The Drifter Chronicles - House 003 (COMPLETE)

[commasplice]

If you're not familiar with the Drifter Challenge, the rules are here. It's sort of a combination of a continual rags to riches and a generational challenge.

House 001 is here.
House 002 is here.

The third generation and house starts now!

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

[commasplice]

From: Drifter Board of Directors, No Sim Left Behind
To: Eddard Holiday
Re:  Drifter House 003

Thank you for agreeing to participate in the Drifter Project for No Sim Left Behind. Your endeavors will help advance simkind.

Your overall goals:
•   On the bulldozed lot formally known as Sultry Springside, you will build a home worth a minimum of $40,000 after depreciation. Said home must have at least two bedrooms and one bathroom. A room is defined as having: at least 4 walls, a door, flooring, and wall coverings
•   You will achieve level 10 gardening
•   You will achieve level 10 fishing
•   You will complete the Angling Ace aspiration
•   You will acquire a cow plant and collect 5 unique essence potions by interacting with it.
•   You will produce and raise an heir to the young adult life stage
No Sim Left Behind will provide you with the plot of land free of charge. You will need to have disposed of your money by the time you begin this project.
The specifics are here: https://thedrifterchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-drifter-challenge-house-003-rules.html

By signing this agreement, you are pledging to spend the entirety of your life to this project, and the lives of your heirs.*

Please return the signed agreement by the close of business today. We expect regular reports on your progress.

*While we encourage your heirs to participate, we recognize we have no legal authority to force them to sign on.



Email from Eddard Holiday to Robert & Anya Holiday

Hi Mom and Dad,



I guess I’m doing pretty well. There’s grass everywhere which I wasn’t expecting. The way Dad talked about Oasis Springs and from the pictures Grandma Summer had, I thought it would be more like an actual desert.  It’s pretty big too. It feels kind of like there should be a fancy mall nearby or a lot of those big ugly McMansions, but there’s nothing here structurally. A lot of people walk by. Not so much by the ponds, which I like. I get kind of anxious when there are people around.



There are a lot of natural resources in the area so that’s good. I guess it takes a while for the plants to ripen, huh? There are a bunch of tulips and blackberries as well as a few fruit trees. Anyhow, I made some good money selling the fish and crystals and stuff.

How are you both doing?

Love,
Eddard

P.S. Now that the hormones are calming down, I realize I was kind of a huge jackass. I’m sorry.



Email from Robert Holiday to Eddard Holiday

Your mother says your hormones were to blame. And they were, partly. Also, you had two terrible traits by being jealous and a loner, but dude, yes, you were a huge jackass. I’m just relieved you got “loves the outdoors” when you aged to a young adult, because we were genuinely afraid it was going to be something like evil or insane.

You asked about the plants. Some will be harvestable very quickly. Others, like the blackberries will take longer. My advice is to grow the most profitable ones. There’s no percentage in daisies.

We’re doing okay. We got free earbuds from some company that is testing them out and we’re both doing a lot of jogging. Let us know when you want a visit.



Love,
Dad

P.S. Don’t leave finding a partner too late.
P.S.S. Your mom said she already "dropped in." I'll have to do the same.

From: Eddard Holiday
To: Drifter Board of Directors, No Sim Left Behind
Re: Drifter House 003, Progress Report 001

Everything is coming along all right so far. I’ve got a bed, a toilet, sink, and fridge. My parents came by. My dad keeps telling me I need to meet people. That’s tough for me, but I forced myself to introduce myself. There aren’t many young adults around. It’s mostly old people and teenagers. Pearl Munch seems like a good kid and she keeps coming by so when my parents visited, we all went fishing. I don’t get why she’s not in school, though.



Will send another report later.



Journal Entry, Eddard Holiday

I wish I could just adopt an heir.



I hate meeting all these women. It feels so awkward for me to be around anyone, at least until I get to know them. Pearl is chill, but she’s just a teenager. The one woman was nice enough, but it turned out she’s married. Then I met Margaret Caliente and she’s so weird. Like way weirder than me. She was having a fit because there was water on the ground. Also, I don’t think she gets what I’m doing out here.





Dad and Mom both say I really need to get to know someone first because good traits in my partner are going to make it easier on both of us. It makes sense, but it’s so hard.



