Sven's Sud-Z-Shack

HISTORY:

Yesterday morning, Sven Asko woke up in Sunset Valley to a most peculiar site -- snow! Now snow in and of itself isn't particularly peculiar, except for the fact that snow had never fallen in Sunset Valley in all of the town's recorded history! Momentarily lost in a grainy black & white flashback spent with his grandparents back in Sweden on Snowflake Day many years ago, Sven was suddenly wrenched back to the present by the low rumble of Sunset Valley's snow plow as it slowly made its way down the street (Sunset Valley has a snow plow? Who knew? -- Ed.). The fierce plow blade made short work of the deep snow, while a mixture of salt & sand was deposited behind to help Sunset Valley's "inexperienced" drivers stay safe on the icy roads. But as the minutes rolled by, however, the roads became darker and grungier as the slushy salty sand slurry sullied Sunset Valley's sedans, stretched limos, and sports cars.

"I think I'll have crepes", was Sven's first thought. But as he sat down to his less than stellar attempt at cooking, Sven's contemplations drifted back to all those dirty vehicles outside driving around Sunset Valley. Due to a stunning lack of CC garden hoses, Sims could wash their vehicles in their driveways but had no way to rinse them clean (it never rained in Sunset Valley either -- Ed.). Sven remembered back when his neighbour Gobias tried to use a commercial-grade fire hose to wash his truck and ended up blowing out the passenger window and filling the cab with water. No, something had to be done to gently clean Sunset Valley's grubby cars and trucks without blowing out windows.

Sven worked feverishly for hours through an awesome video montage (to the tune of Abba's "Dancing Queen", available on iTunes -- Ed.) to bring to you Sven's Sud-Z-Shack. Located on an unused plot of land on Water Lily Lane, the Sud-Z-Shack caters to all things in need of suds. While making use of the state-of-the-art, coin-operated touchless carwash to sudsify their soiled car or truck, visitors can also take advantage of the Shack's coin-operated washing machines (and dryers) to sudsify their soiled clothes, coin-operated pet bathtubs to sudsify their soiled pets, and coin-operated beverage bar to sudsify their soiled (aka: parched) thirsts! Sven thought about adding coin-operated showers so that Sims could sudsify their soiled selves, but that was just too gross.

The Goth family were first in line on opening day, and from that moment on business was booming. Celebrating his town's new squeaky clean image -- as well as his new coin-operated earnings -- Sven hosted his first annual Sud-Z-Shack Charity Bikini Carwash. The town, in return for all of his hard work, awarded him with a brand new car -- a Bwan Speedster YL convertible! Sven was jubilant, right up to the moment when a bird decided to refresh its bladder bar directly overhead. "Fark!" Sven exclaimed as the crowd watched on in silence, "da whanna, snook!" But Sven was the owner of the Sud-Z-Shack, so he quickly hopped into his new Bwan and ran it through the carwash. Unfortunately for Sven, he neglected to put the top up and the car quickly began to fill with water. Very unfortunate, you see, for Sven was a SimBot.

After the funeral, the town was approached by the Lord Sponge Carwash Company. After a few hours an agreement was reached: Lord Sponge would continue to run Sven's Sud-Z-Shack, while maintaining the current name and erecting a monument in Sven's honour. And so, Sven Asko's incredible legacy to the people of Sunset Valley endures even to this day (he only died yesterday, you idiot -- Ed.).

NOTES ON PLACEMENT:

Sven's Sud-Z-Shack is located in Sunset Valley on a 15x20 lot, placed in an unused area along Water Lily Lane between the 28 Hour Wellness Gym and the Kennedy home. If you have trouble placing an empty lot in this location, click on Build/Buy mode to edit the Gym next door (or whatever you have there in its place), immediately exit back out to Edit Town, and then reattempt to place your empty lot. This works for me every time. You may have to clear out a couple of nearby trees afterwards so that they don't obscure your lot.

This lot is built with the slope of this particular terrain in mind, but also works equally well if placed on a flat plot of land and "massaged" as follows:

1. If the CFE cheat has been recently used, make sure it is reset to "true",
2. Place Sven's Sud-Z-Shack,
3. Click on the Flatten Lot tool (found under Terrain Tools in Build Mode),
4. Move/delete the three black & yellow safety lights along the driveway side,
5. Use the Level Terrain tool with the largest, gentlest brush setting and go over the entire lot,
6. High Five!

Before placing Sven's Sud-Z-Shack, you will first have to convert the empty lot from Residential to Community (Laundromat) for it to behave properly.

ABOUT THE LOT:

Out of nearly 300 commercial lots on Mod The Sims, there are only three Laundromats (and zero carwashes). I've used SV Plaza before in many of my neighbourhoods to add a sense of realism (especially in pseudo high-population Bridgeport, where most homes still do not have laundry facilities), but the upcoming Seasons EP gave me an idea for a new lot. This lot is technically classified as a Laundromat but can serve multiple purposes:

• As a small Laundromat. Fully functional, with three washers and three dryers.
• As a carwash. Eye candy only, but still neat.
• As a professional pet washing station. Fully functional with two tubs. Daring Sims can use them as well, but don't let the management catch you.
• As a small bar. The Family Time Bar located upstairs is barely adequate in this regard, but if you remove the bathtubs, you can install a professional bar inside, add more patio seating outside, and classify the lot as a Local Watering Hole instead (where you can coincidentally do your laundry and get your car washed). Late Night would be required for the new bar type.

Sven's Sud-Z-Shack is built using only the Base Game and Ambitions (mandatory due to the washers/dryers). Pets is NOT required (although if you don't own Pets, you can remove the tubs and convert the space into something else). Also, I used one custom pattern that I made for the yellow & black safety stripes inside the carwash.

There are also three free EA Store items that are not included with the lot but visible in the pics: the Street Struttin' Street Light from the 2011 Ford Fiesta set (http://store.thesims3.com/fiesta), and the two Lord Sponge items above the carwash exit (sadly no longer available). If you don't possess the various Lord Sponge items that were recently taken down from the Store, you can either pretend that Sven is still alive, or that the Sud-Z-Shack was taken over by a different business entity with a different mascot.

EPILOGUE:

With their foot now in the door, Lord Sponge Incorporated is perfectly situated to begin their evil takeover of the remaining businesses in Sunset Valley -- and eventually the world! Phase two? New Lord Sponge computers for the local library and school.

As for Sven, visitors still claim to hear his whining servos late at night when the moon is full...


Lot Size: 2x2
Lot Price: §42,025 (furnished)

Custom Content by Me:
- Caution Stripe Floor Pattern