·1·
s ’ e r e WH ? t a wh
Happy Simblreen Readers,
3 Just for Fun & Results Page ..................... 4 Fantasims Interview ................................. 6 Simblreen: porchlight on ....................... 15 Granny Ruth ANSWERS .............................. 20 trick or cheat! ......................................... 22 Sims Mobile: karen keren ......................... 24 SatiSims Interview .................................... 28 Making a simmer: The mom cave ............. 32 Introducing: Eliza -not- Pancakes ........... 34 Retro Corner: The sims bustin’out ......... 36 Show Us your Builds: Hip!hip!renee ......... 40 Editors Letter ...........................................
Mods
Sims4 walking dead by sacrificial ........
A Study of the Nraas Vector mod ........
Silent Hill by Evincryg ........................ competition winners ...............................
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42 46 58 62
Welcome to another issue of SimmedUp Magazine. We have been overwhelmed with the response to our first issue, and taking both Positive and Negative feedback from our wonderful readers, we have come back this month with our Special Edition Halloween Magazine created by one of our newest team members and Head Graphic Designer for SimmedUp - Nela (@nelssims) The team have worked extremely hard this month to bring you everything you asked for and we couldn’t be more proud than we are today, bringing you another issue packed full of Sims information. Good News Announcement from EA: We are being given the Skin Tones Update by EA this month and a long time this has been coming too! It’s nice to see the support in the Sims community and how you all rallied together to push EA into moving their stance on ‘ We will not make a slider for Skin Tones in Sims 4’ - well YOU ALL DID IT. Amazing what can be achieved when you all stand together. Here at SimmedUp Magazine we also want to make everyone aware of the ‘ World Mental Health Day’ that recently passed on the 10th October (Also my Birthday). As a sufferer of mental health for many years, I know how hard it is to stay positive, especially with Covid-19 lurking around every corner, anxiety levels are extremely high for many and tempers are flaring within our loving community. Please remember YOU ARE NOT ALONE even when it feels like you are lost, with nowhere to turn, OUR ears are always open message anyone of our team members and we will do what we can with advice or to point you in the right direction, even if it’s just a listening ear, we have your back.
Until next issue dear readers, stay safe & look after one another,
SimSimmerly & Team
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JustFun
? ? For
1
A doctor and a bus driver are both in love with the same woman, an attractive girl named Sarah. The bus driver had to go on a long bus trip that would last a week. Before he left, he gave Sarah seven apples. Why?
What’ s at least 6 inches long, goes in your mouth, and is more fun if it vibrates?
Spooky Search
2
3
Guess the CAS
?
?
I can’ t be bought, but I can be stolen with a glance. I’ m worthless to one, but priceless to two. What am I?
?
Last Week answers:
Do Y ou K now the A nswer? What never asks a question but gets answered all the time? YOUR PHONE How do you make the number one disappear? BY ADDING TO IT How many seconds are there in a year? There is one 2nd of each month, so the answer is 12.
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gine an x-ray blueprint of the building. I imagine how the walls, floors, and ceilings were constructed, and I daydream about how I could replicate that on a budget lol. I also believe that all humans have a sense that they belong to something more than the mundane and have a deep yearning for adventure. So I find it far more interesting to imagine fantasy worlds with epic adventures, and architecture plays an integral role in shaping those worlds.
“HI There, thank you for agreeing to this interview, as you know I am a huge fan” “You are so kind, and I’m honored you are even interested so it is my pleasure!”
Q1) Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where you are from? Hello, wonderful community! I’m Kara, a 36-year-old British-American who currently lives in Michigan, USA. I was born in Ohio but moved back and forth between England and the United States several times. (My mum’s a Brit, and my dad’s a Yank.) I’ve also lived in Sydney, Australia for a few years. There, I studied leadership and then went on to get my bachelor’s and master’s in theology. I’ve been a youth pastor and general youth leader for over a decade, working with teenagers and running support groups for teens struggling with depression and anxiety. I love working with teenagers! I’ve always struggled with health problems, but 5 years ago my immune system crashed hard. I was left bedridden with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fati-
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gue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. I know, this got personal real quick! But it is this crisis that brought me to Sims 4 and its incredible community! I don’t like sitting still (I confess I am a workaholic by nature), so coming across this game has been more than just a fun thing to do; it has given me a rich environment in which to thrive while I try to heal! I am so thankful!
That brings us to Sims 4. I adore this game, but because it caters to more realistic worlds and gameplay, I saw a great deficit when trying to replicate the worlds I daydream about. I had to come up with different ways of building to try and recreate the sense of a fantasy world on each lot.
a new project the minute an idea strikes or else I lose it as quickly as it came! My brain is chaos! I have over 120 builds in my library and several are quite close to being completed. I have a range of builds from castles to Disney World to post-apocalyptic underground cities; they just need those final details that I find so tedious! I will definitely post videos for all of them, whether they are speed builds or build tours. My goal is to start focusing on smaller builds too so I can actually put up two videos a week if my health permits me! Of course, with the new Journey To Batuu pack, you will see a lot of builds with those glorious objects - I’m thinking a medieval and sci-fi mash up are in order!
difficult
Q4) You don’ t use CC in any of your current builds, but you did use CC in the past. What made you
to finish your builds
want to stop using
Q3) You in
your
mention
videos
you find it you
that
Q2) How long have you been playing The Sims, and what inspired you to create fantasy builds?
because
always
I started playing Sims 4 August, 2019. So just over a year ago! I’ve always loved ancient architecture, especially castles. I was raised in Birmingham, England as a kid and grew up going to local medieval castles on field trips. There is just something about the sheer girth of those ancient buildings that really fascinates me. Even at eight years old I was gobsmacked by the idea that men and women hundreds of years ago were standing right where I was standing! To me, these ancient buildings hold fascinating stories. Plus I think I just naturally have a more engineering type of mind because I can’t help but ima-
have going, and which
have so many ‘ on the go’ at once!
How many
builds do you currently
one would you say is closest to completion so we can finally see it on
YouTube?
Oh yes, this is a weakness of mine! I tend to have far more ideas than I have time to complete. Because I get carried away with details, I often start to get overwhelmed halfway through a build and have to move on to something else for the sake of my sanity! I also admit that I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and it is very hard for me to stay on task! This also means that I have to quickly start
CC
and
creating builds
to your
and
start own
designs
from scratch?
There are two main reasons for avoiding CC in my creations. I must preface them though, by saying that I think custom content is incredible and that the people who create it are truly talented! I could immerse myself in epic fantasy builds with all the detailed objects! And boy did I go overboard with how much CC I was using! I loved it, but the main reason I stopped is that it felt a bit empty to spend hours on one build after the other when I couldn’t easily share it with others. A big aspect of
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my INTJ (Introverted/Intuitive/Thinking/ Judging) personality type is the desire to be useful and to do things that help other people. I get a huge sense of satisfaction from giving a mini-world I have created to someone who wants to get straight into gameplay. The second reason, that was born out of the first, is the challenge of using objects people wouldn’t think to use to create my own custom objects and architectural details that the game currently lacks. How can I make a fantasy castle when there are no real stone arches? How can I add that “girth” of real ancient buildings so the paper-thin cardboard walls of the Sims feel more like heavy, ancient building walls? I find it both exciting and also exhausting because it is so time-consuming, which is why my builds take a lot longer! I love it though!
Q5) You
Mod
to help
TwistedMexi’ s T.O.O.L with your builds; how easy
use
is it to use and would you recommend this for new builders?
My method of building has remained the same, but thanks to the T.O.O.L. mod I can go even further with crafting unique architectural features. I only started using it a few months ago, but now I can’t imagine building without it! The ability to rotate objects is so liberating (and exhilarating). Sometimes I spend hours just rotating objects to see what happens! I’ll admit that I was overwhelmed at first because I thought it would be hard to use. I was elated to find it is actually quite easy! TwistedMexi has a tutorial on his YouTube channel, as do other Simmers, and I have been doing a tutorial series on my YouTube channel for how I specifically use it. I star-
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ted off simply with the rotate feature and got the hang of it; then I learned the other incredible things we can now do with the mod like precise elevation, scaling, duplicating debug objects, etc. All you need to know for the rotate feature is the basic degrees of a circle. That’s essentially how build mode works already because if you hit the comma or period key (, .) it will rotate an object in 45 degree increments each time. The T.O.O.L. mod adds the ability to do the same thing but on a different axis (so you can flip objects upside-down for example). If that sounds too mathematical, just watch the videos and you’ll see it is a lot easier than it seems! In fact, TwistedMexi is constantly improving the mod so it is even easier to use now than it was when I first started! Plus he is so lovely to talk to and is always willing to help.
