Let's Play The Sims 2 | Downtown S01E05 | The Walters

Jessica Walter worked all her life and became a successful GP with a beautiful townhouse to show for it. But what she really wanted was a family. Late in life, she met John Smith Tricou, and a few months later, her son Orion was born, turning her life upside-down.
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[@emiec5678]

Orion is a sims version of Draco Malfoy in my mind, so you naming their dog Sirius warmed my heart

[@AniBats]

Haha that's amazing ❤ No wonder Sirius got along so well with that wolf!!! 😂

[@MarCitaPH]

I am loving the Downtown series!! It feels so much different from the Pleasantview one, it creates a very nice contrast between the coziness and the more dynamic style of living Downtown has 🥰 Also, I adore the little dog's new name! I think it was a very clever idea to name him Sirius, it fits him very well! And the fact that he liked more a terrifying wild wolf than a small harmless cat named Noodle was absolutely hilarious to me 😂

[@AniBats]

Thank you 🥰 That's awesome, I'm glad that the contrast is already showing. I really hope it'll get even sharper with time as Downtown grows ❤ Haha I know right? Poor Noodle 😂

[@briannapeppers]

I don’t think I’ve ever been this early before. 😂 So excited to watch while I do chores!

[@SimsStoryPlay]

What a lovely episode. I love your takes on the characters. I also adore your aesthetic - so pretty!

[@rhys2313]

You’re a true blessing to the sims community. Thank you for sharing these videos! ❤

[@AniBats]

Aww, Rhys, thank you so much 🥺❤ You're so sweet

[@indyavonside207]

OOh that house is nice Ani, I always love your builds. I have always wanted to play with that kid, but was afraid I'd mess up the Tricou lore stuff. I am living through you now lol. I am in Belladonna Cove and I just started playing with the pre made. I was afraid after my Veroniaville fiasco where I took Oberion for sims, made Titania my bff and the kids were coming over every day before I realized he was supposed to marry Tatiana. Maybe I will venture downtown rofl. Thanks for sharing

[@AniBats]

Oh, that must have been a shock to find out about Oberon!!! It's part of the beauty of the game though - anything can happen and the story can develop into just about anything. And if you re-play the same hood, it will never turn out the exact same way as it did the first time around. It's fascinating really! I don't think you need to be afraid to mess anything up, anything that happens will just be part of the story. If you do decide to play with Orion though, do remember that he has a broken face so I recommend doing the fix in SimPE that I showed you in the set-up video ❤

[@indyavonside207]

@@AniBats Thanks Ani I forgot about the broken face template. I am sure some of the Belladonna sims will have that issue too.

[@BellaDovah]

These family dynamics are shaping up to be so unique and wholesome😊 One thing I’ve been really inspired by lately is how you get family members involved with each other’s hobbies. I tend to get stuck on sims only doing their OTH but it makes total sense to also take interest in loved ones’ interests and bond together that way ❤

[@marijkebotes4999]

Loved this. You teach me something every time! Thank you Ani.

[@TheGauld007]

Lmao Hailey has been tryna make a friend almost every ep of this series so far and keeps getting straight up REJECTED each time lol she's gonna have some trauma by the time you get to her. What mod/mods is it you use to make skilling slower so that it kind of syncs up with the slower time? I love the time clock but find that sims skill way too fast. These two might be my favorite so far! The way you use their personalities and expand on them to craft their backstories and storyline is very nice. Orion being active and playful so potentially not being a fan of academic type work and more practical for example. Can't wait for the next ones!

