The SimLOOK project has closed! For 50 days we have followed 8 free will Sims in 1 house. And on the very last day a new relation took us by surprise!

Nothing lasts forever, although we were starting to believe that the SimLOOK project might be an exception. A few days ago the project closed, cameras were uninstalled, and the testSims were happy to return to a civil life. According to the contract they had to stay in the house until this final report has been publicized. Besides, we, the scientists will join them in a party in the SimLOOK house on their Day51. Simmerville web might post a final "post project" report from that party. From then the testSims will move to different neighbourhoods, thanks to the SUN Family Exchange program. If your neighbourhood is interested in welcoming one of them, there might still be a chance.

The surprise that took place on Day50, was a new strong relation that nobody had noticed before, but now ending up to be the strongest. Read more about that in Mrs Swims' comment. Mr Ballong will share some small facts, and further down you will find the journals.

This time Rasputiz' journal includes a full day's IN THE SPOT report (Day48). On the project's main web page you will find links directly to each of the IN THE SPOT reports.

Here's our 10th and last report, covering Days 46-50. We like to thank you for keeping an eye on our project almost through a full year!

• Personal relations
• Practical and technical
• Journals
• Album

Another surprise! I was so sure John and Sonia would have the strongest relation on Day50, and because the Simmerville Hood Council had announced that the 2 testsims having the strongest relation on Day will have a lot for settling down in Simmerville, I was convinced that I would see them having a baby, even if it happened outside the SimLOOK project. Then Agnes started to challenge Sonia. But we now know that the final result was a surprise to us all. And not the least the 2 women in the project. On the project's very last day John and Arthur ddid a series of communication that looked like an exploding relation - in the positive meaning. It all looked like a superb strategy, like if they both liked the other very much, yes - I actually got the sneaky feeling that they have known each other better than we knew, even before the project started. Do you all remember how John was a mental support to Arthur in the project's first weeks?

John and Arthur have been having a good relation for weeks, but it has been growing so slowly that we hardly noticed. On Day30 it was 31/22, Day35 27/17, Day40 it was 37/39, then on Day45 it was 42/54, and on Day49 it was 39/50 until it exploded on Day50 till 88/80. These two guys have not spent much time together at all, they have mainly been talking at meals. So what happened on Day50? It probably started at breakfast, they talked a lot, and perhaps they agreed on meeting in the downstairs bathroom a few hours later. They discussed a bit, then walked into the FUN room where Arthur entertained John, they danced, then he gave John a gift! We flocked to the monitor because it was the first gift given in the house. Then Arthur walked up behind John and started to give him a back rub. John looked very comfortable with it all.

It shouldn't make any difference, and nobody knows the answer yet, but the last day's development makes us think that John and Arthur have built a gay relationship all through the last 50 days. That would also explain why John hasn't responded to Sonia's and Agnes' strong feelings. It explains why Arthur, in the project's early stages, was so scared by Magdalena's and Agnes' numerous attempts to build a closer contact.

When you read this report, John and Arthur have already accepted to settle down in Simmerville. The other testSims will be spread to other neighbourhoods.

So, what have we learned from the SimLOOK project when it comes to relations? That some relations are doomed to be a zero/zero relation no matter how much they are improved or damaged, they always find their way back to non existing relations, even when both Sims live in the same house. We also learned that complimenting or joking etc. will not necessarily improve the relation, not even if the other Sim is happy with your gesture. And, we learned that some sims will like you even more if you start to cry when that sim is teasing you. Sims are extremely complex by nature, we are the pattern that you will never discover!

No wonder why it's so fascinating to meet new sims!

The project has closed, and I must say I'm impressed with how well everything have worked for 50 days! No dramatic accidents, only one fire, and most of the equipment and the house worked pretty fine, too. In my final comments, I will mention a few observations done throughout the project, not mentioned earlier. Nothing groundbreaking (we lost most of our data half way), just some small facts.

We did expect someone to light the fireplace in the dining room. Nobody did, and we are not sure why. Historians say that sims by nature are afraid of flames, and that no sim would voluntarily light a fireplace. 

Phone calls can be answered more than once! If you have 2 phones in the house, and two household members answer one phone each, then the chance of earning some extra Simoleons is doubled! This happened several times in the SimLOOK house, where they had 3 phones. Normally one of them got a prank call, while the other earned money.

Sims don't like to swim! Ok, we have fun while swimming, and we jump into the water voluntarily. But we observed that a swimming sim will use the most banal excuse to leave the water. Such as "oops, I just have to water that plant that is not even thirsty", or "I simply must clean that dish, even if I am the most slobby Sim in the neighbourhood!". An extremely slobby Sim would never clean a plate voluntarily, but when swimming the cleaning becomes more interesting, which only can mean that swimming is even less interesting than cleaning.

