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Underwater Lots in Island Living

Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
Now, I've almost spent all my time playing as merfolk in Island Living. Merfolk sims are like other sims, but they have that half fish part to them and special abilities. While Island Living missed a lot of opportunities, I think it failed the most with what could be done with merfolk.

When you look at occults, the game is pretty well equipped to support Alien, Vampire, and Spellcaster families. For Spellcasters, you even have a place for them to call their own and bloodlines. Aliens can result in weird genetics, and Vampires are, well Vampires.

Island Living offers the hidden Sulani Mana Trait and Merfolk. Merfolk have a bunch of unique abilities, and I consider Seasons a must because it adds the weather changing abilities. However, merfolk don't have a place to call their own, there are no special bloodlines, and the trait doesn't even show up until they are teens.

I've seen people talk about how the dive spots could be part of something like a secret lot or how it could be a place for merfolk. But, the idea that I think is different from other threads, and I think worth mentioning is: Merfolk really would benefit from underwater lots. I'm talking about underwater lots that could be used as residential lots or serve similar functions to other venues but underwater.

The idea is pretty simple, but it's not like people haven't done similar things in real life. Of course, those examples aren't very common, so I doubt many have seen anything.

I think it would give merfolk that extra thing they need if the game play could actually support having a merfolk family on an underwater lot. Of course, this would mean creating underwater friendly stuff for the home, but I think it's doable. I think they could have given Toddlers and Children a merform. Here are a couple screenshots of the merform equipped to children and a toddler. It's in the code. They just didn't design a smaller, child-size version of the adult tails or include the swim style.

Kylen and Rylen: Merboys with their merform equipped using cheats. The next life stage (Teen) will include a merform with a tail.

Ember: A mergirl toddler with her merform equipped. This also came with a change in hairstyle and clothes.

The children and toddlers could have a merform that allows them to live underwater and support everything the sims has to offer but underwater with unique underwater items to interact with. Of course, only the merfolk sims could live underwater without some kind of underwater life support. Something like underwater life support could be included for non-mersims.

As things are, merfolk have limitations on what they can do in their merform, but there's more they can do then it appears. Testing the limits of what merfolk can do in their merform, I found that they can almost have a functional home while hardly taking their human form.

Without Cheats

With certain mirrors, they can do almost everything except a select few things that came with later packs. It seems merfolk were coded to do a lot of stuff, but this didn't get updated with introduction of new packs.

He can also practice pick-up lines while flirty. I assume he can also perform the other emotional interactions as well as psych himself up.

Things they can't do with a mirror (Some things make sense while others don't or could have an alternative option for mers):

They can't practice acting or practice lines. Apparently, functioning legs are required to be an actor or actress:

I made him flirty by trying on outfits in his merform, but he can't use the freshen up option.

I can build charisma by practicing a speech, but I guess they forgot to update things with the University Pack. Merfolk can't practice debate...

Naturally, he doesn't have legs in this form, so I wouldn't expect him to practice dancing. Instead of a quirky message they give about ladders, he just won't know where to go to perform the action.

He can view and talk to fish without leaving the water.

Merfolk can watch wall mounted tvs and listen to music from a nearby music source or headphones.

They can't view artwork or posters.

With Sulani Mana, Merfolk can summon lava bombs

Oh, and these fireballs can be summoned by children, but they don't have their merfolk abilities until they are teens...

Thanks to their ability to call thunderstorms anywhere they go and the Storm Chaser Trait, Bringing the Lightning is a very easy ability to acquire at any time anywhere.

If you get two merfolk together, you can almost keep a thunderstorm going perpetually and further increase your chances of getting struck twice. One of my mers were struck three times while trying this.

With Cheats

If you use cheats, you can equip the merform while the sims is sitting. Like this, a mer can be at the waters edge performing various things fully submerged in the water. Things like hunger can be satisfied without changing back. Hand held electronics can be used (This includes the electronic drawing pad).

It wouldn't be hard to use this as starting point for merfolk beds and furniture.

Also, merfolk might have interactions that seem to only be lethal to players and not townies, but their abilities can wreck a lot. If I kept going, who know how many fires would break out and destroyed object would need to get replaced.

