Jayce's Hood: Pacific Beach

Hi Mac

Is there really such a thing as a femme overloaded hood??!

I'm thrilled with the idea of my girls and boys having a different reality! :dancinkitty1:

I never considered any of them being "somewhere else." Until I found Sugah's, I've only ever enjoyed the game as a something I devote a huge part of my life to, which my family and friends don't understand. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it is so amazing to find people who respect Sims 2. Not "like" but actually respect. I always thought there was an intelligence and emotional connection inside the game that maybe the creators hadn't consciously intended, which resounded with certain people and took them somewhere else...

Wow, I'd love to see what my little mates would be doing (and with who!) in your hood, Mac!

I must confess I am in love with many of my girls I like finding them in beautiful clothes to wear and introducing them to other girls I think they might enjoy hanging with. (Sure, the boys go surfing and play pool and poker. But what's that compared to solid female friendships that will last decades?) And, of course, partnering them with the Right Man. Because that man has got to treat my girls like the classy ladies they are!

Jayce wrote:

I never considered any of them being "somewhere else." Until I found Sugah's, I've only ever enjoyed the game as a something I devote a huge part of my life to, which my family and friends don't understand. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it is so amazing to find people who respect Sims 2. Not "like" but actually respect. I always thought there was an intelligence and emotional connection inside the game that maybe the creators hadn't consciously intended, which resounded with certain people and took them somewhere else...

Your paragraph above really describes my addiction, yes addiction, to the game. It's interesting that this site is devoted to Sims 2. Many, if not most, of us looked forward to Sims 3 and eagerly bought it. I installed, tried, and uninstalled! There were a few features that would have improved Sims 2, but the whole soul of the game was gone. My wife finally gave in and started playing Sims 2 as well. She mainly creates her own sims using CAS and, although she's a member of this site, doesn't visit often. When I tell her of the goings on in my 'hood, she gives me a tolerant smile.

Jayce wrote:

I must confess I am in love with many of my girls I like finding them in beautiful clothes to wear and introducing them to other girls I think they might enjoy hanging with. (Sure, the boys go surfing and play pool and poker. But what's that compared to solid female friendships that will last decades?) And, of course, partnering them with the Right Man. Because that man has got to treat my girls like the classy ladies they are!

Check out Nerissa Broadswood-Smythe in my 'hood (pages 8-9, 21, 25). Now and then I find an in-game sim that, with a little makeup and hair style, becomes someone special. This is Nerissa and her family. Her teenage daughter, Simone, was a real pleasant surprise. I do a lot of pairing up, but the way Simone turned out has encouraged me to have more in-game reproducing, although I find the baby and toddler phases somewhat tedious (like real life??? )

Probably one of the reasons we tend toward having lots of femmes in our 'hoods is that in the entire sims community, more creative effort has been spent on the gals and their clothes than on the guys.

I also treat my sims well, don't torture them. I always make sure that they earn and use enough green stuff to stay "immortal". One of my peeves in this game, however, is the age classification. The "adults" are 20-30 somethings who become 80-something elders. Where are the 50-something parents of the kids in university? I qualify as an "elder" but don't hobble around groaning. Well, at least most of the time!

Jayce wrote:

Is there really such a thing as a femme overloaded hood??!

I am known to run all girl hoods, although I have one hood with one male and definitely rated AO.

Jayce wrote

Quote :

I'd be absolutely delighted to upload my guys. sunny If you could direct me somewhere that has instructions how, that would be great!

I am sure that Lady S would be more than thrilled and I know I would too, if you would like to offer your very handsome and beautiful simmie creations.
Just make sure to read over the rules in the topic that i have listed below. The main thing, is NO TSR or pay content. It is in best manners and practice to adhere to a mesh creator's policies and TSR just seems to bork some people's computers out. What you can do (as most of us often do), if you just find a fantastic new hair mesh, clothing mesh, etc. Don't included it in your package, but just provide a link to where other people may obtain it.

I would highly recommend box.net or mediafire to upload and host your link for download. I can PM you a template to use if you would like.

Lady S likes one head shot, one body shot and one shot of all the CC you are including with your download. If you would like a quick reference, you can just look at any of the models in the modeling agency to get an idea. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. One of us will gladly help you out! I know I had to ask a whole lot when I first started offering stuff here and I still do from time to time :))

Thank you for wanting to offering your delicious Simmies here, I know a few i would just love to have in my game :))



You can read over the gift giving rules here in this topic

*I forgot to add you would need to post a separate entry for each model under the gift thread :))

Thanks, Jen, for helping Jayce on this.

