In the End

Round 1 - Winter 2022

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Tabitha Gunner is 32, Tessa Gunner is 26

This is her favorite time of the day. The sun is just rising and most of the world is still asleep. It's quiet. She doesn't have much time for quiet. Quiet isn't very fun. But sometimes, when there is too much chaos, she looks forward to these morning workouts. It's all a part of being Tessa Gunner.

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Round 1 - Fall 2022

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Amanda Carlson is 26 (Tessa Gunner is 25)

Another day. Every day seems to be just like any other in the life of Amanda Carlson. How did she get stuck in this rut? She graduated at the top of her class and has never been able to really become anything big. Oh, she's had plenty of small time jobs, but nothing that ever made anyone take notice and say "Wow, that Amanda Carlson is really making moves." She knew what the problem was. She has always been an extremely shy sim. She doesn't really know why, maybe she's wired wrong. She's an attractive enough female. but men have always made her so  uncomfortable. She'd give anything to be like her friend Tessa Gunner.........but what's the use of wishing for something you'll never be? Yes, another sad day in the life of plain, boring Amanda Carlson.....

Meet Derick Pace

Derick Pace is trouble with a capital T. He has always been in awe of the different ways people begin their life of crime and is eager to start his own. He's not a very nice sim and doesn't care who gets in his way.......he will eliminate them. He loves living in Englewood and is determined to be the king of the neighborhood before it's all said and done........

Meet the Knowles

Tanner and Keisha Knowles moved to LaQuest Beach with their teen son Kevin and their small daughter Kayla. Tanner has always been a trust fund baby and has never really had to work for anything. He has decided that it's time for a change.........

Tanner has always thought that being a police officer would a fun and exciting job. he and his family have lived all over the world and seen many things, but his dream of becoming an officer has always been in the back of his mind. He has enrolled in the police academy and is on his way to becoming a great officer.

Keisha supports Tanner no matter what he chose to do, and she's excited that he's going after his dreams. Keisha had always been interested in fashion and is in the process of becoming a fashion designer. She really wants to have another child, but she knows that right now isn't the right time.

Kevin is happy about living on the beach. He has always loved the ocean. He is ready to attend Sim State and is working on getting some scholarships. His parents would have no problem paying his tuition, but Kevin wants to do as much as he can on his own.......

Kayla is just a really happy, sweet little girl. She loves to paint and hopes that she'll have a little brother or sister someday.

Meet the Coners

Terrance Coners and his son Kenny moved to LaQuest Beach after Terrance grew tired of the constant arguments with his wife and Kenny's mother, Allison Tavem. Terrance and his son are very close and Terrance hopes to raise a very responsible little man......

Terrance is starting at the bottom of the architect totem pole. He's always dreamed of becoming a city planner and now is his chance to prove that he can do it. He never really thought much about becoming a dad but couldn't imagine his life now without Kenny. He is the center of Terrance's world.

Kenny was really happy when his dad decided to move. He was tired of living with his grandparents and is really glad to be out of the house with his dad. Now it's just the two of them and he couldn't be happier.......

Meet the Whites

Marshal and Ariel White moved to LaQuest Beach to escape the drug dealer filled neighborhood that they were living in. Unfortunately, the only place that they could afford was in the Englewood area of LaQuest Beach, but it is a step up from where they were. Twenty-six year old Marshal has been taking care of his little sister since the death of their parents six years ago.

Marshal is a very hard worker who plans to move out of Englewood as soon as he can save up enough money. His job as an auto mechanic doesn't pay very much, but he hope to have enough money saved up to move in a few years. It would help if his sister would get a job too. Ariel has always been a bit selfish.......

Ariel White likes to party and have fun and is very upset that she had to leave all of her friends just because her brother was overreacting. Nothing bad happened to them in the old neighborhood, but he was afraid it would. But Ariel has always been a very popular girl and is sure to make lots of friends in LaQuest Beach. Maybe she'll eventually even get a job!


*I really like Ariel's face.......it's a little odd, but charmingly so........Marshal is a fortune sim and Ariel is popularity..........

Meet the Hendersons

Meet Kip, Kimber, and Caleb Henderson. The Hendersons have made the drastic change from living on the east coast to the west coast of Simerica. They hope to possibly have another child so that Caleb can have a sibling..........

