A Cop's Legacy

[NoReins]

Hey, everyone! So I got The Sims 3 over Christmas break and spent my time working my way all of generation one and part of generation two. I've posted the links for the chapters below I'd really appreciate it if you all could read them and comment here with constructive criticism for me. Also, if you can recommend the chapters on the site that would be awesome too!

Generation One: Madison Greene

1.1 A New Beginning:
noreins94.livejournal.com/953.html

1.2 Raising Kids:
noreins94.livejournal.com/1184.html

1.3 Growing Pains:
noreins94.livejournal.com/1530.html

1.4 Genius in the Making:
noreins94.livejournal.com/1771.html

1.5 Becoming Adults:
noreins94.livejournal.com/1832.html

1.6 Proposals:
noreins94.livejournal.com/2182.html

1.7 Saying Goodbye:
noreins94.livejournal.com/2334.html

Generation Two: Carter Greene

2.1 Defeating Grief:
noreins94.livejournal.com/2670.html

2.2 Criminals to Catch:
noreins94.livejournal.com/2891.html

2.3 Toddling Around:
noreins94.livejournal.com/3123.html

2.4 Birthdays:
noreins94.livejournal.com/3624.html

2.5 A Mystery and a Death:
noreins94.livejournal.com/3913.html

2.6 Teen Years:
noreins94.livejournal.com/4149.html

2.7 Forever Alone:
noreins94.livejournal.com/4562.html

2.8 Camilla:
noreins94.livejournal.com/4949.html

Spare Update:
noreins94.livejournal.com/5587.html

Again, any writing/photography/storytelling advice is welcomed. I know there is probably much I can improve on.

Read and enjoy!

[joandsarah]

There aren’t many Sim 3 players here, but I have time to read over chapter one today.

Just from looking over the first chapter I think it's quite good and well written. Keep it up!

Now I hope you don't take this wrongly but my biggest suggestion to you is to not use the exchange.

1: The pictures are too small and I'm sorry but the text is too small for me to comfortable read so I stopped after a few pages. I tried using Ctrl + as I do on other web sites that are too small and it wouldn't enlarge. These days we are really spoiled with reading updates on blogs where the pictures are shown at about 2 to 3 times the size. Sims 3 pictures are naturally large so you don't even need fancy screenshot programs, just upload them to a photo hosting site or make a presentation on your computer and upload to a place like Slideshare.

2: The exchange has a bad name around the simming community for containing the worst stories and it's also the butt of a lot of people's jokes as are people who post there. So if you want to be known as someone who posts updates worth reading, post elsewhere like here: simsthree.livejournal.com/

For photo tips the main things are using enough light and walls up and to get close in where you can. I think taking pictures too far away is something people new to stories often do. Otherwise I don't know much about Sim 3 picture taking, only that if I play Sims 3 I can't control the camera very well, so you are probably doing better than I am with that! I assume there are pose boxes now? I'd only go with those if you really enjoy setting up sims and scenes. I've kind of boxed myself in with my Sim 2 stories into using numerous pose boxes fro every picture and frankly it's a pain and I wish I hadn't started. There is nothing wrong with game pictures.

As to what to read, whatever interests you. Check out the recommended story thread if you like, but I think people should read whatever they feel like.

[NoReins]

I appreciate the tip and will definitely look into moving my stories elsewhere. How easy are other sites to use?

[joandsarah]

You may have replied while I was adding some more. I posted a link to a Sims 3 LJ site. You will find lots of Sims 3 legacies there.

P.S Not everyone is as blind as I am, so others might not have trouble reading it. On LJ though the option to enlarge the page comes in very handy for blind old bats like me.

I can help you with using LJ if you need some tips. I've posted photos there from photobucket as well as using Slideshare.

I was also going to say the way to get readers is to participate in the sims community. Commenting on stories, posting cc/lots/sims, taking part in contests or just chatting. Get known and people will come to see what you are posting.

[NoReins]

Thanks. Are there any sites better suited for multiple types of stories?

As for being blind, I understand! I don't have the best eye sight and generally up my page magnification to read the stories on the exchange.

[joandsarah]

You mean stories other than legacies? I'm not really sure. There are some on MTS and Boolprop and I know some people just post them to their blog, but usually when they have a decent friends list. I found this site by Googling www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/index.php?board=8.0 but I have no idea if that is popular or not. Simstorytellers might be a better choice if you start posting to live journal. simstorytellers.livejournal.com/ That has both Sims 2 and Sims 3 stories.

[NoReins]

Great! Thank you soooooo much. I'll definitely look into both sites and try more than likely start using livejournal. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure it out alright. For the most part I'm not very computer savvy. I appreciate all your help!

[joandsarah]

Live Journal has a huge community of simmer, both Sims 2 and 3 and even some Sims 1. It's also a great place to grab cc from.
If you have Word on your computer I have a tutorial up about using that for stories. There is also one on Power Point by PetTech. Mine should be on the tutorial board and there is a link to Pet techs on my tutorial. That's if you want to upload to a place like Slideshare. For posts directly into LJ use a place like Photobucket and post the HTML lines into a post, switch to rich text and type in your text.

[amylu1988]

I read chapter one and it's a great start! The text is fine for me on my laptop, but the pictures get a little stretched with my widescreen.

I hope you find LJ easy to navigate NoReins, we can all help you so feel free to ask any time, and we all have livejournals as well.

[NoReins]

Thanks Amylu! I feel like I can do more with the legacy than I have, but I'm not quite sure where to take it, except I have a twist for the last half of the second generation.

I have a livejournal account set up now. NoReins94. Just figuring out how to use it! I also started a slideshare account, so I modified the first chapter of A Cop's Legacy and have it up on livejournal if you guys want to check it out there! The link is above in my first post or you can use the hyperlink below.

noreins94.livejournal.com/

[joandsarah]

I just realized you posted the link to your LJ here, so I've gone over and friended you on there.

[NoReins]

Haha! It's okay. I posted it on the other board as well after you requested that I do so. Any helpful tips will be appreciated!

I didn't see any new friend notifications in my livejournal inbox this morning, though. Does it usually take some time for them to show up?

[amylu1988]

I'm not sure, I've just added you as well so let us know if it works. Do you want chapter comments on here or livejournal in future?

[NoReins]

Amylu, I received notice that you added me as a friend! Thanks so much.

But I still haven't received anything from joeandsarah.

As far as comments go, I don't have a preference whether they're posted here or on livejournal. Either is fine with me. As I've said before any constructive tips would be very much appreciated.

[NoReins]

Chapter two of A Cop's Legacy is now up on livejournal! My second experience with slideshare was much better than the first. It took me forever to download the first chapter, but this new one downloaded lickety-split!

You can find the link to A Cop's Legacy: 1.2 Raising Kids on my first post here or below.

noreins94.livejournal.com/1184.html