Behind the Scenes: Belladonna Cove | Episode 5.2

Ana's popping, Ramir's unnaturally calm ...

First thing's first: as stated in this episode, I knew that I spoke about the quilt bed blanket in one of the Cho family's blog posts, but I wasn't sure which post it was - I just checked, and it was the post for episode 3.3. But today I decided to edit that blog post because I realised I didn't explain why toddlers were no longer allowed to be left alone on the blanket during the night.

Here's what I added: "Vivian's story is about the struggles of a single mom, being exhausted and hungry and needing some fun in her life. But by adding the bed blanket (and having the mod that always allows toddlers to climb out of the crib), Vivian didn't need to get up in the middle of the night to tend to her daughter - take Etsu out of the crib when she wanted to get out, put Etsu back in when she needed to sleep. That meant Vivian didn't need to give Etsu that much attention and also meant Vivian no longer had her sleep interrupted. So she had more time to tend to her own needs, but in the end, that meant she was no longer struggling; no longer exhausted, hungry or needing to do something fun. That was good! But I made things easy for myself and for Vivian by adding the blanket and allowing Etsu to sleep on the quilt during the night. It made gameplay that much easier, but I no longer want that. So that's why I don't want toddlers to be left alone on the quilt during the night."

Now, about the decision I mentioned in the episode. 

I love the apartment residents. I also have plans - possibilities, would be more accurate - for some of them. Right now, Maria Marsh is linked to Jessica Peterson and Richard Ross is linked to Chastity Gere, and both sims live in the Mobile Houses lot. I know there's a possibility that Jessica and Maria will move in together, and that idea has been sitting in the back of my mind for ages. Then, about the two apartment residents (Lana Christensen and Dylan Morgan) linked to Vivian Cho, I can see them becoming close with the Cho and Riley families. Also, I can see the possibility of Lana and Dylan becoming romantically involved and having children.

And that's the important point. I want townies and apartment residents to have children.

I want Maria Marsh to scout out more rich sims and introduce them to Jessica. And what about the possibility of Maria going to prison? And then Jessica could get in trouble because of her association with Maria - everyone knows they're best buds!

Basically, I want more control over the apartment residents but also over the townies. So that's why I added Nysha's No Townie Neighbours mod, and it "prevents the game from spawning townie neighbours when you play an apartment complex with one or more vacant apartments. With this mod installed, the extra apartments will stay vacant, unless you decide to move a playable family into them."

But first, before I forget! If there's a townie who's involved with one of the playable families, then I want that townie to become playable. To move in, maybe start a family if they want to. I guess I want more control over everyone! I want to control how the community develops. See, if I want Chastity to spend the day at Richard Ross' place, then I can do that - because I want him to actually live at the Mobile Houses. I can load Richard Ross' lot, summon/call Chastity, and make her selectable. We can pretend she actually spent all that time there. (I could use the Visit Sim mod by Chris Hatch, but I've read about limitations - that the whole family has to be home for it to work. But if Gabriel moves out, then there should no issues with Chastity visiting Richard Ross … I'm making a note and will definitely play-test this!)

But I decided to add Nysha's mod because I want to stop townies from being generated (I have notownieregen). The apartments will only be open for the playables, and it will also be helpful with the Newson family's story. See, the Newson family consists of toddlers, children and teens - no adults. They fear being separated, so for their storyline, it will be so helpful that their apartment complex stays empty. That they don't have neighbours. No one will be around to report to the authorities that kids are living there without adult supervision. That idea still needs to be tweaked a bit more. But if you have ideas, then let me know!

But to summarise: I want more from the townies and the apartment residents, and I'm taking the first step to make sure this fantasy will become a reality. I'm excited for this idea! I can't wait to start playing with the apartment residents, and I'm already imagining Belladonna Cove as a giant spider web - nearly everyone is connected. Right now, the idea is to have a series (to be published between the first and second season of Belladonna Cove) that focuses on the townies and apartment residents. Then the second series will take place between the second and third season of Belladonna Cove, and so on.

This idea isn't unique at all! On MTS, there are simmers who want the same control over their neighbourhoods, who also want to play with the townies and apartment residents. I normally focus on the playable families (families I've made in CAS), but this is another new thing for me - the first was playing with the premade families! Gosh, this series is making me love the Sims even more!

Last thing, I added the No Unneeded UI Sounds by Treeag, just for this episode, so maybe you noticed that there were no clicking noises when I selected sims or objects. I tried it out but decided to remove it because it felt weird not hearing those UI sounds when I click on things. But I wanted to test it out because I like zooming in on action by using the camera function. Sometimes, the pause and un-pause sounds can't be edited out, and I preferred to edit out the noises because the closeups I add are like cutaways in a movie or TV show. So I tried the mod, just because of my frequent cutaways, but I decided to remove it in the end.