@pacer1965 Merfolk are very good at raising romance fast. I’m not surprised that you got the romance up that fast.
If you want to raise the friendship with Nalani, I recommend Kava Parties and listening to Island Music… With Island Music, be very careful. Nalani could have too much fun and become hysterical.
Metior_Ice, thanks for the suggestion on starting a club for my merfolk---I did just that, and built a club in Sulani too. All 5 of them are here and having fun
Something I learned with my own club is that I can lock doors for everyone but my club on public lots. So, the places that simulate an underwater environment are also locked to everyone except my merfolk. It helps to maintain the illusion of my merfolk being underwater in their merforms because random humans can’t just walk in on them. Using MCCC, I’m going to create a club that can include all of my merfolk. I’ll increase the club limit to only include the exact number of my played merfolk and any exceptions I want to allow. That club will be given access to the underwater spaces. I can then use MCCC to make sure my merfolk are using their merform while “underwater.”
Lucky Suzuki got very lucky with Nalani..I have NS on for sims to move in. To my surprise Nalani moved into Admiral's Wreck. He decided to go fishing near the wreck and Nalani was standing outside her home. They went cloud gazing together and are very good friends now
Awesome News! If you’re worried about the merfolk mods, the ones I’ve shared links to in all my story updates on my story thread are working without any problems.
The Merfolk Cove Lot Trait appears to generate townie merfolk and gives merfolk and human sims moodlet buffs. Greatly increases the chances of making a household MerWoke when they visit a lot with this trait. This lot trait is extremely good for getting merfolk to gather somewhere!
This looks so close to what I wanted for Dylan and Zeph's childhood. I know I'll always want more, but this made the game feel so complete! I had to simulate the underwater environment, and I definitely couldn't do most of this without mods and custom content... But, it feels so worth it. Just so happy seeing my twins get the mermadic childhood I always wanted for them.
I also used some of the custom content for the parents... But, I'm not going to lie... Giving the twins their best mermadic childhood is what I want most for them! I feel bad for the parents, but they are coming second to the twins.
The biggest thing that I still feel like is missing is how my merfolk aren't actually underwater. I just created rooms that simulate the environment. So, their hydration decays if they stay in their "Underwater" rooms too long.
I’m going to edit these conditions into my first page of the story, but I’m kinda doing something different from the vanilla game. But for discussion purposes, I am sharing this here in case it gives anybody gameplay ideas for their merfolk. In my story thread, the conditions will be much more condensed.
Without Mods, merfolk do not have a hydration need, a merform, or any of the most fundamental abilities all merfolk should have regardless of age (Sleeping in the water, breathe underwater, any difference in swimming speed, and etc.) until they become teens. Basically, merfolk without mods are exactly the same as humans when they are infants, toddlers, and children… infants having a moodlet related to them being merfolk might be the only thing that makes merfolk children different from human children and as far as I know, that’s exclusive to the infants life stage.
For the merfolk in my story, I am always going to skip the newborn, infant, and toddler life stages. They don’t have merman or mermaid forms, and I think trying to mod that would get too complicated for my liking.
Merfolk can’t take a human form until they become teens. This is the reverse of vanilla gameplay where merfolk don’t get their merform until the teen life stage. I won’t play a life stage that excludes the merman or mermaid form and some basic abilities. I have merchildren because mods make that possible. For most of the time I spent playing without mods, I used to skip a sim’s childhood entirely because children don’t normally have a merform.
With mods:
I make spending more time in their human form a negative. It’s very bad for any of my merfolk to maintain their human form. I use the Weakness Restless Fins Syndrome for all my merfolk. If they try to stay in their human form for too long they get the Dagger Walker uncomfortable moodlet. Essentially, it’s like every step my merfolk take is like walking on daggers. The only way to resolve this is for them to stop using their human form.
My merfolk will feel sad from being out of the water or away from the ocean for too long.
If they get soaked with water, they are forced back into their merform.
In short, my merfolk are strictly limited to their merform as merchildren, and the regular use of their human form is a major negative.
With the way things are set up, my merfolk actually need to spend a majority of their time in their merman or mermaid form. Their human form being limited to older merfolk also reinforces how unnatural it is for my merfolk to change their form. They aren’t human sims. Being in a human form should not be their norm. At least, that’s how I set things up.
This also makes gameplay while sims are swimming significantly more important. My merfolk either spend most of their time swimming or in a simulated underwater environment.
Arihi got tired of trying to keep up with the twins. Without legs, the twins need to be carried or teleported to places they otherwise can't get to on their own. Unfortunately, Arihi is the only one that can hydrophase anyone. She needed a break.
