Strangetown Conspiracy 11: A Brother's Fall (chapter at the end of the thread)

[joe_mulcahy]

You've managed to turn the most boring sims neighborhood into something exciting and great!  Amazing work, keep it up!!  I subscribed to your channel.

Whaaa-at?  You find the Strangetown boring?  As for me, they are the only EAxis made neighbourhood I found interesting.   Each character comes with a backstory that begs for further exploration, and that is how I decided to do this series.  

Then again, perhaps I found Strangetown interesting because it is the only original neighbourhood where affairs and romance weren't at the forefront of their neighbourhood story, I couldn't play Veronaville for more than a few weeks,  and I grew tired after about a month of Don Lothario and Daniel Pleasant wanting to bounce their beds with anything having a pulse. But then, that's just me, I'd rather actively participate in romantic interactions than watch  others do it and face consequences for it (i.e. Mary Sue catching Daniel in the act, or Consort kicking the bins of the rival family.)

Thank you for the feedback and for subscribing to my channel!  Thanks for posting your "Don't Walk Away Renee" music videos as well.  It makes me wish I knew more girls named Renee.  Oh well, perhaps someday I'll have a daughter, I think Renee is a fine name for a lovely girl.

Okay, damn it, part three has me wanting to kill pixels. Grrrr.... *sits and waits for more soon*

Thank you for the feedback!  Yes, it's sad how mob mentality can lead even otherwise decent humans to do such violent acts.

[Tenshii~Akari]

:bawl:  So sad!  Poor, poor Johnny... :crybaby:  

You know it's sad, because things like this actually happen in real life.  It really kind of hits home to a point.  Great job on the newer installments.  :clap:

[xTERRIx]

i just got my keyboard wet with tears!!

[Sam the T-man]

:bawl:  So sad!  Poor, poor Johnny... :crybaby:  

You know it's sad, because things like this actually happen in real life.  It really kind of hits home to a point.  Great job on the newer installments.  :clap:

Couldn't agree more. That's partly why I found it so moving too :crybaby:

Just found this, but it's great work In fact I'm taking mental notes 'cause I've got this video project to do for Uni :smt120 What do you use?

[CynaraBlade]

You've managed to turn the most boring sims neighborhood into something exciting and great!  Amazing work, keep it up!!  I subscribed to your channel.

Oh yeah, I can imagine Strangetown being boring, only because there are no braindead soap-opera storylines. Riiiight...

Actually, it's my favourite Maxis hood, since it houses the most memorable characters and has quite a few offbeat stories attached to it, more so than any other Maxis hood. (Last time I played a game in Pleasantview I ended up killing at least half the population off. Yes, I think a great deal of its inhabitants are that dull.)

Anyhoo, back on topic - you've done a stellar job on those videos, Joe. It did break my heart seeing Ripp Grunt being pummelled by Buzz, though...

[joe_mulcahy]

:bawl:  So sad!  Poor, poor Johnny... :crybaby:  

You know it's sad, because things like this actually happen in real life.  It really kind of hits home to a point.  Great job on the newer installments.  :clap:

Thank you very much for the feedback, Tenshii.  Yes, unfortunately that kind of thing could very well happen, hence even our beloved Strangetown is not immune to such violence.

i just got my keyboard wet with tears!!

Thank you for the feedback, Terris!  Yes, how sad even our beloved Strangetown is not immune to such a tragedy.

Couldn't agree more. That's partly why I found it so moving too

Just found this, but it's great work In fact I'm taking mental notes 'cause I've got this video project to do for Uni What do you use?  

Thank you for the feedback, Sadie79.  Great to hear that you're working on a project for Uni.  What do I use?  You mean what hacks?  Well I've hacked my own camera (start off with GunMod's camera hacks, for it is great for most shots, but when you want certain effects for a particular shot, then hacking the camera further is what I like to do).  I use weapons from Vampcat and Palidin. I make ample use of Paul's Reaction Tester, as well as the Insimenator, and posing hacks from Decorgal and animation boxes from JD.  I made hacks of my own, but I'm no where near as good as Hackers on this site, Maty and MTS2 are, so I won't be releasing them until I know they won't cause people's games to explode.    Oh yes, and don't us Windows Movie Maker,  I mean I used it for the first movie, but found that just about any movie editing software(Pinnacle, Adobe, Sony)  is better than movie maker.  Have I answered your question?  If you need help, I'll be happy to share what little I know.

[joe_mulcahy]

Oh yeah, I can imagine Strangetown being boring, only because there are no braindead soap-opera storylines. Riiiight...

Actually, it's my favourite Maxis hood, since it houses the most memorable characters and has quite a few offbeat stories attached to it, more so than any other Maxis hood. (Last time I played a game in Pleasantview I ended up killing at least half the population off. Yes, I think a great deal of its inhabitants are that dull.)

Anyhoo, back on topic - you've done a stellar job on those videos, Joe. It did break my heart seeing Ripp Grunt being pummelled by Buzz, though...

Amen, Cynarablade! The lack of braindead soap-opera storylines was precisely why Strangetown became my favourite hood from the first time I played them, and why I'm making a movie series there.  If General Buzz constantly rolled wants to sleep with anything with a pulse, I would have been bored with it, but thankfully Buzz would rather do more interesting things than bounce beds.