Q6) The Sims ‘Spark’ d’ Series was a great hit! (Congratulations to Team Llama!) What did you think of the series, and which team were you rooting for? The Spark’d series gave us a glimpse of how other people play the game and the potential it has to tell incredible stories! The three main categories of builders, CAS creators, and storytellers are often viewed as separate ways of playing, but the show emphasized the ability to bring those together in partnership with other Simmers. I’d love to be able to provide builds that others can use to tell their Sim stories! I wasn’t particularly rooting for a specific team, but I can’t deny I had a certain fondness for team Gnome! I love that The Sims is trying new things to help build the community together.
Q7) Everyday Simmers were able to enter the Spark’ d challenge by creating a wedding venue. You entered your ‘Hauntingly Romantic Ruins.’ Although you didn’ t win, your build is now featured in the “Top Spark’ d Creators” category! How did this make you feel? What inspired this build? Has this spurred you on to enter their next challenge when they announce one?
I am so honored that I got to be featured! As I previously mentioned, I love castles, so I thought castle ruins would be a beautiful location for a wedding...and why
sharing your work in progress builds! Everyone knows how long you are procrastinating, ha! This was one of the first things I ever created, so it has been sitting in my library for a while. Now that I use the T.O.O.L. mod, I know I will be able to recreate the iconic movie moments within the castle much easier now. However, each area is so time consuming so I must admit that I have put it on the back burner for now. I will get back into my Harry Potter builds, I promise! I also have build tour videos of Ilvermorny and Durmstrang that I have yet to upload to YouTube, so I have quite a lot of work ahead of me! Wish me luck!
Q9)If you could collaborate with any other Simmer out there who would it be and why?
not a haunted one? So I included an underground vampire lair as well just for fun! To be honest, the popularity side of things does not interest me so much as the fun of making things that other people enjoy. So, it was so exciting to have the community vote for my build because it felt like we were all sharing something together. That’s what motivates me to create!
Q8) Your Harry Potter Castle on YouTube has almost 1500 views! How long have you been building it, and when do you think this will be completed? Will it be available to download from Origin? Oh boy, see this is the problem with
I’ve never tried collaborating with other players, but I honestly think it would be fun to do with anyone! I think that’s what I love about shell challenges because someone else has started the project, and you get to finish it. I also need boundaries; it helps when someone sets the shape of the build for me! It would also be fun to tackle a different area of a build to bring something together that I would never think to create on my own! SatiSims, KateEmerald, and I have joked around about doing a collab and they are both the most incredible builders, but I don’t know if any of us will actually do it. Perhaps one day!
Q10) The new Star Wars game pack releases September 8th. Will you buy this new pack? What would you say to those people who have been complaining that it’ s not a pack “Sims fans wanted?”
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“ This is my latest WIP project with the new game pack” ·10·
@fantasims ·11·
I am definitely getting the pack because the style is exactly what I try to recreate for hours with regular objects from the game! I also don’t like this “no one wanted this” train of thought because I don’t believe any one, or even a group, of players can speak for the whole community. I can understand there are many who do not want this pack, but there are many of us who do! I love that The Sims team provides packs that suit realistic and fantasy players! The beauty of The Sims is that it is so diverse and has people who love all kinds of different styles and gameplay. Of course, I’m not negating the need for improvements in the base game, but I think it is important to note that very few packs truly cater to fantasy players like me (Vampires and Realm of Magic are the only fully cohesive fantasy packs.) Now perhaps the timing wasn’t great for this pack, and perhaps things should have been sorted before the pack, but regardless, the pack itself is something that many players are truly excited about. I’m personally not that interested in a generations type of pack, but I would be elated if it came out because I know other people would love it. I think we should encourage a gaming community that gets excited for each other, even if it is not the content we personally prefer!
Q11) What are your top five tips help other Sims builders who want build, but don’ t know where to start?
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to to
Oh, this is a good one, I’m more of a visual person, but I’ll try to explain the best I can!
than happy for you to save objects I have rotated as a room that you can use in your own builds!
Be inspired by images online. Whether it is a fantasy castle or a realistic modern home, trying to recreate something can really help you when you don’t know where to start. You can even find blueprints online to help you map out floor plans. Sometimes when you have a blank canvas with unlimited options, it can be overwhelming, so inspiration from images can help narrow your focus.
Shape your build around an object or room. My Hauntingly Romantic Castle Ruins was entirely shaped by the debug ruins from Get Together (using the bb.showliveeditobjects cheat.) There’s no way I could have mapped out that layout first. Instead, I arranged the debug arches and walls on the lot and then shaped the shell and landscaping after. This is a great way to build something unique that you never would think to do on your own! Also, there are Simmers like my wonderful friend WintersEdge22 in the gallery who make gardens and rooms that you can use as inspiration for the rest of your build! I also post rooms of architectural details you can add to your builds if you like.
Try out some shell challenges or premade landscapes. Sometimes the hardest place to start is the shell itself and the shape of the lot. When someone else has done that for you, you can just focus on decorating! There are simmers that shape the terrain and add landscaping so all you have to do is add the building, and others who provide all kinds of wonderful shells for you to decorate. Watch tutorials on YouTube or pull apart gallery builds. The beauty of building in the sims is that we all have been given the same tools to work with and yet we all come up with such different techniques! If you are stuck, watch how other people build or download a build you like and pull it apart. Of course, try not to copy it exactly and reupload it as your own idea, but let it inspire you. Take the elements you love and put them together in your own design. I always encourage people to pull apart my builds! And since console players can’t use mods like T.O.O.L., I’m more
Every build is a box; what you need is shadow-casting detail. The more shadows an object casts, the more 3D it looks, especially in gallery images. So start with a square or rectangle and then add one tile wide columns, angled rooms and the premade octagonal small towers. Then go to the wall decoration section and see how you can use those objects to create some 3D texture to the walls. A great place to start is the entrance of the build, especially for larger mansions, castles, and historic buildings. Give it as much detail as you can, then move to the next section, and you’ll find it will start coming together in no time!
Q12)I f you could ask EA to create any stuff or game pack for you, what would it be and why?
pack with dragons is my biggest desire for Sims 4! Although I think the ability to rule a kingdom is something I’d love to have included, I wouldn’t want a remake of Sims 3 Medieval. I would love a new take on it; perhaps with more fantasy than just historic medieval with different clans of people (perhaps elves as a new occult sim?) As for build items, I am dying for some gothic stone arches, pillars, and some sort of vaulted ceiling!
Q13) With Halloween coming up, do you have any spooky builds planned? To be honest I have not thought that far ahead! I do love blending genres though, so I am thinking of making a sci-fi gothic cathedral, mixing the items from Journey To Batuu pack and the stained glass windows I did a tutorial for on my YouTube channel. I mean, why can’t there be cyborg vampires in the future terrorizing the town?
Q14) Lastly,
Rowling
let’ s say
EA
and
J.K
have joined forces to throw
Halloween party in history. They’ ve banned all Sims and Harry Potter related party wear. What costume would you wear and why? the biggest
An elf! Not only because I love how ethereal fantasy elves can be and because I love elf ears, but also as a statement to liberate the house elves of Harry Potter! I hate injustice so I’d love to think that in the future Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the elves go through a great awakening and realize that they don’t have to be slaves! Also that they start to wear better outfits than dirty sackcloths!
