Willow Creek Index | Week One

Starting Family Members:

EA’s description of this family: “Poor, poor Bob and Eliza – have they ever been happy? It seems there’s nothing one can do to please the other. Just what is keeping this couple together? Or, conversely, what is the spark that will finally drive them apart?”

Bob Pancakes

Age: Young Adult (24 days)
Traits: Gloomy, Loner, Slob
Aspiration: Master Chef
Career: Level 3 Culinary

Eliza Pancakes

Age: Young Adult (24 days)
Traits: Perfectionist, Materialistic, Neat
Aspiration: Mansion Baron
Career: Currently Unemployed

Iggy Pancakes

Age: Toddler (7 days)
Traits: Charmer
Bio: “Is that a Silver Dollar Pancake? Nope, it’s just the newest little addition to Bob & Eliza’s pancake stack! Meet their son Iggy, a charming toddler who’s bringing a small measure of harmony to the Pancakes’ household.”

This family is as they were created by EA, except for the toddler, who was officially released to the gallery when the Toddler free update came out, so I put him where he belonged. Eliza will get a job in the Business career, since her traits don’t push her towards any specific career.

Current Family Tree

Willow Creek Index | Week One

Willow Creek Index | Week One

Starting Family Members:

Andre DaSilva

Age: Young Adult (24 days)
Traits: Hot-Headed, Genius, Childish
Aspiration: Computer Whiz
Career: Currently Unemployed
Biography: “Not the kinda guy you want fixing your computer.”

June Kay

Age: Young Adult (24 days)
Traits: Ambitious, Foodie, Erratic
Aspiration: Master Chef
Career: Currently Unemployed
Biography:  “Her cooking skills and tasty food stuffs are so good, you’d think she was crazy! Oh, wait…”

Both of these sims are in the library when you first start up the game, I just paired them up and plopped them into a starter home. Andre will be getting a Tech Guru career, while June will get into the Chef career.

Willow Creek Index | Week One

Willow Creek Index | Week One Part One

Starting Family Members:

EA’s description of this family: “The Goths are an aristocratic family with a dreary aura. Between Mortimer writing macabre stories and Bella’s mysterious disappearances will Cassandra and Alexander grow up to be gloomy, too?”

Mortimer Goth

Age: Adult (24 days)
Traits: Creative, Bookworm, Outgoing
Aspiration: Renaissance Sim
Career: Level 3 Writer

Bella Goth

Age: Young Adult (24 Days)
Traits: Family-Oriented, Romantic, Good
Aspiration: Party Animal
Career: Level 2 Secret Agent

Cassandra Goth

Age: Teen (13 Days)
Traits: Creative, Gloomy
Aspiration: Musical Genius
Career: C Student

Alexander Goth

Age: Child (13 Days)
Traits: Bookworm
Aspiration: Whiz Kid
Career: C Student

In the initial days, Cassandra will pick up a babysitting job to help out with paying bills. Alexander, on the other hand, will pick up the Scouts activity.

Current Family Tree

Willow Creek Index | Week One Part One

First off, welcome to my first family of my “Townie Rotation”. I’ll get this whole thing started with a quick background on each family, so we can see where they started from. When the next generation takes over, I’ll post another intro to the family to show where they’re going to. So without any more ado… here we go!

Willow Creek Index | Week One

Starting Family Members:

EA’s description of this family: “Okay, here’s the breakdown: Dennis Kim and Lydia Spencer had a daughter named Alice Spencer-Kim, then divorced. Alice married Eric Lewis and had her own little girl, Olivia Kim-Lewis. They live with Alice’s dad (Dennis, remember?) and Eric’s mom, Vivian Lewis. Hey, no one ever said family was easy!”

