Michael's Pizzeria

A TSD friend linked to this buyable pizza mod by xdarkshadowx and I just had to try it out. So, I made a quickie pizzeria!

Important CC used: 

-buyable pizza (previously mentioned) - works

-pizza made purchasable at grocery store - doesn't work (in this particular scenario)

-ATS3's bakery display - works

-ani's shop mod -works

The result proved to be interesting. The buyable pizza can be put in the sims' inventory and transferred to a chest (or chest-like) for purchase, but the grocery store mod doesn't work on food registers so the 2nd mod isn't needed to have a functional pizzeria. That's a huge "duh" moment for me. *facepalm*

A lot of the slots on the bakery display are too small for pizza boxes, since they were meant for small pastries, but there are four slots that work perfectly with the box. If someone *COUGH* could make decorative pizzas, they would look great in these display cases. :)

So anyway, pictures!!

Before I even started construction, Janice started thinking about a bakery...or a pizzeria. She's obviously psychic. 

The pizzeria, in all its rushed and lackluster glory.

And there I am on the far right, looking suspicious as hell. Hi me! *waves*

Unless you want your sims to have other foods besides pizza, I don't recommend using the diner rug. Sims can be so lazy sometimes; if they have the option of going to a rabbit hole instead of using the food register, they will.

Needless to say, I got rid of the rug.

 If you plan on using the buyable pizzas, I strongly recommend fixing them first using the TSR Rigfix or some other program. Otherwise they may bork your game. 

As always, thanks for reading! :)

~Cheezy

My Impression of Pets So Far...(and other stuff!)

By my mother's generosity, she gave me her copy of S3Pets yesterday when my pre-ordered copy had yet to show. So far, I absolutely love Pets! Not really shocking, since I'm pretty easily impressed (hey, a trait!) and I was a major fan of S2Pets, but I am seriously in love with this game. Now my favorite EP is tied between LN, GEN, and Pets.

Since I somehow got my game to work perfectly without flaw for the first time ever, I'm going to walk you guys through the steps I took before/during install. It'll be very brief, and I know the regular commenters know how to backup the game and all that jazz, but I still wanted to review so any lurkers who don't know how to do this will learn. Feel free to skip down. :) Oh, and I'm not fantastic at troubleshooting, so if you see a term or something that's inaccurate, let me know and I'll fix it:

1. Locate the Sims 3 file (User<My Documents<Electronic Arts<The Sims 3)
2. Right click on file
3. Select "cut"
4. Locate/create file labeled "backup" (or another name, so you know what it is)
5. Paste Sims 3 file
6. Load game (BEFORE install. This way, the game can create a new Sims 3 file)
7. Adjust the settings (graphics, display, etc.) to your liking
8. Create a new game (even if only a placeholder. I didn't save my new game, but I don't think it made a difference)
9. Exit game
10. Install Pets. Before installing, make sure to read the link in #11. If you will die without your CC furniture (not that I could blame you), hold off on installing.
11. After installing Pets, do NOT re-insert your third-party custom content, with the probable exception of  CAS stuff. More information on this here. 
12. Save frequently and have fun! This is more of a suggestion, but I've noticed that if I simply do all my saves by "Save As" (i.e. Appaloosa Plains 1, Appaloosa Plains 2, Appaloosa Plains 3) it takes less time to save and my game runs faster. :) 

So, now that the "instruction guide" is out of the way, I will give all of my thoughts on Pets. The ~*SQUEEEE*~, the grrrrr >:-(, and the "eh." Just to shake things up (and because I've already shown I'm in favor of Pets), I'm going to start with the "grrrrr >:-(" first.

Sims 3 Pets grrrrr >:-( s

• NO custom content, which I had ironically grew more comfortable downloading over time, and had accumulated enough of it to permeate my in-game project. "Oh, it'll be fine," I said to myself. "I can make sure the game works, and then slowly work my CC back in! It's not as if EA HAD THE DECENCY TO LET US ALL KNOW THAT OUR CC WILL STOP WORKING." If needed, I could always just start a new one, but grrrrr >:-( !!! I'm having my bitter EA gamer moment.
• No Twallan. I know that will be corrected soon, but...grrrrr >:-( !! Actually, this would warrant more of a :'(, but I don't have that category.
• No _ani mods. grrrrr >:-( !!!
• No mods of any sort. GRRRRR >:-(
• No in-game project. I'll have to start a new one, probably (or wait for a user-made patch to correct the EA patch that messed up the game for third party CC users). I know it's not EA's job to accommodate to us, but grrrrr >:-(
• Some of the new hairstyle and clothing options just make me want to *headdesk* and grrrrr >:-( !!!

