Welcome to Maple Valley!

Update: From October through November 2011, I have been checking and changing my neighborhoods after running Mootilda's HoodChecker program. There were a few problems, so the file for Fixed_Maple Valley is new, the file for Clarkston University is exactly the same because HoodChecker said it was okay. If you have previously downloaded Maple Valley, and want to continue using the version you are playing, then you might want to run HoodChecker yourself, and follow the instructions in Mootilda's thread to fix the things it finds is wrong.
Thanks again to Mootilda! 

On the 2^nd of June 2005, a guy at TSR going by the username Zythe had the idea of creating a neighborhood that we'd make ourselves: with its own 'main' characters, and a storyline that you can follow and play out according to the clues lying around in their family descriptions, individual bio's, and by examining their relationship panels and memories. Or ignore all of that, do exactly as you like, and point them in your own direction!
To do this, there were things to learn and sort out inbetween, but on the 19^th of September 2005 it was released. A year or so later, my own version of Maple Valley 'died', and I was completely sad! I had big plans for that hood, the whacky charactered and sillilly named sims wound their way into my heart. Even the ones I thought I'd dislike became important to me. You don't really need to know that, but it may explain my passion and love for this neighborhood. I was part of the team that had put it together, the team gradually left the Sims 2 community and I've 'faded out' of it as well, apart from uploading and updating my own neighborhoods.

Throughout all that time, people have still contacted me wanting Maple Valley, even after I'd told them about the problems it had. I'd created my own version of it again, moving on from the point where my game had broken down, but for some unknown reason, I didn't back up that new version! So when I went back to the game after a long break and wanted to start over, I found that wasn't possible.

More recently, on Mootilda's journal at ModTheSims, she has made a list of downloadable neighborhoods, and I saw that Maple Valley was there but I also knew that 'as it stood' it was quite broken. After finishing off some of my other projects, I knew I now had the time to recreate it, so here I go again!

This new one is as close to the original Maple Valley that I can make it, because I want all the funny/stupid/crazy I enjoyed playing so much the first time around! And because people have still been downloading it after all these years...maybe others might like to have a look at it too, in the knowledge that it's now as safe as I was able to make it!

The links on the right hand side in the archive section each lead to additional content that you can use either in Maple Valley, or any neighborhood you choose. I have put together a new university subhood, this will appear in your menu along with the EA/Maxis Sims State, Acadèmie LeTour and La Fiesta Tech universities, so it can be added to Maple Valley or any other neighborhood you choose as well. I have also put the lots I've used for that into a folder for seperate download, for those who would rather make up their own version, or perhaps use the lots in an another university.

There is a page that has three add-on families in their houses to download, then there are other individual lots that would suit a downtown setting very well, but they don't need to go there, and can be placed anywhere else you want to put them! There is also a page showing the Maple Valley family backstories, with pictures of the main characters so that you can see what you're going to get!
My email address is included with the major downloads, I am always willing to try to help if you have any problems. 
lechapeau  

Download - Maple Valley Neighborhood

Update: Oct/Nov 2011 Maple Valley has been fixed according to Mootilda's HoodChecker program.
For your own benefit you are advised to back up your game before adding this neighborhood.

Main installation instructions
Maple Valley requires the base TS2 game and the University Expansion Pack installed on your computer in order to play.
When you click to download, you will get a Rar file. You will have to unpack that using WinRar or Extract Now, it will then open up and give you a folder called New_Maple Valley. Inside of that folder you will find the MV02 folder, as well as the following installation instructions, along with some other information.
I have used Mootilda's Lot Compressor to make the filesize for this neighborhood much smaller, this will not affect you as the player! More information can be found by clicking the named link to the right.

1. To install Maple Valley, place the MV02 folder in your My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods folder.
2. Start up your game, Maple Valley should now appear in the neighborhood selection menu along with the usual EA/Maxis 'hoods and/or your other custom neighborhoods.

