We are looking to institute a regular series of Community Features! We are planning to use this time and space to point out anything we find particularly cool around the community. You can always feel free to bring anything that you feel is feature-worthy to our attention by shooting me a PM. That said, on with the show!
Long-time Terrarian @Devalaous has carved a rather unique niche for himself on TO – and here- with his rather accurate recreations of Terraria personalities within Sims 3. What started as a project to bring the Terraria NPCs to life in the Sims world expanded to include Community personalities such as @Mystery, @Cenx, @Blu, and yours truly.
Devalaous displays an acute attention to detail in this work, faithfully capturing both the appearance and personalities of the motley crew of characters that inhabit the game and community. He has also worked tirelessly to craft vibrant environments in which the characters interact – going as far as a recreation of the Terraria Dungeon Biome!
Here are a few screenshots, showcasing the lineup of Terrarians Devalaous has recreated within his broader Sims world, “Dragon Valley”:
Though immense creativity is clearly on display with the characters and environments, it is the storytelling that really separates this body of work. Devalaous has a knack for weaving wonderful tales from sets of seemingly random screenshots. Most often, these are simply captions or series of captions, but he has also explored more expansive story arcs – like the Hunt for Sparky (shown/linked below), a tribute to Redigit and Cenx’s dog whom had recently passed away. He has also recently completed a Halloween Special that explores the battle to save everyone from Liko - a malevolent evil spirit intent on devouring the world itself.
You can check out each of his multiple story arcs via the master thread HERE. Don't worry, he puts each chapter of a story within spoilers so that you don't have to load all of the images at once.
Selected Stories by Devalaous
Hunt for Sparky
The Rise of Liko PSI
I took a few minutes this past week to ask Devalaous some questions about his creations, his inspiration, and his plans for the future here in the community:
Q&A
1. When did you first get involved with Terraria? The Sims?
I heard about a new indie game that was popular on PC making its way to the Xbox 360, described as a 2D Minecraft. I was kind of interested from that alone, and downloaded the trial version on the release date. I liked it enough to then buy it then and there, and eventually got into the game enough to buy it on PS3, PS Vita, and MANY times on the PC, my joke is now that I hand copies of Terraria to my game-starved friends like candy.
As for the Sims, I...er, pirated, Sims 2 to see what the fuss was after a dude on some forums made many of the members, me included, and did a public thread about their misadventures. I since went out and bought the entire main set of Sims 2 and its expansion, then eventually moved onto Sims 3, which has so many ways for me to tell amusing crazy stories, using game pictures as the medium.
As for the Sims, I...er, pirated, Sims 2 to see what the fuss was after a dude on some forums made many of the members, me included, and did a public thread about their misadventures. I since went out and bought the entire main set of Sims 2 and its expansion, then eventually moved onto Sims 3, which has so many ways for me to tell amusing crazy stories, using game pictures as the medium.
2. What inspired you to merge together these two gaming universes?
I’ve always been into the idea of making Sim versions of various game characters. Back in Sims 2 I made sim versions of Doomguy, Strifeguy and BJ - from Doom, Strife and Wolfenstein 3D respectively - and made them live opposite a house that had the zombiemen from Doom, and one with the nazis from Wolfenstein 3D.
Sims 2 was MUCH more limiting, so once I got enough Create-A-Sim pieces, I started converting many more characters.
With Terraria, all you have to work with is a very small sprite along with a personality defined entirely by the various NPC quotes. As for the DIRECT inspiration? I clicked Random, and it produced an old man wearing the Merchant's clothing, and everything just clicked into place. "Holy
, that’s almost the Merchant!" That inspired me to make the Merchant, Guide, and Cyborg. Unfortunately, I later lost those characters to a system crash.
Sims 2 was MUCH more limiting, so once I got enough Create-A-Sim pieces, I started converting many more characters.
