End of Round 5

2014 (and Round 5) ends for New Maximiliania with the following statistics:
Current head count is at 183 - that is considerably lower than last year (214), and much lower than the all-time high of 239 Sims who populated the neighbourhood in 2011.
A total of 72 births (since foundation of the 'hood in 2008) could not counterbalance the 109 deaths that have occurred since that time.

It will be interesting to see how things develop in Round 6. Many of the Sims who were adults when the game began have died of old age, some more have lost their lives in fires, and very few through other causes. A small group of students is currently at university, while quite a few children and teenagers are waiting to grow up.

Births only happen when a Sim (or one of their parents) needs children (or grandchildren) for their lifetime want - or when a male Sim is abducted by Aliens and returns pregnant.

The most widespread family in New Max are the Capps - that surname won't die out any time soon!

For Round 6, I have plans: I want to re-organize the layout of the neighbourhood, get rid of the bugged lots (some cause overlaying graphics bugs with other lots) and finally include the residential and community lots from the Maxis-made 'hoods that are not in the lots & houses catalogue.

But before I'll get started on that huge work (it'll take ages, since the game freezes every time I delete one of the buggy lots), I shall play The Sims 4!
I did not get it for Christmas, but instead bought it for myself today.

In case we don't "hear" from each other before, here's wishing all of you a Happy New Year!

Guy Wrightley and Zoe Zimmerman: Week 3

In this block of flats are four households, but only one of them is of interest to us right now. Who is it?

        Zoe Zimmerman...

       ...and Guy Wrightley.Both are on Permanent Platinum and will only be controlled by me when it comes to paying the bills, greeting the neighbours and ordering groceries.

       On Monday, Zoe greets Helena Stacks.       

She later has a lone bowl of chili con carne. Almost every time Zoe or Guy prepare a meal, it is a single plate; I have observed them making group meals only once or twice.

        Lavender Greenman walks by this Monday afternoon and is also greeted by Zoe...

       ...as is Perseida Powers.

        Both Zoe and Guy are quite good at cleaning; that has not changed since the last round.

        On Tuesday morning, I have Guy request a repair from the landlord: the shower is broken.

        He makes himself an omelette for breakfast.

       Zoe pays the regular Tuesday bills.

        When Guy comes home from work, he is so tired that he has to lay down for a while. Zoe patiently waits for him to wake up.

       But when Ellen Frost and Deirde Dreamer turn up, she is happy to sit down with them for a meal.

        Guy and Zoe often interact romantically, but they have not yet rolled the want to get married.

        Only on Wednesday does Zoe clean up the plates from yesterday's meal with her friends.

        Ginger Newson is her guest today, while Guy is at work.

       A tender kiss for the general when he returns home :-)

        On Thursday, Zoe takes the rubbish out.

        She then has a sponge bath at the kitchen sink in spite of there not anyone or anything blocking access to the shower upstairs.       

It is Friday, and Zoe is ill - yet again. This couple is very prone to diseases, flus and colds; nearly all the time either one or both of them suffers coughing fits and all the rest of it.

       That does not stop them from cleaning, though.

        Or sharing romantic moments!

        While cleaning up old newspapers on Saturday morning, Zoe seems to be thinking Guy could have done that just as well.

        But even worse is Guy's behaviour when he steals the food Zoe was preparing! (It really happened like this - Zoe was cooking when Guy stepped in front of her, opened the stove and took the plate of salmon out!)

        After he starts on the plate, apparently he realizes that this is not how a gentleman should behave towards his lady, and lets Zoe sit down to finish. He is still starving, though.

        And Zoe generously leaves the remaining food on her plate to him - must be love!

        Later that day, Guy shows that he is perfectly well capable of making his own food.

        Zoe is saved from starving only by the pizza the landlord has ordered for his custom block party.

        Speaking of parties, both Zoe and Guy want to throw parties all the time. Today, Guy invites over five of his closest friends. Matthew Hart and Frances Worthington arrive on their broomsticks at the same time :-)

        Everyone heads for bags of crisps.       

When their guests leave, Zoe and Guy sit in the yard to enjoy the balmy summer night and finish the leftover pizza.

        Sunday morning sees Zoe cleaning the bathroom.

        For a change, the two of them work in the kitchen together; Zoe makes the salad while Guy has a pot of chili con carne bubbling away on the stove.

        The week ends with Guy stargazing while Zoe is already in bed.

Guy is still young enough to be "fertile" - will anything happen with his stargazing? How is Zoe going to feel about him when she turns into an Elder early on in their next week?