Usually custom neighborhoods will appear at the end of your menu screen, and after the EA/Maxis neighborhoods, where this one tends to show up earlier, between the newer EP 'hoods (Belladonna, Desiderata, Riverblossom) and Pleasantview.
Maple Valley contains no CC. A copy of the neighborhood has been tested to make sure all edits appear as planned, and to check on and play out certain circumstances that I thought needed looking at. There are a couple of small issues, details of those are included in the Rar, along with the MV02 folder.

Download Fixed_Maple Valley

Other Information
Maple Valley has been made in a newly created clean game, using empty templates from MATY and Numenor's AnyGameStarter in an empty base game/University set up.
Maple Valley now has a custom folder name/number, MV02.
To edit the sims, skills, jobs and their job levels, I used The Sim Manipulator, and to edit everything else, I used SimPE.
I've used Pescado's noregen hacks, and others I felt I needed from his 'Director's Cut' to halt annoying behaviour for the times I needed to unpause the game.
For sims looking as if they should have career rewards, and for items on the new community lots, I used Sophie-David's buyable Aspiration & Career Rewards (all links can be found in the links list to the right).
All Maple Valley sims, families and townies were cloned using the original EA/Maxis face templates, for any new townie sims or NPC's I've used Spookymuffin's Face Templates.

My main reason for remaking Maple Valley

In the original version there were quite a few broken character files, there were also some duplicate characters. Eventually these things would have led to differing levels of neighborhood corruption for anyone playing Maple Valley...or as MATY would call it, BFBVFS.

Mootilda at MTS has made a list of playable neighborhoods, which can be found on her Journal, seeing Maple Valley on that list, and having recently finished updating all of my other neighborhoods with Mootilda's help, I felt fixing it was something that I could do, and so should!

As part of the original group of contributors to this neighborhood, I know the background, I know most of the intended twists and turns in the storylines, and it was important to me to get this right! I have no idea whether anyone out there wants this, but if you do and you are reading this, I hope you will enjoy playing Maple Valley!

Thanks

The main thanks must go to Zythe for the idea of making this neighborhood and for putting it all together in the first place. To the TSR forum members of 2005, for their enthusiasm and encouragement during and after the project, especially JRon who contributed add-on lots, and to TSR Moderators AudreyMay for all of her help, and Moza who went on to host Maple Valley for a very long time.

In the order they joined the project, the creators of Maple Valley were: Zythe, MeLfaith, babajayne, HazyFlowers, miss_rachel, Mistwind, Kail210 and cpowell8203.
I am lechapeau.

Credits and thanks for all I've used to recreate Maple Valley
Numenor for AnyGameStarter
SimPE and the SimPE team
Pescado at MATY
The Sim Manipulator
Spookymuffin for the Replacement Face Templates
Sophie-David for Buyable Reward Objects
Mootilda, for all of her hacks, tutorials and very useful programs. Her help before with my other subhoods, and for making the list that spurred me on to do this!
Huge thanks to all, and all links are in the list to the right!

Download - Clarkston University Subhood

Update: Oct/Nov 2011 Clarkston University was checked with Mootilda's HoodChecker program, and it was found to be okay.

Quote from Zythe: "I'll rename it something that implies it's even Anton's school where he brainwashes students to vote for him, support his evil campaigns and join the army"

How it came about

With the original Maple Valley, I made a few university lots and would upload them whenever I was asked, for people to put together and make their own Maple Valley University. At that time, downloadable subhoods were something we could only wish for, now that they have become a reality, I thought I might as well adapt what I had and add a few things to it to make a complete subhood. The individual lots are still available separately below, for those prefering that option.

I like it, I will add it to my own shiney new version of Maple Valley, but it's not 'great' or majorly exciting. It 'fits' with the rest of of Maple Valley, as with the lots there, no particular theme was ever used, although I have matched some lots that all sit together in groups by using similar doors/windows/decor to make them look as if they belong. All lots are flat, I've tried to keep them at least medium sized, but I'm neither goot at, or inspired by making very small lots, and I don't like having my own sims be too cramped.

There are other university options you may prefer, such as Mootilda's Brainania complete subhood which is available at MTS, or Prospect University: Modular College, which is by Zazazu at MATY.

