Sim in the City I: Zora Takes San Myshuno
Welcome to Simming in Paradise! My name is Shannon, and I've been a Sims 2 fanatic nearly since the day it was released and will probably remain at least semi-devoted to it until I die, but I've recently decided to give Sims 4 a whirl, and you know what? I don't hate it. Right now, this blog will mostly be centered on documenting my adventures there, but I may also branch out into sharing my TS2 stories, since I have an entire generations-old neighborhood of families I'm still very attached to.
In terms of TS4, I don't really have any set goals or challenges for my gameplay, at least not yet. I mostly just decided to create a Sim, plunk her down in a world, and see what happened from there as she and I discovered things simultaneously. So, without further ado, here is the first document of my results.
This is Zora Chen, my first ever Sim creation in TS4! I have to admit, I didn't really have any expectations for what she would look like and was mostly just playing around with all the CAS settings, but she turned out pretty damn cute, if I do say so myself.
Zora is a clumsy, music-loving loner. Her goal in life is to be a musical genius beloved by all, and she figured the best place to make her dreams come true is smack-dab in the middle of the big city: San Myshuno. She rents a cheap but surprisingly spacious penthouse apartment there and settles in with a couple thousand simoleons left to her name to pursue musical stardom.
Despite her loner tendencies, being a star means networking by default, so Zora tackles her social unease head-on by inviting a few neighbors into her new home.
Naturally, she then barricades herself inside the bathroom for a couple hours to obsess over finding the perfect outfit and then give herself a pep talk or five in the mirror before facing a living room full of strangers. I can relate. Socializing is hard, guys!
Her other two visitors are a married couple, but this guy, Salim Benali, is single and ready to mingle and not bad-looking at all, excessive amounts of jewelry aside. Zora, clearly smitten, powers through the awkwardness to get to know him a little bit better.
Turns out he's as big of a nerd for books as she is for music. He immediately gravitates toward her bookshelves, and while it's certainly a bit strange for a person you've known for a few hours to go off and read on their own in your bedroom, it's also kind of charming.
In addition to being a massive bookworm, Salim is a fellow creative who dreams of being a bestselling author, but his lazier tendencies sometimes overtake his ambition. He's currently employed as a blogger for Walrus Books. Zora learned all this over the course of a few different conversations, but I figured I'd get it all out of the way now.
Salim's definitely got some moves, too! He and Zora bond over their love of alternative rock. Could this be a match made in Sim heaven so soon?
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a bit longer to find out because Salim's a busy guy with places to be, but, judging by the look on her face, Zora sure thinks he might be the one. So much for preferring solitude, huh?
Anyway, now that her visitors have left, Zora can get back to the real reason she came to San Myshuno: becoming a world-renowned musician. Her instrument of choice is the violin, and while she's not the greatest yet, she's confident she's got the grit and perseverance to succeed.
Of course, she can't stay cooped up in her apartment practicing all the time, so she lets off steam after a grueling practice session by heading out on the town to acquaint herself with her surroundings and refuel with some tasty taquitos.
After eating, she glimpses Salim rocking out to a busker from a distance and rushes over to say hi. I guess he appreciates fine violin-playing, which ticks off another box for him on Zora's Perfect Boyfriend Material checklist.
While they were talking, this girl came sprinting past wearing nothing but a towel and a pair of seriously crazed eyes, and I decided Zora had to immediately find out more about her. You don't see a character like this just every day, or, who knows, maybe after a few days in the city, she'll barely bat an eyelash at such a sight.
Wow, I envy this girl's unshakable confidence and utter lack of inhibitions. Even though they're finding it hard to focus on anything but her attire during this conversation, Salim and Zora learn that her name is Maki Sasaki.
And just as suddenly as she arrived, she's out of here! I'm not sure where she was hiding her actual clothes this entire time, but they're just as delightfully kooky as I expected. I look forward to seeing more of her soon.
Now that she's gone, though, Zora feels more comfortable to attempt some light flirting with Salim, who's totally game for her tentative advances.
Unfortunately, she's tired as fuck, and pulling an all-nighter probably isn't the best foot to start off on in her new home, so Zora reluctantly heads back to her apartment, no doubt to continue drooling over Salim's gorgeous, bearded face in her dreams.
