The first business (and some bonus teen stuff)
So, like I posted early this morning, I'm 1/5 of the way done with Mya's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad LTW. I played the entire first business in one go yesterday afternoon and evening and got it to level 10 at about quarter to one in the morning. :D I'm so stoked about it I want to share some pics of how the whole thing went down (not many, as quite a few will be in the update) as well as some extra pics of how the winter rotation went.
The first business was called Sierra Spa, although it wasn't exactly a spa, strictly saying...
The bottom floor has a pool table, a couch and a couple of chairs, and a jukebox. Also, note the elevator in the corner. When you're restricted to 8x8 for building, those things are a real space saver. And it only broke once!
Second floor: chess table, Mahjong table, bathrooms, and a dartboard off-screen.
Third floor: Two hotttubs and a sauna. Snapdragons were later added to all coffee tables.
There was a fourth floor, but it basically just had a room that was locked to the customers where we put a flower bench and an Energizer, and is therefore boring.
Mya: "Oh, I hope the snow won't keep all my potential customers from coming!"
It didn't. They opened the place on the first day of spring, when there was still some snow on the ground, but it quickly faded away. (Look, Ori, I put some windows in. Will you please stop haunting me in my sleep now?)
Mya and Gabriel did most of the ticket sales, and both of them had a gold badge by the end of the whole thing. They only had a couple of people reject the sells, and everybody who came onto the lot eventually bought a ticket.
Part of the reason I'm doing this at all, though, is to get Azula as many adult male contacts as possible for her LTW, so when Archie walked on the lot (good grief, I need to do something about his hair) I let her sell him one to see what he'd think.
Archie: "You aren't a Simself, and you're not old enough for me, so I don't think so."
Azula: "I'm going to be a YA at the end of Spring...?"
Archie: "All right, fine, call me after your birthday and I'll buy a ticket."
Anybody want to guess what Derri just said to Archie to make him snicker like that...?
Anyway, the business basically ran itself, aside from my needing to direct people to sell tickets. The Mahjong table was where the most stars came from. That thing was definitely the most popular form of recreation in the place, and it was always full. If someone got up, another customer immediately took that person's place. The pool table was a hotspot, too, and a nice way to keep the ticket sellers occupied so they wouldn't run for the Mahjong table every chance they got.
And with all the snapdragons, the customers would stay for hours (unless they were sent home for unruly behavior, RAY) because the only mood the flowers don't take care of is sleep.
So it was that after seven-and-a-half grueling hours, Mya attained her first level 10 business, and Marina saw that it was good.
Doing a business like this, just to get my feet wet, was a good experience. For one thing, it helped me understand that I really can do this LTW. I'm not going to be in a hurry to do it again, but it's a nice change and it's helping me get to a few other goals. For one thing, the family friend count needs some serious help since we lost almost all our friends when Kieran died, and also, like I said, Azula needs some men for her LTW. I'm also hoping to find Elle's future husband through this as well. There are two redheaded townies with the SpencerSchnoz face I hope she will like. I AM GETTING THAT NOSE BACK IN THE GENE POOL DARNIT.
The next one is going to be a flower shop called Azula's Azaleas. I need to build it before Mya can buy it, and I'm probably going to try to get it done all in one go like with the Sierra Spa. In the story, they're not going to have done it all in one shift. This is just for my sanity.
---
In other news, I have some random pictures from the winter rotation to show off since they probably won't be in the update.
Phil and Ellie became teens, as I said last night, and I'm very pleased with how they're turning out.
Woody and Barbara had their child birthdays, as well. They're both really, really cute, but I'm especially happy with Barbara because of her unconventional mix of features. She looks like Selina, except for having her mother's nose and eyes.
Small note about Phil and Barbara...these two are all manner of cute and delightful to play, and I'm really sorry they're not first cousins because I would love to give them some more face time than they're going to have. In all likelihood they're going to be in my next interlude, which I'm planning to do after Episode 17, but we shall see.
