Quill (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} quill18) wrote,@ 2009-06-26 08:45:00 |
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Sims 3 Legacy Project
This journal introduced me to the idea of sims legacy gameplay. It's a set of self-imposed rules to play a multi-generational family. Since I'm a goal-oriented gamer, I thought this might be a good way to maintain interest in The Sims 3, which I have not played very much despite like the game, due to a combination of a busy schedule and a lack of direction.
I still have a full schedule, but at least now I have a fun goal in mind.
Basically, the idea is to start with a single Sim and place him on the biggest, most expensive empty plot in the game. You start with $16,000 but the plot costs $14,700. The money you have leftover is enough for a bed and a toilet and...that's pretty much it. You can't even put up any walls (hope you aren't shy...) Luckily, save for sleeping, you can fulfill all your needs in town. The local diner has cheap meals, the library is free entertainment, and you can shower at the gym.
The goal is to start from these humble beginnings and have your family span ten generations. Your founder will definitely have the most difficult life, as he or she must quickly start to make a lot of money to literally build a home from the ground up while at the same time wooing a mate and spawning some heirs. Life for future generations should be easier, though you are not allowed to pick their traits (they must be randomized), which I expect will lead to some interesting challenges.
The rules I linked above have a scoring system so that you can grade your success beyond the idea of just surviving ten generations. There's not much to it, though I'm not 100% sure if I care enough to keep track. I do like that you are encouraged to have a portrait made of family members and keep them on display. Clearly, I'll have to make sure to encourage artistic expression in at least a few of my heirs.
My founder for this experiment is David Dufresne. He is meant to be the heir of the closest thing I ever had to a "legacy" family in Sims 2 (though I think I misspelled the last name...). I made sure that his traits would be reflective of someone destined to be the patriarch of a great family. They would also help make the various difficult early phase of the game a little easier:
Ambitious - I knew that he would have to bust his ass to earn promotions as quickly as possible so that I could earn bigger paychecks so I could furnish a house from scratch. This trait makes it easier for him to earn a promotion and grants him extra happiness for doing so.
Workaholic - Sims with this trait gain bonus happiness while at work, which will prove critical in helping to counteract some of the unhappiness David will inevitably have due to his initial poverty.
Bookworm - Unlike his progeny, David will not be able to enter adulthood with any skills. He'll need to cram hard at the library to learn everything he'll need to get through life. This also enables him to get more entertainment from reading books, which is a nice source of free fun.
Friendly - Again, he won't be able to start out his adult life with any friends, so this will help him make them faster. It should also help him to build a relationship with his boss (we need promotions ASAP) and eventually befriend a potential wife.
Family-Oriented - I'm going to want at least an heir and a spare for him, and raising kids while also trying to furnish a home will be very stressful. Hopefully this will make it easier on him! (It should also give him wishes that are inline with plans I already have for him, which is always nice.)
For a lifetime wish, I gave him the goal of becoming a world-class surgeon (rank 10 in the medical field). I knew that, if possible, I wanted a very lofty job for the patriarch of the family, and the traits I gave him just seemed to fit the medical field very well. I also feel that it sets a nice benevolent tone for the family (more than CEO or politician would).
Although I just now realized that I missed the perfect, absolute best idea for a legacy family: The Mafia. A godfather-esque setup would be so utterly perfect for this.
Damn. Damn damn damn. Hm. I haven't actually invested that much time on David...it wouldn't be too late to change. I could even give myself the optional challenge of requiring that my chosen heir would have to continue the family business (rise to the top of the Criminal career). It might be a bit dull to play the same career over and over, but as long as I have a big enough family I could have the non-chosen heirs explore different career tracks.
Okay, I really want to do this. However, I just checked and the Criminal track is not really "godfather" material. The promotions go like this:
Decoy, Cutpurse, Thug, Getaway Driver, Bagman/woman, Con Artist
Okay, so far so good. But then the career branches and you take one of these two paths:
Evil: Henchman, Evil sidekick, Super villain, Emperor of Evil
Thief: Safecracker, Bank Robber, Cat Burglar, Master Thief
Arg. What's a guy gotta do to be able to extort protection money from people? The Thief branch might be acceptable. Must think on this further.
(Ideal traits for this setup would probably be Klepto, Friendly, Ambitious (or Athletic?), Charismatic, Mooch. I do kinda like the idea of giving my founder the "kleptomaniac" trait so that he can start to decorate his empty lot with items that he steals from other households. Perhaps these traits aren't so dignified, but they would help in the early poverty stages.)
---
Meanwhile, I did start my game last night and I've already managed to get David up to the level of Intern in the medical field. He has one best friend - a Miss Lin, who is a resident at the hospital. In a lot of ways, she'd make an ideal spouse. Unfortunately, she already has a child, and the legacy guidelines require that heirs be related by blood. It's going to be difficult enough raising babies without also dealing with a step-daughter.
