Sunday, December 14, 2014

Wow, It's Been Almost a Month!

A lot has happened this month, personally and Sims-related, and although I'm looking forward to Delaney taking off to the moon, you need to know, dear readers, that Delaney is technically now a sim created from the same parents and looking almost identical, but not the same sim.

I should probably also let any readers of this blog know that I should be diagnosed with ADD, Sims Type.

Slightly Long Version of What Happened to my Sims 4 file:  
In late November I started getting the strong desire to create a Sims 3 world.  Back when Create-A-World first came out, I gave it a shot, but was frustrated when it stopped working with (I think) the Generations EP.  Now that Sims 3 is a done deal, it occurred to me that I could use it without worrying about updates and patches.  The only problem was, my new gaming computer's hard drive was almost out of space on the C drive, and I needed to figure out how to mount the extra drives to be able to reinstall all the Sims 3 packs.

I spent most of the Thanksgiving break figuring out how to use the file management aspects of Windows 8.1 (yes, I was still hanging on to Windows 7 all this time) and how to get all my gaming stuff (Sims 2, Sims 3, Sims 4, Skyrim) on my D drive and still have it work right.  Did you know that you can't put your Origin games on a different drive after you install them?  Origin will tell you that you don't have authorization to use those games. (Long story which I won't bore you with.)  Except one tiny detail.

The second time I reinstalled everything on my computer, I lost my Sims 4 files somehow.  (The first time they were still there...but the second time, AFTER using my back up drive as a restore drive, I realized I couldn't find them on the other drive....

I found the Tesla legacy family on my gallery on the desktop, back when Cassandra was a newborn.  So I had the DNA, but I didn't have the actual Sims, with all their skills, relationships, history, and achievements anymore.  Or the house.  Or the amazing garden.  If only I had backed them up to the shared gallery, they would still be there.

What to do?  I decided to recreate the family, up until Delaney, with the Edit In CAS and genetics tool, but I just did not want to do all the cheating necessary to get them all back to an approximation of themselves.  So it boils down to this, story-wise:

Very Short Version of What Happened to the Tesla Family:

There was a huge disaster of some unnamed kind, and the only family members who survived were Barnaby, Cacey (Cassandra's sister), and Delaney.  Delaney has gone to live with Cacey in Oasis Springs, right now they are both overcome with grief.  However, Cacey is committed to helping Delaney fulfill her dreams (and Brad's and Maddi's), of becoming an astronaut.  Barnaby is living in a trailer next door to Cacey and Delaney.






Delaney really wants to laugh with Uncle Barnaby, but she's still so sad all the time.


Delaney gives herself a pep talk before starting on her homework.



Delaney and Cacey are going to make it together.





Here is the cloned family before I killed most of them off:  (which was really awful and I was going to do it about three times before I followed through.  It just takes so long to use the cheat codes to "remake" sims).  Everyone died a peaceful death, of old age.  (Even young adults can die of old age with a cheat code.)




And back to Sims 3 Create-A-World, I am learning to use that tool and have decided on creating a medieval world that is reminiscent of the area of the northern British isles and Celtic-like culture. There is going to be a town with a cathedral, a castle fortress, a monastery hill station with most of the other cultural and scientific resources of the area, farmland, woodland, and bluffs overlooking the sea, with a henge.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 3.4: Cassandra Saves the Legacy

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Delaney Tesla was a woman on a mission.  She believed her granddad, that it was her destiny to fulfill her great-grandmother's dream of one of the Tesla's becoming a space explorer, and she worked every day on her science skills.





After she finished her homework, she was either on the nursery porch working on chemistry, or in the small observatory with her granddad, charting the stars.



Sunday, November 9, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 3.3: Taming of the Snob

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Cassandra Tesla couldn't even wait for the guests to leave, or to take her wedding dress off.  She had to get back to her beloved plants.  





Her new husband, Cedric, decided he'd rather help out in the garden than go wait in the bedroom alone.  He tended to Grandma Maddi's apple tree.


Thursday, November 6, 2014

Simdale Valley Architects Go Overboard on new YMCA Pool!

Local residents Seiki, Daniel, and Yuki Ono enjoying the new rooftop pool at the Y.




The Simdale YMCA has reopened, with a widely anticipated multi-million dollar renovation including a state-of-the-art gym, smoothie bar, internet cafe, and rooftop pool.  Now Simdale Valley residents can enjoy the pool inside or out!


Monday, November 3, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 3.2: Cassandra's Wedding (or, Another Day with the Evil Snob)

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It was the day before Cassandra's wedding, and the bride was not getting her nails done, or having a bachelor party.  She was hunting down an elusive tomato plant to add a cutting to her garden.  Finally, late in the afternoon, after searching every neighborhood in Willow Creek and Oasis Springs, she found a community garden she hadn't noticed before in the low cost area of Oasis Springs.  In the midst of the dust-blown landscape, she finally got her cutting, and a few tomatoes.




Cassandra went home with her treasure and immediately planted one tomato, and grafted one cutting.  Then she tenderly checked each of her plants, which she had been away from since dawn.    Her fiance, Cedric, who had gotten really sad in her absence, came out to eat his supper and watch her garden.




Saturday, October 25, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 3.1: A New Era of Green

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Beatrice continued to spend a lot of time, apparently in regret, for the way she had treated her mom, Maddi.  




Cacey was in the last few days of her childhood and enjoying it thoroughly.




