#kulo sena

Today I did a brainstorming session focused on "what if" scenarios and possible common threads for things that have happened in past iterations of Kulo Sena. I don't want to let any spoilers loose, but it's got me feeling enthusiastic again... as much as I ever can be when I have to remake sims and build for them.

I've also worked out why I dislike doing the SimPE edits so much. It's just a dull, repetitive slog down a list of SDSC files, typing in semi-arbitrary numbers for interest and personality points and skills. Over and over again. In addition to being a linear "go down the list" thing or else I forget who I've already edited, it doesn't engage my mind at all - and why else do I choose to build detailed fantasy settings instead of mimicking historical or contemporary Earth? Granted, I haven't found a solution for SimPE boredom, or for my accursed perfectionism, but knowing is half the battle.

I wish all my simmer friends much love and enjoyment of their games. Back to the grind I go... I wish I was enjoying my game instead of remaking sims... but I do know why SimPE is something I avoid more than building now, so I can work out a strategy.

This Valentine's Day, I've been sharing the love with my sims and their world. I'd like to share the latest part of that worldbuilding project with my simblr friends (who I also appreciate deeply.)

Welcome to Kettlehaven, home to the first seven households I've made. This is where the Pollen household now resides, as well as several completely new sims, and some crossovers from roleplays, premades and forays into TS3.

Kettlehaven is the site of the only walled community within the Lake Lulla region: the Healing Gardens, established as a place for those who need help with their journeys of recovery. The Gardens' resident healers, Qusul and Equinox Pollen (yes, my simself) have built on the knowledge of legendary Nuidya herbalist Serendipity Herendez zan-Carmela, brewing a variety of remedies for grief, stress, and occasionally the after-effects of possession. This is totally where the village's name comes from. Not line of sight in the kitchen, not at all.

Happy (slightly belated) New Year to all my simblr friends! I've been focusing on my solo RPG over the holidays, since I refuse to build over Christmas, but I'm ready to get back to working on Kulo Sena now!

As part of my attempt to be more true to my own playstyle, I've managed to zap a lot of the stuff I'm not using, but keep including, from my Downloads folder (3t2 traits, and complex Sun&Moon crafting chains, looking at you) so my load times will hopefully be less like sload times. I'm also examining elements of my gameplay that I'm dissatisfied with. One of those aspects is the rotation system, which I've been very strict about keeping in sync since before Kulo Sena was a thing - even though my naturally chaotic, cluttered mind can't handle schedules! It's much too full of roleplaying and worldbuilding stuff to remember anything as trivial as when I have to go to the dentist. (I know where things are, mum. They're in one of those piles on the floor over there.)

So, how can I change my timekeeping style to better suit my preferences? Well... (Quin Standard Ramble incoming!)

As the rebuild of Kulo Sena is the next project on my list, I wanted to make each of its "nests" (home lots) feel distinct from each other. Unlike Symbiosis, KS isn't the sort of place that has wildly varying architectural styles, so I decided to do that - and give myself fewer foraging community lots to build - by creating a mini ROS for new lots' resources and challenges, inspired by the TS4 lot traits and challenges system (an idea I always liked, though I no longer play TS4).

New home lots, including the fifteen nests I'll be setting up for rotation 1, get three rolls of a d12 and one roll of a d8. Resources are determined by the 3d12, challenges by 1d8. They are:

Resources Swimmable Water Fishable Water Hot Springs/Waterfalls Wild Berries/Mushrooms Grazing Ground for Livestock Fruit Trees Herbs/Spices Farmland Beehives Minerals Magical Resources/Reagents Hunting Grounds

Challenges Vermin Hauntings Feral Griffins/Nightlight Predators Firestorms Hailstorms Harmful Plants (poison berries, thorns, cow plants?) Roll 1d6, but there's more of it No challenge (lucky break)

It is possible to get the same number on multiple d12s, in which case I treat that as "lots of that resource." All lots must have at least two resources, though, so I reroll any third duplicates.

First off: I am not a builder. I can build and landscape, I just... need to do it in veeeeery small doses. Here are a few pics from today's build sessions, along with hints and tips from a chronic buildophobe:

Since the Nuidya are generally very close to nature, I prefer to start with a little landscaping before I add structures. A great way I've found to make lots that are meant to be "untamed nature" look less like a perfectly well-kept garden: Use building cheats such as moveobjects on and boolprop snapobjectstogrid false to place plants and other terrain features off-grid, overlapping, or at various angles (I use fway's Object Rotators for that last one. Even boolprop allow45degreeangleofrotation true looks a little too uniformly angular for my taste.) Don't be afraid of the terrain elevation tools either!

Even a chronic buildophobe can get use out of OMSPs! This family of ducks were placed on PineappleForest's sea level OMSP, some of them angled with the aforementioned Object Rotators, then overlapped so they appear to be swimming close to each other.

I added an area for pets (mostly cats, as Nuidya venerate cats) over here. Plenty of rocks for my sims' feline friends to sun themselves on, thanks to Epi and Tvickiesims collaborating on the cat OMSP shown here as several pink boxes. Again, I made use of varying angles and OMSP elevations, and not everything snaps to the grid.

Over here is a little area for dining - mostly on fresh-caught fish, I imagine. The green square on the beach boulder is a counter OMSP, where the meals can be placed for beachgoers to help themselves to.

Here's what the mainhood looks like at the moment, seen from the highest point on the terrain. I personally like the way the waterfall on the skyline appears to be flowing into the lake there! The highest level of terrain, Guardian Point, is home to the Shields Breath nest, along with a sport/tournament site, ritual baths, burial grounds (renamed "guidance grounds") and that one rift that opened when I accidentally let a warlock NPC spawn and curse a previous guidance ground. Don't worry, it's mostly under control now. :)

The next highest layer is the Central Aetherway, where you'll find the aether beacon and the harvest green (trading lot), along with the Calls in Darkness nest - home to recently-deposed headwoman Etan and her family.

I don't have a clever name for the beach lot tier yet. However...