Our affiliate SimsZone still hasn't finished writing up their review of the game. They got 2 new parts up again, this time discussing two stages of the life of a Sim: Toddlers and Children, following the pregnancy and baby stage. As usual, the screenshots can be found in the original review (the "Kleinkinder" and "Kinder" articles are the new ones). Quite a bit of information is given again. For the highlights, translated to English, read on.
Toddlers:As soon as your baby Sim has become a toddler after 3 days, they're not as helpless as they were anymore. You'll find them crawling through the house, though the stairs are still a bit troublesome. A bit of screaming and crying will get the attention of another Sim who will carry the toddler up or downstairs though. But that's not all the toddlers do - the first stage in which you control your Sim, is one of learning. Teach your sim to walk and talk, and potty-train him, and you'll fulfill the biggest wants of the toddler. All will have to be done in just 4 days, or else... the sim will grow up to a child and they'll know how to do all three things anyway. Nevertheless it's worth training the toddler, as it'll improve the life (aspiration) score.
The animations of babies trying to get up on two feet are amazing according to SimsZone, and the screenshots don't show the real thing by far. It's something you'll have to see for yourself. But learning isn't all there is for your little Sim - they want to play as well. Several objects will allow them to. They can even start training their skills a bit already, which will give them a head start later in life. As in real life, they will put anything they can in their mouth. Also, prepare for a mess when toddlers start using the potty.
Adults will have to watch the little kids, as the toddlers can't do without them. Think feeding, changing diapers, bathing the little smelly kids, and putting them to bed. All in all, they're still as stressful as babies. The nanny is available to help though. Toddlers will not be able to leave the house yet, and a babysitter will have to watch them if the parents are away from home. The toddlers are sweet and lovely to watch as they learn. The Elixir of Life, which extends the lives of Sims, cannot be used when a Sim is still in the toddler stage. So after four days, they'll grow up and will live on as:
Children:
From now onwards, you're really in control of your Sim. Life has started, and so has school. The child will take home some homework everyday, which of course has to be made. No homework means no good grades. Homework will remain to be done later though. With some help of the parents, the homework will become easier though, and it'll be finished faster.
Of course children also start socialising. The first friends will be made in this stage. Occiasionally you'll find your Sim has brought home a friend from school - but there's no love involved whatsoever. There are plenty objects for them to play with, but nothing beats playing with friends. As love doesn't play a role yet, it's useful to spend the time to train the skills a bit, for later in life.
Parents of course still mean a lot to little Sims, and as soon as mummy or daddy comes home from work, their son or daughter will run outside to greet them. If your Sim has good grades at school, it will be even better and more theatrical than normally - but with bad grades, nor the kid or the parents will be very pleased. Private school is the ideal place for children, according to the Sim parents anyway. To get your Sim in private school, you'll need to invite the principal over. Suck up to him, and he'll allow the kid in. It's a little bit of a mini-game. You have to convince the director in 3 ways: a good conversation, nice dinner, and a tour around the house. If Mr. Principal enjoys the evening, your kid can go to school in Uniform the next day. The same can be done for teens, as they also have to go to school. There are a few things kids can't do, which older Sims can: they can order a pizza or get a snack from the fridge, but cooking is not an option. As with toddlers, children also can't use the Elixir of Life. After 8 days, your Sim will grow up and become a teen, except when you use a cheat to turn off aging. That may be a bit short, and more time would've been better. It's a bit humorous to see a teenager with only children as friends, but teens will soon enough gain new friends of their own age. Despite the short time, children are lovely and fun to play with. They're no longer as useless as in the predecessor, which is good.
Written at 02:03 on Tuesday, 7 September 2004 by ChEeTaH.
