Building Contest 2013: 11 - Dynasty Designs

[samoht04]

Building Contest 2013: 11 - Dynasty Designs - June 02, 2013 - June 15, 2013
    Ricalynn!

Congratulations to Ricalynn for winning the building contest! You can download the winning entry here: The Bridge / Dynasty Underground.



Ricalynn's Comment:

"Really? I won?  Guess all that practice in my dynasty files finally paid off!  I kid. Thank you to all those that voted for me.  Everyone who participated did a great job on their homes, congratulations.

I've been doing dynasty builds for as long as I've been a member of the forum, just usually for actual dynasties.  When I saw this contest posted, I knew I had to do a build for it and I knew I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't.  Then I got distracted by actually starting and finishing a life states dynasty within the contest time frame.  A friend who knew what I was doing told me to build a bridge for the actual dynasty.  I fell in love with it and knew I had to build another one for the contest. He agreed and told me to get to it. That and I just knew I had to share my new found passion for troll holes retirement pods. "

Congratulations Rica! Comments are now allowed for those that want them!  There were such great entries from everyone!

[napoleonwrasse]

Congrats Ricalynn! Awesome job!

[ladybug53]

Congratulations Ricalynn ! Your entry just blew my mind , such creativity and imagination . Bravo !

I would like to thank our famous coordinators samoht04 , Lilygirl and Ausette for creating these fun and challenging contests for us .

Also congratulations to everyone else . All the entries were fantastic and so creative .

I'm open for comments on my entry . I've never done a dynasty myself so this was all new to me . I had a great time creating it . 

[Ricalynn]

Thank you guys!  I'm open to comments on my build as well.

One thing I love about our dynasties are how so many players can take the basic rules of the dynasty and turn them into so many different and amazing stories.  I'm not the world's best decorator once I've built something. I've learned that it being a 8 generation challenge means that's ok.  Dynasties are about the challenge then the story.   My own finished immortal dynasty is 1GB a save and that's after I destroyed the house.

ladybug I loved your house.  I could see living there while in several of the Sims towns and possibly even the new one.   In fact it gave me an idea for something to do with a family I play in Barnacle Bay. 

[sunshine_2406]

Well done Rica, your house was great. I'm not such a good builder during dynasties so thought I would give it a go from scratch. It was a lot harder than I thought with the budget but it was fun. I'm open to comments on my build as well.

Ladybug, your house was really well done. I could see my Sims living in it.

[napoleonwrasse]

I'm also open to comments.

Rica: Yours was so unique that it really surprised me, it was like function over form in a good way.

Ladybug: Yours reminded me of a seaside retreat, something very relaxing.

[Ricalynn]

Sunshine:  I liked your build.  It reminds me of one I've used in the past but you made the bedrooms sit better in my opinion.  The colors and exterior were better than I would do, too. It just felt like a good home for an immortal.  Not too big, plenty of space and of course my favorite nursery trick - a fireplace.

Napoleon:  You proved that housing eight Sims didn't require a second story.   The big open space for a living space is also really nice.  Not to mention a huge swimming pool to keep the old people occupied.

I guess I think of things as if I was planning the dynasty not just the house.   A dynasty is about the challenge yes but each generation does their own stuff and after a while you need to keep people occupied that are done and waiting. 

[sunshine_2406]

Sunshine:  I liked your build.  It reminds me of one I've used in the past but you made the bedrooms sit better in my opinion.  The colors and exterior were better than I would do, too.  It just felt like a good home for an immortal.  Not too big, plenty of space and of course my favorite nursery trick - a fireplace.

Thanks Rica, I actually learnt the fireplace thing for a nursery from your dynasty

[napoleonwrasse]

Napoleon:  You proved that housing eight Sims didn't require a second story.   The big open space for a living space is also really nice.  Not to mention a huge swimming pool to keep the old people occupied.

Thanks! I personally just find it easier to play when everyone's on one level.

[ladybug53]

@  napoleonwrasse - I really liked your set-up . I also liked your use of the shelves for night stand , nice touch . You did a great job on your entry .

@  sunshine_2406 - I liked your set-up also plus you had several bathrooms which are important for this number of sims living under one roof . You did a great job on your entry as well .

What is the nursery and fireplace trick ? I'm curious , I've never seen this before . 

[Ricalynn]

In the dynasties, you can't age up children early so a lot of time is spent with them just sitting in their cribs.  A fireplace, some music, maybe a special fridge and some incense will keep their happiness bar full and they will at least accrue lifetime happiness points while you're waiting for them to leave the slug and toddler stages.

[ladybug53]

I never knew that but it makes sense . I have my nooboo set on one day only .  That's all I can handle ... toddlers are more fun , at least you get to teach them things . I guess for a dynasty this would be quite important . Thanks for the tip . 

[napoleonwrasse]

@  napoleonwrasse - I really liked your set-up . I also liked your use of the shelves for night stand , nice touch . You did a great job on your entry .

Thank you!

[intl_incident]

napoleonwrasse -- I really liked that you were able to keep everything on one floor.  I love multi-story houses for lots of things, but I would imagine that it would be easier to keep all the members of the dynasty on one floor because there are so many people.  I especially liked the way you decorated the bedrooms.  Very simple and elegant.

ladybug -- Your house was really nicely laid out and decorated.  I struggled with the floorplan on mine, and was really impressed with how neatly yours was set up.  The nautical theme was really well done, too.

sunshine -- I liked the layout of your house as well.  All of the skilling items looked very practical, like you must have played dynasties before.  I've never played one, and so I think that based on what I saw in other houses, mine didn't have enough easels, etc.

Congratulations, ricalynn! Yours was so clever!  What a great way to fit so much into a small space.  Your bathroom as especially awesome.  I have done something similar in various gyms that I have built, but I've never even thought of doing it in a residence.  It made great sense for this challenge, and you made it look good, to.

I am open for any comments, especially if I missed anything important where dynasties are concerned.  This was a fun learning experience, to see how complicated those stories can be!

[Ricalynn]

Intl - I loved your courtyard.  One of my first dynasty homes had a courtyard like that and sometimes I miss it.   I enjoyed the feel of your house.  It was very homey and well decorated. I enjoyed your use of color(which I'm bad at) and all the display cases around for showing off items.   The reason for multiple easels and sculpting stations is usually because this way you can queue up several in a row and then take the best looking/highest value portrait & sculpture for the museum. 

I got the idea from the bathroom because one of the things I hate the most is setting up 8 Sims to do their morning routines only for  four of them to mess it up somehow because of routing issues.  They can't get to a chair so they bump to the shower they were supposed to wait on and so forth.   Everyone ends up still stinky and late for work with only one having done half of what he was supposed to.   I'm in love with the public showers from the store for this very reason.  I will use the stall toilets and public showers from here on out no doubt about it.  And probably a lot more retirement pods.

One thing that could have been done was read the tips thread for the two dynasties.  There are a lot of little tips we've all placed in there and while some are mostly about gameplay, there are some about skilling objects and the like.    Dynasties not only have 8 people but they go for 40 weeks and you have to have a portrait for every life stage of those 8 people.  Not to mention if you want to keep any mementos from any of the housemates you had along the way.  Not just due to my lack of talent (I'm not normally inspired), I've learned to keep things simple. 

It's basically 8 people for over 40 weeks all doing 8 different skills and avoiding the other 7 they can't do.  You end up waiting for Grim at least once and you grow very attached to your little pixels.