It’s the dawn of a new chapter on the western frontier. Back East, the cities are crowded, the factories are smoky, and opportunities are hard to come by. But out west? There’s open land as far as the eye can see; a place to build a homestead, start a business, or strike it rich.
These Sims have packed up their wagons and left everything familiar behind. Out here, everyone has a role to play; the blacksmith, the farmer, the preacher, the schoolteacher. But they all share one thing in common: they hope to turn a lonely patch of wilderness into a thriving little town.
Welcome to Freedom Hollow, where hope, hard work, and a little bit of luck can build a future from the ground up. And who knows, maybe someday life will be just a little more...Pleasant.
Freedom Hollow is my kinda-Uberhood meets pseudo-BACC where I've transported a bunch of the beloved premade sims from TS2 into the Old West!
On Christmas morning, before the families of Freedom Hollow gather around their Christmas trees or dining tables, many make their way to the little church at the center of town.
The bell rings through the cold morning air, calling the faithful, and among them sits Birgitte LeTourneau. If anyone were to pay too close attention, they might notice she chooses a pew farther back than usual, and they might even notice that she never once looks toward the pulpit.
At the front of the church, Reverend Goopy certainly notices, yet he performs his duties as expected. After the congregation settles, Goopy steps behind the pulpit to deliver his Christmas sermon.
"Winter is a season that asks much of us. The fields lie dormant, the days grow short, the roads become near impossible to travel. But winter also reminds us of something important; no one survives it alone.” His gaze drifts across the congregation.
"Christmas is not merely a day for gifts or feasts. It is a day for gratitude; a day to look around your table and recognize the people the Watcher has placed beside you."
"Some of those chairs may be empty this year,” his voice softens, and Mortimer Goth lowers his eyes while Faith Goodie folds her hands. "As we celebrate today, let us be thankful not only for what we have been given, but for one another, and let us trust that the Watcher sees farther than we can."
The sermon concludes to appreciative murmurs from the congregation. As families begin filing out, Goopy heads toward the church entrance to bid them farewell, and he catches sight of Birgitte among the departing crowd. For one hopeful moment, he thinks she may stop, but instead she offers a polite nod without meeting his eyes and quickly continues toward the door. The brief exchange somehow stings more than if she had scolded him outright.
Before he has much opportunity to dwell on it, Samantha Ottomas approaches.
"Merry Christmas, Reverend."
"And you, Mrs. Ottomas." She hesitates.
"Do you have somewhere to go for supper?" The question catches him off guard; he hadn’t given it much thought. Samantha immediately recognizes his answer.
"We've got enough food to feed half the town. Come by this evening. We'll have roast, potatoes, pie, and far more noise than any sensible person should tolerate."
"I'd be honored."
"Good. We'll see you this evening, Reverend." Satisfied, Samantha gathers her brood and heads out into the snow.
As the church empties around him, Goopy continues to watch the families of Freedom Hollow make their way home for Christmas celebrations.
Another winter day finds Freedom Hollow wrapped in a blanket of fresh snow, the roads quiet save for the occasional wagon and the crunch of boots upon the frozen ground. Goopy is making his way toward the church when he spots Birgitte LeTourneau, bundled nearly head-to-toe against the weather. Her thick winter coat is dusted with snow, and the large brown wool hood lined with fur frames her face like a painting in one of those museums back in the big city.
"Miss LeTourneau."
"Reverend."
The two exchange a brief embrace, admittedly mostly for warmth than anything else, though neither seems especially eager to end it.
"You'll freeze if you stand out here much longer," Goopy says, ushering her inside and quickly closing the door behind her to keep the heat from escaping. Birgitte prattles on about the winter so far; the leaking bathtub, Alexander's latest tinkering project, and Mortimer's continued worrying over Bella. Goopy listens patiently as always.
"I thought perhaps," Birgitte says quietly, "Perhaps we could pray for her safe return."