Frances J. Worthington: Week 3

 For a while now, I have noticed some strange graphics phenomenon in New Maximiliania: Several lots appear to lay across each other, without me having placed them so. You know there is no custom content in my game, so that can not be the reason. My suspicion is that, at some stage, nearly every lot in the game CAN become corrupted, and somehow, this is what must have happened here.For instance, look at Frances Worthington's house - it disappears half way into another building which I definitely have NOT placed there!

        But let's look at Frances and Kim first, peacefully asleep on this Monday morning of his 3rd week after graduating. Don't you find it irritating, too, that his first name is spelled wrongly? It should be Francis, not Frances - Francis is the male, and Frances the female version of this name. But the people who typed the names and other texts in the game made this and several other errors, and we have to live with it (or change the name by cheat).

        Frances' dog Abbey still lives here, too, but as usual, she prefers resting outside instead of in the house.Both pets work in order to fulfill Frances' lifetime want of having 6 pets reach the top of their careers. So far, Abbey has reached the top of the Service career, and Kim that of the Showbiz one. I don't know for sure whether it will count towards the LTW if instead of 6 pets reaching the top of one career each it will also work with two pets reaching the top of three careers each. We'll see.

        The strange graphics bug means half of Frances' living room and all of his kitchen is invisible, hidden behind the wall of the next building. The staircase in the back does not belong to him, but to the other building; he can not go there, though.

        Later that Monday, Mickey Dosser pays his old friend from uni a visit.

        Frances can access his "secret" kitchen behind the wall without any problem.

        Abbey comes home with a promotion to Stunt Double.

        Before playing Tuesday on this lot, I remove the other building from neighbourhood view. It makes the game freeze (not crash), but upon reloading it and re-entering this lot, I find the building gone. There still is another overlaying building, though, at the back of Frances' house. The swing set you can see to the right of the house is part of that other lot and can not be used by Frances.

        That Tuesday, Helena Stacks walks by and is greeted by Frances. She is familiar with witchcraft; her father, Matthew Hart, learned the craft a long time ago from his old friend Herbert Goodie.

        Most of the time, all Frances does with his magic abilities is to delete the water puddles frequently found outside (from Abbey) or in the bath room (from washing Abbey).

        It is Wednesday morning and Frances is happy that his entire house is visible once more.

        He makes use of his spare time by producing more reagents for his spells.       

For her next promotion, Kim the cat needs to learn how to "shake hands" (or paws).

        During a thunderstorm, lightning strikes the sculpture outside, much to Abbey's distress. But the rain is still coming down enough to put out the flames quickly.

        It is still raining when Frances spots Xander Roth walking by.

       He is followed a little later by Giselle Goth.

        Early on Thursday morning, Kim returns from work with a promotion to Therapy Pet.

        Do you remember how Abbey NEVER slept in the dog house? This is actually the very first time I see her in there! For the rest of the week, she will be using the house once more, still much preferring the grass or the pavement.

        Today, Abbey reaches the top of her second career (Showbiz): She is now a Star. That's half of Frances' LTW fulfilled (if it counts). Frances immediately rings Abbey's work place to quit that job, and finds her a position in the Security Career, to start later the same day.

        Callum Capp walks by and is greeted by Frances.

        That was some day for Abbey! She comes home from her first time on the new job already with a promotion and is now a Guard Pet.

       On Friday, Frances welcomes Hailey Hart. She is Helena Stacks' half sister, also daughter of Matthew Hart, the Good Warlock, and has recently moved back to New Maximiliania after graduation.

        Frances shows the wish to buy new clothes, and frankly, I am sick of his Warlock outfit. So I send him to the "Round Barn".

        As soon as he arrives there, Frances shows the wish to sell lemonade. He sits behind the child-sized lemonade stand, not minding the bemused looks he gets from Jimmy Phoenix and Blossom Moonbeam. Hardly surprising, nobody buys from him, although he spends a couple of hours there.

        Eventually, he goes inside to buy first some clothes and then stock up on groceries.

        Back home, he repairs his broken computer, wishing there was a spell to fix it.       

Saturday morning, I catch Frances hugging Kim on his own accord. She needs to learn to "Come Here" before her next promotion, and Frances teaches her that command during the day.       

He also studies some new spells in his spell book.

        On Sunday, he has a lone burger. Most of his time is taken up caring for his pets, but he also is on the phone to at least one friend every day.

        Just as Sunday starts to slip into Monday, Abbey returns with a promotion to Contraband Sniffer.

How much longer before one of Frances' pets will reach top of their career next? Is Frances going to stay alone when it comes to human company, or is there someone out there for him?