Townsville 1/29/19

As predicted there wasn't much to report with Townsville.  The Last Sim Standing part probably had the most action with 2 sims dying and 5 left.  In Townsville itself, it was pretty tame, with only one death that I induced because the sim was horribly glitched.  I still haven't managed to get the original Pleasantview child townies moved in yet because only one family so far has any child-aged kids and they haven't brought home any of the kids I need.  So still working on that.  So it's been fun for me.  I've got lots of babies/toddlers/pregnancies to look forward next time around, but for now we say goodbye to Townsville and move on to a new challenge that I'm working on, The American History Challenge!  Happy Simming!

Townsville 1/20/19

I decided to move into Townsville, which is a neighborhood of my own design in which I have moved in all the original Pleasantview townies to form a community "of townies, by townies, and for townies".  This 'hood is in infancy still, so the rules are pretty lax for now.  Basically the goal is for townies to move in more townies and give them lives that are more fulfilling than just being legacy spouses or challenge fodder.  As a side bit of fun for myself, I've created a "reality show", where NPC's can compete to become "real townies".  It's called Last Sim Standing and involves NPC's living in the House of Fallen Trees and trying to survive the ghosties.  The last NPC alive gets motherloded and moves into the neighborhood with all the other townies.  I'll do as many "seasons" as I continue to be interested in that.  Other than that, the 'hood has only very broad rules regarding relationships, children, aging, etc.  There will likely not be much to update on, but I may post from time to time if something particularly interesting happens.  Bye for now.  Happy Simming!

Hollywood Challenge 1/17/19

Neil Pederson got his final elder job promotion, allowing them to pay another $1000 on their Uni debt.  Faith tried to do a barista shift, but her son Nolan showed up and kept distracting her, so she didn't make much on that.  One of these two may die next round, as there's little time left on their meters.  Dante Silver had the day off from work, so the newlyweds put in their celeb hours and then just hung out together at home.  They're in no rush to hear the pitter-patter of little feet; for now they're just enjoying married life.  Nothing much to report on the younger Pedersons.  Gina had the day off, Nolan went to work, but didn't get promoted.  He did achieve his celeb hours goal, so that's something.  Nothing exciting at the Burke/Kratz household either other than the fact that the couple has decided it's time to start their family and will begin trying next round.  I discovered that at some point since I last played Caryl Karr, she fell in love with Neil Chalmers, so I had her go ahead and move him in this round.  He brought in $10K and 10 friends, very nice.  He also has a job (ok it's in Criminal, but income is income right?) which is very helpful as well.  Kaitlyn and Jesse North tied the knot this round.  It seems that Kaitlyn is keen on following in her parents' footsteps by getting married young and starting her family soon, but she might want to take a look at where her parents are now in all honesty.  That strategy didn't work too well for them.  Skip Daniels got a promotion.  Rebecca Hartwood worked on boosting some friendships.  Otherwise a pretty quiet round for them.  Michael Burke and Brooke Sanders have just graduated and moved in together.  They're in the same building where the Silvers live.  Michael found a job in Dance, which is a good choice since it's one of the careers allowed for celebs at the 2* level, meaning he won't have to switch upon leveling up.  Nothing eventful to note on the Karrs.  They're both getting pretty old so not much drama with them.  The Sanders are now debt free thanks in part to Samantha's latest cookbook.  Now they can start saving up again, not that either of them is likely to live long enough to level up.  Despite everyone having the flu in the Burke household (and Jocelyn having morning sickness to boot), they all managed to get through their daily routines.  Nicholas and Jocelyn taught their couples yoga class after Grey left for school.  Then they headed home to rest for a while before Nicholas had to go to work.  Luckily for Jocelyn she had the day off.  Grey came home from school exhausted and went straight to sleep, but woke up early and got his homework done before school.  Pretty productive all things considered.  The Drakes have officially begun the adoption waiting process.  Sydney really accomplished a lot this round:  she went to work and got promoted (and got a huge $10K bonus), then taught yoga for 5 hours, came home for a brief nap, and then studied parenting in the wee hours of the morning.  Andrea had to day off, so she had plenty of time to study parenting as well, which means (barring any unforeseen circumstances) they've met all the requirements for adoption.  Well done!  And that does it for another round, folks.  I'm debating whether to continue on for a few more rounds or switch to another 'hood.  Still on the fence about it, but will make a decision by tomorrow.  Happy Simming!