"Of course." Together they kneel at the front of the church. Goopy bows his head and leads the prayer, asking the Watcher to watch over the people of Freedom Hollow through the harsh winter, and guidance to those who are lost, and finally, "And we ask especially for Bella Goth. Wherever she may be, grant her safety, and keep her from harm. Give her strength in whatever trials she faces, and let her know that she has not been forgotten. If it pleases you, Watcher, guide Bella safely home to those who love her."
Once the prayer has concluded, they make their way back to one of the pews, the church still empty. They speak quietly about life in town; the sort of conversation that comes easily between two people who have known one another for years.
At some point, Goopy shifts slightly closer, and Birgitte does not object. A few moments after that he drapes an arm around her shoulders.
Again, she does not object.
Unfortunately, the Reverend's recent success at ignoring his better judgment has clouded his self-control. One moment he is enjoying the quiet comfort of Birgitte’s company, the next he is making it abundantly clear that his thoughts have wandered somewhere considerably less appropriate for a church. Birgitte gasps and forcibly pushes him off of her, staring at him with an expression of absolute disbelief.
"Here?"
Goopy suddenly realizes precisely what he has done, and where he has done it.
"The church?! The Watcher's own house?!"
"Birgitte, I –"
"You are a reverend!" Her words land like Darren’s hammer on the anvil. Goopy is desperate to explain himself, but Birgitte is already gathering her things and Goopy looks very much like a schoolboy caught misbehaving.
"Birgitte I’m sorry –” But before Goopy can say anything further, she turns and hurries toward the heavy church doors, letting a blast of winter air into the sanctuary as she flees into the snow.
By the time Goopy reaches the doorway, Birgitte is already halfway down the road, her fur-lined hood pulled up against the cold as she disappears into the falling snow. Despite him calling after her, she never looks back.
Thanks to one spectacular lapse in judgment, he has likely ruined whatever friendship they have had, and will now have to have a rather uncomfortable conversation with not only his conscience, but the Watcher as well.
8 Themed Recolours of Vixsims' functional 4t2 Catch of the Day Food Stand
I love using functional food stands in my game and @vixsims 4t2 Catch of the Day is one of them.
To have it blend in better with some of my different playstyles I decided to recolour it. We've got something futuristic, greco-roman and some nordic (viking/ medieval options - If you can ignore some uneditable parts like the modern stove behind the counter, that is)
I had a lot of fun sampling all the different textures. Hope you can use some of these in your game.
Have a look at all the options under the cut. Thanks goes out to @vixsims for creating the stand in the first place! ❤︎
💾 Download all (with swatches included)
💾 Pick n choose folder
⚠︎ Mesh not included, get it over at vixsims' original post
1) Rustic Recolours
Norse Grey:
Rustic Red:
Viking Fabric Carved:
Viking Blue Spiral:
2) Greco-Roman
Blue Mosaic:
Sandstone: (probably also works great at a beach)
3) Intergalactic / Futuristic
Sixam:
Grimstar:
Each recolour package comes with one subset for the roof and counter of the stand (top) and one for the columns and walls (bottom).
In game they can be mixed and matched, as soon as you have more than one recolour (ofc some combinations make more sense than others)
Let me know in case there are any problems with these recolours.
I'm also open to ideas, if you would like a specific themed recolour for your game. I may be open to create a few more. Destination ones perhaps (Twikki, Takemizu and Three Lakes?)
Files for creators: Download PNGS (In case you want to customize my recolours)
For Reverend Goopy, winter changes very little about his routine, and the church doors remain open. While Sunday sermons draw the largest crowds, Goopy has long believed that a church ought to serve its purpose every day of the week. Anyone in need of a warm place to sit, a listening ear, or a bit of advice knows they can usually find him somewhere inside the little building.
One afternoon, as pale winter sunlight filters through the windows, Florence Delarosa stops by. Goopy finds her seated alone in one of the pews, hands folded neatly in her lap.
"Miss Delarosa."
"Reverend."
