Hey! It's our one-year anniversary of S-GAS! Here's to all the participants, all the readers, those still around, and those off studying somewhere in the jungles of Sumatra! Thanks for so much fun and so much inspiration and so much talent!
Wow! It's been so long- I wasn't even playing TS4 in 2015! It was S-GAS that made me want to start
Remember DTS? The Insane trait? No ghosts or toddlers?
We've all changed, and so has the game. It's been five years, so what better time - for S-GAS's fifth anniversary, let's bring it back!
This is so cool! I'll love to be part of the reunion of S-GAS! I can even bring my original participants! Gonna tag a few Simmers who may be interested....
This is so cool! I'll love to be part of the reunion of S-GAS! I can even bring my original participants! Gonna tag a few Simmers who may be interested....
Ooh, thanks for tagging me. I think my dudes are mechanic-aware but not game-aware. But maybe that still qualifies? I can't reach the site with the rules, does anyone have a mirror?
Catastrophe Theory: If, through loose ends, we could resume/Unrav'ling defects from the loom/And soften as the shuttle mends---/Then save for me a few loose ends! Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
Oh I remember this, even though it happened a few months before "my time." And I still remember Sugar so well I'll be watching the developments here, even though I don't have any game aware sims to contribute myself
Here is my S-GAS index, which includes links to participants and their stories. Was a few lifetimes ago, in Sim and Simmer's reckoning, so perhaps many of the blogs may be gone, alas--and one may even now be taken over by Japanese 🐸🐸🐸🐸! But I'm sure some of them will still work!
And yeah, I see three main forms of game-awareness:
1) Camera-aware: those Simmers who look with meaning DIRECTLY at the camera, as if to communicate or at least say, "I know you're there!"
2) Simmer aware: Some of them seem to some of us to be aware of us.... (OK, sure. But really.)
3) Game-mechanics aware: conscious of the physics and mechanical realities of their worlds.
And Sims can have none, some, or all of those (although I believe that the AI of all Sims contains #3--I am a Sims-Rights Activitist because of this!)
Here is my S-GAS index, which includes links to participants and their stories. Was a few lifetimes ago, in Sim and Simmer's reckoning, so perhaps many of the blogs may be gone, alas--and one may even now be taken over by Japanese 🌺🌺🌺🌺! But I'm sure some of them will still work!
And yeah, I see three main forms of game-awareness:
1) Camera-aware: those Sims who look with meaning DIRECTLY at the camera, as if to communicate or at least say, "I know you're there!"
2) Simmer aware: Some of them seem to some of us to be aware of us.... (OK, sure. But really.)
3) Game-mechanics aware: conscious of the physics and mechanical realities of their worlds.
And Sims can have none, some, or all of those (although I believe that the AI of all Sims contains #3--I am a Sims-Rights Activitist because of this!)
I would add that any sim has the ability to attain these awarenesses, even if they aren't born with them, and that the logic behind this doesn't have to be consistent or uniform! For instance, in one of my old worlds, Erratic sims are born with the ability to communicate with the Watcher, but that might not hold true for your Erratic sims - or even for my Erratic sims on other worlds!
Here are some ideas from one of my old saves (which I've dug up again and started playing a bit in preparation!):
Maxed Wellness leads to enlightenment- or, in other words, full game-awareness!
Aliens can use their natural telepathy and superior technology to attain game-awareness!
And here are some new ideas that I'll probably implement in that save:
Mermaids hear our voices as the "song of the sea", but aren't fully game-aware by nature.
Pets can hear us! They just don't the ability to respond or obey.
They provide some context as to what's expected, although I'd still like more information about what the collaborative aspect is supposed to be. Are the reports written by the players responsible for the presenting sims, or by the hosts? If they're written by the players who came up with the session, what's the purpose of the host? (As opposed to having the session-runners take the screenshots themselves.) If they're written by the hosts, does that mean the session themes include writing prompts that the host doesn't choose? Is the challenge to write conversations/interactions between other peoples' sims---using their established personalities---as if they were game aware? Or is it letting them run autonomously and then pantsing? Also, what's the time frame and expected time commitment for this project?
Then there's this:
The player’s bias towards high need-fulfilling objects and a utilitarian approach to layout and design is apparent throughout.
Awwww. Why'd you have to call me out like that?
To be totally fair, while Catastrophe Theory characters are mechanic-aware, they're mechanic-aware at the level of "we are in a universe with certain rules," but not "the universe we are in is a game and the rules are game mechanics." I don't know how much of a wrench that would throw in it. That is, referring to themselves as game-aware wouldn't make sense to them.
So I could sit this one out and see what y'all come up with. Alternatively, I could bless an AU version of Kendra Jeong-Espinosa (non-readers: chick in banner) with the holy knowledge. (It might be possible to convince some of the other characters; she's just the most interesting to place in this situation.) But Kenny, upon being told she was in a game, would not ruminate on whether she was real, but immediately say "oh, in that case I would be fictional then" and spend her soapbox presenting thought experiments that prove they're fictional, arguments that no one's going to buy unless their player buys because they don't have separate cognition from the player. She's already written speculative fiction about loss of bodily control, and could also be easily convinced to come up with some Asimov-style material on the paradoxes created by writing a fictional character speculating on their own fictional nature. She's also realized something fundamental about the mechanics that I can't talk about yet because I'm waiting for my readers to realize it on their own. It's... messy.
