Vault-Tec and The Sims 3 presents: Vault 69

Ever wondered what would happen if the world of The Sims 3 and Fallout collided? Sunset Valley was not spared the destruction of the Great War, when nuclear fire rained down death on October 22nd, 2077. Fortunately for some they were able to take refuge in underground shelters known as vaults.

Our vault is Vault 69 - built to Vault-Tec specifications to house one man and five women. It is fully equipped with everything our sims will need to survive for the rest of their lives. Vault-Tec will offer no guidance to the Vault Dwellers - it is up to them to survive and co-operate using their own free will. Our Eye-On-You cameras will relay the happenings in the vault as they occur.

The entrance to the vault is unassuming, set on the outskirts of Sunset Valley. The blast door will protect against all radiation - however, once inside our sims can never leave. An overview of the entire vault - our safe haven from the post-apocalyptic hell outside. The diner in red is where food-dispensers and trash incinerators will keep sims hale and hearty. The Overseer’s quarters are outfitted with the finest equipment in the vault - the comfiest bed, fastest computer, en-suite bathroom with the warmest shower. There is no designated Overseer. Will our sims establish a patriarchy? Will they rotate the job? It remains to be seen.

The first view of the vault atrium - the doors to the diner and reactor are visible below. On the second level, the most unique feature is the vault’s pool and exercise hall to keep our sims in shape while underground. The vault’s library and computer room provides all the reading materials our sims could need, along with portable video cameras, artists’ easel and chess set to improve logic in the vault. On the right the reactor room is visible - containing the power generator, water chip and laundry facilities.

Looking back from the library into the atrium, which contains tvs for holotape viewing and comfy Vault-Tec issued sofas, as well as a foosball table. Beyond is the music room, with piano, guitars, bass, drums, stereo and dance floor. A bird’s eye view of the living quarters on the vault’s third level, which contains sleeping quarters and shower units. There is also a laboratory, providing access to chemistry set, inventor’s table, tattooists chair, sculptor’s wheel and make-up storage.

But who are the fortunate vault dwellers who we will observe? They have been selected entirely at random and are strangers too each other. Howard Sutherland is the only male in the vault. His psych profile indicates he is childish. He also has issues with romantic commitment, which is bound to be problematic in his situation, is easily impressed, a natural cook and who loves to throw parties.

Maranda Mullen is the next to be profiled. Don’t let the pretty face fool you - she is certifiably insane, as well as having a green thumb, being a mooch, loving books and being a workaholic. Her green thumb will find no outlet underground, potentially increasing her insanity.

It will be interesting to see how our next sim fits in with rest of the vault. Lisette Perry is the only vegetarian among the vault dwellers - eating meat makes her ill. Even the sight disgusts her somewhat. She considers herself a loser, a shy animal lover she is also the neatest inhabitant.

Camille Julian like Lisette is quite shy, but the similarities end there. As an athletic and artistic sim she will get a lot of use out of the vault’s facilities, however her kleptomania is bound to cause conflicts. She’s also absent-minded which may frustrate her fellow vault dwellers.

Emma Martell is next into the vault. She is the most romance-inclined sim in the vault, and a great kisser to boot. However she is a couch potato and hates children, should any be born into the vault. Her friendly nature will stand her in good stead.

Elizabeth MacKenzie is the final vault dweller to be profiled. She scored highest on Vault-Tec IQ tests, but lowest in a crisis situation. Like Emma she dislikes children, but unlike Emma she is not romantic - flirting with her is a tough proposition. She’s the most technically apt in the vault, in the unlikely event that any vault equipment breaks.

What awaits our ragtag band of vault-dwelling survivors? Will they work together to make each others lives easier? will they form cliques and outcasts? Will they even survive, or will they set fire to the place, starve to death or manage to drown in our pool? The observation awaits…next time.

Based on what I know about the other vaults, this will only end in tears.

We’ll see! Anyway, the alarm has been given and the vault dwellers file into their new home. The great blast doors close - nobody enters, nobody leaves. The dwellers are generally happy with their new home, although Elizabeth is displeased about the ventilation system. The dwellers settle into their new home. It appears most of them are gamers, as the computers see a lot of use. Camille and Elizabeth get off to a bad start, although things go better for Camille when she turns off the atrium lights to tell Emma a ghost story.

Howard is the first to test out the pool. The girls might not be keen to follow, as he doesn’t wear his vault issued swimwear. They say there’s a fine line between genius and insanity - a line Elizabeth and Maranda test out in a game of chess. Camille is the first to use the laboratory, sculpting a chair while Howard gets his just deserts - someone steals his clothes while he’s skinny dipping.

