lagritsalammas

Is this real life?

2017-09-24T09:47:10Z

Hello, I guess?

Literally no idea if anyone even follows this blog these days, but if any active simmers have ever subscribed to this Dreamwidth account and receive this in their daily feed, greetings to all of y'all from the future! And also shoutout to Dreamwidth looking the same exact way as it did all those years ago. That's pretty impressive – and I mean that in a good way – considering how most web services change their layout, look and feel every two weeks.

You may remember me as lagritsalammas, a.k.a. that Estonian simmer who built some pretty sweet things back in the day when The Sims 2 was the hottest game in town. Quite a few years have passed, with me last being active here sometime around 2014, and last time actually playing the game sometime around 2012. Five years. Golly.

Anygays, I bought myself a brand new iMac this week and naturally my thoughts moved onto the pastures of my favourite game of all time. And while moving all my files from the old laptop to the new computer I obviously stumbled across the stash of Sims pics from back in the day. Needless to say, I'm feeling nostalgic. Nostalgic enough that I've made the decision to install a secondary operation system on this Mac simply for the joy of being able to play The Game again and run all the expansion packs, including Apartment Life (lowkey mad that they never released it for Mac, as I'm not willing to play the game without ceilings). Now, I don't know when exactly I will get to it, as most of my earnings are currently spent on a real life simming experience, a.k.a. the actual reconstruction of a real flat that I bought for myself to live in in real life for real in reality. But I'm guessing I will have saved up enough by next month to buy an official version of Windows to install (see, I'm not a pirate at heart after all).

Long story short, I want to start simming again. It was a great joy back then, and I'm sure an all grown-up version of me will enjoy it just as much. I've looked into the different options out there, including The Sims 3 and 4 as a potential gaming platform. But to be frank, the pudding faces and an emphasis on the Sims' personalities rather than the building aspect are quite the turn-off for me. I really liked the way characters interacted in '2. They may be simplistic and predictable, but in the end, their goofiness was enchanting. Not to mention the lack of personal attachment I have towards the newer games as opposed to the plenthora of it towards The Sims 2. Oh, and also, mountains of all the amazing custom content that's ever been created for The Sims 2 can't even be compared to the crumbles available for the newer installments of the Sims franchise.

Long story even shorter, I hope to see you all soon! Perhaps next month, even. And if I do start, I'll be putting back all the missing pics and links for this blog, too.

See ya!

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Come Crawling Back

2014-03-16T10:47:16Z

Hello. I don't know if anyone reads this blog anymore, considering I haven't been participating in the simming community for roughly two years. But, guess what, I might be coming back.

I quit for several reasons, the main ones being my computer's motherboard burning up and me trying to devote myself to my studies. I got the computer fixed sometime in August, but have been neglecting it ever since. Last night, however, I decided to boot it up, only to find all my Sims-related files untouched (along with some music I didn't even remember I had ever been listening to). What's missing, however, is a decent video card along with sufficient RAM, as the slots of the new motherboard are different from what there was before.

Now I need to decide if I want to start playing again. For all my studying and internet needs I have my Mac, meaning any expense to better the old comp would be for Sims only. I've really enjoyed this addiction-free period, but I'm kind of tired of having my house plans come to life on paper only. I also find it stupid to have an in most cases fully functional piece of equipment just tucked away in a box somewhere, rather than actually using the thing.

So I don't know, maybe I'll be posting some new content soonish. I want to finish developing Behemoth Isle, but I also feel like some new neighbourhoods should come to life. Challenging myself with a legacy couldn't hurt either. We'll see. :)

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Behemoth Isle

2012-04-08T21:19:12Z

I'm still alive, although I haven't really played in a while. So here, have a picture of Behemoth Isle, a sub-hood of Kettlemumble.

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4 Douglas Adams End

2012-02-01T04:08:22Z

I built a house. But then again, when was the last time I didn't build one? May I present you, the current star of Behemoth Isle - 4 Douglas Adams End.

I don't want to hear about any OMSPs for at least the next 10 hours, for I OMSP'd myself crazy trying to decorate that roofline. But I think the result was well worth the effort. In fact, I don't think I've ever been this satisfied with the look of a house before.

Plus points to those who realized it's the same house as 4 Plum Alley. Those of you who figured that out, might also remember I once promised to share that little house. Sadly, the combination of a lowered storey with an EAxis chimney going through it resulted in the lot becoming borked. Because of that, I recreated its belated twin sister with standard height rooms.

