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Nectary Hills Update 9/13/2020! A blogger complained, so now we got new high quality pics! PG1
Damienf519
Posts: 6,991 Member
Update 9/5/2020 and Update 9/7/2020 and Update 9/12/2020 and Update 9/13/2020
The Final Version of Nectary Hills is here. I also added a couple Into the Future lots that I had forgotten about as well as a few community gardens.
This is an updated cover image for the world.
Sorry but I really don't think I'm going to be able to get it on the exchange. It won't even begin the upload process, so you guys will have to download Nectary Hills via Media Fire. Sorry about that. If you guys know of another third party download site I could use, please let me know. I would like to have this uploaded to another site in addition to that one.
Nectary Hills Download via Media Fire
http://www.mediafire.com/file/zio1tmagiaswxjl/Nectary+Hills+Final.zip/file
Here is the saved game file. I included short biographical snippets for all the sims I created including the NPC cemetery ghosts. I hope you like the sims I created for Nectary Hills! I worked really hard on them. The Nectary Hills Story save file includes 33 households, plus 7 graveyard ghosts. There is also a brief text file with some basic information about each of the households!
http://www.mediafire.com/file/urajoq3txsq5cql/Nectary_Hills_Story.zip/file
Sorry I forgot to mention that I left it on permanent summer so that the seasons wouldn't change will I was creating the ghosts. You'll have to change it when you create a new save from the saved game file. Also if you want it on, Story Progression is off. Sorry about that.
Oh and I found out just today that a blogger didn't think I did a good enough job with my screenshots for Nectary Hills. They think I was doing a poor job advertising it by taking pictures with everything at such low settings. I was going to mention them and post a link to their blog, but the forum doesn't seem to like me mentioning them for some reason. Not sure why.
So I decided to take their advice, since I thought about it for a moment and realized that it might actually help. Here are some brand new screenshots of what the world looks like when the game is on its highest settings.
First this one was taken in the same place and at a similar angle to the official cover image
Here's one with Norma Mcgovern doing her homework. She's a sim I created, but I did not include her or her household in the official saved game file. Maybe I will upload her family to the exchange later if you guys would like
Here's a screenshot of a blue van heading downtown.
Here's a screenshot of the Nectary Hills Mall, looking out the two huge front windows from the second floor
Here's a picture of the buffet area inside the hotel
This is Deshaun McGovern grilling at the beach. Again, I made him and his household after the official saved game file, and they are not included with it, but the sim jogging towards him in the background is.
Here's one of my Sims working out at the Fireworks Gym
Now we see a bunch of my sims practicing their kung fu fighting at the local academy!
One of the Sims I'm currently playing, ( Deshaun McGovern ) is a ghost hunter, and this is him on the job
A bunch of the locals visiting the Junkyard Dog and having a good time
Another image of the countryside at night.
Finally here's a picture of the grocery store at the other end of town.
Here are some more lower quality screenshots of the world at night. Tell me if you can tell the difference.
For anyone who has played the Beta, but not the current version, as you can see I added a few more buildings in this area
Here's the inside of the fast food restaurant, and by the way, this actually functions as a legit restaurant with those food synthesizers, and unlike with the Business as Usual Bistro, children can even order food here
Here's the inside of the town's "Future Lounge" and it also functions as a restaurant that will serve children! Those two sims wearing white shirts are waiters.
Here's the beautiful campground where you can have epic keg and bonfire parties!
Here's the Riverfront Park at night, man that is a lovely view
Here's the North End Community Garden, another one of the lots that wasn't in the beta
This is the inside of the Elixir Shop. I don't think I created that sim, but I'm not sure.
And finally, take a gander at the Orchard!
Everything image on this page below this line is out of date.
Update 8/23/2020 - Its time to start beta testing! I uploaded a day early
Here's the link to the first beta for the map, I hope you guys enjoy it, and don't find too much wrong with it. I have already been play testing it a lot, so this could actually be close to the final version. Before we begin, you will need to make sure that you have all expansion packs installed. Don't worry about stuff packs, since I didn't use any stuff pack content. It does however, use a couple free store pack items from "More Halloween Treats" and "More Holiday Presents The world does not use any mods or CC. No saved game file with this version, but I plan on making one, and the final version of Nectary Hills will also be on the exchange.
