Monday, August 27, 2012

3 Things I Wish I Knew Three Years Ago

Now that I have almost completed the first round of Sunset Valley, I have learned a couple of things about Story Progression's inner workings and the game itself that I wish I had known when first started out.

1) I wish I had known about the Face One Virus. When I first started playing, I didn't know all of the townies were generated with the same face. I thought The Sims 3 behaved more like The Sims 2 which generated the townies from a set of templates. For more details about the Face One Virus, see my legacy blog entry where I explain it in more detail. Since I initially allowed the homeless to move in, I have a lot of townies running around with the same face. I am seriously considering annihilating them with Master Controller so that their genetics don't overrun the town.

You can prevent this situation by installing Twallan's Register Mod and configuring Story Progression to generate townies from your Sim bin. See Twallan's FAQ for more details about managing immigration.

2) I wish I had known I could limit the number of romantic interests a Sim can have. This didn't really become a problem until Generations. With the introduction of the Romantic Reputation system, Sims with multiple love interests have a difficult time maintaining a steady relationship. This is a big part of the reason why you see my Sims break up so often. Twallan's Story Progression Mod has a setting under the "Flirt" menu that specifies the number of romantic interests a Sim can have at a time. By default, it is set to zero, which means there is no limit to the number of romantic interests a Sim can have. I have now changed this setting to 1. I am hoping that will reduce the volatility in the Sims' relationships. I don't think it will help the current young adult/adult generation much, but I am hoping it will help the future generations.

3) I wish I had known the EA team was going to release so many darned neighborhoods. Ok, I put this one in for the lols, but seriously they have already released eleven neighborhoods and there is at least one more on the way (Moonlight Falls). Sheesh! It's going to be 2050 before I finish this thing. Hopefully, I live that long.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Round 1: Wolff 1 -- Llama Tail

Me:  Good morning, Morgana!

Morgana:  *nom* No time to talk. *nom, nom* I just got off work and now I have to go back an run a clinic. *nom, nom, nom*

Me: You Medical Sims are some of the hardest working Sims in town.


Morgana: I don't mind the long hours. It gets lonely in this big house with Thornton spending so much time at the office.
 

They crack me up with their medical gadgets. Lily and her husband got checked out.


I hear illness is coming back with Seasons. I wonder if sick Sims can go to Medical Sims for a cure.


Me: Aww...Clark (Sauer) Baker is having some fun with his stepson, Topher. How sweet!

Morgana: *wistfully* I know Thornton could be just as good of a father as Clark if he would only consider it.


ROFLMAO! Game, you rock! Of course it would be Molly French who contracted Llama Tail. Ok, that's not really fair to Molly. She's been rather tame in this save.


Me: Not a bad job, Morgana.


Morgana: I probably could have gotten to the sixth patient if Nick Alto hadn't scared her off.


Me: He probably got wind that you're working with Jennifer Martinez, rather than Vita, so he sabotaged you.

Morgana: Those Altos! They are so...so...so mean!


Me: Mean? You're a good Sim, so I guess that's the worst you could come up with.


Morgana: I am not good all of the time. Every now and then I can convince Thornton to take a skinny dip.

Me: Well, he is your husband and you're in your own private pool, so it's not that scandalous, Morgana. Anyway, keep it up, and you may get that baby after all. See you next round!

Ok, I have been struggling with this update for a month. Morgana and Thornton gave me nothing to work with. I am impressed that Morgana didn't go and get herself knocked up. I guess the Dislikes Children trait trumps the Family-Oriented trait.

Anyway, here are the SP UPDATES:


Shocker. *rolls my eyes*


Katrina doesn't strike me as the type to go around smashing Loveseats; she'd just set your whole place on fire.


What? Adam and Talia broke up? When did that happen? Dude, your (ex-)wife just gave birth to your triplets!


I approve.


That's what you get for a being a deadbeat mom. Araceli is one of Hank's baby mamas. And speaking of Hank...


Ok, ok, I know this is just Story Progression moving them to a bigger house, but I like to think of it as Hank and Pauline settling down with their family.

There is just one more update left and then we move on to Round 2!