Urbis Arcana Sims
A week before my first chemo, tweelore and alliancesjr invited me to hang out at their apartment and have some fun. Among other things, Lore wound up introducing me to Sims 3.
I knew about the Sims games, of course, but I never actually played them. I decided to try to create some Urbis Arcana characters. For the sake of simplicity, I went with the characters that already have some family-type relationships. To my surprise, I actually got pretty into it. The fact that I was playing as my characters made them all the more entertaining.
Since then, I continued that game during the couple of times I visited their house. And, after I got my new field laptop (and with it, more space to put on programs) I decided to see if I could download at least some version of Sims for free. That's how I discovered the Sims 4 Create-A-Sim demo - basically, the game's character creation engine without the actual game. Which suited me just fine. I wanted to see if I could create some Urbis Arcana characters, just to see how well that world work...
...Only to quickly realize that Sims 4 character creator is a very different beast. On one hand, there were some improvements. It was easier to create non-white characters (Lore had to help me create Asian and Hapa characters in Sims 3, because, for example, there was no obvious way to give them epicanthic folds), and easier to customize character body shapes. On the other hand, there were way, way less customization options and less choices for everything from hair to skin tones to clothes. Judging by Sims 4 tutorials and Let's Play videos, there are more options in the full game, but still not nearly as many options as Sims 3.
Which was disappointing... But I figured that, so long as I downloaded the demo, I might as well try to create some characters anyway.
First, there are Jas and Hilly, who first appeared in " He Moves in Mysterious Ways" and whom I used in the Sims 3 game at Lore's house. The commission empressfunk drew does a pretty good job of capturing what the characters look like in my mind's eye.
Jas was a challenging character to create in Sims 3, both because she was Asian and because I had very particular ideas of what her hair was like and what kind of clothes she wore. I was able to find some clothes that matched her style, but I couldn't find the hair that looked quite right.
With Sims 4 - I had the opposite problem. The hair style I used still wasn't quite what I was looking for, but it was a hell of a lot closer. But none of the outfits looked quite right, so I settled for something I could sort of see her wear.
For a while, Jas' face wound up looking a bit too young. She was always supposed to look younger than she actually was, but not to the point where she could pass for teenager. Some tinkering with cheekbones addressed it... somewhat.
I like how Hilly turned out in Sims 4. It was able to better match the body type I had in mind, and, after lots of tweaking and trial-and-error, I can say the same thing about the face. That said, Sims 3 let me select a hairstyle that was much closer to what I had in mind, and a skin tone that was closer to what I had in mind (Persians are not Arabs, and their skin tones tend to be a bit lighter)
I'm actually kind of proud of Sim4!Hilly's nose. It took so many tries to get it anywhere close to right.
Next, we have Dan Masterson, Jas' and Hilly's ex and the father of Jas' son. Out of the stuff I put up on this LJ, he appeared in " Still My Ward" and "S tranger Things Happened." I created him in Sims 3 - if you are going to have a family, you might as well start with characters who are parents.
I struggled with Dan in both Sims 3 and Sims 4, and I think Sims 3 version ultimately came closer to what I wanted. Especially when it came to hair. None of the hair styles in Sims 4 where what I was looking for.
Next, we have the remaining member of my Sims 3 family - Dan and Jas' son, Toshiro Masterson. Even though the character never properly appeared in any of the stories I posted on this LJ, the character actually predates both Dan and Jas, and he had a district personality long before his parents became distinct characters.
Unlike Sims 3 (and the full version of Sims 4), the Sims 4 demo doesn't let you create "children" characters based on two existing characters. So what I would up doing was creating a twin brother for Dan and modifying the character. the hair in this version is closer to what I had in mind than Sims 3 version, but Sims 3 let me assemble an outfit that was much closer to Toshi's style. so you win some, you lose some.
I also created some characters I didn't create in Sims 3. First, there's Sumitra Laungani, head of the Special Research Group (a city government organization that keeps an eye on Chicago's supernatural side). Out of the stuff I put up in this LJ, she appeared in " Still My Ward." Unlike the other characters, her appearance is based on a real person (a student from a writing class I took back in college), and I really tried to get that right. it worked more than it didn't. And while the outfit wasn't perfect, it was at least something I could see her wearing.
