The Sims Blog With The Really Brilliant Name

Update

2011-10-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hi:)
I will no longer be updating this blog. Please join the Facebook group "Ella Fans" if you wish to keep up to date with the series.

Episode 14 is in progress and I hope to have it out soon.

Thanks,
Molly

July, 2011...

2011-07-05T12:59:00.001-07:00

Will there be more Ella?

I hope so! I would like to continue her story, to tell you what she and her friends & family have been up to in the past year.

Spoilers:

-There has been a new addition to Ella's family! Check out episode 13 for clues (not that hard to figure out, I imagine.) In the next episode or vlog, coming out this summer I HOPE, you'll find out who it is!

-I'm tentatively planning the return of a character we haven't seen nor spoken of in quite a while. Hmm, who could it be??:)

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

I hope you're having a great holiday season! Need something to do in this post-Christmas slump? How 'bout some holiday Ella?:)

The Year Without A Christmas Tree

...or...

Winter Wonderland

Enjoy & happy holidays!

:-)

Almost there!

2010-11-23T02:35:00.000-08:00

Well, if you're reading this, I've got to thank you for being so faithful and loyal and... well, not giving up! Because guess what? Episode 13 is going to be out very soon! I've basically finished it, but I'm just putting on a few finishing touches. It's a little different from the other episodes, but I think you'll like it. I know I do! Make sure you've watched all the V-log episodes, because those are important, too... anyway, thanks again and keep your eye on the youtube channel in the next few days!

Update

2010-08-29T01:03:00.000-07:00

Dang, forever since posting.

I am doing an episode 13! At least I'm trying to. I've got the idea for it, I've started filming a little bit. I hope to have it out this fall.

If you haven't checked out my new novel yet, you totally should! www.mollypatton.com

2010-02-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

Hey guys.

To those of you who are asking me/wondering about why I'm doing vlogs and not doing full-length episodes at the moment -- I'm not doing the vlogs INSTEAD of episodes. I'm doing them because if I wasn't doing the vlogs, I wouldn't be doing anything. They're quicker and easier to make than episodes (that's an understatement!) and they allow me to keep up with the characters' lives.

If there is another actual episode in the future, it WILL follow the continuity of the vlogs (Ella's family will have a kitten, etc.) so it will be helpful to have watched them. Hope some of you are enjoying them!

M

Sims 3!

2009-12-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

I got Sims 3 for Christmas, which is insane because I didn't even ask for it or anything, it just appeared under the tree. Last night I was trying it out and whoa, it's going to take some getting used to. People have asked me if I ever plan to make videos with S3. After last night, I think my answer is a resounding "ACK NO!" because it's all so new and scary. But I do enjoy being able to customize all kinds of things. I just need to play around with it more and get comfortable. Sims 2 took awhile to grow on me also. (I got it 2 years after it came out, and it was still another 6 months before I really started enjoying it.)

But yeah, so I have it now, and I'll let you know if I do any videos with it!

happy holidays! & ella's first vlog

2009-12-21T17:40:00.001-08:00

Ella has a famous castmember!

2009-11-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

Parker, who does the voice of Mickey on Ella, is famous! His photograph, taken by Jenn McFarling (who voices Kacey) is in the December 2009 issue of Vanity Fair magazine (the one with Robert Pattinson on the cover). Congratulations, you guys! :):)

Episode 12

2009-11-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

So episode 12 came out a week and a half ago. Uh, guess I never posted about that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsWe6gYVYEQ

There you go!

People are asking me if this is going to be the last episode. I really don't have an answer for that right now. I have ideas for more episodes, but I also think episode 12 had a satisfactory series ending. So... I could do more episodes, a spin-off, or a whole nother series... so many options. I'll let you know what I decide, of course.

Thanks for watching!

Impediments

2009-09-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hey, you know what's really fun? And what makes making an episode go SOOOO much smoother?

That's right! LARYNGITIS!

I go to the doctor at 4pm.

Peace.

P.S. Other than that, progress is going smoothly. It COULD be out by the end of September, but don't hold me to that. You know me.

