Now You Can Go Inside Stores: Finally! I hated sending my Sims off to shop and having to stare at the outsides of buildings for forever like I was playing a real-time strategy game and waiting for the battle to end. Naturally, the game also lets you build your own stores and fill it with whatever kind of junk you want to sell.

Quote courtesy of Sims 3 World Adventures: Chopsticks, Mummies & the French – Oh My!

For some reason I find myself focusing on Rainer at the moment - perhaps he's the new shiny toy? Or perhaps I am just waiting for him to slip up lol. He hasn't, not yet anyway.

When you concentrate on a sim as much as I am on Rainer, you start to notice minor... imperfections. Rainer isn't the most "buff" sim in town, and for some reason it was starting to bug me. He was also unemployed, but thankfully already had the desire to become a world class chef, and with encouragement from Emily, is on his way to making that goal happen. I'm sure that will make Emily happy, she can't stop eating at the moment. Lucky for Rainer, there is also a way to address his cuddly features, and it's called the Gym!

By the way he ran on the treadmill, he had clearly never seen the inside of one before lol. It was amusing if not a little pathetic. For the first time this week however, I had another sim distract me from Rainer - and it wasn't even a sim I control. Nope, it was this guy:

Bottom left hand corner, the dopey bugger looking longingly at the hot blond beside him. He spent his entire workout with those puppy dog eyes focusing on every piece of ass in there besides his own. I wonder if he's related to Max in any way?


That face didn't change, not once. As Rainer was leaving the Gym, this guy was heading back up the stairs, and once again, checking out the women.


Of course, I don't know any female that goes to the Gym dressed like that, especially as she's heading upstairs where the work out equipment is, and not the downstairs toilets to get changed. Either way, Mr Hot Stuff there clearly thinks she looks fine... is that a "till death do us part" image above his head? Or more a ... "drop dead" thought?

If anyones thinking someone should drop dead, I don't think it's him. Check out the face on her!!


Ouch!!

I got Rainer out of there pronto in case he got caught in the middle. I did notice when he got home (as he stopped past the letterbox to pay some bills, naaaaw) that the workout did seem to take affect already. I wish a 20 minute run on the treadmill helped me lose weight that quickly!

At 2pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Emily and Rainer got married at the Gazebo in town. Friends and family gathered to watch the happy affair while I sat on the sidelines nervous for Emily's future. All I could do was cross my fingers that Rainer would turn out to be an ok guy and treat her well, or, if he doesn't, that he just makes it interesting enough to watch lol. I still can't move past the mooching for money on their first meeting, but Emily obviously knows something I don't, and she claims to love him.

I did video the ceremony, however it really wasn't that interesting lol. Poor Emily was already starting to show with her pregnancy so couldn't wear a wedding dress (you can't plan outfits when pregnant), however all her guests complimented her on how radiant she was regardless. While the compliments were genuine, the day wasn't without whispers on how big Emily was getting already... big enough for more than a couple of people to notice.

Rainer didn't care though, while waiting for all the guests to arrive he constantly stroked her belly and talked to his unborn child, his first. Even when Emily was up at 2am with cravings or eating them out of house and home, he continually commented on how beautiful she was.


The wedding itself went without a hitch. I'm really disappointed on just how uneventful something as big as a wedding is - all they do is swap rings, give a little kiss and that's it. I would have liked to see a cut scene of Emily walking "down the isle" so to speak, have the guests gather in more than just a huddle around the couple like they had mistaken them for a school yard fight. I mean, there wasn't even a minister - who says it's legit?!


Officially married or not, Emily and Rainer knew they were and it was time for Rainer to move in.


I hadn't realised that Rainer lived with other sims. He had never invited Emily over to his house, instead using excuses such as it was too messy, he was just heading out, or he was on his way over to Emily's anyway so she might as well just stay there for now. At first when I saw there were other people living with him I immediately got suspicious, but not long after he moved in with Emily, he lost his friendship with Larry Cooper, so I'm assuming there was just some living arrangement issues involved?

