Dunne&Ias' Sims 2 Stuff

Oh yay!

There's only one project currently, and it's the dog one, so it gets to finish early.

The person they sent to inquire about dog breeding has sent word back! They're really excited! There were several breeds to choose from on the main land, but they've managed to find a good breeder who has given them a deal. Won't Mr Pelehan be happy to hear of money saved?

In fact, they're already on their way home. They're bringing four dogs, two of each breed, and they'll be on the next ship.

--

Two of these dogs will go to the Weaver family, and two will go to the McClearys.

Adult dogs need to be trained in at least two skills before they're allowed to be bred.

A family who have a guard dog are allowed lifestock on Forest Hill, to protect against the wild wolves.

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New project:

Someone has noticed there are tall reeds growing all over the islands. What could they be used for? This project will take three weeks.

--

Look, I'm not letting the dog project fail. I want dogs. There should always be dogs.

--

It was late one night when Elizabeth McCleary, the book merchant and suspected witch, was walking home from a friend. Suddenly there was a knife at her back and a hand on her purse strap.

It happened so quickly. Elizabeth wasn't hurt. But it seemed that the community had itself a new criminal. A few days later, Tor Ellsworth was robbed as well. And then, Jeffrey Miller.

Who was the criminal, the wolf among the sheep?

--

I keep track of burglaries. After three break-ins, someone gets the criminal career job. This person has to be of farmer class or lower. After that, it's one criminal per 150 population.

Law enforcement doesn't become available until there are 5 criminals though, so there'll be quite the crime spree going on for a while there.

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Ongoing projects:

Autumn is here and with it, harder challenges.

Adding new scarcities is always fun though.

What should it be?

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Ongoing projects:

Okay, so I renamed a bunch of islands. I also renamed the hood itself to Arbor Straits. I figure those areas of water between the island should be shallow enough to count as straits.

Unnamed town center island is now Macellum Heights. There are SOME heights, I promise. They're just not very high.

Golden Island is now Haybale Bay

Lighthouse Island is now Beacon Rock

Also placed on the map are where I have either built or imagine I'll build everyone's home.

I actually think I know all the families now, and at least one family member, but for all I know the cards are gonna throw me a curve ball soon so I'm not finalizing the families OR their homes until I know for sure.

The summer month in the game is over now, so it's time to summarize a bit.

The following sims have been added to the neighbourhood since spring

Odgen Miller, an old man who has gone into servitude to pay for a crime he committed in his youth

Jeffrey Miller, his son who has taken over the farm that provides most of the food for the island

Melva Smith, the wife of Ridley Smith and the town's healer with her wonderful soup

Meaghan Carpenter, daughter of recently deceased island carpenter Cameron.

Andreas Cedar, lumberjack and that's okay

Paul Fisher, a fisherman

Tor and Clarity Ellsworth, newly moved in flower merchants and their three sons Devin, Sven and Johan.

Also I suppose, Arienne Pelehan, who has moved away and won't exist but a kid of hers might pop up some day.

Currently the following resources are in abundance: Lumber, iron, silk, health, suspicion and food.

The following resources are in scarcity: outside connections, education (but a school is in the process of being built), technology, equality, democracy and lifestock.

Autumn is approaching so I'm over half-way and my fingers are itching to roll the rest of the families and build their houses, but I'm exercising patience that is not characteristic to my personality. I know that by going slow I'm going to spend more time on the details (as far as they can afford the details)

I'm having fun. And that's the important part. I hope this is fun to follow too.

--

Because they rolled when they entered the hood, I could make the Ellsworth family.

They're flower merchants, and consists of fortune sim parents Clarity and Tor, as well as their children, knowledge sim Devin and Sven and Johan. They do not have any plans on having any more children.

Their shop sells flowers :)

This is one of those really interesting cards that don't really fit with how I am using this game, but I'm going with the top one.

The die said it should happen to a member of the Pelehan family.

Terrence Pelehan, the local landowner, always enjoyed stargazing. As a man with plenty of leisure time, he was in dire need of hobbies, and astronomy promised to be as endless as the universe itself.

And endless the universe may be, but turns out, it was not empty. Not by a long shot.

The day Terrence Pelehan disappeared, his ward, Adria Ledford, was the one to rise the alarm. They searched all over Pelehan Island for him, and then they searched Forest Hill as well as the could. Maybe the mysterious well had taken him?

Good riddance, some people thought, but really, did it matter who was the landlord? They would still be stuck being poor. So everyone searched. A man like Terrence Pelehan wouldn't just up and leave his fortunes and lands behind.

But Mr Pelehan was not gone for lone. The next night, while his ward was keeping watch at her window, she say a strange light in the sky. Some, well she could only describe it as a contraption, appeared in front of Pelehan Court, and it unceremoniously dropped the so dignified man on his arse on the front lawn.

Terrence would never speak of what happened, but he sure had a lot to say when his belly started to grow in the next few months.

