This Week In Entertainment (11/25/09)

Remember when I used to do these Monday morning? Anyway...




Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm making Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season 4 as My Pick of the Week.


Also out this week in theaters is Ninja Assassin. It appears to be like Kill Bill where it has NC17 violence but it gets an R rating because the MPAA is fickle.

Disney releases its latest princess film with The Princess and the Frog. I hope this movie is good but I hope the heroine tones down the Southern accent she has in the trailer. Also, it's nice to see the villian in the film making his first appearance since Goldeneye for the N64.

If this film doesn't have Maurice Lamarche it'll be such a rip off.


Back to DVD releases we have Santa Buddies. You know that franchise that started with the basketball dog? Yeah, that. If they don't have a modified version of Santa Baby, it'll be such a waste.

I don't care about this, but I can't pass up on any opportunity to poin out a Spike Lee Joint.


The Wii Virtual Console is actually descent this week. It offers the oringal Super Mario Kart, which is still the best Mario Kart game in my mind. Sure, the mode seven is outdated compared to later versions, but I still enjoy it's tracks more then the latter ones. The Virtual Console also offers A Boy and His Blob. I'm not a fan of the NES game but it's nice that it's out to promote the Wii version, which is a good game.

The Bumblefudge Legacy: Generation 2: Chapter 8

Here I am, back again!

Tork mumbled something to me today about the new expansion pack that just came out for this game. I can't be bothered to remember what it's called. It's something to do with vacations or travel or something.

Anyway, he asked me if I were planning to buy it, and I have to say, no I'm not. I have no intention of ever sending my Sims off on vacation adventures in faraway lands. I just don't like doing it. Really, the only thing about the new EP that sounded remotely worth buying it for was the new basement functionality. You saw the weird convoluted way you have to make basements in this game; it's really dumb. This EP supposedly lets you build nifty basements with minimal effort.

Lucky for me and my bank account, EA saw fit to release the basement functionality in a free patch so that even vacation-hating jerks like me can still let our Sims live in holes in the ground. It's so sweet of them. It's almost enough to make me reward them for their generosity by buying the EP.

Not going to, though. I hate vacation packs. Maybe you'll get me with the next one, guys.

As for the patch, I haven't downloaded it yet. Funny enough, it's all full of bugs and can mess up your game. They released a patch for the patch like a day after the patch was released. I'm still doubtful. The main thing that's holding me back, though, is that Awesomemod isn't updated to work with it yet.

I'll get the patch soon. It's only a matter of time. I just want my favorite mods to work with it first.

On with the game!


So, I've been worried sick about Hero, right? It's weird, I know, but I sent him off without giving him a home, and I'm concerned he won't be able to find one. I feel so bad for just kicking Hero out on his ear. I liked that kid! I use my Super Computer mod to have wurwolf wire him some money, hoping this will help him in his house hunt.


Rambo ages into a toddler. It's sparkly, but uninteresting. Kind of like Twilight.


wurwolf is calling her boy, just to make sure he's all right and eating well and wearing clean underwear. She can't believe I made her son homeless either.


That is adorable. Toddlers are a pain in the ass to care for, but they are cute.


N-n-n... NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! *cry*

It's at this point that my worrying and hand-wringing increases tenfold.


She really is completely lousy at her job. It's even worse when you know, as I do, that that pile of trash is only there because she put it there herself. She's like the anti-maid.


I'm so sick with worry at this point that I make wurwolf invite the boy over for a nice hot meal. I'm so relieved he's ok, I'm not even put off by the flagrant finger-gunning. I'm desperate to do something for him, but the game won't let me look for a home for him without making him an active Sim, and he can't be an active Sim because he's homeless.

My frustration at this point is palpable.


Alastair's turn to get older!


I gave you a whole big picture instead of editing a time-lapse thing like I usually do with birthdays just because I like this picture so much. Everybody is hanging out and having a good time.

After more fretting, I resort to cheating Hero into a relationship. I give Hero a fiance in the hopes that he will take it upon himself to get married and move in with the new spouse. Sims do it all the time in Story Mode!

Here's something I didn't know until much later, though, the chosen fiance is homeless, too!


I don't even know how I did this. It wasn't intentional. After few days passed and no wedding and many frantic clicks through my Super Computer menu, suddenly I find Hero has moved back in.