Mom told me to keep trying so I guess I will.

[oshizu]

How wonderful that Eddard got the Loves the Outdoors trait, which will make Angling Ace so much nicer.
Laughed out loud of that shot of Eddard with the orange plumbob while Margaret complained about the water near the tree.

I love Eddard's new neighborhood though I've never played it. Looking forward to see if Margaret's "The One," or not.

Instead of being proactive and going to read the rules myself, I'll be lazy and ask you.
The Calientes' original house is Sultry Springside so, when you started the challenge, do all the original sims get evicted from their homes and become not-in-the-world?

Since you are playing with MCCC (I'm so curious to try it but can't yet), do you simply accept wherever it moves the households but move them elsewhere if the next Drifter Challenge requires an occupied lot?

[FrancescaFiori]

Ooh! Very lucky with the Loves the Outdoors trait. That's nice. Eddard was due for a bit of luck!
The requirements for this lot sound pretty intense. So many cowplant essences! That's going to hurt. Eddard's making a good start, though.
Anya and Robert are so funny with their earbuds!
Margaret's very pretty, but yeah . . . if she can't handle puddles on the ground she may not be ideal. Maybe Pearl will age up in time? She's dressed like an outdoorswoman, anyway, so that's got to count for something!
Good luck, Eddard, and good job admitting your faults! May my own children reach that level of maturity someday!

[commasplice]

How wonderful that Eddard got the Loves the Outdoors trait, which will make Angling Ace so much nicer.
Laughed out loud of that shot of Eddard with the orange plumbob while Margaret complained about the water near the tree.

I love Eddard's new neighborhood though I've never played it. Looking forward to see if Margaret's "The One," or not.

Instead of being proactive and going to read the rules myself, I'll be lazy and ask you.
The Calientes' original house is Sultry Springside so, when you started the challenge, do all the original sims get evicted from their homes and become not-in-the-world?

Since you are playing with MCCC (I'm so curious to try it but can't yet), do you simply accept wherever it moves the households but move them elsewhere if the next Drifter Challenge requires an occupied lot?

So yeah, to play this challenge, you bulldoze ALL the lots in Willow Creek and Oasis Springs and evict everyone from those worlds. You check fill empty homes in game play options.The only community lot in those two worlds that you can have is one restaurant in a specified lot. As you complete each challenge, you basically start to be able to fill those other lots up. There's a good example of that in this house.

I'm still trying to figure MCCC out (love it for a lot of things already, though), but it's not really a problem because I believe with one or two exceptions, when you're done with a generation, you move on. And you definitely cannot go back to visit the other houses.

Ooh! Very lucky with the Loves the Outdoors trait. That's nice. Eddard was due for a bit of luck!
The requirements for this lot sound pretty intense. So many cowplant essences! That's going to hurt. Eddard's making a good start, though.
Anya and Robert are so funny with their earbuds!
Margaret's very pretty, but yeah . . . if she can't handle puddles on the ground she may not be ideal. Maybe Pearl will age up in time? She's dressed like an outdoorswoman, anyway, so that's got to count for something!
Good luck, Eddard, and good job admitting your faults! May my own children reach that level of maturity someday!

This particular house nearly killed me. I am beyond phobic about the cowplant. I hate it. I hate it so much. I hated that part of this challenge. But one of the things about this challenge that I really love is that it gets you doing things in game play you might ordinarily never do.

And thank you!

[commasplice]

From: Eddard Holiday
To: Drifter Board of Directors, No Sim Left Behind
Re: Drifter House 003, Progress Report 002

Thanks to catching a bunch of salmon, I was able to afford a shower—a decent shower and man, that felt good.



I also started a small garden.



Can you clarify something for me?

I’ve been reading up on the Angling Ace aspiration and it looks like I’ll need to get 20 different fish. I’ve been around to all the spots here in the neighborhood, and while I like them, I think I’ve caught every variety they have and it’s nowhere near 20. Can I go anywhere else for these?

From: Evangeline Hecking, Drifter Board of Directors, No Sim Left Behind
To: Eddard Holiday
Re: Re: Drifter House 003, Progress Report 002

Right now, you may travel to the Green Grille in Oasis Springs; Sylvan Glade in Willow Creek; Granite Falls; Magnolia Promenade as long as you own property there; the Bluffs, the Ruins, or the Von Haunt Estate in Windenburg; and pretty much any club, party, or festival locations you are invited to.