Merfolk didn't get as many perks as other occults. The way they developed them, I kinda have to use features from other packs. However, I really, truly believe that the one things they could do to make merfolk more popular in the sims is to include underwater lots that can be used as merfolk family homes for occult players or various types of diving venues for non-occult players. I'm sure a few google searches would bring up plenty of possibilities for underwater non-occult playstyles. I am upset that a previous version had underwater lots and the second one didn't include it. The technology the sims 4 is run on must be better than what the sims 3 runs on even if it isn't the best. I don't know why features from the Sims 3 would be excluded. I'm still very new to the Sims, but it's the merfolk that sold the games for me. They've made all their sales because of them, so I'm a bit disappointed that they haven't at least offered a free update for the people that want to play as merfolk.

I'm still exploring what I can do, and even though I play on the Console (Playstation 4), I continue to push the limits of what I can do with merfolk.

This is my current build. It still has elements from my experimentation, but I hope to find the perfect combination of traits and building style to create a home for merfolk where they don't have to change into a human form. For now, it's the only thing I can do until something is done about the lack of underwater lots. I think they have tons of missed opportunities with merfolk.

My Underwater Build (Experimental)
The Upper Chambers (The main part of the house. Everything in this build includes basements and basement pools).

[img][/img]50315119726_8f8d070403_k.jpgb69298f0-f0e1-11ea-9fe9-029c91a3edee by Metior Ice, on Flickr

The Middle Chambers (Has a nice effect with the bubbles and surrounding underwater elements.)

[img][/img]50315119756_f8769a23c9_k.jpg58a7c800-f0e1-11ea-a2c3-0609d188dc84 by Metior Ice, on Flickr

The Lower Chambers (Essentially a Lava Tube that would wear down sims and potentially drown them if they don't have high fitness or are merfolk. Certain areas are too narrow for water vehicles. Makes for good anti-klepto and sharing is caring measures.)

[img][/img]50315119616_92e87df985_k.jpgf60482a0-f0e1-11ea-9b3b-024578d80d6a by Metior Ice, on Flickr

In some ways, a merperson has more ways to make the most of a tiny living boost too. Considering that a pool can facilitate most of the living space needs, its possible to create a build with huge benefits that only merfolk can take advantage of because they can sleep in the water and perform so many interactions while in the water. There's still room for improvement.
Post edited by Metior_Ice on

Comments

  • CAPTAIN_NXR7CAPTAIN_NXR7 Posts: 4,451 Member
    edited September 2020
    Thanks for sharing. Interesting to see that a lot of it is already in the code.
    I believe Island living should be updated with dive & underwater lots to facilitate an entire merfolk family. It is indeed completely non-sensical that Merfolk do not have their own place.
    Post edited by CAPTAIN_NXR7 on
  • JustinJustin Posts: 731 Member
    edited September 2020
    We can only hope that mermaids will get more improvements. Thanks for sharing. I actually didn’t know about the code for my sim to have her tail out while sitting or lying down. I wish you didn’t have to use a code to do that tho /:
  • OnverserOnverser Posts: 3,364 Member
    edited September 2020
    I kind of lost the thread after a while but 100% agree it would've been nice to have an underwater/mermaid cove style lot. They put the cave to explore so it just seems like a wasted opportunity that it goes nowhere.

    I suppose one idea would be to place the portal thing from Oasis Springs into Sulani so your sim can go through that to get to the Forgotten Grotto hidden world, and then that area could be turned into a little mermaid area as it has that kind of vibe anyway. Only issue then is that the water isn't swimmable :s
    14939101997_ab9309af6c_o.png
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    edited September 2020
    @CAPTAIN_NXR7 it requires cheats to see a lot of stuff, but I imagine that it wouldn’t take much to complete a merform for the family. Other things like viewing art could easily be fixed with a patch. I’m not a programmer, but it just looks like it should be easy based on what’s clearly already programmed into the game. If they can’t copy and paste code, I would image that the existing code could be edited.

    @Justin this cheat code:

    traits.equip_trait trait_OccultMermaid_MermaidForm

    on the PS4 console allowed me to give my mersims a merform on land. Because they aren’t meant to be able to do this, it does trigger bugs. Every single action in the game can be completed while they are in their merform as they won’t change back until they enter and exit the water. It’s just strange to look at on land. It would be normal underwater.

    Aliens and Vampires have a toggle for their form. I can see this being implemented to make it possible for players to choose to use the merform or not. Vampires can do this so players don’t have to “see” occult’s if they don’t want. Households need to be merwoke to see merfolk. For the players, I don’t understand why they can’t just give us control over which form the merfolk take and when similar to Vampires and Aliens.