Hollywood Challenge 1/14/19

Nothing eventful happened with the Pedersons, but they are slowly chipping away at their Uni debt and will hopefully finish it off in a few more rounds.  Savannah Pederson officially became Savannah Silver this round, which she thinks has a nice ring to it.  No pun intended.  In addition to the wedding, Dante got a huge chance card promotion, which netted him 3 logic and 3 creativity points in addition to the cash bonus.  Nice!  Jocelyn Silver had a very unexpected set of circumstances this round.  Everything started as normal:  she went to work, Grey went to school, and she paid some bills.  Then she spotted Nicholas Burke who she's been friends with ever since she brought him home from work ages ago, and I guess their 3 bolts had finally had enough waiting because they kissed and instantly fell in love.  Now, normally I have couples live together for a bit before getting married and then wait another bit before having kids, however in this case I decided to waive those restrictions because both Nicholas and Jocelyn want another child.  The problem is that he has less than a week to live and she only has a few days of fertility left.  So to reward them for never cheating on their previous spouses, despite 3 bolt chemistry and numerous opportunities to do so, I allowed them to marry and try for baby immediately.  This way Nicholas gets to at least meet his third child and Jocelyn gets an instant boost to 2* to make up for the fact that she'll soon be a single mother again.  There's even a slim possibility that they'll reach 3* before Nicholas dies.  Incidentally, Jocelyn switched jobs to Entertainment and will join Nicholas at the yoga studio for her celeb hours.  Congrats to the (unexpected) newlywed Burkes!  And for our third wedding in a row, congratulations to Nolan and Gina Pederson!  In addition to celebrating their nuptials, Gina got promoted and Nolan has almost made his celeb hour requirement.  They still have very few friends, however, and a ways to go on money.  Rachel Burke and Drake Kratz are really racking up the cash.  It's nice to have a couple that's so focused on their careers.  They may level up before much longer.  Caryl Karr was pretty uneventful.  She did her freestyling and tried to hang out with Neil, but they kept missing each other.  Jesse North and Kaitlyn Pederson did not get married this round, but they will next round.  They are wasting no time settling down and starting their family.  If only they'd decide to get some real jobs as well.  Barista income is not going to work for long.  Skip Daniels and Rebecca Hartwood are not quite ready to jump right into marriage; they want to get their lives in order a bit first.  Skip found a job in the Science career and got promoted on the first day.  Rebecca still hasn't decided on a day job, but she's Knowledge so I expect she'll come up with something.  Elise Karr got a promotion at her elder job, but nothing else to note.  The Sanders are nearly finished paying off their Uni debt, after which they can start saving up for their money requirement again.  Also, Justyn got his gold cosmetology badge finally after many days of messing up sims' faces.  The Drakes are ready to start the adoption process next round.  Since they are 2* they'll have a 7 day waiting period, at the end of which they'll need $20,000, $1000/day income, and both have learned parenting.  They both make good money (Andrea got a promotion this round) and it shouldn't be a problem to study parenting sometime in the next week.  I think they're right on track.

Hollywood Challenge 1/13/19

It's getting harder and harder for the Pedersons to make payments on their Uni debt.  They bring in less than $1000/day and there's still rent, bills, and groceries to pay for.  If one of them dies before the other, the remaining spouse should easily be able to pay off the balance, but if they both die at the same time, I guess I'll have to stick Kaitlyn with the bill.  Dante Silver did not get the promotion he was hoping for, but maybe next round he will.  Both Dante and Savannah did their celeb hours; Savannah nearly has the required hours.  They've decided to get married next round.  Jocelyn Silver decided to get Grey into private school and was successful.  If only she were that successful with relationships, her life would be going great.  She has yet to meet anyone (other than Nicholas Burke) who she's even remotely interested in and her biological clock is ticking.  Nolan Pederson and his girlfriend Gina will also be getting married next round.  Maybe he doesn't want his ex Savannah to show him up?  Apart from that, they're doing fairly well on requirements, though they need to work on making some friends; they've only got six between them!  Rachel Burke and Drake are nearly there on friend count, and doing well on hours and money as well.  Drake got a promotion this round which really helped.  Rachel is a bit stalled in her career at the moment since the only means of obtaining logic is the crossword.  Caryl Karr made a whopping $700 freestyling!  I don't know what Dante's doing wrong, because even though he has tons more experience, he frequently gets zip when freestyling.  Go Caryl!  Jesse North is a newcomer to Hollywood Heights.  He and Kaitlyn Pederson met and fell in love in college, deciding to move in together after graduation.  They won't wait long to get married as they've been dating since Freshman year.  After settling in to their new place, they went out to H&M so Jesse could get some clothes and they took turns doing barista shifts while there.  Neither has a day job yet, so this is their only source of income at the moment.  Skip Daniels and Rebecca Hartwood are two more newcomers who also met and have been dating since Freshman year of Uni.  They too have moved in together in the same building with Jesse and Kaitlyn, who they are good friends with.  They will be doing bartending and Skip is looking for a Science job.  Skip wants to wait a bit before marrying, probably because of the cow mascot fiasco misunderstanding they had Junior year.  Nothing to note for the Karrs.  Samantha Sanders cranked out another cookbook (that's #8 if anyone's counting).  I'm not sure what there could possibly be left to cook that hasn't been covered already, but she's still going strong.  The Burkes spent what would ultimately be their last day together before heading out to their elder jobs.  By the time Nicholas returned home, his wife had passed away.  Lexie is the first sim to die in this challenge, which is sad, but the show must go on.  I'm not sure how much time Nicholas has left since his life bar didn't reset yet, but we'll check it out next round.  Last in the rotation is the Drakes, who will soon start the adoption process, which means by the end of the waiting period (for 2* celebs it's 7 days) they must prove they have $1000/day in income, be able to pay the $20,000 adoption fee, and have both studied parenting.  (Note: Adoption rules are of my own making; not in the original challenge rules.)  They've already got all the financial needs met, so it shouldn't be too much trouble to study parenting.  In other news, Sydney got a promotion and they couple has almost met their friend requirement, so they're doing quite well.

