The Goths are fascinating. I feel that they deserve their own thread in every Sims game section because they have so much going on with them. So feel free to post anything Goth related here, such as what your strategies are, your hopes and dreams (or theirs), their quirks and personalities (it's ok to gossip, too), what you think of their decor, your plans to remodel the house, if you plan to, or anything else that you want to talk about related to the Goths.

I just started playing them and have many thoughts about them that I would love to discuss, but I wanted to start with money and the writing books specifically. The biggest concern is how to make enough money to stay ahead of the bills. @emino strongly suggested getting Mortimer to work on writing books. Mortimer is in the writer career anyway, but he has three days off a week and can get a lot of writing done. So far, my Mortie has written poems, a non-fiction book about fitness (from when he was feeling pumped up after a brisk shower), and some romance novels. The romance novels seem to bring in the largest royalties and the higher Mortie's flirtatious mood is when he writes them, the more money he brings in. Bella seems to have a lot of time on her hands, and helping Mortie to feel more romantic is a good use of her energies. I've also placed a romantic mood light (from the rewards for Sims 3 players) on the desk).

I've noticed that the amount of royalties from past books goes down each day. That's realistic, but it also means that Mortimer needs to crank out a lot of novels quickly and regularly. The romance thing seems to inspire him to keep going and I can get thee or more books out of him in a day when he isn't working.

I wonder if there are other genres that make more money? I wonder if there are other things to boost the royalties of a written piece besides writing skill?

If you've played the Goths, how do you meet the needs of the Goths for more money without resorting to a money cheat?

Well mine is a bit off topic, but I must say that Bella Goth has been a favorite of mine since I began playing the sims series. The Goth family was the first family I ever played in the sims, going back all the way to sims 1, so they are a little close to my heart. ^.^
It's been 14 years since we found out Bella Goth went missing in the sims 2, and I was sooooo disappointed when I found that we still know nothing upon the release of sims 4. I get now why she went missing, but I need EA to give us some solid answers, and some closure. It makes me a bit insane when I really think about it.

Anyways, when I play with them I give them quite the love story they deserve, but something always goes wrong. I don't know why but I always make Bella have an affair. I never plan to once I begin playing their household, but it always seems to happen one way or another. In my world it seems that as much as Bella loves Mortimer, she can't seem to settle down once and for all. She gets tired of playing the house wife, and taking care of the kids. Bella for me has always had a wild side, and she always seems to bring it out. Then after her fun is over, of course she goes back home to Morty and they continue their life in love. Though she tends to run off a lot, she always ends up back with him.

You know the way that Bella is a spy in TS4? Well, in TS3, when she was a teen, she wanted to become an International Super Spy.
Coincidence? I think not.


{But I do love the Goths. Bella and Mortimer more so than the others. Cassandra is sweet too, I guess. Still sad about the fact that there's no hint of why Bella went missing...But...*sigh*. I had a dream last night that they (EA) made the Bella Mystery into an WA styled EP.}

That's really interesting. I remember reading the Prima Guide for TS1 and the author made some comment about how fun it was to flirt with Bella in the hot tub when Mortimer was in the house. They also had Mortie remarry. In one of my Sims 1 games (I keep playing neighborhood 1 over and over), Bella left Morty because he was mean and went to live with another Sim. Eventually, they made up and she went back home. I never knew what made her leave in the first place.

Who does she typically have an affair with in your game? Someone already in the game or do you create a Sim for her?





Yes, that mystery! (And I didn't realize Bella wanted to be a spy in TS3 - that's cool!). It has something to do with Don, maybe Cassandra even (and her involvement with Don???), and Aliens and a telescope. I downloaded a clean hood (from Talia, maybe?) that included a fixed Bella in Pleasantview with memories of her family and a relationship to the rest of the Goths. It's weird having her as a townie because she stays young and keeps showing up at the weirdest places, but I kind of like it that way, too. She's like Bigfoot or a sprite or something - she's unexpected and unexplained, but still present.


Back to the topic of writing and money - the latest royalties added up to $1000. Of course, if I left it there, the amount would go down each day. Mortimer can keep writing better books, however, so maybe I could push the daily income from writing higher. Bills were sooo high, it's a worry (around $11, 000). There's an aspiration reward that lowers bills. I'm aiming for it, but it's an expensive reward, so it won't happen right away.

In other news: Alexander got an A, but I changed his aspiration to creative, so it doesn't quite mean as much. I changed Cassandra's to creative/painter and she's painted a couple of sad paintings when she was in a very sad mood. Gotta love those moods.