Her solution, put the young merboys in kiddie pools. They wouldn't dry out nor could they swim off on their own.
Eventually, a heavy rain hit Sulani. While you might think that merfolk would naturally enjoy the rain, rainstorms have a tendency to force merfolk back into their natural mermadic forms. Most merfolk stay in the ocean while it rains. Unfortunately, Arihi forgot a couple individuals on land.
Dylan was fine playing with a rubber duck. Zeph wondered what his mom expected him to do with it.
As the morning sun started to rise, Dylan fell asleep and Zeph continued waiting patiently. It's nice to know that Arihi's Parenting Skills never change.
Changes to how my merfolk look in the story. Most of these changes might be too minor to notice.
Was playing with MCCC all day. Figured out how to copy and paste physical features as well as change their appearance. I wanted to try and get an NPC Bartender to be a Merman, but the game wouldn't cooperate. Learning how to use MC CAS was a happy surprise.
The Pod Patriarch: Kemps Zalrian
As the Patriarch of the pod, I made him a little bigger.
A Merman: Calum Zalrian
Even though Kemps and Calum are both Young Adults, I managed to make Kemps a little bigger than his younger brother. I figured that Kemps would be older and the size difference helps to show it.
A Merboy: Alexander Zalrian
As a teen, Alexander is a little smaller in comparison to his father and uncle.
Merlings: Dylan and Zephyr
The changes I learned to make also helped me make a few changes to the twins. I do feel like the changes kinda make them look a little more grown up even if they are still too young to take a human form.
So, the Expanded Mermaids Mod has been updated. Everything is working, but things are not the same as they were.
Apparently, taking certain perks makes merfolk immune to other merfolk using certain abilities. One of my favorite things to do was hydro blast merfolk and trigger a forced transformation.
My merfolk that can use Hydrokineses are now immune to that ability. 😭 I wanted to do so much with that, but I’m happy I found a work around to move the story forward.
I've been playing the heck out of a new save with a lot of new sims and new cc, but it's always relaxing to return to the beach and fish with the mighty Kalamainu'u
My Ariel & her husband Eric now have their baby Melody who got her Mother’s cool Mermaid genes. She won’t grow into her tail until she’s a teen. Here’s a picture of Ariel holding her baby Melody in my avatar.😍😉
I spent some time last night playing with different possibilities for interactions between Ember and Alexander. For seven days, Alexander has his voice back, and I really want to make every sim day count! I think I have a few solid ideas, and because Love Day is coming up, I was experimenting with potential romance options.
A bit of Sulani Romance
Teaching a Merboy how to Dance
Thanks to prom happening every single week of every single sim week! Not going to lie, the commitment to prom gets overwhelming and I wish it was an event I planned in advance. There will be another opportunity for attending Prom. I'm going to pretend that this isn't prom, but a Spring Dance happening during Spring Break.
Ember's challenge will be teaching Alex how to dance. Since Alex doesn't have any legs during their lessons, I had to get a little creative. I think merfolk would still have their own dance moves if they could actually go underwater. And why not teach him how to dance on land?
Well, the Merfolk in my story have a few challenges that come with being on land.
They tend to stumble on their feet because walking doesn't come naturally to them
Prolonged use of their human form causes them discomfort (The equivalent of walking on daggers because they try to hide their tail), and with the power of cheats, it also ends in a Forced Transformation if they ignore the discomfort
If they get wet in a significant way, they can also get a Forced Transformation
If Alex is going to spend a long time with dance lessons, it's more accommodating for him to not spend that much time in his human form
Fortunately, I found that some of the slow dance moves from the My Wedding Stories actually might be something merfolk can do in the water. The slow movement is good for someone trying to teach someone else how to dance, and the spinning might actually be a possible movement underwater. The slower spinning would probably be better in the underwater environment.
Did you know that astronauts train for space walks underwater? The dimensions of movement and the conditions underwater are actually similar enough to how it would be like to move in the Vacuum of Space. It's not 100% the same, but it's close enough for Space Walk Training.
Alex Proved to be a natural when it comes to dancing.
His solo movements aren't the same as a human's, but he's got two arms that move just like a human's. He just kinda flicks his tail around as he moves his arms.
How I Create Simulated Underwater Environments with Minimal Mods and CC
I really wish he was actually underwater doing all this, but the simulated underwater environment still has enough of the feel I was looking for. If you use the cheat: Traits.Equip_Trait Trait_OccultMermaid_MermaidForm or use MCCC to Show Mermaid Form. You can have your merfolk go on land in their Mermadic Forms. The cheat I listed doesn't require mods, but it can only be used on sims within the same household.
