Hobble-Darnell Townie DecaDynasty

[farbe]

Long-time lurker, first time thread poster!  I've been playing Sims 3 and lurking around these boards for probably 8 or 9 years, and was a devotee of Sims 2 before that.  When Sims 4 came out, I was still having so much fun with 3 that I didn't see a reason to upgrade - and here I am, still finding new things to do with Sims 3.  And I don't even own all the expansions yet!

A Townie DecaDynasty is something I've wanted to tackle for years, but never quite gotten around to.  I think I was nervous for a few reasons, primary among them being that my attempts at the Immortal Dynasty have always ended around generation 6.  Not so much out of difficulty completing the tasks or gameplay themselves, but out of boredom and a pure unwillingness to continue watching the same elders putter around while I waited for the last few heirs to come along, grow up, and complete their tasks.  But that's exactly why a DecaDynasty has always appealed to me - there's always something new to do, somewhere new to move to, and an element of unpredictability that is (for me, at least) absent from the Immortal Dynasty after the first few generations. 

So after wrapping up my latest Sims 3 project (an Apocalypse - one of the most fun saves I've ever played with tons of strategy required, I recommend you try it sometime if you haven't!), I decided to finally roll up my sleeves and give it a go.

No screencaps yet, since I... uh... haven't actually set everything up yet.  But I have decided on my neighborhood and my starting family.  I'm playing with World Adventures, Ambitions, Generations, and Pets.  I considered Twinbrook, which is hands-down my favorite Sims 3 neighborhood to play in.  The bayou atmosphere is beautiful and there's just a small touch of creepy that I love.  However, I just spent said Apocalypse there, and need a change of scenery.  Riverview has a decided lack of children, which will be difficult for non-cloney spouse-hunting down the line since I can't use Twallan's Story Progression.  So that leaves Sunset Valley, Midnight Hollow (purchased on a whim a few years ago), or Appaloosa Plains.  Of the three, Appaloosa Plains is by far my favorite; I absolutely love anything horsey in the Sims and the lots are nice and big to accommodate that (and anything else you might want to do in the starting years of a DecaDynasty). 

So the neighborhood is settled... how about parents?  There are a number of good candidates, and some great non-cloney genetics.  A plus was that I'd never played much with the young adults and adults in this neighborhood; I'd mostly played premade families with kids or married kids into other games.  So I'd get to know some new Sims. 

I strongly considered Felipe and Kim Marshall due to their backstory and how well a DecaDynasty would fit in with it, but ultimately didn't want to deal with that many pets in a busy first generation.  Vallari Chandra was another possibility, with her unique hair color and beautiful features - until I looked at her personality and LTW.  A hot headed, clumsy, cowardly, snobby kleptomaniac who's a gold digger??  Pass, thanks (at least for this type of game) - I need someone who can be reliable enough to keep the household running while the heir gets to work. 

In the end, it came down to one of the Singleton brothers romancing homeless Josy Clover (for her lovely, unique hair color), or Honey Darnell and one of her two paramours.  Though she starts the game as an adult (and thus less time), Honey will be simpler; she already has romantic interests, and Chuck Hobble's rugged, unusual features were the selling point for me on this pairing.  The only drawback is that Chuck is hot-headed.  Not a favorite trait of mine by any means, but with all the other positives this couple has going for them (easy career-based LTWs and thus a guarantee of a qualifying tombstone, great features, plenty of money), the deal was sealed. 

Next update should include some screenshots!

[Trip]

Welcome! I actually was considering a decadynasty with the two of them too ("considering" is the key word here). Chuck's features go with Honey's way better than Johnny's do and some sims can keep their worst traits in check.

[Chubling]

Very exciting! I look forward to seeing what happens! And hot headed isn't always so bad. And think of the good genes! Honey can make some pretty decent kids

[officialghosts]

Welcome aboard! Wouldn't you know it, I just got Pets super recently and was looking at Honey's wiki page, thinking how fun she would be to play. Excited to read about her adventures

[CeresIn]

I love when more sims 3 simmers join the forum! I like the founders you chose, I have used both but not together so I'm looking forward to their offspring/s.

[butterfly]

Oh, I'm so excited for a  new DecaDynasty on here!!!!  Good thinking with not choosing the Marshalls, I choose  them for my failed attempt during the spring quarantine and the animals got taken away almost as soon as the heir was born, altough they did adopt the dog back later, but still it was terrible to lose them in the first place.

Best of luck with the dynasty!

[Nella]

Good look! I'm looking forward to reading your decadynasty.

