The Big Brother Challenge

I have noticed that there are a lot of challenges that have been devised for the Sims games by players.  The 100 Baby Challenge, Not So Berry, Rags to Riches and Black Widow to name a few are all popular challenges and real life ones such as "Big Brother" and "I'm a Sim, Get me Out of Here" have also been popular.  Even EA/Maxis have devised some Scenarios/Challenges within The Sims 4 game for players to complete such as Proud Parent, Too Many Toddlers, Plant a Sim and Family Fortune.

Back in the day of The Sims 2, a challenge was placed on the old BBS website called The Legacy Challenge.  The player would have to place a Sim on the largest lot possible, not having much money left to build a house, more like a one room hovel and then work their way to get money to build up their home.  Marriage would be to a townie and the oldest son would stay on the lot, the remaining children leaving to be placed in the sim bin and forgotten about.  This would need to be done for each generation up to 10 generations or more.

I rather liked the idea of this challenge but didn't like to let my Sims go into the wilderness and be forgotten about.  So, when the University expansion pack for The Sims 2 was released, which was the first EP for the game, I decided to try the Legacy Challenge but with my own take on it.

Firstborn sons will always return to their birth home to continue the family name but other sons will be placed on their own lots, albeit a little smaller, which I call a sub-Legacy.  Daughters will marry and take on their partners names, creating a new legacy family on a large lot.  I never use townies for marriage but create partners for my Sims at University where they will meet and gain skills and relationships, giving them a good start in life.  I play rotationally and for three days for each family, allowing all of my Sims to grow up or age together.  Although it may sound a little old-fashioned having the first son return home and daughters taking on their partners names, for me it made it easier to keep track of families and new legacies within the game.  You can download my rules here if you are interested in playing this way.

I have been wanting to try the Big Brother Challenge for a while in The Sims 2 and finally got around to doing it after watching the real life show earlier this year just to get a feel for it.  Although there are certain rules for the Big Brother Challenge in The Sims that have been devised by players, I decided to create my own for my challenge which you can find here.

I built a Big Brother House and then created 8 Sims separately in CAS and moved them all in one by one.  For me, I had always thought that the Sims in 2 were a lot smarter than in 4 and although I still believe this, Sims in 2 are not as smart as I had previously believed.

At first the Sims seemed to be having a lot of fun, chatting, keeping their needs up by making group meals and showering but then something went wrong.  In a later episode, one Sim decided to take out the trash and, as the door was locked (my fault), threw the trash on the floor.  Of course this caused bugs and Sims freaking out.  They had never bothered about the trash before and now, all of sudden, it was a thing.

Here's a clip of episode 1:

If you would like to watch my Big Brother Challenge in The Sims 2, here is the first episode:

I would love to know what you think of my Big Brother Challenge or challenges in general within the Sims games!

Dag! Dag!

- Minicart

Rose Cottage

I don't usually play with pets in The Sims, mainly because in The Sims 2, you cannot control them.  So I thought it would be a good idea to come out of my comfort zone and create a little cottage that is pet friendly and move in a Sim with her cat.

At one point in real life, I had six cats.  Yes, you read that right - I had six cats.  I love cats.  I just don't usually play with them in The Sims.

I used to have a ginger tom named Rhubarb and he was absolutely beautiful but unfortunately, he has now passed away.  He was very friendly and wanted lots of cuddles, rather like a little dog.  

So I decided to create him in The Sims 2 for my Sim.  So here is Rhubarb and he lives with Jane in Rose Cottage.  He seems very happy there and Jane adores him, giving him lots of cuddles and treats.

If you would like to have Rose Cottage in your game, you can download it from the link in the video.  Unfortunately, it doesn't come with Jane and Rhubarb but it does have furniture and a brand new car in the garage.

And, if you'd like to see a few of Rhubarb's antics, check out this short video:

- Minicart (Jules)

Unleashing Ones Creativity

My Bird and Bunting pyjamas for girls are now available for download over at The Sims Resource.