Next, we have Tristan Gibbons, Sumitra's second-in-command during daytime. He appeared in " Still My Ward" and " Demon Child." I do sorely wish I was able to give the character more of a punk look, but what I settled for wasn't too bad. The trickiest part was the tattoos - Gibbons is supposed to have elaborate tattoos all over his body, and this is the closest I was able to get.
Adrian Cressman hasn't appeared in any Urbis Arcana stuff I put up on LJ, but he was actually originally supposed to be the main character in Urbis Arcana - a young wizard those magic was based aroun Chicago architecture. I wrote quite a few stories and novel outlines revolving around him, but most of it was never finished, and I never showed the to anyone other than randirogue. Adrian still has a big role to play in Urbis Arcana - its just not quite as central.
Adrian is supposed to be a son of an Igbo immigrant mother and an irish-American father. The skin tone isn't quite what I had in mind, and the hair I chose was only vaguely like it was supposed to be. But I managed to get the outfit fairly close. It's just missing a jacket.
And finally, we have Margaret Okuda - another early Urbis Arcana character. Originally, she was part of a completely separate story about a group of ordinary high school girls who stumbled upon an ancient source of power. But I would up folding her into Urbis Arcana fairly quickly, without the magical power stuff. This is another case where I wrote several stories (and quite a few unfinished story drafts) featuring her, but only Randi and Lore ever saw any of them.
In this particular case, my biggest frustration was the lack of any decent punk/goth clothes. What I would up putting together seemed like half-assed compromise. Which wound up kind of looking like what Jas wore.
Ultimately, if there's one thing that experience taught me, it's that I prefer to have my characters drawn by hand, where every single detail can be controlled. I'm not good enough artist to quite get the characters as I see them in my head... But, once I have enough money, I hope to commission some artists who're better than me to do some character illustrations.
But for now... Creating Sims versions of them is pretty fun. Even if the limits of the demo sometimes get frustrating.
I knew about the Sims games, of course, but I never actually played them. I decided to try to create some Urbis Arcana characters. For the sake of simplicity, I went with the characters that already have some family-type relationships. To my surprise, I actually got pretty into it. The fact that I was playing as my characters made them all the more entertaining.
Since then, I continued that game during the couple of times I visited their house. And, after I got my new field laptop (and with it, more space to put on programs) I decided to see if I could download at least some version of Sims for free. That's how I discovered the Sims 4 Create-A-Sim demo - basically, the game's character creation engine without the actual game. Which suited me just fine. I wanted to see if I could create some Urbis Arcana characters, just to see how well that world work...
...Only to quickly realize that Sims 4 character creator is a very different beast. On one hand, there were some improvements. It was easier to create non-white characters (Lore had to help me create Asian and Hapa characters in Sims 3, because, for example, there was no obvious way to give them epicanthic folds), and easier to customize character body shapes. On the other hand, there were way, way less customization options and less choices for everything from hair to skin tones to clothes. Judging by Sims 4 tutorials and Let's Play videos, there are more options in the full game, but still not nearly as many options as Sims 3.
Which was disappointing... But I figured that, so long as I downloaded the demo, I might as well try to create some characters anyway.
First, there are Jas and Hilly, who first appeared in " He Moves in Mysterious Ways" and whom I used in the Sims 3 game at Lore's house. The commission empressfunk drew does a pretty good job of capturing what the characters look like in my mind's eye.
Jas was a challenging character to create in Sims 3, both because she was Asian and because I had very particular ideas of what her hair was like and what kind of clothes she wore. I was able to find some clothes that matched her style, but I couldn't find the hair that looked quite right.
With Sims 4 - I had the opposite problem. The hair style I used still wasn't quite what I was looking for, but it was a hell of a lot closer. But none of the outfits looked quite right, so I settled for something I could sort of see her wear.
