Behind the Scenes: Belladonna Cove | Episode 7.3

Justin leaving the apartment ...

I think I finally regret something. You see, I look for names the moment I find out a sim is pregnant. I look at the family tree, then do some research, and try to find a few names that I like. I keep lists! I decided on 'Sophie' for the new daughter, but it was only after I was done recording this episode that I remembered Sofia Baldwin, daughter of Carlos Contender’s niece.

Well, what am I regretting? I don't like it how their names are … so similar. The names have different spelling, but they sound nearly the same. There's only a difference of an 'a' and an 'e'. A small thing, but I want the sims from the original 11 families to have unique (or mostly unique) names. The name Richard is certainly not unique in Belladonna Cove - I lost count of how many Richards there are running around in the neighbourhood! - and for some reason, I need to remind myself that there are so many Sophies and Sofias in the world.

Your name is part of your identity. People are mocked or even bullied because of their name - some people will legally change their name because of their baggage. But I'm putting so much thought in the names for the sims born in-game because it's part of their identity. Also will a sim live up to his or her name? That's part of the reason why I'm so looking forward to see Charu, Liam and Sophie grow up. What will they do, what will they want, and will (this is the biggest question) they go to university and then graduate?

But that's for the future! Now, let's look at the present. I’ve already picked out an apartment for Justin. And I think I know who’s going to be his neighbour. I have a mod in my downloads folder that keeps apartments empty – no townies will move in – so the family I’ll be moving in will be from the bin. I have a pretty good idea which family that will be. I think Justin’s story will give him a connection to this family. I really want to talk about this idea, but I’ll keep it for later, for the next season, so that I can see if Justin and this family will get along. I may even do some testing, see if the family gets along with Justin, and then I'll officially move them in.

Regarding the other members of the Cleveland family, I don't think I'm going to start the new season with Jason, Marissa, Sophie and the currently unborn baby in their new family home. If I replace the changing table with a one-tiled version (or just delete it), then I have enough space for another crib. Plus I can put in a bunk bed when the siblings are children. Though it will be a different matter entirely if Marissa gives birth to twins! Then they'll have to move. Also, I think I can experiment with Etsu and Sally's bedroom - put in a bunkbed - but the Riley family will have to move if Vivian becomes pregnant with Timothy's child.

But then the Patel family, hmm, I did say that Ramir would want the family to move because the power plant is around the corner. They do have the money. Though I think Ana lost the Want to have another baby, so they have enough space at the moment since they're a family of three. (Also, Ana's the one who wants as many babies as possible, but Marissa just popped one out and has another one on the way!) Though instead of moving them out, I can shift their lot, but I think they'll definitely move out because of their story, because Ramir would want a lovely family home to impress his colleagues. 

Though, I think I'll move the low-cost apartments so that they're next to or close to the power plant. I'll probably shift buildings around between season 1 (Summer) and season 2 (Autumn), when I'm decorating the neighbourhood - that's something I mentioned before, slowly tweaking the neighbourhood between seasons.