One year later...

[strangetomato]

Hey, I just realized that yesterday was the one year anniversary of the day I posted the prologue to Strangetown, Here we Come. If I was more on the ball, I could have made an effort to post the next update on that day, but I completely forgot about it instead. I have been making baby steps towards the next update, though, so that's good. Looking back, I remember my initial burst of activity, where I was posting a new chapter every week, and sometimes more than that (I think I even did three in one week, at one point). Of course, the chapters were much shorter then, and I was working from photos I had already shot from playing the hood Prosperity Challenge style. I still play it like that, but much more slowly, and scenes are more posed and planned out.

To celebrate the ocassion, I thought I'd share a couple of painting recolours that I created using some of those great JRO drawings by beyondheroism__ and my SO. I'm working on more of these too, so I'll eventually do a bigger download post.





Drawing of Johnny, Ripp, and Ophelia by my SO, recoloured on the mesh for "Two Dogs and an Olive" by Mixt Hupp from Nightlife (the nod to Picasso).

Download






Drawing of Johnny, Ripp, and Ophelia by beyondheroism__, recoloured on the mesh for A Stroke from Nightlife (which doesn't reference anything specific, that I know of... correct me if I'm wrong).

I love how you can still see the touch of red on the side of the canvas in this one. It makes it look like this was painted over a different painting, and I like that. It makes it seem like it was bought at a student show for a bargain (you can find some great stuff that way). The staples are a nice detail too, even if they should be on the back of the canvas.

Download






That's a little glimpse of some renovations I've been making at the Specter estate. This is, of course, Ophelia's room. The dogs love the bay window.




Just like Nervous loves his new fish tank.

You'll see more of the new look in the next update.

Comments

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

*gasp* Nervous! I seriously have so much love for him and all he did was look in a fish tank. XD I think I almost ~fan girl squeed~

I missed the puppy, too. I forgot all about it.

I love the paintings(the winter one is so cute), I actually had the original J/R/O painting in one of my sims' dorms:



~oooo~

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Nervous is adorable. I've been looking forward to doing his chapter for a while, but then I just stalled out. I keep wondering if I should give him new clothes, but then I draw a blank at what I'd actually change him into. That baggy old non-style outfit just suits him so well.

Oh, how cool. :) I'm glad to see it getting some use in your game. I love that scarf drawing too, and it's on a cute little square painting now, so I've been sticking it everywhere. It's included in a wall of paintings in the apartment for my Round Robin chapter too.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

The pictures are wonderful! Your SO and beyond_heroism are amazing artists, so it's always fun to have some new art in the game.

Nervous looks adorable with his hair growing out! And the Estate looks amazing! Will the Trio be living there if when they graduate? Either way, the house is stunning. ^_^

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It would be a shame not to use those drawings as cc for the game, I think. It's always fun to have cc from people you know too. I've been using your vest retextures in my prosperity hood:



I haven't found a character to use them on in Strangetown yet, but you might catch a glimpse one day.

I've always thought that hair from FT just looks like hair that hasn't been cut in a while, with the same length all over like that. It does look very cute and unkempt on Nervous.

Ophelia will probably be living there, since Nervous asked her to (that's in the next chapter too, but I don't mind saying so now), but I won't say who else might be with her just yet.

It's been taking me forever to make that place over. It's kind of sad, really. I just want it to be exactly right. :) I'm glad you like it.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

I just about DIED when I saw the picture! I'm so glad you liked it, I've been thinking of doing some more. (Also, I love how you chose the Pale Pink, she really does like her pink, doesn't she? *snort*)

I love that FT hair, I used it on a couple of Sims, but it's perfect for either an older guy with a chip on his shoulder, or someone who doesn't like cutting their hair. (Me!) It looks wonderful on Nervous. :)

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

Woohoo I got 'em both!

I like the Specter makeover - I think Olive is rolling in her grave though. So many flowers.