For a while, Jas' face wound up looking a bit too young. She was always supposed to look younger than she actually was, but not to the point where she could pass for teenager. Some tinkering with cheekbones addressed it... somewhat.
I like how Hilly turned out in Sims 4. It was able to better match the body type I had in mind, and, after lots of tweaking and trial-and-error, I can say the same thing about the face. That said, Sims 3 let me select a hairstyle that was much closer to what I had in mind, and a skin tone that was closer to what I had in mind (Persians are not Arabs, and their skin tones tend to be a bit lighter)
I'm actually kind of proud of Sim4!Hilly's nose. It took so many tries to get it anywhere close to right.
Next, we have Dan Masterson, Jas' and Hilly's ex and the father of Jas' son. Out of the stuff I put up on this LJ, he appeared in " Still My Ward" and "S tranger Things Happened." I created him in Sims 3 - if you are going to have a family, you might as well start with characters who are parents.
I struggled with Dan in both Sims 3 and Sims 4, and I think Sims 3 version ultimately came closer to what I wanted. Especially when it came to hair. None of the hair styles in Sims 4 where what I was looking for.
Next, we have the remaining member of my Sims 3 family - Dan and Jas' son, Toshiro Masterson. Even though the character never properly appeared in any of the stories I posted on this LJ, the character actually predates both Dan and Jas, and he had a district personality long before his parents became distinct characters.
Unlike Sims 3 (and the full version of Sims 4), the Sims 4 demo doesn't let you create "children" characters based on two existing characters. So what I would up doing was creating a twin brother for Dan and modifying the character. the hair in this version is closer to what I had in mind than Sims 3 version, but Sims 3 let me assemble an outfit that was much closer to Toshi's style. so you win some, you lose some.
I also created some characters I didn't create in Sims 3. First, there's Sumitra Laungani, head of the Special Research Group (a city government organization that keeps an eye on Chicago's supernatural side). Out of the stuff I put up in this LJ, she appeared in " Still My Ward." Unlike the other characters, her appearance is based on a real person (a student from a writing class I took back in college), and I really tried to get that right. it worked more than it didn't. And while the outfit wasn't perfect, it was at least something I could see her wearing.
Next, we have Tristan Gibbons, Sumitra's second-in-command during daytime. He appeared in " Still My Ward" and " Demon Child." I do sorely wish I was able to give the character more of a punk look, but what I settled for wasn't too bad. The trickiest part was the tattoos - Gibbons is supposed to have elaborate tattoos all over his body, and this is the closest I was able to get.
Adrian Cressman hasn't appeared in any Urbis Arcana stuff I put up on LJ, but he was actually originally supposed to be the main character in Urbis Arcana - a young wizard those magic was based aroun Chicago architecture. I wrote quite a few stories and novel outlines revolving around him, but most of it was never finished, and I never showed the to anyone other than randirogue. Adrian still has a big role to play in Urbis Arcana - its just not quite as central.
Adrian is supposed to be a son of an Igbo immigrant mother and an irish-American father. The skin tone isn't quite what I had in mind, and the hair I chose was only vaguely like it was supposed to be. But I managed to get the outfit fairly close. It's just missing a jacket.
And finally, we have Margaret Okuda - another early Urbis Arcana character. Originally, she was part of a completely separate story about a group of ordinary high school girls who stumbled upon an ancient source of power. But I would up folding her into Urbis Arcana fairly quickly, without the magical power stuff. This is another case where I wrote several stories (and quite a few unfinished story drafts) featuring her, but only Randi and Lore ever saw any of them.
In this particular case, my biggest frustration was the lack of any decent punk/goth clothes. What I would up putting together seemed like half-assed compromise. Which wound up kind of looking like what Jas wore.
Ultimately, if there's one thing that experience taught me, it's that I prefer to have my characters drawn by hand, where every single detail can be controlled. I'm not good enough artist to quite get the characters as I see them in my head... But, once I have enough money, I hope to commission some artists who're better than me to do some character illustrations.
But for now... Creating Sims versions of them is pretty fun. Even if the limits of the demo sometimes get frustrating.