Sims 3 Pets "eh."s

• The world is nicely done, but it's a bit hard to navigate at first. Eh.
• I haven't found any parks yet, other than dog/cat/horse parks. What about a park for normal sims? Eh.
• They also don't have a "Can't stand animals" trait. I love animals, but some of my sims may not. Eh.
• So far, I've been trying to adopt/buy a foal and it appears that I can't. Eh.
• They have a dive bar, a stylist salon, a fire department...basically everything that came with AMB and LN. And yet, they don't have the acting rabbit hole. Why, EA? Why? Bridgeport can't possibly be the film and acting base for everything, can it? Is this your passive aggressive way of admitting you made the rabbit hole too large? Eh.
• The horses have weird and awkward portraits. Eh.
• Horses are weird. Well, they are weird in the sense that they require a crazy amount of space, or they can't do anything. I have completely cleared a section of the yard and she still can't play with her horsey ball. Hopefully it's a glitch. Eh...and :'(
• Speaking of glitches, sometimes my puppy will play with his chew toy, and sometimes he won't. Btw, please tell me you gave cats a cool moodlet for the catnip toy and it just hasn't shown up due to a glitch. Please. If you want to fix this glitch *HINT HINT*, here's a video of cats on catnip (literally). So...eh.

Sims 3 Pets ~*SQUEEEE*~s

• The world (and the rabbit holes that come with it) look great! The homes are becoming increasingly more realistic. My favorite is the Riffin home. Not sure why, but it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The runner up would be the Single-ton home, just for how modern it looks and feels without sacrificing that Midwestern feel. ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!
• It's not an entirely lush world! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!
• The horses are adorable! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!
• I thoroughly enjoy playing as a horse so much, that I've somewhat abandoned my real sims for the horse! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!
• Puppies and kittens are adorable, and even cuter when they goof around! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!
• Did I mention horses are awesome? ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!
• Falcons and pygmy tortoises! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!
• Skintone diversity! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!
• Community lots I actually want to visit! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!
• Horse ghosts are at first creepy, but then become adorable. ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!
• The dive bar (which I turned into a sports bar) looks awesome. ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!
• It runs smoothly and doesn't crash! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!
• EA SP hasn't done too much damage so far! ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!
• I don't know if this was on purpose or not, but the cashiers, mixologist, and paparazzis all had appropriate attire and names for the environment of Appaloosa Plains. ~*SQUEEEE*~ !!!

And since I don't really plan on making a mini-series about the expansion, I didn't take too many photos. However, the ones that I did take are pretty darn adorable if I do say so myself! ;)

This is Cassidy Wells. She's a flirty animal lover looking for a man to settle down with...and give her 5 simspawns. Here she is wooing a ~mysterious man~ at the Watering Hole Saloon.

Get...

Me...

...OFF!!!

Aaand a dead foal. Here are my reactions in a series of emoticons: 0_0  :O  :(  >:(  :/  :|  :)  :') 

In case that needed breaking down:

0_0 - WHAT THE $@#@#$ IS THAT SCARY THING?!?!
:O - Is that...is that a dead horse??
:( - Even worse...it's a dead foal.
>:( - WHY THE #$@$@# IS IT RED?? WHY DO I HAVE THE OPTION TO BOTTLE FEED IT? WHO STARVED A BABY HORSE?!?! *gets shotgun ready*
:/ - I refuse to find this unfortunate "accident" adorable. It's animal cruelty.
:| - Still not amused.
:) - Aww, it's kind of cute when the live horse nuzzles the dead one.
:') - SQUEEE! Can I resurrect it?

And now for the "other stuff"...

-My cold is getting better! :) Soon I'll be able to return to the academic world. Joy of joys.

-I don't really like to do "advertising" on my blogs, but this project is awesome! I always enjoy Simmerville's projects, and this time, she's doing a project called SimBasic, which is essentially putting eight sims on an unoccupied island and creating a small town out of it. It's incredibly fascinating, and it makes me want to try it myself! :) You can find the first post here.

So, do you guys have Pets yet? Do you plan on getting it soon, or are you going to wait for a "patch" to fix the EA patch?

Happy simming,

Cheezy :)

*merrily goes back to life as a horse*

Steal Your Heart Commentary

Just a quick note on Bonnie's sudden weight loss: it was on purpose, lol. I plan on having her slowly gain the weight back. I believe that some people are stress eaters, and other people are stress starvers. Bonnie would fall into the latter category. When faced with a tremendous amount of physical or mental stress, she loses all desire to eat. Thus, the waif look. Oh, and only four more chapters until the season finale! :D Thank God for labor day and brilliantly timed inspiration, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to type this up.

