Belmondo BACC: 2.4 Flora (Port Promise) (23 June update)

[reggikko]

I have the spare Joker and I considered using it to unlock EH. I’ve heard maxing that career is quite easy, so I’m going to try to go legit on it. I foolishly used a Joker to replace maxing the Fabrication skill, unlocking the career, so it would really be cheesy for me to use two Jokers instead of actually completing one part of it. Since you’ve maxed Fabrication, I’d say you are free to use a Joker. Although, I admit I’d be really jealous! Seriously, that’s a legit approach and you shouldn’t feel bad if you use a Joker that you EARNED.

I am also enjoying all of the gameplay features. There is so much to do.

I’m also glad you decided to play this with me. I haven’t had this much fun playing Sims in quite a while.

I’m still going back and forth on which two worlds to unlock. My inclination is Willow Creek and Newcrest, but I always play there. I am leaning toward Windenburg because I thought today I’d like to make the island a completely off the grid settlement. We’ll see.

[oshizu]

@reggikko

My town unlocks have become:
2nd town: Windenburg
3rd town: Newcrest & Magnolia Promenade
4th town: San Myshuno
5th town: Willow Creek (locked)
6th town: Brindleton Bay (locked)

Windenburg was my 2nd town unlock, because I love the Countryside and Island zones.
That's a great idea for making the whole island Off-the-Grid. I love all the lots on that island, except the Von Windenburg Estate (or whatever it's called).
Nobody lives there yet though because I'm quite happy right now with Oasis Springs & Sulani, with an eye on settling Evergreen Harbor next.
I'm not a big fan of San Myshuno apartment living, but I'm glad my sims can enjoy festivals and food stalls again.

I've decided to unlock Brindleton Bay last because my Sharebears lived there for 10 generations, haha.
BBay is really lovely, but Willow Creek has more and cheaper lots plus the great park.
Right, now I want to go play again. I've only scratched the surface of EL so far....

[reggikko]

Well, thanks to my tendency to copy you AND because I hadn't played my EH un-locker Sim, I decided to max Fabrication and reallocate my Joker for the career, since you need the career to complete the Aspiration. I'm still a bit confused as to why unlocking that 'hood is so much harder than the others. ::shrug::

I am leaning toward Windenburg, as well, because I've already unlocked both Glimmerbrook and Forgotten Hollow and Windenburg is the main 'hood in the Old World Region. The other is still up in the air, but will probably be BB. I have a Sim maxing all of the odd skills that don't really fit anything else...DJ, Vet skill, singing...so that I can unlock 3 more Community Lots to give me a fourth world. All of the aspirations that suit his personality are taken, so he'll just free float around and do whatever needs to be done. I'm glad we only have to unlock the lots and don't actually have to place them. My community is kind of broke right now since I built numerous lots in succession and I raised my lot prices.

[oshizu]

Yay, if you unlock EH that way, then I will, too! It's more fun when we do things around the same time! Maxing Fabricator (or any other skill, except Comedy, ugh) doesn't take much time in a Tiny House.
I think we're fine unlocking EH with a joker for Eco Innovator. We're both going to want to try and complete Eco Lifestyle's new careers and aspirations, anyway.
Doing that in Evergreen Harbor will just be more fun.

Is your random-skilling sim named Stubbs? What great use you're making of him.
I think we share a tendency to copy each other, which is kind of the point of starting our BACCs at the same time...

[reggikko]

Yes, I meant using the Joker for the Aspiration. Let’s do it! (We’re such enablers.)Feel free to switch up your rotation order, too. I started playing that Sim tonight and I think I can max the skill pretty easily. He wasn’t in a tiny house, but that’s easily done.

[oshizu]

Round 2.2 Berra/Costa (Skyward Palms)


Sunny: Hey there! It's us again, the Berra/Costa household.
My sister Care Berra and me with our guardian Sofia Costa, her husband Gilberto, and their twins.
In case you're wondering, Care and I call them Auntie Sofia and Uncle Gilberto.

