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Once Upon a Sim - Currently working on Snow White - Chapter 14 up! 03-15-2018

Hello everyone! I'm SerraNolwen. I love reading and writing stories, and when I'm tired, I love playing the Sims. For this reason, it is no surprise that I have decided to create a blog for my Sims stories. Truth be told, the mystery is rather why I didn't do it sooner.

But really, what is Once Upon a Sim? Well, it is a collection of stories inspired by animated movies, a lot of which are fairy tales, of course. This is not a Disney Princess challenge. In fact, it is not a challenge at all, nor is it a legacy. It is just a way to branch out and try new things, getting lots of inspiration from things I cherish. I will be creating all the characters and building all kinds of lots for these stories to take place in. What I create will not be perfect reproductions of the characters, things and stories from the movies: I do not use cc, some things are just not available or possible in the Sims game, and I will certainly be adding things based on my whims and preferences. For example, I intend to keep following the characters after their story, as they grow and make a place for themselves in the contemporary Sims world. Characters from one movie might also encounter characters from other movies. Still, I will try to get as close to possible to the general feel of the stories, and to throw in little details based on elements of the movies. For this reason, I would love to discuss with you how I could bring in some fun elements.

I will be posting the story on wordpress so here is the link.

So why this thread? Well, mainly to let people know about the blog and to keep them updated as to when I post, of course. Here, I will also discuss my struggles and decisions as I try to figure out how to represent elements I particularly love, and share characters and builds as I create them. Yep, that means you'll know a little early what people you'll be seeing (unless it has to be a big surprise, of course). I'll sound like a broken record, there, but I'd love to discuss those things with you, so drop in and tell me what you think I could add! (So long as you don't tell me to download cc, please.)

The next post will give you links to each wordpress post as I update the current story I'm working on. The one after that will contain links to other related threads and older stories, once I get to working on a second story in the same game. I'm keeping another post for... whatever else might come up, as I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Now, go ahead and scroll down! I hope you enjoy my stories!
Post edited by SerraNolwen on

Comments

  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    Other links

    For now, there are no older stories, but you'll find them here once I get to many links in the post above.

    For those who want to see more pictures and details about my builds, I also have a build thread, which includes things I make for these stories as well as for contests or private games.
    My builds
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    The first thing I did when I got started on this game was create the seven dwarfs. I'll be telling you more about them in... a couple of days, once I've properly leveled up their skills so I can share them to the gallery. For now, what I want to share is their home, which is available on the gallery. I tried to make it as similar to the one in the Disney movie, though I had to make it slightly wider so I could fit in all the beds.

    sVWRLsG.png

    This is the kitchen... for now. It's going to get even worse.
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    Another screenshot I feel I should show because it may very well never show up in the story. Remember all those woodland animals peeking in through the windows all the time? I added a few rabbits and birds on the lot, and this one is doing just that!
    4lxyKJM.png


  • Niemalyn97Niemalyn97 Posts: 76 Member
    I'll definitely be following this! It sounds like such a cool idea! :smile: And I love the house that you have built for the dwarves. :heart:
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    @Niemalyn97 Thank you! I'm happy to hear that someone is interested already. ^_^ I've been thinking about it for quite a while now, and I'm excited to get started and share it all with people here. Right now, I'm just skilling up the dwarfs so they will be ready when I actually get started on the story. I tried building a mine, but apparently you can't put spawns in builds using cheats like you could in sims 3, so if I want them to look for gems in a place that looks like a mine, they'll have to go to the secret world in Oasis Landing, which means I need to max their handiness skill. That's going to take a while...

    About the house, it is also up on the gallery, if you want to take a better look at it and use it. :)
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    Skilling up the dwarfs and getting at least one to max Handiness took a lot longer than I expected, but it's done and I've shared them to the gallery. Hopefully I can start sharing the actual story soon.
  • swcheppesswcheppes Posts: 3,027 Member
    I love all things Disney and fairy tales. I'm excited to see more from you!
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  • AshubiiAshubii Posts: 795 Member
    I love the house *_* This is my kind of style~ I look forward to following on Wordpress!
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    @swcheppes @flutegirl_132 Thank you both! I hope I can meet your expectations!
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    Snow White is ready to go and on the gallery, either as a single Sim (still a child) or with her household!