I LOVE the Goths! They have been my favorite family since Sims 1! As far as I know they are a parody of the Addams Family and I LOVE the Addams family!

In Sims 3 they were awful, with Mortimer's parents suddenly being literal Goths and Bella family suddenly being "normal" All wrong! I'm glad they are restored in Sims 4, the development team did a splendid job with their interpretation of the Goths! I love Bella being a secret agent and while I'm disappointed that Mortimer can't be a Mad Scientist, I quite like him as a writer of creepy Edgar Allan Poe/H.P. Lovecraft like novels

I have just finished my second rotation with them which means Cassandra has just become an adult and Alexander has grown into a teen.

Admittedly I did edit them slightly, I restyled Mortimer to look more like Gomez, made Bella's wardrobe less red-centric and edited Bella's and Cassandra's skintone to be slightly darker and more Mediterranean/Hispanic.
They also had a third child, a second son named Magnus who looks like a little, male Bella and is going to grow into a similar enrapturing personality (with two children being more like Mortimer, there should be at least one who's more like Bella)

So far Bella has earned quite a few promotions and Mortimer is caching in with royalties for his books (which sadly can't be ordered ) Cassandra is now a beautiful, elegant violinist choosing the "romatic" trait upon aging up and Alexander upon hitting puberty grew into a neurotic germophobe who wears his surgical gloves to bed. His aspiration is to become a Astronaut and leave this dirty dusty unhygienic mudball of a planet behind. (an excuse to use the Rocketship somehow )
He'll eventually move to Oasis Springs to conduct his experiments there. Magnus is going to inherit the house and become the new head of the Main Branch of the Goth family. Haven't decided yet what to do with Cassandra beyond her being an awesome violinist I guess I could create a nice husband for her.

If we keep getting new worlds I want my Goth family to branch of into each of them, so that eventually they can have giant family reunions!

When I started playing the Goths in Sims 4 Mortimer got in the same bed as Cassandra.

By the time I got around to the Goth household, Mortie was already dead and Cassandra was approaching Elder. I had her pursue her career quite diligently, while flirting with everyone who dropped by the house. So far, she hasn't met anyone special though. Cassandra is a pre-eminent violinist. She married Allyson Lu, and they moved into Crick Cabana with Allyson's teenage son, Maximiliano. I haven't decided whether they might adopt a child of their own--right now, neither of them has shown any desire for more children. Alexander married the girl next door--I forget her name, but she literally lived next door-- and they now have a daughter named Genesis. The baby was born when I wasn't playing them, and I was pretty pleased with the name. They were the first sims I actually threw a wedding for, and I was amazed when it went well, thanks to all the tips people have given. Alexander is a writer, like his dad. I've had enough money to pay the bills so far, but the reserves are dropping fast--I can see I'm going to have to take some sort of action or start selling furniture.

I dislike the house--the camera seems to act really peculiar. It's particularly hard to get a good focus on what was Cassandra's room, in my opinion. The house has too much stuff, and the rooms are too big and yet peculiarly hard to use. I haven't decided what to do about it yet--but wow, it was a relief to finish their rotation and go on to easier houses.

Now I feel like playing the Goths as a hippy family. Yes...I can see it...

So...writer's block was one of the necessary requirements to achieve one of the aspiration levels, and it's very hard to achieve in the Goth Manor because there's so much decor! If anyone wants to know, here's how you can achieve it: Mission accomplished!


*Edit* I think I'm finally ahead of the bills. Royalties do not go down daily, although they do fluctuate by a few simoleons. Currently, Mortimer's royalties are around $3,500 daily. Next time the bill comes, we'll be ready! :D

I'm not playing the family because I never play premades (generally I dump them all). But in my sorta Legacy, the first heir is sidling up to Alexander. They aren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend, but they were BFFs as kids and have messed around a bit now that they are teens.

Have never really gotten the fascination with Bella. I guess I just prefer creating my own story instead of building off someone else's (not that that isn't perfectly valid and requiring of creativity).

I found that in every Sims game the Goth family was inspiring to me. They have always been a constant reminder of my style and my tastes and I've always been drawn to them. I remember in The Sims 1 and 2 one of my goals was always to steal Bella from Mortimer. Eventually I found that I vastly preferred them to be together rather than breaking them up. It's fun to watch them and have them around as they are though in 4 they seem a bit less mysterious than they used to be.

Hopefully with the addition of EPs we'll be able to expand upon the Goth family's mysteriousness and perhaps get some answers about the past.

I know a lot of players like you My son started Sims 1 by bulldozing.

