Show Us Your Builds - Willow Creek

 World Map

While playing the Sims 4, undoubtedly the world map has changed from the first time you played. That is true for me in many of my builds. I am a hybrid player. I love to build in the game, but I also enjoy playing. So my builds are typically for sims to live in or enjoy as a community lot. #SimTested

Updated Willow Creek

The map above is Willow Creek in my latest save BlueBoi Family. 

I created the BlueBoi Family to play test my builds in my build world save. I just started a series of building homes from this Home Builder book I purchased over a decade ago. When I play tested the residential lots I built, I fell in love with the family and decided to play them. I saved the family to the gallery and then opened my Base Game save file which has my customized lots, families and clubs in it and plopped them into it, and then resaved it as a new save. This will be my new generations save. 

Generations

My first generations save, the Landgraabs, was lost June 2019 when a bumbleheaded Microsoft customer service tech wiped my computer to fix a minor problem. She was an idiot. I lost 1 years worth of work, including all of my Sims 4 saves. I had changed the Landgraabs, I made Geoffrey black, Malcolm bi-racial and good. And I actually had played the game until Malcolm was married, started a family and both he and his wife, Nessa, reached near the top of their careers. Also, Malcolm was abducted and impregnated so it made for some good story telling. Nessa was the sim I created when I first started playing Sims 4 and played the tutorial. I liked her and wanted to play her. I also thought that Sims 4 was akin to Sims 2 in that the stories had relevance to the sims households, like it was coded in. I later learned that nope, it's just a story no scripting.

Anywho, when I rebuilt my game after the debacle of summer 2019. I decided to create Sims Stories, but couldn't really get back into the Landgraabs. I started several new saves with different story lines and started recording. I had 5 stories and well, I stopped that after a year. It takes a long time to play, edit the videos, etc and no one was watching them. And, although this is a hobby, there was no value in continuing to play and record. Also, with so many bugs in the game, and new bugs introduced with each patch, it basically made my saves unplayable. My rags to riches story - Off the Grid Bubs, was destroyed after the Eco Lifestyle (EL) patch came out. Although I did not purchase the pack (EP), EA had destroyed the way trash cans in the worlds work. There is no trash to rummage anymore so my sims had no way to get food or find treasure in the trash. And EL brought in elements of game play that I do not want in my game. Just doesn't mesh with my values. And one of the mods I was using that made Off the Grid Lots more playable by adding solar panels and a water heater was discontinued. So, that save is essentially a bust.

I had planned to build a generation around Stub Bub. I had played this family previously before as a Rags to Riches and he became the hero of Strangerville. But, I loved the family so much, I decided to play them again Off the Grid and build a generation, since I didn't get Stub married before the game was lost.

I have also played a few other saves that could potentially be Generations saves like Celebrity Author Juan Gustafson who is an elder and a trend setter.

 
His official job is a stylist, but he became a celebrity author after he was abducted by aliens several times and impregnated twice. He wrote books & recorded vlogs about his abductions. Both made him famous. Oh yeah, he hates children and the aliens made him immortal as a thanks for enjoying being abducted. Juan went on to start a relationship with Brytani Cho, because she kept walking past his humble house in Oasis Springs. Juan was a nobody, but Brytani was into him. They hit it off.

And this child hating elder became a famous author, trendsetter, and father of four children, three girls and a boy. And as much as I enjoy playing this save game, I am not sure I will make it a generations save, because it is more about Juan Gustafson and less about his family. (BTW you will need a mod to get Juan's hair back since that hair was removed from base game.)

So that takes us to the BlueBoi Family. 

I will not be focusing too much on the careers of the parents, the father Ron is a fisherman - he has that part time career from Island Living and the aspiration, and Renzz, the mother, has the new aspirations from the Spa Day refresh and makes money from conducting yoga classes & other wellness classes. She has a Wellness club that she runs. And she mostly does her Yoga classes at the park when the family is visiting the park. And sometimes at the gym when it is raining. With these few aspirations and simple careers - enough to make money to pay the bills, I can spend time on developing the children and building a generation & robust family tree. 

Willowcreek Neighborhoods

Willowcreek has five neighborhoods. I built new lots or revised existing lots in all of the neighborhoods, but I will only be focusing on four of them in this article.