Some sort of fantasy medieval-style
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Q15) Anything coming up for you that you would like to share with our readers? How can they connect with you to see your wonderful build creations? I’m not very good at planning or sticking to a plan as you have probably noticed! My personality and my ADD are constantly at war with each other. As an INTJ, there’s a part of me that likes to plan ahead, but with my ADD I can only seem to work on what inspires me on a given day, and every day is different! Then, as a bit of a perfectionist, I don’t like posting things unless they are absolutely finished to my satisfaction. This rarely happens so I’ve been pushing myself to share builds that I have started but haven’t finished so others can! I have too many ideas to fully flesh out into an entire build so I think going forward I will be sharing a lot of rooms and builds that other Simmers can work on. I actually think this will be helpful for those who don’t know what to build too! You can find me in the Sims 4 gallery. Although my name is supposed to be Fantasims, the gallery keeps reverting to: simsperation84. I’m also active on twitter: @fantasims, and I have a YouTube channel: www.youtube/c/ fantasims Thank you for taking the time to listen to my ramblings and I am always so honored by anyone who takes the time to say hello and watch my videos!
ISami (SimSimmerly)
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PORCHLIGHT
on
In many communities, Halloween has been cancelled this year due to COVID-19 concerns – but for the Simblr community, it will be the best treat this year! Get cozy on your couch and log onto Tumblr for the spookiest shopping haul yet. For two weeks at the end of October, you can ‘Trick-or-Treat’ at various blogs to get exclusive goodies during an annual event called Simblreen! So, what is Simblreen? “The event is based on the Halloween tradition of trick or treating. It used to use the then new (and now non-existent) fanmail system of Tumblr,” says Lyn, @justanothersimsblog, who has been an admin on the blog since 2016. She has participated in the event since the beginning. “I love the event. Seeing the whole community get involved year after year brings me joy.” The event was founded in 2012 by @hallowscones and focused mainly on Sims 3 content. Lyn guesstimates that fewer than 40 Sims 3 blogs participated in the first year. Lyn recalls, “It was a very informal event in that first year. [There were] no
participant lists, official blog, or anything else-- just @Halloweenscones answering questions.” Over the next few years, the participant list tripled. From 2017 to 2018, as Sims 4 became more popular on Tumblr, the event saw over 450 participants sign up. For this year’s event, 180 participants have already signed up; most of these participants are Sims 4 players. How to Par ticipate As a Trick-or-Treater: If you’d like to trick-or-treat, log into Tumblr from October 23rd – October 25th and October 30th – November 1st. To find participating blogs, you can either search #simblreen2020 or look at the list of participating Simblrs on the list available at Simblreen’s official blog. The list will be available soon and will be updated as more participants sign up. Each gift-giver will post a ‘Porch Light On’ post, which will detail the hours and ways you can trick or treat at the blog’s door. If you’re sending an ask, remember that you cannot send the ask as “anonymous,” as gifts are encouraged to remain private only until the end of the event. For all the shy simmers, “Don’t be afraid!” says Lyn.
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“People are generally very nice. We’re all just players of this game running a Tumblr blog.” As a gift-giver: Visit the Simblreen Sign Up Sheet to get on the official list. Also, make sure you visit the Visual Guide for instructions on how to set up your porch light post! Lyn and the team encourage people to ”… participate at any time, with or without announcing, to keep things casual and without pressure.” There is no deadline to sign up, but to ensure you get visitors, it is suggested that you sign up by Thursday, October 22, the day before the first day of the event.
anything; there is no limitation on what you can give. According to the Simblreen about page, “the treats consist of things of all kinds! Have no clue how to create your own CC? Don’t worry! There is always something you can make including: Sims, homes, community lots, and more. Storytellers can write a little something for the event. You can even come up with things like playlists, lookbooks, a screenshot of your favorite Sim dressed up for Halloween, a recipe for a simlish dish, and more! Be creative!” Some non-CC examples include: Jack and Sally by Joellesims
a very young age and watched it every year at Halloween AND Christmas. I decided to make all my treats Sims and lot downloads for Simblreen 2019 because I don’t know how to make CC, but I still want to take part and share my creations! I made both cartoon-like and more humanized Jack and Sally Sims,, but the cartoon version is my favorite! They look like they do in the original film!”
Fairy tales Witch Pose Pack by Linsims Linsims says, “Simblreen is a commu-
Desdemona Reshade by Intramoon The Desdemona Reshade is one of 5 reshade presets created by Intramoon for Simblreen 2019. The other Reshades are Aspen, Philomena, Vespera, and Agnes. “Desdemona is inspired by rainy winter and gothic aesthetics; some of my favorites! It looks best at night with a cloudy sky.” Intramoon noted that while Aspen and Desdemona are her favorites, she likes them all.
nity event that I really enjoy, and I try to create a little something every year (when I have time). This pose pack is actually a [revamp] of a pack I made with the Sims 3. The typical witch pose always makes me smile with the Sims as models!”
@Joellesims says, “Halloween is very
Past Years’ Gifts Since CC is the most widely given gift, I’ve collected my favorite CAS CC gifts from previous years and have put together some Halloween looks for your sims. You can find a full list of all CAS CC used for the looks in the articles on the magazine website. I also recommend visiting Simblreen’s blog tag page to see the previous year’s creators and gifts. Aside from CC, gift-givers can give
·16·
important to me, so naturally I latched onto The Nightmare Before Christmas at
·17·
Until Next Year The numbers tell it all. The increase in participants year after year for both gift-giving and trick-or-treating shows how involved the community is in Simblreen. Once the event is over, trick-or-treaters often make posts expressing their gratitude for the gifts they received. Some even show off what they’ve collected! Lyn mentioned, “for a trip down memory lane, a lot of people post a ‘thanks’ post once the event is done and we do our best to reblog them. You can find them under the ‘thanks’ tag.” A message to all from the Simblreen blog: “for everyone in general: be nice, courteous, and patient. These are real people participating. For gift-givers: it’s your party, so do what’s best for you. In your ‘porch light’ post, be as clear as possible about any rules trick-or-treaters should follow. Include information like what game your treats are for, message preferences, and time restrictions if you’re not going to be ‘open’ all day. Trick-or-treaters: PLEASE READ.” The SimmedUp Mag and MMOutfitters will both participate in this year’s Simblreen event, so make sure to stop by our blogs for some tricks and treats! Look out for a full list of creators coming soon! W
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·19·
Granny Ruth
Meet Grandma Ruth Pennington, SimmedUp Magazine’s very own Agony Grandma. Grandma Ruth was born and grew up in Sunset Valley and lived in Bridgeport as a young adult working as a late-night radio DJ where she would take calls from all kinds of Sims to give them advice about life. She managed to save enough money and move to Isla Paradiso to open a small beach bar where, again, she found herself listening to other Sims’ problems. Grandma Ruth then decided to travel the world for a few years visiting places like Al-Simhara before settling down in Veronaville working as a therapist. It is rumoured that Grandma Ruth had affairs with members form the Capp and Monty families but she has never confirmed (or denied) these allegations. Now an elder, Grandma Ruth decided it is time for a change. She moved yet again, this time to Brindleton Bay, to share her vast knowledge of life with SimmedUp readers. She enjoys knitting while listening to heavy metal and sipping on a simoleon sunrise; she makes a living by selling her knitted goods on Plopsy.*
There are so many Angry Sims Players. I feel the community isn’t the same anymore. What can I do, I feel like leaving the Sims. PT
s r e w s n a
Dear PT, This is a serious question! Yes right now there are a lot of unhappy people, but there are also Many More HAPPY Sims fans too. Time to get rid of the negative people influencing your life and accept the new ones. Remember ‘Misery and happiness’ are contagious, so surround yourself with Happy Simmers. Good Luck, Granny R.
Dear Granny Ruth, I feel so guilty, my Sim had a baby that was taken by Social Services. I hate kids but now my Sim keeps crying, what can I do? Sad Simmer
Dear SS, WOW! That baby deserved to be taken, it’s now happy with an adopted Sims family. Time to ‘reset’ your Sim maybe or just suck it up buttercup. Granny R.
Dear Gammy R, I want to Woo Hoo, Should I download WickedWhims? Anon
Hello Anon, Such a weird name? I would recommend the new Wonderful Whims Mod by TurboDriver especially if this is your first Woo Hoo. Granny R. *Note from editor: We love Grandma Ruth but truth be told, the woman can’t knit. Nothing ever sells on Plopsy so we as the SimmedUp team secretly buy all her knitted goodies off Plopsy. The problem is, she never stops knitting, and we are up to our eyeballs in yarn. If
·20·
Dear G,
you’d like to support Grandma Ruth, please donate to www.simmedup.co.uk and keep her knitting.