[@AniBats]

Haha omg you're right 😂 Poor Hailey! I hope I get to play her soon so I can put a stop to this vicious cycle. I use Simler90's mods for slower skill building. In this one, modthesims.info/d/632985/skills-badges-cooking-cleaning-repairing-gardening-mods.html it's mainly the "Slower Skill Gain From Books Mod" file that's doing the heavy lifting, I think. I also use this modthesims.info/d/602836/slower-fitness-gain.html to make it slower to gain fitness. Aw thank you! I'm glad you like them 🥰❤

[@jasmyneeee]

i’ve already gushed at length about how much i adore this downtown series, so i’ll hold off on reiterating that fact. but i can’t help but mention how much i adore jessica and orion. (and sirius, but i’m a harry potter fan to my core, so i’m definitely very biased there!) i’ve rewatched this specific video, and others from the playlist so many times, i can recall even the most minute details, but this video is one that warms my heart every time! the dynamics you established for these characters is so very sweet. minus mr. tricou’s promiscuous habits and his reckless creation of children, but that’s EA’s work. i feel like jessica is a very protective mother, always pestering orion about whether or not anyone picked on him at school; going so far as to threaten to turn up at the principal’s office and demand that the issue get straightened out with quickness and haste. and while i’m sure orion finds it annoying how much his mother clings to him, i know he’ll come to appreciate it more as he grows older. despite his mom’s clean cut, wholesome (and very mainstream) appearance and the way she keeps up her home, you can tell that she really does just want the best for her son and allows him to express himself however he deems fit! orion’s a very lucky boy. great work on the video, as always! and congrats on 3k subscribers! (loved the gag reel, by the way. i forget just how many silly antics take place in pleasantview sometimes. those sims really have a mind of their own, don’t they? i can’t wait to see what the downtown playables get up to as this series progresses. the day all of jon tricou’s kids find out he’s their father will delightfully dramatic, and that’s assuming they ever do find out.) actually, while i’m on the topic, i know that you mentioned that the kids wouldn’t know who their father is, but do you think that would apply to all of them? i feel like there are some children whose parents would be ashamed given the man’s reputation and never tell a soul, and some would reveal the truth to their kids with nothing more than a casual shrug. as unfortunate as the tricou family’s mysterious demise was, i’m sure jon is getting absolutely no rest in the great sim-beyond, lol. i just know he tosses and turns in his grave whenever his children come across each other, completely unaware of the fact that they’re related. i’m glad EA had the wherewithal to make them recognize each other as siblings, even if it does break the tiniest hint of immersion, otherwise i’m sure things would get extremely messy when it came time to pair them up.

[@AniBats]

Aw Jasmyne, thank you so much, you are incredibly sweet 🥰 I can't believe you're rewatched the series, and many times even, that is very very flattering ❤ I love your take on these sims, I think you're absolutely spot on. It's a joy to read! Thank you 🥰😂 Haha yeah the sims really do have minds of their own, it's quite something! Haha yeah, I can really see different scenarios playing out with this, and it would make sense for at least some of the Teens to be aware of who their father is. I'm going to spin it a bit different from that in this series though, but I won't spoil it for you by telling you now ❤

[@numberjacksoctonauts7138]

I love watching your series with the Downtown sims. It is fun getting to know sims you don't usually play; especially with the Tricou teens getting mothers. Dang, Jessica had it rough. She wanted a big family, but Jon Smith was... playing the field. And Orion is a bit of a rebel boy, I like it. Aww, Sirius is so cute. Our first pet in the rotations.

[@natalieeforsyth]

I’m right at the start of this episode but to me, Jessica reminds me of Jennifer Burb - she’s been single all her life because she’s been dedicated to her Medical career (her family aspiration fits perfectly with that because, in my mind, Family Sims are extremely caring) so she sees her patients as her family. The fortunate secondary was also a factor that pushed her to be so committed to her job so although she’s a family sim, she didn’t really have time for a real family. Maybe Orion is a bit more ‘gothic’ because he’s acting out as he was brought up by Nanny’s instead of him Mum. That’s my take on it anyway (I’m only 8 mins in so am interested to see where this family’s story goes in your game!)

[@AniBats]

Oooh that's such a good point! I could totally see this being Jennifer's household if she had taken custody of Lucy. Haha wow a gothic nanny is so on point for Downtown 😂 Could definitely have been an influence for Orion growing up.

[@catsunpear]

Hooray another episode! These houses turned out amazing! They remind me of some houses I used to run past everyday in London. Btw, What's the name of that curtain/screen you ended up using (21:27)?

