Sims2: My new addiction

[houseblend]

Anyone else here play Sims? I just got the game over the weekend and it is addicting! I never played the first version.

I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out the best way to start out though. Do you start with one family and just stay with them the entire time? Or is it better to switch back and forth between families? Is there an end goal to reach other than to just make them happy?

[lawyergirl25]

Are you playing the PC version or the PS2 version? I play the PS2 version - and it's totally addicting. :)

[houseblend]

I'm playing the PC version. It takes a bit of time to load the neighborhood and each family, which is why I'm hesitant to switch back and forth between them. However, since I'm new at it, I'm trying to figure out the most popular or best strategy (sticking with one family or going back and forth between them).

[lawyergirl25]

Ah. I don't have any experience with the PC version. I think I would make myself crazy if there wasn't an end to the whole thing. Once I retire, the game is over. I know people who play the PC version who have notebooks full of info about their families and neighborhoods. It's like it never ends!

[greenbunny]

I have a bootleg of the PC version and I just can't get it to work. The Sims just stand in the yard and whine and shake their arms at me, they won't go to work or eat or clean the house. It got annoying, so I gave up. :confused:

I have heard that a lot of people like to mess with their Sims, like stick them in a room with no doors and stuff like that. Maybe I'm sick, but that sounds funny.

[mama2a&g]

I have the PC version of Sims 2 University and love it. I have 4 families/games going right now. One is a married couple with no kids, and I'm trying to max out their careers and skill points before they have kids. I have aging turned off on them. One is a family with 8 kids so far, and the mom is pregnant with the 9th. That one is crazy and challenging, the only cheat I've used on it is the money cheat to build them a huge house. Then I have two college students, one boy and one girl, and I'm trying to make them fall in love. She doesn't like him much, though, so it's taking a lot of work. I have some random sims in my neighborhoods, to use as friends for the sims I'm actually playing so that they can advance in their careers, but I don't play them at all except to make their friendships with my sims strong.

[lawyergirl25]

I have heard that a lot of people like to mess with their Sims, like stick them in a room with no doors and stuff like that. Maybe I'm sick, but that sounds funny.
That's what I do when my Sims have babies. Normally you have to take care of the baby for three days before it will grow up, but I can never coordinate my Sims' jobs so that they can both go to work and take care of the baby. If you don't take care of the baby, child services will take it away and you will have to start over again. To get around the problem, I build a wall around the baby so that the social worker can't get to him/her, then remove the wall when the three days are up and the baby grows up (how it can without food I don't know, but it does).

It's sick, I know.

[Delaney21]

I was addicted to Sims 1 last year, but I haven't tried Sims 2 yet.

I only played with 1 family, but created other families in the neighborhood so my sim would have friends. One time my sim had a baby, and I thought I would like to have a kid in the house, but eventually I hated taking care of her. So I had her go swimming, then I removed the ladder from the pool and put up a fence around the pool so she died. If a sim dies, there will be a gravestone for that sim and the other sims go there and mourn, so make sure to put a fence around that so they cant sit around and mourn.

[greenbunny]

You guys are cracking me up. I had no idea about all this stuff, my stupid Sims won't DO anything! Is there a cheat code for "get off your a$$ and do something interesting"?

[Jane&Andy]

I love Sims2! I used to play original Sims too. I have the PC version of Sims2 and University.

I haven't played much in the past few weeks - I go through spells where I play a lot for a week or two and then I don't play for awhile.

I created my own Sims town with tons and tons of families. I'll play one family for awhile and then switch to another. Sometimes I stick with one family for just one evening, sometimes for a few days. The game loads slowly and if I switch between families too much in one evening the whole thing starts running pretty slow.

I've been playing with family Sims - just raising the families and trying to max out the careers. Sometimes I hire a nanny and sometimes I make the Mom a SAHM.

I'm thinking about starting new custom neighborhood with less families. I have too many in my current neighborhood and its a little overwhelming. I'm hoping they'll come up with an Unleashed expansion for Sims2 like they had for original Sims - that was my favorite EP.

[Vegastrtle]

I have a bootleg of the PC version and I just can't get it to work. The Sims just stand in the yard and whine and shake their arms at me, they won't go to work or eat or clean the house. It got annoying, so I gave up. :confused:



Maybe they're angry because you have a bootleg ;)

I've played it once and got very frustrated...DH has the PS2 version and I won't play it...even though I'm a bit more intrigued reading about it here.

[magrat]

I have been getting back into it again because the next expansion pack is coming out in mid-September. I can't imagine using cheats or anything, I've been getting bored easily with it because it's so easy. You don't need to surround a baby with walls, just take a few days off if they don't have them off already! When you have a baby the mother gets more days off to use. I definitely don't turn off aging, my sims seem to age too slowly as it is. I created a bunch of families and I rotate through them so they age at relatively the same time. That way they grow up with their friends. Don't make friends with townies, they never age and you'll end up being an old men with lots of child friends. Plus you don't get the benefit of one of your own sims having another friend. Right now the children of my first generation are starting to have children of their own and my original sims are dying off. Have multiple generations live in the same household, then grandparents can take care of the babies and children, and they also age (elders are boring to play with and if they live alone you'll probably rarely go play them and they'll live forever).

[Clubqueen]

I love playing the Sims! I have Sims2 on my PC, although I haven't played it in a while (don't have as much time as I used to).
The PC version is open ended, meaning you can play forever. I've never played the console versions though.

Have you heard about the new expansion pack? "Sims Nightlife"? They FINALLY get to drive their own cars!!

Their cars:
http://thesims2.ea.com/images/about/ep2_screenshots/screenshot_10.jpg

Singing Karaoke:
http://thesims2.ea.com/images/about/ep2_screenshots/screenshot_21.jpg

Bad Date:
http://thesims2.ea.com/images/about/ep2_screenshots/screenshot_11.jpg

DJ Spinning:
http://thesims2.ea.com/images/about/ep2_screenshots/screenshot_7.jpg

It looks so good! Can't wait to buy it in September!! :D

[lawyergirl25]

You guys are cracking me up. I had no idea about all this stuff, my stupid Sims won't DO anything! Is there a cheat code for "get off your a$$ and do something interesting"?
Are you making sure that they've eaten, gone to the bathroom, showered, slept, and had some entertainment time? Your Sim won't do anything if s/he's not happy. It's tough at first, though. I spent the first 10 hours I played Sims just trying to figure out how to balance all the bodily functions, let alone trying to get skills points or finding a job.

[Natasha]

Oh, you guys are making me want to play again! I had Sims 1 and ALL the EP's. Now I have Sims 2, but I haven't gotten University yet. I use the monry cheat, because I'm lazy. But, thats the only cheat I use.

[Jane&Andy]

I use the money cheat but none of the other cheats. And like magrat said, I don't make friends with the townies.

[houseblend]

Are you making sure that they've eaten, gone to the bathroom, showered, slept, and had some entertainment time? Your Sim won't do anything if s/he's not happy. It's tough at first, though. I spent the first 10 hours I played Sims just trying to figure out how to balance all the bodily functions, let alone trying to get skills points or finding a job.

I'm finally starting to get this down, but it's hard to manage their time! Especially with the mom with 3 boys. It seemed all she had time for was to eat, sleep and go to the bathroom. There's no time for anything else! It is a bit annoying that it takes them a half hour to go to the bathroom.

Who are considered the "townies"?

[Jane&Andy]

townies are all the characters that you can't control - the maid, the mailman, and other random people.

[lawyergirl25]

It is a bit annoying that it takes them a half hour to go to the bathroom.
I don't how much of this translates from PS2 to PC, but I can upgrade their toilets and showers so that it takes about half the time. Use the money cheat if you have to. :)

[houseblend]

Oh! I'm always trying to make friends with them, especially the male maid. LOL - My single mom tried to ask him out and he said absolutely no way! What can I say - she was desperate to meet someone! :D I guess I will need to get her out more to meet others.

[Jane&Andy]

until you make friends with them (townie or one of your own people) they won't be very responsive to being asked out or things like that. I ignore the townies b/c I just don't get enough back from them. But I think you can start a relationship with an adult townie and marry them and then they become playable.

[greenbunny]

This is so fascinating! Much more interesting than a lot of the real people I know!

I should try the money cheat. To be honest I really did intend to buy the program and just use the bootleg as a sample, I'm usually all about the honest Abe software and music. But my PC got so screwed up from spyware it wouldn't even turn on without freezing up, then DH bought an Apple Powerbook, and I just haven't gone back to it. I probably will buy a real copy once I get a new PC.

[houseblend]

I don't how much of this translates from PS2 to PC, but I can upgrade their toilets and showers so that it takes about half the time. Use the money cheat if you have to. :)

Good tip! I will give that a try!

How do you access the cheats that you have all mentioned?

[lawyergirl25]

No problem. Same thing applies with the other appliances in the house. When you go shopping you can look up the info for each item - certain beds will give 9 comfort/rest points, some refrigerators will give 8 hunger points, etc.

Oh, I love Sims. It's the first thing I'm going to unpack when we move. :)

[Jane&Andy]

hit ctrl/shift/c and type kaching for $1000
hit ctrl/shift/c and type motherlode for $50,000

[greenbunny]

Is there a limit to how often you can use cheat codes? Why would you only take a grand when you could take fifty? Is that a special strategy of some sort?

[Jane&Andy]

no limit that I know of.

Sometimes I will try to play without the money cheat. Usually that doesn't last long before I get frustrated. I'll use kaching then if I just want to bring in an extra couple thousand to help the family out of the slump without using the big money cheat. But normally I just go straight to motherlode. :)

[houseblend]

Thank you! Maybe my panhandling Simmie will stop doing that now! :D

[Janey]

Anyone else here play Sims? I just got the game over the weekend and it is addicting! I never played the first version.
Oh - thank goodness ... There are some gamer geeks around here! ;) (First person to identify my avatar gets a shiny gold star) I have Sims 1 and about 4 of the expansions. I downloaded so much furniture, walls, floors, doors, etc that it filled up 2 burned CDs. I bought Sims 2, but have had zero time to actually sit down at the computer and play it. I can't wait till life settles down a little bit, and I can actually have some leisure time.

I looooooooove The Sims. LOVE it! It's so fantastic. Between playing God and going furniture & clothes shopping (http://www.welldressedsim.com/), for practically free, all the time, and then playing interior designer... it's a wonder I ever got anything else done. :p

[magrat]

I downloaded tons of clothes and furniture with Sims 1, but I don't know how with Sims 2. I'm really concerned about screwing it up with unwanted mods. Also, where are good sites for free quality downloads? Anyone have any suggestions? I'm getting sick of the limited hairstyles....

[mama2a&g]

magrat, I like http://www.thesimsresource.com/ but you can make some of your own things. Body Shop comes with The Sims, and you can use that to make clothes, hair colors and styles, and new eye and skin colors. I'm pretty sure you can do makeup, too, but I've never tried. You can also download Homecrafter (http://thesims2.ea.com/getcoolstuff/homecrafter.php), and use that to make flooring and walls. If you have SimCity 4, you can build your own neighborhoods. I haven't really made much stuff for my sims, because it's time consuming, but I do have them in a custom neighborhood.