Heatwave

2009-08-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

So at the beginning of the summer I bought a laptop. I thought it would be great because I could take it anywhere, namely into rooms of our house where it ISN'T 419,517 degrees in the summertime (we have no AC). But alas, we've had so many hot days here lately, that it's unbearable to be anywhere except the inflatable swimming pool in the backyard. Since laptops aren't allowed in the pool (there's some law, I hear) I haven't been doing much, Ella-wise. Finally, FINALLY, though, it has cooled off in the last two days, and I've been getting back to work. I got Stan (who plays Gus) to touch up some lines. Still waiting on Gray. I got a talented fellow Youtuber to do the voice Jaemie (you'll get to see who when the ep comes out!) and...

Problem...

I don't know where the episode's going.

I don't know if Ella is going to be able to get it out that she likes Gus, or if they will be interrupted or if she's going to start to tell him but...

You would think I would know BY NOW. Nope.

Must decide.

Episode 12

2009-07-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

People keep asking me about episode 12. "When's it coming out?" Like I say whenever anybody asks me this about any episode, be it episode 12, 13, or 102, I DO NOT KNOW WHEN IT IS COMING OUT. It's funny because I get all these emails and messages that all say the same thing, and I read them all, and reading them all (and sometimes replying) takes time away from working on episode 12! And you wonder why it takes so long!

Okay actually, here's the bad news. I got a new laptop because I thought it would help make video production go faster. You know, better video card = the game AND the video editing software performing better, right? Wrong. Sigh. The new laptop has Vista, and I just discovered that my trusty video editing software, Ulead VideoStudio 7, does not work with Vista. There's some audio error that they never bothered to make a patch for Vista, since version 7 is from like 6 years ago and they have newer versions of the software that they want you to shell out big bucks for instead. So okay, I have Pinnacle Studio 9, which is newer and works with Vista, and I've used it some, but it's like getting a new car... it takes time to get used to where all the stuff is, and some things are just not the same. I have a harder time matching audio to video with Pinnacle. I might just have to pull my hair out, yo.

Besides that, I was doing some test videos (ie clips from Sims 2), and when I viewed them, everybody was tall and skinny. What the...? So I've been playing around with screen resolutions and stuff, but it's frustrating. The only thing that has worked so far is to set my computer's resolution to 720x1040 or whatever, same with the Sims game. But since I have a widescreen computer, everything looks warped in the game. OH I DON'T KNOW. I'll keep working at it. You'll know if I succeeded if episode 12 comes out and Ella doesn't look like an emaciated popsicle stick. This = success.

Episode 11 is out

2009-06-18T19:11:00.000-07:00

And you thought it might never happen!

Well so did I, for a while there.

I have some bloopers to post, sometime soon, including Fun With Clones. Oh yes.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mylaellison

4.0 and counting...

2009-06-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

I got so much work done today, it's crazy! I really feel I could be done soon, but I better not say that too confidently or some people will interpret it as a promise. People are already prolly gonna kill me because this is looking like it'll be a short ep. Seriously, it's like 4 minutes long (minus the credits). So do I...

-Add some filler scenes of Ella waxing poetic about her life?

-Create & film some unrelated scene, possibly involving the dog or the twins, to provide some humor but not really advance the plot? (What is this, Full House??)

-Just keep it short, and risk it?

We shall see.

:-X

2009-05-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

I've got something resembling Bronchitis today. But it's okay because I needed some audio of Ella coughing anyway. (All that optimism... I kind of sound like Pollyanna playing The Glad Game, don't I? Tralala!)

Despite the hacking, I'm editing right now, piecing together voice clips and video clips and... okay, that's about it, since the music/sound effects usually come last.

See, there it is? I like how Ella's all, "Aha!"

That'll probably be edited out.

Anyway, I'm going to take a break from that for a few minutes to answer some of the questions that have been posed lately.

Q) When will episode 11 be out?
A) Yeahhhh I still don't know.

Q) Will there be an episode 12?
A) Probably.

Q) Are Ella and Gus going to get together?
A) I'm an Anne Of Green Gables fanatic, so...

