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"What should we call this?"...the making of a Sims story
MoonlightGraham
Posts: 884 Member
Sul sul, Simmers.
It's the holiday season, and it seems like as good a time as any to share my humble attempt at Sims storytelling with all of you.
My twelve-year-old daughter, Z, is my Sims buddy. This summer, we discovered how much we enjoy creating Simworlds and bringing them to life together. We have fun browsing the Gallery for houses and households we like. We especially enjoy creating characters in CAS and saving them to the Library, where they live until we summon them to the stage.
I tried my hand at Simlit twice before. One attempt lasted a single post; the premise behind the story didn't work as well as I'd hoped. The other began with much more promise, with main characters who seemed to have enough chemistry to sustain a good, old-fashioned love story. Then, just like that, the chemistry fizzled quicker than a cheap Spice Festival firework. So did my story.
This time, I'm taking a different approach. I've tried to type the sentence in which I describe this approach at least seven times, and I've backspaced over every single one. Let's just call it "The Making of a Sims Story." I suppose it's as much of a journal as anything else. I envision myself sharing with you some of the experiences my daughter and I have playing The Sims together as well as the events that unfold in our game. You'll meet some of the characters we've created, several of which have been with us since our first TS4 save. Some of them are based on real people; some have been inspired by characters we've found in other stories; some are our very own.
We have no idea whether our game will generate a story worth telling or not. I hope it will, because we'll have much more fun if that's the case. We might all decide it's not much fun to see exactly how the sausage is made. My use of that figure of speech elicited an "ewwwww" from Z, who is seated beside me on the sofa, wrapped up in a holiday plaid blanket.
I'm taking this step because Z and I have experienced an uncommon amount of kindness on this forum. So many virtual spaces are toxic. This one could not be more different. Simply put, it's a fun place to hang out and spend time, and a place where I'd like to settle in and do some writing.
In my next post, I'll set the stage for you. I'll introduce you to our main character, and tell you a bit about the world in which the story will take place. I hope we'll all enjoy it.
The last thing I added to this post was the title. Neither Z nor I could come up with anything to put in the Discussion Title box, and I couldn't proceed without filling it in. It turned out that when Z asked me what we should call it, she answered her own question better than I could.
It's the holiday season, and it seems like as good a time as any to share my humble attempt at Sims storytelling with all of you.
My twelve-year-old daughter, Z, is my Sims buddy. This summer, we discovered how much we enjoy creating Simworlds and bringing them to life together. We have fun browsing the Gallery for houses and households we like. We especially enjoy creating characters in CAS and saving them to the Library, where they live until we summon them to the stage.
I tried my hand at Simlit twice before. One attempt lasted a single post; the premise behind the story didn't work as well as I'd hoped. The other began with much more promise, with main characters who seemed to have enough chemistry to sustain a good, old-fashioned love story. Then, just like that, the chemistry fizzled quicker than a cheap Spice Festival firework. So did my story.
This time, I'm taking a different approach. I've tried to type the sentence in which I describe this approach at least seven times, and I've backspaced over every single one. Let's just call it "The Making of a Sims Story." I suppose it's as much of a journal as anything else. I envision myself sharing with you some of the experiences my daughter and I have playing The Sims together as well as the events that unfold in our game. You'll meet some of the characters we've created, several of which have been with us since our first TS4 save. Some of them are based on real people; some have been inspired by characters we've found in other stories; some are our very own.
We have no idea whether our game will generate a story worth telling or not. I hope it will, because we'll have much more fun if that's the case. We might all decide it's not much fun to see exactly how the sausage is made. My use of that figure of speech elicited an "ewwwww" from Z, who is seated beside me on the sofa, wrapped up in a holiday plaid blanket.
I'm taking this step because Z and I have experienced an uncommon amount of kindness on this forum. So many virtual spaces are toxic. This one could not be more different. Simply put, it's a fun place to hang out and spend time, and a place where I'd like to settle in and do some writing.
In my next post, I'll set the stage for you. I'll introduce you to our main character, and tell you a bit about the world in which the story will take place. I hope we'll all enjoy it.
The last thing I added to this post was the title. Neither Z nor I could come up with anything to put in the Discussion Title box, and I couldn't proceed without filling it in. It turned out that when Z asked me what we should call it, she answered her own question better than I could.
Exie hay, cavero, veebo marz viremzico.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Post edited by EA_Solaire on
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Comments
Exactly one month ago, Z and I were browsing the forum when we saw a thread called SweetieWright's Save File. This talented builder has created save files filled with builds and Sims of their own creation. "That looks SO COOL!" Z exclaimed when she saw these files for the first time. And, since neither Z nor I are good builders, we wasted no time downloading them.
Since that day, most of our Simming time has been spent in the worlds @SweetieWright_84 created. This story will take place in the unpopulated version of SweetieWright's save, which we're populating with our own cast of characters. Some of SweetieWright's delightful Sims have already been added to our game. We placed her entire Henford-on-Bagley ensemble in our world, along with a few others. You'll see glimpses of SW's talent whenever we post a screenshot; follow the link above to see much, much more.
The first family
It only seemed fitting that the family we're playing is one of the first we brought to life.
The Ross family were not created to be the founders of a great dynasty or the subjects of an epic tale. Z and I made them for a "random" save in which we tried out gameplay elements from our newest game packs. We took a liking to them, however and, like actors who move from bit parts to starring roles, the Rosses have become the First Family of our Sims universe.
Dan Ross, wearing his red Everyday shirt, stands in the center of the family photo above. On his left is his wife Courtenay. They were created as a Young Adult couple with a Teen and two Children, but Z and I have aged them all up one level.
