Desiderata Valley: A Neighbourhood That Leaves No Impact | The Sims 2
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- Desiderata Valley is the neighbourhood that shipped with the FreeTime Expansion Pack in 2008. Unlike the neighbourhoods that came before it, and even after, it's never talked about unless it's to voice indifference, or discuss its negative attributes. This video aims to explore this hood, to the best of my ability, to learn what's so bad and/or mediocre about it. From its lack of solid story to its lack of polish, let's take a deep dive into this neighbourhood and get to the bottom of why it... isn't the best.
I hope you enjoy!
Sources:
Wikipedia
The Sims Wiki
Reddit
Newsweek
GamersGlobal
TV Tropes
Chapters:
0:00 - Disclaimer
1:10 - Intro
4:49 - What is Desiderata Valley?
6:36 - The Families
7:58 - Aspir
13:39 - Bell
18:22 - Contrary
26:16 - Jocque
32:20 - Mole
36:21 - Una
42:53 - This Hood is a Mess...
43:34 - Memories Don't Make Sense
53:22 - Lazily Crafted Personalities, Brought to You by 'Create a Sim'
56:50 - Lifetime Wants Clearly Weren't Tweaked to Suit Sims
59:12 - Issac, or Isaac, that is the Question?
1:00:35 - Storytelling Images, They Suck!
1:10:33 - Present, yet Absent, Social Bunnies
1:12:51 - The Houses are... Something...
1:18:09 - Why is the Neighbourhood Not Well Liked (and was Doomed from the Start)?
1:18:31 - The Neighbourhood Lacks an Overall Plot
1:19:17 - There are no Scripted Events, or Pre-Set Wants
1:23:13 - Has Little Impact in the Series Continuity
1:25:12 - Was Clearly Rushed and Lacks Polish
1:26:23 - Backstories Lack Oomph!
1:26:55 - Conclusion
1:32:20 - Bloopers
1:35:11 - Credits
Music Used:
The Sims 2: FreeTime Theme
Intermission - The Sims: Superstar
Candy Maker's Delight - The Sims 2: FreeTime
Now Entering - The Sims
The Sims 2 Theme
Under Construction - The Sims
A Moment of Relief - Resident Evil Code: Veronica
Manager's Suite - The Sims 2 (DS)
Muladhara - Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Hollow Stairway - Pandemonium!
Spider Forest/Canopy Village - Pandemonium!
Mall Rat - The Sims
Svadhistana - Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
BoSIM Nova - The Sims
Save Heaven - Resident Evil: Remake
Sim Will Build - The Sims 2: Apartment Life
Create a Sim - The Sims 2 (DS)
Skull Fortress B - Pandemonium!
If You Really See Eurydice - The Sims
Tears Of... - Silent Hill
Save Theme - Resident Evil 4
The Simple Life - The Sims
Sim Builder - The Sims 2
Balamb Garden - Final Fantasy VIII
Level Select - Pandemonium!
The Rain Stopped - Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Botox Forever - The Sims: Superstar
Desiderata Valley could have had so much potential. It lacks the spicy drama of Pleasantview, the paranormal activity of Strangetown, the fantasy/Shakespeare vibes of Veronaville, and the city-like diverse population of Belladonna Cove. I find this hood and Riverblossom Hills to be so forgettable.
It definitely does, especially considering there's a secret agent that could have been given some stuff to actually investigate, or Edward with his science enthusiasm could have been placed in the science career instead of being put in the same job as his wife. It could have been one of those hoods that's too peaceful and in realty has a lot of dark stuff going on, but it doesn't, it's a hood driven by the EP's gimmick.
At least Desiderata has a few memorable sims in my opinion: the cheese sandwich girl, the mole guy, the car grandpa, ... I don't remember anything about Riverblossom Hills besides the plantsims.
@@dundee6402 Riverblossom Hills is essentially a rip-off of Pleasantview with Romance sims alike replaced with Popularity (Bella Goth - Stella Roth; Nina Caliente - Patricia Wan + Jules O'Mackey; Don Lothario - Jacob Martin and so on) lmao
@@jesaeaI really don’t get why so many say that Riverblossom Hills is a Pleasantview ripoff. The Roths are based on the Goths, obviously, but the rest of them? To me, it seams like if a Sim has one single similarity with a Pleasantview Sim, then someone will say that they are based on them. And people can’t even agree on who the Riverblossom characters are supposed to be. You say that Jacob is Don, because he dates Sandra I guess. Others say that Leod is Don, and that Jacob and Andrew are Dirk and Darren, because they’re a single father and a teenage son.
