Mesa Vista - My BaCC for fun: Week 5-14 Adams

[lorinsv60]

Update :)



Welcome back to Mesa Vista and the Adams household, with founder Zach, his wife Nikki and their four children: first-born twins Ryan and Quincy, Josh and Jillian, with baby number five on the way.
Sounds like one big happy founding family, right? Well, not exactly, if you recall...

And we start the week with Nikki getting fired - this on top of having her fears of her husband's infidelity realized in the previous week.



The Business career was getting progressively more cutthroat, what with all the new Tycoons beginning to pop up around town. Although in this instance, with the precarious state of her marriage weighing heavily on her mind, it shouldn't have come as a total surprise.

(Never mind that not one the brightest of players was running the show.)



I refuse to take the rap for this, though!



"Oweeeeeeee!"
From the upstairs computer: "OH YEAH, COME TO PAPA!"



"Nikki, you'll never guess what..!"
It's a toss-up whether that +8,000 is Nikki's for having yet another baby, or mine for getting Sim shadows back! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Nopke at MTS! Here's the link: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=569585
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!"



Meet Abigail, the fifth-
"And sixth. And last" Nikki said as the want for ten children that had been locked for as long as she could remember rolled away into oblivion...
-Adams child.
Zach: "But I - you - that was our crazy 'throw caution to the wind'... It's one of the things that made us special, at least in my mind."
Nikki: "It isn't so special when they don't coincide... unless I return the favor? How special would it be then?"
Zach's smile suddenly dropped and he said, "I got the job."
"I got fired."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sort of not. Guess it's my turn to stay home with the kids."
"Then lucky for you I won't be around much."



Zach refused to let the same want he had locked go, though he didn't tell Nikki this...



For the first time, Zach admitted this really could be the end of the road for them. He was so proud of Mesa Vista and all they had accomplished here together. It was a very sad thought indeed.



Thankfully, there was more going on at the Adams' home than Zach and Nikki's frosty relationship. There were kids.



Oh god, were there kids.



Speaking of kids, first up was Kid #3 Josh's birthday. He had snuck into his parents' bedroom (neither of whom actually slept there anymore) instead of having the normal family birthday bash at the dining room table. I wonder why?
And what is this outfit, anyway?



"Oh yes it could... I cannot go out in public like this."
He rolled Fortune and wants to be Head of the SCIA, like his father.



Josh's wunderkind days were over after he got in a bad habit of misplacing his homework, and it didn't take long for his grades to plummet to a D+, which meant he also couldn't get a job.

For the next couple of days, there was not much to write about. Lots of homework (except Josh), Zach skilling before his first day of work, everyone doting on the baby, and then all of a sudden it was time for Abigail's birthday.



Zach had to cut out early.



Abigail looks completely different than Jillian, but I can see both parents in her face, which I think is great.

(As long as it takes me to play my rotations, there was no way I could resist taking a peek at how she turns out.)



And she was off to an auspicious start!
"NAWWWWWWWT!"



Nothing remarkable happened with Quincy. He was also Fortune like his dad, and wanted to be a City Planner.
He maintained A+ grades and had every intention of going to University.



And apprently he had a mega sweet tooth, as well as being the only one in the family this week with an interesting inventory.



Jillian was a cute, happy little thing, and fun to play.















She turned out so pretty, but her nose is a little bumpy from the side like her brothers'. Then she rolled Popularity with a LTW to be a Rock God, and I thought, Show Business! A Professional Party Guest (Jade Green) and a Prestidigitator (Stan Shin's LTW) were needed for a position to open up, but with going to Uni and all, it should be totally doable!






Family Sim Ryan had been wanting to go steady since his teen birthday, but he had no chemistry with the girls from school and harmed his case even further by giving them noogies.



He didn't give up and managed to snag a date with Gabriella Newson (Romance) on only the second try.



"Are you hungry?"
"Ba?"



*Ding dong*



"Baba?"



"Hey, thanks for coming over!"
"Sure."



"I like your hair."
"Do you? It's new," Gabriella said, flicking it.



So far, so good. Don't go too fast, Ryan!



"Red Hands? Seriously?"



