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retired moderator
#10701 Old 14th Jun 2021 at 9:49 PM
Quote: Originally posted by terula8
Does anyone else struggle with being torn between downloading hoods, university and vacation subhoods and building their own?

No, because I really really love building neighbourhoods and lots!

@AndrewGloria I was playing Sims 3 today and got a pizza picture for you...
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Alchemist
#10702 Old 14th Jun 2021 at 10:36 PM
I'd like to build my own, but I'm not good at it at all, so it usually doesn't go well.

Now, I'm trying to figure out what those round things with the hole in them on the pizza are.
Mad Poster
#10703 Old 14th Jun 2021 at 10:44 PM
Might I suggest getting out AGS and beginning to build a subhood you'll be able to use multiple times, while using downloaded ones/the ones that came with the game for now? You can take lots you build in AGS and plop them down in other people's hoods for playtest; you can systematically explore what existing neighborhoods do right and what they do wrong and apply those lessons to your own; you can play when you feel like it, build when you feel like it, and take as long as you need to perfect each hood. And when it's ready, any neighborhoods that you're still playing with other subhoods attached, you can delete those subhoods and add your own and keep right on playing.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Alchemist
#10704 Old 14th Jun 2021 at 11:53 PM
Quote: Originally posted by terula8
Does anyone else struggle with being torn between downloading hoods, university and vacation subhoods and building their own?


Definitely! I agree with Peni--though, for me, I don't use AGS, I just have different hoods and folders. I used to have a megahood, Pleasantview with Belladonna, Riverblossom, and Bluewater, but I stopped playing households and got into a major building phase, and then I decided to just reboot the hood entirely from scratch, making all new buildings, sub-neighborhoods, stores, community lots, apartments, etc., and redoing the hood deco. I've slowly been working on it now for about a year, maybe more.

It does take a long time. And my building skills are nowhere near as good as some other simmers, judging by the uploads I see. And yeah, I do get tempted to download a custom hood or a custom lot. My current philosophy, is to just do both. There's no reason why you can't build in one hood and play in another--in one hood you can take your time, build from scratch and then in another, you can just load and play a downloaded hood, with custom lots. But there's no rule that says you can't mesh styles together, either; you can use custom lots or subhoods in that hood you're building from scratch, too.

For me, I'm trying to really push myself to work on my building skills, but that's easier said than done depending on the type of lot. For houses, I'm okay with researching plans and copying a look, modifying floor plans to suit my simming tastes. For community lots, it's a bit trickier--I don't think I'm as imaginative as some others and am just not good at coming up with unique building facades. So yeah, my buildings tend to be very boxy, maybe with some color blocking here and there. But that's okay. If I'm well and truly stuck, I can always find a nice lot to download and renovate it. But I try not to do that first because not only is building for myself part of the fun, but also no one else is going to build something the way I would, with the specifications I need for my hood. And, I have to say, I do get a real sense of pride when I finish a building I really like. Like when I finally move some sims into a house or apartment I built and I find that it has a really good flow. Or like when I complete a square of the neighborhood, lining up the buildings just so and putting in all the decorations and I start to see the neighborhood really come alive. I like those moments.

Do I go back and bulldoze some things, redo them, or change things up? Absolutely. I'm redoing some parts of Pleasantview for like, the third time. But again, that's part of the fun, part of the process. It seems silly, but it took me a while to realize that building is playing, too. It's just a different pace than Live mode, with different highs, lows, and milestones. So yeah, you can definitely do both and take your time with each one, going back and forth between your downloaded hoods and your custom built hoods at your leisure. If you're worried about finishing a hood, or starting a university--sit down and plan. There's fun it that, too, believe me! I love hood planning.

And things don't have to stay the same either, as your town grows and sims move in, maybe the buildings change, too, and so does the university. Think about what things you really need in the hood, what buildings or things you need or would like to have in order to get started playing. Maybe create a bunch of tiers or phases, and that can guide you as well--you need phase 1 complete to move sims in, but the phases there after will be completed as the town grows. So for your university, maybe in phase 1, to get started you need an admin building, a library or a building with classrooms, a dorm, a cafeteria, and a campus lawn. Then maybe as time goes on, you add buildings for each major, and maybe a few more dorms. And then once you have some different dorms, maybe each one gets its own cafeteria and rec space. Maybe a wealthy donor comes along and donates a gym. Maybe some shops pop up along main street. Etc. etc.

So yeah, lots of different ways to approach things. I'm a serial hood restarter, too, btw, so I'm always going to say, go for it--jump in, try a new hood, download it, build it, whatever. It doesn't have to last forever. Just have fun.