I think I'm going to fall in love with Georgia!

Glad to help out Mac and Jayce :))
That's the great thing about this fabulous forum :)))

Hi everyone!

Adrianna: Thanks so much for your help and offer of advice. I'm going to be hitting you up with a few questions over the next couple of weeks, if that's OK with you. I just want to be sure I understand everything correctly!

Caleb: I am still wrapping my head around the concept of an all girl/one man hood!! All I can say, and this is the highest compliment, is: You Dirty Little Bugger!

Mac: You really summed it up perfectly about the age classification in the game! I wish there was a more gentle transition phase, too. I would love my sims to enjoy middle age (as their kids transit through their late teens into uni and start their own lives) and to experience retirement and being a grandparent without stooping and shuffling around! Nothing spectacular, just subtle enough to suggest the passage of time. I guess I'll have to experiment more with make-up and changing their hair while I delay them before being elders this time....

Thanks for your comments and encouragement, everyone!

Jayce wrote:

I guess I'll have to experiment more with make-up and changing their hair while I delay them before being elders this time....

My attempt at a self-sim is at the bottom of this thread. More or less an adult with grey hair and mustache. My avatar doesn't look 70, but then he doesn't look 25 either.

Haha, Mac, you nailed your sim-self by the looks!

I will have to attempt a sim-self at some point in time. The Sim-Leos always act too cool for school with their "How YOU doin'" schtick, which entertains me, as I actually find myself doing that at work with customers I've known for 10-12 years!

You've given me a few ideas about aging my sims gracefully, though. Maybe there's nothing like a good mo' to say "the kids have left home!"

Quote :

Adrianna: Thanks so much for your help and offer of advice. I'm going to be hitting you up with a few questions over the next couple of weeks, if that's OK with you. I just want to be sure I understand everything correctly!

Ask away sweetie. You can ask anyone for any help, if one of us doesn't know, we can ask our most gracious hostess and get you answer very quickly!

Looking forward to seeing what goodies you will offer us :))

I like Owen's look a lot. He's very unique and cute. I don't think I've seen that hairstyle before. Do you happen to remember where it came from? David reminds me of a sim of mine, probably because they have the same hairstyle. :)

The beach and barbecue pictures are gorgeous. They make me wish I could walk into the game.

Hi Em!

I'm so happy you like Owen! I find him so compelling! I knew his style and personality the moment he walked into the hood because he looks so distinct and different. Some sims I have to let be, to SIMmer for a little while, until I "find" them and then develop them (and the direction they're going!)

Not so with Owen. I played him differently from my other sims, I can't explain why. But he's turned out to be very complex and impacts on the game in a way I hadn't foreseen. Owen really makes me think. Usually at times when I shouldn't be thinking about him, like when I'm in in the shower and already late for work!

His hair is from MTS, a Dean Winchester (Jason Ackles) sim, inspired by the "Supernatural" TV series. I didn't end up using the sim (as is so often the way) but loved the hair. I think you made need to fiddle around with the hairline in Costume Make-Up section (I use hairlines quite a bit, they look more natural). I may have used a hair re-colour by Meike? Sorry, Em, the entries I kept in my note-book are not very detailed. They do have some very artistic coffee and red-wine stains, though!

Em, I just needed to add I think I used a different hair-line from MTS. I think it's from a Jake Gyllenhaal sim there. I didn't use him, either! But I do like to cobble all the various features together to get someone in the end!

Hi there folks!

Just a few more photos from Pacific Beach and a couple more locals for you to meet on your travels...

Living in the tropics, Sarah Kincaid and Ethan Vegas have acclimatized to the monsoonal rains that break around late spring. This year, the wet season had some spectacular thunderstorms.

That house down the road with the white lattice fence I overuse belongs to Sarah's brother, Robert, and his girlfriend, Freya.

Here's Robert with Sarah:

A photographer and old-school 1950's aficionado, Robert has such a sweet nature! Ethan had to work hard to earn his trust and approval when he first started dating Sarah at uni. Robert is very protective of her. So am I. They're my only brother/sister family unit.

After the rain over the past week, Sarah couldn't wait to get back in the water!


As usual, Eddie was determined to enjoy himself.


It's not easy being Eddie...




Feeding the koi is about the limit of his responsibilities in the house!


