We now interrupt your regularly scheduled program...

...to debut the new Crescent Hills that I've been working on, it's been eating up my time. I didn't want to bring it to the blog yet because I didn't want to broadcast yet another world that I'd inevitably give up on. This one is actually almost finished, so I'm doing pretty good. Since I used the Riverview template to make this world, I had to delete the actual Riverview to get it to work (R.I.P.). However, I think it will be worth it to see my ideas in action. Plus, I got to keep all the Riverview items with none of the Riverview. Sweet!

My sim, Annie Rico (who you might recognize if you played "Annie's Millions") just entered the nectary. I tried to make it arty and French-y (the term "French-y" used very loosely)




She took a stop by the convenience shop to pick up some stuff from the general store, but alas, nothing! I think my two register hacks are conflicting.


She got tired, so I took her out into the woodlands for some rest.


And that's about all that's happened so far. :) For more views of the world, click here. I'll be doing some more work on the world tomorrow and I'll be visiting the Dillard household once again.

March 27, 2010- A very short update

With finals coming up, I haven't been able to tend to my CAW project as much as I'd like, but so that you guys have something to see, I present you with pics! :)




Also, these lovely screen captions are courtesy of the free photo-editing program Photoscape, which has allowed me to take better screen caps as well as making them look more enhanced. :)

March 13- 2010- More Create A World!

I did some quick editing (about 30 minutes to an hour) in CAW today, and I have some new pics to show you guys. :)

Crescent Hills

Crescent Lake

Bridge (I removed the other bridge)

Rock bed (I don't know if you can tell, but the rock bed is right next to the cluster of rocks show in in the picture. I took some landscaping rocks as well as some smooth granite rocks and sunk them a little below the ground to add realism. Hopefully you'll be able to see them if you click on the picture)

Things seem to be coming along nicely so far.

*Also, judging by some of the pictures, the dirt and the terrain look very messy. I promise you that this is merely a side affect of CAW, and that it looks as it should when zoomed in far enough. :)

March 12, 2010- CAW Pics :)

I've still got some work to do on the bridge, but it's coming along nicely. I still wish we were allowed to use the bridge that came with Riverview. I'm still working on the terrain as well, as you can see lol. I don't know what I'm going to do with the mountains, and I don't know if I should go ahead and paint the mainland as well since it's rather large and it'll be a pain to try and fight with the opacity settings again. Also, "x" marks the spot! Or more accurately..."x" marks the center of the map which will be the city. And the lake that I showed you was shaped like a crescent moon by accident, but now it'll be called Crescent Lake. I'm not laying down any official roads until I get the terrain situated.

This world will be landlocked with the exception of the one part that faces the ocean, and the little island that links to the other side of the world. I'm actually thinking about turning the mountains into hills maybe, so I can have my Crescent Hills. That, and I have no clue how to paint mountains that aren't snowy, lol. I can't seem to find good mountain textures. It's supposed to be kind of country-like anyway, so it would work....

An Apology, and A Side Project

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update! RL happened (when does it not?) and 2009 was not a pleasant year for me. But now, I'm recharged and refreshed for 2010, and soon, this blog will be too! I'm thinking about maybe changing the template on this blog, since I feel this one's too complicated, and I'll probably switch to something more basic with the same kind of theme (magazine-like). And also, I'm going to be attempting to use the CAW tool!

Before installing the tool, I am backing up my game, temporarily removing my hacks, and updating my game. That way, if anything goes wrong, I'll (hopefully) be in the clear.
And instead of blogging about CAW on a different blog, I'm going to blog about my progress on this blog, because I feel that I have too many blogs as it is. I will update you guys on my progress, and I'll be starting back up on that legacy soon! :)

Whatever happens, don't let go of my hand...

Whatever happens, don't let go of my hand...
Generation 1

After landing a promotion to Bed Pan Cleaner, Helena purchased an easel. She always wanted to take up painting as a kid, but her parents placed her primary focus on schooling and logistics. Not that that was bad, but Helena wanted to unwind every once in awhile, and painting was the perfect way to do it.

She had the next two days off, so she spent it wandering about town. She noticed a protest on the illegal use of unicorns, and quickly took part in it along with local residents Emily Martin, Erin McCoy, Jon Marsh, Shannon Spraque, Tammy Leman, and Christopher Lantin.

And a very pregnant Jane Dotner-Dugan (Tristan Dotner-Dugan's new bride) was also at the protest.