To Dan's right stands their oldest child, Cameron. He was the protagonist of the Simstory I started writing in August, the one that ended when the chemistry he seemed to be developing with Sofia Bjergsen turned out to be as dreary as a rainy Spring morning on the gritty side of Evergreen Harbor. We decided Cameron deserved another chance. We moved him out of his household to begin a life of his own.
As I described him once before, Cam is "not dark or tormented, or terribly complicated in any way. He is the kind of fellow you'd expect to see as the main character in a Frank Capra movie."
Cameron's sister, Halle, is visible proof of how adorably well Sims genetics can work.
Except for a the light makeup Z gave her, Halle appears exactly how she emerged when we let CAS create a child from Dan and Courtenay. We're working on repairing the Cuteness Meter she broke.
It's not easy being Patrick Ross, with siblings like Cameron and Halle. That's Patrick, standing beside his mom. Patrick loves dogs. He's the only child who inherited Dan's green eyes, and he's Creative like Courtenay. Cameron and Patrick have always spent lots of time together, and even though Cam has moved to Brindleton Bay, the brothers get together at least twice a week.
So the story begins
We're playing with 28-day Seasons, and we've turned Aging off. The Watchers will decide who ages up and when.
Let's see what happens, shall we?
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Hi. I'm your biggest SimLit fan.
Aww, thank you!
I'm not sure whether Z or I is having more fun with The Sims. In fact, our family has always enjoyed games. My family played board games together when I was growing up, and to this day, multigenerational family get-togethers always involve games. There are so many incredible board games available now, too.
Z and I started playing computer/video games together more often when our school went virtual in March 2020. It's become one of our favorite things to do together. Z's mom (my wife) will occasionally join in, but she considers it "our thing." She and Z have several mom-daughter bonding activities, and she loves seeing Z and me develop another one of our own.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Note: I've decided to set the story behind the story apart by writing it in italics. That way, if you would prefer to read only the story itself, you can skip over the italicized text and not miss a thing. Conversely, if you'd rather not read the story, you can read ONLY the parts in italics. I hope you'll read both, but if you prefer one over the other, now you can easily pick the parts you like best.
Finding @SweetieWright_84's save files gave Z and me a perfect opportunity to do something we had been thinking about. We'll often browse the Catalog, looking for houses we like. We'll download a 4-bedroom, §200,000 mansion and add it to our game as an "aspirational house," one our household can move into if they ever get rich. Then we'll pick out a cute starter house that's worth one-tenth as much and have our Sim begin their adult life in this more humble abode.
SW's file is filled with awesome houses. They are both attractive and functional, without being cluttered and spawning countless routing issues. We don't have a full Sims 4 collection; we have all the expansion packs and a total of 24 game packs, stuff packs, and kits. Even though we have items missing from most of SW's builds, they still look really good and work very well. We knew we wanted to have Cameron live in one of them. Z deserves much of the credit for creating the storyline that allowed Cam to begin his adult life in a dream house.
Nobody could remember when there wasn't a Ross living in Brindleton Bay. The community had not been settled by the Ross family, but it often seemed that way.
Mason Ross fell in love with Martha Daniel the moment he saw her. "It was a summer evening," he recalled. "There was a social at the Library. Martha was visiting her cousins, and they talked her into coming along with them that night."
Mason's eyes sparkled and he smiled. "Martha was wearing a white dress. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen..."
The couple sat together at a table overlooking the water, sipping punch and talking. Neither Mason nor Martha ever dated anyone else.
When I fall in love...it will be forever...
Mason and Martha Ross. We added them to Dan's family, using the Genetics tool in CAS.
Mason became a beloved physician, caring for the families of Brindleton Bay for decades. Martha ran her husband's office for a while, but she concentrated most on raising their only son. He was named Daniel, according to a Ross family custom. The Rosses honored the women who married into the family by giving the first child its mother's maiden name.
"We're usually pretty lucky with that," Mason pointed out with a smile. "My mother's name worked well for a boy's name. So did Dan's, and Cameron's. But my grandmother's maiden name was Fightmaster. It took Dad a while to realize what a cool name Fightmaster Ross really is."
Dan grew up, married, and raised his family in Willow Creek. Meanwhile, Mason and Martha were about to make a dream come true.
Martha took the story from there. "We really didn't have a honeymoon, unless two nights in a ramshackle cabin at Granite Falls counts." She laughed, her bright green eyes twinkling. "Dan made it up to me for our twentieth anniversary, though. We spent a week in Sulani. It was simply glorious. That's when we started dreaming of living there one day. But I had to talk this one into retiring first." Martha playfully shoved her husband's shoulder and laughed.
The breezes of Sulani finally worked their magic on Dr. Ross. He and Martha purchased a lovely home called Journey's End. Best of all, they could afford their new home without selling their current one.
"We love that house," Martha said. "It's a lovely, traditional Brindleton Bay house, with clapboards and a bit of a Dutch colonial look to it. You can see the covered bridge from one side of the house. The others give you views of the water and the town. It had a pool, and we put in an outdoor dining area. It made me sad to think of selling it. I'm so glad we didn't have to."
Martha did have to leave her piano behind when she and Mason moved to Sulani. She is a brilliant pianist with a gorgeous voice, and she loved to fill the house with music. "I wish we could have taken the piano with us," she sighed. "There simply was no way to do it."
