The Sims II - Legacy Challenge

[mondays suck]

As I might have mentioned once or twice in "What are you currently playing", Sims is kind of my guilty pleasure game - with emphasis on pleasure.
So, recently, I have been thinking about doing some kind of LP, and because Sims is a very LP-able game and I'm currently being addicted to it, why not do a Sims LP? So, originally I wanted to do a YouTube LP, but decided against it, my voice is an atrocity and, even worse, that way I couldn't have continued blasting Limbonic Art in the background.
Anyway, now I decided to do a screenshot Sims LP on PC instead, let's see how this will work out...

Well, the plan is to do a "Legacy Challenge" (yes, mondays cannot into not playing challenges). I don't know the exact rules (there's some silly scoring system I can't be bothered to implement), but the basic ones are something like:

• Take one adult sim (does one capitalize that word?)
• Buy an empty lot in the biggest size possible
• Play the family for 10 generations
• Can't use custom sims

I only have actually played one of the game's six (yes, with all the silly expansions installed, there's six neighborhoods instead of just three) neighborhoods, that one I played excessively though. So I'm just going to use another one and the last point shouldn't be a problem.

Spoiler:

So, we have the choice between these three...

Or the last two of these other three.
Peasantview (sorry, I couldn't resist) is the one I have been playing all the time, so why not go with the other awful pun, Strangletown? For less poverty but more action!

So, this beautiful, beautiful place it is. I wouldn't be surprised to get 3-eyed children here, such a desert just CRIES for hosting a nuclear weapons test. Apparently they're using wind power here though, very well. Part of a plan to end the use of nuclear power or just decoration? We shall see...maybe.
*note: I added some of the expansion locations I would have had to add anyway... Off-screen because it's, when disregarding the loading times, nothing spectacular. University is the desert one, just because it fits so well, by the way. /note*

So, now all we still need are the huge lot and the sim...

It needed some kind of name, so why not give it a narcissist one?
So, we have the huge lot. BUT: From my personal experience it's always wise to take a look at a new empty lot before moving someone in there

See that little inconspicuous button? And, more importantly, see that hilly terrain? So, guess what pressing the button will do...

Kind of ugly now, but much, much better for building a house here now.

So, all we still need to actually begin will be a sim...

You'll do.
50 money more than usual than a self-made sim would have, big deal. I can buy an extra trashcan from that. Also, such a cheerful family name will help for motivation, even if the guy's first name is something I've never heard before. Sounds kind of Indian or SE-Asian, but I'm not sure.

Enough for part one, isn't it?

So... in case there will be any readers, criticism would be welcome. Constructive criticism, not the stereotypical pointless "dis sux and u suk 2"-kind of criticism. At least give some kind of reason and advice how to improve the problem, if possible.
Also, I didn't find any need for moderator approval for new threads in this section in the rules, but this in case I overlooked it...take this as a request for approval.

...
Did I forget anything?

Spoiler:

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part II - Getting actually started
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Hmmm... maybe it would be wise to wait maybe a day or at least a few hours for some resonance or a lack thereof, but how am I supposed to kill all that time?
So, let's move our current hero Ajay Loner into his new home...

Several things to notice here:

• First and most importantly, we are broke. And how. Those 50§ might actually make a difference here.
• Ajay is kind of old. Only 23 instead of the usual 29 days until he becomes an elder. Is this supposed to outweigh the extra money?
• Ajay is watching birds (because the game always starts with free will activated - I immediately switched to complete mind control, the sims AI is too dumb to trust). What kind of birds could live in the hellish desert that Strangletown is located in? Vultures?
• Ajay has a Fortune aspiration, which is GOOD. It means he will strive for promotions and more promotions. Exactly what one needs in such an uncomfortable financial situation. Unfortunately it also means he will want to be fed with useless luxury "goods". Oh well...
• Not seen in the pic, but he doesn't know anyone and is unemployed. So standard conditions here.

Money turns out to barely suffice for the two most elemental things - A fridge, this platform thingy to prepare food on, a stove and a bed. No money for a toilet or shower. Don't even think about a TV.
NOTE: I forgot a chair, so I bought one after making this screenshot. I also bought a bookshelf, they're surprisingly cheap. So, 75§ left in the bag, ouch. I hope I'll get a job with a high early reward, low promotion requirements and low wage increase offered, these tend to be the best for starting situations - I'd rather have decent amounts of money now then the potential to be richer in 40 years. Climbing a career is actually quite tough when you're low on life-necessary objects, so...

But, before starting I think of this: Lifetime aspiration benefits. Permanent boni that don't cost me anything besides the ability to choose other ones. Most of the boni I picked lower need decrease (more on that soon), the big green § sign means my salaries will be higher. Very welcome.

So, speaking of needs... for anyone who doesn't know the game, these are they. Eight bars that need to be filled. Or, to put it more precise...

• Hunger is the most important of all needs. If the bar hits rock bottom, you die.
• Comfort is sort of irrelevant and has a low effect on the Sim's general mood (a vertical bar to the left of these, unfortunately I cut it off in the pic above), but early on it will be problematic. Poverty means uncomfortable furniture, this means the bar will constantly be in the red or orange. Very annoying.
• Bladder is nothing we care about right now. When it drops down to the minimum, it will cause the sim to leave a (blue) puddle on the spot they are standing on and decrease Hygiene to the minimum. Therefore a shower will be a higher early priority than a toilet.
• Energy is an important one, if a sim doesn't get enough sleep, they will black out, resulting in a very slow energy increase and a very fast comfort decrease. Energy can also cause death, if a sim goes swimming and energy is slow, he will drown. Very easy murder method, since Energy is one of the faster dropping bars.
• Fun has no direct negative effects, but is a very annoying one. Drops very fast and has an irrationally high effect on general mood. There are, however, ways to gain money while circumventing this trouble. Not in this situation though, so fun will certainly be an issue.
• Social is similar to fun in its effects, but when it's low, the game will spawn a "Social Bunny", with which one can easily restock the bar. Also, there will regularly be passengers in front of the "house", so no isshu here.
• Hygiene is sort of negligible. Still, I'm not going to want it being constantly low, not if I can avoid it.
• Forget about Environment , it will be mediocre for a long time since it will require luxury to rise. Its effects are even lower than comfort's so no big deal.

Well, we don't have a newspaper to search for job offers yet, so...

let's do some preemptive stat raising. I decide on Cooking, while few jobs require it, I don't want too many fires as long as I don't have a telephone or fire alarm. I don't want any fires at all, actually.

So...Cooking... It's one of the seven skills in the game. Each have individual benefits, the most important ones are Logic (a lot of careers require this for promotions) and Creativity (required almost as often and also means you can make and sell expensive paintings). But since I don't have the ways to improve any of these two yet, Cooking it is, 2-3 points into it are always worth it.
The other options to learn with a book seen above are extras with minor effects. Except Physiology, which is glitchy and will make your skill point increase skyrocket. And I mean skyrocket.