He casually leans against the pulpit before her, and for a few moments neither speaks. Finally Florence sighs.
"I was engaged." Goopy nods. "And now I'm not." Florence gazes toward the altar. "The thing is, I don't know what happens next." Goopy waits patiently as she explains the broken engagement, the disappointment that followed, and the uncomfortable truth that part of her heart had already begun wandering elsewhere long before Toby ended things.
"Is it wrong to move on so quickly?" she asks quietly when she finally reaches the real purpose for her visit. The Reverend considers this, then folds his hands together.
"What matters is whether your feelings are honest." The smile that appears on her face answers the question before she speaks, and Goopy continues. “I think perhaps you already know your answer."
His next visitor proves somewhat less predictable. Late that afternoon, Sandra Bruty arrives, and foolishly, Goopy initially assumes she has come seeking advice; an assumption that lasts approximately thirty seconds. Sandra settles herself in front of him and immediately begins behaving in a manner that suggests spiritual guidance is not at the top of her priorities.
A wiser reverend would redirect the conversation, but unfortunately, Goopy has never been quite as immune to feminine attention as he often wishes. One conversation leads to another, and before long he finds himself suggesting they continue their discussion over supper.
The pair make their way to the Freedom Hollow Dining Room, where they enjoy a hot meal while snow starts to fall beyond the windows. He knows precisely how this looks; a reverend entertaining a pretty young woman who has not asked a single spiritual question since entering his church. Twice he considers ending the visit, but twice he fails.
By the time supper concludes, neither seems particularly eager to end the evening, walking slowly through town despite the cold, and eventually they arrive at the Reverend's cabin. Goopy has stopped pretending this is an innocent social call, not because Sandra is hiding her intentions, but because he is no longer hiding his.
"So I suppose supper is over," Sandra begins, and Goopy closes his eyes briefly, offering one final prayer for self-control that goes unanswered before stepping forward.
"I was actually hoping to invite you in for dessert."
Christmas morning with the Larsons begins quietly. Angela, bundled in her coat, returns from a trip to the outhouse, while Jodie pours out the dirty water from washing up the breakfast dishes. For once, they are not arguing. Jodie glances sideways at her new sister-in-law.
"You seem happy."
"I am."
"Good." The answer surprises Angela enough that she laughs.
"What? No argument?"
"I promised Jason my Christmas gift to you would be pleasantries." This earns a laugh from both of them, and for the first time Angela realizes that, despite all their bickering, she has genuinely come to enjoy having Jodie around.
Later that morning comes the exchange of gifts, and Jason presents his to Angela with an almost boyish eagerness. In his arms is a beautiful length of green plaid fabric, pale in color and fine enough to make a lovely dress or winter skirt. Angela holds the cloth tightly against herself.
"I remembered you stopping to look at something similar at your grandparents’."
"You remembered that?"
"I remember most things when they're about you." The answer earns him a kiss and leaves him looking rather pleased with himself for the rest of the morning.
Later, as Christmas dinner cooks, Jodie finally decides it is time to share news she has been keeping to herself. The announcement comes so casually that Jason nearly misses it.
"Komei proposed, by the way." Jason nearly chokes on a cup of coffee.
"When?"
"At the barn dance."
"And you never told me?"
"You were busy getting married,” Jodie replies simply, explaining she will likely be wed by spring.
By evening, Christmas has settled, the dishes have been washed, and the candles cast a soft glow across the room. Snow continues to fall and Jodie retires to her bedroom, leaving Angela and Jason alone beside the fireplace. Angela stands in her nightdress, enjoying the warmth of the hearth while Jason adds another log to the flames.
It is then that Angela suddenly pauses, looking up at Jason, her expression somewhere between confusion and realization.
"Jason…"
The answer arrives all at once, with a simple pop, and for a moment neither speaks. Then Jason lets out a delighted laugh.
"You're kidding." The next thing she knows, Jason has swept Angela into such an enthusiastic embrace that she nearly loses her footing. “A baby!”
