Henford-On-Bagley and Down the Hogwarts Rabbit Hole I Go

"CK213;d-996247" wrote:
Join me in my descent to a place I did not expect to go this year. :)

I sent my sim on a trip to sell vegetables in Henford and had them explore the land later.
There is a 64x64 property and I was wondering what I should put there. It then crossed my mind that it would be a perfect location for Hogwarts.


But Hogwarts was the problem. As much as I like to build, Hogwarts would probably take a lot of my time.
Fortunately other simmers don't have that problem, so I went to the gallery. Wow, this is convincing enough to draw me in.

But being a builder myself, I immediately began changing things. First deleting details I felt were unnecessary. This build has wonderful details, but too much. I need the place to be playable, so I removed enough stuff to make it still feel nicely detailed. Then I added some portals to blend in Realm of Magic game play. Never mind that no one can apparate into Hogwarts rule.

Spoiler

Ooh, and I can play with the new pond items.
And this is where my trip down the Hogwarts Rabbit hole begins. I want to play this--play it in a big way.


"I do like the swans.
They are a nice touch."


?


Albus Dumbledore.


You can't have Hogwarts without Albus.
Thanks to the gallery, you can have both .

Albus and Hogwarts Students.
You can't have Albus without students, and you can't have students without teachers.
How am I going to play this without it feeling really lackluster? Albus Dumbledore, 7 students, no teachers.

But this office... so nice...

Spoiler

Approving the list for those Hogwarts' letters?


BlickBlock, of course.


Oh, I want to play this.
I want to fill all the magical-leaning worlds with Potter characters, and I want the students. I want the teachers. I want the families, but how is this going to work?


I have to run a trial.
Yep, snatch up all the available teens in a save-as version of my current game.






"What? No sorting hat?"
Yeah... the luster is lacking. I did see mods for a sorting hat, House traits, and buffs. I may check them out later.
I may go without and just play a non-canon version of Hogwarts using existing game play.


All the students are currently squibbs.
Dumbledore gives them the Rite of Ascension to unlock their magic.








There will also be no Patronuses.
But there will be familiars, according to associated houses.
Gryffindor!


Ravenclaw!


Slytherin!
Yeah, it's not a snake, but a reptile all the same.
That skull was a no-go, just because they are Slytherin, doesn't make them Death Eaters.


There are more Slytherins here.
Houses are going to be tiny, mixes of 4, 3,2 1, or no members. There are mods to increase household size, but one I saw said that it will be bumped down to 8 if you go into CAS. But I am also worried about lag, with a lot this large and detailed. Hugo? What are you doing here? Where is Max? How did I make that mistake? Well, you are going back. Send your brother.


Gamma has to go too.
She's an alien and has no magic to unlock.


So I brought in Max, and Monique as replacements.




Monique is sweet, and the lone Hufflepuff.

More Hogwarts Tweaking.
This build is really wonderful, but as I played, I found myself wanting to change things and add things. (rabbit hole descent)

First off, one of my changes needed to go.
This convenient portal is great at getting my sims deep into the building quickly, but also anyone else who happens along.
I put it inside to keep out trespassers.

Spoiler

I added a new green house, as the original was really modern, and was built only with windows (no walls) with MoveObjects on.
So the windows couldn't be hidden and I wasn't sure if it was functional. I wanted something more ornate anyway, like the movie.


This is different, but interesting, I may use it on my other sim's lots.






I felt the need for Hogwarts themed CC. Perhaps too much...
But something else began to bother me. These bricks. I know we have some more like the movie, so I set about replacing interior bricks. I left the exterior alone. And wasn't there some wood paneling in the dining hall?


So I added this. Nothing like the movie, but oh well.


And I added a fireplace because all I had was a huge hood flue.
Perhaps the fireplace got bumped out because of the MoveObjects construction. I ended up building this monstrosity to hide the gaps I created in the ceiling. Probably should have left it alone.