Anyways, once you have merfolk moving around on land in their mermadic forms, you can use various build mode items to create an environment that looks like they are underwater. It makes it a little less strange for them to move around with their tails if it doesn't look like they are on land.
Some useful build mode cheats are: bb.moveobjects, bb.ShowLiveEditObjects, and bb.showhiddenobjects. Island living actually has debug items that let you place coral on a lot without any mods or cc. The only reason the same corals have different colors in my screenshots is because that's CC versions of content that comes with Island Living. You really don't need the different colors if you don't want them. The Reef Chairs and Reef Beds are custom content. Merfolk have almost no themed build mode items. For a lot of stuff, you will need to use cheats to access the items that best fit merfolk.
A couple mods I recommend come from Spinning Plumbob. It shouldn't cost anything to use them, and it definitely adds a lot of value to Merfolk Gameplay. He's very good about keeping these mods updated! All the Mods and CC I link should have public access.
The other problem I encountered was deciding on a human outfit for Alexander. My merfolk experience Forced Transformations when they get wet, and with cheats and Andrew's Pose Player, I can decide when I want them to have a Forced Transformation. This is an optional Weakness from the Expanded Mermaids Mod that I absolutely love! It makes it more Hazardous for merfolk to go on land and do things while trying to look like humans. It makes the game have consequences to certain actions. The best part is: you don't have to use this weakness if you don't want to, and the Thermo Kinesis Ability pretty much makes it a non-issue.
I've been debating on whether or not I would like the option to remove perks. The Thermo Kinesis ability does almost too good of a job making the forced transformation less consequential. But, I'm not sure I want to be locked out of a way to stop a Forced Transformation either. A recent update to the mod already made merfolk immune to certain merfolk abilities if they have the ability. It does take some of the fun out of things.
Anyways, the thing I'm trying to figure out is how to give Alexander a Human Outfit that can also be used when he experiences a forced transformation. The CC I'm committed to using for almost all my merfolk has a bit of a Clipping Issue that severely limits the shirts he can wear with his tail. Examples are in the spoiler below. I definitely don't want to use anything that clips through his fins, but I also would like a better selection of CAS items. I'm open to CC suggestions at this point. Because Merfolk can only have five outfits, I only need like one or two shirts that will work.
The Clipping Issue
Again, using a different tail is not an option. I would sooner opt out of a shirt before changing any of my merfolk's tails.
Vanilla Content that Works
I'm not sold on these, but they are options. I don't expect my merfolk to blend seamlessly into human society. I go to great lengths to intentionally make my merfolk have something about them that looks different from humans because they are not humans.
My Only CC that Works
I usually keep CC and Mods to the Bare Minimum out of preference, and I tend to prefer to use content anyone has access to. But, this clipping will drive me crazy if I don't find a solution. lol. I've got time, but I've made a lot of progress experimenting with different things.
Comments
If you want to raise the friendship with Nalani, I recommend Kava Parties and listening to Island Music… With Island Music, be very careful. Nalani could have too much fun and become hysterical.
Something I learned with my own club is that I can lock doors for everyone but my club on public lots. So, the places that simulate an underwater environment are also locked to everyone except my merfolk. It helps to maintain the illusion of my merfolk being underwater in their merforms because random humans can’t just walk in on them. Using MCCC, I’m going to create a club that can include all of my merfolk. I’ll increase the club limit to only include the exact number of my played merfolk and any exceptions I want to allow. That club will be given access to the underwater spaces. I can then use MCCC to make sure my merfolk are using their merform while “underwater.”
Chapter 4: Love on the Sulani Tides
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/18240668/#Comment_18240668
Spinning Plumbob’s
Occult Preference Mod
https://www.patreon.com/posts/70850049?utm_campaign=postshare_fan
Atlantica Merfolk Tails
https://www.patreon.com/posts/63764427?utm_campaign=postshare_fan
Sea-nery Stuff Pack
https://www.patreon.com/posts/74793919?utm_campaign=postshare_fan
And most importantly!
The Expanded Mermaids Mod
https://www.patreon.com/posts/78685209?utm_campaign=postshare_fan
Appear to be working!
Deaderpool’s
MCCC also has a Hotfix that helps!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/80029104?utm_campaign=postshare_fan
And Simularity’s Merfolk Cove seems fine.