Mason and Martha first offered Dan and his family the opportunity to move into their home. "We thought about it," said Courtenay. "We thought seriously about it. But the kids are so happy in Willow Creek. Their friends are here. And, honestly, Dan and I don't want to leave our lives here, either.
"So, when we passed on it, the next person in line was Cameron."
Everyone had always assumed Cameron would enroll in the University of Britechester at his earliest opportunity. Dan was a Vice-Chancellor there, and Cam knew the UBrite campus like the back of his hand. Cameron's grades would almost certainly have earned him the chance to enter a Distinguished degree program. There was only one hitch.
Cameron didn't know exactly what he wanted to do with his life.
"That's not completely true," Cameron said, shaking his head and smiling. "I knew I wanted to be out on my own while I figured it out. I love my family more than anything, but I was ready to get my own place and, well, live my own life."
So, instead of moving directly from the Willow Creek house to a UBrite dormitory, Cameron needed a place to live when he was ready to start life on his own. Mason and Martha solved his problem for him. Cameron moved into the house on Sable Square.
"He can stay there as long as he wants to," Mason said. "I hope he's as happy there as we were. Perhaps he'll raise his family there. Who knows?"
"There's only one catch," Martha pointed out. "He has to learn to play my piano. That is non-negotiable."
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
@SweetieWright_84 It's an understatement to say we're enjoying it. It's as if we have an entirely new version of the game. That's not to say there's anything wrong with the worlds EA created, but right now we're having a blast with yours.
Because we have MCCC set to pull Sims from our Gallery when the game needs a townie, we're going to see some of your Sims playing the roles of university students, retail workers, etc. Z and I are delighted to see this happen, and we've already decided that Cameron and his family will interact with them. Some of them might emerge as important characters...we'll find out!
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
This chapter is a fairly quick journey through the first week of the save...the days we played through before we decided to write about it, and the ones we ran through without getting any screenshots.
I love to write, and I'm only fair at taking in-game screenshots, so this story will be words-heavy. Think of it as a piece of writing with illustrations, rather than a story in pictures. Some of you are incredible at the latter. I won't even try to play in your league!
Cameron closed the front door of the house behind him and stepped into the foyer. Three arched entries led from here to the dining room, the living room, and a small sitting area Grandpa Mason called the "parlor." Cameron had spent more days than he could count here, but now the house felt strange and, perhaps, a bit scary. He remembered the conversation he and Grandpa Mason had last Sunday when he picked up the keys.
"Thank you for letting me live in your house," Cameron had said.
Mason shook his head. "It might be my house, but it is now your home."
Cameron stepped through the entry to his right and walked through the dining room, into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and took a long drink. It doesn't feel quite like my home yet, he thought.
He had made a concerted effort to keep busy since he'd moved in. Being on the go and doing different things pushed the weird feelings to the back of his mind.
First, he had found himself a job. Grandpa Mason had made sure he would have Simoleons to pay his bills while he established himself. Still, Cameron felt uncomfortable letting his grandfather pay his way, any more than necessary. Cam took a position as a lifeguard. He worked from Thursday through Sunday, leaving him with a three-day "weekend."
His brother Patrick couldn't help teasing him. "You picked the classic Bro job. What do you do? Rub white junk on your nose and sit around with a whistle around your neck, looking at girls?"
"There aren't any girls around, you fool. It's still too cold." In fact, it had snowed more days this spring than not in Brindleton Bay. "I'm still learning the basics, anyway."
On the street where he lives
Cameron spent much of the free time he had during his first week exploring his new town. There was a fitness center on Whiskerman's Wharf, which he checked out the day he moved in. He had found a good place to fish, where the Brindleton Brook widened after it tumbled down from the hills west of town. And he'd simply spent time in Sable Square, talking to the people who lived in the other houses in the neighborhood.
The McGuires had lived in their house for three years now, so Cameron already knew them fairly well. Daniel and Nichole McGuire went to school with Patrick and Halle.
The McGuires: Matthew, Daniel, Kate, Mike, Nichole, and Leah
The other families were almost as new as Cameron was.
Steve and Bonnie Petersen had four daughters: Willow, Aspen, Holly, and Rowan. Willow was living at home while she worked on a degree in Communications at UBrite. Cameron had seen her jogging in the neighborhood a few times, and he saw her on campus when he went to buy a soccer ball to mess around with. Willow was pretty, with shoulder-length brown hair. Aspen was Patrick's age, and the other girls were younger.
The Petersens: Rowan, Willow, Bonnie, Steve, Aspen, and Holly
The other family, the Nashes, were a bit more mysterious. Cameron met Cooper first. He was an active, outgoing youngster. He met Cooper's older sister, Sloane, one evening while he was running in the Square. Sloane was, in a word, gorgeous. She had long blonde hair and soft brown eyes. Cameron was a bit sorry to learn she was still a teenager. If Patrick hasn't met her, Cam thought, he should.
Sloane Nash
Cameron had also discovered that his family were not about to let him get too lonely. Both his parents and both his siblings had been to visit, one at a time, over a four-day period.
Halle was his fourth visitor. By then, Cam had figured out what was going on.
"You planned this," he challenged her.
"Mom and Dad totally did," Halle agreed. "But it's still fun to come hang out here for a while. It's quieter, and once it gets warm I am going to live beside that pool."
"Pay me with food from home and you have a deal."
A night on the town
Cameron was somewhat secretive about his plans for Saturday evening. He made his way out to San Myshuno and checked out the Romance Festival. Cam had been to the city plenty of times. His mom liked the Flea Market, and the whole family enjoyed the Spice Festival. But Cameron had never set foot outside the Spice Market district. Now he was off to the Fashion District. He was flying solo, too. He wasn't bringing Patrick along. He thought about asking some of his friends from Willow Creek to join him, but he was afraid they'd laugh.