Download Clarkston University

Clarkston University has been made using Numenor's Any Game Starter in a base/University/Nightlife set up, and therfore requires those EP's installed in order to work. It uses an original EA/Maxis SC4 template, Sample SC4, and was created following a tutorial by Mootilda at ModTheSims.
All downloads are Rar files, links for WinRar and Extract Now can be found in the list to the right.

To Install

Place the CU04 folder into your Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 University\TSData\Res\NeighborhoodTemplate folder.

*NOT* into your My Documents\EA Games folder.

To Uninstall
Simply delete the CU04 folder from your Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 University\TSData\Res\NeighborhoodTemplate folder.

Note that if Clarkston has already been attached to any of your neighborhoods, then deleting it from the Program files will not take it away from them. It will just delete this neighborhood from the list of University destinations available in your menu. You will need to use the trashcan icon from within the game to delete it from an actual neighborhood.

If you use other custom subhoods, the mod by Mootilda to fix the subhood selection available in the list of links you should be able to see to the right, will allow them all to show up in your catalog menu's.

Nothing else needs deleting/moving or backing up in your Program Files folder, Clarkston will not replace any of your other university 'hoods because it has a different ID and folder number. It will be available as a choice in the menu when you click to add a university to a main neighborhood and it is 'as well as', not instead of any Maxis/EA or custom uni neighborhood's you currently play.

There are no Sims included with this subhood, it requires no custom content. All lots have been weatherproofed by placing tiles under existing roof space, this should be helpful if you have the Seasons EP and will also provide ceilings if you have the Apartment Life EP.

I have also used SimPE, Pescado's Directors Cut hacks at MATY, and Buyable Reward Objects by Sophie-David in the making of this subhood, again, all links can be found in the list to the right.

If you don't want a complete subhood, but would like the lots to make up your own university

Download a folder containing the loose University lots

Please note: don't place houses that were made in a university subhood into a normal non uni neighborhood, as this may cause problems with sims aging in your game.

The Dorms

Clarkston Dorm has 8 rooms, all have desks and dressers. This includes two rooms, each with double beds and en-suite bathrooms. Then as well as the normal dorm type items, the lot features a gym and then in the garden you will find two obstacle course career rewards.

Selena Dorm has 6 rooms, all have desks. Two of the rooms have double beds, plus dressers and en-suite bathrooms. Along with the normal dorm type items, the lot has a science block with career reward objects and a music room.

Fruit 'n' Nut Dorm has 12 rooms, all with desks. There are two rooms with double beds, plus dressers and en-suite bathrooms. This dorm is more in keeping with the EA/Maxis style, and only has the tele prompter career reward as extra to the normal dorm type items.

Clarkston Campus | Clarkston Dorm
 MV Logo Park | Clarkston Library

There are 11 Community Lots

Note: This number doesn't include the towers sitting each side of the campus building; as they currently stand, these are purely for decoration. There is nothing at all for your sims to do there, there are no doors. However, there is room to adapt them if you want to: simply remove a section of the pool where you want the entrance to be, then add steps, a door and whatever else you think there should be!

All community lots have toilet facilities, some also have showers.

Da Sylvia Park has instuments and a coffee bar.

Maple Valley Walkthrough park was based on the Maple Valley Logo and includes a barbeque area.

There's the usual campus building which includes a bar, a cafeteria, seating andf computers. There is a library, and a gym with a small outdoor pool. There's a bowling alley, a couple of restaurants and bars, with the usual fun items which allow students to unwind, mix and mingle, or cause mischief!

Please Note: The bar on Clarkston Campus isn't the kind that generates a bartender, if you want one then please replace it with a bar that does.

Houses

Antoniere Road has 6 houses for rent, all very small and basically furnished, with two bedrooms and ranging in price from 3,012 to 4,233 simoleans. They each have a double bed and one or two single beds, there's room on each lot to extend if you choose to, and have the funds to do so.

There is one slightly larger house for richer sims, and one even larger property suitable to change into a Greek house.

There is a Secret Society lot, which as usual has career reward objects, and hopefully looks suitably dark and mysterious!

