Sims 3: Xenon Legacy

[JeminiZero]

So, I've decided to try a Lets Play. Specifically, Sims 3 according to the rules of the Legacy Challenge, but infused with my own brand of Humour*.

For those of you not too familiar with Legacy Challenge, its essentially a sort of marathon run with 1 family dynasty for 10 generations, starting with a single Founder, to see how you can bring them from rags and gutter, to riches and glory. Unfortunately, the rules of the challenge remove a lot of the interactive collective decision making, normally seen in other Lets Plays. (since you have to randomize the heirs, and can't use any Player Created Sims other than the Founder).

So here are the details on what I've decided on so far:
-Game: Sims 3 (base game only, no expansion packs)
-Mode: Legacy Challenge
-Family Name: Xenon (in the hopes that the Family will be as noble as the gas**).
-Town: Sunset Valley, but depopulated before the start of the Legacy Run. Over time, the game will generate random NPCs to refill the town, so it won't actually remain a ghost town as such. Essentially, this means that all the faces will be new.
-Founder Traits: Angler, Green Thumb, Handy
-Founder Lifetime Wish: Reach level 9 of the Science Career

So here are the Founder details the playground can help decide at the start:
-Founder's First Name
-Hair and Eye Colour
-Remaining Traits (I've only picked 3 of 5 possible traits, so there are 2 slots still open.)
-Favorite Food, Colour and Music Genre


*Which unlike other brands of Humour, isn't actually all that funny.
**Stuff like this being an example.

[Octopus Jack]

This sounds interesting... very interesting.

I'll give you abit of input as what I'd like to help decide:
First Name: Johann
Favorite food: Jambalya
Favorite colour: Green
Favorite music genre: Indie

Good luck!

[Trazoi]

When I played Creatures I would always name the first generation with names beginning with A, second generation with B and so on. Something similar might make it easier to remember which generation you're playing with.

I'd go with Adam if the starting character is male, Alice if female. (Those were the usual first two Norns I'd have in Creatures.)

[Lord Loss]

Name: Vlad. Then we call his wife Mina and his kids Edward and Bella. (flees from flying torches)

I don't know the traits, but I'm going for a vamp-type guy so if anything fits well with that it'd be swell.

[Goldfly]

Ooh, a legacy? Don't see many of those around here; I'll make sure to keep an eye on this.

[Fri]

Nonono, you got it wrong.

First, we must decide what kind of dynasty is this.

And looking from your starting set of traits, it's clear.

A dinasty of mad scientist. Can they take off from their humble science shack toward the thunderous mansion on top of the hill?

Later, their great great grandson would stand in his room on the upper story of the vine-crawled mansion, listening to the rumbling thunder and watching the rabble of peasants waving torches and pitchforks just before their gate from the window and says to himself.

"My ancestor made his first man-eating shrubbery at that shack over there"

[Deme]

Nonono, you got it wrong.

First, we must decide what kind of dynasty is this.

And looking from your starting set of traits, it's clear.

A dinasty of mad scientist. Can they take of from their humble science shack toward the thunderous mansion on top of the hill?

Later, their great great grandson would stand on his room on the upper story of the vine-crawled mansion, listening to the rumbling thunder and watching the rabble of peasants waving torches and pitchfork just before their gate and say to himself.

"My ancestor made his first man-eating shrubbery at that shack over there"

This. What two traits best do mad science?

[JeminiZero]

Favorite food: Jambalya

There is no Jambalaya in the Sims 3 base game. A list of foods can be found here, if you want to make some other suggestion.

When I played Creatures I would always name the first generation with names beginning with A, second generation with B and so on. Something similar might make it easier to remember which generation you're playing with.

I was considering using such an alphabetical naming scheme, but in view of the fact that the entire process will be meticulously documented in this Lets Play, it should prove unnecessary as far as generational tracking is concerned.

Name: Vlad. Then we call his wife Mina and his kids Edward and Bella. (flees from flying torches)

I don't know the traits, but I'm going for a vamp-type guy so if anything fits well with that it'd be swell.

Unfortunately, I don't have the Nightlife expansion pack, there are actual Bloodsucking Vampires in there. Plus the Legacy Rules state that the Family must be strictly human based. You apparently aren't supposed to let any supernatural creatures into the family bloodline.

Nonono, you got it wrong.

First, we must decide what kind of dynasty is this.