Dear Fans. Covid-19 has hit us all very hard, Family, Friends, Jobs have all been lost. It’s been super hard being ‘locked up’ with the people we love (and some we just dislike). Negativity always seems to ‘impact’ our psyche more than ‘Happiness’. We are seeing more and more negative attitudes as this awful virus continues to spread, REMEMBER this virus does not control your feelings or your thoughts. Replace negative responses with positive ones, say a positive mantra everyday but most of all remember, you are NOT alone, if you feel the need to speak to someone, I Granny Ruth am always here to listen. Take Care Sims Lovers.
Granny Ruth
Dear Granny Ruth, My Boyfriend thinks I should spend less time playing The Sims and more time focussed on him. I lost my job due to covid and am finding it hard. The Sims is the only thing keeping me sane right now! What should I do? SR
Hi SR, Have you talked to your Boyfriend about how you feel? Sometimes a problem shared is a problem halved. Let him know how you are feeling and make sure to do this in a calm manner. If your Boyfriend loves you, he will understand and help come to a better resolution than just demanding. Granny R.
Send your questions via email to: Grandma Ruth c/o Simmedup@gmail.com and your questions could be posted in our next issue.
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PC, Xbox & PS4 Cheat Codes
k c i Tr or ! T EA H C
Reading Shack News Online, they state that ‘Most’ Cheat codes are compatible on PC, Xbox & PlayStation. Find a list below of ‘Identical’ Cheats from their website. We would love to know if any of these cheats don’t work as we are building a list of Fully Compatible Cheats. Send your feedback to simmedup@gmail.com but most of all:
Cheat & Effect:
HAVE FUN!
Fullscreen Toggles full screen viewing mode. headlineeffects [on/off ] Enables or disables headline effects such as thought balloons. households.autopay_bills Uses the Sim’s money to pay household bills automatically. motherlode Grants the player 50,000 Simoleons.
an For cl d a m f u ore S H ick A C t he ll l is i nf K N lin t o orm E W k f f c h at i o o S r d e at n Ac i r s , ce ect ss .
resetSim [first name][last name] Resets the Sim to original stats. sims.give_satisfaction_points [number] Grants the specified number of satisfaction points to the active Sim. sims.fill_all_commodities Fill all commodities for the active Sim. sims.modify_funds [number] adds a user-defined amount of Simoleons to the current Sim’s account. sims.remove_all_buff s All moodlets for the current Sim are removed. Returns Sim to neutral mood state.
aspirations.complete_current_milestone Completes the Sim’s current active aspiration milestone.
sims.spawnsimple [number] spawns the specific amount of Sims.
bb.ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement Unlocks all career rewards in the Buy Mode. Items must still be purchased.
stats.fill_all_commodities_household fills all commodities for each Sim in the current household.
bb.moveobjects [On/Off ] Disables rules governing object placement.
testingcheats [true/false] or [On/Off ] Enables or disables cheats.
careers.demote [career name] gives the Sim a demotion in the listed career.
ui.dialog.auto_respond Automatically scrolls through or “reads” dialog and makes dialog choices.
careers.promote [career name] gives the Sim a promotion in the listed career. careers.remove_career [career name] Causes a Sim to abandon the listed career. cas.fulleditmode Opens the full Sim character creation menu. crafting.shorten_phases Decreases the amount of time needed for crafting. death.toggle Enables or disables death. FreeRealEstate [on/off ] Makes all homes free. Must be entered at world or neighbourhood screen.
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Karen Architect Keren: Storytelling
Sims Mobile
All things considered, Sims Mobile is a relatively new mobile game. Currently in its third year, Sims Mobile remains as polished and pleasing to the eye as it was when it first launched. Build features have slowly evolved under the watchful tutelage of Firemonkeys studio, the talented minds behind Sims Freeplay and several other mobile games. Over the course of the last year, the Sims Mobile development team imbued the game with countless furniture pieces, the ability to build new floors and lots, transparent windows, camera mode, functional lighting, and eight-point rotation. However, Mobile building remains comparatively limited when compared to its older, Freeplay counterpart. Sims Mobile players remain unable to build proper porches, balconies, basements, pools, mezzanines, and a whole host of other basic build features. Some of the beauty of Sims Mobile building lies within this limited simplicity; with so few tools to work with, Sims Mobile builders must wield every inch of their creativity to make what is decidedly mundane into stunning works of architectural art. Karen Keren is one of these talented builders. Karen not only creates outstanding structures and hosts build tours of these builds, but she also regularly highlights the
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do well to choose dark exterior walls with the appearance of heaviness. Choose stone or a dark brick. These materials give the illusion of gothic castle girth.
is constructed deep in the details of every build. Take Karen’s autumn-themed Italian villa for example.
Create the illusion of lonely towers by playing with floor shapes. Two small, square rooms stacked on top of each other can mimic a turret. Lighting: Next, create an ominous atmosphere with strategically placed, “colorful lights.”
builds and creations of others. Karen is a master of Sims Mobile building, specializing in clean, modern builds. Karen’s ability is incredibly versatile, however; she has built gothic castles and Italian villas alike. Below, Karen displays her most recent builds and gives us her best Sims Mobile building tips!
With Halloween fast approaching, Mobile Simmers are likely eager to build haunting mansions and spooky bungalows. But aspiring builders may not know where to begin when it comes to creating such a thing in Sims Mobile. There are a few key tips to keep in mind when creating a spooky home, Karen reminds us.
Color: “...the base color should be dark,” she asserts. This perhaps goes without saying. Simmers would
Interior: Inside, continue the spooky ambiance with added “spider webs and cracks on the wall for textures.” Vignettes: Tell a story with your furniture. “Make room for a mystical or disturbing part of the house” filled with gravestones, low-lighting, mystic tables, skulls, or peeling paintings that will surely “creep your neighbors.” Windows: Select rounded, cathedral-like windows that suggest the palatial builds of old.
But perhaps more important than any one build feature is the story that the architect tells with their available tools. Karen insists that she always wants to tell some sort of story with her builds, to make some semblance of a statement. The story
“I wanted to tell [the] story that this house [Rustic Italian Villa] is more than a house,” Karen says. “Here are the photos of The Rustic Italian Villa. The inspiration for this house build is the houses in Italy, and I designed it in ‘rustic’ and ‘traditional’ house design. I thought of Tuscany and imagining myself walking around a farm with the traditional architecture of the houses... I also incorporated fall decor ideas that gave this house that farm villa vibe and added textures branches, stone pathways, and vines.”
There is much to be said about this build, clearly inspired by the pizzeria-themed prizes of the most recent Sweet Treats Showdown. Karen creates this Italian look with a sunny brick exterior, generous reds, a stone roof, and rustic walls crawling with
·25·
ivy. The rounded doorways are also a classic Mediterranean feature alongside the flower-strewn pathways, stone statues, and intricately carved metal doorways.
Scattered books paired with a fireplace and hanging shelves tell the story of a harried scholar.
What fledgling builders can take away from Karen’s example are the small moments she creates in her builds. Empty corners become sitting areas, abandoned gardening spots, and contemplative courtyards.
A cluttered kitchen creates a warmly cozy atmosphere.
Over time, Sims Mobile developers will no doubt fill the game with greater building abilities. Building lies at the heart of the Sims franchise, and developers would do well to appease the large swatch of their build-focused base. While they wait, Sims Mobile builders make the best of what is given to them, creating beauty out of simplicity and compelling stories from brick and mortar.
Wood decking and romantic white trees hung with golden, glowing globes create a lovely sitting area for the farming family.
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IAl (Alaeryn)
·27·
Q3) When did you discover you had a ta- dozed projects that are on their way to becolent for building, and what was the build ming finished projects! that inspired you to create Sati SimBuilds? Q6) I f you could only pick one style of I didn’t rediscover my love for the sims until build, which would it be and why?
