Fun with genetics

And bring other characters to life.

I have to admit that it's taken a LONG time to get used to the way TS3 sims look. They still look weird sometimes, but I am greatly enjoying making sims now and playing around with genetics. For Ruin, TS3 fits it perfectly with the style and mood I'm generally trying to create.

So I spent some time this afternoon (wasted some I should probably say) making sims and having sims have babies just to see.

The very first was Henri Smith, aka The Original Experiment, the First Experiment. He's the one credited with starting the revolution. (I don't know how true that is yet because I've only heard it from the mouths of other characters I was writing about never his.)



Henri is meant to look his age. He's about in his 50's or so (haven't sat down with pen and paper but that's about right). That's much older than most, but he's always been rather clever, and he's revered by Experiments-- a reverence that's been passed down to their children. He's the one who holds the south together and keeps the really bad ones from the Lost Territory out.


Next up-- Vivian Bennet.

Ah Vivian... she's probably in her 30's-- almost 40's now, but this is meant to be an old picture of her. I don't think she was an experiment. Most likely, she was another Edy, living in the labs her parents worked in. After the revolution, a lot of those people had to scrabble to live, and Vivian was no exception.

Mostly, I needed her because she and Henri had a son.


Brandon Smith. This one was interesting. I just wanted to see what would happen when mixing two sims since I'm not playing the game really at all.

Brandon had to have a little work done to be presentable. When I made Henri, I made him to look his age. Brandon-- a teen-- looked a little rough. Looked like he had a 30 year old's head on a teen's body. I took out the crease around his mouth, and tada-- he looks his age. I also had to adjust his eyes. He got Vivian's eyes-- large and innocent. But they were a little too large. I also changed his eye color. Originally he had Vivian's.


Woman #2

Cheryl Roberts (that name may change). She's a Neutral Politician. Haven't done much writing about her yet, but the sense I get is a strong woman out to change things which makes a few people uneasy/unhappy.

She has one daughter.


Paula Roberts (who has yet to find out her last name is technically Smith) is also a teen-- somewhere around 16 I think. This sim had a crazy jaw. Like she'd been taking steroids in the womb or something. I definitely had to slim the jaws a little. I love that she has her father's eye color. That was definitely a small detail I remember about the character. She shares the same color with a brother of hers who obviously isn't Brandon. It's the only thing I think she shares with her father or that other brother.


All I can say is thank goodness for Awesome Mod and the "edit sim" cheat. Among others.

Oh and let me insert my frustration with the edit relations stuff in CAS. Ok, you know how complicated it can get when you're trying to link up different age groups? like in TS2, you can't make elders and adults be spouses even though they can get married in game?

Yeah, try linking up this family! I had three kids (one I didn't include here because he's not related to Henri), two mothers, one father, with multiple age groups. Because, for those that don't know, YA is now a standard category and different from plain ol' adult. I found that I could not link one child to two different parents unless those parents were spouses. And I couldn't make Brandon his brother's brother because his brother is YA and Brandon is teen.

So in the end, I just linked all the kids to Henri-- even the one who isn't technically his. Story-wise, when I get to it, it'll just be easier that way.


Afternoon well spent I think!

Comic Books are my inspiration

Edith continues to draw me in with her perpetually worried expressions. See?

Cute. Though, I guess she should be worried considering all she's been through.


So while I was playing around taking pictures for Chapter 6, Edith and Michael were chatting on the bed. At some point, Edith rolled over while still talking to him apparently to take a nap.

Or maybe she was just pissed at him. Either way, I love how sims can now do two things at once, like chatting and cooking or holding a baby and sitting.

I hate how limited the animations are. I swear that TS2 had more animations with the base game. At least, I know it had more intimate interactions which had all sorts of uses. TS3 seems to have more conversation animations-- I know it has more conversation options depending on traits and actions and all that.


Went home to clear out some stuff today and dug out ALL my old comic books. It's a lot of comic books. While I was flipping through a few, I was all-- "Oh. This explains a lot about Ruin." I really am obsessed!


I generally refrain from talking about the story unless I am writing to myself to figure things out. So I just want to say that the last chapter (number 6) really came out better than I expected. Was sort of putting it off I think probably for a few reasons.

With this story, the whole world its set in, its so old, something I thought up for fun over the course of years and clutched closely never sharing. Its hard to throw it out there-- some part of myself that is a little bit truer than anything else I've ever shared. But working on this one is just so comfortable!

I also found one of my printed binders full of stories and characters from the same time and the same world. One very large printed binder. There are two more just like it somewhere.


The responses have really been wonderful. Thank you those of you who're taking the time to read my little story.