Back then I had no one to talk to about the game, (if you don't know, I began Simming while living deep in the woods in a 30 ft trailer).
It was just me and my Sims.
They were poor, frustrated and struggling right along with me as I fumbled just about every attempt to get them from Point A to Point B.
Most of my Sims took jobs in the military cause that's where the highest paying jobs were.
And EVERYONE in the household worked -
they had to if they wanted to eat!
One time my Sims had to sell off their shower in order to get some food delivered. Yep, those were the good old Sim days where there were no such things as Motherlode, Batboxes, Magic Coat Racks, Sim blenders, College Adjusters or Maxmotives. We muddled through our Sims days by the seat of our pants with nothing but sheer determination to get through it all without peeing those Sim pants or falling asleep face first in a bowl of macaroni and cheese.
But I really do look back on it all with a warm fuzzy fondness but it's one of those things,..ya just can't go back!
When I got the computer I'm on now and loaded all my TS2 EP's and SP's to it I decided to play a vanilla game - no hacks, mods, cheats or CC.
I wanted to experience the magic I did back when I first began this love affair with my Sims.
Well, playing vanilla lasted about one day, (maybe). I just couldn't do it!
For one, I couldn't stand the way my Sims looked and HAD to get some CC on them. Then of course I had to use Motherlode so they could have the kind of home I prefer, and then I had to maxmotives, and then I had to hunt down my beloved Simblender and when they went to college I had to get the College Adjuster and NO WAY could I go without the magic coat rack!
One mod led to a hack which led to a cheat which led to a butt load of CC!
I was rather disappointed in myself, that I was such a weenie and couldn't handle playing without being such a big, fat cheater. But like I always say, whatever floats our Sim boat is good as rain for the goose. In other words, whatever gives us the most gaming pleasure, go for it!
And so I did, (with a Download folder weighing in at 6.59 GB to prove it!!)
Oh yeah, I'm hopeless,....
I was even reckless enough to think I could send my Sims through college without cheats. Oh man, no way. It's hard for me believe that I actually used to spend THAT much time in Uni with my Sims! That is one long stretch and now-a-days, I just can't do it. I don't cheat them thru in a matter of days but by no means do they hang out there as long as they would without cheating. One thing I can say for the students I used to send through college without cheats, I sure got close to them! And I kinda miss that,...
The Broke Brothers
As a matter of fact I got very close to all my Sims I played back in the day without cheats and all that jazz. I have no pix of any of them but they live vivid and strong in my memory. But the one thing that sticks out most is how happy they were. They had their kids taken away for not getting homework done, one had an almost PERFECT wedding ruined when their stinky dog walked in and ruined it all, (the guests left as soon as they got a whiff), they were running on empty, standing in line for the toilet, stomping cockroaches, waving at me like crazy and basically teaching me how to play them!!
I counted on my Sims greatly back them to show me the way and they did!
I had one Knowledge Sim in the beginning that taught me an important lesson.
I never read up on the game in the tips section so I really was a the proverbial Sim Dummie when it came to playing. Well, I had no clue that a Knowledge Sim needs to read books and learn and do all those things Knowledge Sims roll wants for. I just had her hangin out doing whatever. (Oh yeah, spank me hard for that one!) And then one day she was standing there holding out that little globe thingie with the college cap on it and she's desperate for me to DO SOMETHING!! And I'm thinkin to myself, "What the heck is she holding? What's she goin on and on about?" And then it clicked, the dim-wit that I am finally saw the light!!
So, yeah, my Sims were the teacher and what they taught me most is that no matter what, life is good and it's all about friends and getting along. We can deny them food, a bathroom, sleep and the privilege to leave their house and they'll STILL find a way to have fun and be happy. But deny them an opportunity to pursue their aspiration or to have a friend to talk to and they will languish in a manner that will make the toughest combat Marine break down in baby tears.
So what it comes down to, (that our Sims teach us by example), is all we need to survive and be happy is to have a dream and a friend to share it with. Kinda chokes me up just thinking about that but it's true. They don't care about money, (yeah, yeah, I know, except Fortune Sims), they don't care what other Sims look like, they don't care about what gawd-awful clothes they wear, they don't care what kind of food is put in front of them and they really don't care about all the silly little things that WE obsess over when it comes to them.
Showing up at a wedding wearing a Santa suit
Only a Sim could pull that off!
I recently had to go through my files for something very bad that borked my game, (it had to do with the evil ACR but that's a whole other post), and I decided to NOT put some of my mods/hacks back in my game. My Sims look out at the rain/snow and cheer now, their kids run out to hug them and they greet other Sims and tell their tired, been told 100 times over jokes.
And having all that back is a very good thing.
I found a happy medium with all the hacks, mods and cheats.
They don't define my game or my Sims, but they do serve to enhance them and to help them along in getting to where they want to go. Yes, it's my game, but it's their hood. They don't need me to cheat happiness into their lives, they can find it very well all on their own if I just sit back and let them.
So yeah, I'm letting them do exactly that and it kinda brings back a little bit of magic from the days before I knew about the mods, hacks and cheats.
No, you can't go back, but you can move forward with the lessons our Sims teach us in such a SIM-ple and charming way.
No one understands the joy of simple living more than Morti Goth!!
Sim ON!!