And if Riverblossom is rural Pleasantview, then who are the Greenmans supposed to be? Who are Betty and Catherine? Jules’ parents? And where are the Pleasants and the Brokes in Riverblossom?
Nah, I don’t buy it. Can someone please explain this to me?
@@magentaspoon5319 oh no I didn't mean it in a bad way! What I wanted to say is that there's similar soap drama that follows the one in Pleasantview (more woman wanting to date Leod, ex flings and dates, mysterious deaths and gold diggers)
Maybe it's because I generally don't play the premade hoods much, but the lack of story in Desiderata never bothered me. I like it for the hobby/crafting gameplay and setting up businesses so the neighbourhood can share their crafts. Like Bluewater Village, I just think it's more gameplay- than story-focused. Nice to hear someone talk about it!
Plumbobs in the storytelling images are sooo lame. Bring back the Strangetown fridge school lockers! :"D
Exactly! I'd choose fridge school lockers over plumbobs any day of the week! 😂
This hood traumatized me. No other hood did what it did. It was a quite nice town where Luis brought his dead wife and grandmother back to life. Then in the Bell family, Sharon moved out, Hannah had twins, and Daniel died. And as his parents were grieving, the twins were taken away. To cut everything else shirt, Opal and Natasha died in childbirth, John Mole has five children because Sharon abandoned him, and the Jocques were just vibing. I couldn't forget this hood if I tried. And I sure as hell tried.
LMAO WHAT
this is basic sims 2 experience
I dunno. Do people die in childbirth in "basic" sims 2?
@@aliveslice No, but I mean the rest is pretty standard TS2.
I find it extremely funny that in SimPE the Social Bunnies have a normal sim appearance. The image that these 3 people are working a day job as Social Bunnies in the game will stick with me :)
Just imagine them grumbling while putting the outfit on before disappearing 😂
@@CrystalFlame360 Lmao 😂
I wonder how much freetime they have for _their_ hobbies.
@@glanniYou're asking the real questions here! I'd unironically love if this was integrated into the actual story 😂
Desiderata valley has some drama lol. If you play aspir family you'll notice that Elizabeth (the mom) always brings home this teenaged boy named Jack Kim or something and then when he grows up they have chemistry and she gets wants to hang out and ask him out and all that gross shiz 😅 when I first started playing them she was obsessed with Jack who is a teenager.
That honestly sounds like a glitch you encountered related to bringing hobby friends home, which Cyjon has a fix for. It's not normal game behaviour for an adult or elder sim to bring a teenage co-worker home and Jack's career is randomised when you load the hood for the first time, making it even less likely to be intentional. I've also never had this happen in my time playing the hood, both the Maxis shipped version and the fixed templates. Speaking of the fixed templates, if Jack Kim was important to the Aspirs' story, meetmetotheriver wouldn't have removed him from her fixed templates. Again, it sounds like something specific to your game due to a glitch, not a scripted event, but it's great that it brought drama to your game, though 😆
@CrystalFlame360 omg that's crazy interesting i had no idea. Thanks for the info 😂
I have a headcanon about the Aspir family. I think that when Victor and Elizabeth got married, they were in agreement that they would have two kids. However, once they had Pauline, they each went in different directions: Victor went, "wow, this is great, I want ALL the kids!" while Elizabeth went, "giving birth was horrible and taking care of a baby is exhausting, I love my daughter but I am not doing this again." In my games, this growing-apart leads to their divorce.
The weird age/memory thing with the Contrarys could lead to an interesting headcanon: as a toddler, Rick was nearly kidnapped but John intervened. Thus, John met Rick first (in investigating who a local criminal would likely target next) and his parents later (when they thanked him for rescuing their son). The storytelling images don't really support this, though.
Speaking of the storytelling images, I think the custom storytelling images I made for a custom hood back in 2014 are better than the ones in Desiderata Valley. At least I had the Sims doing dynamic things, and the images matched up with their memories. For one example, I had a family which was a single mom and her two half-alien children. The first storytelling image was of the mom and her alien husband holding hands across a dinner table, clearly on a date. The next was in their living room, with the husband teaching their toddler son to walk while she read a book and their daughter watched TV. The next had them all sitting together at the dinner table because I really wanted to drive home the happy family. Last, I had an image where a Sim in the General outfit yells at the shocked and dismayed parents on their doorstep, and the daughter is visible through the window, crying. BOOM: STORY!
