Alphabet Challenge: Generation 2
For the second generation, Aaron and Alice first had a pair of twins, which I named Bob and Baxter. I initially chose Baxter to be the heir, since he seemed a bit more studious. This left me free to let Bob become a vampire, just for fun.
Unfortunately, this decision would cause me some problems later on.
My original goal was that each generation should be comprised of three children. I hadn’t been paying enough attention, and Alice aged into the “elder” category before I had a chance to get her pregnant again. Oh no!
My solution was to adopt a third child. I didn’t really think this through. This is the second decision that caused me some problems later on.
To adopt a child in The Sims 2, have one of your adult Sims pick up the phone and call a Service. Then choose “Adoption Agency” from the menu. (Not the pet adoption agency, mind you!) If your Sims family meets the adoption agency’s income requirements, a random baby will be sent out to you within 24 Sim hours.
(By the way, I read somewhere that if your children are taken by the Social Worker, you can re-adopt them if you move fast. Apparently children that are taken by the Social Worker are put into the adoption queue. All you need to do is phone up the adoption agency and ask to adopt a child, and your taken child will be returned to you. Note that I haven’t tried this yet - just passing it along!)
Aaron and Alice adopted a little girl, who I named Bea.
I sent Bob and Baxter off to college. Bob became a vampire, and I left him on his lot. (I think of this as “warehousing.” It allows you to keep the Sim available for visits, but they don’t age if you don’t play their lot.)
Bob met a beautiful woman named Linda Shin. They moved into the main Alphabetti house and got married. I quickly had them “try for baby,” since I have found that the first “woo hoo” immediately after marriage is usually the most sure-fire time to get pregnant. Sure enough, I heard the lullaby sounds after they tried for baby. Not long after, their baby girl Clarissa was born.
At some point after Clarissa became a toddler, I suddenly realized that I had made a TERRIBLE MISTAKE. Only 2 generations into my alphabet challenge (one generation for each letter of the alphabet) and I had accidentally thrown away the family name.
When Sims marry, the game determines who takes whose name based on which Sim you’re playing when you click on the wedding arch. I hadn’t been paying attention, and had been controlling Linda Shin when I clicked on the arch and selected “Get Married.” This one tiny mistake meant that Bob changed his name from Alphabetti to Shin, and their baby’s name was Clarissa Shin.
Bob was a vampire, and the third child Bea - having been adopted - couldn’t properly carry on the blood line. What to do?
In the end, I had Bea become a witch, make a batch of Vampirocillin-D, and give it to Bob, thus curing him of his vampirism. Bob then married Lila Mendoza, a Fortune Sim with whom he had strong chemistry.
Aaron and Alice had both died of old age by this point. I decided to let Baxter and Linda stay to help raise Bob’s kids. Once Bob and Lila’s three children (Clementine, Connor, and Cassandra) went off to college, I decided to warehouse Baxter and Linda by moving them into their own lot. Their daughter Clarissa I sent off to college.