Some of my teens are finding romance, too. Robin got this guy as a blind date from the matchmaker (we fixed his hair because the fro was so, so not working) and he's a vacation townie (I don't remember his name). He's scheduled to visit her the next time I play that house, so we'll see how this goes.
Phil went to the community center to get a cell phone and ended up meeting Kahlen Doran while he was there. I have to say, I really adore these two together. They're both Romance, and Kahlen has a numbered want, so I won't be pushing them to settle down or reproduce. They will probably hook up again in college, though.
Callie, meanwhile, found love with her paperboy, Emery. I really love these two together, too, and they're an unlikely pair in the style of Cal's parents because Emery is Romance and Cal is Knowledge. Two bolts despite that, though. I'm playing this one by ear. If Callie wants him to come to college with her, he'll go, but otherwise I'll have her find someone else.
I took Cal and Laney out to buy cell phones, too, and I discovered that Laney is a bit stuck up. These poor boys were trying to admire her and she wouldn't have any of it, silly girl.
And then Billy and Woody came home on the bus with everyone they possibly could. Their friendliness is charming, but I'm still not sure what Aspiration it means for Woody. I have decided what Billy is going to be, though, and it won't be Popularity. You'll see why when I update.
So the plan from here...well, I have to go back and play the Holms through winter (I was a bad girl and decided I couldn't wait any longer to start the businesses) and then I'm going to go back and play all the houses through spring before I finish spring at the main house. Then, the spring class plus Saffron Bohemian are going to college. I'll play them through their first year, and at that point I will probably have enough material to update. I hope this will be inside the next couple of weeks and that the Exchange will be back up by the time it's ready.
Then after that, I'm going to be writing my next interlude (featuring the zombie plot, among other things) and working on a side project. I really want to have all of that done this summer, which is very likely since I only have one more month of summer school.
Right now, though, I'm going to go watch some nice cleansing Firefly and detox from this weekend of Simming ^_^ I hope you all had a good weekend!
P.S. - Expect an update for Four Seasons tomorrow. I sorted the pictures this afternoon, so it shouldn't take long to get it up.
The first business was called Sierra Spa, although it wasn't exactly a spa, strictly saying...
The bottom floor has a pool table, a couch and a couple of chairs, and a jukebox. Also, note the elevator in the corner. When you're restricted to 8x8 for building, those things are a real space saver. And it only broke once!
Second floor: chess table, Mahjong table, bathrooms, and a dartboard off-screen.
Third floor: Two hotttubs and a sauna. Snapdragons were later added to all coffee tables.
There was a fourth floor, but it basically just had a room that was locked to the customers where we put a flower bench and an Energizer, and is therefore boring.
Mya: "Oh, I hope the snow won't keep all my potential customers from coming!"
It didn't. They opened the place on the first day of spring, when there was still some snow on the ground, but it quickly faded away. (Look, Ori, I put some windows in. Will you please stop haunting me in my sleep now?)
Mya and Gabriel did most of the ticket sales, and both of them had a gold badge by the end of the whole thing. They only had a couple of people reject the sells, and everybody who came onto the lot eventually bought a ticket.
Part of the reason I'm doing this at all, though, is to get Azula as many adult male contacts as possible for her LTW, so when Archie walked on the lot (good grief, I need to do something about his hair) I let her sell him one to see what he'd think.
Archie: "You aren't a Simself, and you're not old enough for me, so I don't think so."
Azula: "I'm going to be a YA at the end of Spring...?"
Archie: "All right, fine, call me after your birthday and I'll buy a ticket."
Anybody want to guess what Derri just said to Archie to make him snicker like that...?
Anyway, the business basically ran itself, aside from my needing to direct people to sell tickets. The Mahjong table was where the most stars came from. That thing was definitely the most popular form of recreation in the place, and it was always full. If someone got up, another customer immediately took that person's place. The pool table was a hotspot, too, and a nice way to keep the ticket sellers occupied so they wouldn't run for the Mahjong table every chance they got.