2016. I built crappy modern shoebox houses I think that’s a no-Brainer: FANTASY FTW! until I found my love for fantasy stuff between Q7) Some Simmers find they get an “ ins2018 and 2019. My first upload to YouTube piration block” when playing Sims. Have you was a Fallingwater Replica, but after that I fell ever hit a wall? How do you stay inspired? down the rabbit hole of magical stuff really Oh I have builder’s blocks quite frequentquickly. I feel like I had a great learning spike after discovering my comfy niche; everything ly, especially when a new pack comes out kinda went crazier and crazier since then (in- or when I have to furnish big lots. My friend Simsbiosis once sent me a picture when I cluding me, lol.) went through a phase of hating what I did; Q4) Who inspires you within the commu- the photo depicts the stages of a creative pronity? I f you haven’ t had the chance to meet cess: and I’d love to visit the Mosquito Bay in Puerinterview for our magazine; we all absolu- to Rico! Know these glowing algae from Sims tely love your builds and everyone was over 4 Island Living? They are very much real, and the moon when you agreed! seeing them is on top of my bucket list!
Hi,
and thank you for agreeing to do this
Q2) When did you first start playing Hey, SimmedUp Team! First of all, thank you so much for asking me to be in this inter- Sims, and what’ s your most prominent meview; I feel very honored you thought of me! mory of the game? The first time I came in touch with The Sims Q1) Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? How old are was on my cousins PC on Christmas Eve; I you? Where was your last holiday? What is think it had to be around 2008! your ideal vacation spot?
I’m Sati, also on Social Media as SatiSim, SatiSimBuilds, or originally SimSativa :) I’m 25 years old, and I live in Germany, in a not-so-pretty industrial city! Last time I could escape was around ten years ago when we went on vacation in Fuerteventura. My wanderlust has been increasing over the years,
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them, where would you choose to meet and why?
My biggest YouTube inspirations are Hatsy, Deligracy, Devon Bumpkin, and, of course, the lovely Kate Emerald. Kate has been one of my biggest inspirations ever since I discovered her Channel, and I would be incredibly happy to meet her one day because we’ve become friends. I want to hug my friend at least once. I actually had the chance to meet my friend Simsbiosis last year! They flew to Germany for a meet-up! Isn’t that freaking cool? I love how Sims connects people from all over the world, and I’m glad I have met so many great and lovely people through it! I’d love to meet all of them one day! :)
1. This is awesome
2. This is tricky
3. This is shit
4. I am shit
5. This might work
6. This is awesome!
Whenever I’m frustrated with what i do, I’ll try to remember that there are steps after the fourth step, and that keeps me sane! Also Sulani has the weird ability to pull me out of my worst builder’s blocks; it’s like a vacation almost!
Q8) What
has been your favorite colla-
boration to date?
Q5) How long does it take to create your I’ve hosted a little closed collaboration builds? Are there ever any builds that you group since Halloween last year, and since simply bulldoze? then we have made a few collabs already! I Back to my builds. How long do they take? could not pinpoint which of these were my My record so far is 110 hours for Diagon Alley! favorites; I loved all of them! :) Today, I have builds that took around 20-30 hours, but I’m still a very slow builder! There are many, many, many unfinished or bull-
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Q9) I f you could pick anyone to collabo- at someone else and say: I could never do rate with in the future, who would it be and that! That’s wrong! If someone else can, then you can too! Get inspired wherever you can, why?
and create whatever you want to create! And Kate Emerald is in our collab group; we acif you ever feel bad about a build, remember tually wanted to do a duo collaboration for the previously mentioned steps of the creatiso long now! I’m still looking forward to that! ve process One day, we promise.
Q10) Do you use any cheats, mods, or CC in your builds? I f so, what would you recommend and why? Oh boy... Everything from the absolutely incredible modfather Twisted Mexi! T.O.O.L. Is a game changer for anyone who loves to build!! Also, thesimsplus comes up with incredibly helpful build tools; they will soon release an open world map for Sims 4! If you don’t follow these two, it’s definitely worth it to check them out!
Q11) Do you have any up-and-coming projects that you can tell us about? Maybe a sneak preview of a build to come? At the moment I am working on a new Replica Project: “The Sanctuary” from the Borderlands Series! It will be a fully furnished 64x64 with enough space for, like, ALL of your Sims. Maybe not, but it will be huge!
Q12) What
Q13) You have a lot of social media that hasn’ t been used for a while-- where is the
best place for people to keep up to date with you and your builds?
If you want to stay up to date with my stuff, then it’s best to follow me over on twitter or instagram. You can receive new video notifications by subscribing to youtube! Wherever you follow me, I’ll be happy to welcome you!
Q14) Lastly, aliens have decided to abduct you and they offer you this deal: you need to tell them a funny joke to save yourself from probing!
(Not much of a deal) Tell us your best joke now! Our readers will decide if you should be probed or saved! If aliens abducted me, I’d tell them that there are humans out here who believe an aluminium hat can save them from alien mind control. I mean if they don’t laugh about that, I don’t know.
are your top three gaming
Simmers? What should Simmers avoid while playing? tips that you would offer
My advice to any Sims creator out there would be to believe in yourself! Sounds cheesy, but you can build whatever you want if you just put enough time into it! Never look
·30·
ISami (SimSimmerly)
·31·
Making a S i mm e r BIO I go by Mom Cave, but my real name is Connie. I have lived in California my whole life. I have been married to my husband for almost 31 years! We have two amazing, beautiful children and a grandson. We are living our best empty nest lives with our two doggos Charley and Bentley. I am a mental health coach and work as a coach manager for an on-demand mental health company. It’s my dream job.
m Y s ER I ES The Curse is the story of a woman who, as part of a curse, must have 100 children in order to save her family. It is a story of courage, fear, grief, love, pain, betrayal, forgiveness, and finding your self-worth.
H ow i t s ta rt e d I started playing The Sims in 2019 during a time when my own mental health was in a dark place. One night while on vacation with my family, I needed an escape. I decided to binge watch random things on YouTube (something I had never done before). I ended up on Buzzfeed and eventually on the 100 Baby Challenge videos for The Sims. It sucked me in quickly, and I was so intrigued I bought the game. It was exactly the creative and fun outlet I didn’t know I needed. I actually like playing the 100 baby challenge and decided to try it again early this year. I was part of a Facebook group and wanted to find a creative way to share Emilia’s story; I specifically wanted to share who she ended up marrying.
like this was the exact outlet I needed not only to rescue me from poor mental health, but also for me to rediscover who I am as a person. I am quite excited for what is to come in the series, as there are surprises at every turn. I also am excited for a new series I have been writing and a season two of The Curse. I have to give a huge shoutout to the Twitter community. I would not be who I am in this moment without you all.
I sat down one night and started writing out some thoughts. I decided my work needed more of a plot and storyline, and the rest is history. Around this same time, I started watching machinimas. Scenes formed in my head with some of the music I had discovered in the process. Seeing that first video turn out exactly as what played in my head was so satisfying, I was immediately hooked. I had a YouTube channel I had just started with only two videos. I figured I’d post there so I had an easy place to direct interested Simmers. I never imagined anyone other than my kids would actually watch it and, even then, that they would watch more than the first episode. Joining the Twitter community was the turning point for me, and I feel like I’ve transformed from someone playing around with making stories to a content creator who is part of a larger community of wildly talented Simmers. In a large way, it feels
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·33·
Introducing
Eliza otPancakes
n
H
i, I’m Eliza! I’m a Sims builder and Let’s player making content on YouTube and Twitch. I started my Sims journey when I was seven years old playing the Sims 2 and I have stuck with it ever since. I do a bit of everything & try to bring out the weirdness of the Sims!
Snippet from the Eliza Let’s Play: “In my Eliza Let’s Play I try to give Eliza Pancakes her best life, starting with divorcing Bob our journey has included marrying two different Men for money and moving into a great big pink mansion as we try to become a lawyer and give Eliza the life she deserves!”