To me, this house looks simply magical at night. My imagination first went flying as I went into night mode. Hence the interior pictures being taken at a darkish hour.

Alongside giving that wallpaper I made one last use and reusing the stuff I end up putting in my houses a little too often, I also realized those mission style armchairs with recolours by who I believe was AveSims, as well as that mirror, really add that last bit of character to this room.

The reading nook. I wish I had had a sim living here during the photoshoot, so I would've had someone to light the fire in the fireplace. What do you guys this, who could be dwelling this humble living room?

As you can see, I played around with the ceiling's textures a bit. I was inspired by a club in Haapsalu that is beloved by the alternative youth of the small town. It's located in an old wooden house that once was probably the summer estate of an upper middle class family. Meaning that its original details are not as simple as those of an average town house and yet not as eloquent as a richer family would've wanted. Because of that, the ceilings are not decorated with stucco but are rather put together similarly to a parquet.

And the last picture of the batch. One thing I've liked about old houses is that there are sometimes different doors from different time eras. It's a quirky feature that one cannot see often and so I figured I, too, shall have a house like that.

That's it. The rest of the house is not furnished yet, since I need to go to bed now. Twas fun, though.

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[Download] Twas a Fine Turn of the Century

2012-01-26T02:39:23Z

What is this craziness? Is it really lagritsalammas sharing a creation of his own? And in the middle of the night? Must be a lie! A filthy, disgraceful lie!

I am proud to present a small set of walls in the style of art nouveau + a small addition for the times you get particularly creative. All in all, the set consists of four different colour variations of my favourite William Morris' pattern all the way from the year 1875 with four different kinds of white wooden additions originally created by Pikkon/pikkoloidlee. That is: with baseboard only, with baseboard and upper skirting, with wooden panelling only and with wooden panelling and upper skirting + an additional panel wall = 17 walls for your turn of the century era houses. In-game, you will find the extra wall under Panelling and the rest under Wallpaper. You can see pictures of these walls in use in my previous Dreamwidth entry, where I pretty much covered the whole house with them.

The files are compressorized and labelled with the same name you'll find in-game. Even though it's quite clear to me, I guess it's wise to mention they are for The Sims 2 only. You are, however, welcome to convert them for the game that suits you the most, as well as include them in houses you share. I would ask you though to keep them away from paysites (that includes T$R) and the Exchange, should it ever exist again. Have fun with them! :)

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3 Jostein Gaarder Circle, part 1

2012-01-25T17:05:03Z

I haven't been very busy in the Sims community lately. That's partly because of real life but mainly because of a terribly slow internet connection. And then they keep telling us Estonia is one of the most technically advanced countries in the world. Pfft, whatever (although, yes, I cannot overlook the fact that we have free (and fast!) Wi-Fi in parks and buses, not to mention cafés and schools. Or the fact that the folk here can fully participate in elections right in front of their computer. And those are just a few of the privileges).

But yes, I've been simming and come bearing pictures.

3 Jostein Gaarder Circle, a house inspired by a marvellous building in Tallinn, destroyed during the 1980s, when the wooden architectural heritage was considered ugly, outdated and frumpish. I'm only happy to be living in different times and am glad to see more and more of these houses ending up being renovated and, even better, restored. I myself have, by the way, also finally moved into one and it's truly marvellous living here.

But on to the interior.

This is the Blue Salon, basically the living room. You can't see it in this picture, but I've made sure both main floors have high ceilings.

The other side of the room. I've covered the walls of the lowered storey with ZeroDark's beautiful art nouveau panels. Now that I think about it, they might not harmonize so well with the main wallpaper, but they surely give this room a whole new dimension. I also wanted a dark brown line to separate the ceiling from the wall, to bind the upper part of the room with the lower one, i.e. the floor.

I was mainly carried by the idea of a burlesque town house of a family whose favourite style is art nouveau. Throughout the house I used doors and archways in the style of the arts and crafts movement. Their stained glass sidelights really add a lot of character to the rooms. Another thing I used a lot is William Morris' immortal acanthus pattern in four different colour variations. I made these walls myself, combining the patterns with Pikkon's/pikkoloidlee's awesome panels. They'll be up for download soon.

All in all, I think it's a grand room. You can even see an old tiled stove peeking from one of the corners. I need to work on its textures though.
Also, Yuxi, Y U NO make ceiling medallion in the middle of square?

Next on, the Green Salon.

I can't really say the room has a lot of function. Unless, of course, you need to have two separate discussion groups.

