Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts

Friday, 5 July 2013

Feature Friday: Weealbet


Hey Simmers! Welcome to the first Feature Friday, where each week I showcase one of my favourite YouTubers.



This week’s featured YouTuber is Weealbet. I first learnt about his channel through Twitter and I subscribed because of the thorough reviews he conducts.  Along with reviews, he provides Lets Plays (LPs) and tutorials. Notably, just in the past few days he has posted a tutorial on how to get dive lots into different worlds, which is something Producers told us was not possible. He was able to work it out and was kind enough to share it with everyone. The quality of each and every video he posts is what keeps me watching.

Each week as a part of Feature Friday, the featured YouTuber answers a standard set of questions. Here’s how the interview went with Weealbet:

YouTube Questions 
1. How long have you had your channel?  
I haven't had my channel for long. I celebrated my first month as a 'YouTuber' on July 1st. 
2. Out of all your videos, which is your favourite? 
 Oooh, now there's a question! I think I would have to say my Aurora Skies Overview video. It is a world, which held no interest to me in the slightest until I saw other Simmers images and thought it suited my play style of the game. It is also (unfortunately) a world which has a lot of negativity associated with it, so I was eager to put the world in a positive light, while still discussing some of it's flaws. 
3. What (or who) inspired you to a start your channel?  
I help on another fansite (http://www.thesimstopicteam.com) where I write reviews of Store Content along with other reviewers. I am quite a chatty person in my reviews and I felt that words and pictures were not enough for me to show off the content. The only real solution that I could think of was to start doing video reviews/overviews.

The main driving force behind me starting a video series is of a more personal nature. Outside of The Sims I have public speaking and telephone speaking anxiety. As I am currently about to start my third year in an Honours Degree at university, I needed a way to try and help with my anxiety. The Sims has always been a way to help me with my anxiety so I naturally thought of doing commentated video's of the game itself. In only a month I have had a lot of progress of the personal kind from doing these videos. 
The Sims Questions 
1. What's your favourite EP?  
My favourite expansion pack for The Sims 3 has to be Seasons! While it seemed light on content initially, it came at a time when my interest in the game was wavering. The beauty of the changing weather and seasons in the game is something that still takes my breath away, even today. It also works behind the scenes of the game, without me having to do anything outside of my normal play style to experience the expansion packs features. It feels as if it has always been in the game, which I personally think is what makes an expansion pack. 
2. What's your favourite SP?  
Hmmmm. Tough question. I would have to say Outdoor Living is my favorite. I like having patio areas in my Sims homes, but the choices in the game were a bit same-y. Outdoor Living added variety to my Sims' gardens and the items were very well made! I couldn't imagine NOT having it now! 
3. What's your favourite world? 
Another tough one! If I were to pick from the base game or expansion packs, I would have to say Twinbrook. I loved the atmosphere in that world and the lake in the middle is stunning. It has a nice mixture of low income houses, mid-income houses and high wealth houses. And the town area is just adorable!
From the Store Worlds my favorite World, without a doubt, would have to be Aurora Skies! From it's announcement to two weeks after it's launch I wasn't that interested in it. However, after seeing other player’s images of it over on The Sims 3 Forums, I could see myself playing it. I had ideas of what I wanted to add, remove and change in the World. So I purchased it. Since then it has been the only World I have played in, with the exception of Isla Paradiso from Island Paradise. But the main reason I'm using that World at the moment is mostly due to my Let's Play series, and I want to see the features of this Expansion Pack fully before I incorporate them into Aurora Skies. 
4. Are you thinking about buying the Sims 4? 
I know that I will eventually, but I am waiting for more news to be released on it first before I decide if I want to pre-order it or not. 
5. How long have you played The Sims? 
I have played the series since it first launched in 2000 when I was 11 years old. I've practically grown up with the series!
Thank you for reading the very first Feature Friday! Make sure you go and check out Weealbet’s channel. You can also find him on Twitter.


Next week I will be featuring another YouTuber, so stay tuned! Each week they are picked based on my viewing of their videos. If I’m not subscribed to you, it means I probably don’t know about your channel, so feel free to tweet, email or comment with the link!

Sunday, 23 June 2013

Photo House Tour - Video Commentary

Today I published my first ever YouTube video, which was a photo house tour of the first house I built on stilted foundations from the Island Paradise game update. Unfortunately the voiceover wasn't very good quality (I hope to fix this for future videos), so I'm using this post to provide more information about the house itself.

The house is located in Sunset Valley and has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It wasn't created for any particular household. Please ignore the front of the lot - I felt a bit weird building a garden on sand so I just left it blank.

This house is 100% mod and custom content free. I have none in my game at all. In addition to The Sims 3 base game, the expansion packs, stuff packs and store content used were:

  • World Adventures
  • Ambitions
  • Late Night
  • Generations
  • Pets
  • Seasons
  • University Life
  • Outdoor Living Stuff
  • Town Life Stuff
  • The Toyota Prius Family Pack (Store)
I'm not really happy with the exterior of the house and I tried so many different designs for it, but I just couldn't get it right. So I left it and focused on the interior. 

My favourite room(s) in the house is definitely the kitchen, dining and family room. I put a lot of time into this area of the house. 

My favourite features of the house overall are:
  • The mirrored walls in the kitchen. You will need to use the moveObjects on cheat to place these.
  • The mirrored wall in the WIR. I thought this was a cool way to incorporate a mirror.
  • The fishing deck - I like that sims can now fish without having to leave the house.
  • The overall design of the kitchen, dining and family room. I've used a lot of the same colours and metals for different items in this area, which I think brings it all together.
  • The study walls and bookshelf. I played around with these in Create a Style and I'm really happy with the results.
I hate the spare bedrooms. I really didn't spend much time at all designing them, because these are rooms that'll vary in design based on who is living in the house. I just quickly threw together some really simple bedrooms to signify what they are.

I'm also not very good at bathrooms, so I'm not really happy with them either.

Overall I do love a lot of the interior of the house and I'm pretty proud of it. It was a good way to get back into the game a bit to overcome my PEPS.



Thursday, 13 June 2013

Your Sites, Blogs & YouTube Channels

Hey Simmers!

Do you run your own Sims related site, blog or YouTube channel? I'd love to be able to check it out. I've been reading some sites and have subscribed to some channels over the years, but I'm hoping to expand on that.

If you have a site, blog or YouTube channel you'd like me to check out - either send me the link in the comments, tweet me to @SimmingAway or send me an email. I'm also open to taking suggestions about the sites, blogs or YouTube channels that you love. I'd love to support the hard work of other Simmers out there by watching/reading their content.

There's no catch to this and I am not expecting anything in return. With Island Paradise so close, I'd love to be able to discover more, especially to find out what others think of the EP. I'm also just a few days away from my winter uni break, so I will have some more spare time.