We  had to give up our 40x30 lot for that new Community Space!
We're still in Skyward Palms, living in the same house, but on a smaller lot.

By the way, you DO remember I'm the 10th-generation heir of the Sharebear Legacy, right?
I'm the redheaded boy in the front center.


Tuesday

Things have been crazy around here!
Care and I started school yesterday and I already finished Whiz Kid today. Go me!
.
The two of us have been doing our own thing: school, aspirations, and scouts.
That's a lot to handle without any adult assistance.


The Costa toddlers (Arturo and Paola) max their skills this afternoon.
I'm sure that will be a huge relief for their parents!
Their birthday's on Friday, so we'll overlap in grade school for one week.


Auntie Sofia completed her Fab Wealthy aspiration last week.
This week, she doesn't seem anywhere near as focused on the Benjamins.
My opinion?
If she ain't going hardcore on making bank, she might as well max Charisma!


Nothing fazes Uncle Gilberto, I tell you!
He started out a bachelor then suddenly ended up with a wife and four kids.
He becomes a Tech Guru, but has to quit when Dirk Dreamer moves to Belmondo.

Next, after some talk of him becoming a Space Ranger, he's told to max Charisma.
So he asked to join the Business career instead.
Dude knows how to roll with the punches! Um, excuse me...that's Uncle Dude.


Uncle Gil's also a super-hero!
Just before midnight, he maxes Charisma to create a Joker with Marlon Mahalo's Friend of the World aspiration.
Wait till everyone hears that the two of them unlocked Evergreen Harbor!


Wednesday

Mina Kahale works as a Style Influencer like Auntie Sofia.
After work today, she comes over with a gift.

We all get our hopes up that Auntie Sofia will get something cool.
But it's only a platter of normal-quality Gummy Bear Pancakes.


Thursday

Watcher finally helps remodel our home!
Everybody knows that Watcher prefers ranch houses.

But a single-story house on a 30x20 lot isn't spacious enough for six sims.
Even after Uncle Gil grafted a bunch of plants to downsize the garden.


The room Care and I share is upstairs now, as is Auntie and Uncle's bedroom.
We need to climb a ladder to our room but we don't mind.
Our new room's bigger and we have more yard space!


Care and I discover today that (besides Creativity, Mental, Motor, and Social) we can only learn Logic and Fishing.
Yes, we know that we need to max the corresponding "for-children" skill first.
Oh well, we'll try to earn a character value or two then enjoy our childhood.


Auntie Sofia takes my suggestion to heart and maxes Charisma!
She says she was tired of being cooped up, writing novels to help Gilberto.


Friday

Early in the morning, the Costa twins blow out their birthday candles.


Selfie time!
My sister Care looks a lot like our father, while Paola resembles her mother.


Arturo and me.
Watcher changed his Arturo's hair from black to brown, so Uncle Gil would stop questioning his son's paternity.
Incidentally, Watcher recently gave Makoa Mahola my hairstyle so I asked her to change it.

That's better. Thanks! (I mean, Makoa had the same hair color AND hairstyle!)


Saturday

When Arturo maxes his Creative skill, Watcher gives him a suggestion.
Without performing any another skill, Arturo immediately practices Violin and  then Piano.
That works!


After Paola maxes her Creative skill, she follows the same advice.
Unfortunately, that workaround doesn't work for Paola.
If she wants to learn a musical instrument, she'll have to wait until she's a teen, same as Care and me.


Once again, Uncle Gil proves that he's a hero!
He completes his Mansion Baron aspiration and unlocks Lot Traits.

Obviously, Auntie Sofia's publications also helped with household income.
But Uncle Gil's the one who's been actively generating extra income and improving our home. Way to go!


Sunday

Tina Tinker, Master Crafter, stops by to give me a gift today. We're good friends.
Since I'm off fishing, Uncle Gil speaks with her though he barely knows her.
He accepts her gift, too.
Later, we all check our inventories but can't figure out what her gift was.
Is it because nobody in our household knows how to Fabricate? Was it a recipe?


