Orion Bay, the main blog here at Bold and Simful, is all about the characters that live in Orion Bay and its surrounding hoods: Rigel Heights, a blue-collar shopping district, Nephila the nearby city and Hunter College. As Mao once said, it’s like the stories that shipped with the game. No challenges, no points, I always forget to keep track of points anyway. It’s just free form simming for the fun of the story.
To get a feel for the neighborhoods and their residents, visit Character Sketches
Game Play
Rules - There aren’t any, YeeeHa! The other hood I was playing, GlenRio, had rules so when I created Orion Bay I wanted a free-form game.
Timing (Neighborhood) - I haven’t set a time limit on rounds of play, sometimes story worthy events happen on the first day, sometimes not for a whole sim season. BUT I do keep the houses on the same time schedule so that the sims are the same age and in the same season as each other, just to keep continuity going.
Characters – The founding families’ personalities were developed as I created them and will evolve based on how they interact with each other independent of my control. When they run in to each other, or meet NPCs, I pay attention to how they interact and their relationship with that sim goes from there. If they like each other, great! they may become lovers or friends, if they argue…even better for the drama, they may become enemies.
Free Will - On. If I were playing for points, I might follow Josh’s lead and turn free will off, but since I’m looking for a story I leave it on and keep an eye out for a sim doing something odd. Since they inevitably will, it often becomes part of, or leads to new, storylines.
Story Dev. Usually I have a plan, usually it goes awry. The story develops based on the wants of the characters. If a serious want (not just “juggle bottles”) is rolled three times, I interpret that to mean that the character really wants it so whether is destroys my plan or not, I try to make it happen for them.
Custom Content - I love a good download, who doesn’t? But sometimes it just isn’t necessary. Maxine Bettencourt has Maxis hair and Maxis clothes because they fit her personality just fine.
Hacks - Off I don’t have any problems with the way the game plays. Other folks do some really cool stuff with the hacks that are out there, like awesome pregnancy outfits and in hood schools, etc but I have really bad luck with hacks and I’m lazy. *shrugs*
EPs & Stuff Packs
- University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, BonVoyage, FreeTime, Apartment Life
- Family Fun, Glamour Life, Happy Holiday, Celebration, H&M Fashion, Teen Style, Kitchen & Bath, Ikea
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