[@AniBats]

Thank you 🥰 Yey I'm glad they turned out looking like London houses - that's definitely the vibe I was going for! It's a ts3 to ts2 conversion by Moxxa, called Abigail Living Shutters: simfileshare.net/download/2815006/

[@catsunpear]

@@AniBats Thank you for the link! I usually call myself the cc detective but couldn't find these 🤭. Btw, I'm the commentator that left that huge comment about grid adjuster. I had to let my other account go, but I'm back again.

[@brentparsons221]

Love it I’m so obsessed with your downtown series as well as Pleasantview. I can’t wait for the next episode and I’m excited for the John Smith Tricou storyline. Although since Loren has 2 days and Orion has 5 days left as teens are you going to give all the Tricou children various teen ages or will you keep most of them the same age?

[@AniBats]

Thank you, Brent 🥰 I'll give them all different ages, but all of them will be teens so the difference won't be very big.

[@anachibi]

Heheh you got Gvaudoin the second time! The oi is French like moi

[@AniBats]

Yeeey haha! Thank you for the help with this, Ana, you're a gem ❤ I was so annoyed with myself for getting it wrong the first time - I literally practiced it daily for weeks a few months ago 😂

[@anachibi]

You're fine! I said it "wrong" in my own video haha Technically it doesn't seem to be a real name at all anyway

[@bclaire3887]

Yep, french native speaker here, I can confirm, "Baudouin" is the closest real name, but "Gvaudoin" I've never heard. So you can pronounce it however you like :D

[@StoriesNStrategy]

So I've been binge watching your Downtown series lately and loving every second of it. It really is so enjoyable to see you go through the process of figuring out these households and getting to know the characters. Every time I watch it I'm inspired to start a new hood (and no, I really should not have another one! 😅) - but it's really inspiring to watch and if I would be in a situation where I hadn't played TS2 in a while, it would definitely draw me back in immediately. 😄 So one thing I noticed while watching this series is that you put the time control clock to 50% for all households. And I've been convinced you used 80% on residential lots. I think I even mentioned that in a video once, where I said I got that idea from your videos. So I feel a bit silly now. Did you change that from how you did it before, or did I just completely get that wrong? Oh and that tip for bathing the dog was something I never understood before, thank you for that! I never got it why they wouldn't be able to reach it when it looked perfectly fine, but now it makes perfect sense!

[@AniBats]

Thank you so much! Wow that truly made me happy that you get inspiration from these videos, I'm so glad ❤ Hmm, I think I have always used 50% in my households since I started posting videos 🤔 But I know I was using 70% for quite a while as I was starting out with the clock, testing things out. Could be that I had that setting at the start of the PV series, or that I mentioned somewhere that I used to have it. But yeah I've used 50% for years and find that it hits the sweet spot for me (if I allow myself to cheat their energy up when it makes sense, and to cheat their social down when they call up friends, because the friendship decay is just not fair (even with mods)).

[@StoriesNStrategy]

@@AniBats Then I'm so sorry for misquoting you on that! That wasn't my intention at all. You inspired me to use the clock, which I never would have thought about doing if it wasn't for seeing how good it worked in your game. It's interesting though, it feels like a perfect balance when I watch you play. But when I tried it out, especially the relationship decay was too much for me, I think. So I ended up on 80% which is such a big difference to 50%. Now that I know this, I think I'm going to try and play on 50% for the second round of my megahood, see how that feels. I might end up somewhere in the middle I think. I don't really mind the energy going down and I do feel like it would be nice to have a bit more time in the day. 🤔 What I disliked about a slower speed wasn't even the loss of relationship points, but that when they DO interact after dropping below 50 even slightly, they get that negative memory of losing a best friend. And in my head I was arguing with that all the time, like "they didn't lose them, they're talking to them right now!" 😅 I've never seen sims getting that negative memory in your game, or maybe I have missed that. Did you mod that out? Or does that just never happen because you always catch them on time?