Well, no, I have no plans to become a doctor when I grow up.
But since I'm the first kid to complete Whiz Kid, I did unlock the Doctor career.

Hmmm, I do like the idea of Watcher having to follow me around at work, though.
Care and I need to think hard about out future. We'll be teens at the end of our next week!


Anyway, our week is over!
Next stop is the Kahale household, who have moved next door to us from Bedrock Straits.
Watchers says the name Bedrock Straits reminds her of the Flintstones. Who are they?



Berra/Costa Stats

Misc. Unlocks:
*Evergreen Harbor: Joker for the Eco Innovator aspiration
*Lot traits: completed Mansion Baron (Gilberto Costa)

Lot Unlocks: None

Career Unlocks:
Doctor: Sims in town 20/20 plus Whiz Kid (Sunny Berra)

Unique Aspirations Completed: (Joker Fodder)
*Rambunctious Scamp (Care Berra)
*Whiz Kid (Arturo Costa)

New Settlers
(Starting reserve: 3 settlers)
*Minus: one 3-sim household added "somewhere"
*Total settlers on reserve: none

Watcher's Remarks

Saving Jokers: It had never occurred to me to save a joker for later use.
And now you know why Belmondo's population grew so quickly during Round 1. 
Lesson learned! Thank you, reggikko, for showing me a different option!

Children not learning "adult" skills: I  found the workaround  mentioned above in a bug report on EA Answers HQ. Here are the result of my testing with the Berra/Costa children.
* Sunny & Care: they paid no attention to the sequence of trying to learn adult skills
   (for example, they maxed Social then switched to the Mental skill)
   They could learn Creative, Mental, Motor, and Social plus Fishing and Logic.
* Arturo & Paola: These two aged up after I discovered the workaround.
   After maxing a child skill, they tried to learn the related adult skill(s) right away.
   Paola Costa: She learned the same six skills as Sunny/Care plus Charisma.
   Arturo Costa: He learned the same seven skills as Paola plus Piano and Violin.

Undesirable Autonomous Behavior: Thank you to reggikko for helping me with this issue.
EA Answers HQ also has multiple threads devoted to this issue (as I just found out today).
I've used Maxis cheats to insta-repeal the N.A.P.s at Evergreen Harbor's three hoods.
Hopefully, my sims and their guests will now stop autonomously brewing herbal remedies, fighting, doing push-ups, and gaining mischief.  Ugh!

[Vesper]

Just catching up with this and I love it. Started a BACC recently as I saw you'd added the rules to the board and am really enjoying it though my game struggles to keep going for very long. Nowhere near as good as Belmondo (or Bienvenue or the Behrs), my town is called Snailsville as I expect it will grow extremely slowly.

Don't know if I've misunderstood but I don't think you need to spend max charisma on jokers when it's for an unlock rather than new settler bonuses. Which if true means you've got even more stored up.

[oshizu]

Just catching up with this and I love it. Started a BACC recently as I saw you'd added the rules to the board and am really enjoying it though my game struggles to keep going for very long. Nowhere near as good as Belmondo (or Bienvenue or the Behrs), my town is called Snailsville as I expect it will grow extremely slowly.

Don't know if I've misunderstood but I don't think you need to spend max charisma on jokers when it's for an unlock rather than new settler bonuses. Which if true means you've got even more stored up.

@Vesper
I love you for explaining to me the difference between using a joker (1) for settlers/Entertainer career (Charisma 10 required) and (2) for unlocks (no Charisma required).
Every time I reread that rule about jokers, I misunderstood it. *laughs at myself
Thanks to your guidance, I can now go back through all my households and convert every instance a sim maxed Charisma for an unlock into a new settler.
Or maybe I can reallocated some to roll for more settlers. I current have no settlers on reserve, so your time is perfect.
Thanks so much, Vesper!  I really appreciate it!  💖

Edited to add:
I just checked the Aspirations page of my BACC spreadseheet.
11 sims unnecessarily maxed their Charisma for unlock-related jokers. Yay, how nice to suddenly have so many extra CAS points!
Thanks again, Vesper. You're the best!