Vivian Lewis

Age: Elder (83 days)
Traits: Family Oriented, Foodie, Cheerful
Aspiration: Big Happy Family
Career: Currently Unemployed

Dennis Kim

Age: Elder (83 days)
Traits: Perfectionist, Loves Outdoors, Neat
Aspiration: Successful Lineage
Career: Currently Unemployed

Eric Lewis

Age: Young Adult (23 days)
Traits: Materialistic, Self-Assured, Glutton
Aspiration: Mansion Baron
Career: Currently Unemployed

Alice Spencer-Kim

Age: Young Adult (23 days)
Traits: Loves Outdoors, Childish, Creative
Aspiration: Painter Extraordinaire
Career: Currently Unemployed

Olivia Kim-Lewis

Age: Child (12 days)
Traits: Goofball
Aspiration: Artistic Prodigy

Again, this family is starting out as EA made it, and I will begin with giving everyone careers.. somebody is going to have to pay the rent on that huge house! Vivian will help out around the house and get a chef job, Dennis will be getting a gardener/flower arranging career from Seasons expansion, Eric will be a Business investor, while Alice will be a painter.

Current Family Tree

Willow Creek Index | Week One

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Five Rules
Switch Five Part 1 < | > Switch Six

Above: meet Connor officially. On that note – status update – at this point I am in the last apartment, and at level 7 in the politics career with Devin. This post will chronicle the rest of Switch Five for the Ritchies. We start with Devin’s Adult birthday.

A shot of the progress on the apartment, Connor’s back, and the fact that Anvi is pregnant again.

The layout of the apartment. I figure this will be the final shape of the penthouse, but it’s not. Also, not too long after this, we have the value part of the challenge completed.

Meet Jeffrey, Connor’s little brother.

Out getting friends and votes for Devin’s career:

…And his aspiration. Complete!

Connor grows up.

….And so does Jeffrey.

Connor working on his first aspiration:

… And finished.

Someone’s home from work… (side note: if you’re paying attention, this is where you note that I’ve moved around the layout of the penthouse, more on that later)

…And career portion of the challenge complete.

I use a total of two sleep replacer potions to get Connor to all four of his aspirations as a child, but as it turns out, I get them done with, like, two days remaining, so I probably didn’t need to.

A dark shot of the Oasis Springs Park’s Monkey Bars.

…And Aspiration two complete:

Jeffrey Grows up:

Something else Devin’s been working at on the side of his career:

At least it was another source of income, and something else for him to do instead of sitting around doing nothing:

And this shot… is Connor in bear form finishing up his …

… third aspiration. Wonder what everyone thought of him running around making friends while he was a bear. Also, of note: this is my least favorite child aspiration. This is one of the few times I’ve completed it without cheating to get past it. (Yep, I hate it THAT much)..

Someone else home from work with…

… a very big promotion. Way to go, Anvi!

Working on mental skill, must mean that….

…. this is the final child aspiration that Connor “needed”. I use quotes because he didn’t really need them, it just gave me something to do.. and it will help with the next Switch.

… This is where I officially show why I changed the layout.. I gave them a pool and a basketball hoop. This is Anvi on AI mode being the first to christen the pool.

Excuse the outline on the chair.. this is Connor growing up to Teen.

And another important birthday:

… He doesn’t look too happy about it.

Anvi’s turn…

Then Jeffrey’s…

.. He reminds me a lot of his dad, Devin.

… And on this note… Challenge complete. Congrats on reaching Young Adulthood, Connor.

Devin’s final stats:

And here’s what I had leftover in the bank.

The final value of the apartment:

And the final layout:

And that’s officially the end of Switch Five Extreme difficulty testing. The whole thing works. After testing the Normal Difficulty (with the other branch of Politics career), I will officially publish Switch Five… a year late.. but I figured it was about time to go ahead and get it done.

Of note: I specifically didn’t work on skills that would help me earn money on my next Switch, even though, I, obviously, know where the Switch is going next, but I wanted to make it a tougher challenge. I did, however, set him up with traits pointing towards Writing, as you’ll see at the beginning of the next Switch.

To finish off the post, here’s the lot I created for the Gym lot in Uptown. I made an Experimental Kitchen with a red theme. It’s fully tested, and seems to work out well.

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Five Rules
Switch Five Part 1 < | > Switch Six

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Five Rules
Switch Four Part 2 < | > Switch Five Part 2

Of note: Being that a year had passed since I started testing this Switch, I restarted testing from the beginning, so this is technically the second time play-testing this Switch. I did not, however, finish the test run on Extreme, or even start it on Normal… and I had no desire to try to sort through screenshots from a year ago, hence re-starting testing. I also don’t take much in the way of screenshots, choosing to just commemorate milestones, so this may be the only post on this difficulty (don’t worry, it’s not…. lol)

First, I build a spa on the newly opened Planet Honey Pop lot (actually, that’s not completely true, it took me a few days to build it because I forgot to initially.. it just fits better in this post at the beginning.)

