New Blog

Ok so I'm getting antsy lol......I've started the new blog, but the entries will be slow at first. I'm playing through what I call a "developmental round" right now, so I will begin by telling each family's story. I didn't want to start with sims who had no skills and didn't know anyone in the hood. I hope that everyone who followed this blog will follow the new one....and hopefully this will be the LAST FREAKING TIME I have to start over!!!! LaQuest Beach can be found here. I hope you guys enjoy it!!! See ya over at the new blog!!!

Just an Idea

This is just my idea for the business I want to display in the mag.......maybe it will give those of you who want to contribute an idea..........I still have to do the page with Janet's little blurb on it, but this is her little ad for her salon:

Random Ramblings

Just wanted to remind everyone about the deadline for SimSational Quarterly since it's fast approaching! It's Oct. 5th in case anyone forgot. I think it was Sullivan who asked me what to send. If you want to do your own business layout it's fine just be sure to follow the guidelines listed here. If you want me to make it then I'll need pics of your business and sim or wedding announcement or whatever, and also a blurb about it. You can include whatever you would like in the blurb about the photo. Let me know if there's any other questions about the specifics!

I'm slowly putting up resident info. If you click on the "Sim Profile" label you can see what I have so far. The founding familes are listed under the "Resident Info" tab. I was going to keep a continuous page with everyone on it instead of individual pages, but I hate trying to get blogger to place pics and text correctly and it just seems easier to give them each their own page and backdate the posts. You'll also notice that each sim has some "random" traits. These are traits that I roll either when they are created or born, and slowly incorporate them into the gameplay. So if someone has "drinking problem" listed as a trait and they haven't been drinking so far, don't worry it's coming! These are traits that they will develop over their lifetime.......I'm pretty sure I got this from Apple Valley. It's a cool way to incorporate the Sims 3 into the Sims 2!

I'm also starting my own little ROS starting next round........I think it's cool to have some unpredictablity in the game!

Round 2 Intro

Ok, so after much thought, I have decided to stop doing months and switch to seasons. I'm sure it was confusing reading about each family four times, but that was my solution to filling out the 24 months. While it gives you a larger view into their lives during the 2 years, the problem I ran into was what happens when I have an uneven number of families? How could I continue to give each family the same number of months if I had say 9? So the seasons will work out much better. My rounds will be shorter until I have more families, but it will make more sense. I'll probably play each house a little longer than 2 days since they will only be getting one update per round now. I'll just turn aging off after two days. That's how I was managing the four updates per family. I just turned aging off after their first play. I'll be posting current pics of Crystal Bay, Crystal Bay Island, Crystal Bay University, and my two new families this afternoon. With them I now have 8 families so changing to seasons actually works out pretty well. Each family will get a season. Round 2 will run from Fall 2022 until Summer of 2024. Thanks to Shana at Pine Hollow for her great explanation of how she uses seasons instead of months. I totally stole this from her!

Caught!

I thought I would post my idea for the "Caught!" section. It's not very detailed, just a basic design, but I think it gives you an idea of where I want to go with this:

So what do you think? Should I keep it in?

SimSational Quarterly

So I figure I should begin working on the first issue of SimSational Quarterly. I think a good theme for this issue would be sim-owned businesses. I'm not sure how many of you are interested in contributing to this so as of right now I will say the limit is 2 businesses per hood. As for guidelines for submission, if you would like to create the layout for your entry yourself, the final picture needs to be 8x11. The same goes for any advertisements that you might want to include. I would be more that happy to help with the layout if you wanted to just send me the pictures you want to include along with a bio of the sim and the business. You can email me the photos and the bio, I'll create a layout and send it back to you for approval. So here are the official details:

1. Layout needs to be 8x11
2. Layout needs to include at least one picture of the business and the sim that owns it.
3. Layout needs to have a short bio of the sim and the business (i.e. how they started the business, the type business it is, etc.)
4. Layout can be more than one page. Say you wanted to have the pics on one page and the write up on another. That would be fine and probably would look better than crowding it all on one page.
5. I use Adobe Photoshop 7 so the format would need to be something readable in photoshop (.jpg, .bmp, etc.)
6. Be sure to include which hood the business is located in.