    The second very important build took a lot longer than the dwarves' house, because I didn't have much to draw from: Snow White's castle (which is really a castle inspired house, let's admit it), but it's done! Here are a couple sneak peaks just to tell you about the process, and if you want to see more, head over to my build thread ("spoilers" in that thread, by the way, as you will find things that are ready for later use).

    I didn't want to build a giant castle with lots of rooms that would never see any use and just make my computer lag, so I just tried to get the feel of it. Since one of the few things we see about it is the tall silhouette with lots of towers, I tried to give the impression of at least a few towers.
    oLQiIyS.png

    I built an orchard in the backyard as a reference to the apples. It also contains pears, cherries and the occasional surprise. I've tried to include a few decorations with apples on them, just for the fun reference.
    VxpWf8Z.png

    This is Snow's (Bianca's) bedroom! It shows a lot of the aesthetic of the build. I tried to keep it very simple, with the same wooden floor and white walls almost everywhere, but decorated with rugs, tapestries, curtains and paintings. I've always felt like Snow's castle actually seemed like a very cold environment that people would have attempted to make more welcoming.
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    I've built in tiny rooms for servants of the household. They're tiny, sad, windowless and bare. So sad. Wouldn't want to be a servant under the evil queen's reign. Or even under Snow's father. He just didn't give it much thought.
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  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    And yes, all that means I get to start playing! :D Hopefully, there will be an update sometime later this week or this week-end.
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    edited November 2017
    Well, it took longer than expected, because I couldn't seem to write anything that worked, but the first chapter is finally up! I was hoping the ratio of writing compared to pictures would be a little bigger, as my main focus is the writing and I know I'm not great at taking pretty screenshots, but I think it works out. I said what I wanted, and just... added more pictures than expected, I guess. Also, as I uploaded the pictures, I realized Bianca definitely has a favorite outfit out of all those I gave her. I'll have to be careful about that in the future. XD

    For now, I just wanted to set things and let people meet Bianca for the first time, so not much is happening. Let me know what you think, everyone! How is the ratio of text to pictures?

    Meet Bianca Caselotti, the young Snow White: Wordpress link
    bNtPZo5.png
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    @Niemalyn97 @swcheppes @flutegirl_132 @CharmingMaruska @MadameLee @Karilan @mollsims

    Hello everyone! I took the liberty of tagging people who told me in the past few weeks that they would be interested in reading this, as I got started a lot later than I thought I would. I'd love to get feedback from you, if you're still interested! And I'll try really hard to update at least once a week. I hope you enjoy this!
  • KarilanKarilan Posts: 2,935 Member
    Yay!! Sorry I missed this before. Your cottage looks fantastic!
    D2vFwMN.jpg
    My hubby causes chaos in How To Live With Grace - - Pine Point tells Miranda Cole's survival tale - - Criminals build legacies in Glassbolt Prison
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    @Karilan Thanks! And I can't blame you for missing it. It took quite a while between when you told me you'd be interested and when I finally started posting about it. I had to make a few builds, create some characters, skill them up (I'm trying not to cheat too much). That took quite a while, especially since I realized I wanted at least one of the dwarves to have max handiness so they could go to the Oasis Spring secret world. :sweat:
  • KarilanKarilan Posts: 2,935 Member
    @Karilan Thanks! And I can't blame you for missing it. It took quite a while between when you told me you'd be interested and when I finally started posting about it. I had to make a few builds, create some characters, skill them up (I'm trying not to cheat too much). That took quite a while, especially since I realized I wanted at least one of the dwarves to have max handiness so they could go to the Oasis Spring secret world. :sweat:

