An Introduction to a Work in Progress

I have sim'd for years, ever since the first one and I can tell you Sims 3 knocks them all into a cocked hat! I was enjoying another gaming session one day last week when I absently wondered what the record is for game length. I mentioned it to my fiancé and he Googled it while I continued to play. That's when we discovered the Legacy option... we were intrigued! Suddenly another lifetime wish flashed into existence and we both wanted to complete the Legacy Challenge.

Just in case you're reading this and don't know what the Legacy Challenge is, I shall explain. Basically you have to successfully rear 10 generations of Sims starting with a single Founder. There are various rules and provisos but that's what it boils down to. One of the biggest challenges for me is that your Founder must start out with very little money, barely enough to buy the basics. When I play I invariably use the "motherlode" cheat so I don't have to worry about money, I mean, I have to worry about it enough in real life! So yes, very hard not having the Simoleons.

Here's how I got on...

(By the way, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Chapter One - Gen One

Meet Auralia Quinn, rebel and outcast. She was raised in the land of Faery and loved nothing more than exploring the rolling countryside and talking to plants. It was a happy childhood and all was well in her world, until that is, she came of age and the Baron's son took a fancy to her. Auralia's Father saw this as a golden opportunity to advance the family standing and her Mother was overjoyed at the idea of her daughter one day becoming a Baroness. To Auralia though, the prospect seemed nothing more than a gilded cage, she certainly wouldn't be allowed to venture out of the castle. The thought of loosing her freedom was too much so she fled, casting off her faery guise and escaping to the mortal world...

Where she found out about money and how important it is for proper living. Her meagre funds were barely enough to put a roof over her head. But she was happy nonetheless.





Happy but hungry, unable to afford a fridge she had to use her initiative, in other words raiding the community gardens for free food.



Of course, after all that gardening she felt a bit grubby and not being able to afford a shower she had to make do with the next best thing... a quick scrub in the local gym.



Auralia soon learned that the mortal world was a lonely place, she had no friends here... she was alone in her midnight misery.



She tried talking to the local flora...



And planting her own garden...



But in the end she realised that she should get to know her fellow mortals, having a love of nature she decided that first contact should be made in the presence of lots of plants, safety in numbers. It turned out to be a fortuitous decision as her first encounter was with her future Boss...



Who she discovered was also a natural cook. Inspired by her new friend Auralia made the big step of joining the culinary career track, she had to start as a Kitchen Scullian but as she knew, small acorns grow into mighty oaks.



It wasn't long before she regretted the glib acorns-to-oaks quip... working as a scullian was not fun!



However, her faery nature soon kicked in and she decided to glam-up and spend a little of her first wage packet on some drinks...



The next day, Auralia went searching for more potential friends...



A moth was her first discovery, followed quickly by a human...



He was to become the first of many new friends. Time passed, as it always does in the mortal realms, and Auralia settled in to her new life. She sated her wanderlust by exploring this new world and was rewarded with many a find; interesting seeds, meteorites and gemstones among them. Soon she had earned enough money from her discoveries and kitchen work to expand her meagre abode...



It even had a shower and a fridge! The luxuries seemed endless... even if she did have to use her loo as a dining chair.



Although Auralia had not wanted to marry the Baron's son she wasn't completely opposed to the idea of finding a man, in fact the idea was intriguing so she set out on a quest to find eligible bachelors, but they were either...

Too rich:



Too married:



Still too married:



Why is every man she meets married??!:



Until one day...



She met the man of her dreams, Jon the rockstar. They hit it off immediately and soon... they were an item.



Even living together!



And enjoying all those privileges that living together can bring...



Of course, those privileges have consequences...





So she broke the news to Jon...



Who was overjoyed and did the gentlemanly thing...



And Auralia accepted...



The wedding was a quiet, private affair then the couple got on with waiting for the new arrival.









Before they knew it, it was time to go to hospital!



In Jon's tour bus obviously, did I mention he's a rockstar? He's a rockstar!



Soon Auralia and Jon would know the joys of parenting...

Chapter Two - Gen Two

Meet Byron Quinn, the first born daughter of Auralia and Jon!

They still weren't rolling in money so Byron had to have a cot in her parents room, there was just enough left over to splash out on a teddy called Cornelius.



Ahh the baby days go by so quickly, in no time at all Byron was a toddler...





And yes, Byron's going to have a sibling soon! Auralia and Jon got on with teaching Byron about life...

How important food is...



and the proper use of a potty...



Her lessons were interrupted though with the arrival of...







Blake Quinn! Auralia and Jon's second daughter and Byron's younger sister.

After all the excitement, Byron got back to her lessons...

Walking...



And talking...



And Blake wasn't far behind...





Eventually the time came for Byron to celebrate her birthday, happily she was able to have a joint party with her Father. They didn't count on an unexpected guest though...



Sadly one of Jon's old friends invited the Reaper as her plus-one. Never ones to let life get on top of them (or death in this case) the Quinn family got on with the party.















Byron quickly learnt that greater age comes with greater responsibility... school



Blake had some learning of her own to do...







And even though she now had lots of homework, Byron still had time to play with her little sister.





Jon and Auralia were often so busy with work that they decided hiring a teenage babysitter would be a good idea, and it was for the most part. However one babysitter had a creepy habit of watching Byron sleep:



Needless to say, he was dismissed! Time wore on and soon Blake joined her sister in the ranks of childhood.









Unfortunately Byron couldn't be there as she was still at school. It was a similar situation for Byron's birthday, Auralia was still at work but the rest of the family had a blast:









Ahhhh the teenage years, how fun. Time for rebellion and sexploration! ...and more homework.



Meanwhile Auralia had a quiet birthday of her own and was still working hard at her career.







The next birthday was for Blake and this time the whole family made it!







The girls found they had more in common these days...



Such as the fact that their parents used them as cheap alternatives to hiring a repairman when things broke down.



There was still school too, and while the kids were out Auralia and Jon took advantage of their sudden freedom...



To read



And paint of course.

As the sisters grew up, little differences began to show themselves. Blake was more inclined to study, so much so that she decided to get a part time job at the book shop...



And do her homework under random trees...



While Byron was more inclined to study fashion...



and the body beautiful...



It wasn't long before that body went through the transition into young adulthood...







Life settled down again, a little too settled for Byron who found herself scooping out a dead fish and realising it was the most exciting thing that had happened to her all week.



She decided she needed a life.



Instead she found a man. Auralia tried to ignore the blatant flirting. Meanwhile young Blake had to bury herself in a book to ignore Auralia's full on snogging session with Jon.



And the growing evidence that her parents still had an active sex life.



Little Barrett was born shortly after the disgusting show of emotion...



Byron was quite taken with her little brother, somewhere, quietly, a clock began to tick...



Jon too was delighted to finally have a son



Byron meanwhile, continued to court her fancy man



And eventually popped the question



And they were married without delay



They didn't waste any time either, that clock of Byron's was getting really loud!



A different kind of clock was ticking for Barrett...



Who became a toddler, much to his daddy's joy.

Insert name here also had cause for much joy when Byron broke the good news, they were expecting!



Jon got down to teaching his son about the other joys of life...



But before he could get past baseball... the clock ran out for Jon...







Auralia was heart broken, she hadn't realised how short mortal lives would seem.



She had Jon interred in the family crypt where she could visit him often, "Rock on my love, rock on"



Life must go on though, and soon there was a triple birthday to celebrate...



Byron grew into a beautiful and voluptuous young adult



while Auralia relinquished her youth with grace and style.



A few nights later a new member of the family arrived, Corrin...



And so began the third generation of the Quinn Legacy.