[greenbunny]

I went home last night all excited to play some Sims and it's gone off my computer! I used a spyware/adware program to try to clean up the hard drive and it stopped the random freezing up, but apparently deleted the program. Too funny!

[Kopper]

Hello my name is Kopper and I am a recovering Sims2 addict. I have only played once in the last two months....

Once the Nightlife EP comes out I will probably start playing again. Right now I am too bored with my Sims. After playing them for several generations it just gets a little boring. I need something new. I hope they come out with and Unleashed EP like Jane&Andy said.

greenbunny - That's really odd that your game is gone. Have you checked to see if the files are still there?

You might want to go to the Sims BBS and do a search.
http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/

I have found a lot of answers there. Good luck!

[greenbunny]

Thanks, Kopper, but I have Sims 1 and it's a nasty, evil bootleg version. I think that's why it's gone. I almost have DH talked into an e machine, then I'm going to buy Sims 2.

[houseblend]

Two of my Sims died last night. It was the first time any of them had gotten killed. So sad, but fortunately I hadn't saved in a little while, so I revived them. :p I think it was because I gave them their rewards too soon. They had the points for them, but I don't understand what you have to wait for then?

[magrat]

[b]houseblend[b] They died while using rewards? They must have been in the green or red. You need to be in at least a gold mood for the rewards to have a positive effect. One of my Sims was pregnant and was killed by the happy hat thing (can't remember what it's called). I learned from that mistake quickly! But I don't like to restart or anything, it just was a sad and unexpected tragedy for her husband.

[houseblend]

Thank you magrat! I had no idea they had to be in a Gold mood to use their rewards. I don't think they've ever been in that good of a mood, so I have some work to do!

[Janey]

I just remembered that I have this Sims 2 Walkthrough (http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=93301&rid=86664) bookmarked. Lots of helpful hints-n-tips in there, in case anybody was interested.

As far as downloads go, The Well Dressed Sim (http://www.welldressedsim.com/sims.php?version=2&type=c&sort=new) has been my favorite. Some of their stuff is free, and some of it is pay... but all of the stuff I've downloaded from them has been really good quality.

[Jane&Andy]

Has anybody bought the new EP yet? How is it?

[Jane&Andy]

Anyone? Anyone?

DH is working late tonight so I am very tempted to go ahead and buy the game after work.

[Jane&Andy]

I bought the expansion pack yesterday. So far its fun although I need many more hours to play before I can figure out all the new stuff.

The next EP is - "Open For Business." It will be released in early 2006. The Sims will get to run their own businesses. It sounds like fun but I'm still hoping for an Unleased EP for Sims2.

[Kopper]

Jane - Glad you like it so far. I haven't bought it yet. I may get it this weekend. I really wish there would be an Unleashed EP too! I think it is one of the most requested EPs.

[houseblend]

The Open for Business one sounds cool! (Am I displaying too much of my geekiness here? :D ) I haven't bought any of the EP yet, but that one just may convince me to!

Question - if a family moves out and into a new house, they lose the dollar value of the new house (no mortgages in Simsville!). If someone then buys their old house, do they gain the money from that sale?

[Jane&Andy]

I'm a sucker for the EPs. Aside from the extra "towns" and stuff like that I just like getting the new objects and outfits and wallpaper, etc.

When Sims move out they get the dollar value back for the furniture in the house. They don't get any money when a new family buys the house.

[magrat]

I got it on the 15th :) It's pretty good, it seems to have a lot of depth. I don't feel I've really cracked the surface yet. They added a lot of little things that are useful or cool - you have an inventory and you can drag pretty much anything into it - this means you should be able to take career rewards with you when you move! And paintings. They added the cutest animation of people falling asleep at the dinner table. When someone catches their partner cheating on them, they get very angry for a while and relationship points drop significantly. When their anger is gone, they go back up (though not all the way).

[Jane&Andy]

They added the cutest animation of people falling asleep at the dinner table.

that happened to my pregnant Sim last night.

I haven't played around with the inventory feature yet.

[udsweetpea]

I just started playing University today. Can I turn aging off on that too? Seems like I don't have enough time for my Sim to write a term paper, do assignments every day, study, fall in love, reach their aspirations, etc. Poor girl is running ragged :(

[Jane&Andy]

I just started playing University today. Can I turn aging off on that too?

I've never tried it. To me University takes too long.

[2kCougar]

Does anyone know if the new EP like the original sims "hot date"?

[Natasha]

2kCougar--It is similar to Hot Date, but waaaaay better. it has lots of cool new features, and a new aspiration. I like it alot, but my attention span isn't what it used to be. I can only play for about an hour before I get bored. Must be pregnancy...

[udsweetpea]

I'm having real problems with my college Sim with a romance aspiration. She's only a poor little freshman but she wants to "woohoo" with everyone! How does she have enough time to do all that "woohoo-ing" and schoolwork?!?!? I'm surprised that's even an aspiration in the Sims game for young Sims.

[Lanapoo]

I bought the new expansion too. I like the whole chemistry thing and love all the new interactions. Adore having a car! No more calling a cab.

The only thing I'm having a problem with is installing downloaded sims. I have content enabled, I double click on the package to install, it says I've sucessfully installed it...but when I go into the game or body shop my new sims aren't there. Bleh. I never had a problem with this before. :(

Other than that, I'm having fun with the new EP and have been playing obsessivly for the past few nights :p

[Kopper]

I'm getting the new EP tonight! DH is going out of town tomorrow for a week so that is my consolation prize. :) Can't wait to start playing. My sims have been neglected for a few months b/c I was bored with them.

[Jane&Andy]

I hope you enjoy it Kopper. The cars are a really nice feature. I do recommend getting an alarm installed (click on the car and that option pops up). I've already had one stolen and insurance did not refund the whole value.

I've taken a break for a few days from playing and I'm leaving town for the weekend tomorrow. But DH will be out of town next weekend so I will be playing lots then.

[udsweetpea]

Just bumping... how are all of our Sims doing? I've been taking a break from it for about a week, but I think I might go back to it tonight.

[udsweetpea]

My Sims are gone! My computer is acting like its a brand new game! Where could they have gone? How would it just start from the beginning? Ack!

[daughn]

The Sims 2 is a totally addicting game. I love it.

[TX Sweetheart]

Jane you actually had a car stolen? wow... I haven't yet had that happen... do the police recover the car or do you just get insurance money?

DH is working tonight so I think I may be playing all night LOL...

[Star_Galaxy]

I *love* Sims 2, I can't get enough of it. I tend to play one family for a few days and then move onto another. I'm a bit of a traditionilist though and tend to end up with married sims who have 2 or 3 kids! :)

I've got University, but I actually find it takes so long to put them through College, that I tend to get a bit bored with that, so I haven't used it as much as I should have :)

Megan

[Jane&Andy]

Jane you actually had a car stolen? wow... I haven't yet had that happen... do the police recover the car or do you just get insurance money?


insurance paid me back a little over $6000 for the car but the original value of the car was closer to $10,000. I play with the money cheat 99.9% of the time so it didn't matter much but I was surprised that insurance hadn't covered the whole value of the car.

I've got University, but I actually find it takes so long to put them through College, that I tend to get a bit bored with that, so I haven't used it as much as I should have
me too.

[Janey]

You were able to do that in Sims 1, I'm sure in Sims 2 it's the same.

When is "at times"? When you're in a downtown area? Or just ... various times around the house? My guess is it's a PC thing. Mine runs pretty slow too sometimes... but it's usually when there is a lot of textures/sims around. Have you tried defragmenting your hard drive? Sometimes that helps.

I finally have had some time to play Sims 2 for myself these past few days! Yay! I've created a "TV Land" neighborhood with the Cleavers, Andersons, Petries, Ricardos, Nelsons, the Lanes and the Stones. I can't wait to get Nightlife & see Ward & June partying it up down at the dance club. :p

[Jane&Andy]

yes, an existing Sims can play in the new downtown or new University neighborhoods (although University is only for teens).

I like both. If you think you might end up with both then I'd start with university. If you buy them out of order you have to reload the newer ones when you load an old EP.

I like some of the features that came with Nightlife - cars. But I like the new career opportunities that came with University.

Mine runs slow sometimes too. If I've been playing awhile and keep switching to new neighborhoods or families it gets really slow. Restarting seems to fix that.

[udsweetpea]

Is anyone else still playing? I found a cheat code today that is so awesome!

After hitting Ctrl+SHIFT+C type in maxmotives and raise all of your Sims' needs fully. My poor little child was always having a problem getting enough "fun",
so this works great!

[Jane&Andy]

still playing. :)

that cheat code sounds great. I've had a devil of a time keeping my pregnant women in good shape lately.

Anybody know when the next expansion comes out?

[Kopper]

According to Amazon.com they are saying the release date is February 28th.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000CR27OS/qid=1136473493/sr=8-5/ref=pd_bbs_5/002-9004626-3935243?v=glance&s=videogames&n=507846

I haven't played at all in the last several months. I figure that once the baby is here I won't be able to play at all since it you have to play for at least an hour to get much accomplished. I'm now addicted to pogo.com since it has tons of different games and you can play for as little as 5 minutes or so.

Did anyone buy the Holiday EP? I wanted to but didn't end up buying it. You can download it from Maxis for $14.95 I believe.

[houseblend]

DH got me the Nintendo DS version for Christmas, so I've been playing that one instead lately. It's quite a bit different. Your character is in charge of a hotel in town and they give you more specific goals to accomplish often with deadlines to accomplish them. The interactions with other sims are a lot more limited as well. It's great for occupying me during plane trips and during football games, though. :D

[Jane&Andy]

nope, I didn't buy the Holiday EP but for $14.95 it might be worth it - I need to look into that. :)

[Janey]

Glad to hear everyone is still having fun with The Sims! I received Nightlife from Santa. I installed it the other day but have not played it yet. :(

We talked a bit about this earlier in the thread but I wonder if it's changed: Where are you downloading your Sims stuff from? I was hoping to download some good houses, heads, clothes, and furniture. I used to use The Well-Dressed Sim (http://www.welldressedsim.com/) for Sims 1 since they had such high-quality stuff, and it may be where I go ahead and get Sims 2 stuff too... but I wonder if The Sims Resource (http://thesimsresource.com/) is better these days, or if there's another one I hadn't heard of?

[Jane&Andy]

I've downloaded some hairstyles off a website, but I can't remember which one it was. I haven't downloaded anything else.

[Jane&Andy]

now that I've clicked on your link I think I used the well dressed Sim before.

[Kopper]

I'm no help because I don't download anything. I'm terrified of downloading bad objects etc. I've read about too many people having problems w/ custom objects on the Sims MBs.

[Jane&Andy]

I downloaded the hairdo's and have had no problem. Didn't download anything more b/c I'd heard about it causing problems for people too. But now that I've looked at the stuff at the Well dressed sim I want it all. :o :p

[Janey]

I'm no help because I don't download anything. I'm terrified of downloading bad objects etc. I've read about too many people having problems w/ custom objects on the Sims MBs.

Yeeep, that's the reason I'm picky about the sites I download from. I'm wary of The Sims Resource because as far as I can tell there isn't really any Quality Control with their site... people just upload stuff, and then people download whatever has been uploaded. Buyer Beware, and all that. With sites like the Well Dressed Sims, they have a few people uploading things to the site, they all know each other, etc. I've never had any issues with things I've downloaded from them. Admittedly it has been a small amount with The Sims 2, but with Sims 1, I had two entire burned CD's full of downloaded objects, heads, clothing, walls, floors, etc.