-

Terrence Pelehan will start the game pregnant by aliens. Isn't that fun?

--

Project completion

What should we grow on Golden Island?

While all the lifestock died, we would one day hope to bring them back to the island, so someone will have to grow Hay. We also have need of grains to make flour, and vegetables.

The mill is still standing, and the main farmer is named Jeffrey Miller. After his father Ogden became sentenced to servitude for his crime, life has been hard for the Miller family, who have to deliver 300 foodpoints every season to Mr Pelehan. The rest of what they grow they can sell or use themselves.

All homes should have at least some gardening plots too, and something to forage, like berries.

And with this project completed, food is now an abundance.

-- Other on-going projects:

Bring dogs to the islands - 4 weeks.

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Oh this is a fun one.

It's a family of five. We have an abundance of suspicion in the community so when they arrive on market day in the square no one will talk to them at first. They try to sell their wares, which happens to be flowers, but no one will buy. There's a rumour right away that the husband, his name is Tor Ellsworth, had been a prisoner for a horribly violent crime. Whether this is true or not, we don't know, but him and his wife Clarity set up shop as merchants.

Mr Pelehan becomes a customer, and after that, the suspicion of the townsfolk is lessened a little, but rumours never die completely. The Ellsworths have three sons, Devin, Sven and Johan. Merchants have access to imports and don't have to make their own products, and they move into a house by the square. According to the die, the Ellsworths have 100.000 simoleons to their name.

-- Project completion

What can the wood be used for?

Forest Hill is just one massive forest and there seems to be no end to the amount of wood available nearby. The logger is Andreas Cedar who might have a family but I don't know about that yet. He chops down trees and delivers some to Mr Pelehan and some to Meaghan Carpenter. The rest he sells or uses himself.

Logs are processed by the carpenter into planks that she uses to build furniture.

Logs are also a building resource. 100 logs, which is a tough but no unreasonable amount for a family to gather, is enough for a 10x10 building expansion. The community is currently also saving up to build a school.

Anyone can go to the logging lot to chop down trees if they want to, but the logger is the only one expected to deliver some to Mr Pelehan as part of a contract.

-- Other ongoing projects

What should we grow - 1 week

Getting dogs - 4 weeks

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Oh, the eldest dies. The die says this person is a farmer, so I'm going with the old Carpenter.

His name was Cameron Carpenter. He was getting on in years and probably should have turned his workshop over to his children years ago, but he was a stubborn man. When he ran out of wood to work with, he would go logging himself, and this is what he did one day.

But Cameron Carpenter was bad of hearing in his old age, and not as alert as he had been in his youth. He did not hear the approaching wolves until it was too late. But he felt their teeth.

He was survived by his daughter Meaghan who took over the job as town carpenter.

-- New project

If only Cameron Carpenter had had a guard dog with him when he went to the woods.

Someone is dispatched to the mainland to bring back a few dogs that could be bred on the island. This will take five weeks

-- Project completion

The fishing expedition has finished and they have found the waters around Lighthouse Island -> you know what, I'm gonna rename it Beacon Rock, so that's its name now, are especially good for fishing. Paul Fisher builds his home there with his family, and has to deliver 4 crates of fish to Mr Pelehan every season. The rest of his catch he can eat or sell to others.

-- Ongoing projects

What can we use wood for? 1 week left

What should be grown on Golden Island? 2 weeks left.

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Alright then. an "action" in this game are things like hold a discussion (hard to do by myself), or start a project.

Project 1: We've got so much wood. What can we use it for? This project will take two weeks

Project 2: What should we grow on Golden Island? This will take three weeks.

--

Other ongoing projects:

The school project is completed. Everyone has had their say, and Mr Pelehan has agreed that a village school makes sense. His sister has written to him of the value of servants who can read, and he is convinced that it should be done as long as it can be done with minimal cost and inconvenience to himself.

Mr Pelehan offers a parcel of land on the so far unnamed town center island, to be used as a school, and promises that the pay for a school teacher can come out of his charity funds.

The people will have to raise the lumber for the school themselves though, and it will cost 100 logs. Everyone may contribute to this project once actual gameplay starts.

We also need to have at least 5 eligible students. Children and teen knowledge sims are the only who may attend, and the higher classes won't attend a cheap village school because they don't want to mix too much with the "serfs".

The school may be expanded with an additional 100 logs once 3 teens have graduated, at which point the school will also be open to teenagers no matter their aspiration.

Once the school is placed, children and teenagers learn how reproduction works and also how to prevent it when they are adults.

--

The search for good fishing spots is still ongoing for another turn.

---

This was actually hard to pick between, because they both sound difficult to fit into the hood, and also exciting.

I'm going with the first one, I think, or a variation on it at least (I can change whatever I want because I am the creator)

The relationship between the different islands and Luna Island, the island of the werewolves have always been friendly, but distant, built upon mutual respect and suspicion. But people talk. They talk to the werewolves, they talk about the werewolves, and the idea of community and no overlords is certainly compelling for many of the poorest members of society.

