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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 6:47 AM
Default The Newson Family
It's been quite a while since I played TS2 and decided to give the Newsons a try. I put them into the smaller "trailer" in the trailer park in Belladonna Cove that costs $828. I also tce'd their funds to $3k just for the challenge. Things went pretty good. I kept Ginger home to take care of the toddlers and train them. I had to reset a couple of times b/c I forgot to pause the game when I stepped away and Ginger slipped off to school and the sw came and took the toddlers. : / She didn't have time to dig for treasure and I had everybody else working on skills. I just barely got the toddlers trained when they aged up. I rotated the beds for a day or 2 and then had Ginger dig for treasure and she got 3 maps which I sold, a few rocks and bones and last, she actually got the treasure chest just when they ran out of food! That also gave them enough money to buy bunk beds (the Grand Trianon set from here at MTS). The trailer is still pretty crowded, but they're making do. Gavin has a part time job as a gamer. The toddlers are grown to kids now and Ginger is back in school. As soon as she gets her grades up, she will get a part time job. We'll see on that one though.
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Scholar
#2 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 3:29 PM
I'm surprised Ginger slipped off to school. Usually either she or Gavin refuses pointblank to leave the toddlers, even though the other is still on the lot and has been directed to care for them.
Instructor
Original Poster
#3 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 3:42 PM
I know! She is family oriented so I'm surprised!
Lab Assistant
#4 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 4:02 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the game won't let the last teen+ leave the lot if toddlers will be left unattended, right? unless you have a mod that allows for that, in which case you should probably also have the no social worker mod.
Instructor
Original Poster
#5 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 4:58 PM
To my awareness, I don't. The closest thing I have is "no babysitter for going to community lot"
What I could do is try another vanilla game and see what happens.
Theorist
#6 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 5:18 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sonshine
To my awareness, I don't. The closest thing I have is "no babysitter for going to community lot"


Maybe that conflicts with some other mod? Because yeah, normally the last adult/teen on a lot should refuse to leave the lot for work or school if a child/toddler is present.

Avatar by MasterRed
Taking an extended break from Sims stuff. Might be around, might not.
Scholar
#7 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 6:17 PM
BO's "kids & pets unattended" covers it pretty well. Just drop the pet bowl and let the toddlers wreak havok.


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Instructor
Original Poster
#8 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 6:22 PM Last edited by Sonshine : 1st Sep 2018 at 6:40 PM.
I just tested it out in a vanilla game and you're right! It kept Gavin home though, in spite of the fact the Ginger was still on the lot, but asleep. I'm not sure which mod it is, but there must be something.

As I originally said, it's been years since I've don TS2 and I've forgotten much.
Alchemist
#9 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 7:47 PM Last edited by mdsb759 : 1st Sep 2018 at 8:14 PM.
thread title; I put them directly below the Cleaveland family. later merged the Cooke family with them.

edit:: that was in Belladonna Cove.

Riverblossom Hills; moved them into some Downtown lot, with the Oldie family.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#10 Old 1st Sep 2018 at 11:00 PM
When I played them-on that lot but in the largest van only Gavin could go to school even though I had wanted them to alternate. I also recommend kids & pets unattended to fix that odd issue where the game randomly decides one care person can't leave but the other/s can!

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Instructor
Original Poster
#11 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 12:26 AM
I bought a temporary car and he drove to school. I sold the car back when he got home. I didn't save that game though since it was just a test run.
Instructor
#12 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 12:28 AM
I have them living with the Goodies in Viper Canyon
Mad Poster
#13 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 1:47 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Sonshine
To my awareness, I don't. The closest thing I have is "no babysitter for going to community lot"
What I could do is try another vanilla game and see what happens.


And that gets rid of the dialog that tells you you need a babysitter, right? Because yes, that is the thing that prevents the last teen+ from leaving the lot. It sounds like the mod is working exactly as intended, but it may not be what you really want.
Mad Poster
#14 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 2:55 AM
In Oakbrook, I have them living in a two-bedroom apartment alongside the Goodies, Julien Cooke, and one of my own families. Ginger dropped out of school (Simlogical's flexi-school) to watch the toddlers, while Gavin goes to school and also got an under-the-table job selling stereos from a white van. It's exhausting for both the teens.



