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How Do You Tell Stories?

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I consider myself a storyteller in The Sims, but I was surprised after watching Fantayzia’s recent video on realistic storytelling. She described it as writing a book and having her sims act out her pre-written story, which is not what I do at all. Instead, I just see what happens naturally in the game and interpret it into a story. What do you do?

How Do You Tell Stories? 62 votes

Plan the story, then play it out
45%
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Play the game and interpret what happens
54%
AlrynnIsb917BloosmooSavorySageAlwe1507bryanovensChampandGirlieSindocatFelicity1169texxx78DivinylsFanElderSimChildbeautimousEnkiSchmidtOldeseadoggelunaodditymusteniDominicLaurenceSimtown15happyopi 34 votes

Comments

  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    I can't really vote on this one, because I do both. I let my sims act on their own and interpret what they do but new ideas might spark from those actions and I execute those myself. So they do things naturally but I also plan some part of it. But I think everyone does storytelling differently. There's no one right way to go about it.
  • SkeilahSkeilah Posts: 1,762 Member
    Play the game and interpret what happens
    Duvelina wrote: »
    I can't really vote on this one, because I do both. I let my sims act on their own and interpret what they do but new ideas might spark from those actions and I execute those myself. So they do things naturally but I also plan some part of it. But I think everyone does storytelling differently. There's no one right way to go about it.

    I can also agree on this one, but in the first place I just play my game and take shots of my sims when I see something I think I can write about. When I actually write the story with the pictures I made, I let my fantasy go free. Creating dialogues, emotions, a real story.
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  • divanthesimmerdivanthesimmer Posts: 1,462 Member
    edited June 2020
    Plan the story, then play it out
    For my short stories (which I write more often), I usually write the story and then play it out in the game. But I prefer letting the Sims tell their own story - it's more unexpected and interesting that way!
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    Check out my SimLit blog here: https://ageekylegacy.wordpress.com/
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  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited June 2020
    Can't vote on this, either. There is an overall world story in my head. What type of world, what type of theme, for instance aliens or western town, or goth and gore, or average cookie cutter etc. Then there are my Sims in many different homes based on who they are in my head. Each household may not visit particular outlets and or community lots because that's not their thing. This is all in my head. It's ok if they show up in a lot but it's probably not going to be directed by me to take them there when I get back to them.

    I don't write scripts, I would be bored out of my mind. I set up the whole town and all the inhabitants before I play. That way then when I rotate to each one I may have plans for some of them, depending on who I think they are, and play that out, but if the game changes something along the way I roll with it while mildly guiding them back to their own personality and story in my head but if it brings some surprises, some chaos, some life changing decissions I usually let that play out and see where it goes. It's just a framework in my head, what happens is a matter of what the game does, what my Sim does, and what I decide to do with all that and if I like the direction or not. My saves last for many years irl so yeah, playing a script would have made me not play a save for years but ditch it and start over. The Sims (mine) are themed and the worlds are themed and they usually hold to personality (except in TS4) like I'm not going to add a new building just because it's new if it doesn't fit the story or theme in my head. That would call for a new game using the new building etc.

    If I write a story with pictures all that is fake and interpreted. It's easier for me to make up what you see rather than to spend days and days trying to pose a Sim just right that is many hours of work. I have done that both ways, but I have more fun (if writing a story) to take pictures then add the captions and edit all those together to make up a story. But when playing, I play, I don't fake anything.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • mercuryfoammercuryfoam Posts: 1,156 Member
    edited June 2020
    Plan the story, then play it out
    I've done both. I find that if I play the game and interpret what happens, the story is light and breezy, a little goofy at times. That's what I will alternate back to once I finish my current realistic 'plan-first-shoot-later' story.
  • CamkatCamkat Posts: 2,329 Member
    I do a mix of both. I plan my world, my sims, their homes. Sometimes I plan them all, sometimes a few or even just one and let the game fill up the rest or just use the pre-mades. Even with the pre-mades or random townies in mind, I do have an idea of what I want to see happen or what I'm trying to achieve. I play and let the sims and the game decide some things. Sometimes the story gets totally derailed and goes way off the track. Sometimes bits work out the way I've planned. I prefer to have a bit of surprises and challenges thrown my way and use them to interpret or enhance the story I've already got in my head.

    When everything works out all tickety boo the way I'd planned, I get bored... fast.
    Origin ID: Peapod79
  • DominicLaurenceDominicLaurence Posts: 3,398 Member
    Play the game and interpret what happens
    It's a back and forth between me and my sims lol Usually I design the set, backstory and all the initial whys, then comes playing it through their eyes, which naturally leads to new situations, both planned and unplanned.

