June Mod Updates

Hi All,

Summer is finally here and it is hot! I have updates for a small handful of my mods as regrettably, I spent the majority of this month making a new mod, finishing cancer for HCR, and trying to get my active therapy sessions for DS working and kept getting stuck. I managed to finish both the new mod and cancer and other feature updates for HCR, but the active portion of DS is currently still a work in progress.

Reminder: Please update the Mood Pack. It was updated this month.

Another gentle reminder: Please make sure to read installation instructions for each mod you put in your mods folder. I have received reports which, upon investigation,are simply improper installation which could be avoided by simply reading the step by step instructions on each mod's page and familiarizing oneself with some basics about mods installation in general. A very helpful resource exists here for my mods and here for mods in general. Thank you!

Public Updates

Connected Sims v1.8
Updated the package and script file to remove unnecessary code.

Divergent Sims v5.6
It seems the in-patient stay was missing from the menu options. It has been restored.

Golden Years v1.7
I updated how your sim can submit claims. Before they had to have witnessed the death but now they can submit the claim of whatever ghost sim they are beneficiaries of.

Healthcare Redux  v9.7
Updated to work with Plumlace's SimCare Medicaid. Other minor updates.

Writing Career Overhaul v4.4
Updated to (hopefully) fix an issue with publishing. I can't replicate this so let me know if it's still happening for you.

New Mod (Early Access)

Background Stories v1

So, this mod is not for you if you're one of those wonderful Simmers who plans every Sims life down to the last detail in your save. Or a rotational player. This is probably not for you, either. This is for the rest of us.

I am one of those, when I get the chance to play, Simmers who is meticulous about my active Sim households every detail and the detail of those Sims in their extended family that I have in the save. That is it. All those other Sims I don't care about at all. I hate that I have to manually give them jobs or skills or likes or friends. So this is for those of you like me who don't want that. Who want your background sims to just have a background without you needing to even load them up.

What this mod does (tldr): 

This mod automatically adds background for your background Sims. You can choose only one version - either it applies to only Sims who have never been played with or it applies to any Sims you're not currently playing (any NPCs). These details are randomized but do take into account these NPCs Sims traits and aspirations so as not to stray too far from what makes sense.

What it adds in terms of background are:

• careers for those npcs who do not have them

• after school activities or part-time jobs for teens who do not have them

• after school activities for children sims

• skills based on a sim's career

• additional skills unrelated to their career

• preferences for characteristics, color, music, activities, decor, and fashion for Sims who don't have one

• randomized additional household funds

• 3 friends of their own age if children or teens or friends of mostly similar age if young adult through elders.

Patron Updates

Divergent Sims v5.9.2
It seems the in-patient stay was missing from the menu options. It has been restored. Therapy and support groups were also updated to accommodate a cancer diagnosis from HCR.

In terms of version 6, I'm much closer to the venue working as intended but I keep hitting various technical snags of one sort or another. Since it's something new to me I'm both learning more but also hitting more walls since I don't always know what went wrong and have to spend a lot of time investigating and troubleshooting various scenarios which makes it take longer. So the active therapy portions of Divergent Sims are, unfortunately, still not ready yet but I am constantly and actively working on them.

Healthcare Redux v10.4

The mod was updated for missing menu option for postsurgical complications. Updated to make basketball sprained ankle and falling off a horse injuries more serious. Updated to add support groups for those with chronic illness as well as for parents including those with PPD. Updated to work with SimCare Medicaid. Other minor updates.

The largest update was the addition of Cancer to Healthcare Redux. There are six cancers (Breast, Colon, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Melanoma, and Prostate) which can affect ages child-elder, though like with many cancers some are more prone to certain ages, genders, and health statues. Only 2 cancers (Lymphoma and Leukemia) are available to teens and children, the other four are YAE only. You can cheat cancer to add or remove it. Only cancers for which your sims are eligible for are available. Milestones have also been added for this module.

How cancer works is as follows:

• Sims have a small chance to get cancer during their lifetimes.

• Sims, depending on the type of cancer, can be asymptomatic or symptomatic but usually there are symptoms though they may be slow building.

• Cancer, once a sim has it, is not permanent. It is, in fact, in confines of this module, deadly if not caught at all or too late and if left untreated. Each stage lasts roughly two days. Once a Sim is diagnosed, they will remain in the stage in which they were diagnosed, but how aggressive the cancer is varies and while relate, it is separate from the stage. Cancer on its own lasts roughly 7 days before it becomes terminal but treatments slow down and can reverse its progression.

• Sims can go to the doctor if they suspect something or are symptomatic. If diagnosed, the doctor will tell your sim what type of cancer they have, what stage it was discovered at, and what treatment options they recommend based on the type of cancer, how aggressive it is (this is separate from the stage!), and the stage. Your sim has the option to follow the treatment plan or refuse treatment. If they refuse, they can change their mind.

• Treatment options consist of active surveillance, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery and/or a combination of two treatments. Once a sim has completed the full treatment plan they can check back in with the oncologist to assess how well the treatment plan managed the cancer. For some sims, it is enough to go into partial or complete remission while for others they might be cancer free. For some unlucky few, they might have to undergo a different or additional treatment. For some, there may be nothing else to be done.

• Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy are not one-time treatments, but rather 3 sessions which happen over the course of 9 days. Each session has an affect on the Sim's cancer but how much varies on the type of cancer, aggressiveness of the cancer, and how advanced it is (the stage).

• Surgery is a single treatment in which a sim goes to surgery and then recovery. After which they either can go to the oncologist for the follow up scans or must complete either radiation or chemotherapy before the oncologist takes final scans. For Breast cancer, depending on the aggressiveness of the cancer and the stage it was discovered, for most Sims they will be able to keep their breasts after surgery but for some Sims, they might need to have a double mastectomy for the best outcome.

• Active Surveillance means that your sim has checkups with the oncologist every 3 days to make sure the cancer hasn't spread or become more advanced and thus requires a change in treatment.

• There may be cases where a sim goes into complete remission during treatment and therefore does not need to continue treatments. If they go into partial remission, they will need to finish their treatment plan but after that should need no more treatments.

• Sims can only be considered cancer free by the oncologist after 5 days in complete remission with no recurrence.

• For some Sims in remission, they can experience a recurrence where there cancer comes back even during complete remission. This is somewhat rare but it can happen especially for late stage colon, prostate, and breast cancers.

• Sims have new socials where they can talk about their cancer diagnosis, going into remission, and becoming cancer-free.

• Sims can go to the therapy here in this mod, the same way they can for postpartum depression and can attend the new cancer support group

• Sims with cancer can also use the integrated features from Divergent Sims to utilize the therapy and support group options in that mod if DS is installed and updated.

Please remember there is a new REQUIRED File for Healthcare Redux (v10) and new medication: There's a new package which contains files that are NOT needed if Healthy Living are installed but IS REQUIRED if it is not which changes how Diabetes and Hypertension as well as their respective pregnancy complications as well as Divergent Sim self-esteem and eating disorder recovery are handled by food and drink. There's a new medication as well so replace all files that you use and redownload all the medications that come included with the mod.