01-04. Activities Outtakes

Here are some outtakes from Mysterious Island--just some of the things the guys chose to do.

Bradley tells a ghost story ... to no one in particular.


There are two Virtuosos in the household.  Virtuoso is probably one of my least favorite traits. Not because I don't like the music, but because they're obsessed. They'll spend hours and hours playing their instruments unless I tell them to knock it off! And on top of that, all the other sims will get the Watch action in their queues and drop everything to stand around and tap their feet to the music. 


Bless his heart! He looks so happy. I just can't take his bass away.  But I wish he wasn't standing in the middle of the porch blocking entrance.  I didn't give these guys instruments, BTW; they found them in the house. Grabbed them up before any of the others got to them! 


The family members don't know each other yet, but they do spend time socializing, so acquaintances are growing.


I've noticed something since installing Story Progression. It seems like the sims choose more complex activities more often than I've seen them do in the past. I always have High Free Will on, but most of the time, I have to tell my sims to do more involved activities. Steven chose to garden. He has a Green Thumb.


And I found Chris at the magic podium practicing spells. He gained magic skills and can do summoning now.


The world has spawned wildlife now. This horse is the first one I saw. I've set Register to allow for a few animals, but not many.


A second horse showed up. I also saw fish jumping in the water, wildflowers growing, a raccoon, and a crow. My next task, I guess, is to improve the two other lots with pet items and more world activities. The men need an alchemy station, for one thing, and a place to eventually catch a death fish. The wishing well?

01-03. Visiting the Graveyard

So I did end up putting some survival items in the cemetery, not only for visitors but for the ghosts. I'm going to have to place a couple of other community lots in Mysterious Island. They won't need other private homes until a lady gets resurrected. And I'm thinking that's going to take some time! 

I added a juice bar, bookcase, and a rocking chair to the basement crypt.


On the other side of the room, I placed a tea table and another bookcase and rocking chair.


I installed two public speakers downstairs and one outdoors, along with a public picnic table. Trevor is a Party Animal. He dances...a lot! He's with a tourist here, who is also a Party Animal I found out.

Me: Just don't dance on the graves, you two!


I hid an all-in-one bathroom in the trees at the back of the lot.


This tourist is a Supernatural Skeptic. He's telling Bradley that there's no such thing as an Imaginary Friend. Funny, because he sort of looks like one!


After a little more socializing, I sent the boys back home to rest up. They would be visiting the graveyard again later that night.


You wouldn't believe how long it took me to feed all 8 of these guys and tuck them in bed!


The last one to bed was Bradley the Daredevil. But he certainly wasn't going to risk sharing a bed with Aaron! I tried three times to make him.

Me: For heavens sake, Bradley, it's late. Just get in bed. Aaron's not going to bother you.
Bradley: I hardly know that guy! No way I'm getting in bed with him!


Me: Ok, fine! Sleep on the floor, for all I care.


Later that night, Steven woke up and checked out the new sleeping bag. He was greatly impressed. He has the Loves the Outdoors trait.

Me: Glad you like it, Steven. YOU can sleep in it from now on!


We had one ghost appear the first night: Clara Harbucks from Roaring Heights. She was married to Daddy Harbucks before her death. I had placed her urn and Eilleen Remington's outside with the other graves earlier. It looks like Clara had a fiery death.


I sent any man who had already woken up to the cemetery, but the first thing Clara did was use the shower to clean up and cool off.


Aaron was the lucky guy to first meet a ghost. It turns out, Aaron is a Supernatural Fan, so that was perfect.


The relationship was slow in building, but Aaron was good at the chitchat. He asked Clara about Unfinished Business. I guess he was wondering about the broken relationship with her husband. All too soon though, Clara disappeared and it was time for the gentlemen to go back home.
 

01-02. Gentlemen Prefer Ghosts: The First Morning

I have screenshots for one more update on Al Medina and several older screenshots for my Wild West game which I haven't shared. But I'm going to hold back on playing my main saves until I get a good handle on Story Progression. If I mess up my Mysterious Island save, it's not a big deal since there won't be a bunch of townies anyway.

Gentlemen Prefer Ghosts: The First Morning

Story Progression Lesson Learned: When you get a message popup, read it carefully before you dismiss it!  I got a note saying something about lifespan lengths being changed and do I want to adjust my blah blah. I didn't catch the blah blah part because I freaked, thinking SP had monkeyed with my Epic lifespan option. I canceled the message and checked the game options. No, everything there was fine. But wait, what had that message said? Something about adjusting blah blah.  I alt-tabbed and searched the NRaas FAQ. My best guess was that blah blah might have something to do with the game's speed. I found that setting in SP and lowered it from the default 3 to 1 snail pace.

As for the guys ... Not knowing exactly where to start with EIGHT sims I hardly knew, I just gave them activities to do around the house.

Smoke first. That's right. Keep those bees sedated!


Dancing and archery. Should be safe enough.


