I hate posting back-to-back.
Okay, here's what's been going on. I picked out a new neighborhood template and installed it; it runs smoothly, and it's roomy enough for everyone plus some additions. Everybody is in the process of being relocated. It's the same Sims that you're familiar with; the only difference is memory loss and their ages have been reset to Day One, so it's pretty much like starting over. I don't consider this much of a price to pay. While processing one of the non-Foster's characters and reestablishing his personality, it occurred to me that if I wanted to make any changes to him, now would be the time to do it. And that's where you guys come in.
The personalities of the Foster's characters have been the subject of - how shall I say it? - lively debate and strong opinion here on the
Never Forgotten Forum. We each know our favorite characters best, or at least we think we do. Take Wilt for example. I think we can all agree that he's a pretty nice guy, but
how nice is he? For that matter, where does he stand on the scale between Outgoing and Shy? What are his turn-ons and turn-offs? What's his level of interest in, say, Politics or Fashion? Can such things be quantified, for him and the other characters as well? Sure they can. Take a look at this:
This is from the game's User Interface. It's fairly self-explanatory, I think, at least parts of it. The statistics shown are for a Sim named Ronald Delmastro, who lives in the Valley and has met some of the Foster's characters but is not otherwise connected to the show. He's a little on the Neat side, slightly Shy, pretty Active, pretty Serious, and dead center between Grouchy and Nice. He's in good physical shape and his Zodiac sign is Cancer. Ron is straight (not shown on the display), is attracted to blondes and women who wear glasses, and turned off by being overweight. He has zero interest in work and a great deal of interest in crime and travel. Ron has the Family Aspiration; every Sim has one of six Aspirations, chosen when he/she becomes a teen, which I discussed briefly
here on the old forum.
Some further info on all this:
Personality traits influence how fast a Sim learns various skills; Neat Sims, for example, learn Cleaning faster than Sloppy Sims, and the really Neat ones enjoy tidying up. Personality traits also have an effect on a Sims needs, such as hunger, energy, and the need for some company. The more closely two Sims personalities match, the better they're likely to get along or be attracted to each other.
Zodiac signs also influence relationships, both for friendship and love. Some signs attract, some repel, some are neutral. All signs are neutral to themselves.
Turn-ons and turn-offs include:
Black hair
Blonde hair
Brown hair
Red Hair
Custom Hair
Grey Hair
Fitness
Fatness
Cologne
Stink
Formalwear
Swimwear
Underwear
Facial Hair
Glasses
Vampirism
Make-up
Full-face Make-up
I think that's all of them.
Interests, like Personality, has an influence on how well two Sims will get along. The higher the level of interest in a given topic, the more likely that Sim is to bring it up in conversation.
Aspirations, like everything else it seems, also add to attraction for friendship and love. Additionally, Aspirations determine what a Sim wants and what he can do to score Aspiration Points, which can be traded in for useful goodies of various sorts.
Whew, that's a lot to digest (and a lot of typing). Anyway, I would love to get as much feedback on this as I can before I start returning our favorite characters to the game, so if you can take the time to think about all this for a bit and post something about it, I'd appreciate it. If anything I wrote here needs further explanation or clarification, by all means feel free to ask.