My favourite part of this room must be the dark wooden ceiling it features. I figured this room doesn't need a lamp, but a ceiling medallion would be great. Many thanks to ZeroDark and Yuxi.

Since more empty rooms needed to be filled with stuff, I thought I'd create a sort of an alternative to a greenhouse. Nothing too fancy.

The dining room is one of the first rooms I finished, although later on modified it several times. What I like about it the most is the table which is not even a table at all. I used the nearly 3x2 bed skirt by HolySimoly to create a surface and added EAxis's lamp... "legs" extracted by lalabubus' to make it look like a table.

Goodness, how I love this room in its grand glory. By the way, thanks to a few invisible table recolours, the dining room should be fully functional. How cool is that?

Ready for a festive meal.

There's also a small study on the ground floor,

a library

and a bathroom on the upper floor,

as well as some unfurnished bedrooms. These last two pictures were mostly taken so I'd have some evidence of other colour combinations I did for the wallpapers. I'll decorate the empty rooms some time in the future.

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The Olive

2011-11-11T10:08:02Z

Ahoy-hoy. Here are some more pictures from my game, this time from a pub called The Olive. I actually took these snapshots the same day I photographed Andersen's Book Nook, just didn't feel like sharing. Now I do.

The exterior, which I'm not too happy with, but what can ya do. The Olive was, in a way, a filler lot, a lot that was built to end the ensemble of row houses and merge the arch you see on the left (and that arch I sure am proud of!) into the neighbourhood.

The ground floor, pictured from one of the tables. You can the stage in this image. The Olive is a place where the dwellers of what I currently call Behemoth Isle gather to spend a pleasant Saturday night, accompanied by mellow acoustic music.

The bar. Nothing too special.

The rear end seating area with light switches to control the whole building. Actually, I was first inspired by MissTiikeri's diner, but at some point the rooms carried on living their own life.

View from the stage.

The upper floor.

The rear end of the upper floor.

Lounge. The staircase leads to the attic where there's a secret game room. Not too secret to show you, of course. ;)

I wanted to have many luxurious items in somewhat trashed surroundings. I think it looks cool.

That's it. In addition to the aforementioned, there's an empty extra room above the arch, a bubbleblower room next to the game room, a kitchen and two toilets. You'll have to do without those pictures though.

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Andersen's Book Nook

2011-11-09T19:16:09Z

I'm in the process of building a new neighbourhood and here is the first little bit of it that I'd like to show. It's a small book shop called Andersen's Book Nook.

The idea behind this was to create a perfect house for a character I have in mind. That character is an elderly man called Mr. Andersen, whose taste is both classy and crazy, meaning that his dwelling should be furnished with antique pieces of furniture with lots of unnecessary stuff here and there around it. I didn't really adhere to the plan throughout all rooms, but does it really matter?

It's cramped, cluttered and cosy. Three C's.

These book recolours by ZeroDark are so very gorgeous. I would have wanted to stack many more on top of each other, but all of the OMSPs I have in my game refused to co-operate.

There's a corridor that connects the main part of the shop to a small reading nook in the back.

But the book store only takes up the ground floor, not even all of it, yet there are two more storeys. That's where the Andersen family lives.

The foyer.

The fancy dining room (not that there's a non-fancy one somewhere).

The master bedroom, which can be described with three words: curtains, candles, plants.

And the toilet, which is actually the toilet of the book shop.

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Postcards from Kettlemumble

2011-10-07T21:39:21Z

After many sleepless nights and unholy days, I finally have some pictures of Kettlemumble to share. To those who missed out on me babbling about the concept of the town back in December 2010 or to those who want to refresh their memory, here's the deal. Or actually, here's the whole deal with some new bits added.

Kettlemumble used to be a small town of neat wooden houses gathered along the seashore and built next to the medieval village of Sheephogs Willows. The quaint town was home to local fishermen and their families, as well as farmers from the surrounding areas. With the arrival of the industrial revolution, a few factories were built not too far away from the town. Two of them handled fish, while one produced textiles.

The days in Kettlemumble passed in a slow and peaceful pace. That is, until the day the country was occupied by the regime of the Great Leader. He was a man of visions and those visions let him see that Kettlemumble's factories were almost twice as productive as the ones of the capital city.

Research showed that success lay behind the high mineral levels of fish that the locals ate. Because of that, the dwellers of Kettlemumble had strength to be more than just hard-working. And so the Great Leader gave an order to build even more factories in Kettlemumble, as well as start rebuilding the town as a whole. What he wanted was to create a prodigy town, a town to be an example for every other one. Wide streets, tall stone houses, luscious alleys, happy hard-working people... You get the point.