"Don't touch me."
Argh! Better end the date before it got any worse.



"That goes for end-of-date hugs too!"



"Eep."



I second Ryan's "eep."
Gabriella Newson, ladies and gentlemen, evermore known to me as Mixed-Signals Gaby...
"Right on."



"Come on, I know you can do it."
"Uuh-uuh."
I was beginning to wonder if Abigail would ever get the advantage of Smart Milk (man, am I spoiled now).



But then, big sister Jillian to the rescue!



Beddah?






"They're sending me out of the country for a while, I'm not sure I'll make Abigail's birthday."
"Mm-hmm?"
"I want to come back, Nikki, but now this is for the best, no?
"..."
"You said you needed to do some thinking, and this way, I hope there will be less disruption for the kids."
"I suppose you're right."
"I'm glad that's settled." And that she didn't say, "Don't bother coming back."

Zach poured his heart into several letters for Nikki, but in the end settled on three lines.












"Yes, of course. Thank you."















"Honey! What are you doing out there?"



I dearly hope that's melted snow...



Dear Nikki,
Look over the bed - what do you think?
Don't worry about taxes.
Love you and only you, no matter what you decide.
Zach






"Great. I have to go get groceries!"



Was Nikki happy that Mesa Vista's only grocery store happened to be owned by Kerie Ng? Absolutely not, but she was not going to skulk around avoiding the likes of Kerie Ng like she had something to be ashamed of.

"Can I help you find something?"
"No, I've got it."



"I know all about you and Zach. Noah too."



"Do you?"
"I think so, yes."



"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It was a mistake, it was a long time ago, and I was really, really stupid."
"What about Noah? Does he..?"
"Noah is mine! He doesn't concern you or Zach, ever. Got it?!"



"Please. I was just going to say if he needs financial..."
"Don't worry yourself, I think he has his own arrangement with Zach. Wait... is that why you came here?"
"No. I came here to buy groceries, just like everyone else who lives in Mesa Vista."
"Then thank you for your business."
"Oh, one more thing. This may be your store, but this is my town."



That had been an incredibly arrogant thing to say, but Nikki was sooo glad she said it!



Though when it came time for Abigail's next birthday, she actually felt kind of vindicated. She couldn't believe all the kids that showed up to celebrate, and without invitations.



She looked at Mesa Vista's kids. In a way, she felt like they were her kids. Hers and Z...
"Mom, bwow out de candows!"






Abigail was still an obvious mix of both parents. *cracks open SimPE*



Whoa, whoops. Ethan Korben and Melisa Kalsson fell in love at the party. I don't know what he's going to say to Sarah Cwik about that, if anything.



"Mmm, birthday cake makes me want more desserts..."



Nikki wanted something fun for the kids, but more for families in general.



First she would have to enlist the help of a couple of her friends from work.









Desert Greens. Nikki liked the sound of that...



"Hmm. I suppose I should have waited until the snow melted, darn it."



"Screw that, we're gonna try out Mom's golf course!"

"So far, so good. How about you, Ryan?"
"Check! The snow doesn't seem to affect the trajectory at all."
"Ooh, such big words!"
"Shush."



Visitors wouldn't golf autonomously, but they would accept lessons.









Right before my eyes, after hanging on until well into Spring, the snow was finally, finally gone. Yes!
"Yes!"

I added a couple of trampolines too, simply because the first miniature golf course I ever played at had in-ground trampolines.
Ah, the nostalgia...
Btw, thanks to Steve Burns for giving Desert Greens its first customer star - that's m'boy!



I'm looking into some mods to make Execuputters available for autonomous use as well as invisible recolors for them, but for now I'm happy that vanilla, it runs as a working business.


Back home, Ryan was still fending off palm fronds...

Yeah, that looks like a really good idea, Jillian!



"Back off, that genie is mine!"
"Take a chill pill, brother!"



"Let me guess: you wish for Couth? Manners?"
"Peace of Mind."
I've never done this before because it's such a powerful wish compared to the others, but since I'm finding it so difficult for Family teens to have sweet romantic relationships, or any at all for that matter, I said screw it!