What I'm saying is she would clash with most others at the Simposium (love that, lol), rain on some parades, and be a BEAST to write. At least she'd be less annoying than Xiyuan, who has a tendency to make snarky comments when someone dangles a modifier or when they say "expounded" when what they actually mean is "propounded"; and waaaay less annoying than the closest thing I have to a simself, who would go off on tangents every single time someone made a flawed argument involving mathematics, physics, CS, or science in general.
Would be a cool project but my participation depends on the general mood and what everyone else wants. Basically it might be interesting but I know how I can come off, pfft. If people want to be more chill, I'm happy to take on a cheerleading role.
Catastrophe Theory: If, through loose ends, we could resume/Unrav'ling defects from the loom/And soften as the shuttle mends---/Then save for me a few loose ends! Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
We did the original S-GAS so many, many years ago. I've changed a lot, and many of the original participants aren't still playing or aren't still active in the community.
After S-GAS, the daughter of one of my Sims who participated did an amazing thing that really expanded my whole view and understanding of what I was after in playing with the ideas of "game-awareness." (These reflection posts totally spoil it, so if you ever plan to read Goofy Love, you might want to skip them.... but if you don't want to read Goofy Love but want to find out about Sugar's Amazing Autonomy And How It Influenced My Playing-Around-With Ideas about AI-Autonomy, then these reflections get to that: https://cathytea.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/what-does-it-mean/ and https://cathytea.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/autonomy-2-2/ )
Who wrote that quote you quoted? Did I? What did I mean by it? See, a lot of time has passed. I think maybe FloorRaisin wrote it. No, actually, I think Bilmonaghan did.
I am not sure how we would do it this time around. Xan? What are your thoughts?
I was thinking of maybe like a reunion. It would be fun to have Sugar go.
The way I did my sessions before, in terms of the writing, was, I just got the Sims together, set up activities they could choose, only played my own Sims, and watched the others, took tons of screenshots, selected the screenshots, then shared them with the other participants, who wrote the lines for their Sims. It was pretty casual. So the works were definitely co-written.
There was really no plot, but a few neat things happened (like Free-Jon meeting Emelia) that later developed into epic plots! XD
It was mostly a celebration of early-days-of -Simming, I think, and a fun chance to enjoy the early days of our community!
Also I think it would be cool to have Kendra go. I like her a lot. Conflict is awesome. We had some real prickly participants last time, and that made it really fun.
I'm sort of lackadaisical at the moment... but also just wanting to see what Xan's ideas are and to discover how this would be now, so many years later!
Ahhhhhhhhh, so the host takes screenshots and everyone writes the lines for their own sims! That throws a wrench into my cognition thought experiment. Hm.
I'd be down. Hit me up when the planning progresses.
Catastrophe Theory: If, through loose ends, we could resume/Unrav'ling defects from the loom/And soften as the shuttle mends---/Then save for me a few loose ends! Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
I have an idea for an event! I'd like to host a crafting-based event in Oasis Springs, where sims make stuff and explore their relationship to their Watcher and to the game. The host will be the very first sim I ever wrote for... @CathyTea any guesses? I picked her because she believes every game object is just as "real" as she is, and thus just as deserving of respect.
Wow...none of my sims are really crafters yet. Huh... Thinking... Austin/Audrey. She is an artist anyways. But besides erratic and therefore hearing the watchers voice tell them what to do I don't think she's fully game aware. Just partially.
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Anyways, I miss having a big event like this haha.
Origin ID: SummerFalls
House: Ravenclaw/Wampus - Wand: Alder wood with Unicorn hair core 10 ¾" and Slightly Springy flexibility - Patronus: Neblung Cat
| Simblr | Youtube | I love creating sims! |
In what world does "Hi" = "Boo"? I guess in the Sims! My SimSelf is always scaring her friends! I do IRL, too! "Boo!"
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
i was typing on my sims 3 page a while back and it auto corrected the word rec to mincemeat.
the word "rec" to "mincemeat..." Now that's a stretch. Wouldn't it be fun to program an autocorrect?
Everything one wrote could come out "Oh! It's a lovely day and the sky is purple!"
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Love you all!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Discord: #5153
Remember DTS? The Insane trait? No ghosts or toddlers?
We've all changed, and so has the game. It's been five years, so what better time - for S-GAS's fifth anniversary, let's bring it back!
@Dollyllama108 @AdamsEve1231 @friendsfan367 ...
Who else has game-aware Sims these days?
Oh, I think maybe Sugar should participate even though she wasn't at the first one.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
i ddon't think the benders qualify. my understanding of game aware is they ask before they do something the benders do then ask.