I'd be sad to not download things! The download part of The Sims is a huge part of the fun for me -- it's like furniture shoping, clothes shopping, etc, for FREE. (or, well, almost free :))

[NotDesperate]

Which do you all like to do more? Create your own town and families/people or play the people and neighborhoods that already exist?

I got Sims2 for PC for Christmas. I wanted the PS2 version but DH thought I would use the PC one more b/c our computer is in the same room that DH draws in. I haven't been into it that much b/c I have been so busy but it is fun.

I have the same issue as the O.P. in that I just don't know where to begin!!

[Jane&Andy]

I created my own neighborhood. I've actually created several. For whatever reason I get bored with one and then start a new one. I know with the first neighborhood I was still figuring out how to play and then I created too many families so it was hard to keep up with.

I never tried playing with the pre existing characters and towns, it just didn't interest me. But I do enjoy taking the pre-existing houses and remodeling them.

[udsweetpea]

Which do you all like to do more? Create your own town and families/people or play the people and neighborhoods that already exist?


I usually get stuck on my one family and try to build them up as much as possible. I get addicted on trying to get the little ones potty trained and off to private school!

Here's my question... my child won't boost his grades. He's doing his homework and going to school with maxed out needs, but he's still bringing home a D report card. Any suggestions?

[Jane&Andy]

I've had kids grades go down one day (or not improve) even though they did their homework but it resolved by the next day - just seemed to be a temporary glitch.

Last time I wanted to get a kid into private school the headmaster never showed up. I got the little message saying he was there for dinner but there was no sign of him. Its happened more than once and kinda takes the fun out of even trying.

[udsweetpea]

Last time I wanted to get a kid into private school the headmaster never showed up. I got the little message saying he was there for dinner but there was no sign of him. Its happened more than once and kinda takes the fun out of even trying.

Getting that darn headmaster to my house has been my goal for months, but little Christian (my boy) will not get his grades up enough!

[Jane&Andy]

My kid had an A+ so grades weren't the problem. :confused:

[udsweetpea]

I'm so upset! I've been working for months on my 2 kids, and the social worker came to take both of them the other day! Granted, my kid missed the bus to school and had a D+ report card, but that's no reason to take BOTH OF THEM! I'm pissed!

[Evie]

Ok - I have already installed and been playing with the Sims Nightlife. For the holidays I was given Sims University.

Do I have to uninstall the Nightlife and if so, will I lose all the game I have played there so far? Has anyone else done this before?

[udsweetpea]

Nope, you don't have to uninstall Nightlife. Once you install University, you can pop in University and still play Nightlife.

[Jane&Andy]

udsweetpea - I think they always take all kids away. But you can have different Sim parents adopt them. I had to do that once.

Evie - I've done that with original Sims but its been awhile so I'm fuzzy on the details. I know I just installed the new to me EP first and then it would tell me to reinstall the other EP. But I don't think I lost anything from that EP when it was reinstalled.

[Evie]

Ok good. Thanks udsweetpea & Jane&Andy.

I can't wait to get started.

Also - that is interesting that another family can adopt a child that is taken away by the social worker.

[udsweetpea]

Jane&Andy So are my children permanently lost?

[Jane&Andy]

nope. If you select a different pair of parents (b/c the original parents can never adopt once they have kids taken away), have them put in a call to adopt and then when you select the age select child. And one of those children that was just taken away will come back.

I did this once when my twins were picked up by Child Services. It just sucked b/c you can't adopt 2 kids on the same day so I had to call to adopt again and they weren't the same age anymore.

[Evie]

I have one more question. Where are the vampires? Can you create a family of vampires and how do you do that?

I think one of my Sims kids might be friends with a vampire, but I am not sure if the kid is just goth.

[Jane&Andy]

I never played with the Vampires but I found this on a Sims2 community on LJ:

you meet vampires downtown and if you become friendly enough you can choose to have them bite you and turn you into one.

[BlackMagicRose]

No way! There are vampires in the new Sims game? I am sooooo getting it ;)

[Jane&Andy]

I've downloaded some new hairdos off of welldressedsims.com but that's it.

I use the money cheat and that new "maxmotives" cheat that someone posted about here.

I try playing without the money cheat but its hard - I usually give up after awhile.

[udsweetpea]

And do you use cheats?

I use the cheats... the money one and maxmotives. I don't really know any others.

And I haven't downloaded anything yet because I play Sims on my laptop, and its hardly ever I have it hooked up to the internet.

[LDS Angel 19]

Bump... I'm quickly becoming a Sims addict.

Anyone here make stories about their sims, take pictures and all that? It seems like all they ever talk about in the Sims communities on LJ. I've been thinking about trying it, but it just seeme like a lot of work.

[Jane&Andy]

nope, thats too much work. I've got my hands full just trying to get my latest group of young adults through college.

[udsweetpea]

You girls have to check this out. It's a music video set to the Sims, and its hilarious! Listen to the lyrics

I'm My Own Grandpa (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/54702/im_my_own_grandpa/)

[Janey]

I'm having a mental block aobut Sims 2. I really, really want to play it!! But I can't figure out how to build, export, and import houses. I just can't have my Sims them living in Maxis houses - they are always so inefficient! I want to build my own. Unfortunately, this makes me not want to get over the hurdle and hit the Play button.

Has anyone built houses before? Or found a tutorial on how to do it?

[Natasha]

I always build my own houses. To me, it's the most fun part of the game!

[Janey]

I know! I loooooooved building houses in Sims 1. little "starter" homes... then i'd move 'em into family homes... then big mansions... it was great!!

But it's SO different in Sims 2 than in Sims 1 that I can't figure it out. :( I have googled around and tried to find a tutorial on building homes but I can't find one. It's so disappointing.

[Jane&Andy]

Can you be more specific about what building problems you are having?

[Natasha]

I just build them the same way I did in the original Sims. It is a little different, but I got the hang of it after playing around with them for a little while.

[2kCougar]

Anyone get the new ep yet? Now they can run their own business. As a side note, you can see the houses you back up to--they don't disappear once you're playing the game.

[PinkMartini]

I just got home with the new expansion pack - Open for Business. Haven't tried making my own business yet, will try that tomorrow...

[Jane&Andy]

I just ordered the new ep yesterday. :)

[LDS Angel 19]

I don't have any of the EP's yet. I'm quite terrified they will make my computer explode, lol

[d4est]

I got the new Open For Business and started playing it over the weekend. Right now it is really hard to keep my employees and customers happy. The customers complain to me and the employees quit. I think with more practice it should get better - anybody else start the game?

[espresso]

So I got Sims 2 this weekend and OMG, I am addicted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is nothing I would rather do than play the sims right now!

I only have one family...if I create a second family, can they interact with the first family?

[TX Sweetheart]

I got OFB the day it came out but oddly the only thing I've really used in it are the new clothes and hairstyles that come with it... oh and I gave pretty much everybody in the neighborhood a makeover with the beauty chair... that thing rocks LOL

I tried starting a flower shop but people would come in but not buy anything so I quit. Also tried having a beauty salon in my home, but nobody would pay for their makeovers, so again I gave up LOL

[Jane&Andy]

just got OFB today. Haven't started playing yet.

shellslake - interacting with other Sims is an important part of Sims 2, they have to make friends in order to get promotions. When you first move into a house neighbors will come to greet you - you can interact with them. You can also chat online. Once you've met one (in person or online) you can call them up to chat or invite them over.

[espresso]

Is anyone playing on a mac? If so, I have a couple of questions for you...

[d4est]

oh and I gave pretty much everybody in the neighborhood a makeover with the beauty chair... that thing rocks LOL

Beauty chair? sounds fun- Where can I find that?:D

[TX Sweetheart]

I think it's in the "other" section for chairs in OFB

[IcedSkate]

My twin sister has Sims2 University (ep), and it's quite interesting. LoL. Greek houses, dorms...making the Dean's list. LoL. And Sims2 has more child development stages that regular Sims doesn't have.

But yeah, I aree...addiction is something very much involved, not that I have actually played--just watched. LoL (it's addicting to watch too!).

[alliannie]

I am so frustrated at my Sims2 game. Lately when I am playing it all it does is minimize every 2-5 mins. It is driving me insane. I can't get anything done because I have to maxmize and then it has to reload whatever I am in. Does this happen to anyone else??? I wonder if its my computer but it does not do it when I play any other games or when I am in any other programs. If it is the game how do I make it go away? I have quit playing it because it makes me so mad. DH can't figure out why it is happening either.

To give you information that could maybe help you help me:)
I am on a laptop. I have Sims2. No expansions. I have an XP system. Okay that is all I can think of. Help...Anyone!?

[Janey]

Hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete and click on the "Applications" tab to see what other programs are running. Perhaps you have a program in there that 'pops in' invisably making your Sims2 minimize.

[Squee]

My sims2 booklet that comes with the game has tips about it running better. Maybe that will help you get it running better. I have the university expansion and my graphics card has been upgraded so it runs it awesome but I need more ram as I only have 256mb of ram, that the only prob my computer is having at the moment.

[alliannie]

Thanks for the suggestions. I thought it could possibly be when another program is popping up. I tried to figure out what program it could be but I will look into that agian.

I will also read my booklet! Maybe they have suggestions in there.

Any more ideas?

[BlackMagicRose]

I am going to be getting Sims 2, question...in what order should I buy the expansion packs? Do I have to install them in a certain order? Which expansion packs are the best?

[TX Sweetheart]

I got them and installed them in the order them came out... but then, I also bought them all the day they came out LOL... anyway, I don't think it matters which one you install first (as long as you have the base game, of course :p). I use a little bit of all 3 of them, but I think I use University the most... all my sims are homebodies so they don't really go downtown all that much (Nightlife) and I have yet to be able to run a successful business with Open for Business... but I do enjoy the new clothes, hairstyles and furniture that comes with each additional expansion pack, so I do use those.

[Hangin'in]

I only have nightlife... and I really like it. The next one I get will probably be *open for business*, but I've not had a lot of time to play recently, so i have not done it yet.

[Jane&Andy]

with original Sims they did need to be installed in the order they came out. If you installed them out of order you didn't loose anything but you did have to reinstall the newer ones if you installed an older one out of order.

I think I like University best. It takes a long time to put them through college but it opens up some new career opportunities. And its a great time to build up your Sims skill levels and friendships so that they are in great shape when they become adults.

I enjoy the extra items, etc you get with Nightlife but like Tx Sweetheart - my sims are homebodies so they don't ever go downtown. I haven't had much time to play Open for Business yet but I think its going to take a lot of work to figure out how to successfully run a Sim business.

[ruledbymercury]

Has anyone been playing lately? I just rediscovered my love for this game this past weekend. We had a virus and had to wipe our computer awhile back, and I just never got around to reinstalling Sims2. I was working on the Legacy Challenge* at the time and was 5 generations in when it happened, so the idea of starting over from scratch frustrated me. But that was months and months ago, so starting fresh doesn't sound so bad now. Saturday evening, DH surprised me by reinstalling the game while I was in the shower. When I got out, it was all set up for me to play and that was that. I was totally rehooked on the game and played it for most of the rest of the weekend!

