Saturday, October 23, 2077

In the beginning...



I know there are tons of TS3 stories and legacies out there already, but my TS3 simmies really weren't moving me to blog or write about them in any way. After an unexpected and rather sad hiatus, I'm wandering my way back among my simmies, to see who talks to me still and who doesn't (most aren't). My active stories (The Holldums, Patrick's Farmer Wants a Wife, and the Shmeaus) all have blogus interruptus comments/warnings/updates on them and with no motivation driving me to pick up my TS2 stories, I thought I'd instead try my hand documenting a TS3 legacy. Nothing fancy. Probably more "X did this. Y got this job. Z married A." than anything plot driven. But I figured it might help me get a feel for storytelling in TS3.

So I decided to pull a Captain Angelia and dump my sim!self onto a lot in Riverview (or Riverwhatever it is) to see how things go.

Check the Side Bar for updates; I haven't decided yet if I want to post a table of contents on the home page or not. Likewise, if I keep with this I probably will eventually put up a stats page and a links page... but we'll see what the future holds.





There's a pseudo - faq over there





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Pseudo - FAQ


*Kettie walks in with a steno pad filled with scribblings.* Hey, you've got a few comments and questions that came in that might go better as a little FAQ. Saves you from trying to remember to answer them in comments or where-ever.

Gee thanks for the vote of confidence towards my ability to remember to make comments on comments there.

*Kettie shrugs* Hey, just telling it like it is. *she shakes the steno pad* So, you ready for some of these?

Sure. Fire away.

*Kettie whips a mechanical pencil out from behind her ear, flips open the steno pad, and taps the pencil on the first page.* "Ooo! You're doing the Legacy Challenge?! I love legacies! What handicaps are you using?"

*sigh* Legacy. Something transmitted by, received from, or related to an ancestor, predecessor, previous version, or from the past. Also a gift or bequest.

In my game the land, household, monies, family name, and focus of the story pass to the heir when they reach majority. This is their legacy, the gift from the previous generation to the current one. They hold it in trust, build it, and will pass it to the next generation in time. No fancy rules, no requirements, no if-then-elses... unless I decide on them. I am playing a legacy, but not the Legacy Challenge.


*Kettie skims the page and taps on a paragraph farther down.* "You're not playing by the rules! What sort of Challenge player are you? Cheater!"*

*points to the "No fancy rules, no requirements, no if-then-elses... unless I decide on them. I am playing a legacy, but not the Legacy Challenge." part up above*

I'm playing this for me, for fun. I'm writing this for me, for fun. I was there when the Legacy Challenge was first proposed, and followed the Legacy Challenge rules for the first five generations of my very first legacy. By that generation, I found that the rules were cramping my play style, my enjoyment of the game, and as the rules got more complex the less interested I was in following them. So I kicked the rules to the curb and play with my own set... some of which are loosely based on Pinstar's brilliant challenge. All props to him; he totally changed the way we play the game. And major kudos to those who do faithfully follow the rules of the TS2 and TS3 Legacy Challenges


*Kettie flips a page in the notebook.* "Play by your own set of rules? Does that mean you use hacks and cheats and stuff? That's not playing a challenge. That's cheating. Cheater!"

If the cheat, hack, or mod keeps me from headdesking my keyboard into tiny pieces, I'm all over it. Don't like it? There are hundreds of other stories out there, many closer to the Official Legacy Challenge Rules than mine. Feel free to go read those.


*Kettie skims the page.* "Okay okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. What rules are you playing by?"

In TS3, I've been starting my pseudo-legacies either on a bare lot (of any size) or in a starter house that uses the majority of the starter funds (yes, I've done several of these already *cackle* It's how I know 3 gens are doable). My sims start from the ground up and need to either earn money or marry it.

For Kettie's story:
I want to write/blog 3 generations, minimum. If the spirit moves me, I may go more.
Minimum 2 kids (heir and a spare) each generation
At least one trait given at birth must come from a parent. If I don't get to choose a trait at birth, at some point they must receive a parent's trait
Sons -- or at least male heirs -- will have S names
Daughters -- or at least female heirs -- will have K or M names
Now that they have the "family farm", heirs cannot move off the lot
Gravestones stay on the lot... for as long as I can tolerate it (I'd bring Sam Bagley's tombstone here too, but the game won't let me pick it up)
Cheats and hacks? Oh HELL yeah! Nothing obnoxious however.
There may be more rules I add in here. We'll see


*Kettie nods and flips the page again.* "Geez, learn some camera skills lady! You've got plumb bobs and dropped walls all over the place. How amateur!"