"May the sunlight find you, thy days be long, thy winters kind, thy roots be strong." -Grand Oak Tree, DAO

XPTL Mod Archive | Change a Mod's Mesh into a CC Object | Increasing the Game Difficulty | Editing ACR 4 Your Age Mod
Bored? Read an unfinished legacy or sim story. | aka Kelyns | she/her
Mad Poster
#10705 Old 15th Jun 2021 at 1:58 AM
Unsurprisingly I'm speaking from a creator's perspective rather than a player's perspective... The only neighborhood I've ever consciously designed with the end goal of posting it (one day, I promise (hopefully!)) is my gothic Ivy League-esque university, but I've recently found that having a neighborhood in mind when I'm working on a project, or even coming up with ideas for one, is helpful even when it comes to lot building.

So for instance, I made a map for a modern urban city and populated it with a bunch of my skyscrapers and other urban buildings, and then have gradually been looking at what areas would need to be filled in, as a way of coming up with new ideas for lots to make in the future (this approach has added several churches, a science museum, and a basketball/hockey arena to my "to-build" list in the past year or so).

And then for my more fantastically-inspired projects, I've kind of mapped out a fantasy continent with multiple cultures and supernatural factions that I can use in a similar way (and also have as my go-to whenever I'm trying to think of fantasy settings for any other kind of storytelling too, I've realized). This one I haven't actually made a map (or maps) for in-game yet, but I have come up with a number of new ideas like a far northern mead hall, a desert palace built around an oasis, a very urban Imperial palace for the Three Emperors, etc. Once again, projects I haven't really started yet, but added to my "to-build" list!

So unsurprisingly I've never really been tempted to download/play others' hoods, and if I'm being honest with myself I'm unlikely to finish the ones I just described to the point where I'd actually want to play them, but I do still find thinking about neighborhood design incredibly useful from a building perspective (plus I was one of those people who'd spend free time as a kid drawing up maps for no reason and then trying to figure out the cultures that would inhabit them, so it's not like it's unprecedented in my case either! )

Welcome to the Dark Side...
We lied about having cookies.
Scholar
#10706 Old 15th Jun 2021 at 8:25 AM
Quote: Originally posted by terula8
Does anyone else struggle with being torn between downloading hoods, university and vacation subhoods and building their own? I can't seem to find a balance. On the one hand, the updated hoods for download list from Jawusa has so many awesome and useable ones and I could save so much time by just plunking one in, but on the other hand, half the fun for me is building my own designs and then playing with them. So much so that I don't even bother to take proper pictures (I mean, I sort of do but I never remember to share them.)

I do get overwhelmed by how much work it is to build a university campus from scratch as well as a mainhood, subhoods, and vacation hoods - my populations boom and yet I haven't built enough housing yet, or the uni is only half finished, or there's no holiday hood at all, but I just get so much satisfaction from doing it myself. I'm sort of afraid that using someone else's beautiful uni would make it less fun for me. I kind of want to build my own attachable hoods myself - and then that would solve both issues...

I do half and a half.

For me, building a whole neighbourhood is too time consuming. I prefer having actual play time, I do enjoy building but I don't have enough leisure time to do much of both, so I'd rather play.
On the other hand, I'm hardly ever fully satisfied with other people's buildings. They may be gorgeous but not exactly suitable to my requeriments as a player, so very often I build my own houses.
So I compromise.
I use other people's (or Maxis!!) neighbourhoods as an starting point, then I build some aditional pieces that I need to make it work to my taste.
Scholar
#10707 Old 16th Jun 2021 at 3:33 AM
Llamas have always seemed to be a thing with the Sim City and Sims franchise, yet there's a distinct absence of llama-related stuff in Buy mode. No statues, no wall hangings; just one small "Llama Xing" sign. There's the picture Sims can paint on the easel, but I can't see any easy way to get that onto a community lot without a Sim having to own the lot. I'd never noticed it before, but I was thinking of giving my apocalypse hood a Temple of the Llama once the Paranormal career (interpreted as Religious) is open, only to realize there are no llamas to decorate it!
Mad Poster
#10708 Old 16th Jun 2021 at 3:41 AM
There is, however, plenty of llama custom content! I believe it was a theme here on MTS once, and people just make it regardless.

Also, look at the university deco. At least one banner has a llama on it, because it's the team mascot, and I believe there's a small statue somewhere. I've got a llama topiary but I think it's custom.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Mad Poster
#10709 Old 16th Jun 2021 at 10:36 AM
Llamas are the animal of the Sims series, and others as well-in Banished, you can have llamas as animals to raise for food and wool.

And in fact there was an ad for Geico insurance that not only featured Marco Polo as the swimming thing in the Sims 2, Llamas were also part of its tribute to the series. I always laugh whenever I see it because a lot of people would not 'get it' unless they play the game.

Llamas forever!

On the quandary of being torn between downloading neighborhoods and CC or just developing your own, I download tons of the neighborhoods, but only because it's a compulsion to see what ways the game can be extended. The cc is a problem and it hit the wall last night for me. I had to actually take out some of the stuff I never use because the game refused to open. It had exceeded 16,000 items.