As a fairly competent builder, I can confirm that the residential lots in Desiderata Valley are, generally speaking, horrible. Natasha Una and John Mole's houses are pretty nice, but most of the rest are just awful, especially the unoccupied ones. The Desiderata Valley in my Uberhood has been substantially made over to give it decent houses.
Just starting this video, but props in advance for putting together such a long analysis of the hood! Would love to see similar breakdowns for other ones, like Belladonna Cove, if you ever feel like making them.
I might consider doing the others at some point. Belladonna Cove seems to be the most popular of the EP hoods, so I would like to look into why eventually.
This video has inspired me to make an alternate hood story for Desiderata Valley. Like the fact that this neighbourhood is just too nice and no sim has bad memories, even if they are bad memories (forced to be happy and positive all the time?). They're all a bit too plain and normal for their own good. Pairings dont make sense (maybe theres more complicated reasons why thay they refused to talk about). John and Natasha are older than they are (maybe they age slower or are changelings/doppelgangers). Ill add to this the morenof the video I watch x
I actually loved this neighborhood when I started playing years ago, but I have to agree that the sims living there BORING AS HELL. I never understood their stories and thought maybe its just the translation (I played it in hungarian at the time and the hungarian translation is...something, seriously the devs somehow duplicated the study interaction on bookshelves)
After that horrible, no good maths exam, this video is a balm for the soul.
I liked this neighborhood back when I was a teen because I was the one who started the drama. I had Isaac cheat on Hannah with her sister, making Hannah also have an affair with a sim I made while she was pregnant with Isaac's baby. The Aspir family was another one that I broke by making Elizabeth break up with Victor because she didn't want to have another baby. Then I made Pauline be a rebellious teen who hated her parents, flunked school and had several boyfriends at the same time. It was really fun to be the one to add spice to these otherwise peaceful town though I understand why this town (along with Riverblossom honestly) is so forgettable to so many players. The pre-made sims and their stories are just so stale.
Adding spice to otherwise peaceful hoods can be fun, however, the blandness comes from the lack of conflict, or engaging stories to speculate on. Also every family is peaceful and loves one another, except for the Contrarys who can be chaotic depending on your mod setup.
I dislike this hood as well, but if you put it in an Uber hood it’s kinda good. Also natasha is my girl.
I never played this neighborhood but I needed some material for one of my videos so I jumped into the families and after looking at their memories I thought 'wow, you're so boring, where's the spice, the drama?'. Almost everyone seems to have a perfect life where everyone loves everyone and I thought that it's so dull in the comparison with Pleasantview and others. I agree with you that this neighborhood got totally different vibe and clearly seems to me that the creators of it weren't the same as the ones who made base hoods. The quality dropped significantly.
Great video. I'm looking forward to your opinion on other neighborhoods. Greets
Yup! The hood has no spice! The only things you can say are "spicy" based on memories was the Aspirs and Bells swapping spouses and the Wirths being abducted, even though only Victor knows it happened. And yeah, I agree, in this hood everyone is so friendly and everything is so stable, it's one of the reasons why the Contrarys are my favourite family in this hood, along with Mole and Una, because they break this mould and are crumbling at the seams. Granted, without the mean interactions to any age mod they act like a typical family, but still they are very drama packed with that mod and I love it.
desiderata valley's stories honestly sound like all of the sims 4 neighborhoods, and thats sad
Desiderata Valleys lack of personality reminds me so much of the sims 4 in so many ways
AHHHHHHHH! I’m so excited for this video!!!!! I love the effort you put into your videos Crystal ❤️
Thank you! 😊
this is honestly so cool. I've never seen such an in depth analysis of the game that brings me the most joy and that I've dedicated the most time to. your style of commentary is really entertaining and I also weirdly really enjoyed you pointing out all the discrepancies in the story because I had never really delved that deep into the families of desiderata valley before (which could also be a testament to how boring the families seem at face value lol)
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video! I didn't know how my commentary was going to be received, but I'm happy to see it brought entertainment. There were a lot of discrepancies, that much so I might have missed some, and I think I even missed a few quirks too, one of which I found so funny I'm annoyed that I didn't find it before I finished the video. That's a testament to how little effort went into this hood, which adds to the emptiness it brings 😆
"John Mole got an A+. Good job John!" part made me chuckle hehe
I really really love this format! I've only watched halfthrough, but damn this is entertaining (your commentary and lil jokes are always pleasant and fun to listen to) :D
I agree that this is one of the most boring hoods. I have to say that many storylines here are kind of... "Problematic". Especially the "the wife doesn't want a child, but her husband does" thing. It's somewhat stereotypical, and not interesting to play through - I tend to divorce them, but this kind of bio doesn't give you any information about their personalities regardless. It truly feels that Maxis didn't have much inspiration for this hood
After finishing the video in the morning I can say: your new "presentation" is great and is actually noticeable!