Cameo, Cameo, where art thou cameo?

I don't know what made me decide to put Thame in story, but I just felt that Clyde needed a little side story of his own, to introduce his traits to the story a little. What does it have to do with the main story? Nothing, lol, but this way I can do a Dillard update and a Six Degrees update at the same time!
*just a reminder: Clyde is one of Bonnie's younger brothers*

I think they make a rather good couple, do you? :)

Oh, and you might be wondering why she looks different. Well, I gave three Dillards a makeover, because I felt that their "pronounced" facial features, coupled with their pale skin, set off way too many alarms. I didn't want to change the skin, so I tweaked the facial features instead. I tried to keep the spirit of each sim intact, and I did pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

...although Angie and Beau now somewhat resemble Ella Cartez and Dave Navarro. Oh, and my game decided to crash while saving, so the new new Dillards may look slightly different than the Dillards in the picture. Sigh.

Angie Dillard

Thame Dillard

Beau Dillard and his Navarro-ness

And that's all I have for today, folks! I'd say more about the chapter, but I think it pretty much speaks for itself.

'Till next time,
Cheezy :)

Definitely here, but not here

My first day of the school year started yesterday, and already I feel overwhelmed by real life duties. As usual, I completely overestimated how well I'd be able to juggle all of this plus school. I'll be checking in frequently and reading all of your stories, but once again, Six Degrees will be put on the back burner. I wouldn't call this a hiatus, but more of a warning that the updates will return to its sporadic state.

In reference to SV Times (btw- I loved the fishing update!), I'm not sure if I'll be able to post on it as often as I would have liked to when I offered to sign on. I will try to write at least two SV Times articles this year though, because they seem like fun writing exercises. Maybe I can somehow convince myself that it counts as English homework. :)

Meanwhile, I'll probably update this blog with random stuff as usual. I'm currently messing around with building stuff, and maybe creating a Sunset Valley 2.0. I've already remodeled most of Sunset Valley in-game, so I figured there wouldn't be any harm in experimenting with SV Lite in CAW. It's a major project and I'm not completely sure about it, so I'm not going to devote a lot of time to it.

I hate making blog posts without pictures, so...here are some pictures!

Talk to you guys soon,
Cheezy :)

Random Generations Screenies!

School's almost out, Generations just arrived yesterday, and my involuntary leave of sim-absence is approaching its expiration date. You know what that means...

PIC SPAM!!! *contains spoilers...?*
 

Traits: Neat, shy, family-oriented, nurturing, eco-friendly

 This is Carol Camden. She's a shy, nurturing gal from Twinbrook who would like nothing more than to settle down with her hubby and raise five a few kids in Sunset Valley. Well, that and a clean house.

Traits: Athletic, loner, computer whiz, frugal, loves the outdoors

Moses Camden, another Twinbrook transplant, enjoys jogging to work in the mornings and clipping coupons. He's currently trying to learn how to overclock his PC so his wife can play her computer games. Hey, even games within games can be graphic-intensive!

He wants to be a firefighter superhero, to ensure that people don't lose their lives to the orange flames of death.

Link to the gorgeousness here

And this, is their SUPER FREAKING AWESOME SPECTACULAR apartment, courtesy of nengi. Some of the furnishings are courtesy of moi, because the apartment was too expensive to buy furnished. Hint: I just plunked down the TV, chair, barstools, desk area, and bed.

Woohoo in the shower = an abundance of pixels
Woohoo in the shower - censors = really weird animations, according to Twallan.

That's really gonna suck for the storytellers that were planning a sexytime shower scene for their stories.

The obligatory pillow-fight-after-woohoo ceremony. Too adorable. Oh, I neglected to mention that Carol's hair and shirt came with Generations, as well as everything on Moses (excluding the shoes, I think).

I made Carol get a job as an amateur babysitter, which is a part of the Daycare profession. Not job, but profession (I had to make that distinction because I thought it was a job). Also, the profession takes place at your sims' home, which means it could be a pretty good job for your Susie/Johnny homemakers. The sims drop off their toddlers and kids to put them in your care, usually between 8AM to 9PM.

After this, she promptly went back to playing video games. ;)

Oof, first day on the job and he's already smacked himself in the face with a door! I should have made him clumsy...

Carol, reading at the Old Pier Beach (again, courtesy of nengi). She's pregnant here, but it was early in the pregnancy so you can't really tell.

This is the new baby Alex, taking a stroll with his mommy. Time flies, doesn't it? And ooh, look!! The baby has expressions while in the stroller! And it moves around! Here, Alex is happy and adorable...

