strangetomato | Updates and rambling on about various things

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Updates and rambling on about various things

It's a grab bag of topics, folks...

So, what is this... Wednesday? *scratches head* Could I post the next chapter by the end of the week? I haven't actually taken any photos for it yet, but maybe I could put it together in a couple of days.

I'm thinking of taking a different approach to some of the upcoming chapters, and making them more centrally focused on one character or group of characters. The next chapter will have two parts (was originally going to be one, but I thought I'd add a little look at Erin and Circe before I got to Nervous - that side of the plot needs to catch up with itself). After that, I'm going to take all the college kids up to graduation (well, not Buck, Jill, etc.), but I think I'm going to tackle them seperately. There'll be a chapter on the trio, one just about Frances, one about Tank (yeah, I could combine those, but maybe not...). There'll be some overlap there with events in those sections, but I think this will work. I'll probably send Vidcund to Veronaville in there somewhere too.

So... it's good to have a plan of action. Next up: get some momentum back.

Oh, and squirrel_tamer has been feeding my creativity in a big way with some new drawings, and she REALLY outdid herself on the latest one. (Seriously, I'd like to print this out and frame it... and maybe I will.) It really captures the whole J/R/O thing so well for me, and it's a gorgeous drawing. Scroll up for some other sketches, and she posted this set recently too - also very cool. (I'm pretty sure those are the only ones I haven't linked to yet.)

Thanks a BILLION for these, ST (hey, we have the same initials. How... confusing). ^_^ You're super cool. I liked your suggested soundtrack for that latest drawing, but I'd also like to suggest Illuminated by Weird War. Have a listen (it's on Youtube)... I think it really works. *adjusts nerdly glasses*

Speaking of nerds, If you'll allow me to nerd out about characterization a little here, I love how she's drawn their bodies in this one. It really exaggerates the differences in heights and builds in the way I imagine they differ. Ophelia is so cute and pear-shaped. And short... or, at least, she's short compared to Johnny. Johnny is tall (I think of PT as being tall too, so perhaps it's an alien thing) and thin. He's athletic, and not really underweight, but maybe bordering on it. Ripp probably tells him that he needs to eat more meat. *snicker* I really like the image of Johnny as this willowy, green, vegan athlete. It's pretty kickass to me.

Ripp is physically average, but has a hint of those solid "army guy" genetics, and you can tell he could be really well built, like Tank is, if he bothered to try (though, of course, he doesn't). He's somewhat broad-shouldered and it all looks pretty good, but get closer and he feels... kinda flabby.

I told you this would be nerdy. ;)

I also sometimes think about how their voices would sound, and I've made reference to it here and there in the story (same goes for those body types too - I've mentioned it a couple of times). Some characters give off really definite "voices" like that when I'm writing their dialogue. I'll spare you the details for now... unless you're really interested.

I've been playing with Apartment Life a little, and I do enjoy a lot of the new features. There are some issues with it, of course, but MATY has provided some fixes (be sure to get the critical fix and the updated notownieregen - that fixes an NPC spawning issue similar to the one from BV - both hacks are in the updated Director's Cut). I'm happy to have the Director's Cut again, since there are some real sanity-savers in there, though I always spend some time weeding out all the hacks I don't like. Traditional Marriage? Umm, no thanks... I can decide who's name gets taken myself.

Speaking of the Director's Cut, there are always a number of hacks that are unlisted in the hack description thread. Does anyone know how to find information on those? I know it's part of the whole "director's cut" thing and I don't get to know what they do because I'm not "awesome" enough, but most actual director's cut dvds come with hours of commentary that over-explain the movie in question. I don't see why we can't get a simple one-liner about what those mystery hacks do.

But anyway... I'm lucky to have the Director's Cut at all, aren't I? I shouldn't complain.

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Okay... you know that piece of art did something to me because I think Ophelia looks ADORABLE in it! OMG believe it or not it actually is making me a bit excited for Sims 3, because maybe... just maybe... we'll be able to re create all of our Strangetown characters in it and make them look more like that. Seriously. I completely agree with your body-type assesments of them. I see Ophelia as being sassy and not exactly fat, but roundish with some boobage and boot-ay on her, and Johnny... yes, yes yes on the tall willowy perhaps bordering on underweight (for a human) and Ripp having a decent body without even trying because of his genetics, but letting it go just a bit from laziness. :D Perfect!