One and a half hours later, this gentleman named Payton Wade doesn't only happen to be the first person to ever walk by Ajay's property, but he also brings us a newspaper...
At the same time, Ajay finishes his first point in Cooking, giving him the ability to cook, among other things I can't remember, Spaghetti. Yaay.

A decision is made and Ajay become a Gumshoe, whatever that is (a person who stepped on spat out bubble gum?).
Not impressive at all, but the starting wages of the two other available jobs were both around only 160§ per work day, screw that.
Scratch that, I made a mistake: I accidentally didn't pause the game before tabbing away, with, well, fatal results. Starting over, it's not like I had done a lot yet.

Soooo...
Back at 8 o' clock, I bought the exact same objects as the last time, got one point in cooking and...
Not only was the newspaper delivered by a girl named Marie Mazza this time, we also get different job offers - but again, two kind of suck and the third one is the exact same one as before, so I'm taking it again. Unfortunately he gets the job 8 minutes too late, otherwise he would still have been able to work and get paid this day.

Some dude who wasn't there yet in vanilla (meaning expansionless) Sims 2 walks by and gives Ajay a gift. Now, normally I wouldn't accept a gift by a stranger, but this is no situation to be picky in. It is a computer, and I sell it for for 1350§. As if I would need a computer right now...

So, while a stray cat named Kim walks by, I spend the money on a toilet, a shower, a TV and a small piece of wall I need for the shower and toilet.
Notice the big distance between the stove and the other objects, it's there for a reason.
Now, I accidentally put the newspaper in the trashcan, which was a misplay: That way I could have solved the crossword for around half a Logic skill point. Because for a promotion, Logic is what I need, I didn't lie when saying many careers require it.
So, I spend the rest of the day mainly with increasing Ajay's needs and the Cleaning skill (the Intelligence career's symbol and name suggest spying, this might mean I'll need cleaning. I'm not sure though, so it might be a waste.)

A new days and Ajay goes to work for the first time in his life.

Meanwhile, some granny decides to be an <censored> and kicked over the trashcan. Not good, at all.
Lying around trash will cause roaches to spawn which are a real pita to get rid of and can pass on illnesses, but I got lucky and no roaches spawned. Whew.

There are, however, bad news: Every Tuesday and Thursday, bills will have to be paid, the costs are determined by the value of the family's owned property. Ajay possesses almost nothing and still: This bill hurts.

Another work day passes, and FINALLY we are able to buy this life-saving object any house must have: a telescope.

After about 2 seconds of using the telescope, this happens. Excellent. It has already almost paid itself back.
When Ajay decides to go to bed, his Logic skill has increased from ~0,75 (from solving crosswords) to 3 points. That'll do for a while.

With the required Logic point in the bag and having already left a good impression in the two previous days, Ajay gets his first promotion, to "Private Eye". For another promotion, we will need 2 Logic (check), one Cleaning (check, my prediction of the obvious was right), and one friend (ouch, these are hard to accumulate quickly. Please don't tell me this carrier has a focus on popularity and not skill...)

So, to get that needed friend, we go to a "Community Lot" - a lot that can be accessed by all kinds of sims, but actions are restricted. Perfect for getting to know people.

So, I select a target person and Ajay talks trash to her for hours, until the friendship bar has risen enough to reach the magic 50%. But we're not finished here yet, the friendship bar decreases far too fast to leave it at the border.
Later, the relation is at a decent-but-still-not-secure 66, and Ajay's needs are in the trash can, time to go home. Tomorrow will be a tough day with such a needs deficit. But I do have the needed friend now, so I got what I needed.

Disaster strikes in the next morning: The shower broke and is leaking water all over the place. Why is this bad? Because the otherwise so forgettable Environment bar suffers heavily, and because there's no floor, the water will cause weeds to grow, meaning it will be red.
Took almost the entire rest of the morning to stop the water. The good part is, Ajit got one Mechanical skill point, might come in handy.

Friday evening...

Another promotion rolls in, with the bonus we've more than 3000§ now. Unfortunately for another promotion we will need yet another friend, ouch. Time to get a telephone. Also, Winter is closing in, so the evidence is clear:
Ajay needs a house - and can afford one now...I think.
This seems like a good cutoff point, so the house will be part of the next episode.

Still no comments? Hmmm... Anyway, here's another update:

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TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part III - You must construct additional friends!

So, the plan was to get a house...
​

...so that's what I did. Situation's looking much better now, Ajay is no longer a quasi-hobo.

This is how it looks on the inside. Not really a lot of space, I couldn't even fit the telephone into the main room, but it'll do for a while. When the family will start to grow, I will probably completely tear this shack down, or maybe only leave the back wall. But until then, it's exactly what I need.
One question: Should I leave the telephone inside or move it to the bathroom? not like it would change anything, just a matter of aesthetics.

For some reason I don't know I'm now having this blue walls-build thing not going away. Reload time, let's see if I saved after finishing the house...

Yep, there it is. Also, the former hill is still being displayed in the neighborhood view, making this look odd. Oh well.
And, success, the blue thing is gone, business can continue as usual.
Since 2 friends are needed for a promotion, here's what I did:
One relation I got up from 30 to 70 with a long, long phone conversation, the other one...

I have to keep friends at friendly by any means necessary. Odd thing: Ajay is not really attracted to her, but he is attracted to that married, close to becoming an Elder woman next door. I'll have to do something about that...

Meanwhile, the shower broke again. This is actually very welcome, as it will allow me to harvest some more mechanical skill points - which turned out to be the third needed skill in this career. Meh, I would have preferred putting points in creativity instead for the reason I stated above, but I already have another plan how to make some extra money. This one is more long-term, unfortunately, as the required object is expensive and takes a while to make profits. But more on that later, unless I change my mind.
Thanks to Ajay's almost constant platinum mood* he keeps getting promoted as soon as skill and friends requirements are being fulfilled, and...

*Sims can have 4 wants and 3 fears, depending on their aspiration. There are 5 aspirations: Fortune, Knowledge, Family, Romance and Popularity. One of the expansions added Fun, I don't know if I like it. Anyway, Ajay has, as I already mentioned before, a Fortune Aspiration, meaning his wishes will be focused on the accumulation of wealth. There is an aspiration bar that decreases with time and fulfilled fears and increases with fulfilled wishes. If it's high, you get a temporary "platinum mood", meaning the sim will do necessary work even with low skills, have a perfect work or school performance. Now, a wealth sim that is quickly climbing up his career will get a lot of high-rewarding wishes fulfilled within short intervals, meaning easily maintaining platinum mood for a long time. This allows you to gobble up even more promotions like crazy, until skill point increase becomes so slow (the first point of a skill will usually be gained within an in-game hour or two, the tenth one will take at least half a day) or you will require ridiculously many friends. Very welcome early on. Unfortunately if you haven't been promoted in a while or are at the top, Wealth sims will develop a desire for luxury instead and will only be interested in statues.