    One thing I try to always plan, though, is to be sure everyone has a story rolling in all life their stages, so every time someome ages up they gain a soft reset in their narratives. And sometimes I do play puppets to my take some good shots, but who doesn't? Haha
    ID: StGerris
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  • RedDestiny92RedDestiny92 Posts: 7,820 Member
    I kind of do both sometimes I have an idea in mind and plan some locations and my "cast" setting up dream scenes to match the whys or adding history and such even making addition cast members for younger roles. Like I did when we got the fashion career to explain why my vampiric fashionista was all her own. Then set up stories as they happened filling in the blanks, like I had a teen sneak out to meet her boyfriend cause I was testing out short and they didn't much time and I let her father argue with you adding of course he was scared something happened to her because he couldn't think of one time she'd ever been reckless. then there are accidents I was supposed to be breeding out the ugly an just relaxing which turned into Travis Scott has spent so much time alone surrounded by beautiful women that would never show interest in him so even if his current girlfriend leaves him at home alone a lot to get pregnant with others or ignores him so he can take care of her kids he's holding on tight because he can't make it on his own anymore.....and that turned into rambling but yeah...
    Reddestiny921 on the gallery...still not sure if I capitalized the second d..lol
    All the sims err'day
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  • lone_catlone_cat Posts: 417 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    I've done both, but for the most part, I plan the story first. I have one story that is game driven and even in that story I can't help but start plotting things far in advance and then I have to stop myself and let my sims do their own thing. But from my own personal storytelling standpoint, I do like planning things out first then taking screenshots. It can be frustrating because a scene that I had envisioned cannot be done in the game, so I do end up rewriting quite a bit. I usually get the inspiration for an idea, then write out a very rough draft of the story, so I have a vague idea of what the plot is, the characters, and how I want it to end. Then I flesh out the chapter I'm working on and go in-game and start screen-shotting. When I actually play the game, I hardly ever take screenshots, and I have a separate save file for that. My story sims are like my actors, I guess, and I never really do anything with them besides pose them or take screenshots of them.
  • BabykittyjadeBabykittyjade Posts: 4,975 Member
    edited June 2020
    Plan the story, then play it out
    I pre plan and plot them all out like a novel. Though not too far in the future just scene by scene.
    All my sims are main characters, side characters and supporting characters.

    I constantly move them in and out of households according to which characters I need at a certain location so I have full control of all of them. Autonomy always off. That household favorites and rotation feature is literally the best they could have added for a story teller.
    It's actually surprising how how much time I spend just setting up one scene and getting all of the poses right. Probably boring for most But it's fun.

    Pose player is my best friend. Really helps bring stories to life.

    I'm not to strict about it though. Everything is stress free and fun and most of the time the story tends to write itself.

    These pics if they show up, are a few shots I got yesterday after a long journey through caves,camping out in woods, and other adventures. My side character mermaid sim has finally found his sister with the help of the main character.

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    Zombies, oh please oh please give us zombies!! :'(
  • SimAlexandriaSimAlexandria Posts: 4,845 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    Both a bit but 90% plan first
  • BusufuBusufu Posts: 1,965 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    I plan and write and let the Sims reenact what happened so I can take pictures of it :) .
    Sul Sul!
    On my blog (German) you'll find two completed vampire stories 🦇 and an ongoing ghost story 👻.
    I'm also posting about my I'm surrounded by idi🤪ts! - challenge, in which I've now reached gen 9.
    Thanks for stopping by! 👋
  • Cassieb95Cassieb95 Posts: 347 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    I totally plan my stories. I even plan what my sims' offsprings will be like and do in their lives.
  • Simtown15Simtown15 Posts: 3,952 Member
    Play the game and interpret what happens
    Skeilah wrote: »
    Duvelina wrote: »
    I can't really vote on this one, because I do both. I let my sims act on their own and interpret what they do but new ideas might spark from those actions and I execute those myself. So they do things naturally but I also plan some part of it. But I think everyone does storytelling differently. There's no one right way to go about it.

    I can also agree on this one, but in the first place I just play my game and take shots of my sims when I see something I think I can write about. When I actually write the story with the pictures I made, I let my fantasy go free. Creating dialogues, emotions, a real story.

