an update...

Well if it wasn't bad enough that I'm up to my ears in my writing work and have so little Simming time already - then the laptop I play TS3 on just pretty much exploded. Right out of the blue. No fun. I had recently finished my LH world too, and was having a ton of fun moving all my families in. I like to hope it wasn't my new LH world that blew up my whole computer. I mean, can that even happen?

Regardless, that laptop is toast. I can't install TS3 on Dinosaur PC, and even though by now I've bought myself a new cheapie laptop for my writing (which oddly has higher specs than the last laptop - you know, new technology 'n stuff) but I don't want any TS3 stuff on it. If not the game itself, I fear it was probably all the CC websites I went to on it that picked up whatever it was that killed it.

Paranoid maybe, but I've decided that having my writing stuff and my gaming stuff all on the same computer is probably a very bad idea. And I'm sticking to that.

I do actually have a couple updates I finished in TS3, though in the order they need to go, there were still a few unfinished too. Though I could - and think that I might - just top off the unfinished ones with TS2 so that I'll have something to post. Which means in the coming months, you might be seeing some updates from both, lol! Will that be weird? Probably. But it won't be until May or June that I'll be able to purchase (hopefully) a new PC to run TS3 on again.

I miss it so much! I was in the middle of doing some really cool stuff with it too. :(

April and May are going to be filled with lots of work and travel for me, which is going to be FUN and exciting! But which also means little or no Simming. Until then, I'll be hopefully posting the last Phoenix family story piece, and the couple little mini-updates I have lying around, and then by mid-May or June, I'll have some real Simming time again! And hopefully, a new gaming computer to play on! :D

So that's my plan then. Hope everyone is doing well! :)

beach party...

I've showed her off on Twitter a little, but Vicky was born in TS3 a few days ago! Here's her CAS shot, if you haven't seen it already. (I have lowered her eyes just a bit since that CAS shot though - these pictures posted here are more accurate... and I swear I took another one of her on the beach, but I guess I didn't? lol!)

But anyway, it's this shot above that inspired the whole plot for our "spring break" update next season. Just look at April's face - doesn't she look like she's up to no good? Poor Vicky doesn't know what she's gotten herself into!

And *how* might one single sinister glance inspire a whole story? I don't know - it just did, lol!

These aren't "real" shots or anything though. I just felt like playing a little. After so much work making Sims and world-building, I've still hardly gotten a chance to play the game much at all. Or even just take random shots without the purpose of storytelling in mind.

So the following pictures are really of very little significance...

TS3 Corbin and Leila

I wasn't sure if she'd feel like Leila or not until I got him in there.

I have to say, TS3 Leila pulls off those mischievous glances pretty well! Can't you just see her counting off every single thing she's about to do to him in her head?

Jacob, Julia, Quinn, for download...

Sorry about the wait! Here are the grown-up kids our winners chose for download! :)

Jacob Gallagher

Quinn Buchanan

Julia Lind


CC Notes:
Jacob:
outfit by Bunnylita; hair by HystericalParoxysm/Alfred; skin and eyes are defaults and will look different according to your game.

Julia:
skintone by Lyholy; outfit by Sentate; hair by Newsea/Fainiel; eyeshadow by Bruno; lipstick by Zoej

Quinn:
skintone by Lyholy; eyes by Helaene, outfit by Sentate; hair by Nouk/Simgaroop; makeup by Helaene, Bruno.

(Download all three here)

Hope they have interesting lives! :D

LH stuff: Lakeside Shopping Center (TS2)

This is a 2-story suburban shopping center/mall (on a 3x5 lot). The bottom floor is furnished except for one store. The top floor is accessible, but empty.

how to modify an aging mod, and updates on real-time pregnancies/aging...

(Note: if you just want to swipe my mods already made and ready for play, they're linked at the end of this post.)

First off:

This assumes a very basic knowledge of s3pe. Like, enough to open a file and commit your changes, lol! If you worked with SimPe at all in Sims 2, you'll be good to go. If not even, this shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

With modding the aging mod, I figure it's not the modding part that's difficult, so much as which numbers to use.

On Modifying an Aging Mod:

The first thing to do in modding your own aging mod is decide the how short/long your lifespans will be in relation to each other. In the big picture. These are calculated in Sim-days.

Now get yourself a notebook and a sturdy calculator. For real, you need the calculator. I was *awesome* at advanced math in high school, and I had to force my brain around this one.

(But then, you know, it's also been a little while since high school, lol!)

postcards from Bluewater Township...

I've been doing a little bit of work with Bluewater Township lately. Many of you have probably already seen these on Twitter or Tumblr, but in case not...