[oshizu]

Round 2.3  Kahale (Skyward Palms)


Monday (Week 2, Spring)

Good morning! Fetu Kahale here.
My wife Mina and I moved with our triplets to Skyward Palms last night.
We're sorry to move away from our neighbors, the Tasaki's and Zouk's.

But Marlon Mahalo made us an irresistible offer.
If we move to Skyward Palms, one of our kids can live in the lot of their choice in Sulani.
How could we refuse?


At the end of our last week, we'd just enlarged our trailer home in Bedrock Straits..
We're glad to see our new home at Sultry Springside has already been remodeled.
Truth: A family of five cannot live comfortably in a micro house.

Mina's ecstatic to live in a "real house" instead of a converted trailer home.


I work as a Tech Guru while Mina's joined the Style Influencer career.
We hire a nanny to stay with the kids whenever we're working.

Our children are unbelievably beautiful. Well, maybe I'm a tad biased…
This is our firstborn daughter, Meilani.


Tiare is the middle child.


Fortunately, one of our triplets is a boy!
Look how handsome Tuki is!  He takes after his mother, I think.


Today's the Eggfest holiday and the kids have been busy hunting for eggs.
When I get home from work, they're only missing two eggs.

Mina finds one of the remaining eggs, then I find the last one to m complete our collection.
Teamwork!


Tuesday

While Mina and I are at work, the Mahalo's and Costa's make a Welcome Wagon visit to our home.
They stand around for a while, chatting with our nanny.
Checking the kids' relationships, I see they're now acquainted with a few of the Welcome Wagon train..
Their visit's timing makes no sense at all.  Byeeee!


At my next Tech Guru promotion, I want to join the Startup Entrepreneur branch.
I probably won't earn that promotion for a few more days.
But I unlock that branch today by maxing my Programming. Nice!


Since I'm done with my career-related skill requirements, I've started learning Fabrication.
At our neighborhood Maker Space, I encounter two Maker Mentors.
Surprisingly, one of them is still a high-school student.



Thursday

I've fabricated a dining table and two matching chairs so far.
The chairs look nice but they have no comfort rating.
Too bad I can't upgrade them to make them more comfortable.
And, yeah, I fabricated that bookcase, too!


That night, I max Fabrication.
Now there's a second opening in the Civil Designer career. You're welcome, Ellis.
(No, y'all haven't met Ellis yet. Patience, patience.)


Friday

Our triplet toddlers become children.
Mina and I heave a happy sigh of relief!


Meilani and Tiare remain identical twins.
Compared with vegetarian Tiare, cheerful Meilani learns skills faster.

As their father, I'd like them to max their careers before they start dating. Who, over-protective? Me?


Tuki loves the outdoors.
I'm sure he'll want to move to Sulani when he's older.



Sunday

Where did our week go?
Mina and I are as tight as ever.
Family comes first, but we've both earned several promotions this week, too.
The children are doing fantastic. One more homework session and they'll be done with scouts.


Even with wind turbines and solar panels, though, it's hard for us to conserve power.
I'm in the Tech Guru career so I'm constantly using a computer.

Every household in Belmondo has its unique role to fulfill.
And we Kahales will never become exemplars of the Eco Lifestyle.


The next household, however, is another story.
I imagine they'll become Belmondo's poster people for the ecologically minded.
Best of luck in Evergreen Harbor, ladies!


Oh and here's a photo of another new resident of Evergreen Harbor.




Kahale Stats

Misc. Unlocks: None.
Lot Unlocks: None.