Once you reach level 10 in both gardening and fishing, you can go to Desert Bloom Park, the Grotto, Hare Square Park, and Myshuno Meadows Park.

Let us know if you need further clarification.

Journal Entry, Eddard Holiday

I found a loophole! Dad dragged me out to GeekCon. I think it was so I could meet some women, but I noticed that there are fishing spots in San Myshuno. Unfortunately, I didn’t figure that out right away, but they have these festivals all the time and that means I might be able to catch more types of fish.



Also, Dad said sometimes they have vegetables and fruits available for free.



I picked up a couple of posters.

Also, I met someone who I didn’t immediately hate. When she sat next to me, I tensed expecting to feel anxious, but I didn't. Her name is Valeria and she’s a mailroom technician at Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe. All I know at the moment is that she loves cats and that she’s neat. I’m gonna try inviting her over later.



Dad’s gone grey and that freaked me out a lot.



He came over after to the lot and admired the progress I’d made.



I asked how he was feeling.



He shrugged. “I’m an elder now. This is why I want you to get settled soon. I was lucky. My mom was around for most of my young adulthood. You had a chance to get to know her. But that was because she was a lot younger than your grandfather and because she was pregnant with Steffon later on. Your mom aged up too. You won’t have us for too much longer. I know you have issues with getting close to people, but you’re going to want to be around for your kids and your grandchildren. The longer you wait, the less time you’ll have with them.”

I made him take some pictures with me.

[oshizu]

Robert offers the greatest reasons for Eddard to wed and have children earlier rather than later.
Ouch, those restrictions on fishing spots make Angling Ace pretty tough! But he loves outdoors! Eddard will max fishing and gardening in no time!
The can-go-anywhere-invited bit is also tough for a loner sim. Hopefully, he'll have a social butterfly partner.

It's exciting everytime, reading about the start of one of your new houses, commasplice.
Good luck, Eddard! Can't wait to see how everything works out!

[FrancescaFiori]

Robert going grey freaked me out a little bit, too! The elder stage is so short in this game. I hope he gets to meet his grandkids.

Very encouraging that Eddard found some more fishing spots, and even more encouraging that he met someone he kind of almost likes! I'll keep my fingers crossed for him!

[commasplice]

Robert offers the greatest reasons for Eddard to wed and have children earlier rather than later.
Ouch, those restrictions on fishing spots make Angling Ace pretty tough! But he loves outdoors! Eddard will max fishing and gardening in no time!
The can-go-anywhere-invited bit is also tough for a loner sim. Hopefully, he'll have a social butterfly partner.

It's exciting everytime, reading about the start of one of your new houses, commasplice.
Good luck, Eddard! Can't wait to see how everything works out!

The nice thing about this challenge is that it makes you get creative in how you work around these restrictions. You'll hear more about Eddard's lovelife in the next chapter. Thanks as always for all your encouragement!

Robert going grey freaked me out a little bit, too! The elder stage is so short in this game. I hope he gets to meet his grandkids.

Very encouraging that Eddard found some more fishing spots, and even more encouraging that he met someone he kind of almost likes! I'll keep my fingers crossed for him!

It freaks me out every time my heirs and spares go grey too. Before I started this challenge, I was so used to playing with aging on that I never had this issue before.

[commasplice]

Journal Entry, Anya Holiday

I remember Summer talking to me about her hatred of the drywall. Like his father, I don’t think it bothers Eddard one bit.



He was so proud of the house and that he had windows. You would have thought he was making lobster thermidor for us as he chopped up fruit.



The house isn’t much at the moment, just a rectangle really, but there’s a bathroom with a door and bar counters with seating as well as the start of a garden.



I’m not sure what to make of Valeria.



Phone conversation between Valeria Lentz and Tobias Lentz

Valeria: I’m engaged.

Tobias: What? Who? When?

Valeria: His name is Eddard Holiday. I met him at Geekcon. And it just happened. I think we’re getting married right away.

Tobias: What does he do?

Valeria: He’s a drifter.

Tobias: A what?