Zora: Morning, neighbor! Fancy meeting you here! Pretty crazy how we just keep bumping into each other...
Apparently, that initial burst of joviality is all Zora can manage this morning. As much as she likes Salim, it looks like she still needs to recover from the social overload of her first day. Luckily, he doesn't seem to mind.
She decides to spend a couple hours reading in the rain at the abandoned public square. The solitude is calming but also slightly soggy.
She heads into a nearby karaoke bar to dry off and get some nourishment and runs into none other than Maki giving it her all at one of the karaoke machines. Zora settles in for what's sure to be an entertaining show.
Okay, I officially love this girl and must figure out a way to learn more about how she got this fabulously irreverent.
Sadly, she's not here at all for Zora's conversational topics, and she's also not shy about showing it. She seems blissfully unaware of how morbidly embarrassed this leaves Zora, poor socially delicate butterfly that she is.
To abate the awkwardness, Zora heads to the bar for a stiff drink.
A couple drinks later, she's bolstered enough liquid courage to be the boldest, flirtiest version of herself, but Maki seems to have disappeared and none of the other bar patrons appear interested.
The next morning, I can't remember if Zora invited Maki over or if Maki invited herself over, but at any rate, she's in Zora's apartment in an awfully seductive outfit and a very flirtatious mood herself, very much pleased that Zora greeted her in nothing but a tank top and undies.
She's not a great fan of Zora's fish tacos, though, which she's brutally honest about admitting, leaving Zora in another sticky social situation. She sullenly nibbles at her own fish taco to avoid having to say anything in response.
Oh! I forgot to mention that at some point in this whirlwind of new places and new friends, Zora started on the entertainer career path, with the hope of branching off into the musician side of things very soon. She's not making much right now, but fingers crossed it's a launching pad for bigger opportunities.
Her success at work has really boosted her confidence levels, and she's ready to get out there and take another romantic swing. This time, she's determined to hit a home run.
She decides to take out Maki rather than Salim just because she (okay, maybe it's really me) is so intrigued by her while Salim's already a bit of an open book in regard to his personality and interests.
Maki is much more receptive to Zora's advances this time around.
During their very strange but flirty conversation, Maki reveals that she's a total goofball, which we all could have guessed. But she's also an unemployed commitment-phobe with a taste for kleptomania, which is certainly an... interesting combination. She sounds like a lot to handle, but Zora thinks that maybe she-
NOW HOLD UP JUST ONE GODDAMN MINUTE! Who is this anime goddess that just waltzed in?
Oh my god, she's totally making eyes at Zora from across the bar. All of a sudden, it's exactly like a romantic comedy meet-cute in here, and I'm not complaining one bit.
Bartender: Uh, isn't that your date over there? It's kind of shitty of you to just ditch her the second someone else catches your eye, isn't it?
Yes, but bartender, look at how freaking adorable she is! Could you resist if she looked at you with this face?
Besides, she and Zora are totally hitting it off, and you know Maki - she's clearly off in her own world over there and hasn't a clue what's unfolding in reality mere feet away.
Bartender: Okay, but it's still an asshole move.
Shh, let me have this one!
Not everyone would be this receptive to sharing a first kiss less than an hour after meeting. It's clearly meant to be! Zora is so quickly and thoroughly swept off her feet that she almost forgets to find out her mystery dream date's name. But just before disappearing into the night, she lets slip that she's Miko Ojo and maybe if Zora's lucky, she'll be seeing her again.
Zora jogs home feeling absolutely on top of the world.
Even though she's quite taken with Miko, Zora hasn't forgotten Salim, and him being just down the hall is rather convenient. Sure, she's young and impulsive and keeping her options open, but Salim doesn't need to know that.
As usual, he's got his nose stuck in a book, so Zora tries to distract him with the perfect view of her ass as she performs some spontaneous push-ups.
Shockingly, it works, and Zora experiences her second first kiss with a Sim in less than twelve hours.
Wow, things are really moving along quickly here. Three potential love interests, all equally charming in their own unique ways? How on earth is Zora going to choose between them? And how can she possibly juggle making this decision with her burgeoning career as a performer?