He crouches in front of her and places both hands against her stomach.
"Hello there," he says so earnestly that Angela bursts out laughing.
"There’s barely a bump yet."
"I know that," He says, but he keeps talking anyway.
Earlier that morning, Jason had given her the beautiful fabric, and she had considered it may have been the finest Christmas present she had ever received.
Now, entirely by accident, she has given them both an even finer one.
One bitterly cold morning, Jason bundles himself in layers of fur and makes the walk toward the post office. Snow crunches beneath his boots, and by the time he arrives, the wind has turned his nose and cheeks a bright, painful red.
The little post office offers little warmth, and Jason immediately kneels beside the pot-bellied stove in the corner and sets about building a fire. He feeds it kindling first, then heavier logs, until the crackle of flames slowly chases the chill from the room.
Throughout the day, townsfolk drift in and out to collect letters, send correspondence, and linger near the stove a little longer than necessary. By late afternoon, Jason finally locks the door and starts the walk home through the snow-covered streets of town.
His route, unfortunately, takes him past the saloon.
Light spills from its windows onto the snow, and even from outside he can hear the muffled piano, laughter, and familiar warmth. He slows almost without thinking, boots crunching softly as he pauses for a moment in front of the building. The saloon promises heat, company, whiskey, and the easy comfort of old habits.
Back at the Larson house that afternoon, things are considerably less peaceful. Inside, Angela and Jodie are discovering that sharing a home is an adjustment, particularly for two women who both possess strong opinions about how a household ought to be run. The disagreement begins over something trivial and rapidly becomes about everything else instead.
By the time the bickering finally winds down, Angela stares at Jodie with growing disbelief before blurting, “I’ve somehow replaced one annoying sister with another.”
Jodie gasps dramatically. “I heard that.”
“It was meant to be heard.”
“You are impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
As the afternoon darkens, Angela begins preparing supper. The stew simmers on the stove, bread is sliced, candles are lit, and Jason still has not returned home. She tells herself not to worry, then tells herself not to be irritated, and succeeds only moderately at either.
By the time the winter sun has fully disappeared and darkness settles over Freedom Hollow, Angela finally sighs in defeat.
“Well,” she says, ladling stew into bowls, “he knows where home is.”
Jodie looks up from the table. “Giving up on him?”
“For tonight.”
The words have barely left her mouth when the front door opens and a rush of cold air sweeps into the house along with a swirl of snowflakes. Jason steps inside, cheeks once again reddened from the cold just as they were when he left that morning. Angela immediately notices something: there is no smell of whiskey and no trace of cigar smoke clinging to him, only cold winter air and melting snow.
“You’re late,” she says as she sets supper on the table.
“A little,” Jason replies as he stamps the snow from his boots. Angela studies him carefully.
“Sit down,” she says at last. “Before it gets cold.” He obeys immediately, which earns him a suspicious look from Jodie.
The candles flicker softly, and Jason reaches for a piece of bread just as Angela’s hand rests nearby. He gives her fingers a gentle squeeze, and she smiles despite herself. Across town, the saloon remains warm, lively, and full of familiar faces, but Jason wouldn't know; he never made it through the front door.
I've had this in my game for a while, but for you guys, I added traits and made every little detail BCON configurable, because I know many of you would like to set everything just how you want it. Enjoy!
Download Page
For @maksplaygroundsims2, @tedsies, @grilledcheese-aspiration, @katatty and others
The wedding festivities carry on well into the evening, but eventually Angela Pleasant, now Angela Larson, returns to the house alongside her new husband, and the newly married couple finally find themselves with a moment alone.
Jason offers Angela his hand.
"Mrs. Larson?" Angela laughs.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing that."
"Then I'd best keep saying it." She takes his hand, and together they disappear upstairs.
The lamps downstairs burn low for a long while afterward, and the excitement of the day is difficult to ignore. Neither, it seems, is the novelty of finally sharing a room, and the pair exchange delighted grins usually reserved for newlyweds.
