I am having a problem fulfilling the Family aspirations. Here is the issue:
My Sim was abducted and impregnated. Naturally, his wife adopted her husband's abduction baby, and they have been living like a regular family ever since-- except that this child sometimes does and at other times does not count toward the fulfillment of her family aspirations. I have read comments in various Let's Plays regarding this issue, though they seem to have conflicting accounts about who should and shouldn't count toward these aspirations. I have also searched for quite a while to find any guide about care dependents and their ability to count for family aspirations, and the archived version of this thread was the only thing I've found.
I am aware that I can use cheats to resolve this issue, and if I absolutely have to I will. However, I am trying to complete the Supersim Challenge with her-- all skills, all traits, all aspirations-- so I really don't want to have to do this. They do have two other children in the household-- well one toddler and one on the way (assuming that the Try for Baby interaction that they just did worked-- all signs are currently pointing to yes), so I know that I can use them to complete the Super Parent and Successful Lineage aspirations. However, I'm out of luck with the Big Happy Family aspiration unless I want to use cheats, get rid of one of the family's 3 dogs, or rush the aging process of the kids and/or dogs-- it's safe to assume, though, that I have no interest in doing any of this.
I have listed the specific aspirations and stages that I'm having trouble with (and the ones that seem to be working just fine) below.
I do really hope that this is a glitch, though, and not intended-- since he is not her "natural" child. It sends a very problematic message if this is intended. And this message becomes even more frustrating when you consider that a recent patch increased the rate of alien abductions (and presumably pregnancies(?)), and as a result, if not of this patch then of the simple game mechanics, my Sims ended up with a child that they didn't want at the time. Everyone adores him now, but in a game with a mechanic like this-- that allows for the possibility of a child being forced onto your family-- this child should at least count towards these aspirations the same as any so-called "natural" child.
Again, though, I'm hopeful that this is just a glitch, rendering the previous paragraph irrelevant, but if it isn't I hope that this is something that the gurus will keep in mind as they continue to develop a game that is poised to challenge "traditional" definitions of "family" and of identity-- and, yet, the game's programming still hasn't found a way to consistently account for the place of step-children or other children with primary caregivers who aren't their natural parents. This is an issue for another thread, though, so without further ado, here are the specific aspirations/levels I have been having an issue with:
Super Parent:
Levels 1 and 2 worked just fine with the step-child, and for level 3, she had no problem accomplishing this requirement: "Help a child with schoolwork for 4 hours." This showed up as completed as soon as she reached this level, and, for what it's worth, there's no way that the "child" to whom this refers was her other child-- she is still a toddler and, thus, has not started school.
However, for level 3, I am NOT able to fulfill this requirement:
"Have a child with a Character Value within range to receive a trait"
- Upon reaching this level, she had a child (well, her step-son) whose responsibility Character Value was within range to earn the responsible trait.
- My first guess was that it was not counting because he didn't reach this range while this level of the aspiration was active-- so I had him make a bunch of messes until his responsibility fell out of range. Then I had him clean them up until it was back in range-- no change.
- I will check to see if this requirement is fulfilled for her husband (the child's biological father), but he needs to complete level 2 first.
Big Happy Family:
Levels 1 and 2 worked just fine with the step-child (they were fulfilled either before the daughter was born or before she aged up to a toddler). For level 3, this requirement IS fulfilled: "Be Parent to a child with 3 friends." Again, I'm fairly certain that this was fulfilled before the daughter was born. It was definitely before she aged up to a toddler, though I'm not sure if that matters because her brother did go in and meet her while she was a baby and I'm fairly certain they reached "friend" status-- (It's possible, then, that she was the child with 3 friends" that this level required, I really can't remember when I first switched into this aspiration to see what did and didn't count.)
Either way, this requirement is NOT fulfilled
"Be friends with 3 of your children"
- Her friendship bar is completely full for both children. But, it is only counting 1 of the 2 children as a friend for this requirement. Her husband, on the other hand, is showing up as being friends with both children.
Successful Lineage
So far, this one seems to be working, but, then again, levels 1 and 2 are the same as for Big Happy Family, and for level 3 the only thing she has been able to fulfill so far has been this requirement: "Help a child with homework 3 times." The child is still in elementary school and is still a ways away from maxing any of the child skills, so I won't know for a while if the other two requirements are working when it comes to this child.