OH COME ON!
Yet another friend, aargh. I'm really spending more time building relations with random people than anything else.

Thankfully Ajay had brought a coworker with home, they start at higher relations. Easy third friend there.

"where making this hapen"

Next day, another promotion, and of course, I require another friend for the next one. This is getting really obnoxious. Also, the next day is work-free, which SUCKS (coincidentally, it IS a monday). It means the statues problem I mentioned above might kick in and stop my promotions steamroller that has been working so well up to now. At least I can use it for preemptive friend-farming. Or some skill points. Better than nothing...

Getting to level 5/10 of the career unlocked this thing, I'm not sure what it does. I'm going to let it rest for a while and try it out when I'm richer, right now I still have to focus on the career.

Ajay is getting old, and still doesn't have a heir or even a wife. Time to change that... Allyn will be a drain to my money at first (she's unemployed), but eventually she'll pull her weight. Children on the other hand...
She is a family sim by the way, could be worse.

Contrary to Ajay, her aspiration bonus tree is less focused on reducing need drops and more on rapid skill point gains. The plan is to pursue the Work column now and get the third reward - it means one less friend needed for promotions. Same thing for Ajay, he's pursuing the same thing.

Hmm... MAYBE it would have been better to leave the house as it was... Oh well, eventually I will get the money for the bedroom walls and making the floor something else than sand. And I will be able to rebuy the sofa I just had bought when I noticed I cannot afford it yet.

While Allyn was watching some TV show about a rabbit in a garden, Ajay interrupted her and wanted to show her his brick hands. She liked them, so they married.
Stuff followed, among other things Allyn got a completely gender-stereotypical job as a cement mixer and Ajay suddenly needed one more friend because one of them, Allyn was now part of his family and stopped counting. AAARGH.

Not like talking about magic lamps with random sales clarks couldn't fix that...
...but even befriending her didn't quite get him up to platinum again. Well, that sucks.

Meanwhile, Allyn manages to get herself fired on the first day of work. So the stereotype is justified?

Ajay, on the other hand, gets lucky. Despite no platinum mood, the low chance for being promoted anyway kicked in. The bad news however...

NOOOOO
I bet at the end of this career I'll need like 20 friends, aargh.
But, things could be worse. I have the bedroom walls, I have the sofa, life is good. If there just weren't these bills that are closing in on 100§ per bill...

Due to work-loss-caused frustration, Allyn has been eating stuff and is now wondering why she is obese. Or does her sudden weight gain have another reason? As if it doesn't, give me some name suggestions :D

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part IV - The family grows

Winter started and this wolf was sighted. The difference between a big, dark dog and a wolf in this game are the glowing yellow eyes. A dog can have yellow eyes as well, but they won't glow like that.

No suggestions, so I asked the generator. It suggested Iolana, so I took that.

Iolana was in need of a bed and there was still free space in the living room, so...

I also replaced the parents' bed by this one here. Having a cheap bed means constantly low Comfort levels and slowly recharging energy. Unlike with many other objects the differences are actually noticeable here, so getting a good bed is usually one of my highest priorities.

Allyn got a new job, this time as an Aerobics Instructor, and because her and Ajay's work times overlap, I had to hire a Nanny for an hour. It's worth it, she is cheap. Just remember to make the fridge inaccessible, Nannies LOVE wasting a lot of food. Dismissing her was a pain as well, she kept ignoring it. Nice way to make money if you're getting paid per hour, eh?

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ALLYN?
Tasting from the soup while the stove is on fire? Sure why not?

Then she finally noticed it and panicked

Thankfully the firetruck arrived just as fast as the fire itself did.

The house is being quite a mess. While a baby itself is relatively low-maintenance, having one does produce a lot of lying around trash.

Eventually, Iolana grew up into a Toddler. I said, babies are low-maintenance, didn't I? Well, Toddlers certainly aren't - they are hellish.

Well this is unacceptable. Instead of caring for her child, Allyn decides to get drunk, apparently.
Also, that bathroom is disgusting.

This bathtub, mini-toilet and xylophone are only going to be in use temporarily, so I placed them on the outside. Also notice the weeds in the bathroom in the background. Really about time I build a floor. But no, let's wait a while with that, I have my reasons.

While Allyn was being useless more often than not, Ajay sacrificed some of his friend-accumulation to teach Iolana what she'll need for life. He's already at slightly over 1000§ per work day anyway, so my promotion steamroller having completely stopped now is not such a big deal.

So Ajay was once again out at a Community Lot to find potential friends, and look what I found. Now, I would have called this a vampire, but she doesn't sparkle, she has to be something else...

Allyn, you are useless. U. S. E. L. E. S. S.
Seriously.

Eventually Iolana learned all of the toddler skills, even the most annoying to learn one, using the toilet. Meanwhile, Ajay got demoted because of some bad luck. Oh well, I can easily get back up to the previous job and get an extra promotion bonus that way, could be worse.

Oh yeah, Allyn was being prego again recently. What's the worst that could happen?

Oh crap

This IS the worst that could happen. One Toddler is annoying but can be dealt with. 2 of them will be HELL. And still no male heir.

Time to rearrange things. A new house is built, the money barely suffices

This is what it looks like. Still a lot of very cheap objects, but nothing essential one cannot do yet. You can never have enough bathrooms in a house by the way, definitely going to build more later.

Iolana finally stops being a toddler. Excellent. Now there's only two babies to deal with all the time for the parents.
But let's do that later, this part is already long enough.​

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[Daydream]

Ooooh, it is nice to see some Sims surface on PC.~

You get things done so quickly. o_o It takes me ages when I do anything on the Sims. This is enjoyable to read, however, and you have a follower of it in me. And the baby should be called Notta. Notta Loner.

 

[mondays suck]

I think I was getting things done so quickly because of the small family size, the first week with just Ajay went by incredibly fast, I almost took more time taking screenshots than actually playing.
As for the name Notta, well, I read that comment a bit too late, so no Notta yet. The next female child shall be called Notta though. I'll make her a witch and sit in an ivory tower for most of her life ;)
Anyway, most importantly: thanks for watching!


So, after having been busy with going to the elections, watching some various youtube LPs of different things and being hungry it's time for another update.

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part V - Dealing with the twin terrorists
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Spoiler:

Spoiler:

So, with the new house and 24§ left on the bank all I'll have to do for a while will be babysitting and somehow paying the bills. Shouldn't be too problematic. Or will it?

So, after getting repromoted, Ajay befriends the non-sparkling vampiress via telephone* from before while Allyn is constantly low on everything but still somehow manages to deal with the twins.
*most sims will get pissy if you phone them at night - vampires will not, and because even with sleeping you will be awake on parts of the night anyway, befriending vampires is the easiest thing when you're in need of more friends. Just don't phone them during daytime of course.

