Oh no, not yet another single household...! Well, I'm afraid it is true. This house is next door to the BBF's (the three friends whose household this round started with), and it is home to one single Sim:
Babs L'Amour.
Babs is - surprise, surprise! - a Young Adult. If this was TS2, she'd be a Romance Sim. In TS4, she is a Serial Romantic.
On this Monday, she visits the park - not only because it is one of her short-term wishes, but also because she hopes to meet someone there to have a date with.
Nancy Landgraab, an unknown Townie, Deandre Bundy (we saw him at the Goths', I think) and Travis Scott soon form a little crowd of Sims chatting. Babs can't help noticing Deandre's well defined leg muscles.
Nonetheless, she decides to have her first date ever with Travis Scott. The date does go well enough for her to reach bronze status and get a book as a reward.
Babs starts Tuesday morning by reading her brand new book.
And look who turns up on his own initivaite - Deandre Bundy!
The two of them have a "Gold" date, first kiss included. Could Deandre be "The One" for Babs? Hard to say - one of her characteristics is that she is a non-committal Sim, so I am not sure how well a close relationship will work for her. She does want to have a boyfriend, though.
After Deandre leaves, Babs grills hot dogs at the park.
Just as she is about to go home, she meets Steve Fogel. I can't let her pass this opportunity: Steve is a Foodie Sim like her, and he is a playable single Sim...!
On Wednesday morning, Steve is invited over. In TS2, Sims will only accept an invitation to come over when they are already friends (or nearly there) with the inviting Sim. In TS4, it seems, not only do they come visiting much more often on their own accord, they also accept invitations very early on during the acquaintance stage.
The two of them get along very well.
So well indeed, that Steve does not hesitate one moment when Babs asks him to move in together.
Because Steve's place is bigger, they decide to live there from now on. As opposed to TS2, the week does not reset to Monday after a move. Together, Babs and Steve have now quite a substantial sum on their joined bank account - Babs brought the full 20k starter money with her.
On Thursday morning, Steve officially becomes Babs' boyfriend. Look how thrilled they both are!
Steve has had the wish to join the Entertainment career. In TS4, jobs can be chosen via the mobile phone each Sim automatically owns. It seems like all careers are always available all the time. The entry level seems to be depending on the skills a Sim has acquired so far.
Before Steve is going to start on his first day as Amateur Entertainer, he makes pancakes for breakfast for himself and his brand new girlfriend.
After he is gone, Babs' materialistic side (another one of her characteristics) kicks in: She wants a pool, and I build a tiny one in front of the house. The lot actually is very small; it ends close to the walls of the house on each side.
When Babs goes for a dip in her new pool, I get the first full view of the tattoos on her back.
Still in her bikini, she crosses the road when she spots Nancy Landgraab and Don Lothario there.
At night, Steve practises new comedy routines at the microphone I bought for him, fulfilling a wish of his. Babs seems to love all his jokes :-)
It is Friday, and Babs does some cleaning while Steve heads off to work.
Nancy Landgraab appears on her doorstep and is gladly invited in. We'll see a lot more of Nancy soon; her family is the next name on the alphabetical list.
The toilet breaks, and although there is enough money to have it simply replaced, I want Babs to spend her time doing something useful and make her repair it.
Steve has the weekend off and uses Saturday morning to write more comedy routines on the newly acquired computer.
Babs meets Vivian Lewis. I have "met" this elderly lady a few times now since starting this game, and every time, she was either enemies with the Sim I was playing or she was quickly bored with the conversation. Looks like playing her could be a bit of a challenge!
Back at the house, Babs' friend Susana Olivares (a Townie she was friends with from the start) comes visiting. Katrina Caliente just happens to walk by, but she is invited in as well.
On Sunday, Steve and Babs have breakfast together. Babs' mood is not the best, I'm afraid. Less than a week into her relationship with Steve, she feels smothered already and wishes to schedule a date and kiss someone else.
Someone like Travis Scott, for instance. He befriended Steve during his first week, if you remember; today, he has come visiting on his own accord.
Steve is in the next room, writing jokes on the computer (that's important if he wants to progress towards his lifetime want), and Babs shamelessly takes advantage of his inability to see through the wall and makes a move on Travis. Nothing "happens", though, and the young man leaves soon afterwards.
Poor Steve! He feels that Babs is the best that ever happened to him, but I'm afraid he'll be in for some severe heartache.
