I’ve lost my blog twice now… I’m too tired now to work out the simple and old style insert images methodology …. I’ll link the references, cus I can still work that out…
I am keen to get this text down recorded, because I have a mountain things to go through…
I’m not building just your average atheistically cute world save here….
I am going to transform that nice dollhouse game you have and present you a very harrowing experience.
By the time I am done, you’ll never look at The Sims 4 the same way again.
This is for intermediate to advance players….. casual players don’t worry…you can enjoy it too.
I’ve got your back….do you have mine?
I keep saying it started about 2 weeks ago,
this is about when I thought once more about Transposia.
Transposia is a fantasy map of what it would look like if the
It’s got a smattering of everything….Europe, including Italy
UK is there, in pieces…it’s not obvious
Japan is there too…that’s quite funny
It’s just one of those images you notice things on a second and third viewing
It grants me a serenity…. I enjoy this work a lot….
And that was the basis of my second project on CIVILIZATION V – my ultimate favourite game of all time…
Before I go any further…here’s the link to to the Transposia map before I forget to link it…
Civilization V is my favourite game of all time….. I see this game as being more like the Mona Lisa and look at it as if I were staring in amazement
about the most extraordinary works of human accomplishment.
To put it as best as I can. If Civilization V was a woman, she would be a blonde, with an hourglass figure and breasts that could cure cancer…
as close to a perfect woman as I can imagine, being a 40 year old gypsy man….that should traditionally favour brunettes, but thats how I see this goddess..
Civilization V is divinity.
It has perfect rules… (crap AI) but rigid laws, logic and games development that is hard to master, but when you get the full picture, it will become like second nature….
I was trying to think of a concept that would allow me to tell a story of my favourite race/civilization “The Shoshone”
and somehow build my towns, on this fantasy map….
one night it seemed so simple.
Then it just faded away…
Now I look back I’m like…..what drugs is this guy actually on?
If Civilization V is divinity because of its implication of rules…
Then Sims is the devil….clearly…. The whole community is full of deviants who want to only break the game as fast as they can
for maximum reward….
Children work out on games fast, if you cheat the game out of the challenge….you effectively get tired of that game quick.
Before we go on here is some music I think is relevant. I made it, its about CIVILIZATION V
There are six tracks… 3-4 are quite decent. Tells a bit more of the story, with each song. A slow burn, that I hope to one day finish….
noooootttt tooooddddaaayyyyy…..
The sims life cycle is like this…… You play the game, but because there is little challenge in even maintaining multiple sims households.
You either start building……that same house you’ve been building over…and over and over again
You watch sims related news, mostly people who express the same set of gripes, the same dismay in the bugs breaking their perfectly cheated life style.
They get depressed and don’t know why….
they leave the game
they rest of the game
then they come back – because no one has replicated this games charm…
WE ALL suffer from the same epidemic.
I’m saying I am developing a cure.
I dropped the cross play between my two favourite games…
it wasn’t a time of frustration, or was I losing sleep over it.
It just drifted off when I thought up my actual
practical challenge to go from a B+ grade builder
to a new class.
I’ve been recently accepted and my first build that I’m actually proud of is now available on the Sims Resource.
I took 2 years to build a definitive version of this house.
I wanted to do something I hadn’t done before, something that is complicated to the community.
That is how to successfully do a 4 household residential retail… Essentially 4 familys can effective by housed on
one built location.
Getting the flowpath is insanely difficult.
I cant say I made it look easy, because it wasn’t –
I had to build off a very well thought out (piss poor decorated) design.
it’s probably my best house because it was built over years in stages
sometimes I felt like building, other times – I just wanted to get back to playing my family.
So whilst I was waiting for this design to get on the site….. I had time to kill.
And this is where I looked into challenges for packs I really liked, for my initial inspiration.
I decided if I do an ultimate tier list, then I’m putting Discover University as my number one pack……..
Now challenges are quite interesting, but mostly rely on two things.
1….. that the gamer, has an abundance of time and no responsibilities of their own.
What I’m saying is, whilst the challenges are really good with someone with a life long experience of gaming and following rules,
you are selling this to the wrong crowd…. Sims 4 is about cheating to get the perfect conditions, for an instant quick level of success… and now you are asking them to follow rules for potentially months at a time.
Can a crack addict hold crack with rules to ween their supply for months on end? or are they going to break when you aint there to enforce the rules?
A sims 4 player might be able to hold out for a moment on the rules, maybe an hour, maybe a whole week of real life time…. once a cheater, always a cheater.
They will crack, either the pressure is too much or the situation is repetitive and they cannot wait to abandon the rules.. Most will end up on that burn out cycle where they will take a break from the game…for months and then a pack will come out that’s going to sustain them for maybe one or two months before the vicious symptoms start to appear again.
I told you before, you have been infected. You have been thinking about this all wrong through misinformation. I know what the disease is now…..
I am designing a cure.
I didn’t know I would fall in love with a man for the first time…… at 40 years old.
I wasnt attracted at first, a bratty gay guy with a chip on his shoulder
It’s so easy to judge a human being when you get just 10 minutes a week on a little box or window that can be told to shut up by a click of a button.
https://www.youtube.com/c/SatchOnSims
I binged a weekend of his vids when I realised how intelligent Saach was.
How many of this guy’s opinions about bugs, glitches and quality control I quite frankly agree with…..
other things we totally disagree with, our ultimate tier list would look totally different….
I think Satch, and I agree on one thing for certain – Seasons should be retired and make FREE to the public… its not a favourite pack of mine…
its really a necessity.
On my quest to now, build a world save and do as much of the heavy lifting as possible…
I’ll mention Saach a couple of times…. its relevant – he is just a standard typical vid,
ill pull up quick so you got some reference.