The Merfolk Cove Lot Trait appears to generate townie merfolk and gives merfolk and human sims moodlet buffs. Greatly increases the chances of making a household MerWoke when they visit a lot with this trait. This lot trait is extremely good for getting merfolk to gather somewhere!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/40617659?utm_campaign=postshare_fan
Snowhaze’s Under the Sea Part: II
Also appears to be fine.
https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=594586
Edit: I will be updating the mod credits on my story updates! I can’t believe I forgot a few of them.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/18242969/#Comment_18242969
Chapter 6: The Shadow of Davy Jones Locker
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/18243825/#Comment_18243825
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/18244772/#Comment_18244772
Chapter 8: Our Own Worst Enemy
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/18247756/#Comment_18247756
30 Days to create until a Month for Merfolk!
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/18250458/#Comment_18250458
I also used some of the custom content for the parents... But, I'm not going to lie... Giving the twins their best mermadic childhood is what I want most for them! I feel bad for the parents, but they are coming second to the twins.
The biggest thing that I still feel like is missing is how my merfolk aren't actually underwater. I just created rooms that simulate the environment. So, their hydration decays if they stay in their "Underwater" rooms too long.
The update fixes a texture bug when sims are frozen using the Mermadic Abilities Frostify and Frigid Blast.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/78685209?utm_campaign=postshare_fan
Without Mods, merfolk do not have a hydration need, a merform, or any of the most fundamental abilities all merfolk should have regardless of age (Sleeping in the water, breathe underwater, any difference in swimming speed, and etc.) until they become teens. Basically, merfolk without mods are exactly the same as humans when they are infants, toddlers, and children… infants having a moodlet related to them being merfolk might be the only thing that makes merfolk children different from human children and as far as I know, that’s exclusive to the infants life stage.
For the merfolk in my story, I am always going to skip the newborn, infant, and toddler life stages. They don’t have merman or mermaid forms, and I think trying to mod that would get too complicated for my liking.
Merfolk can’t take a human form until they become teens. This is the reverse of vanilla gameplay where merfolk don’t get their merform until the teen life stage. I won’t play a life stage that excludes the merman or mermaid form and some basic abilities. I have merchildren because mods make that possible. For most of the time I spent playing without mods, I used to skip a sim’s childhood entirely because children don’t normally have a merform.
With mods:
I make spending more time in their human form a negative. It’s very bad for any of my merfolk to maintain their human form. I use the Weakness Restless Fins Syndrome for all my merfolk. If they try to stay in their human form for too long they get the Dagger Walker uncomfortable moodlet. Essentially, it’s like every step my merfolk take is like walking on daggers. The only way to resolve this is for them to stop using their human form.
My merfolk will feel sad from being out of the water or away from the ocean for too long.
If they get soaked with water, they are forced back into their merform.
In short, my merfolk are strictly limited to their merform as merchildren, and the regular use of their human form is a major negative.
With the way things are set up, my merfolk actually need to spend a majority of their time in their merman or mermaid form. Their human form being limited to older merfolk also reinforces how unnatural it is for my merfolk to change their form. They aren’t human sims. Being in a human form should not be their norm. At least, that’s how I set things up.
This also makes gameplay while sims are swimming significantly more important. My merfolk either spend most of their time swimming or in a simulated underwater environment.
Arihi got tired of trying to keep up with the twins. Without legs, the twins need to be carried or teleported to places they otherwise can't get to on their own. Unfortunately, Arihi is the only one that can hydrophase anyone. She needed a break.
Her solution, put the young merboys in kiddie pools. They wouldn't dry out nor could they swim off on their own.
Eventually, a heavy rain hit Sulani. While you might think that merfolk would naturally enjoy the rain, rainstorms have a tendency to force merfolk back into their natural mermadic forms. Most merfolk stay in the ocean while it rains. Unfortunately, Arihi forgot a couple individuals on land.
Dylan was fine playing with a rubber duck. Zeph wondered what his mom expected him to do with it.
As the morning sun started to rise, Dylan fell asleep and Zeph continued waiting patiently. It's nice to know that Arihi's Parenting Skills never change.
Changes to how my merfolk look in the story. Most of these changes might be too minor to notice.
The Pod Patriarch: Kemps Zalrian
As the Patriarch of the pod, I made him a little bigger.
A Merman: Calum Zalrian
Even though Kemps and Calum are both Young Adults, I managed to make Kemps a little bigger than his younger brother. I figured that Kemps would be older and the size difference helps to show it.
A Merboy: Alexander Zalrian
As a teen, Alexander is a little smaller in comparison to his father and uncle.
