Tommy Gun

Alice and Kev - The story of being homeless in The Sims 3

Recommended Posts

This has been posted in tons of places, but I haven't seen it here. Anyone else following it? I love stuff like this.

This is an experiment in playing a homeless family in The Sims 3. I created two Sims, moved them in to a place made to look like an abandoned park, removed all of their remaining money, and then attempted to help them survive without taking any job promotions or easy cash routes. It’s based on the old ‘poverty challenge’ idea from The Sims 2, but it turned out to be a lot more interesting with The Sims 3’s living neighborhood features.

I have attempted to tell my experiences with the minimum of embellishment. Everything I describe in here is something that happened in the game. What’s more, a surprising amount of the interesting things in this story were generated by just letting go and watching the Sims’ free will and personality traits take over.

Here's the beginning:

http://aliceandkev.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/alice-and-kev/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

what a terrible idea to punish those virtual humans :deranged:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, I binged on this just before I left work last Friday. The post where Alice

puts her wages in an envelope and posts them to a charity

was pretty amazing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think we should start a virtual charity to help get Alice and Kev their house back, and a job.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think we should start a virtual charity to help get Alice and Kev their house back, and a job.

Screw this guy, join me in raising funds to stick them in a room without doors or a pool without ladders!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

started on this, because it was a while since the last bogus site that links to idle thumbs.

Need to work on the design a bit, and fix the images and what not. But tonight it should be finished.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is so brilliant; the story hits all the emotional buttons. The dad provides some good comic relief while the girl goes deeper and deeper into the pit, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't I tear-up a little when that hug happened.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is some weird weird stuff. I wonder how much of what she's saying is actually happening and relatively easily interpretable and how much she (or is it he?) is editorializing as s/he's telling this tale... I have no point of reference as to how coherent their little Simmish conversations can be.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I have no point of reference as to how coherent their little Simmish conversations can be.

I actually assumed the interpretation came entirely from context and the little image thought bubbles. A lot of it is pretty obvious (e.g., Kev gets down on one knee, pulls out a box, and has a diamond ring bubble above him).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now