Conversations while eating turned out to be more complex than we thought. The problem for us, scientists, was to log who were talking with whom. We expected this to be an easy task because Sims would be seated around the table, until we found that Sims have an extreme talent when it comes to talking long distance while eating. TestSims eating on the terrace had no difficulties talking with other testSims seated in the dining room downstairs. Historians say that in earlier times storytelling was an important part of the meal, and we believe this long-distance talk is a proof of that. Next time you think your partner talk with you while eating, don't be too sure, he or she might be discussing with the neighbour across the lane!

We also observed that Sims are serving meals even if they are not hungry! In a house with 7 testSims and a many personal conflicts, there might be a reason for such "blind servings", for example in order to ruin someone's sleep, as we know fresh food will wake up anyone who has fully rested.

We also learned that when you get the diligence warning because of bills that are over due, the repoman will come the following day to repossess some of your belongings. It seems like the diligence warnings are most likely sent out in the morning, and that the collection department works in evenings between 6 and 8 PM.

On Day47 many things broke down, such as 2 sinks and there was a bad sound making us believe the elevator was destroyed - although it still worked - we heard a similar sound mid way in the project. Again on Day50 two more sinks broke down.

Finally, we learned that the Sims sleep rhythm by nature is between 10 PM and 6 AM, and that a sim who has got this rhythm disturbed, will adjust the sleeping rhythm with a couple hours per day until it's adjusted back to normal. It's just like if we have a built-in clock, how fascinating!

• A - John
• B - Quentin
• C - Arthur
• D - Magdalena (left on Day24)
• E - Sonia
• F - Rita
• G - Agnes
• H - Rasputiz

It's over, and it's kind of emotional to present the very last journals. 50 days were supposed to be proceeded during a couple months Spring 2002, but the project became so complicated that it has taken nearly a full year! 

I like to thank all of you who voted for reinstated furniture. It was a great help, because we then could leave the bills without interrupting the testSims in order to pay them. On Day50 the repoman visited the house for the last time, and the double bed was repossessed. That was ok as there will be no more sleeping in the house, at least not in a while. We reinstated the Meet Marco PC that got a total of 96 votes! Because many votes were never used, if you voted you might be interested in seeing the rank of the next top 5 items: Painting Portrait Grid (69 votes), Strings Stereo (69 votes), VR Set (65 votes), Piano (54 votes), Brahma 2000 PC (36 votes).
Economically, the project succeeded, on Day50 the account shows only §4.086,- that will be used at the closing party on Day51. We, the 4 scientists being involved, really look forward to meeting the test Sims for the first time since it all started, the 11 of us sure have something to celebrate!

Well, I'll leave you with the final journals, from Day46-50.

In each test Sim's journal, their worst friendship is listed only if their worst relation is below -10. Best relation is listed only if the friendship is above 20. The green all over mood marks (top right in each journal) refers to a scale from -5 to +5, and was checked at midnight.

• A - John
• B - Quentin
• C - Arthur
• D - Magdalena (left the project on Day24)
• E - Sonia
• F - Rita
• G - Agnes
• H - Rasputiz

Best relation: Arthur
Worst relation: none
Co: 
Me: 
Ch: 
Bo: 
Lo: 

Cr: 

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DAY	1AM	3AM	5AM	7AM	9AM	11A	1PM	3PM	5PM	7PM	9PM	11PM
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48				-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
49
50

John had a good period, and again he has been involved with the surprises! We all was excited to find out which woman John would have the best relation to on Day50 - Sonia or Agnes. He hardly talked with Sonia, but spent many hours together with Agnes, making it even harder to predict who he would mate. But, on the project's very last day, John and Arthur made extremely good friends in no time, and they now have the strongest relation in the house as the project closes. See comments by Mrs Swims.

John also improved his relation with Quentin, but nothing dramatically. Other relations were stabile, except the contact with Rita was lowered.

He was observed swimming 5 times, 3 times just on Day50. John seems to be able to socialize while swimming and playing chess, he swam together with Quentin although the pool is rather tiny, and he played chess with Rasputiz and Sonia - both on Day49 and John lost to them both. Logic skill was earned while playing with Sonia.

John had quite a lot of fun, he played train set, flip game, won on the slot machine several times, he even played basket ball and watched tv. In addition he had fun from swimming and playing chess.

Best relation: John
Worst relation: none

Co: 
Me: 
Ch: 
Bo: 
Lo: 

Cr: 

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DAY	1AM	3AM	5AM	7AM	9AM	11A	1PM	3PM	5PM	7PM	9PM	11PM
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48				-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-
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Quentin had another pleasant period, with a good all over mood and no dramas. Except from his contact with Rasputiz, Quentin managed to improve all his relations within the household. He talked a lot with Rita over meals and the chess table, he discussed travels with Sonia, and Arthur even complimented Quentin before they talked about economy.

