Orb & Towers of Clarity

Title: The Orb & Towers of Clarity

UPGRADE August 5, 2017

1) This upgrade makes several improvements to teacher and student routing, making it more likely that they will position themselves correctly.

2) The teacher and students now use a more varied vocabulary, including Enthusiasms if FreeTime or any later EP is available.




Introduction

I have been frustrated that Apartment Life does not have a neutrally aligned NPC Witch or Warlock to befriend, so that Sims can be inducted as magic users with a neutral alignment, right from the start. I also wanted some gender balance in the non-player set of spellcasters.


Purpose

a) To program a crystal ball that would create a neutrally aligned and fully skilled warlock from the pool of adult townies with a serious personality. After establishing a friendly relationship, a Sim could have the neutral warlock convert any valid Sim on the lot into a neutral magic user with the aid of the crystal ball.

b) On non-residential lots, to enable this crystal ball to automatically invite and/or create a warlock to teach the Anger Management Skill who will also help raise an interest in Health, stimulate FreeTime Science Enthusiasm, increase Neatness, satisfy Fun and Social needs, and improve magic skill. If Apartment Life is not available then the invited townie cannot be made into a warlock, and the Anger Management and magic skills are not applicable.

c) To supply freestanding "Towers of Clarity" to support crystal balls at either coffee table or counter height.

d) To give the option for the warlock to materialize a random group meal on request.




General Description

The Orb of Clarity is a basegame compatible crystal ball, but to actually learn the Anger Management Skill, Apartment Life or Mansion & Garden must be available. When used by a spellcaster, the Orb acts as a source of green light and intermittently displays some starry visual effects. The Anger Management Skill reduces the chance and impact of becoming furious with another Sim.

This Orb is compatible with the podiums available in the Opportunity Pack Lectern, Reading Desk and Ravendancer projects.

Like the Witch NPCs, the neutral warlock created by the Orb is provided with maximum magic skills, so that he may cast the ninth level Magus Mutatio spell and convert a Sim into a magic user. The warlock will not require any reagents to do spellcasting, but unfortunately he cannot be used as a retail source for potions and reagents either. However, the warlock has earned a gold badge in Cash Register usage, making him a suitable employee for an OFB magic shop.

The Towers and the Orb of Clarity are each available from the Hobby/Knowledge section of the catalogue. The Tower of Seated Clarity costs §157, the Tower of Standing Clarity §158, and Orb of Clarity §159.




Contents

1) The Orb of Clarity - Anger has both destructive and creative potentials, but Sims who have a problem with uncontrolled rage may pay a qualified instructor to teach them Anger Management, as well as to raise their Interest in Health, their FreeTime Enthusiasm for Science and motivation for Neatness, while satisfying their needs for fun and sociability. Those enrolled in school or college will also earn Grade Points.

The Orb will transform an adult male townie into a neutral warlock to work as an invited teacher. The warlock can also be asked to conjure a meal, and if a Sim makes him their friend, he may transform any selected Sim into a magician. A Witch or Warlock who attends a session taught by a magic user will increase their skill in Magic, while shifting their alignment towards "Neutral". Magic skill and alignment data is displayed at the beginning and end of a student's learning session.

A Sim who has already learned the Anger Management Skill may teach using the Orb, gaining Charisma in the process. Magicians who practice "Neutral" magic and moderately Charismatic Sims (those with at least three Charisma skill points) may do so autonomously.

It is college accredited for those majoring in Psychology, but regardless of what major they may be specializing in, attending a lecture at the Orb will grant college credits to all those registered in university.

College and school progress is displayed at the beginning and end of each student's learning session. If a school student earns an "A+", additional study will earn Extra Credits which allow a child or teen to take time off without losing a letter grade, or can be saved for advanced placement (up to one half term for 1000 points) in college.

The Orb will also satisfy the "Practice Speech, "Read To" and "Be Read to by" wants.

The Orb of Clarity is based on the crystal ball mesh used as a handheld accessory by the Fortune Teller NPC, and like that accessory, it consists of an inner and an outer sphere. The inner sphere of The Orb of Clarity is mapped to the glass subset of the basegame "End-to-End" Coffee Table and the outer sphere is mapped to the glass subset of the basegame Centerpieces Coffee Tables. A large number of recolours for these coffee tables are available in the 140+ Tiny Filesize Glass Coffee Table Recolours project. Those recolours labeled "Crystal Ball" are exact reproductions of the textures from the Fortune Teller's handheld ball or of the outdoor decorative balls released in Seasons and Mansion & Garden. The animated glass textures can produce some interesting crystal ball effects.




2) The Tower of Seated Clarity - stay down-to-earth with this crystal ball stand at coffee table height. Its lowest deco slot is perfect to hold a crystal ball - just recolour the round table to be invisible with the built-in recolour. The table itself contains deco slot 1 to hold a book, microphone or tabletop crystal ball holder. There may even be room behind the book for a small lamp or candle in deco slot 2.


3) The Tower of Standing Clarity - like The Tower of Seated Clarity, the Standing model has three deco slots and a recolourable table surface. The only difference is that The Tower of Standing Clarity is at counter height.

The Towers are based on the mesh from the M&G Gazing Crystal crystal ball decor. The body of each tower is mapped to the textures available for the basegame Oaktowne East Side Dining Chair, including these.

The table surface of the tower uses the textures for the basegame "Museé Public Collection Sculpture", such as those from the 150+ Tiny Filesize Basegame Vase Collection Recolours and 64 HiRes Wood Basegame Vase Collection Recolours projects.


Looking into the Future

This set is the third in a series of crystal ball projects dedicated to raising Apartment Life and M&G Life Skills, and each including one or more crystal ball holders and stands. While each stand or holder is intended to convey the theme of the crystal ball that is is released with, the crystal ball supports are usable with any crystal ball in the series.


Terms of Use

You may include any item from this set in uploaded lots, whether for free or pay. It is nice but not necessary to provide a credit and link to this page.


Recommendations

I suggest using Pescado's Community Lot Skilling and Enthusiasm patch so that these and all other skill building objects are fully functional on all lots.

If you find this Orb useful and wish to build a school or academy, may I suggest these other teaching objects that are also school and college accredited: the Opportunity Pack Lectern & Accessories, Reading Desk & Accessories, Extension Speaker, Lady Ravendancer's Magical Arcana, Grimms' Storybooks, Parenting Life Skill Guide, Lady Valentina's Crystal Ball and Orb of Enlightenment. With any of these uploads, college and school students no longer need to go off-screen to take their classes.


Additional Credits

GIMP 2 and Microsoft Paint for graphics editing, file conversion, processing, sizing and titling
Jfade's Compressorizer for minimizing file size
Milkshape 3D, Ultimate Unwrap3D Pro and UV Mapper Professional, for 3D modeling and mapping
Numenor's AnyGameStarter, for testing this project in several game environments
SimPE, PJSE, and CEP for Sims 2 object creation


Polygon Counts

The Orb of Clarity: 360 faces, 202 vertices
The Tower of Seated Clarity: 2016 faces, 1436 vertices
The Tower of Standing Clarity: 2448 faces, 1682 vertices