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FEAT. SCOOZIE

SUE By The Simming Spoonie

“Hi, my name is Susie and I'm a 23-year-old British/Irish student. I've been playing a wide range of the Sims games on DS, Wii, and now PC since around 2008. I only moved onto playing The Sims 4 just over 3 years ago, and I focused mostly on gameplay and a little bit of building just for myself. When the lockdowns in 2020 hit, I discovered Sims Twitter and the vast community of Simmers that existed there. I've met many amazing content creators since, both on YouTube and Twitch, which led to my decision to start sharing bits and pieces of my builds and gameplay online from both The Sims 4 and The Sims 3.

Outside of games, I have always loved exploring creative activities such as art, crafts, reading and music. I grew up playing the violin, both as a soloist and in orchestras, and have taught myself the basics of other instruments.

UniVillage

I noticed when looking through your gallery that you do a lot of build challenges, how do you find them all?

I love building in The Sims 4, but there are times where I open the game and I'm at a loss at what to build. This is why I find build challenges so useful as I can download a shell or be given a list of requirements the build has to have, which gives me a perfect starting point. Not every build using these shells or prompts will ever see the light of day, but they have occasionally inspired other builds in my game or given me a new idea on what I would like to build next. Any completed shells or builds that I do follow through to completion get uploaded and shared on my gallery. When looking for a shell or build challenge, I will search up "#shellchallenge" or "Sims 4 Shell" on Twitter and, from there, download a few different shells to see which ones can bring out some inspiration. Sometimes, when browsing the Sims community on Twitter, I'll stumble on a few people organising a build/shell competition and if it takes my fancy, then I'll give it a go. Your gallery is also incredibly eclectic in style. What is your favourite style to build and why? As I have used a lot of different shell/build challenges, I've ended up building in a variety of styles, but I do have a style that I'm much more comfortable with. My favourite building style tends to be on small lots where the exterior will have a Tudor or cottagey look to them, as these are the styles of houses I’ve grown up around in the Irish countryside. In my standard saves where I'm building a house just for me, then this will be the style that I typically go for. For some of the shell challenges (and even my own builds) that I've made, I have tried to push myself out of my cosy comfort zone and go for more modern looking houses or even a different style altogether. On a rare occasion, I'll ask my friends to provide me with an idea of what to build and naturally they tend to choose styles that I'm not 100% comfortable with, but I'll give it my best shot - practice makes perfect after all. Do you play the game at all, or are you just a builder? If you do play, what is your play style?

In previous versions of the Sims, I exclusively did gameplay and this was the case in the early days of the Sims 4 as well. While I now predominantly stick to building, I will still enjoy gameplay sessions when I'm between builds. For the times

Cottage

I play the actual game, I like having a goal to go after as well as trying something new. A lot of my saves start with a single sim where I then try to max out a career, or skill, or an aspiration, all whilst trying to find a partner and having/ adopting children. I tend to stick to two or three generations of a family before I abandon them to return to building, but I am currently trying to play through a single family for a longer period. Sometimes, I like to add a wee bit of chaos to my Sims’ lives (and my own!) and other times, the game likes to throw some my way. Currently, my Sims gameplay ambition is to have my Simself woohoo with the Grim Reaper, because who doesn't want to flirt with death!

If the Sims team could release your perfect pack, what would its style and/or content be and why?

I've never really thought too much about my perfect pack, however as a builder and occasional family player, I would love a pack that would allow me the ability to create a lot that had several homes that non-playable Sims could own on top of my own Sims family/person. Ideally, there would be a building tool that would let you draw property lines, as well as allowing for better storytelling when one chooses to play in an apartment style building. It could even allow generational living so that the grandparents or cousins or other family members of your main sim are out of your household but still live in the immediate area and have specific family interactions. If this close-knit family living were to be a feature in the game, then I would also hope for more family play and activities like we saw in The Sims 3: Generations (the only Sims DLC trailer that has ever made me cry). Having a wider range of gameplay for children and elder Sims would encourage me to play the game as intended like I did with the previous games. This would help me in my attempts to play with my Sims' families for longer periods. The pack would also bring a load of comfy-looking CAS and fashion that would be more stereotypical for each age group. Our focus month is on friendship and community. Is there anyone in the community who has inspired you in your Sims builds? Who are they and why?

When I first joined the Sims community, I felt immediately welcomed by, mainly, @ribbityy_, @simplybrits_ and @ludicsims on Twitter, who were all so friendly and encouraging in putting myself out there in the community. Since then,

I’ve met other amazing simmers, creators and friends. While I’m building or in a game (whether it’s Sims 3 or 4), I always find encouragement and conversation from @stardewsimmer and @lizzielilyy who have become wonderful friends to me. I always feel so inspired too when I see builds from @kawaiifoxita and @michaelasimsyt on my Twitter feed, as they too were so welcoming when I joined the Sims community. Michaela creates stunning content regularly while also posting encouraging messages, while Gemma recreates real life in her game that makes me pause as I try to figure out if it’s a real photograph or a Sims screenshot. We have now come to the end of our little and lovely chat with our member ScoozieSue. You can find all of Sue’s amazing and fabulous builds on the gallery, under her Gallery ID ssusie98, and on her Twitter@ScoozieSue.

Remember, all you have to do to have a chance of being showcased in our magazine is to share your wonderful creations with us on our website!

Simple Tiny Home

Cricket Cafe

Owens House