Second, we check in on our heir from the last house, Devin Ritchie.

…And we’re back to 0 simoleons. Not as scary a prospect as it once was after doing a lot of Drifting and Switch testing, but it’s still a bit daunting.

First thing I do is get a job in Politics, which nets me some money, but not much. The game shows me that it’s two days until the first day of work.. which is nothing I want to wait for…. so I send Devin out fishing.

After some fishing, his social need is tanked, so I decide it’s time to get him a mate. I look through his social panel from when he was a child/teen.. and pick a girl. Her name is Anvi Basu, and she’s into art.. which is perfect for me, so it’s another income towards goals.

I invite her over to our very humble abode and set out to woo her.

First kiss!

… Turns out I moved too fast, and the proposal is rejected. So the next day, after a lot of collecting in the neighborhood (since I don’t have enough money to travel) and fishing, I find her walking around and try again.  Success!

… And she’s moved in. Yay. Now I can have her paint while Devin works on his Politician career.

By this point, this is what the apartment looks like. Just enough furniture to get by.

I found this screenshot hilarious.. There’s a protest in the neighborhood that Devin didn’t even start.. and even the Living Statue is in on it.

.. Time to move on. Final value and age.

And a little tour:

This is what we were able to afford in the next apartment: In other words.. not much. A bathroom, a partial kitchen, a bed and an easel. Oh, and a few walls and doorways.

Progress: a dining table.

More progress:

And later, time to move: (literally, on sim-week later)

House Tour: I took a bunch of photos, because I really liked the way this one turned out.

First shot in the next place is apparently a birthday.

And, I figure it’s about time to start a family, so here’s the “guess what?” shot.

And.. it is only 8 days on this apartment before I initiate the final move.

House Tour: (And yes, that’s baby boy, Connor, in the first shot.)

On that note…. Moving on to part two.

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Five Rules
Switch Four Part 2 < | > Switch Five Part 2

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Five Rules
Switch Five Part 1 < | > Switch Six

First… let’s check where we are on goals:

• Career: level 9
• Apartment value: complete – worth k, but I will probably add more to it as I go on playing
• Heir: toddler age

And.. Back to work. We start out with Kamryn aging to Adult.

..And Vivaan painting up a storm.

.. To finish his aspiration. Good job!

This is Kamryn getting the last of her 20k worth of donations for her final promotion. That was a lot of work. But strangely easier than the Social Media career.

A baby brother or sister for Selina is on the way!

And no more toddler days for Selina. What a cutie.

Meet Emma… even though you can’t tell what they look like from the baby stage.

Yep.. I put in a sauna.. and Vivaan loves it. So he’s helping Selina with her school project while in his spiffy towel… nothing weird there. LOL!

There. Now we can see what Emma looks like. Although it looks like she’s sorta grumpy about aging up.

Career maxed! Yay. Now all I have to do is get Selina aged up and I’m finished with this Switch.

I found this screenie hilarious. It looks like Darth Vader is coming out of the space jungle gym.. and if you look closely, you can see Boba Fett playing on his phone by the road. Apparently “Club Cosplay” is in full swing at Oasis Springs Park.

I didn’t get a lot of pictures of Selina working through her aspirations, but I did remember to document that she has them before she aged to teen.

A very tired Kamryn walking around with Mac and Cheese..

.. Must mean she maxed cooking.

Little Emma isn’t so little anymore. Love the tiara.

And this marks when Selina finishes her final aspiration.

See…?

.. Just in time to age up to teen.

Don’t mind the eyes closed. She’s very pretty, I think. Mom in the background is cheering in her PJ’s.

Trying to get Selina points for her “A” without making the next Switch too easy. (Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a nightmare, but I wanted to start it as if I didn’t know what it was.. you know, to simulate people who avoid spoilers while playing the challenge.)

Emma is the only one who seems to like the pool when I forget to pay attention to what she’s doing.

.. And sleeping in the hot tub, too.

Selina decides to steal dad’s easel… aww kitty painting.

Happy birthday Vivaan.

.. Welcome to elderhood.