Q) Are you going to use Sims 3 to make future episodes?
A) From what I've seen of Sims 3, it doesn't excite me. I'm doubtful I'll be getting it right away. One reason is my computer probably couldn't handle it. Another is that I like to stick to what I know, and I know Sims 2 pretty well now. I'm not big on change. Heck, it took me 2 years to buy Sims 2 after it came out!

That's all for now.

More from #11

2009-04-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few screencaps from episode 11. I wish I could say progress was going faster, sigh. Still...

This is from a scene where Ella is witnessing Gus talking to the new girl. But what does it all mean? Hmmmm!

New Girl Meets...

2009-03-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple shots from episode 11:

Yes, that second one's a new character... with some resemblance to Ella, I realize... though don't start getting ideas, she's not Ella's long-lost sister/cousin/mother (...OR IS SHE??)

Now, without telling you anything about this new girl (though I suppose some of you might be able to guess what role she's going to have) I need to come up with a name for her. Suggestions? Leave 'em in the comments.

Filming...

2009-03-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

Filming began today. I have a plot in mind. It might change as I go, as it often does, but I've got a pretty good idea what's going to happen. I don't know how long this one will take... 3 weeks? 6 weeks? It's going to have a lot of voiceover in it, and I have a lot of days off from work coming up... so maybe it'll get done sooner rather than later.

Big thanks to Jenn M. for helping me brainstorm the other night. She's great for bouncing ideas off of. And she convinced me not to kill everyone off, so...

;) j/k

Episode Eleven: The Early Stages...

2009-02-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

Since a lot of people seem to think I could technically whip episodes out in a matter of hours and that I am mean and cruel to make you wait so long, I thought as I make episode 11, I'd keep you posted regarding my progress. So you can see that these things take time. Oh yeah, and that I'm slow. But not mean and cruel... really! (Okay, maybe sometimes.)

I'm in the planning stages right now. I have an idea what I want episode #11 to be about, but no dialogue has come to me. No scenes have formed in my mind. In other words -- This could take a while.

One thing I'm accomplishing (oh yeah, go me!) -- I'm cleaning off my harddrive in preparation for capturing lots of video files. It's crazy how quickly my HD fills up. I've got about 1 gig left on this poor machine. It's crowded with about 40 hours of old home movies and four years worth of iTunes purchases (I love me some iTunes). It adds up.

So there you have it. I haven't started filming. I'm sure you're now totally thrilled you read this. TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS AUGH

Apt Life

2009-02-01T23:02:00.000-08:00

I finally broke down and bought Apartment Life yesterday. Got it with a gift card I'd received for my birthday. You know, the birthday I had five months ago. Yay for new interactions, toothbrushes, spiral stairs -- and especially playgrounds! (I'd made a few of my own from scratch, but I have to admit the merry-go-round is freaking awesome. Kudos to merry-go-rounds.) Today while my Sim was at a community lot, a witch showed up and made lightning bolts come raining down! Odd.

I was worried that adding a new EP would make my run game extra slow, but I haven't seen much of a difference yet. Cuz, well, it was already slow. It used to be really REALLY slow, but last summer I got more RAM for my computer. Then it got faster. Then I bought Open For Business and Pets. Then it got slow again. D'oh. More RAM? Guess so.

Ella, More Or Less - Episode #10

2009-01-28T22:56:00.000-08:00

This is episode 10 of my Sims series, Ella, More Or Less. Finally got it out to the public on January 24th; one month and 12 days after I started filming. Hit a bunch of snags along the way, including but not limited to:

*Ella's family's Christmas tree catching on fire no less than six times

*Ella's baby siblings and Bethany being taken away by Sims social services due to the fact that Bethany hadn't been doing her homework. Unfortunately, I had saved the game at some point where the social worker was on her way, yet it was too late to save the kids from being taken. Had to use cheats to thwart the social worker, but got the kids back.

