All posts by Teeg

Getting Started, Modding

A Look at Mods for Sims 3 – Getting Started

Yesterday, we looked at NRAAS mods that will help fix issues with the Sims 3 game.

Today, we’ll look at more NRAAS mods – these will start changing how you play the game.

An update from the Story Progression mod
Story Progression update

Story Progression – I actually ran my game for ages without this one, until I learned how to fix the settings so I wasn’t being notified about everyone in town. I recommend reading this (quick couple paragraphs) and changing the settings they say – it’ll save you having to learn the stories about everyone in your town, unless you want to. Of all the mods on this list, this one will probably affect your game the most noticeably. The only issue I have with it is that sometimes I have to go in and change the settings because the game already had plans for the sim that my sim is interested in. That’s a fairly easy fix though, and other than that, I love it. :)

Picture of the dreams panel in the game
Dreams and wishes are controlled by Dreamer

Dreamer – I love this one. It controls dreams and Wishes, allowing you to complete a wish without

adding it to your 4 choices, and adjusts how long dreams and wishes remain available.

<3 Traveler <3 – One of my very favorites; this helps with issues when sims travel between worlds, along with doing a lot of other things, like letting you decide whether the sims in the travel worlds should age normally, allowing you to move to a travel world or stop the time clock so you can spend as long there as you’d like, oh, and it allows you to use each world you own as a vacation world, so you can send your sims to the beach for a visit. :)

A view of the vacation chooser with Aurora Skies showing as the designation.
Traveler turns all the worlds into vacation designations.

Last, but definitely not least, this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Master Controller and Debug Enabler.

There is so much to both of these, that it is hard to just casually mention them in a blog post. I will come back later and post more about what you can do with each of them, but for now, Master Controller lets you manage your sim and the population of your town. You can max motives, make the selected sim your active sim, enter CAS to edit the selected sim, etc. If you played Sims 2 and remember the tombstone of Life and Death, you can do almost everything that you could do there.

Debug Enabler takes it even further. With the two added to your game, there’s really not much of anything that you might want to do to your sim that’s not possible (except for turning your sim’s head into a cupcake – that’s only possible in Sims 4).

The first screen you see for Master Controller
The Initial Screen for Master Controller
Showing the advanced choices for Master Controller
Choices under the Advanced option for Master Controller
Getting Started, Modding

A Look at Mods for the Sims 3 – Basics

I <3 NRAAS mods. They are the only game-changing mods I will use. I have almost all of them and can’t really imagine my game without them now.

This first post will focus on the basic mods that are good for everyone to have. They help with basic issues in the game (like routing).

Error Trap – Be warned, this mod produces Script Error files in your Sims folder. The errors aren’t from this program, they are the errors from your game. I just delete them about once a week or so, although if you have a recurring issue, you can always post them on the Nraas site and let them figure out what’s causing the issue.

An image of script errors in a Sims 3 folder
GoHere – You want this one. You won’t even notice it’s there, but once you’ve used it, you’ll notice it’s absence (it’s a routing program).

Image of Overwatch in the Sims 3
Overwatch

Overwatch – Quoting from the site, “This mod’s purview is the correction of persistent or recurring errors produced by the Core game or other mods.” In other words, one of the most necessary of all Twallan’s mods. Also allows you to turn on TestingCheatsEnabled so that you don’t have to redo it every time you start playing.

Register – Helps fix some of the bugs in the game related to tourists, cashiers, etc.

Saver – <3 Automatically brings up the save box at whatever time period you specify. This has saved me sooooo many times. It also brings up the box when you’re in the middle of a build, the only way I’ve seen to save during a build. I love this one. :)

And that’s it for today. Tomorrow, I’ll share about a few fun mods that can make a major difference to your game.

Character Creation

Dragon Dragon and Sir Bear

My entry for the Sims 3 weekly Design a Room challenge (this one is ending April 14).

This is Sir Bear.

A well-loved teddy bear wearing cloth armor
The hero of our story

Sir Bear belonged to a little girl named Suzie who had been very, very sick. She and Sir Bear had been in the hospital for a long time, but Suzie was doing better and they were coming home.

Sir Bear and his best friend, a stuffed blue dragon
Planning a surprise

Sir Bear and his best friend, Dragon Dragon (along with Mom and Dad), had planned a surprise for Suzie.