    Personally, I’d be fine if the trigger was only possible if they had contact with water like sitting in the waves or on the pool ledge. I grew up with frequent visits to the beach. I always loved how fish would gather around me in the waves. In the tidal environment, anyone can sit in the waves very still and have the fish come to them. Sitting in the waves gives them a break from the currents, and they will take advantage of the opportunity.

    And just like Spellcasters have Glimmerbrook and the Magic Realm, I think merfolk should have their own place.

    I think that should have been included with the Island Living Pack, but part of me would be okay with some content being included in a game pack.

    @Onverser The forgotten grotto reminds me of just another thing already in the game that could have been used to help enhance the merfolk experience.

    I also saw a lot of old threads. Instead of necroing a thread, I wanted to bring up the topic again with some of my own ideas I didn’t see.

    I do a lot of water activities and I know there are things they can include in an Underwater residential lot for merfolk. They could create special designs for living in that environment. I also know that technology like underwater pool speakers, underwater cameras, even watching a screen underwater can all be done in the water. I also know that you don’t have to leave the water to do a lot of stuff in real life. As merfolk, it makes less sense that they can’t even eat harvestables.

    I apologize for the edits. It seems that the platform I’m using makes grammar mistakes easy to make.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    Also, I am someone that enjoys stumbling on in game secrets.
  • GracieO312GracieO312 Posts: 1,291 Member
    I will always support more for mermaids/underwater gameplay in The Sims 4.

    #makemermaidsfun
  • TS1299TS1299 Posts: 1,604 Member
    Seeing the lack of gameplay in Island Living tells me that something went wrong. I mean every new animation interactions need to be converted into the mermaid form. The fact that lot of social interactions and non social are even converted for mermaids tells me something really.
  • GalacticGalGalacticGal Posts: 28,294 Member
    I'm not inclined to play occults, but if they had continued on with the things you've point out, then perhaps that EP wouldn't have been such a disappointment. I hardly ever use more than some objects from it. It's boring. But, I like your innovations.
    You can download (free) all three volumes of my Night Whispers Star Trek Fanfiction here: http://galacticgal.deviantart.com/gallery/ You'll need to have a pdf reader. New websites: http://www.trekkiefanfiction.com/st-tos.php
    http://www.getfreeebooks.com/star-trek-original-series-fan-fiction-trilogy/
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    edited September 2020
    @TS1299 I did find it interesting that the interactions weren’t updated for merfolk.

    @GalacticGal The only unique thing about these interactions is that merfolk gain fitness by swimming and satisfy their hydration need in the water. They can’t drown in a pool and can be in their merform while in the water. However, any sim swimming in the pool regardless of their occult status can watch the tv, listen to music, and etc.

    Imagine sims swimming in a pool and still having movie night. Imagine a tropical pool island bar with access to the bar on one side, island music playing over the water while a sim lounges in a floating chair.

    So, updating the interactions in the water need not be limited to merfolk. Merfolk just happen to have an aquatic nature that would benefit more from an update or patch.

    ....

    And for people who enjoy playing with merfolk families and actually having every member of the family take a merform in the water. Children don’t need to have magical abilities, but allowing them to have their fins wouldn’t hurt. They also took care to limit certain merfolk abilities with children. The Charmer’s Lullaby that makes sims flirty can’t be used on kids, so I know they were thinking about the children during development. Most of the merform is visual and shouldn’t be that difficult to include.

    Because I play on the Playstation 4, Mods and CC aren’t even an option, but I know that mods for this exist. These mods might’ve swayed me to use mods and cc if they were possible to use on the Console.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    Correction, talking to fish is the only unique merfolk interaction in the pool.

    If a mersim uses different outfits in their merform, trying on outfits with a mirror will allow a mersim to try on the different outfits in their merform.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    edited September 2020
    The other things that I think I should mention is that the developers for Island Living spent a lot of time on including accurate Polynesian Culture in the game. I'm not against it, but if they did their research on merfolk from other parts of the world, they might have learned some things that could enhance game play.

    Obviously, they know that Sirens have a connection with merfolk. What they fail to clearly see is that Sirens in mythology are fairly one dimensional and merfolk are more dynamic. Both Sirens and Merfolk are completely different mythologic creatures, but they both share the same musical talents. I do think they could have introduced new merfolk instruments that can be played in the water. Merfolk are innately talented singers, but they are also depicted playing string instruments. The lyre, the harp, and the violin, and I believe the version of merfolk that come to mind range from mermaids and mermen found in the sea to Nyx, Nyxie, Neck, Fossegrim, and Mami Wata found in freshwater. Anywhere that has a significant body of water likely carries a story about some kind of merfolk being. Interestingly, the freshwater versions are also closely connected to dangerous areas with fresh water rapids and other hazards that result in drownings. However, no matter where they are found, these fae are depicted with string instruments.