During one of the brief periods that Gavin was home, Ginger went out to the library to pick up some books for the kids. She made a new friend - Jules O'Mackey, from Riverblossom Hills.



The two of them quickly became friends, and Jules was the only one to become aware of how shitty their situation is. Literally, sometimes.



Although she tries to help, Jules is in a debate with herself on whether she should tell her father. But since he's a teacher, he'd be legally mandated to report that to the authorities, and who knows what would happen then? Meanwhile, Gavin proves to be quite a distraction...


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Theorist
#15 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 7:01 AM
With the Newsons in general...well I have gotten rid of all the Stealth neighborhood by now.

And the only time I really played them was an Apocalypse hood. I removed their family relations to each other and paired them off (the two oldest ones, the middle ones and the youngest ones) I think the teenage girl....(goes to the Sim wiki) Ginger died of food poisoning, Gavin ended up marrying Lilith Pleasant, the two middle ones mutated into Werewolves and were driven from the community (and also eventually died) and Garret permanently joined the military, married Georgia and became body guard to the local dictator.

Avatar by MasterRed
Taking an extended break from Sims stuff. Might be around, might not.
Scholar
#16 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 7:11 AM
sadly they have all passed away in my hood. I plan on having a family ask the PC personification of Death to pull some strings and restore them to life.
Lab Assistant
#17 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 7:23 AM
I have Goodies live with them. Renovated their house, made more bathrooms and taught them to do homework. They all grew up well. Gavin got his band. Ginger got married to grey-haired guy(much older but they really hit it off). Younger ones in the family are also keeping good grades.

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Alchemist
#18 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 12:37 PM Last edited by Sunrader : 2nd Sep 2018 at 1:03 PM.
My sims rarely age, so the Newson kids are still struggling along, but, when their adoptive parents died, they inherited a farm in Widespot that belonged to one of their grandparents, so they are all on the farm now trying to raise enough to take care of themselves. They hope to reopen their grandparents' veggie stand business, but no one knows how to go about that so it sits there unused attracting passersby who just end up annoyed. The Newson's no longer have a trashcan.

I have BO's kids unattended and Flexi-school, so no one goes to school. The toddlers are kids now, so there are 4 children and the 2 teens. The 2 teens fight all the time, but the kids, with all that open space do well, even if they do sleep in the barn. The have a fishing pond, big gardens they all work in, and they raise Sun&Moon's chickens, though none of them has even thought to slaughter them, so they have chickens hopping all over the farm. It's perpetually summer in Widespot, so their favorite thing to do is all take off from the yard work and walk over to the public pool to cool off.

Quote: Originally posted by Sonshine
I bought a temporary car and he drove to school. I sold the car back when he got home. I didn't save that game though since it was just a test run.
Your sims can't walk to school?
Mad Poster
#19 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 12:57 PM
Gavin got a teen career in my game, they hired a nanny and both Ginger and Gavin went to school every day. It was still hard on them, but they did get into Uni when the Gabrielle and Gallagher became teens. Gabrielle got a teen job, and she and Gallagher went to Uni when Georgia and Garret grew up.
Instructor
Original Poster
#20 Old 2nd Sep 2018 at 1:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
Your sims can't walk to school?


In the vanilla game, no he couldn't. The game would not let either one of the teens to leave the lot while the toddlers were there. That's why the car. It seems like the car kind of circumvented the block to leave. In my real game, I just kept a close watch on Ginger and cancelled out the "go to school" prompt when it popped up.

The farm idea sounds interesting! I also have the flexi school mod, but decided not to use it this time.
Field Researcher
#21 Old 6th Sep 2018 at 6:04 PM
If I remember right, the two times I've played the Newsons were in Belladonna Cove where I put them with Carlos Contender (that was an interesting pairing), and Pleasantview where I had a half-finished house I stopped building and most of them died (some of them through Rodney's Death Generator or other "encouragement", I was feeling evil at the time).

