Oooooo - computer updates. GAAAAHHHH! I hate them. I learned long ago that if you're going to do pictures & text Live-Journal-style thing, you should write it in a word processing program, and then copy-paste it over, so you don't have to worry about losing your hard work, if your computer should go down while you're still in progress. Because drafts just don't always save when you're online, but word processing documents are easily saved. And I'm a pathological saver, like every minute, or two. Or, in the case of presentations, every slide.
I love the backstory! So cool! And I love how it really explains how she's such a determined go-getter.
Lillian! She's so cute. I have an idea that I mean to use for my next adult Scientist. Get a weather controller, and set it for constant rain in the summer, and keep the sim outside. If that doesn't work, then make an evil witch, and constantly cast the locus horriblus (or whatever that spell is to conjure storms and roaches), and stay outside, preferably in a pool or hot tub. Because I don't think I've had more than two sims get electrocuted from electronic repairs in my whole Sims 2 career. OF course, lightning fires don't count, but lightning struck sims do. Just keep the moods high. Snapdragons and storms, perhaps? OOOOHHHHH! How's THAT for a business concept? Snapdragons and Storms! "Come here, all you Scientist wannabes. We have hot tubs galore. You'll never leave until you pass out or die. Management not responsible for the grim reaper." Definitely not a business to run alone. Must have high relationship with business partner. Either that, or have at least one high-level good witch on staff. Or maybe use it to jump-start the requirements for a Paranormal career.
OOoookay, enough of that derail Lillian is cute!
YAy! Dominique! You had me at Max all skills, because that is, hands down, my favorite LTW, ever! No doubt. Also, she's cute! Everybody's cute tonight.
Allegra! She's cute AND a high good witch! AWESOME!!!! You know how much I love those witches! And can I just say how much I love the combination of dark skin and blond hair. The contrast pleases me. Also, Andante, Staccato, and of course, Fortissimo! I think those would be good boys names.
Love the witchy sparkles. The evil witch glow, however, always makes me check the hygiene meter, because I'm sure there's a stink cloud. Great idea to train them up together before sending them out on their own. You know, you can use the restaurant podium to train sales, even if you don't even have an actual restaurant going. Just stick them in a locked room, with the podium, and watch them earn the badges. The cash register, on the other hand, like restocking, requires actual customers and sales. Pity.
Ah! Two cash registers at once. NICE! Much happier customers, at the low levels, because there's no line to make them unhappy. I usually don't do it, because I only want one cash register at the end, but if you can, it's fantastic. What I usually do is have one cashier, and my playable sim doing sales. If the line gets too long, I send my sales-sim over to tell jokes to the customers in line. It pulls them out of line, then when they get back in line, the timer is basically re-set, so they don't get so angry at having to wait so long. Do you ever invite friends over to be customers, when your business level is so low you only have three at a time? I do that, a lot. Heck, I'll befriend customers with my salesperson, and then have the salesperson invite them back, as soon as they leave the lot. Repeat customers are great! Even if you're not a popularity sim, if you're in sales, you'll make SO many friends in OFB.
There's always THAT customer, isn't there? The one who won't accept a sales social, even if they're your best friend. It's like, "Sure, I'll hang out with you all you want, but don't even TRY to sell me anything. And I don't care if it is priced at 'ridiculously cheap'. I'm going to stare at it for two hours, then stop shopping with a big old cloud over my head, because I hate this store, even though I like you personally. But I I'll totally lose relationship points with you if you try any sales social with me, including lowering the price! How dare you lower the price for me!"
So glad you can just ask him to leave. I've actually, on occasion, close the store, just to get rid of someone who just wouldn't go. And I have to admit, Expello Simae is DARNED USEFUL!
Magic themed businesses? Plural? HOORAAY! Seriously, I look forward to seeing what you do. Oh, did you know there is a mod to allow you to assign employees to work the cauldron? I forget what it is, but it's probably from MTS, or possibly MATY. Anyway, it's great! You can assign them to work the cauldron, just as if it were a crafting bench, and the owner gets the stuff they make. Ummm, I just spent I don't know how long looking for it, then realized I'd forgotten what I was looking for, when back to look, and then didn't find it, soooo, I'm not looking anymore. Just know that if you want to hire employee witches to run the cauldrons for you, it is possible, with the right mod. Also, COOL! I can't wait to see what Allegra does!