*Has anyone here tried the Legacy Challenge? In case you haven't heard, it's a player-invented challenge where you create one sim (using the last name "Legacy", usually) and put them on a 10x10 empty lot and they have to survive through 10 generations using NO cheats and procreating with only game-created characters! It's really fun, yet frustrating at the same time. I found out about it on the Legacy Challenge LJ community (http://legacychallenge.livejournal.com). People go there and post the stories and pictures and family trees of their Legacy families. Really fun and addicting, let me tell you. Getting through 10 generations is harder than you think!

The family I started and played with over the weekend wasn't a Legacy Challenge family, but I think I am going to start a new one pretty soon. Anyone else around here want to join me and start their own Legacy family?

[udsweetpea]

Wow, that sounds hard and addicting! I'll join you, but it will take me forever! Would turning aging on and off be considered a cheat?

[LDS Angel 19]

I have a Legacy going. I just recently got my first EP, (Uni) during Generation 3-4. So I'm working on getting generation 4 through Uni, which is annoying and seems like it's taking forever. I would just skip it altogther, but my heir is a knowlegde sim with a super-high point fear of "Being Un-educated".

[ruledbymercury]

Anything that isn't a regular part of the game is considered a cheat. But some people bend the rules slightly. It's up to you. And it certainly does take a long long time. But the challenge aspect of it is so much fun. It ends up creating these complex, generational, soap-opera-like sagas.

I'll probably start my Legacy family tonight when I get home from work. If I get a chance, I'll post a picture of him/her.

[ruledbymercury]

One more rule that I forgot to mention in regards to the Legacy Challenge...When your sims age-transition to teenagers and you are asked to pick an aspiration, roll a six-sided die to decide for you. Rolling six is a wildcard, so you can pick whichever aspiration you want if you get that number.

[espresso]

I'll play..... what do you need to do to start? Just create a Sim from scratch and have him/her marry one of the townies?


How do you get pictures of sims? I was browsing through the livejournal and it was full of pictures!

Also, isn't a 10x10 lot HUGE? The biggest I could get is 5x5....

[espresso]

Nevermind! I answered my own question.... if you have questions go here to http://www.legacychallenge.com/ find out how to play :)

So are we going to add up points?

(though I still don't know how to do the picture thing....)


Can you tell I am a teacher and just got done with the school year?

[TX Sweetheart]

wow that's really interesting!! I think I may have to try it. My game got majorly bugged by a neighborhood I downloaded so I had to start again and somehow I lost the CDs to reinstall Uni and OFB, so I think I'm gonna uninstall Nightlife and just do the base game.

[ruledbymercury]

shellslake - The screenshots you take with the camera function are saved here:

My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Storytelling/

From there, you can resize or crop the images and upload them to your image hosting site for posting here or anywhere else. Hope that helps!
--------------------------------------------

I tried starting a Legacy family last night, but I hated where it was going, so I think I'll be starting over. I started out with Eleanor Legacy. Since you start with barely any money, I had her living outdoors with just the bare essentials. She ended up falling for and marrying Darren Dreamer, who only brought $96 into the family. He was also unemployed. By the time the first baby was born (a boy named Grant), they STILL didn't have an actual house. When they were both promoted in their jobs (Darren on the science track, and Eleanor on the political track), I thought they had enough money with the bonuses to at least build a tiny roofless shack for them to live in. But I ended up short on money for a shower. So they had to bathe in the sink for awhile. That was miserable. They also didn't have money for their food deilvery guy or the maid, so they took Eleanor's easel as payment (she LOVED painting) as well as one of the only two chairs in the house. Oh, and there's only one floorlamp in the whole place and no windows. So it's like they're living in a dungeon! Not only that, but where I thought I would like Eleanor with Darren, now I'm finding that I dispise him.

So yeah, I'll probably be starting my Legacy over from scratch.

[Jane&Andy]

and that would be why I always use the money cheat. :p

I've never tried the Legacy challenge, I just make my own neighborhood with my own families and play with them. We had to delete everything off my computer recently so I just started from scratch a few weeks ago.

[udsweetpea]

I'm so anxious to start my Legacy that I don't even want to go work out. Someone please push me out the door before I load the Sims! ;)

[ruledbymercury]

I used to use the money cheat all the time (DH does it too), but now I'm trying not to. I have a successful family going right now that was built from the bottom up without the money cheat. The dad's an executive and the mom is a prep chef. Their house is a bit small, but they'll soon be able to afford a bigger one. I've also done the Legacy Challenge before, following all the rules and no cheats, and made it almost halfway through before we had to wipe the computer clean and reinstall. So it can be done! :D

This new LC family I started just had bad luck all around when they started. I could just keep going with them until things get better, but I think I'd rather start over. :p

Andrea - I very briefly entertained the idea of calling in to work today (I really need a "mental health" day soon) and restarting my new Legacy family, but I resisted. My consolation was that it's almost the weekend. DH works late Friday night, so I'll have the house to myself and plenty of time to play Sims. I can't wait!

[Jane&Andy]

I periodically decide to try without the money cheat but my people end up so miserable that I always give up.

[Janey]

I never use the money cheat. I always start two single people out in starter homes, make them get married, and then they have an okay cushion. After hearing all of you talk about this - I gotta get Sims installed on this new computer!!

[ruledbymercury]

The thing you have to hope for in the Legacy Challenge is that you marry your founding sim off to someone who can bring in at least a modest amount of money into the family when they move in so you can improve the living conditions a little more quickly (because no matter how you do it, your Legacy founder starts out living in squalor...comes with the territory of buying a 10X10 lot right off the bat and is one of the things that makes it challenging). You also hope that they already have a career started and have a few good skills. Darren Dreamer had a measley $96 and was unemployed. He did come with his creativity skills maxed out, but that's the only thing he had going for him.

So let this be a lesson to you Legacy Challengers out there! Despite his good looks, do NOT marry your founding Legacy sim off to Darren Dreamer! Hee! :p

[udsweetpea]

I was just reading the Legacy website, and it said you can't marry any of the neighborhood sims like the Goths. So who can you marry?

[LDS Angel 19]

Yeah. Technically Darren is against the rules.

From legacy challange.com:
"Who are 'townies' and who are 'NPC's ? What is the difference between
the two?"
Townies are the Sims that come with each neighborhood. They act just
like normal Sims, have their own personality and hold jobs in the same
career fields that your Sims can hold. The only thing that is different
is that they do not appear on the neighborhood screen.
NPC’s are any sim that comes to your house with a specific purpose...
be it a maid to clean, a gardener to water or a burglar to rob you.
These Sims do NOT have jobs in the standard career fields, and when brought
into the family, start out as unemployed."

There's an interesting list of possible Townies here: http://community.livejournal.com/legacychallenge/10748.html

So far, I've used Benjamin Long, Joe Carr, a (female) gardener, and a pizza guy.

[ruledbymercury]

I learned the rules a bit differently from that website (I started my first Legacy Challenge in Jan 2005). They say 5x5 lot, but I learned that you have to pick a 10x10 lot. A 5x5 lot would be a lot easier, since it would be cheaper, but you have less room and you can't move your Legacy family once you start. And as far as marrying, I always thought it was any character that came with the game (townies, NPCs like the mailman, maid, etc, and Maxis-created families like the Goths). I don't usually bother with the points system either. I just like the challenge of getting to the 10th generation while following the game rules.

So I guess there are a few minor differences, depending on where you first heard the rules.

[udsweetpea]

I can't even find a 10x10 lot. Can you help me find it?

[ruledbymercury]

I'm at work, so I don't have the game in front of me, but I think it's in the same place where you can go to place a pre-constructed house anywhere in the neighborhood. Below the little house icon, there should be a flat land icon. Click that and it will show different sized lots. The largest one is the 10x10. Just place it in any empty section of the neighborhood, next to a road. Then move your founder onto the empty lot.

[udsweetpea]

That's where I found the lots as well, but the largest was a 5x6. Oh well... I'll just work with this one.

[Evie]

There was no 10x10 lot in my game either, so I used the 5x5, which is HUGE. The legacy website I saw said 5x5. It still leaves you with virtually no money to start.

[ruledbymercury]

Huh. Well, maybe it was 5x5 and not 10x10. It's been almost a year and a half since I first found the rules. Whatever it is, just choose the biggest lot available and you'll be fine.

Either way, I remember there being a few discrepancies between different people's rules. Since it's scored on the "honor system" and you're basically only playing to challenge yourself, do what works for you. And come back and post about your Legacy family once you've got it started! :)

[udsweetpea]

This game is hard playing by the rules ;) I started my Legacy today with Felicity Legacy. She's on the Athletic career path, but her house is so small, she has to move the TV outside everytime she wants to work out. I'm still confused on who I can marry, so she's just making good friends for now.

I've made myself set my alarm clock so I won't sit in front of the computer all day playing.

[espresso]

I played for 3.5 hours last night! Serious addiction!! (hubby was working late...)

I now have Isobella Legacy who married Goopy GilsCarbo and he brought in 14,000!! So now we have a big house and a real oven, but still no walls on the house so a lot of our stuff was stolen. Goopy is the dumbest name ever by the way but the only other townie I could find was Komei and he was just ugly.

Now Isobella and Goopy have two children.... Brianna Legacy (the heir) and Aspen GillsCarbo. I am going to try to keep the Legacy name going by not having them marry until after the heir is born.

The livejournal list is great and I just used it to see if the people I was meeting was a townie or not. The Goths and others are just created families and can be deleted just like any other family you would create. Townies cannot be deleted.

Not using the money cheat or the magic espresso happy machine is hard!

Good luck!

[BlackMagicRose]

I really want to do this as a challenge to myself, but I am a bit confused about a few things...

After you create your first Legacy member can you move them into a lot that already has a house on it?

Can you create another sim for the first Legacy to marry or do you have to married an already created player in the game???

I already created Annabella Legacy :)

[udsweetpea]

This is bad if I'm wanting to stay home from work to play! Must go to work!!!

[ruledbymercury]

BlackMagicRose - No, you have to start on an empty lot (the largest one available) and only marry game-created characters. The point is to start with almost nothing and build a 10-generation legacy from the ground up. Hopefully that clears some things up for you! :)

I tried to start a new Legacy last night, but my computer froze just as my Legacy founder, Adelaide Legacy was woohooing her new husband, Benjamin Long. I'm going to have to start over a third time. Sooooooo frustrating! So I spent the rest of the evening playing with my main family (the ones I've created to look like DH and I). I was able to make some progress on them, so my Sims session wasn't a total loss.

[ruledbymercury]

I worked on my Legacies last night and got pretty far into Generation 2. I uploaded some pics too. They are small though. I didn't realize the photo function was on the smallest setting, so the pictures are small and not so good quality. You'll get the idea though.