Gryffindor Common room.
I added a few CC items to complete it.


Ravenclaw Common room.
I'm not sure if this was supposed to be Ravenclaw's common room, because it seemed unfinished. I added their color theme, a staircase and the bedroom on the upper floor, toilets, and showers.


Slytherin Common Room.
It's in the basement where the common room love was given. The Slytherins are living very well here.


A wall seems to be missing wallpaper. I will have to fix that.


And Hufflepuff somehow brought the sun to the basement.
It feels so sunny here despite being in the basement. I love all the plants.


And do we have our first Uniform? Yes.
This Slytherin is visiting the Ravenclaw bedroom for some reason. Which brings to mind, should I not allow visitations?
The population is so light, I might want the traffic. Do I use computers, because I can set who can use them and thus influence where sims are?
Lots of questions.

Gameplay
It is really strange to have a school of magic where the majority of student time is spent in Muggle Studies.
I guess I could pretend they are off to class with Hagrid, or out in the fields and forest with Professor Sprout. Yeah, that will do.
And being the only educator, what does Dumbledore do?

Spoiler

What I am having him do, the moment the students come in, is gather them in a group and have them come to this classroom.


I order them to do their homework together. Instant class room activity. I then have Dumbledore help any student that has the lowest grade or progress level. Once everyone is at A and B grade average, I will have them alternate between doing homework and practicing magic and potions.


I am working on an approach for the entire education process involving rotating 24 students, or more, through Hogwarts.
The goal is to play many characters and have them interact with as many students as possible despite not being able to attend all at once.
When they leave Hogwarts, they should all be at the Adept Level of magic at least. I want to leave room to reach the Master and Virtuoso levels outside of Hogwarts.

That is what this trial run is all about, Figuring it all out before I commit to doing the real work.


I need to bring in another group of students that will be on another lot.
I will form them into House Clubs and I can invite the clubs to Hogwarts to help the school feel more populated. Other students will come to Hogwarts on their own because of friendships, being given a key, and after school visits.


I will also do the same with Mcgonagall, Snape, Professor Sprout, Flitwick, and perhaps Lupin. (Need werewolves)
Dumbledore could call a gathering and then disband and let them wander the school as they please.
Hmm... students will need to take care of plants, and stock ingredients.


Or... since Dumbledore is Headmaster, I could have him visit and rotated in teachers weekly.
That way I can involve them all deeper. Snape should be fun.


I'm working this out as I am writing this. :)


Right now I am feeling like Filch.
"There is a student out of bed."


Maybe detention is cleaning and fixing toilets and other broken things.
Oo... cats! I can have Mrs. Norris as a permanent resident. I could add Crookshanks too and let them have the run of Hogwarts.


Now to set up the next group of students to try this out.

The Real Deal.
I downloaded a temporary set of Potter characters, but I could not help tweaking them.
These may serve as the ones I use with more tweaking. Where is Ron?

It Figures.
He has the Foodie trait. Nice call by the creator. I hope it doesn't make him overweight.
I may have to install a gym.

Spoiler

Oh this is too perfect.
Hermione makes a bee-line to Ron and is the first to speak to him.


Luna and the Slytherins seem to be giving Ron a hard time about his food obsession.


What is Harry doing?
Taking over seasoning the meat?


Oh, leave Ron alone.


Wow, Hermione is really gushing and getting flirty over Ron.


I can't wait to rotate them in.


Is this what normally happens with a Foodie sim? Ron is the first Foodie I've played.


And that's where I am.
I will send this group to Hogwarts to meet other members of their house and then I will form House clubs.
I will also try to get a feel for their course pacing. They are supposed to learn 6 spells and 3 potions over the Fall, Winter, and Spring Seasons and reach the Neophyte level of magic by the end of the year. If they fail to do that they will have to do it over the summer. I doubt that will happen and I will use the summer to leave Hogwarts and rotate among other households.