simnotes

playing sims, venting, and fighting for my life

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Had this in my screenshots folder for over two years now. Idk it makes me happy, at this point it's basically part of the furniture

But really I like the vibes, love ts2 trees. Was not always a big fan of how the game looks, but today I really appreciate how visually cohesive it is

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Thanks to @philosimy, I got back into my Makin' Magic recreations 💫

Vicki Vampiress Adventurous, athletic, commitment issues, grumpy, loves the outdoors. Don’t call her Victoria, only her parents call her that. With a unique flair and unparalleled way with dragons, Vicki Vampiress is respected in the draconic scene. Those who hear of her thrilling escapades can hardly fathom the privileged background she hails from. Leaving behind the aristocracy, she built a reputation on her remarkable encounters with dragons, capturing the imagination of those who witness her fiery presence.

Count Arpad von Schlick Bookworm, grumpy, heavy sleeper, proper, snob. Count Arpad's stern presence casts a shadow over the family, creating an air of formality and restraint. With a perpetually serious expression and a penchant for solitude, he intimidated Vita’s way into the vampire high society, and forged in Balint’s childhood a mark of respect and distance. No one dares to question the Count - except for his daughter Victoria.

Countess Vita von Schlick Brave, heavy sleeper, irresistible, nurturing, vehicle enthusiast. Coming from entertainment, Vita Talon never thought she’d find a loving partner in a man like Count Arpad, who embraced her uniqueness and supported her in every way. Nor that she would become a mother, adoring her children and their every quirk. In the von Schlick estate, she found a sense of stability she had never experienced before, but sometimes the blinding lights of Studio Town still appear in her dreams.

Balint von Schlick Good, loves the cold, neat, perceptive, proper. Balint von Schlick possesses a delicate and introspective nature. Bearing the weight of the family's expectations, Balint takes on the responsibility of fulfilling the duties associated with his aristocratic lineage. Growing up watching the relentless fights between his father and his sister, he developed a traumatic sense of diplomacy. His presence as the youngest member serves as a reminder of the family's future and the continuation of their lineage.

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Loading screens from Desperate Housewives: The Game (2006)

Might not be the most sophisticated life simulation but you can feel a lot of effort was put into it. It's really involving, the script was created by Scott Sanford Tobis, writer of the show. The voice actors did a great job capturing the tone of each character.

The model of sidequests+main goal works particularly well for what is proposed here, a TV-based experience. It brings playing the game close to watching the series - in both mediums you find an overarching mystery throughout the season and minor stories along the episodes. This common structure not only provides interesting subplots but helps maintain the cheeky aura of being a housewife surrounded by secrets.

The actions are basically what one would wish for when playing as a resident of Wisteria Lane - meddling in neighbors' business, having affairs, flirting with the mailman. I was amazed when I realised I could try to sleep with every man on my street.

The way the game approaches needs in this universe also adds to the concept of the idyllic suburban world and the facades it's built upon.

Appearance This represents your overall level of hygiene and aesthetic appeal Increase by interacting with: Dresser, Shower, Vanity Composture This represents your overall mental state and level of relaxation Increase by interacting with: Couch, Bed, Chair Social This represents your level of social awareness Increase by: Talking to other residents of Wisteria Lane Happiness This represents your overall level of happiness Increase by interacting with: TV, Seduction, and Gardening

The minigames are very cute, they involve cooking, gardening, and playing poker with the girls.

Of course I'm now recreating the whole thing with wisteriabrayan's world and rewatching the show 👠

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Clowntastic Land From the makers of the Not-So Fun House and the Terribly Fun house, this clown-themed coaster is more fun than was previously thought possible! Hold on to your lap bar e get ready for the twists and turns of this hysterical experience.

Coldwind Meadow Once a dairy pasture, this quiet meadow was usually avoided by local farmers following the unexplained disappearance of their cows. Recently, a carnival blew into town and set up several unusual attractions on this mysterious site.

In my version of Magic Town, Clowntastic Land is an attraction of the carnival in Coldwind Meadow. I felt like the lot exactly as it was made in TS1 didn't translate well to Sims 3. I'm quite pleased with the results. The lot description is a nod to both the original lot and the descriptions for the older coaster objects.

On a side note, I've been having a hard time trying to imagine what a Vernon's Vault could be. Maybe a bar?

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"I love your outfit."

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been recreating these guys for my makin' magic save

(anyone know a way to extract the townie skins? not that I don't like going around watching them in magic town but it would be nice to have something like a masterlist I could refer to)

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R.O.O.M.I.E.S

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I was trying to get a general idea of what a Studio Town Lite would look like in GrandeLama's Simsville

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Ever After Oaks This mansion hosted many gala events for the most elusive members of Calamity Haven society, but rest assured... all have been sent back to from whence they came.

This was my first Makin' Magic recreation, and also one of my favourites. I usually try to keep as much of the original features as I can, while still making the lots somewhat cohesive. That open plan from TS1 was just not doing it for me.

In my game this is where the Roomies household live:

When Melissa inherited a historic house from her great-aunt Morgana, she and her girlfriend Chris soon found themselves on the ferry to Calamity Haven. Now with their growing interest in the town’s history and Chris’ new job at The Daily Hollow, the two might have found a place to call home.

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Fairchild Film Studios

This screenshot has been sitting on my computer for almost four months now. I might get back to my Angel City save and make a full tour at some point, I really like this lot. Things were strange in my life when I was building it, but I remember showing it to my mom and she was so proud of me. Well, it is a game but she was happy for my accomplishments and has always been - whether they're academic, professional, or personal. It reminded me personal projects do matter, and I have the most loving and supportive parents.