I love Nervous' new hair. he looks so cute!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Cool. I've been testing out other square meshes for your scarf drawing too, with frames and stuff for variety, so I'll probably offer a bunch of different recolours later. I love how cute and simple and square it is on that mesh most of all, though. It goes with everything.

Well, Olive liked to grow her own special "flowers" too... the kind that could be used to paralyze you, and render you helpless to defend yourself as she set up one of her various methods for killing you. Such a nice lady.

I like the makeover well enough. I've really been deliberating over it a lot, to get it just homey enough. I really like those Holy Simoly walls, since the brick still looks enough like the stone to be believable as just a paint/plaster job, and it's a lot warmer.

I love how cute and scruffy that hair is on Nervous. It makes him seem like he's more relaxed too.

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

I downloaded the paintings too. Thank you very much for sharing them with us! :) (I already have the big one, but sometimes it's hard to find a wall big enough for it, so I'm glad there are smaller versions available now).

The house looks adorable too. And I love the fish animation too. I'd completely forgotten how the puppy looked as an adult. Such a big change!

Congrats on the anniversary! Time sure goes by quickly, right?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Well, the painting with the birds isn't small either, so I'm sorry about that. That Nightlife mesh takes up four spaces on the wall. I should try to find a smaller mesh in the right format too, but that one was easily the best match to the drawing (all I had to do was clone a little extra space in at the bottom).

The JRO in scarves drawing is a nice small size, though, so it's more useful.

I'm pretty happy with the house now, though it took me way to long to work it out. I enjoy decorating and building in the game, but I just end up working on it forever, obsessing over tiny details that nobody will ever notice. :P

Thank you. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year already. :) It's been fun.

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

Nah, the painting with the birds is just fine! (I already found a nice spot for it in one of my lots ;) ). He, when I first made some recolors of my Legacy portraits I used some meshes from MTS2 and I didn't pay attention to the "real" size of them in game.

When I finally used them, they were ridiculously large! (I think you once mentioned that about Rose Mary and Buck's wedding portraits :D). I had to ditch them in the end, because they take too much space.

It looks great, so I guess those tiny details you've been working at will actually get noticed in the end. I like to decorate, but I spend a long time looking through the catalogue (and the tiny thumbnails don't help either, must be my resolution).

I hope you keep having fun for the rest of the story (and any other projects you may have).

[ikichi.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary! I love how you show us little previews of what you're doing leading up to each chapter... it puts off the tedium of waiting ;)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) It's fun to share little snippets like that, and it take so much patience to keep all my plans to myself sometimes, especially when I have no idea how or if I'll even get around to revealing them.

[tanathir.livejournal.com]

That's really an accomplishment. Happy anniversary, Strangetown, Here We Come! Just think about all the work that's gone into making it this far. Great job!

I'm not sure where would be best to ask, so
I'll just ask here. It's a huge favor and you can say no without me getting all butthurt. Um, would it be possible to get the shorter male ponytail you made? The Sim I have in mind needs it in white, but I would just have a duck fit (as my granddad used to say) if I could get all the hair colors. Of course you don't have to upload it just for lil old me.

Yeah, it's pretty lame to request custom content like this, but it never hurts to ask. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It has been a bit of an accomplishment to stick with it for so long, hasn't it? I know there are sim stories that have been around way longer, and I'm sort of in awe at that. I'm lucky to have been able to retain my attention this long, even though it's been just hanging on by a thread at times. Even if I don't make it to where I planned to go with it, I've come this far. That's got to be worth something.

Oh, don't worry about asking. I have no problem with helping people out like that if I can (though I often forget to even respond and wander off, but that's nother issue). Unfortunately, I no longer have that cc. It was wiped out when my hard drive crashed. It was a pretty simple retexture, though... just a copy and paste job. It wouldn't be hard to do again. I could try to put together a white version for you later... or does that hair become grey instead? Hmmm... I don't know how I'd get around that. I could maybe convert the blond to black and white?

I'll take a look and see when I get some time.