Iolana has her first school day and look at this. I mean, seriously, look at this. Sure, buses are huge, but since when, since when do buses go to the children and not vice-versa? That's like the mountain coming to the prophet, IT MAKES NO SENSE. If the child could just walk to a bus station instead, it wouldn't only be more realistic, it would also mean I wouldn't have to leave so much free space between my house and the pavement because the effing bus won't block my sight on the entire house anymore. Yes, I mad.

Isn't that something Obelix occassionally does to roman legionnaires, except that he only uses one arm? And she WANTS to be victim of that? o_O

Oh come on now, Allyn, you got to be kidding me. Maybe it would actually have been better to never leave the kitchen...
Also, this random coworker...

...has an interesting name. Benjamin WHAT? I have no idea what a "Leela" is, but... um, let's talk about something different.

Ajay is still climbing the ladder, and wow! 25000§ already, that was fast. Most is probably from those insane promotion bonuses.

The only important thing children get from their parents that's not being taught in the toddler age is learning. Of course it's Ajay who teaches is to Iolana because Allyn continues being useless and is even being overstrained with the two babies. Looks like Ajay will have to miss work for a day or two when they're in the toddler age. Well, he can afford that.

And then, Allyn was once again almost dead from exhaustion, the twins advanced into the next stage. Aaargh.

What followed was this, lots of this:
Hungry, stinking and crying twins, completely exhausted parents, and I quickly decided to completely forget about the toddler skills here. This was a battle about life and death, or, to put it better, I had to avoid the social worker by any means. If babies, toddlers and children starve or reach the minimum in "Social", they won't die or spawn a "Social Bunny", they will get taken away by the social worker. But, from the perspective of a single family, it's no better than death, so exactly what I want to avoid.

Then, there was this. Always happens in the worst possible moments.

Thankfully at least Ajay had high enough needs to quickly go to a Community Lot and buy Groceries.

Oh, and did I mention or at least indicate...

...this? A heir! And the RNG sure loves these names beginning with an I.

Allyn didn't feel like already having another child at all (if I were her, I would feel the same about children by now), and has gone insane now. Calm down Allyn, this one is your last one, I promise. Notta will have to wait until the next generation.

Random dogs arriving at night and barking at the newborn? That's what happens if you put the bed outside because the house is full of stuff. But there's worse, this is nothing to worry about I think.

Allyn wants to maximize a skill. Well considering how many skill points she has right now, I'd call this delusions of grandeur. She'll get better once she finally gets some free time though, she's been doing almost nothing but struggling to survive her pregnancies until now.

Then, there was this one special day. That day, FOUR sims aged. Ajay became an elder, Anupama and Francisca finally stopped being toddlers (and Allyn had yet another psychological crisis because Francisca was unhappy when she grew up), Iodocus became a toddler. Much less trouble from Ajay and Allyn from here on, even though being an elder means having bladder problems. I'm not going to retire Ajay just yet, he still has to achieve something, and he does have the possibility.

And the house expanded once more, this time to hold enough beds for the second generation.

And then Allyn started being actually useful for something different than mass reproduction. Was about time.

Now, the first generation is past the hardest times now, time to stop the episode. Wow, only such a few in-game days, but they took eternally. So much for fast progressing.

Let's try and get another update out today evening...


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TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part VI - Not a lot happens, leaving potential for a more interesting Part XII...

Haha, the nanny is being blocked here and can't leave the house. SERVES YOU RIGHT FOR TAKING 60§ FOR THOSE LOUSY 2 OR 3 HOURS YOU SPENT HERE DOING NOTHING
And yes, those are Allyn's work clothes. An explanation why she has so many children? Maybe, maybe...

With Iolana growing up, we get the middle stage of sims as the last, the teen. She could now hypothetically survive on her own, but such a situation is not going to happen.
I picked Fortune as her aspiration, because the Loners are still living in relative poverty. Turn Ons and Turn Offs are not really going to matter as she is not the heir, so I just picked some random stuff and it turns out Iolana likes hat-wearing artists, but cannot stand plant-sims. Not sure which are more common, as if it matters.

Oh come on, Allyn. Earlier you had a nervous breakdown because you got a fourth child, now you want a fifth one? Forget it, the house is crowded enough right now.

A lot of praise for Ajay, but still not the top of his career? I think I'll let him retire if he doesn't manage to get promoted until Friday, all these free days aren't worth waiting for and after them Ajay will be too old.

Iodocus was posing a lot less trouble than the other three did as a toddler. Iolana helping out her parents was no minor reason for this.
Her lifetime want is reaching the top of the dancing career (the one her mother is struggling in, but mainly for other reasons than it having been difficult in itself so far). Kind of fits the clothes she grew up into.

Speaking of Iodocus... With him growing up, the second generation of the Loner family is FINALLY out of the annoying age. In fact, by the time there will be toddlers again in this house, it will probably look at lot different, the current one is too small, it's no permanent solution.

The twins don't only get along with each other perfectly, they also both want a puppy really bad. No. The house can't even hold one more object.

The artistically talented Iolana starts drawing a portrait of the aging Ajay. Looks promising so far.


Well, this is taking longer than expected and it's kind of late now, so I'll have to cut this part off right here.

But one more thing, an overview, just in case the characters are becoming too many:
Ajay: Founding father of the Loner dynasty. Has been working as a spy for all of his life and made a fortune out of it. He is getting old, but not dead yet.
Allyn: Ajay's wife and quadruple mother. Has a tendency to fail at things, especially jobs. Her children growing up is a huge relief to her, but it might be too late.
Iolana: First-born child and first of the second generation. Already a teen. She wants to become a dancer, but an actually successful one, unlike her mother.
Anupama and Francisca: The unexpected twins, currently children. Both they and the parents had a hard time in their toddler years, so they look less promising than the two Io's.
Iodocus: The only son, and probably the heir. I might change my mind and let Iolana have the position instead though, not sure (suggestions). So... strict patriarchy or simply oldest child wins? By the way, he is actually called Ioducus, I just keep misspelling him.
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Post is getting somewhat huge by now, but some scrolling is far better than the hell that is spoiler splitting, right?

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part VII - Originally this part lacked a name, whoops

Always fun seeing completely random things happening. This is not a wolf by the way, the eyes don't glow. It's just one of the more badass looking kinds of dogs.

The house is FAR TOO SMALL. All these people are trying to go somewhere and are blocking themselves. Ajay just barely managed to get through and catch his carpool in time. Pretty much exactly 30000§ on the bank right now, time to...

Now THIS is more like it.

Plenty of open space here, especially in the living room which isn't quite finished yet, I managed to become broke again. And if that doesn't suffice, and it won't, there's still plenty of space in the second floor which for now only holds the rarely needed babies and toddlers room. And if that's still not enough, I can just add a floor.
Also note how I'm FINALLY having burglar alarms now. Was about time. Interesting how luck hasn't screwed me there.
The odd floor patterns are my fault by the way, was fun screwing around with them.

Well, look at this (100th picture btw)... First Allyn wants to be welcomed for returning from work...