I started with Adelaide Legacy. An aquarius with family aspirations. She didn't have the money for a house, so she lived outside with the bare necessities. She needed money, so she tried working in the medical field, but screwed up on her first day and got fired. So she decided to follow her dream of becoming a pro athlete. She's now on the Sports track and is currently a Rookie for the Llamas baseball team.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/snapshot_d18b2c43_f18b2cc6.jpg

Soon after she moved into the neighborhood, she met and fell in love with Benjamin Long, a knowledge sim. He was a nurse that she met during her one day in the medical field.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/AdelaideandBen1stkiss.jpg

He moved in and brought about $5000 to the family. They were finally able to build a small one-room house to live in. Once the house was finished, they were married in a quiet ceremony at home.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/AdelaideBenwedding.jpg

Before long, they welcomed their first child, a little boy named Henrik, into the family.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/BenwbabyHenrik.jpg

Henrik grew into a pretty cute toddler. Luckily, so far it looks like he got Adelaide's nose. Which is a good thing, because Ben's nose is quite funky-looking. I'm determined that I will choose Adelaide's heir by whether or not they have Ben's nose.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/HenrikBecomesChild.jpg

At some point, Ben was promoted to medical intern, which is nice. They now have a moderate income and aren't destitute anymore. However, they were thrown a HUGE curveball when Adelaide found out that she was pregnant again. This time, with twins!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/Adelaidepregwtwins.jpg

She ended up having girls, named Jane and Juliet. Twins are SUCH a pain, especially when you already have a toddler to take care of, and for a few days after they were born, both parents were extremely unhappy. I think I pretty much have that under control now. Now Henrik is a child, and Jane and Juliet are toddlers. All three with their dad's blond hair. Henrik and Jane (I think...the twins are almost impossible to tell apart) both have green eyes like Adelaide, and Juliet has Ben's blue eyes. One of the things I find most interesting about this game is how genes transfer from parent to child, so I almost always make note of stuff like that. Anyways, they expanded the house and added two bedrooms and a bigger kitchen. The twins sleep in their parents' room and Henrik has his own room.

[LDS Angel 19]

Ah yes, that nose is a big drawback! And twins are very tough.

I need to figure out how to get my pics out of the game one of these days. I know it's in some Storytelling file somewhere... *goes to look*

[ruledbymercury]

Here's a shot of Henrik as a child. He's still looking pretty cute.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/HappyChildHenrik.jpg

And the twins becoming identical toddlers.

Here's Jane (who looks like she might inherit "the nose").
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/Julietastoddler.jpg

And Juliet.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/Janeastoddler.jpg

[ruledbymercury]

LDS_Angel_19 - You can find your photos by following this path:

My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Storytelling/

Definitely post some if you get the chance! I love seeing everyone's sim families!

[TX Sweetheart]

I haven't started mine yet but will tonight... DH is starting his 3-day-weekend night shift so he won't be home 'til 6AM tomorrow morning... plenty of time to play Sims :D Yeah... I never sleep LOL

[TX Sweetheart]

Started one, Miss Cassandra Johnson... ended up marrying Benjamin Long who brought in 19000 and is on the medical career track. However, for some reason he wasn't getting promoted even though he had the right number of friends and had all the skills for promotion... so I trashed the lot. Starting over now...

[JoyousAutumn]

I've been addicted to Sims 2 since it came out- and I am definitely going to try the LC when I get home!
Thanks for the idea!

[ruledbymercury]

I got a little further in my Legacy family. All three kids in generation 2 are teens now. I rolled family for Henrik, knowledge for Jane, and got the wildcard for Juliet and picked fortune. So far, it looks like none of the kids got Ben's awful nose. Henrik is kinda dorky looking, but the twins are just beautiful. You never know though, sometimes funky things happen in the transition between teen and adult. So, so far I can't really tell which one will be the heir. Henrik got an afterschool job as a gopher on the business track. Business always seems like a good career track for family sims. Adelaide, the family founder, got a promotion and is now a starter for the baseball team. She's 4 days away from becoming an elder though, so I'm sure it won't be too long before she's ready to retire.

[udsweetpea]

I've been playing all day on my Legacy family. Felicity Legacy, the family founder, is in the medical field and married Curtis Ryan, a junior executive in the business field. They had a fabulous outdoors wedding at the house. He brought $4000 to the family along with 6 friends. Along with that money and the money from Felicity's many promotions, they've been able to upgrade their efficiency "apartment" into a large one-bedroom brick home with an eat-in kitchen, living room, and play room. Felicity gave birth to two beautiful twins, Abigail and Nicholas, who are now adorable toddlers.

Twins are HARD! I'm trying not to use cheats, but I like to use the aging off/on when the kids are toddlers so they get all of their potty training and everything in.

I would post pictures, but when I follow the directions Heather gave, there's only one picture in the Storytelling folder that's mine, and I've been taking a buttload of pictures.

How are you all choosing which one of your children carrying on the "legacy"? Will you send them to University if you have that expansion pack?

[ruledbymercury]

I usually choose my heir from a few different factors - genetic traits I want passed down to future heirs, whether or not they have the family aspiration (knowledge and fortune can be okay too though...but continuing on a legacy with a romance sim is tough!), and just whether or not I generally like that particular sim.

So far, with the three in my 2nd generation now, I'm pretty evenly divided. The twins are more attractive than their older brother, but he's a family sim. And there are positives and negatives for all three. So for this generation I'm reserving judgement until they become adults. If Henrik becomes a handsome, less-dorky adult, I'll probably just go with him.

[BlackMagicRose]

I JUST started. Me and my fiance have been playing other families this weekend so I have not had much time with my legacy family. Her name is Annabella Legacy. She is an aquarius and on the family track. :) I will post a picture as soon as I figure out how! She has a funky style with piercings ;)

[Janey]

Has anybody figured out how to turn the TV sounds off? I had them off in Sims 1, and playing Sims 2 lately the TV is starting to drive me bananas ... i hate the TV being on as 'background noice' IRL too, and the sims never remember to turn the freaking thing off when they're done watching it. :p

[LDS Angel 19]

The tv in the Sims is LOUD. These days, 99% of the time I don't even put one in my houses.

[LDS Angel 19]

So I finally found my pics, but after uploading them to snapfish they turned awfully blurry. Let's see how they show up here....

This is my founder, Linda, on her lot in the very beginning. She's a Family sim.
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C77982%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E%3A57%3E744%3E WSNRCG%3D32337%3A%3B2365%3A5nu0mrj

This is her husband, (I can't even remember his name....) He's a Knowledge Sim.
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C77982%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E%3A57%3E744% 3EWSNRCG%3D32337%3A%3B2365%3A3nu0mrj

This is thier house later on , (I forgot to take pics for awhile) with their son Andrew playing in his room. (As you can see I went with a bit of a dungeon kinda theme for the house)
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C77982%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E%3A57%3E744% 3EWSNRCG%3D32337%3A%3B2365%3A6nu0mrj

[Janey]

Phew -- Found it!

floatProp tvVolume [0.0-1.0]

0.0 is volume off. 0.5 is default. Lower or increase number to manage tv sound

[BlackMagicRose]

I REALLY hate my legacy family! Annabella is grouchy and has no friends and her fiance is a fortune aspiration and he is a PITA! I am going to delete them and start all over. I do not want to know what their children will be like! I will take pictures and shar them here to! This is so addictive!!

[ruledbymercury]

LDS_Angel_19 - Great pictures! Wow, they live in a nice, spacious house!

Well, I worked a little more on my family and now the twins have afterschool jobs. Juliet is on the science track and Jane is in the military. And, sadly, Adelaide has become an elder. She's still a starter for the Llamas pro baseball team, though. Ha! That must be a sight to behold! And her much younger-looking husband Ben just got a promotion and is a Resident at the hospital. Henrik has been crushing on Meadow, the neighborhood Britney Spears wannabe, who unfortunately won't give poor Henrik the time of day. She'll talk to him and accept admiration from him and listen to his jokes until the cows come home, but the moment he tries to hug her or flirt with her, she gets really mad.

Oh, one thing I have decided about generation 2...one of the twins will definitely be married off to Ben's good friend Brandon Lilliard when they become adults. He seems like a sweetie, and he's not too bad looking either. I may match Henrik up with his mom's best friend Brandi or maybe even the maid. We'll see.

I need to get their pictures uploaded so I can give a pictoral update! I'll try to remember to do that tonight when I get home.

[LDS Angel 19]

Yeah, I lucked out, the guy brought in like 19 thousand.

[ruledbymercury]

Woah! Yeah, you did luck out. Ben only brought in $5000. It was enough to give them a start though. :D

[BlackMagicRose]

I started out with a new Legacy family. Her name is Victoria Legacy. She is a Pisces and has a family aspiration. She is on the law eforcement track. She is good friends with Curtis Ryan right now. So we will see how that turns out ;) He is a little odd looking though. I will shop around a little bit more :)

[Janey]

BlackMagicRose - you have to upload it somewhere first ... Flickr & Photobucket are both good places. :)

[ruledbymercury]

Speaking of Curtis Ryan...

My original Legacy family founder Claire (the one I did a year ago) married Curtis. They had three boys together and the oldest, Archer, looked like his mom, so he was the heir. The other two were adorable all the way up through their teenage phase. The middle boy, Teague, was hot stuff as a teen, while Archer was kinda geeky. But as adults, the tides shifted and Archer turned out to be a stud and Teague ended up being a spitting image of Curtis, weird looks and all. The youngest son, Everett, followed right in Teague's footsteps. Despite his looks, though, Curtis really grew on me, as did the younger two sons. I was even kinda sad when Curtis died. He died a happy platinum death, though. Hula dancers and all! :D

[udsweetpea]

My twins are now children, but they won't sleep in any bed I give them. They only want to nap on the couch. What should I do?

ETA- Nevermind... they're sleeping in their beds now. I don't know what was wrong with them.

[BlackMagicRose]

I laughed so hard yesterday when I realised Curtis is on the criminal career path! Victoria Legacy is on the law enforcemnet path and they just moved in together and are in love!! LOL

Can I move into a already built house when I make more money??

[ruledbymercury]

BlackMagicRose - I had forgotten that Curtis was a criminal! That's really funny! No wonder he put the moves on Victoria...He wanted to have a cop in his back pocket just in case!

As for moving to a different house, no, it's actually against the rules. You have to stay on the same lot for all 10 generations.

------------------------

I wasn't able to work on my Legacies last night. DH had a 9-page paper to do for one of his classes, so he monopolized the computer from before I got home from work at 6 until after 3AM!

[BlackMagicRose]

I gave Curtis a different career path ;) He is a business guy now. They are finally engaged. I am working on their house and I guess I should make it a nice one since they will be there for a while. I have to show everyone some pictures soon. I think they will make cute babies. Hopefully I will get to that today!

[BlackMagicRose]

Just an update, Curtis and Victoria have a beautiful toddler named Jack. He is so cute! He looks alot like both of them. Good combination of genes :) Victoria is pregnant again :) I took alot of pictures of Jack as a baby and as a toddler. I will post them later.

[udsweetpea]

I'm having a problem finding my pictures. I use MyDocuments/EA Games/Sims 2/Storytelling, but my pictures aren't in there besides one. Any ideas where they could be?

[ruledbymercury]

No idea why your pics wouldn't be there, sorry! I remember getting confused at first because I went to C:/Program Files/EA Games/.../Storytelling and there was only game-created pics in there, but if you're sure you're going through the "My Documents" path, they should be there! :(

[Evie]

So everyone has to live in that same original house, the entire time? I cannot move my children to another house?