[tanathir.livejournal.com]

I know the ups and downs of writing and sticking with a project, so it's a definite accomplishment to have come this far. Good job! Go throw J/R/O a party next time you play and don't even worry about setting things up for photo-taking. Enjoy it! Celebrate this anniversary!

Oh, cool. My computer can't seem to handle the programs, or I'd try my hand at CC making. I don't even know how the recolor would work - my Sim just needs white/gray available for adults. Genetically he's blond so it would work as a blond recolor too. His son has plenty of white hairstyles to choose from, I just had this story idea...well, I should refrain from spoilers. He doesn't need it for a while, so no rush on making it. Thanks a whole bunch though!

One last thought: since your Ripp is secondary Family, how much does he roll family-related wants? I don't even have Freetime and my Ripp is rolling more family type wants. Maybe it's his personality. Jut curious how he acts in others' games.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I should have done. Instead I was trying to set up a scene and getting really frustrated. Maybe I'll just reboot the game and just watch some sims get massages. For some reason, I find it really relaxing (maybe it's the satosfied sounds they make).

Yeah, even small photo editing programs take up a lot of space, don't they? I'm not sure how to bin colours yet, so I'll likely give you a hair that's found under the custom category, unless I figure the binning thing out. (Oh, and if I don't get back to you on this in a reasonable amount of time, please give me a nudge.

I haven't seen him roll too many family-type things, since he's still in uni, but he does roll wants to fall in love with people. He did that even before I gave him that secondary.

[tanathir.livejournal.com]

Have fun with the game for a while. It'll take the feeling of pressure off and you may even get your inspiration renewed! For a while I tried carefully setting up each shot to fit the plot I had in mind, but recently it's just been easier and more enjoyable to let my Sims have free will and document their hijinks. It actually causes me to think of new storylines.

Custom bin would be fine. I pick most of my Sims' hair from that bin anyway. Woo purple hair that's genetically black! Woo pink hair that's genetically brown!

My Ripp kept wanting to get a pet even when he was in Uni. He's already in love with about 4 people and he's been rolling wants to teach his roommate's kids how to walk, etc. Then he rolls wants to public woohoo, so who knows what goes on in his little pixelated mind.

[catladymeow.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[cl-legacy.livejournal.com]

Happy Aniversary!
These are fantastic... I speshully love the second one with Johnny :D Looks like he's been listening to Jaxy and buying them girly pants :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) Do those look like tight pants? I thought they looked like normal pants on really skinny chicken legs. I like Johnny better with pants too, but he seems like one of those "shorts guys" to me. :P You know the type... they even wear shorts during Winter.

[cl-legacy.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I tend to be hyperbolical sometimes *O*
Oooh! Big word I looked up and probably still used improperly!

Yup, I know the time. Friends with one XD Don't know how he can stand it, ugh D:

[missgan.livejournal.com]

Happy anniversary! :D
I've not been catching up with your posts for some time (Though I'm fully caught up with Strangetown, Here We Come) and it's great to see these new painting recolours!

Nervous is adorable, and the fish tank reminds me of Buck!
I'm really looking forward to the next chapter, can't wait to see all the characters again. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) And it's nice to hear that you've read through the whole thing. I hope it was enjoyable for you.

I love sharing the little bit of cc I actually manage to create. It's very fun to imagine these out there in different games, and when I catch a glimpse of them in someone's photos, that's really cool.

Yeah, the fish tanks always remind me of the Grunts, but Nervous has a bigger and better tank. They'll be so jealous when they see it. :P

Well, that's nice to hear. :) I'm really trying to get the last of the photos together for that. I have one scene that takes place on a large community lot that I downloaded, and it actually crashed my gajme the last time I tried to grab those shots. Yikes. So, hopefully, that will work out soon. The next chapter is very Nervous-focused, but there are glimpses of a number of other characters too.

