New YouTube series and Personal Update [19/08/2024]
I have been working on a new series, the 8 Baby Uberhood Challenge, over on my YouTube. It is doing really well which has been so exciting! It's a story/challenge I have always wanted to do, and also includes machinima which I've always wanted to try, and heavily features one of my all time favourite premade sims... I dunno, it feels like proof that sometimes the most self-indulgent stuff you make ends up being your best work. I have not had this much fun playing and making content since the Round Robin legacy back in 2020. I've made a page for the challenge on this site so that all mod/rule/cc info is in one place.
A more personal life update I wanted to share somewhere (Exclusive Website Gossip, for the True Katatty Fans)... this year I've actually been unemployed, on-and-off. I work in the tech industry where there's been a lot of layoffs, and have faced redundancy twice in a single year! Rationally I know it has just been bad luck, and financially I am fine, but it is hard not to feel discouraged at times. So, it's been really nice to have this new series (and my exisiting ones) as a creative outlet, and the Lilith series doing so well has given me a big boost in morale :) Of course, being unemployed currently is also the reason I have had a bit more time to devote to YouTube in the first place! So it's been a blessing in some ways too. (Plus I am kind of a slacker and quite like not working, haha). Anyway, I guess I am just saying, if you've enjoyed any of my stories, builds, etc, thank you!
One other thing - it's the 20th anniversary of the Sims 2's release this year, 14th September! It is also my own birthday (I like to think of the Sims 2 my little sister), so I'm hoping to release something cool to celebrate. It's not really a secret project, if you follow me on Tumblr it literally says what I am working on, but I'm hoping to have it all ready for the big anniversary! Exciting stuff.
Happy New Year! [03/01/2024]
It's 2024 and this site is still not even close to being done, haha! But I did add a page for my newest neighbourhood, Spruceburg. I have been trying out making videos for Youtube and havinga pretty fun time, and thought it made sense to have a section for it here. Currently I've added a big long ramble about the neighbourhood "gameplay style", as well as a detailed mod list/resource page to direct commenters to! But it'd be nice to add something like a character page, too. Maybe eventually I'll get to that, too.
Here's to another year of having fun playing the Sims 2 :D
Honeycoast & Shellcastle Sands [03/04/2023]
Some site updates, today! For the first time in a while, haha. I recently started a new neighbourhood, Honeycoast, and have set up a page for it here. The neighbourhood is still a bit of a work in progress, but I plan on keeping things updated here as I work on it.
I've also been working on the page for the Fiero Legacy/Shellcastle Sands. Gameplay wise, I recently finished playing Generation 2 through college. That means it's time for the heir poll, which means it's time to actually document the story so far on this website so that it doesn't become too much work later down the line! So right now I'm midway through backing up the first generation. Watch this space for furthur updates! I have booked this week off work, so I'll have plenty of time to work on my sims stuff, and this site especially!
Round Robin Memories [28/11/2022]
It was my first back at work today and y'know what? Actually not nearly as bad as I was dreading? I had actually been feeling a little depressed pre-holiday, and was worried that would continue once I was back at work? But actually, it's been pretty fun! I think I can hold out for a few more weeks no problem.
I got around to archiving the last couple of chapters of the Huckleberry legacy and, man. It's hard to express just how much I miss that neighbourhood! I like Shellcastle Sands, my current one, but it's never "clicked" quite as perfectly. It was just so much fun to play and write at the time - the sims felt so vivid to me they practically wrote themselves! Reading back I find the relationship with Duncan and Erin so compelling especially... Erin seems like she really has her shit together and doesn't lack self-respect, so why is it she ends up picking Duncan "forgiving" him in the end? She's kind of inscrutable to me even though I guess she's "my" character, haha. I feel like her inner world is way more complex than she really lets on...
Anyway, it's been very nostalgic! I'm sure going through my downloads through the years and backing them up here (the next order of business!) will be eaqually so - I know some people hate seeing their old work but I always really enjoy it, and I'm often impressed with my past self!
Site Updates [27/11/2022]
It's the last day of my week off work - a week I planned to spend getting everything finished on this site! I really under-estimated how time consuming manually arching all my content would be, though.
I also didn't count on the number of distractions there'd be - both Pokemon Scarlet and Sonic Frontiers came out this month, and I've been playing them both avidly! I can't quite decide if them coming out when I had a week booked off work (ostensibly to work on this site) is good timing or horrible timing. I've been especially enjoying Sonic Frontiers, it might be my favourite Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2? I really like what they're doing with the story and characters especially, I'm a huge mark for that type of stuff.
Anyway, as of writing this, I have only finished the "contact" page and the Midnight Sun archive. And now this blog page, I suppose! My current priority is getting the second half of the Robin River challenge backed up here, hopefully by the end of the day? Then I will move on to backing up my actual downloads. You would think these would be the main priority, but I feel like these are the easiest thing, in some ways. Not nearly as much text to format!
I definitely need to let go of the idea that this site is something I can finish up quickly - backing up years of story & pictures in plain html was never going to be a quick and simple task! But I'm pleased with the progress so far.