Thank you very much for the feedback.  Yes, unfortunately General Buzz's (and Tank's) treatment  of Ripp prompted me to drop satellites on them more than once.  Good job in the actual game family members can't pummel one another, for that would make the SIMs game too hard to play.  I wouldn't mind seeing Don Lothario get his though.

[Sam the T-man]

Well, I meant what movie editor/s you use. I tend to use Premiere - ironically I'm getting on better with my video project, which I thought I was worse at, but no.  Haven't played much with After Effects, but I've been taught Motion, which I love despite it being for the Mac Took a look at Movie Maker and looked away again :lol: I'll most likely be sharing my finished work on YouTube fairly soon, just for some feedback since I'm just starting out. I can imagine something like this would take ages to get done though.

ETA: Just seen the update - I nearly cried during the first part, it touched a raw nerve since I've been through grief myself :sad5:

[joe_mulcahy]

Well, I meant what movie editor/s you use. I tend to use Premiere - ironically I'm getting on better with my video project, which I thought I was worse at, but no.  Haven't played much with After Effects, but I've been taught Motion, which I love despite it being for the Mac Took a look at Movie Maker and looked away again :lol: I'll most likely be sharing my finished work on YouTube fairly soon, just for some feedback since I'm just starting out. I can imagine something like this would take ages to get done though.

ETA: Just seen the update - I nearly cried during the first part, it touched a raw nerve since I've been through grief myself :sad5:

Believe it or not, in the earlier episodes, I used Windows Movie Maker, but when I heard people saying how bad it is as an editor, I switched to Sony Vegas.  I tried Adobe Premiere, and one of my co-authors animated a few sequences for me in Flash, but I must say,  Sony Vegas is my favourite.

Glad you enjoyed the chapters, and yes, I had help writing those especially tear-jerking sequences, as my co-author Avatar Arkmage habitually made grown men cry in the Harry Potter universe (Remembrance and Renewal is the name of the fanfic), I knew he was just the man to approach when writing Strangetown Conspiracy.  Hope you enjoy the latest chapter.

[Sam the T-man]

I certainly did! Great stuff! ... and a few chapters ago you inspired me to rescue Strangetown from the depths of my own program files, check out the characters myself and consequently get a load of my own ideas! :laughing: Not as thrilling or intense as yours, just different... Ripp's fast become a favourite of mine, I have to say - he's adorable! :love2: One look through his memories and relationships (and those of involved sims), and I was left wanting to give the poor guy a big hug, I felt so sorry for him

[CynaraBlade]

Good god, I wonder what will become of poor Ripp?

[Tenshii~Akari]

:smile bi:  Great updates, joe!  As always, I'm eager to see what happens next.  :angel:  Looks like Ripp is in for his own little adventure.  

[Sam the T-man]

Wouldn't it be ironic if, after the way his folks have treated him, he turns out to be a hero in some way

[joe_mulcahy]

I certainly did! Great stuff! ... and a few chapters ago you inspired me to rescue Strangetown from the depths of my own program files, check out the characters myself and consequently get a load of my own ideas! :laughing: Not as thrilling or intense as yours, just different... Ripp's fast become a favourite of mine, I have to say - he's adorable! :love2: One look through his memories and relationships (and those of involved sims), and I was left wanting to give the poor guy a big hug, I felt so sorry for him

I can hardly wait to see your production, after all, the more Strangetown receives the noteriety it so richly deserves, the better for it!  Oh yes, Ripp and indeed the whole Grunt family weren't originally going to have such a big role, but in developing the characters for the script, General Buzz and Ripp commanded a larger share of the writing.

By the way, if you like, have a look through the deleted scenes.

There is a possible spoiler at the end, that is if I decide to reintegrate the scene into the series or just leave it out.  

By the way, about your idealised plantsim you uploaded, does it go in downloads like everything else, or do I put it elsewhere?

[QUOTE="Cyanara Blade]Good god, I wonder what will become of poor Ripp?
[/QUOTE]

Believe it or not, even I'm not 100% sure at this point.  You can watch one of the possible scenes in the closing credits, which features deleted scenes.

Great updates, joe! As always, I'm eager to see what happens next. Looks like Ripp is in for his own little adventure.

Quite possibly he is, but as we've got three possible versions of the sequence, Avvie and I haven't decided yet.  Watch the closing credits to see one of the ones I may or may not delete.

Wouldn't it be ironic if, after the way his folks have treated him, he turns out to be a hero in some way

As different as Ripp might be from Buzz and Tank, he is his father's son, and his brother's brother, so anything could happen.

Thanks for all the feedback folks, I appreciate it!

[Sam the T-man]

I'd rather keep it as a surprise, so I'll save the deleted scenes for later Mine won't be a production like yours though, just a regular story that'll be in the story section rather than here - I'm focusing more on the feud between the Grunts and Smiths, with some twists and turns thrown in - there's plenty of scope for story just with those two, and that's without my imagination throwing other goodies at them all! :twisted: ... In fact there's good story material with the Grunts alone...

In answer to your question, just plop him into downloads