SimStoryteller Spotlight: Genlisae
*ehem* Trying this again.
Hi, I’m Kate, though I am just as likely to answer to Gen (even in person). While I have about four other projects in various states of completion (none of them very far along) the one I focus on is Pleasantries.
Tell us about yourself. (What you do for a living, your interests, where you live, your non-sim hobbies, etc.)
I am 33 (ugh!) years old and if it wasn’t for my fiancé (Mathew, he will be mentioned a lot since he is sort of like my unofficial co-author. The ideas and writing are mine, the fact that any of it fits together and hasn’t gone off on a tangent to nowhere is all him!) and my daughter, I could totally be the crazy cat lady.
I live here (Oh yeah! It’s as exciting around here as it looks!). Okay, not right there. That is obviously the middle of a road, that is just where Google decided the middle of ‘town’ was. Can we call this a town? Maybe, there is a whole one store. No gas station though, I think that might disqualify it. (I miss Ft.Lauderdale! And Miami! Heck at this point I miss Calgary!)
As for what I do for a living, I like to think I am taking time to refine my inner child. In reality I am dealing with advancing symptoms of Chiari Malformation leading to occasional frustration induced temper tantrums. See? It sounds better when I put it the first way doesn’t it? My daughter just calls it “Mom’s crazy” though. She might have a point.
Do you have other creative pursuits that affect how you tell your sim stories? (Such as photography, creative writing, etc.)
Fractals! Pretty math makes me giddy!
Discord One of my first. A lot of fractals especially when you are first learning are spirals. I was getting really sick of looking at spirals! So I messed one up.
Simplicity Another really early one. At the time I had no idea how I managed to do it. Has the distinction of being my first sale as well!
Butterfly Another early one. From a technical standpoint this one makes me cringe!
Frost Shard One of the very few times I have played around in Apophysis instead of Ultra Fractal.
Precious This should look familiar to a few people :oP this is the original created as a gift for my daughter.
Enigma This! This was when I really started to figure out what I was doing. Thus the title. Fractals weren't so puzzling anymore!
Artifact of Egni
Arlecchino Still one of my favorites and the first created to be reprinted on a large scale.
Sunflower Playing around with form and colour.
Vertigo There are two versions of this one. The second has a railing in the foreground. I prefer this one.
I don’t do so much fractal art as I used to. The fine mouse control is a bit beyond me most days at the moment. Every so often I will open up Ultra fractal though. Oh, and I get really bitchy when someone tells me Fractal art is “Instant Art that takes no skill” or “Button Mashing”.
There are a few more of my fractals here if you would like to see those as well.
Button mash that!
I was dabbling in painting just prior to the breaking point where my Chiari was concerned and my shoulders refused to co-operate anymore.
One of my very first, a simple study of form and shadow ... with rocks. Skillz! I got better ...
My current WIP. It has been in progress for well over a year now :( I was so proud of me when I worked out the trick to those water droplets! It was so simple!
Skill level? Very Beginner! I still really enjoy it though.
Does any of this effect how I tell the stories? I have no idea. It is probably responsible for some of the more random, abstract things that appear from time to time.
I have been writing since I could read as well. I don’t remember when I started, (I was reading at 3 :/) but I am told one of the first things I wrote had aliens in it … >.>
Why did you start creating and posting sim stories?
Boredom? I go a little loopy(er?) without some sort of creative outlet.
I have always been making up stories in my head though. Even if I didn’t write them down. Not just for Sims either. Washing dishes. There is totally a story going on about why Flippy the Fork got left in the bottom of the sink and how he feels being all alone down there under the murky water or Mt. Sudsmore erupting and completely eradicating Bubbleville except for one girl and her cat Glycerine.
Things like what it would be like to be one of the icicles hanging on the side of the cliff in the sunshine? How they would start off feeling all sparkly and exuberant only to grow uncomfortably warm, but that was okay, it was all part of the transition. Warm lead to melting and melting was a good thing because as ice they were stuck, immobile, just hanging there waiting. As water they can move and flow and be free to go places ice just can’t. They can evaporate and be rain even! The best part though, was flowing down the cliff face and joining up with the little stream that wove along the base, because down there, with all the other icicle water, they can still be sparkly and exuberant. They just get to all do it together.