I enjoy the premades because they come with a backstory that I find interesting. I also realized, as I played today, that playing the Maxis made characters forces me to play with personalities outside my comfortable range. It makes for fun game play.

I haven't played the Goths directly but my Mean game developer Sim had a really strange relationship with Bella. Everyday, Bella would come over and my Sim would autonomously spam mean and mischevious interactions -- constantly pranking and insulting her. She'd eventually get mad and leave, only to come back the next day for more. Bella was even there (as an Elder) for my Sim's birthday transition into an Adult. It's a shame she died a while back because they really did seem to have a weird sort of connection.

Maybe Bella has a thing for being humliated...?

My Sim Biff, that sly dog, met Bella in one of the nightclubs when he and I were getting our feet wet as to what was what. I decided why not start off with a bit of a challenge and see if he couldn't woo her away from Morty Mouse.

Did I say difficult? Boy, talk a bout a slowly developing relationship. Biff had to do more chit chat then in a month's worth of episodes of The View. But finally Bella came around to his way of thinking. Biff said, "Hey, come on over to my place and leave your cares behind."

Bella Says, "Oh yeah, Baby!"

I thought about moving the kids in too but Biff was in one of the smallest Maxis fabricated houses with not much furniture or anything else. So to show Biff's gratitude for Bella bestowing her worldly presence and beauty on him, I remodeled the home so it would be comfortable for them, Cassandra and Alex and one of their own if the pregnancy gods fit to bestow this achievement. So I moved in the kids, and for some reason, this automatically divorced Morty and Bella. Well, who knew? Guess she won't be going back.

But the divorce did depress Bella, but not for long. Biff asked for her hand in marriage and that cheered her right up. As for Morty Mouse, I don't know. I guess I should slide across town and check up on the poor sap.

So is it safe to say, from the timelines of the Goth familes, that the game takes place between Sims 1 and 2? Maybe we'll see some of the other old Sims 1 families from that era later on in the expansion cycle. o3o

But anyway, Cass is a freaking cutie in this game.

I use randomization programs for that. Need to reprogram my old customized randomizer because the number of kids I got this generation from only trying for a baby when both partners had the want was higher than I'd prefer...although my luck a dice roll would have told me to make 12 spawn. I do have two Evil kids, and that's not a character type I'd pick myself.

I finally broke down and bought a TV for the Goths. The Goths' homes in all the versions are very interesting and loaded with all kinds of stuff, but no TVs. The TVs seem out of place and you can play without them, it's just that it's so much easier if you have one for raising fun and social needs at the same time. I put their new TV in the downstairs living area on the wall, so that they could watch from one of the couches.

The book royalties are rolling in. After there's a little more money, I want to add a shower to the kids' bathroom upstairs. I mostly love the design and decor of the mansion and don't really want to change it, although I agree with kmoore61 that it's not a great house for navigating with the camera. Those tall walls, the columns, the numerous decorations, and the shapes in the middle make it clunky, even if it's beautiful. Nonetheless, I've no desire to change it because it has a great feel.

Royalties have 3 levels. Self publish, Publisher and Book League of something something. In my last save, Morty had managed to get 4-5k daily from royalties alone.

Bare in mind, once he's gone, royalties will stop. So maybe equip Alexander with one of those reduced bills trait and get him advance in his career or skills before that happened.

Yeah - emino is here!

Oh bummer! I didn't realize the royalties would vanish since they continue in real life. Have you played with the reward to lower bills yet? Mortimer is almost there and the kids definitely are (it's $2000), but what I wondered is, if Mortimer gets it, will the bills still be lower once he passes on or will the kids have to spend their own reward to get lower bills?

Alexander is going to play violin for a living and Cassandra is painting up a storm. I think the Goths will be alright, although we'll miss the book royalties. Maybe one of the spouses can become a gamer. Someone just posted in the "What did you learn" thread that gamers can earn big bucks (as in the possibility to become a millionaire) by livestream gamming.

After playing normally with my normal favourite family for a long time, today I thought it was time to discover the dark side of the sims4. Well, there isn't much to discover actually but when it comes to death issues Goth family is perfect for working on.

I am trying to accomplish the "cause 10 npc deaths on your home lot" achievement. Sounds fun!

So I made a nice small graveyard (which EA forgot this time) in the backyard of my dear Goth family, set up a trap and started working.

Here is my tactique, I choose random npc's that are walking around in the street, I chat with them a little bit, and finally I take them to my death trap by using "go here together" interaction. Then I remove the backyard door and teleport away. (cheating lol)


Sims LOVE computers. So I use them. Once a victim sim sits to play a game there's no turning back for them bhhahahaaaa then I modify wall fences till the new victim walks and gets trapped with the rest or the "misery crowd" in the graveyard to wait for their death while listening to a dramatic classical music, witnessing others' deaths, peeing themselves...