I was confused about this because I was not sure how to play each person, etc.

[LDS Angel 19]

You can move out extra kids (non-hiers), and move them into other houses and play them, but the main bloodline always has to stay on the original lot. And once they're moved out they can never move back in.

[LDS Angel 19]

two funny pictures I just took:

I hit pause, and caught the son getting out of the shower. Sort looks like he's doing ballet.
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C94437%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E%3A57%3E744%3E WSNRCG%3D32337%3B74%3A232%3Anu0mrj

I have a criminal in my family too. And he's a knowledge sim who loves to paint all the time. And he's really clean. I think you can see it in this pic, he's got little 'clean bubbles' coming off him.
http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C94437%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E%3A57%3E744%3E WSNRCG%3D32337%3B749%3B82%3Anu0mrj

[BlackMagicRose]

Victoria and Curtis have a new addition! Her name is Lydia. :) Jack is a joy. Unless Lydia is an angel I think Jack will be the heir. No more babies until They are both children! Actually, she may be done. Victoria gets REALLY sick during pregnancies ;) I really have to post pics of Jack somehow.

[JoyousAutumn]

Well, my founder refuses to die LOL
He's 70 days old, and is a celebrity chef. I'm not letting him retire because he brings in over $2000 every day he works. He spends the rest of his time flirting with the maid, and painting "masterpieces."
His wife is 62 days old and spends her time working on her novel- she just sold her first one. She too is still working, and is one step below Celebrity Chef.
Their only daughter and heir is currently a General Practicioner, and even though she's been an adult for 8 days, she's socially inadequate and hasn't even had her first kiss LOL. She's got a major crush on the firefighter though- she caught the kitchen on fire 3 times to make him come over. I'm hoping he'll move in soon so I can get her started on making babies.
I think their account has $40,000 in it right now and a decent sized but silly looking house.
Overall doing good considering the founder started with a toilet, fridge, bed, and sink!

[LDS Angel 19]

Here's a shot of Andrew after he became a teen:

http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3C972%3B8%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E%3A57%3E744% 3EWSNRCG%3D32337%3B%3C793595nu0mrj

Not bad, except for that nose. Not sure where he got that from. Havn't decided yet if I want to send him to Uni right away or have him get a job first. He is a Fourtune Sim, so he Wants both. So I'll probably do both. Oh and at his Birthday Party, the cops showed up and broke it up! I've never had that happen before.
I've taken a slightly diffrent approch to this Legacy, I'm only having one kid per generation. A lot easier, but if the kid turns out ugly, I'm stuck with it. But so far so good.

[ruledbymercury]

Brief update on my Legacies...

Ben was promoted to General Practitioner and age-transitioned into an elder on the same day. He's pretty good-looking for an old guy. He's been spending a lot of time painting recently, and is one point away from maxing out his creativity. He painted Adelaide's portrait just before she turned elderly, so the Legacies could have a picture of their founder on their wall for future generations to see. I have a feeling he'll be spending his retirement happily painting masterpieces, which is quite fine by me.

The twins have both reached the top of the their respective teen career tracks, Juliet with Science and Jane with Military (heh...she's G.I. Jane :D). Henrik isn't having the same luck with the Business track. He's one promotion away from the top, but can't seem to get it together for the final step. I have the same problem with him and homework. The twins do their homework quickly and without too much disturbance to their mood. But with Henrik, it's always this big event that takes forever and by the time he's done, he's exhausted and upset. Luckily, he's only four days shy of adulthood, which makes me happy. I can't wait to start generation 3! Oh, and Jane is now dating Ricky Cormier. She's the only one of the teens with a significant other. Henrik is constantly striking out with the ladies (he's still crushing on Meadow) and Juliet tends to attract boys, but just can't be bothered with them right now. Hopefully poor Henrik will have an easier time with adulthood than he did with his teenage years.

[BlackMagicRose]

I am looking for my pictures of the Legacy family. I did find one:

Victoria and Jack

http://static.flickr.com/64/162957029_964d96d9f5.jpg?v=0

I took a lot of others. I just cannot find them.

[ruledbymercury]

BlackMagicRose - Victoria is really striking and pretty! Can't wait to see more pics!

Finally...a few pictures of my Legacies...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/snapshot_d18b2c43_51933428.jpg
Here's teen Henrik, teen Jane, and their mom, Adelaide playing some videogames.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/snapshot_d18b2c43_118f26d3.jpg
Here's Juliet just after becoming a teen. Isn't she pretty? I've since given her a hair makeover. She has long straight hair.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/snapshot_d18b2c43_718f257d.jpg
And here's Jane just after her age transition to teen. She looks so much like her twin sister Juliet.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/Screenshot.jpg
This is small, but it's the only one I have uploaded right now of Henrik as an adult, which JUST took place a few minutes ago. With the blonde hair and same ugly outfit, he looks a lot like his dad Ben without the nose. I immediately gave him a makeover. New clothes, a new haircut, and some sideburns. I'll have to post a picture with the makeover another time. Oh, and just before he transitioned to adulthood, he finally found a girl to kiss; Tosha Go. She kept refusing to go steady, but she didn't have a problem at all with kissing him repeatedly. Committment issues...she must be a romance teen.

[BlackMagicRose]

ruledbymercury Thanks! Victoria is even beautiful as an elder sim. Jack is even more adorable now that he is a child. He looks more like his mom that his dad. Lydia looks like Curtis :( Hopefully she grows into the nose she inherited from him. I am fairly sure that Jack is going to be passing on the legacy though. I lucked out with both. They are both virgos and LOVE to clean everything ;)
Your Sim family is beautiful! I really love the twins :) I can't wait to see them as adults! Jack is going to be a teen in one day. I am going to go play because I am very curious about what he will look like!

[Janey]

I found this and thought some of you might want to use it ...

The WDS Sims Name Maker Upper (http://www.welldressedsim.com/thesimsnames.php/)

[LDS Angel 19]

Thats neat! I may use it. I usually pull random names out of my church directory, but this is funner, lol.

[BlackMagicRose]

Jack and Lydia :) Jack looks a lot like Victoria don't you think? He is currently flirting with the mail girl, Renee ;)

http://static.flickr.com/61/163669517_865cfb42a2.jpg?v=0

[ruledbymercury]

Well, Henrik married Marylena Hamilton, who brought in 19,000 simoleons and was at the top of the science career track, a Mad Scientist. Henrik also got promoted to President of his company. They are quite a power-couple. They had the first child of generation 3, a son named Lando (I let my Star Wars-fan DH name him...heh). However, by that time I had already decided that I was going with one of the twins as heir, so I moved the three of them out just after Lando's birth. I was sad to see them go, but they should be a fun family to play on their own, what with all the cash rolling in from their high-earning careers. Anyways, what a relief to only have 4 sims to take care of right now instead of 7!

That won't last long, though, because Jane has a boyfriend named Joe (which reminds me of that scene in Empire Records when Warren makes fun of Jane, Rex Manning's assistant, and Joe, the record store manager, for flirting with each other...*in Tarzan voice* "Me Joe! You Jane!". Sorry, couldn't resist...). Still no love-interest for Juliet. Which is funny because she's my favorite of the three children. I've got to find her a mate soon. I'm thinking Brandon Lilliard, but we'll see.

[Janey]

So recently, we made a sim with my husband's name & made him sort of look like my husband (in a simmish sort of way). I was playing the game when B wasn't home, and he had an NPC over and was chatting away. I selected Entertain ... and one of the options was Freestyle, so I chose it, wondering what would happen. And the sim started rapping. It was soooo funny! I tried to show B the Freestyle, but the option wouldn't come up again! Any idea how to be able to Freestyle? are there requirements or something?

[udsweetpea]

So recently, we made a sim with my husband's name & made him sort of look like my husband (in a simmish sort of way). I was playing the game when B wasn't home, and he had an NPC over and was chatting away. I selected Entertain ... and one of the options was Freestyle, so I chose it, wondering what would happen. And the sim started rapping. It was soooo funny! I tried to show B the Freestyle, but the option wouldn't come up again! Any idea how to be able to Freestyle? are there requirements or something?

You have to click on the specific Sim and it will show options like "primp", "entertain", etc.

[Janey]

You have to click on the specific Sim and it will show options like "primp", "entertain", etc.
Right ... but now the only option under 'entertain' is joke. The Freestyle option doesn't come up any more for some reason.

[udsweetpea]

Right ... but now the only option under 'entertain' is joke. The Freestyle option doesn't come up any more for some reason.

Are you clicking on the Sim you want to do the entertaining or the one you want to entertain?

[TX Sweetheart]

I finally got around to making my Legacy family. Heather Legacy (founder) married Houston Somebody (I can't remember his last name LOL) and got pregnant. But then Houston died and Heather is about to pop with Baby #1. We'll see what happens LOL
Here's Heather writing her 4th novel:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Snapshot.gif

Sorry, the picture sucks LOL

[udsweetpea]

I guess its my turn to post my Legacy family pictures...

Here's our family portrait... Curtis, Felicity (the founder), twins Abigail and Nicholas, and baby Charlotte.
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNRCG %3D323383597%3B9%3B8nu0mrj

Felicity proposed to Curtis Ryan out by the hot tub.
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNRCG %3D3233835974%3A75nu0mrj

Getting married in their backyard
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNRCG %3D3233835974%3A55nu0mrj

Felicity gave birth to twins, Abigail and Nicholas
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNRCG %3D32338359843%3B9nu0mrj

Abigail as a toddler
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNR CG%3D3233835974%3A58nu0mrj

Nicholas as a toddler
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNR CG%3D32338359843%3B4nu0mrj

[udsweetpea]

Abigail and Nicholas grow up to be the most studious and clean kids
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNR CG%3D3233835974%3A59nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNRCG %3D32338359843%3B7nu0mrj

I gave both of them makeovers... Abigail got those cute pigtails instead of a bob cut, and Nicholas got some spiky hair and cool glasses.

Felicity, always wanting to pop out another kid, gave birth to Charlotte.
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNRCG %3D3233835984425nu0mrj

And here's proud papa with toddler Charlotte
http://images1.snapfish.com/347337795%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3243%3E378%3E859%3EWSNR CG%3D3233835974%3A77nu0mrj

Abigail and Nicholas are now teens (don't have pictures yet), and Charlotte has grown up to be a child.

[TX Sweetheart]

Ok forget mine... right after Heather proposed to her would-be second husband, she died by choking (even though she wasn't eating anything at the time) and baby Austin got carted off by the Social Worker. So I'm starting over... for the 8th time LOL I can't seem to make it past the birth of the second generation...

[Janey]

Are you clicking on the Sim you want to do the entertaining or the one you want to entertain?
I'm clicking on the one I want to entertain.

I love seeing all of these pictures of everybody's sims! How fun. :D


I signed up for a month at Well Dressed Sim (http://www.welldressedsim.com/). It's $6. In 3 days of a downloading frenzy, I've downloaded everything on the entire site that I wanted. It's sooooooo nice having couches & loveseats that match, and super cool new clothes to dress everyone in. The next one that I want to sign up for is The Sims Resource (http://www.thesimsresource.com/). I'll just do one month for that one as well... I need a bunch of new doors & windows -- Well Dressed Sim does not do those. I hate it when doors & windows do not match... and I love making all my houses look different.

