The Fate of Alchemy

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a bunch of questions I have been asked about my stories before and that I’m anticipating I will be asked for this story as well. I’ll complete this page as I go along if new recurring questions start to appear. Remember these questions only apply to The Fate of Alchemy. For answers concerning your questions about The Fate of Pleasantview please check the original series page.

Which Bella did you use to create ‘The Fate of Alchemy’?
Before starting to take pictures, I made Strangetown become a shopping district of Pleasantview in my game so that the Sims from Pleasantview and those of Strangetown can meet. This is a complex process, which I had to try three times to get right, using SimPE. So, I was able to use Pleasantview Bella exclusively for the stories.

Wait, Pleasantview Bella? How did you get her back?
When the game was created, Maxis had to include Bella in the game, even if you weren't able to play her. Indeed, they needed the Goth family to remember her in their family tree and memories. I don't think they ever intended her to be played though. In fact, they even gave her a dead token, meaning that if you attempt to play her, she dies right after…
However, there are two ways to go around this and still get the "real" Bella Goth back:

1) The SimPE method (requires the SimPE)
For this method you will need to download the program SimPE at this site (free and safe).
- Open the SimPE
- Open the neighborhood browser and open Pleasantview.
- In the arborescence on the left, click on "neighborhood memory"
- Find Bella Goth on the left and click on her.
- You will see her memories in a box. Delete the one that is called "Death Token" (you can also give her, her old memories back this way…)
- Load the game. Go to Pleasantview
- In the cheat box enter the cheat boolprop TestingCheatsEnabled true
- Enter the Goth household.
- Press the shift key and click on a sim
- In the pie menu, click on "Spawn..." and find "The Tombstone of L& D". Click on it.
- Click normally on the Tombstone that appears.
- In the pie menu, click on "Add neighbor to Family…" and find "Bella". Click on her name.
- Bella will be added to the household and will be playable. Enjoy!

2) The Resurect-O-Nitrom method (requires University)
- Load the game. Go to Pleasantview
- In the cheat box enter the cheat boolprop TestingCheatsEnabled true
- Enter the Goth household.
- Press the shift key and click on a sim
- In the pie menu, click on "Spawn..." and find "The Tombstone of L& D". Click on it.
- Click normally on the Tombstone that appears.
- In the pie menu, click on "Add neighbor to Family…" and find "Bella". Click on her name.
- Save and go to the neighborhood.
- Re-enter the Goth household. A message will appear saying that Bella is dead and she will disappear.
- Press the shift key and click on the newspaper
- In the pie menu, click "Career Rewards" and then "Paranormal" (the active sim must be an adult…)
- Go in the sim's career rewards and find the Resurect-O-Nitrom (paranormal career) You should be able to spawn it.
- Have a sim use the phone to call the grim reaper and resurrect Bella.
- Bella will be added to the household and will be playable. Enjoy!

Look out: the second method seems to have stopped working ever since The Sims 2: Pets Expansion Pack came out, so I would go for the first one if I were you, if you have that expansion pack.

Where do you get your custom content?
There’s so much custom content out there, it’s sometimes hard to remember where it all came from. I mainly download from Modthesims2, because they have massive amounts of all kinds of content. I try to limit my downloads, so I usually download by need, meaning that if I’m imagining a certain scene of my story for which I’m going to need some custom content, I try to find some on the internet. I rarely download content just because it looks nice, because I have had several problems with downloads in the past. If you specifically point something out in my stories, I’m more than happy to help you find it again. Credit for content is also given at the end of chapters, so report there first if you’re looking for something.

When is the next chapter of ‘The Fate of Alchemy’ coming out?
Seeing that this is my final year it’s quite important and I’m going to need to give as much attention to my work as is needed. That being said, my stories are a rather large priority in my life and I’m not going to stop completely. When I’m not in school, it takes me about a week and a half to create an entire chapter, so I’m going to aim at least one chapter a month for now, though I’m secretly hoping for more. The fact that I have planned the majority of this series before writing it, may allow me to write the chapter quicker. Only time will tell...

When will you finish the series?
The answer to this question depends on the answer to the last. Already, the series is composed of two parts. So, far, I have only planned the first part with detail, and I have a general idea of what’s going to happen in the second. The first part should 15 chapters long. So with my aim to get at least a chapter out each month and more if I can, the first part should be complete in about a year. However, I’m going to try to have it done by next January if possible.
Then I’ll have to take care of the second part, and there might even be a third part, though I’m going to try to avoid that because I don’t think I’ll have enough time for three parts. You see, I need to finish the whole series by early 2009, when the Sims 3 is supposed to come out. So I’ll determine how many chapters I want for the second part and if I can make a third part, based on the amount of time I’ll have left, once the first part if over.
Yes, I know, I can never keep things simple.

What’s going to happen in the next chapter / to this character?
Asking me to reveal future storylines is quite hopeful of you. I’m very secretive about what is to happen in my story. Why? Because I want you to be able to enjoy the story as it’s meant to be discovered. It would be no fun if I told you the end, before telling you the middle.
The storyline that got me the most questions to date was Angela’s murder from The Fate of Pleasantview. Many people asked me to reveal the identity of her murderer. The only thing I could tell them was that it was too important for me to just give it away.
The point of putting mystery and cliffhangers in my story is to have you wonder and see you speculate… not to give answers, of course.
I usually give a few sneak peaks in my blog, as I’m making the chapters. They’re not very precise, or breath taking. I usually tell you what the themes of the next chapter will be, without giving any answers to the questions left in the previous chapters.

Can you give me advice to make my own stories / covers?
I’ve wanted to make some storytelling tutorials for a while now, to tell you the truth. I’ve learned a lot about making stories and I would like to share that knowledge. However, with the two or three parts of FOA I have to write, I may never really get the chance to do that. Maybe with the Sims 3!
Not too long ago I wrote quite a big paragraph answering to a similar question in The Fate of Pleasantview FAQ page, so you can check that out for some detailed info.
I’ll just give a few pointers here:

For pictures and covers:
- Find yourself a photo editing program and get to know it. Being familiar with your program will give you many possibilities to create just about anything you want. I use PhotoFiltre and The Gimp.
- Always use lighting, even for nighttime scenes.
- Close ups makes the reader feel closer to the characters… not just literally.
- Covers need to have a focal point (where the eye is attracted first), and a clear title.
- Say what you want, but we do judge a book by its cover. That’s just basic human instincts: you’re more likely to go towards something pretty than ugly. Since your cover is the first thing people will see of your story on the exchange, make sure to work on it and make it catchy (but not tacky…).

For writing:
- Writing your story in word processing program first prevents spelling mistakes and allows you to see if your story can be understood without the pictures (which it should).
- Always use transitions between scenes to tell the reader how much time has passed since the last and where the action is now taking place.
- Descriptions are always great to read; especially if they’re smartly brought and can help you underline what’s important in the environment, and set the mood.
- Dialogues can be powerful but use them wisely. Each dialogue must have a goal. Saying your characters greeted each other is so much better than writing out the actual dialogue they exchanged.
- Practice makes perfect. There are many things I don’t like about what I wrote before, but that I didn’t notice at the time. The more effort you put into your writing, the more it’ll pay off.

Good tutorials do exist out there, but you’ll never progress until you try things out for yourself!

Did you not find the answer to your question? You can always contact me through my guestbook of by E-mail (alexi035@hotmail.fr) if you want to ask anything else.