    Agnete og Hovmanden - The Merman with Seven Sons - sculpted by Suste Bonnen photographed by Thomas Roland is an example of a story involving merfolk families. The romance between the denizens of the sea and the people of the land is a popular element in merfolk stories. People want more romance interactions. I can't think of a better example of stories with plots involving tragedy and romance than stories with merfolk. I actually had to focus my search on stories featuring mermen to find really interesting stuff. There are elements from medieval history that I'm certain had an affect on what I could find. Medieval History can be a controversial topic because of the way things were back then, but I think its worth noting that there is a difference between the stories before and after that time. Mermen happen to be one of the things that almost disappeared from the lore.

    “The Merman With the Seven Sons” and “Agnete and the Merman”

    An unusual underwater sculpture by Suste Bonnen called “Agnete og Havmanden” or “The Merman with Seven Sons” is located “on the beaten track” in the center of Copenhagen. It is located in the canal by the Hojbro Bridge on the other side of the bridge from the fisherwoman sculpture. After its original installation in 1992, the sculpture was renovated and unveiled again in August 1997.

    Suste Bonnen based her inspiration for the “Merman With Seven Sons” on the legend of “Agnete and the Merman.” As a young peasant girl named Agnete walked by the seashore, a merman rose from the waves and offered her his hand. She immediately fell in love with him and followed him to the bottom of the sea to live with him as his wife. She gave birth to his seven sons, and had entered her eighth year of living under the sea when she heard the church bells ringing from her old village.

    The sound of the church bells made Agnete realize how much she missed the church and her family and she asked the merman to allow her to go home for a visit. He gave her permission on the condition that she would return after Mass. Once on land again, Agnete decided that she couldn’t return to the sea so she remained with her family and languished of land for her husband and her sons under the sea.

    Johannes Bjerg, a sculptor and director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts created a sculpture and fountain of Agnete and her merman that sit by the Aarhus city hall in Aarhus, Denmark. Heavily influenced by El Greco Bjerg created Agnete and her merman in El Greco’s free flowing style.

    This is the link to where this information was copied and pasted from.

    https://windowstoworldhistory.weebly.com/mermen-are-important-players-in-scandinavian-culture-and-history.html

    Maybe, romance in a tragic sense could be introduced with a pack. Merfolk have many stories with romance with two people divided between the land and sea. Romance isn't my cup of tea, but merfolk have lots of romance in their stories.

    Aside from Instruments like the harp and a merperson's innate musical ability, there are stories of them curing illness and singing songs that told people how to cure a deathly illness. Considering how sims get sick in get to work, it would be interesting if merfolk had healing abilities. Island Living does include the Elementals: Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, and Water is an element associated with healing.

    From there, you have interactions with marine life. For the first time, I saw an animation with sharks. Because my main sims were in the Life Guard Career, they can do the Patrol for Danger interaction long after quitting the career. I assume the patrol for danger is for this. They can also beach flex as an introduction and be asked which way the beach is even though they are no longer life guards. I'm sure they could do more with marine creatures than just call for an Azure Dolphin and call a creature from the deep to drag someone down.

    Some other stuff could include underwater objects that allow merfolk to satisfy needs without receiving any negative moodlets or negatively affecting other sims. They could use certain items in the water because they are waterproof. Why a merperson can't have a waterproof phone or eat something in their inventory is beyond me? It's a given that they won't drown in the water, so some of these things shouldn't be an issue for them.

    I noticed that merfolk tend to lose interactions. I know merfolk find snorkeling a touchy topic, but the conservationist career will allow merfolk to snorkel for their job. Honestly, I don't know why they can't just perform a kind of slower swimming as they swim around the reef, maybe underwater more. They don't have to snorkel, but they should still be able to do a similar interaction without the gear.

    I still think deep water dive spots should go somewhere. A sunken ship or a reef would be nice.