During the days of rebuilding, a lot of Kettlemumble's initial architectural heritage was destroyed. The regime would've probably destroyed even more, had the apocalypse not broken out. In fear of a deadly virus, the majority of Kettlemumblers was evacuated, whilst many native settlers decided to stay where they belonged to.

The virus never reached Kettlemumble and neither did the ones who left. It did kill the majority of the land's population, leaving many greater cities soulless. Luckily, a lot of soul was left in Kettlemumble and proof of that can be seen below.

If you only knew how amazed I myself am! I've been working on Kettlemumble for so long. I can trace back my notes of this neighbourhood existing back to November last year. Every single one of these buildings (except for neighbourhood decorations, of course) has been built by me over a period of almost a year. Every single one of these houses is special. I've used LotAdjuster on most of them and most of these houses are even decorated on the inside, too! There are still some empty spots that need to be filled with houses and I even have the ideas for them waiting on pieces of paper. Sure, I could have taken the time to completely finish the neighbourhood, but I just couldn't wait any longer, for the desire to show off was just too big.

I still haven't built any of the factories I mentioned in the beginning, so there's still a lot of work to do. In addition to that, I'm also in the process of creating a suburb to this town. It will be a compilation of cottages and bungalows in the style of the Arts & Crafts movement, a few of which have already been completed. You cannot see any in the screenshots above, although they are right behind the park with rosebud trees.

I guess that's enough for now.

But seriously, I am in love with what I did. I mean, look at all the town houses nicely connected to one another! Or the alleys! Or the way the streets in the wooden district seem a lot more narrow than the ones in front of the stone houses! And look at the round park in front of the city hall! And the many courtyards! And the fields! And, my goodness, the trains!

I know it's just a game, but boy, do I feel accomplished!

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Before & After, vol. 1

2011-10-04T11:21:38Z

I did some refurnishing in my selfsims's house last night and shot a series of "before and after" kind of pictures. Since there are two buildings on the lot - the town house with the thrift store on the ground floor at the front of the lot, and the actual dwelling in the back - I figured I might as well use the empty space above the shop for something useful. So I'm now pretending that the old woman who was supposedly inhabiting the flat passed away and Mr. Lagritsalammas inherited her home. So yay for having a place to move the drum kit and the painting equipment to!

All of these are actual pictures, none of which were staged. To think of it, my simself really did live in somewhat horrendous conditions. Now these rooms are all nice and vivid and I'll probably be adding some additional bits of this and that in the future.

For a nice visual effect, I suggest opening every two pictures that go together in two separate tabs and switching between them repeatedly.

And here is an extra image. :)

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Mincy Buns Bakery

2011-08-31T00:11:51Z

Hanne Silentmince finally did it. She had some repairmen over to fix the leaking roof and could then focus on fulfilling her dream of her very own little bakery. It's called Mincy Buns.

She was also very happy to finally find a place to expose her treasures. You see, Miss Silentmince has a thing for old-fashioned lamps and clocks.

At some point of time Hanne realized it's a tad bit too difficult to run a business all on her own. Should the bakery run out of cakes and Hanne disappear into the kitchen to quickly bake a new load of sweetness, there's nobody to take care of the till.

An Estonian proverb goes like, "Kus häda kõige suurem, seal abi kõige lähem" - Where trouble is the biggest, there help is the nearest. Or something among those lines. And indeed has help arrived. May I present you, sentate's Bonehilda Skeleton. This fine lady moved into the attic room with rosy wallpaper and started working at Mincy Buns straight away.

As can be seen in the photograph above, Bonehilda knows what she's doing.

They form a great team together! A bit more practice and they can open up the bed and breakfast without any extra help necessary.

Hanne is most definitely pleased with her new partner. It's just written all over her face.

Might I add, the bakery looks very charming at night.

;)

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5 Strawberry Street

2011-08-30T03:35:52Z

Do you remember Hanne Silentmince? That's the lovely young lady who can often be seen at Patterned Wolf, trying to decide whether to buy herself one of those funky-looking retro armchairs from 1960s or to go for that particularly nice piece of antique furniture from the Victorian era. She has indeed been busy combining those different things to furnish her smallish apartment in the most pleasant way possible. Here are some pictures for you to see.