I bet this week someone else pops up in the community now and copies the format
and does there own lot review… their own take. I’ll check out this vid in my own time.
In one of his videos, on my quest to find a short Discover University Pack – I did find an interesting one I’ll mention real quick.
It was a forum post on reddit that suggested holding down a part time job on top of the 4 units a week study…
its a great start, that I built my conditions of my first test world.
Which relates back to my YouTube star of the sims!
One thing led to another, and I spotted two key next videos that would help me on my adventure I was on a jaunt on…
1 was key things to consider in your world saves, it led to a couple of more extensive videos I watched of more experienced builders.
When I watched his video and listened to the core mod community he most respects and why..
I was sold. 100% count me in coach. Tag me in I’m ready to take on the champs for you!
2nd critical video, I’m going to struggle to find, so I will recap…..
Saaches main message to the community was
if you haven’t got what you want in the game, you have to be creative
Lets say I really like golf, but I cant find a golf club in the game.
I need to take a mirror or a spoon and get creative. A white stick and a round object will do,
I will just need the cheats and the tools and I’m gold.
That was the main message.
Bend it
break it
fix it
DIY workshop
and get creative..
That’s when I knew, I was done with my research
I’ve got 1000s of hours of playtime
Nearly everything is machine gunning out like its the Battle of the Somme.
So started to disable packs.
a critical tool to world designing and just a great tip for beginners or intermediate designers.
https://jamesturner.yt/disablepacks
I cannot state this enough. Here’s another bunch of reasons why that link it critical.
1 as a builder, I only want the packs that compliment the core elements of what I choose to build
I said that discover university is my favourite pack.
So lets draw an example of great pack selection here for people with fuck-tonnes of packs and need to make
better quality choices for the benefit of
the community…..
In The Discover University pack there is a lot type that’s a right pain in the ass.
It’s the student accommodation lot type, the conditions are terrible, theres stock problems with the EA standard lots
if you want your dishes just stacked everywhere, with no real understanding on how to fix this, its just a mental fucking tornado
that wont stop and let you recover for a minute.
So simulating a student lifestyle accommodation by some clever pack choices comes in handy
So… people in student lifestyles are not affording to live alone,
so I’m going to either need something like Sims for rent….. but I don’t have this pack…. (in this scenario)
so you can get an apartment 3 other ways – Oldest really being city living.
Eco lifestyle comes with one option I think.
Eco lifestyle comes with the dumpster and the recycle and reuse,
being thrifty could be an option for me…. .but again – I don’t have this pack
infact I dont have enough money for a single expansion pack.
Some people will see £34.99 or north of this in your country as being way too much
for how little time you have to play the game… I can totally understand this..
so in this little scenario of wanting to now do this student lifestyle is going to save me money, but cost me time…
I need a suitable pack that I own and Ive just realised I have the Tiny Stuff pack, but only just remembered cus I really havent had a lot of time
to work, relationship, friends, college of my own or whatever life if throwing at me……..
Tiny living is a great choice to compliment Discover university, because ifyou can can make a small enough build to make it out that this is a student household
in a Tiny Home. The benefits for this challenge which might take you up to a week, when you have perfected my student home with 3-4 students. It may take you a minutes using the gallery, hours building yourself, days if you are fussy and don’t have much time and literally a week prep time to get ready if you are a real perfectionist…
at the end of the building stage I’m going to start with buffs, that really make my studies a little easier…. Tiny home pack, comes with the rule that if you can squeeze your building on a maximum
tile limit…. I think its 32 for 5 buffs, including a happy buff in morning? bills are cheaper, more chance of romance? and skills are generally a bit quicker….
probably not got that spot on…. but you get the picture… I’ve selected a pack that fits my theme, its on my shoestring budget and because I haven’t played in a while, it’s given me a no fuss boost to this little scenario that realistically should take a person on 2-3 hours a day and can be completed in a weeks holiday or when you can fit it into your tight schedule
this is clever and productive pack usage for a casual player/builder to someone that uses the gallery and beyond.
What is bad pack selection?
Picking one or two cosmetic or decorating items, from countless packs.
If you are someone that does a bit of light decorating and never put a lot on the EA gallery this doesnt apply to you.
This is a beginner mistake.
if there is one kit, one gamepack, on stuff pack or an EP
If there is 1 piece missing that I don’t have – I don’t download it
And as a builder, I want my build assessible to a many people as I can
if I am picking my packs, because it has my favourite poster of a cherry pie…but includes a hefty weight cupcake machine larger than the average tank
its a wasted pack…. remember, you are building a student accommodation – unless you intend to either focus on cooking as your sims studies, or maybe a connecting bakery…. don’t cherry pick from lots of packs. minimalism wins over all the time. people don’t mind taking your build and changing or adding on their own pack limitations or they might have nearly or ALL packs… let them add. What happens is EA populates and substitutes packs for you
You are not getting what the original author intended…
its like seeing the Mona Lisa, but I have only paid for half my ticket,
so on Monday when I’m going, I’m going to see it with a replacement face of Elon Musk
over the original face….
If I haven’t got EXACTLY the right packs – I’m seeing a different version from what the author is trying to convey.
Picking items from collection of packs to get that cute ultimate dollhouse experience is fine, especially for me now – cus im covered.
I’ve got like 85-90% of the gallery. However, If I see I don’t have the EXACT specs of that house, building, park, whatever… I’m not taking it.
This feels like a natural endpoint to this blog. There was a little more about my first testing conditions. I will open up this next chapter and start with the testing conditions and how I made a clear oversight in testing and my solution going forward.
Next article will include the initial test, what I learned and the core conditions of my world save… I know I ended up with general advice. I just dont hear this stuff said a lot.