Afterward, they exchange a few whispered words and change into their bedclothes, before apparently deciding that married life suits them remarkably well.
Angela is first awake. Jason finds her in the washroom a short while later, both of them barely dressed, their hair not yet properly combed for the day. Angela laughs softly.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You are staring."
"I know." She rolls her eyes affectionately, and Jason steps closer and kisses her, the sort of kiss that comes when there is no audience.
A short while later, the newlyweds sit together at the table while Angela serves thick slices of toasted bread spread with butter and preserves. It is not a grand breakfast, but neither seems to mind. They linger over the meal, exchanging smiles across the table, both quietly enjoying the simple novelty of their first morning as husband and wife.
Jason glances toward the window, where Freedom Hollow is slowly waking. For years, the saloon has been where he spent many of his evenings, but now that there is a woman under his own roof (that he isn't related to), sharing his bed, his table, and his future, he can’t help but hope maybe he won’t need it quite so often.
Christmas Day dawns cold and quiet for Florence. The schoolhouse is empty, of course. No lessons need planning, no papers require grading. The broken engagement still lingers in her thoughts despite her efforts to put it aside. She spends the morning tidying, brewing tea she barely drinks, and pretending not to notice how silent everything feels .
Then there is a knock at the door. Florence blinks; visitors are not exactly common on Christmas morning. When she opens the door, she finds herself staring at Vidcund Curious, and for a moment, neither speaks.
"Hello, Florence."
"Vidcund. What are you doing here?"
"I..." He pauses; for a man capable of discussing chemistry for hours, ordinary conversation sometimes remains surprisingly difficult.
"I heard rumors and…thought you might be alone for Christmas." Florence's smile softens and Vidcund shifts his weight, and then, apparently deciding he has already committed himself to this endeavor, he steps forward.Before Florence can quite process what is happening, he gently cups her cheek and kisses her.
For several moments they simply smile at one another, and then Vidcund clears his throat.
"Doc Lothario insisted I shouldn't spend Christmas working. If I am not permitted to spend the day working, I thought perhaps..." He hesitates. "Perhaps you might join my brothers and I.."
"Join you?"
"For Christmas dinner." The corners of Vidcund's mouth twitch upward. "I would very much like it if you came." The loneliness Florence had expected to carry all day seems to melt away almost instantly.
A short while later, bundled warmly against the cold, Florence finds herself walking beside Vidcund through the snowy streets of Freedom Hollow, the day she expected to spend alone turned into something entirely different.
Early winter comes quick, cold slipping between the white slats of the schoolhouse.Children practice their letters on slates or stumble through arithmetic, and some require constant reminders to pay attention. A spelling lesson occupies much of the afternoon, followed by reading aloud from a well-worn primer.
By the time the last student bundles themselves into a coat and disappears into the snowy evening, Florence is grateful for the silence. She busies herself with a book, but shortly after, hears the door open. Looking up, she is surprised to find Toby Bruenig standing in the doorway; he has never visited her at work before.
For a moment, her face brightens, but something in his expression immediately tells her this is not a traditional social call, and her smile fades.
"Toby?"
"I won't keep you long." Florence sets down her book, and she already knows. She has known for weeks, or perhaps longer.
"I cannot marry you."
Still, hearing it aloud hurts, and for several moments neither speaks.
"I never meant to hurt you."
"No," she says quietly. "I don't suppose you did."
She has seen the way Toby looks at Melody Tinker, and the truth is somehow more painful because she understands it. Long conversations and stolen moments and a person who sees the world differently than anyone else she has ever known.
Florence closes her eyes briefly, knowing she cannot honestly claim betrayal when her own heart has not been entirely faithful. When she finally looks back up, there are tears in her eyes despite her best efforts.
"I think," she says softly, "that perhaps we both knew this wasn't meant to be."