Selina stole the easel again… but this time Dad decided on his own to go mentor her. Not a bad idea, there, Dad.

… These two seem almost inseparable.

… And little Emma is sleeping in the hot tub again. Good grief.

.. So I wake her up and set all of them to doing school projects.

.. Happy birthday Kamryn.

.. Old age for you, too, huh?

Shortly after, Emma ages out of her tiara.

.. Into who knows what to call this hairstyle….?

All four of them eating at the same time. I took a picture because it happens so very rarely, it was worth noting.

I get a notice about Vivaan’s age, so I hurry up and take a shot of his traits.

.. Just in time, too.

Being that Selina is going to age into Young Adult the very next day, I tried to plead for all I was worth, but Grimmy wasn’t having any of it.

… So it’s a very very sad teenager who ages up to start her own Switch.

Kamryn’s Final stats:

See? She’s sad too.

Apartment value ..

And screenshots.

We’ll see you in the next switch!

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Five Rules
Switch Five Part 1 < | > Switch Six

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Five Rules
Switch Four Part 2 < | > Switch Five Part 2

We start by looking at Kamryn Nash’s starting stats:

Starting mood:

And back to 0 simoleons.

.. At least for a little while. I find her a mate quickly, and get them together.

If nothing else, he’ll definitely help with the bills. He wants to be a painter.. which I’m perfectly happy with.

Congrats, you two!

Vivaan’s traits at move-in.

And we have a surprise guest shortly after they get married… a vampire! Eeks!

Poor Vivaan…

Guess he’ll have to sleep that one out.

And this is me.. figuring out that busking really doesn’t make much money. Oh well.. I tried. It gave Kamryn something to do in between days of work.

… At least someone tipped!

And.. done with the first apartment.

That didn’t take long at all!

Apartment pics:

And here’s what they were able to afford upon move-in. Not much.. but as I’ve already figured out.. sims don’t really need a whole lot to live on. At least.. they don’t when that’s all they can afford!

Working from home in this Political career is an interesting prospect. It’s always sending her to do speeches and murals everywhere. I don’t use the work at home as much this time around as I have on previous switches.

Apartment two…

(Somehow I forgot to take the age photo.. but it wasn’t long as you’ll see.) Meanwhile.. a kid’s bedroom for the non-existent kid..

And some more random house photos. I really liked the way this one turned out, even if I wasn’t 100% in love with the way the rooms were portioned out. I did, as you can see, end up adding/moving walls around a little bit so the place made more sense.

And here’s what they got in the next apartment. A good bed was high priority, because it gives them more time during the day to work on other things.. like making money.

Within a couple days, I had a decent kitchen started.. and Vivaan’s easel had found it’s home up there in the corner.

A bird’s eye view of the apartment with all the flooring and wall coverings picked out. Still a lot of furniture we’re missing.. but that’s okay for now.

Kamryn’s busy making friends…

So she finishes her first adult aspiration…

The “creativity room” with some more furnishings. I went with a color scheme I’ve never tried before, and, while it’s really not my color, I ended up really happy with how the apartment turned out.

Most of the living area is furnished now… I LOVE that fish coffee table from the small pets pack. So cool, I want one in my house!

Vivaan painting things.. always …

.. And this is the result:

Apartment three is done. I have to say, I was sad to leave this one behind.. but onward and upward!

Time’s a-wasting!

Apartment photos:

… And there was a lot that needed doing in the next penthouse. It took me quite a while to come up with a wall configuration I could live with – while still keeping the integrity of the initial apartment. This is the second floor that I added…

.. And I left the downstairs mostly open like it started out to be.

..Wouldn’t you know it.. first night in the new apartment. *facepalm* See ya in a few, there, Kamryn.

The next night…

Wait… AGAIN!?

Poor Kamryn…

.. But at least the try for baby worked out. The heir is officially on it’s way.

More speeches in Uptown..

And Vivaan’s visit to the local museum…

.. Poor Vivaan ages up when he gets home from work because I forgot about him. Sorry, buddy.

Here’s when I decided to add a third floor..

… I think it looks good.

.. Meet Selina!!

And with that.. time for a break. See you next time!

