Innocent, 2012

Patar, summer, 2012
Jorge and Jolie are 45, Grace Elise is 17, Ashlee is 14, Esther is 10, Chase and Amyra are 9
Optional Soundtrack: Innocent-Taylor Swift

**warning, text heavy and long**

Jolie waited nervously as the assistant went to get Jorge. She hadn't seen her husband in a few simdays, but today was a very special day. Today, Jorge would be coming home.

Hallowed Halls, 2012

Lovar, spring, 2012
Tyisha Masters is a junior, Si'Enya Warwick is a sophomore (Elphy Mendenhall is a freshman, Ericcson Frankson is a junior)

Pierce University was undergoing renovations and as a result the students were able to move into a brand new dorm.

Follower Series: Nicky

I've always found interesting new blogs by looking through the lists of followers and commenters, not only on my own site, but the sites of others. I thought that I would do a monthly profile of the followers and commenters of Apple Valley so that others can see some of the other great blogs that are out there. I only chose the sim related blogs of followers or commenter (no personal or non-sim blogs) and of course there are many followers and commenters that do not have a personal blog.

This month, I'm profiling

Nicky

Nicky has a sim's related blog called Brookdale.

It's a brand new TS2 blog about a Sims 2 neighborhood called Brookdale and the residents in it as they grow and populate the town. Since it's brand new, there are not a lot of posts, which makes it easy to discover the background of the stories fairly quickly.

Hated That, 2012

Lovar, spring, 2012
Anthony is 31, Susie is 26, Robin is 5, Starling is 3 and Palila is 2. Lyndon Humphrey is 57 (Gretchen Futa is 46, Patrick Futa is 14)

Susie tried to smile as they sang Happy Birthday to her oldest daughter, Robin.

Government Career

I wanted a mishmash bewteen the TS2 and the TS3 political career, so I created a Government career

Here are the levels: and descriptions which are taken directly from the games-with minor tweaks here and there, same thing with the salary, I used a combination of the TS2 and TS3 salaries.

1 Campaign Worker
$270
The salary is minuscule, but you get your feet wet in the political puddle by helping a favorite local candidate into office. The job requires long hours managing telephone teams and volunteer groups canvassing neighborhoods for votes.
2 Intern
$381
Start out running errands for the SimCity Controller and try to work your way up to getting lunch for the mayor. Low pay, long hours. You'll need lots of charisma to advance in politics. Your diligence has been noticed and you'll work the remainder of the campaign as an intern. Copies, copies, copies! Post flyers, call potential donors, fetch coffee, keep the staplers in prime condition, and most importantly, be charismatic about it. This campaign, or at least the copy machine, cannot succeed without you!

3 Campaign Manager
$473
Salary jumps, but overtime work increases. You must still maintain neighborhood relationships and domestic tranquility. You need to cultivate your "image". Practice charisma and develop that all-important spin control. Without it, your political career is sunk. But friends in the right places can sometimes be very useful.

4 City Council Member
$675
Politician at last! As the newest City Council Member, you have the unique position of affecting change on the welfare of the city. Change takes time though, and re-elections cost money. You'll need to start working your neighbors, acquaintances, and random individuals for their campaign donations. Bring your walking shoes, (Councilwoman or Councilman). Your first elected post, you've finally been admitted to SimCity's inner power circle. A well-paid job to be sure. The more persuasive and creative you are in pushing your own agenda through the council, the faster you will advance in the political machine.

5 Local Representative
$827
Not satisfied to see you with your hands solely on the city, your constituents want to see you at the next level. More territory means more favor and votes needed to get anything done, and that means more campaign donations. Keep the cookie jar full, and you get to keep your job.

6 Mayor
$979
As Mayor of SimCity, you're entitled to big bucks—you can finally afford that "house on the hill" where the town's elite citizens cluster. As the Mayor, you can now dictate terms to the city council you used to serve, and in the process, enact changes as you see fit. Rule with a firm fist or gentle touch, but never forget to keep your constituents happy.

7 Congressperson
$1051
The people have spoken once again, and elected you to Congress. You'll spend your time covering your district from your local office. Networking with neighbors and making new friends to keep political support must be balanced with maintaining a contented house and family.

8 Senator
$1313
You're authoring bills and chairing important subcommittees. You appear regularly on political talk shows and your influence is being felt around the Capitol. With a little more speaking experience and a few more friends, you may enter into the big political game.