And with all the snapdragons, the customers would stay for hours (unless they were sent home for unruly behavior, RAY) because the only mood the flowers don't take care of is sleep.
So it was that after seven-and-a-half grueling hours, Mya attained her first level 10 business, and Marina saw that it was good.
Doing a business like this, just to get my feet wet, was a good experience. For one thing, it helped me understand that I really can do this LTW. I'm not going to be in a hurry to do it again, but it's a nice change and it's helping me get to a few other goals. For one thing, the family friend count needs some serious help since we lost almost all our friends when Kieran died, and also, like I said, Azula needs some men for her LTW. I'm also hoping to find Elle's future husband through this as well. There are two redheaded townies with the SpencerSchnoz face I hope she will like. I AM GETTING THAT NOSE BACK IN THE GENE POOL DARNIT.
The next one is going to be a flower shop called Azula's Azaleas. I need to build it before Mya can buy it, and I'm probably going to try to get it done all in one go like with the Sierra Spa. In the story, they're not going to have done it all in one shift. This is just for my sanity.
---
In other news, I have some random pictures from the winter rotation to show off since they probably won't be in the update.
Phil and Ellie became teens, as I said last night, and I'm very pleased with how they're turning out.
Woody and Barbara had their child birthdays, as well. They're both really, really cute, but I'm especially happy with Barbara because of her unconventional mix of features. She looks like Selina, except for having her mother's nose and eyes.
Small note about Phil and Barbara...these two are all manner of cute and delightful to play, and I'm really sorry they're not first cousins because I would love to give them some more face time than they're going to have. In all likelihood they're going to be in my next interlude, which I'm planning to do after Episode 17, but we shall see.
Some of my teens are finding romance, too. Robin got this guy as a blind date from the matchmaker (we fixed his hair because the fro was so, so not working) and he's a vacation townie (I don't remember his name). He's scheduled to visit her the next time I play that house, so we'll see how this goes.
Phil went to the community center to get a cell phone and ended up meeting Kahlen Doran while he was there. I have to say, I really adore these two together. They're both Romance, and Kahlen has a numbered want, so I won't be pushing them to settle down or reproduce. They will probably hook up again in college, though.
Callie, meanwhile, found love with her paperboy, Emery. I really love these two together, too, and they're an unlikely pair in the style of Cal's parents because Emery is Romance and Cal is Knowledge. Two bolts despite that, though. I'm playing this one by ear. If Callie wants him to come to college with her, he'll go, but otherwise I'll have her find someone else.
I took Cal and Laney out to buy cell phones, too, and I discovered that Laney is a bit stuck up. These poor boys were trying to admire her and she wouldn't have any of it, silly girl.
And then Billy and Woody came home on the bus with everyone they possibly could. Their friendliness is charming, but I'm still not sure what Aspiration it means for Woody. I have decided what Billy is going to be, though, and it won't be Popularity. You'll see why when I update.
So the plan from here...well, I have to go back and play the Holms through winter (I was a bad girl and decided I couldn't wait any longer to start the businesses) and then I'm going to go back and play all the houses through spring before I finish spring at the main house. Then, the spring class plus Saffron Bohemian are going to college. I'll play them through their first year, and at that point I will probably have enough material to update. I hope this will be inside the next couple of weeks and that the Exchange will be back up by the time it's ready.
Then after that, I'm going to be writing my next interlude (featuring the zombie plot, among other things) and working on a side project. I really want to have all of that done this summer, which is very likely since I only have one more month of summer school.
Right now, though, I'm going to go watch some nice cleansing Firefly and detox from this weekend of Simming ^_^ I hope you all had a good weekend!
P.S. - Expect an update for Four Seasons tomorrow. I sorted the pictures this afternoon, so it shouldn't take long to get it up.