..seconds later she collapses to the ground.
Was because an untimely promotion by the way, she had to go to work just after returning from work. That didn't work out well.

Eventually someone managed to maximize a skill... Not Ajay, but Iolana. Painting in all her free time made her not only draw a portrait of Ajay, she also acquired quite some skill points within a relatively short timeframe. Well, no wondr Ajay is low on skill points, he had been running after people to become his friends for most of his life...

Mr Loner is not only retired now, he also has accumulated quite a lot of friends in his life. Well, he had to, I'm sure he actually would have preferred staying true to his name.

Iolana keeps getting this wish. Masterpiece of cake with maxed out creativity, so chaining this wish is actually a very viable strategy to keep sims happy. Works best with Fortune and Popularity aspirations. Also easy way to grab decent amounts of money, especially for retired elders with max creativity. Unfortunately Ajay is none of these.

Silly Allyn, the sun can't blind you when you're inside.

Is this the beginning of the dance career Iolana dreams of?

But no, it was just the from now on hat-loving twins growing up. Wow, Francisca (brown hat) sure looks weird in this screenie

The next time: Iolana going to university! Still about 10 days to go, but I doubt anything interesting will happen, besides an age transition or two.

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part VIII - Silly Shenanigans, but not by me...
​

See the entire family together for Ioducus' (hah, finally I spelled him correctly) birthday, except Allyn who was at work. That weird guy to the left came to replace her.

Then, this. Ajay was having a low social bar and everyone else was busy, so since it was night, he called the vampiress. I thought a sim would need a romantic relation with a vampire to get bitten, but apparently I was wrong. So...

...I bought this thing from this ominous grandma...

Being an Alf-headed bat wearing a tie while your wife is showering and one of your daughters (Anu, she is, like Iolana, entirely focussing on creativity, making both quite dangerous in the kitchen, while Francisca is the one who's learning all the household skills) set the stove on fire? If this ain't awesome, there is no such thing like awesomeness.

Anyway, back to what I was preparing before...

I saw no need of keeping Ajay as a vampire, so I made him 'human' again.

Then again, the dynasty founder being almost immortal looks like an interesting thing to do, maybe I should let the Contessa re-transform him...?
Especially since he is retired, that way he wouldn't make any losses from not being able to work during the day.

More birthdays, Allyn is now elder as well. Her career success skyrocketed recently, so I'm thinking I should let her reach the top before retiring, I think she can actually do that, even with the delay and troubles caused by having 4 children.

But first, I want to fulfill her lifetime wish... To be honest, I never managed that before. I'm not only having an aversion against parties in real life, I also find them quite stressful in this game, but... I'll have to swallow the toad here, I think it'll be worth it.

The next time: What I was actually planning for Part 8: Iolana going to university. Maybe Anupama, Francisca and even Ioducus as well, but mostly off-screen. The first death of this game is quite possible as well, depending on how long I play...
Oh, and that damn party as well, of course​

​

 

[mondays suck]

Totally not intentionally doubleposting here.
​

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part IX - Student for eternity
​

Spoiler:

...

Oh come on, Francisca. Iolana and Anupama have low Cooking skill so I can understand, but... You don't have an excuse.

Yeah like I care. Allyn's lifetime wish was fulfilled as soon as I started the stupid party, no reason to do anything more. Especially not because no one came. At all. :D

Iolana doesn't want to do her homework because there's a little bit unhygienic dishes on the table. Let the slightly unhygienic dishes be slightly unhygienic dishes then and do your homework in another room, dammit.

I keep getting invaded by wave after wave of random school friends

...I thought Ireland was green, not a desert...

Ajay became a filthy speculating pig ruining the world's economy - and like all of these bastards, made profits. Probably from consolations for getting fired...

Alright, finally it's time to reduce the numbers of these annoying school friend hordes...

...by moving out Iolana until she reaches adulthood.
Now, you have three possibilities where to live during university time in this game. One is expensive, I don't know how the second one works, and then there's this...

You can cheaply rent a room in these things. Now, while this house here looks like a hard life...

THIS one doesn't. Don't need more than one bedroom, so I left the other ones in the poor condition they were in.

Iolana's picture is on the door, I have the correct room. If I wouldn't have gotten this one, I would just have switched things around in Buy Mode, no potential problems there.

After a while, I eventually decide on letting Iolana study Drama, just because it suits her career-related lifetime wish.

Then, while Iolana has class, this random person invades her room. Forgot to lock the door, apparently.

But the door glitched up and stayed open all day. Well, then I'll have to waste time chasing people out off the room all the time I guess.

Haha, used a cheat (that mainly exist for the purpose of getting rid of glitchy objects, but I can't delete and rebuy this door for some reason, so I have to try another way) to transplant a "locked" sign onto my permanently open door... now I just have to hope it works

Nope, didn't work. Reloading time, glitchy doors are unacceptable. Even if it means I have to rewrite this term paper thing.

HAH!
Also note how she has different clothes this time, don't ask me why.

These people keep telling you to work out, it's really annoying. I DON'T NEED ANY DAMNED BODY SKILL POINTS, SCREW OFF. Also, just like the real life equivalents, normal weight female sims look better than "fit"/skinny ones
I also found out why my door was glitchy, it was because of a misplaced telephone. It belonged to the house, I sold it and Iolana got the money :D
By the way, that person in the green suit in the background constantly produces food. Very useful.

After university, sims will have 20000§ regardless of ANYTHING, so I'm placing Paintings in the inventory instead, to sell them when Iolana is back in the Loner house.

The more "trees" there are, the more fun thunderstorms are!

Every 72 hours there's one of these exams. I wish they'd be more frequently, university always takes eternally to finish.
After each exam, you will need other skills to advance. For example, now Iolana needs some stuff she already has and a cleaning point.

There's often people in llama or cow suits running around in university, the llama people are normal, but the cows have a tendency of being nasty to others.

Eventually, Iolana finished the first year and is now in the next one, which has a weird name.

Well, I do need a body skill point here. And forgot what I said about llamas before, quit mocking the fact I have to do this miserable crap and you don't, llama.
Time for some gluttony to get back from "fit" to normal weight.

Now, I kept alt+tab-ing away from Sims because University is, while advantageous, so boring, and one time I forgot to hit the P key...

...crap.


Well, Ioducus IS the heir then, i suppose. Or maybe Anupama, she's cool too.

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part X - Passing the torch

What, you're still alive?

Oh no, you aren't.

You were one of my favorites, Iolana, but sorry, dead is dead.

...and I thought Allyn was destined to be a failure, she really managed to get A LOT of promotions in her late adult / early elder days

Look, it's a wolf. Let's be nice to it, that'll distract it from digging holes in the "garden"

Now what the hell am I supposed to do with this?
I hate these Too Awesome To Use items, they always end up doing nothing but taking up space

And then Ajay died of old age. He didn't even die a happy man because his late days were boring routine.
Don't ask me how the money inheritance system works by the way, I have no idea. I just hope he didn't gift the family's money to these random befriended people.
Also, Anupama got the most, that should make her the heir and not Ioducus.