The largest house, and potential Greek House

Downloads - Maple Valley Extra Add-on Families & Lots

These add-on lots and families do not have to be used in Maple Valley, they can be placed anywhere, in any neighborhood you choose. The lots and sims are all clean, unplayed and as safe as downloadable lots containing sims can be.
We didn't make a downtown for Maple Valley; the three families and other lots here are not enough to fill out a whole downtown, and I don't currently have the time needed to make further lots or create a whole downtown subhood, or the time it would take to test and/or edit it.
These are offered as loose lots, for you to pick and choose as you prefer. Descriptions and pictures will give you an idea of what you're getting, pictures of inside the lots have been included in the Rar files. All lots have tiles placed under the roofspace, which will weatherproof them for use with the Seasons EP, and this will also give them ceilings if you have FT/AL, or whichever EP gave us ceilings!
All downloads are Rar files, links for WinRar and Extract Now can be found in the list to the right.

The Bar Family - 4 Biscuit Drive

The sims themselves all have sweet or biscuit themed names, they also have what were intended to be fun and fairly extreme, active, outgoing and playful personalities. They are Jella Bayne, her husband Twix, their teen daughter Candie, teen son Mars and a toddler daughter named Kitkat.
Hyfiba is Twix's much healthier brother!
They live in a very large split level house which was intended to be placed in Maple Valley's downtown. The house has two garages, a large entry hall with a weights room to one side (too small to be called a gym!), a bathroom to the other side and a kitchen and dining room at the back, each leading out to a small garden square. Upstairs has a large, width of the house lounge, there are five bedrooms, each with en-suite bathrooms.
As mentioned, they were all made in a completely clean account for use in Maple Valley, but you can use them wherever you choose. The Bar familiy haven't been played and have no skills.
Download The Bar Family in their house


The Minion Family- 9 Nougat Lane

There seemed to be a real lack of teen boys in Maple Valley to begin with, not so now in the new version because I've added some to the townie pool.
The Minion storyline is that they were kidnapped and taken as youngsters to be brought to Maple Valley. The eldest, Aleksei, along with Vitali, Rurik, Pavel, Lev and Oleg, were put to work in this old converted building by Dr Ivan Fabulous. Ivan used the bulding in his work with Anton Rivière to make 'The Ultimate Candy'. This was a sweet said to be so dangerous that it will sway a vote as soon as it's popped into your mouth!
If it had worked, that is...But the mixture exploded; leaving Dr.Fabulous as 'The Sour Taste', and John Smith the journalist sent to investigate the crime as 'Can D. Apple'...Supervillain and Superhero of Maple Valley. After their plans failed, Rivière and Fabulous abandoned the factory, and the boys were forgotten and left behind. Now grown, Aleksei continues to try to take care of the teens, but they are strong minded and unruly. Will they resent his authority, or can Aleksei take control, and keep them all from taking the wrong path?
Note: The above is just their supposed storyline, Aleksei and the boys *do not* have any memory of Dr.Fabulous, nor he of them because they have never actually met, or been part of the same game. The Minions have been edited to remove Aleksei as their father. He has a job, otherwise they are non played sims, but they have been given a few skill points.
Two of them have teased each other, which is why their relationship isn't too good. This happened when I first went in, before I could pause the game.
Again, they were all made in a completely clean account, and although these sims were made for use in Maple Valley, you can use them anywhere you choose.
Download The Minion Family in their house

Rufus Parker- 6 Peppermint Road

Rufus is a single male sim, and lives in a fairly large house with open plan living, a bathroom and one bedroom. There are a further two empty rooms upstairs to use as further bedrooms, a study, or as you wish. Rufus and his house were made for Maple Valley's downtown. I made him to match up with Alison MacDonald, though as I've said previously, you can put him anywhere and he can be paired with anyone!
This house closely matches the Townhouse which is available below in the group of Extra Add-on Lots.
Download Rufus Parker in his house
                        _____________

Other houses here have no particular numbers or streetnames.