I really must restrain myself-but it's a good addiction to have. At least it doesn't harm your budget or your brain.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
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retired moderator
#10710 Old 16th Jun 2021 at 11:11 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
There is, however, plenty of llama custom content! I believe it was a theme here on MTS once

Modyourllama.com!
https://modthesims.info/downloads/ts2/38/page/1/?f=469
Scholar
#10711 Old 16th Jun 2021 at 1:34 PM
Me: I think I'll play a family or two with my first cup of coffee, maybe work on this long-term relationship I've been setting up.

My game: Sets entire yard on fire for no apparent reason.
Scholar
#10712 Old 17th Jun 2021 at 2:58 AM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Modyourllama.com!
https://modthesims.info/downloads/ts2/38/page/1/?f=469


Yay, llamas! Thank you!
Top Secret Researcher
#10713 Old 19th Jun 2021 at 3:09 AM
Quote: Originally posted by terula8
Does anyone else struggle with being torn between downloading hoods, university and vacation subhoods and building their own? I can't seem to find a balance. On the one hand, the updated hoods for download list from Jawusa has so many awesome and useable ones and I could save so much time by just plunking one in, but on the other hand, half the fun for me is building my own designs and then playing with them. So much so that I don't even bother to take proper pictures (I mean, I sort of do but I never remember to share them.)

I do get overwhelmed by how much work it is to build a university campus from scratch as well as a mainhood, subhoods, and vacation hoods - my populations boom and yet I haven't built enough housing yet, or the uni is only half finished, or there's no holiday hood at all, but I just get so much satisfaction from doing it myself. I'm sort of afraid that using someone else's beautiful uni would make it less fun for me. I kind of want to build my own attachable hoods myself - and then that would solve both issues...


I've never downloaded a custom hood. I like to create my own, even if it's just a subhood. I enjoy the planning and building. It might be unfinished and ongoing but then there's plenty of space to create a new building when I get ideas. I integrated that into my play with an architect Sim being responsible in the planning and building of two new subhoods. Sadly he died before all his plans could come to fruition but a park is named after him.
Mad Poster
#10714 Old 20th Jun 2021 at 9:36 PM
My current project is potentially all finished (I'm to the testing stage, so there's probably still bugs that'll have to be worked out, but I might get lucky), and then I'd just have to write up some sort of vignette to use as a description for it... and my motivation has completely disappeared. Like, I would like to have it finished and be able to upload it, but lately I can't even find the inspiration to turn on the game to test it...

Welcome to the Dark Side...
We lied about having cookies.
Forum Resident
#10715 Old 20th Jun 2021 at 9:39 PM Last edited by Sokisims : 20th Jun 2021 at 9:54 PM.
Zarathustra I understand you, I have my neighborhood at 96% and I have been listening to music and watching the internet for three hours. And I want to upload it now to focus on other things. The worst thing is that it could finish tonight or take four more days, since I always find new tedious things that I forgot. The last thing was the garden fences upside down and now I have to see how to hide it in the photos of the family album.

As for writing texts or taking photos, I usually leave it for the days when I feel more inspired, (other times I prefer not to think about it so much), when I have a day when I have no inspiration, I prefer to focus on other things. It is also good to think about the project itself and what you want to tell about it, or what stands out the most for you.
Mad Poster
#10716 Old 21st Jun 2021 at 4:23 AM
Quote: Originally posted by terula8
Does anyone else struggle with being torn between downloading hoods, university and vacation subhoods and building their own? I can't seem to find a balance. On the one hand, the updated hoods for download list from Jawusa has so many awesome and useable ones and I could save so much time by just plunking one in, but on the other hand, half the fun for me is building my own designs and then playing with them. So much so that I don't even bother to take proper pictures (I mean, I sort of do but I never remember to share them.)

I do get overwhelmed by how much work it is to build a university campus from scratch as well as a mainhood, subhoods, and vacation hoods - my populations boom and yet I haven't built enough housing yet, or the uni is only half finished, or there's no holiday hood at all, but I just get so much satisfaction from doing it myself. I'm sort of afraid that using someone else's beautiful uni would make it less fun for me. I kind of want to build my own attachable hoods myself - and then that would solve both issues...