Advertisements can be on anything, they don't have to be hood related. I'm putting in an add for Cover Sim make up! They still need to follow the sizing guidelines. Send all submissions to :
mizzgin03@gmail.com

Again I would be glad to help anyone who isn't photoshop savvy but who still wants to contribute pics. Just let me know! I love doing this so it's no problem at all. May take me a bit of time with school and work. But that's why I'm starting on this so early. This issue will include Thanksgiving and Christmas as well if you wanted to contribute anything along those lines. This is the pilot issue so this is where we will begin to shape the way the issues will be. I also thought about having a section called "Caught!" with scandalous, juicy gossip and pics from the hoods as well. So what do you think? Is there anything that should be added? Taken away? Let me know! And you can start submitting pics today!

*I'm such a boob! The deadline will be Oct. 5. It's a Monday so that gives a weekend to work on the finishing touches. I also wanted to add Laura's great idea for an announcements section. Engagements, weddings, graduates, etc. I may consider doing baby announcements later, but right now I think it would be too huge with the number of babies between all the hoods! For those of you who have mayors and elections for different positions, that could also go in the announcements section. Feel free to toss out any ideas you might have, I want this to be something that we all enjoy doing and reading!

Small Break

I know I've been MIA for a few days and it's because I work at a university and it's the beginning of the semester......so it's bananas here! I'm also starting my first semester of grad school this week so it's going to be crazy. I will hopefully have my next post up by wednesday as well as catch up with all of your blogs. I will also post more information about the newsletter as well. So I'm still alive and kicking, just busy as all hell!

So I've Been Thinking........

I was publishing a little newsletter for my legacy family called SimSational Monthly. Seeing as how my legacy family bit the dust, I'm thinking of continuing the newsletter but including information from Crystal Bay. I would also be interested in featuring sims and events from other neighborhoods. I love photoshopping and editing and this is just my way to get my fix! Would any of you be interested? I would have to change it from a monthly newsletter to a quarterly one because of the added coverage I would be doing, but I would be very interested in trying it. For those of you who haven't seen my newsletter, here it is (best viewed full screen):

Open publication - Free publishing - More the sims 2

So what do you think? Any takers?

Resident Information

Founding Sims

Name: Tyson Carmichael
Sign: Aries
Aspiration: Fortune
Sec. Aspiraton:
Game Traits: Sloppy, Outgoing, Active, Serious, Nice
Random Traits: Ambitious, Hopeless Romantic
College Major:
Career: Politics
Turn Ons: Black Hair, Make-Up
Turn Off: Stink
Interests: Food, Paranormal, Money
Hobby: Music & Dance
Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse(s): Ann Marie Carmichael
Children: Cassie Carmichael, Tyson Carmichael, Jr. (TJ)

Name: Ann Marie Carmichael
Sign: Pisces
Aspiration: Family
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Neat, Shy, Active, Serious, Nice
Random Traits: Excitable, Bookworm
College Major:
Career: Business
Turn Ons: Glasses, Brown Hair
Turn Off: Fatness
Interests: Fashion, Food, Paranormal
Hobby:
Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse(s): Tyson Carmichael
Children: Cassie Carmichael, Tyson Carmichael Jr. (TJ)

Name: Cassie Carmichael
Sign: Pisces
Aspiration: Pleasure
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Sloppy, Shy, Active, Serious, Nice
Random Traits: Vegetarian, Cultural
College Major:
Career:
Turn Ons: Fitness, Charismatic
Turn Off: Logical
Interests: Sci-fi, School, Fashion
Hobby:
Parents: Tyson Carmichael, Ann Marie Carmichael
Siblings: Tyson Carmichael, Jr. (TJ)
Spouse(s):
Children:


Name: Tyson Carmichael, Jr. (TJ)
Sign: Leo
Aspiration:
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Sloppy, Outgoing, Lazy, Serious, Grouchy
Random Traits: Poetic, Affectionate
College Major:
Career:
Turn Ons:
Turn Off:
Interests: School, Travel, Animals
Hobby: Music & Dance
Parents: Tyson Carmichael, Ann Marie Carmichael
Siblings: Cassie Carmichael
Spouse(s):
Children:

Name: Sam Leary
Sign: Scorpio
Aspiration: Family
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Neat, Shy, Active, Serious, Grouchy
Random Traits: Angler, Green Thumb
College Major:
Career:
Turn Ons: Red Hair, Fitness
Turn Off: Cologne
Interests: Politics, Sports, Entertainment
Hobby:
Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse(s): Tina Leary
Children: Michael Leary


Name: Tina Leary
Sign: Aquarius
Aspiration: Family
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Neat, Shy, Active, Playful, Nice
Random Traits: Workaholic, Ethical
College Major:
Career: Journalism
Turn Ons: Red Hair, Facial Hair
Turn Off: Formal Wear
Interests: Culture, Food, Travel
Hobby:
Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse(s): Sam Leary
Children: Michael Leary

Name: Michael Leary
Sign: Libra
Aspiration:
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Sloppy, Outgoing, Lazy, Playful, Nice
Random Traits: Virtuoso, Debonair
College Major:
Career:
Turn Ons:
Turn Off:
Interests: Toys, School, Animals
Hobby: Nature
Parents: Sam Leary, Tina Leary
Siblings:
Spouse(s):
Children:


Name: Janet Peterson
Sign: Libra
Aspiration: Romance
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Sloppy, Outgoing, Lazy, Playful, Nice
Random Traits: Irresponsible, Fashionable
College Major:
Career: Slacker
Turn Ons: Fitness, Athletic
Turn Off: Fatness
Interests: Politics, Crime, Travel, Money
Hobby:
Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse(s):
Children:
Name: Fabio DeLorne
Sign: Aquarius
Aspiration: Fortune
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Sloppy, Outgoing, Lazy, Playful, Nice
Random Traits: Schmoozer, Private
College Major:
Career: Entertainment
Turn Ons: Black Hair, Jewelry
Turn Off: Face Make-Up
Interests: Entertainment, Culture, Paranormal
Hobby: Cuisine
Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse(s): Gabriella DeLorne
Children: Angelo DeLorne

Name: Gabriella DeLorne
Sign: Cancer
Aspiration: Fortune
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Neat, Shy, Active, Serious, Nice
Random Traits: Sensitive, Family-Oriented
College Major:
Career: Medical
Turn Ons: Fitness, Brown Hair
Turn Off: Glasses
Interests: Money, Weather, Environment
Hobby: Tinkering
Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse(s): Fabio DeLorne
Children: Angelo DeLorne

Name: Angelo DeLorne

Sign: Leo

Aspiration: Family

Sec. Aspiration:

Game Traits: Sloppy, Outgoing, Lazy, Serious, Grouchy

Random Traits: Childish, Ambitious

College Major:

Career:

Turn Ons: Charismatic, Blonde Hair

Turn Off: Fatness

Interests: Work, Sports, Money

Hobby: Music & Dance

Parents: Fabio DeLorne, Gabriella DeLorne

Siblings:

Spouse(s):

Children:

Name: Milton Arnold
Sign: Taurus
Aspiration: Fortune
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Neat, Outgoing, Lazy, Playful, Grouchy
Random Traits: Hot-headed, Sensitive

College Major:

Career: Law Enforcement

Turn Ons: Fitness, Red Hair

Turn Off: Fatness

Interest: Work, Weather, Paranormal

Hobby:

Parents:

Siblings:

Spouse(s):

Children: Jocelyn Arnold

Name: Jocelyn Arnold

Sign: Leo

Aspiration:

Sec. Aspiration:

Game Traits: Sloppy, Outgoing, Lazy, Serious, Nice

Random Traits: Insightful, Affectionate

College Major:

Career:

Turn Ons:

Turn Off:

Interests: Entertainment, Animals, Travel

Hobby:

Parents: Milton Arnold

Siblings:

Spouse(s):

Children:

Name: Nickoli Frader
Sign: Capricorn
Sec. Aspiration:
Game Traits: Neat, Shy, Lazy, Playful, Grouchy
Random Traits: Drinking Problem, Handy
College Major:
Career: Law
Turn Ons: Make-up, Logic
Turn Off: Unemployed
Interests:
Hobby:
Parents:
Siblings:
Spouse(s):
Children:

Welcome to Crystal Bay

Crystal Bay is my attempt at building a custom neighborhood. After the collapse of my legacy family, I decided to simply start over from scratch. I had already begun building up Pleasantview to be played in prosperity style, so this is the way Crystal Bay will be played as well.