Anyway, I thought it would be nice to create a film studio. Never been the biggest fan of the Plumbob Pictures Backlot in Bridgeport. Originally, I was gonna do it on one 64x64 lot but I eventually redesigned it to annex the lot beside it, so it's basically a 64x128 now - there's a North Gate and a South Gate. It's also built so you could dismember it and pick a stand-alone part you rather place in your town, without having it feel incomplete.

I decided to go more in the TS1 Superstar direction of Old Hollywood glamour and that kind of vibe. While I was doing the research, I learned that the little shuttle sims took to Studio Town was based on Universal Studios' GlamorTrams, in operation from 1964 to 1983. They have a few entries on IMCDB also on IGCD as minibusses.

Naturally, I was obsessed with this ad. One of the goals was to capture some of that essence with the lot lol I was also very entertained by this 1984 studio tour, Yesterworld's video on Universal's Abandoned Tram Tour Attractions, and Warner Bros.'s Virtual Tour.

I was also happy to come across You Must Remember This, which does an awesome job on going through the history of the US movie industry. One of the founders of Paramount Pictures ended being a source of inspiration for my version of Fairchild Films. I imagine W.W. Fairchild as a big name W. W. Hodkinson type.

That sorta ties in with the story I came up with to pay homage to the original TS1 Fairchild Film Studios. That building looks more like a mansion and is said to contain their "primary studios and corporate headquarters" and I don't really buy that. So in my head, there is a house by the soundstages, which was part of their corporate activities at some point, and that is now a museum.

"He held so many meetings at the Villa he ended up converting it into studio offices when the Fairchilds moved to Rockford Hills. And so it remained our corporate headquarters for decades." (I had scrapped this out of my original post because I thought it was already too long but who cares, there's people that are dying Kim)

I decided to go with a Spanish colonial revival style instead of being completely faithful to the source material.

So yeah. Shoutout to 00s meta Hollywood flicks

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The stages are big enough to accommodate all sorts of sets, from castles to spaceships. In a controlled environment, specific lighting and sound conditions help the crew create the worlds we see on the screen.

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I tend to come up with meticulously coordinated plans for sharing stuff on here but that usually just leaves me with huge guidelines docs for myself (which tbh I find quite fun to formulate) and not much actual content online

So I guess I'll just post whatever/whenever/however I feel like now, which might include lengthy texts, very specific references, and personal feelings about the game and my memories around it.

It felt a bit weird to use the word game to refer to The Sims. I know I'm not alone on this, the game mechanics have always been closer to a tool to decode, recode, process the world around me and and interact with it.

It played a part in how I would explore my sexuality - whether it was through the projection of my fears and desires onto male characters when I was a kid or through the social conformity in the ideas of family, happiness, and worth I would reproduce in my stories.

I also saw in it a way to add levels and experiences to topics that would interest me. Maybe I couldn't be a white 20-something in Manhattan, but I could build the F.R.I.E.N.D.S apartment in-game and create a universe in which I could immerse myself while having "total" control of its developments. I saw its sandbox premise as a space to celebrate pop culture as well as to make things make sense. Life's loose ends (used to?) bother me sometimes, wouldn't it be nice if things went as scripted?

As I got older, part of that sense of linearity in a way remained present in how I would use The Sims, but now with irony. It is about narrative, about characterization, about plasticity, it's about camp. So it's also about myself and the appropriation, resignification, and contextualization of symbols, stories, and ideals.

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Welcome to the Fairchild Films studio tour! My name is Devin and I’ll be your guide this morning. Please remain seated, keeping your arms inside the tram at all times.

As we’re leaving the Fairchild Villa, we can have a wide view of the property grounds. The house was built in 1929 by real estate mogul Kermit Landgraab and was bought by our founder, W.W. Fairchild shortly after that. Today it’s the home for the Fairchild Museum and the base for our tour!

Be sure to check out the new exhibition Scream: Legends of Fairchild Horror as you get back. It features original costumes of some of our most beloved characters, from Darkula to the Groom of Gothenstein.

Now first stop: Sim City Street. It was our first-ever permanent outdoor set, and you see it in shows like R.O.O.M.I.E.S. and movies like Spider-Sim. Productions can shoot exteriors here and build the interiors on soundstages. Cool, right?

...

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Thought I’d post these random pictures of the Old Town Quarter I’ve been reorganising

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Winter in Simsville (Thank you @grandelama for the best thing that’s ever happened to my game)

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Visit Original Link

Three Amazing Spies

We’re ready to handle any mission And we’ve got this But every time we enter the mall We wanna go shopping Elegant, charming The missions’ plot we unravel Really smart, brave As the three spies we are known Right now, let’s go, catch our show!

I think the Brazilian adaptation of the opening track did a nice job with the lyrics.

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Stalking a spy: Jerry Lewis

WOOHP Global Achievement Award recipient. Much of the World Organization Of Human Protection’s history was forged along with Sir Jerry Lewis’, who had contributed to the development of a wide selection of the organization activities throughout his career - from resource management to field operations. He is the current director, and despite his reserved British ways, Jerry sees a lot of potential in misters Casoy, Ewing and Simpson. On his free time, he enjoys golfing, martial arts and classical music.

I read through some CIA and MI6 stuff for references. He’s the character who’s gone through the smallest of changes from the original, which feels odd to me as he's presented as the founder (?) of an international organization and responsible for taking care of three teenage trainees at the top of his career lol