Helena got impatient with the whole "scouting for mates" thing, and decided to make an unnecessary call to the fire department in efforts to find a suitable male. Needless to say, Isidro Toth was not impressed.

He seems to have good genes, though, so Mr. Poutyface will have to get over it. He's already doomed far beyond what a $500 fine can fix.

In fact, Isidro and Helena had their first date a few hours after he reprimanded her. I guess those Flirty and Friendly traits really come in handy. ;)
(oh, and they both share the Hot-Headed trait. So it's officially decided that the family trait will be "hot headed")

And right after she flirted with him, he began to yell at her. I can already see what this relationship will be like, and I have a feeling it will be very intense. Poor kids.
Thankfully, all she needed was a flirty joke and a pickup line, and he pretty much stopped yelling at her.

...for two simhours. Then he started yelling again.
And here I thought Helena was temperamental.

And once again, all Helena needed to do was flirt and apologize. The next time he pulls that, I'm not having her apologize. Instead, I'm going to have her yell back. Helena's no pushover, and she only stays "calm" for so long before she erupts.

*sigh* and speaking of the next time...

And basically, I didn't take any more photos of the date because it got overly repetitive. Apologize, flirt, yell, repeat. This relationship would be so much easier to build by phone. I would give up entirely, but she's got a bit of a crush on him. And I'm pretty sure he feels the same. They'll just be one of those..."passionate" couples.

She invited him over the next day for a nice, quiet, civilized game of chess.

And finally, they stopped yelling at each other long enough to become friends, and then romantic interests.

And then they shared their first kiss, which made up for all those times he rejected her before. What a bittersweet way to end your weekend off from work. Early on that morning, she convinced him to move in. So hopefully, the hard part is taken care of.

Name: Isidro Toth
Age: YA (older than Helena)
Traits: Lucky, Hot-Headed, Clumsy, Handy, Brave
Favorite Music/Food/Color: Kids/Cheesesteak/Purple
Career in: Law Enforcement (previously firefighter)

Helena came home from work (still a bedpan cleaner) and checked on the Dotner-Dugan household. Jane and Tristan have recently had a little boy named Troy, who is the second baby ever to have been born in Crescent Valley.

I have a feeling Troy is going to break a lot of hearts.

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Okay, so, thanks to Twallan's Story Progression Mod, I am able to know what goes on in your sims' lives without having to actually play them. Which is great, since I don't really have the time to play them right now, but I love having them around. It gives the town some humor. :)
So far, Tristan is the only sim (a part from my sim Emily Martin-Lu, who got married and had a baby boy named Brandon) who has actually gotten married and had a child, haha! And he was also promoted. To what, I'm not sure, since the message disappeared before I had time to write it down. I'm pretty sure it's either level 2, 3, or 4 of the Criminal Career. As for all the other sims, they've been flip-flopping between lovers and romantic interests, especially Jon Marsh and George Lessen, lol! Tammy landed herself a serious beau, apparently, but I never know since like I said, they flip-flop. Nothing is really set in stone until they have their significant other move in, or they get married to them. Tammy was demoted, and Shannon is the only one who seems to be slacking in both her career and her love life, poor girl! She's still a dishwasher, and according to my mod, has no romantic interests to speak of right now. And Alicia had better watch out, because I'm noticing Casanova traits in Jon. Alicia Longshore and Jon Marsh are currently romantically involved.

Oh, and I'm sure you guys will be pleased to hear that Tristan and George have made some adversaries. George is enemies with Isidro mainly, but Tristan is basically on everyone's hit list with the exception of Isidro, Helena, Emily, and some other sims. It appears Tristan prefers to pick on NPC's rather than player-made sims.

Everything's Just Wonderful

Everything's Just Wonderful

Generation 1, Chapter 1

This isn't entirely what Helena had in mind when moving to Crescent Hills. I mean, even her parents had walls when they first started out! All she gets is a dinky brick wall. She knew that if she was going to get anything better, she was going to have to work hard, be frugal, and be on the prowl for a future spouse. But before any of that could happen, she needed a job.

She applied as an organ donor for the County General Hospital, and she started immediately. Her ambition did not betray her, since she got a nice boost in her job performance score on the first day. Not enough to promote her, but definitely enough so that tomorrow she can slack off without worrying about jeopardizing her promotion.

She met her boss Ms. Tammy Leman, and they got along very well. Making nice with the boss is definitely helpful in getting that next promotion.

Helena explored the Town Square for a bit and met a local author and relationship counselor, Emily Martin. Here, she is expressing her writer's block in hopes that Helena could somehow break the block for her.

