Behind the scenes chapter 33
May. 14th, 2011 08:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katrisimsAlright, I believe I promised you some BTS for chapter 33, so here goes. The following is, naturally, spoilery for chapter 33.
Alright, I'll start off with Cyrus and Chris' engagement. Truth to be told, I've wanted these two married for a long time, and I knew I had to make it happen one way or another. It was originally![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
esmeiolanthe who said in a comment that Cyrus and Chris would probably never get married, because Cyrus would never propose - he's happy just being best buddies for all eternity. Well, my thought on that was that yes, she's correct, that's very true.
But I still wanted them married; after all that time of pondering if Cyrus will ever find a romantic interest and then finding someone who felt so perfect for him, I could NOT not get them married. The solution: Chris has to propose.
There was no particular trick in this scene, I simply first had them sit at the table and talk, and then, when I estimated I had enough pictures of that, I had Chris propose. Then I tried to be selective with the photos I used in the chapter, because Cyrus was so enthusiastic.
I mean, how's this one for "Sure, why not, let's get married. I'm sure it'll be fun."?
Or these ones, for that matter. The last one actually made it to the update, instead of the gameplay "squeeee, I'm so excited", I captioned it to the effect "you're so cute when you worry over silly things". But really, this was the picture where Cyrus bounced on his chair and my heart totally melted.
Alright, into the Other Plottiness then. The plot with Cho has long been in my head and I'm eager to play it out. It's not quite finished yet, so I'll have to keep my lips sealed for some time yet. I think after next chapter I should be able to babble more.
But, I can talk about the technicalitites of this chapter. ACR took care of the pregnancy, although it wasn't unplanned. I just set the unmarried try for baby setting on, and ta-da, that was it.
Technically, this picture is of "the same woohoo" that got Cho pregnant, and still it didn't get her pregnant. This is because of the incident where Gadwin ate me a playsession worth of pictures and I had to play again (using a backup) to get those pictures. Then, too, Cho and Eric woohooed, only Cho didn't get pregnant.
Now, Cho and Eric really were engaged, and Eric really did leave her at the altar. My plan originally was to spare them from the trauma, but when I was going to shoot the engagement scene (which, too, I had to reshoot because I actually got no pictures), I found out that there are apparently two interactions which are borked on the otherwise amazing posebox-paintings I have. Yep, engagement and marriage. So I had to screw it and do the thing for real.
Cho and Eric are both romancers, but they both got green memories from getting engaged. I suppose that one had something to do with Free Time. The left-at-the-altar part wasn't as pleasant, but it was only traumatic for Cho, and the prof. has no memory of it at all.
The biggest challenge of the chapter was definitely time. I needed to get all the pictures while Cho's three day pregnancy clock was marching on all the time. First I needed pictures of normal life and seeming happiness.
Then I needed to lower the couple's relationship so that Eric would actually leave Cho at the altar. I could have tried with the arguing, but our schedule was tight, so I tried the cheating route. I invited Nicholas over, and purposedly had him do base-game romantic actions with Cho while Eric was in the room.
At this point, I was getting worried. Romantic kissing with another guy was apparently perfectly a-okay with Eric, and time was marching on,
I was already pondering on alternative ways to get the relationship down, when I found out that making out with another guy was NOT a-okay with Eric. Both actions were base-game, not ACR, so I don't know what the deal was. Anyway, mission accomplished.
After a prevented slapfest, the next order of business for Eric was to go drink strawberry juice. He needed to live in the house still, and I didn't want him to cause trouble or flamey-thoughtballoon at the wedding.
So, next there was the wedding. The timing was getting extremely tight, as I wanted to have the wedding during the third trimester so that Cho's belly would be as big as possible. Happily, I found from my CC a nice dress that had a pregmorph. (Cho's regular outfit, to my disappointment, doesn't have one, that's the real reason she changed it for the pregnancy, of course.)
It was a bit of a hassle, really. I summoned everyone I wanted to be there for the wedding, but stupidly summoned them inside. It was autumn and they all changed into their outerwear when going out.
So a bunch of drawers outside, and everybody go get dressed, now! And Ryker, stop scaring the readers!