I'm glad you loved the format! It was something I was experimenting with, but it was fun and I feel like I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit. The hood really is lacking and I do feel bad since it was clearly set up to fail; no one on the team seemed to care about this hoods story outside of making it a hobby playground. Even the "lore" pieces are a mess, like Elizabeth kissing Issac before meeting him. And yes, a lot of the stories are problematic and the Aspirs main drive is just icky. It's why in my megahood when Elizabeth had an oopsie baby she gave Victor the silent treatment until the kid was a child, going as far as to sell the double bed and get two singles. And the Jocques that involves Marcel worrying about his weight because his wife wants a fit spouse is just sad.
I just wanted to say, I love your videos like I don't do with sooooo many sims 2 youtubers, i love your voice and how you say things and do things! Thank you for your work
I just finally started playing Desiderata after avoiding it for forever, and it has been.... medicore, so it'll be intresting to see why it is that way!
It really is mediocre on its own.
I have to say Crystal you are one of the most endearing and funny people I’ve ever come across on CZcams, always such a pleasure watching/listening to your videos. Was absolutely dying of laughter at 46:28 😂
I loved this video, I loved the indepth info on this neighborhood and game.
Glad to read that you enjoyed it! 😊
just subscribed and omg! the level of detail and the time you put in your videos is amazing! you deserve way more subs,,, loving what you do ❤
this is one of my go to video essays to watch when i'm going to sleep thank you so much
I love Desiderata Valley but it's probably because it was my first neighborhood I played when I got the Ultimate Collection. You do have to kinda force interesting things to happen but it can still be fun. :))
I do like natasha, and her relatation with john mole and how it conflicts with her family being against her being so close to him
Natasha is extremely unique, but the rest of the hood isint that great
Natasha alone is reason for me to play it
I typically have her try to find common ground with julian cooke, but also eventually use the aspiration item to change her aspirations to family and knowledge secondary to show her growth as a person
Like all the other hoods, the drawing is there, you can add the colors you want
A very interesting analysis! Funny, how even though you started making this video two months ago and released just now, cause this month I finally decided to give this hood a chance and created a BellaDesi megahood... and saw your video about all its flaws haha
I decided to work on this video after adding Desiderata Valley to a new Strangeview, which goes by the name "Strangeview Valley" as a result. A lot of the sims shine there and it has been fun, but I don't really see myself playing it solo. Despite its flaws, it really works in a megahood.
My personal headcanon for Sims having positive memories of growing up badly, besides it being some sort of error/mistake, is that those Sims enjoy being miserable or something. Jokes aside, that's actually kind of hilarious how the game does that.
great video! you're so funny haha. this neighborhood looks like was made by an entire team disconected and never played the sims 2 before. it also lacks passion!
Ah man, hearing the Resident Evil code Veronica save room theme song when you were speaking about the Contrary family gave me literal goosebumps! Love the RE games
Omg, the "game trying to create a fake sense of drama" is JUST the problem that I had with LOTS of Belladonna Cove families as well. Even though it had a lot of potential, I just wasn't convinced. The bios were way too serious and not relating to what's actually implemented and the characters weren't as charismatic as in Pleasantville or Strangetown. I came to love it by ruining a lot of it, though, and making the boring "nice" and "perfect" characters into the worst villains of the town.