House population is up to 7, and everything starts to move suuuuuuuuuuupeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr sssssssslllllllooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwww......

This madness had to end and suddenly, almost accidentally, I had a way to end it.


Hero meets his fiance in a local park. They are in love, but since it's a cheaty kind of love, they have never really actually met. Pleasantries are exchanged.


So are rings and vows.


And some spit.

And now Hero is a married man.

And now my household is at the maximum 8 Sim capacity.


...and the game won't let me move Hero in with Judd. This is where I realized that Judd is homeless, and was likely marrying Hero for the same reason I was telling Hero to marry Judd.

I felt sad. Sad and frustrated. I clicked all over trying to find a solution. Hmm. Maybe those three dots by Bumblefudge on the left side?


AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Close it!!! Close it!!! Close it and never click those three dots ever again!!!


Finally I just have to give up and accept that this house now has 8 Sims in it.

Not for long, though.


As soon as I possibly can, I go back to the move screen and tell Hero and Judd to GTFO. I love them, but there is no room in this Inn.

I don't make the same mistake I made last time, though. This time I agree to make Hero my active Sim, so I can move him onto a lot personally and get him settled in. It's the only way I can be sure he's safe.

I admit, I cheated some money into the Bumblefudge bank account in order to make this possible, but not so much as to totally mess up the challenge with my main family group. Besides, (brace yourself for some rationalization here) the only reason I'm having this money problem anyway is because one of my mods makes it so that departing Sims only take a percentage of the cash the family has lying around. This mod is making it so that Hero only gets a few thousand simoleons to his name when he leaves, where the default would have let him leave with $20,000.

So here's the new couple, on their tiny new lot (the only one I could afford for them) with its beautiful view of the river.


Not to mention the beautiful view of the back of this billboard.

Since this isn't really my main family, I don't feel bad about cheating them a few more dollars so I can build them a lovely one-room shack to live in. I also get Judd a job. (Hero already has employment in the science career track.)

They have the means to let the Story run them now. I can switch back to the main family and stop worrying.

See you next time.

Take care.

The Bumblefudge Legacy: Generation 2: Chapter 7

I'm back!

Before I begin, I think maybe I need to give a better explanation of what Story Mode is than I have thusfar, since that helps explain some of the stuff I do and talk about. If you don't care, feel free to skip down to the first pic.

In the first two Sims games, time worked a certain way. While you were playing family A, families B, C, D, and so on would be frozen in time. They would not age and no major events would happen to them unless you invited them to your place or hung out with them in public and initiated or witnessed them yourself. This was great if you played multiple families, because it allowed you to pick up where you left off. It wasn't terribly realistic, though.

In this game, things DO happen to families that you don't play. They age, they get married, they have babies, they get jobs, and generally carry on life without your personal input. The game, of course, needs some sort of programming to help it figure out exactly WHAT is going on with these Sims while you aren't looking at them. This is called Story Mode, or the Story Engine, or Story Progression, or the Story Driver, or even just the Story.

As is often the case, gamers weren't happy with the story driver that came with the game. Modders have put lots of effort into making a driver that does a better job of making rational decisions rather than choosing events randomly. I've gone through a few of those in this legacy alone.

I have one now that I like, and that's what we're looking at every time I give you a screenshot of some popup telling us what's going on with Sims I haven't been playing. That's my story driver updating me on the goings-on in town. Mostly it's only set to tell me about friends and relatives, but there are certain exceptions. I like to know about marriages and divorces and births because I like to keep track of potential spouses for my Sims. There are also four Town Personalities with my particular mod (town Casanova, town bike, town thug, and town loon) that I like to get updates on just because. The update about the random chick who was talking to herself in the last chapter was the town bike. (I really hate that term, by the way. I guess my preference for "town whore" isn't all that much nicer, though.)

I think that covers it.

Now it's time for me to struggle to remember what these pictures I took oh so long ago were of!


The game has assigned some silly task or other to Andrea, as it does, and she needs to get into this building to complete it. She's having a hard time, though, because this doof died over here and now his ghost is blocking the doorway.

Fortunately one of my mods allows me to clear away ghosts. I shoo him with glee.


Well... this is Alastair. I guess he aged to a toddler and that's why I took this? We'll go with that.