And the twins are off to university, let's hope nothing goes wrong this time...

For some reason they moved out separately ... odd.

Anupama decides to take Iolana's remains back home...

...just to almost die to yet another alt+tab without pausing the game. At least it was only Anupama being on a community lot so Francisca is still doing fine, and, even more important, she survived.
Also notice how she met a witch (an evil one, the more fun alignment). Problem is just that being a witch makes you lazy, so no Loner witches yet. But later, and you will see what I mean.

A slightly different way of farming cleaning skill points than reading books:
1. Light a minor fire, activating the sprinkler
2. Mop up puddles
Ineffective, but it's a nice change

What are you doing there, random persons? WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING.

Hell, they even got into a fight...

...
But since then, not a lot has happened.
Currently Anu and Fran have finished slightly over 2 of the 4 1/2 years of university, and I'm really out of motivation. I'll slog through the rest later, and when they're finally finished things will get more interesting again.

​

 

[donavannj]

This was an insanely long and interesting read. ^_^

As for the buses working the way they do, it's an American game, and most public schools in America have their own bus services for students because the districts are so vast and usually do not have a public bus system available to them.

There was also one other thing I wanted to comment on, but I forgot what it was.

 

[mondays suck]

This was an insanely long and interesting read. ^_^

As for the buses working the way they do, it's an American game, and most public schools in America have their own bus services for students because the districts are so vast and usually do not have a public bus system available to them.

There was also one other thing I wanted to comment on, but I forgot what it was.

Makes sense, I suppose. And, of course, thank you for watching!

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part XI - Die, Chair, Die! (not related to tvtropes in any way except for maybe the inspiration)

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

No, seriously, look at this. This is Anupama being stuck in a glitchy chair. Nothing helped. There goes yet another child.

WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING? Surprisingly enough, the Llama guy survived... He survives while Anu had to die to some stupid glitch, of course. The game is a douche.

A loooong time later, this. FINALLY!
Francisca finished University - alive! This alone qualifies her for being the new heir.

Now, look at this: Francisca's inventory. Iolana's and Anupama's graves... and, more importantly: The stuff Francisca and Anupama (when I realized she was going to die to that glitchy chair, I transformed her inventory over to Francisca) made just during their time in University. I mean come on. I wasn't even farming this stuff, but still THAT MUCH. See why it was difficult for me to actually sit through this now?
The worth of all that stored junk? Over 65000§. Enough to build medium-sized house with at least somewhat luxurious furniture. Tell me that isn't utterly ridiculous.

Time to start building a crypt for the dead. The main person of each generation, here Ajay, will get one of these tables and a lamp over it. Actually all of the dead are supposed to get portraits by the way, but there are none of poor Iolana and Anupama...

So, there was this random dude with the weird name Seth Kwa. He was poor and had to work as a mascot of the University - dressed as a Llama (not the one that set the toy railroad on fire btw). Well, Francisca decided to put him out of that misery - not by killing him, even worse, the two made the worst mistake of their lives... Of course after Seth got rid of that Llama stuff.
He actually already has quite a few skill points by the way, that's nice.

Since Francisca has a pet-related life time wish... Meet Allegra, the kitten.

Or, should I say Allegra the cat? Wow, that was fast...

Also meet Hellhound, the dog. You think he doesn't look threatening at all? Just wait then...

Did I tell about the other dog, Brutus, yet? No? Well, here he is. He has no known father he could stab to death, so he should be easy to get along with, right?

Ack! The moat around the mausoleum is dysfunctional... This is bad. Very bad. Ghosts are murderous.

Sure, Hellhound, feel free to sleep on the bed - it's not like there isn't an abundance of them in the house anyway. There's no reason to sleep on the floor.

HAH! Painting portraits of the dead IS actually possible!
Containing their ghosts not quite yet, I'll have to find another solution there than the moat...

OH CRAP.
Know what that means?
Exactly. So, might be a while until the next update...

​

 

[donavannj]

You're a bad player for letting those Young Adult Sims die! How could you?! ;_;

You wouldn't have this problem if you relished the micromanaging of University more. :V

Just don't kill Ioducus. Otherwise, I'll just have to start a "Legacy Challenge" myself and show you up. ;P

 

[Daydream]

Stop killing sims! D:

Overall, though I'm still enjoying your legacy (it makes me miss playing the Sims so much, stupid old computer). Although I wanted Iolana to be the heir. But then you let her die. |:

I want to see some different LifeState-Sims. One of the male heirs should definitely have an alien baby. o-o

 

[mondays suck]

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part XII - The succession crisis question

Spoiler:

Don't worry, Ioducus survived University. No Alt+Tab without pausing the game or glitchy chairs this time.

As you can see from his recent memories, he had nothing better to do with his abundance of time than playing the Casanova. Morally this is just plain wrong of course, but it DID net him enough friends for easy career success. One of them doesn't have a telephone and another one is currently quite angry at him (the "best friends forever" status stayed though, so it shouldn't be hard to get relations with her at least back to friendly, Ioducus did it before even without that status), but apart from that all is fine.

So, here he is, the youngest child and only son of the founding father Ajay.
Both he and his sole surviving sister Francisca have a claim to the throne, who shall get it?

Here's a comparison (left: Francisca, right: Ioducus)...

I think Ioducus wins in the skill point department, but he doesn't have a job yet (of course he doesn't, he just finished his education)

Both have some rather nasty Lifetime wants, but I'm pretty sure Francisca's will be easier to realize, just because I don't know anything about the home business feature of the game. Also notice that I already started on Francisca's lifetime want, as I stated before.

Ioducus has a whopping 12 friends (the other two are on the next page), Francisca "only" has 7. Ioducus' promiscuity is an argument for Francisca though...or is it?

Lasty, who has led the happier life until now? Because of Francisca being a twin during a period of time rearing children was difficult for the family, Ioducus, who had better early years, is ahead.

And, one last thing to consider, let's take another look at this screenshot from 2 or 3 episodes ago...

Ajay loved both of the dead more than - aaah, nonsense, Iolana is not even mentioned in that list, she died before Ajay - so, I mean he loved Anupama more than the two that are still alive, but he did love Ioducus more than Francisca.

So, who is the heir? Who shall continue Ajay's work of bringing the Loner family to greatness?

​

 

[donavannj]

Businesses are a pain to run, but well worth it if you can manage it. If you run a home business, make sure to lock the doors at night.

Ioducus has achieved quite a bit. :o

Just make sure you don't kill these two before your challenge is up. :P

a big reason I avoid using stoves is because sims are idiots and microwaves are far safer in game

 

[mondays suck]

Alright, Ioducus and the business route it is. In case he or Francisca dies, I already have a plan B - not a really secure one but there is no 100% security in this game.
About the stoves, I like them. I prefer being able to cook more foods over the security, especially since with a fire alarm all a fire is going to do is lowering Hygiene of the people near it, the fire fighter always arrived before it could spread so far.
So, time to start playing some more...once I fix my mouse's recent almost unbearable erratic scrolling behavior.