*Dealing with a Sim dog. They can't be controlled like Sims humans. You need a dog for a shot? Forget it, he's out of the room. One day I found a pile of wood shavings and whatnot in Ella's room, didn't know what to make of it, and stuck it in the garage. A few weeks later -- after some extensive filming in Ella's room -- I realized that the dog had eaten one of Ella's chairs, one of those egg chairs. She had it in the last episode. THAT'S what the pile was. He'd chewed it up. So forget that, Ella doesn't get to have an egg chair anymore.

*I didn't realize that Ella had, in her wardrobe, two nearly identical pairs of pants. They're both cargo pants with the same belt, same amount of pockets, and same black shoes -- but one pair is whitish and the other is a bit darker. Wouldn't you know, when I went back to pick up certain shots for the two scenes where she wears cargo pants, I put her in the WRONG pants? So I had to back and film half those scenes over again.

*And lastly, YouTube went postal on everybody around New Years', taking down vids that had copyrighted songs in them. Several of the episodes do. Did. So, yoink -- down came several episodes, which I re-edited and put back up WHILE trying to finish ep 10. In conclusion, YouTube is not my friend anymore.

But it's done now, and I can breathe a sigh of relief and attempt to get back to normal. Until, of course, #11 beckons...

11 Things I Wish I'd Known...

2009-01-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

...When Making My First Sims 2 Video

Below are 11 cheats I've learned since making my first video. (Okay, I think I knew about the money cheat. That one's vital! But anyway...) So if you're in the midst of, or are eager to begin, making Sims videos (episodes, music vids, whatever), here are 11 tricks that I've found to be very helpful...

Note: for all of these cheats, you have to remember to open the dialogue box in the game, type the cheat there, then press enter. You can open this box by holding down Cntrl + Shift + C. So when I say "how," below, I will tell you exactly what you must type in that box. And when I say "when," it tells you WHEN you must type in the cheat. Here are the examples of what you'll see when it comes to the "when"...

"Neighborhood" Or "In-House" refers to where you must type the cheat... in neighborhood view, or in house view?

"Permanent" means the cheat will always be in effect, even if you shut down the Sims 2 game and restart it. (You can always type in the anti-cheat if you want to turn it off, but it's all up to you.) Permanent cheats work on a house-by-house basis. Each time you start playing with a brand new house or lot, you must enter the cheat one time, but it'll stick for that house.

"Once Per Game" means that if you type in this cheat ONE TIME during a session of the game, it will apply to ALL houses in the neighborhood. When you shut down the game, the cheat will disappear.

"Per House" means that the cheat must be applied and reapplied every time you enter a new house, every time you play. Even if you're playing in, say, the Smith house, then switch to neighborhood view, and go BACK to the Smith house, you must reapply the cheat. Like "Once Per Game," this cheat will disappear when you shut down the game.

"Constantly" means you may have to type it in reguarly as you play in one house.
So here we go!!

The Top 11!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#11
The Money Cheat
How: motherlode
What: Gives you $$$!
Why: So your movie has a bigger budget!
When: In House/Permanent (but you'll need to use it again if you run out of $$$)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#10
The Move Objects Cheat
How: move_objects on (anti cheat: move_objects off)
What: Lets you pick up people and in-use objects in "Buy" or "Build" mode.
Why: It can be handy if a Sim gets stuck or if you want to move your Sim from one room to another without waiting for them to take their sweet time sauntering over. There are lots of funny things you can do with this cheat.
When: In-House/Once Per Game

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#9
The Crazy Aging Cheat
How: agesimscheat on (anti cheat: agesimscheat off)
What: Allows you to age your Sim from toddler, child, teen, adult, or elder to any of the ages. But beware -- if you turn an adult into a child, they may have terrible grades and be taken away by social services.
Why: If you're tired of waiting around for a kid to grow up, you can use this cheat
When: In-House/Once Per Game

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#8
Unlock Career Rewards
How: unlockcareerrewards
What: Lets you get those special Career Reward objects without actually working for them
Why: Some of the objects are kind of cool, especially the one that lets you bring Sims back from the dead (an object only available with certain EP's -- Nightlife, I think, has this)
When: In-House/Permanent