Relief flickers across Toby's face, though it is soon replaced by guilt, and he leaves without another word, disappearing into the approaching evening.
Finally, the tears come, not because Florence truly believes Toby belongs with her, but because all endings hurt, yet somewhere beneath the heartache is quiet excitement she is not yet ready to examine too closely.
From the moment she wakes on Christmas Day, Denise Jacquet can hardly leave the decorations alone, not that there are many. The Jacquets are practical people, and Christmas finery is modest in Freedom Hollow, but Denise is determined that the day feel special.
She arranges fresh evergreen boughs along the table, decides she dislikes the arrangement, and adjusts them again. A single candle occupies the center of the table, surrounded by greenery. In the corner of the room stands a small pine tree that poor Gilbert had been tasked to find several days earlier, eventually returning with a modest little evergreen that Denise promptly installed in a bucket and declared perfect.
Now she fusses over it as though it were a royal display, Yves watching her move a bough for the third time.
"It looked fine the first two times."
"It looks better now."
"It looks exactly the same."
By midmorning the family exchanges gifts, Gilbert picking up a perfectly square package from beneath the tree and holding it out to Danielle. A proper sewing kit, just as she’d admired at the general store. Danielle runs her fingers over the polished wooden case.
"It's beautiful." Before Gilbert can respond, she throws her arms around him, and the kiss she gives him leaves him blushing far more than he cares to admit. Nearby, Denise looks exceedingly pleased with herself.
The older couple exchange gifts next. Denise presents Yves with a finely crafted set of cooking and carving utensils commissioned from Darren Dreamer, and he turns the pieces over in his hands, admiring the workmanship. For one of a handful of times in his life, Yves is momentarily speechless.
"These are too nice for a butcher."
"Nonsense," Denise says. "You're exactly the sort of man who deserves nice tools."
His own gift earns a similar reaction; a beautifully crafted rolling pin carved by Stephen Tinker, french tapered, of course. The sort Denise has admired for years whenever conversation turned to baking.
She immediately lifts it in both hands, inspecting the smooth wood with reverence, as if it were a religious relic and not simply a baking tool. Her expression alone is worth every coin he spent.
"Je t'aime, ma chérie," he says softly, and before Denise can reply, he takes one of her hands and presses a gentle kiss to her knuckles, an old-fashioned, affectionate gesture practiced from decades of marriage. Yet, Denise’s cheeks redden just as they did when she was a newlywed.
As evening falls, the household gathers around the table for Christmas supper, the crown jewel of the meal, a magnificent turkey that Yves had selfishly set aside after his last trade with Cyd Roseland.
For once, nobody is rushing to serve customers or restock shelves, and the butcher shop out front sits quiet. The family lingers over the meal long after the plates should have been cleared away, the Jacquet household enjoying exactly the sort of Christmas Denise had hoped for.
Well it wasn’t just me, to be fair. I would have never been able to without @fireflowersims help and HugeLunatics trust in both of us. Thank you to both of them for their work and thank you @teaaddictyt for reaching out and doing the more public communication.
I’m super happy I got the chance to work to fix it. It wasn’t an easy undertaking. It seemed like every little thing would cause more errors, I fixed one and another thing broke. But now it seems stable, finally.
A lot of technical stuff below the cut, beware.
Fixing such an old forum is not easy. Documentation is rather sparse because the framework it runs on is old. There is however a more modern version, but updating is difficult. Here was the issue for the forum - upgrading failed.
A website (usually) consists of two different parts: 1 - The files. They contain the code, scripts, designs, images, attachment, profile pictures etc. 2 - The database. The database connects all the different parts and tells the website where to find something. Everything gets stored in tables, assigned IDs and given values. Everything written, each post and topic is also stored in the database. So without the database the whole page would be useless.
It was clear from the beginning that the database was the culprit for the failed upgrades. I got an earlier backup from HL and started working.