As of right now, there aren't any subhoods, but I am building a university, Crystal Bay University. None of the sims can afford to take vacations right now so I will add those later as well. There are three areas of residence in Crystal Bay. Larrington Heights is where the nicer homes were built. It over looks the rest of the neighborhood and is home to the new mayor. Talum is where the middle class homes are located. Middleton is where the cheapest homes and farmland are located. The middle contains a shopping strip that has all the community lots available to sims. I plan to add beach homes along the shore as well as a dock and a warehouse district.
I am very happy with what I have so far and am sure it will grow and prosper into a wonderful place to begin a new start. Welcome to Crystal Bay!

Founding Families

Crystal Bay begins with 6 families with a need for a new beginning. These families see this as a new start to a better life.

The Carmichaels

Cassie, Ann Marie, Tyson, and TJ

Tyson Carmichael and his wife Ann Marie moved to Crystal Bay with their kids Cassie and TJ after Tyson's father offered him a job as Mayor. Tyson's father is governor of the great state of Simton and wanted to give his son the opportunity to do something great. Tyson accepted the challenge and he and his family moved to Crystal Bay with hopes that he could help build the town into something wonderful. They currently live in Larrington Heights.

The Learys
Sam, Tina, and Michael
Sam Leary was always the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. So imagine his surprise when the beautiful high school cheerleader Tina fell in love with him and eventually married him and had his child. Life for the trio had been a little tough and Sam is determined to give Tina the life he feels she deserves. So he decided to move them to Crystal Bay when he found a house with a garden plot. It's a tiny house, but Sam is convinced that once he begins growing his produce, the sells from it will enable him to get a bigger house and maybe one day even a store. They currently have a small farmhouse in Middleton.

The Petersons
Janet
Janet Peterson has always been a love 'em and leave 'em kind of girl. She's never seen the use of having love or settling down with one person for your entire life. There are too many men out there to do that!!! Janet came to Crystal Bay simply for a change in scenery and a change in men! Janet currently lives in Crystal Bay Apartments.

The DeLornes
Fabio, Gabriella, Angelo
Fabio DeLorne was tired of living in the shadows of his family name. He has dreams of being an entertainer based on his own merit and he knew that he couldn't do that from his home. He and his wife Gabriella decided to move with their son Angelo so that Fabio could start his career fresh, without the tainting of the DeLorne name attached. They have a home in Talum.

The Arnolds
Milton and Jocelyn
Milton Arnold was crushed when his wife of 10 walked into their apartment and declared that she was leaving. Joy was always complaining about being tied down, but Milton was sure that things were getting better. With Joy taking off, Milton couldn't afford his apartment in the city, so he and his daughter Jocelyn moved to a small home in Talum. Milton hopes that he can do a good enough job raising Jocelyn on his own.

The Fraders
Nickoli
Nickoli Frader recently received his bachelor's degree and is now deciding what to do with his life. He moved to Crystal Bay hoping to have a better start since the city is developing. He doesn't know exactly what he wants to do, just that he wants to be a success at it! He currently lives in the City Loft Apartments.



* Sorry for the crappy pictures, but it was easier to take the game shots than create new ones of my own.....building a city is hard work!

Rules & Regulations

Crystal Bay will be run in prosperity style although I won't be keeping points. Most of these ideas were taken from Lakeside Heights, Sullivan, and Simmington Hills, so thanks to those guys for all their wonderful ideas! This was in progress before my game crashed so I took it and changed it around from my other blog.