What did you do with your Belladonna? Lately I started playing it with Kattaty's Desiderata as subhood and it's much better, I make drama, but am curious about your choices :D
@@martuut.9404 Well, everyone ended up cheating on each other to a degree I didn't plan or expect. Guess it's partially because of ACR, I also do wants-based gameplay and I don't really stop them from doing things they want to do most of the time. Jason Cleveland was attracted to men, so I searched for a boyfriend for him and it ended up being Benjamin Baldwin for some reason. Clevelands broke up, Baldwins are staying together and keeping up appearances, they even had more kids. Clevelands had another daughter before splitting, and after Marissa caught Jason cheating she randomly "cheated back" with a completely random dude she barely knew (ACR, I guess). Now their daughter wants to see this random dude dead. Carlos married Jessica, but of course he's not faithful. they own a bar and Jessica breeds dogs. there was some bug and Carlos got a super long lifespan, so he's very much alive and well. Jessica had issues with conceiving for a long time too. Samantha Cordial married Gabriel Green and they have a son together. He also wanted to be a warlock, yet he was getting along with the evil witch much better than with the good one, so he's a mean warlock as of now and they're on the opposite sides of alignment. Ana Patel died in childbirth. Marissa joined politics and ended up dating Ramir for a while, but it didn't work out and now they're rivals. Kimberly married Armand and they have two sons together... But she also had a daughter with Carlos before getting with him. Carlos also had a daughter with a townie and both of his daughters received genie lamps as toddlers, roughly around the same time. I'm keeping them until they're both teens/adults. Chastity is a single mom. Timothy and Vivian got married and Sally is in college. Etsu is dating some goth guy. Connor was unlucky in love for a long time, he married Ramir's maid and they have a kid. Justin and Tara had negative chemistry so they're platonic best friends. Justin ended up dating a few girls from his private school (downtownies) and 2 of them went to college with them, because I wanted more people in that generation. His "first love" got together with Geoff, who arrived randomly at a college party where he wasn't invited. Oddly enough, he's faithful to her so far. Another is a bit of a local celebrity/socialite, but she's a Romance sim, so they didn't last. Justin is currently engaged to a different girl. He's an athlete and doing well in his career, while his first ex who worked much harder can't find a job in that same career path. They started their own Greek House and they have a pretty big friend group from that era. Tara despite getting great grades throughout college rolled no wants to get a job, she just chills at home with Justin and his fiancee and learns stuff and recently got pregnant by her old college friend after they met again at a vacation they had as a group.
yeahh ive never really cared about the ep hoods and... this video basically sums up why i don't play them. i like having interesting lore but there's just nothing there for me to really latch on to.
also, using digital devil saga music is INCREDIBLY based. i love that game so much
I played a little bit in this neighborhood (before computer issues forced me to start my whole game over) and it did have some potential. Before my PC went to crap Mole had gotten abducted and had alien Twins! And in that small house he starts out in you can just imagine how much fun that was. The possible romance between the teens, yeah. And I don't remember much else. Listening to this I can see that they really don't have a whole lot going on which is sad. There is potential there. But seeing how they messed up so much stuff, ugh.
Great video. I really enjoy these deep dives into Sims 2 lore.
omg I love your music selection lol I'm actually going through Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga for the first time right now! subscribed for this and your fun Tricou video too! your videos are so fun to watch
Desiderata is THE best ’hood for experiments and mod testing, though. It’s got enough premade sims to test things on, but I also don’t have to be afraid to mess things up. That would only make it more interesting!
Sophia and Marcel have a dysfunctional marriage in my game. Marcel wanted a kid, so i gave them one but she didn't want him. She largely ignores her son which i feel so bad for x
I would make Sophia and Marcel's relationship slowly crumble and make Marcel and Opal happy damn it. Let them break free from a controlling wife/mother
Opal is precious. Opal is also me. I too am grouchy but want to help my friends.
Marcel and Sophia's relationship feels too toxic to me; staying slim for his wife and not for himself, because his wife might leave him is kind of upsetting. He needs someone better.
And by "Opal" did you mean "Violet"? Violet is the name of the Jocques' daughter, but yeah I definitely see what you mean. And hey, grouchy people can still love helping people; I guess it gives Violet more layers.
@@CrystalFlame360 their relationship gives me heavy abse vibes. Very controlling.
Violet sorry! I am terrible at names :'3
@@elvingearmasterirma7241 It's fine! And I definitely agree with the abusive vibes. If it was unintentional, I'd like to wonder how the abusive undertones wasn't found.
Sooo... you know that by making such a great video on Desiderata Valley you've doomed yourself to do deep dives on both Riverblossom Hills and Belladonna Cove... 😅
No, but seriously, Wow! I've discovered your channel not so long ago and I've just been binge watching your content. It's so good! ❤
you really just called desiderata valley the TS4 of TS2
Your videos are so underrated!
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy them! 😁
Oh that mod that lets teens autonomously fight with their parents is gonna make me start playing this game again isn't it
Love this video!!