While she was wandering, Helena came across a lovely and historic park named McDougal Park. It was filled with all sorts of goodies and rare plants, like, for instance, money trees. Of course, not being the green-thumb type, Helena had no use for these items. She had no choice but to sell them.

That doesn't mean they were entirely worthless, of course. Those rare plants paid for her most recent upgrades. Helena won't be visiting McDougal Park again (she felt dishonest for selling goods that weren't hers), but she will most definitely enjoy the luxuries those Life and Money plants gave her.

Luxury indeed.

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So I felt really bad for waiting this long to give you guys an update, so while I was expecting to play more later and fit more in, I decided to use the photos I already have and give you guys an update.

McDougal Park was not made by me, but instead a very talented user on ModtheSims. I did not know that park had so many valuable plants, lol! I thought it only had the apple trees and the lime trees. But it had life plants, hamburger plants, lettuce plants, flame fruits, money trees...the works! It even had a death flower, which apparently, cannot be sold. I didn't realize it until it was too late, and I felt really guilty about it. So, I don't quite know how to penalize myself, lol. Maybe I'll just let it slide THIS time. :)

I've decided that every update will have the name of a song/phrase that is related to the update somehow, whether it be the complete opposite of the chapter, or very similar. I still haven't decided on the family trait quite yet.

Thanks for reading!

It All Started With A Simple Thought...

It all started with a simple thought.

Or more accurately, a test. How would a TS2 sim get by in TS3? Surely she wasn't the first to try it, and she won't be the last, but after the unfortunate demise of Myettah Glendale, Helena Jitmakusol was ready to take the plunge. She never knew Myettah personally. In fact, they both came from different backgrounds. Myettah was born into poverty, whereas Helena was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Helena never had a child (although she desired at most two), but Myettah's house was constantly filled with the innocent laughter of her multiple children, and not to mention grandchildren.



So why would the Creator choose Helena of all people? What did she have to offer, other than her terrible temper and flirtatiousness? Was it her ambition? Her friendly spirit? Was it because she is a certified genius and was a top-of-the-line surgeon? Did the Creator herself even know?



Whatever the reason, Helena is sure to make the best of it. It's not every day you get an opportunity like this. Her mother didn't, her father didn't, her twin brother didn't. Not even her alien half-siblings had this opportunity. Although she was raised in luxury and never had to "rough it" (unless you count her honeymoon in her luxury log cabin), her upbringing did not cause her to develop a snobbish trait.

For any other sim, this would be a curse; having to leave your family and friends behind. But she didn't mind much. She knew that she was doing this for the sake of science. She also knew that her doing this made her parents proud. Although the road would be long and exhausting, Helena was willing to try. And they even gave her a journal to write in about her new life in Crescent Hills...

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As you can see, this is a bit of a prologue to give the story a bit of a background. I don't really plan on having this legacy be as "dramatic" as Myettah's, but instead just have a careful balance of everything. A delicate arrangement of drama, humor, monotony, and excitement: just like an "ordinary" life would have. :)
I don't think I'll be playing by any rules other than the basics (aka no cheating, no marrying rich sims, etc.) and I can't really think of a family trait. I'll have to get back on that one.

Crescent Hills Update! (11/8/09)

Well, Helena Jitmakusol is still under-construction, but she's becoming more and more like her TS2 counterpart. Something's slightly off, though. I'll figure it out when I go back into CAS. But for now, here's a sneak peek:


So far, I've been focusing on moving in the townies and building homes for them. About halfway, I just gave up and gave some of them homes that I downloaded. They're not masterpieces, but they function! :)

The Staple Household

Alicia Longshore by SelahFreeAtLast
Max Staple by Sue_D_Nim
(the house was built by me)

The Lessen Household

George Lessen by Chyrsame
Shannon Sprague by Chrysame
(house built by me)

The Leman Household

Tammy Leman by Nicarra60
Jon Marsh by SelahFreeAtLast
(house built by me)

The McCoy Household

Erin McCoy by Chrysame
Alan Reynolds by Chrysame
(house by GLachaille)

The Dugan Household

Tristan Dugan by Chrysame
(house by GLachaille)

I may play these households from time to time, but I will be checking the newspaper daily to see what shenanigans your sims' have gotten into, and if I see anything, then I'll report back to you guys here on this blog. It's only fair. :)

The actual stories, journals, and "newspaper" entries won't start until I've gotten Helena settled. I can't wait to see how she reacts to your guys' sims, and vice versa! :)
(I think she may have her eye on Tristan...)