Of course, once Rainer was in and settled, I checked his profile just in case. I'm very happy to report this appears to be the most clean cut, good sim I've come across in a relationship so far. No children yet, no other mistresses, nothing. Rainer was starting to prove himself to me...


It seemed he moved in just in time too, Emily was getting very large and was spending more and more time with her feet up. Because Emily is such a fanatical cleaning sim, the state of the house was doing her head in - so much so she had a wish come up to hire a maid! For a woman who constantly cleans her house to sparkling, it was hard for her to watch another sim clean... especially when the work wasn't up to Emily's standards.

Rainer, wanting to do anything to keep his new wife happy, stepped up and re-cleaned some of the more important household items such as the toilet. And ladies, we all know a man that can do a good job cleaning the toilet is definitely a keeper!


The poor bugger cleaned and cleaned, and cleaned. Never did Emily criticize his work, instead, she was so blissfully happy for the first time in her life she didn't know what to do with herself. Never had she been treated so well by a man, it was all so new. Emily was sure to make Rainer know how appreciated he was - if he stopped for even a minute, she would kiss, cuddle and massage him. It was really quite cute to watch... sickly cute.

Rainer worked so hard in fact, that one morning Thomas got up to find the poor guy passed out on the kitchen floor.


Aaaaw, the poor guy lol.

The ultimate test for Rainer came the weekend after their marriage however - the TV was on the blink, the Dishwasher was leaking and Thomas fried the computer again with his hacking. That's three broken electrical items... Now remember, it was the TV that took Adrian, and the Dishwasher that took Grandpa. Would they claim a third life, or would it be the computer this time?

Although Rainer had the wishes to fix all three, Emily was nervous. She had told Rainer of her losses, but hadn't filled in all the details. Everything inside her wanted to tell him not to do it himself, yet secretly, she also felt like this would be the ultimate test on if he was really "the one" or not.

Holding her breath, she crossed her fingers and said a little prayer, she just hoped that she wouldn't have to raise yet another child alone...

The first time we met Rainer, he showed he was extremely keen for Emily, and then undid all his positive points by begging for money. After that display, I was ready to write him off right then and there. Thankfully, Emily appears to give sims a bit more of a chance to prove themselves, and I'm glad. At first I couldn't help but curl my lip every time I was a wish involving Rainer pop up - call him, invite him over, hang out with him etc.

While I might not have been happy with her choice in men, I stand by my 'let me sims live their own lives' play style and followed the wishes Emily kept having. I used the "invite sim over" wish in conjunction with her birthday party which allowed me to put it down to just inviting Rainer along with everyone else and not specifically him alone. And of course, we all now know who stayed the longest out of the party guests...

Emily had her suspiciouns that she was pregnant and sent herself off to the Doctors. After it was confirmed that Emily was in fact pregnant with Rainer's child (there's a birthday present that's hard to beat), Emily decided she needed to take a huge risk...


Apart from the fact Rainer acted like a big bloody girl with his jumping around and excitement lol, it was very sweet. Oh yes, and it was Emily's wish to get married btw lol, I just forgot to screenshot that part as well - I was a bit distracted playing yesterday. Emily is a very old fashioned girl and couldn't possibly have the child without being married first - although she didn't know what she would do if Rainer said no.

Thankfully, he didn't. Oh yes, and the evil laugh you hear? That's courtesy of Thomas' new friend:


Thomas is in primary school, so why he is hanging around high school kids I can't not understand. I can only assume it's due to his less than clean reputation...

Needing a bit of a break from all the drama that Max is bringing to his world for a moment, I decided to pop on over to The Waters Family and see how they were doing. The last time I played them, Emily was picking herself back up by changing careers, trying desperately to meet a man and in the process met Rainer. It's good to see her moving on, I don't think Adrian will be too upset as we saw in Ghosts at Play...