Yeah this was always my least favourite 'hood and i think you hit the nail on the head as to why. Riverblossom Hills is boring but at least theres just a bit of story to it, plus a plantsim to have fun with. Anytime id play Desiderata Valley when i was younger i would just revive Noriko into a zombie, play around with the zombie, then leave it at that
Yeah, the problem with Desiderata Valley is that you load up the neighbourhood and you have zero idea what to do. Sure, you can load a family and just do whatever, but I mean as far as plot goes, unlike the base game hoods, there's not enough hints to create a story off of without the player having to do the heavy lifting all the time, like TS3 and 4. And while the other EP hoods have some supernatural gimmicks to spice things up, if only a little, DV doesn't; it's just a hood with normal people and very little drama.
thank you for showing the mean interaction to any age mod i hope this adds more drama to my game
You're welcome! But if things get too dramatic, giving sims distractions help.
For me, you can feel the decline of the sims expansion packs as early as nightlife. Open for business is still great, but it lacks a little polish compared to uni and nightlife. Pets and seasons were already partially coded into the base game and just needed a little more work to function properly so were probably easier to make than the other ones (rbh had little care put into it and was probably a transitional hood). After that you can DEFINITELY TELL a different team took over and didnt have the passion the original team had for the game. Unfortunately that team seemed to carry into sims 3 because it has that same vacant story feeling.
I agree with a lot of this. Don't get me wrong, I think all of the Expansion Packs are great in this game, since they all add a lot to the game, but later ones came out with more issues that needed patching and some patches even broke things that had no issues. However, as far as lore is concerned it declines in quality. I can't speak for the other EP hoods, because I haven't played them, but in DVs case it's story just boils down to FreeTime's gimmick which is hobbies. From what I could find, it was a different team that worked on the game from Seasons onwards, which seems to be the same team that's in charge of The Sims 3 and 4, so there's that.
I feel like this should’ve just been a subhood lol
Agreed. I only play it as a subhood in fact, because on its own there isn't enough there to keep me engaged.
I actually played (and still sometimes play) this neighborhood a lot, but it was mostly because I liked the houses, and didn't care much about the pre-made families in it.
Yeah, I've heard more positive things about the lots, mainly the occupied houses and community lots, than the sims themselves.
I accidentally made John and Edward lovers (playing sims 2 for the first time and wanted to see what "leaping in the arms does"🌚) so ig that spices up the neighbourhood a bit xd
I just remembered in my game there were two blonde neighbours (I only remember they had that heart shaped ikea pillow in their bedroom), and the wife was pregnant with Victor's baby. But I keep looking online and it's like they didn't exist, maybe I imagined it or they came with the ikea pack or idk. Anyway that's the only bit of drama I could find.
I love this neighborhood tho. Looks so peaceful and cozy.
This neighbourhood seems very sweet and charming, just a place where you look at the people and their interests, but the devs chose a very bad game to put it in since we have.... every other hood in the sims 2 that is packed to the brim with drama, tension and mystery, it unfortunately comes off as bland
While Vidcund doesn't look like his brothers, he does kinda look like his sister Jenny. Perhaps they were both adopted 😂
I just love how similar Edward looks to them! I guess it could be argued that Vidcund and Jenny resemble Kitty, but Edward looking more like Pascal and Lazlo (same face template used as a base) than Vidcund makes me laugh.
Ahh I love this video!!! Do you have a discord?? I feel like there needs to be more TS2 communities tbh
I'm glad you loved the video! I don't have a Discord, I have an account I think, since I wanted to see what the Story Progression mod was all about, but not my own server. It seems like it'd be overwhelming for me based on what I've heard from others that run their own servers.
i loved this video! it’s so well done and i enjoy your style so much; it was so fun to watch and i’m always looking forward to your next one :D
i enjoy desiderata valley a lot, along with a lot of non-base hoods, but that’s probably because i like making up my own stories anyway.
that being said, the lack of love in them is so in your face and it’s just so.. disappointing because they all had the potential to be iconic if given the time & love :/
for most it’s probably only really enjoyable if played in an uberhood, as you said.
I created a cemetery business here💀
Just close for the pool party and reopen after all the burials to keep that high business rating lol
34:36 i used to call Grim Reaper and give him back his mom because of that but something intresting happend. his mom voice was the voice of a male sim and when she romance a male sim and the time for a marriage came the wedding arch said get Joined. In my mind that means that his mom was a fully trans woman and with her job stole the technology to have a baby with her man and they decide to kill them selves for not taking their son from them because it was the first and only sim baby exept from the Alien babies becoming from 2 male sims
I hate grilled cheese and pleasure aspirations and always change Natasha's aspiration to her actually aspiration (knowledge)
Pleasure is alright, not my favourite aspiration by any stretch, but since experiencing Grilled Cheese I appreciate it more.