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Your ISBI family.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
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https://cathytea.wordpress.com/other-stories/more-stories/s-gas/
And yeah, I see three main forms of game-awareness:
1) Camera-aware: those Simmers who look with meaning DIRECTLY at the camera, as if to communicate or at least say, "I know you're there!"
2) Simmer aware: Some of them seem to some of us to be aware of us.... (OK, sure. But really.)
3) Game-mechanics aware: conscious of the physics and mechanical realities of their worlds.
And Sims can have none, some, or all of those (although I believe that the AI of all Sims contains #3--I am a Sims-Rights Activitist because of this!)
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I would add that any sim has the ability to attain these awarenesses, even if they aren't born with them, and that the logic behind this doesn't have to be consistent or uniform! For instance, in one of my old worlds, Erratic sims are born with the ability to communicate with the Watcher, but that might not hold true for your Erratic sims - or even for my Erratic sims on other worlds!
Here are some ideas from one of my old saves (which I've dug up again and started playing a bit in preparation!):
And here are some new ideas that I'll probably implement in that save:
They provide some context as to what's expected, although I'd still like more information about what the collaborative aspect is supposed to be. Are the reports written by the players responsible for the presenting sims, or by the hosts? If they're written by the players who came up with the session, what's the purpose of the host? (As opposed to having the session-runners take the screenshots themselves.) If they're written by the hosts, does that mean the session themes include writing prompts that the host doesn't choose? Is the challenge to write conversations/interactions between other peoples' sims---using their established personalities---as if they were game aware? Or is it letting them run autonomously and then pantsing? Also, what's the time frame and expected time commitment for this project?
Then there's this:
Awwww. Why'd you have to call me out like that?
To be totally fair, while Catastrophe Theory characters are mechanic-aware, they're mechanic-aware at the level of "we are in a universe with certain rules," but not "the universe we are in is a game and the rules are game mechanics." I don't know how much of a wrench that would throw in it. That is, referring to themselves as game-aware wouldn't make sense to them.
So I could sit this one out and see what y'all come up with. Alternatively, I could bless an AU version of Kendra Jeong-Espinosa (non-readers: chick in banner) with the holy knowledge. (It might be possible to convince some of the other characters; she's just the most interesting to place in this situation.) But Kenny, upon being told she was in a game, would not ruminate on whether she was real, but immediately say "oh, in that case I would be fictional then" and spend her soapbox presenting thought experiments that prove they're fictional, arguments that no one's going to buy unless their player buys because they don't have separate cognition from the player. She's already written speculative fiction about loss of bodily control, and could also be easily convinced to come up with some Asimov-style material on the paradoxes created by writing a fictional character speculating on their own fictional nature. She's also realized something fundamental about the mechanics that I can't talk about yet because I'm waiting for my readers to realize it on their own. It's... messy.
What I'm saying is she would clash with most others at the Simposium (love that, lol), rain on some parades, and be a BEAST to write. At least she'd be less annoying than Xiyuan, who has a tendency to make snarky comments when someone dangles a modifier or when they say "expounded" when what they actually mean is "propounded"; and waaaay less annoying than the closest thing I have to a simself, who would go off on tangents every single time someone made a flawed argument involving mathematics, physics, CS, or science in general.
Would be a cool project but my participation depends on the general mood and what everyone else wants. Basically it might be interesting but I know how I can come off, pfft. If people want to be more chill, I'm happy to take on a cheerleading role.
Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
After S-GAS, the daughter of one of my Sims who participated did an amazing thing that really expanded my whole view and understanding of what I was after in playing with the ideas of "game-awareness." (These reflection posts totally spoil it, so if you ever plan to read Goofy Love, you might want to skip them.... but if you don't want to read Goofy Love but want to find out about Sugar's Amazing Autonomy And How It Influenced My Playing-Around-With Ideas about AI-Autonomy, then these reflections get to that: https://cathytea.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/what-does-it-mean/ and https://cathytea.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/autonomy-2-2/ )
Who wrote that quote you quoted? Did I? What did I mean by it? See, a lot of time has passed. I think maybe FloorRaisin wrote it. No, actually, I think Bilmonaghan did.
I am not sure how we would do it this time around. Xan? What are your thoughts?
I was thinking of maybe like a reunion. It would be fun to have Sugar go.
The way I did my sessions before, in terms of the writing, was, I just got the Sims together, set up activities they could choose, only played my own Sims, and watched the others, took tons of screenshots, selected the screenshots, then shared them with the other participants, who wrote the lines for their Sims. It was pretty casual. So the works were definitely co-written.
There was really no plot, but a few neat things happened (like Free-Jon meeting Emelia) that later developed into epic plots! XD
It was mostly a celebration of early-days-of -Simming, I think, and a fun chance to enjoy the early days of our community!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I'm sort of lackadaisical at the moment... but also just wanting to see what Xan's ideas are and to discover how this would be now, so many years later!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I'd be down. Hit me up when the planning progresses.
Haunted: Picture Oscar Wilde dating Willy Wonka, also Oscar Wilde is still dead
Year Long Community Challenge
Year Long Community Challenge