EDIT: Hah, got it to work again. Opening the mouse (and dropping the screw and not finding it for at least 5 minutes because it fell into the layer of dust on the floor under my computer table) and blowing in there like I used to do back in the day when my GB Pocket cartridges didn't work probably wasn't the smartest idea since technology is a lot less robust nowadays (at least I think so), but for some reason it worked, so...

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part XIII - Just the right number to attempt something new...

​

Spoiler:

Now, I tried finding some guides on how to run a business in this game but they all sucked, the saying "if you want something done right, do it yourself" proves to be true yet again. What I did find out though is that I won't have to make 5 separate businesses to fulfill Ioducus' wish, leveling one up to the maximum, letting it drop a bit again, et cetera apparently does the job. Fine. Now I'll just have to figure out how that works. No Horse Archers (<3) in this game to solve any possible problem for me, but I'll find another way. There is a possibility to cheese this wish, so I WILL cheese it, no matter what.

Now, due to the fact that pets take up family member slots, I heavy-heartedly decided to give the three up. Hopefully I'll be able to readopt them later.

Meanwhile Seth, working in the Culinary Career managed to unlock this thing, which is - excuse my choice of words - teh awesomez. It gives money while learning Cooking at double speed.

With a new patriarch comes the need for a new heir...

HOLY COW - that is A LOT of money! Ioducus is quite happy to have married someone that rich...
So, as for the business...

am I now going to have this annoying thing in my top right corner forever? Oh man...

Meanwhile, Seth is building some kind of skill while walking.

Apparently I need some kind of clerk. So I hire the cheapest one. If she won't do, I think I can always switch.

Suddenly, a stranger enters my newly built pool? Is that because of my not-quite-functioning-yet business?

Apparently this candy machine got the ability to produce chocolate puddles in one of the add-ons. Interesting. Not pleasant, but certainly interesting.

Hmm, apparently she IS here because of that business thing. Which has nothing for sale yet.

So, this is my business building. The shelves apparently do nothing, the TVs are for sale. Let's see how this works out...

Two spaces between been and placed! How could anyone do something horrible like that?
Also, doesn't this remind me of anything...?

Ioducus is basically a more mafioso-like looking and of course less rich version of this guy, who else would weigh their first owned coin that much?

... or not, because I sold that one coin for FIVE §. Oh my, who is that dumb?

No, Francisca, you're not supposed to give birth to a baby right now, you're supposed to wheedle that customer right behind you into buying a frickin' shelf (since they turned out useless, I just put them for sale).

It's a boy, his name is Jadran and he is my plan B for the case that Ioducus dies childless or all of his children die young.

...Aaaand about here the scrolling started going crazy again, ugh.
So, enough for now.


So... this business thing is already looking like a lot of stress, I'll constantly have to swamp customers in conversations. Contessa Kay (I always thought that was a male name, but she clearly is female and she clearly is Ioducus' new wife... and the 'Contessa' just won't go away) can do that just fine during the night since her needs won't drop, the day will be more of a problem... Maybe I should make someone a witch, that could help (you will see...)... Then again, I wanted to save up most alternative lifeforms for later generations, especially those that are easy to turn into/create.

 

[donavannj]

Oh, you should fence off your private outdoor property if you're going to be running a home business. Otherwise "customers" will just spend all their time messing with your stuff.

Kay is a pretty common female name here in the States. You seem to be playing the English version, so if you see anything odd, it's likely because it's an "Americanized" thing within an American-made game. (b'-')b

The mouse wheel probably just got some dust underneath it.

When do we meet Francisca's significant other?

 

[Yuoaman]

Oh god this is kind of hilarious.

The fact that half of the children died due to a lack of free will makes me giggle for some reason.

 

[mondays suck]

@donavannj: Francisca's significant other would be Seth, I thought that was obvious. As for the mouse wheel... Weird thing is that uncontrollable scrolling also happens when I use my laptop's touchpad instead (in a lesser degree though). But right now there are no issues, so I might as well continue a bit....

@Yuoaman: Lack of free will? No one is controlling anyone's will in this game. Just the bodies. And Anupama died because of some bull-ish glitch, not because I wasn't paying attention.

TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part XIV - ?ŽR& it, I'm going hom- OHWAIT

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Now, I decided the business was too much work and lazily canceled again. It was constantly keeping 2 or 3 sims busy, that was too much. I could only play at normal speed because it required so much micro. Therefore the title.

So, while one of Ioducus' former college girlfriends, the one with a rebellious haircut, was still angry at him for some 'incident' and kicked over the house's trashcan (I really should have recorded the evil grin on her face after this)...

Kay kept leaving her coffin even at the beginning of the morning because energy was at the maximum.

Seriously, if you want your needs dropping like rocks, keep doing that.

Retired grandparents are AWESOME, Allyn has nothing to do so sure, why not help out with Jadran?

Oh, and the family bought two trash cars, now Francisca and Ioducus can actually drive to work by themselves. More of a ":t360:?" thing though.

In winter, sometimes penguins can be seen... So Which is kind of weird, considering Strangletown lies in a sandy desert, I didn't know yet there were any of these in Antarctica. Maybe there were before Antarctica was on the south pole, but at that time there were no penguins yet.

So, who talked about giving up on Ioducus' lifetime want...

...when I can just use the above machine to CHANGE it? Now, reaching the top of a career path is CERTAINLY easier than that business junk.

And see, the very first career offer is this. It's, like, destiny.

Aaand Francisca managed to unlock this thingy in her career. It apparently does...nothing? Oh well, could be worse.

Uhhhh... sure, why not?

____

Well, I made a break of several days here and have no idea what I was doing now and don't feel like reading it, so...

I'm just going to complain about the total surveillance state. Random people invading your home because you've been playing chess against yourself? Sounds like dystopian fiction to me.
And what's worse, they cancel all of the target sim's queued activities, it's a pain.

By the way, have I mentioned Seth is sort of interested in his mother in-law? Hopefully it's only because Allyn reminds him of Francisca or something.

Leave me alone, you secret police surveillance agents role-playing as scientists/nerds/whatever.

Seriously now

- they won't even let poor Ioducus sleep

Oh, I remember YOU... Can't people just leave the poor Loner family alone, after all she has been through?

She thinks Sims is a hit-and-run game

One of Ioducus' many love interests from his university years turned out to be quite useful. There is a mistake in the above text though, making it look like she increased her own salary.

And there's this one, of course. Not only has she declared war upon the Loners, she also refuses to talk. Relations stay at furious.

I bought a new, nice and shiny shower and all Allyn does is complaining about that it's too close to the toilet. Fine, I'll tear the pipes out of the walls and place the shower on another wall then - for the price of 0§!

However, in this easternmost bathroom, the shower REFUSES to get into the right position...