Pic-Nic Area Park - Requires Basegame Only

This is a bumpy park, areas where sims are most likley to gather have been flattened out, but they will probably still stomp and complain if the sim they want to talk to is on a more bumpy area at the time. I believe it has been built on a hill, and when you place it, it is likely to raise the ground surrounding it. The lot includes a barbeque spot, swings, chess tables and a pond with a bridge.
Download Pic-Nic Park (file will appear as Park-Base TS2)

Downtown House - Requires Uni/NL

This house has a garage, downstairs has an open plan layout. There is a gap between the garage and the main house, I was going to put a bathroom on the lower level, but I did that in the house Rufus Parker lives in, which can be found above, so at the moment this gap is wasted space. Just so that you know! It includes a bedroom and a bathroom, other rooms upstairs remain empty for you to use as you wish.
Download Downtown House (file will appear as Townhouse-Uni+NL)

Bowlpoop Nightclub - Requires Uni/NL

Made 'to honor' boolrop, and all of the weird and wonderful things it can bring, and was used for in the original making of Maple Valley. 
Anyway, this lot has a restaurant to one side, a bar to the other, and a dancefloor with a DJ Booth.


Download Bowlpoop Nightclub (file will appear as Nightclub-Uni+NL)



Simstons - Requires Uni/NL

One of those huge old stores most big towns have, it has a restaurant and sells pretty much everything except food.
Download Simstons (file will appear as Updated Simstons-Uni+NL)






Modern Cottage - Requires Uni/NL/OfB

A smallish open plan house, with two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. It has trellis work in the garden and above the driveway.

Download Modern Cottage (file will appear as Cottage-Uni+NL+OfB)




A Slice Of Cake - Requires Uni/NL/OfB

This lot has been made to look like a decorated two tier cake, and is intended to be an ownable bakery business. It has a small staff room, there is both a restaurant stove and an ordinary cooker in the kitchen, meaning this could be a full restaurant and/or a bakery.
Note though that at the moment no podium has been placed.
Download A Slice of Cake (file will appear as Ownable Bakery-Uni+NL+OfB)

Bungit 'n' Plugit - Requires Uni/NL/OfB

This lot was made to be an ownable business. It has shelving to add goods of your choice and a small staff room. The store is set out as a bathroom and fitments showroom, with a bathroom display in one corner, and then toilets, sinks, towel rails and mirrors arranged on the shop floor. Objects have been placed using snapobjectstogrid, decor as well and, while playing, this might cause some issues. All toilets have plants placed inside, to hopefully stop sims from attempting to use them!
Download Bungit 'n' Plugit (file will appear as Ownable Store-Uni+NL+OfB)

Stories - The Maple Valley Families

A few of the pictures below feature scenes from my old Maple Valley game, where custom content was used. They illustrate what I was trying to show in the text, they are old, Maple Valley includes no CC, and the file you will download has not been played!

Rivière - by Zythe

Anton Rivière is the Mayor of Maple Valley, and is a power mad, mean, nasty and money driven man. Married to Sylvia, a retired movie star, their relationship is very strained and it would appear he only stays with her to keep his public image intact.
Anton has had plenty of affairs throughout their life together and Sylvia ignores them; he doesn't treat her well, she still loves him, but lives in a dream world where she pretends everything is fine. Selena and Clark have a strong relationship: they confide in, depend on and can laugh easily with each other. But of the two children, Anton favours Clark, and tries to encourage him to follow in his own footsteps. Clark isn't interested in Anton's schemes and manipulation, he has a reasonable relationship with his father but is aware that Anton's 'deals' benefit no one but himself. Where that isn't Clarks way at all, he just wants to get on with life as he chooses. Their daughter Selena has a very stormy relationship with Anton, they constantly push each other to the limit and she is just beginning to learn the full lengths this man is prepared to go to to get his own way. Selena gets on with her mother well, but they haven't managed to become too close all the while Sylvia has her head stuck so far in the sand!