And just when I'd gotten everyone dressed up and just about seated...
Cho: "Yoohoo! I am going to give birth now!"
Eric: "I'm the groom, and I'm still wearing the wrong clothes, and my bride appears to be in labor."
Sigh. I'd hoped that when I freeze time with the freezer clock, it'd stop the pregnancy from progressing. Apparently that isn't the case. Exit without saving, and start over.
Next time, I took care to keep the game on pause as much as I could, and did all moving with move_objects on where possible, so that time wouldn't pass and Cho wouldn't go into labor. Thankfully, it worked.
Now, apparently my planned surprise of Eric turning Cho down worked, as in it was really a surprise. Part of what may have helped keep it secret until the last moment, was perhaps this.
See? He isn't looking at all rejectey there, is he?
Nor is she looking very rejected, right?
Well, that'd be because the first time I did this, they actually got married.
You might not be able to see, but they are below friends level, and Eric is accepting the marriage. I was staring at my screen in wonder.
So, in an alternate universe this could have happened. But it was not to be. Plot required otherwise. Sorry, guys.
So it seemed that I hadn't lowered the relationship enough. Just in case, I had Cho change her turn ons and turn off too, so that I'd get their chemistry down as well. They are natural three-bolters.
Some arguing was also in order, to make sure that the effect would be as desired.
Now, try again. There was a slight continuency error in the chapter. When I made Cho and Eric walk the aisle, Cho was on the right. So when I turn the camera to face the wedding arch, she should have been on the left. But when I chose "get married" Cho and Eric first swapped places and then did the interaction. At least they were in the same positions in the acceptance and in the rejection.
I considered reshooting, but decided that I liked some of the pictures I had, for instance this one, way too much not to use it. It's completely by accident that both Sean and Ira are doing the swoon, that Bill has his arms folded, Eric has this confident smile on, and everyone is paying attention to the couple. I swear, had I actually done anything to stage this one, other than make everyone stand where they are and the bride and groom walk towards the arch, it wouldn't have turned nearly as good! I love how sometimes these wonderful accidents happen.
Anyway, I decided to use the pictures, thinking no one will notice the continuency error unless I tell them. So, technically, I shouldn't have told you. Oops.
And finally, the result was what I needed it to be. Eric refused to marry Cho. When I shot these last pictures, there weren't any more guests. Only Marylena came to watch and was very sad that her relative got left at the altar. And I think the maid watched too. Anyway, I didn't need any more pictures of the audience, only the main couple.
In the end, I decided to use both the acceptance and the rejection pictures. That helped create even bigger a surprise, and to me it gave me the sense of Eric's backing down being really, really last minute.
And then there was Nicholas. He was the easiest one to shoot, because he didn't really need to do anything but stand there and look sad. And he needn't be really even in synch with the rest of the guests, since he was so far away that you can barely see what's going on with the others anyway.
But he needed to be there, and he was. Nicholas being at the wedding was partly inspired by The Vetinary Dualegacy bydocnerd, where a similar wedding scene took place. (Except that the couple actually got married.) I liked that scene and I had the thought of stealing it floating in the back of my head. Then, sort of what made it click was the song that I ended up using, Not Strong Enough. When 7th Symphony came out, and when I'd had enough of listening to End of Me on repeat, Not Strong Enough became my new favorite. And then, one day, I suddenly realized that it could have been written about Nicholas. It fit perfectly. I don't even usually do these song-background weddings or deaths or anything (I've been impressed by many, though), but from the moment I realized how Nicholas the song was, I just had to use it. I was listening to it when arranging and writing that scene, too.
Poor Nicholas, I'm really sorry for what I've been doing to him for the sake of plot. And to Cho, and to Eric. But, it's not all over yet, no it's not... Must. Not. Say. More.