1. Crawdad Quarter
2. Foundry Cove
3. Courtyard Lane
4. Pendula View
5. Sage Estates

Crawdad Quarter

Updated Willow Creek with Revised Lots Labeled.

I had a blast getting Renzz to meet all of the toddlers in the game and through a toddler playdate event at the updated Magnolia Blossom Park. Since I own the Toddler Stuff pack, which comes with great outdoor play equipment. I added a covered toddler playground (we can't have the little tykes getting overheated, can we) and a toddler bathroom. 

In this save I added the tent, the save I have on the gallery doesn't have a tent. My Gallery ID is troshalom if you want to see & download my builds and sims. 

The toddler playdate event, which comes with the toddler pack, was a blast for little Ruzz (no I didn't spend time coming up with great names as this was initially just a test family). When you have a toddler playdate, you invite the toddlers and the parents automatically show up. It was really fun, Ruzz met some of the toddlers - I wish they wouldn't have stranger danger with other toddlers, I want them to make toddler friends just like children make friends with other child sims.

The other lots I modified are:

• Willow Creek Archive (library) - I renovated the children & toddler's library room and added toddler bookcase & void critter battle stations, a back door and updated the courtyard for grilling with a puppet booth, both from the Kid's Room stuff pack. 
  
  
  
  
  
• The Blue Velvet (lounge) - I changed it from a night club into a lounge, and upgraded the seating arrangement, added in a piano and mics for comedy & reading your books/poetry. Works great for the open mic nights from Get Famous. I kept the essence of the lot as I really like the paintings and layout.
  
  
  
  
  
• Shaker lofts (residential) - I converted this gym into a residential lot, which works great as a celebrity home for athletic sims who are famous. Since I rarely explore this neighborhood. Having a sim family live there has really allowed me to explore and see all the nuances & niches in this 'hood.
  
  
  
  
  
• Cherry Blossom Muses (residential) - I did not like this museum, also most of the items in this museum was also in Oasis Springs and Brindleton Bay. So I combined the Oasis Springs & Willow Creek museums and put any unique pieces from them into the museum in Del Sol Valley. I added galleries in the basement. That lot is on the gallery. What I did with this lot is convert it into a homey residential lot for Juan Gustafson who quickly outgrew Nookstone in Oasis Springs and needed some privacy from stans. It works great as a celebrity home.
  
  
  
  
  

Foundry Cove

Foundry Cove has the most affordable homes in Willowcreek, well that was before I got to them. As this neighborhood had a few empty lots I built two brand new lots and updated two existing lots:

• Creek Bend (residential) - This is the Blueboi family home. It has three bedrooms, with master down, and two bathrooms.
  The master bath is ensuite and has a full laundry room. There is a rec room (recreation) in the basement with a full movie screen from the Movie Hangout pack. I love the size of the screen, but not the quality. Not sure why they decided to make it so bad looking. The basement is a great space for clubs to meet and makes the Blueboi home the place for their children's friends to hangout and build relationships. The second floor has the kids bedrooms and a small play space with a fish tank. I built this house from an actual home plan. The most challenging part was the roof. But after I figured some things out it really looks beautiful on the map and in live play. Outside there is a wrap around porch in the front and out back a small deck with a grill, a small garden and a pool and small pond. Since Ron is a fisherman, he can stock his pond with all the fish he finds as he fishes around Simnation. I initially built this lot in the Pendula view neighborhood, but I placed it in this neighborhood and added a fence in the back along the street to make the backyard a bit more private. The gallery shows the side view of the house because of the lot, but below is the front of the house.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Streamlet Single (residential) - I upgraded this lot before the foundation update where you can make platforms and sunken rooms. So I added on a kitchen & diningroom, which is sunken. Outside is a small garden and you can hang laundry. I modernized the inside décor, though it is eclectic and has more of a city living vibe to it. 
  
  
  
  
• Nookstone II (residential) - this is an upgrade of the Nookstone house from Oasis Springs. I added a 2nd floor which has a bedroom and music room. The 1st floor has a bedroom off the kitchen, archways, a dining area, and a library which leads up to the 2nd floor. It works great on a 20x15 lot.
  