9 Vice-President
$1608
Second in command may not be the end goal, but riding the ticket long enough just might earn you the coveted top spot. Mere local matters are beneath you now that economic concerns pile onto your desk. Evil organizations aren't making matters any better, as the safety and protection of the citizenry is a prime directive of your boss. The public watches silently to see if you truly have what it takes

10 Leader of the Free World
$1950Without peer, [sim name] is in charge. The world has voted you in as their sworn leader. Defender of the truth, justice, and basic Sim rights, you—the Leader of the Free World—must work for the people more than ever. Beware of agents of evil, corruption within your government, and those not willing to serve the people above all else. This is your chance to leave your mark on the world, and it’d be a fair shame to squander it with scandals and shoddy decisions

Each level has a chance card. The version for download has the basic base game suits instead of the custom clothing, which makes it friendly to all simmers regardless of the expansion packs they have or don't have.

The career doesn't overwrite the other careers and I included base game outfits only

*note* the helicopter won't show on a 1xN lot, but I figure by the time a sim reaches that level, they won't be living on a 1xN lot anymore.

Let me know if you download it and how it works for your game.

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/file/51s6bd115q70v2g/TS2GovernmentCareer_BaseGame.package

Bringing Home Baby, Lovar 2012

Lovar, spring, 2012

They had been there for hours and nothing was working, in fact, her labor had stalled.

When the Bell Rings, 2012

Hapar, spring, 2012

Principal: Ilila Peterson; Secondary Teacher: Simlish & History: Jesse Kent; Secondary Teacher: Math & Science: Krissy Thorn

Secondary Students: Myra Shazad, Naraj Shazad, Bryant Grey, and Annie Grey are in 11th grade; Rex Mendenhall, Abel Wilsonoff, Amanda Wilsonoff and Serendipity Herendez are in 10th grade; Ashlee Dawson, Veronika Kent and Laci McMillian are in the 9th grade; Aaron Sweeny and Simora Sweeny are in the 8th grade

Still in Shock, 2012

Hapar, spring, 2012
S'Ahmisa Warwick is 25, Ming Wuu is 26, Krissy Thorn is 28
Optional Soundtrack: Never Had a Dream Come True-S Club 7

"So you leave in how many simdays again?"

"Three," S'Ahmisa answered.

"Wow..." Krissy said in awe.

"Now you see how I felt!" Ming complained. "I gotta find a roommate for the next two simyears and I only have three simdays to do it."

New Year!!!

Ok, it's not exactly the new years anymore, but happy new years to everyone out there! I decided to make a few resolutions/goals for the blogs and since sharing helps you commit to them, well, here they are.
First, let's look at this year in review!

Over at Apple Valley Blogs, June was the month with the most pageviews with 2,944 views. Besides the databases such as Education Note: State of Education and the Resident Database, the post Recess Duty, 2006 was the most viewed blog post.

Now, resolutions!!!

 

Behind the Scenes

• Continue the Follower Series and release the post on the 20th of each month.
• Try to keep posting inventive ideas to enhance the game play, as well as let you know the changes and current status of previous ideas.
• Start the character studies that you guys voted on!
• Maybe try a interactive game with some prizes.

Apple Valley Downloads

• Update at least monthly, but aiming for twice monthly. If you're a member of N99, then you have probably gotten access to the goodies earlier than the other blog readers. I'll continue this.
• My talent lies in buildings, so I want to challenge myself more with building cheats and designs, so expect a bunch of buildings to download. Also expect some re-releases as I make modifications to correct issues and achieve better playability and add more landscaping and other details to existing lots.
• That said, I would like to increase my skill in recoloring, which is limited at the moment due to my ancient photo shopping program. Honestly, I'm waiting for it to just refuse to turn on one day, especially since it was made to run with Windows 95.
• Finish bringing over all of my old downloads to the blog

Apple Valley Blogs

• Continue to update every 3-4 days
• Increase the number of polls so I can get feedback from you guys
• Respond to comments everyday instead of twice a week
• De clutter the blog appearance so it's not as distracting to readers

Any other suggestions? What are your blogging and simming resolutions?

Issue 27: 2011

Issue 27: 2011

Contents

Warwick Drops Out
Admission Scores Rise
Artist Visits New Eden
Apple Festival Planning
Culinary Corner

Announcements

Advertisements

New Poll: Demoting a Playable Family

It's time for a new poll!

Which playable  family would you be interested in seeing made a non-playable NPC family?

Eventual Earthquake, 2011

Peacar, winter, 2011

Sazo is 52, Sandy is 49 (S'Ahmisa is 25, Si’Enya is 19, Trevor Yates is 29)

They had planned on a very simple and quiet new year's celebration at home.