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Five Rules
Switch Four Part 2 < | > Switch Five Part 2

With Seasons coming out and all the fun holidays we’re going to have, I decided it’s high time for me to re-start my Townie Rotation. I had one going when Sims 4 first came out, but I added too many sims and got bogged down. Then, when I tried to go back to it, I discovered I remembered little to nothing from each family. So this time, I’m blogging it. Whether anyone reads it or not is another question.. I’m doing it mostly for myself – as a reference should I ever have to take another break from sims.. so I can come back at any time and know what was going on.

I am currently setting up the pages for Lot information and the Family Indexes (Treat these like a table of contents) for each neighborhood. Three done, 5 to go. I plan on starting play either June 22 or 23rd (right after seasons launches). For more information, see the > Main Page < for my Townie Rotation.

Other than that, I also am hoping to have Switch Five out prior to the seasons launch date, and perhaps Switch Six (the last one) as well. That way I can concentrate on other things. I also have finally decided (I think) not to restart my current Drifter save, the Ramblers, in favor of just keeping going. To that extent, I’m going to try to have the current house (006) done and published by the time seasons hits.

In other words, I have lots to do and under two weeks in which to do it.

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Four Rules
Switch Four Part 1 < | > Switch Five Part 1

Welcome back to the Nashes’ trip through Switch Four. When we left them, they had just moved into apartment three and were basically living on the lawn.

After a while, I start finishing rooms.. this is Bridgette’s office.

The kitchen:

Jaiden is definitely level 7 in his job, and not getting any younger, so I try for baby.

Success! The heir is on it’s way.

Bridgette hard at work on her programming. Hacking doesn’t make money, but at least it makes some!

Jaiden working at writing. He hasn’t needed it for career leveling for a while, but it brings in money.. which is much appreciated.

.. And this. Yay Jaiden!

The completed dining room.

Breakfast time.

Aww look at that nooboo belly!

Still working on programming..

Way to go Bridgette!

Poor thing is huge.. I hope it’s not twins!

Meet their daughter, Kamryn!

Happy Birthday Bridgette!

Yep.. as soon as Kamryn grows up, we’re moving… I found this apartment configuration very hard to take up photos of, so I just include the overhead photo.

She’s all grown up, so it’s time to move on…

Oops.. looks like Jaiden’s first thing when we get to the new apartment will be making a cake for his birthday, too.

Jaiden’s at level 8 with a lot of stuff to do for his next promotion.

Here’s what I could afford in the shell of their next home (The “cheapest” “penthouse” (it’s really more of a house than a penthouse, but whatever.)

As you can see, they haven’t really got much. Pretty bare.

As promised, Jaiden’s birthday.

.. Still programming.

Hooray for Bridgette.. now hacking can really make some money.

Jaiden talking to himself for Charisma…

.. And it finally pays off.

Hey.. don’t give me that look. You were the ones who wished to “try for baby”.. I just did what you wanted.

Level 10! Way to go Jaiden! I found this branch of the social media career to be pretty easy, really. Much easier than the other branch, that’s for sure.

Time for Kamryn to grow up!

What a cutie!

Meet Brice!

Aspiration #1 complete..

Aspiration # 2 complete..

A dark photo…

..That commemorates Aspiration # 3!

And.. finally…

Aspiration # 4. All child aspirations complete for Kamryn.

And now for Jaiden…

Who finally finishes his Bestselling Author aspiration.

Brice ages up alone because I forgot to make him a cake.. sorry, buddy.

Luckily, however, I don’t forget Kamryn’s too.

… Oh boy does she need a run through CAS. LOL.

First time trying out the new school projects (most of the time, I’m playing games/challenges where I can only control one sim, which usually means I can’t do the projects.)

And a bunch of birthdays:

Why’s Bridgette look so happy?

She’s finally level 10 in her career!

.. More school projects.

.. And more birthdays.

Yup, that last one was Kamryn aging up to Young adult .. which means all my goals for this Switch are complete. Now to wrap up with Jaiden’s ending stats.

And the final house value: (I could have added more, I just didn’t feel like it.. lol. My goal was getting through this generation ASAP so I could start testing switch five.)

I’m not bothering with a house tour, since I didn’t do much to the actual shell, but here’s a couple cutaway shots to show the finished product.

See you in Switch Five!

Main Apartment Switch Rules | Switch Four Rules
Switch Four Part 1 < | > Switch Five Part 1