* Riverview Chapel

Now that Generations has given us Wedding Arches, there's a gamut of Wedding Chapels out there. I thought I'd join in and build one for Riverview, that sits happily alongside the other Riverview Community Lots that I've built. It took at least five goes to get it functioning properly, as I forgot that when you give a sim more than one option of *purpose* on a lot - he'll pick any thing to do, other than the thing you want him to do.... in this case, at my first wedding, the entire party pissed off below stairs to the bar that I'd built... whilst the unhappy couple got married without an audience....

* The Riverview Institute of Art

I completed this one a few weeks back, all except for the top floor because I just plain ran out of steam. It's rather larger than I had at first intended, but seeing as I couldn't actually turn it into a tardis (bigger on the inside) - I had to stretch it a bit - to fit everything into it. I've used quite a few paintings from the store, and haven't bothered to list them because it would have taken forever. I figure that if you find an empty space, you can fill it with whatever art you choose - you probably would anyway!

* Riverview Central

Just recently I've neglected Riverview in favour of Sunset Valley and Twinbrooks, not that you'd know that - it's not like I've been inundating you with info or downloads just recently. Anyhoo, this morning I decided it was time to knock a couple of things on the head, so that I can get back to whatever I damn well please without worrying about stuff that ain't finished... coz I do... worry... about stuff.

* Riverview Library

I actually attempted a revamp of the original lot "Wrights Reading Room" (I think that's what it was called???? - never mind, don't actually care). But it was just so boring and I'd already built a fairly modern swimming pool for Riverview a while back - so I figured I may as well carry on in the same vain... traditional and pretty is all well and good, but I do like to build the odd modern lot... I'm a sucker for a few bright colours and straight lines.

* Vale Vista

I figured that if Bob Newbie is going to feature in Betty's life at all, that his family home needed a revamp...  however - upon closer inspection the whole place killed any desire I had to change it and it dried up any creative juices to a mere mud puddle - so I bulldozed the bugger and built a slightly more pleasing, modern home for the family to live in. It was modeled roughly around a plan I found, but altered to suit the family that are going to live in it. 

* The Riverview Arms

Yes. I know. It doesn't look particlarly interesting - but if you bother to read on, you'll see that it's a vast improvement on it's previous incarnation as The Watering Hole Juice Bar in Riverview. This one has been revamped for me, but I'm sharing it with you :D

* Simply Betty!

I'd like you to meet Betty Simovitch. I imagine you already know her - either as Betty Newbie, wife of Bob and mother of Brandi, or simply as a young Betty Simovich embarking on a new relationship with Bob, her beau... well... this isn't that Betty. This is Parallel Betty. 

This Betty has been to see a clairvoyant by the name of Wilf Truscott - he shuffled her cards, told her she needed to buy new underwear and stop swearing... and that she was going to marry her best friend Bob Newbie, get old, boring and grey with him, and have a daughter who she would name after an alcoholic beverage - but she'd manage to spell it wrong because she wasn't going to do very well at school and no... she was NOT going to become a Rock Star.

* The Grand Dame

This old lady is the Grand Dame of Dogwood Lane. It's a revamped version of one of the houses in Riverview (can't remember the number of the house!).  It's perfect for a large sim family that don't mind sharing bedroom space. I absolutely LOVE this house, but as yet, have never played it. It's where the Lobos family live (or in my game they do). It's highly playable without being overly fussy.

The download is at the bottom of the page, along with a shedload more of pictures. The picture directly below, made it into one of the LivingSims magazines. I can't remember which one now though, because although I'm going to squeeze this and some other downloads into the year 2010 - I'm actually typing this in July 2012... beat them apples.

No, I have NOT time travelled, I've simply altered the date of the post, to around the time that I actually built it. I am so SMRT.

* Glade Cottage

Glade Cottage is the remodeled home of Vadim and Fatima Simovitch. Parents of Betty. This version is only partially furnished so there's plenty of scope for any sim that moves in to make their mark on the place. Set in beautifully landscaped gardens, it'd make the perfect home for any one child sim family.

* Another Fresh Start

I've been enjoying revamping Riverview without custom content - much more than I'd imagined I would. It makes everything that much faster (because I don't have as much to choose from), and I'm trying a little harder to be more inventive with both my design layouts and my use of patterns.... in fact, I'm on the verge of ridding myself completely of all my Custom Content, because I've also decided to do the same thing with Sunset Valley (pictured above)... revamp it without using CC.

* Azalea Cottage

Azalea Cottage has well established vegetable gardens and a small orchard - ideal for the sim with a green thumb. Set in beautifully landscaped gardens, there's also a pool.... that sounded really good, didn't it. I have to confess that I'm pasting some of these blurbs from S3M, and maaaaaaaaaaaaan they are dull. I was trying to be all professionaly and estate agenty *rolls eyes*.

You'll find the download and more pics, at the bottom of the page :)

* A Personal Challenge

I'm addicted to third party custom content. I spend more time hunting it down and compressing it into single large .packages - than I do playing the game. The bummer with CC, is that it causes choppiness, lag and prolonged loading times. Gameplay can be a real chore when a neighbourhood is bogged down with it... and though I love to build and to decorate, I genuinely love to play too.

So, to enable a smoother game, I've decided that the Riverview neighbourhood that I'm making over, is going to be CC-less. To a point. I'll use the EA Store stuff that I've purchased (mainly because it'd be pretty bloody stupid not to after I've paid for it!), and Huge Lunatics Bed Blankets, Mango's Bed Cushions (Set Garor), and Haru's Default Texture Replacements... and if I really can't cope with the lack of decorative wallage (paintings to you)... maybe some of SimsArtGallery's Double Hung Paintings.

* Plum Tree Park

There's nothing I enjoy more than taking an EA *lot* apart, and making it over to suit my own games needs. Not just residential lots, either - the community lots all could do with a face lift, and bit by bit they tend to get it. It's a bit of a cheat really... doing makeovers - because the basics are already there to inspire you. It's a lot harder to come up with something from scratch than it is to improve on something that's already there. Having said that, it's one of the aspects of the game that I enjoy most!

* Mad Mad Meadow

I do occasionally play this game, as well as build stuff for it. A while back I came across a sim in the Riverview Neighbourhood who lives in an amazingly insane house, surrounded by flowers and potted plants of every description. It made my eyes cross. After spending a bit of time with her, I discovered that she herself - is insane. Not just a little bit, either... we're talking *voices* insane. Her name is Meadow Carpenter-Rhodes, and I just had to give her and her home a makeover - but one in keeping with her needs. Her lifetime want is to produce 7 Varieties of Perfect Plants. It's been hard work, but she's nearly there - this is where she lives.

* Riverside Swim Club

The Riverside Swim Club sits on the edge of the river in Riverview. A favourite haunt of the locals, it has a cafe, pool (obviously), separate changing rooms and views out over the river.  A great place for sims both young and old, it's ideal for teens to get together and blow off some steam and for parents to gain those all important body skills.

* New Azalea Acres Community garden

This community garden is a revamp of the original, found in Riverview. It's better (if not bigger) than the orginal. There's now a much wider selection of vegetables and fruit trees, along with a BBQ area, toilet facilities, and sheltered seating areas. Set in neat semi-formal gardens, all of the fruit and veg are of ordinary quality, though look a little closer and you'll find some of the varieties themselves are of extra-ordinary origin!