Kip is a law school graduate who never used his degree.......At 30 years old, he has decided it is time for him to pursue his dreams of becoming a successful lawyer. He moved his family to LaQuest Beach because he feels he can be more successful in a larger city. He and his family live in a nice apartment complex in downtown LaQuest beach.....

Kimber loves  being a mom and has never regretted having Caleb. She has dreams of becoming a great chef, but settles for writing cookbooks out of their home so that she can be there for Caleb. She's never really cared much hiring strangers to raise her son. Caleb is a nice outgoing little baby who loves being doted on by his parents.

* Kimber looks exactly like Amanda Frader from Crystal Bay!!!! I think she's just one of the new face templates that I downloaded, but it's nice to have a familiar face around :)

Welcome to LaQuest Beach

So I'm doing it again! While playing, I kept having all this stories in my head and so I decided to just start again.....hopefully for the last time!!!!! I am much more careful when exiting my game now! So here is LaQuest Beach. As of right now I have no plans of adding any sub-hoods. The map is large enough to hold everything I need and then some!!!! Here's the basic layout:

Englewood - Englewood is the low rent area of LaQuest Beach. The houses are old and worn and some of the shadiest characters in LaQuest Beach live here. There are a few families who are desperately trying to get out, and there are those who revel in living in the slums. Who wear their station in life like a badge of honor. It's home to shady spots like the Last Simolean and Prospect Red clubs.

Downtown Area - Downtown LaQuest Beach is filled with lots of opportunities for shopping and fine dining. There are sandy beaches and beautiful crystal clear water! There are a few apartments and town homes for those crave the city life.

The Warehouse District - Lots of renovated old warehouse that have been turned into shops and apartments. Also where most of the importing and exporting is done in LaQuest Beach.

Talum Heights - Nice middle-class suburb area sitting atop a hill. Filled with nice affordable homes and also next to the Talum Heights Shopping Plaza for those who don't want to drive to the downtown area.

Lorrington - Lorrington is the upper class section of LaQuest Beach with large homes centered around Central Park. These are the finest homes available on the island.

I'm playing this similar to Crystal Bay but not quite the same. I've given some people a much larger start and given others a very rough one for story purposes. I'm going to still allow the sims to control most of what happens, but I do have stories in mind for all of them that I hope they follow! Who knows with the sims though, right? I have also created a community college that is located in the main hood (LaQuest Beach Community College or LBCC) that will allow students who can't necessarily afford to attend Sim State to have a chance to get an education. I will also be offering an online degree for adults who decide they want to attend school later in life. I'll be posting the new rules and regulations shortly after this although they really haven't changed much from Crystal Bay.

To start with I'm going to slowly introduce each family as I'm not finished with my first round yet. I wanted to play a round before blogging so the sims would already have some skills points and know a few people. It's not very realistic to be completely unable to do anything as an adult!!!!

Welcome to LaQuest Beach!!!

Rules and Regulations

LaQuest Beach will be run loosely based on the prosperity style although I won't be keeping points. Most of these ideas were taken from Lakeside Heights, Sullivan, and Simmington Hills, and Apple Valley so thanks to those guys for all their wonderful ideas! This was in progress before my game crashed so I took it and changed it around from my other blog.

Aging

So like most blogs I have seen, I'm organizing my aging behind Lakeside Heights, which is explained here. Basically everyone ages two years per round and I play each family for one season during those two years. I will switch up the seasons so that one family will not get stuck with the same season every round. I play the college for two years broken up into 4 different updates.

baby: 0-1

toddler: 1-4

Child: 5 -11

Teen: 12-17

YA: 18-21

Adult: 22-60

Elder: 60+

I have the postponed silver years hack installed which means that my adult stage lasts for 42 days instead of 28 and my elders don't live as long. My rounds begin in Fall and ends in Summer 2 years later.