    And, I will always push for a functional merfolk home with merfolk styled decor, appliances, furniture, and maybe even an underwater seaweed garden with merfolk styled foods and plants similar to the alien plants on Sixam. A merfolk house wouldn't be the exact same as an ordianry house. Merfolk can swim in four directions. Because Eco Living introduced ladders, I wonder if it would be hard to include a vertical passageway to swim up into a room?
    Post edited by Metior_Ice on
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    edited September 2020
    If my memory is correct, Maxis or EA has a partnership with Disney. Disney’s the Little Mermaid has an underwater world worth noting in terms of content design.

    There’s:
    H20
    H20 Mako Mermaids
    Ancient Greek myths
    Scandinavian Folklore
    Various tv shows and books...

    I know for a fact that many stories with merfolk and family relations,

    Some stories have the forbidden romance between two divided by land and sea.
    Some have marriage promised in exchange for bountiful fishing that doesn’t end well: an origin story for the color of a water lily flower.
    Some are less tragic where the merfolk in question simply want to be with their family and help them.

    Either way, they definitely took their time trying to understand Polynesian Culture, I think a theme for content would be easier to identify if they look at what is popular and what the old stories are.

    And most of the old stories with the plots mentioned above include stories that use the term merman to refer to a merman with a major role in the story. Mermaids have plenty of their own stories too, but if you google mermaid, looking through all the results will take longer because of the amount of content that exists. But, that’s just more of a reason why there isn’t an excuse for merfolk having less content or exclusive interactions.

    And, it’s a given that content that benefits merfolk in the game can still be implemented for non-occult players. There are a lot of potential ideas to think about, but I would be happy with a few core things:

    1. An underwater residential lot
    2. Children and Toddlers with a merform to support living in an underwater home (Children don’t need mermadic powers for me to be happy)
    3. The ability to toggle the merform on and off so that I can have merfolk in their merform by the water’s edge and sitting on the pool ledge without cheats.
    4. More items in build mode for underwater lots

    Abilities that would make me even happier:

    1. More Siren Songs that trigger more moodlets
    2. More interactions with marine life like sharks and dolphins underwater
    3. More options for changing the weather like Blizzards and Snow.
    4. There are places where it would be nice if the oceans were open for swimming. These places include islands with freezing conditions.

    (I low key want to freeze Sulani just to see what that would look like and how it might affect game play. Lol. I’m really not expecting to get snow in Sulani.)

    One of these days, I’m going to find examples of underwater venue options. I know more things exist beyond scuba diving, and with merfolk, the limitations that come with needing air to breathe are not an issue. I imagine the introduction of underwater objects would help people create their own unique underwater venues.
  • ClarionOfJoyClarionOfJoy Posts: 1,945 Member
    edited September 2020
    I love your great knowledge of merfolk lore! I hope the devs consider your ideas for The Sims5. I think the engine for that will be able to let you build aquatic residences. I've been asking for that too!

    If you have the time, take a look at Mermaidia. It's a TS3 world geared more for mermaids:

    Mermaidia: New Sims 3 world!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoYk0t0aNRY


  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    I love your great knowledge of merfolk lore! I hope the devs consider your ideas for The Sims5. I think the engine for that will be able to let you build aquatic residences. I've been asking for that too!

    If you have the time, take a look at Mermaidia. It's a TS3 world geared more for mermaids:
    Mermaidia: New Sims 3 world!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoYk0t0aNRY

    It’s worth considering, but there are still things I think they could do with the Sims 4. I would be hesitant to buy a new game if they don’t take the time fix existing bugs in their older games.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    @ClarionOfJoy Mermaidia looks amazing, but I play the game on a Console. I don’t have a computer I can play the game on. I’ve actually had to buy an external hard drive to store all the things I’ve written for my story and pictures from mermaiding (A free diving hobby where mermen and mermaids around the world swim with the swimable merfolk tails).

    I don’t have the memory to install any more games to my laptop. I play games on the console to help give my computer a break.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    As for the Sims 4 being able to support underwater gameplay, I play Subnautica on the PlayStation 4. The PlayStation 4 and Computers that support Subnautica are more than equipped to support underwater gameplay and living. Subnautica is a survival game that takes place on a water planet with underwater base building. It has a system for satisfying hunger and thirst by collecting things found in the underwater environment. The game also has several different underwater biomes, and if you look at the Oceans on Earth, you can find an underwater biome that is very similar to what is found on land. Our oceans have their own version of the Rainforest (Coral Reefs), Forests (Kelp Forests), Underwater Mountains, Volcanoes, and Valleys. The pacific abyssal plain and the open ocean are like deserts. We even have slower growing coral reefs in places without sunlight.
  • SimyimSimyim Posts: 142 Member
    Absolutely love your thread, @Metior_Ice! Your knowledge about merfolk lore is impressive... and so your ideas to improve the gameplay! :smile:
    100% agree about underwater lots, more merfolk powers and occult forms for kids and toddlers, just like alien kids!