Should have tried this on Anupama when she was stuck in that chair...
The shower in the second floor did the same thing by the way, I have no idea why. The arrow was clearly pointing on an empty tile, not a wall. Annoying.

Ioducus just can't stop assembling 'friends'

Well, they already had a 40% relation from just talking, so I thought I might as well...

That sounds like teaching a child what a whale is. They live in the sea and they are really really big. And sharks are eeeevil.

Random people ringing the doorbell are the most annoying thing ever. Why?

Everyone in the house wakes up - including her, and her needs drop like rocks if she's awake during the day.

Augh, apparently this kind of showers can't have a wall to their left. Annoying. I'm not going to switch things around in the affected bathrooms, these showers are bad enough sight blockers as they are. No, I'm returning to the cheap, crappy but far less sight-blocking showers I used before.

There. No I can at least see what's going on again.


So... Quite late by now, and while I only played slightly above a day in-game (everything is still going atrociously slow and I can almost never fast-forward which I used to do permanently earlier, remind me to keep future generations smaller), I think this is enough.
Might take a while until the next segment, I'm planning to do some lenghty, probably eventless routine play, maybe even with Free Will ON, I will run out of interesting things to present later otherwise, I mean, I haven't even finished one fifth of the challenge yet.

Also, I'm going to try and experiment with my arch nemesis after a long period of tranquility again: the dastardly, uncooperative, despicable spoiler tag. Don't wonder if the spoilers will be split up, won't open or anything else. At least they will reduce the obnoxious page stretching.
​

 

[donavannj]

I actually didn't see anything to indicate who Seth was in that update. :x

Businesses are quite challenging to run.

 

[mondays suck]

Maybe I did forget that then, oh well, he is more of a minor character anyway. And I might try out running a business again later on, but with a smaller family. With a family of seven (?), it was just "AAAAARGH"-inducing.
TS2 Legacy Challenge - Part XV - Curse you, uncooperative RNG deities!

Spoiler:

So, the plan was to play some mostly eventless decades in order not to run out of steam too early, right?

Well, first there was this. Ioducus beating his wife, Seth having a smug grin on his not visible face, Francisca being interrupted in her reading and Allyn doesn't look too happy either - obviously something wrong just happened here, and the red symblols above Seth's and Kay's heads show what.
The two were now hated by the entire family, and when...

Seth died in a tragical pool accident, most of them laughed, especially Ioducus.

...and then Kay just turned into a pile of ashes.
a nice excuse to reduce the family size a bit and make the game easier, isn't it?

...but then I remembered Ioducus still hadn't fulfilled his duty as the new head of the family, so...

...he did what he does best and made a random woman he barely knew into his wife within about a day.

I also got fed up with the constant switching between the two floors, so I renovated the house. And, the comments I made up there turned out right, it's a lot easier to play now.

Just the ghost problem remains, mainly during winter (not sure if I explained it yet: one of the myriads of expansion packs introduced seasons into the game. Each takes 3 or four days and one will barely notice them. Except winter, which features, among other things, heavy snowfall, penguins and frozen lakes which the ghosts that keep spawning from graves can apparently cross

Well, here Seth, who drowned, managed to escape the 'ghost prison', and because the ghosts of drowned sims leave water puddles, the next morning the backyard looked like this. A nice change from all the desert sands? Still reduced the environment bars of everyone who went outside to rock bottom.

Oh, by the way, this is probably why Kay died so easily: I might have mentioned it earlier, but Vampires' needs don't drop at all during the night, but will just plummet during the day, especially if they're being outside. Pregnancy increases need drops significantly, normal pregnant sims are usually constantly busy refilling their needs. There went a possible heir. Could this death have been avoided by making her leave the telescope she was looking through all night earlier? Maybe, maybe...

Anyway, some days of the planned boring, regular everyday life ensued, the only interesting thing was this. Sure Francisca got promoted and didn't just go nuts from, say, diving to deep and being exposed to a too high water pressure?
...
If not, I wonder if there also is a hand of Hades, now that would be awesome.

Besides various shenanigans with women that are also the explanation for the fact that he is somewhat lacking clothes in this picture, Ioducus was busy spamming skill points for his career, and then this. SCREW YOU, RNG GODS, that was supposed to wait two or three more generations.

So, Aliens abduct him for a few hours, he returns and soon goes back to the original plan and starts spamming Logic skill points again.

This gentleman in grey is impressed by Allyn's success and gifts her a bus trip to Hawaii.

...but the bus had a crash and all that returned was an urn. Poor Allyn. At least the urn looks different from the other urns, Hawaiians appear to have better urn-making skills than the locals of Strangletown.

And then this: Ioducus' wife, who has blonde hair because the only answer to a strange haircut is a stranger haircut, has earned 100.000§ within a record time! How? I have no idea. She did start high in her career (scientist) and got a 50.000§ bonus from some event soon after reaching the top, but that doesn't explain where the other 50.000§ come from. Oh well, I'll take it anyway.

Both Ioducus and Francisca (and Jadran as well I think, but I'm not sure) got both this wish and the fear of Allyn becoming a zombie. Silly people. Even if they died in a bus crash, you can't just resurrect old people for a long time without making them zombies. More on that later maybe. Much later.

Apparently the alien abduction affected Ioducus more than expected - He got fat and changed his sense of fashion.

On another note, just look at this. It's ridiculous. Look at these profits. Overpowered. Just overpowered. And it boosts the Charisma skill, usually one of the hardest to level up, as well. The next time, I'll get one of this things earlier. A lot earlier. This career reward of the law career is really worth it.

And, nobody was expecting it at all, Ioducus' sudden belly turned out to have been because of a baby, a green one. I do not want to know how this kind of pregnancy functioned, but this son, Zuriel, is the result.
By the way, his his second wife was pregnant simultaneously, and...

NOOOOO! Not again!

Not what I wanted. At least we have a Notta now.

The next bits of playing are going to be hell. At least the family is a lot richer now, so these three should actually be easier to deal with than Anupama and Francisca were. If just Allyn would be still alive...

 

[Daydream]

Notta and an Alien baby! Yay. :D

I see zombie-nanny Allyn in the future. o_o

 

[Alice]

I've honestly never played, nor even seen any sims games.

lol

 

[Arma]

Wow, I've never played the sims like this, I like to move around a lot.
Your LP's real cool man, keep it up!

EDIT: Okay I've finally finished reading everything, the last part was hilarious as !@#$! And grown up Ioducus looks badass man!*

Spoiler:

I've never seen aliens before... And I've been playing this game for years. (I did know they existed, just never had an abduction)
*before episode XV that is.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

Alien mpreg baby . . . nice.

Just read all the way through this in one sitting, and it was most amusing, if a little slow-paced to begin with. Still a good laugh, especially with the constant shenanigans that at least one of the family is up to at any given time.

And is it just me, or does Ioducus look like a real smarmosaur? Especially with that facial hair.