"Where's Dad?"
"Away on business. Don't worry, little sis, I'll take good care of us. All of us."
"Hey, I thought I was going to University?"
Sorry, Quincy, I've had enough of you guys for one week, you can go next time.

For those wondering where Zach is now, it's Top Secret!

Naw, it's really St Hubert (created by Seren at MTS), Mesa Vista's new (even more) rural Business District that you'll be seeing more of later on.

BaCC quick stats:
Playable Sims: 81 (80 + 1 grave) added Abigail
Sim Multiplier: 33 (no change)
Population: 2673

Thanks for reading and Happy Simming!

Comments

[katrisims.livejournal.com]

Yay, more Mesa Vista!


Poor Nikki has had it rough lately. But she's doing admirably well, considering.

And wow, that's a lot of kids! I wonder what will happen with the 10 kids plan. At the moment I'm suspecting Zach may even consider having the rest with someone else... although he seems to be hoping that Nikki will want him to come back. And it seems that maybe, just maybe, she could yet. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

That's definitely some mixed signals coming from Gabrielle!

I suppose it's good to have things out in the open with Kerie. She and Nikki didn't maybe manage to keep it entirely polite, but at least it's now been said.

The golf course looks like a fun business. I don't think I would have thought of that!


Fun update! :)

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

Yeah, poor Nikki. I figured it was about time to give her some backbone, and I actually like her better for it.

Zach is sort of ruthless enough to consider going to someone else to get ten kids, but he really just wants them with Nikki. I feel kind of bad for creating all this turmoil for them. In-game they are affectionate with each other. I had them go on a date to get a letter (a bad date letter, not the pink hearty one) for Nikki to find in the mailbox, and discovered that if you want a real challenge, try to get to Sims in love to have a bad date. I couldn't do it, even with arguing to the point that they no longer loved each other, the date meter wouldn't go below good. Grrrr, but kinda funny too! Makes me wonder if the only thing that can do it is to actually get caught cheating or maybe die? XD

You're so right about Nikki and Kerie and their little showdown.

Trying out new businesses like the golf course is fun!

Thanks for the comment, Katri!

[blueberrypie360.livejournal.com]

I loved the mini-golf course as a business. It's certainly a clever take on a career reward. Now the thought of multiple Culinary rewards in a massive room to depict a chocolate factory springs to mind. o_O

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea, I'm adding it to my list of possible future businesses! :D

[simlili.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the shadows!

You were right about Jillian, she's really extremely pretty.
Gabriella Newson is a very pretty sim too, but it looks like she's a little too well aware of that fact, poor Ryan. Beauty fades, Gaby, just saying!

I love Abigail's looks too. Of course she's not gonna have that classic cuteness Jillian has, but she is an interesting mix and an interesting face. I love the kid jumping on the couch in the background (Ryan?) during her birthday party, while Ethan and Melisa were falling in love. It really gave it a "crazy party" vibe :D

And again the golf course is lovely, with the little path and the fencing :p

But Zach, at this stage of your life, is this new beginning really a wise choice? (Which is a hidden way of asking whether you're using an ageing mod, shouldn't he be almost an elder in week 5?) And what's with this sneaky postal communication, can't you just say the woman what you have to say? :D

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

That's actually Josh jumping on the couch. Not only does his face look an awful lot like Ryan's, but he got the same winter jacket too :P

Abigail spoiler: she turns out both interesting and attractive ;)

Is it a new beginning or a temporary ploy for me to stall for more time? Same with the sneaky postal communication :P I've only had two years to make up my mind D: which is why I need to stop with the plot crap already and get on with short little progress updates. I swear it'll happen one these days :( *sigh* I just have to remind myself that no one gives a shit (as in wouldn't hold it against me, not that they don't care) and just do eet.

No aging mods, but I have always extended the adult stage in my game as it seems out of proportion with the length of the teen and elder stages. So, I use elixir to give my adults at least 6 full weeks, which means they will become elders some time during Week 7. It just occurred to me if I shortened my teen stage from 15 to 10 days (using bad elixir or sending them to Uni), that would help too. I wouldn't have such a problem with adults growing old if there wasn't that jolt between adults and elders. I would love a two-week middle aged life stage.

