2.17 Postmortem Dreams

Apr26

Cycl0n3’s lifelong dream was to be a chess legend. In life, he’d gotten wrapped up in his journalism career and not gone anywhere with chess. Now he didn’t really need a career at all, come to think of it, since dead people don’t usually hold down a 9-5. It was a perfect “retirment” to get back to himself.

So he got into the chess club and starting playing ranked opponents.

His first opponent wasn’t sure what to make of him. Cycl0n3 had to spend a good half-hour calming him down before he’d sit down to play. He kept sitting down to start to play, then jumping out of his chair, only to sit down to play again.

Cycl0n3 won! Not a bad start.

He ushered his defeated opponent out the door. The fellow lingered in the font yard, trying to convince himself that he hadn’t lost a game ot chess to a ghost. After night fall, he was still there, staring at the Samples through the office window.

Whoa. He’d have to rethink this chess legend thing if everyone was going to turn into a creepy stalker.

(All true as it happened. WTF with the chess stalkers?)

2.16 Separate Vacations

Apr26

Zahra was the light of Lancelot’s life. He hadn’t realized how badly he wanted to be a parent until he was one. Layla was not quite so excited about the prospect of more children. She was enjoying her job, and she was good at it. She had really missed her coworkers while she was on maternity leave. Four days off essentially wiped out a whole Sim-week of her career.

Lance could also tell she was homesick, though she didn’t talk about it. With a demanding toddler in the house, she couldn’t exactly claim time to go to Egypt, and Zahra was too young to travel herself. So he offered her a trade — they would take separate vacations and trade off the child care. Layla agreed.

Lance took the first turn and headed to China to study Sim Fu at his dojo.

Ah, one of the hot married chicks he had hit on while he was wife-hunting!

Lancelot started up the kind of easy conversation one has with a hot woman he doesn’t feel any need to sleep with. He challenged her to a sparring match.

And kicked her ass. Not bad for a newbie! She seemed to really appreciate a man who could best her at Sim Fu.

Warning, Lance! You have a loving wife at home! Be careful!

So he talked her into an athletics training session.

Layla, you have nothing to worry about. Nothing, I tell you.

He sparred some more, then started *another* training session with the same girl. It was certainly chemistry, but not exactly romantic.

At least he scored a green belt.

There’s a better look at his new goatee. I’m think it suits him. Opinions?

After a bit of adventuring, he was challenged by ANOTHER hot married chick he had hit on while single.

She kicked his ass, but she offered him some great technical pointers. Then she showed him pictures of her children.

Layla, you really have nothing to worry about.

His adventure master, who had a serious fashion problem, asked him to return to China soon.

Then talked him into a training session.

Ah, you single-minded athletic Sims.

Then it was Layla’s turn. She returned to Egypt and made a beeline for her family home. An unfamiliar child answered the door.

Her sister Aisha had married Sekmet, not long after Layla left home. This was their son Kazim. He was home alone while his parents were at work. He was even a little older than Zahra. Aisha hadn’t wasted any time. How time passes when you aren’t paying attention.

Kazim was a great kid. They got along swimingly.

In fact, he wanted to follow her everywhere.

She headed to the bazaar to meet up with her sisters and catch up on their lives. Aisha thought she looked wonderful. Glowing. They talked about family and the march of time.

As she recounted it to Aisha, Layla saw anew what great life she had to return to. She loved Zahra. She loved Lance and the home they had made. She even kind of liked Cycl0n3. She missed her sisters, and she wanted to be a part of their lives, but she didn’t want to return to Egypt.

She was eager to get home and play with her family.

Emphasis on the playing.

2.15 We See Dead People

Apr26

Cycl0n3 knew something was different as soon as he returned to the Sample house, but it took him a while to figure out what it was. He felt different, even when he engaged in the same hobbies he always enjoyed.

For one thing, he knew he couldn’t go home. Sometimes he wasn’t sure where home was. And people reacted to him strangely at first, though the Samples had at least gotten used to after a while. He settled into Jared’s discarded room. Lance and Layla moved into the master bedroom where Lance’s parents had slept. The space-themed bedroom was left for Zahra when she got a little older. And though he got some weird looks from the older Samples, they let him stay and after a while talked to him.

There were ghosts in the Sample house. Shadows of Connor, Susie, and Jared lingered about some nights after the clock struck tweleve. They did a lot of the same things they did in life.