It wasn't until he was walking through the streets of the Fashion District that a thought popped into his head...
What if I see someone I know? What am I going to tell them...?
Cam's fears turned out to be in vain. He didn't see anyone he knew. Nobody paid the least bit of attention to him as he sidled up to the Romance Guru to inquire about his romantic destiny.
The Guru waved her hands about her face and spoke with an ethereal tone. “Though temptation abounds, you must wait many moons for your destined love.”
Cameron looked around. He saw nothing that remotely resembled temptation, unless the food stalls counted.
He did meet a young married couple, Anthony and Holly Cannon, enjoying a date night.
"Sorry to tell you this, but it's mostly married couples and, well...weird locals here," Anthony admitted to him.
"That's what I'm discovering."
Cam did discover something that made the evening worthwhile, however. He spotted some Bird of Paradise flowers growing in a planter box on the Festival grounds. He picked some, planning to surprise his mother and sister with them. Then, an idea popped into his head.
I'm going to plant these and see if I can get them to grow! he decided. I think these sell for a pretty good price...
So, even though the Romance Guru had pretty much told him he was wasting his time looking for love, he found something that might be better for him in the long run. A way to make some Simoleons.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Z has always loved classifying things, sorting them, organizing them, those kinds of things. One evening, she made a spreadsheet that organizes all the families in our Gallery, sorting them by the number of Sims they contain and describing what kinds of Sims make up the household. Now, when we're placing families in houses, we can use her chart to find a perfect fit. (Z got this trait from my wife. I thought I was organized until I met her, and my illusion has been further cleared away by the child we created together.)
The house at 496 Sable Square has bedroom space for a family that size, so we used a random number generator to choose the family we would place there. The McGuires won the Lottery, as we've come to call it. Z adores the Lottery.
The Petersens, on the other hand, are our own creations. The family started with Willow, who has hung out in our Gallery for a while. She is the result of the makeover of a Dormie from one of the Universities. We used the power of CAS genetics to give Willow a family of origin. The Petersens ended up with four daughters because we needed some Teen girls in our world. Z got the idea to name them all for trees.
The Nash family also came to be when a walk-by Townie spawned with a hilarious, hideous look. We had to save her from the wicked wardrobe choices CAS made, and while we were at it, Z gave her a makeover. You haven't met Mom yet, but you've seen Sloane, and Cooper is a cute kid, too. They are the results of Mom's genetics.
Anthony Cannon has been the main Sim in one of my saves, but he's more often cast as a rock-solid wingman. This time Anthony's a married man, linked with a Sim we created to live in a San Myshuno apartment and provide someone fun to run across at festivals. I realize we have two Sims named Holly in this story. It's the holiday season, so let's roll with it.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
I really like the idea of Cameron's grandparents giving their house to him. It seems he's settling in quite nicely. Has he attempted to play Grandma Mason's piano?
@SweetieWright_84 Thank you for your kind comment! I'm glad you're following along and enjoying it.
Z and I really wanted to play a Sim in that house of yours! We had to come up with a plausible way for a Young Adult with no career to live there, and the idea of having it be a family "heirloom" came to mind. We decided we wanted to make the elder Rosses part of the story, too, rather than having Cam inherit the house from them.
As for the piano, it figures in a chapter or two down the line...
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
I'm not sure, but this was really sad to me. I have a Sim who loves the piano too and maybe I can imagine myself in a situation like Martha's but if I have a piano I love, it's coming with me 100%
I'm sorry the story of Grandma Martha's piano made you sad.
There's a beautiful grand piano in the living room of the house I'm using as Cameron's residence. I've never had a piano in one of my Sims' houses, and none of my Sims have ever done more than plunk away at a keyboard they find in a café. This seemed to us to be the perfect opportunity to let a Sim tickle the ivories.
The piano certainly will not be neglected.
Mason and Martha only brought a few, very special, pieces of furniture to their new home in Sulani. They left the rest for Cameron, which is why he's not starting out with an empty shell of a house.
I appreciate you stopping by. Please keep following our story!
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
4. A case of the Brindleton Bay blues
Sunday for Cameron was Friday for most working folks. He was one four-hour shift away from a three-day weekend, and he woke up with a smile on his face.
At the end of his shift, his manager made his day even better. She told him he’d been promoted. “You still have a lot to learn about lifeguarding,” she said. “But you’re learning quickly. And you’re crushing all the fitness tests.”
Cameron grinned and thanked her. He had found the fitness checks to be unexpectedly easy. He had always enjoyed being active, and a day didn’t seem complete to him unless he went for a run or worked out. He was also just vain enough to like what he saw in the mirror when he took good care of himself.
He needed to remain active, because he was eating way too much food stand cuisine. Cameron was, at best, useless in the kitchen. Courtenay was a very good cook, and she tried to teach the basics to all three of her kids. Patrick and Halle were already able to make many simple dishes, but Cameron was now paying the price for his inattention during his mom’s lessons.
So, instead of going home and preparing something himself, Cam headed down to the Wharf and ordered a Lobster Roll from the food stand there. He took a long look at the dish before he ate it. I wonder if I could make this? he asked himself. Sunday was a good day.
But over the next few days, the realities of life on his own hit Cameron hard. Three days without work left him with too much time on his hands. The routine he had created for himself was already growing stale. He only had fun when he was somewhere other than home, so he found himself making his way to Willow Creek to hang out with his family and friends.