Hollywood Challenge 1/10/19

The Pedersons both got promoted at their elder jobs, allowing them to make a fairly decent payment to their Uni debt.  If Kaitlyn could do better than a C average it would certainly help matters.  Sigh.  Dante Silver got promoted and seems to be coming into his Fortune aspiration at long last.  He immediately rolled a want for a charisma point and a promotion.  Maybe he'll finally get his act together.  Savannah Pederson continues to coast through life as always.  Jocelyn Silver spent her day off taking care of Grey, then in the evening he grew into a child so she took him with her to her barista shift.  Dante showed up while they were there, probably wondering why his five-year-old was out at 2:00 a.m.  In any event, child care will be much easier now with Grey in school.  Nolan Pederson invited Gina over again and they fell in love!  He moved her in right away and, though she didn't bring in much cash or any friends, she did roll up the want for several jobs right away.  I found something for her in Education.  The couple plans to get married very soon.  Rachel Burke and Drake are currently working opposite shifts, so they don't see much of each other.  Rachel worked all day and then they literally passed on the stairs as she got home and he was heading out.  I guess eventually that will work well for child care, but at the moment it's pretty lonely for both of them.  Caryl Karr made $300 freestyling, then spent some time hanging out with her crush Neil on the roof of the building.  They're not quite best friends yet.  The Karrs were uneventful.  They both went to their elder jobs, collected their pensions, and Brandi dj-ed.  Samantha Sanders managed to finish her 7th cookbook in just one day!  She's getting really good at those.  They also made a nice payment on their Uni debt.  Justyn gave his daughter Savannah Pederson a bad makeover while doing his celeb hours.  I wonder what Dante will think when she goes home, lol.  The Burkes didn't have a lot going on, but I noticed that their life bars now have only a sliver left, meaning that one or both of them will likely pass away next round.  Since they are the same age they may have the glitch that shows both their life bars as the same until one passes, then the other's bar will reset to what it should be.  If they should both die, it leaves me wondering what to do with the rest of the Uni debt they haven't finished paying yet.  Michael is only a sophomore, so even though he'll subtract some from the debt with his grant money, that alone won't pay it off, so do I stick him with the remainder of the debt once he graduates?  And what about the inheritance he's bound to receive from his parents?  I typically don't keep track of money at Uni because when they graduate they start with the starting conditions of their star level anyway.  So, should I watch for his inheritance and then buy him something of that value to stash in his inventory for later?  Thoughts to ponder.  The Drakes got settled into their new apartment.  Sydney ditched her Culinary job for one in Show Business and also shifted from personal trainer to yoga instructor.  They spent some time getting reacquainted with the Karrs who they haven't seen much of since they moved from the old building to this one.  All in all, a pretty successful round.