Alright. I suppose that's just about all I had for today's BTS. When I wasn't being blocked (and for a loooooong time I was, and it was terrible), this was a really interesting chapter to write, one I'd been looking forward to a long time. But so should be the next one. I'm currently working on a the autumn rotation in Alphabetia, getting started on the wedding and baby paloozas - I think I've earned it. But sometime during the (sim) autumn or winter, plottiness will be happening, too... Eventually, there'll be chapter 34. But before then, there's playing to be done, and I think picspam to be posted too, when I have some. :)
Alright, I'll start off with Cyrus and Chris' engagement. Truth to be told, I've wanted these two married for a long time, and I knew I had to make it happen one way or another. It was originally
esmeiolanthe who said in a comment that Cyrus and Chris would probably never get married, because Cyrus would never propose - he's happy just being best buddies for all eternity. Well, my thought on that was that yes, she's correct, that's very true.But I still wanted them married; after all that time of pondering if Cyrus will ever find a romantic interest and then finding someone who felt so perfect for him, I could NOT not get them married. The solution: Chris has to propose.
There was no particular trick in this scene, I simply first had them sit at the table and talk, and then, when I estimated I had enough pictures of that, I had Chris propose. Then I tried to be selective with the photos I used in the chapter, because Cyrus was so enthusiastic.
I mean, how's this one for "Sure, why not, let's get married. I'm sure it'll be fun."?
Or these ones, for that matter. The last one actually made it to the update, instead of the gameplay "squeeee, I'm so excited", I captioned it to the effect "you're so cute when you worry over silly things". But really, this was the picture where Cyrus bounced on his chair and my heart totally melted.
Alright, into the Other Plottiness then. The plot with Cho has long been in my head and I'm eager to play it out. It's not quite finished yet, so I'll have to keep my lips sealed for some time yet. I think after next chapter I should be able to babble more.
But, I can talk about the technicalitites of this chapter. ACR took care of the pregnancy, although it wasn't unplanned. I just set the unmarried try for baby setting on, and ta-da, that was it.
Technically, this picture is of "the same woohoo" that got Cho pregnant, and still it didn't get her pregnant. This is because of the incident where Gadwin ate me a playsession worth of pictures and I had to play again (using a backup) to get those pictures. Then, too, Cho and Eric woohooed, only Cho didn't get pregnant.
Now, Cho and Eric really were engaged, and Eric really did leave her at the altar. My plan originally was to spare them from the trauma, but when I was going to shoot the engagement scene (which, too, I had to reshoot because I actually got no pictures), I found out that there are apparently two interactions which are borked on the otherwise amazing posebox-paintings I have. Yep, engagement and marriage. So I had to screw it and do the thing for real.
Cho and Eric are both romancers, but they both got green memories from getting engaged. I suppose that one had something to do with Free Time. The left-at-the-altar part wasn't as pleasant, but it was only traumatic for Cho, and the prof. has no memory of it at all.
The biggest challenge of the chapter was definitely time. I needed to get all the pictures while Cho's three day pregnancy clock was marching on all the time. First I needed pictures of normal life and seeming happiness.
Then I needed to lower the couple's relationship so that Eric would actually leave Cho at the altar. I could have tried with the arguing, but our schedule was tight, so I tried the cheating route. I invited Nicholas over, and purposedly had him do base-game romantic actions with Cho while Eric was in the room.
At this point, I was getting worried. Romantic kissing with another guy was apparently perfectly a-okay with Eric, and time was marching on,
I was already pondering on alternative ways to get the relationship down, when I found out that making out with another guy was NOT a-okay with Eric. Both actions were base-game, not ACR, so I don't know what the deal was. Anyway, mission accomplished.
After a prevented slapfest, the next order of business for Eric was to go drink strawberry juice. He needed to live in the house still, and I didn't want him to cause trouble or flamey-thoughtballoon at the wedding.
So, next there was the wedding. The timing was getting extremely tight, as I wanted to have the wedding during the third trimester so that Cho's belly would be as big as possible. Happily, I found from my CC a nice dress that had a pregmorph. (Cho's regular outfit, to my disappointment, doesn't have one, that's the real reason she changed it for the pregnancy, of course.)
It was a bit of a hassle, really. I summoned everyone I wanted to be there for the wedding, but stupidly summoned them inside. It was autumn and they all changed into their outerwear when going out.
So a bunch of drawers outside, and everybody go get dressed, now! And Ryker, stop scaring the readers!
And just when I'd gotten everyone dressed up and just about seated...
Cho: "Yoohoo! I am going to give birth now!"