I dunno. We'll see how it goes.
This journal introduced me to the idea of sims legacy gameplay. It's a set of self-imposed rules to play a multi-generational family. Since I'm a goal-oriented gamer, I thought this might be a good way to maintain interest in The Sims 3, which I have not played very much despite like the game, due to a combination of a busy schedule and a lack of direction.
I still have a full schedule, but at least now I have a fun goal in mind.
Basically, the idea is to start with a single Sim and place him on the biggest, most expensive empty plot in the game. You start with $16,000 but the plot costs $14,700. The money you have leftover is enough for a bed and a toilet and...that's pretty much it. You can't even put up any walls (hope you aren't shy...) Luckily, save for sleeping, you can fulfill all your needs in town. The local diner has cheap meals, the library is free entertainment, and you can shower at the gym.
The goal is to start from these humble beginnings and have your family span ten generations. Your founder will definitely have the most difficult life, as he or she must quickly start to make a lot of money to literally build a home from the ground up while at the same time wooing a mate and spawning some heirs. Life for future generations should be easier, though you are not allowed to pick their traits (they must be randomized), which I expect will lead to some interesting challenges.
The rules I linked above have a scoring system so that you can grade your success beyond the idea of just surviving ten generations. There's not much to it, though I'm not 100% sure if I care enough to keep track. I do like that you are encouraged to have a portrait made of family members and keep them on display. Clearly, I'll have to make sure to encourage artistic expression in at least a few of my heirs.
My founder for this experiment is David Dufresne. He is meant to be the heir of the closest thing I ever had to a "legacy" family in Sims 2 (though I think I misspelled the last name...). I made sure that his traits would be reflective of someone destined to be the patriarch of a great family. They would also help make the various difficult early phase of the game a little easier:
Ambitious - I knew that he would have to bust his ass to earn promotions as quickly as possible so that I could earn bigger paychecks so I could furnish a house from scratch. This trait makes it easier for him to earn a promotion and grants him extra happiness for doing so.
Workaholic - Sims with this trait gain bonus happiness while at work, which will prove critical in helping to counteract some of the unhappiness David will inevitably have due to his initial poverty.
Bookworm - Unlike his progeny, David will not be able to enter adulthood with any skills. He'll need to cram hard at the library to learn everything he'll need to get through life. This also enables him to get more entertainment from reading books, which is a nice source of free fun.
Friendly - Again, he won't be able to start out his adult life with any friends, so this will help him make them faster. It should also help him to build a relationship with his boss (we need promotions ASAP) and eventually befriend a potential wife.
Family-Oriented - I'm going to want at least an heir and a spare for him, and raising kids while also trying to furnish a home will be very stressful. Hopefully this will make it easier on him! (It should also give him wishes that are inline with plans I already have for him, which is always nice.)
For a lifetime wish, I gave him the goal of becoming a world-class surgeon (rank 10 in the medical field). I knew that, if possible, I wanted a very lofty job for the patriarch of the family, and the traits I gave him just seemed to fit the medical field very well. I also feel that it sets a nice benevolent tone for the family (more than CEO or politician would).
Although I just now realized that I missed the perfect, absolute best idea for a legacy family: The Mafia. A godfather-esque setup would be so utterly perfect for this.
Damn. Damn damn damn. Hm. I haven't actually invested that much time on David...it wouldn't be too late to change. I could even give myself the optional challenge of requiring that my chosen heir would have to continue the family business (rise to the top of the Criminal career). It might be a bit dull to play the same career over and over, but as long as I have a big enough family I could have the non-chosen heirs explore different career tracks.
Okay, I really want to do this. However, I just checked and the Criminal track is not really "godfather" material. The promotions go like this:
Decoy, Cutpurse, Thug, Getaway Driver, Bagman/woman, Con Artist
Okay, so far so good. But then the career branches and you take one of these two paths:
Evil: Henchman, Evil sidekick, Super villain, Emperor of Evil
Thief: Safecracker, Bank Robber, Cat Burglar, Master Thief
Arg. What's a guy gotta do to be able to extort protection money from people? The Thief branch might be acceptable. Must think on this further.
(Ideal traits for this setup would probably be Klepto, Friendly, Ambitious (or Athletic?), Charismatic, Mooch. I do kinda like the idea of giving my founder the "kleptomaniac" trait so that he can start to decorate his empty lot with items that he steals from other households. Perhaps these traits aren't so dignified, but they would help in the early poverty stages.)
---
Meanwhile, I did start my game last night and I've already managed to get David up to the level of Intern in the medical field. He has one best friend - a Miss Lin, who is a resident at the hospital. In a lot of ways, she'd make an ideal spouse. Unfortunately, she already has a child, and the legacy guidelines require that heirs be related by blood. It's going to be difficult enough raising babies without also dealing with a step-daughter.
I dunno. We'll see how it goes.