Fast fowarding to now, I came in the day before Emily's birthday. I can't believe how quickly time has passed!! Taking her from young adult to an adult, it's now time to grow up. If I was to compare the sims to real life, I would put the young adult stage up to around 30, then the adult stage from 30 through to 50 where they then become an elder. So I look at Emily as an early 30's at the moment, which is still young enough to accomplish things... such as the rest of her family. (Her lifetime wish is to raise 5 children and she's 3 short...)

Since Adrian's passing, Emily has been coming out of her shell more, getting out in town and generally making more friends. This is a great thing as she really never left the house when Adrian and Grandpa were around, they didn't like her being anywhere other than at home doing her chores and making sure they were both looked after. Because she has been getting out though, there were lots of good friends and neighbours at her birthday party - the house was packed!

Emily is obviously one of those sims that just don't change all that much with age - lucky her. I really didn't see any difference in her looks... did you?

The video doesn't show it, but Rainer was present at her party. Emily and Rainer seem to have really hit it off and spent the majority of the night chatting to each other in the corner. Completely oblivious to what was going on around them, they seemed so smitten with each other and in their own little world. And the good news was there was no mooching for any money this time, good man Rainer.

One sim that was missing from the party however was Thomas. Noticing his absence I went searching for his wear abouts and was surprised to find him here...


What is a child doing in an abandoned warehouse? Especially sitting upstairs, alone? I honestly didn't know what to think when I saw this. I mean I know Thomas is weird, and he's not exactly the most honest kid in town, but this is just a little too bizarre...

Just as I was starting to run all sorts of scenarios through my head - like he was involved in some sort of drug smuggling ring - I realised was nothing more than kids being where they shouldn't. Thomas was not alone...


While it's good to know it's not more serious, it does give some insight into the sort of sim Thomas is growing up to be. I think he's going to follow in his father's footsteps of being evil and take it one step further by committing crimes. At least Adrian was just crazy and a little nasty, he never broke the law...

I watched them for a little while and they didn't really do much - just loitered. It reminded me of the annoying teenagers that hang out in car parks of McDonald's restaurants thinking they're really cool. This is just a younger version, I'm sure I'll find them hanging out outside the local diner when they age up a bit lol.

With the message popping up that it was past Thomas' curfew, I was surprised to see it already after 10pm and popped back to see how Emily's birthday party was going. Either they partied themselves out, or it was very boring... everyone was asleep. What was most interesting however, was that Rainer was asleep in Emily's bed. Ooooh

Frustratingly I didn't get a screenshot of it (bugger it), but I guess Emily got a birthday wish fulfilled? What makes me think this way? This!


A few mornings after her party, I couldn't but notice Emily kept touching her stomach all morning... are you thinking what I'm thinking?

So, I have three main families now:

1. Melani Banks, my first "family" orientated sim. Has recently asked Hal to move in with her in an attempt to move past his cheating ways. Hal came coupled with his other love child Muhammad...
   
   
2. The Waters Family. Multiple deaths by electrocution took out both Evil family members, Emily had a mental break down, Susie age-warped past her entire childhood and Thomas is turning into a devious little boy.
   
   
3. Or Max and his recent love triangle between the Melani in his town and his new love Bella Bachelor.

Or of course you might love all three?

The reason I ask is I notice more readers hitting the blog on certain families, and numbers dropped off on one of them. While I'm not about to change my playing habits entirely to suit the readership, there are moments like now, where I've had enough of one family for a moment (Hal's stressing me out too much lol) and I want to check in on one of the others. I'm not real fussed which one, and if there was a particular favourite amongst my loyal fans, I'd be more than happy to allow that to influence my choices.

So, is there one family in particular you just can't wait to read more about? Perhaps two you follow and one you don't really care for? Or maybe you just like reading about all three - after all, there's more than one neighbour in Ramsey Street...

Like sands through the hour glass... these are the days of Max's life. Scratch that - the hourglass is nothing more than a countdown until this love rat gets busted!! Have you been following the story line so far? How Melani was pregnant, then Bella was pregnant, then Max went over to Melani's house, made out with Melani while Bella made friends with the toilet bowl, etc etc?

Well... it gets worse.

