Lot Picspam: Meadows Beyond
I'm back! Not really. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up; Sims 2 is a really time/labor-intensive game (at least, if you post screenshots) and I make no guarantees about timing.
That said, this week I got back into playing. I just messed around in my SimSelf's house and built Foolscombe a graveyard.
I knew from the start that I wanted to emulate a build I'd seen on Tumblr a long time ago (I'm sorry! I couldn't find it to link!) Someone had a little café in their graveyard lot with neon signage and an outdoor seating area, and it was just adorable. If you find any candidates for what this might've been, you are more than welcome to tag me; I haven't been able to find it in an hour of digging.
EDIT: It may well have been furbyq's old graveyard café! Here's a link to the new one.
With that said, here's the lot! I reserve the right to keep fiddling, of course.
So here's Meadows Beyond. A graveyard with a small café, a few places to comfortably spend time, and a sort of village center. Because I thought it might be sweet to have the village center be in the same place as the cemetery.
If I'm building my own little town, I can do whatever I like. And I think I would like to keep the graveyard as an inextricable part of the town.
Here we have my SimSelf (new hair!) by the fountain and accompanying arch. I originally dropped a torii here, but felt odd about having such a Shinto element in an otherwise nonreligious area... I never know what to do with the Vaguely Japanese items in the game. Perhaps Foolscombe needs a Sims!Japantown.
Very proud of the absurd little gated tree. I dropped the boombox and pedestal here to see what exactly would happen, and it spawns NPC performers! That's so cute. And my breakdancer is adorable.
The little alleyway between the fountain and the café. You cannot escape the arch!
The café itself boasts a little outdoor seating area.
Interior. I removed the tall fridge; I disliked it being there.
Cashier with her espresso machine.
Close-up of the little table with straws and napkins in the café.
An overhead shot of the alleyway. Three photobooths seem simultaneously garish and light-hearted.
I love a bicycle in front of a café. I owe this obsession to Janita's beautiful builds from back in the day.
A swing set behind the café. It faces out on the graveyard proper.
A small, secret place behind the café; with a shrine, a wishing well, and a redwood slice.
Sims 2 objects are so beautiful. I'm struck by the effort and detail on this object.
Close-up featuring the shrine, which looks gorgeous as well.
This pond is to the far left of the lot, though here we look at it as though we just turned around from the shrine area and began walking forwards. Everything from a cabin to a waterfall to a chess table to a cauldron.
This will be the actual graveyard, once someone in the neighborhood has died. My understanding is that Legacy-relevant graves may give you points if you keep them on the lot, but I've seen too many bugged games (and scared-to-death Sims!) to commit to that. Anyway, there's more than enough room here given the size of the town.
And two bonus images!
My SimSelf arrived on the lot and autonomously lounged by the fountain. There's so much mood in this shot... the rain and the irritable expression...
They also rolled a want to toss a coin into the shrine, so I let them, only for them to get the above fortune (The answer is contained within you.) and also chased by bees. The action label for this one was literally "be chased by bees"... What a visit.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Again, I make no promises for the Does-- I want to get their whole story plan written down, for example, before I keep going, and I'm also very behind on editing screenshots. It's literally been years! I wish I had more time for the Sims. But I also adore this family and I want to keep going. And I'll never leave the Sims 2 behind for good.
Oh! This lot is not available for download, because I don't know how to do that. As a general rule I don't know how to export things or make CC or whatever else Non-Essential stuff. So it's just pictures for now.