When Mom asked what Suzie missed the most while she was in the hospital, Suzie quickly answered, “Colors. It’s so white here, I miss all the beautiful colors.”

And so, Sir Bear and Dragon Dragon (and Mom and Dad), redesigned Suzie’s bedroom. Dragon Dragon would come visit every day and whisper to Sir Bear of the wonderful changes that were being done.

“Mom and Dad hung our portrait on the wall,” Dragon Dragon whispered to Sir Bear on one visit. “As soon as you come home, we’ll have to pose under it.”

Sir Bear and Dragon Dragon pose under a picture of a dragon and knight
Posing under the picture

Dragon Dragon was proud of himself. He didn’t tell Sir Bear all of the secrets, because Mom and Dad were turning Suzie’s bedroom into something special for all of them. They were turning her room into a castle with an indoor courtyard.

Dragon tapestry viewed across colorful bed
Dragon tapestry

“What it must feel like to be such a large dragon,” sighed Dragon Dragon to himself. “But then I wouldn’t be able to fit into Mom’s bag or curl up on the bed with Sir Bear and Suzie.”

Looking out at the garden from the bed
View from the bed

“Mom and Dad planted a garden in front of Suzie’s window and she can lay in bed and look out at the flowers,” Dragon Dragon whispered to Sir Bear on one visit.

Mom knew that Suzie would need a lot of rest when she came home, but she would also want to move from the bed sometimes. And so, Mom created a courtyard in the bedroom, with places to play and places to snuggle up and rest without having to lay in bed.

“What do you think, Sir Bear?” Dragon Dragon asked on the day they came home. Dragon Dragon had been showing Sir Bear the courtyard and smiled when he saw how surprised both he and Suzie were. “I’m glad I learned how to keep a secret,” Dragon Dragon thought to himself.

Dragon Dragon shows Sir Bear the courtyard and asks him what he thinks of it all
What do you think?

“I love it!” Suzie told her parents, echoing Sir Bear’s response to Dragon Dragon. Sir Bear smiled when he heard her, and reached out to give Dragon Dragon a hug.

Everyone is home safe and sound
Sir Bear gives Dragon Dragon a hug
Character Creation, Crafting

Two Spreadsheets to help with your crafting needs

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Guild Crafting Skills for ESO is a spreadsheet in Google Docs where each person in your guild can list what crafting abilities they have in cloth, blacksmithing, and woodworking, along with which racial motifs they’ve learned; then if someone is looking for an item with a particular skill or style, they’ll know which people can create it for them.

To use: make a copy of the form and save it, add your name to the first empty column, and then mark which skills you have. There are separate tabs for each type of armor, blacksmithing, and woodworking (for the two armor classes) and motifs.

Guild Crafting Spreadsheet
Guild Crafting Skills for ESO

Crafting Skills for the Elder Scrolls Online is for an individual player to keep track of the skills for all their characters. There are two tabs, the first lists all the clothing, woodworking, and blacksmithing skills and the second lets you keep track of which motifs each of your characters can make.

Use it the same way as the one above, save a copy of the form and then fill in the information.

Spreadsheet for individual crafting skills
Individual Crafting Skills
Adventure Zone, Craglorn

Sneak Peek: Craglorn Story

Video

*Warning: Storyline spoilers*

A sneak peek at the storyline for Craglorn:

Hara: “Gather allies before you leave the city. You’ll need loyal friends to face the armies of the Warrior, the Mage, and the Serpent.

It appears that the Serpent has gathered the bulk of his forces in the mountainous region to the north and sealed himself within.

So much the better. That gives us a chance to learn what we can about this threat and plan a defense.”

Craglorn

Belkarth, a village in Craglorn

Just a few photos I took today as I started exploring. I’ve barely made it out of town yet, looking forward to all the new discoveries along the way. 🙂

Map of Craglorn

Map of Craglorn
The wayshrine shows the location of Belkarth.

Lorebook found in Belkarth

The Totems of Hircine - Craglorn Lorebook
The Totems of Hircine

View of the town from a balcony

View of Belkarth, Craglorn
Balcony view of Belkarth

A couple books found in Belkarth:

Books of Craglorn - Crow and Raven Fables
Crow and Raven: Three Short Fables
Books of Craglorn - A Grifter's Apology page 1
A Grifter’s Apology
Books in Craglorn - A Grifter's Apology page 2
A Grifter’s Apology page 2