[a-gates.livejournal.com]

Dear Strangetomato... Has it been a year already? Time has passed, Happy Anniversary!! I remember the prologue and I remember completely falling in love with JRO, so much to the point that I was a bit disappointed with my own JRO (Johhny is a very successful sim in my hood, yet very lonely (I can't seem him to be able to keep a girlfriend) and adopted his parents adopted daughter Ella Smith who prove too much to handle to Jenny after four other kids... *That's another story!* Anyhow, Ophelia married an offspring of CAS sim and has the perfect suburban life complete with the 2.5 kids and the perfectly mowed lawn. And is for Ripp... What a womanizer. He had a little too much fun with the Tristen Tan garderner who became pregnant and move in with him and even a ring was involved although Ripp was not so sneaky and got caught with his stepmother no less, so miss garderner left him, took her half and the kids. (she had boy and girl twins, no cheats) The twins who are name Scotch and Caramel Tan, are now teenagers. Scotch, the male looks exactly like Ripp and Caramel is a complete babydoll look and at their birthday party who should show up *I didn't invite him, he was walking and apparently Scotch wanted to meet his dad, * but Ripp and tries flirting with his ex, the mother of his kids. It's strange when I play. I keep wanting to see the three of them together. I love your story that much. It's heartbreaking and yet too close to home because I was in a relationship similar to that, hopefully your ending is better. As always, great job and can't wait for the next update.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know... a whole year. That seems like such a long time to focus on something like this, especially for me, but it's been a fun challenge to continue a story for this long, and I've had a lot of fun.

It's so nice to hear that you fell in love with them. :) That makes me happy (and I'm always a little surprised when people remember the prologue and small details from earlier chapters... I hope to make some of that pay off one day).

That sounds like a fun game. I especially like Ripp's crazy scenario. I can totally see Johnny being unhappy in a number of relationships, and not just because he's meant to be with Ophelia. He just seems like he'd have an idealized vision for his life that would be hard to live up to. Most of my plans for Johnny have involved him being unhappy at some point, for one reason or another.

Well, you could always bring them together now. ;) With everything that's going on already, it sounds like it would be a total mess, but I bet it would be fun too.

It's interesting to hear that you've been in a similar situation. Maybe I'll have to refer people to that when they think it's unbelievable. I've seen a number of similar things in my life too, and I came close to being in a similar situation myself, though I was the one to freak and back out of it before it progressed very far. Looking back, I wish I hadn't, though, even just to have the experience to draw from, because I don't think it would have lasted either. But that doesn't mean it couldn't work out. Those things are touchy, but sometimes they do have happy endings.

[petite-sim.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary! I love those paintings, and the Specter estate looks really cool. Does Nervous' hair come with free time? It looks so cute on him.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) Yeah, that's a hair from FT, as seen on Mr. Humble. It also comes with the cheesecutter hat in AL.

[ugly-kitties.livejournal.com]

D: Noooo, I must get it extracted! *butts in*

[simmerina.livejournal.com]

So I'm gonna go ahead and say Happy Anniversary! I didn't pay attention to the Maxis hoods or pre-made characters, but thanks to people like you, now I must confess, I love them. I don't get time to play seriously, but I enjoy to come here and read this lovely stories of yours -that I discovered recently- you put so much effort and heart in them, such imagination you have! you make me laugh so much and I have such a great time that I thought you need to know it. Thank you for giving me the chance to fall in love with The Sim 2 -again- and your sim stories. Now, I should go and keep reading, I'm not through with all the Strangetown, Here We Come chapters yet!. Happy Anniversary again.

PS: nice paintings, thanx.

[ugly-kitties.livejournal.com]

*snags paintings* :D :D :D

I like Nervous's new hair growth!

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

Awww these are great :D *snags them* :D

Love seeing pics of the characters in any way I can *waves to Nervous* :D

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

OOOH and congrats on your writing anniversary :D Your story is so wonderful. Thanks for sharing it with us :D

[selenecorvino.livejournal.com]

Beyondheroism, has some real interesting artwork in tribute to S,HWC; and your comments to some of that artwork has helped fill in the blanks.

Thanks for the pics.