Bring Back Death by Guinea Pig!

"SimGuruGraham;c-16366150" wrote:
Hey everyone, I'm sure some of you have been following along as I've been busy replying to questions on twitter all day. I thought this would be a good spot to share more about that infamous disease that's making a return though, as I can get a bit more in-depth here :)

First off, yes... there's a dangerous, deadly, and quite contagious disease coming. This time, it's called Rabid Rodent Fever. If your Sim suffers through until - I must say - a somewhat gruesome death, there's even a fun twist to discover in the afterlife. Not to worry though, there's steps you can take to protect, or to cure your Sim. Here's how it works...

For the initial outbreak of the disease to occur, a Sim must be bitten by a rodent that's inside a dirty habitat. Once this happens, it's only a matter of time until the Sim begins to feel the effects...

Day 1
- Your Sim may develop a bit of a nagging cough, or perhaps a headache. Surely it will blow over... *evil cackle* (It won't.) >:)

Day 2
- The symptoms can't simply be brushed aside any longer. In addition to clearly showing signs of a nasty fever, your Sim's bladder and hygiene motives will decrease much faster than normal.

Day 3
- In addition to the disease having fully set in, your Sim has now become dangerously contagious. Simply standing in the vicinity of a Sim in stage 3 of Rabid Rodent Fever is enough for other Sims to contract the sickness. The sick Sim will continue to show their symptoms, their bladder and hygiene will continue to be difficult to control, and in addition they'll need to run to the toilet to throw up from time to time. It's quite unpleasant for them.

Without treatment, after 72 hours of Rabid Rodent Fever, your Sim will die. Should they come back in the afterlife, you'll find that they've transformed into an oversized ghostly hamster that's foaming at the mouth. A fearsome sight indeed!

As grim as this all may sound, don't let it be a cause for concern. Sims who are afflicted with Rabid Rodent Fever must first research the disease on a computer, or visit a veterinarian to find out more about it. Armed with information, they can then order a serum from the computer, which will immediately cure them when drank. If this disease is something you want to avoid in your game completely, you can also order an inoculation for the disease from the computer, which will permanently safeguard your Sim from contracting the disease.


With all of that said, let me share a few additional details so that speculation doesn't run rampant. Here's some specifics about how it all works...

• Every Sim has the potential to catch Rabid Rodent Fever, be they a member of your household, a played family for rotational players, or a NPC Sim.
  
• Only Sims in the active household that you're currently playing will be able to die from Rabid Rodent Fever. Sims that you've played previously, or NPC Sims, will eventually cure themselves of the sickness.
  
• Only Sims in your currently active household can spread the disease to other Sims.
  
• While your Sims have 72 hours to live once they've caught Rabid Rodent Fever, this time will be paused when they're not actively loaded. For example, if you've left your Sim's mom sick at home with Rabid Rodent Fever while you're off gallivanting in the jungles of Selvadorada, you won't return to find that she's passed away while you were gone. Some may notice that this is a nod to how the disease worked in The Sims: Livin' Large. ;)
  
• Rabid Rodent Fever can only be caught by Sims who are teens and older. Those darn kids with their strong immune systems... :#
  
• Despite death resulting in a cursed ghost that returns to walk the earth as an over sized rabid hamster, there's still hope for these lost souls. Drinking the inoculation serum as this ghost will transform them back to looking like their normal (yet still ghostly) Sim selves again.
  

Anything else you want to know about Rabid Rodent Fever? Ask away!