Career Unlocks:
Tech Guru/Startup Entrepreneur branch: Programming 10/10 (Fetu Kahale)
Civil Designer: Fabrication 10/10 (Fetu)

New Settlers
(Starting reserve: 0 settlers)
*Plus 6 settlers (Maile Hahalol's  Artistic Prodigy  Gilberto Costa's Charisma 10)
*Plus 6 settlers (Marcos Mahalo's Social Butterfly, Sofia Costa's Charisma 10)
Total settlers on reserve: 12
Banked CAS points: 11 (Thank you, Vesper!)

Watcher's Remarks

*Evergreen Harbor: I am giddily excited about playing my new "made for the Eco Lifestyle pack" households in this new town!
*Fetu Kahale: is my makeover of the Sulani premade sim Makoa Kealoha. His Belmondo wife Mina is a CAS creetion. She brings better genes than Makoa's premade wife, Lillian Kealoha...

[oshizu]

Round 2.4  Flora (Port Promise)

Lot: The Shipping Views (Evergreen Harbor)


Monday (Week 2, Spring)

Tiva (beige): After the warm weather of Oasis Springs, the cold weather here's a bit of shock!
Gail (green): Still, it feels great to finally start our new life in Evergreen Harbor!
By the way, Tiva, you should narrate this week.
Tiva: Well, okay. It's true that I'm the first sim Watcher created for Evergreen Harbor.


Port Promise looks even filthier than we'd imagined.
There's trash and random junk strewn everywhere.  And the air's terribly dirty.
Looks like our work's cut out for us, right Gail?


Gail and I live near the docks in Port Promise.
We bulldozed the original house consisting of three containers.

The house we built from scratch is still a container home, but using eco-friendly materials.
It's got kind of a shabby chic vibe, which is so us!.


Honestly, I'm not a big fan of our bedroom, though.
Gail claims sleeping in a tent will motivate us to learn the Fabrication skill quicker.
We're hoping to eventually craft or repurpose as many of our furnishing as possible.


Gail: Heck, yeah! Thumbs up to DIY; thumbs down to unnecessary spending!
I'm a Freegan so I've been feeling tense all morning because of the many purchases we've made.
We deserve a +Happy buff whenever we replace a bought object with something we've crafted!

To make Port Promise a greener town, I plan to become a Green Technician!


Environmentalism begins at home!
I'm becoming a Freelance Crafter to join Gail in her pursuit of a DIY home!

I'm happy to stay home to look after our garden and future family additions.


In fact, I've given the matter of children a lot of thought lately.
My wife Gail doesn't like the idea of an unknown donor and wants to adopt.
Adoption might be the right choice for some couples, but I've been seeking another option.


My good friend Ellis James and his partner Finn also want to have children.
They interviewed a few surrogate mothers, but have started leaning toward adoption.
Do you see where I'm going with this?


Gail, Ellis, and Finn all like to idea of genetically-related children, so Ellis and I head to the spa.
Though Ellis and I are the best of friends, The Conception is still awkward.
After three tries, my pregnancy test comes back positive.


Tuesday

This afternoon, an Entrepreneur and an Eco-Master visit our home one after another.
I ignore the Entrepreneur but become good friends with the Eco-Master.
We both love the outdoors!


Wednesday

I invite Ellis and Finn over a few hours before I go into labor.
While Gail's at work and Ellis hops around in prenatal panic, I give birth to triplets.
Consulting Ellis and Finn, I name the second boy "Trevor James."
Ellis and Finn want to take their son Trevor home immediately, but we wait until Gail comes home.


Thursday

No more tent!
After fabricating a double bed, I give it the Massage Control and Mattress Firmness upgrades.
But the upgrades don't increase the bed's default stats.
We'll just have to trust, I guess, that we sleep better on our fully upgraded bed.
(Maybe I should try fabricating another bed with better stats?)


As soon as Gail's back from work, we're off to use the Mahalos' rocket ship.
Yes, we're both doing Nerd Brain for its Insta-Upgrade reward.