I've done both, with varying success. Lately I've been attempting to start a recreation of Old Town, and/or PV and was frustrated by a major glitch that took the fun out of it, and I tossed at least 2 neighborhoods in active play (after painstakingly putting them together) when the glitch would not stop. I kept my own hand built neighborhood Tinsel Town through all of it, because it's the one town I've been playing for at least 3 years and I can't bear the thought of losing all the progress/family stories if that one went.
Not that it was unaffected by the glitch-it was until I got really mad and decided to crack down and figure out what was going wrong. TT has vacation hoods, a Uni hood and the regular one to keep track of. If I lost it that would break my heart (I should make a copy of it really soon.). Almost half of the town is hand made-and with buildings I've used from other towns.
It is labor intensive but if you wind up with a interconnected and personalized NH it is well worth the trouble. You get very attached to it, (ask Andrew Gloria about hers..) and anything that threatens it throws you into a tizzy.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Mad Poster
#10717 Old 21st Jun 2021 at 9:39 PM
I've been building and playing my BACC town of Dodge as families are arriving and becoming homesteaders on arrival because it's a new town starting out and it's only 1841 there so far though another couple arrives next spring to take their own homestead.The town is adding to the service center now before winter sets in and hopes it a mild winter with little or no snow this year.The town had a prolonged dry spell starting up in the spring and it's already late fall and still dry.They might be calling it a drought if it keeps up much longer.
Mad Poster
#10718 Old 22nd Jun 2021 at 2:15 AM
Quote: Originally posted by TadOlson
I've been building and playing my BACC town of Dodge as families are arriving and becoming homesteaders on arrival because it's a new town starting out and it's only 1841 there so far though another couple arrives next spring to take their own homestead.The town is adding to the service center now before winter sets in and hopes it a mild winter with little or no snow this year.The town had a prolonged dry spell starting up in the spring and it's already late fall and still dry.They might be calling it a drought if it keeps up much longer.


Sitting here IRL under a massive smoke cloud from a nearby wildfire, after a mediocre winter and a very dry spring, I have to dispute the thinking of your townsfolk... you need lots of snow this winter! Get that moisture into the area and recharge the springs and the aquifers at least!

Welcome to the Dark Side...
We lied about having cookies.
Mad Poster
#10719 Old 22nd Jun 2021 at 7:26 PM
They didi get tons of snow in 1840 and it was actually so much the town was buried in it to the rooftops of the buildings and they were snowbound with no supplies coming in all winter so they won't mind a mild winter without snow as long as the dry spell breaks up soon.The town actually flooded in the sring thaw in thee soring after that first hard winter and the dry weather was welcome for now.
Mad Poster
#10720 Old 23rd Jun 2021 at 8:50 AM Last edited by FranH : 23rd Jun 2021 at 9:43 AM.
After reading a fairly interesting novel about a high-powered lawyer who became a vampire, I'm again beset with the urge to play a vampire. I have to tell myself to stop this, because the game is so limiting for those creatures and they're so hard to play without struggling to keep them 'alive' (what an irony) without a ton of mods-and to keep them interesting as well.
In the novel (far better than most of genre-and certainly not "Twilight" by Stephanie Myers..)I read, the vampire got involved with historical vampires, and was on a mission to kill a bunch of 'bad' vampires. Pretty good concept-it's too bad that the game turned them into the literal caricatures they became so that everyone laughs at the idea of playing them.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Lab Assistant
#10721 Old 29th Jun 2021 at 3:49 AM
Quote: Originally posted by omglo
Now, I'm trying to figure out what those round things with the hole in them on the pizza are.

@omglo Most likely black olive slices.

*Susan*
Sims 3: Laura Bow, Lillian Prune, and Steve Dorian by me!
Top Secret Researcher
#10722 Old 29th Jun 2021 at 1:07 PM
Quote: Originally posted by LauraBow
@omglo Most likely black olive slices.

They're too big, though, and they're not black.

I've got one or two things on MTS, but most of my stuff is on my main site here:
http://simcessories.blogspot.com/
(Now recruiting budding creators.)
Alchemist
#10723 Old 29th Jun 2021 at 3:52 PM
Yep. To me, they looked like pepperonis, except with a hole in the middle.
Lab Assistant
#10724 Old 3rd Jul 2021 at 7:01 PM
I'm about to remove all my mods AGAIN. I'm stuck in a never ending cycle of downloading a whole heap of mods, realizing it slows my loading times to a crawl, feeling like I have too much unnecessary stuff, deleting EVERYTHING, promising myself I'll keep it to an absolute minimum next time, and then going on absolutely insane mod downloading binges until I need to repeat the same process again...

I swear though, the loading is the biggest killer for me. And I'm not even fully sure if I need/want mods like ACR. I mean they are fun, but they also ruin some things for me. I hate how much I overthink about this game lol, it's supposed to be for fun..! But that's my fault, not the game's fault.
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retired moderator
#10725 Old 3rd Jul 2021 at 8:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by CosmicEcho
I hate how much I overthink about this game lol, it's supposed to be for fun..! But that's my fault, not the game's fault.

What I did was to remove everything- except for nounlinkondelete, the CEP and Nopke's Shadow fix. Then, I played the game for a while, and only added mods for those things which annoyed me more than amused me!
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