Old Town is the neighborhood in Sims 2 that I designed to recreate my Sims 1 families.  The most difficult part to bringing all those Sims back is establishing the family trees and relationships I "assigned" to them.  Before, I could get Sims to move in, and then label them what I would--brother, sister, cousin, etc.--and that would be that.  This time, I have to do things a bit more carefully.  How else could I get one man with four children from four different mothers, or a woman with four children from four different fathers?  Or recreate the ghosts that haunted my Sims 1 homes?

As a result, I'm starting many of the families at least 1 generation back--sort of like Sims 3, except that this is Sims 2 and I'm not paying much attention at all to all the details that arose during the transition from Sim 1 to Sims 2 (e.g., Bella's disappearance, deaths of elders, etc.).  So, in Old Town--for now, at least--Generation One is Gunther and Cornelia Goth's and Ginia Kat's (and Mama Hick's since it otherwise doesn't make sense) generation.  Except, here they're all younger--that is, they're all adults.  A few concessions I've made to Sims 2's (and Sims 3's) timelines is that Bella and Michael Bachelor are brother and sister, and Cornelia Goth is Agnes Crumplebottom's sister.  One other issue: the ghosts that haunt the Goth mansion, despite what various sources say, are not going to be Bachelors, etc.  Instead, they will be all Goths (as would seem more appropriate for a family estate, I would think) from the generation prior to Gunther (that is, Grandpa and Grandma would be Gunther's parents--and therefore Mortimer's grandparents, while Uncle and Aunty would be Gunther's aunt and uncle) and Gunther's generation (in this case, Cousin and Vegas are Uncle and Aunty's sons).  Because I would feel uncomfortable forcing the creation of child ghosts, I will deviate slightly and have Bratty (who will be Vegas' illegitimate daughter by an unknown mother) and Boy (who will be Cousin's son through an as-yet undetermined marriage) survive and NOT become ghosts.  Well, maybe later, but that remains to be seen.

Once I get all my families onto Generation Two--the generation of Mortimer and Bella, Michael Bachelor, the Roomies, the Burbs, Claire Charming, Elden Hick--I can finally start the Old Town Tales in earnest.  Including adding the Maxis-made Sims families:  the Mashugas, the Snootypatootys, the Jones, the Valentinos, the Maximus, and the Hatfields.  And then, of course, it will be time to add in the Sims 2 families already sitting in my family bin:  the Travelers, et al.

A couple of things to note, though.  Whatever I wrote in this blog before...while I'll try to recreate their lives according to the entries, somethings I will change things simply because I want to avoid excessive confusion and simply because I have to.  I'm not 100% sure that elders can marry adults, so I will probably change certain things there.  I'm also going to have to change at least 1 family name because, not counting families that will be splitting anyway and starting separate branches (e.g., the Goth family), there will be a conflict between one of the families I made and one the Maxis made.

One new thing:  with the change in child-rearing between Sims 1 and Sims 2, and the amount of time it takes, I've created 3 new families who weren't in my Sims 1 game, for the sole purpose (more or less) of providing childcare services to the other families.  They'll move in to the other families' homes and help raise the babies and toddlers to childhood, at least until there's a teenager able to meet the siblings when they come home from school at 3 p.m.  Then they'll move out, taking with them $20,000 when the do so, and move back into their original family homes, adding to their bank accounts a small but welcome sum.

Whether or not they ultimately get their own stories, I'll just have to wait and see.  Their names, though are the Almamater family, the Foster family, and the Nanny family.  The Almamaters consist of Anna Almamater and her two grown children Brian and Cheryl--Cheryl is the one who will move in and out.  In the Foster family, mother Zelda has retired, but while her son Yancey will take care of her and provide for her with a salary and career, her other two children Xenia and Wyatt will be caring for other families' children.  The Nanny family is big--headed by Woodhouse and Velma Nanny, and counting their six sons and daughters, Byron, Agatha, Gordon, Francesca, Lucas, and Karen.  Byron, Gordon, and Francesca are the go-getters in the family, fully intent on having careers, while Agatha, Lucas, and Karen will inherit their parents' previous roles as childcare providers to others.

Although I'm not certain, I believe that the Almamaters, Fosters, and Nannys will not age the same way as the other families do...instead, I think I might have them continue to provide childcare for multiple generations.  Or, I may change my mind and have them acitvely participate in the childbearing process by generating their own offspring here and there.  Not sure yet, though.

And now, one last thing.  Although by rights most of the elders should eventually die, I will probably end up moving them (and any other Sims I don't have a real use for) into "retirement homes."  So, for example, any families that didn't have Generation One in my Sims 1 game will see their parents move out of the family homes and into these apartment complexes, out of the way, where they can live in sort of self-contained communities (maybe) or just be ignored.  Or I'll let them age and pass away and their heirs can inherit.  I haven't quite decided yet...but with the Apartment option, I can store them off to one side and forget about them.

So, will the family populations in Old Town explode?  Will there be a real story behind Old Town's creation?  When will Mortimer Goth discover the ghosts in his family's mansion?  Wait and see!