Eric: "I'm the groom, and I'm still wearing the wrong clothes, and my bride appears to be in labor."
Sigh. I'd hoped that when I freeze time with the freezer clock, it'd stop the pregnancy from progressing. Apparently that isn't the case. Exit without saving, and start over.
Next time, I took care to keep the game on pause as much as I could, and did all moving with move_objects on where possible, so that time wouldn't pass and Cho wouldn't go into labor. Thankfully, it worked.
Now, apparently my planned surprise of Eric turning Cho down worked, as in it was really a surprise. Part of what may have helped keep it secret until the last moment, was perhaps this.
See? He isn't looking at all rejectey there, is he?
Nor is she looking very rejected, right?
Well, that'd be because the first time I did this, they actually got married.
You might not be able to see, but they are below friends level, and Eric is accepting the marriage. I was staring at my screen in wonder.
So, in an alternate universe this could have happened. But it was not to be. Plot required otherwise. Sorry, guys.
So it seemed that I hadn't lowered the relationship enough. Just in case, I had Cho change her turn ons and turn off too, so that I'd get their chemistry down as well. They are natural three-bolters.
Some arguing was also in order, to make sure that the effect would be as desired.
Now, try again. There was a slight continuency error in the chapter. When I made Cho and Eric walk the aisle, Cho was on the right. So when I turn the camera to face the wedding arch, she should have been on the left. But when I chose "get married" Cho and Eric first swapped places and then did the interaction. At least they were in the same positions in the acceptance and in the rejection.
I considered reshooting, but decided that I liked some of the pictures I had, for instance this one, way too much not to use it. It's completely by accident that both Sean and Ira are doing the swoon, that Bill has his arms folded, Eric has this confident smile on, and everyone is paying attention to the couple. I swear, had I actually done anything to stage this one, other than make everyone stand where they are and the bride and groom walk towards the arch, it wouldn't have turned nearly as good! I love how sometimes these wonderful accidents happen.
Anyway, I decided to use the pictures, thinking no one will notice the continuency error unless I tell them. So, technically, I shouldn't have told you. Oops.
And finally, the result was what I needed it to be. Eric refused to marry Cho. When I shot these last pictures, there weren't any more guests. Only Marylena came to watch and was very sad that her relative got left at the altar. And I think the maid watched too. Anyway, I didn't need any more pictures of the audience, only the main couple.
In the end, I decided to use both the acceptance and the rejection pictures. That helped create even bigger a surprise, and to me it gave me the sense of Eric's backing down being really, really last minute.
And then there was Nicholas. He was the easiest one to shoot, because he didn't really need to do anything but stand there and look sad. And he needn't be really even in synch with the rest of the guests, since he was so far away that you can barely see what's going on with the others anyway.
But he needed to be there, and he was. Nicholas being at the wedding was partly inspired by The Vetinary Dualegacy by
docnerd, where a similar wedding scene took place. (Except that the couple actually got married.) I liked that scene and I had the thought of stealing it floating in the back of my head. Then, sort of what made it click was the song that I ended up using, Not Strong Enough. When 7th Symphony came out, and when I'd had enough of listening to End of Me on repeat, Not Strong Enough became my new favorite. And then, one day, I suddenly realized that it could have been written about Nicholas. It fit perfectly. I don't even usually do these song-background weddings or deaths or anything (I've been impressed by many, though), but from the moment I realized how Nicholas the song was, I just had to use it. I was listening to it when arranging and writing that scene, too.Poor Nicholas, I'm really sorry for what I've been doing to him for the sake of plot. And to Cho, and to Eric. But, it's not all over yet, no it's not... Must. Not. Say. More.
Alright. I suppose that's just about all I had for today's BTS. When I wasn't being blocked (and for a loooooong time I was, and it was terrible), this was a really interesting chapter to write, one I'd been looking forward to a long time. But so should be the next one. I'm currently working on a the autumn rotation in Alphabetia, getting started on the wedding and baby paloozas - I think I've earned it. But sometime during the (sim) autumn or winter, plottiness will be happening, too... Eventually, there'll be chapter 34. But before then, there's playing to be done, and I think picspam to be posted too, when I have some. :)
