Sims 4 - Black Widow series analysed
Having recently completed our YouTube channel's first ever series I thought, as i mentioned in several episodes, that I will complete review to analyse how I felt it went. But before that I wish to provide some context for what I envisioned the series to be whilst also explaining why I wished to create it.
I started my Black Widow play through on Sims 4 before our YouTube channel was created hence why the first two husbands Carla married and killed (Jeff and Travis) were never recorded so couldn't be put on the channel. Once we created the channel I felt I wished to do a Sims series because the game allows you endless possibilities in terms of simulating your imagination.
As mentioned in my first article, the main reason I play most video games is to gain platinum trophies, therefore, this series was no different. During the course of the series I gained the following trophies:
Beyond Repairs - Reach max handiness skill (Episode 2 when I married Hailee the repair women)
Green thumb - Reach max gardening skill (Episode 3 when I married Harvey the gardener)
Cast away - Reach max fishing skill (Episode 4 when I married Kelvin, a fisherman)
50-Mile-High-Club - Have woohoo in rocket ship (Episode 2)
Ghostly - Have a ghost in your household (off camera. episode 2 part 3 shows how to bring ghosts back as playable sims)
Black Widow - Outlive 5 spouses (Episode 3)
Full house - Play with an 8 sim household (Off camera after episode 5)
Ghost Family - Have 8 playable ghosts on one lot (Episode 6)
Circle of Life - Play a sim from birth to natural death (Episode 6, I got this trophy when I killed Carla despite me making her in CAS as a young adult)
Hello, Darkness My old Chum - Become friends with the grim reaper (Off camera)
What would it be like? - Have woohoo with a ghost (Off camera)
Due to being a trophy hunter I wanted to produce a series in which I show people how to get trophies but rather than do it in the dull format of a how-to-guide I decided to turn the play through into a story similar to a TV soap opera like Eastenders. Prior to each episode I created a rough storyboard in which I would find a way for Carla (the Black Widow) to find a new partner, marry them and then have them meet their tragic death and come back as a ghost. In order for this format to not get repetitive I tried to kill each spouse using a different unique death. Furthermore, bringing the ghosts back added to the story as it made it seem like they were haunting Carla as shown by the fact they repeatedly possessed her possessions thus breaking them (much to my annoyance). Bringing them back as ghosts also meant that after I killed Carla off in the final episode (6) she too would become a ghost and have to spend eternity being hounded those she wronged.
How do I feel the series went?
In honesty I did not know what to expect from my first series in terms of reaction from viewers. I am fully aware that there are plenty of more experienced Sims YouTubers out there so I was amazed that anyone at all watched my series.
As the series progressed I tried to become more ambitious with how I killed the spouses. To start with I kept things simple by killing Vernon via drowning him but as the series went on I experimented using cow plants, rockets and emotions to kill sims which was great fun. All of these types of deaths (albeit the rocket one failed) are new to Sims 4 so as a life longer Simmer it was really fun getting to try out the new content.
My personal highlight?
I felt that the best episode and certainly the most fun to film was episode 5. Throughout the series I kept promising that when marrying the final spouse I would use a lavish wedding ceremony rather than eloping immediately as usual. I planned for the wedding to be a huge success but then kill off Derek, Carla's new elderly husband, during their honeymoon. However, things went better than expected as I didn't realise that Carla needing to go to the loo so her bladder failed right in the middle of the ceremony which ruined her dress and caused her great embarrassment on her big day!
Therefore, I quickly continued to improvise as I felt this was superb comic moment which added to the otherwise sombre story as Derek went on to die during their honeymoon due to overexerting himself. What I felt went badly?
One episode immediately springs to mind which didn't go to plan and admittedly made be rage: episode 2. For this episode I planned on having a deceased spouse fill the exhaust pipe of a rocket with fruit causing it to crash and kill Carla's latest spouse Harvey. I really wanted this to work as I loved the idea of one of her deceased spouses getting revenge as it added to the overarching story that the ghosts were trying to get back at Carla. However, much to my disappointment the rocket death didn't work as the spouse kept walking away from the crash and not dying! Due to this, I decided to punish Harvey for his invincibility by starving him in a newly created pit beneath the house.
Also in the first one or two episodes there were some technical issues. For instance, in episode 1 my voice could barely be heard. However, with practise comes experience so most of these technical errors on my part have been fixed in more recent episodes. So thank you for your patience.
What do I wish to improve in future Sims series?
As mentioned, I really wanted this series to be story driven yet this didn't always come across in the recordings. Therefore, in future series I will give more context to the videos in the descriptions to explain what has happened already in the story and how the episode will add to it.
In a similar vein, I may start to place clips at the start of my videos showing highlights from previous episodes similar to how most TV shows operate. Credit goes to O'Donovan Entertainment as Kenny's channel continues to use these sorts of techniques in his GTA TV series.
Finally, I am contemplating the idea of writing an article to correspond with each episode of future Sims series. These articles would give me opportunity to explain the story of each episode and explain what I envisioned in its creation. This could be done by showing you, the audience, my story boards/notes or by me writing a story-based article to explain each episode.
What are my future Sims series plans?
Obviously I don't wish to give too much away in regards to future series. But as I have already mentioned in episodes of the Black Widow I plan on making a series where I create a 26 generation in order to get some more trophies but also because I feel it'll be a real challenge.
But before I begin filming this series I will be taking a short break from filming Sims in order to concentrate on other ventures. That being said, I will inform you guys of my latest Sims series via Twitter (@TheFallenSaints1) as soon as its on our YouTube.
A huge thank you to everyone who's taken the time to watch my Blackwidow series. If you haven't done so already or you would like to rewatch it you can find the series at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcI8JNzBSAc&list=PLt2HKCK9f3w_NpPxoYrkd4eh4zZf1ogWq
