Okay, so day four didn’t get off to the best of starts and Joe is in a bad mood. Having a reasonably major house fire can do that, or maybe having to eat raw tomato for breakfast and lunch has really miffed him off. Starting the garden hasn't cheered Joe up much either and neither has standing around waiting for things to grow.
However, I promised two days off from the daily grind of fishing and I’m determined to go through with that. It happens to be a rare nice day in Sunset Valley, a perfect day to get away from the scorched smell in the house. I quickly scan the local amenities for activities Joe could engage in and I eventually decide to send him to the park for the afternoon as it’s free. I think It’s also time for Joe to meet some of the friendly people in the neighbourhood.
 |
| Even with anti-aliasing turned to max, Joe was sure round wheels would be better. |
Joe climbs on his bike, for the first time, and leisurely cycles to the park. The first thing I notice is a hamburger discarded on the floor. By this point Joe is hungry again and I am torn by a dilemma. The Burger is free, and looks like its not been there too long as there are no green wavy lines emanating from it. Yet, it feels weird to instruct Joe to eat food found on the ground. Have we descended to this? Scrabbling for scraps to get by? Do we really want to cross that line? Yes, I decide and make Joe eat it.
 |
| Don't judge me, it looks tasty. |
While Joe is stuffing his face with floor Burger I spot something peculiar. A lady, respectably dressed and well groomed is stood talking to an apple tree… My mind is cast back to the previous day where a family of four stared menacingly at Joe, while he harvested some vegetables, for at least an hour. Sunset Valley is revealing itself to be a strange place, and the inhabitants even stranger. I wonder whether I should have settled Joe in Riverview instead. Maybe she is not the kind of friendly neighbour I wish Joe to engage with today and so set him about harvesting the apples instead.
 |
| I'm sure this doesn't happen in Riverview. |
The park turns out to be full of fruit and veg, which Joe painstakingly harvests, and there are seeds scattered around the park as well which he collects. There is one special seed though, an uncommon seed! So uncommon I have no idea what it is! Is it wrong I am actually really excited by this? I have completely fallen into the spell of self sufficiency and have started to become excited by really little things. We’ve gone from the indignity of the burger to the heady heights of seed collection. Only the Sims can stimulate such dramatic changes in fortune! But despite the seed success the status of the cooker still hangs over me...
 |
| I'm no expert on poultry, but I'm pretty sure that's an egg. |
I am working with such a small budget that a broken cooker is a real head ache, but something always seems to come along to save the day. The Sims seems determined to prevent me from failing. By selling some rare butterflies I collected in the park and the smelted ore (which has been returned by post) for a tidy profit I can now replace the cooker. Without really trying I have managed to generate some significant income (for me anyway). If only in real life you could go and grab some butterflies and sell them for £120. I’m pretty sure butterflies would be extinct in Britain within a few weeks if that was the case.
 |
| Seriously.... why! What is going on in this town... |
There is just enough time, despite it being dark, to plant the seeds I’ve collected and expand the range of my garden. It’s while watching Joe lovingly place his seeds in the ground that I hear voices in the distance. Zooming the camera out I find two men stood on the edge of Joe’s land watching him potter about in his garden in the dark. Riiiiight... The sight causes a very serious question to form in my mind. What the hell is going on in this town…
No comments:
Post a Comment