Creating custom content for The Sims 4 takes me back to TS2 days as the way of creating is basically the same.  It's just a pity that EA/Maxis hasn't released a 'Body Shop' and wallpaper and floor tool, like they did before.  Of course, in a way, that doesn't really matter as there are fantastic modders and programmers out there who make tools available for us so that we can continue to release our creativity making custom content for fellow Simmers.

At the moment I am using Color Magic and S4PE together with Photoshop and have made a few items, all of which can be downloaded at TSR.  However, once the TSR Workshop for The Sims 4 is released then I will be using that.  I don't know how different it will be compared to Color Magic and S4PE but it may mean that I will have to endure another learning experience.  But that's okay because I enjoy learning stuff...

Back to my Bird and Bunting pyjamas - I created the bird for the top in photoshop with shapes and the pen tool and ran each shape/colour through my felt style action script to create this:

I then created some buntings with different patterns:

I used this to hand-tile a pattern and then defined that in Photoshop and used the pattern for the bottoms:

Here is an image of the end result:

 
I had a lot of fun creating these pyjamas, as I do with all the things I make.

Since creating for TS4, I decided to make a small video for each item to show what the content looks like in CAS.  This is something else that I really enjoy doing and these videos seem to be quite popular.

So, here is the video I made to 'showcase' my Bird and Bunting pyjamas:

You can download my Bird and Bunting Pyjamas for girls over at TSR via the link below:

DOWNLOAD HERE!

I hope you like them and I really do appreciate any feedback, good or bad.

Take care guys and have a great day!

~ Minicart (Jules)

Neglecting, Procrastinating and Blowing Up Computers

Oh, here I go again, neglecting my blog for nearly a year.  Well actually, it's been nearly 10 months....

Lots of things have been going on during these few months; my computer blew up, I've been unwell and of course we have the release of The Sims 4 which has kept me busy making new stuffs and of course, playing.

There's also the YouTube channel which has also been keeping me busy, with The Evil Witch of Dragon Valley, The Davenports and Custom Content for The Sims 4 videos.  The Barrington-Smythe Legacy is no more it seems, since my computer blew up. 

However, having received The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection for free from Origin (it was up for grabs a few weeks ago), I think I may start afresh.

Even though I played the original The Sims, The Sims 2 is still my favourite out of the first 3.  Of course, we also have all the expansion and stuff packs for TS2 which makes the game even more awesome.

Having said that, The Sims 4 is awesome too, (apart from a couple of things which I am unhappy about such as no toddlers, no family tree, no change of name after marriage, to name but a few).  I love the fact that the dating scenario is back from TS2 (as per my previous post of January this year).  I'm sure TS4 will get more awesome once we have expansion packs and stuff packs and hopefully weather, pets, holidays, open restaurants, etc.


I'm actually really looking forward to seeing what EP's and SP's EA/Maxis come up with for this Simlish sequel.  Hopefully the old favourites as well as some new ones.  I'm also curious for more information on 'The Sims 4 Premium' service as briefly seen in The Sims 4 Gameplay Walkthrough Official Trailer in July and which you can read about on Gamespot if you haven't already read/heard about it.

I know a lot of people say that TS4 has cartoonish graphics but I love the graphics in this game and the fact that I have more control over my sims than I did in TS3, much like in TS2, which is probably one of the reasons I love it.

Feel free to check out my first look at The Sims 4:

I'll try not to leave it for another 10 months before I post on here again....

~ Minicart (Jules)

The Sims 2 Dating Scenario

If you've never played The Sims 2, you won't know what the dating scenario is, which is a really cool feature of the game that we unfortunately don't have in The Sims 3.

There are in fact lots of things we had in 2 that we don't have in 3 and I think this is mainly due to the routing problems.  Although many people complained about the loading screens in TS2 (myself included), I really don't see it is a problem anymore as the gameplay tends to override this, in my opinion.  I would therefore rather have a 'closed' world as opposed to an open one if we get better gameplay.  Maybe all this will change when TS4 comes out, seeing that Maxis is back in the frame.  To be fair though, the gardening, cooking and fishing skills in TS3 I think are a lot better than in TS2.