Valeria: You remember that project of No Sim Left Behind’s? The one that Father had a job with for a hot second.

Tobias: Are you out of your mind?

Valeria: Toby, he’s not related to us. I’m tired of meeting guys who turn out to be my half-brother or nephew. I checked and double checked. I met his parents. We all went fishing. He’s a decent guy.



Tobias: That’s not a great basis for marriage.

Valeria: We want the same things. Also, my toes tingled when he kissed me. And again, not related to us.



Tobias: And pray tell, what are these shared life goals?

Valeria: Stop being snarky. I want to keep working. He said that’s fine. He wants to live off the land. That’s fine by me. He has to do a bunch of things for this Drifter Project, but other than the cow plant—



Tobias: Stop right there. Look I know it’s tough being related to pretty much everyone—it’s been hard on me too, believe me, but you cannot—

Valeria: He has to grow a cow plant and milk it to get 5 unique essences. He’ll put it beyond a fence with a security gate. I will never have to go near it. Anyhow, other than that, it’s all stuff we both want: a nice small well-appointed house, one child, a nice relaxed life. He likes to fish and garden. He won’t be unfaithful to me. It’s not like with Father and all his girlfriends. And did I mention my toes tingled when—

Tobias: --yeah, yeah, your toes tingled he kissed you. I hope you know what you’re getting into.

[oshizu]

I'm so happy Valeria is looking forward to marrying tingle-toes Eddard!
How fantastic that she's on board with his project goals as well.

I'm surprised that she would be related to everyone in your simverse, a situation that has occurred in my games when I use pollinators.
Isn't that one of the main benefits of using MCCC? (Sorry, noob here who has never used MCCC.)
I'd naively thought that MCCC eliminates the need to pollinate in order to populate the simverse.

Aside from my noob question, I'm eager to get to know the very lovely Valeria better and enjoy Eddard and her making progress on Ze House.

[commasplice]

I'm so happy Valeria is looking forward to marrying tingle-toes Eddard!
How fantastic that she's on board with his project goals as well.

I'm surprised that she would be related to everyone in your simverse, a situation that has occurred in my games when I use pollinators.
Isn't that one of the main benefits of using MCCC? (Sorry, noob here who has never used MCCC.)
I'd naively thought that MCCC eliminates the need to pollinate in order to populate the simverse.

Aside from my noob question, I'm eager to get to know the very lovely Valeria better and enjoy Eddard and her making progress on Ze House.

So a couple of things about that....

I did this house a few patches ago and there was some weird rando issue with dead sims moving into houses and starting families? They weren't clickable, but it was kind of a huge mess for me.
I had an older version of MCCC.
I didn't know what I was doing (still don't entirely) with MCCC. There are a lot of options and modules and I'm still figuring it out.

After I bothered to click on Valeria and see her family tree (screenshot in a later chapter), I did a bunch of stuff and so far the issue has been fixed.

[oshizu]

Thank you for the explanation @commasplice

Yes, I remember that bug with dead sims appearing live on my family tree! I usually suffer all the glitches, but I was spared the "dead premade sim moving into a house" bug. Ugh!
I'm glad that you've managed to fix those issues in your Drifter's Challenge.
Crossing my fingers that your computer can endure 24 generations!

Looking forward to seeing Valeria's genealogy in a future update!

[FrancescaFiori]

Ah, back to the drywall. Makes me wonder if the Watcher gets tired of looking at it, too.
Valeria is lovely, and I really liked her phone conversation with her brother. She's matter-of-fact, but she's not above toe-tingles. I'm completely charmed. Good job, Eddard!
I loved that when Tobias asked what he does for a living, she answered, "He's a drifter." Probably not reassuring to Tobias, but it cracked me up.

[commasplice]

Ah, back to the drywall. Makes me wonder if the Watcher gets tired of looking at it, too.
Valeria is lovely, and I really liked her phone conversation with her brother. She's matter-of-fact, but she's not above toe-tingles. I'm completely charmed. Good job, Eddard!
I loved that when Tobias asked what he does for a living, she answered, "He's a drifter." Probably not reassuring to Tobias, but it cracked me up.

The Watcher gets very tired of the drywall. Very tired. Also of not having windows or enough money for lighting. Probably way more tired of it than her sims.

I'm glad you like Valeria!