I'm playing this pseudo-legacy for fun and not really giving a rat's hat for rules, restrictions, or camera skills. If you have a problem with dropped walls and plumb bobs, go read someone else's story. Or read one of my other stories; I'm very good at avoiding dropped walls and plumb bobs in most of those. Heck, there are a few where I've photoshopped in entire walls, to hide the fact I forgot to raise the walls before I took pictures or where an inappropriate plumb bob snuck in. I challenge you to find 'em *evilgrin* I'd recommend the Shmeaus and FWAW for those who are driven bat shiat crazy by dropped walls and plumb bobs; those same folks will want to stay away from my asylum challenge (Wainwright Aslyum) as I blatantly announce in that one that I'm taking pictures with the walls down. The early Holldums have wall and bob issues, but it gets better.

And before anyone comments... let's not get started on spelling, grammar, or missing words. I do a lot of writing at work, which means I write in short spurts at moments when I'm not busy. This leads to misspellings, missed words, and all sorts of fun stuffs. *chuckle*


*Kettie skims the page and taps her pencil on a paragraph.* "Dude, what's with the random lyrics? They don't make any sense or don't fit with the chapter!"

If I've put lyrics at the start of a chapter, they're most likely out a song that was popping up in random play on my iTunes while I was writing. Yes, it may seem that they do or do not fit with the chapter (much less make sense) but I've found some connection between the two. That or they were just stuck in my head while writing.

Before anyone asks, yes my music library is rather complex, eclectic, and occasionally warped. iTunes goes into a fit of apoplexy when I log into the store to download music because the 'recommended for you' section has no idea WTF to recommend for me. *cackle*


*Kettie flips the page one more* "I love [Specific Sim]! Are they available for download?"

The base version of Kettie is available on my Sims page over at the Exchange. If folks are interested in other sims, I may be able to arrange something. Just let me know.


*Kettie glances at the page and looks back up* "Oooo! I love that [custom content hair/clothing/object]! Must have!!1one Where did you find it?"

Beats the hell out of me Roy.

With my TS2 stories, I can tell you where I found what piece of custom content that I'm using and probably even track you down a link to it. With TS3... I have no clue where I got most of my stuff. My brain just isn't making the link between a piece of CC and where it came from. In some cases, it's probably because it's hard to tell -- once you're in Buy/Build or CAS mode -- what's custom and what's from EA. There's not always (rarely) a little doohickey showing you it's custom.


*Kettie glowers.* Sheesh. What is it with the language? Some people may be kinda turned off by that and not want to read.

Um... hello... writing this story for me, because I want to and feel like it. I make no bones about the fact that I can outswear a sailor in RL if I choose to, though you're just as likely to hear me drop a frack or a frell as you are an f bomb. I do try to keep things under control when writing the updates (in fact, in some of my stories impolite language is few and far between). The closest to a true f bomb you'll see in my blogs is WTF; in many places inappropriate language is censored (###, @*$^#, etc.) out or replaced with something else (like Ruby's favorite, Boop). There's still a good assortment of colorful language (d##n, a##, h#!!, you get the picture) so if that bothers you, might I recommend a different TS3 story or -- if you really want one of mine -- I'm pretty sure the Shmeaus are virtually profanity free. Gods know that anything with Orrin in it isn't.

Oh, and the "beats the hell out of me Roy" is a line from a song, so nyah. *chuckle*


*Kettie shakes her head* You're a right wench, you know that?

My family uses the phrase "selfish, spoiled b###h". *shrugs* Same difference.




*Sighing, Kettie flips the page yet again* Okay... moooooooving on..... *she clears her throat* Almost done here. Next question. "So is He going to make an appearance ever? Is He available for download?"

He who?

*Kettie blinks* If He doesn't hurt you, Ruby and Lisa probably will.

*evilsnickers* Heh



*Kettie starts to close the steno pad, then stops* Whoops, missed one. "So what's the deal with the date?"


Oh, I don't know... I feel an apocalypse coming on.

*evilgrin*


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