[farbe]

Wow, thank you all so much for the encouragement!  Means a lot to know there are still readers over here on the Sims 3 side of things

I did a little tour of Honey and Chuck's houses in a test file, and quickly realized that while Honey's property had advantages for child-rearing, it wasn't big enough for what I needed out of this first generation.  So, as awkward as it might be for poor Johnny Johnson, Honey was going to move in with Chuck and his lovelorn roommate.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Chuck called Honey up immediately and it was a matter of Sim hours before Honey was moved in along with her horse Skedaddle.  Chuck and Johnny both have horses, too - Shadow and Freebird respectively - and all three humans in the household have career-based LTWs that I would like them to achieve.  But with horses, as long as there's a box stall, the horses don't need all that much tending, particularly on a property as large as Chuck and Johnny's. 

There's a lot to like about Chuck and Johnny's house, incidentally.  It has a simple, one-story layout and it's pretty clear whose room is whose.  The kitchen is large and feeds into the open-plan living space - which isn't too big.  That's just how I like it - my Sims don't generally spend much time at home, they're often off and about in the world socializing or whatnot, so I don't need a whole lot of living space at the house.  I'm getting ahead of myself a little, though...

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

As soon as I ditched the godawful hair, makeup, and boot-cut jeans, Honey charmed me immediately - although I did keep the rest of her wardrobe, it made me laugh and clearly someone at EA a. is a Dolly Parton fan, and b. had a lot of fun designing it.  I'll let you make the discovery for yourselves, though!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

There.  The denim dress, shag haircut, and red lipstick are much more Dolly - er, Honey!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

As soon as she'd gotten Skedaddle settled back at the ranch to make friends with the other resident horses, Honey hopped in Chuck's white pickup truck and headed for City Hall to play her guitar for tips.  Don't you just love how adoringly she gazes at her guitar?  And she's feeling so flattered by the attention she's getting from the small crowd that's gathered to listen!  This was the moment I knew I'd picked the right starting couple - well, at least the right starting mother.  Chuck hasn't yet grown on me.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Johnny needed to practice guitar, too - he only has 6 days to elder and as I'd like him to provide the tombstone for this house, he really needs to work hard toward that LTW of Rock Star.  But he was playing in front of the theater and his only audience was a stray cat. 

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Meanwhile, Chuck headed to the gym.  His workout gear surprised me and made me laugh - I haven't yet given him a makeover!

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Honey played a while longer.  Two of my Appaloosa Plains favorites stopped to watch.  Calvin Riffin has made it into a couple of my Immortal Dynasty attempts in the past, largely because his little sister Chantrelle starts the game with level 10 painting   Gracie Loveland was the first Sim I played from this town, and her house made me laugh straightaway.  Definitely worth checking out if you haven't already!

Once evening began to fall, I had Honey make some strategic friendships in town...

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

She also met Patricia Bedlington, but predictably that conversation went badly - poor Honey accidentally insulted Patricia at every turn and they ended up with a neutral relationship even after several conversation attempts  

Honey and Chuck aren't yet married, but Honey is now pregnant!  Unless either/both of them rolls a wish one way or the other, I'm going to leave the baby's sex up to the game; Appaloosa Plains tends to produce a good mix of boys and girls, and I don't like to tempt fate if I can help it. 

I had also been struggling for a naming theme, something I'm notoriously bad at when I play Sims challenges, until I realized that Honey and Chuck are both food names!  So the children of this Decadynasty will be named after various food items. 

[hazelnut]

The DecaDynasty is one of my favourites as well (as is the Apocalypse Challenge).  Great choice of starting couple.  Good luck!

[Chubling]

I'm deeply tacky and I love a good naming theme. Lends some character! Honey seems great so far and I look forward to the kids!

[CeresIn]

Good idea for the naming theme, I'm struggle with that too so most of the time I don't even try.

I liked reading your thought process through the chapter, the whys of the choices or your opinion on the sims.

[Trip]

Chuck has three athletic outfits and they're each a little worse than the last. It's the helmet. I guess they were all meant to be riding outfits but you don't change outfits when you ride so whatever I guess! Johnny can always get a strategic tattoo as a non-heir because the rock track of the career takes ages. I wasn't able to make it work on a longer lifespan for him though he did commit the mortal sin of getting married halfway through it. Though if he fathers kids outside of the house they'll grant him an automatic 2,500 points each + you can fulfill toddler skill wishes on toddlers outside the household.

[farbe]

The DecaDynasty is one of my favourites as well (as is the Apocalypse Challenge).  Great choice of starting couple.  Good luck!

Thanks for popping by!  I have to admit, your original Decadynasty summary gave me some strategy ideas for sure - thanks for that!

I'm deeply tacky and I love a good naming theme. Lends some character! Honey seems great so far and I look forward to the kids!

