Autonomy 2

I wasn’t ready for onezero to become an adult, and I guess she wasn’t, either.

Nonetheless, it surprised me to no end when I saw the white cup appear in her queue with the action “Drink.”

I was not expecting her to pull a Sugar.

onezero’s autonomous drinking of the youth potion–at her birthday party, with her age-bar sparkling–verifies that Sims are capable of this action of self-determination. This isn’t just the action of one rogue super-sentient Sim; it’s a decision that other Sims are capable of making, as well.

onezero is an amazing Sim: she completed all childhood aspirations, and she quickly maxed Wellness skill. Yet, the alien daughter of a game-generated Townie, she is a Gen 2 Sim, not one of the super Gen 6+ Sims that show up in legacies.

This means that self-determination, when it comes to the use of potions, applies to all Sims, not just Super Sims.

Her autonomous drinking of the inspiration potion, too, indicates that potions are a resource which Sims know how to use and wish to be able to choose. I will now do my best to make sure that the entire selection of potions is available in my Sims’ inventories, so that they can choose from them when they want.

It’s relevant that Sugar and onezero are both gluttons: gluttons get a happy moodlet from drinking potions, whereas foodies get a “disappointing drink” moodlet from potions. It’s possible that gluttons will feel more open to using potions than foodies, although I have known foodies to choose to drink less than excellent drinks, which also deliver the “disappointing drink” moodlet.

What determines if a Sim will select the youth potion? Just two days before, Tam and Doug chose to spin to adulthood. Tam looked so happy and determined as an adult, and shortly after, she rolled a whim to try for baby with Nat. She seems one who is dedicated to forward movement and to embracing the responsibilities and the life that come her way. Doug seems complacent to me: he is happy to accept what happens without complaint.

Salix, whose lifebar has been sparkling since before Chandler met Grim, has a youth potion in her inventory. She could drink it at any time and prolong her elderhood. But she seems accepting of the normal course of life. She’s already earned the long life of a body builder; perhaps she doesn’t want to extend her separation from Chan through potion use.

onezero’s use of the potion answers a few questions for me: this isn’t an isolated, once-in-a-gameplay type of event; it’s not restricted to a single Sim; and Sugar’s drinking of the youth potion was not a glitch or an accidental click by me. The game was so laggy during the party when Sugar drank her youth potion that part of me always wondered if maybe I’d randomly clicked somewhere during lag to initiate the event. Yet the inventories were all closed, so this wasn’t likely–and now that onezero has done this, during a party when the game experienced no lag, I see that the first event really did happen, and it’s an option for our Sims to choose.

Did onezero learn this from her aunt? Will we start seeing it in other games, on other hard drives?

One thing is for sure: onezero reinforces my commitment to ensuring that the Sims on my hard drive have this self-determination that they clearly want for their digital lives.