Last call for interview questions...

[strangetomato]

I'm going to open the floor to questions for my interview in the simstorytellers Storytellers Spotlight one last time, which I'll be posting tonight (at the eleventh hour, because I'm a deadline pusher like that). Please post your questions in the comments, or here in the announcement post. Serious, silly, or completely trivial, I will answer them all.

Cheers!

Comments

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

It's sad you have no questions on either of those...

I'm sure this has been asked before, but how do you take your pictures?

How much of the story do you allow to be guided by the sims themselves (their wants etc)?

And will you be my friend? :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks. I actually do have some questions on my last entry about it in this journal, but not the official announcement post. So I'm not such a huge loser as I first appear. :P Almost, but not quite.

Thanks for the questions, and yes, I'll be your friend (sorry to spoil the surprise).

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

Oh, I had another question (partly inspired by simgaroop) - When you add 'original characters' such as Helena, Jane Doe etc, do you feel like you're departing from your mainly Maxis-only focus? Or do you feel that including them allows you to better contrast the Maxis characters? (I didn't really word that question well - hopefully you understand what it means...)

Also, I realise that you plan ahead a fair bit with your story, and I was wondering how much you've departed from your original plans?

Thank you :P I'm not that upset that you spoilt the surprise, I just needed to fill in another question.

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

Hee, I thought it was already too late to leave you a question!

All right...

- Are you going to get Sims 3 when it comes out? Would you try to recreate your sims and continue your story with it? (I have no idea if that's even possible, though).

- Do you already have in mind how are you going to finish the story? Or at least how long it's going to be?

- Did you plan to include the Pleasantview and Veronaville characters since the beginning? Or were you going to focus only on the Strangetown sims at first? (Personally, I love this change :D).

- I know you've always liked Ripp and Nervous, but is there another character you've grown fond of since you've been writing this story? Someone you never thought about before?

And I think all the other questions I had in mind are already answered in the "regular interview" :).

I'm looking forward to your interview! Have fun!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Not at all. The first thing you'll need to learn about me, clearly, is I'm famous for putting things off until the VERY LAST MINUTE. I'm always late too. It's a terrible affliction. :P I try to improve, but it's fighting my most basic nature... both of my parents are exactly the same way.

Thank you for the questions!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That's a good one. I actually said something about that in a different question, but I'll add a little more.

[amaryssobellus.livejournal.com]

I honestly have thought of asking questions, but either they're already asked in the offical questionaire or someone else has asked them... or I've already asked you and you answered. :P

So...

If you where stranded on an island which of your characters, if they were real, would you like to be your company?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's often like that for me too, with other interviews (and, well, I did help to design the questions :P). It's fine if you have nothing more to ask, but I wanted to remind people, just in case.

That's a great question, though, and it's different from saying who my favourite character is.

[amaryssobellus.livejournal.com]

I forgot to add and why you would choose them. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. Yeah, I figured you meant that. It would have been funny if I offered no explanation at all, though. :P

[music-simbol.livejournal.com]

Is there any part/event of your story that you regret doing a certain way? Like, a hookup, a death, a fight, a chance meeting, whatever, that lead to a series of events that you wish you could change?

How's that for ya? :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yes, very interesting...

Thanks for that! :D

[waywardgaze.livejournal.com]

How much do you find you have to alter or subvert the game (hacks, clones, exit w/o saving until 'right' Groundhog Day-style) in order to tell your story? And does this still feel like 'playing' or more like the process of writing, painting etc?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Another excellent question. I have lots to think about now.

Thank you.

[thestoryofoh.livejournal.com]

When you first started out with this story, did you feel intimidated by all the legacies and the obsession with custom content, default face replacements, and anti-maxis attitude had by quite a few players? If so, what did you do to keep up your gumption and see it through?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That's a very interesting question.

[missgan.livejournal.com]

I'd just like to say that I really appreciate and admire your sticking with Maxis characters, clothes, furniture, hair, etc.
I know you do use custom content sometimes but they're always very similar to Maxis-made items and thus almost impossible to tell the difference, and I feel that all these really gives the story a good sense of realism - as real as can be felt from Sims 2, of course.

This practice really keeps the story grounded and, most importantly, believable! I'm not a fan of most custom hair and default face replacements found in most legacies that I've read, and I'm sick of all children turning out to have identical faces as their parents' as a result.
Kudos to you for letting Maxis have its genetic fun, and for giving me the slight thrill whenever I spot similar clothing/hairstyles that any of my sims (I don't use custom content) have in common with yours, because that doesn't happen very often!

So thanks for sticking with it, and I'm hoping more people will be doing the same! :D

Oh, and I've friended your journal so I can keep track of updates, etc. I'm reading Strangetown, Here We Come right from the beginning, and I'm also quite an enthusiastic commenter, so do expect a barrage of comments in your archived posts as I catch up with the story so far! :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply to this. Thank you for the kind words, and for reading the story so far. Your comments have been wonderful and very encouraging. I'm going to try to make an effort to respond to them all eventually.

There seems to be a renewed interest in Maxis-match in the community right now. Granted, it's a slightly more real version, with shaded scleras in the eyes and nose shaders, etc., but it's still fairly cartoony. I think it's great.

I completely agree about the genetics. If there are no extremes in facial features, what's the point? I love seeing how the different faces blend together.

[legacyfreak.livejournal.com]

I've got a question :]
How long did you work out the story in your mind (and on paper) before you even got started working on it in game?
Does that makes sense? :P

Lots of questions. Sorry it's late.

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

What inspired you to designate the aliens of Strangetown vegetarian? Was this inspired by the Vulcan diet, or something else? Is Ophelia also vegetarian? How does Johnny cope with meat in the house?

(I'm a vegetarian, and found it very difficult to date non vegetarians when I was single. It's nice to see vegetarians featured in ts2 stories).

Also, who is your least favorite character to work with in the story?

Finally, do you use any posing hacks, or movie making boxes?

Can't wait to read your interview.

[hviw.livejournal.com]

Is it up? I'm not sure if I'm navigating the site correctly.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

No, I'm running late (surprise, surprise), and I have some really wonky formatting problems with my lj user tags, which I'm still struggling with. I'm going to try to get it posted over my lunch break.