There's always time for a barbeque...


... and a little "afternoon delight."


Things always get a little tricky for Eddie, of course. His latest girlfriend, Courtney Wilson, doesn't handle Eddie telling her "how it is" and by the way, your pancakes are great.



Courtney is getting that sinking realization this relationship is not what she thought it was.

Every neighborhood needs to have a "bad boy" (or else they all take turns? ) Eddie certainly seems to fill the bill. Will Courtney hang on to him regardless, or decide she can do much better? I'll be staying tuned!

BTW - love the pic of Sarah in the surf!

Luckily, Courtney had plenty to distract her from...

("Memories... like the corners of my mind....")




Courtney has an audition for Anthony D'Orlando's band!


She is stressing about what songs she's going to play and what she's going to wear...


And, of course, she will to have to good. Like Rock Goddess good.

She doesn't like exercising any more than she likes that damn Barbra Streisand song playing in her head.
Lucky she has Mel Gibson snarling at her....

Mel has just the right attitude to inspire Courtney.


To think she was almost too scared to call Anthony D'Orlando's manager....



Courtney had every reason to feel hesitant.

With Anthony being known for his attitude...


... and his lead guitarist, Brad Cooper, a perfectionist....


... Courtney knew she would have to do something extraordinary.


She wasn't going to audition with some tired old cover. She wouldn't try to be someone she wasn't.
She felt a rawness and an ache where her feelings about Eddie knotted inside her.

Courtney would play Anthony D'Orlando her own composition.

[left]

Hi Mac

I was still posting the next part when your message landed!

Thanks so much for your comments

You really inspire me!

Sarah is one of my favorites. As my Kiwi mate would say about Sarah, "she'd look good coming out of a swamp!" I believe that is a compliment!

Hi there folks

While Courtney rehearses her song, I'm going to introduce you to another couple in Pacific Beach. I hope you enjoy their company as much as I do!

If I can just take you back a moment to our friend, Chris Stone...

This handsome Marine has been thinking quite a lot lately about asking his girlfriend, Georgia, to marry him. Chris has a Capricornian rock-stability I think would make him a great husband and father. He also has a Family secondary aspiration, which I've just assigned him and Georgia, Ethan and Sarah, Sarah's brother, Robert and his lady, Freya.

I'm planning some weddings for the first time in Pacific Beach!

My couples have been together so long (many since uni). None longer than Chris' brother, Mike, and Angelina Steele. They're attraction was so intense, they hooked up before Eddie Vegas had even started to his odyssey of love!


Angelina and Mike have a special place in my heart!

They also have the best (I think) house in the hood. Here's a birds-eye view:

The way it sits against the cape made it the prime real-estate in Pacific Beach. I made the whole lot sand, as you can see, because the contours of the coast seemed to suggest this lot had to be different, more "elemental" to the others.

This is Mike.


And here's Angelina.



They work so hard during the week (Angelina is a psychologist, Mike's a plastic surgeon), they always try to make their weekends special for each other.


They were in love from the start. I couldn't have stopped these two even if I tried!


I absolutely treasure the "domesticity" of my households. I think sometimes I capture the essence of a relationship - the comfort and familiarity and intimacy - when they're sitting down to eat.


Or simply just the way they look at each other. With Mike and Angelina, it's a playful, passionate and so affectionate! I can understand why they want each other so much....

Angelina makes me think of some archetypal Venus/Aphrodite whenever she's near the water!

I'm always getting her in the ocean!

And Mike...

... it's all in his eyes!

Yikes! Mike and Angelina - you are creating some handsome (him) and ddg (her) simmies! I'll be looking forward to getting them into my 'hood and giving them (probably entirely different) adventures. I'm curious, are the plastic surgeon and psychologist careers actual careers in the game sense or are you embellishing the description of medical careers?

When Sugah and Paul cycle around to activation again, I'll be planning a wedding for them. I'd like to try a beach wedding but it'll be winter! Maybe if I keep an eye on the weather report. OTOH, a beach wedding in the snow just might be amusing.

Hi there Mac

They are actual careers from MTS. I also added fashion design and photographer for my creative sims (Sarah and her brother, Robert), enlisted Marine Corps (for Chris) and, because I have a hood full of Fortune-hunters, real estate, banking, marketing and two others I haven't yet tried, accountancy and "Oil Baron" Those will be for the next generation!

