02-08. More Random Outtakes

I've had lots of activities going on in Charlie's household. Dozens of screenshots that I need to divide into updates. But here are a bunch of outtakes that hopefully won't give the story line away.

Laddie is now back to using his chew toy, not chairs!

Dogs can bring in some decent money hunting once they have a little experience. Laddie found a gem worth §250 soon after the chip bag.

I guess they needed their space! At least they're at the same counter area.

One reason I DON'T like the Virtuoso trait. They block routing and get in the way, oblivious to those around them. Charlie got stuck between two chairs while Mayra strummed her guitar. I had to tell her to move!

One reason I DO like the Virtuoso trait. Other sims love to listen to them play. Good entertainment value! That is, until everyone stands around for hours neglecting other activities--and their own needs!

New house. New upgrades to perform.

I ran into Butler Didit at the gym. He was dressed in his Pianist outfit, but was soon running on the treadmill.

Charlie went downstairs and chatted with one of the gardeners. The conversation was brief and not too exciting.

Bubble bath and Ducky time!

Charlie has the Photographer's Eye trait. This was his first photo. He hasn't had a chance to develop the photography skill yet.

But he has been working on other skills.

Hint, Hint!

And how does the gypsy camp fit into future events?

02-07. The Gardening Service

Although the Green Dragon can help with harvesting and summoning treasures, it can't help with weeding and watering the garden. So I installed the Gardening Service mod by douglasveiga and it works great. I had two gardeners show up in the morning. They were fast and efficient. 

They placed the harvested produce in the fridge, but there was an option to "Take All" if I wanted to sell everything immediately, which I did. I liked that choice. The daily service cost around $125. Pricey, but worth it.

I checked their traits. Decent traits, but they were both Grumpy. And they're just a tiny bit strange.

Yes, I'd say they were definitely a little strange. But good workers!

02-06. Random Screenshots

For some reason, while still in the chalet house, Mayra's and Charlie's needs became static. I tried the resetsim cheat but it didn't work. So I resorted to the NRaas reset option, which is a more thorough reset. I rarely use it. 

Anyway, from what I can tell, their motives are now dynamic again. I can see the bars moving as they nap, etc. And the rest of their behaviors seem normal.

Charlie helped check accessibility and routing. I wanted to make sure there was enough room on this small balcony for the hanging chair.

Here's Laddie hiking his little leg on the front porch. To him, it's outside. To me, it's not!

Laddie acted out a little after the move. He has the Non-destructive trait, yet he started chewing on the chair. I've had other sim pets try to get attention like this after moving into a new house.

Being scolded.

Then a positive interaction.

Laddie loves to chase his ball. But he tires himself out. I found him sleeping right next to his ball.

Charlie watched the Cooking channel to build the skill instead of actually cooking because they didn't need any more leftovers!

Later after Mayra came home from work, I let them play a sports game together.

The Cooking channel paid off. No burnt waffles.

I happened to see Carie the Mascot (playable ghost) driving a taxi. I have no idea why. She's in the film career. I even double-checked.

02-05. Ghillie Dhu the Green Dragon

I usually don't have a large garden in my games because it's so time consuming to maintain one. But I remembered that the baby green dragon can harvest everything at once, so I bought a dragon egg.

Charlie talked to the egg about weather in hopes of hatching a Green Dragon.

Success!

I've called the new dragon Ghillie Dhu. It's the name of a male fairy in Scottish folklore. It's also the name of a Scottish Ceilidh and Folk Band.

Ghillie Dhu harvests the garden plants.

The produce is in Charlie's inventory.

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02-04. New Slope House

I wanted to try building on a slope with CFE and saw that the lot next to Charlie's chalet was empty. It took me a while to figure out how to do what needed to be done, but with the help of Karritz on the Sims 3 Forums, I finally came up with a design.

I kept to the basics because this was my first time to work with ConstrainFloorElevation and to build on a slope. What I ended up with was a five level home (including the basement) that covers most of the lot, which is 30x20. So the house itself is big.

Also, I don't usually get too detailed with my decorating because I like space for my sims to move around. And I often repeat patterns to help cut down on game loading time.

After spending so much time building and decorating, I decided to move Charlie, Mayra, and Laddie into the larger house, which meant I had to give them more funds so they could afford the home. Lucky them!
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Front of the house.

Left side.

Right side.

And the back.

Top level bedrooms and reading lounge.

Upper ground level with the main living area, kitchen and dining, TV room, and study.

Middle level with an open area in front looking down into the garden. Skills and games.

The lower ground level exercise room and garden. After all these trees and plants are harvested and begin to die, I might decrease the garden area or find another way to lessen the amount of work it requires.

The garden uses the Into The Future Nature's Soil Rugs, so the room is completely finished and enclosed. It isn't exposed to the outside.

Basement with activities for relaxing. The fenced area is just to store vehicles for now.