Port Promise was briefly green but slipped back to Neutral.
Ever since, our garden plants and trees have been devolving back to Normal quality.
So we're here to cause air pollution to Skyward Palms instead of Port Promise!


Friday

Our nooboos leap out of their bassinets this afternoon.
Djavan is inquisitive, while Indigo is independent.
We're all curious whether Djavan and his brother, Trevor James, will look alike.



Weekend

Saturday evening, I max Baking to unlock the Café lot.
It's Belmondo 10th lot type, which means we've also unlocked our 5th world: Willow Creek.
Sunday's New Skill Day so I profit by maxing my Charisma.


Gail, who's a Freegan, is constantly nursing her shame over having become a Corporate Sellout.
Hey, she's the one who wanted to become a Green Technician!
She spends the weekend playing with our children and doing what she loves best.


Good thing you'll be visiting with our Port Promise neighbors next!
Our lot and the local Maker Space have green footprints, but the other three are Neutral.
Can we not have a green neighborhood without every lot filled and green?



Flora Stats
Lot: The Shipping Views (Port Promise, Evergreen Harbor)

Misc. Unlocks:
5th world (Willow Creek): unlocked 10 lot types

Lot Unlocks:
Café: Baking 10/10 (Tiva Flora)
Karaoke Bar: Singing 0/10 and Mixology 10/10 (Tiva)
Science & Tech Museum: Logic 10/10 (Fetu Kahale), Rocket Science 0/10, and Handiness 10/10 (Gail FLora)

Career Unlocks:
Civil Designer: Fabrication 10/10 (Tiva)
Barista: unlocked Café lot (a Café needs to be placed first)

New Settlers
(Starting reserve: 12 settlers)
*Plus 1 settler: unlocked Café lot
Total settlers on reserve: 13 settlers
Banked CAS points: 11
*Unused Joker: Care Berra's Rambunctious Scamp, Tiva's Charism 10

Watcher's Remarks

Toddler training: Since the patch, my sims can no long potty train or teach blocks.
They can still do flash cards, though. In Micro/Tiny House, toddlers have no trouble learning their skills within a week.

Garden qualtiy: I wish the eco footprint wouldn't  cause plants to evolve or devolve.
My sims can increase their garden's quality on their own, without the auto-evolve help of a Green eco footprint.
And I absolutely hate that my garden has devolved to Normal quality after the eco footprint dropped back to Neutral.
The household in question has a green footprint but both its neighboring household's lot and two empty lots are Neutral.
I guess this mechanic motivates me to stop working toward higher plant quality.
Because I don't want to have to add households willy-nilly only to boost the Eco Footprint.

[PeregrineTook]

So much progress since last time I checked in!
Loving the new Eco-friendly couple, although I question whether or not it really took Tiva three tries to conceive.  I mean, maybe she just likes hunky guys clad only in towels  ;=)  And I notice they enjoyed some spa time rather than a dumpster woohoo.  Classy!
Congrats on getting to round two and I'm looking forward to reading more!!

[oshizu]

So much progress since last time I checked in!
Loving the new Eco-friendly couple, although I question whether or not it really took Tiva three tries to conceive.  I mean, maybe she just likes hunky guys clad only in towels  ;=)  And I notice they enjoyed some spa time rather than a dumpster woohoo.  Classy!
Congrats on getting to round two and I'm looking forward to reading more!!

Actually, Tiva is married to Gail so, no, I doubt that Tival really prefers hunky towel-clad guys since she's gay.  Admittedly, TIva and Ellis do make an attractive couple, but their respective partners are also appealing sims so yeah, just a one-time hookup for genetic reasons. After the 2nd failed attempt, I realized I should have gone the donor route but it was too late. Oh well.
If you must know, they went the spa route due to the sauna's proximity to a toilet (for pregnancy tests). Neither Tiva nor Ellis has a dumpster on their lot and TIva didn't feel like running back and forth between the dumpster and a residential lot.
Yes, finally Round 2 in which I add an addition three households. I'm hopeless.