I would love to know how you hear their voices. :D

That is a pretty awesome drawing. :D

I'm excited that you're getting into your story again! I've missed it. All those topics sound quite interesting. I was wondering when they would all graduate. :)

I always take out the Traditional Marriage, too. Ugh. I use the last name chooser from MTS2 instead. Other than that, I keep most things in, except for a couple which I can't remember right now. :p Usually you can find out what the mystery hacks do if you dig around enough in the various threads on MATY, but it's not always easy. Any in particular you wonder about? I may (or may not) know.

Oh wow. That main picture is so intense. It speaks volumes without saying anything (if you know what I mean).

Thanks for the little 'tasters' too. I'm looking forward to hearing more from our little community of Sims. I can't really say Strangetown community now, as they're scattered from far and wide.

Okay, I'm hopelessly failing at finding which version of the DC I should d/l at MATY. Ughhh... that website should have a warning on it: Do Not Try To Find Anything If You Have An IQ Of Less Than 200 Because YOU WILL FAIL.

Nevermind... I found it. It was like, AT THE TOP. Sheesh.
*is embarrassed and crawls into a hole*

Edited 2008-09-03 15:51 (UTC)

I love the way you nerd out about the characters. It shows a real caring and attention to detail, signs of a good writer. And I really like your idea of a threesome. I recently started work on an OT3 in the Matrix fandom, and ever since I've been fascinated by the group dynamics of a triad as opposed to a traditional couple. If done right, it's a beautiful thing to read.

I still have plans to go back and read your stuffs from the beginning, BTW. It just seems too great not to.

Heheh. I was just about that say that.

Don't worry... I feel the same way at MATY most of the time, and I think my IQ is decent... though sometimes I do wonder about that.

Isn't it a great drawing? :) I love it.

That's something I really look forward to in Sims 3. I don't think we get an option for height though, which is a shame. I'd love to try to recreate these guys, and other characters, in Sims 3. They'd really be my version of them after that. People could take the Maxis sims in so many different directions that way.

*snort* Now I'm thinking about that Date-rape Don Lothario again. One example of a very bad character recreation. :P

You like those ideas for their builds? :) It's fun to think about those details that can't be added with the game. Some of the characters just give off a vibe to me (and some of it is based on the way I have styled them, etc.). The shape of the face can sometimes suggest a body type too. I see Nervous as being pretty thin too, since his face is so long and thin. It make him look gaunt.

Heheh. The voices. Maybe I'll save that for another time. ;)

THe dynmaics in a couple compare to a trio is so much more intense that is why I'm so addicted to the J/R/O. I can't wait to read more just because of it. I love anything you do, so take your time and don't pressure youself, these drabbles and updates are fine by me until you decide what to produce. I'll wait because I know that it will be magnifescent.

No need to feel too nerdly about intense characterization. I do it all the time, even down to how their voices sound in my head. My characters are very real to me and I take how I write them very seriously. Damn, I hope that I don't sound creepy now. Changing back to the subject at hand...

I love in the artwork that Ophelia's hips are so round. Though we have pictures of her, that's always how I've seen her. The emotion of it is really beautiful and really shows off Johnny as the awkward father figure of the three. In so many ways, Johnny strikes me as the father that Ripp always wanted. He's someone who cares enough to be tough with him, but loves him enough to accept him for who he is.

I'm wondering how many returning characters we'll see in Sims 3. Strangetown is easily my favorite of the existing hoods, but I've heard rumor that I'm in the minority.

Ah, I'm super excited about potential updates. I love them so. Though, I also really love all the little drabble-y bits as well.

Thanks for the shout-outs once again. I always appreciate it. Also, yay music suggestions! I'll definitely have to check that one out.

I really tried to bring around the body types this time. That really was a focus of this. I know we've definitely discussed before how we see each of these guys physically and I wanted to try and bring that out. I also have this weird theory that (and this is ignoring the fact that sims don't actually have body hair) the aliens are almost completely hairless or that the hair on their arms and such is just tiny little bits. I'm not sure why, that's just how I see them. Whereas I imagine Tank and Ripp have manly arm hair, it seems to me that Johnny... wouldn't.

Yum yum voices. Do tell. Hmmm. Any specific (voice) actors in mind? I do that with my own characters all the time.

I'm excited to start back with full chapters too. :) It's seems like it's been such a long time since I updated.

The graduation has been a long time coming, hasn't it? There was just so much I wanted to cover during their college years. I didn't even really get to do all of it, but I'm satisfied with what I have at this point. I can clue it up and do everything I need to do before they move on. Things change after college (much like in real life). I'll miss it.