I've gotten some stuff off of some free sites as well, but a lot of them want you to pay & help with their bandwidth costs. Understandable, but if I'm going to pay, I want a LOT of stuff for my $5, or whatever. :p

[udsweetpea]

I'm clicking on the one I want to entertain.



Ok, that's it then. You have to click on the Sim that you want to do the entertaining. It gives options like "Primp", "Meditate", "Freestyle", "Freestyle for tips", etc. You'll want to "freestyle" to do the rap thing again.

[ruledbymercury]

Ok forget mine... right after Heather proposed to her would-be second husband, she died by choking (even though she wasn't eating anything at the time) and baby Austin got carted off by the Social Worker. So I'm starting over... for the 8th time LOL I can't seem to make it past the birth of the second generation...

Aw man! That's so sad! Good luck starting over. The first few days are sooo hard, but after that it gets easier, I promise!

Lots going on in my Legacy family. A small wedding ceremony was held in the front yard for Joe and a pregnant Jane. Her belly actually grew DURING the ceremony, which was funny. Shortly after the wedding, Adelaide passed away. Everyone was so sad, especially poor old Ben. I built a family cemetary at the back of the lot and buried her there. During this time, I was trying to get Juliet and Kennedy Cox together. Juliet even asked Kennedy to move in and he accepted, but she absolutely refused to marry him. This of course, broke Kennedy's heart and now he wants nothing to do with her. Juliet has just never been all that interested in love. She didn't even have her first kiss until adulthood. Not to mention the fact that Kennedy is just a restaurant host and doesn't bring in much money. The more I try, the more obvious it is that Juliet just doesn't WANT to be the heir. So I've decided that the legacy will continue through Jane and her sweetheart of a husband Joe.

The biggest shock of the evening...Jane, a twin herself, gave birth to twins! A girl and a boy named Sylvan and Anthony. Both the twins look like they are going to have their dad's brown hair and blue eyes, but Sylvan has darker skin like Joe and Anthony has his moms very fair skin. They look like they are going to be cuties. Both of their parents are quite good-looking so I'm excited to see how they look growing up.

So...Generation three has officially begun!

[BlackMagicRose]

Update:

Jack and Lydia are both teens. Curtis and Victoria are both elders. Lydia and Curtis had their birthdays on the same day. Curtis got a promotion to President the same day he turned into an elder. I did not retire Victoria yet, but I think I will soon. Jack has a crush on the mail girl, Renee and had his first kiss with her :) Lydia is beautiful as a teen, she looks a lot more like her mom. I still think Jack is going to pass on the legacy. Here is a picture of Jack and Renee right after they kissed:

http://static.flickr.com/53/166457374_77d2c52e7f.jpg?v=0

[ruledbymercury]

Just thought I'd post my Legacy family tree to make sense of all these names I'm throwing out there


Adelaide Legacy (RIP) + Benjamin Long (RIP)

Henrik Long + Marylena Hamilton

Lando Long

Jane Long (heir) + Joe Carr

Sylvan Carr
Anthony Carr + Audrey Larrea
[LIST]
Vicent Carr


Juliet Long + Amin Sims

Mason Sims
Mina Sims

[udsweetpea]

I guess I should keep my family tree here for safe keeping and add to it later....


Felicity Legacy + Curtis Ryan

Nicholas Legacy
Abigail Legacy
Charlotte Legacy


I kept the name of the family and not the male spouse... are we supposed to do that?

[Janey]

udsweetpea - Thanks! That worked -- I was clicking on the wrong sim. :o

[LDS Angel 19]

I just thought this was hilarious and I had to share. I actually have two Legacies going, this one is from one I started awhile ago that is now on gen. 4/5. This is Marylena Hamilton, who when I married her in was at the top of the Criminal track, a Criminal Mastermind. Here she is, doing a little dance just after coming home from work:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3473446%3B%3B%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E%3A57%3E744% 3EWSNRCG%3D323383687%3B%3A3%3Bnu0mrj

Look at that outfit!

[ruledbymercury]

I kept the name of the family and not the male spouse... are we supposed to do that?

As far as I know, last name does not matter. But I know many people do try to keep the original family name for each heir. Either way is fine. :D

Michelle - Wow! That is SOME outfit! Love the spiky boots!

[TX Sweetheart]

I've been keeping the Legacy name, which is why I can't ever remember who exactly each one marries LOL... I'll try to do better with this one :p

Anyway, I've started again. Here's my founder, Elizabeth, just after arriving on the lot:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/ElizabethLegacyFirstPhoto.gif

She's just arrived so hasn't met anyone yet.

[udsweetpea]

Are any of you sending your kids to college if you have the University expansion pack?

[ruledbymercury]

I don't have the expansion pack yet, so no. Hopefully I'll have it soon though! DH has been wanting to get it.

Renee - Elizabeth is really pretty! Good luck this time around!

[LDS Angel 19]

I send my kids to Uni, even though it's kind of a pain.

[ruledbymercury]

A few new pictures to share...

Here's a shot from Jane (in her second trimester of preganancy) and Joe's wedding. Yes, there was hanky panky right at the buffet table... Ben looks like he just wants to grab some jello and get the heck away from the lovebirds!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/snapshot_d18b2c43_f199f7f6.jpg

A few hours after the wedding, the reaper came for Adelaide. She spent the first few nights haunting the place. Ben was pleased to see her ghost, even if he was a bit freaked out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/snapshot_d18b2c43_719b2a88.jpg

Here's a shot of Anthony, one of the twins that Jane gave birth to, on his toddler birthday. He's really cute! Looks just like his mom, but with his dad's hair and eyes. Sylvan's just as cute, but I couldn't find a shot of her in this stage.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/snapshot_d18b2c43_119b33de.jpg

In between age-transitioning the twins into childhood, the reaper came for Ben. Again, it was quite sad. Jane and Juliet bawled and bawled.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/snapshot_d18b2c43_d19b5c62.jpg

And here's the first shot I got of Sylvan after her post-childhood-birthday makeover. She looks a lot like her dad. I need to get a similar shot of Anthony now.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/snapshot_d18b2c43_119b5fe0.jpg

[TX Sweetheart]

wow y'all take great pics!

I've been sick today, so I haven't felt much like playing, but Elizabeth did marry Prof. Joel Bertino and is pregnant with their first child. He wasn't the greatest to bring in because he only brought 8,000 to the money situation, but oh well :p

[TX Sweetheart]

Ok I'm not quite sure what happened here LOL... Elizabeth went to feed Anna (E & Prof. Joel's firstborn) and I think I saved and went to the neighborhood screen... and when I went back to the lot, Anna was stuck like velcro to Elizabeth and Elizabeth wasn't holding on at all LOL
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/LookMaNoHands.gif

~~~

Anna has now grown up into a toddler, and unfortunately it looks like she inherited all of her father's features...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/ElizabethandToddlerAnna.gif

Well, as soon as Joel gets home from work, I'm thinkin' they may be makin' another baby :p

[TX Sweetheart]

Anna just grew up into a child... and Elizabeth is pregnant with her second kid who is due any moment now.
Here's Anna on her child birthday (I hate that stupid pirate outfit!)... she became a child and immediately ran off to pick up the paper :rolleyes:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/AnnaOnHerChildBirthday.gif

And here's Joel... I keep forgetting to take pictures of him LOL
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/JoelLegacyStudying.gif

See how much Anna looks like her dad? It's scary...

[TX Sweetheart]

Yay!! I think Emily (Elizabeth & Joel's second daughter) will be taking after her mother... well, at least she has her mother's nose, which is what is :eek: about Anna having her father's nose LOL

Here's Emily just after turning into a toddler:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/EmilyAsToddler.gif

[BlackMagicRose]

I do not have any pictures but I have sad news. Today just after Jack had blown out his birthday candles, the reaper came for Victoria :( It was so sad and very unexpected. One of her wants was to see Jack grow up well, and he did grow up with platinum aspiration. So, at least she was happy before she passed away.

Jack has a HORRBILE nose, so I think Lydia will be the one passing on the genes in the Legacy family. That nose will haunt the family for decades if I let Jack be the heir. Jack and Victoria did not have a great relationship any way, so I think Lydia is a better choice. She will be an adult in three days.

[TX Sweetheart]

*sigh* poor Elizabeth can't decide if she wants another baby or not LOL... one of her wants is to have a baby but it is also one of her fears. Well, Anna & Emily are it for Elizabeth and Joel LOL... Emily is still a child and Anna has gone off to college... hopefully Emily will find someone attractive to fall in love with LOL

[udsweetpea]

Abigail (one of my twins) has gone off to college and has fallen in love with Vincent Kearney. They're now engaged, so I'm guessing they'll get married when she moves back home. (Do they get the option to move back home after college?) Abigail is a physics major in her sophomore year and doing very well on the Dean's List.

Nicholas (my other twin) went to college as well, but I'm not playing with him yet. I want Abigail to be the heir.

And Charlotte is a prodigy child in her childhood years.

Felicity and Curtis are working on getting their skills up so they can be promoted in their jobs.

[TX Sweetheart]

Well, they automatically go back to the "home neighborhood" after they finish college, but it's up to you where in the neighborhood they go after that.

~~~
My heiress Emily has finally become a teenager, with a Family Aspiration of marrying off 6 kids :eek: She got a job in the Medical field and I think she'll be going to college soon.
This was taken just after she got home from her first day of work :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/EmilysFirstDayofWork.gif

ETA: Emily just fell in love with Orlando Centowski, a friend from school. They had their first kiss and are now "going steady" LOL

[TX Sweetheart]

Emily decided she didn't want to go to college... oh well. Elizabeth and Joel are now elders (and Elizabeth is still gorgeous!) and Emily is an adult, married to Orlando and expecting their first child. Of course Elizabeth is uber excited about the prospect of her first grandchild :D
I'll have to take pics tomorrow... I'm exhausted LOL

[ruledbymercury]

I'm kind of at a lull in my Legacy Family. Since the twins just became children, they still have about a week before they become teens. All the adults are no where near their elder birthdays. So everyone is just kind of trudging along, day-to-day, with the occasional haunting from the ghost of Adelaide (Ben still hasn't shown up as a ghost yet). Oh, I think I forgot to mention that Jane got fired from her high-ranking military career, so she decided to go into politics. She's quickly working her way up that ladder. Joe is an Executive Chef, who doesn't seem to have any real ambition for climbing the ladder any further than that, which is okay since the family is rolling in simoleons from Adelaide and Ben's life insurance policies. And Juliet, who is still living with Jane and her family, is quickly climbing the science career track.

To shake things up, I may just have Juliet try once again to find a love interest. She still thinks about Kennedy a lot, even though I moved him out after she rejected his proposal to get married. He seriously hates her though, so the chances of them getting back together are slim. Oh, the drama!

I'm nowhere near finalizing who will carry on the legacy from this point, but Anthony is my early favorite. He looks a lot more like his mom and grandmother so far, so that's why. All three have the same eyes (just shape and size, the eye color is different), nose, and skintone. They are both adorable children, though. We'll see...as they grow up, that might change.

[TX Sweetheart]

How do you get a ghost to haunt? Elizabeth and Joel are nowhere near dead (I hope) but I was just curious...