With Terraria, all you have to work with is a very small sprite along with a personality defined entirely by the various NPC quotes. As for the DIRECT inspiration? I clicked Random, and it produced an old man wearing the Merchant's clothing, and everything just clicked into place. "Holy
, that’s almost the Merchant!" That inspired me to make the Merchant, Guide, and Cyborg. Unfortunately, I later lost those characters to a system crash.3. How do you come up with each set of picture captions – is it just random or planned?
A bit of both, really. Sometimes, I'll just casually play and get pictures of funny stuff going on. Other times, I'll be the Director and plan something specific by ordering people to do specific things.
Of course, there’s no guarantee they'll do as I ask, so it tends to deviate from what I plan - sometimes drastically altering my ideas. Notable example: Loki-sim's infiltration scene. I planned the break-in, but I did not plan for the…”bombing”
Writing captions is often my favourite part of posting images, a regular image can become hilarious with the right caption to alter the viewers perception of the picture.
Of course, there’s no guarantee they'll do as I ask, so it tends to deviate from what I plan - sometimes drastically altering my ideas. Notable example: Loki-sim's infiltration scene. I planned the break-in, but I did not plan for the…”bombing”
Writing captions is often my favourite part of posting images, a regular image can become hilarious with the right caption to alter the viewers perception of the picture.
4. Are there any creations – characters/stories/buildings/etc. – of which you are particularly proud? Why?
Within the Terrarians themselves, the Dryad and Nymph are my favourites. The Dryad, I managed to avoid "vine thong armour" and have her look respectable enough while getting her personality really accurate to how she’s depicted in Terraria.
The Nymph is just amazing. I subverted the whole Werewolf thing and made a girl that doesn’t turn into a fanged hairy monster, but rather just a darker version of herself. She always looks incredibly angry in Nymph form, and it’s a blast seeing what she gets up to in that mode.
I'm also pretty damn proud of the Liko PSI story. It began as a simple halloween avatar, and after seeing the community talk about the avatar and the ghost in it, along with Omnir's coining of the name "Liko Psi", I built a full story out of it. It remains the only story I have ever fully finished, with a clear ending. I had to abandon my original vision for it, but it still came out really well.
As for other projects? I’m proud of everything I’ve created from scratch, but very few of those projects go public because I’m lazy and don't finish them to "release standards". That said, I'll list them so people get an idea of what I have going on in my secret Sim labs:
- Ridiculon McSteelman
This is the only thing that has a public release. He is my main sim, a time-travelling fairy that is present in every single one of my saves - usually as a background/cameo NPC. The link above follows his creation and life at home with his four kids and robot. I have plans to further develop that into a real story, now that I am getting better at storytelling.
- The Inverse Personality Experiment
A game branching off from Ridiculon, this follows the life of the scientist woman with whom he was originally in a relationship. She travels to various worlds, collecting DNA samples from weird inhabitants and then clones them. The clones have personalities that are total opposites from their sources
- Drawn Together 2
Inspired by the awesome TV show <Drawn Together>, this is a mock reality TV show that takes place in a supermodern mansion inhabited by 8 extremely different people. All 8 sims have vastly different lifestates: vampire, werewolf, fairy, mummy, simbot, plantsim, genie and an alien.
- Drawn Together Rejects
I made a character for each lifestate for Drawn Together 2, with the ones I had left over taking life as a separate save. These guys (evil ghost, good ghost, witch, mermaid, imaginary friend, zombie, plumbot and unicorn) live in a dark mansion filled with secrets, and the petrified golden corpses of those whose greed was overpowering.
- Various supernaturals
The town that shipped with Sims 3: Supernatural has many werewolf, fairy, ghost and vampire families. I decided to fill the town with the REST of the supernaturals. So far I’ve made a simbot, mummy and mermaid family.
- "The Horny Teenagers"
A band made up of my brother and his close friends from high school. I’ve actually published this on Facebook. I've since "closed it down" and passed the torch to my brother. It’s up to him to carry it on or leave it to die off.
One day all of these except Horny Teenagers will have dedicated threads on the brand new Sims forums.
The Nymph is just amazing. I subverted the whole Werewolf thing and made a girl that doesn’t turn into a fanged hairy monster, but rather just a darker version of herself. She always looks incredibly angry in Nymph form, and it’s a blast seeing what she gets up to in that mode.