Quentin was swimming only once, which is less than usual for him. Instead he played a lot chess, got himself 2 skill points, and was beaten by Rita twice.

Not a lot of fun, but he had fun from playing chess. He played the train set, and used the computer, and Day49 seems to be his FUN day.

Best relation: John
Worst relation: Sonia
Co: 
Me: 
Ch: 
Bo: 
Lo: 

Cr: 

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DAY	1AM	3AM	5AM	7AM	9AM	11A	1PM	3PM	5PM	7PM	9PM	11PM
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47
48	-	-	-	-	-	-
49
50

Arthur is this project's surprise. Although this period started quite tough, see his all over mood above, and his sleep rhythm was disturbed after he collapsed on Day47, he alone initiated a conversation with John on Day50 that made us the scientists drop our cup of coffee. Read about this exploding relation in the comment by Mrs Swims. Any way, they ended up as the strongest relation in the house, and beat Sonia and Agnes by far.

Arthur also improved his contact with Rasputiz (yet not a significant relation though), and with Quentin whom Arthur complimented on Day49. His contact with Rita and Sonia was damaged.

Arthur is back in the pool - during these 5 days he jumped into the water 10 times! He got his 5th body point on Day49, and has the best body score in the house. He also played chess with Rasputiz on Day49, giving 1 logical skill point, too.

Arthur had no fun at all except playing the train set on Day46. He had fun from swimming a lot though, and also from playing chess.

Arthur had the worst days of them all, it reminded us of the first week of the project, although this time we were not afraid that he would die. On Day46 Sonia insulted him and he started to cry. It didn't affect their contact though. The next day Sonia insulted him again, and Arthur started to cry, but again, Sonia just liked him more!

Day47 at 12:40 AM, Arthur fell asleep on terrace floor. Woke up 5:13AM

Best relation: John
Worst relation: none

Co: 
Me: 
Ch: 
Bo: 
Lo: 

Cr: 

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DAY	1AM	3AM	5AM	7AM	9AM	11A	1PM	3PM	5PM	7PM	9PM	11PM
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47
48	-				-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
49
50

Sonia's week started rather bad, concerning her all over mood. After Day48 her mood was quite low (+1 of +5 possible) but as you can see to the right of the diagram above, the project's last 2 days were great for Sonia. 

Her relations are interesting, the contact with John has not developed like some scientists wanted, they now have a +52/+94 relation which is fine but actually no longer the strongest relation in the house! Sonia improved her contact with Agnes greatly (+27/0 to +62/+26), and her contact with Quentin improved as well, but not that much.

Sonia was swimming a lot, and only Arthur has got more body points than Sonia on the last day. Sonia also played chess with Rita and Quentin (both on Day46), and with John on Day49. She got 1 logical skill on Day49 at 6:15 PM.

Sonia didn't have much fun, she played the flip game with Agnes, and they also entertained each other. Sonia has fun while she swims though, which she did often.

Best relation: John
Worst relation: none

Co: 
Me: 
Ch: 
Bo: 
Lo: 

Cr: 

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DAY	1AM	3AM	5AM	7AM	9AM	11A	1PM	3PM	5PM	7PM	9PM	11PM
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48					-		-	-	-	-	-	-
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As normal, Rita's 5 days were pretty calm, she played chess a lot, she hardly was social. But - she surprised us by finally jumping into the swimming pool! On Day48 she even got her first body point!

Her relation with Arthur which was around +24/+24 15 days ago is now a 0/0 relation. Her relation with John (+40) is no use because John doesn't like her at all (7). The only relation which has grown a little is to Quentin, but it's still not significant (5/14). They spent quite some time together, mainly talking at meals, but they also played chess together twice (Rita won both times).
On Day46 Rita was observed swimming, and again on Day48 when she got her body point. She also spent some time playing chess, as usual.

Rita's main source for fun was the train set. But she also watched tv twice and enjoyed reading a book.

Best relation: John
Worst relation: Rasputiz

Co: 
Me: 
Ch: 
Bo: 
Lo: 
Cr:

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DAY	1AM	3AM	5AM	7AM	9AM	11A	1PM	3PM	5PM	7PM	9PM	11PM
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48				-	-	-	-	-	-	-
49
50

Her contact with John was stabile, but John doesn't like her enough to encourage her, they go like +25/+96. Instead Agnes managed to build her relationship with the woman who for a while was having the better relation with John, Sonia. On Day49 the two women had a good time fooling around, and their relation grew from 27/0 to 62/26. Sonia entertained Agnes, then Agnes tickled Sonia, then they talked about politics for a while, and Agnes entertained Sonia, gave Sonia a back rub, tickled her - all positive. This is the kind of conversation that Agnes likes the best!