Hudson - by MeLfaith

Marnie's husband ran off with his company secretary just after their twins Joel and Sienna were born. Now teens, she is trying to make a really good relationship with them, though as usual with kids of their age, they are much more interested in distancing themselves from her all too cozy looking little world. They just want to get out, make friends and have fun!
On the surface, Marnie is perhaps an overly fussy mother, she cleans up every last spot of dirt and does her best to keep her home and family in order...but underneath...


Applebaum - by babjayne

Luke felt his world was complete: he had married Maria and they had moved in with his parents. They'd all been getting along so well, how could it end this badly, that fast?
Luke and his mother and father had been a very close family, getting over both of their very sudden deaths was turning out to be terribly hard for him. When Maria said she was pregnant, with her love and support, the baby's arrival would bring a new beginning and he knew they would get through...



Tieliner - by HazyFlowers

Life had had its ups and downs, but their marriage was strong and everything seemed good in their world. So Joe was utterly distraught when his wife Tera died, leaving him with teen daughter Shiya, son Tim and toddler Terri.
Shiya helps out at home, she cooks and cleans and looks after Terri while Joe is at work, but she also needs time to herself. She has become quite stroppy since losing her mother, and is starting to get herself into trouble with her peers. Tim is so very sad, he misses his mum and just wants everything to go back to normal again! They all love Terri, and care for her the best that they can. Joe works at trying to hold them all together, where in truth he is falling apart.

Oak - by mistwind

Peridot has had two failed marriages, her first husband beat her and the second had an affair. She has a teen daughter Topaz, a son Matt, and has recently fallen in love with Jim Mathews.
Jim has now moved in, but is she really ready, and does she want the level of commitment that he says he is prepared to give? Her kids have suffered through her break-up's, Topaz doesn't know the whole story of why her mother threw her father out, and she resented Peridot for a while for divorcing him. They have since started to rebuild their relationship, and things are becomming less strained. Matt heard Peridot telling Jim what had happened with her ex's, but he's still rather young, can he keep this information a secret from his sister?
Can Jim help to heal Peridot's heart, is he worthy of her trust, and will everything turn out better this time?

MacDonald  - by Kail210

Four siblings, all having struggled after their parents death in a car accident while they were teens. They are now making their way along different paths, each with a goal, but will they all succeed in reaching what they're aiming for?



Chuang - by miss_rachel

Weng-lu is an overbearing father who has a strong influence over his shy daughter Mei-en. He arranged her marriage to Feng, and later, he and Feng were caught conspiring against their government.
Feng was taken prisoner, luckily Weng-lu managed to escape and went back for Mei-en. They were both then helped to get away safely. But now Mei-en has no idea whether Feng is alive or dead.
With very few funds, Mei-en and Weng-lu made their way to Maple Valley, where they have bought a very small, sparsely decorated house. Weng-lu has taken a part time job, but money is still very tight. Mei-en has dreams of Feng, she says she feels him near. But Weng-lu knows Feng was unlikely to survive, and feels that she is making herself sick with worry, he is very concerned for her and wishes she would move on.

Tangia - by HazyFlowers

Elvie had taken time out to travel before deciding what she would do with her life. She had been visiting a group of islands, and was about to finish her trip when there was a commotion behind her. People started pushing and shouting, someone gathered their things and they got into their all too small boat and left quickly. As it turned out, they had set off just in time, because as she settled herself, she noticed passengers beside her were wide-eyed with fear and gasping as they looked towards the island, she turned around to see an explosion in the distance!
Having somehow safely arrived at the airport, there was still panic all around. Checking her baggage before hastily being bundled onto a waiting plane, Elvie discovered a baby wrapped in a torn blanket, staring up at her from inside of her holdall. Elvie didn't know what to do! At that moment, the crowd surged, and she found herself in her seat on the plane with the baby in her arms, and before she knew it, they took off!
Was it shock, or the fact that Elvie was just a little bit ditzy at the best of times, but she had said nothing, and in return, no one seemed to question her either. So she just acted as normal as was possible in the circumstances, and took the child home.
Elvie sat on her sofa, holding this scared little girl to her, and although she had no maternal insticts at all, she tried her best to look after the baby. She decided to call her Duluth, which was the name of the island she'd been visiting, and she later adopted her, but she fears the dreaded social worker because Elvie's parenting skills leave a lot to be desired!
Elvie is dating Clark Rivière: before she left things had become more serious between them, and now Duluth has come along, she was worried about how he would react. But for some reason it was all much easier than she'd thought it would be, and Clark seemed to understand her situation. He said he had been stationed near the area Elvie had been visiting, and that with a baby or not, he was glad she had returned home safely!

