Family Updates 2

Another round of updates, if only because things have been gradually changing here and there.

Chief among the changes is that, after thinking long and hard about it, I decided to cut away some friendships and realign others.  One of the main reasons for this is that it was becoming a bit difficult to maintain the friendships of a family that had over 40 of them.  Part of it was because the hours that the Sims were available for visiting neighbors didn't match up.  If I had a prime-timer (someone who works evenings) being friends with a dayshift Sims (someone who works from at earliest 8a and ends at latest 6p), trying to match hours would necessitate one Sim not going to work, or having to get up early enough to call the other Sim before that Sim left for work him/herself.

The other part was because it was becoming difficult to juggle who calls on what day, and if there are other Sims making calls, who gets precedence and what happens if kid Sims come with their adult family members.  With some of my families having two kids and two adults coming home at 3p, that would be four people needing to make calls.  So, naturally, I'd maybe have them take turns on alternate days, right?  Well, good, but if I called one kid, and one parent, and that parent comes with another kid, who also happens to be friends with the kid who called his/her friend...so I have to be careful.  By dropping certain friends and realigning others, I could usually arrange for a kid to call the friend whose family member the adult is calling.  For example, I might have Johnny Burb call Gregory Farmer (both kids) while Ian Burb (who arrives home at 3p also) calls Chad Farmer (who also arrives at 3p).  Although Gregory does have a cousin who's also a kid and may arrive with Chad, because Johnny's not her friend, I could have Ash Burb greet and talk to her instead, while Ian talks to Chad and Johnny talks to Gregory.  Confusing?  Yes, it is.

Another reason it was becoming hard was because I had multiple friendships in families.  I have been steadily avoiding having one Sim be friends with two (or more) members of another Sim family because it wouldn't help the family's friend count.  However, With all my families more or less in place, I decided it would be best to cut some of the multiple friendships.  This way only one adult per family would be friends with an adult in any other family.  For example, Mortimer Goth might be friends with Diane Pleasant, but not with Jeff.  Cassandra Goth might be friends with Jennifer Pleasant, but none of the other Pleasants.  It reduces the overall number of friends somewhat, or at least gets it back to manageable levels:  with eight people in the family, I feel that 32 friends--4 per family member--is quite sufficient; doing more risks going crazy (me, not the Sims).

So, I am working on cutting out extra friendships based upon who has more friends, how strong or weak the existing friendships are, etc.  I am also working on realigning friendships based upon the work hours and options available.  For example, I have restricted all my National News Anchors (who work from 11a to 8p) and my Venture Capitalists (same hours) to be friends with each other and only each other.  It still makes it difficult to get them to meet simply because the hours are so late, but it's easier than trying to match any of the up with, say, a Veterinarian who leaves at 7a and gets back at 3p.  In that sense, it is a lot easier for the 3 p-mers (Coaches, Smugglers, Astronauts, etc.) to be friends with each other because there are a lot of professions that end at that time.  I also have a lot of Theorists in play, so that is fine too.  The prime-timers can call each other in the morning and still make it to work in the afternoon.

And the kids...well, I only allow them to be friends with kids now.  If a kid calls an adult Sim, there are a lot of options, but if the adult calls the kid, it's much more limiting.  However, because most kids get along, it's easy to get them to be friends, even during their first meeting.  I just have them Talk About Interests, then Entertain Perform Trick.  If the kid is in a good mood, then I can use Talk Jabber then Entertain Perform Trick again.  Next is Talk Whisper then Entertain Joke.  Then I can use Tickle.  if Play Rock, Paper, Scissors shows up, that would be next.  Otherwise, I have them Say Goodbye.  If everything went well, then I have a new family friend and my kid Sim ends up with a green Social Gauge.

Now the family updates.

1. Willow Burb's sister, Rowan, moved into town with her family.  They'll get their own story later.  The point here is that Vivian Stone, who happens to be Rowan's husband's cousin, has left the Stone house and moved with her girlfriend Gloria into her cousin's place.  This leaves space in the Stone household for the guys to adopt a couple of kids...which would make friendships a little easier for the aforementioned reasons.

2. Delia Venii left the fashion industry and went into Business.  Now, as a CEO, she doesn't have to work the long nights, just long days.  She is happier, though.  Her husband, Emil, is preparing to get a job as a Slacker.  He intends to settle into the swing shift from 2p to 7p as a Personal Tour Guide.

3. Also in the Venii househould, Raoul Venii has completed his rise to become a Fashion Columnist.  I've also redesigned the Venii house.  The story for it is that it was originally a convent (or nunnery) with imposing stone walls and a fountain where nuns could reflect on...well, whatever nuns reflect on (sorry, don't want to offend anyone).  Now, however, the fountain has been renovated into a swimming pool.

4. In the Adonii household, Marie has finally started her career in Fashion.  Now, she is a Fashion Columnist like her husband, Kenny.  The Adonii have also gotten a pool.  I thought about putting the pool indoors (you know, I read that you couldn't do that--you had to make the pool first, then enclose the room) but after doing that, and seeing the room score after a Sim dove in, I took it out and put it outside instead.  Much nicer.

That's about it for now.  I still have more work to do on Willow Burb's sister's family before I can present them...they have a long way to go.  And I also have several other families to introduce.  And I'm also thinking about whether or not I should try to post pictures of the Sims and their houses or not.  I know it's an option...I just don't know if I want to do it.  I might describe them and their houses, though.  Maybe.