Meanwhile, each time our charismatic awesome Mr.Grim arrives, Bella teleports among them and uses this opportunity to build a special relationship with him.



I hope to get a child as a reward for all my efforts lol We will see...

Can't make babies with Grimmy in this incarnation, sorry. But your last photo reminds me of my wish that sim selfies actually saved image files.

Yep. Just found out I can't woohoo with Grimmy.. What's the point in flirting with him then ?

Whatever, Bella is very mad at him due to his incapability at woohoo so now he is a victim of Bella's death trap too. He will be burried among those of whom lives he has taken !

UPDATE:

Bummers ! Grim is immortal. His vital needs never decay, haven't tried yet but he is most likely unflamable too.

Also, there's something I LOVE, when you add grim to your active family, he is still the only grimmy of the game. That means, when you kill other people, game doesn't summon another grim. I had to take him near the dead sim so he could take his soul. No action visible on his action queue.

This is what has happened to The Goths in my game so far -

Mortimer - When I loaded them for the first time (after playing with another family for a while) he had a romantic relationship with a random sim called Christie. He was already an elder, and inbetween work wrote a few books, giving them about S2,000 a day. He decided that despite being the money-earner, Bella wasn't showing him enough attention as she hosted dinner parties with her male friends. While on a date at the park, he asked Christie to be his girlfriend, who accepted (I didn't know a sim could have both a girlfriend and a wife). He then went home, and had woohoo with Bella. I was intending to invite Christie round as Bella left for work, but he had a moodlet which said something about how he was morbidly tired after the woohoo, and anything else may finish him off! Thought I'd better get a few more books out of him, so he did. Sadly, when Bella returned from work, before he could see Christie again - he died of old age. Bella was distraught, but neither Alexandra nor Cassandra started to mourn until directed to do so.

Bella - She has progressed a bit further in her "secret agent" career, and enjoys hosting dinner parties which only consist of her and men. Even before Mortimer died she was seen flirting with random men out in the park, but since her husband's death she has been really depressed, and seems to socialise more with her children. When she went to a dinner party at Cassandra's house she was the last guest to leave (4am!). To be honest I haven't found much I like about Bella yet, I need to maybe spend one play session trying to find where to take her next.

Cassandra - Cassandra decided that instead of being a musician, she would do better as an artist. She built up her painter's skill to level 6 and decorated each room in the house with her artwork. While out at a bar in Oasis Springs she met Malcolm Landgraab and got talking to him. Unlike some sims of mine who failed to woo the richest bachelor, they really hit it off and built a really high friendship within a few sim hours. Maybe gloomy and evil sims are attracted to each other? Anyway, all arguments over who got to inherit the Goth manor were blown away when Cassandra learned of the Langraab fortune, despite how its said his riches were gained... they married swiftly and Cassandra moved into Malcolm's house, they both changed their names to Malcolm and Cassandra Landgraab-Goth. Cassie started decorating the rest of the house with her art, and soon gave birth to a son that she named Mortimer, and who looks more like Malcolm than her.

Alexander - Alexander decided he wanted to become the next best thing in video gaming, and is now started to make money from entering competitions. As the next heir for Goth Manor and very much like his father, he wants a trophy wife who can run the house while he plays on the computer all day, but his main aspiration is increasing the family fortune - so he's waiting for someone either rich or highly skilled. He goes to see his sister almost every day, and absolutely hates his new brother-in-law.

Some pictures -

Malcolm Landgraab and Cassandra Goth's wedding -




Cassandra Landgraab-Goth with Bella Goth




Mortimer Landgraab-Goth, Cassandra and Malcolm's son.

@Lemon&Lime - There's no story progression, but when you loaded the Goths for the first time, they were in a far different place than where my Goths were. I play with aging off. Mortimer was young man when I started with him and had not published any books. There were no royalties until I directed him to start writing and publishing. It's interesting, really, and I love the things each character was up to. ( I've been sending Cassandra down the painter's path, too.) That's a fun twist - having Cassandra and Malcome unite.

I kept it on purely because I would like each generations families to have children at roughly similar ages, I keep aging on but play on rotation. I think Cassandra and Malcolm kinda suit each other, she's gloomy and wants to spend her time painting while he's evil and likes to be out and about causing mischief. Also it solves the problem of who gets to inherit Goth manor and any of Mortimer's fortune.