When I was setting up for Conquer’s Isla Paradiso vacation, I created a community lot using @aroundthesims‘ Ruins objects. Originally I thought the lot would make a great secret party site. Later on, having still not used the lot (forgot it existed, had to search for it the day of the festival, lol), I shifted it’s purpose as the site for a Spring Break bash, giving my household something special to do when Glamour came to stay. Conquer was also learning to DJ and eventually got the moonlight want, so I figured the festival could serve as his debut.
After playing in live for two years (IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS) I realized there were very few venues where the Central island sims socialized with the Little Sister folks. When it came time to get ready for the festival, I wanted to rectify this to some degree and prepared myself to be very hands on in order to really make the celebration Isla Paradiso wide.
If you’re thinking, this can’t get more complicated, ‘TIME TO MEET MY BRAIN:
My Brain: If Isla Paradiso has a festival every year there has to be a reason for it.
Me (because we’re separate): I mean it’s a tourist hub, so any excuse to get people to spend money.
MB: What attracts spenders more than a cultural festival?
MB: Something where people can wear skimpy costumes and parade around town merrily. You do have all those cc masks, headdresses and a bunch of costume make up.
M: That’s a good point. I’ve never used half of that stuff, plus I’ve still got a bunch of beachwear downloaded just for this save and that’ll probably never get used otherwise.
MB: Excellent! You’re in?
MB: Why are they parading in the outfits, though?
MB: Why? If it’s cultural there has to be a reason. You know, the history.
M: I mean it could have been established so long ago no one remembers why --
MB: But you have to remember... because that will help determine what their costumes look like.
MB: And since you decided to be realistic and divide your island based on skin tone there’s going to at least be two different colored costumes.
MB: Possibly multiple colors for different roles in the same faction...
MB: ...and two distinct styles of costumes to mark the separate factions. Maybe some costume variations depending on the household...
MB: ...styles based on the colonizer group and the colonized group.
MB: Because divided people will have divided cultures. Divided cultures mean divided histories...
M: WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THIS!
MB: ...or different versions of the same history.
MB: You know? For the event.
MB: The event being celebrated during YOUR festival.
So basically I ran that little sims wikia snippet about Isla Paradiso’s royal descendants through my head overlord and out came a complicated story of the Ichtaca family massacring people to colonize their paradise. This initially took place while I was flicking through clothes in create a sim, and was fleshed out a bit further over time. Eventually, I decided there would be three tales of the final battle that lead to the current Isla Paradiso, and serves as the event the festival is held to honor:
The “official story” i.e. the one taught in the history books that inspires the lighter wealthier population’s celebration.
The “real story,” or the survival tale descendants of the archipelago’s original, darker and poorer, residents, pass down and celebrate.
Then the truth, which none of the sims in the game actually knows at this point.
The costumes worn by the residents were based on their respective myths. Only one group’s costumes got captured during live mode, and only a little of their history will be shared in A Farming Town: Tropical Vacation since this is told mostly through Conquer and he’s an outsider.
Next up, the first festival CAS post.