As pointed out, overall they seem to care about each other even if they have competing needs/wants and without cheats they start off with a lot of money that could be put to use wisely. So can the fact that they have no memory or recollection of their deceased adoptive parents for whatever reason. (Maybe said adoptive parents were aliens living in a spaceship that was about to crash, so the aliens wiped their memories? I don't know either.)
Forum Resident
#22 Old 6th Sep 2018 at 7:12 PM
I've never played them, but would just put them with either an elder or an elder couple and have them raise them. I never understood Maxis' point in having them live alone other than perhaps as a weird challenge or something. I don't keep such disparate ages together in group-home set ups, so into a household they shall go. If I ever get around to actually playing them.
Mad Poster
#23 Old 6th Sep 2018 at 10:10 PM
I've done all kinds of things with them in the past, they're all grown up in my current neighbourhood though.
They lived in Desiderata Valley, Ginger was given pretty much all responsibility of the kids while Gavin focused on school and eventually, work. They grew to hate each other, Ginger because she felt like Gavin didn't pull his weight as much and she ruined her teen years raising children, whereas Gavin hated Ginger because he felt like she didn't understand how he was the sole provider of a family of 6 at 18. He wanted to go off to college like everyone else his age but he knew he couldn't leave her.

Ginger met divorced single-Dad Nathan Gavigan and the two hit it off, she was still a teen at the time. They married as soon as she became an independent teen, and she moved in with him to a new house close by. By then, all the other kids were teens too so she didn't really have to do as much as she did when they were little. Her and Nathan had a son, Gerard. When the siblings all came to meet little Gerard, Gabriella attacked Georgia out of the blue and the two quickly became enemies too. Gabriella was a rebelious teen and got herself into all kinds of trouble. Gabriella found herself pregnant from a one night stand and moved into an apartment in Downtown. Straight after, Georgia also found herself pregnant, with her boyfriend Aldric Davis. She was still a teen, and Aldric was in college, so she had nowhere to go. Gavin wanted her out of the house because looking after teenagers was really impacting his freedom so she moved in with Ginger. She gave birth to Ginny, a rotation after Gabriella had twin boys - Gabriel and Gerome. Both were some of the most uninterested parents I've ever played. Georgia shifted all her responsibility onto Ginger and Nathan, who basically raised Ginny as their own. Gabriella was just too busy trying to make as many friends as possible to pay attention to her sons.

At Ginny's first birthday, Nathan had invited his son Isiah, who had in turn brought a friend - his step-sister, Lucy Burb. Gallagher and Lucy got on really well and were friends throughout high school but became romantic with each other in college. They eventually married and had a daughter, Gail. She was a nightmare child. Gallagher was a stay at home Dad, Lucy was all about her career. She wanted another baby though, but they haven't succeeded in trying yet. Luckily Gail, the nightmare toddler from hell, is now a child and is a lot more managable. Around this same time, Gabriella married Mickey Dosser, the father of her twins and they live in a trailer park in Downtown. She keeps rolling wants to have a baby, but never seems to act on it (I have ACR installed).

Gavin Newson married Beatrice Monty had they've got two children together, both girls. Gonzala and Gratianna. They live in the original house in Desiderata Valley. There's not really much to say about them, they're a quiet family. Gavin doesn't really keep in contact with his sisters, though he's still on good terms with Gallagher and their daughters are friends, but mostly they mingle with the Monty side of the family. Gonzala is very social though, and is trying to befriend her cousins Gerome, Gabriel and Ginny. Gerard is in his mid-teens so they're not very close.

Georgia went off to university, as did Garret. They both graduated a few rotations ago. Georgia moved in with Aldric and their daughter Ginny moved in too and became a teenager. She's probably going to act out though, being that she is barely friends with both her parents. Her relationship with Ginger, Nathan and Gerard (and their two dogs) are all at 100/100. Garret lives alone in Bluewater Village for the time being, but as he's engaged to Nova Curious (Vidcund's alien daughter) he'll probably be moving to Strangetown when she graduates and start a life together.

Ginger, after taking a long much needed break from child-rearing just adopted a daughter, Kathy. Her son Gerard is currently an independent teen and is about to start University soon enough. And that's pretty much where we're up to now

~Your friendly neighborhood ginge
Test Subject
#24 Old 8th Sep 2018 at 1:34 AM
I put them in a house on their own. Gavin didn't have much of a social life as a teenager. It was mostly work and taking care of his siblings. Gavin went to college and got a place in the Sim State fraternity. Gavin fell in love with a dormie named Cara Okuma roughly halfway through college and proposed to her at his graduation party. After graduating, Gavin moved back into his home-place and married Cara. They're currently expecting their first child.