Tiki - by Zythe

Shaman and Childbearer Tiki had been the King and Queen of Duluth, a beautiful island that was sadly no more. It had been blown up when its God, Simpetricus, became angry with them for some reason, and had spirited their baby daughter away and given her to a girl with blonde hair who told them her name was Elvie. She had visited their village earlier that awful day, and as with many tourist groups before, they had just called on their spirits to grant her good luck. But Shaman took a liking to this girl, and he added a prayer to Simpetricus, to carry her home safely with everything she'd need in life.
After the explosion, with only the clothes they stood up in, and a bag of jewels, they managed to escape the ruins of their beloved island, and have made their way to Maple Valley in search of their daughter.
Shaman needs Duluth to know her destiny, Childbearer is missing her little girl dearly and can't wait to find her. Duluth's story is one that could be at the heart of Maple Valley, and her future is yours to decide...

Teal - by cpowell8203

They are supposed to be love's young dream: sweethearts since high school, Derrick and Angie seemed destined to be together. She loved Derrick with all her heart, and thought that following him here was right, and would be something she could live with. Even though it meant leaving some of her own hopes and dreams behind. But how long can she survive in a marriage where she feels unfilled and under appreciated? Will Derrick and Angie be able to make their “perfect marriage” last or will resentment and temptation tear them apart?


Fabulous - by Zythe

Dr.Ivan Fabulous works for Anton Rivière as his private scientist, and helps with many of his most evil schemes. As a result of an unfortunate accident while making 'the ultimate candy', an explosion gave him awsome superpowers and transformed Dr. Fabulous into 'The Sour Taste', Maple Valley's supervillain!
Ivan has a crush on that nice guy next door, John Smith, but otherwise has no apparent softer side! He is supposed to hide his special powers, but quite enjoys wandering around annoying people, and drawing attention to himself!

Smith - by Kail210/Zythe

This is John, on a rare day off enjoying a spot of golf with his friend Ivan, who lives next door! Ivan is a bit of a character, he isn't John's usual type, but so far, their relationship has been quite good (even if Ivan can be a little evasive), and it makes a nice change from the hectic secret life that he has being Maple Valley's superhero, Can D. Apple!
It all started back when he was a journalist for The Chocolate Sun newspaper, and he had been investigating Mayor Anton Rivière's evil plans. He followed Anton to an old factory downtown one night, and was hiding behind some boxes when there was an explosion! Ever since, he has been in possession of awsome superpowers, and spends his time protecting Maple Valley from evildoers everywhere! Well, most of the time anyway...

Hyacinth - by mistwind

Tammy is from a rich family, but is now trying to make it on her own. She dreams of being a chef, though hopefully she can still have a little fun while she's being so independant!





Montelli - babajayne/Zythe

Mario and Sophia's daughter married Luke Applebaum not so long ago, in recent times Sophia has been reassessing her life and feels that she wants a little more from it. While her husband Mario seems fairly happy to just coast along as they are, the same as he always has.
Can the Montelli's find some new interests that will suit them both?



Whadia - by lechapeau

Seema Whadia has had to move back in with her parents because her husband Nahim made a bad business deal. This meat they lost their home and almost everything else that they owned! Her father, Bimtar despises Nahim, and holds him completely responsible, even though it wasn't all Nahim's fault. Her mother, Sabjeet is very well meaning, but constantly puts pressure on Seema to have another child.
They already have a teen daughter, Manesha, and Seema thinks a baby is the last thing they need, she just wants to work along with Nahim to get them back on their feet again. Manesha can be moody, she resents leaving behind their old life, and has formed quite a bond with her grandparents, sometimes ganging up with them on Nahim while her mother is at work!
Nahim feels a failure, it seems that no matter what he tries to do, nothing works out well. He dreams of having his own business, but keeps losing jobs, or getting terrible ones that pay a pittance and all of this prevents them from leaving this miserable house!