I'm also pretty damn proud of the Liko PSI story. It began as a simple halloween avatar, and after seeing the community talk about the avatar and the ghost in it, along with Omnir's coining of the name "Liko Psi", I built a full story out of it. It remains the only story I have ever fully finished, with a clear ending. I had to abandon my original vision for it, but it still came out really well.
As for other projects? I’m proud of everything I’ve created from scratch, but very few of those projects go public because I’m lazy and don't finish them to "release standards". That said, I'll list them so people get an idea of what I have going on in my secret Sim labs:
- Ridiculon McSteelman
This is the only thing that has a public release. He is my main sim, a time-travelling fairy that is present in every single one of my saves - usually as a background/cameo NPC. The link above follows his creation and life at home with his four kids and robot. I have plans to further develop that into a real story, now that I am getting better at storytelling.
- The Inverse Personality Experiment
A game branching off from Ridiculon, this follows the life of the scientist woman with whom he was originally in a relationship. She travels to various worlds, collecting DNA samples from weird inhabitants and then clones them. The clones have personalities that are total opposites from their sources
- Drawn Together 2
Inspired by the awesome TV show <Drawn Together>, this is a mock reality TV show that takes place in a supermodern mansion inhabited by 8 extremely different people. All 8 sims have vastly different lifestates: vampire, werewolf, fairy, mummy, simbot, plantsim, genie and an alien.
- Drawn Together Rejects
I made a character for each lifestate for Drawn Together 2, with the ones I had left over taking life as a separate save. These guys (evil ghost, good ghost, witch, mermaid, imaginary friend, zombie, plumbot and unicorn) live in a dark mansion filled with secrets, and the petrified golden corpses of those whose greed was overpowering.
- Various supernaturals
The town that shipped with Sims 3: Supernatural has many werewolf, fairy, ghost and vampire families. I decided to fill the town with the REST of the supernaturals. So far I’ve made a simbot, mummy and mermaid family.
- "The Horny Teenagers"
A band made up of my brother and his close friends from high school. I’ve actually published this on Facebook. I've since "closed it down" and passed the torch to my brother. It’s up to him to carry it on or leave it to die off.
One day all of these except Horny Teenagers will have dedicated threads on the brand new Sims forums.
5. What do you find most challenging about the creation of this series?
Some characters just didn't have the right pieces available, forcing me to improvise. The Wizard and Dye Trader are especially noticeable victims of this issue. I also struggle with housing. I am a terrible builder, so the houses for the Terrarians are a huge challenge. One of the groups lives in a collection of rectangular box houses - references to the basic rectangle homes most players of Terraria build.
However, these days, building in Terraria is so much more than boxes. I don’t know what I'll do with the other group. The monster family lives in a Dungeon recreation, which looks...okay I guess, but still needs so much work.
However, these days, building in Terraria is so much more than boxes. I don’t know what I'll do with the other group. The monster family lives in a Dungeon recreation, which looks...okay I guess, but still needs so much work.
6. So, you’ve made several groups of Terraria Sims over time – do you have a favorite group? Why that one?
Group One is 1.1 NPCs: the Merchant, Nurse, Arms Dealer, Demolitionist, Mechanic, Goblin Tinkerer, Clothier and the Dryad (with her pet Unicorn)
Group Two is 1.2 NPCs mostly: the Guide and the Wizard are here, and they live with the Steampunker, Party Girl, Pirate, Painter, Dye Trader and the Cyborg.. along with the black cat pet (The Wizard's familiar, in my story)
The third group is the Monsters group, which is the Old Man (Skeletron possessed the Clothier in an alternate universe and was never defeated), and his 6 minions: Tim, a Dark/Shadow Mummy, a Zombie, a Vampire, a Werewolf, the Lost Girl/Nymph, and - of course - a humanoid Skeletron Prime
I have to say I like the Monsters group the most; playing as Skeletron and watching him do crazy things never gets old. Also love to see the poor weak fodder Zombie that's ignored by everyone.
