I thought Karen had some sparks with Sim Sample. XD Love to hate and all that!

I should introduce them- Karen hasn't met James Lovecraft yet!





The rest of my sims are mostly nice, I promise!

Maybe you should get Julian to talk to her. Julian is pretty unflappable in most situations; he doesn't take offence easily. (In fact Andrew thinks he's too good natured for his own good!) Julian gets on well with most Sims. I think he likes to try to see the good in everyone. I think he's only once had an enemy. That was Dorian Shankel, the Veronaville fireman, when Julian ran into the burning house to reach the telephone and raise the alarm. (Both Andrew and I think they should have given Julian a medal for that!) But that is now long in the past; if Julian were to meet Dorian in a cafe now, he'd probably buy him a coffee.

For myself though, I can never understand exactly what happened that day. How was the fire out when the fire engine arrived? Martin was in the kitchen cooking something for lunch. Manuela was somewhere else in the house. Julian was squatting on the floor just inside the front door, trying to do his homework. Brigitte was at school, and Hans, still a toddler, was sleeping upstairs in his cot in the master bedroom, directly above the kitchen. When I realised there was a fire, I did something that would definitely not be possible in Real Life: I paused the game, and took the dog out for a long walk, giving me plenty of time to plan what to do about the fire! I was out for about an hour! When I got back, I told Julian to leave his homework till later, and run into the house, past the fire in the kitchen, to the telephone, which is near the back of their house. Meanwhile, I got Manuela to run upstairs, grab Hans out of his cot, and carry him out into the garden. In a real life house fire he would have been very vulnerable to smoke inhalation, in the room above the fire. I never really looked in the kitchen at all. I thought the best way to make Martin safe, was to call the fire brigade immediately, which Julian was doing. I expected the firefighters to go into the kitchen, and extinguish the fire. Instead a furious Dorian burst through the front door, almost spitting blood with temper. He was shouting furiously at poor Julian, who couldn't understand what was happening. Dorian fined Julian, I think it was five hundred Simoleons. Whatever it was, it was really money the Moltkes couldn't afford, as they were really poor in those days. How was the fire out? I could only think that Martin had autonomously put it out with a hand-held extinguisher, but people here at MTS said that was impossible with my game configuration. At that time I only had Double Deluxe (base game + Nightlife and the Celebration Stuff Pack)

Who else thinks she looks like one of the Pleasant twins?

Saw this on Facebook.

I think it's always super weird when I haven't played the game in a long time and then I come back to it. I still have all my neighborhoods and stuff, but can't remember a lot of the Sims' backstories, relationships, etc.
So, every time that happens I end up creating a new neighborhood with new Sims and new stories and all. I still like to go back to the old ones though to look around a bit! :D

This is why I keep a detailed running diary of Arundel (and other neighborhoods) in plain text and also in a database. The text doesn't have to be fancy-it can be just plain and each house detailed (or not) with the most notable events listed at the bottom.

It proved invaluable when I switched up computers and I had all of my notes from 7 years ago intact. A little translation into plain text and I got caught up pretty quickly.

I'm now in year 45 and a lot of history has gone into the town.

Random thought that popped into my head:

What if Bella Goth "Gone Girl-ed" herself out of Pleasantview (and it went horribly wrong)?

Anyone else have those moments where they feel like they play The Sims more "in their head" than actually on their PC?

90% of this game is inside your head, I've always said that. The game just generates a lot of data. You're the one interpreting what those data mean.

What does 'Gone Girled' mean?

It's based on the movie, "Gone Girl"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_Girl_(film)

A suspense thriller with murder, etc.

Absolutely. When it comes down to it, the behaviour of Sims, even in Sims 2 (the best Sims game), is very mechanical and predictable. That's why I'm always of the opinion that this game doesn't come with any magical fairy dust included. Because it's US who supply the magical fairy dust with ourimagination, just like when we were playing with dolls or lego minifigs or whatever else as kids.

Every time I'm working on a Christmas/Winter/Mountain themed build where my intent is to eventually take screenshots of a clone covered in snow for the eventual upload, I'm frustrated by the lack of any way to really double-check how heavy snow would look on the WIP...

(and FYI this is a Winter themed WIP right now, don't get your hopes up for a Christmas creation from me in the next 5 days lol!)

You could just make a temporary clone and move a test sim in to test snow.

I do eventually, but that's considerably more work and time, especially given the time it takes for heavy snow to accumulate even with the weather controller... I want it to be as simple as the day/night toggle! Where's Elsa when you need her lol...

The batbox can change precipitation levels, or remove in a click.

There's also a ski jumper sculpture somewhere on this very site that makes the lot load with full snow in live mode.

Is that Chris Hatch's one for his skiing mod?

This one maybe? It gives full snow in winter.
https://modthesims.info/showthread....528#post5099528

Seems to work on lots with no sims, which should make it perfect?

Ooh, does it? I've never tried it, but I had it on one of my hard drives, with the link (Well done past me for once ). I'll test it out!

I take it that non-livable lots (under the Alpine part at the end) may mean that - but I could of course be wrong because I have not read everything and have no intention to build something covered under snow. Would be nice if you test that

I don't think the snow is permanent. You could set a lot to heavy snow and then set it back.

I could almost play this game without the game, lol.

If you're a storyteller (like me, and many others), probably more of the game is in your head than in the game itself. I feel like this game was once a game, like we played it as a game trying to work through its mechanics to develop a successful household like intended, but since most of us have mastered that it's no longer about that, but about story telling and building now. I feel like this game would have gotten boring a long time ago if not for the creativity aspect. It's like Minecraft but with the ability to develop characters too.

For anyone who thinks otherwise, look at how many details people put into Sim stories that aren't even features of the game? Considering my own game at least, teens being taken away by the social worker, for actual abuse and not just neglect? Angela Pleasant going to juvenile detention (and even DJJ residential services for 18 months) while Dustin gets tried as an adult and goes to adult prison? Churches, clergy, and religious belief? (Both in mine and in Andrew Gloria's at least.)

I spend far far more time thinking about my Sims than I actually spend playing them. When I'm not playing, I often imagine my Sims, especially Andrew, in the room beside me and talking to me. With a little imagination, all of life is in this game. When I am playing, the characters in the game become "real" to me. They matter to me, and I try to keep them happy, without messing up other Sims. In that respect my game has a strong utopian streak. I and my Sims are not just trying to run a successful household -- we're trying to build a better society. Things that are important to me in real life, like church, are in my game, and are important to the Sims, like Andrew, who are closest to me. I'm not sure if Andrew is actually a Christian, but, if he's not, he's certainly a very serious enquirer. I suppose I put a lot of myself into Andrew's character, but, where we don't see eye to eye, he has a habit of being right. Compared to me, he's braver, neater and more organised. (As well as being younger and better looking!) He may be idiosyncratic, but no one will ever persuade me that he's stupid.

Since I believe that all of life is in this game, to me being bored with The Sims 2 is like being bored with life. Both life and The Sims 2 have infinite potential. If and when the time ever comes when I'm genuinely bored with life, I think, like Faust, the time will have come for the Grim Reaper to take me.

When I have enough time to devote to it, I think I'll start a thread about utopian play. There was one a few years ago, but I can't find it.