Forum Discussion

EnkiSchmidt's avatar
24 days ago

Using worlds and maps

My sims live on the planet Batuu, in Black Spire valley. Since we cannot set up permanent homes on Batuu, this is how I made do with what we have.

The map isn't looking any good, but I posted it anyway because it serves as a demonstration how the semi open world can be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because neighborhoods in the same world cannot be seen from each other, so there is no reason not to define them as being in different places in our stories. And a curse because "Keep sims in their homeworld" mods won't do me any good with my setup.

So, first of, here is my terrible attempt at the map:

The list is formatted like this: Map key - Name of the resion in my story (Sims 4 world used)

A - The planet MOONWOOD

Moonwood is where my sims started their adventure during a shipwrecked challenge.

  • A - The Moonwood with ruins of failed settlements (Moonwood Mill, Forgotten Hollow and the forest neighborhood of Henford)
  • A1 - Moonwood Jungle region (Selvadorada)
  • Not pictured - Dreadhorse Cavern, directly opposite of the jungle (Chestnut Ridge, but only Dreadhorse Cavern with the little creek)

B to H - The planet BATUU

  • B - Black Spire with space port and downtown (Batuu First Order district and Cantina disctrict) Most of the npcs live here in my headcanon.

Black Spire is the highest point on the map.

  • C - The forest west of Black Spire (Glimmerbrook, without Magic Realm)
    Many npcs live here scattered on several farms.
  • D - The Resistance camp in the forest (Batuu Resistance camp)
  • E - The countryside east of Black Spire
    (Willow Creek Park district plus a single lot from Chestnut Ridge that is used for the public bath)
    One of my familes lives here.
  • F - Black Spire Valley (countryside neighborhood of Henford)
    My three main families live here. The actual town Henford isn't used for anything yet - on the map I copied Black Spire over it to show this.
  • G - The Chestnut Ridges
    (Chestnut Ridge upper district)
  • The town center doesn't exist in my story. I placed a diner and an orchard here, but in my story the diner is in Black Spire (B) and the orchard somewhere in the countryside (most likely H)
  • H - More countryside (Chestnut Ridge lower district)
    One of my families lives here.

J - VALARA, a moon of Batuu
(Oasis Springs, and there specifically the dinosaur neighborhood and Stargazer lounge. Other sections of this world may be used to represent different planets later)
A single sim lives here as an exile/on parole.

K - The planet HOTH (snowed over neighborhood of Mount Komorebi)

L - The planet CEREA (the other two neighborhoods of Mount Komorebi)

M - The abandoned Jedi temple
The temple is "somewhere on Batuu" and I inferred that it takes anything from a few hours to several days travel to get here from Black Spire. No description of the biome surrounding it was given in the story so far. (Willow Creek, Oakenstead neighborhood, but I can move this around if needed)

Not pictured but either visited by my sims or mentioned in the story:

  • The planet Crait (Grim's Quarry from Evergreen Harbour)
  • Tartosa (Tartosa) My main couple held their wedding here.
  • Mua Pel'am (Mua Pel'am from Sulani) In an older story Mua Pel'am and Tartosa were close by, that may not be the case in this chronicle again.

Finally I should note that everyone who doesn't get regularly played is stuffed into empty lots in Newcrest in groups of eight. From time to time I make those sims playable when they join my main characters on expeditions or for photoshoots.

So what are your sims worlds looking like? Less crazy, I hope!

  • Ai, this is interesting, thanks or sharing! Although I don't understand al the info in your maps, I like exploring them :)

    I don't have the Batuu world, and I probably play a bit more realistically. I refer to worlds as districts, and a group of districts form a region. There are 8 regions in my nation, Mazaloom kingdom, and aIso a few districts located in the neighboring nations Empire of Snorthia and Sea kingdom. I base the regions on climate zones and a national map. My maps are not very detailed, but I keep numerous versions, depending whether I focus on regional borders or where the private schools or churches are located. I also have a map showing roads, railways, airlines and boat routes.

     

    • EnkiSchmidt's avatar
      EnkiSchmidt
      Hero

      Thank you for sharing your map! Your transport routes are well thought out, really apprecciate that level of detail. Do you have a trading system to go with it?

      My Black Spire is basically a city with a countryside, so all my sims need is a bus service and their horses and cars. For planet to planet travel travel times are dictated by the plot.

  • atreya33's avatar
    atreya33
    Seasoned Veteran

    EnkiSchmidtThat's quite a lot of world building. It looks great even if it is so much to take in that I don't think I completely understand all the details. Especially putting different neighbourhoods in different worlds makes it complex. But it looks like you spent a lot of time thinking this over and it looks good.   I also have my own rules of which worlds are close to each other but only follow my own rules loosely. I created a shart for it but don't have it with me right now. I will update and post it tomorrow if you are interested.

    What really helped me for batuu was creating a batuu neighborhood in oasis springs. I placed buildings that visually look like they belong on batuu. I added a restaurant with all the batuu dishes on the menu and the staff are aliens (wear the alien masks as uniforms) . There is also a park and a vacation rental. I and my Sims can get a bit of the batuu feeling without actually having to go to batuu. They can even unlock the recipes at the local restaurant. 

    Simmervillesuch a great map you created. I love it and now I want to make one for myself as well. The roads and other transportation between the worlds is very interesting. 

    • EnkiSchmidt's avatar
      EnkiSchmidt
      Hero

      Yes, I expect it is a lot to take in in this state. The map grew organically as my sims traveled from their starting world to other places.

      My main point is that we don't need to use worlds as they are, but can easily define specific neighborhoods as actually being part of other worlds. That opens up opportunities for using the smaller worlds.

      (In several cases weather manipulation via MCCC is required to retain immersion. When I combined Windenburg and Henford in a different save, I constantly had to force snow in Henford to keep it in sync with Windenburg in winter.)

      Looking forward to see your world!

      • Simmerville's avatar
        Simmerville
        Seasoned Ace

        In my game Forgotten Hollow is a secluded hood of Henford-on-Bagley. And in the past StrangerVille was an annex of Oasis Springs, and Evergreen Harbor annex of Willow Creek. Both SV and EH has grown, so they just earned their own district status.

  • I suppose you could always pretend to live the quiet life on a separate "planet" in Willow Creek and only visit Batuu when needed.  The only issue with other worlds is that is not always easy to give them a Batuu style makeover.  Personally,  I think Batuu adventures are best played as a single sim, that way you can stay there indefinitely, especially if you advance far enough to manage to build liveable bases in both the force and rebels headquarters. 

  • SEREFRAS's avatar
    SEREFRAS
    Seasoned Hotshot

    I can related to making due with the worlds for SciFi fun.                                                                                                                           I usually use Oasis Springs for my Tantooee Planet, Evergreen Harbor & Britechester for my Superheroes & Strangerville for my Doctor Who household. 

      

  • simmerLella's avatar
    simmerLella
    Seasoned Traveler

    Yes, I just felt this struggle moving the universities around my map. :)