I set up a local environment with two versions of XAMPP. One running on php 7.4 (the last version having compatibility for the forum framework version and the upgrade script to the recent version) and the other on a modern 8.3, which was the same as the version the server @fireflowersims set up for GOS.
I ran the upgrade script (which consists of 4 separate parts) on the old backup and ran into errors right away. The script would just outright crash on me, most often without a log or message. The (local) server would just stop responding. My original plan had been to upgrade to version 2.0 first, then 2.1, since it was the recommended order. However the database backup had already been partly upgraded to 2.1. That was the reason my upgrade script failed. Reversing those changes could have been a possibility but extremely time intensive.
(This is the frontpage of the upgrader. I stared at it so much. Like you can see it has a ton of steps)
Instead I asked for the current database and HL provided it to me. This one was already further along on the upgrade and I could see the error HL had run into before handing over. I had to look at the upgrade scripts and source php files to diagnose what the framework was expecting - and failing - to find in the database.
That’s where I found the main culprit for *most* of the errors: Time tables. The framework saves every action that a user does in a log, a long table with the action, an id and a date. This was where everything had gotten wrong. The upgrader expected to see one column for the date, named *day*, while the current table had a different column for day, month and year. I tried fixing the table at first but that didn’t seem to work, so I completely deleted the table and created a new empty one myself. (By now I think the issue stems from forgetting to uninstall certain packages before upgrading, more on that later)
That was possible because the log actually doesn’t hold relevant information for the forum to work. It just records each step, probably for moderation purposes. Once I had done that step the upgrade script was finally able to proceed.
There were a few more errors where I had to look at what the script was doing, find the corresponding code in the sources and edit the database myself. Thankfully the code is relatively well commented and named, so I was able to find what I needed.
Finally I got the upgrade script to run to the end and I was actually able to open the forums (local) page. I hadn’t been able to for now so it was a first. But a lot of stuff was still missing, like all the topics. I could see that the posts were back, but not sorted correctly.
The fix was simple but annoying. The forum framework comes with a repair_setting.php file which I had run several times to fix all the paths, but apparently it didn’t fix *all* of them. So back to the database I went, ran some queries and fixed them myself.
Then the forum finally worked again!
(This is what the forum looked like when I first opened it. It ONLY had recent posts)
(The working local forum, no files yet with the default theme. Seems wrong to look at GOS without the dark theme, right?)
There were still a few things I needed to fix but the database seemed to work fine now. I had never done so many queries in my life. I know SQL, and had to fix databases before but not this intensely. So I guessed I learned something new haha.
Next was the exciting step to upload my clean install to the server. @fireflowersims and I had some directory issues, but I was able to fix them manually once again.
Then I had to take a look at the files which mostly consist of avatars and attachments. They didn’t work at all once moved to the clean install. Once again I took a look at the code and realized that the upgrade script would have changed those files as well, but because I ran it on a clean install it didn’t actually do this step.
I didn’t want to run the upgrade script again, worried that it would mess up a now working database. Instead I wrote a script myself that sorted through all the attachments, looked for the IDs of the avatars from the database so it could move and rename them.
Last were the attachments. This was an easier fix. They just had to be given the ending .dat. @fireflowersims ran a command through the console and then the attachments worked too!
We were getting closer!
Next was the theme. The old theme didn’t work on the modern framework anymore so @fireflowersims looked for a new one which I customized with CSS, trying to get it closer to the way the forum looked before. I think it turned out quite alright, hope you guys think so too!
(Trying to find out what CSS class addresses what? Make everything red and green!)
(All the spider webs)
Next was packages, or mods, to the framework. Fire and I encountered some hiccups here too, since there were some leftovers in the database. The packages hadn’t been properly deinstalled before running the upgrade script, which was another source of the errors. I tried fixing them manually but one of the packages would continue to just break the site no matter what I tried, so we settled for an alternative.
Some more work was put into SSL and making the forum secure. Once again some settings seemed to just break the page and each time I had to go back in the database and manually fix what had gone wrong. It was tedious but by now I knew my way around quite well.