As a teen, Ginger developed a relationship with Andrew Goodie, Herbert and Faith's adopted son. He was a bit older than her though and their relationship didn't last long after he went to college. Ginger followed her brother to Sim State and got a spot in the Tri-Var Sorority. She had a number of boyfriends in college, includding breifly reuniting with Andrew, but she didn't really see herself staying with any of them long term. Ginger moved back in with her brother after graduating. She's currently single and worried she might not find anyone to spend her life with.

Gabriella opted to go to Academie Le Tour where she met Sharla Ottomas and Michelle Granger. The three of them decided to pool their funds and start Academie Le Tour's first, and only, sorority. Gabriella dated a dormie named Wren Todd for about three quarters of her time in college but didn't feel the relationship was going anywhere. About halfway through her junior year she went clubbing with her sorority sisters and met a townie named Christopher Tsang and they quickly started a romatic relationship. After graduating, Gabriella moved back in with her brother and sister. She quickly moved Christopher in as well and the two of them are currently engaged and planning their wedding.

Gallagher followed Gavin and Ginger into Sim State hoping to get into a fraternity. To his great disappointment, there were no openings. While still living in the dorms he hit it off with a dormie girl named, Kari Hsu. Gallagher moved Kari in with him after he got a house and it wasn't long afterward she was pregnant. Kari gave birth to a son they named Patrick a semester later. Gallagher proposed upon graduation and him and Patrick moved into the Newson home-place to wait for Kari to finish college.

Garrett, as a teen, developed a relationship with a townie named Zoe Kimbrell and took her to college at La Fiesta Tech with him. To his surprise, and Gallagher's annoyance, he got an invitation to join the La Fiesta Tech fraternity which he did. Unfortunately college life took a toll on his and Zoe's relationship. Garrett caught Zoe cheating on him and during the time they weren't speaking he started a relationship with Lexi Cleveland. After a couple of semesters, Garrett officially broke it off with Zoe and went steady with Lexi. Garrett is currently in his last semester of college

Georgia followed Garrett to La Fiesta Tech. She met a dormie boy with a mohawk, named Parker Gothier, while living in the dorms. After the first semester her and Zoe got a house together and she moved Parker in with them a semester later. Her and Parker have been in a steady relationship ever since and both would describe the other as the love of their life. Georgia graduated last round and moved into a small house in Bluewater Village to wait for Parker to graduate.
Mad Poster
#25 Old 10th Sep 2018 at 4:07 PM
The Newsons are probably my favourite pre-made family. But then I do like playing teen-led families. However, while my other teenage householders have generally chosen that form of life, usually to give themselves more freedom in their love lives, independence has been forced on the Newsons by adversity. In my game they live in a tumble-down little half-timbered Tudor house in the shadow of Veronaville's iconic aqueduct. The house has been accurately described as a picturesque hovel. The garden is overgrown, the floorboards are coarse and unvarnished, and there is neither paper nor paint on the interior walls. But Ginger and Gavin have done their best to make it into a home. Thy have painted and carpeted one room as a nursery for the toddlers. Gabriella and Gallagher share a large bedroom with Ginger and Gavin. They all sleep in the cheapest of beds, but the children have pretty bedclothes. Gabriella and Gallagher are always well turned out, and if you met them outside, you would never guess the poverty of their home life. All four younger children are a real credit to Ginger and Gavin.

I deliberately leave the Newsons' backstory vague, it is too painful for them to talk about, but I am strongly influenced by a story by quindominion on LiveJournal. Suffice to say that the Newsons have been to hell and back before they arrived in Veronaville, and they are profoundly relieved to have found a place where they can live unmolested by authorities who are supposed to be protecting them. Their past experience has left them intensely distrustful of anyone in authority and they are always defensive if they think anyone might be trying to interfere in their lives. I have immense admiration for Ginger Newson. I am certain that it is her resolute determination that has held her family together, despite all that life has thrown at them. Whatever happens in the future, splitting the family up is not an option -- it would break Ginger's heart.

Thinking about the Newsons often brings tears to my eyes. I have a picture of Ginger that I took a while back and posted here. It was taken early on a Wednesday morning. Ginger has got up at 2 a.m. to change a nappy, and she has started to make breakfast because it wasn't worth going back to bed. With the unpainted wall behind her, she stares blankly at the camera, another day of unrelenting drudgery ahead of her. Somehow her face seems to encapsulate the plight of child carers everywhere, those forced by circumstances to take on adult responsibilities at an early age, when they should be enjoying their childhood and adolescence. (It also shows how it is possible to explore really serious and important issues in The Sims 2.)