Also, what does Allegra mean, musically? I totally forget.
Connie made me laugh out loud! I think you should move her in, someday. Just enforce an anti-newt geas on her.
Level 10! Congrats! You can go for the Business unlock and a Business District. Wait, did you do that already? I forget. Anyway, another level 10 business is always good.
Awww, now we have to wait for their weeks before we see more of them. Ah, well. HEY! 20% done? She should move in another batch. One batch for each business!
Victoria has the blandest smustle face I've ever seen. I wasn't even sure it WAS a smustle face until you said so.
Not to mention, some of the best pop songs are actually based on classical tunes. I mean, look at Pachelbel's Canon. Do you have any idea how many songs of various genres are based on that very same chord progression?! There's a screed about it on YouTube, even. But the fact is, those tried-and-true musical motifs are classics for a very good reason. And you won't get sued for plagiarism if you borrow a bridge.
Rockstar Regalia looks good to me!
Yep, new townies respawn, unless you have a mod to STOP the game from respawning. I think MoreAwesomeThanYou has the mod to stop the spawning.
Customers DO love a bar. However, I've heard rumors of a business glitch that happens when the owner tends bar. I don't know for sure, but since then, I've played it safe and always hired a bartender. Or just used the juice keg. Good luck! I hope the rumors are fake, or else you have a fix, or maybe you'll just be lucky? Anyway, good luck and fingers crossed!
Just ask TwilightOutside. That has got to be the fastest way to build a business and/or city. Twilight's BACC is an inspiration to us all. Also, venues are Da BOMB! I think my favorite is when people get tired and pay me to sleep in the tents! Btw, even in a vanilla game, without a sleep-on-comm-lots mod, you can always sleep in a tent. Yet another thing I learned from TwilightOutside. But, you have to kick them out, eventually, because once they max out on stars, they'll stall your business ranking. You have to keep an influx of new people, to get more stars.
I have a rhyming dictionary somewhere! Oh, no, wait. That got lost in a move. Dang it! Well, I'm sure there are websites you could use. Green? Bean? Sheen? Teen? Ummmm, no. None of them work. Unless she's an environmentalist, or something. Dean! If she founds her own university with the money, she can be the Lean Dean Money Making Machine! Or maybe the Lean Machine Money Making Dean! Yeah!
Clovis is cute! Yeah, it seems the only way to get high warlocks is to move-in or kill off the original high witches. Apparently, the neighborhood always starts with high witches. According to the wiki, at least. You know, I didn't realize it until too late for a particular business, but giving free entry is permanent for that business. He'll never pay to enter that lot again. But on the other hand, he'll stay for a long time. Witches have static moods at community lots, except for their hygiene. Get them in a hot tub, and they will literally stay until you boot them out. AND, while they are there as customers, the game will spawn a new one! You can have a whole collection of high witches and warlocks, if you just keep greeting them and either selling a ticket or giving free entry. Want a huge coven of unplayable witches and warlocks? Get them into your venue. I love reading about this stuff on the wiki.
Ooooh! I vote for him to marry Lillian!
Half a million? AWESOME!!!! You are amaze-balls!
Oh, my GOSH! Celestial Dance is GORGEOUS! I literally dropped my jaw when I saw that picture!
Wait, you went for slacker career, instead of dance, even though it says dance in the title? That's a bit confusing. Totally fine, of course. YOU choose what type of club it counts for. And after all, there's no limit to how many clubs you can have, right? And did I mention that it is gorgeous?
Hehe. I was going to demand a picture of her bland expression when she drops the headphones, but you can't get that, can you? Her creativity is too high. So, she's blandly rocking away. Deadpan DJ. Way to keep the focus on the music.
I love the sphere. But what's going to be REALLY entertaining is in a generation or two, when you've had a few alien abductions. All those teens who got the Alien Reparation Grant, will find themselves unexpectedly preggers after graduation, even if they never touch a telescope again. BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAAAAAAA!
