Behind the Scenes of One to Rule Them All #1So, now that we know who are winner is- Congratulations to Blakely! I thought I'd give everyone a bit of behind the scenes information, show a bit of my favorite shots that didn't make the chapters for one reason or another and take you through some of the actual requirements they made.
First off, we all know how skilling can be, the sims going to work etc. It doesn't make for such an exciting story, at least not how I write it XD So to avoid that, I am trying to do actual character arcs, or at least the story is focused on the characters. This was an ideal challenge for that, and one of the reasons I wanted to start with it before I delved fully into the Royal Kingdom Challenge.
So, first off, the set up. Set up took months for this. I started with bull dozing Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, and Brindleton Bay. Then I deleted the normal townies. The only townies I didn't delete right away were the Villareals. I had the idea from the start that Windenburg was going to be Newcrest's "sister" kingdom in a lot of ways and the fact that they went through a civil war was important, since it was the reason the King needed to choose a successor and avoid a war. I thought the Villareals were a good fit for what I wanted. So I put them into CAS, deleted all the kids and aged Jacques down. Then I used genetics to create his parents, then his father's parents. That's how Ezekiel and Camille came into being.
I wanted a bit of variety, and Ezekiel was the type to ignore some conventions, I created Nina as a servant and then gave the two of them a son. Thus Gunner came into being.
Windenburg was also one of the only towns I didn't bulldoze entirely. I did bulldoze Dresden House (I wanted that 64 x 64 lot to have the castle on it) and so I downloaded
Windenburg Castle by PierrePiguet_ from the gallery.
I did much of the building first in Newcrest. Started with the castle and went from there. I already had a good idea for my royal and nobles and as I built, I got more ideas for the other families I'd be playing. I gave things a history which ended up being a lot of fun. All my builds are available on the gallery. Using #Wolfie #carlsguide #RKC should bring them all up. My Origin ID is (surprise, surprise) Shewolf13.
As I said, I had ideas for each of the noble families in particular as I was building and in some ways, they were the beginning inspiration for the One to Rule Them All Challenge.
Most of the screenshots are taken straight from gameplay. However, certain scenes, I do have other files where I go in and take pictures to use for the story itself to help supplement or explain a few things. This one, I have to share. When I set up the prologue with King Darian writing in his journal, I wanted a picture to hang above that he could look at. The one I chose, I knew was from the vampire game pack. I had no idea that it goes from a picture of a nice lady to well- I'll let the picture speak for itself:
I about died; I may even have yelled a bit XD It really did come as a bit of a shock. But I enjoyed it too much to not use it anyway hehehehe
So, we all know I have a softspot for Blakely. In fact, if there were any of my sims I'd put in my own personal savefile, he'd definitely be one of them. So I had to show you this shot of him dancing *snickers*
Not only is he a "terrific" dancer, but Blakely is a master of disguise as well! This is him trying to talk to a witness at a crime scene. Um... Blakely, your wife is the witch, you aren't! How did you do that?
Speaking of his wife, Adisa was at every crime scene he ever went to in one form or another. I thought it was great. I had always had the idea of pairing them, but I do have this unspoken rule that for the most part, in order to form a relationship with another sim, they have to meet them out and about. Well, Adisa was everywhere Blakely was lol! She also has friendships with several others as well, including Adrian and Gunner.
Speaking of Adrian, during the dinner party with the Xaviers, he and Marisa were getting quite close in the spa room downstairs. This was all autonomous, which I thought was great fun!
So something that happened in game, which I was not expecting and which I was really disappointed I couldn't figure out a way to work it into the story was, during a club meeting, Vlad (a club member) drowned/burned to death (I still don't actually know which). Except, Adrian was able to plead for his life! It was awesome. I can count on one hand the times I've been able to plead successfully.
King Darian isn't all somber and regal all the time either. He thought to have fun with young Adrian during their meeting hehehehehe
So during Beatrice's trip to Selvadorado, she saw a few familiar faces:
Such as, the King of Windenburg, King Kellen.
Sooo, Mira was my first kitten in game and I went a bit crazy with photos of her XD She was so cute! I couldn't help myself XD
Ironies of ironies, I had to laugh when I saw that Beatrice's future mother-in-law worked at the hospital heh.
I just- I love this pic and had to share it XD Mira greeted Beatrice once she returned from Selvaderado and this was just too cute!
That concludes the first rotation of shots that I wanted to share. On to the second week.
I so wish Blakely would change into this outfit more, because I think he looks awesome in it.