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·35·
RETRO CORNER In a community where many Simmers are familiar with the latest installment of The Sims franchise, we often forget or simply have no knowledge about the previous games which made the current ones possible. In the ‘Retro Corner’, Melissa takes a nostalgic trip down memory lane, rediscovering, playing, and writing about her favourite as I’d either hide my good controller in my predecessors of The Sims sock drawer and play late at night - until I franchise on console and was caught... Why was I caught? That obPC. noxiously loud and ominous song that plaHopefully, you’ll have read part one in yed whenever a burglar turned up on the September’s Issue of SimmedUp! Magazilot finally did me in. It was a truly traumatic ne, but if you didn’t, here is a brief sumexperience for any child. mary: The Sims Bustin’ Out is a unique Previously, I discussed some of the icostand-alone game with rich, storyline-banic characters of the game, including the sed gameplay that would put more recent game’s villain, Malcolm Landgraab, notogames to shame. Combined with decent rious for swiping objects like some fancy graphics for its time and a banging soundrepo man. He was an absolute prat. In fact, track to fit, Bustin Out is a humorous addiMalcolm’s Mansion was the first lot I plation to the franchise. yed as my cousin had already completed Picture this; it’s a sunny Friday afternoon in 2005. Accompanied with a snack and plastic beaker of squash, I raced upstairs. Fridays were the best days for me because I was allowed to play on my PlayStation 2 for three days! I had a bloody curfew on my PlayStation on school days because I was a gobby little madam with a foul attitude, living up to my stereotypical flaming hair. This curfew didn’t always work, of course,
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a few of the careers. My first Sims interaction was firing the maid. I hoped, based on my experiences with Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider, that the maid would either get shot or burst into flames. (I didn’t know what “fire” meant in this context.) Disappointingly, Brigit remained alive and quaking in her high-heels because she inadvertently got the sack. Whoops.
Another iconic location in the game is Goth Manor, a well-known Sims lot that varies with each new Sims iteration.
Goth Manor “will just scare you, Melissa,” said my cousin. Yeah right. I was just fascinated by the lot’s synthesiser. I wanted to play one so desperately that I did many years later in a museum in Cornwall, UK. (I sounded terrible.) Goth Manor is a unique area in the game with frequent thunderstorms and wandering ghosts which add another special layer to the atmosphere that you just can’t find in other base games upon release. I also discovered in this game that you can kill off some premades (but I wouldn’t advise it as there are goals which need to be completed alongside certain characters). So I killed off Bella Goth in a fire in the dining hall; accidentally, of course. As this was probably the first ever sim I killed off, I was so frightened by Bella’s death that I turned off my Playstation and trembled beneath my duvet. If you’ve had the misfortune of hearing those deathly shrieks, I am so sorry.
Also, that medieval looking incubator situated in a greenhouse? Laboratory? Torture Chamber? It was, I think, an early model of a cowplant machine. Similarly, this ancestral plant ate sims too, so in a true Simmer fashion, I would put one by the front door to warn (or eat) cold callers (and the maid, of course). The Sims Bustin’ Out featured two more gaming modes: Online Weekend and Freeplay. Online Weekend saw players connect and interact with each other within a number of themed areas. Using a broadband connection and PS2 network adapter, the servers could include up to 30 players per lobby. Players could chat using a keyboard or a headset connected via USB. It was an impressive little extra with little to no direction. Online Weekend’s purpose was solely to allow social interactions between players. Simmers could trade items and show off the plethora of expensive objects in their decorated homes. But alas, I was too young (and extremely cautious when it came to chatrooms) to even contemplate asking my dad to connect our Playstation 2 to the Internet, so I missed out. The servers were shut down in 2008. That same day, the servers for The Sims Online shut
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down too. So even when I was old enough to play it, I couldn’t. Sad times.
However, Free Play was a sandbox game where you could create a household of four sims maximum, move them into a premade or empty lot, and start a life. Free Play provided two premade households: Tutti and Frutti. The producer was either a big fan of Little Richard, or fine Italian Desserts.
The Fruttis lived at 1 Free Street, a parallel lot to The Newbies lot in The Sims 1 (PC), and the Tuttis lived at 2 Free Street. I’d always had a superstition that it was
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haunted, so I always bulldozed it and started fresh. It cropped up in my nightmares too. On one rare occasion, I actually played the Tutti household on their original lot with my younger brother, who will be horrified to know he’s being included in an article about The Sims. According to my mother, like every pyromaniac Simmer and after burning Bella Goth, I developed an obsession with setting the lot on fire and letting my sims burn. Oh the irony. To paraphrase she said, “Everytime I would walk in, your sims would just be on fire and screaming.” You can probably tell where this is going. Some kids like to scare themselves silly. My brother and I thought it would be a good idea to throw multiple parties, cover the outer edge of the kitchen with crates, and have a low-skilled sim cook dinner. Rinse and repeat until someone caught fire. After a while, inviting sims over for a party was impossible - no one would turn up. The game wouldn’t allow it; it was like it knew what we were doing to the Sims, and our rapidly growing graveyard ground to a sudden standstill.
Needless to say, my brother and I were forever scaring ourselves with this game. I do think the 7+ rating is a bit risky because some of the themes were absolutely not kid-friendly. I didn’t know what “scoring” at a party meant. I didn’t understand why sims enjoyed Strip Poker so much. In fact, I didn’t understand why sims would strip when “Pixel Booty”, played on the synthesiser at Pixel Acres either. I was clearly too young and uncultured to appreciate these beautiful moments.
this game was only made for console and gameboy, along with its successor, The Urbz: Sims In The City. I’d imagine if a PC version were produced, then Bustin’ Out could have enjoyed downloadable content such as gameplay enhancing add-ons or custom in-game content opportunities like its PC counterpart.PC availability would have rendered online sharing more user-friendly and accessible. A PC version of Bustin’ Out may have also saved some of us from that shambolic mafia-styled mess that was The Sims Online. There are a lot of careers and goals in Bustin’ Out, so completing this game can be time-consuming. But unlike the most recent games that feature similar storyline-based gameplay, there is no right order to play Bustin’ Out. I know it’s wishful thinking, but EA should really consider remastering the game for PC and console. Developers could also produce a sequel! Overall, The Sims Bustin’ Out will forever hold a special place in my Sims heart. It saw me through pre-GCSE, pre-A Level results, anxiety, grief, illness and many long rainy days summer holidays.
But as a fully functioning young adult, I can safely say that I completely understand it all now. Pixel Acres was a nudist colony that covered nude Sims with pixels. “Chase Skurtz” was a licentious euphemism, and “Ying Yangst” sounds like the complete opposite of a balanced “yin and yang.”
Thank you, Maxis.
IMel ( theflamingplumb)
I’m biased, but there’s no doubt that Bustin’ Out deserves endless praise. However, I do need to include its downfalls, or this review wouldn’t be fair. First,
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SHOW US your
BUILDS
h t i w HIP!HIP! RENEE I created my YouTube channel, hiphiprenee, in February 2019 and started off the channel with simple speed builds. Somewhere along the line, I realized that being family friendly and sunshiney all the time simply wasn’t for me. So I took a step back from my channel and tried to find a direction that made more sense for my personality and style, and I landed on creating Sims x True Crime videos. My series, A Brief History, combines true crime stories with Sims 4 builds of the locations from these stories. I’ve created builds centered around famous serial killers and criminals like Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, and the Unabomber. When I’m not creating true crime builds, I still keep the creep factor in and work on abandoned, foreclosed, or hoarder style homes-- with the occasional pretty house sprinkled in. I am so grateful to the community I joined, and also my own community that I have created during my time creating Sims content. I love
·40·
connecting with and helping fellow simmers, whether it be through my video series on how to start a Sims YouTube channel, or through my Sims facebook group, Sims Streamers and YouTubers. Check out my channel and join the party!
My series, A Brief History, combines true crime stories with Sims 4 builds of the locations from these stories.
Follow her on: Twitter Youtube I nstagram Twitch ·41·
holds in that save will be infected. If you don’t want that to happen, I’d suggest you have a separate save just to play with this mod.