And here, he's angry and a hellspawn! Isn't this fun?

I should be back with more picspam tomorrow, but right now I need to focus on finals...as if that'll happen. ;) As always, happy simming!

Small update and extras:
Generations is definitely my favorite EP, closely followed by Late Night. Generations runs pretty well on my system even with most of Twallan's updated mods installed, although it does have its frequent slow moments. My favorite features so far are the interactions (shower woohoo, give flowers, give gifts, etc.), the strollers, and the customizable age spans. Least favorite? Memories. I swear, if EA went any further overboard than they already have, sims would get a memory when they take a $#!+ for the first time. Oh well, at least I get free stuff whenever I upload memories!! :D

Our favorite vampire family is now in a refurbished Sunset Valley! They aren't in the Camden's save file, but I plan on using their offspring as minor characters in an upcoming series. Sigh, now I just jinxed myself. I bet as soon as I start "filming" for the story, my game will cry blood and tears.

Anyway, Angellique Dillard (remember her? Yeah, neither do I) is now a gorgeous toddler, Jacob and Trudy got married (t'was not my doing, trust me) and Angie got promoted to Supporting Actress!

Random Pictures

Just some random pictures of a family I'm playing. They may or may not have something to do with a future storyline...*innocent whistling*

"Naked man to my right, naked man to my right, naked man to my right..."

"Gasp, I'm married!"

"This is some really juicy stuff, I'll need to get some extra pics. My boss is never gonna believe this..."

"Ohmahgaw, I'm married too!!"

All: "HOLY $#!+ SHE'S GIVING BIRTH!!" Trista: "I'm so putting this on SimTube..."

"Sparkles!!!"

D-I-Y Modeling Experiment!

 *WARNING - lots of talk about sim modeling, photographers, and other stuff. Read at your own discretion. :)*

Do you remember back in TS1 Superstar when you could have photo-shoots with photographers and walk the runway? I miss it. I miss it so much, that I tried to make a modeling career with s3pe and one of Twallan's mods. Needless to say, I lost interest while trying to read all that XML gobbledygook. I got through half of the steps and just said "**** it!" Ah well, modding isn't for everyone. I did come up with some minor (huuuge emphasis on "minor") script mods that I think actually work, so I'll test those out and see if I did well or not.

Anyway, I've devised a new system, something of a makeshift "modeling career". It's very involved and severely underdeveloped (I mean, I just came up with the idea a few hours ago), but for those who want model simmies, it might be fun! :)

First, let's start with our photographer.

 This is Svetlana Kolinski, or "Lana" for short. Her work-related traits are Artistic (knowing what back-drops to use), Computer Whiz (very skilled in SimPhotoShop), and Photographer's Eye (no further explanation needed). Her personal traits are Perfectionist (always wanting to get it right) and Workaholic. One day, Lana will have her own "name" and studio, but for now, she's an unknown amateur photographer (aka unemployed and no stars).

 This is the trampoline that will be used for today's photo shoot. An outdoor photo shoot will prove to be fun for both parties involved!

 This is our model, Deela Kimari. Her work-related traits are Athletic (for staying in shape and building up endurance) and Star-Quality (that special "something" that all big-time celebrities seem to have). Her personal traits are Good Sense of Humor, Good, and Lucky.

 Deela and Lana met up at Deela's loft. Now, usually I would have the photographer and the model meet face-to-face or through social networking (think celeb parties or chatting on the computer) instead of going straight to their homes, but there isn't much in this emptied Twinbrook and I don't have all night. Deela immediately began chatting Lana up without any direction from me, so I just upped them to "friends" using Twallan's MC mod and invited Deela over to Lana's place for the shoot.

 Of course, as I expected, it wasn't much of a challenge at all to get Deela to hop on the trampoline. Ahh, silly sims!

The final result was...not ideal for either one of them, I believe. Lana took several shots but only two were remotely usable, and the others had a finger on the lens. Since Deela and Lana are not up to pay-level yet, neither one of them get paid. Pretty simple so far, right? Well, it gets a bit more complicated as you climb up in the photography/modeling professions. I'll do a separate post about it later in the week, but for now I'll just break it down in text because my game is still as slow as a turtle with a hangover.