Today was a good example. Suffering from a full-blown case of the blues on his last day off before his work week began again, Cameron headed back to Willow Creek. Instead of heading to his parents’ house (that still sounded strange to him), he stopped by the Willow Creek Archives instead. A true Bookworm, Cameron had spent many, many happy hours there; he had learned to read very young, and he loved getting lost within the pages of a book. He could have read at home, but here, he might see a friend. He found a comfy chair and began to thumb idly through a book about Wellness. Even reading seemed less engaging than usual.
Soon, the quiet was broken by a voice that was far too loud for a library.
“Look who’s here! Cameron Ross!”
Cam knew who it was before he looked up. “Hey, Tim.” He grinned as he greeted his friend.
Cameron had known Tim Horton since the two of them were boys. Tim was just a bit older, but to Cam, he seemed to be far more deeply settled into the business of life. He had a real career—he was working his way up the business ladder—and, even more significantly, he was married.
Tim came over and sat down, ignoring a cross look from the librarian. “How’s life in…Brindleton Bay, right?”
Cameron nodded. “It’s…life.”
“Oh, come on, Cam!” Tim was an adventurous, exuberant character. He seemed to fill the entire library. “I saw your Dad the other day. He said you’re living in a swell house and that you’re working as a lifeguard. That sounds like a good start to me.”
Cameron smiled. No wonder Tim is crushing it as a businessman, he said to himself. If life gave him a lemon, he’d make lemonade and set up a lemonade stand. Next thing you knew, you’d be handing him all your allowance.
A moment later, Tim broke off a thought in mid-sentence. He was distracted by the appearance of his wife, who had just walked into the library.
“Ava! C’mere! You remember Cameron Ross, right? I don’t think you’ve seen him since our wedding!”
Tim was right. He had an uncanny ability to remember details…even from his wedding day.
Ava Horton joined her husband on the couch. “Hi, Cameron. It’s good to see you again.” She lived life in a lower key than Tim did, a classic case of opposites attracting.
“Cam, we are going to invite you to our place soon,” Tim declared. Ava nodded.
“That sounds fun.”
“You know we’re sharing a house with Elisha and Chase and their wives, right? You know Kaleigh already. Chase married a woman he met at Foxbury. It’s been great.”
Elisha Scott and Chase Dornan were two more of Cameron’s friends from Willow Creek. Kaleigh Rinehart, now Kaleigh Rinehart-Scott, started dating Elisha when they were in high school. The three couples were now living in Pendula View, across the canal from the Courtyard Lane neighborhood where the Rosses lived.
“Some night when we’re all at home, I’ll give you a call or text you or something. That is, if you don’t mind something spur of the moment.” Tim looked at Ava, whose expression betrayed the fact she might prefer a bit more advanced notice of the arrival of a guest.
“Sounds good. I don’t have much going on in the evenings.”
Again, it seemed that only the connections from his Willow Creek days could make him smile.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
if you recognize Tim Horton's name, you probably associate it most with the coffee and donut shops that bear his name. The "real" Tim Horton was a professional hockey player, who played most of his Hall of Fame career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. My grandfather was born and raised near Toronto, and Horton was his favorite professional athlete.
Tim Horton's story ended badly. He died at age 44 when he wrecked his Ford Pantera on an Ontario highway. The Grim Reaper made him pay for a combination of alcohol, amphetamines, and high-speed driving. Horton was still an active player; he had played in a game the night he died. The restaurant company he founded with a friend had been in business for seven years.
Our Tim Horton will have a chance to make better decisions. He is an Adventurous, Active, and Ambitious Sim, and we gave him a career in Business. I'm not sure if Tim was really an exuberant, gregarious man, but his Sim version seems to be Happy or Energized whenever we run across him. We wanted Cameron to have a group of pals from Willow Creek, so Tim was brought from our tray to fill that role.
Chase and Elisha, also part of the WC crowd, are our creations. Chase was one of the first Sims we created, and he's been in the background of a number of our saves. This is his first credited appearance. Elisha is new, created especially for this role, and he makes his debut in this save.
We think the roommates' wives, Ava, Elle, and Kaleigh, all came originally from the Gallery. I know Z spent quite a bit of time editing all three of them.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Thank you, Hauk150! We have a lot of interesting Sims hanging out in our Gallery, and it's fun to create stories around them. Besides the members of the Ross family, who will certainly remain central figures in our tale, Z and I have no idea who will emerge. I'm writing the story almost as we play it; right now, it's Saturday afternoon in our game and I'll soon be writing about events that took place on Thursday. At some point, the desire to play the game will outrun my desire to write, so we'll probably have a clearer sense of where things may lead. Right now, the game is clearly driving the narrative. We're glad you stopped by. Please keep following!
You picked up on the same mood Z and I did. I'm glad I was able to convey it in my post!
Right now, Cameron seems torn between two solutions to his problem. He can double down on life in Brindleton Bay, which will undoubtedly mean pulling back from some of the people and places that he loves in Willow Creek. Or, he can continue to ground himself in Willow Creek and make a very gradual transition to an independent life in Brindleton Bay.
Again, we've been letting the game steer the story along. Cam's emotional state has often been Bored and Sad when he's at home. He'll wake up Energized, so he's been exercising a lot. Being around his family takes him to Fine and, often, to Happy. When he goes to Willow Creek, he'll stay in the Happy zone much of the time. That's where Z and I get the idea that he's not adjusting to life on his own too well yet.