CLOVIS! OK, when he marries in, you gotta get him in front of a telescope. Just one abduction, and then visits to the club... He would make the cutest green babies!!
YAY! Deadpan Good Witch!
Is it just me, or do good witches do the "nice" smile, even if they have no nice points, and evil witches do the "mean" fingertip thing, even if they are loaded with nice points? Well, at any rate, it suits him. Clovis is so cute and sweet. Plus, of course, he has a great name. You gotta move in him soon, please.
She SMILES! She must be ecstatic! But then again, her first time on a broom has got to me pretty amazing, unless she's afraid of heights.
Oh, glitter. Gets everywhere, and stays forever. Which is why I have to really wonder at the intellectual state of the person who came up with "Passion Dust," a vaginal glitter bomb. OMG. Oh, wait. I just googled it, to be sure I had the name right, and it turns out the inventor actually had a brain tumor at the time. Well, that makes me feel both sorry for her, and better about the whole thing, because it explains how she got the idea that putting glitter in a vagina is a good idea. Wow. I hope her treatment works, and that she doesn't get sued into permanent bankruptcy. OK, ummmm, sorry about that really weird tangent. Let's just all be joyous that sim-glitter is not problematic, unless you just don't like to see sparkly sims. And, actually? There's a mod for that.
Witches can go forever with the Taxi Time Warp and the thrones at their coven's castle. Even if they can't make it, themselves, they never have to sleep again. Unless you have personal rules about that sort of thing. I LOVE thrones! I think they might be recolorable, even without a mod. I know they can with a mod. Anyway, I don't blame you for taking a break. She's done so much. It's pretty amazing.
HAHAH! Even her painting is sparkly! Good witches are so glamorous! Or would that be glammerous?
Infallible Goodness! Now she CAN make her own throne, or will by the time you fill her inventory with reagents! Woooot! Now with a throne at each business, she'll be able to stay forever, and be super-rich, as well as permanently happy with her 5 top-level businesses, and I LOVE WITCHES!!!!
Wow, I never thought of that. Instead of actually placing a tent and eating option at each business, just carry them with you, and plop them down as needed. THANK YOU! That is a fantastic idea! I love learning new things from reading other players' stories! Also, congrats on the promotion. Only one left! I'm sure she'll make it, at this rate.
WOooooT! ROCK GODDESS!
Actually, you could just go to a wardrobe and choose "Dress For Work." THat way, you can wear your uniform, any time you want.
Parkside GAllery made me gasp! SO pretty! Small, but pretty. And all that lovely natural light for the paintings and stuff. I want to go there. Plus, there's fishing! Fishing is always good. Unless you're a worm.
Sparklies!
Yeah, one of the benefits of starting out with just a few customers is that you can play-test and fix the pathing issues, without having an unfixable-pile-up. I once had seven sims stuck in a bathroom, and literally had to quit without saving
(before I learned about Move_objects), sooooo, yeah. fix the issues in level 1, and you'll make level 10 soon enough.
I love the criss-cross belly bands. She looks great!
DANG, Anya! You know how to BUILD!
Oh, diagonals. Doesn't work for hanging things on walls, but "boolprop Allow45DegreeAngleOfRotation true" and "Boolprop SnapObjectsToGrid false" are really useful for furniture, at least. Did you do this without building cheats? DANG!
I keep trying to use my mouse to see different angles. HEHE. Also, that pool!
Lighting glitches? You didn't do a patchwork design on purpose? Oh, and I Love the accent wall in the work-out room. See, I notice all these beautiful elements in other people's architecture, but I almost never think to use it in my own. My own building is much like Victoria's face.
"one of the upstairs living rooms." Victoria has a house worthy of her station.
10/10. Would hang out again.
Bland face. "I love it." HAHA!
DANG! The top-down view from the neighborhood! AND she has a fish pond! You didn't show us the fish pond. Wait, is that a dock?
YEah, it is a bit big for one sim, but you've designed it well for a large household, with all the spare rooms and baths and all, so you likely will never have to rebuild when you do fill out the family. Additions almost never keep the same aesthetic, do they?
Well, you sure know how to end the week with a bang. This is great! Can't wait to see what you do next week.