And looking from your starting set of traits, it's clear.

A dinasty of mad scientist. Can they take of from their humble science shack toward the thunderous mansion on top of the hill?

The scoring system of Legacy is such that you get more points if your descendants excel at completely different things, from the founder and one another, as opposed to a continuous line of Mad Scientists. Plus what Mad Science can accomplish is sadly limited in Sims 3 base game.

This. What two traits best do mad science?

The 3 really important ones (Angler, Handy, Green Thumbs) have already been taken.

[Octopus Jack]

Nonono, you got it wrong.

First, we must decide what kind of dynasty is this.

And looking from your starting set of traits, it's clear.

A dinasty of mad scientist. Can they take off from their humble science shack toward the thunderous mansion on top of the hill?

Later, their great great grandson would stand in his room on the upper story of the vine-crawled mansion, listening to the rumbling thunder and watching the rabble of peasants waving torches and pitchforks just before their gate from the window and says to himself.

"My ancestor made his first man-eating shrubbery at that shack over there"

YES!

Damn no Jambalya... oh well I'll stick to just suggesting a name and music then. (Hint go with Johann )

[Fri]

The scoring system of Legacy is such that you get more points if your descendants excel at completely different things, from the founder and one another, as opposed to a continuous line of Mad Scientists. Plus what Mad Science can accomplish is sadly limited in Sims 3 base game.

Well... hum, kinda too bad.

But I guess you can be a variety of mad scientist. Mad social scienctist. Mad writer. Mad engineering scientist. Mad gardener....

Nah, don't mind it too much if it's not what you're aiming. But it'd be nice to have an overall theme for the dinasty.

[Toric]

First Name: Freddy (May be pronounced "Froddy")
Hair: Black.
Eyes: ....Black. Or grey.
Traits: Let's see, three positive traits. Let's get some negatives. Neurotic, Absent-Minded.
Favorite Food: Peanut butter & jelly (study food at its finest!)
Favorite Color: Grey (reminds him of home)
Favorite Music: Classical

[Lord Loss]

Nonono, you got it wrong.

First, we must decide what kind of dynasty is this.

And looking from your starting set of traits, it's clear.

A dinasty of mad scientist. Can they take off from their humble science shack toward the thunderous mansion on top of the hill?

Later, their great great grandson would stand in his room on the upper story of the vine-crawled mansion, listening to the rumbling thunder and watching the rabble of peasants waving torches and pitchforks just before their gate from the window and says to himself.

"My ancestor made his first man-eating shrubbery at that shack over there"

Changing vote to this. I propose whatever Dr. Frankenstein's first name was.

[Asheram]

Changing vote to this. I propose whatever Dr. Frankenstein's first name was.

Victor Frankenstein,
Faust Heinricherson or
Judah Loew ben Bezalel.

[JeminiZero]

And the final tally. The winning vote is denoted by an Asterisk. I will close voting for now, and get cracking on the first entry.

Spoiler

Show

Votes
Name
*Victor (3)
Johann (1)
Andrew (1)

Hair Colour
*Black (1)

Eye Colour
*Gray (1)

Favorite Colour
*Green (1)
Black (1)

Favorite Food
*PB&J Sandwiches (1)

Favorite Food
*Indie (1)
Classical (1)

2 Other Traits
*Other Mad Scientist [Lucky] (1)
*Neurotic (1)
Absent Minded (1)

[JeminiZero]

Our first entry. As a side note I will include an appendix for terms that non-Sims players may be unfamiliar with, marking them with an asterisk (*).

Sunday

Spoiler

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Meet our Founder, Victor Xenon. He's got the traits: Angler, Green thumbs, Handy, Lucky, and Neurotic. He likes the colour Green, Indie music, and PB&J sandwiches.



And Victor's got big dreams, someday through toil and sweat, he aims to become Creature-Robot-Cross-Breeder**. At the same time, he wants to marry and have children, and from there, to establish a family dynasty that will stretch on for the next 10 generations. Yes siree, big dreams indeed.

**This is the actual job name given to Science Career level 9, which is his lifetime wish.



But right now, what he really wants is some furniture. Well more furniture than just a Mailbox and a Trashcan at any rate. Unfortunately he's a very low on cash right now. For reasons he cannot comprehend***, he has spent all his starting moolah on this large empty piece of land, leaving him virtually nothing for actual housing. But hey! Look at the scenery!