And a few things they didn’t.

(Jared’s haunting of the toilet would have been far more effective if anyone had been awake to see it.)

The most reclusive of the ghosts was Susie. Cycl0n3 had only seen in the house once, briefly.

The ghosts had no insight into the afterlife.

They didn’t even seem to know they were dead. And they reacted to Cycl0n3 like he was something weird and scary.

(Cycl0n3 and Connor simultanously freak out at seeing a ghost.)

That’s when it dawned on him. Cycl0n3 was dead too. He just didn’t know it. And he wasn’t the same as the others. He could affect the physical world more, for one thing. And most importantly, he could go out during the day. Susie had done it the day she died, in that visit to the Science Center. He had no idea what she’d done. It was pretty creepy to think about. And he couldn’t even ask her ghost because it appeared so infrequently in the house.

But he was here. He might as well make the best of it.

And someone didn’t seem to think he was so strange.

2.14 Zahra Sample

Apr12

So, here’s a revised Zahra.

She has a change of clothes and new hair. For the Sims-uninitiated, I have control over a character’s hair color and clothing, but not skin or eye. Since hair can be dyed, it’s something that the player can always change, but whatever you change it TO becomes inheritable to the next generation. I guess Sims 3 genetics is Lamarkian :).

I’m perfectly fine with the genetics model producing combinations not found in nature, but carrot top on Middle Eastern skin tone just clashes. It’s not very visible here, but I did give her red streaks in her black hair.

Her name means “flower,” from her garden-crazy Egyptian mother. Layla bargained with Lance that if she took his name, she would name their children, so all kids will have Egyptian names.

Zahra inherited Lance’s trait of Good, which Lance inherited from Connor. That’s friggin’ enough Good characters! She’s also Brave, the family trait. Her favorite music is Chinese (? where’d she get that?), and her favorite color is turquoise. I initially thought that her eyes were Connor and Lancelot’s amber hazel, but it turns out they’re Susie’s green. That’s nice. Unfortunately, the best pic to see that is the birthday picture :-p

Also note that our older, more mature Lance is sporting a goatee. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good face shot and will provide them later. Comments on whether he should keep it are welcome.

Don’t eat the spoiled, burned birthday cake, Cycl0ne3! Don’t eat it! (He was totally thinking about it.)

“I’m begging you not to scream at night and wake mommy and daddy…”

Zahra’s actual first word is mouse, of the computer variety. I wonder what this says about her future.

Considering the negative effect the lack of it had on Lance’s development, the eager parents got her potty trained first off.

Lancelot’s wish list went bonkers with wishes to spend time with Zahra. He is totally doting on her. Daddy’s little girl.

He also sprouted a fairly high-powered wish to have another child. Layla, OTOH, got a high-powered wish to be promoted at work. I sense some long conversations in their future.

After everyone has gone to bed, Zahra’s special friend reads to her.

2.13 Best Birthday Party Ever

Apr10

Poor Lancelot and Layla spent more than a Sim week in solid mourning, poor guys. And without the expected help from the grandparents, raising a baby was quite a bit of work.

Thought they did have a lot of… unexpected help.

Sometimes, a bit too enthusiastic help.

(This is Cycl0n3 trying to change Zahra’s diaper after Lance already did it.)

It looked like Lance and Zahra were going to share a birthday, so they threw a joint birthday party with their newly-discovered cousin Rachel Ursine, Lance’s best friend Julian Ursine (now a cop), Malika Williams, and a coworker of Layla’s.

Not if you know what’s good for you, Lance dear.

Layla brought the baby out to blow out her candles and age up.

At which point, all hell broke loose.

Yes, the burning candle on the cake SET THE CAKE ON FIRE, and proceeded to set the counter and washing machine on fire too. Meanwhile, the Sims did what they always do in the presence of fire — freak out and run into the flames.

Fortunately, our local white knight was there to save the day.

In the resulting confusion, Layla put the baby in a safe place

and then peed herself.

For all of that, the party was a modest success. Apparently the lack of edible cake was surpassed by the entertainment of nearly being incinerated.

OK, no more birthday parties shared with Lancelot. He may not be allowed to have birthdays at all.

At least Zahra got to age up.

Oh. My. God. My eyes are bleeding. Makeover, please!