Hollywood Challenge 1/7/19

The Pedersons were uneventful.  They both got elder jobs and Faith went back to her barista gig because they literally need the money.  The Drakes managed to score just enough cash and make just enough friends to level up.  They immediately moved to a nicer building and got settled in, turns out they already know some of their neighbors (the Karrs and Pedersons live there).  Dante Silver and Savannah Pederson moved in together.  The shoe is on the other foot now that Dante is the one who works all day and then does a part-time job as well, while his partner hangs out at home all day.  We'll see how long this lasts.  Jocelyn Silver hired a nanny to watch Grey while she works, but I guess Dante didn't trust her because he showed up and spent the entire day taking care of his son, and didn't leave until Jocelyn returned home.  He's a surprisingly good father.  Jocelyn seems to have completely forgiven him, by the way, she's no longer furious with him and keeps rolling wants to be friends with him.  I think she might want him back!  Nolan Pederson had the day off from work, so he invited his new bartender crush Gina over.  Mostly they watched tv, but there was a little romance towards the end.  They are still at crush level, however.  Maybe he's being cautious.  Rachel Burke and her "husband" Drake both went to work, he got promoted, she didn't, and other than that not much.  I did hear some crush/love hearts while they were sleeping, didn't catch who it was but I think Caryl Karr may have been involved.  Let's see.  Yep, Caryl Karr is crushing on her neighbor Neil Chalmers.  She didn't get a chance to hang out with him this round, but he's a definite possibility.  Brandi and Elise Karr have both taken elder jobs in an effort to save up the money they need to level up, but I don't really see it happening without a large windfall of some sort.  Samantha Sanders finished another cookbook, which sold for over $3000, and Brooke left for college with $1750 in scholarships.  She'll get to reunite with her friend Kaitlyn Pederson.  Michael Burke also left for Uni this round.  We'll have to see if he and Brooke stay together or find other partners.

Hollywood Challenge 1/4/19

The Pedersons didn't have much going on this round.  With neither working, they mostly just hung out around the house, picking up a couple of skills, nothing exciting.  Kaitlyn made good grades her first year of Uni, which took a nice chunk out of the Uni debt, but they still have a long way to go.  Sydney and Andrea Drake are extremely close to leveling up.  They both made a friend this round, leaving them just one friend shy of the requirement and they only need a little over $1000 for the money requirement.  With both of them working next round, they should be able to do it.  Dante Silver began his life as a bachelor in a shabby apartment, with shabby furnishings (except for the expensive TV, computer, and exercise bike he had to have).  He would have preferred to move back into his old building so he could be closer to Savannah Pederson, but there were no vacancies.  Surprisingly, the first thing he did upon moving in was to roll up the want for a day job, something he's never done, despite being a Fortune sim.  He's now a Junior Executive in the Business career (all that skilling while lazing around the house paid off.)  Meanwhile, Jocelyn Silver learned that being a single parent is tough.  Financially she's ok (she was always the one with the job), but having to take care of all the household chores as well as looking after Grey is exhausting.  The newlywed Pedersons are no more!  During their bartending shift, Dante Silver strolled in and I guess decided "no more secrets" because he walked right up to Savannah and kissed her.  Nolan became (naturally) furious and slappy.  They had just started their shift though so I had them continue with the bartending.  Then one of the regular bartenders, who Nolan has become friendly with, came up and started flirting with him!  This made Savannah furious and slappy as well.  After their shift they went home, didn't speak until Nolan went to work, and as soon as he returned from work (with a promotion yay!) they broke up.  Savannah moved straight in with Dante.  Drama!  I love it, lol.  It was the perfect day for the wedding of Rachel Burke and her boyfriend Drake, except....for the fact that he seems to believe that he's already engaged to Samantha Sanders!  So I don't know if this engagement really happened (since he's a former dormie they could have been involved in Uni, but I don't remember) or if it's another glitch, but he has memories of getting engaged to Samantha even though she's not in his relationship panel at all.  And of course she's been married for a long time, so clearly she doesn't think they're engaged.  In any event, I decided to carry on with them as if they did get married (only fair since that's what I'm doing with Sydney and Andrea), but I made a note to check if the "engagement" gets broken when Samantha eventually dies.  Maybe then they can make it official.  Caryl Karr had an uneventful round.  I have a feeling that she will continue to be pretty boring as she has a secondary aspiration of Grilled Cheese, which means she mostly only rolls grilled cheese related wants.  Sigh.  Meanwhile, her moms are still trying to level up.  Brandi and Elise Karr both looked for elder jobs.  Elise found one in Slacker (it's what she knows), but Brandi could not find an entertainment related job, so for now she'll just continue dj-ing.  The Sanders didn't have much going on either.  They did their usual makeup artist/author/Dance stuff.  Brooke is excited to be leaving for Uni next round.  Nicholas Burke put in his time at the yoga studio and Lexie worked her elder job.  Michael will also be leaving for Uni next round.  As we come to the end of another round, with no sign that anyone will reach level 3 any time soon, I've considered that I may need to revise the money requirements.  My original starting sims have worked their entire lives (they're all 66 now) to reach 2* and I'm wondering if it's even possible to get higher than that.  I have written into the rules that the children of celebs will star one star level below their parents, but if no one ever reaches 3* that will have no effect.  I'm holding off adjusting the money requirement for now though because even though the second generation of celebs are not getting the star level boost, they will have one advantage over the CAS's: inheritance.  When their parents die, they'll likely get a financial windfall which will be very helpful to their money goal.  We'll see how that goes and re-evaluate later.