Same!  If I can think of a theme, I like to give my Sims names that aren't human names at all.  My Apocalypse was the Sherwin-Williams family and they were all named after paint chips - that was a fun one

Good idea for the naming theme, I'm struggle with that too so most of the time I don't even try.

I liked reading your thought process through the chapter, the whys of the choices or your opinion on the sims.

Ah, thank you!  I've tried writing more "story"-like Sims 3 stories, but it's just not me - I'm much better at narrating from my own point of view, even if I do have thoughts of my Sims' motivations

Chuck has three athletic outfits and they're each a little worse than the last. It's the helmet. I guess they were all meant to be riding outfits but you don't change outfits when you ride so whatever I guess! Johnny can always get a strategic tattoo as a non-heir because the rock track of the career takes ages. I wasn't able to make it work on a longer lifespan for him though he did commit the mortal sin of getting married halfway through it. Though if he fathers kids outside of the house they'll grant him an automatic 2,500 points each + you can fulfill toddler skill wishes on toddlers outside the household.

You may have hit on a few of my tactics here!    I still plan to let Johnny provide the tombstone, but he's sporting a couple of tattoos now that he's an elder and won't live much longer than strictly necessary.  My heir is going to have a rather micromanagey skill (I am sure a lot of you can guess what it will be!) and once he's ready to go, I'll honestly be relieved to have one less thing to focus on.

[farbe]

When we last left off, Honey had just conceived the heir, and everyone had gone peacefully to sleep on Sunday night of week 1.

Of course, things didn't stay calm for long.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I hadn't had the foresight to buy a burglar alarm, and hot-headed Chuck was the only one who woke up.  I was tempted to let him beat the burglar up on his own, but with only 4 points of Athletic skill, I wasn't confident in his chances, so he called the police. 

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The only other household member who bothered to watch Zebedee Devoir take care of business was Shadow... alongside a deer. 

The next two days were a mad dash of socializing and skilling for all the household members, done in between work shifts for the humans.  My plan is for Honey (who is charismatic anyway) to stick around as long as possible and take care of the friends this generation.  One mainstay of my Immortal Dynasty attempts has been keeping charisma back as a supermax skill, since it is one of the easiest supermaxes in the game and doesn't require any travel.  With the number of friends that are constantly rotating in and out, that won't fly in a Decadynasty; heirs will need to learn charisma to some extent, and I'd rather not micromanage friendships so someone doesn't accidentally supermax it.  So I figured it wouldn't hurt for Honey to get a head start on charisma in between playing for tips. 

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Johnny played guitar so he could advance in his career, and spent a good amount of time on the phone with Bertram Bedlington in a bid to advance in his career. When that didn't quite give him a promotion, he dragged a pregnant Honey out of bed in the middle of the night so he could ask her for a promotion.  I was shocked she agreed.  Maybe it was pity talking, since she'd decided she preferred Chuck.  (I've left them as romantic interests.  For science.)


 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 He also found that although he hadn't won Honey's heart, Vallari Chandra had her own charms.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Chuck worked out and read logic books when he was fatigued... and on occasion, got a glimpse into his future

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

The horses weren't any exception to the skilling and socializing bonanza, either.  Their humans might not have had time to take them for rides, but that didn't mean they couldn't take themselves for laps around the racetrack or work on their jumping.  When they got worn out, they befriended one another.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Honey had finally met every expectant family in town.  Some had already had their babies, and a quick look in map view told me who would be potential spouse material.  Immediately after her spin, Honey had rolled a wish for a daughter, so I obediently sent her to the grocery store for watermelon (I couldn't find any available to harvest around town that day).  Patricia Bedlington, Imogen Pelly, and Cheyenne Fox all had girls; Juanita Blanco and Jazlyn Parrott had boys.  (I think the unborn Parrott baby is usually a boy - at least, I've never had that baby NOT be a boy in my games!) 

Of course, there's also Vallari's child to consider.  The baby hasn't been born yet, but there's a chance the Johnson genes will make their way into the story yet!

Incidentally, both Honey and Chuck have been holding onto wishes to get married to one another.  Given that I'm playing with Generations and there's time off for weddings, I want to delay that as long as possible; the Music career has a ton of days off built in and I don't want Honey to be off for weeks on end, her performance metric plummeting into near-unrecoverable status.  For that reason (among others), I also haven't decided if our heir will have siblings.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Honey didn't even wait long enough to change out of her maternity wear to leave the hospital with her daughter.  Curry Darnell is a Virtuoso and Loves the Outdoors.

[Trip]

I've never had promotions work with a boss inside the house. Thank god though! And thank god for townie babies. We believe in you, Curry, just don't mess up.