Level Zero:
-Model/Photographer has zero stars and 0-2 photography skills (or special skills* for models)
-Model/Photographer pay rate is $0
-Models are limited to freebies & photographers are limited to independent projects

Level One:
-Model/Photographer has one star and 3-4 photography/special skills
-Model pay rate is 10% of whatever photographer gets; level one photographers and models are limited to independent projects and small businesses* (max pay rate from small businesses = $300 to level one photographers, which means the max pay rate to level one models = $30 per shoot)

Level Two:
-Model/Photographer has two stars and 4-5 photography/special skills
-Model pay rate is 30% of whatever the photographer gets; level two photographers and models are still limited to small businesses and independent shoots. Max pay to level two photographers is $600; max pay to level 2 models is $180 per shoot

Level Three:
-Model/Photographer has three stars and 5-6 photography/special skills
-Model pay rate is 40% of whatever the photographer gets; level three photographers and models are no longer limited to small businesses and independent shoots, but impressing the higher-ups will be harder. Max pay to level three photographers is $900, max pay level to to level 3 models is $360

Level Four:
-Model/Photographer has four stars and 6-7 photography/special skills
-Model pay rate is 30-50% of whatever the photographer gets; level four photographers and models are now able to get the high-hitters with a little more ease, if they've been networking and improving their portfolio. Max pay to level four photographers is $1600, max pay to level four models is $800

Level Five:
-Model/Photographer has four stars and max photography/special skills
-Model pay rate is 50% of whatever the photographer gets; level five photographers have no problems working with big names. Minimum pay to level five photographers is $1800, minimum pay to level five models is $600

As you can see, what the model makes largely depends on what the photographer makes. In the special cases of models working with photographers that have a higher level than them, the pay rule still applies. Say that a level one model works with a level five photographer. The model is still paid as a level one model, i.e. they only get 10% of the cut. That means if a level five photographer is making $5000 from the shoot, the level 1 model receives $500. Not too shabby! And in the case of a photographer working with a model that has a higher level than them, well, I have yet to figure that one out. Same goes for agents. I'm trying to figure out what benefit having an agent would serve for sims in the music, fashion, and acting industry. I guess if the agents knew a buttload of famous(er) sims for their clients to meet, that would be their purpose...? Hmm. Also, if you want to try this method but you want to modify it to make it less (or more) involved, by all means do so! I just wanted to put the idea out there, in case someone was curious about it.

Anyway, if you read all that, you're an angel. Happy simming! :)

Footnotes:
*Special skills is a section on an actor's resume displaying the special, unique, or beneficial skills they have mastered, such as horse-riding or martial arts. I don't know if they do this for models, but I wouldn't doubt it.
*Small business = a sim-owned business lot worth less than or around $20,000

****Disclaimer: I am not a model, and I know very little about the profession itself. I took the basics of it that I already knew and ran with it. This blog post documenting the "relationship" between a sim model and a sim photographer is not meant to be 100% accurate.****

The Callaway

Click image for Donald Gardner's floor plan

I started searching around for some more floor plans, and when I found The Callaway, it was a match made in heaven. It's a mixture of traditional, southern comfort, and contemporary. I just had to take it on. :) The interior is not my best work, but I like it anyway. It's quirky.

The Callaway - 2BR, 2BA, 30x30 *click here to go to download page*

Level 1

Level 2

Kitchen and dining room

Entry to the family room through the foyer

The desk nook at the back of the family room

The front of the family room

A nursery, perfect for your little boy/girl

A room I tried to make gender-neutral, but sort of failed at. So, here's a room for your tomboys and sporty kids!

Utility/clothes closet

Master bedroom

Connected bathroom

•  Built on a flat lot, so you should have no issues placing it in your world
• The house is about 70k furnished, and 45k unfurnished (whew!)
• There is an empty room + empty space at the end of the hall for expansion
• A decently-sized backyard, ideal for small gardens and/or an area to entertain guests
• The Callaway was built on 250 Cotton Branch Drive in Riverview (I moved the water tower)
• The only store items needed are the Desktop Lord Sponge and the trophy that came with the Adrenaline Rush set. Both items are free.
• Features a basement meant to hold one car and is not accessible to sims.

*****Bonus Pic******

It seems that Bizarro Jamie* doesn't exactly approve of her home. (note - Bizarro Jamie is not included with the house)

If desired, I can upload a few "celebrity" sims as well. I think you'll have to manually give them their stars via Master Controller, but they look pretty cool so their genetics might be fun to have around. Oh, and I've been playing around with makeup and hair shades, too. I don't plan on messing with the textures or anything since I have no clue how to do that stuff, but for those who don't like to make different swatches every time they go to CAS, it'll be perfect!

*Footnote: Bizarro Jamie is my makeover of Sunset Valley's Jamie Jolina. I was going to have her be a townie in one of my worlds with a back-story of how she went from being successful to poor, but then as you know, the world file went kablooey and now I'm starting over. If anyone wants Bizarro Jamie as a download, let me know and I'll take out all her store stuff. :)