Walking Dead You wake up one morning, make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich and walk outside to check if there’s any mail. You can hear screaming coming from the Pancakes house but that’s normal, that wife of Bob’s is a piece of work. You notice Bob leaving the house, walking slowly with a limp. Poor Bob. Then, you notice Bella Goth staring at you from across the street. The Goth’s are weird Sims that you always try to avoid, so without looking at her, you shout, “morning neighbor!” You turn to go back into the house but something stops you. As your coffee kicks in and your brain starts to work properly, you notice things in your neighborhood are a bit off. The door to old Mr. Pickings house is wide open. The man never leaves his house for fear of having to be pleasant to other Sims, so why in the world would his door be open? Your rubbish bin is knocked over, a bloody handprint on the side and as you turn you see Bella slowly walking towards you. Her red dress seems to extend all the way to her mouth and it isn’t until you look into her lifeless, milky white eyes that you realize she’s covered in blood and hungry for more. You don’t know how or when all of this happened;
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all you know for sure is that you just woke up in a zombie apocalypse. Welcome to the world of zombies brought to you by the master of bloody mods, Sacrificial.
This mod is pretty easy to install. Download the file, open, drag and drop it into your mod folder. Simple as that. Just remember to enable script mods in your game. Before you begin your zombie apocalypse, I do need to warn you about this mod. The zombie virus, true to the zombie genre, spreads faster than the T-virus. This means that while you are fighting townies like dear sweet Bob so he doesn’t eat you, your other house-
GAMEPLAY Now let’s take a closer look at this mod. First thing I do upon entering the game is to enable all the automatic features available - From claiming loot to shooting zombies. It is much better that your Sims can do these things on their own rather then you telling them to do it. It can get overwhelming if there are a lot of zombies and your Sim is taking his sweet time to shoot them after you’ve told him to do so six times.
I wanted to see if the zombie apocalypse will happen on its own. It has happened with previous versions of this mod, I would add it, forget about it and then 8 generations later I’d see a zombie in my town! This time around, after 3 Sim weeks I gave up and decided to start it myself. To start the event, you’ll need to click on your Sims and under “survival items”, you can purchase the Air Support
Emergency Broadcasting Radio. Since you’re buying things anyway, make sure to stock up on first aid spray. Your sim will get bitten at some point during your zombie hunt, and if you don’t act fast, they will turn and be useless. The event is a paid event. I won’t go into too much detail about what you have to do or how much money you get as somethings should be left for you to discover on your own. Once you trigger the event, zombies will start to spawn.
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These zombies will start to attack all Sims and, once bitten, an NPC can turn pretty quickly.
Sims, this includes your household so be careful. Like any good game, there has to be a boss fight. Click on your Sim and spawn the nemesis.
If your Sim acts fast, they can kill all the zombies before anyone gets hurt, but this is unlikely.
Once your Sim shoots and kills a zombie, the zombie will drop loot like ammo or guns. You can sell any extra loot you have and make a lot of money, but then again, what use is money in an apocalypse? Then again, you can always save up and click on the radio, and then either cure or infect all Sims for 10 000 simoleons, but when I say all
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This monster is really well done, and the noises he makes are pretty scary. Fun fact: he can kill you with one punch. Imagine my surprise when I sent my sim to kill him and with one good swing, my Sim was gone. What I should have done before summoning this demon was to call Jill Valentine. This can be found by clicking on your Sims and going to “survival partners.”
mod issues This mod isn’t perfect; few mods are. Jill doesn’t kill the nemesis, and the only way I could get rid of him was to travel to another lot. Sometimes, when you shoot zombies, they will die and disappear into the ground, but the next day you’ll see them walk past your house like nothing happened. However, a big plus of this mod is that it doesn’t break your game. If you just remember to keep it updated then this mod won’t give you any trouble. It’s a great mod for story telling or completing challenges, or just blowing off some steam by killing your neighbors without feeling bad about it. Although, you might feel a just a little bit bad for killing zombie kids but if you don’t, he will jump up and bite you. I screamed when this happened as I did not expect it. It’s a nice touch. It doesn’t matter if you like zombies or not, I would recommend you try this mod at least once just to see how well it was done. Why not recreate the cast of The Walking Dead and see if you could make it, given the opportunity? It is Spooky season after all and what better way to
get into the mood then having zombies run around trying to eat your poor Sims.
Bob finally had enough of his wife’s nagging.
ISue (SueSimming)
·45·
A Study of the Nraas Vector mod By Infectious Disease Researcher, Doctor Octin. Research Source: It is very important, before you do your own study, to first read the Vector FAQ: HERE, HERE and HERE.
What is a disease?
being reported.
In the context of this mod, a “disease” is a pathogen that can be spread amongst the sim population of your town.
The number will simply increase indefinitely each time a new mutation occurs.
The makeup and description of specific diseases is defined by the creator of that module.
Newer strains have the ability of reinfection of non-inoculated Sims who have resisted an older strain.
For instance a disease could be: - A simulation of the common cold,
This simulates the concept of the cold virus, which mutates yearly and re-infects the population all over again.
- A rampant air-borne Nano-virus bound bent on converting your population into cyborgs,
Nraas Vector Settings: HERE.
- A radiological infection that spreads through social contact, and makes Sims lose bladder control and eventually die of starvation. Week 1: The Common Cold Patient Zero: Test Subject #4 Strain 2: What is a strain? In the context of this mod, a “strain” is a mutated variation of the original pathogen. Whenever a disease mutates, and then jumps to a new host, the mod denotes this variant as a new strain. The 8 test subjects have arrived at 280 Sunnyside Blvd, Sunset Valley. They think they are here for a “free vacation” but instead they have signed over their bodies to science. They just don’t know it yet. There are 10 diseases to test and very little time. It seems that each year they get stronger and we need to find a cure before we have a full-blown epide-
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mic on our hands. This might be my most important work yet. We will start with non-lethal disease and work our way up to the dangerous ones. Don’t want to lose these test subjects too soon. I will be observing them from secret rooms throughout the house. Never interacting or intervening other than to release the disease into the house.
Strains differ from each other by a number of mutant qualities, such as reduced incubation time, a longer contagious period, or simply by being more or less virulent. If the pathogen has gone “viral” in your neighbourhood, you will probably notice a large number of different strains
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It’s just a lot of sniffling and red noses. After a big meal and a good night’s sleep, most of the subjects have recovered. With so many Sims living in one house, the disease did spread faster than expected but when outdoors and interacting with sims outside the household, it did not spread. This disease is non-fatal and clears up without any medical intervention.
Week 2: Simfluenza Patient Zero: Test Subject #1 Strain 2: It appears all diseases start with a strain 2
sleep and bubble baths seem to do the trick and most of the subjects recovered fast. A visit to the doctor will help this clear up, but it is not fatal.
Week 3: Accidentitis Patient Zero: Te st Subject #6
SUBJECT #1
This disease spreads faster and has a bigger impact on the house. Negative moodlets from vomiting and being tired are dominating the household. However,
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SUBJECT #6 ·49·
Everything in the house is breaking at an alarming rate. All subjects seem to be very energetic and a rise in fiscal activities, as well as weight loss have been noted. Bathing once again seems to alleviate symptoms. Lucky, I have Bonehilda on staff to repair everything in the house. Inoculation against this disease is highly recommended. The breakages are costing me a fortune and I’ll have to “motherlode” my grant money.
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SUBJECT #7
Week4: Laugh Riot Patient Zero: Test Subject #7
Except for sleeping more than usual, test subject did not display many symptoms. The only symptom I noticed was that the subject seems happy all the time. It could be that this disease could get worse in the long run but from my observation, this disease is a pretty good one to have. Week 5: S.I.V Patient Zero: Test Subject #8
SUBJEC
T #8
This is a fairly straight forward disease. Without intimate contact, this disease cannot spread. The test subject was exhausted most of the time and didn’t do much else besides eat and sleep. This is a non-fatal disease but has a big impact on quality of life since a Sim will have this disease forever. This is a fairly straight forward disease. Without intimate contact, this disease cannot spread. The test subject was exhausted most of the time and didn’t do much else besides eat and sleep. This is a non-fatal disease but has a big impact on quality of life since a Sim will have this disease forever.
