Ah, the Roaring Twenties: flappers, automobiles, Art Deco, jazz, speakeasies, Charles Lindburgh, Babe Ruth, suffrage, motion pictures, the mob, and electric lights everywhere. And, in literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, set somewhere near New York City in 1922. If that's your world, it's time to visit Coney Island, 1922 - Act I: "After the storm", a sim by June (RolePlayingCharacter Resident), an advanced roleplay universe inspired by The Great Gatsby. Act I runs from October 15 to December 15, although the sim is now open if you'd like to get a peek.
June's full name is June Mary Whitman. She's 20, single, lives at 10 Spade Street (you can find the place—the streets are well marked), and she's a social columnist for The Coastal Gazette, the office of which are also on the sim. If you'd like to join in, visit the the sim's website to learn more about the specific setting, character options, occupations and places of residence. (And if you're just visiting, avoid dressing in 1920s attire so that it's clear you're only passing through.)
The sim is beautifully laid out, with a beach along the west edge, where Coast Boulevard is home to the main hotel (hunt around for the secret bookcase that opens into the speakeasy), shops and restaurants, and, toward the southwest at the intersection with America Street, a brightly lit amusement park. A boardwalk soars over all this, high above the beach and lined with places to eat. Along America Street, you'll encounter the ritzy movie house, La Paloma, which is showing The Fountainhead, starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. It's faring far better than the town's other theatre, the Forrest, over on the east side of town. There, the roof has fallen in, and the doors of the nearby casino at Spade and Market have been shuttered closed, although it looks like activity continues (as it certainly does in the burlesque club hidden behind the casino). Peppered throughout are houses and apartments, all waiting for occupants.
Special thanks to my friend Naxos Loon for inviting me to explore the sim with him.
UPDATE - 17 October - As one commenter noted below, this place is already gone, sad to say.
UPDATE - 17 October - As one commenter noted below, this place is already gone, sad to say.
As someone who was born in Brooklyn, New York, the home of the real Coney Island, I immediately thought that this sim was all about how Coney Island suffered after Hurricane Sandy a year ago == which did much damage to many of the historic buildings there. The one thing that would have added a huge amount of realism (if that is what the Sim Designers were looking for) would be an iconic Nathan's Famous sign. Nathan's is a beach stand / open restaurant that has been serving billions of the world's best hot dogs (they can actually be delicious) to millions of Coney Island beachgoers since 1916. Sadly, the original Nathan's was destroyed in Sandy but is now reopen in a new form.
ReplyDeleteHi Eddi. I'm not sure literal realism was the goal—more probably something evocative of the time period. Without legal permission from Nathan's, it would be against the LL ToS to include their sign (I'm sure it's a trademarked property), but that's a good thought. I hope Coney Island is recovering well from Sandy.
ReplyDeleteThe lm leads to a empty place that is for sale.
ReplyDeleteOh no! It does! Well, that place sure didn't last long ... what a shame.
ReplyDeleteA shame it looked mighty fine on your pics. Perhaps a consequence of the TOS crisis.
ReplyDelete