@fireflowersims handled a lot of the server administrative work and DNS settings. I know very little about that part so having @fireflowersims there was great and they made sure the page is reachable at the correct address.
So yeah, I hope the site stays online for a long time now. It’s such a big part of our community and communities history. I used to download so much from there when I was younger. I wanted to give back to the community I love so much. That was the reason I spent many many hours digging through code and old forum threads.
Jules, I cannot emphasize enough just how cool you are for having done all of this work to get GoS back online! I'm glad I was able to provide a good new space for GoS to live from now on and assist with all the DNS. It was a trip alright, and I'm glad we could work together on this!
You are a hero and I (and I bet so many others) am so grateful for your skill and dedication! ♥️
The days before Christmas seem to bring half of Freedom Hollow through the butcher shop doors, and the Jacquet family find themselves working from dawn until well after sunset trying to keep pace with the demand.
Denise and Danielle sit together waiting for coffee to brew while the house slowly wakes around them.
"You know, I always hoped Gilbert would marry a woman I liked."
"And?"
"Oh, he did considerably better than that." The compliment leaves Danielle smiling for the rest of the morning.
Behind the shop, Yves Jacquet spends much of the morning processing a particularly fine hog purchased from the Broke farm. He works carefully, breaking the carcass down into useful cuts destined for households throughout Freedom Hollow, but nothing goes to waste. Hams are set aside for holiday tables, salt pork is packed into barrels, and even scraps are saved for sausage making.
Once the shop opens, however, there is little time for chatting, everyone in Freedom Hollow suddenly remembering they require a proper holiday meal.
Families place orders for roasts, some purchasing enough meat to feed tables of guests, and even the wealthier households send servants or family members to collect special cuts for Christmas dinner. Poor Gilbert Jacquet can scarcely keep up with the shelves.
No sooner does he restock one display of cured sausages, preserved meats, and jars of rendered lard than another customer purchases half of it. The rush sends him hurrying back and forth between the stockroom and the storefront all day long, arms full of goods. At one point he pauses long enough to catch his breath, only to discover an entire shelf of fowl has somehow sold out while he wasn't looking.
By afternoon, the women of the house bundle themselves against the cold and make their way into town, heading for the general store, its shelves stocked with holiday treats.
Danielle wanders slowly through the aisles while Denise barters with Herb about extra bags of salt. Eventually she finds herself standing before the fabrics, where bolts of cloth are stacked neatly on display. Danielle reaches out almost absentmindedly, letting her fingers brush across one particularly beautiful length of fabric. It would make a lovely dress, or curtains, or a pinafore someday for a child. After a moment, she sighs.
The truth is that fabric alone does little good, what she really lacks is a proper sewing kit; needles, shears, thread, pins…a set she wouldn't have to borrow or piece together from odds and ends.
Across the store, Denise notices, but she says nothing, filing the observation away to mention to Gilbert later. After all, it is a mother’s responsibility to notice these things, especially at Christmastime.
Requested hair conversions part 1! So sorry that this took such a long time to share since I've made the wip post - I had to tweak a lot of stuff and learn again some stuff about converting that I've already forgotten ^^'... and I also started doing a clothing conversion and I hate bones assignments very much </3, especially when you figure out that maybe that's not bones assignments fault that something it's out of place, and maybe it's just the way you placed the mesh itself on the body but still you're like 65% sure that's the reason. ANYWAY! HERE ARE THE DOWNLOAD LIKS FOR THE HAIRS AND LIL BIT OF INFO FOR THEM:
'Jane' (male/female, tf-ef, 24k poly) MALE DL | FEMALE DL
'Lady in waiting' (female, cf-ef, 12k poly) DOWNLOAD
'Muse' (female, tf-ef, 19k tiara ver, 17k no tiara ver) TIARA | NO TIARA
'Clarice Bun v3' (female, cf-ef, 12k poly) DOWNLOAD