This lovely town house has been standing across the Old Park of Kettlemumble ever since the end of the 19th century. Sadly though, it has been uninhabited for the past five years and, thus, was in quite a bad shape when Hanne decided to start working on it. The ground floor is fit for a small business and the hero of our story is eager to open a bakery of her own there but has yet to get rid of all the water damage the leaking roof has caused in the attic, which Hanne wants to convert into a small bed and breakfast later on.

But let us enter Hanne's dwelling. The young lady says her mother taught her to keep flowers by the entrance. This way, a cheerful sight welcomes the ones coming in and keeps their eye away of the dirty shoes.

I myself really like the way I connected the foyer to the living room. The three arches standing side by side are covered by curtains from both sides, but they have a different colour on each side. I think the effect is quite nice.

Hanne considers herself to be a bit old-fashioned. So has given her flat the task of giving everyone an accurate picture of who she is.

The small kitchen doesn't really appeal to Miss Silentmince, but once the bakery is equipped with everything necessary, she'll have all the space she needs downstairs.

One can see the sea from the bedroom windows that happen to be facing west. Which means the view comes with majestic sunsets.

The bathroom is pretty modest but quite cosy if you ask Hanne.

The floorplan for this whole thing can be seen by clicking here. There will be more pictures once I'm finished with the bakery but for now, that's about it. Be well!

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All Around My Grandmother's Floor

2011-05-07T20:50:40Z

Hey there! I thought I'd share some random pictures from my game.

I really enjoy watching my sims play the drums, can you tell?

This is something I promised lalabubus the last time I posted some pictures. There you go, a picture of the bedroom as it is with those other wallpapers!

Something I really enjoy doing in my game is landscaping. In the coming days, I think I'm going to build a maze and hide a small cabin in it.

Hanne Silentmince, the girl who pulls the quirkiest and loveliest expressions. I find her to be one of the most adorable sims I've ever had in my game. She currently lives in an old-fashioned apartment in one of the big stone houses on the corner of Victory Lane, but I think I'm going to move her into a smaller row house with a business on the ground floor. It is going to be either a bakery or a bookshop.

Personal life has been as hasslesome as always. But since I now have a personal blog on Tumblr, then all I have to say about things other than Sims is from now on kept there. And no, this is not shameless self-promotion (even though it totally is).

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4 Pear Street + Patterned Wolf Thrift Store

2011-03-26T00:31:45Z

As promised, here comes the picspam!

I moved my simself again. No exterior pictures this time. Instead, here he is on the first evening at his new home, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace that, unlike the one in his previous dwelling, doesn't cause freezing of time.

And in this picture you can see him a few days later, painting some of the fake crops in his garden. The veranda, as you may notice, has been overrun by art supplies. I assume you can guess what I'd turn my veranda into, should I have one.

The very same veranda at night, complete with a dining corner.

I couldn't resist. I recreated that kitchen again. But I think I can promise this won't happen again. And I did add a few new touches. A shiload of hanging plants, for instance.

But what I like the most about this house must be the bedroom. I mean, it features two of my favourite wallpaper sets by lalabubus, my most favourite floor by CuriousB, some cool key items I'm addicted to and a fucking tower!

However, at one moment I felt my game needs something interesting to happen. Because, let's face it, endless gardening and sleeping isn't exactly the definition of exciting. And so, I opened up a thrift store, Patterned Wolf!

I am kind of addicted to it. The townies seem to be the same. I mean, I got that Best Of The Best award. Which is, of course, kind of unfair, since Patterned Wolf is the only owned business in Kettlemumble as of now. But I ain't complaining. No, sir!

PS: I just realised its name kind of resembles Patrick Wolf's. Funny, because no pun was initially intended.

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As Clear as an Illusion

2011-03-25T14:39:22Z

After a whole month of being domainless due to my web host not answering my e-mails, which just happened not to reach their destination, I finally have all of my files back up and running and am planning on picture spamming this blog anytime soon. Until then, have a spring-ish picture of my selfsim smiling.

On a somewhat different note, my web host's own site is down. I wonder if they screwed something up in their own department while taking care of what was broken on my side?

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TESTERS WANTED, HELP NEEDED

2011-02-15T14:33:37Z

Hello! I want to share two of my lots with other simmers. But I need someone to play-test them first! Pretty please! Problems are as follows:

4 Plum Alley
This lot is slightly bugged in my game, as time won't elapse properly. As far as I'm concerned, the fireplace is what's causing it all, because, after all, it's a split-level building and EAxis chimneys aren't that friendly towards them. But I might be wrong and that's where I'd need your help!