Max had the wish pop up to throw a house party. Nothing unusual there, he's a party animal after all. I figured I'd just use it as a "welcome to our twin girls" kind of party. Bella had a wish pop up to get a massage, and really, who could blame the poor girl - twins on your first shot? Ouch. I decided to send Bella off for a massage and let Max get ready for the party while looking after the babies.

Bella also had an opportunity to teach an art class at the local school pop up a couple of days ago, so I decided to make her stop past to do that before then sending her on for a good rub down. Making sure she was getting from one place to the next safely, I switched back to Max to learn that the party was already getting started. That wasn't the shocker though... I right clicked Max's profile to zoom across town, landed straight on him, and this is what I saw!!

Um... what's Melani doing IN MAX'S HOUSE?! I didn't invite her, what the hell? Right at that moment, I actually gasped out loud, I was so surprised lol. I obviously made a loud enough noise that my daughter, happily destroying the room at the time, stopped and looked at me to make sure I was ok. How do you explain to a 2 year old that mummy is ok, a sim just surprised her and not cause irreputable damage requiring years of counselling later on?

After releasing the pause button and regaining my composure, I watched Melani reach into the crib and pick up one of the twins. Now, my problem is not that she's handling Max's new babies, the girl has more baby skills than any other sim in town with the rate she pops them out. My problem was with the fact they were not her babies!


I know it must be confusing for her, Max is there, a baby's there ... naturally she'd assume it was hers. I sat there, stunned, as I watched the two play happily families. It was quite unnerving how well they worked together as a team.


I kept flicking back between Bella and Max to make sure Bella was safely away from the house as I didn't know what would happen if she came home to see Melani mothering her new born. I mean, does Bella even know about Melani and Max's past? Does she know that Max already has children, and the mother of those children has rocked up, uninvited, to the party being thrown to celebrate her babies?

As I flicked back to Max, I heard a noise exit my mouth involuntarily. I didn't even realise what I had said until I heard my own little parrot behind me repeating it, "Noooooo... hehe... Noooooo... hehe". Apparently, judging by her volume, I must have yelled it quite loudly. What could cause me to scream at my computer?

This!!


GAH!! Oh my god!! Not only was there the shock that the two were locking lips, in Max's house, in front of the babies, but holy cow that's Eric standing in the background - that's Melani's husband!!! What is Melani thinking?!

I know what she's thinking, "the old fart of a husband has aged quicker than she has and the sims don't sport little blue pills"... that's what she's thinking. Regardless of what Melani is or isn't getting, she can't be doing this in Max's house!!

By this point I'm practically getting whiplash from swapping between Max and Bella. I was so freaking out that Bella would rock up home, Max would be caught out and everything would fall apart. I know from past experience (way back at the start) that the sim just has to be on the lot to witness a betrayal. Apparently sims can see through walls.

So long as Bella stayed at the beauty salon, I was safe. But the massage had to end eventually, and as soon as I saw her get in the car to come home, I raced back to Max to make him kick Melani out. Just when I thought it couldn't get anymore complicated... I saw this.


Bella's brother is standing there watching the whole thing!!! Aaaahh!! He now knows Max's little secret. What he will do with it I have no idea, but it's quite clear he is not happy about it. Crap!

The worst part? Every time I cancel an interaction between Max and Melani, another one pops straight up. Flirting, caressing, embracing, kissing, making out, I couldn't keep their hands off each other. The entire time I'm cancelling an interaction, zipping back to Bella, squealing as she gets closer and closer to home, zipping back to Max, prying him and Melani apart, back to Bella, back to Max, back to Bella... aaaah!

And then, it happens. Bella's home. Max and Melani are still in the nursery... touching.

....

....

I sit there, stunned. Silent. Mouth agape. I watch with baited breath as Bella, who is now not only dog tired from the new babies, but also extremely relaxed from her recent massage, walks a straight line from the front door to the bedroom and passes out as soon as her face hits the pillows.