We are aware of Cameron being Flirty only once. We were controlling other members of the Ross family, giving them the musical abilities we decided must run in the family. (It won't spoil things too much to reveal that every one of the Rosses begin our story with some talent for Singing.) When we returned to Cam, he was binging on some Romance Channel.
Z was intrigued by this turn of events. "Ooooh! He's Flirty! Let him go find someone special!" Z has already decided Cameron must not be allowed to live his life alone.
"Are you sure, Z?" I replied. "Imagine Cameron's kids asking him how he met his spouse. He'd tell them 'I was watching something romantic on TV, so I started prowling around...and next thing we knew...' Is that what you want?"
"Come to think of it...ummm...no."
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Before using Wondeful Whims, I would find a sim my sim got along with and said, "You'll do." Now, I only allow them to fall in love with someone they find Extremely Attractive, assuming the other sim feels the same. It has added a bit more challenge to relationships for me, and I can't imagine playing without it.
As for Cameron adjusting, I can relate. When I moved from my home state, I felt so out of place. I had my boyfriend, now husband, but I had left behind all of my friends and family. It has been almost 20 years, and my new state is home. I still visit regularly though. Maybe the same thing will happen to Cameron.
Thursday, 12 Spring
5. A sense of direction
Almost as soon as Cameron got home from work on Thursday, his phone rang.
“Hi, sweetie…how are you doing?” The comforting voice on the other end was Courtenay’s.
“I’m doing okay,” he admitted.
His mom knew from the tone of his voice that Cameron was not, in fact, okay. She also knew he had replied to a playful text from his sister with silence, which was not like him at all. It was time for some gentle motherly intervention.
“I can tell there’s something wrong. Do you want to talk to me about it?”
Cameron paused for a moment. “It’s like nothing is fun, Mom. I just go through the motions with everything.”
“Nothing is fun?” Courtenay repeated. “You told me the other day that you and Patrick had a good time when he came over the other night. And he said the Grilled Cheese sandwiches you made were actually edible.”
She could hear Cameron chuckle on the other end. “Okay, you’re right,” he admitted. “That was fun. But…it’s kinda lonely most of the time.”
Courtenay paused. This can’t be easy for him, she thought. On the one hand, he wants to be on his own. He’s not a kid anymore. But now he’s living alone, in a place that’s familiar, but one that still makes him think of childhood and family.
“It’s like I don’t know what to do,” Cameron continued.
Then it came to her. “You need some direction,” Courtenay concluded.
Cam knew that, as usual, his mom was right. “Yeah, I do.”
“Here’s what you can do, Cam. Set some goals for yourself. Make a list. A literal list. Challenge yourself. When you get bored or lonely, look at the list and pick the thing that looks like it would be the most fun right then."
Cameron felt his mood brighten a bit. “Kind of like a daily challenge.”
“Right! But don’t get down on yourself if you don’t always ‘win.’ Be easy on yourself, Cam. You’re doing something hard. Being independent isn’t easy. I’ve never had to do that. I lived at home until Dad and I got married, so I went from being a daughter to a wife. You’re…well, you’ll always be our son…but you’re in single dude mode now.” She giggled, and Cam laughed too.
“Your first challenge is to make your list,” she announced.
When they hung up, Cameron did just that. He found a pen and a piece of paper and started jotting things down. He liked to play chess, and he hadn’t done that in a while. He put that on his list. Halle did yoga and said it calmed her down. Maybe that would be fun, too. Onto the list went yoga.
He looked over at Grandma Martha’s piano. That was a non-negotiable goal.
This process was rewarding and stimulating, and Cameron found himself thinking farther and farther outside the box, coming up with things he thought he might like to do in the next few months. Learning to cook. Learning to ski.
Tackling the loneliness problem was a must, and to his credit, Cameron wrote down his intentions to meet it head-on. Getting out and making friends in Brindleton Bay would help him feel more like a part of his new community.
When he finished, Cameron had divided his list into three parts, like this:
Your move...
He found an empty table and sat down, rearranging the pieces into their starting position. This universally-recognized signal meant “Please come play chess with me.” Cameron wondered if anyone nearby felt like joining him at the table.
He got his answer within moments.
As Willow Petersen emerged from the Library, she spotted Cameron at the table and paused. She and Cameron had met, and they’d briefly chatted in Sable Square a time or two. Willow had also seen him on the UBrite campus, but she didn’t think he was a student there. Cameron seemed like a nice guy. She was tired of studying. Perhaps a game of chess might be fun…
She smiled as she sat down across from him. “Hi, Cameron,” she greeted him.
Cameron was taken aback for a moment. Willow was cute. Definitely cute. While Cameron was not the most Outgoing person around, he was usually a comfortable, competent conversationalist. But, at the same time, the presence of a cute girl could tie up his tongue.
“Hi, Willow,” he replied. He had the white pieces, so he started the game…which relieved him temporarily of the necessity of coming up with a more engaging comment than “hi.”
The two of them pondered over their moves in near-total silence for a while. Willow, in particular, seemed unsure about which of her pieces to move, and where to move them.
“I haven’t played in a while, not since I moved here.”
“That’s right; you moved in pretty soon after we did. You’re from Willow Creek, right?”
Cameron nodded. “Right.”
“I have to admit I like the name.” She smiled sweetly. Cam nearly knocked over his pieces.
“I know a few people from WC at school,” she continued. “Katie van de Mark is from there, isn’t she?”
“Yes. Katie and I went to high school together.”
“We’re both Communications majors. We take a lot of the same classes.”
It didn’t take long for Willow to make a mistake on which Cameron could capitalize. Willow’s response to her defeat may or may not have been deliberate.
