The Greening of Newcrest - an Apocalypse Challenge (Nov 5th 2018) COMPLETE

[oshizu]

Your household is getting ready for Generation 3 already!
Don't let storytelling stress you out! What you wrote about was interesting and informative!
Instead of thinking up a narrative plot, you could have just added a few shots here and there to illustrate your post (like Marcus w/Abigail, Dinara as a child, etc.)

I mean, it would great just to see a few shots of your family now and then.  No pressure! 
They're growing up so fast! And please, show us what Abigail & Marcus' nooboo looks like as a child!

I'm happy to see your family is moving forward! Keep us posted! *waves

[HelenP]

I keep forgetting to take photo's but I managed to get a couple.

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This is Dinara aging up to child.

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Abigail and Marcus's 1st kiss

[HelenP]

Things are moving on

Short(ish) update but with pictures 

Abigail has got to level 8 gourmet cooking, it was very hard work at 1% increase per 'discuss gourmet meal' interaction and about 4% when Avani could 'share cooking secret'.  In the end most of the household had level 2 gc just so they could talk to Abbi about it.  She has now joined the culinary career because .....

Nooboo 5 is now a child.  Here's Etsuko as a baby with her dad
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and as she ages to Child.
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What stands out to me is how much Travis's hair colour has come through the family
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For those who are interested, Etsuko is Japanese and most commonly means Child of Joy or maybe Joyful child.  As I plan for her to join one of the athletic careers I have given her the always useful Cheerful trait and Rambunctious Scamp aspiration.

Travis has maxed eSport gamer, so he and Avani are using all their vacation days and everyone is enjoying the penguin TV.  When they run out of vacation Travis will retire and Avani will rejoin business career until retirement so she can get a good pension. 

Bakari is bumming around the house making himself useful by learning wellness and reading books of life to keep everyone else going.  He's also painting loads to decorate the rooms.

Cadeo is an A grade student, he's maxed logic and is working on charisma in preparation for becoming a diamond agent.  He is also 1 broken appliance away from completing Nerd Brain which will allow him to insta-repair objects, a great time saver.

Dinara has completed Whizz Kid aspiration and maxed Social skill, and is working on Charisma, Mischief and Logic in preparation for becoming a Villain.

Marcus is doing OK at Bodybuilder, helped by the fact that he can mentor half the family for his daily task.  He has maxed Fitness and is level 8 Charisma.  He also got a boost from Jasmine Holiday who I accidentally invited over then decided to make use of.  He's the only one who has spoken to her though.

[oshizu]

How exciting to see how much progress your family has made!
I loved the shot of the whole family. It's really incredible, as you say, that so many of the kids turned out blonde! Lol, even Abigail and Marcus had a blond child!

The biggest congratulations goes to Abigail for reaching Level 8 Gourmet Cooking through sheer persistence, faith, and family support!
Of course, the loudest applause goes to their Watcher, who never gave up! I have so much respect for you, Helen! Seriously! *high fives

Really enjoyed reading about what your family's been doing as well as their plans for the future! I hope Marcus can complete Bodybuilder during his lifetime!
Great update!

[Joria]

Just caught up with this and am totally impressed!  Anyone who does this challenge just amazes me.  I don't mind there not being a "story" because it still is a story.  To see you accomplish all these things and remove so many restrictions is fun to me.  I love the names you've chosen and particularly like the fact you explain where they come from and what they mean.  It's a tough challenge and you are doing so well.  Hope to see more.

[HelenP]

Sad & Happy Days

It's been a while and not much happened for ages then all the exciting things happen at the same time.

First Marcus then Travis got their initial warning from Grim, so they spent a lot of time fishing.
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Travis left the family with a large stock of fish before his time came.  Very thoughtfully he died outside while everyone else was busy at work or skilling so the only sad moodlet was Avani's 'Widdow' moodlet (+4 Sad).
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It's not all bad news for Travis and Avani though, Travis is feeling uncomfortable but Avani is quite happy that the bed has been well used
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Happily Marcus is still going strong, all that fitness helps I'm sure.  He has maxed Athlete - Bodybuilder and his 2nd child with Abbi is on the way.
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To celebrate the removal of the 'move items around and carry lots of stuff' restriction I have redesigned the house.  Still 8x8 but compeletly changed layout.  Much of the wallpapers and flooring is cc, as is some of the furniture, all on a par with the low level Maxis items.

