What inspired OldSunset to be born

We are back! One more time before the 28th to share what inspired the birth of OldSunset!!

To know what to do, you first need to identify what not to do.

At least that was one of the motivations that permeated my mind at the beginning of the project. Sunset Valley was nice, but some things didn't smell so good to me, and that culminated in the necessary discomfort to start this project!

Leaving aside the obvious factor that I missed the Sunset Valley beta. In reality, how can you miss something you never had? I felt it was necessary!

Let's go. I'm going to start scoring all the improvement points I was considering when developing OldSunset. And let me tell you: Sunset Valley is fascinating! But visually each color seemed to compete for more attention. Be it the bright textures of the grass or the saturated green of the plants. 

This all seemed to go together VERY well in the beta (as you can see above), credits to possible lighting that gave the overall set a COMPLETELY different feel. Less pale and more vibrant.

I knew I needed to do something about it. So I searched for a set of vegetation that seemed to blend in better, made some modifications, and applied some lighting filters combined with mods to build a more visually congruent result.

(and believe me when I say this, I'm still looking for the BEST set of filters to express OldSunset's vision. The one in the image above is an old set I used)

Of course, that was far from the only reason why I joined the CAW and spent 10 years working on a map. After all, these first points can be made outside and inside the game without using Create a world.

The next point is related to "inconsistencies". As I mentioned on twitter, I have the impression that several people with similar (but different) views worked on developing the Sunset Valley map. This is because there seems to be a certain "inconsistency" in relation to the placement of signs/posts. Should it be on the sidewalk, on the street or on the grass?

I know, right now you must be thinking: "What a sick guy, who cares about that?" Well, a person prone to OCD, CALL!

I mean, is it that hard to set a pattern and follow it? Okay, in this case, the pattern seems to be this: On the street when there are lots and on the grass when there are no lots. But I wonder: Isn't there a more strategic way to distribute the posts/signs in this case?

Now, again, would signs and posts be enough to take me on a CAW journey? Alone, no. Because this detail can be diluted in the gameplay, nobody plays looking at posts and signs (besides me xD)

But there is a point and this one gets me right! And it was one of the hardest things to tweak in OldSunset and there's a high propensity that I still failed in some areas with it (but I fixed every area I found)

What happened here? Why does this street look so.. Broken? I can already imagine the cars bouncing from side to side as they drive around here. What has the city been doing with all the taxes it collects?

And why is there a tree floating here? Right under our noses, close to the street we cross to get to the lab? Is it part of any recent experience?

This is not the only one, there is another one here and in different parts of the map. And yes, I know it's a LOT of work to go from tree to tree and make sure that after changing the terrain they stay in the right place, it's very unlikely that I didn't leave at least 1 plant floating too, all work is subject to failure. But in some cases, the fix is simpler than it seems.

The positioning of various decorations was something that also caught my eye. I know, it's not easy to adjust and failure is part of reality, every detail has a story to tell. But could it be that in a world like The Sims where there are no car accidents, did any car actually hit this street guard? I suspect not.

You can bet that what bothers me the most is being unable to look at this avenue and see it completely lined up and with the plants on top of the sidewalk. I know, again, that in real life, alignment is unnatural, but The Sims is not real life. I expected a little more order here.

But this is about me, and my expectations (or idealizations).

By the way, do you know anyone who lives in a pink (or salmon colored) mansion like this one with this kind of fence around it and this mix of plants? I know, in 2009 this seemed like a great way to splurge and show you're rich. But, there are better aesthetics of doing the same with the right set of vegetation, fence, and wall panels (an equivalent, not quite equivalent):

Now, I recognize that a lot of this post is me pointing out points that don't seem to make that much sense and probably won't affect most players.

But it was these points that made me go in search of a better ideal. Or at least, an ideal that makes more sense within what I believe Ts3 can offer us. I always saw potential in what the game could offer us and believed that it only needed a tweak here and there, a greater attention to small details, to transform Sunset Valley into something extremely powerful. I mean, of course I have fond memories here, this was the first OPEN WORLD we had access to in the entire franchise! Of course I needed to consider and make it even more special!

So I decided to take a risk, invest some time to correct these small details that go unnoticed for most, but tear my chest apart for me. Making the streets smoother and easier to drive

Continuously testing new combinations of visual filters to extract something above average from the game, almost like next-gen. (I think it can get even better in the future)

But I think it goes further. Without these dissatisfactions, it would be impossible to raise the bar. These details made me a better builder. Perfect? No. Better? Yes.

I still look at OldSunset at the end of each month asking myself: How can I step out of my comfort zone and raise the bar in this area? How can I overcome the ideals I thought were high before?

In the end, the final observation I make to conclude these points is: our idealization always surpasses the final product. Either Sunset Valley which we had access to or OldSunset which will be available to everyone soon. Because idealization is not based on reality, but on a vision of reality. Over these 10 years, much of this idealization has changed and I am happy to look back and see how much these small "failures" in Sunset Valley made me look for something that at the beginning of the journey, I could hardly imagine.

I hope this post has inspired you in some way. Working on this map has been a lifelong project that is finally nearing completion. I look forward to playing on this map for the next 20 years, regardless of how awesome future games in the franchise are or any games in the genre surpass The Sims.

I've been working so long just to sit back and relax and play. Thank you to everyone who has supported this project since day one, regardless of how you supported it, with incentives, club members or feedback. I can't wait to show you the next step of this idealization!

**All photos in the post are linked at the top so they can be seen up close.**