By now, evening was approaching and the sun was beginning to fade. Behind the Library there was a cozy-looking fire pit overlooking the bay. Cameron took a book and settled into one of the comfortable chairs beside the pit. The fire crackled cheerfully, and the breeze off the water was soft and friendly. Maybe Mom had been right once again. Perhaps all he needed was some direction…and a friendly smile.
Perhaps Brindleton Bay might turn out to be home, after all.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
6. Carpe noctem, carpe diem
Guided by The List, Cameron approached the next few days with a renewed sense of purpose. He had already decided to go back to San Myshuno for the Spice Festival. He had always had fun there as a kid, sneaking samples of dishes that seemed wonderfully exotic to a boy from Willow Creek.
He returned with a Curry Champion T-shirt. Carpe noctem.
Activities that had seemed to lose their appeal seemed more fun when Cameron turned them into challenges of their own. Instead of going to the gym, finding an exercise machine, and pounding out his workout in silence, Cam began to converse with the other gym–goers. If he didn’t know them, he’d introduce himself. He met Duncan Edwards and Kaleb DeLong that way.
Cameron got another boost on Sunday, when his supervisor told him he’d earned a raise. Ten more Simoleons per hour took his wage to §58. But the major part of his income came from the offspring of those Birds of Paradise he’d picked one night at the Romance Festival. The four plants were producing flowers each day, and each plant generated about the same amount of Simoleons as a full shift at work!
That day was Skills Day, and Cam had already decided how he would celebrate. He suited up in his Curry Champion shirt, and then…
There's no place like home
The Willow Creek district contained four residential neighborhoods.
The Rosses lived in Courtyard Lane, a comfortable area that had been built in the triangle formed where two smaller streams flowed into Willow Creek. The Creek separated Courtyard Lane from Pendula View, an older neighborhood with four sprawling houses. Inside the loop of a winding stream to the south was Foundry Cove. The Georgian homes of this neighborhood had mostly been converted into townhouses, affordable options for roommates and young couples. Foundry Cove’s population was, therefore, more transient than those of the other neighborhoods.
Sage Estates had once been the Sage estate, the property of a single family. Theophilus Sage had made a fortune in the iron and steel industry in the late nineteenth century. His grandson, Samuel, sold part of the land—it was whispered that he had a mountain of gambling debts to cover—and a second large home was built there in the style of the Sage home itself.
The topic of neighborhood changes came up one evening while Cameron was having dinner at his family’s house. Dan had an evening meeting on campus, so Cameron had manned the grill. He produced a rather delicious batch of Hamburgers for the family to enjoy.
"Not bad..."
“Not for a while,” Cameron replied.
“There are a bunch of new people living down there now. Well, some of them are new. Quite a few of the kids you grew up with are still there, or back there. But I’m meeting more new people around town than ever.”
“I saw Tommy Geiger at the gym the other day,” Patrick added. Tommy was Cameron’s age, and Patrick had always looked up to him. “He’s moved back to town.”
“I hope Rosalind moved with him,” said Cameron. Tommy and Rosalind had been teenage sweethearts. All the Rosses had been at their wedding.
“Of course she did.” Halle rolled her eyes at her brother. “I saw her at the Café with two of her friends. I didn’t recognize them, though."
“I ought to give Tommy a call,” Cameron said.
“Just go knock on his door. You know Willow Creek people don’t mind that.”
Courtenay was right. That easy interaction was one of the things that made their home district feel like home.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
I love the lore and explanation of Sage Estates. It fits so well. It's perfect *chef's kiss*.
@SweetieWright_84 Thank you so much! It means a lot to us to get the seal of approval from the neighborhood's creator. We hesitated before we introduced it into the story, because while it's our game, it takes place in your Simiverse. We would never presume to know what stories might have existed in your mind while you built it.
There's another look behind the scenes behind the spoiler tag. Short version: what happens when we play with MCCC (briefly) and add Realm of Magic to our collection.
We *thought* we had worked systematically enough to make sure we had things just the way we wanted them. We are careful enough to create copies of our story save so we can experiment with things, and that's what we did with MCCC. It seemed to work perfectly! Naturally we were excited about returning to our story save, which was now even more our own.
That's where the trouble started. We were too excited, and we missed a setting we wanted to adjust.
I believe it took two game days for the changes to occur, and we wouldn't have noticed them for a while had Z not been "nosy" and wondered where some of our Sims had gone on a beautiful late Spring day. She set Cameron up to Travel, and clicked on the house of his neighbors, the Petersens. You may remember a bit about them; they're a married couple with four daughters, named for trees. Well, the story progression feature of MCCC worked exactly as it is designed to work. It saw fit to break up the Petersens. Dad and one of the younger daughters were no longer in the household!
Z was alarmed. "What the heck?? They're DEAD! It KILLED them!"
"Honey, we have aging off. Nobody dies unless we say so." I had checked to make sure nothing I had done changed this feature of our world.
"Then WHERE DID THEY GO??" Z is very protective of her creations.
We opened up Manage Households and searched for the missing Steve and Rowan Petersen. We found them...as part of a new household! Steve and Bonnie had apparently divorced and, in the blink of an eye, Steve married a random Townie we had never seen before! She was a sight, a fashion disaster with a ghastly combination of physical features that made Rohan Rosenthal look absolutely conventional.
"Oh NO, you DON'T!" Z snarled. This threat was undoubtedly directed at MCCC. "We better check to make sure this didn't happen to anyone else."
We checked, and sure enough, the previous two days had been disastrous for Sims marriages.