Well, this was an interesting week! Romance Sims (I still call them that, I am so used to this from TS2) certainly can be less boring to play than Sims that are merely career-focused. I do feel for Steve, but I also want Babs to achieve her goal. We'll see how things turn out for this unlikely couple.
We are more than half way through the list now. Only six more households to play - and then I'll see what I can do to revamp New Maximilia so that it'll be free of overlapping lots and weird graphic bugs!
Yet another Maxis-made single household is to be found on this lot in Oasis Springs:
(There are actually two neighbourhoods in TS4, Oasis Springs and Willow Creek. They are open in the way that Sims from both parts can meet each other. I think you can tell by now which house is where.)
The name of this young lady is June Kay. She has the Master Chef aspiration and is a foodie like Steve Fogel. June has neither a job nor a love interest. She has two friends and one enemy, though.
One of her friends is a townie named Nancy Martino, and she promptly appears for a visit on June's first day.
The other friend is Rita Person - Mortimer's former (?) affair.
June wants to plant something, so I have her explore the surroundings of her house to find some seeds to plant. She comes across this little old well where she finds a frog. Different kinds of frogs can be collected throughout the neighbourhood. The Sims can either keep them in their inventory, sell them or have them as pets in a terrarium.
Through the backdoor in June's kitchen is an area that seems the right place for planting sage, daisies, chrysanthemums and strawberries.
On Tuesday, June meets and greets Vivian Lewis. I believe her son is the "enemy" in June's relationship panel, so I find it interesting to see that the two ladies do not at all get along with each other, although they have never met before.
By Wednesday, June's garden is coming along nicely.
Dozens of Sims walk past June's house every day, but I have her greet only the playables. Don Lothario is one of them.
To make progress towards her lifetime want, I have June take a job in the culinary career. She starts out as Assistant Dishwasher and seems to be happy about it.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday all pass pretty much after the same pattern: June wakes up late, has her friends come over, does the necessary gardening, eats and then goes to work until late at night when she returns so exhausted that she goes to bed straight away.
I fulfill many of her minor wishes such as cooking a meal, buying a bonsai tree (in the corner of her sparsely furnished living room), telling jokes (to her friends) and so on.
Nothing much has happened this week; it was played mostly on high speed. Will June have a more exciting week next round? Is she going to meet Steve Fogel - or someone else who could be interesting enough for her? And why is the Lewis-guy her enemy?
The Goths! There can't be a Simmer in the world who does not know them. They were introduced to the game from Day One, when "The Sims" was released in early 2000, and never left the Simlish sphere all throughout The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, and of course they had to be there in The Sims 4 as well.
In this latest incarnation of our favourite computer game, the Goths' house looks like this:
And here are the family:
From left to right, we have teenage daughter Cassandra, a High School Student whose aspiration is Musical Genius; her little brother Alexander, Grade School Student and aspiring Whiz Kid; their father Mortimer, a Renaissance Sim currently working as Freelance Article writer and with several friends and one romantic interest (apart from his wife) in his relationship panel; and last but not least, Bella - the eternal Party Animal who loves Don Lothario and a townie named Davon Halverson. Her current job is Intelligence Reseracher. Not that she really needs to work; there is plenty of money.
When the game starts for this household on Monday morning, Cassandra and Alexander have homework in their inventories, although they have never actually been to school yet. Big Sis his helping her little brother here.
Her place is soon taken by Mortimer. He and Alexander are very close already, and will become even more so during the week.
Strangely enough, both parents choose to just nap on their bed instead of going to bed properly like their children have done.
After some hours, it is time to get up again so that everyone will arrive at school or work in time.
In the afternoon, Alexander puts in a few hours at the chess board...
...Cassandra cooks her very first meal...
...and plays the piano until bedtime.
On Tuesday, Bella is the first to wake up. She quietly reads in the bedroom until Mortimer wakes up as well.
Now the day can begin! (This is actually just to show you what Mortimer wears for the night.)
Bella pays the bills that were delivered yesterday. She is not too happy about having to fork out more than 9.000 Simoleons! I wonder whether their bill will be as high every week, due to the size and furnishing of the house, or whether these are several bills together, just like the homework in the children's inventories was from days of school they never really attended.
While Malcolm Landgraab, one of Cassandra's friends, passes by (shouldn't he be at school right now?!), I have Bella phone her work to quit her job. It does not seem necessary for her to earn any money, and she certainly can work better on her lifetime want without a job.