Onil is a spaz and he has broken the dishwasher. Thanks, Onil.


Andrea, who is pregnant again, is about to give birth! She is more concerned about the dishwasher than the child pushing its way out of her body. She has two kids already and one phantom child that she gave birth to in an alternate reality. She is not at all interested.

BOG is losing his shit, though.


Welcoming Spare #2 and Son #3, Rambo Bumblefudge!


Not only did the birth interrupt Andrea's dinner, it also came around bedtime. Poor Andrea is exhausted, starving, and stinky, and the dishwasher is STILL broken. The idiot in the yellow shirt on the doorstep is a babysitter, but for some reason the NPCs are going through a phase where they refuse to enter the house.

It's really awesome in situations like this one where you have two babies who are crying and mom is exhausted and everybody else in the house either need to go to work or school or are wurwolf. Really awesome.

Fortunately the same hack that let me clear out that ghost from earlier let me cheat lightly to keep the babies needs in check. I don't consider it to be too awful, because if that dumb babysitter were working properly, he'd have been doing it.


It's Hero's birthday! Again, the clothing chooser picks silly clothing. I take a swing at it.


Very nice! And now you have to leave.


The moving process was a little scary this time. I didn't have enough money to get Hero a home, so I just clicked on "kick out" and hoped the story driver would find him a home. I'm nervous about it, though. I have grown to really like Hero, and I want him to have a good life. I don't want him to get caught in one of the sweeps that the driver occasionally conducts (it likes to throw homeless Sims out of town).

I'd be happy to let Hero stick around a while, but this house is way too crowded. This game just drags when there are too many Sims in the house.


Here he comes, ready to walk into a new life.


I expect him to grab a cab, but instead he just walks off the edge of my screen.


By the time I can get my camera turned around to follow him, he's gone.

Bye Hero. Good luck.


Onil and Alastair are both playing blocks, but not together. Onil needs to quit that, though, and have his birthday.


And, like a little bitch, he goes and hides behind the table to do it. Dick.


Onil is a funny guy.

A funny guy with Fabio hair. Time to send him for the traditional birthday makeover.


Pout for the camera, Onil! Yes! Just like that! I like it!

Yeah, it's girl hair. I like how some of the girliest hairs you can download are enabled for both genders, so you can make a town full of beautiful, beautiful men.

Yes, I'm leaving it this way. What's wurwolf gonna do about it? Read this and tell me to change it? HA HA HA HA HA!!!

This maid is not the picture of professionalism.


Sim tongues gross me out. Keep your tongues inside your little pudding heads, people!

I'll leave you with this beautiful scene of family togetherness.

See you next time!

Take care.

For no good reason...

a picture of Selma Blair.

Huh, that's an interesting top picture, Google Images.






There, that's a little better.

Tork's Picks Week 11

I'll pick Carolina over Miami. Second terrible Thursday night game in a row.



Rest of the picks later.


Friggen Carolina. What was I thinking?

The rest of my picks are:

Dallas over Washington
Detroit over Cleveland
Green Bay over San Francisco
Pittsburgh over Kansas City
New York Giants over Atlanta (I know, but the Giants have to win another game sometime this season.)
New Orleans over Tampa Bay (Dear NO, Stop winning close games and start blowing away these weaker teams. Don't you dare fold during the playoffs.)
Jac over Buffalo
Indianapolis over Baltimore
-
Arizona over StL
SD over Denver (Put a fork in Denver.)
Cincinnati over Oakland. (This Bengals teams is exciting. I would like to see them in the Superbowl.)
New England over NY Jets
-
Philadelphia over Chicago (Philly cathes a break. They are just not a good team and I'm afraid that Dallas wins the division by cakewalk.)
-
Tennessee over Houston (Poor Texans. They had a descent team this year.)


Last Week:
Total:

This Week In Entertainment (11/17/09)

My Pick of the Week is the best movie to not have a plot or on-screen villian. It's Star Trek 11. I enjoyed this movie but I hope the next one has a little more substance.


Also out this week is another damn vampire movie. Let's just hope this fad fizzles out soon.

Speaking of things that should fizzle out, it's bad 3d animated movies. Like this one about aliens or something.


Just in case you never seen Gone With The Wind, here's another excuse to buy it. You have to, it's another five year anniversary!

