull Cottage B&B». They will both have regular updates on this blog every 3-4 weeks. Not sure how many chapters each will have yet, but I expect 6 to 8.

The Ugly Wickerwood will take a break. This story started as a immediate substitute back when my computer crashed and all old stories were paused. Wickerwood was played on my laptop with only 2 EPs installed, also missing all my CC. I think the story will resume at some time, although it might not have the greatest plot of time :)

Lately, I've been dragged towards creating sims movies. That's why I opened the Simmerville channel on Youtube. This far only old TS2 clips were posted, and I found a few more that will be shared on the channel over the next month or so. My old Movie Maker no longer works, and because I'm on a budget right now, I will need to try some software that is free or inexpensive. Need some time to sort all of it out, before I can publish movies from TS3 or TS4.

My problem right now is that I can not decide - I was thinking of making «Hope Terra» or «Seagull Cottage» as movie series instead of just blog updates, but then I realized that any movie story should rather be recorded in a new world that is not filled with inactive households and generations of game memory. Both the two stories might be in worlds that are too choppy and slow. I even thought of remaking «Gloomville Diaries» (TS4) because I think it will be easier to tell a complicated story on film than on numerous blog updates where smaller hints might get lost.

Or - I might rather make up a brand new story. No matter what movie I choose, there will probably be a few test films. I will need to test out stuff before getting on with the bigger job. No matter what, this blog will be updated more frequently than before, so please hang around! :)