So the next instalment of The Barrington-Smythe Legacy has Charles and Victoria on their first date.  Do they have a dream date or is it a complete flop?  Watch the video below to find out!

Thanks for watching and I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Cheers!

~Minicart

The Barrington-Smythe Legacy

I'm so loving this game The Sims 2; in fact I'm enjoying it more than TS3 at the moment.

Anyway, to continue with my Let's Play The Sims 2 series, here is the next instalment of The Barrington-Smythe Legacy:

Hope you enjoy watching just as much as I enjoyed playing!  And I'm still making pyjamas......

Cheers and a Happy New Year!

~Minicart

Let's Play The Sims 2!

Well, I finally got a couple of Let's Play's uploaded to You Tube, the latest being The Barrington-Smythe Legacy Part 11, played with The Sims 2.

I have been quite ill over the Christmas holiday with a nasty infection so couldn't do much.  However, I'm feeling a lot better now.

So, here is the latest in The Barrington-Smythe Legacy:

Feel free to comment, like, favourite, subscribe or whatever!  Meanwhile, I must get on and make some more pyjamas.....

Cheers!

~Minicart

The Sims 3 Roaring Heights Review

Ever since I played The Sims 2, I have been wanting to create videos.  I had no idea what to do, where to start or what equipment I needed.

I would watch other people's videos, together with tutorials but never really found the time or the confidence to give it a go myself, until now.

Last week I decided to purchase screen recording software and a cheap microphone and just give it a shot to see what I could come up with.  I started a Let's Play over at YouTube created with The Sims 2 entitled The Barrington-Smythe Legacy and I'm really enjoying myself.  I didn't realise however, the amount of work needed to put into a Let's Play.  I just thought I would only need to play the game for 15 or 20 minutes and upload it - boy, was I wrong!

My screen recording software, although recognising my microphone, mutes it and so I have to play the game first and then record the audio afterwards.  This means editing the movie then playing it back to record the audio, popping the audio into the movie, all the while trying to make everything fit by cutting and editing.  Then it's a case of saving the movie (rendering) which can take up to 30 minutes, watching it again to make sure everything is okay on the final file and then uploading to YouTube, which takes another couple of hours.

Even though it takes a while to do, I'm having so much fun doing it and today I recorded my very first review for a new world from The Sims 3 Store which was released yesterday, Roaring Heights.

Although the picture is a little 'choppy' and 'laggy' at times, I am still a beginner and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  They say practice makes perfect so as time goes on, I can only hope that I'll get better!

One thing that certainly helped me with the 'panning' in-game was Chrillsims3 video tutorial on how to use the camera within The Sims 3 game.

Here is Chrills video:

And here is my first review:

All I can say is that if I can do it, anyone can!

I hope you like it and I would appreciate any constructive criticism/advice that you want to give to me!

Cheers!

~Minicart

Lack of Blogging and The Sims 4

There's been a serious lack of blogging on this site and I really must learn to do better.  I couldn't believe that it's been 8 months since I made a post.....

Alot has happened over the past few months within the Sims community with the announcement of the upcoming Island Paradise EP and also the Time Travel EP to be released later this year.  The biggest announcement is of course, The Sims 4, due to be released some time in 2014.

There was much speculation of this new Sims game mostly due to the fact that the domain TheSims4.com was purchased by EA some time ago and supposed concept images being posted on the website of an ex EA employee.

The announcement of The Sims 4 may have come too soon for some as I'm sure there are those who have lost interest in The Sims 3 and will be patiently awaiting the release of The Sims 4 before purchasing any other The Sims games.  However, if you are a die-hard Sims fan like myself, you will be wanting anything and everything that EA release regarding The Sims franchise.

I'm a little sad that we never got a Vacation EP for The Sims 3.  Although Island Paradise looks a little vacationy (vacationy?), it isn't a sub-hood like World Adventures or the vacation EP's we had for 1 and 2. I personally would have liked to have been able to take my Sims on a vaction to Island Paradise from Sunset Valley, much like we can go from the neighbourhood to one of the World Adventure worlds or to University.