***This is actually a starting requirement of the Legacy Challenge. Which is why your Founder Sim starts as literal a rags and gutter hobo. The exact address is 15 Summer Hill Court.



He immediately purchases a bed. And while tempted to buy a shack to actually house the bed in, he reassures himself that it never seems to rain around here****. Thus, he saves up what little cash he has left for bigger more important purchases in the future.

****It literally does not rain in Sims 3. When Victor starts farming, we either need to buy Sprinklers to keep his crop plants alive, or water them manually. The scenery plants, like in the park, have apparently evolved to survive indefinitely without water. However, they also don't grow taller, produce seeds, or anything like that either. Its like they're made of plastic or something.


Eventually, the Newspaper is delivered.



Browsing through the paper, Victor quickly finds a job at the local Science Lab... as a test subject. Well, the journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Hopefully, he will still have his pancreas when he gets promoted to better things.



But as he flips through the paper, something else catches his eye.

Are you bored? Lonely? Looking to meet new people? Have mysterious forces compelled you to purchase a large empty lot, leaving you no cash for actual furniture? Well fret no more! Come down to the Summer Hill Community Centre. We have numerous facilities to cater to nearly every need: a grocery store, a small fitness centre and library, and even an entertainment room. And its all free! This newly opened facility can be found on the 25 Summer Hill Court.

(Thats right Victor, we're just opposite your house.)

Not pausing to consider how the paper ad knew his name, location, AND situation, Victor walks across the street to the Community Centre.



True enough, the place was a hobo's dream come true, with nearly everything a Sim could need.***** Victor gets down to business right away, reading up on the basics of gardening- a skill necessary if he is ever to climb to the top of the science career.

*****In case it isn't obvious, the town does not actually come with a conveniently located community centre. I added that in to make starting life easier for our Fiscally Flummoxed Founder.



As soon as he finishes the first chapter, a bunch of seeds magically appears in his pocket.



He plants the little things, and then spends a bit more cash to get a Sprinkler to keep them watered.



The rest of the day is spent reading up the basics of Handiness. Oddly enough, the community centre is utterly empty, despite it being a fine sunday afternoon******. So Victor has pretty much free run of the premises.

******A side effect of my ghost town start. The game will take a few days before repopulating the place with random NPCs. I expect this Community Centre will be bustling by the weekend.



Soon night rolls around. Feeling a bit peckish, and not quite ready to stump money for a fridge, Victor goes to the nearby Grocery Shop, and buys the cheapest thing they sell.



Which turns out to be Lettuce. The ravenous man starts eating a leaf the moment he walks out the store.



And finally, its off to dreamland with our Sim.



"... zzz ... SCIENCE! ... zzz ..."

[Fri]

you're first, lettuce! muhahaha

... I don't know what else to say.

[JeminiZero]

Well not much has happened, so there's not much to talk about.

Monday

Spoiler

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Its Monday, first day of work for Victor,and his plants have germinated. Unfortunately, they've also managed to sprout weeds, and thus Victor spends the morning tending his garden.



In the meanwhile, the mail-lady arrives and brings him... BILLS! Thats right, just moved in, hasn't even earned his first pay cheque yet, and the local authorities are already trying to extort what little cash he has. No wonder the dang town is empty!



Although speaking of mail-ladies, if he wants to get started on that family thing, he's going to need to find prospective single girl to settle down with. And so, despite the fact she just burned a hole in his wallet (even before the first date no less, never a good sign), he goes over to introduce himself.



She wants nothing to do with our Hobo Founder.

Soon the time for work comes, and the carpool* arrives.

*Transport in Sims 3 is essentially free. For work, a carpool vehicle appropriate to your profession, comes to fetch you. For nearly everything else, you can ride Taxis for free. While it is possible to purchase a bike or car to get around, it is by no means necessary.



It brings Victor to the local SCIENCE! laboratory, where he starts work... being experimented on.



As soon as work is done, Victor pops by the Community centre for a bath. Thank goodness for this place, otherwise he would have to burn cash to purchase an shower of his own.



After that he's feeling too stressed from work to do anymore reading. So he watches some TV to improve his gardening skills**. Today's program is on apparently on some Cowplant that eats people***.