Summer Holiday has always amused us, so we had decided to add her to our game. Z decided that in this version of her life, Summer still lived with her parents, Brooks and Leanna, and her Teen brother, Trent. The Holidays lived in a house in Pendula View, next to the Hortons and their housemates.
Correction. Not all the Holidays lived there. According to MCCC, Brooks apparently stole a page from Steve Petersen's playbook. His new wife was easily identifiable as a human Sim, which was an improvement. Still, we didn't want this kind of story progression, at least not yet.
We were able to turn back the hands of time and change that which MCCC had wrought. We deleted the Petersens and Holidays--all of them--and restored them, in their original states, to their homes.
There are Breakup Settings in MCCC that we had neglected to adjust to zero. MCCC worked precisely as it was created to work. The errors were ours, not Deaderpool's.
We also discovered there had been havoc in Henford-on-Bagley. In a massive upheaval of the heretofore peaceful village's human infrastructure, the Mayor, the Creature Keeper, and the shop owners all lost their positions. In their places were new Sims, clad in the customary uniforms of their trades. Only Sara Scott retained her place, behind the bar at the Gnome's Arms.
Fortunately, at least some of the ousted HoBsters were already starting to pick up the pieces of their lives. Kim Goldbloom moved to Willow Creek, where she was teaching yoga at the local fitness center. Agatha Crumplebottom found work as a barista. Michael Bell was spotted browsing at the Newcrest Shopping Center as he contemplated the next step in his life.
We're not sure what happened in Henford-on-Bagley. Nor are we sure what to do about it, if anything. However, we did decide that, for now, we're uninstalling MCCC to protect our game from ourselves.
Compared to that adventure, adding Realm of Magic to our game was a snap. We discovered that we needed to download a new copy of @SweetieWright_84's save file, save her Glimmerbrook lots to our Gallery, go into Build mode, and place them in our world. We evicted the game's premades, so when we're ready, we can add new Sims to the Glimmerbrook houses.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
You're doing exactly what I intended everyone to do. I only provided the canvas, you paint the picture. It will not offend me in anyway. Who knows, maybe something you write about will inspire me to add something to the save (with credit of course).
I really enjoy reading the story, and I can't wait to read more. I like your writing style and the characters. I want Cameron to succeed and to be happy in his new home. I'm rooting for him as much as I would my own sims.
I apologize for the lack of screenshots. You'll see Kelley when she makes her first appearance.
Kelley Nash had pressed "reset" too many times. She hoped she'd never have to do that again.
She grew up in a big house in Newcrest, with everything she wanted and more. She got things she didn't want, too, such as pressure from parents who insisted on perfection: in the classroom, on the soccer pitch, at the easel. As soon as she could, Kelley made it very clear that she was going to make her own way. Instead of continuing on to university, as scripted, she moved to an apartment in San Myshuno. Reset number one.
She sold a few paintings and worked at one job or another...as long as they didn't get in the way of her partying. One night, she met a man named Caden Fulton. His life seemed to have little more direction than Kelley's. He thought he would try to make it big as a musician; he had the look, but the sound was still a work in progress.
Kelley called what followed a relationship. Caden wasn't so sure. At any rate, Kelley was left with a baby girl when Caden hit the road. Kelley named her Sloane. One look at her was all it took for Kelley to realize it was time to grow up. Reset number two.
Odd jobs wouldn't cut it any longer, not with a baby girl to care for. Kelley's father helped her get a job as a writer. She was good at it, and she could work from home while she raised Sloane. She continued to paint on the side. The time and energy she'd devoted to partying was shifted to fitness. Life had taken a turn for the better, and Kelley was happy. She moved out of her apartment into a small house in Brindleton Bay, and that made her happier still.
Then Kelley met Aaron Curtis. He was handsome, smart, and successful, and he was smitten with Kelley as quickly as she with him. He swept her off her feet, and it wasn't hard to do. He seemed perfect; just the kind of man Kelley's parents envisioned her marrying one day. One night at the Romance Festival, Aaron proposed. They planned a wedding at the Brindleton Barn.
Kelley hoped Aaron would be as delighted as she was when she learned she was expecting their baby. Aaron was far from delighted. He also proceeded to reveal how far from perfect he really was.
When Aaron had a problem, his solution was invariably to throw money at it. He hadn't been thrilled about the fact Kelley had a daughter. He didn't like kids, but he had convinced himself to accept Sloane as part of the bargain if it meant he'd have Kelley. But the idea of having TWO children was more than he could handle. He wrote Kelley a letter, stuck a big check inside, and hit the road.
Kelley's growing household needed a bigger home, so she took the money her slimeball of an ex-fiancé left her and bought a beautiful home on Sable Square. Several months later, her son Cooper was born. Reset number three.
Somewhere along the line, Caden Fulton had repackaged himself as Rob Wylde. His name was always found high on the list of "one-hit wonders," the result of recording a song called "Hotter Than Sin." It played on the radio from time to time and when Sloane Nash heard it, she invariably rolled her eyes. When Kelley Nash was unfortunate enough to hear someone perform their version on a karaoke machine, she invariably smiled and told the singer, "You're MUCH better than the original."
The recipient of this compliment, such as it was, invariably believed Kelley was flirting with them. That was, in fact, quite often the case. Kelley was a shameless flirt and always had been. Twice, she'd connected with the wrong man, and while those connections had given her the blessings of her beloved children, they had also forced her to press "reset" twice.
Kelley was tired of "resets." She would rather remain single if it meant she could take her finger off that button.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!