Generation 1 Legacy Accounting

Apr10

So, I backpatched my story into the Sims 3 Legacy Challege just b/c that made it more fun. I’m probably going to be rejected by any purists b/c I don’t want to keep 10 generations on one lot and build a big house. I want to use precreated houses (by people with far more aesthetic skill than I have) and move my Sims family around as it gains power. I still plan to score family net worth when I get to the end. And, honestly, with the inherent money loss that goes with selling a place and buying a new one, it seems like though I didn’t spend my first generation camping on a huge lot, I’ll be taking a bit of a hit to net worth over time.

At any rate, now that Generation 1 is dead, I can account points for their lives.

Generation: 1, a point for the first generation

Lifetime wants: 2, both members of the bloodline (Susie and Connor) fulfilled their lifetime wants

Portraits: 2, Lance painted portraits of both of his parents, getting them in just under the wire

Legacy House/Net worth: 1, net worth is over $100k at the time of Connor’s death

Aspiration Rewards: 2, both Connor and Susie reached 100k lifetime happiness points. Neither reached 200k. Geeze, I can’t imagine how I’d get them to do that.

Total for generation 1: 8 points

One more bit going forward. I decided that I wanted a family trait, but Lance didn’t actually share any traits with his mother. I really wanted the trait to be Brave, which neither of his parents had (Lance did inherit Good from his father, and aside from the fact that he’s not the Sample founder, I so do not want that to be the family trait).

BUT, remember that I only gave Susie four traits because I thought she could fill in the blanks as an adult based on her experiences? Well… serendipity! With a bit of Midlife Crisis, I gave her the Brave trait for her final trait after she retired. It didn’t disrupt anything she’d been playing with all her life, and thus I declare that it is not Against the Rules. Thus, the whole bloodline is backpatched into a Legacy.

2.12 End of the Era

Apr10

Connor woke up the next morning and doted his on his granddaughter while his exhausted son and wife slept.

And his timing was good.

Less than 18 hours after his beloved Susie bought it, Connor headed off as well.

Cycl0n3 was a bit enthusiastic to see his best friend off.

Yes, Grim Reaper, the baby is crying.

Do you know WHY the baby is crying? Because death sequence takes about two Sim hours, during which time NOBODY CAN CHANGE THE POOR KID’S DIAPER.

Connor had no hard feelings. He got to meet Zahra, and that was a lot to be grateful for.

Afterward, the Reaper stuck around to chat with Lancelot, which he wasn’t sure how to take.

Uncle Jared’s death lit a fire under Lancelot’s butt. He wanted to paint the portraits of both of his parents. Connor had just posed for his portrait before he died.

So Susie and Connor hang together in a new attic gallery.

Sleep well, Connor and Susie.

2.11 Life, Death, and Life After Death

Apr9

Presented here in reverse order.

Susie had an invitation to bring the remains of the recently deceased to the science center for some “testing.” After Cycl0n3’s untimely death at the party the night before, she decided to take the urn of his ashes, instead of Jared’s, to the center to see what mysteries could be answered.

(OK, really, I thought Cycl0n3 would be more fun.)

After a couple of hours, nothing in particular happened, and she left, disappointed.

Missing what DID actually happen. At least Cycl0n3 was grateful.

After being given a new lease on the afterlife, Cycl0n3 decided to go celebrate by a trip to the spa for a pedicure.

He didn’t return to the Sample house until the afternoon. Where he settled down for some good haunting fun.

Susie, without knowing what she’d unleashed, came home and played with some toddler toys on the floor of her bedroom. Let your inner child roam, Susie.

Then she took a nap, only to be awakened abruptly.

Wow, can’t we get a break? Susie was 94 days old, so she can’t claim she didn’t have a good run. But she was two days younger than Jared, and that just doesn’t seem fair.

The whole family assembled to see her off, including Cycl0n3, who grieved just as much as everyone else. I hope that doesn’t say bad things for the afterlife.

Susie, however, wasn’t particularly worried. She seemed to be ready to continue her nap on the other side.

She was buried beside Jared on what is now becoming the little family graveyard.

Goodbye, Susie, I will really miss you.

The younger Samples didn’t have much time to greive. Six hours later, Layla’s water broke. Not fair that Susie missed meeting her grandchild.

A panicked Lancelot chauffeured her off to the hospital.

Connor, suddenly left all alone, autonomously crawled into his brother’s bed to sleep.