[@AniBats]

Don't worry about it! No need to apologize ❤ The relationship decay really is the worst of it, because the energy can always be fiddled with very easily. Somewhere in the middle between 80 and 50 sounds very reasonable. Aaah right, I hadn't thought of that, but then I don't pay that much attention to memories 🤔 That could be troublesome yeah. I'm sure I get those memories all the time, just that I don't pay attention to it. Playing this way with the very fragile relationships has actually pushed me to consider sims to be friendly even if they don't have the "friend" tag, and once they become close friends and can maintain that, it means a lot more than in used to as well. So even though it's a bit annoying at times, it also has some good things coming with it 😊

[@StoriesNStrategy]

@@AniBats Yeah, I totally agree on that last part too. Making (best) friends used to be way too easy before mods, so having it mean more this way is definitely a good thing. And having it above 90 or 95 sort of locks it there, I think? If they don't have negative interactions that is. There must be a balance in there somewhere. I'll have to keep fiddling with it until it feels both rewarding and not taunting me all the time. 😅😊

[@AniBats]

I have had this Simlogical mod in my game for years and years, like way before I started playing with the clock. Perhaps you have it too? It helps keeping good friendships alive once it reaches 95: simlogical.com/sl/Sims2Pages/Sims2_Relating.htm I was recommended this mod a few months back, and that has also helped managing the relationship decay I believe: modthesims.info/d/101273/monique-s-relationship-str-decay-hack-lt-lt-updated-10-20-2006-lt-lt.html Besides those, I haven't managed to find anything to balance it perfectly, but one day perhaps 😂 Maybe those can be of help to you too ❤ (sorry for not recommending them previous to this, it's those kinds of mods you kinda drop into your DL folder and forget about)

[@bclaire3887]

Man this incredible turn of events! She was a family sim with the LTW of becoming a criminal mastermind, and then you added fortune as a secondary inspiration and BAM she wants 6 grandchildren. What the hell. This 6 grandchildren want is my least favourite, always such a hassle...

[@AniBats]

Hahaha omg you're right! Looking at it from that perspective, Jessica all of a sudden seems a bit like an undercover mafioso who aspired to become something like "the Godfather" 😂 It is a very intense LTW yeah, but I like it. I think the "5 top level businesses" is probably my least favorite

[@sims200]

I love how you decorate. Where is the big mirror (in the green bedroom) from?

[@AniBats]

Thank you ❤ It's part of Delphine's set "Bedroom 7" on simsinparis. That site is down at this point, but the set is still available here: thesimsgraveyard.com/index.php/download/category/1518-bedroom

[@_P_a_o_l_o_]

I’ve recently discovered, there’s a mod that, when you chat online, shows the full names of the people available! Could be useful to also see the surnames there :)

[@AniBats]

That's clever, I'll have to look it up!

[@jessicabernickel332]

I have the same issue with the curtains, I came to the conclusion that those angled walls aren‘t working well in apartments. I had those triangled flowers outside and they keep vanishing. It seems like the wall isn‘t well recognized.

[@AniBats]

Oh I see, that's probably what it is then! Now that you mention it, I don't think I've built many apartments with diagonal outside-walls before 🤔 Good thing to keep in mind then!

[@iameera6493]

Can the house next to it also be rented without merging the existing household like the apartment function in the base game mode?

[@AniBats]

Yeah absolutely! It's an apartment lot, so next time I try to move a family in, the game will let me choose if I want them to merge with the existing family, or if they want to move into an empty unit.

[@iameera6493]

How do you do it? What I know is that I can't build an apartment building on an empty lot, because there is only a choice of "residential" or "community lot". And also I can't change the building of an existing apartment building. Like changing the shape of the room, or even the position of the windows and doors. Did you use the mod? Or is there a tutorial to build your own apartment? Thank you very much! ❤❤❤

[@AniBats]

You build it on a normal residential lot and then use a cheat to change the lot type. Here's a great guide: sims.fandom.com/wiki/Game_guide:Building_an_apartment I hope that helps ❤

[@emiec5678]

First omg