Sometimes I type in the name of the hack in the search function at MATY, but that doesn't always give me results. I don't know which ones I was wondering about offhand, but I could compile a list later. I'd love to know what some of them do, that's for sure. I don't want to be preventing things I like from happening, like when the romance mod was keeping Johnny and Ripp from dancing together. (I mean, I know they probably shouldn't bump and grind, but still...)

I know exactly what you mean. There's a lot of emotion in that drawing, which I really love. I think she's captured a lot of pretty accurate emotion in it too, but I won't say too much more about that, since you'll find out soon enough.

I like doing the drabbles and short things. It's fun to give those little glimpses and extras, and it keeps things moving. It can be great for developing characters and ideas too. Feel free to add a prompt to the drabble list if you want (though I think you already have, if I recall...).

Yeah, the story is spread out over the whole Maxis "world", really, but the heart of the story is always in Strangetown. Or goes back there.

I never use the director's cut. There's things in there he changes that I actually like in the game. One thing I can suggest for finding out what something does, though, is look it up in the non-DC directory and see if it's there. If it's there, it should have its own RTFM.

I know he's got some stuff in the DC that's not in other places, but hopefully you can find out what everything does. :)

It took me forever to find, too. And the undescribed hacks...I'm very curious about what the darwincowplant one does.

I put in the usual selected director's cut hacks, and immediately had trouble at my apartment lots with the non-playable characters passing out, stinking, and glitching on the circular stair landings (I'm so tired I can't move, and for some reason if you move_objects me to the lawn I must walk back to the same second-floor landing to be exhausted, in everyone's way!) I think it might have been the nodormieprotect one? I'll know next time I load it up, I guess.

Oh, and these are a couple of the hacks I'm not sure about:

nodiningwithscum
darwincowplant
rpshack
antibagthrow
snapdragonpets

Do you know them?

darwincowplant is one of the ones I'm wondering about too. I guess it's one of the super-sekrit hacks. ;)

Oh, that doesn't sound good... I'll keep an eye out for something similar. Thanks for the info.

I'm such a fan of squirrel tamer's drawings, and that one is a masterpiece. LOVE it.

I think it's a good idea to focus chapters on one character or group. Probably easier both to shoot and to write. Also, though I like the long chapters, you can probably make these a bit shorter so they don't become onerous chores to complete.

I'd almost forgotten about Erin and her clones. That's an amusing and intriguing part of the plot, though, so it will be neat to see more. And Nervous... I've been wondering how his story will work in with the rest. It seems like there's a slow fire burning there, plot wise, that eventually will blow like a volcano... though maybe I am reading too much into things. :)

I'm also curious about the Curiouses, and Lola/Chloe. But I understand you can't give every character a chance in the limelight. Some of them have to remain on the sidelines.

Well, good. If you like the nerding, you've come to the right place. :P I could go on and on... I find it fascinating and entertaining to work out character details. The right detail can just add so much when you just drop it in the story at the right place. I love that sort of thing when I'm reading something.

I agree. Any relationship is interesting, and the dynamic between three close friends can be interesting enough without the trouble that love can add to that mix. With three different relationships at work (and six different points of view), and varying degrees of romance and/or intimacy involved, it's very fascinating. The thing about three is that one will often (always?) feel like the apex of the triangle, while the other two are having a moment. That's why these things so often remain as love triangles or fracture and fall apart. It's hard to find a balance there, but sometimes it does work.

Thank you. :) I really appreciate that you'd go back to read all that. I know how hard it can be to catch up on a back chapters. I'm glad you've been enjoying what you've read so far.

Haha, I'm sure I've looked up all or most of those before myself, but have since then forgotten. :( Hmm, some searching found me this:

antibagthrow:
"Customers bag throwing will no longer occur immediately due to route blockage.
Standard timeout duration now applies instead of immediate throwing merely
because some other sim obstructed the line."

nodiningwithscum (I like the name of this one):
"It resolves an interesting, and, in my view, annoying, behavior of autonomous dining when your sim appears on community lots as a visitor: Whenever they try to eat, some random townie is dragooned to their table. Naturally, many of us have a rather dim view of anything which forces association, particularly potentially overly-friendly association, with townie rabble. Instead of randomly picking the first townie on the lot, it will instead try to pick an actual friend of that sim who is also visiting the lot"

darwincowplants:
"I asked this question a short while ago, and this is the answer I got:

[04:13] Pescado: Improves the cowplant logic so your sim has to be a little stupid to go for it.
[04:14] Pescado: A lack of logical reasoning would help.
[04:14] Pescado: That means townies tend to fall for it. Your sims tend to be smarter.
"

rpshack appears to stop sims from doing Rock, Paper, Scissors autonomously so much. I can see why:

"RPS will be played if sims are playful, and the interaction won't risk destroying a relationship because they don't have one. Friends will not attempt this due to the destructive potential."