Nectary Hills Beta ( No Longer Available
Here are some imagines of what the world looks like now, and it shouldn't look too different from the final version.
Update 8/28/202 Scroll down to read update. I have a few questions for you, and I want to let you know about the problems I found will play testing.
Update 9/2/2020 Go to page 2 to read the update. Unless beta testers find something wrong, or something they really want me to improve, the final version of Nectary Hills should be on the exchange within a week at most.
Every image I posted below this line is out of date and may not represent the current state of the world.
I decided it was time to show off what I have created so far. I've gotten a lot done, but this thing is still far from finished, and far from the playtesting phase, but I think I finished enough that you should be able to get somewhat of an idea of what the final product will be like. I haven't even finished any of the starter homes yet, but I have finished all the mansions and apartments, and about half of the regular homes
When I say "all in one hood" by the way. I pretty much mean it. Nectary Hills uses content from every single expansion pack and includes every single career, including the bot combat arena and the astronomy career that you can normally only get when traveling to Oasis Landing in the future. It also will have all Late Night venues so having a band will be an option if that's what you want. This world does not include a university, but it does include a coffee shop, and every single one of "social group" venues from that pack. The city also will have an academy, a Chinese garden and two nectaries. With a name like Nectary Hills, there has to be more than one of those. It will also include all Ambitions venues, Pets, Showtime, and Supernatural venues, a Seasons festival lot, along with all the Island paradise venues, including a medium size resort and three dive lots. If that wasn't enough it also will include a bot shop from into the Future and pretty much all base game venues.
Note that this is not intended for really slowly machines, but I will do my best to make sure it gets a decent framerate on most modern computers
There's a bunch of mansions in this neighborhood, but they're not even the biggest ones, those are the two 50 by 50 ones near the legacy challenge lot. Yes you will be able play a legacy challenge in Nectary Hills if you want
A closer look at the downtown, this was originally going to be significantly more densely populated, but I ran into too many framerate issues so I had to move some of the community lots.
Here's a view of the hospital, a mall, the library and a couple bars
The Nectary Hills Mall / Festival Lot!* Oh and yes, it is a fully functional mall, in addition to a festival lot, which includes an extra book store, consignment store, along with a World Adventures food register, and a coffee shop.
Another view of the downtown area, from another angle. You will probably be able to guess what many of these buildings are supposed to be, and no, none of them are empty
Here's River Front Park, one of two beaches in Nectary Hills
There's also a bunch of houses surrounding two lakes that I haven't even started building yet, along with two full neighborhoods of starter homes, along with many of the community lots.
So what do you guys think of this world so far? Any comments, criticisms or suggestions?
*At one point, I referred to it as the "Sunshine Mall" which is what I was originally going to call it, but I somehow forgot that I changed the name.
The Final Version of Nectary Hills is here. I also added a couple Into the Future lots that I had forgotten about as well as a few community gardens.
This is an updated cover image for the world.
Sorry but I really don't think I'm going to be able to get it on the exchange. It won't even begin the upload process, so you guys will have to download Nectary Hills via Media Fire. Sorry about that. If you guys know of another third party download site I could use, please let me know. I would like to have this uploaded to another site in addition to that one.
Nectary Hills Download via Media Fire
http://www.mediafire.com/file/zio1tmagiaswxjl/Nectary+Hills+Final.zip/file
Here is the saved game file. I included short biographical snippets for all the sims I created including the NPC cemetery ghosts. I hope you like the sims I created for Nectary Hills! I worked really hard on them. The Nectary Hills Story save file includes 33 households, plus 7 graveyard ghosts. There is also a brief text file with some basic information about each of the households!
http://www.mediafire.com/file/urajoq3txsq5cql/Nectary_Hills_Story.zip/file
Sorry I forgot to mention that I left it on permanent summer so that the seasons wouldn't change will I was creating the ghosts. You'll have to change it when you create a new save from the saved game file. Also if you want it on, Story Progression is off. Sorry about that.
Oh and I found out just today that a blogger didn't think I did a good enough job with my screenshots for Nectary Hills. They think I was doing a poor job advertising it by taking pictures with everything at such low settings. I was going to mention them and post a link to their blog, but the forum doesn't seem to like me mentioning them for some reason. Not sure why.
So I decided to take their advice, since I thought about it for a moment and realized that it might actually help. Here are some brand new screenshots of what the world looks like when the game is on its highest settings.