**For the benefit of non-sims players, skill advancement is indicated by the floating blue bar on top of a Sim's head. When the blue bar reaches the top, you achieve the next rank in that skill. In case you're wondering why he didn't do this on the first day, most skills require you to gain the very first rank through reading books or paying for lessons. Only after that, can you level it by vegetating in front of the television.

***The Man-eating Cowplant was an actual item back in one of the Sims 2 expansion packs. It is unfortunately, now absent in Sims 3. Do note also, that each TV channel is essentially just repeating clip. So this will hopefully be the first and last time I reference the Man-eating Cowplant.







"Dang, I wish I had one of those."

Once he's had his bit of fun, its back to learning Handiness****.

****Unfortunately, Handiness isn't one of those TV learnable skills.



The community centre continues to remain empty however, so no luck meeting potential life partners just yet.



And we hit the sack once more.



"... zzz ... Wish I had a house ... zzz ..."

Tuesday

Spoiler

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Not much happened today, so this will be rather short. By now, Victor is getting into the routine of waking up each morning to tend the garden.



After work is done, he goes to the Community Centre once more, only to find it empty as ever. Not many Fish in the Sea of Love around here, so he decides to go do some actual fishing at the pond.



He manages to catch ...



... a tiny minnow ...



... Several of them in fact. He clearly isn't too happy about this, but as we all know, their size will expand rapidly with each retelling of this fishy tale. As the day grows dark, Victor finally strikes GOLD!



Well he manages to bag a goldfish. But its getting late so its off to bed.



"... zzz ... Explosive Chemicals ... zzz ..."

[Toric]

At night, Victor dreams of engineering explosive goldfish.

I like what I see so far. You're doing a good job of explaining how things work for those of us who haven't played The Sims 3.

[Fri]

I wish we still have man-eating cowplants.

[shadowxknight]

Very interesting Let's Play. It's much more interesting reading about someone else play this game then play it myself haha

They'll probably add the man-eating cowplants in one of the 999999x expansions they have planned for Sims 3

[Sipex]

I love sims games, tried to do my own lets play for 2 and 3 but they both flopped.

I'll tell you why.

Because I spent too much time trying to make each day interesting.

Don't worry about this, especially since you're running a legacy so you have a lot of time to cut through. Once you've touched the basics and your sim starts doing some of the same old things, start updating for every 3-5 days and just show the highlights.

[JeminiZero]

I'll keep that in mind. It true that once Victor settles down to family life, things will become highly routine. Although really good Sims 3 LPers like Zarah are somehow able to extract humour out of smallest things.

Wednesday

Spoiler

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Today, no weeds sprouted on the plants (happens by chance occasionally), so he didn't need to do any gardening. Instead, Victor calls up the Mail-Lady and invites her over for a short early morning chat, before he goes to work.



Surprisingly, she agreed, although apparently it was mostly because she liked the scenery. Meet Alma Tanti, Mail-Lady.



"I once caught a minnow THIS big"



"Yeah right, it was probably only this big at the very most."

Well time was growing short, and Victor had to leave for work soon. So he popped the question.



No not THAT queston, he just asked if Alma was single. Turns out the answer was yes. So thats one potential life partner, I'll try to get at least one other, and then let the Playground vote on who Victor should try and court.

Anyway, today is Victor's lucky day! He got promoted to Labtech (Science Level 2). Unfortunately, I forgot to get any snapshots of him leaving work in his Lab-Tech uniform, but I'll get some tomorrow. After work, Victor comes back to his Community Centre to a pleasant surprise.



Thats right, OTHER SIMS! Looks like his romance dry spell was about to come to an end... But first, he felt compelled to brush his teeth 3 times*.

*This is an effect of the Neurotic Trait. Essentially, every once in a while, he gets the urge to do a certain activity X number of times, to check random appliances out of sheer paranoia, and various other OCD type stuff.



Suddenly his phone rings, and on the line is a chef at the local restaurant. Apparently, after hearing crazy rumours about some huge, easy-to-catch minnows in a nearby pond, their normal Tomato suppliers had all quit to become fishermen. And so they were asking if Victor could step in to fill an order. They wanted 3 very nice tomatoes and were willing to pay good cash.**

**In Sims 3, this is called an opportunity. Sort of like a quest in cRPGs, where you are asked to do something for someone, in exchange for a certain reward.



It sounded like easy money, so Victor agrees to the task. Once that is over with, he introduces himself to that girl on the couch, one Marlena Nicholas.