Sorry, got a little long-winded there. Thanks for listening!

[simlili.livejournal.com]

Nah, short progress update are convenient for moving forward faster, but not always possible. You can't really wrap your founder's family update in a short update, it would be a shame. Besides, it's not like the challenge is dragging itself in Mesa Vista, its citizens already have a Uni and a ton of businesses and unlocked whatnot, they are allowed to take a second to have love woes :D
And sure no one would hold it against you but people like a plot, especially the master plot: the love triangle! I just found Mesa Vista's topic on Boolprop yesterday and saw that everyone has an opinion on Zach and Nikki :)

Okay, thanks for explaining the age thing, as many players have their own way of dealing with it.
I had a hard time accepting the transition to elder too, especially after playing with aging off or lots of elixir for a long time, in the beginning.
But I've made my peace with it and never use elixir anymore cough adding days with the simblender is easier cough, I just focus on the next generation. It helps that I love sim teens so much.

All of this being said, next household please! :D

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that, it made me feel better :)

I actually like working for the elixir to prolong the adult stage, that way I feel a bit less cheaty cheating the clock.

[simlili.livejournal.com]

Oooh, new colours, nice!
I would change my theme too, but I don't want to deal with settings and stuff^^

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

Thanks! At the time, I spent at least two hours trying to figure out how to insert a custom pic at the top like you have, but it was too confusing to me. If I could do that, I would keep my journal style the same too.

[simlili.livejournal.com]

It's very easy, I just changed the header.
We're not using the same theme but they should work the same:

-click on "Home" in the menu above (I'm still on the old layout, I don't know how the new one works!)

-under the "Journal" menu option, click on Journal Style

-In the top right part showing your Current Theme, click on "Customize your theme"

-and there in the menu on the left, click on the "Custom CSS" tab

-there, in the big white square on the right copy the CSS with your image URL, for example:



#header-inner {
background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/R0bUUJl.jpg);
}


You can copy that actual bit, it's a test for you.
I think it must be 940px wide (see here: http://s2howto.livejournal.com/52241.html ). Mine is 200px high because that's how high the image that came with the theme was. It's the only thing I changed.
I have several images all 940x200 and I sometimes just change the URL in that CSS bit to change the header.

This is what it looks like in my settings: https://i.imgur.com/v3EAIf6.jpg

You cannot preview, only save, so hopefully it doesn't make your page explode :D If id does, just delete the CSS lines you added.

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this! I will be working on this soon too! Dayum, Simming is almost a full-time job (I wish)!

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

Yay, I got it! :D Thanks for leaving such good instructions, you're awesome!

[simlili.livejournal.com]

\o/
Nice seasonal picture!

[esmeiolanthe.livejournal.com]

I have no sympathy for Zach (I don't like cheaterpantses, unless of course they are *my* cheaterpantses), but I have to say that I don't like Nikki much either. I fell sorry for the kids, that's who I feel sorry for.

I've always wanted to make a putt-putt golf course, because they seem like fun. There're some execuputter remakes over at MTS that you might be interested in too. There's a giant clown head, and a windmill, and I forget what the third thing was.

Some of my sims are really good at hiding their homework. One of them once managed to put it down under some fixed architectural feature, like a staircase. I have yet to figure out how...

Another fun update! :)

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

Hey Esme!

Thanks for all the comments, I'll get back to you later!

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

I'm more forgiving of Zach, since it was I and not he who concocted all this drama in the first place. I also enjoyed having Nikki develop more of a spine, but I know I can't win 'em all :)

Thanks for the lead on the mini golf stuff. I'm finding almost all businesses are pretty fun, and it's definitely fun conceiving and implementing them.

Perhaps next week with four instead of seven Sims to keep track of, Josh's homework will be easier to keep track of.

Thanks again, I appreciate the comments!

[j68-birka.livejournal.com]

Oh, the drama! Poor Nikki, but you're building a good story from it.
And I love the golf course by the way - might be an idea for Birka too :)

[lorinsv60.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Birka is what convinced me that I need to play more apartments - apart from the Servo green energy ones, that is ;)