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[Joria]

The house is looking really nice!  Don't worry about story telling, it's amazing and entertaining to me to read how your family is moving along.

[oshizu]

How fabulous that Marcus succeeded in maxing his Athlete/Bodybuilder career in time!
It's such a huge relief to be able to move stuff around and carry multiple items in inventory! Well done, Marcus and HelenP!

You mentioned that Marcus and Travis were stockpiling fish in their final days. Does that mean that Abigail is still working on her Chef career?
Sounds like the household is making great progress!
One thing I really love about the Apocalypse Challenge--it makes us so grateful for all the little things that we come to take for granted in our Sims 4 gameplay!

Great update! Always enjoy reading about what your apocalypse family is up to!

[HelenP]

@oshizu, yes Abigail is working her way up the chef career quite nicely, although currently taking parental leave until little Feoras ages up.  She is now able to improve her goumet cooking skill at work but I'm glad she doesn't need to.

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Cadeo is moving along as a Secret Agent, Dinara is using up her high school vacation days and gaining some skills, Etsuko is now a teen and becoming great friends with her dad as he mentors her in fitness.

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[HelenP]

Food, Glorious Food

Yes, grilled fish is a thing of the past.
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Of course, thanks to the fact that I have loads of cc installed, what she actually came home in was
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Not everything that happened was as happy. After a long and fruitful life, Marcus died of old age while practicing his new favourite skill, swimming.  It meant I got to see the drowning animation which was kind of cool.  He also got to coach his son Feoras in swimming before he went.
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After some thoughtful discussions and much contemplation,
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Abigail and Etsuko finally chose the gen 3 move-in/spouse, a rather hansom guy called Salim Benali who comes with level 8 writing skill, level 2 writing career and who should clear Journalist quite nicely.  He and Estuko should have some nice nooboos too.

Here's Etsuko and Salim becoming best friends.
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Other News:
Cadeo is now level 8 diamond agent, Dinara is level 5 Secret Agent aiming for the Villain branch. Etsuko will age up to YA in a day with the privilage of being the 1st Sotelo to have a birthday cake. She will follow her father into the Athletic career as a Pro Athlete. Her hubby to be, Salim, is level 3 writer career and Feoras is 2 days from teen with an A grade. He's heading for outer space as a Smuggler (maybe I should rename him Han?)

[oshizu]

Congrats to Abigail on maxing the Chef career! Woot, woot! *throws confetti
I was initially puzzled looking at your shot of the kitchen, wondering why the famiy wasn't using the career rewards then remembered that's a separate career unlock.
Still the impact of chef is really huge and you've already cleared Bodybuilder.
And Cadeo is almost done with Diamond Agent, too!

Wow, the family is really moving forward! I'm excited about Etsuko and Salim as a couple!

(P.S. For some reason, I can no longer see your signature.)

[HelenP]

Thanks for the comments.  Life is loads easier with chef cleared, Fish Tacos here we come (no fat sims for us).

Looks like the signature site is down.  Hope it's temporary.

[FrancescaFiori]

Hooray! No more fish! Nice work moving in Salim, too! I knew he was cute, but I didn't realize his writing skill was so high. Awesome!

[Whirligig]

I like seeing your progress with this - looks like you're doing an awesome job! I attempted the apocalypse challenge, I think I grew too attached to my founder so I stopped playing after he died.

Did Salim come with City Living?

[HelenP]

@Whirligig Yes, he's a CL housed sim. 

I have aging off for unplayed sims and non-active households so when Diamond Agent clears I'll move my founder out and she will hang around the town for ever.  That way, if I decide to use clubs after clearing Comedian, I can pull her in as the perfect mentor.

@oshizu Using the career reward fridge & cooker seem to be restricted by 2 careers, Astronaut Smuggler which stops use of career rewards and Tech Start-up which restricts purchase & use of all but worst items.