Despite having only a towel protecting his modesty, Howard uses the music room to dance the night away. Maranda joins in, deciding to party down rather than answer her gnawing hunger and forsaking the mac and cheese prepared by Lisette. Camille takes the Overseer’s office for the first night. After dancing, Howard drowns his sorrows while Emma looks on in bemusement.

Lisette meanwhile has taken it upon herself to play vault janitor, cleaning the reactor room. Lisette and Camille, being shy sims, have a negative ‘feeling shy’ mood that comes from being around unfamiliar sims. Camille distracts herself with painting while Lisette cleans.

Despite Lisette doing most of the work in the vault, genius Elizabeth decides to complement Maranda for her hard work, possibly confusing her dancing for work. With a vault full of women, this was inevitable. In a rare bout of helpfulness, Howard decides to clean up the diner - only to break the dishwasher. His face says it all.

To console himself, he decides to schmooze it up with Emma and Elizabeth, unleashing a charm offensive in the form of stupid faces. This goes down about as well as you’d expect. Despite forming a dance-based friendship, even Maranda has had enough of Howard and accosts him the toilets to accuse him of being too childish while Lisette looks on.

The vault romantic manages to make a real mess of the reactor room. Maranda’s insanity manifests itself in the form of arguing with herself, making it appear as if she is furious with a tumble-drier. Elizabeth and Camille show that there’s nothing women in their nightwear can’t do, fixing the washer.

Camille’s athletic career gets off to an inauspicious start on one of the vault treadmills. Strangely, she’s not too bothered by Howard once again skinny-dipping. Having had a furious argument with herself, Maranda decides to dress in her vault formal wear in order to go and look at herself in the Overseer’s en-suite. It’s been five days underground - surprisingly all our inhabitants are still alive and show no signs of Vault Depressive Syndrome. Friendly Emma seems to be doing the best - she has the most lifetime points, which accumulate when happy. Shy Lisette has the least, the life of the vault janitor being a thankless one.

Fantastic.

Just stumbled onto this and thought there’d be interest in this thread.

The Sims 2 inside the TARDIS

Let’s see what our vault dwellers have been getting up to…

We’ve seen the first outbreaks of Vault Depressive Syndrome (VDS), a result of prolonged underground habitation also known as being ‘stir crazy’. As radiation levels on the surface are still fatal it is a condition they will have to live with. However, to cope with the ailment Elizabeth appreciates Maranda’s tinkling of the ivories; the first vault dweller to express an interest in the vault’s instruments.

Speaking of skills, Camille is by far the most committed of the dwellers to self-improvement. Most of them have not a skill at all to speak of. Besides face-pulling, that is. Despite a prior falling out over Howard’s childish behaviour, Maranda seems now to appreciate his buffoonery and the two rekindle their friendship. A friendship that seems unlikely to develop with Lisette; Howard jumps out at her as she exits the shower. Stay classy! Lisette recovers by spending the next two nights in the Overseer’s quarters.

After painting such a breathtaking masterpiece, it’s only natural to cool off with a game of darts. Disaster stikes in the atrium - one of the TVs has broken! As a couch potato, watching TV is Emma’s preferred pastime. Fortunately the vault is equipped with a spare. Things aren’t going well in the vault’s library either - Elizabeth breaks another of the computers, leaving only 3 working. As computer games are a favoured activity of the dwellers its loss will be felt bitterly.

Hello, what’s this?! The two are now comfortable sharing a bed together, although no hanky-panky occurs. Elizabeth is the only one keeping the vault from being flooded - no other dweller is willing to pitch in with the repairs. On the lower levels in the vault’s living quarters things are also going pear-shaped; the showers are in a deplorable state requiring constant mopping. They have yet to figure out that repairing them would save them the Sisyphean task. Despite her insanity and no other traits that suggest sociability, it is Maranda who has the most friends in the vault - Elisabeth is now her friend.

Despite being a shy sort, Camille’s tend towards athleticism outweighs her hesitation about joining Howard in the pool, despite him being buck-naked. Camille is by far the fittest of our residents, becoming strong in front of the TV in stark contrast with Emma’s sedate lifestyle. Ignoring the mess in the diner, Howard and Maranda further their friendship over breakfast. They may not be so keen on spending time in there if they knew what Camille had been up to - it had to happen sooner or later. Despite an over-abundance of facilities, she becomes the first to lose control of nature and leaves a puddle of blue Sim pee in the diner.

Reminds me of The Sims 3 Apocalypse Challenge.

This is good, but this is why I want image tags here, I’ve wanted to do a Sims 3 thing (or a LP-ish thing in general) for a while, but the necessity of image links really hurt it.