    If it helps, here go some additional tricks I use in my game!
    • Create different merfolk tribes and give them different looks and traits. For instance, in the case of selkies, give them black skin and tail and seal-like black eyes in their aquatic form, and make them skilled in music and dancing. Or make undines with greenish tails and send them to live in the Glimmerbrook forest!
    • Use different traits from other packs, as you have done! :smile: Other traits that work great for mermaids: Waterproof / Animal Whisperer / Immune to Cold / Piper (can alter sims' emotions with music) / Alluring & Beguiling / Gym Rat / Great Story-Teller / Mastermind & Tormentor (great for evil-minded mermaids :)).
    • Give them high skills in Fitness, Archaeology, Singing, Music (Violin goes great for them!) and Dancing. Also Mischief and Charisma :smile:
    • Create a Merfolk Court with the Club system from Get Together and give them a designated spot in Sulani to hang out.
    Now, here go some gameplay mods that can add a bit of spice to the game!
    • Expanded Mermaids by Spinning Plumbobs. Not only adds extra options for mermaids (sleeping under the surface, dive deeper to catch exotic fish...), but also creates two new lifestates: sea witches and shapeshifting sea monsters.
    • Siren Mod by Zero: creates blood-thirsty mermaids that can lure victims to the water for a drink. She also has other great ones like Deadly Siren Call and Kiss of Life/Ondine's curse.
    - I believe there is also a mod that stabilizes mermaid hybrids (in the normal game they cannot properly transform into mermaids). That would be cool for making mermaid witches that can learn Chillio and Despairio!


    Lastly, here goes my list of fav buildings for mermaid/pirate gameplay in the gallery. Specially love the mermaid grotto from the first video!







  • SimyimSimyim Posts: 142 Member
    I love your great knowledge of merfolk lore! I hope the devs consider your ideas for The Sims5. I think the engine for that will be able to let you build aquatic residences. I've been asking for that too!

    If you have the time, take a look at Mermaidia. It's a TS3 world geared more for mermaids:

    Mermaidia: New Sims 3 world!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoYk0t0aNRY

    This doesn’t look like an EP, but a full spin-off! The person behind it is a creative genius. My fav iteration is sims 4 despite missing World Adventures and Sims Supernatural... but would install Sims 3 just to play this hahaha! Thanks, @ClarionOfJoy!
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    edited September 2020
    @Simyim I wish I could mark awesome and insightful!

    I have most of the merfolk living in Sulani.

    The island in Get Together would be great for Arctic Merfolk.

    I use Oasis Springs as a wasteland evil merfolk are banished to.
  • SimyimSimyim Posts: 142 Member
    @Metior_Ice, love all your creative ideas! Yes, Windenburg could be awesome for Nordic merfolk! Even better if one day we get a snowy town in a winter EP (fingers crossed!). Also loved the wasteland idea, very creative!

    In my case I have done a extreme makeover and new stories for the aquatic townies. Both Nalani and Ukupanipo are now the children of a Shark queen who fell in love with Vlad’s pirate twin (and turned both into vampires!). And Kalamainu’u is an evil mermaid who wants to take the throne after the queen exiled her for refusing to marry her son. That way I can mix my favorite occults in the game! :)

    There is a beautiful Atlantis palace in the gallery that doesn’t have a YouTube video. Couldn’t find it on my earlier post as I don’t have my computer today, but shouldn’t be difficult to find! It’s a 50x50 lot perfect for the admiral’s wreckage on Sulani if it helps! :)

    I still have some hopes that one day we can get a revamped Island Living, because it was one of the worlds appearing in Maxis’ surveys as possible candidates for renovation. But until then will take some of your cool ideas for my game, loved them so much! Thanks a mil! :)
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    @Simyim I’d love to share my ideas with people that can make changes to the game, but things like polls and surveys aren’t easy for me to find, and I’m very good at research and finding information from reliable sources.

    The current lot I’m experimenting with is a Flooded Elemental Temple. I plan on creating a lot that my mersims can be more at home in. Currently, the temple has a poorly decorated moodlet, and I’m struggling to balance the living space and sacred temple space. It’s been very helpful when it comes to identifying everything that can be done without leaving the pool.