For now, she's just excited that Salim has agreed to be her boyfriend, even if there's a tiny voice in the back of her head saying it'll surely all implode when he finds out their relationship isn't exactly exclusive. But that's a problem for another time.
In terms of TS4, I don't really have any set goals or challenges for my gameplay, at least not yet. I mostly just decided to create a Sim, plunk her down in a world, and see what happened from there as she and I discovered things simultaneously. So, without further ado, here is the first document of my results.
This is Zora Chen, my first ever Sim creation in TS4! I have to admit, I didn't really have any expectations for what she would look like and was mostly just playing around with all the CAS settings, but she turned out pretty damn cute, if I do say so myself.
Zora is a clumsy, music-loving loner. Her goal in life is to be a musical genius beloved by all, and she figured the best place to make her dreams come true is smack-dab in the middle of the big city: San Myshuno. She rents a cheap but surprisingly spacious penthouse apartment there and settles in with a couple thousand simoleons left to her name to pursue musical stardom.
Despite her loner tendencies, being a star means networking by default, so Zora tackles her social unease head-on by inviting a few neighbors into her new home.
Naturally, she then barricades herself inside the bathroom for a couple hours to obsess over finding the perfect outfit and then give herself a pep talk or five in the mirror before facing a living room full of strangers. I can relate. Socializing is hard, guys!
Her other two visitors are a married couple, but this guy, Salim Benali, is single and ready to mingle and not bad-looking at all, excessive amounts of jewelry aside. Zora, clearly smitten, powers through the awkwardness to get to know him a little bit better.
Turns out he's as big of a nerd for books as she is for music. He immediately gravitates toward her bookshelves, and while it's certainly a bit strange for a person you've known for a few hours to go off and read on their own in your bedroom, it's also kind of charming.
In addition to being a massive bookworm, Salim is a fellow creative who dreams of being a bestselling author, but his lazier tendencies sometimes overtake his ambition. He's currently employed as a blogger for Walrus Books. Zora learned all this over the course of a few different conversations, but I figured I'd get it all out of the way now.
Salim's definitely got some moves, too! He and Zora bond over their love of alternative rock. Could this be a match made in Sim heaven so soon?
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a bit longer to find out because Salim's a busy guy with places to be, but, judging by the look on her face, Zora sure thinks he might be the one. So much for preferring solitude, huh?
Anyway, now that her visitors have left, Zora can get back to the real reason she came to San Myshuno: becoming a world-renowned musician. Her instrument of choice is the violin, and while she's not the greatest yet, she's confident she's got the grit and perseverance to succeed.
Of course, she can't stay cooped up in her apartment practicing all the time, so she lets off steam after a grueling practice session by heading out on the town to acquaint herself with her surroundings and refuel with some tasty taquitos.
After eating, she glimpses Salim rocking out to a busker from a distance and rushes over to say hi. I guess he appreciates fine violin-playing, which ticks off another box for him on Zora's Perfect Boyfriend Material checklist.
While they were talking, this girl came sprinting past wearing nothing but a towel and a pair of seriously crazed eyes, and I decided Zora had to immediately find out more about her. You don't see a character like this just every day, or, who knows, maybe after a few days in the city, she'll barely bat an eyelash at such a sight.
Wow, I envy this girl's unshakable confidence and utter lack of inhibitions. Even though they're finding it hard to focus on anything but her attire during this conversation, Salim and Zora learn that her name is Maki Sasaki.
And just as suddenly as she arrived, she's out of here! I'm not sure where she was hiding her actual clothes this entire time, but they're just as delightfully kooky as I expected. I look forward to seeing more of her soon.
Now that she's gone, though, Zora feels more comfortable to attempt some light flirting with Salim, who's totally game for her tentative advances.
Unfortunately, she's tired as fuck, and pulling an all-nighter probably isn't the best foot to start off on in her new home, so Zora reluctantly heads back to her apartment, no doubt to continue drooling over Salim's gorgeous, bearded face in her dreams.
Zora: Morning, neighbor! Fancy meeting you here! Pretty crazy how we just keep bumping into each other...