  
  
  
• Cottage Lore (residential) - This is another house I build from an actual home plan. It has three bedrooms. Two bedrooms on the first floor and the master bedroom & bath on the second floor. This is great for families with toddlers and you don't want them to toddle up and down the stairs. I thought the A line roof would be simple, but it proved to be quite challenging. I thought it didn't overhang over the door. After fiddling for hours I realized it did indeed overhang the door - doh! It has a huge wrap around deck for entertaining outside. The backyard is not finished so you can put in a pool, pond, telescope or rocket ship. I originally built it where the Goth home is, but in this save I placed it in this neighborhood.
  
  
  

Courtyard Lane

This neighborhood has more middle class homes. Not quite rich, but not starter. I choose to make this hood more leisurely and park like. I kept two residential lots and added three community lots.

• Cabin Rose (rental) - this is a lot I built from a real home plan. It is a rental lot in my game, but will show up under residential on the gallery. It has two stories with the bedroom and bath on the 2nd floor. One of the dormers is a walkin closet. It was a challenge creating this roof and the kitchen layout. Pretty straightforward on the plan, but difficult to emulate in the Sims. But I figured out the dormer spacing and the opening to the 1st floor - there is a balcony indoors, and kitchen. The 2nd floor does have a desk, but as a rental lot it is intended for relaxation and not work.
  
  
  
  
  
• Willowbrook Church (park) - I downloaded this lot from the gallery. It was intended for weddings & receptions. I removed the stairs to the 2nd floor, plopped in stuff that make it a park up there, and reconfigured the 1st floor a bit for a church. I have a few different versions of the save, one has a separate room for a Sunday school class. I use this lot with the Get to Church mod to make it behave like it is an actual church. And I created two sims to be the pastor and music minister (Minister & Psalmist Hope).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  In my game, the Hope's have a child. But on the gallery they are not pregnant and do not have children.
  
  
• Hallow Slough Camping (national park) - Created a camp ground so sims can have a Weiner Roast without burning to death. Also so they can do herbalism and go camping without going on vacation. It works as a great lot for homeless sims to have a place to live since there are tents, a full bathroom and kitchen and no one comes to the lot unless they are invited. I created this lot before the pond tool was released to base game, so it has the pond from Get Famous. It really includes some of the best attributes from the Outdoor Retreat pack.
  
  
  
  
  

Pendula View

This is the upper middle class neighborhood with McMansions. I didn't really modify many of the homes. I added in some customizations from the toddler, pet, kid, and laundry packs. But I will highlight two homes:

• Pynk Morrow Villa (residential) - this is the Goth mansion. I really do not like that dark house. It gives me the creeps. So I kicked out the Goth family, moved in the Pink Morrow family, lightened up the brink and the interior. Didn't really change much, just the colors and then added things for children and pets.
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• Modern Cottage (residential) - this lot I downloaded from the gallery and love it as it was. I decluttered a bit, just a tiny bit to make it playable for sims. In this save Minister & Psalmist Hope lives there and since I had them have a baby, I added a 3rd floor which will be their child's room. I kept the colors & style in tune with the City Living design esthetic the original creator used. And I think I added a pool. I add laundry to all my builds so that is there too. The house stands out in this neighborhood because it isn't a mansion per se and probably should be moved to the Courtyard Lane neighborhood.
  
  
  
  
  

Conclusion

So, I had a blast customizing Willow Creek to fit my game play. And will more than likely continue to edit Pendula View and Sage Estates as I play the game. For now, I like Sage Estates as it is and only make small modifications to the houses to represent how I play the game. I did make huge changes to the Cypress Terrace lot. I added a room for the butler on the 1st floor, redecorated and added in items from the Get Famous pack. I moved the Landgraab family there, Geoffrey and Nancy had three more children after Malcolm moved out. A daughter and then fraternal twins a boy and a girl. Then Nancy died. They were playing Strangerville as infected/possessed. And sadly, I lost this lot and save during the 2019 Microsoft debacle I discussed above. I love the Strangerville world and play it all the time, as either a world my sims visit (I have a restaurant and a hotel there) or a world where sims live. But I haven't solved the mystery again. So, I might do that with one of the BlueBoi generations, we'll see.

I hope you enjoyed this article on how I play with Willow Creek. I have my sims live in many worlds, but I tend to play Willow Creek, Newcrest, Oasis Springs, and Strangerville the most. 

Have you redefined the look and feel of Willow Creek? Share in the comments what you have done.