Wow, they condensed an entire civilization into a DVD set?

I only mention this Bell Telephone Hour set because I know Tad Tadlock was on this series once. I will one day find that episode and talk about it to my bored friends. It will happen.

Because the first French Revolution was such a great idea.


On the Wii is Lego Indiana Jones 2. I loved the first Lego STar Wars game and liked the second, but I felt cold about the first Indiana Lego game. I think the series has worn out its welcome, and this one is just one movie plus various random bits from the other three.

Also Indiana Jones related is the SNES game about his Great Hits. I wished they used the VC to do more cross promotions.

The final Wii game is Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. THIS IS WAY BETTER THAN RESIDENT EVIL 5!

The Bumblefudge Legacy: Generation 2: Chapter 6

Welcome back! Let's do this!


Well that is really shocking. Everybody raise your hand if you're surprised Angie couldn't keep a boyfriend.

...

What, nobody?


I think Katie Roy might have some problems.


In other news, Andrea is pregnant again! The Spare is on his or her way!

Andrea and BOG are both hoping for a girl this time.


Money, that's what I want.
Money, that's what is hot.
Money, that's what I want.
Money, it's what we ain't got,
'Cept freedom, freedom, freedom's what we've really sought!


Time for the spare! Andrea and BOG rush to the hospital, but that's boring, so let's cut to them rushing back home!


Not a girl this time. It's a little boy that we've named Alastair. BOG already wants to try for a third. I think he wants to keep going until he gets a daughter. He's more into baby making than any other Sim I've had in this game so far, and he doesn't even have the "I want a huge obnoxious family" trait.


We only have one crib and one kid bed. There isn't room for another of either in this room. This arrangement is not going to work out for long. As it is, Toddler Onil is not going to get to go back to his crib again. He'll have to stay awake until he ages up.


Andrea, this is not good parenting.

Worse yet, she's stuck there. I can't get her to move or do anything. Her moods are starting to tank because she can't take care of her needs and Alastair is crying. *sigh*

*ctrl+shift+C*


Time to drag a baby around.


Drag, drag, drag... just drag the baby a little farther...


That's better. Now go put him in his crib, Andrea!


Alastair is getting all kinds of attention and Onil is jealous. That's the "I'm lonely" symbol over his head. Onil, you shouldn't want to talk to these people. Whenever you do, they dress you like a girl.


Anyway, it's birthday time.


Only five years old, and already Onil is a huge disappointment to his ultra artistic painter/musician father.

Nobody cares about that, though. What's tops on my mind is that the family has outgrown their nursery. I think the kids need a nice big room of their own. Time to build access to that basement everybody forgot I built at the beginning of the Legacy.


I had to sell off a lot of wurwolf's inventory to do this. Mostly it was veggies, but there were some gold ingots in there. It is a strange world where you can sell a pile of onions for the same as you can get for 10 gold ingots.

The decor looks a bit sterile, but that's ok. That's what the palette tool was made for.


Much better. Still not the prettiest room ever, but that's not really important. It's just a hole for the kids to sleep in, after all.


I keep forgetting that these two aren't brothers. Hero is Onil's uncle! Keeping the generations straight in this house is getting confusing for me.

BOG gets a chance to pick what kind of music he wants to specialize in. I choose rock music for him.

In other news, Pedostache Portrait is back.



Onil, what happened? We even potty trained you as a child.

Oh well. We'll look the other way. Accidents happen.


wurwolf is getting stir crazy again, so I send her out on a quest she hasn't undertaken since she was young. Rock hunting!


Angie is an old maid.

wurwolf never married, so I guess technically she is one too?


BOG's birthday! Mostly uneventful, except the game gave him his Fabio hair back.

Andrea's birthday is the same day, but I didn't take a picture of that.


It was mostly uneventful, except she got her old beehive back.

I'll get around to changing their hair in the next day or so.


wurwolf returns from her rock hunting adventure in formal wear for some reason.


Onil... One time is an innocent accident, but twice in twenty four hours indicates you might have some kind of problem.

Also I forgot to put a railing around that staircase hole. That can't be safe. Good thing Sims are surefooted as billygoats (except when they're on a treadmill).


I... Oh dear. I'm starting to think we may need to enroll Onil in a special day class.