Sunday, October 19, 2014

Simdale Valley Update: Ono Family First to Move to Sims 4

Sayuri Ono is 51; Daniel Ono is 46; Seiki Ono is 21; Yuki Ono is 12.  Ono Family Profile  (Profiles have been updated with Sims 4 info)


Seiki's Previous Update / Ono Family Previous Update

This is a mini-update.


This is the neighborhood (open world segment) that the Ono's live in.  The green house in the foreground is the only house I left standing, that shipped with the game.  It looked a lot like the Endeavor's house did in Sims 2, and I loved the placement right next to the children's park (as it was in Sims 2).  It's fun to imagine Simone taking Sienna and Charlotte out to the park.   I renovated the interior and a little bit to the exterior front.

Across from the Endeavors (next to the Ono's) I will probably build Laney and Declan's house.  There is a community garden behind that lot.  The last lot, I currently plan to be the location of Simdale Valley Church (and graveyard).  I will probably wait a bit to see if graveyards are added to the game before building it.


The Ono's are the first family to make the move from Sims 2 to Sims 4.  Their house is pretty close to the way it looked before; except before it sat on a bluff overlooking Port Prominence Bay.  In this world, the commercial area and one residential lot overlook Port Prominence Bay and the other homes are on rivers or canals.

One of the proposed expansions (in the survey that was circulated by EA)  would allow players to customize their worlds more.  That's one I most hope is made reality eventually.





Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 2.7: A Little Bit of Each Other

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"We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."  Tim McGraw


From the outside, everything looked idyllic and peaceful at the Tesla home.




But inside, the situation was  not fairy-tale worthy.  (Evil witch forced to wash large piles of dishes: not by the book.)



Monday, September 29, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 2.6: Baby Boom

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In the days after Barnaby's wedding, Beatrice found herself pulled to her mother's grave more often.  She was uncharacteristically saddened by the loss.





Take Me to the Moon 2.5: Barnaby's Wedding






Barnaby grieved hard for two long days.  Nothing seemed to console him after his mother's death.  The family was forced to postpone the wedding until Barnaby could think of life going on.




Saturday, September 27, 2014

Take Me To The Moon 2.4: Changing of the Guard




Maddi was getting older, and just didn't have the energy she used to, but her granddaughter Cassandra kept her active.



Take Me To The Moon 2.3: The Cassandra Complex




After Micah's death, Maddi once again planted a little apple tree, and started to tend it daily.  The one she planted when Beatrice was a baby had died from neglect in the long years of hard work and struggle to make ends meet.




Maddi seemed to be aging quickly these days, but she had reason to be happy.


Take Me To The Moon 2.2: Beatrice's Wedding

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Beatrice and Brad were having a modest but formal event at the Tesla home, overlooking Willow Creek.



They rehearsed their vows before the ceremony.


Take Me to the Moon 2.1: Emergence of the Hulk




With a substantial raise and her eldest about to become an adult, Maddi felt more together than she had in years.  She decided to make a gourmet black & white cake for Barnaby's birthday.


 As Barnaby thought about what he wanted to wish for, Maddi felt quite proud of her son. 



Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 1.6: Takin' Care of Business




After Beatrice's teen birthday, Barnaby set out to make some friends his own age.  In the Garden District he met a guy named Harry Potter.



All the homes in this area were grand old houses situated along the creek, with willows shading the banks and little parks tucked in around the houses.


Monday, September 22, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 1.5: And So It Begins





As Barnaby's teen birthday approached, all was not happy at the usually merry Tesla home.  Maddi and Micah had their first ever fight, and said things they both regretted.  Maddi even tore into Micah's woohoo technique.



Although both of them tried to turn the conversation more positive at times, they ended up seething in separate rooms.

It was time for Barnaby's birthday, and despite fatigue and hectic work schedules, Maddi and Micah prepared to throw a party.  The fridge broke down, fortunately AFTER the cake and the salad were made.  Even breaking out his sombrero failed to lift Micah's mood.
 


Finally, though, the house and cake were ready.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Take Me to the Moon 1.4: Beatrice & Barnaby





The Tesla Family, Generations 1 & 2
Micah, Maddi (Founder), Barnaby, and Beatrice (Heir)



The Tesla Family Home



Floor Plan

Take Me to the Moon 1.3: Beatrice, The Early Years




Beatrice Tesla was born into the family!  Her traits and aspirations were determined by the randomizer:  As a child, she is evil and has the aspiration to be an Artistic Prodigy.  As a teen, she rolled the Romantic Trait, and as an adult will continue her love of art and have the aspiration to be a mixologist.




The proud dad.  Of course, how evil can she truly be?




Barnaby says hello to his little sister.


He wants his dad to play chess with him or read him a book, but Micah has a deadline if he wants the next promotion.






Barnaby brings his toys out and starts playing with them at Micah's desk.




Take Me to the Moon 1.2: Barnaby's Birth




Maddi holds her first child, Barnaby Tesla.



Micah is so gentle with Barnaby!




Four Years Later


Maddi and Micah are expecting their second child.


Maddi is enjoying cutting loose a little.


Barnaby has become a very sweet, smart child.  His childhood aspiration is to be a whiz kid, and his trait is outgoing.




Barnaby is excited to be an older brother.






Barnaby Tesla got his mom's cheekbones, nose, and mouth.  He got his dad's eye color and hair color, but the shape around his eyes is from his mom.