Couldn't find anything on 'snapdragonpets', but perhaps it makes the snapdragons affect pets as well as sims?

Thank you for looking into it! :D I didn't expect you to actually search for it - thanks so much!

Very useful info, and those all seem to be desirable hacks. I like nodiningwithscum as a name too, and it would make sense for non-playables to gravitate to eating out with friends instead of random strangers (although that could be fun/funny too). I love seeing sims do things when they're out of your control.

I'm a little confused about the darwincowplants. Do sims with low logic points fall for it... or just townies? Pescado is so... cryptic. It's funny.

but perhaps it makes the snapdragons affect pets as well as sims?

Good call. That would make perfect sense, so you're probably right. Maybe I'll just test it out.

I'll miss your JRO in college too, I think, even if I'm excited that they're graduating. It just seems so... right for them, but nothing lasts forever. :)

I have mixed feelings about the Romance mod. Sometimes it makes some relationships really difficult... because sims no longer fall in love at the drop of a hat if they're not very attracted to each other. And sometimes they'll fall out of love randomly, no notice or anything, except that they suddenly fall back in love when I didn't know they were ever OUT of love. Grr. On the other hand, I also LIKE that they don't fall in love as easily with anyone who happens to have a > 70/70 relationship with them, even if they find them repulsive. I like that married and otherwise involved sims who love their SO will more often turn down romantic advances from others. I like that sexual preference matters more (although it makes it a bit hard to have bisexual sims!)... But most of all I very much like that they don't all go RARGH INSANE JEALOUS GREEN KILLMONSTER all the time for no good reason other than that they have a crush on the sim who just got married to someone else. They'll sit there through the ceremony, all smiling and stuff, but when their crush has the indecency to kiss their new spouse, they completely lose their shit. Yeah. No more of that! And no more red memories of "being caught cheating" with the knife and rings and all when they weren't even married or ever really involved at all! (I'm looking at you, drama professor.)

No problem, I got curious myself so I had to check them out. :)

Yeah, playable sims showing up autonomously on community lots is a lot of fun. We don't go to community lots as often as we might like to because of the loading times. :/ Especially when you go to a community lot in a different subhood. Takes ages! Maybe it'll be better with our new computer.

I'm not sure about the darwincowplant either... I'm guessing it's probably related to logic points, but yeah, Pescado is cryptic. I find him pretty hilarious, really.

Let me know if you test the pet thing. :)

That's an amazing picture! I really liked it, and I agree with what you say about their body differences. I wish we could change the height of our sims and I hoped that'd be available for Sims 3 (not that I'll actually get it as soon as it comes out, I don't think my laptop will run it and there's still a lot to enjoy with the Sims 2 for me). Everytime I make my self-sim, I wish I could make her really tall, as that's one of my recognizable characteristics. And I also imagine some of my Brokes with different heights :P.

It seems you have a path to follow for the next chapters. Sometimes is really challenging (and fun) to change the direction or use a different point of view. Right now I'm trying to add bits from the future as a prologue of my current chapters and it's been refreshing too. I hope you get back your momentum ^^

As someone above said, there is a document with all the hack descriptions. Some of them are very interesting (or fix annoyances I never noticed). I usually take out the romance mod, the traditional marriage, the harder jobs, the no dormie respawn (I use clean templates, so I need some dormies too) and the "BFF are for 12" hacks (I LIKE that feature!). I don't remember the rest pretty well.

I'm happy to have the Directors cut! And now that Squinge is finally updating his hacks, I hope I'll get an improved Hula Hack (the most overused mod I have) too! And the Insim is almost ready too. So this time it's been easier to make the transition between FT and AL for me ^^.

I pictured Johny as being muscular and Ripp as being skinny (at least in this story) because Johny does push ups for fun and Ripp can't understand how lemonade is different from orange juice.

By the way, despite popular opinion not all vegans are skinny and vegan food is not magical calorie free food. I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain that to relatives who say things like "so since this cake is vegan It can't make me gain weight right?" It sound like something Ripp might say.

I'm looking forward to the chapter from Nervous's perspective.

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Updates and rambling on about various things

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