Group Two is 1.2 NPCs mostly: the Guide and the Wizard are here, and they live with the Steampunker, Party Girl, Pirate, Painter, Dye Trader and the Cyborg.. along with the black cat pet (The Wizard's familiar, in my story)
The third group is the Monsters group, which is the Old Man (Skeletron possessed the Clothier in an alternate universe and was never defeated), and his 6 minions: Tim, a Dark/Shadow Mummy, a Zombie, a Vampire, a Werewolf, the Lost Girl/Nymph, and - of course - a humanoid Skeletron Prime
I have to say I like the Monsters group the most; playing as Skeletron and watching him do crazy things never gets old. Also love to see the poor weak fodder Zombie that's ignored by everyone.
7. You also made a fourth group that was more inspired by members of the Terraria Community rather than the game itself – what was your inspiration there?
At one point there was a huge hack on TO, where everything pretty much blew up. Utter chaos. I decided to give an honourary guest cameo appearance to some of the people who went above and beyond to fight the hackers and restore order to TO - as a way of thanks. You guys grew past your cameo status and developed full-fledged in-game characters!
8. So, there are still several NPCs in Terraria that are missing…and the game continues to expand. Any plans to fully flesh out the stable of Terraria NPCs in the world of Dragon Valley?
Yes and no. The Witch Doctor and Truffle simply cannot be done. One is a tribal lizardman, and one is a sentient humanoid mushroom. Outside of extensive mods - which would need to be custom made - they are impossible to ever recreate. I'm simply going to assume they stayed behind in the world of Terraria, or died.
Santa is a special case; I might be able to do him, but only for the appropriate season of course. His sprite is just the Clothier with a santa suit anyway.
The Angler, Stylist and Travelling Merchant will be "Group 3" along with any 1.3 NPCs that aren’t impossible to make.
Santa is a special case; I might be able to do him, but only for the appropriate season of course. His sprite is just the Clothier with a santa suit anyway.
The Angler, Stylist and Travelling Merchant will be "Group 3" along with any 1.3 NPCs that aren’t impossible to make.
9. So, what are your plans for the future in regards to this series?
I still need to make "Group 3" and provide a house for them (I'll probably just use an existing home, as I'm running out of space in Dragon Valley!). I also need to finish the homes of Group 1 and 2, along with the Dungeon.
Additionally, I have plans for the non-Terrarians within Dragon Valley (it’s the only medieval styled town in the game, so it’s going to be a bit cramped) such as a Legend of Zelda reference, and one to the Sacred RPG series.
I’ve always wanted to include Solsund and Yoraizor in the Terraria Community household (Redigit is the Guide - I seriously accidently and purely coincidentally made the guide look like him!) so I might add them to that home. Did you know Yoraizor was the very first person on TO to notice my Sims 3 thread? I didn’t even know who he was at the time!
This is, of course, provided that I have the time to balance all these projects - along with my Doom mod, TNT Revilution. I never even imagined the Sims 3 thread would ever be popular enough get me interviewed, so thanks for that.
Additionally, I have plans for the non-Terrarians within Dragon Valley (it’s the only medieval styled town in the game, so it’s going to be a bit cramped) such as a Legend of Zelda reference, and one to the Sacred RPG series.
I’ve always wanted to include Solsund and Yoraizor in the Terraria Community household (Redigit is the Guide - I seriously accidently and purely coincidentally made the guide look like him!) so I might add them to that home. Did you know Yoraizor was the very first person on TO to notice my Sims 3 thread? I didn’t even know who he was at the time!
This is, of course, provided that I have the time to balance all these projects - along with my Doom mod, TNT Revilution. I never even imagined the Sims 3 thread would ever be popular enough get me interviewed, so thanks for that.
Well, that’s it for this time. I highly encourage the rest of the Community to take some time to check out Devalaous’ fantastic work – both now and into the future. His is yet another fantastic example of the breadth and depth of the creativity that all Terrarians possess!
Until next time, Cheers!
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