Apparently, that initial burst of joviality is all Zora can manage this morning. As much as she likes Salim, it looks like she still needs to recover from the social overload of her first day. Luckily, he doesn't seem to mind.
She decides to spend a couple hours reading in the rain at the abandoned public square. The solitude is calming but also slightly soggy.
She heads into a nearby karaoke bar to dry off and get some nourishment and runs into none other than Maki giving it her all at one of the karaoke machines. Zora settles in for what's sure to be an entertaining show.
Okay, I officially love this girl and must figure out a way to learn more about how she got this fabulously irreverent.
Sadly, she's not here at all for Zora's conversational topics, and she's also not shy about showing it. She seems blissfully unaware of how morbidly embarrassed this leaves Zora, poor socially delicate butterfly that she is.
To abate the awkwardness, Zora heads to the bar for a stiff drink.
A couple drinks later, she's bolstered enough liquid courage to be the boldest, flirtiest version of herself, but Maki seems to have disappeared and none of the other bar patrons appear interested.
The next morning, I can't remember if Zora invited Maki over or if Maki invited herself over, but at any rate, she's in Zora's apartment in an awfully seductive outfit and a very flirtatious mood herself, very much pleased that Zora greeted her in nothing but a tank top and undies.
She's not a great fan of Zora's fish tacos, though, which she's brutally honest about admitting, leaving Zora in another sticky social situation. She sullenly nibbles at her own fish taco to avoid having to say anything in response.
Oh! I forgot to mention that at some point in this whirlwind of new places and new friends, Zora started on the entertainer career path, with the hope of branching off into the musician side of things very soon. She's not making much right now, but fingers crossed it's a launching pad for bigger opportunities.
Her success at work has really boosted her confidence levels, and she's ready to get out there and take another romantic swing. This time, she's determined to hit a home run.
She decides to take out Maki rather than Salim just because she (okay, maybe it's really me) is so intrigued by her while Salim's already a bit of an open book in regard to his personality and interests.
Maki is much more receptive to Zora's advances this time around.
During their very strange but flirty conversation, Maki reveals that she's a total goofball, which we all could have guessed. But she's also an unemployed commitment-phobe with a taste for kleptomania, which is certainly an... interesting combination. She sounds like a lot to handle, but Zora thinks that maybe she-
NOW HOLD UP JUST ONE GODDAMN MINUTE! Who is this anime goddess that just waltzed in?
Oh my god, she's totally making eyes at Zora from across the bar. All of a sudden, it's exactly like a romantic comedy meet-cute in here, and I'm not complaining one bit.
Bartender: Uh, isn't that your date over there? It's kind of shitty of you to just ditch her the second someone else catches your eye, isn't it?
Yes, but bartender, look at how freaking adorable she is! Could you resist if she looked at you with this face?
Besides, she and Zora are totally hitting it off, and you know Maki - she's clearly off in her own world over there and hasn't a clue what's unfolding in reality mere feet away.
Bartender: Okay, but it's still an asshole move.
Shh, let me have this one!
Not everyone would be this receptive to sharing a first kiss less than an hour after meeting. It's clearly meant to be! Zora is so quickly and thoroughly swept off her feet that she almost forgets to find out her mystery dream date's name. But just before disappearing into the night, she lets slip that she's Miko Ojo and maybe if Zora's lucky, she'll be seeing her again.
Zora jogs home feeling absolutely on top of the world.
Even though she's quite taken with Miko, Zora hasn't forgotten Salim, and him being just down the hall is rather convenient. Sure, she's young and impulsive and keeping her options open, but Salim doesn't need to know that.
As usual, he's got his nose stuck in a book, so Zora tries to distract him with the perfect view of her ass as she performs some spontaneous push-ups.
Shockingly, it works, and Zora experiences her second first kiss with a Sim in less than twelve hours.
Wow, things are really moving along quickly here. Three potential love interests, all equally charming in their own unique ways? How on earth is Zora going to choose between them? And how can she possibly juggle making this decision with her burgeoning career as a performer?
For now, she's just excited that Salim has agreed to be her boyfriend, even if there's a tiny voice in the back of her head saying it'll surely all implode when he finds out their relationship isn't exactly exclusive. But that's a problem for another time.