Teapot Café
This lot takes too long to load whenever I try to visit it in Live mode. In other words, I'm able to build and decorate but not actually play the lot. Trouble is, this is a split-level building, too, and if it really is the fireplace that's bugging everything up, I might have put a lot of effort into something that's not even usable. And I really don't feel like sharing something pointless!

If you are a simmer who'd like to help me out, please:
a) comment under this entry;
b) send me a message via Dreamwidth;
c) send me a message via Garden of Shadows;
d) send me an e-mail at shangriquama [at] yahoo [dot] com.

All the help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

PS: I have all the expansion packs except for Bon Voyage and none of the Stuff Packs. Take this into consideration if you're willing to help me.

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Teapot Café

2011-02-11T12:02:08Z

Largely based on the café I myself work at, may I present you, Teapot Café!

At Teapot Café, you can not only fill your stomach with the most delicious dishes, you can also cherish your eyes with picturesque views from the windows, which open into several different directions. The café is located on the upper floor of an old corner house. There used to be an antiques store on the ground floor but it went bankrupt shortly before the apocalypse.

If you have the time, make sure you take a look at the back yard and explore the ruins next door.

Ready? Then it's time to enter the building. There are three different dining rooms from which to choose:

The modest Green room.

The cosy Red room.

And the fancy and private Violet room. I tried to make the dining rooms look comfy and welcoming but slightly worn. After all, the café is located in the middle of a post-apocalyptic town, so a feeling of security in a harsh life could do my sims good. Yet they should keep in mind it's a crazy world out there and that's where the shabbiness comes in.

But enough of what every visitor can see and on to where the real magic happens. That is, of course, the kitchen:

I have a thing for kitchens. For rooms in general, too, of course, but kitchens have always played a special role in my life. You see, my father is a cook and I've basically grown up sitting in a corner of a big room of hot stoves with steaming pots on them. But when most of the restaurant kitchens I've seen have looked somewhat or maybe even rather... how to express that thought... umm... When most of those kitchens were rather laboratory-like, then the kitchen I'm currently connected with the most is actually rather cosy and home-like, with many decorations and plants and a general feeling of being welcome. I didn't try to recreate that look but I did, however, try to recreate the feeling, the atmosphere. And here is the result!

I like to pretend that the plants on that commode are herbs used for spicing up the food. The biggest plant is probably a giant peppermint of some sorts.

Up next is the storeroom which I'm particularly proud of. What makes me so proud of it is that I actually managed to cramp as many objects as necessary onto a minimal amount of space, while leaving the general feeling spacious enough for a room like that. I also had trouble finding suitable items onto the shelves without getting repetitive and I think I managed it quite well.

And before I finish, have a look at the floorplans too, if you so desire. There's one for the ground floor and one for the upper floor. I totally forgot to include any pictures of the middle story of the building on the left. Whoops.

And that's about it for now. :)

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An emergency vehicle I am

2011-01-15T09:19:57Z

I made a new simself for mahself. He's not completely like me even if you count out the green skin and hair but I think I like him. Moved him into a small attic apartment, made him paint a bit and then we/I/he headed off to the old park to learn some break dance and be frightened by the human statue. Good times.

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The Old Park, vol. 1

2011-01-09T16:01:43Z

An old park is what I'm working on at the moment. I'm still adding plants and small bits of realism here and there but couldn't resist showing off what's ready. The town of Kettlemumble is also coming along nicely. Two Stalinist buildings and three wooden houses are completely ready (built, landscaped, furnished and decorated), two stone houses could use some minor work, as well as seven wooden ones do. Two streets have a nice wholesome look with trees and street lights on both sides of the road and I'm still not running out of ideas. But now, to the pictures:

Silly me took a whole lot more snapshots, then realized that shadows were turned off, turned them on and only took four or five new pictures afterwards. Silly me also realized he has one day to finish the first part of a big project for the German lesson. Silly me hates himself a bit right now.

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4 Plum Alley

2011-01-07T01:52:42Z

Here's what I've been slowly crafting over the past few weeks. It's a small wooden house. Somewhat messy on the inside and not too groomed on the outside but still kept with love by its artsy owners. I had a lot of fun building and decorating it and I hope you'll like it. Ready? Off I go:

4 Plum Alley is one of those houses that are quietly hidden in mysterious-looking greenery. It seems quiet, yet has a lot of stories to tell. (Here's an extra angle)

We'll start our tour in the small entrance hall. It's nothing special, really, just a floor to land on after a long walk or a wild ride on the bicycle. (A top-down view is nothing to be ashamed of) (Yes, I am very aware of the fact the room only has one lamp but two light switches. It's not a mistake, though. I mean, the lighting outside has to be turned on somehow, right?)