While at work, Blakely has to go talk to the Chief of Police, right? I think he's trying his smolder out on her here:
It would totally work on me, let me tell you XD However... the Chief of Police was having none of it XD
I'm not sure what it is about my male sims, but they all try the smolder look. Some with less success than others. Here's Adrian trying it out on Marisa. Good thing she loves him, even when he is a dork XD
Adrian's expressions were some of my favorite. His wide eyes are great.
Apparently, Queen Emilia of Windenburg has no qualms about public displays of affection XD
Poor Maxim; I can hear his thoughts. "Oi, humans! Would you two get a room already! I'm already gonna have a brother or sister as it is!"
I just really love this screenshot. Toddlers hugging their parents just make me go "Awwww!" Adrian is family-oriented, so his whims almost always evolve around his family.
I giggled a bit too hard at this because I have a cat. I know how it is XD They want to be everywhere you are... regardless of how inconvenient XD I would not have been surprised if Mira had tried to jump up there with them.
*****
As promised, here are some of the details and inner workings of the challenge itself. For those who haven't read the rules, each family that is competing has to pick an option (1 of 7 choices). Each option has requirements that must be met. The first one to meet all the requirements of their option is the winner. So in essence, this is a race.
For Blakely, he had the Military option. His requirements were completing Bodybuilder Aspiration, maxing fitness and wellness, mentoring other Sims for 10 hours, level 6 or higher of athletic, detective, or space ranger career, as well as getting at least a silver wedding, and having an heir born.
Normally, the Bodybuilder aspiration seems to take forever to me. That and because I chose detective career, I had no idea how it would go with Blakely. But in reality, he cranked through his stuff rapidly. As you can see, he completed everything by Friday of the 3rd week, at 12:12pm. In fact, the only thing he was waiting on was the birth of his heir. Once Zach was born, he had locked in his score.
Adrian had the Diplomatic option. His requirements included: completing two of the popularity aspirations, maxing charisma and comedy, having 12 good friends, get to level 6 of political, business, or critic career as well as achieve silver or better for his wedding and bring in an heir. I also started him as a teen.
I was surprised at how well Adrian started off. I normally avoid the popularity aspirations if at all possible (I'm a bit of an introvert, so having my sims interact with others outside is not my cup of tea), but Adrian had his aspirations both done super quick. That meant he also maxed charisma incredibly early as well. Of course, he couldn't start on his career until after he aged up and I wasn't sure how that would go. I did have him spend his points on Connections, hoping to give him a leg up once he did start (I didn't really concentrate on his grades at the time; it seemed more in character that he could take or leave school XD).
By week 3, he had everything (including the birth of his daughter) completed but maxing comedy, a level in his career and finishing up his friends. He only had one or two more to go. His career got bugged a couple of days (his work from home assignment wouldn't appear as an option, sadly), but he did eventually get a promotion. But trying to get comedy maxed and taking care of a toddler, plus finding a new friend, he just didn't quite make it. Once Friday rolled around and he still had 4 or more levels to go, it wasn't going to happen. So then he had fun with his daughter XD
Beatrice had the Scholarly option, of course. Her requirements included completing two of the following aspirations: Bestselling Author, Nerd Brain, Archeology Scholar, Renaissance Sim, The Curator, and Jungle Explorer; maxing four skills; create a collection of 10 written works (could also have 10 collectibles); must reach level 6 of either the doctor, writing, scientist, or tech guru careers; achieve a silver or better wedding and bring in an heir.
Honestly, I thought I'd smash her requirements. At one time, I could get through Bestselling Author in less than a Sim week (from playing challenges like 13 ghosts and just always having a writer sim). But for some reason, perhaps because I was woefully out of practice or just too complacent, it took a lot of time and just couldn't seem to get there. Adding in Archaelogy Scholar, which was an aspiration I hadn't yet done was the second mistake. So from the beginning, Beatrice was just behind. Even after her marriage to Gunner, their first couple woohoos (I have Risky Woohoo on; there is no option to Try for Baby) resulted in no pregnancy.
I did not set out to make any of them the Monarch over the others. But as each week with them unfolded, it was apparent that Blakely had a leg up. Storywise, none of them actually wanted to rule, but they felt it a duty to try. So, there you have it.
I hope everyone who read along enjoyed my story and will enjoy the upcoming fun of the RKC. I'm always up for suggestions, comments, and if you have ideas, etc, don't hesitate to PM me! Thank you so much for reading!