Nina Caliente passes by and is invited in, too.
And just as Cassandra gets off the school bus (which, by the way, you never see in the game), no other than Don Lothario turns up. "What does HE want here, while my Dad is not home," Cassandra seems to be thinking.
None of the visitors stay very long, and Bella makes sandwiches to eat with her children in the living room instead of at the formal dining table.
It is Wednesday, and time for breakfast. Everyone is there - everyone but Cassandra. Like a typical teenager, she sometimes does not get up until minutes before it is time to go to school, even though her energy level is full.
Bella meets Giulianna Riley in front of the house.
While the children are still at school, husband and wife take advantage of having the house to themselves and spend some time together in bed - in Cassandra's bed, actually! I didn't tell them to go there and have no idea why they did not choose their own bed. But it was Mortimer's wish to try for a baby with Bella.
This is, by the way, Rita Pearson - the townie-lady showing as Mortimer's romantic interest. She knocks the door today, obviously knowing Mortimer has the day off but not yet knowing about his wife having quit her job.
Don't worry, though. No dramatic scenes happen that day at the Goth villa. Instead, for the first time this week, the formal dining room is fully occupied with the family and their guests, Rita Pearson and Bob O'Malley.
On Thursday morning, I discover that clicking on the toilet with Bella as the active Sim gives her the option of taking a pregnancy test.
To celebrate the pregancy test's positive result, Bella bakes a cake.
Meanwhile, Cassandra arrives home and decides to do her homework in the kitchen, for a change. In TS4, homework can be done at all kinds of tables, as well as standing up with no table at all.
On Friday morning, Mortimer wants to surprise his pregnant wife by making breakfast. You can tell he is not the most accomplished of cooks!
His scrambled eggs stick somewhat to the pan, but the meal is good enough to be eaten by all. And it is the effort that matters, right?
Later, he wishes to plant something and so I have him go for a walk to find some wild plants he can harvest.
He then plants mushrooms and bluebells in a corner of the backyard.
Meanwhile, Bella has ask Katrina Caliente and Rita Pearson in and invites Katrina to feel her impressive baby bump.
On Saturday, the children have breakfast together while their parents are still asleep.
Later, Malcolm Landgraab pays a visit and joins Alexander and Mortimer at the dining table - not for a meal, though; Alexander is doing some extra credit work for school, and Mortimer was reading when their visitor appeared.
Cassandra wants to visit the museum.
Outside, she meets and greets Travis Scott and Alice Spencer-Kim, yet another member of the Spencer-Kim-Lewis family whom we will meet properly later on this round.
After having spent some time at the museum, Cassandra gets hungry and decides to make use of the facilities for public barbecues on the banks of the river. Someone else has had the same idea before her, it seems. Hovering over the plate of burgers reveals the name of the Sim who has prepared them and the quality or status of the food.
When Cassandra sits down to eat her hamburger, she is joined by Steve Fogel and a townie she already had as a friend in her relationship panel (sorry, I did not take note of his name).
On Sunday, Bella wakes up feeling VERY pregant indeed.
She allows Alexander to feel her belly. "It's your little brother or sister in there, sweetheart," she tells him.
Maybe for the last time in a while, Bella enjoys a cosy chat in the kitchen with her older two children.
In the early afternoon, Bella has just been taking a nap on the settee when she wakes up from the first sharp pain of labour.
It takes another three hours until precisely at 4.04 pm,
this bassinet appears (strongly resembling the way babies were "born" in
TS1), and then...
...Giselle Goth is born, and Bella instantly regains her former figure!
This is the first time I see a baby in TS4. They do look more "doll-like" than the ones in TS2, don't they?
Bella goes upstairs for a well-deserved few hours of sleep, while her husband and son make sure to be at hand, should little Giselle wake up.
On Sunday evening, Bella makes heart-shaped cookies - only a Sim in flirty mood can do that.
Mortimer wanted another child, and so it is hardly surprising that he is a devoted Dad to his little baby girl:
This was an interesting week! For the first time, I got to play age groups younger than Young Adults. Unlike TS2 and TS3, the school bus never actually pulls up in front of the house, just like the car pool for work is invisible. This does not bother me in the least.
Are Mortimer's and Bella's affairs going to crop up again, threatening the loving marriage they have now achieved? Is Cassandra going to be more than friends with Malcolm one day? Will Alexander have the chance to play with kids his age, and how long will it take before Giselle grows up?