First this one was taken in the same place and at a similar angle to the official cover image
Here's one with Norma Mcgovern doing her homework. She's a sim I created, but I did not include her or her household in the official saved game file. Maybe I will upload her family to the exchange later if you guys would like
Here's a screenshot of a blue van heading downtown.
Here's a screenshot of the Nectary Hills Mall, looking out the two huge front windows from the second floor
Here's a picture of the buffet area inside the hotel
This is Deshaun McGovern grilling at the beach. Again, I made him and his household after the official saved game file, and they are not included with it, but the sim jogging towards him in the background is.
Here's one of my Sims working out at the Fireworks Gym
Now we see a bunch of my sims practicing their kung fu fighting at the local academy!
One of the Sims I'm currently playing, ( Deshaun McGovern ) is a ghost hunter, and this is him on the job
A bunch of the locals visiting the Junkyard Dog and having a good time
Another image of the countryside at night.
Finally here's a picture of the grocery store at the other end of town.
Here are some more lower quality screenshots of the world at night. Tell me if you can tell the difference.
For anyone who has played the Beta, but not the current version, as you can see I added a few more buildings in this area
Here's the inside of the fast food restaurant, and by the way, this actually functions as a legit restaurant with those food synthesizers, and unlike with the Business as Usual Bistro, children can even order food here
Here's the inside of the town's "Future Lounge" and it also functions as a restaurant that will serve children! Those two sims wearing white shirts are waiters.
Here's the beautiful campground where you can have epic keg and bonfire parties!
Here's the Riverfront Park at night, man that is a lovely view
Here's the North End Community Garden, another one of the lots that wasn't in the beta
This is the inside of the Elixir Shop. I don't think I created that sim, but I'm not sure.
And finally, take a gander at the Orchard!
Everything image on this page below this line is out of date.
Update 8/23/2020 - Its time to start beta testing! I uploaded a day early
Here's the link to the first beta for the map, I hope you guys enjoy it, and don't find too much wrong with it. I have already been play testing it a lot, so this could actually be close to the final version. Before we begin, you will need to make sure that you have all expansion packs installed. Don't worry about stuff packs, since I didn't use any stuff pack content. It does however, use a couple free store pack items from "More Halloween Treats" and "More Holiday Presents The world does not use any mods or CC. No saved game file with this version, but I plan on making one, and the final version of Nectary Hills will also be on the exchange.
Nectary Hills Beta ( No Longer Available
Here are some imagines of what the world looks like now, and it shouldn't look too different from the final version.
Update 8/28/202 Scroll down to read update. I have a few questions for you, and I want to let you know about the problems I found will play testing.
Update 9/2/2020 Go to page 2 to read the update. Unless beta testers find something wrong, or something they really want me to improve, the final version of Nectary Hills should be on the exchange within a week at most.
Every image I posted below this line is out of date and may not represent the current state of the world.
I decided it was time to show off what I have created so far. I've gotten a lot done, but this thing is still far from finished, and far from the playtesting phase, but I think I finished enough that you should be able to get somewhat of an idea of what the final product will be like. I haven't even finished any of the starter homes yet, but I have finished all the mansions and apartments, and about half of the regular homes
When I say "all in one hood" by the way. I pretty much mean it. Nectary Hills uses content from every single expansion pack and includes every single career, including the bot combat arena and the astronomy career that you can normally only get when traveling to Oasis Landing in the future. It also will have all Late Night venues so having a band will be an option if that's what you want. This world does not include a university, but it does include a coffee shop, and every single one of "social group" venues from that pack. The city also will have an academy, a Chinese garden and two nectaries. With a name like Nectary Hills, there has to be more than one of those. It will also include all Ambitions venues, Pets, Showtime, and Supernatural venues, a Seasons festival lot, along with all the Island paradise venues, including a medium size resort and three dive lots. If that wasn't enough it also will include a bot shop from into the Future and pretty much all base game venues.
Note that this is not intended for really slowly machines, but I will do my best to make sure it gets a decent framerate on most modern computers
There's a bunch of mansions in this neighborhood, but they're not even the biggest ones, those are the two 50 by 50 ones near the legacy challenge lot. Yes you will be able play a legacy challenge in Nectary Hills if you want
A closer look at the downtown, this was originally going to be significantly more densely populated, but I ran into too many framerate issues so I had to move some of the community lots.
