Strange Tomato (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
strangetomato) wrote2011-10-22 11:09 am
strangetomato) wrote2011-10-22 11:09 am
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Sims dream, and discussion about premade reluctance.
I had a dream about sims last night. I was playing the game, though of course it was more like this very large scale thing that I was observing in the dream. I think I had discovered a new premade character, possibly a university student, who was a pleasure sim and she had the LTW to "Have everyone's phone number." I think it was to be filled by meeting every sim in the game! :P I was excited to have discovered a new LTW in the game (and poor Pleasure sims need more than the two they're given). The character was a female with short black hair and pretty plain clothing. Nothing special, but I liked her. She was throwing a huge party.
Then the dream got weird and I was trying to screencap some of the odd scenes at this sim's party so I could share them. There was something about a General Buzz type character making out with a sim that looked like Bowser or a Sesame Street monster. Yeah, like I said, it got weird fast.
I've been playing through all the university characters lately, trying to get all the university premades out into the adult world for the current timeframe of S,HWC, to be replaced by the younger generation (any sims that were children or toddlers at game start). It's pretty fun, and I'm playing up the entire uberhood to be at roughly the 14 day mark (using the lot sync timer), but I'm finally feeling that reluctance some simmers mention about not wanting to play the premades because they feel it's ruining the stories and not using the "right" path for them. This usually doesn't bother me, but I tend to look at the S,HWC universe as my more or less official take on the premades, so I do feel this desire to set them all on some sort of best path for my take on things.
This is, no doubt, ridiculous. Many of these characters have at least two different paths that would be equally pleasing to me, and some of them are just complete wild cards. I've already played through a lot of it with the original versions of these hoods for my story and I liked that direction, but the second play through invariably brings new ideas and new chance happenings, ACR surprises, etc. No two plays through this game will ever be the same. That's part of what I like about it, and really, it's also part of my idea of the story universe that some rare sims are aware of the infinite versions of themselves out there, like their version of quantum physics.
Has anyone else had that feeling about the premades? I love trying different variations, but working on a complete uberhood has me feeling like I have to get this version "right."
Then the dream got weird and I was trying to screencap some of the odd scenes at this sim's party so I could share them. There was something about a General Buzz type character making out with a sim that looked like Bowser or a Sesame Street monster. Yeah, like I said, it got weird fast.
I've been playing through all the university characters lately, trying to get all the university premades out into the adult world for the current timeframe of S,HWC, to be replaced by the younger generation (any sims that were children or toddlers at game start). It's pretty fun, and I'm playing up the entire uberhood to be at roughly the 14 day mark (using the lot sync timer), but I'm finally feeling that reluctance some simmers mention about not wanting to play the premades because they feel it's ruining the stories and not using the "right" path for them. This usually doesn't bother me, but I tend to look at the S,HWC universe as my more or less official take on the premades, so I do feel this desire to set them all on some sort of best path for my take on things.
This is, no doubt, ridiculous. Many of these characters have at least two different paths that would be equally pleasing to me, and some of them are just complete wild cards. I've already played through a lot of it with the original versions of these hoods for my story and I liked that direction, but the second play through invariably brings new ideas and new chance happenings, ACR surprises, etc. No two plays through this game will ever be the same. That's part of what I like about it, and really, it's also part of my idea of the story universe that some rare sims are aware of the infinite versions of themselves out there, like their version of quantum physics.
Has anyone else had that feeling about the premades? I love trying different variations, but working on a complete uberhood has me feeling like I have to get this version "right."
To follow the story line, turn to pg 12. To let the characters play it themselves, turn to pg 15...
(Anonymous) 2011-10-26 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)And what a crazy dream!! Bowser . . . LOL! I can see the (modified cow) Uni mesh now!
Re: the topic at hand, I found myself having that same "must be right" OCD affecting my desire to play the premade hoods, particularly PV. It got worse after the uberhoods were introduced--seemed harder to keep the story lines going in the direction they were "supposed to." ACR can really throw some curve balls! It got to the point that I wouldn't play the story hoods because I'd just screw it up and hate it.
But I've found that by keeping a "clean" copy of each hood tucked safely away somewhere, I can always reload and start from scratch again later . . . now I sit back, turn on all the hacks and mods and let randomness rule. It's a bit like those Choose Your Own Adventure books, but I let the sims decide where the game is going to go. I've ended up with some awesome stories!
Inevitably, however, I get bored by about the third generation and have to load up a fresh start. Ha! :)
I'm always amazed that even though they're bits of coding, some of them do seem to have their own personalities and desires. Some characters play the same role over and over, and others switch it up. Are they following a script, or did they find the path that worked for them in the simverse? Are the ones that change from time to time still trying to find their way or just having fun?
I've always wondered about Dina. She has sooo many background bits that could take her story just about anywhere, but she's always viewed as this evil scheming gold-digger. In every version of PV I've played, she goes after Morty with a vengeance (her rolls, not mine) and settles into family life almost immediately. It's pretty mutual from Morty's end, too. Even without secondary aspiration set Dina rolls wants for babies, playing with family members, etc. (Maybe my game is confused.) How did she go from a happily married woman in love with her (late) husband to a poor money-grubbing widow living with her sister vehemently chasing after the one rich, available man in town . . . who, btw (following the story lines/family trees), is her former brother-in-law and also grieving for a lost love? I suspect there are several secrets Michael took to his, uh, urn, that we are not privy to! My take is Dina was left to pick up the pieces however best she could, and found a sympathetic heart in Morty.
In my game Cassandra almost always ends up with Darren at some point and they have a zillion kids, usually all girls and every one of them gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Nina and Don usually have a set of twins together, and roll constant wants to flirt or woohoo with each other specifically--I usually move them in together to save play time. Adult Beau Broke somehow ALWAYS ends up meeting and immediately falling for Emily Lillard (one of the dressed-for-bowling employed townies; can't find her on a character's list tho), they make lots of money and babies and live happily ever after every. single. time.
I think my computer reads too many romance novels while I'm at work.