And why could not the human sims live like that too, they ask themselves? Really, who said Mr Pelehan could own land in the first place? Especially land that he could not use himself?

Certainly, once the idea has been discussed around the dinner tables on Golden Island, it actually seems preposterous.

In the younger generations especially, there is soon produce a pamphlet. It's handwritten and crude and not really that persuasive, but it is enough.

A group of young men and women destroy the private ships and boats belonging to Mr Pelehan in order to show that he is vulnerable to the people. They're never caught, but taxes are raised in retaliation, and that's enough for everyone's parents to put a stop to any "foolish talk".

The pamphlets are never confiscated though. Owning one is punishable by law, and turning someone in is rewarded.

Suspicion is now an abundance on the islands.

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Projects

Looking for fish: two weeks left

School: one week left.

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The forge is done!

This is the home of the Smith family. They have a smelting/forging workshop and a small shop space where they will sell the things that they make on their land.

Melva and Ridley don't have any children yet but they are both family sims so I assume the game will take care of that right away.

They incurred a debt of 6.000 simoleons when buying their land, and hope to be able to pay that back before their children are adults. Rules are, no one with debt is allowed any savings, so if they're still in debt their kids will either all have to stay on their lot, or they won't have any options except become servants.

And that's not what a humble blacksmith wants for his children, surely.

Melva spends her days foraging and tending to the farm. She also makes Grandma's Comfort Soup and sells to passers-by.

Their duties are as follows:

Every season, they need to deliver

2 large pieces of metalworks (a stove or a tub etc) to Mr Pelehan

1 serving of soup to Mr Pelehan

10 boxes of nails to the future carpenter.

Anything else they make they can either keep, or they can sell it in their small shop.

Every season, they'll also owe

50 simoleons per adult in taxes

25 simoleons per child in taxes

250 simoleons for their plot of land in taxes

Anything else they have above 1K will be used to pay their debts.

---

That's much better!

Ah, so now there are no options. One project can finish early, and I say it's disease prevention.

The project was concerned with what to do if disease started to spread on the islands. The community thought this would take quite some time, but then they heard a rumour.

It was the wife of the blacksmith Ridley Smith, Melva, who held the key to it all. Melva, you see, knew of a recipe. A recipe of a magic soup that had been handed down to her through generations. This soup could cure any ails and aches that anyone could have, and Melva would gladly make it for anyone who needed it.

The community now has an abundance of health. Good for them.

--

Melva Smith is thus a family sim. She'll sell grandma's comfort soup from their home lot which will also sell the things that Ridley makes in his forge. The dies say the Smiths don't have children (yet), so I can make them and their house now, yay!

As a smith, Ridley has to deliver 2 larger items such as a tub or a stove, to Mr Pelehan every season, he may also have to deliver nails to a carpenter, but we don't have a carpenter yet. In addition, the family has to deliver one serving of comfort soup to Mr Pelehan every season.

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Medical is not a job that is unlocked at start in any of my BaCCs, but once there's been three medical emergencies (deaths, serious accidents, or miscarriages), Melva has the first right to it. She may not get promoted further than level 5 in that career because she is an uneducated peasant. Smiths are considered the same class as farmers in this community.

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Ongoing projects:

Fish: three weeks left

School: two weeks left

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Ooh, interesting choices for this card. So far, the spring cards are delivering on the fun!

The farmer and servant classes have long been kept ignorant. Education is low (I keep children at a C+ grade at the most, using Inge's school objects) and teenagers only learn their parents' skills and not much else. As a result, it's hard to better one's self and many of the poorest families feel despondent at their next generation having little to not future.

The community would like to build a village school.

What would it take? How would it be run? This is the project for this week, and it will take 3 weeks to complete and to let everyone talk it over.

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Ongoing projects:

Fish: three turns left

Disease prevention: 4 weeks left

School?: 3 weeks left.

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We only have one project and I don't want that one to fail, so...

Supplies are ruined. The supplies would've helped us stave off the disease spreading among the lifestock on Golden Island. They all die, but thankfully it does not spread to the sims.

As a result, none of the farmers can have lifestock or poultry for the first generation.

Also, because of the wolves, no one can have that on Forest Hill either. This means there's very little meat on these islands.

New project: Research what could be done to prevent spread of disease in the future, in animals as well as humans. This will take some letters to the mainland and we have to wait for their response, so I'm going to say 4 weeks.

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Ongoing projects:

Looking for fish: 5 turns left.

Disease prevention: 4 turns left.

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Summer is indeed a time for food, especially in a hood that won't be able to gather as much food in the winter as during the summer.

Food grows from the earth, but we're not going to ignore that we live on an archipelago, and are surrounded by water. So, a project is started to chart the waters around the islands to see where the best spot is for fishing. This project is going to take 6 weeks, one per island (I can't do more than 6) and will help alleviate the food scarcity.