For the first week with this household, click here or on the label "TS4: Caliente.
After years in real life, we are finally back with the Caliente-Lothario-Dubois household. For the Sims who live here, no time at all has passed, of course; it is the first minutes of Monday after we left them at midnight on the Sunday of their first week.
Their house is still the same, too:
Breakfast is not always like this, but on this Monday morning, Don Lothario, Dina, her mother Katrina and her sister Nina (left to right) gather round the table. Only Nico Dubois, Katrina's live-in lover, is still asleep.
One thing HAS changed - Nina has put on quite a bit of weight since I last saw her.
Dina wants to make progress in her career and towards her lifetime want (this is what I call it, even though the term "lifetime want" does not appear in TS4), and so I let her practise making drinks at the bar.
As before, Don does not need to be asked - he does his share of house work on his own initiative.
Later, he goes jogging, and trots past Bella Goth at a leisurely pace - without even acknowledging her. Has our Don truly settled for Nina as the one and only lady in his life?
He meets and greets Betty Larson. Larson? Name ring a bell? Yes, in TS2 we have the Maxis-made grown-up twins Jodie and Jason Larson. So far, I have not made many rules for my TS4 gameplay, but I think I'll try and have those with surnames I know from TS2 move in - Betty will be my first attempt.
Back home, Katrina struggles with a broken computer, but manages to repair it without being electrocuted.
On Tuesday, Nina and Katrina share a mother-daughter moment over breakfast.
Dina wakes up feeling uncomfortable.
I have Don invite Betty Larson over, and she and Nina retreat to Dina's bedroom for a chat.
Dina doesn't mind - she's been out for work anyway, and returns with a promotion to Caterer. Well done, Dina!
You've not seen Nico yet this week. Here he is, resting in the sun on the balcony. He and Katrina are as affectionate with each other as before.
He later makes dinner and is joined by Don and Dina in the back yard.
You already know how in TS4, our Sims' moods can influence what they are able to do (or not) at any given moment. On Wednesday, Dina feels flirty and manages to mix a cocktail called "Cupid".
Nina has not been doing anything for her health yet this week, and so I send her jogging.
She rewards herself afterwards with a meal prepared by Nico.
The evening ends for Dina, Don and Nina watching TV together.
Katrina starts Thursday morning with breakfast in the garden.
Nina cleans the bar for her sister - she never mixes drinks, that's exclusively Dina's domain, so it is very kind of Nina, isn't it!
Nothing else remarkable happens that day. I have the Sims talk to their friends on the phone but mostly leave them to their own devices, with the exception of Dina, who needs to build up her mixing and cooking skills for her career.
It is already Friday morning when I take the next picture; Don taking out the garbage.
Meals are eaten whereever they want; here, the TV room seems to be the place of choice.
Betty Larson is invited over again, and gladly joins Nina at the bar to sample the drinks Dina makes.
I have Don repair a broken sink. All week, sinks, toilets and bathtubs break; sometimes I let the family call a repair service, but I prefer to have them work on their handiness skill. Besides, Don, Nico and Nina do not work and so have enough time on their hands.
Another example of what Sims can do when in a certain mood: Nina makes heart-shaped cookies when she feels flirtatious :-)
Dina has really learned a lot about mixing drinks!
By Saturday morning, she can make a "Sea on Fire".
Katrina and Nico share a tender moment.
As adept as Dina is with her bartending equipment, as clumsy she is at the grill: She sets it on fire (maybe she took the drink's motto "Sea on Fire" too seriously!), but thankfully manages to put out the flames quickly.
Returning from work, she is promoted to Mixologist.
It is Sunday, and the young people gather in the back yard to eat the delicious chicken Nico has prepared.
In the early evening, Betty Larson moves in - that was easy! She and Nina are friends, but by no means very close or best friends. In TS2, making a friend move in is a lot harder.
Betty works as a professional painter. She is single and has brought some additional money to the household. Now I have a question for you and hope you can help: How do I make Betty move out and into a place of her own?
I have tried the computer, but it only shows the option to move the entire household.
It was fun playing this household, although I found it hard to focus on more than one Sim's aspirations and wishes at a time. Dina did well, but the others have not achieved any milestones. Also, I deliberately neglected Nina's wish to be disliked by a certain number of Sims. Let's see how they will do next time I play this household.
The Caliente sisters hardly need introducing, do they? Well, their living arrangements in TS4 differ a little from what we all have at the beginning of TS2 and TS3: Nina and Dina live with their mother, Katrina, and a "tenant" - Don Lothario.
At the start of the game, none of the Caliente ladies show any particular interest in Don, nor does he feel specically attracted to any of them. We'll see whether things will stay that way.
Katrina is the only "adult", the other three are "young adults".
