Informative update! WIP: Thistlecreek Village - A Sims 1 Makin' Magic Inspired World!

Picture dump!

I'm still procrastinating on sculpting and painting... I can't seem to sit at my computer long enough to want to churn some progress out on the mountains.

https://67.media.tumblr.com/9e0d37f46b04dd5887694e51c6a0d59d/tumblr_oehibnUFy71tjvzwco1_1280.png
https://66.media.tumblr.com/7f83da9e6aa8f06a27d7fca1e70e6d27/tumblr_oehibnUFy71tjvzwco2_1280.png
https://67.media.tumblr.com/366ef6871ef31966b3e33cf94a804a6d/tumblr_oehibnUFy71tjvzwco5_r1_1280.png
The three beach shops in the Oceanwood Bay area. A family seafood restaurant, a Starbucks inspired cafe, and a sports bar.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/eb83877f4fbc1a154e1bb0d36fdac626/tumblr_oehielYlb21tjvzwco1_1280.png
Iconic Hedman's Hideaway that I always do hehehe.

https://65.media.tumblr.com/bf5f48be3d13f1e817ec6797ebdf3973/tumblr_oehih1rfwf1tjvzwco1_1280.png
And finally a re-modeled Victorian style home that's inspired by my husband's and my dream home :D

@Jessabeans Thank you :)

Took some time off social media (and like forums) but I have a bunch of updates!

https://67.media.tumblr.com/8298fc92caf312d64576375cddc3a2e6/tumblr_of0ehngkhT1tjvzwco2_1280.png
Finally the painted mountains! I don't know if I wanna add more painting detail or not.

https://67.media.tumblr.com/e50a5462cf0c457dcf655da1eb796061/tumblr_oesz1fnB3J1tjvzwco2_1280.png
The Old Town "Downtown" area is finished!

https://67.media.tumblr.com/97a26f815b624e78975eacb54314f844/tumblr_oepq6tdfCl1tjvzwco1_1280.png
I tried to remake the old library from the previous installment.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/07baa37621fcfd2d0bc14eafd56fe586/tumblr_oemzyuaEzm1tjvzwco4_1280.png
The historic fire station in Old Town

https://66.media.tumblr.com/23810ea555a7af34809df3e6df02acda/tumblr_oesyxmCU9u1tjvzwco1_1280.png
Waterfront scenic road

Now, I still have a few residential buildings to finish and most of the Creepy Hollow/Calamity Forest area to build up.
https://66.media.tumblr.com/561a1312465aaffdc27f591949d085bf/tumblr_oey5p88XJg1tjvzwco1_1280.png

I'm having a little bit of a water plane issue in some areas that needs addressed. I hope to have an open beta test in the near future.

http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag474/KennziBailey/Thistlecreek%20Village/Thistlecreek%20Banner/Urgent%20Update_zpskxbcqhwu.png UPDATES http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag474/KennziBailey/Thistlecreek%20Village/Thistlecreek%20Banner/Urgent%20Update_zpskxbcqhwu.png

* July 20, 2016 - GOOD AND BAD NEWS, EVERYONE!
Since October 2015, I had to halt everything world related. Once we upgraded our PC to Windows 10, it came to light that our computer had some serious hardware issues. Our motherboard was fried (husband physically broke it somehow), our hard drive was no longer recognized by the system, our graphics card wasn't working right, and a plethora of other issues (hardware and software). Due to life as it is, we were not able to fix these issues until March.
We now have a shiny beastmode PC that runs amazing. I started back into world creation in June; I tried to use the external backups I had of Thistlecreek Village but unfortunately they somehow were corrupted. I don't know what caused that but my best guess is our faulty computer at the time of backing up everything.
I had to start completely over yet again! It took a few weeks to get motivated to do so, but I believe the third time's the charm. I am working on this projected practically daily now (I have too much spare time these days, boo). I will post updates as soon as I can. In the meantime, you can check out some HERE!

Thank you so much for bearing with me in this. I am so very sorry!

* September 17, 2016 - Massive update:
* Added 10 commercial lots. Old town/down town might need lot re-organization for more lots.
* No longer including "cat jungle," "fusion lounge," "rebel hangout" (might include later), and "pool lounge."
* Added Calamity Forest and Creepy Hollow shrubbery.
* Fixed suburb roads
* Built approximately 20 lots (commercial and apartments only). Tested and functional.
* Rabbit holes placed: Grocery store/Diner, City Hall/Military/Police, Stadium/Big Show venue, Movie theater, Business/Bistro, Criminal, Gypsy wagon, School, Hospital/Science lab, Day spa/Bookstore, Vault, and Arboretum. (Updated December 21, 2016)

I still have mountain painting and sculpting to work on, along with fixing shore slopes in some areas.