Connor, you’re breaking my heart.

The evening finished out with joy and sorrow. Zahra Sample was born at 3am at the Sacred Spleen Memorial Hospital. Mother and baby are doing fine.

2.10 Celebrations and Surprises

Apr8

Lancelot had his heart set on taking Layla to China for a honeymoon. But shortly after moving in, she became terribly homesick and convinced him to go back to Egypt so she could introduce him to her sisters.

(In the form of a pair of wishes to visit Egypt and visit with her sister, for a whopping total of 1800 happiness points.)

That turned out to be a surprise in itself.

“You meant that bitch, er, woman is your sister? Meena…. Right, Meena Lufti.”

After visiting for a while, Layla let Lance off to adventure while she got personal time with family.

She played tag with one sister (whose name I need to look up again),

Danced with the other,

And slept in her old bed for perhaps the last time.

Meanwhile, Lance went on a quest for flame fruit. Which turned out to be more than he expected.

A fight with a mummy! Good thing he has a whole red belt in Sim Fu.

(No, he did not pee himself. I have no idea where that water came from.)

And more fire than expected too.

Good thing there was a pool of scummy water to extinguish himself in. Yum.

Layla joined him when he’d scouted the place out and did the actual fruit harvesting herself, being that she’s the aspiring master gardener.

And they enjoyed the fruits of their labors.

Get a look at Lance’s face. Evil Sim is evil.

When they returned home, Susie realized it had been ages since she threw a party. And here she was with new retirement and new daughter-in-law to celebrate.

Kill ’em, Susie. Some things you don’t grow out of.

It was, I think, her best party ever. (It was certainly the most fun for me to play. No Sim traffic jams, and everyone fell into logical forms of having fun.)

And of course, on the guest list was Connor’s best friend and Susie’s ex, Cycl0n3 Sw0rd.

Who had the most surprising day of all.

Looks like he had no regrets, though.

The Grim Reaper wasn’t too thrilled to be back in this house too soon. He didn’t think much Susie and her hostessing.

(Julian Ursine has this thought bubble too. Could it be from a Can’t Stand Art trait?)

Nevertheless, he grooved for a bit, ate the last plate of fish and chips,

and had a nice chat before heading out.

Connor took this pretty hard, but Susie was there for him.

And, spontaneously, so was Julian Ursine.

One final surprise.

Somebody has morning sickness.

Ah, the things we do for love.

Simfail: Jared Is Even a Jerk in Death

Apr8

So here’s what really happened.

I replayed Jared death four, count ’em, four times. He decided to die the morning of the wedding, and his death sequence took over two game-hours to complete, causing the lovebirds to miss their own wedding. I ran the death through twice from my save point, and it was clear that the timing had already been calculated. The mood hit for missing your own wedding, on top of watching a family member die, is almost enough to make a Sim jump off a cliff.

Sheesh. Talk about the resident asshole taking a parting shot.

So I decided to see if I could fudge things. I turned off aging so that Jared would last through the wedding, then I turned it back on. Only this time, after two days he didn’t die. But he also seemed to have lost all of his volition. He left work abruptly and literally stood in the parking lot all day, then came home in the evening to stand in the entry hall of the house. He would do something if I told him to, but he had no free will at all.

And the weirdest part is that he disappeared from the family portrait on the load screen. It appeared that half the game thought Jared was dead, and the other half didn’t. Not entirely unlike the Lance’s girlfriend bug, come to think of it. This game clearly has some separate data structures it doesn’t always keep in sync. Serves me right for trying to tweak fate, I guess.

Then next day, he left work again after one hour, and this time he actually did die in the work parking lot (at the age of 100 days). His gravestone appeared, but his spirit didn’t get sucked into it as it was supposed to. He just stayed as a ghost in the parking lot, again with no volition, and in the evening returned to the same spot in the entryway.

Seen here just after he’d peed himself. Didn’t think a ghost could pee himself? Think again.

Only now he was cluttering up the house, still with no volition, and I couldn’t control him. He wouldn’t go back into his grave, so he hung around like furniture all day, peeing himself, and I couldn’t get rid of him.

At that point, I just gave up and returned to my original wedding day save point, let him die on schedule, took the mood hit, and married the lovebirds afterward. Posts from this point continue from the replayed timeline, with a couple of particularly cute shots from the first time through.

Damn Jared.