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Week 6: Llama Pox
General discomfort seems to be the most dominating symptom. Test Subject #3 has also infected the entire household without being intimate with any of them. It would appear that in order for this disease to be controlled, social distancing needs to be applied and infected Sims need to be quarantined. Although not fatal, this disease does put the brakes on life as Test Subjects spend most of their days in bed, wondering around aimlessly as they have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing and waving at the sky complaining about how uncomfortable they are. All this can be avoided with a simple inoculation and keeping sick Sims away from the rest of the town.
Patient Zero: Test Subject #3
Week 7: Burning Sim Patient Zero: Test Subject #5
Subject seems to be spending a lot of time in the hot tub. I have also noticed a lot of meals being burned and stoves catching fire but this could be due to the subject’s low cooking skill and the cheap stove that was installed. I’ll have to talk to The Institute to give me at least one more motherlode for my next research project so I can install top notch equipment. No burning sim was observed this time. This disease is fatal but with a good hot tub or shower on the lot and time to spend in them, a sim can live an average life. Week 8: Munchies Patient Zero: Test Subject #2
SUBJECT #3
SUBJECT #5
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Subject has been eating non-stop and using the toilet a lot. Since a fridge is nearby and this subject doesn’t need to go off the lot, the subject’s life isn’t in danger but I will note that if they were to travel to a place where food wasn’t on hand immediately, they would starve. Probably first pee themselves and then starve. This is a terrible way to go for any Sim. Immune boosters do help. Inoculation is recommended as the hunger and bladder need decreases faster them a Sim can make and this can lead to death. This goes without saying, this disease is fatal but rarely passes from one Sim to another without intimate contact. In other news, I’ve decided to train squirrels and chipmunks to become my own personal army as we seem to be overrun by them. It’s likely there are more and more of them each day but why? and where they are coming from, I just don’t know! It is a welcome break from watching these subjects 24/7.
Week 9: Zombie Scourge Patience Zero: Entire household
This is a cross species disease and can infect cats, dogs and even wild deer. My rodent army can no longer be trusted. This disease is highly contagious and spreads rapidly. Zombification however, does not seem to last long but it’s recurring. There is no inoculation for this disease but with immune boosters, it appears test subjects can live a long life without tasting brains. My recommendation to the SCDC or Sims Centre for Disease Control would be to isolate all individuals who present with symptoms immediately before they turn and do serious harm to other Sims. Once the immune boosters start working, Sims can go back to their normal lives.
Week 10: Zombie Rage Patience Zero: The Town of Sunset Valley
All test subjects are now infected but I have yet to see them turn. It would appear that the zombification is not immediate, recovery is fairly fast and no fatalities occurred. This does not put my mind at ease about the rodent army, and I fear they might be plotting against me for trying to drown them in the hot tub.
What have I done? Oh, my Player, what have I done? I release the disease into the house at 12am Sunday. Ironically enough, Spooky day. What I failed to notice was one of the test subjects
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playing with a stray cat outside. Like Zombie Scourge, Zombie Rage is a cross species disease and as soon as I noticed this interaction on the security cameras, I went looking for the cat. Darn thing had escaped. I activated a code red immediately and SCDC was sent in to find the cat and quarantine any affected Sims. They unfortunately arrived too late. This disease is much more aggressive then the military led us to believe. This disease should not even exist! and should have been destroyed, not tested. Half the town was infected within a week. By the time the SCDC got to us, Sunset Valley is on lockdown, it had already spread to Twinbrook and before the month was up, it had hit Bridgeport. There is no cure for this, no boosters and no amount of sleep or bathing will relieve the symptoms. The only way to stop Zombie Rage, is kill the zombie.
My food has run out and I managed to escape Sunnyside Blvd with the help of Bonehilda and my rodent army who are not infected with Zombie Rage. This will be my last entry. I’m making a run for Isla Paridiso hoping to start a new and zombie free life on one of the islands. If anyone finds this, if anyone survives this, just know I am deeply sorry for destroying Simkind and that my intention was to help Sims and improve their lives. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and as I look over Sunset Valley one last time, I realize I am in hell.
Overall, this is a great mod. It can be a bit slow to get going but be warned once the mod takes effect, it’s a bit too “infectiousy” as one Simmer put it. Put this in your game and turn minor disease on to have a more realistic game play or download Dexter the Bear mod, turn on zombie rage and enjoy killing zombies during the apocalypse.
Other Simmers discuss their experience with Vector: HERE
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Evils in the Fog Driving home in the early morning hours from your shift as a guard at the prison, you notice a fog bank rolling in off the river. As beautiful as you find a foggy morning, this time of day is when wild life is most active and low visibility is the last thing you need. By the time you get home, the fog is so thick that you can see your house just a few steps away from where you parked. It’s the thickest you’ve ever seen it and as you get out of the car, you get the feeling that something is in the mist watching you. You rush inside and lock the door but as you turn on the light, you notice the fog seeping in from every crack and hole in your house. This is no ordinary fog and you have a feeling things are about to get a lot worse.
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In the spirit of Spooky Season, let’s look at one of the spookiest worlds I have yet to come across in The Sims 3 community Silent Hill by Evincryg. The Sims 3 might be 11 years old but it definitely is not done surprising us. We all know you can edit your sims, your houses and even your town but did you know you can build your own world? This is what keeps The Sims 3 alive for me. You get to explore new player made worlds for free. You don’t have to know anything about the Silent Hill story to enjoy this world but it certainly helps you to understand why it looks the way it does. Silent Hill is a town somewhere in the United States that through centuries of
bloodshed, occult magic and tragedy has taken on a life of its own. Throughout the series, it has been located on the East Coast of the US but its effects have been known to spread to nearby towns or wherever its chosen victim is. Those who are “chosen” by Silent Hill are trapped in the town’s abandoned, foggy streets and forced to battle monsters based on their own inner fears and guilt. Because the fears are custom tailored to each person, characters will encounter monsters different than someone else or see a different environment altogether. This is attributed to multiple dimensions. Whether the monsters are actually people is often up for debate and implied a few times throughout the series.
the game, Silent Hill: Origins, Travis Grady has the ability to enter The Otherworld at will through mirrors. To date, he is the only character in the franchise who can do this. The main concept of Silent Hill is that someone has forgotten something terrible – perhaps something they did – maybe they’re looking for someone – but whatever the case may be, the town has such sights to show you…what would YOUR monsters look like? That’s Silent Hill in a nut shell!
Sometimes, characters are transported to a dark, rusted metal or decaying version of the town called “The Otherworld.” Fans recognize this change with the sound of an air raid siren, although it is not always present. In most cases, characters do not have control over when The Otherworld takes over, and would simply appear there as if waking from a dream. This concept was greatly influenced by the film, Jacob’s Ladder. In the 2006 film adaption, the Otherworld consumes the town at seemingly random times and the air raid siren is used as a warning to residents. (“The Darkness is coming!”) Since the film, players have been able to witness the town transform in real time. In
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This world works perfectly for any apocalypse challenges. Add Nraas Vector mod to your game, turn NPC’s into zombies and do all the “survive this” challenges you can find on Mod The Sims. My suggestion would be to start with MistyDW challenges. The Silent Hill world isn’t very big. It’s one of the smallest worlds other then the Midnight Sun world but this just adds to the creepy/being trapped feeling. A lot of wild horses and deer spawn in the world and it does make you jump when your sim is walking around town and a wild horse suddenly comes sprinting out of the fog.
There are lots of crumbling structures and abandoned buildings to explore.
My favorite would have to be the crumbling overpass. You can move into the little shack next to it. My only complaint about this world is the visibility inside of houses. I don’t mind not being able to see much outside but inside I would like to be able to see my Sim.
the house but I feel like doing this would only take away from experience. The fog is meant to drive you crazy and it being in the house really does that.
Overall, this world was done very well with no routing issues I could find and it kept to the spirit of Silent Hill. Check out the “movies” made by the creator of this world using The Sims 3. It’s brilliant.
There are open lots you can build your compound on or you can move into many of the abandoned apartments and houses. You can even live in your own prison! This would be my first choice and as a massive ‘The Walking Dead’ fan, but you’ll have to save some money to afford this bad boy.
This isn’t a problem for houses built on a foundation but most of the houses are on the ground. You can enable the ‘buydebug’ cheat and move the fog emitters further from
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