    Makes sense! There's a lot more you can do that would make sense to the story if they have higher skills. I feel like every princess should have skill 10 singing! :D
    D2vFwMN.jpg
    My hubby causes chaos in How To Live With Grace - - Pine Point tells Miranda Cole's survival tale - - Criminals build legacies in Glassbolt Prison
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    Hahaha, yeah. They do all sing in the most random places, and somehow charm everyone and everything with it. I don't know what I'll do about that. For now, I hadn't even thought about it because I have yet to buy City Living. I think I'll leave high singing skills to the ones that have more going about this story wise. Ariel ought to have better singing than the other princesses, for example. I guess when I get the expansion, maybe I'll still try to get all the princesses to at least level 4 singing. Would 4 make them ok?
  • KarilanKarilan Posts: 2,935 Member
    Visually, I don't think singing skill changes. Audibly, they will get much better, but realistically I'm not sure it will matter for the story if they don't have high singing skill. :)
    D2vFwMN.jpg
    My hubby causes chaos in How To Live With Grace - - Pine Point tells Miranda Cole's survival tale - - Criminals build legacies in Glassbolt Prison
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    If I decide to include it, it will matter to me at the very least. XD While this project is centered on the story and me controlling and setting things up, I still want it to feel like the story when I play. I guess I'll have Ariel practice a whole lot. We shall see about the others. For now, it's a non-issue. And since I want to get Pet as soon as there will be a sale, it will take a while before I get CL.
  • CharmingMaruskaCharmingMaruska Posts: 1,050 Member
    @SerraNolwen Hello! Thanks for tagging me! The whole thing looks amazing - I absolutely love your take on Snow white's castle. So creative! I truly can't wait for more, I can't even rememeber last time I was this excited about sims-related stuff!
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    Thanks @CharmingMaruska ! I'm glad you like the build. Also, I just realized the link in the first post wasn't working. It has been repaired. The second post contains links to individual chapters too, if you'd rather.
  • MadameLeeMadameLee Posts: 32,748 Member
    Thanks @CharmingMaruska ! I'm glad you like the build. Also, I just realized the link in the first post wasn't working. It has been repaired. The second post contains links to individual chapters too, if you'd rather.

    very good!!
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  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    I love the feature on Wordpress to schedule posts. I just wrote one that should be up on Wednesday if I set it up properly. I'll try to write a couple, because I know starting next Saturday I'll be super busy grading papers for a while, so having a few posts ready to go would be great.

    @MadameLee Thanks! I'm happy you like it. Feel free to give me tips or anything if you think there are things I could improve. I'm still new to this stuff.
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 730 Member
    The second chapter went up on Wordpress a few hours ago! I was babysitting my niece and nephew, so I didn't manage to get online earlier to announce it.

    Here, I'm talking a little bit more about Snow White's most important childhood friendship. I hope you enjoy it! Here's the link: Part 2

    azGFhjn.png
  • MadameLeeMadameLee Posts: 32,748 Member
    The second chapter went up on Wordpress a few hours ago! I was babysitting my niece and nephew, so I didn't manage to get online earlier to announce it.

    Here, I'm talking a little bit more about Snow White's most important childhood friendship. I hope you enjoy it! Here's the link: Part 2

    azGFhjn.png

    Really good-and at least your pointed out that because "Snow White" (ie Bianca) is her father's only child, she would be the default heir. I always had this impression (well I mean *after* I studied history) that the vanity of the Queen (or in this case Lady) didn't really make sense. In the Disney movie or the Fairy tale of the same name. Either the birth mother (in the first edition) or the step-mother (later versions) would both be Queen Consorts which means they would not be able to rule in their own stead (ie Queen Regnant) but depending on when the Dad "King" or in this case Lord dies they could only temporary rule (ie make decisions/laws) in Snow/Bianca's stead ie regant until the heir is old enough to take control. So I presumed that someone actually told the Queen/Lady that one day she would not be able to be the Regant anymore and that's what makes the character jealous

    Sorry for the long paragraph.
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