I can not believe Max's luck. The main bedroom has a full glass wall that opens out onto the pond. On the other side of that pond is the Nursery, which also has a full glass wall. I checked Bella's moodlets, no betrayal. I check them again, nope, she definitely doesn't know. How she doesn't I have no idea, but I'm just happy to be breathing again.

Immediately I thank my lucky stays, mentally boot Max up the ass and tell everyone to go home. Party is over!! And I make sure Melani leaves the lot entirely...

Unfortunately, the whole sage was not without betrayal...


Of course, I really don't know how a 1 day old baby would be able to see well enough to witness the betrayal, let alone know what Max is doing isn't allowed. Smart cookies those kids...

I don't know if I can keep up with three drama families. Max, Melani and Bella. Poor Emily Waters, and then Melani and wanna be cheat Hal. Games shouldn't be this stressful lol!

The life of Max has been related a day time soap opera by some of the blog readers lol. And I'm going to have to agree with them! I teased you all earlier in the day with the image of two empty cribs - twin cribs. For those savy enough to notice the background, and remember the shots I shared of when I started building Max's new mansion... that's his pond area in the background. Which means... yup, Bella had twins! Twin Girls!

Now, in real life, a woman carrying twins will often be larger than one carrying a single child. And unless your a celebrity, there is just no immediate bounce back from that - it takes time. Obviously, our sims share the same genes (and money) as celebrities as Bella bounced back into a perfect pre-pregnancy body. I have a new name for her and although it does begin with a B... it's not Bella.

One thing EA could do to bring even more realism into the game? Make your sims at the fattest end of the slider after birth and make us work it off again lol.

Unfortunately I can't see that happened. I wish it would though, because then I could explain away Max's wandering eye at least - you know, the hot new girlfriend got all fat and fugly so Max wants to cash in for a newer model. Instead, I have to look at how hot Bella looks and still deal with wishes like this:


What is wrong with this man?! He has Bella as a live in girlfriend, who is also completely smitten with him. He has Melani on the side who apparently drops what ever she is doing to make Max happy, and yet, he's STILL not happy?! I was lost for words at that wish...

The other day I made a post: Max! Leave her alone!! Apart from the obvious "what are you two doing together" factor to it, I also mentioned how I wasn't 100% sure if the baby inside Melani was in fact Max's. I could only assume it was his because who goes around feeling and listening to other people's tummies just for fun? Also, as yumiki53 pointed out, it most likely is Max's baby because in the second screenshot I shared, Max had the wish to read a pregnancy book. Who would want to read a pregnancy book if they have no child on the way.

Not 5 minutes into gaming last night, I got the confirmation message. While Max slept peacefully in bed with his new love Bella, Melani went through the agony of childbirth and gave birth to Max's child, a baby girl. I can only hope that Eric was by her side...

Thankfully only one and not twins this time lol. Unfortunately, although I did screenshot the message as the name was really unusual, I stuffed up and saved another screenshot over it. Because the in game screen capture feature doesn't include the interface, I have to use the Print Screen button and then paste into a Paint or Photoshop. Of course, all those are then given the name of Untitled 1 or 2 or so on.

So I took the shot of the baby's name, saved as untitled 1 quickly and went back to the game. Later on I got another shot, went to save it and realised the name was also untitled 1, went to cancel and instead hit enter without thinking (hands moved faster than brain) and boom... first image gone.

But trust me, the kid is Max's lol.

You want to know what the second image was that saved over that first, oh so important image? This!

Yes, ironic huh? See the face of the sim that belongs too...?


Yup! Bella is pregnant! Clearly Max has very active swimmers... it must be from the boxers and not briefs (or nothing at all) this Rock star wears under his pants.

LOL, how's this for a bit of a glitch?

Everyone was just way too excited at one of Max's autographs sessions and not watching who they ran over before they parked lol.

When I popped in to check on Max the other day, I thought it would very a very quick look in and then I would jump over to either Melani Banks, or The Waters Family. I should learn that what ever I think never turns out to my the case with my sims. I mean, I thought the Waters would be one family that I didn't end up playing and look how that turned out. I thought Melani Banks would be boring and play the suburban role of happy families, and look at her.