I had stories to make homework less painful as well. One of my favourites was how if I didn’t get it completed by a certain time it would trigger a chain reaction of events culminating in the end of the world. Sometimes it was my failing grade lead a certain person to be disappointed and they delayed a half second too long so they were in the wrong place at the right time for their watch alarm to go off at exactly the right frequency to set off a secret alarm making the automated earth defence systems think we were under attack by unknown invaders. Of course there were no invaders so the system attacked the planet instead with lasers and missiles and all sorts of fun neat futuristic weapons ripping the earth apart. Or if I kept doodling in the margins instead of actually writing the essay I would accidentally doodle an occult symbol opening up a portal to another realm unleashing demonic hordes and their platypus minions.
Okay, yeah, sometimes I didn’t finish my homework on purpose because in my version of the story things were a lot more interesting. None of it ever happened though. Not even when it was supposed to summon a T-rex to eat my sister.
I think it was only a matter of time until I stopped just thinking up the stories my Sims were living and started writing them down and sharing.
Do you use Maxis pre-made sims, original sims, sims based on other sources (TV, movies, books, other games), or some combination of these? Why?
I use both pre-made and original Sims. There is no real reason except those were the Sims involved in the stories I wanted to tell.
How long does it take you to create a new CAS sim for a story? (If you create original sims, that is.)
It really depends on the sim. Do I need them to have a certain look or not? Are they a specific non-human species? How much custom content am I going to need to recolour? Some of them only take a few minutes. Others I have worked on for weeks.
Haley only took about ten minutes total. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted her to be (any resemblance to a certain fallen
pop-star with questionable parenting skills was completely accidental!)
This guy took a few days! He's got some recolours and his face .. ugh... there is a lot of face tweaking here. His story is still
to be written.
Do you have one sim that frustrates you more than any of the others?
At any given point, depending on who is in the scene, they all frustrate me. The most frustrating of all though would have to be Telesto and Ripp.
These two are like the dynamic duo of trouble.
So many times I have had a solid plotline in mind going exactly where I need it to go and doing exactly what I need it to do and they will come along and somehow screw it up and always in ways that I can’t ignore.
Things like Tel was NOT supposed to be gay! Bi-curios at most. They had other plans.
Not even as a child was Tel normal! All of these images were taken on his child-teen birthday, which was also featured in the
prologue. If I had known then ... yeah.
In hindsight I should have seen it coming.
I really should have seen it coming!
This would be an alternate angle of the shot from the prologue, and Tel is thinking about his birthday wish. There is really no
question what he wants. Yes, I was still firmly in denial. *headdesk* The second thing I do when they transition to teen
(after rolling for aspiration, etc) is randomize their gender pref.
Which I did. Immediately. While Tel was supposed to be cutting his cake.
Thanks Ripp. He didn't even officially get a first kiss. No floaty hearts for Tel and it is your fault. You also just completely
destroyed that "low bi" preference he got handed.
Also, the cake. Why is it not cut?
They have very forceful personalities that stomp on where I want a scene to go leading to much pouting and grumbling on my part until I give in and do things their way.
From a gameplay aspect Telesto all the way. Obnoxious, annoying, stubborn .. just UGH! Fussy, nit-picky, huggy, little neat-freak.
He traps people in the bathtub all the time complaining that he can’t clean it because someone is in it while they complain they can’t get out because he’s in the way. He has no concept of personal space and thinks a hug is a perfectly acceptable greeting for a perfect stranger. He is also the only Sim I have ever had who outright refused to kiss his girlfriend!
You would think he could have waited ...
Telesto: Winston is in the way of me cleaning the tub!
Winston: You don't even live here!
Do your sims have their own theme songs?
One that sums them up completely? Not really. It is more that they have songs that fit them in a given situation.
Do you like using aliens, vampires, zombies or any other non "normal" sims?
I love my aliens!
Celeste Curious. Unfortunately she was cut when I shrunk the story, but she pops up in the
background everywhere because she is gorgeous.
I haven’t played with vampires much at all, and when I did I hadn’t yet modded out “stupid vampire syndrome” (Suicidal trips in the middle of the day because they had the pressing need to make the bed? Why? And why must they then go stand on the lawn and roast to death?) I keep meaning to, it just hasn’t happened yet. I also haven’t done much with plant sims. I am not a fan of the shorter life span for plant babies at all though. I am neutral on zombies. They are kind of cool, but the hygiene and the walk get old in a hurry (I am not a patient person) As for werewolves, I am not sure I have ever had one come to think of it.
Do you usually create backstories for your sims?
I can’t seem to not create backstories for them. I suppose this is helpful for developing the characters and gauging their reactions to situations.