Since the announcement of The Sims 4, I reinstalled The Sims 2 and started playing again (hence the lack of posts :-)).  I must admit that I feel the gameplay of The Sims 2 is so much better than 3.  Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of things in The Sims 3 that I love, such as the fishing skill, cooking and gardening and all the related books that go with it.  Learning all those recipes and what you need  to catch certain fish is great gameplay in my opinion and should be taken across to The Sims 4.  However, there are many more things that were in The Sims 2 that I missed in 3 such as open restaurants, babies with limbs, slower eating, dating and outing scenario's, creating a group on your phone to invite out (as opposed to being automatically grouped up in The Sims 3 which I really dislike), and many other things such as the Wobbly Wabbit Head Charisma bunny for toddlers. 

The open world and graphics of The Sims 3 is a lot better than what we had in 2; loading screens were a bit of a bind.  However, since re-installing the game on a faster computer than I had before, the loading screens only take a few seconds.  It is much better though to be able to just leave your house and go to the park in an open world, without having to watch a boring loading screen.

Here is a list of all the things I miss from The Sims 2 together with stuff from 3 that I would love to see in 4, plus a couple of ideas, (which I originally posted over on the official site):

• Wobbly Wabbit Head Charisma bunny for toddlers;
• DIY channel on TV for handiness skill;
• Babies and cars like in TS2;
• Cleaning skill back;
• Fears and memory system back;
• Comfort and environment needs back;
• Group system/scenario back - fed up of my sims being grouped up or put in a date when I don't want them to;
• Date system/scenario back;
• Pottery wheel/sewing machine for creativity;
• LOVE the science stuff in TS3 UL;
• Keep the gardening/cooking/fishing like we have in TS3 - put greenhouses in the base game;
• Bring back gardeners;
• Bring back the tools that we were given at around level 4 of each career in TS2 - i.e. cleaning gun for Law Enforcement, Indoor Golf for Business, Running Track thing for Military, Operation Dummy for Medical, Podium for Political, Chocolate maker for Culinary, Cow Plant for Science, etc;
• Bring back gold/platinum aspiration levels so that as in TS2 certain items can be 'purchased' with lifetime points such as the baby milk and the money maker machine.  These could only be used when the sim was 'gold' or higher.  Once a lifetime wish is accomplished then the sim should be platinum and stay platinum as in TS2;
• Open restaurants;
• Slower eating/chatting at the table etc as in TS2;
• A weight thingy like we had in TS2 - if a sim eats too much they put on weight and have to exercise, again like we had in TS2;
• Need to purchase food from the store or have it delivered as opposed to it magically appearing in the fridge;
• Need to purchase clothing instead of having everything available in CAS;

Bernards Botanical Dining from The Sims 2:

 

In addition, I loved the music from The Sims 1 and 2 and I remember that we had The Sims 1 music in 2 on the stereo entitled 'Shopping'.  I also love the idea of having famous people singing their hits in Simlish as we have in The Sims 3.  I'm assuming that with the Sims 4 we will get new music but I would love to see the music from all the other games incorporated into 4.

I'm sure there are a lot of other things that Simmers remember and would like to see in The Sims 4 and also have their own new ideas for the game.

On the other side of the spectrum, I have noticed there are a few people who state that they will continue with The Sims 3 as they 'don't want to start a new game all over again' and stating that 'this is just a money-making racket for EA to re-do all the old expansion packs'.  I have to disagree with this and James from The Sim Supply explained why brilliantly in a video he posted on YouTube:







I, for one, am really looking forward to The Sims 4. Getting more information and seeing some screenshots (and a trailer) is something I and many others are really excited for.  Remember guys, Tuesday June 18th is coming up for apparently more information on The Sims 4 so I'm really looking forward to that.

Well, that's about it for now; will try and keep up to date with posts in future (I think I may have said that before)......

Cheers and Happy Simmin'!

~ Minicart