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#7
The Eternal Youth Cheat
How: aging_off (anti cheat: aging_on)
What: Prevents Sims from aging
Why: So the Sims you're trying to film don't get older unexpectedly
When: In-House/Permanent

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#6
High Aspirations
How: aspirationlevel X (where X = a number 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 - 5 being good and 1 being bad)
What: Changes your Sim's aspiration level (this is only applicable/necessary if you have an expansion pack that uses aspirations)
Why: So you can use some of the Rewards Objects without endangering your Sims
When: In-House/Constantly

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#5
The Timemaster
How: sethour X (where X = an hour of the day in military time; ie "13" means "1pm")
What: Changes the time of day
Why: If you need to film in the daytime, you can keep it daytime. Same with night. Or if you need to film kids in the daytime, once it gets to 7pm (darkness) you should always set it to 15 (3pm) so they don't get penalized for missing school. That would give you 4 hours of daylight to work with; then repeat the cheat for more. Similarly, if you need to do a long night shoot, you can keep the daylight at bay.
When: In-House/Constantly

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#4
Max Motives
How: maxmotives
What: "Greens Up" all your Sims
Why: So you don't have to worry about your Sims' needs, like needing to sleep or eat
When: In-House/Constantly
WARNING: If you have your Sim eat when their hunger is at full green, they will get fat very quickly!
IN ADDITION: typing "motive_decay off" will keep the green bars from diminishing entirely (type "motive_decay on" to make things normal.) Note that if a Sim is struck by lightning or a pregnant Sim throws up, certain motives, like hygiene, may diminish anyway.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#3
The "TAB" Camera
What: A new kind of video camera technique
How: Hit the TAB key; then use the following keys to move the camera around: E=Up, Q=Down, W=Forward, S=Backward, Z=Zoom In, X=Zoom Out
Why: Allows for some new angles while filming; can get you closer to toddlers sitting on the floor; stops stairs and trees from disappearing when you get close to them
When: In-House/Constantly (hit the TAB key again to go back to normal view)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#2
Boolprop
How: boolprop testingcheatsenabled true
What: Unlocks all sorts of cheats
Why: Once this cheat is enabled, many wonderful (and scary) things can happen. Shift-clicking on a Sim will bring up a menu of some of the many things you can do. "Spawn" opens up an additional list of options. "Tom's Clothing Tester" lets you change into the NPC's clothes (ie a police officer or a salesclerk). "Accessory Cheat" lets you summon any number of objects that normally just appear when they're in use (ie a drinking class or a pen); these objects are useless but can be good for decoration.) The "Tombstone of L and D" lets you summon extra Sims, so you can have a house with more than 8 people in it. "Badge Juicer" lets you automatically make your Sims good at a skill. There are many more things. My favorite thing is the ability to manipulate relationships just by clicking on a relationship bar and sliding the greenness up and down OR manipulating ONE motive individually (like, if you want a Sim to collapse from tiredness, but not be smelly and hungry too, you can slide the tiredness bar to red, but leave all the others intact.) Also, you can make Sims fall in love without even having to try.
When: Neighborhood/Once Per Game

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
#1
Remove Those Evil Thought Bubbles!
How: show_headlines off
What: Removes the thought bubbles and + and - signs that often appear over Sims' heads. Note: This will also remove the alert boxes that pop up, so you may not know if a Sim has gotten sick or if a kid is flunking out of school until it's too late. Also, if a Sim is in love with another Sim, you may still see Heart bubbles appear over their heads. This cheat will NOT get rid of the blue-ish "learning" bubbles that appear when a Sim is studying, but they can be removed with the Move Objects cheat (see #9 above). It will also NOT remove the green diamond that appears over the head of the Sim who is currently being used; however, when filming, you can have a Sim sit in a lonely closet, out of sight, and make sure this Sim is always the one with the green diamond over him.
Why: So your videos look more realistic. Who wants those crazy plus signs, anyway?
When: In-House/Per House (and sometimes constantly, if it shuts itself off)

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I realize that I may have made some mistakes and typos in this list. If you know of any, please let me know by leaving a comment.