However, she apparently just a teenager, still in high school. So she's off the possible love list.



Eventually, night rolls around, and Victor returns to his house bed.



"... zzz ... I really did get one that big ... zzz ..."

Thursday

Spoiler

Show

After 5 days of growing, some of the crops are ready to harvest. We get a fresh batch of of Lettuce, Tomatoes and Apples. However, the grapes are still growing.



This time though, Victor doesn't manage to finish the gardening before the carpool arrives, so he continues his gardening after work. As promised, this is him in his Lab-tech uniform. We dispose of the harvested plants, and use their seeds to plant the next crop*.

*In Sims 3 farming, each subsequent generation usually has higher quality than the previous batch, until 'Perfect' quality is reached. While it is certainly possible and feasible to farm for cash (you can sell your produce to the Grocery store), Victor's primarily doing this to accumulate perfect strains, so that should any future generations have the lifetime wish of having X perfect plant species, half the work has been done for them already. This kind of long term planning is necessary because the rarer species literally take several lifetimes to achieve perfection.



Anyway, considering how few Fish there appear to be in the Sea of Love so far, Victor has decided to try trawling at the company pier, and to check out one of his co-workers (OK, fine, his Boss). A quick phonecall to invite her over and presenting .... *drumroll* ... Dorothy DeMayo the Carnivorous Plant Tender (Science Level 5).



Yes, she is wearing a cowboy hat, a country dress, and biker gloves. The random Sim generator will do that to you. Anyway, Victor gets right down to business.



After briefly chatting with her, he inquires about her maritial status



Turns out, shes single and available. Also, her favorite colour is brown.



So now we have 2 romantic prospects proper. Victor bids the girl farewell, and spends the rest of the day watching Gardening TV. He will start courtship proper once the Collective Hive Intelligence from the Far Realms (i.e. you guys) tells him who to woo.



Soon enough night comes around, and Victor hits the sack.



"... zzz ... Blow up Town with Tank ... zzz ... hehehe ... zzz ..."



"... zzz ... Blow up Town with *mwuhahaha* ... zzz ..."

And now for another round of voting. Which of the 2 ladies should Victor attempt to incorporate into the Family bloodline?
a) Alma Tanti the Mail Lady. Known Traits (0/5): <None>
b) Dorothy DeMayo the Carnivorous Plant Tender. Known Traits (1/5): Snob

[Deme]

I vote Dorthy; her outfit is strangely cool -- I'd like an outfit at that. Also, she's a carnivorus plant tender, and thus the perfect mad-science partner.

[Gecks]

Well, office romances never work out and always end in heartache and endangered employment, which obviously provides pleny of excitement for the LP, so I also vote for Dorothy.

(OK, so I just dig the cowboy hat and biker glove combo too!)

[Trazoi]

I'll buck the trend and vote for the mail lady, as it pays to marry into the system.

(That and the few times I've played Sims 3 I always end up with office romances because there's little time for the Sim to socialise before they drop dead of old age. The biological clocks seem to run in triple time in that game.)

[Woot Spitum]

Office romances are easier and therefore against the spirit of the challenge.

Go for the Mailperson.

[FantasyFoxMan]

Despite the fact that her outfit creeps me out entirely... I still vote for Dorothy. Who knows? Maybe they were made for each other. :V

[Fri]

Dorothy <3

Though, if we do have the time we should wait until we meet more people.

[Trazoi]

Though, if we do have the time we should wait until we meet more people.

No time!!! Tick tick tick goes the biological clock!

In Sims 3 your character starts as a Young Adult, has three in-game weeks before they age to an Adult, then three more in-game weeks before becoming an Elder. (I believe Elder women are infertile, but Elder men are not). Sim children take between four and five in-game weeks to mature to Young Adults (including an excruciatingly whole week as a toddler).

So if your Sim wants to see their child mature within their life time, they have only a couple of weekends worth of socialising time to find a suitable mate. That's a potential downside of dating your boss too - they're usually older than your Sim so they're further down their mayfly-like lifespan.

The Sims 3 is depressing. You crank through an ordinary work week for your Sim and it's a whole sixth of their working life. Then you crank through a second and their acquaintances start dropping dead.

[Fri]

But hm. I have weak spot against mail ladies too... This is a hard choice. I'm turning neutral on this.