If it were possible, would you carry out "romantic interactions" with any of your sims?
Contrary to what Mathew seems to think, no I wouldn’t. He doesn’t seem to get that it is completely possible to have a strictly platonic massive crush on Anto.
Tempting! But still no.
Have you ever cried when a sim died? How emotionally attached are you to your sims?
A better question would be have I ever had a sim die that I didn’t fully intend to kill because they really deserved it or plan to resurrect very soon? To which the answer is no.
It's okay, Buzz. Your friend will solve that problem for you real soon. What? He deserved it.
Of course for story purposes this makes for interesting shoots while I talk to my monitor and say things like “Ugh! You are dead. Stop wandering through my shots!”
Ask me again in a few more chapters and I will actually be able to answer this one!
Do you have a favorite character/family?
Ripp. No question.
He frustrates me no end and has caused more than a few major plot snags but he is also the only reason Telesto hasn’t “really deserved to die” yet and he’s a complicated character. So many levels and things at work affecting everything he does. The simplest of things for him require so many stops and checks and motivational rechecks. Trying to convey where he is coming from is a challenge. I love that. I know I don’t always succeed either, which is equally great. It gives me a chance to go back again in a future scene and refine what has gone before.
He’s the one I talk to. I don’t just mean I talk to him on the screen, I kind of do that with all of them. Ripp I actually “talk” to. Out-loud, out of game, usually pacing while trying to figure out where he’s coming from or why he reacted the way he did. Sometimes I will even give him a chance to talk back.
Yeah, I edited out the spoiler. :oP
I call them “Conversations with Ripp”. It sounds really crazy, but they work. Just ask the question and “turn over the keyboard” so to speak. It amazes me what comes out when I just let him ramble in-character. He throws me surprises on a regular basis as well, such as being left handed. I was unaware of that until I went to shoot the images for the final scene in Chapter 5 Part 2. I had him doing the standard writing animation and it just looked wrong.
Are there any stories in particular (sim or non-sim) that have inspired your storytelling?
Oh wow. Everything I have read? I am not sure I can narrow it down more than that. I read a lot. It would be impossible to not be influenced by that, but there are no examples I can think of where I can say “this story has caused me to do this”.
How do you decide on names for your sims?
Behind the Name’s Random Name Generator and various name generators at Seventh Sanctum for the ones that I don’t want to be actual names and a lot of Surnames. I have had naming disasters before.
Like naming my aliens after things you would find in space, planets, moons, asteroids, cosmic phenomena, etc. For the most part this worked really well, obvious sure, but it worked, until I started looking into the origins of those names. Out of twenty something male aliens two them are gay, they are also the only two who actually have female names. *headdesk*. Of course by the time I realized this they had grown into those names. So now I just leave it up to random generators.
Do you use hacks in your game? If so, which ones? How do they affect your stories?
I am not sure there is any aspect of my game that isn’t modded. There is no way I could list them all so I will go with just the major ones. ACR, Inteen, Simblender, Just about everything from simbology, almost all of the MATY directors cut, most of the personality driven hacks and anti-autonomy from Ancient Castaways, and more than a few adult hacks from various places.
The one that has the most impact on how a story plays out? ACR. All gender preferences are randomized. You saw the kind of thing that causes back at Tel’s birthday *sigh*.
Do you have a favourite EP/SP? Which expansion adds the most to storytelling for you?
I am not sure I do have a favourite EP. They all add more animations that can be utilized and different fun activities.
The one I couldn’t live without though is Apartment Life. The freezer clock is invaluable. Sure you can work without it, but it is so much easier with it!
debbycus asked to see my 'hood. There are several I actively use so I am going to drop the pics in here randomly to break
up the wall of text and give you a rundown of what is where (the little number things). First up: Pleasantview! This is one of the
three that get played most often all of them are in a constant state of being redesigned. I haven't found a combination of 'hood
decor I am happy with yet though this is probably the one I am most happy with.
As for what is what:
1 - The Villega's.
2 - Haley's townhouse.
3 - The Pleasant's
4 - The Dreamer's
5 - Winston's condo
6 - The Park
7 - Winston's fiancee lives here
8 - The Broke's
Do you make your own custom content?
I mostly do recolours and alpha edits since meshing makes my brain hurt. Most of it you will never see beyond where it shows up in the story images. What I do put out there for others to use can be found on my dreamwidth.
Do you have a favourite sim outfit or hairstyle?
Not really. I have favourites for each sim, but no overall favourite.
Fix required a part 2