The main part of the house - the living room - is the next thing we'll take a look at. Since it is such a small house, this room is also used as the dining as well as the music room. Notice the high ceilings - it's a little something I'm particularly proud of. (Top-down view since it is impossible to capture everything in this room without one)

The main part of the house may well be the living room but the heart of the house is still the kitchen. I tried to recreate a kitchen I've done before by using the same combination of walls, counters, appliances and even clutter but adding some new elements, too. This is the result which I personally find quite cosy. (You should know the deal by now)

Quite accidentally, the bedroom has turned into the room with the most antique furnishings in it. Or at least the most expensive ones. Additionally, this room has also maintained a big part of its original wall paintings. Sadly, the previous owners got rid of the painted walls in other rooms if you count out the blue under the ceiling of the living room. The new owners, on the other hands, have given their best to preserve as much as possible. (Just hangin' above the gound)

It may be tiny but it's still a fully-functional bathroom. Some may think it is in a desperate need of some renovation works but the artists dwelling in this residence find a room like this romantically charming. (Khkhm)

Before I move on to the garden, this house also has a verandah that is used as the painting room. Sadly, it was too brightly enlightened and the photographs came out slightly... Let's just say they'd put you off. However, I did not forget to take a picture of the room from the heaven's point of view.

And, last but not least, since floor plans are awesome, have some yourself. #1 and #2.

A huge THANK YOU to all the custom content creators whose stuff I've used. Seriously, every single one of you is a whole mountain of awesomeness. Every single object seen on this lot has been chosen carefully and not the way I usually fill everything with rather random clutter. So if you see anything you've created, you have my biggest appreciation.

I guess that's all, folks. Once again, I had fun building it. I did not have fun resizing images but I think it was worth it. Do tell me what you think. And thanks for reading/looking/whatever. Cheers!

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Come when the coat's on fire

2010-12-28T12:01:11Z

Have a sneak peek at a Stalinist-inspired building I'm particularly proud of. There are five shops on the ground floor, three apartments on both first and second floor and an extra apartment on the third. This house and the neighbouring one also form a shared courtyard. I'll modify the house a bit more and probably put it up for download. If someone's interested, that is.

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Fetish

2010-12-18T19:18:01Z

Today decided to browse the files on my computer and eventually stumbled upon a number of photographs from April this year when me and a friend of mine went to Tallinn to visit the day of open doors at the Estonian Academy of Arts, photograph some architecture and visit a concert. And I simply couldn't resist the urge to share the pictures of some of my favourite houses. Enjoy!

( Yes, old houses do turn me on. )

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We take what's dead and breathe life in

2010-12-12T02:55:43Z

I just wanted to let you know I'm slowly working on that neighbourhood I mentioned in my last post. Not only have I finished some of the first lots, I think I've also managed to finalize the idea behind the concept. For no particular rhyme or reason, I'm writing it down as follows:

Kettlemumble used to be a small village of small and lovely wooden houses somewhere in some unknown place the name of which is of no importance. At some point, however, the country Kettlemumble was part of was taken over by a dictatorship (I'm planning it to be psychosim's Great Leader) whose brightest heads decided that Kettlemumble needs to be developed into an industrial district. Moreover, a showpiece, a model example for all other industrial towns. After building the first factories, the Great Leader's regime began to put more effort into the dashing appearance of the town. For that purpose, new and taller stone houses were built on newer and wider streets. But old and lovely wooden ones had to be demolished so that the bigger ones could take their place. Eventually, a small piece of the original Kettlemumble was left unharmed, while a new, bigger Kettlemumble had developed around it.

At some point though, the magnificence of the regime collapsed due to an accident. You see, the Great Leader wanted his empire to have a thriving nuclear... something. Maybe not even nuclear, but something even more developed. But eventually, that something caused an accident in which many people died while others were turned into zombies. The following months were full of fear and havoc and in the end, only a selected few stayed alive. A part of them then moved to what was left of Kettlemumble and most of them preferred the wooden district, for it was one of the few places where one could feel some humanity.

That sounds realistic, right? :D

On a technical note, the "new stone houses" are mostly inspired by Stalinist architecture seen in post-Soviet countries, including my own homeland. Even though I find that kind of architecture beautiful, it is still ugly at the same time, for it represents foreign power and was purposely built awe-awakening. Have some pictures: #1 (that particular house has been my main source of inspiration. I walk past it almost every time I visit the capital), #2, #3, #4.