So why, when I look at Max, his maxed out career and easy going single life, did I think it would be boring? Did I honestly thing the game would let me lose interest in him? Because honestly, I was thinking along the lines of not bothering with him anymore and instead just concentrate on the two "family" sims. Nope, not going to happen.

While Max is off with Melani doing things he really shouldn't, it seems Bella has been busy making new "friends" of her own. During the middle of one of Max's concerts the other night, Bella decided to pop into town to pick up a few groceries... but that's not all she checked out.

Judging by that last image and the negative thoughts about Bella, she's either gotten around town a bit more before Max met her. Or, they're friends of Max and know that she should either be at the concert or at home. Either way... I can't see Bella and Max lasting long if their both going to let their eyes wander...

Ironically, not long after Bella got back home I had the following message pop up


Hrm... I wonder if there was anything behind that friendship break.


P.S. I don't even want to KNOW what is going on in the background behind Bella!!!

BricaSims found the first picture of Paris in The Sims 3! You can see the Eiffle Tower in the background. I can’t wait to see what it looks like up close – hope it doesn’t disappoint!

Max and Melani. I swear they are going to drive me batty. These two sims just can NOT stay away from each other!! I wrote just a few days ago how I was going to keep Max away since he's hitting it off so well with Bella right? Well, what am I meant to do with a wish like this?

First off, this tells me that Melani is pregnant... AGAIN! Is that woman a walking baby maker or what? I can't remember the last time I played Max what happened, so I've actually got no idea if this is Max's child or Erics. lol oops! I assume Max because of that request - I mean, what man wants to go and listen to a tummy containing someone elses offspring?

So fine. I figure I'll take Max over to Melanis (can't really have her over at Max's now that Bella is staying there can I?), inform her about Bella and end what ever relationship they have. I mean, their not boyfriend and girlfriend...


If Max can ask Melani to leave Eric, that means she's still with him, which means Max is nothing more than an affair. And affair... that has to stop! So I fulfill Max's wish... he goes over, he feels the tummy, he listens to the tummy...


So it should be a good time to say goodbye right? Wrong! Apparently my values and morals don't matter...


Max!! What are you doing.... no, no, remove your lips from hers!!


Oi, I don't know what to do lol. It gets worse. Oh I know, how could it get worse right?


Told you! Thankfully you can't woo hoo with such a pregnant sim, so I don't have to worry about that wish for now. I can hear what you're thinking - just don't let Max fulfill any wish to do with Melani right? Well see that's where the struggle between sim and player comes in. I prefer to play as an observer, I like my sims to live their own lives, make their own decisions and deal with any potentially manhood threatening outcomes. So how can I play that way, and not let Max dig a very deep hole for himself? I am but simply looking in through the windows of their worlds...

Speaking of looking in. Melani has what, five kids now? Where do they sleep?


The game will happily take care of their aging needs. Will marry them, make babies with them and then not give those babies anywhere to sleep? This was the original house I built back when I was in control of this Melani - back before I stuffed her life up. Of course, I laugh at that now... I barely rippled her world compared to the trouble she's getting herself into now. But that aside, where are the kids bedrooms? Hell where are the kids beds?

The game really needs to expand houses as families grow. I tried to. I tried to edit the town and fix the house for them, I figured it was the least I could do. Yet I can't. You can't edit houses already occupied by sims. Which means the kids will just have to continue sleeping on the floor.

Poor buggers.

So yes, the Bella/Max relationship has been going along swimmingly. They get along so well together, and apparently living with a female isn't as bad as Max first thought it might be. It seems he's finding it really fun as he had the following wish pop up today.:



I'm surprised to see this coming from the care-free rock star who had no plans to settle down and instead wanted to bed every woman he could! I guess he's just head over heals for Bella...

Here's something I didn't actually know... you can chat to sims, and invite them over from your friends panel! I've always used the phone, then called sim, invite over and then selected them from the list. Not sure if this way is much quicker, but it was still a cool find!