    This is exactly what I do!
  • EnkiSchmidtEnkiSchmidt Posts: 5,334 Member
    Play the game and interpret what happens
    Both. I usually start with a scripted prologue to get a feel for my sims, then do gameplay and interpret that. Whenever a situation arrives where I feel I need another cutscene, I will stage one.
  • lillibattenberglillibattenberg Posts: 1,279 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    Though I'm generally a plantser, the story generally comes first.
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  • Patch__2008Patch__2008 Posts: 498 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    I tend to know where I want things to go but I do leave some room for deviations from the story line from time to time.
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  • BrandontaylorBrandontaylor Posts: 4,765 Member
    Both, actually. In my recent story, it's definitely playing then interpreting but there are parts where I will have to plan the story.
  • Atreya33Atreya33 Posts: 4,411 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    A combination actually. I start planning the beginning but then over time things evolve naturally.
  • daydreamsdaydreams Posts: 121 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    I like to have a general plan and play it out, but I’m not too specific with it until something happens in-game.
    Then I have an entire concept.

    Sim A will end up with Sim B, that’s what I imagine. Spice it up a little and move a jealous attractive fitness trainer next door to inspire a potential affair. But sometimes the Sims in my game are too strong and defy me by doing what they want (as they should.) I noticed Sim B always got up before work and would turn on the stereo, while Sim A made breakfast and honestly it’s just too cute that I didn’t want to break them up. I enjoy seeing what the sims are up to by themselves. Maybe it’s a harmless autonomous action like Evil Sim Enemy Number 1 sitting next to Attractive Fitness Trainer at the bar, but add a few glasses of ridgeports and simsmapolitans, and it becomes a partnership— an evil plot against Sim A and Sim B. ‘Cause maybe Sim A and Sim B are fabulously wealthy and are responsible for Evil Sim Enemy Number 1’s mother’s death. And maybe that’s how Evil Sim Enemy Number 1 became evil in the first place!

    An entire storyline is formed simply because a sim sat next to another and hit it off with some drinks. That’s basically it.
    “And he smiled a smile to shame the sun.”
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  • mustenimusteni Posts: 5,403 Member
    edited June 2020
    Play the game and interpret what happens
    Both really because I sometimes plan events and storylines, but more often just play and interpret what happens. I like it best when things happen somewhat simultaneusly. Game gives me ideas for the story and I go with it. For example I had a sim couple not living together but who I wanted to get married but wasn't sure how to proceed. The female sim then called the male sim and asked him to meet at a locale named Wedding Chapel and Barn which is a nightclub in my game. I took that as a hint that they should get engaged and elope on the spot.
  • AyradyssAyradyss Posts: 910 Member
    Can't really vote as I do both. I usually have an idea of what I want to do with a given Sim, but sometimes something happens and it just gives me a new idea, so things change a bit. I'd say I follow the "Flexible planning" option.
    Pay for product -- not potential!
  • drakharisdrakharis Posts: 1,478 Member
    Plan the story, then play it out
    Usually, I come up with a scenario and play it out. However, if events happen in the game that wasn't planned an example Morgyn and L getting married. Simeon and L having kids and getting married. I roll with it and redo the focus of the story. In a recent story, L and Morgyn got married. I was originally going to add in one of my sorceresses and her wife who is a spellcaster once they had kids. But my sim married Simeon and their kids will be the ones that will be hooked up with Morgyn and L's kids. If Simeon and Morgyn end up together in a game I'll have a family in mind to hook them up with. I have a feeling it will happen one day. I could always turn Simeon into a sorcerer of White Magic and have him use a creation spell on Morgyn since a Sage can be a Sorcerer without losing their status as a Sage. However, that would kind of be a bit of a cheat. I want to see how each of the combinations of Sages' children will end up as and compare each line after about 10 generations. I am at gen 5 with Simeon and L's line.
    Playtesting - not just tabletop games and card games any more. Really that should have been playtested in Beta and not [img]just with accounting and marketing but actual players. https://i.imgur.com/t48COW6.jpg[/img]
  • DivinylsFanDivinylsFan Posts: 1,278 Member
    Play the game and interpret what happens
    That's what I used to do, now I go to university and study creative writing as a minor, and tell proper stories on the page ...
    I remember you from university, I still have your story.
  • Nikkei_SimmerNikkei_Simmer Posts: 9,405 Member
    Play the game and interpret what happens
    For me, I'm a story-teller. I've written a 113,000 word fanfiction without the benefit of pictures. So I can interpret anything that my sims are doing and create a story around it.

    Sometimes I have a story in mind that I will plan out from the very beginning and set up with images...or I will just play a game and freestyle see where the gameplay takes me. So I, in actual fact, do both as well as not have to rely on images at all to write a story.
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    Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
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