A Sim Life

I’ve been playing “The Sims” since the very first game came out years ago. So, when the third instalment of the series came out this year, I switched to Sunset Valley and the newest version. Currently, while I’m waiting for the first add-on which is due to be released in Germany this week on Thursday, I’m playing a little more than during the last month or so.

On Friday, I spent most of my afternoon and evening with the game, going through most of the adult life of a new Sim, Bella Black. Bella has moved into one of the houses (instead of buying my favourite estate by the sea) and had the intention of becoming the big boss of the Sunset Valley crime world. (I’m not sure if it’s the same in English, but the German wish is to become the Empress of Evil.) So I made her train regularly (athletics is an absolute necessity in the crime career) and later on work on logics as well. Working on logics is not a hardship for Sims – the best ways are playing chess or gazing into the sky through a telescope, both is considered fun. After she had maximized both abilities (and was that close to being Empress of Evil), I had her take a course at writing, too. So after she fulfilled her life wish shortly before reaching old age, she has now quit the job with a nice little pension and is currently working on her third Science Fiction novel. I had her write those for various reasons. First, she’s got the character trait ‘Genius’ and those are good Science Fiction writers. Second, three Science Fiction novels unlock the possibility to write a Fantasy novel. And, finally, she wanted to write a Science Fiction novel.

There were two secondary abilities she developed as well: cooking and mechanics. Cooking is developed a little bit every time a Sim cooks something (and as she’s a single and didn’t have that much money at the begin of her career, the only way to get something more than just ordinary to eat was to cook it herself). Mechanics is the result of having to rely on cheap equipment (toilet, shower and basin, mostly) which tends to break down every now and then. Doing repairs herself saves money.

Bella is retired and concentrating on her writing career now. The money for the novels and her pension will definitely keep her afloat until the end of her days. And the ghosts of two dead friends will keep her company, as she has put their gravestones into her garden…