Merlings: Dylan and Zephyr
The changes I learned to make also helped me make a few changes to the twins. I do feel like the changes kinda make them look a little more grown up even if they are still too young to take a human form.
Apparently, taking certain perks makes merfolk immune to other merfolk using certain abilities. One of my favorite things to do was hydro blast merfolk and trigger a forced transformation.
My merfolk that can use Hydrokineses are now immune to that ability. 😭 I wanted to do so much with that, but I’m happy I found a work around to move the story forward.
Chapter 10: The Twilight of Damion's Revenge
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/18262567/#Comment_18262567
A bit of Sulani Romance
Teaching a Merboy how to Dance
Thanks to prom happening every single week of every single sim week! Not going to lie, the commitment to prom gets overwhelming and I wish it was an event I planned in advance. There will be another opportunity for attending Prom. I'm going to pretend that this isn't prom, but a Spring Dance happening during Spring Break.
Ember's challenge will be teaching Alex how to dance. Since Alex doesn't have any legs during their lessons, I had to get a little creative. I think merfolk would still have their own dance moves if they could actually go underwater. And why not teach him how to dance on land?
Well, the Merfolk in my story have a few challenges that come with being on land.
Fortunately, I found that some of the slow dance moves from the My Wedding Stories actually might be something merfolk can do in the water. The slow movement is good for someone trying to teach someone else how to dance, and the spinning might actually be a possible movement underwater. The slower spinning would probably be better in the underwater environment.
Did you know that astronauts train for space walks underwater? The dimensions of movement and the conditions underwater are actually similar enough to how it would be like to move in the Vacuum of Space. It's not 100% the same, but it's close enough for Space Walk Training.
Alex Proved to be a natural when it comes to dancing.
His solo movements aren't the same as a human's, but he's got two arms that move just like a human's. He just kinda flicks his tail around as he moves his arms.
How I Create Simulated Underwater Environments with Minimal Mods and CC
Anyways, once you have merfolk moving around on land in their mermadic forms, you can use various build mode items to create an environment that looks like they are underwater. It makes it a little less strange for them to move around with their tails if it doesn't look like they are on land.
Some useful build mode cheats are: bb.moveobjects, bb.ShowLiveEditObjects, and bb.showhiddenobjects. Island living actually has debug items that let you place coral on a lot without any mods or cc. The only reason the same corals have different colors in my screenshots is because that's CC versions of content that comes with Island Living. You really don't need the different colors if you don't want them. The Reef Chairs and Reef Beds are custom content. Merfolk have almost no themed build mode items. For a lot of stuff, you will need to use cheats to access the items that best fit merfolk.
A couple mods I recommend come from Spinning Plumbob. It shouldn't cost anything to use them, and it definitely adds a lot of value to Merfolk Gameplay. He's very good about keeping these mods updated! All the Mods and CC I link should have public access.
The Expanded Mermaids Mod
https://www.patreon.com/posts/expanded-mod-2-0-78685209?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=join_link
"The Sea-nery Stuff" Build/Buy Set
https://www.patreon.com/posts/sea-nery-stuff-74793919?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=join_link
Forced Transformations and Human Outfits
I've been debating on whether or not I would like the option to remove perks. The Thermo Kinesis ability does almost too good of a job making the forced transformation less consequential. But, I'm not sure I want to be locked out of a way to stop a Forced Transformation either. A recent update to the mod already made merfolk immune to certain merfolk abilities if they have the ability. It does take some of the fun out of things.
Anyways, the thing I'm trying to figure out is how to give Alexander a Human Outfit that can also be used when he experiences a forced transformation. The CC I'm committed to using for almost all my merfolk has a bit of a Clipping Issue that severely limits the shirts he can wear with his tail. Examples are in the spoiler below. I definitely don't want to use anything that clips through his fins, but I also would like a better selection of CAS items. I'm open to CC suggestions at this point. Because Merfolk can only have five outfits, I only need like one or two shirts that will work.
The Clipping Issue
Again, using a different tail is not an option. I would sooner opt out of a shirt before changing any of my merfolk's tails.
Vanilla Content that Works
I'm not sold on these, but they are options. I don't expect my merfolk to blend seamlessly into human society. I go to great lengths to intentionally make my merfolk have something about them that looks different from humans because they are not humans.
My Only CC that Works
I usually keep CC and Mods to the Bare Minimum out of preference, and I tend to prefer to use content anyone has access to. But, this clipping will drive me crazy if I don't find a solution. lol. I've got time, but I've made a lot of progress experimenting with different things.