* September 18, 2016 - Reconsidering "fusion lounge" lot type in exchange for removing "dance club" type (in regards to the Sims 1 lot "Cameron's Lounge"). Added more rabbit holes and one apartment. Added sidewalks between beach shops for a more connected feel. Having CAW issues with only one specific "resort" lot; going from Edit Lot back to Edit Town from inside EIG creates (seemingly) infinite waiting cursor.
Decided that further CAW detail with sculpting and objects will wait until I have obtained physical some copies of EPs & SPs to downgrade to patch 1.67; Can no longer stand the lack of store content within CAW with 1.69.
I will continue building lots until I cannot stand it anymore :D

* December 21, 2016 - Condensed update
* Fixed CAW infinite waiting cursor error with resort lot by rebuilding entire lot.
* Rebuilt many rabbit hole lots to fit better terrain sculpting.
* Rebuilt a few commercial lots to accommodate extra lots.
* Added custom sidewalk re-color of Appaloosa Plains crosswalks to Old Town's parkways.
* Re-colored community brick flooring color on all Old Town lots to match sidewalk parkway re-color.
* Added 'transparent' functioning road to Oceanwood Bay's tourist parking lot.
* Added freeway barrier to road connecting the suburbs to Oceanwood Bay/Old Town.
* Added fencing around outlining roads of Old Town.
* Added brick post details to 'Northslate' apartment home's CAW fencing.
* Finished all commercial lots in Oceanwood Bay, the suburbs, and Old Town.
* Finished all terrain painting, sculpting, and most major details.
* Added non-resort casino next to Old Town's casino resort, so Sims don't have to check-in to gamble. Might also count as a gig location for bands but requires testing.
* Started work on building around 15 residential lots.
* Started work on houseboats at 4 ports.
--- Considering including ferry port on opposite side of river; will require terrain re-sculpting.

* Started work on Calamity Forest and Creepy Hollow lots.
* Currently troubleshooting opacity issues with the river's water planes.
* Currently testing ocean opacity darkness in ini files.
* Currently troubleshooting kelp appearing through ocean opacity around dive lots (without custom ini).
* Currently troubleshooting the lack of "dive area" lot type option.
* Currently testing routing issues around main large park areas and sidewalks therein.
* Added multiple playground parks around the world.
* Currently reorganizing flora around new added lots.
* Currently troubleshooting action canceling of "Play in Ocean" command at all beaches. Attempting multiple adjustments to the slope of the beach; none seem to be working at this time.
* Custom fly-in camera is still on the table to be started.
* Created custom graphic banners for most districts, excluding the suburbs, which still doesn't have a name.

I still have no been able to downgrade to patch 1.67, so many of the changes in CAW I would like to make, and things I would love to be able to add, are just not possible right now. This is causing a massive delay in this worlds completion.

Full list of lot types in-world coming soon.

* March 17, 2017
Still working on the above condensed updates. Lately when I load up the game to build, I become demotivated by having to re-export work I need to do in CAW and start a brand new test version. I end up quiting and moving on to something else non-sim related. I've considered starting work on another town, named Laurelfield, but I have lost most of my graphic art and am not motivated to start over.

We're moving house soon, in about a month, so any progress is completely stalled until we're fully moved. Thank you for your patience this whole time.

* June 7, 2017
We moved! It took almost an entire month to get the new place set up, but it's done.
Thistlecreek Village is still on hiatus. All my Sims 3 games are downloaded from Origin, and are forced into the last patch level. CAW and patch 1.68 don't want to work together (I cannot see store content or CC in CAW) so I sense I need to downgrade to 1.67. Unfortunately I need the physical copies of all the games... which I don't. Due to having just moved and our wedding anniversary in a handful of weeks, I won't be getting the copies anytime soon.

Until then, Thistlecreek Village is halted. I'm so sorry!

* July 21, 2017
I turned 25! Woohoo!
And then my husband's car needed a huge repair and now one of our cats needs surgery for a broken hip.
I was hoping to have gotten the missing games soon, but I feel like fate is against me right now. Money is tighter than expected so at this point in time, I'm officially archiving Thistlecreek Village. There will be no more updates or posts on this world until life calms down and I cannot guarantee when that will be right now.

Feedback & Troubleshooting

* Placeholder *

I'm excited to see how it'll turn out :D I suck at making worlds.

Nice sculpting and painting.

@bbordewyk thank you! :)

---

Sorry about the lack of updates and pictures! I built about ten lots before I became unsatisfied with some parts of the road layouts and certain areas of terrain smoothness and will be tweaking it before I continue building more.

I'm debating about releasing a beta for testing purposes but it's still just a fancying thought.

I promise to get an update out soon! Sorry if it seems like I've run away again lol :wink:

@rawrmaegansmile That would be so amazing! :D thank you!

@geminiagre thank you! I agree with your suggestion :] and with there being too few lots for everything, I'm just worried that 110 (let's round up lol) lots is too much. Regarding the building: thank goodness for rabbitholes :wink: I'm not the best with building unless it's from a blueprint so I've been procrastinating :flushed: ya caught me lol

It's looking really good, so far. How did you get the lighting so dark?