Aging
So like most blogs I have seen, I'm organizing my aging behind Lakeside Heights, which is explained here. Basically everyone ages two years per round and I play each family for one month during those two years. I will switch up the months so that one family will not get stuck with the same month. I play the college for two years broken up into 4 different updates.
baby: 0-1
toddler: 1-3
Child: 4-11
Teen: 12-18
YA: 19-22
Adult: 23-60
Elder: 60+
At the moment, I only have 6 households so that means they each get 4 updates during a rotation of 24 months. I have the postponed silver years hack installed which means that my adult stage lasts for 42 days instead of 28 and my elders don't live as long.My rounds begin in August and end in July 2 years later.

Taxes & Fees

Taxes are paid at the beginning of each round. I only take a property tax because as of right now, I don't have the patience to calculate individual income taxes! Each household pays 15% of the value of their property, belongings, and bank accounts. I get this amount from the neighborhood screen. Married couples get a credit of $1500 and everyone one gets $1000 per dependent. Dependents include children, college students, and any adult that may be living with the sim who they take care of (i.e. elderly parent or grandparent). The total amount collected is then doubled to account for all the townies, downtownies, and NPCs that also use city facilities. Out of this city budget come money for new city buildings and facilities, events, parks, etc.

Fees charged by Crystal Bay include but are not limited to:

Marriage

Marriage license: $500 (required for all marriages/unions)
Home Ceremony: Free
Additional Venues
City Hall (Marriage only): $500
City Hall Banquet Hall (Full ceremony): $1000
The Lord's Heart Church: $1500

Divorces are $1000 ($500 per party) and divorce proceedings will include custody and dissolvement of marital assets.
Funerals are $500 for a basic burial and $1000 for a memorial service.
Adoption
Baby: $5000
Todder: $2500
Child: $1500
Fertility Treaments: $2500; for women over 40 who have tried at least twice.

Education
CB Academy will be a public school and therefore free. Any parent wishing to enroll their child into private school will pay $1000 per school year.
Crystal Bay University is state owned and so education can be offered at a reduced price. A four year degree from CBU is $8000 ($1000 per semester). It can all be paid in one lump sum or $2000 a year.
I have the no 20000 handout hack installed so:
A University student is awarded $5,000 for graduation, Magna Cum Laude.
$1,000 for graduation, regular.

Government

Decisions in Crystal Bay will be decided by the mayor and city council. The council will be made up of 10 members (borrowed from Simmington Hills):
Mayor
Qualifications: Politics Career
Tasks: Head City Council and enact new laws or fees
Holder: Tyson Carmichael

Education Director
Qualifications: Education Career
Tasks: Reports status of public school and makes new educational policies and decisions
Holder:

Director of Finance
Qualifications: Business Career
Tasks: Manage city budget and taxes
Holder: Ann Marie Carmichael

Recreational Director
Qualifications: Athletics Career
Task: Promote fitness through diet, exercise and recreation
Holder:

Clinic Chief of Staff
Qualifications: Medical Career
Tasks: Operate CB Health Clinic (Once it's built that is!)
Holder: Gabriella DeLorne

Attorney General
Qualifications: Law Career
Tasks: Handle legal issues for citizens, finalize laws
Holder: Nickoli Frader

Events Manager
Qualifications: Slacker Career
Tasks: Plan and host events/parties and attend parties community events
Holder: Janet Peterson

Librarian
Qualifications: Science career
Tasks: Keep residential directories up to date
Holder:

Security Director
Qualifications: Law Enforcement Career
Tasks: solve conflicts, crime prevention
Holder: Milton Arnold

City Planner
Qualifications: Architect Career
Tasks: Plan designs of all new approved city buildings
Holder:

In addition to these positions, there will also be an administrative position of:
Tax Assessor
Qualifications: Business Career
Tasks: Collect taxes, compile budget reports for each rotation.
Holder: Ann Marie

City Council Salaries are paid as follows (per rotation):
Mayor: $4000
Education Director: $2000
All other members: $1000
Administrative Positions are paid $800 a rotation.

Council Members will hold their positions until they are unable to perform their jobs. This may change as more sims become eligible who may want to run.These rules and regulations are all subject to change.