Gabriella and Gallagher go to school every day and are doing OK there (Gabriella has an A+ grade). But Ginger and Gavin hardly ever go. There's just too much to do looking after the children and the house. Gavin does get out for a few hours most days -- he has a badly paid teen job on the medical career. He really has to do that -- they need the money. Recently Ginger has started to get out occasionally -- perhaps shopping for groceries at Veronaville Market, when they need food. She takes the older children with her while Gavin stays home with the toddlers. I don't think Gavin has been at school even one day since they arrived in Veronaville, but Ginger has been once or twice. When Gavin has had a day off work on a weekday, he has stayed at home so Ginger could go to school. I had no difficulty getting her to leave the toddlers in Gavin's capable hands. I think she may have some doubts about him though, because, due to a glitch, she took Garrett to school with her. He was levitating at a very odd angle about 3 feet (1 meter) in front of her as she got in the school 'bus. Of course she brought him back safely at 1 o'clock; her name wouldn't have been Ginger Newson if she didn't!

Technically I shouldn't have the Newsons in my game at all as I don't have Apartment Life (at least not in my main game; I have it in my never-opened copy of the Ultimate Collection on Origin.) But marka93 kindly extracted them for me, and I'm pretty sure I then cloned them in Body Shop to be absolutely sure I was adding clean Sims to my game. I finally recreated them as a family in CAS, copying their personalities, etc. from the wikia Wiki. As a result to the game they are just a normal CAS family, so they will lack any special coding that Maxis may have given them. This might be the reason why I have no problem sending Ginger to school as long as Gavin stays at home. I use Inge's Simlogical Flexischool so that Ginger and Gavin don't lose grades (and Gavin doesn't lose his job, and their only source of income!) As I normally play with aging off, Garrett and Georgia are liable to stay toddlers for a while yet.

There has been a development that might lead to some improvement in the Newsons' living conditions. Earlier this year Ginger was one of the Welcome Wagon team who turned up at Veronaville's "Changing Hut" to welcome a new townie boy to the town. Also in the team was Veronaville townie Regina Tsvirkunov. who is a keen supporter of the Welcome Wagon movement. Now I have long noticed Regina as one of the most sympathetic and kind-hearted Sims in my game. She has often got into long-term friendships with Sims she first met as a Welcome Wagon visitor. Well, when I saw Ginger and Regina together on the same lot, I made sure they got into conversation with each other. Well, this thread has proved the motivation for me to play the Newsons again: last night Ginger invited Regina to come round and see their house for herself, and the two of them are now friends. I know there's many a slip twixt cup and lip, but I'm hoping that Ginger will soon invite Regina to move in. It won't be an instant cure-all: the house is small and Regina isn't rich -- she's in a level 1 job -- I think it's the Slacker career. But getting a third person to share in the children's care, and the possibility of an adult wage should make a big difference. And maybe Ginger and Gavin will be able to get to school a bit more often and meet other teens. Finding out Regina's aspiration was a surprise to me. She regularly wears an uninspiring green "granny" dress, and she has a very plain haircut. I always rather assumed she'd be Family or possibly Popularity. But no, she's Romance! And her only real rival to the title of the kindest Sim in the neighbourhood is Tricou teen Ravi Bertino -- he's Pleasure. So much for "immature" aspirations! If I was ever in trouble in Veronaville, I'd readily trust myself to either of these thoroughly reliable Sims,

I think it goes without saying that none of the Newsons are in any sort of romantic relationships. Ginger ad Gavin simply haven't got the time. I do have a childhood crushes mod, but there have been no developments on that front either.

Sorry about this rather long and rambling post: it's taken me several days to write, and I've played the Newsons for a day while writing it. And thanks Sonshine for starting the thread and reminding me what a great bunch of kids the Newsons are. I just had to come home to Veronaville and meet up with them again.

Quote: Originally posted by terula8
I never understood Maxis' point in having them live alone . . .
I don't know about Maxis, but, since soon after I started playing, some of my teens have been trying to tell me that, given the chance, they could look after children just as well as any adults could, if not better. I guess the Newsons have proved them right!

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Sims' lives matter!
The Veronaville kids are alright.
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