Thursday, February 28, 2013

Making Overlord Chapel and Cemetery

So I got an idea a little while ago that I wanted a little area of town to conduct weddings and funerals and I also wanted a specific cemetery for the Overlords, rather than burying them all in the graveyard (as they are now). Eventually that idea grew into a church and, after much thought and much searching for appropriate decor, I have finally built the Overlord Chapel and Cemetery. Is it ridiculously ironic that the Overlords own a church? Yes. Deliciously so.

For this area I choose a lot way bigger than I actually needed, but oh well. It's also pretty vast and very simple, i.e. doesn't have a lot of flowers or anything in it. This is because I don't have an eye for (or a brain that thinks in terms of) details; I look at the big overall picture. So if anyone has any ideas about what to add to the lot to make it look even better, please feel free to comment! I am totally open to input here.

And now to the chapel and cemetery!
Here the lot is from the front. It's a very small, one-room church. I didn't design it to be a gigantic thing, but a small building to serve the purpose of weddings, funerals, and other meetings. One thing of note: it took forever for the roofs to look completely right, and it still doesn't all the way around. There's a gap in the back between the steeple and the lower roof that I don't show. But I couldn't think of any way to fix it. The bell I used moveobjects on to get up there.
Here's a nice little pond for quiet reflection, maybe some fishing if a person so desires. Or, theoretically, it could also be used for a spiritual purpose like baptism. Anyway, just nice to have there. Adds to the calm, respectful atmosphere of the lot.
To the left of the church we have a hedged area with a statue dedicated to the great Overlord founder, Rufus. Let's take a closer look...
If you look closely, it looks like the statue is wearing Rufus' trademark outfit. So hey, it works. This is a statue honoring the Overlord founder.
And here's one more look at that little area. I would like to add flowers at some time because I feel that would look better, but I haven't decided on the details of that yet.
Behind the church we have the Overlord Cemetery, where all the Overlords can now rest together. Walking inside the gate, we find...
This first little area here belongs to Generation One. I did, admittedly, use buydebug for the tombstone changes, so technically they're not the actual graves of the Overlords (in that they can't pop out of them). But they represent them and I am okay with that, because I think it looks better this way. So the tall one is obviously Rufus, with the medium sized one being his wife Bambi. Then the small markers are for Dungeon and Maiden, the first two Overlord children to be born.
Here is Generation Two's area. The tall stone belongs to Midnight, the Generation Two heir. The medium stone belongs to Jakkson, father of Amaranth. It's a rather small area. Midnight didn't have any other children. There's only room left for one more medium-sized tombstone, which will go to Phantom when his time finally comes (he's still an Adult in the game at the time of this writing). The only other member of Generation Two is Oliver, who won't taste death at all.
Ah, Generation Three. Here we have Amaranth's grave. The other little tombstone is Soren's. He's dead already. I considered making some grand story for his early departure (and I will for the actual genealogy page), but the truth is, he became a homeless Sim and then became a zombie one night. And he wouldn't stop bothering me, so I shift-click-deleted him. I didn't think it would wipe him totally out of existence, but, eh...it did. So he's gone. Anyway, the spot to the right of Soren's grave belongs to Tobie when his time comes. The spot to the left of Soren's grave just breaks my heart to see. It, of course, is Gator's spot. I do not look forward to filling that.
And, of course, this little empty lot is for Generation Four. Severin, Katt, Banshee, and Ransom will all be buried in this area when their times arrive.

Now onto the inside of the church!
The only thing I'm dissatisfied with are the huge lamps from the ceiling. I'm thinking I'll remove those and place candle holders on the walls instead. But otherwise, here's a view of the church from the door. This is it. Just a small little chapel, but I like it. I designed it to be this way.
Here's a better view of the front. We have a lectern here for the preacher/officiant, a church piano to the right, and a table with a Bible on it to the left.
A view from the front looking to the back. Only thing really of notice are the candles in the back. I've only been in a Catholic church a couple of times, and I believe I've seen candles of that nature. But what stood out to me were the candles in the Orthodox churches I got to see in Romania when I visited last year. One side was for prayers for the living, one side was for prayers for the dead. Interesting fact: our Romanian translator told us that if you light a candle for a living person on the dead-people-candle's side, it's as if you're putting a curse on them or wishing they were dead. That could come in handy with the Overlords, I suppose. :P
Finally one last look, a bit to the side just to show the stained glass windows.

So, there's the Overlord Chapel and Cemetery. I'd love to hear feedback!

7 comments:

  1. It's beautiful! :)

    I have little to no experiance of small chapels, but this is how I've always imagined them; dark, dingy, made of stone, wooden pues (I dunno how to spell that, or if it's even the right word...).

    I love the candle cursing theory! :D Can't wait to see who uses that hehe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Pews" is how it's spelled. :D

      Thanks! It's too bad Zack Durwood is dead by now. The candle cursing might've been nice for that situation.

      Delete
  2. Nice! Love the windows. I have a cousin who runs a mission and youth camp in Romania. I've got some beautiful glass bowls he's brough back and given. So the windows actually reminded me of that when you told the story of the candles.
    I have a Chapel in my town I built too, but I've got everyone's tombstone in the heirs inventory. lol. Just because. It'll be nice for you to have a dedicated space though. I also love the bell in the steeple. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A mission and youth camp in Romania? That's awesome! The week I was there, I got to volunteer at an orphanage, and they said the kids loved to go to camp every summer.

      I just like having something visible to remember the Overlords by. I'm way too late to start a museum for them or anything (I wish I'd thought of it from Generation One), so this will do.

      Delete
  3. Well done, the chapel is simple and has an intimate feel. Candle cursing could be an interesting detail in one of your chapters :) The cemetery is cool, too, I like that you did that. I'm planning to make something like this for my legacy as well, but in the form of an underground crypt. Oh, the little pond was a nice touch, as well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can't wait to see your crypt! That would look really awesome, actually. I love ideas like that.

      Delete
  4. I like it it simple with room to experiment. Untl you have it just right.

    ReplyDelete