The wooden houses are inspired by my biggest favourites - real wooden neighbourhoods of Estonia, such as Kalamaja, Kadriorg, Pelgulinn, Tatari, Uus Maailm or Kassisaba in Tallinn or Supilinn or Karlova in Tartu, as well as whole towns like Haapsalu or Pärnu. These places feature a wide variety of buildings from fancy villas from the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century to modest housing for factory workers from the same era to bourgeois apartment buildings from 1920's to 1930's. Not only does it mean a wide range of possible floorplans, it also guarantees a big spectrum of architectural styles from historicism to art nouveau to functionalism. But that is somewhat difficult to achieve with The Sims 2. At least without the necessary custom content. Pictures: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and - last but not least - a small bit of my most favourite house of all times. Notice the wood lace on the buildings - that's what I'm missing the most custom-content-wise.

To tell the truth, I have many more pictures on my computer but I'm too lazy to upload them somewhere. Besides, most of them are not even mine. So, instead, take a look at other pictures in the uploaders' photostreams and have some recent sim-pictures as well:

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Doom and the gloom

2010-05-24T19:24:37Z

OK, well, basically, even though I just recently created this account, I won't be updating it for a while. By which I mean I technically have this account only to store the eight snapshots from my last entry with the minimal amount of sentences attached to the post.

The reason? My fucking grandfather.

Basically, my grandfather is a TV addict. His usual day starts with watching TV. Then he brushes his teeth, dresses up, has some breakfast prepared by my grandmother and runs off to watch some more TV. Then he has some lunch, after which he continues his day watching TV. At some point he takes the time to eat supper only to return to his couch of DOOM! to watch some more TV, preferably porn.

And what has this to do with me not simming, you may ask. Well, read on.

One day, he's like totally irritated by the fact some three channels don't show any longer. He's, like, sickly irritated, in a manner of a drug addict who hasn't taken his daily dose. He was shaking all over, screaming at us and being generally creepy and frightening.

Basically, my grandfather gets his TV channels through our internet connection. All I know is that it involves stinky men cursing under our computer desk and some wires heading from the internet connection thingy way down to grandpa's almighty TV set. Oh, and it's all illegal. Furthermore, every time the cursing men visit the area under the aforementioned desk, my grandfather ends up with a bunch of TV channels (which he doesn't actually really watch, he prefers clicking though them), the cursing men end up with some of my grandfather's money in their pockets and I end up with a FUCKED UP COMPUTER. YET AGAIN. I FUCKING HATE THIS SHIT. IT'S NOT LIKE WE'VE NEVER FORBIDDEN MY GRANDPA TO INVITE THEM OVER AND IT'S NOT LIKE WE'VE NEVER TOLD THE TV MEN TO NEVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN. BUT THEY STILL DO. AND I HAVE YET AGAIN ENDED UP WITH A FUCKED UP COMPUTER, THE SYSTEM OF WHICH NEEDS REINSTALLING. IT'S THE FUCKING THIRD TIME THIS HAPPENS TO ME.

I am a rather complex-free person. This time, however, I'm actually ashamed of calling my IT-guy. I know his deal is to make the computer work again, cashier the money and go away. But seriously, should I tell him once again that yeah, some drunks spent some quality time under the desk again and that's the reason why everything's fucked up?

I've tried everything but don't have enough brains to make the computer work like a snap. Basically, what's wrong is that when I turn on the computer, only the machine is turned on while the system never loads up. Or even if it does, it can't be seen on the monitor. And the monitor is fine, I've checked that by disconnecting it and... nevermind, the point is, it works like a charm. However, the computer does not. Yesterday I managed to load the system and log in with the computer screen staring blankly at me and giving me no information of what's going on inside the machine. I did something and was able to bring the connection between the processor and the monitor back to life. Sadly, the life only lasted until the evening.

The first thing I did after I had revitalised my electronic friend was making backups of the most important stuff I have. In other words, once I get the computer back, I'll have my sims game pretty much the way it was. In case I have to reinstall it, I mean. Sadly, the joy didn't last too long. In the evening the whole system crashed again and I haven't been able to fix it by now.

In other words, I'm computerless.

I can't wait until I'm living alone. I cannot stand senile grandfathers. Especially when it comes to my own grandpa, that fucking TV addict.

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Living in Your Pre-War Apartment

2010-05-09T19:48:10Z

I decided to show off some older pictures I'm particularly proud of.
Um, yeah, so, here they are:

That's all, folks!

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