Playing God

It seems to be about time to introduce you all to Ms. Polly Experiment.

(The photo is of Polly and I think maybe Penny on the eve of her transition to childhood. A Sim birthday!)

Polly was born about a month ago when I first stepped into the world of the Sims 2. I played with the Create-A-Sim feature of the game, but ultimately was happy with what the randomizing option created.

She is an adult Sim, pale and blond with a hippie kind of look to her. Without realizing the consequences at the time, I gave her a “family” life aspiration. It seems that not only do players now get to pick what their little Sims look like and maintain their hunger, comfort, and toilet needs, but they also control whole life happiness. And Sims age. They go from babies to toddlers to children to teens to adults to elders to . . . the great unknown.

So, in order for Polly to have a happy life, she needed to find a mate and have babies. A lot of babies as it turned out.

I am getting ahead. I initially moved Polly into a comfortable two bedroom house and let her socialize with whatever neighbors the computer generated for her to interact with. This used to be a huge challenge for me with the first Sims game. There were never enough ways to keep the “social” meter in the green, but Polly seems to have little trouble making friends. Polly is a single-minded gal when it comes down to it.

From their very first meeting, she had her eye on a Sim named Benjamin. I would describe Benjamin as a slob. He came outfitted in mismatching shorts and a sweater, and he ate like a pig when served dinner. Polly was smitten. Her thought bubbles constantly popped up with images of Benjamin and hearts and engagement rings. Her “wants” bar kept displaying wishes like “flirt with Benjamin” or “fall in love with Benjamin,” and for a time her biggest fear was “death of Benjamin.” And the guy hadn’t even given her a second glance!

Well, they wound up moving in together and getting engaged and married very rapidly. There just wasn’t another way to keep her happy! But, it was a very functional household to play with. Benjamin’s job was in the restaurant industry, and he happily went off to work everyday while she figured out how to do things like cook and repair the grandfather clock. And unclog the toilet.

Then, things went nuts. Polly’s wants were entirely baby-related. Her obsession made its way into nearly every conversation she had with any other Sim. In time, along came the first set of twins, Peggy and Herbert. Shortly after, the second set, Roland and Rupert. Polly was not yet completely happy. Then Penny was born. Finally, near the end of her adulthood, we have Priscilla. If you’re counting, that’s a household of 8. That is the max capacity for any one household in the game.

At this point, there are 4 teenagers in the house and two children. Both Polly and Benjamin are closing in on their elder years. I haven’t had the heart to go in and play with that family lately because I know, without the age-stopping cheat, Polly will not live forever.

However, the temptation to have her pass-on and leave the possibility of a Sim ghost to haunt whichever of the children inherits the house is always there.