Llama Hoodie (later I learned he was Chris) was sent down to inspect a wall in the basement.


Turns out it was a secret door leading to the trash can.  Convenient, but nothing to cheer about. Chris was thrilled though, being an Excitable sort of guy with a Good Sense of Humor.


Ok, Chris, calm done. While Goatee Dude makes waffles, why don't you try grilling hot dogs.


Goatee's waffles turned out normal, but Chris' hot dogs were looking a little charred. Then I got a message about a fire on the home lot. Uh oh!


Oh, Chris! And I haven't even had time to get any of you Death Flowers! 


All these men and not one of them has the Brave trait! Thank heavens Dark Jacket is a Daredevil. At least he autonomously started putting out the fire--while having a blast doing it.


But now I was also panicking because Dark Jacket (Bradley) was catching on fire! OMG My guys were all going to die!!


Whew! Bradley saved the day. I guess they wouldn't be joining the ghost ladies in the cemetery after all.  Red Coat (Aaron) still looked a little frightened though.


Goatee (Jeremy) took it in stride; although Guy couldn't hide his concern. He suggested they get a fire alarm. Good idea.


GQ was really miffed. Being a Genius, he was thinking, "Of all the lamebrain stunts!" Take it easy, Daryl. Everyone makes mistakes! 


Before the fire, I'd sent the other two boys (Steven and Trevor) to visit the cemetery. Nothing much was happening there at first, so I had them say Hello to a couple of the girls. 


Trevor seemed particularly grieved about the lady's death. Take heart, Trevor. All will end well. 


But then the tourists started arriving. I hadn't shut them out yet, and maybe I won't. Who knows when the ghosts will come out to play!


In fact, why don't the rest of you go visit with the tourists too--before you raze your own castle! 


I might have to add some recreational items to the crypt since it's the only hot spot in town!


PS. I bought them a fire alarm AND a burglar alarm. ... I also discovered that a newspaper had been delivered. And a green Uni bucket and a time portal were both mysteriously added to the family inventory. No mascot, no flashing lights from the sky, no Weather Stone shaking the earth! 

01-01. Learning Nraas SP the Mysterious Way

So, I'm about to embark on a Grand Experiment, at least for me!  I'm going to try NRaas Story Progression. For months now I've been saying I'd try it, but always just pushed the thought aside and got busy doing other things. I decided to pause my other game activities to give SP a go in a small world. And I promised myself this would be FUN!! 

First off, I found a beautiful, but very small custom world: Mysterious Island by Visty6. It's an empty world with only 4 lots right now.

Last night I installed Mysterious Island and the first lot I added was the Drop Dead Gorgeous Cemetery by CravenLestat. I changed out the archway entrance to a door because this building might be used as a residence at some point.


I also found some colorful rhododendrons by Naiyasfury that I installed too. I added them to the cemetery.


Naiyasfury also had several variations on these rugs, and I tried them out too.


After installing Story Progression, I realized I needed a City Hall, so for now I added a RH replacement rug to the basement of the cemetery. It's hidden back behind the stairs.


Ok, now what? I have 8 dead women in an empty world.
I needed bachelors, and after looking around for a household of males, I found The Gentleman's Club by Wallis.

But I realized there were only 7 men. I needed another guy.  Mikezumi came immediately to mind. 
So I downloaded  her Guy Larson (non CC Version). He looked awesome and I wanted another blonde.

I found the perfect house for them. A man's house is his castle you know: Dragonhill Castle by Yogi-Tea. It was on a 30x30 lot so would fit in the 30x40 lot I had available. I placed the castle on the right edge of the property so I could have extra room for whatever the men might need later. Then I moved the left fence and guard towers to the far edge on that side.


A few of the gentlemen. Sorry, but I'm not yet familiar with their names. I think I'll change their outfits to castle appropriate clothing, but I'm going to leave their personalities and looks as Wallis made them.


More gentlemen.


Mikezumi's boy.


Here are a couple of other views of Mysterious Island. First, the scenery near the castle.


Looking out from the cemetery.


I had to do some renovation to the castle because of having 8 sims living there. More beds, more eating places, more space. The main redo was on the top floor. I enlarged this room and the deck above it in order to fit in bunk beds. It was a bit of a job working with the castle pieces.


I couldn't place another spiral staircase because of the towers on the roof, so I added a ladder. This was the only arrangement that worked.


No changes to the master bedroom floor.


I took out some of the wooden lounge chairs on the main floor and put in another dining table.


The kitchen is in the basement, along with the "butler's" bedroom. I changed out the twin bed for another bunk bed. I also knocked out a wall and enlarged the kitchen.


On the right side of the castle, are 2 archery ranges, a covered tent, grill, and a grass-colored dance floor (with small stereo).


I'll share screenshots of the gentlemen's exciting first morning in the next update.
But here are the challenge rules I have in mind for myself:

1. Learn how Nraas Story Progression works and practice with the settings.
2. Have the guys resurrect all the ghost girls through game means, not cheats.

That's it!