The lady
with the plumbbob is Katrina, a Romance Sim. In front of her is Nina,
whose aspiration is Mischief (that's new in TS4, and I must admit I am
not particularly fond of it). Don Lothario is another Romance Sim. The
only love interest in his relationship panel so far is Bella Goth. Nina,
the blond Caliente sister, has Mixology for her aspiration - another
new one. Her relationship panel shows Martin Jolly as her love interest,
a townie (I think) who - as far as I know - is married.
This is their house:
On Monday, Don wishes to schedule a date with someone, and so I have him ask Bella to the "Rattlesnake Juice", a community lot:
It does not take much from Don's part...
...before he has Bella where he wanted her: in his arms, and her lips firmly locked with his!
Dates work a bit different in TS4: There are "instructions" in the upper left corner of the screen, telling you that your Sim should, for instance, interact with their date 10 times, sit and talk to them x times, and so on. A meter tells you how well the date is going. When the meter is full, your Sim will find a reward object in the household inventory when they return home.
In the meantime, in front of the Caliente house, Nina meets Mortimer Goth (if he knew what his wife is doing right now...!) and Nancy Landgraab.
On Tuesday, Katrina is the first to be up for breakfast...
...followed by Don who does not deem it necessary to cover up before he walks around the house.
Nina wakes up angry. An angry Sim will be able to do things such as "vent to someone" or "be mean to someone", not available while they are not angry. Don't worry, Nina didn't do anything too bad that morning.
Katrina wants to have a date, too. There are two romantic interests among her relationships, one of them being Nico Dubois (another townie). She invites himt to the lounge, another community lot.
It's rather busy inside, and no matter how many times Katrina tries, she is unable to get a drink from the bartender - although the 10 Simoleons for it are taken from her account every time I click "order drink".
Dina, whose aspiration is Mixology, practices mixing drinks at the bar in their kitchen back home.
Wednesday morning, the girls have breakfast together.
On Wednesday, Katrina's date Nico Dubois moves in, adding around 19.000 Simoleons to the already well-stocked household account of 28.000. Nico is the first Elder I play.
In the meantime, Don and Nina have discovered their feelings for each other. Not that Don wouldn't have accepted any romantic interaction from Katrina's or Dina's side, but somehow, Nina is best suited to him, and vice versa. They share their first kiss that day. It is also the first kiss I witness in TS4.
A little later, they have their first woohoo...
...and immediately afterwards, Don shows the want to talk to Summer Holiday! Nina can't believe it.
He invites her over. Don't worry - nothing "happens" between these two.
On Thursday, Dina wants to visit the gym, and so I take the opportunity to have a look at this community lot myself:
The lady she is talking to here is Eliza Pancakes. We will meet her later, because the Pancakes are a Maxis-made household.
The gym is as busy as the bar. Most of the time, the big wall TV screens are on; not sure why they weren't at this moment. By the way, what's on telly in TS4 is often something from TS3.
Household chores in TS4 seem to be much reduced, compared to TS2. Just think of the kitchen counters: In TS2, they need cleaning nearly after every meal. In TS4, I have not seen anyone clean a counter in a whole Sim-week. But that does not mean that there is nothing to do at all; here, Don takes out the trash (on his own accord).
It is Friday morning when Nico is up early and practises programming. This was one of his wishes.
Don does not want to wait for any of the ladies to prepare breakfast and grills a batch of burgers in the backyard instead.
Dina takes advantage of the beautiful sunny day and goes jogging. Everybody in this household, especially Dina and Don, are true fitness fanatics: Whenever I leave them to their own devices, they exercise or show wishes to exercise.
Everyone takes turns in preparing meals; today, it is the men's shift.
On Saturday morning, Dina comes home from work with a promotion to Dishwasher.
Fitness fanatics, didn't I tell you?
Every now and then, I have her mix a drink. She needs to mix 10 drinks to achieve a milestone.
Now that Nico lives with Katrina, the two of them keep showing wants about each other all the time. After their first woohoo (which happened the day Nico moved in), Katrina even showed the want to get married to him. But after the game crashed for the umpteenth time, that want did not reappear.
On Sunday, instead of exercising all the time, Don decides on reading. He doesn't really strike me as the bookish type, somehow :-)
When I started playing this household, I checked everyone's relationships. This is Maxwell Esparza. For Don, he is a friend already at the beginning. For Katrina, he is an enemy. I wonder what happened between those two! When Maxwell is invited over by Don (who keeps showing social wants involving Maxwell all week), I expect a fight or something, but Katrina simply ignores him.
The week ends Sunday night with Nina chatting to one of her friends on the computer.
Will Nina and Don stay together, in spite of Don's affair with Bella Goth and his interest in Summer Holiday? Is Dina going to focus on something (or someone) else apart from fitness and mixing drinks? Are Katrina and Nico going to get married?