I also have quite a few models (Sarah designs for her clothing label with these girls in mind!) and a couple of pro-surfers. I jumped for joy when I found the surfer career! What could be more perfect for Pacific Beach?!!

There's others in there I haven't used yet. Although I can't yet imagine any of my sims exactly wanting to get their hands dirty being a mechanic, someone will have to service their cars!

I'm really intrigued by the idea of a winter beach wedding!!

I think it could actually end up being quite memorable.... I can't wait to see the wedding album!

I'm glad you like Angelina and Mike... I'm taking you around their house next!

Angelina and Mike always dreamed of a beach house with a landscaped tropical garden!



I love getting all the plants a bit wild and overgrown...


Angelina works longer hours than Mike. On the weekend, she wants to completely unwind.

Mike makes sure he spoils her while she's getting that much-needed downtime. He really pulls his weight around the house, this guy!


Because he has more time off, Mike spends most of it outside. He's debating going for a surf. It's overcast with storm-clouds rolling in and the ocean looks really rough....


While his brother, Chris, likes the surf on the coral reefs around Pacific Beach...


.... Mike is a bit more cautious. I think that comes from him being a plastic surgeon. He would have to be very exact in his line of work!



The beach at Mike and Angelina's house forms a natural bay.

From above, you can see how the coastline drops down to the ocean floor!


At night, it seems so sheltered and private under the cape lighthouse!


This is my favorite house in the whole hood! Of course, it could have something to do with the waterfall...

That's a friend of their's, Mark Richards, enjoying the tranquility.

Here's Mark coming to visit...


... his girlfriend, Seraphina, walking with Mike through the garage and past the gym...


... and down to the beach, where Angelina's cooking burgers.


Judging by the expression on Mark's face, Angelina makes a mean burger!


Some random photos of these two, which I love.

Hi Jayce,

I have seen the careers on MTS by lientebollemeis, tried them, then stopped using them all. Unless the author has made modifications, these careers make no changes at all to hunger-bladder-cleanliness-fun-social-rest. The sim comes home with the same values in these as when he left. I would love to have a job like that! I just felt this was too unrealistic to play.

The careers do sound great, and seem to cover absolutely everything, but I wish that the creator could fix that glitch.

BTW, that house (it seems to be a proper beach house, too) is beautiful, as are your pictures. Angelina and Mike are a beautiful couple. You're doing some great design - both houses and sims!

Hey there Mac

I've never really noticed any needs glitch in my game, I'm positive all my sims come home from a hard day at the office busting to "spend a penny" and in desperate need of a shower! They're usually hungry, too, so I keep an eye on the time and their needs and, if there's a partner or housemate home, I get them to start dinner (unless my hard-working sim has locked a want to cook something in particular).

As we all know, there's nothing like the smell of dinner cooking in the oven when you get home!

Hmmm... unusual. I'm going to pay special attention to this when I jump into the hood tomorrow, though, and get back to you.

You know, I still like to play the original careers. I ended up with a number of business and law aspirants in the hood. They're always bringing each other home for dinner after work, it's great! A couple of casual relationships started this way and promotions "magically" resulted. I guess that is one way to get promoted! I sometimes think those Fortune sims have no respect for themselves!

I'll be interested in what you find in the lientebollemeis careers. There is also another big advantage in using the Maxis careers. You can use the SimBlender (found here) to set the ltw according to the career you've chosen. Most but not all of the ltw are included for each aspiration. For the non-Maxis and University careers, you have to set the ltw to something else. Probably the easiest is 20 best friends. I also use max out all 7 skills for those nonstandard careers which have a lot of requirements or the 100K simoleans for fortune sims.

Hi Mac

Thanks for your great advice! I really like the sound of that

I've just been plugging away, ignoring the LTW's when they don't interest me (I doubt I will ever have a criminal mastermind or space pirate in my hood, somehow) and just furbishing their wants into Platinum Lifetime. I know that's not how you're "supposed" to play the game, in a rule-book sense, but I feel the "character" of my sims more realistically if they have a career that suits them.

I really get into the personalities of my simmies. Their careers seem to define and shape them (even down to the clothes they wear!) and, of course, it adds so much detail to the storyline!

Thanks for explaining the best way to go about things with the SimBlender, Mac. I think I'm going to find all of that very useful!

I visited three lots today - nine residents with custom careers - and, without exception, they all returned from work as tired, hungry and dirty as I normally do! I will visit the rest over the next two days and let you know how they fare...