Here's a view of the hospital, a mall, the library and a couple bars
The Nectary Hills Mall / Festival Lot!* Oh and yes, it is a fully functional mall, in addition to a festival lot, which includes an extra book store, consignment store, along with a World Adventures food register, and a coffee shop.
Another view of the downtown area, from another angle. You will probably be able to guess what many of these buildings are supposed to be, and no, none of them are empty
Here's River Front Park, one of two beaches in Nectary Hills
There's also a bunch of houses surrounding two lakes that I haven't even started building yet, along with two full neighborhoods of starter homes, along with many of the community lots.
So what do you guys think of this world so far? Any comments, criticisms or suggestions?
*At one point, I referred to it as the "Sunshine Mall" which is what I was originally going to call it, but I somehow forgot that I changed the name.
Post edited by EA_Solaire on
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Comments
Hi @Damienf519
Nectary Hills is coming together very nicely. You've put a lot of work into building this large community. I like the idea of a Mall that doubles up as a festival lot and your apartment lots look fab. Awesome that they are not just for show
Have fun continuing your world and I hope you'll post more screenshots of your progress
Free Toddler and Kids Items | 100% FREE store items| Missing Store Stencils
Not really. It’s more of a U.S west coast vibe. Kind of like a small city in the middle of California Whine Country, but with a river and a beach. I don’t know why you’d think “Mediterranean” when looking at it, but I don’t mind, since I have nothing against the Mediterranean, even from a purely aesthetic standpoint. It’s not really based on any real place by the way.
Oh and you kind of already saw the festival grounds, just in it’s generic state.
Thanks for the compliment by the way
Oh, I assumed that from the world being named Nectary Hills and the colors on the houses
Free Toddler and Kids Items | 100% FREE store items| Missing Store Stencils
I decided to take a break from the larger residential lots, and so I managed to finish my first set of starter homes, and when I say "starter homes." I'm mean, "starter homes!" Even fully furnished, there's not much in these besides the basics, but some of them have more than one bathroom, but only the ones that have more than one bedroom, more accurately, some of the ones that have more than one bedroom have more than one bathroom.
Now I have to start working on the houses around those lakes, the farm houses, and the second set of starter homes, as well as the rest of the community lots. I have at this moment finished all of the Rabbit Hole community lots, except for the fairy garden. I haven't even started on that one yet.
I added some trees to increase the variety
Also I finished some more venues
Finally here's a magician performing at the Downtown Flower Park. I didn't stage this, he just showed up and I decided to take a picture
Oh I do have to mention one more thing. Its the Nectary Hills Mall, not the Sunshine Mall. I think I made that mistake because I was originally going to call it that, but than I changed my mind, and I somehow forgot that I had changed the name.
I finished about half of the houses surrounding the lakes, as well as the vampire lounge and the first nectary. The fairy garden is also complete, except for the fact that I haven't yet decided exactly what spawners to place there. Same with the other lots I have worked on, by the way.
I think I've reached the halfway mark. I have finished designing around half the lots in this world! I have finished the academy ( dojo ) as well as two additional parks, and I have gotten started on the second set of starter homes. Here is a preview of them. You should just barely be able to make out the dojo in the distance.
I also managed to complete all of the houses surrounding the lakes. I hope you guys like them.
It will still be awhile before public Beta testing can begin, but I've made some progress. On the downside, I decided it was best to get rid of a couple of the cash registers in the world, to decrease the number of sims that would have to be placed in households just to operate them. I got rid of the one in the library, and the World Adventures food register in the mall, since kid's can't use it, even though at one point I thought that they could. I must have confused it with the Seasons festival registers for some reason.
Any comments or suggestions at this point?
I finish building all of the starter homes. Here is the last set in all their underwhelming glory
I also finished almost every other house on the map. The only three houses I have left to build are three farm houses on 40 by 40 lots in the outskirts of town. After that the only other lots I have to build are community lots, and than I'll go back and add in some spawners and the world should be ready for beta testing. Speaking of community lots, Here is your first view of Stargazer Park. I finished it, yesterday and could have included it, in the last update, but I wanted something else to show you today.
Is it populated? And I have to say I love that you added diving spots. I find that it's really rare for creators to make a world with island paradise stuff^^
No it is not going to be pre populated via the map file, however, I have thought about it for awhile, and I will create a saved game file, that will include around twenty households. I could have mentioned that in today's update. In fact I should have. Thanks for asking.