Taxes and Fees

Taxes are paid at the beginning of each round. I only take a property tax because as of right now, I don't have the patience to calculate individual income taxes! Each household pays 15% of the value of their property, belongings, and bank accounts. I get this amount from the neighborhood screen. Married couples get a credit of $1500 and everyone one gets $1000 per dependent. Dependents include children, college students, and any adult that may be living with the sim who they take care of (i.e. elderly parent or grandparent). The total amount collected is then tripled to account for all the townies, downtownies, and NPCs that also use city facilities. Out of this city budget comes money for new city buildings and facilities, events, parks, etc. Fees charged by LaQuest Beach include but are not limited to:

Marriage

Marriage license: $500 (required for all marriages/unions)

Home Ceremony: Free

Additional Venues

City Hall (Marriage only): $500
Camden Park Community Church: $1000

Parable's Community Church: $1500

Paradise Island: $2000

Divorces are $1000 ($500 per party) and divorce proceedings will include custody and dissolvement of marital assets.

Funerals are $500 for a basic burial and $1000 for a memorial service.

Adoption

Baby: $5000

Todder: $2500

Child: $1500

Fertility Treaments: $2500; for women over 40 who have tried at least twice.

Budget

Money received from taxes is used to fund different projects and organizations in LaQuest Beach. The mayor is paid a $5000 stipend every tax collection. Other salaries include:

Tax Revenue Specialist: $3000
Teachers: $3000
Principals: $4000
Architect: $3000 per building completed
Hospital Director: $5000

Once salaries have been paid, the rest of the hood balance is divided up as follows:

30% Schools & Universities (split 3 ways)
25% Healthcare
45% Hood Improvement

I couldn't figure out a way to have the teachers actually in the education career and still be able to have them teaching at my playable schools so this way they still get paid! The education career works during actual school hours which makes it hard to send my sim down to the playable school. I have the community time hack in so when they are gone, time still passes at home. So if my teacher leaves my playable school at 3, when they get home it will be 3 and they will have missed work for the day. I wish I could figure out how to make it work out because then they could get the salary from working the teaching position and this money from the budget could be like a yearly bonus :)

About This Blog

LaQuest Beach is a large city located on an island on the west coast of Simerica. It is not a new city, but only became the center of this blog in October of 2009 (Fall of 2022 LaQuest Beach Time). This blog follows the lives of the residents of LaQuest Beach and it's subhoods. Currently it follows about 58 sims plus any additional townies who may make their way into the story. It is a combination between gameplay and storytelling but depends heavily on the gameplay aspect. LaQuest Beach consists of the main hood, Camden Park, LaQuest Beach University, Peragama, and Vasadori.

The main island of LaQuest Beach is home to 6 different areas: Fort LaQuest, Talum Heights, Lorrington, Englewood, The Warehouse District, and the downtown area.
Fort LaQuest: Military base in LaQuest Beach that offers affordable housing for soldiers. It has it's own shops and entertainment and is fenced off from the rest of the city.
Talum Heights: Home to the middle class families of LaQuest. Consists of a neighborhood and small affordable houses.
Lorrington: Ritzy area of LaQuest Beach. It has the largest houses available and is home to upper-middle class and rich sims.
Englewood: Urban area of LaQuest Beach and home to lower class sims.
Warehouse District: One of the oldest areas of LaQuest Beach. Home to warehouses that have been converted into homes and shops.
Downtown: Lots of city houses and apartments as well as LaQuest Beach Public School, City Hall, Brown Technical University, and the hospital.
There are also lots of shops and homes along the coastline on both sides of the bridge.

Camden Park is located on it's own island and is connected to the mainland by a bridge. It is the rural area of LaQuest Beach and is home to many quaint homes and as well as lots of farmland. It is also home to LaQuest Beach Elementary School as well as a lovely bed and breakfast for tourists.

LaQuest Beach University is a four year school located on its own island. It offers degrees at the Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate level as well as an online program for adult students.

Peragama is a large city located on the planet Titusanera. It is home to many races of aliens and is in danger of being destroyed. The king has decided to abduct human sims and impregnate them with their offspring as a way of blending in so that his people may one day inhabit LaQuest Beach with the human sims and live in harmony.

Vasadori is an elven realm located somewhere outside of LaQuest Beach. It was ravished hundreds of years ago by a civil war and waits quitely for the prophesied child that will restore it to its former glory. Until that time, elves live among the humans in an effort to blend in. There are still a few elves left in Vasadori.

LaQuest Beach is run in a kind of prosperity style but I don't follow the rules really or keep score. Please see the "Points of Interest" in the side bar for more detailed info.