@@CrystalFlame360 I have a character with such aspiration and it suits her character. She is sassy and lazy. Sometimes it is in the subject, but the wants are cringe there (jump on the couch, put on pajamas, etc.). But yes, grilled cheese is even worse.
@@antonpetrov1483 Yeah, Pleasure wants aren't exciting, but at least they have more variety than Grilled Cheese.
I wanna play this hood to fix it now 😅
I really enjoyed your take on this town. Definitely, the change in devs certainly does show.
Just one aspect, either you overlooked, or decided not to cover: the two bin families: Cooke and Picaso. Cooke has more Lore than any of the others (imo). I know they do not have any ties to the town, as of yet (and are not even listed on the town's wiki page), but they were shipped with FreeTime.
I do love the hobby system, especially for adding in the secondary aspiration, but they did not show that off within the storylines or sims (I had to tell my friends about that feature, so they would buy the pack).
I know that you just covered the sims within town, but I kind of hoped you would do a deep dive into the secret hobby lots, as well (along with their quirks). I know if you play this hood as your primary hood, you will have the originally intended instructors at each lot (and while you may consider them to be just townies, like the high witches in Belladonna Cove, they do have their own hidden community lots), hence they are special NPCs (which unlike universal NPCs can become playable). It is ashame that none of the sims are having an affair or enemies with the hobby instructors (an oversight, or because they decided to randomize instructors for every town?). I find it to be a missed opportunity.
As for my biggest beef with the town: Natasha Uma and John Mole (my would-be favorite characters, if their Lore was properly introduced). So much missed opportunity there. We could have been given crumbles to at least unravel Natasha Una's mysterious grilled cheese aspiration, and they could have given her a proper secondary aspiration (so at least her wants would line up with said internal conflict). And John Mole's personality and aspiration just does not even fit his backstory, at all.
One more flaw (this time not of the town), FreeTime introduced secondary aspirations, but failed to implement them into the chemistry system. Hobbies sort of fit in (but only similar to interests). I was hoping to be able to rectify certain Sims who were done dirty (especially in the base game). Bella was not meant to be a serial romance sim (according to the Lore, Mortimer is her one true love), on the other hand, Don Lothario is correctly coded as a serial romance sim. I know they originally intended to implement 2 types of romance Sims (hopeless romantic and serial romancer), but the game is hard-coded for the later. Unfortunately, since the secondary aspiration was not tied into the chemistry system, every sim becomes somewhat bipolar, often having the exact same wants as their fears. 😢 I do use mods to combat this, but just wish it was addressed (even in a later patch, it at least when the Ultimate Collection came out).
At least riverblossom hills has pretty houses lol desiderata valley is just so ugly and theres not even free houses to put new people in 💀 it could be nice for a change to play families that just have a nice non traumatic lives tho but youd need to put in more effort to keep it interesting while wholesome
I loved this video, a critical observation about a lesser discussed aspect of TS2 is so fun. Your voice is also very chill and easy to listen to, and your writing got a few chuckles outta me.
I feel like the Jock is in financial trouble. Their main living area has no lights
I like this neighborhood. I only hate the family pictures, they seem boring and lazy. But it's easy to start something there :D
I definitely get the appeal of the neighbourhood pretty much being a blank slate where anything can be done without the potential of conflicting with pre-established stories. However, in a game filled with as much personality as The Sims 2, where the premades are the best they've ever been and feel more like actual characters with established goals than simple pixels for a simulation game, Desiderata Valley is a little disappointing in that regard. The sims in the premade neighbourhoods have history before you play them, which makes it appear like they've been played and lived lives before we, as the player, take the wheel. The sims of Desiderata somehow lack the depth of the base game premades (though I do oddly see depth with the Contrarys) and it's hard to care about them as a result. The only families I like and find compelling in this neighbourhood are the Contrary, Mole, and Una families, and I guess Violet Jocque too; the rest I don't really care about.