As for the Island paradise Stuff, it should also include a resort and a few houseboats. Slightly less than what I originally intended due to the framerate issues I was having early on, but there will still be a few of them. Oh and you will be able to work as a lifeguard at both beaches.
I'm glad you like what I have shown off so far. I hope you and at least a few other people will be willing to help me play test it when it comes time. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. I was getting a bit lonely here.
I finished all the residential lots. It took me a bit longer than I expected, but only because I had forgotten about the houseboats. I was able add a couple extra ones by the way. What do you think of them? There's six in total, plus one port that's empty so that you can add one of your own.
In addition I started work on the "hidden" tomb. I'm not going to tell you what exactly it will be, but let's just say it plays a major role in the story of the city.
Oh by the way, should I release the first saved game file with the first beta, or should I wait for the second beta, so that you guys can start play testing sooner? Do you want to meet my sims when you first start play testing Nectary Hills, or would you rather start play testing a bit sooner? I will ask this question again, in the next update, if I don't get at least three responses before than.
I think you should probably wait for the final update before doing a save file. That way all the bugs are worked out and then if you come across any problems after that, you'll know it was the save file and not the world
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I finished the hotel, Wedding chapel and the second nectary
Now since I only got one reply, I'm going to ask again, should I wait to release my saved game file after the first BETA is released, or should I release it with the first BETA. I will plan on releasing the first BETA for he map without a saved game file, unless I get at least two more responses in the next three days.
In the meantime, thanks for your response @StephSteb!
Also please give me some feedback guys, on the progress I have made so far. I only have to make a few more community lots, and than I will go back and make a few minor changes, and the map should be ready for beta testing, unless of course you guys would like to start beta testing with my sims, than let me know that you would like the saved game file to be ready before the 24th.
In the meantime, if there are any changes you would like me to make, based on what you have seen so far, please let me know, as soon as possible, because the pre beta map is nearing completion and getting close to the beta testing phase.
I suggest that you don't bother about the save game file for the moment. Focus on identifying any bugs.
I decided to upload the Beta a day early. Go to the top of page one for the download link so you can try it out! Save game file coming with the next version. Final version will be on the exchange!
The only problem I've had so far is that the proprietor for Green Horn Shows was foot-stomping and waving his arms. That's always a sign that there's a problem with the stage.
I tried adding a little step but he was still unhappy.
I then extended the platform around the sides and back of the stage and he was happy. It appears that the spot where he goes to survey the stage is in the corner behind the stage (can't remember which side).
In the meantime, I'm glad you haven't encountered any other problems as of yet.
I haven't been to the Tomb yet. I got side-tracked trying to work out what the problem was with Greenhorn Shows.
I've been play testing my world some more and only found a few minor problems, so far. I fixed it so that Sims can properly use all the exercise equipment in the gym, moved the piano in one of the bedrooms in the "Listen To The Band" apartment so that it was actually usable, conformed the edges of one of the residential lots, fixed it so that it would consider the front of two of the residential lots to actually be the front of the lot, and made the pavement on the downtown lots blend in a bit more with the sidewalk. The last one was just about aesthetics, but I do think it makes it look better. In addition, I also added a few spawners to the graveyard and the park venues to give you more reason to visit them. You won't notice any of this if you download the current beta, because I haven't updated the public beta yet, and for all I know, the next version will be the final version, however, you will notice these differences in the next version when its made available for download.
I also finished creating about two thirds of the households for my saved game file. Basically I've been killing two birds with one stone, working on the Sims for the saved game file and simultaneously play testing the world.
Now for the other beta testers, I'm glad that more than ten people have already downloaded the beta, or at least I'm guessing that because last I checked, it said that eleven people downloaded Nectary Hills. I'm hoping to hear back from some of you. Have you encountered any problems that I might not have noticed? What improvements could I make to the world before next release? Is there anything you don't like about the world that I might be able to change?
I'm thinking about adding one or two more community lots, because there's something that I forgot to include. If I do, I will playtest them before the next release. I'm thinking about also slightly extending the reach of the subway system.
I did want to suggest that you add an easily accessible bathroom to the tomb.
Of course, adding a bathroom means that players will then make their sims flush the toilet, etc just in case it unlocks something