Maritzo - by lechapeau

Naldo is a proud father and of course wants the best for his son, but he tends to push Eligio a little too far. His wife, Agostina, is stuck in the middle of their arguments; but she knows that trying to stop Naldo is an impossible task, she also sees that Eligio is just as stubborn! So she leaves them to it, while they both resent the fact that she doesn't take a side.


Harris - by lechapeau

The Harris family have little hope: Jack has spent his life gambling and propping up the bar, while his wife Deandra does nothing around the house, but works the late shift at the gas station and spends most of the rest of the night hanging around town. Their teen daughter Pepper seems strong, she takes care of her little sister Tess and does all she can to make life more normal for her.
Pepper has a crush on Eligio Maritzo, though they are only friends but he stood up for her while the girls were teasing her at school. But he has no idea how she feels, and probably wouldn't be interested anyway. She longs to go to university, to get something better than a dead end job, and take Tess away from here,  But she knows that with funds as tight as they are she'll never be able to afford to go, and what would happen to Tess if she did? Jack and Deandra can barely look after themselves!
Tess wants her mum and her dad to stop being so mean to each other, and for Pepper to not look so sad!

Details of Changes Made & Some Lot Pictures

If you've ever played Maple Valley before, I have made a few changes:
Main families
1. Sylvia Tangia is now known as Elvie (mainly to avoid there being 2 Sylvia Rivière's if she stays in her current relationship, and marries Clark)
2. Lovers to certain sims have been left out, unless they actually added to the storyline
3. The MacDonald ghost parents have not been recreated because they didn't add anything to the storyline
4, The Oak childrens father's/Peridot's ex-husbands are now townies, it was suspicious for both to have died!
5. Derrick Teal is no longer related to Luke Applebaum, and Angie Teal is no longer related to Naldo Maritzo. Their story specifically said that they had moved away from their families, although another connection still remains...

All other storylines are intact, 'mysteries' have been recreated to the best of my ability. I hope it's enough to say 'so and so had affairs', without keeping each and every lover, in the same way that we all know each of the sims should have had parents at some point, they just didn't all need to stay in the game! I felt that the ones who remain might add something, if you think not then you are free to send them to the new graveyard!
I would highly recommend using J.M.Pescado's nounlinkondelete hack, found at MATY (be sure to get the version that goes with your game set up). Gravestones and urns get smashed, it isn't good for your neighborhood to have broken ghost files, and that hack makes me less worried if the game decides 'lose a few' from time to time!

Townies
The original townies had Missy Understood (F/A) actually being an elder male, and Bobby Jones (M/A) as a teen, he may also have been changed into a female. I understand from posts at MATY that this is, or can be, a bad thing, so those changes have not been made to them this time around.
As mentioned above, the Oak fathers are now townies. They were connected up as cousins, to make having the same surname make sense, meaning the children also then become cousins to the one that isn't their father. It made sense at the time.

NPC's
In the original Maple Valley, NPC names were changed to simmified versions from music artists and movie stars, many names were given by Zythe and some others were suggested that members of the group liked the sound of. Specifically, we had one named 20 Cent, and one named 3 Pac; sadly those particular sims are no more, but they have been replaced by Beyoncè Knowlesim and Jai Zeesim!
Not all NPC's that recieved particular names were created during the making of this version of Maple Valley, any new sims that get generated in your own game will be given EA/Maxis names, unless you have one of those programs/hacks that will generate different names.

Maple Valley Houses that have had the biggest changes 

Rivière House | Hyacinth House
  Hudson House | Applebaum House

Maple Valley Community Lots

Main picture is the New-Sweet Wrappings Cemetery
Then Sugar Park | Revamped-Cream & Sugar Coffee House | Maple Valley Mall | New-Maple Valley Leisure Center