It's one of them though, it's definitely ideal for those that don't like playing set up narratives, or don't like feeling like they're interfering with the "canon" of the base game hoods and "messing them up," because I have seen some players that feel that way. Personally, despite its shortcomings, I quite like this hood and oddly prefer it to Pleasantview, but that might be because I'm not getting soap opera clichés shoved in my face every five minutes (sure it's implied that Sharon and Issac could have an affair, but it's implied not outright confirmed; it's left up to the player's interpretation). I've gotten tired of the soap opera stuff over time.
Rick Contray x Ripp Grunt: Power Couple that can relate to each other.
I think I've seen this pairing mentioned and funnily enough the first sim Rick met in my megahood outside of DV was Ripp.
18:00 19:05 46:43 1:02:18 1:11:06 1:13:00 1:33:25 😅
1:34:25 the couches must be very comfortable
loved the very nichey in depth analysis of this flop hood. i never really played it besides to check out the genie when i was 8 years old and now i know why it was right to not bother
I never played it either before adding it to a megahood, which was what made me want to make this. As part of a megahood, when certain families interact with families from different hoods it makes them more interesting and allows their character to come out a little more. Some families stay boring though, like the Bells and Aspirs, at least in my megahood. On its own, it really is bland unfortunately and when the errors are taken into account, it goes to show how little the devs cared about making this hood actually good.
@@CrystalFlame360 periodt honestly. One could try the affair thing with that bell lady or sell pottery with that grilled cheese artist but then what? I mean i gotta respect that terrible starter house with the uneven terrain paint. Maybe making it as ugly and messy as possibly could b cute but other than that i dont c me playin in there. At least belladonna cove had a certain vibe and single parents that are secretly in love, so they did turn it around for the last pack ngl
@@ClairesTransitionTips Yeah, there's no engaging narratives, it's messy, and there's nothing to keep players gripped long term, and the few stuff it does cover other hoods do better. Affair drama? Pleasantview exists. Business gameplay? Bluewater Village was made for a reason. And there's no paranormal, or fantastical elements to differentiate it from Pleasantview in terms of being a peaceful suburb. It could have been something if more thought was put in.
19:07 am I listening resident evil safe room music?
babe make videos again :(
I see the video, the entire video, the entire hour and a half...and almost at the end...I said....wait a minute...I haven't even open desiderata valley in my sims 2 menu ._.
A shame but yeah, sadly the worst neighborhood in TS2, I'm sorry nobody likes you, desiderata
Desiderata is basically American suburbia. Boring, bland.
Desiderata however could be great for family gameplay if youre one of the weird people who dont like drama. Or you can chuck in some supernatural sims. Watch chaos unfold
I love drama and complex stories, which is why DV is ideal for megahoods; get something peaceful and mess it up with drama from other hoods.
car
why are you whispering??
If it's the section I'm thinking of, I was recording that bit very late at night when people were asleep and didn't want to risk waking anyone. Since I also have neighbours since I moved, I didn't want to risk disturbing them either. I'm used to how my voice carries around now, but when recording that section I didn't. I struggle to project my voice at the best of times, never mind when I'm trying to control the volume 😂
I'm sorry but I can't stand the monotone voice and the weird mouth sounds. Uninteresting introduction. Sounds like an interesting topic, but please improve on your delivery.
I understand where you're coming from with your criticisms and I am trying to improve in my commentary delivery, however, it's a slow process. I have ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) so emotional expression can be difficult and exhausting for me, especially when I'm having a bad day; I'm trying to make my enthusiasm apparent, but again my autism and mic shyness make it hard, though I am trying.
My mouth sounds are stimming behaviours that I didn't notice I was doing until the editing phase and I didn't think they were that noticeable, but that could be because I'm used to them. I'll try to keep oral stims to a minimum when I record in the future, but trying to improve my monotonous delivery is something I'm working on slowly.
I appreciate that you gave my video a chance and I hope you have a good rest of your day, or night (it's 3am where I am).
@@CrystalFlame360 I honestly don’t mind your tone / quiet delivery I honestly pop your videos on sometimes when I need some asmr but I also want to watch something I’m interested in
@@CrystalFlame360 the video is cool, but I also must admit that constant smacking lips and saliva sounds made me stop watching. No offense. Maybe the microphone should be set differently, as to not catch the tiniest sounds? Idk, I don't know how it works haha
I like all your videos, especially deep dives like Tricou family and talking videos! 🤍 There are lots of comments where people bashing desiderata valley and riverblossom hills. The first is definetly pretty boring, but riverblossom hills is pretty interesting imo, though I may be biased 😅
It would be great if you consider to make more videos like this