    I created another thread to specifically share builds and merfolk. My main merfolk have their swimwear repeated in all their outfits. They spend most of their time in the water, and even if I add a bunch of outfits to them, they autonomously swim anywhere they can, so they almost spend every second in their swimwear anyways. I wish their were more outfits for merfolk.

    I’m not non-binary, but I do recognize male skirts and waist bands as some of the only functional forms of clothing for a merman. As someone that grew up swimming in the ocean, springs, and pool, I also know that merfolk wouldn’t wear a lot of clothing. When clothing absorbs water, it becomes very heavy and difficult to swim. From my family that were life guards, I know that some places require life guards to tred water fully clothed. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do, but life guards may need to pull someone fully clothed out of the water.

    For mermaids, I usually use the scale top that matches their tail. There are a lot of customizations possible, but I do want more.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    edited September 2020
    I did some more experimentation with animations. With cheats, you can see what actions that can't normally be done in merform look like while in merform. I think a lot of these could easily be transferred to an underwater lot. And again, it looks less weird if the lot is underwater. On land, they both move around weird and look weirder than they would underwater.

    I'm starting to design my mersims to intentionally look out of place on land. I have noticed that, even as children, sims that are merfolk will autonomously go to the nearest available body of water to swim. It really would be nice to have an underwater lot where mersims can live not stop what they are doing to go swimming.

    Merfolk have Dance Moves

    I know that Alien Parties were supposed to be a thing on planet Sixam, but I think Underwater Merfolk Dance Parties would be pretty cool. I can see some of the dance moves being adjusted for merfolk underwater. Even without legs, there some hand motions and movements that work pretty well.

    Reef: "Not to rain on your parade, but I'm not sure merfolk normally dance with tails"

    Kylen: "I don't see why we can't?"

    The MerStyle Arm Charm

    The normal hula dance.

    Basically, this is just bobbing with hands moving in a wave.

    Some Dance Moves

    The MerStyle Pump Pop

    MerStyle Pump Pop Failure

    The MerStyle Jimmy Leg

    I appreciated the thought bubbles that came with failing this dance move.

    The MerStyle Jimmy Leg Failure
    50388313181_a3e4acc444_c.jpgf71400c0-ffdd-11ea-a2c3-0609d188dc84 by Metior Ice, on Flickr

    Be Like the Squid. Be Like the Octopus.

    50388313451_2231dfdc32_z.jpg04c6ee30-ffde-11ea-85ca-027ec55895e0 by Metior Ice, on Flickr

    The MerStyle Light Spin

    The MerStyle Backflip

    MerStyle Group Dancing

    More Dance Fun

    Singing

    Another animation that makes wonder why they can't do this in the water...

    Playing the Guitar

    Playing the Violin

    Learning to Cook

    Playing like this for too long did make things a tiny bit buggy. Even when they weren't interacting with each other they were still having a casual conversation.

    Sitting in a Chair and on the Bed

    Napping and Sleeping

    Honestly, for merfolk, they don't need to go under the covers to sleep. The napping animation would work for underwater beds.

    The Napping Animation isn't perfect, but I think it's better than the sleeping animation. For underwater, the Napping animation could be used for the Sleeping animation on a Merfolk Themed bed.

    Napping on a Beach Towel

    Lazy Sims can nap Lazily Anywhere except the water. As a merperson, being able to at least back float and nap lazily in the water would be the bare minimum. The Good and Evil traits affect merfolk abilities. Why not the Lazy trait?

    Gardening

    An underwater lot could have its own plants and the animation for harvesting could be different. The merfolk could harvest at an angle or above. However, things like ocean pests and weeds similar to the Spray for Bugs and Weeding could be a thing. The ocean is not without its own animals that might impact gardening.

    The Bathroom Swim?

    I can think of many different ways to meet different needs, but the bathroom need is the only one that gives me trouble.
    Post edited by Metior_Ice on
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    I updated my posts to put images in the spoilers. I hope this helps with the loading.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    edited September 2020
    Simyim wrote: »

    How did they get part of the build underwater? The only thing I can think of doing that would come close involves building a room then deleting the floor...
  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    Really cool build and pictures. I would love an atlantis pack with water zombies.

    The Minecraft underwater update has been wonderful to play with:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cic2M9eNJcQ
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
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