She improved her contact with both Rasputiz and Quentin, but there wasn't enough time to make any difference.

Agnes sure missed the hot tub which was repossessed on Day47. She had fun playing the flip game, slot machine, and the train set. On Day49 Agnes and Sonia had a lot of fun.

On Day47 Agnes had a bladder accident while she was standing inside the tiny shower room. No audience, not far from a shower - no drama.

Best relation: Quentin
Worst relation: Agnes

Co: 
Me: 
Ch: 
Bo: 
Lo: 

Cr: 

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DAY	1AM	3AM	5AM	7AM	9AM	11A	1PM	3PM	5PM	7PM	9PM	11PM
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47
48	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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50

Rasputiz was quite social this time, but he still hasn't got many friends in the house. But it seems he doesn't really care. His mood is all over good, and he did his usual routine, playing chess and watching tv. His relation to Arthur was improved slightly, and his relation with Agnes was improved and ended up with a -10/-10 score.

Day48 was Rasputiz' IN THE SPOT day. See report below. 

Rasputiz played chess almost daily, and for a total of 18 hours. On Day49 he won over John. 

Most of the days Rasputiz watched television, he also had fun from playing with the Sim RailRoad set, and reading a book (Day50).

Day48, midnight: Our final IN THE SPOT DAY is about to begin, this time we will follow Rasputiz closely. He has never got many votes or much attention, as he is known to be spending most of his time playing chess, but a Sim being extremely serious, quite lazy, quite a slob and mean might keep some secrets that we will discover today.

At midnight Rasputiz has just grabbed a plate of a late dinner meal, and is about to get seated in the dining room. There is also Arthur who just got seated. On the terrace Agnes just finished her meal and is now about to clean her dish, Sonia is sitting in the library looking at the 2 heaps of bills she just got from their mail box, and that now are laying on the library desk. John, Quentin and Rita are asleep upstairs.

Arthur talks about sports while Rasputiz tries to change the conversation over to music. They are both in very good all over mood, and not tired at all because they slept during the day. Then Sonia enters the dining room with a plate, and gets seated. She is quite tired and not so hungry, so we don't quite see why she joined the two others. Is she up to something? She starts talking about the weather, but Arthur is done eating, and so is Rasputiz. Rasputiz leaves the room, his plate is still on the table for others to clean, and Arthur goes to the kitchen for his 2nd plate even if he is not any hungry. Maybe he wanted to discuss the weather forecast with Sonia? Any way, we leave them.

Rasputiz can be rather dull at times, but he always pay attention to his surroundings. Now he stands in the kitchen, examining the kitchen wall shelves. He likes them. Then he drinks some espresso, before he surprises us by cleaning 5 of the dirty plates on the dining table, then he cleans the remaining group meal, then he cleans the last dirty plate in the dining room - quite a nice job for a slobby Sim.

It's 4 AM, Rasputiz just sat down in the black sofa in the dining room. He has used the toilet and just showered, his mood is still very good (+4), and there's actually no needs to fulfil. He sits for a while, then goes over to the kitchen to make himself quick breakfast, although he is not any hungry. Arthur enters the room, and compliments Rasputiz. Their relation is now R:10/A:5 compared to 1/0 5 hours ago. As nobody seems to like Rasputiz, this is now his best relation! Rasputiz walks over to the FUN room, and bets §10 on the slot machine 5 times in a row! What a gambler, but he lost it all.

7 AM: Rasputiz used the toilet and is now in the kitchen having some espresso. John, Quentin and Agnes woke up 1 hour ago, and are now having breakfast in the dining room. Rasputiz walks into the dining room, where now Agnes and Rita, who is still wearing her sleep wear, are talking and eating, and Arthur is about to get seated for his breakfast. Rasputiz sits down but is not eating not socializing. He cleans up a snack bag from the kitchen floor, and bets another §10 in the FUN room, but Arthur enters and wants to play the slot machine too, so Rasputiz goes upstairs to use the toilet, he then cleans the bathroom floor and waters the palm plant. It's now 9:30 AM and Sonia just woke up in the pink bedroom next door. All of them are now awake.

Rasputiz heads for the kitchen, serves a group breakfast even if he is not hungry, then waits a while before he figures he can just as well eat some of it. He eats alone in the dining room, bad luck makes him start just while the others are done, and he finishes his meal just when others are getting seated, so no socializing this time either. Except from Arthur he has not communicated with anyone today.

1:35 PM Rasputiz goes to bed in the aquarium bedroom. He just took a shower, and his all over mood is fine (+3). This completes his IN THE SPOT day, because he was sleeping for the rest of the day. He did surprise us a little by cleaning up a lot during the day, and he did not play chess at all. His relation to Arthur was improved, but it's nothing like a strong relation yet. It's quite hard to say that it was an interesting day in Rasputiz' life...