[ruledbymercury]

You can't "make" a ghost haunt your lot. It just happens randomly some nights after a household member dies. It can be kind of annoying at times (depending on what type of ghost and how they died), but you can't really control it. I built my Legacy family cemetary at the very back corner of the lot, so for the most part, Adelaide just roams around the backyard, but sometimes she wanders up to the house and scares people. If your sims have a fear of ghosts, it can be a bad thing for their aspiration meters. But some other sims, especially knowledge sims, WANT to see ghosts, so it can be good too.

[LDS Angel 19]

Ghosts get annoyed (and thus may haunt more) if you move their urns/tombstones, sell their beds (that strikes me as odd, but it's true), and get VERY angry if thier spouse remarries.

[ruledbymercury]

They also get royally ticked off if you smash their urn or kick their tombstone. Although, I've never tried that before in any of my games. I don't want to intentionally bring the wrath of one of my ghosts. :D

[BlackMagicRose]

It is So funny that all of you are talking about ghosts because Victoria just haunted the house and scared the pee (literally) out of Curtis!! See:

http://static.flickr.com/56/167878769_3f87c76909.jpg?v=0

Jack is flirting with Trista Shaw currently and Lydia is about to turn into an adult! Hopefully she turns out better than her older bro! I will post pictures soon.

[BlackMagicRose]

I have a third generation! Ivy Ryan was just born! :) Jack married Trista Shaw and they have a beautiful daugher, Ivy. I am not sure what I am going to do with Lydia. I think it would be too crazy for her to stay in the household. So, I may have her move out soon. As soon as Ivy is a child, they will have another, but not before that, because it gets too crazy!!!

Trista and baby Ivy:

http://static.flickr.com/65/168008718_417b08ae79.jpg?v=0


Curtis passed away :( There is a little graveyard for them outside the house with flowers.

[TX Sweetheart]

I always hate the fact that as soon as one kid turns toddler, the mother wants another baby straight away... Of course, we have control of when they have kids, but still... she's like always thinking about it... it's really annoying LOL

~~~

*happy sigh* I finally found my Open for Business CD (DH found it in the Family Fun Stuff case) so now I can finally lock the stupid doors to prevent the toddlers from playing in the toilet... they always make a mess, and of course they want to do that instead of learning to walk or whatnot...

Alrighty... off to play Sims once again :D

[ruledbymercury]

After many, many, many days of bad luck with men, Juliet is finally married! She married Amin Sims and they just conceived their first child. This is the fourth and most likely final child of Generation three. I'll probably keep Juliet and her family around until Anthony and Sylvan become adults.

[ruledbymercury]

Okay, I got a little further. First, here's a (not so great) shot of Juliet and Amin. It's after I gave Amin a little makeover. Even though he looked pretty dorky originally, I found out that he cleans up nicely!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/snapshot_d18b2c43_b19f4f21.jpg

Juliet is now in her second trimester of pregnancy. The house is starting to get hectic with so many people, so I may move her, Amin, and the baby out sooner than I thought. We'll see.

And now...the twins' teen birthdays! Anthony and Sylvan grew up into two of the nicest looking teens I think I've ever had.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/snapshot_d18b2c43_119f62ad.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/heatherandtadd/Sims/snapshot_d18b2c43_d19f63b1.jpg

Anthony rolled knowledge and Sylvan rolled romance, so that kind of makes the choice easy. I'm now 90% sure that Anthony will be the heir. I just know trying to continue the legacy with a romance sim would be a nightmare.

[TX Sweetheart]

Wow... Amin does clean up nicely! I think he was married to one of my non-LC sims once... they ended up having very cute kids.

And holy wow, Anthony and Sylvan (love that name btw) are handsome/beautiful (I always feel funny calling a guy "beautiful" :p)

[TX Sweetheart]

After successfully getting to Generation 4 in Elizabeth's Legacy Family, I decided I wanted to start over... I downloaded a bunch of makeup and furniture, etc. and have now started a new family.
Meet Maria Legacy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/MariaFirstPicture.jpg

[TX Sweetheart]

Maria met Benjamin Long and they're now "crushing on each other." Maria asked Ben to move in and he accepted:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/BenjaminMovesIn.jpg

He was badly in need of a makeover!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/BenAfterMakeover.jpg

UPDATE!
Maria & Ben have fallen in love and...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/Proposal1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/Proposal2.jpg

Before they got married, Maria discovered she was pregnant!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/MariaFirstPregnancy.jpg

Shortly thereafter, they had a small ceremony at home:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/Married.jpg

[TX Sweetheart]

Generation Two has arrived!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/MarkAsNewborn.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/FirstFamilyPortrait.jpg

I thought he was gonna end up looking like Ben...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/MarkAsToddler.jpg

but now he looks a lot like Maria, aside from the hair color...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/MarkAsChild.jpg

I think Mark is gonna be an only child... he's looking like he'll be good-looking enough to be an heir so Maria is gonna concentrate on her career now. Ben came into the family already at the top of his career, which was veeery nice!

[LDS Angel 19]

TX, I LOVE that couch!

[ruledbymercury]

I finally bought Uni, and installed it, but it won't load! We need a faster DVD ROM drive, so DH is going to bring one home from work tonight. Hopefully that'll fix the problem and I can continue on with my game. I'm so bored right now, being home alone while DH is at work, so this would have been a perfect time for me to play! Gah! Stupid computer.

By the way, TX, I love all the custom content you DLed! Mark is a cutie! Adelaide, my 1st generation, married Ben too and their son Henrik, didn't fare quite as well in the looks department.

[TX Sweetheart]

Well, Mark grew up... he's just about to leave for college.
This was taken on his teen birthday:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/MarkAsTeen.jpg

He is a perfect mix of Maria and Ben... he's got Ben's hair and chin (though a bit less prominent than Ben's) and Maria's eyes and nose.

And Maria & Ben are now elders... and Maria makes a beautiful elder! Ben is very distinguished-looking I think (though it's hard to tell in this pic)...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/BenAndMariaElderPortrait.jpg

[TX Sweetheart]

Mark is now in college, with Meadow Thayler (they're a couple now) and there's no question about it, he got Ben's chin. But it doesn't look too bad. He definitely needs to go shopping though... when he transitioned from teen to YA, he got stuck in a cowboy shirt and aviator pants! Ick!
Meadow is a Family Sim (Mark is a Knowledge Sim) which is nice because I can pick any major I want for her... I think I'm gonna do drama LOL I've never done the Show Biz career and I wanna see what it's like... Mark wants to go into the Medical field so I think he's gonna do a science major (physics maybe? I can't remember)...

[TX Sweetheart]

Just wanted to show a partial of the house... that's part of the living room (where Ben is sitting... watching TV), plus the bathroom and half of the office... the house isn't complete yet (I usually have my sims living outside for awhile LOL) but it's a start. Thankfully there's plenty of money with which to build the house LOL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/HousePic1.jpg

And here's an updated photo of Ben & Maria... gave them new hairstyles, etc...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/BenAndMariaUpdatedPortrait.jpg

[ruledbymercury]

Love your pictures TX! You've been working really hard on your family!

DH fixed the Uni situation, so I got to play for a little bit last night just before bed. I was able to move Sylvan and Anthony to Sim State University. Sylvan is an Art Major and Anthony is a Physics major. I was able to get them through their first semester at college. They both have 4.0 GPAs and are on the Dean's list. Anthony quickly befriended a girl named Audrey, and that friendship has grown into a full-blown crush. Sylvan has a few potential love-interests, but nothing serious yet. She is a romance sim, after all (with a lifetime want of having 20 simultaneous lovers...yeah, like THAT will ever happen!).

[TX Sweetheart]

I have been working hard on this family... because I've been really bored lately while DH is at work... Saturday night I never went to bed! I actually like this family LOL... except Ben is the laziest sim I've ever seen and Mark "inherited" that from him (not really, he just was unlucky enough to get one of the Zodiac signs that is lazy)... they absolutely *refuse* to put a book back on the shelf after they've finished with it. At one point, there were books all over the freakin' floor and poor Maria had to pick up all of them! Seriously, Mark is the first child I've had who was lazy... all the other ones were neat-freaks LOL

I hate the fact that you have to use a 5X5 lot, because I could easily build a big enough house on a much smaller lot... when I built the house, I basically left everything where I'd placed it outside and built the house around it... but I haven't built the kitchen/diningroom or other bedrooms yet (just the master bedroom) so all that stuff is still outside LOL

Ok enough rambling... off to continue building the house, etc. LOL

[ruledbymercury]

I'm really considering tearing down my current Legacy house piece by piece and rebuilding from scratch. Just because I hate the floorplan. Like my first Legacy family from a couple years ago, I started with a one-room efficiency and a small bathroom and just kind of added on as they could afford it. So the flow of the house is very haphazard and nonsensical. Now they have plenty of money to make the house look really nice, plus I have all the stuff Uni brings, plus a bunch of downloads to play with that I didn't have when I was building it. With my first Legacy family, I managed to make the build-as-you-can-afford system work somehow. That house morphed into a really nice place. But this house is just crap. I just hate how much time it's going to take to completely demolish and rebuild, so I may just do some extensive remodeling.

Of course, that will all have to wait until I get Anthony and Sylvan through college, because I'm having too much fun with them right now. I can't wait to get home from work so I can play!

[udsweetpea]

I was just about to come in and post about completely rebuilding the house. I'd like to make a couple of different, small houses on the lot. Like one for the elders, one for aunts and uncles, and one for the main family, but I don't think I'll end up doing that. But I'm still pondering rebuilding. Let me know if you do it!

[ruledbymercury]

The multiple-houses on one lot idea is an interesting one, but I think it would be too spastic for me to keep track of everyone in different houses. I'd go nuts! I have heard of people building wedding chapels and storage buildings for their career and aspiration rewards on the lot. I love the wedding chapel idea. I might do that at some point. :)

[TX Sweetheart]

I just spent the last couple of hours mostly finishing up the house... it's still not completely done (there's nothing at all upstairs yet LOL) but here's what I have so far:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/LegacyFamilyHome.jpg

I had to build a giant pool because otherwise, there'd just be sooooo much extra space... it was bugging me LOL

[LDS Angel 19]

I've pondered the idea of doing a few small houses too. Building is fun and all, but most of the time I don't have the patience for it.

[TX Sweetheart]

Mark is now in the middle of his sophomore year of college... He and Meadow broke up (they had been engaged) and then she sort of um... died. *looks around nervously* *Ahem*
But Mark has found love again, with April Day, who surprisingly looks a lot like Maria with blonde hair LOL I see wedding bells in their future :D

[TX Sweetheart]

Mark came by for a visit so I decided to take a pic of all three of them (the first since Mark was a newborn!) because since Maria & Ben are elders, ya never know when one of 'em is gonna die :( Anyway, here it is :D (Maria's weird expression is due to the fact that they were watching a game on TV LOL):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/BenMarkMaria.jpg

[TX Sweetheart]

Meadow's ghost showed up tonight to haunt Mark & April and boy was she pissed LOL
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/LilTxAngl83/Legacy%20Challenge%20Sims/MeadowAsGhost.jpg

Before she died, she and Mark had been fighting because Mark asked April to move in, without consulting Meadow... so to see the two of them so happy and engaged really made her mad LOL