What's your story for the aliens?
Aliens definitely exist in Maxis-sims world, and have since SimCity 3000 & The Sims 1: cities could be visited by ufos, and Sims there could be abducted. As the series has progressed, we've seen more...
Forum Discussion
I make up a different backstory for each save. This is the lore for my rotational save:
The planet Sixam takes roughly 220 years to circle the sun once. For twenty of those years it is close enough to allow travel from and to Earth (if technology level is sufficent, that is). In the past, contact has been mostly with the Omiscan priesthood. Interestingly, their accounts of Sixam's culture and technology vary, as there have been several setbacks. In the 1818-38 cycle Sixam's tech was at a low point (due to war or desaster, haven't decided yet) and they had to pick up some earth inventions, that led them to develop a steampunkish technology. In the 2038-58 cycle (my game's current time) Sixam and Earth are about on par. That allows me to play a more intrigue and economy based story rather than an invasion.
Alien disguises aren't really disguises, but the result of eating Earth foods. With Sixam foods in their system, they manifest their alien form, but when they regularly eat earth food, they change to the human coloration, eyes and whatever else.
I keep a lot of my alien backstory sketchy, to later build upon when maybe new packs bring new gameplay elements to weave in. I also sometimes retcon things, for example originally Sixam was an exoplanet, not part of the Solar System.
Details (longwinded & self-indulgend ;) )
The planet Sixam takes roughly 220 years to circle the sun once. For twenty of those years it is close enough to allow travel from and to Earth (if technology level is sufficent, that is). In the past, contact has been mostly with the Omiscan priesthood. Interestingly, their accounts of Sixam's culture and technology vary, as there have been several setbacks. In the 1818-38 cycle Sixam's tech was at a low point (due to war or desaster, haven't decided yet) and they had to pick up some earth inventions, that led them to develop a steampunkish technology. In the 2038-58 cycle (my game's current time) Sixam and Earth are about on par. That allows me to play a more intrigue and economy based story rather than an invasion.
Alien disguises aren't really disguises, but the result of eating Earth foods. With Sixam foods in their system, they manifest their alien form, but when they regularly eat earth food, they change to the human coloration, eyes and whatever else.
I keep a lot of my alien backstory sketchy, to later build upon when maybe new packs bring new gameplay elements to weave in. I also sometimes retcon things, for example originally Sixam was an exoplanet, not part of the Solar System.
Details (longwinded & self-indulgend ;) )
Spoiler
Relations
Strictly feudal Sixam is divided into several noble houses, but they act as a unity in their dealings with Earth. Those nations of Earth that are aware of the aliens took up negotiations individually. So far these are the USA, Canada, Russia and Sulani.
Scientists, tourists, exchange students, workplace interns etc. travel back and forth with relative freedom, there are speciality restaurants and I also built a campground on Sixam. I do not have RoM, but in my headcanon the magic world is either a moon of Sixam's or maybe the planet consists of several asteroids held together by a shared gravity field (torn apart in a war, maybe?).
Motherplant
She is the head of a noble house, but got left behind during the 1818-38 cycle, believed dead. In truth she'd only went dormant, and in the present was found by scientists, who revived her. However, Mother was confused and then her reproductive cycle set in, that Earth's ecosystem had no counter for.
After the crisis was solved in 2039, the investigators learned the secret of Sixam and returned Mother to her home. They promised to keep quiet about it, but then the abductions started.
Abductions
The noble houses were not aware of those and when they got accused by the victims, they payed compensation in addition to helping stop the assaults.
It turned out that Morgyn Ember, Sixam's head scientist, and Elijah Kamski, Earth's most brilliant mind, had teamed up in secret. Their goal was to find whether some specific dna sequences still existed in humankind and to what extent interbreeding was possible.
Morgyn found the dna he was looking for, but not in humans. Baffling as it sounded, it was in their androids. But Elijah had created those androids and to him the discovery was equally baffling. What the heck was going on here?!
The dark secret
Long ago Sixam mainained a colony on Earth. With each away-cycle the colonists became increasingly independent, to the point where during one cycle the noble houses ordered a complete retreat, for fear of their colony growing into a rival during the next circle. When the colonists refused, they got bombed from orbit.
This act of genocide was covered up by Sixam's rulers, who taught future generations that there had been a colony alright, but that it had perished during an away-cycle. Earth was just too dangerous to permanently settle. However, the Omiscans kept knowledge of the original events and after many forays into the omiscan ruins, my sims now know the full story.
Morgyn believed in the lie he had grown up with, however, they suspected that there had been breeding between early humans and Sixamites. Morgyn's goal was to find proof of that theory and then enjoy the chaos that would ensue when thousands of earth people suddenly turned out to have ties to current rulers or claims to the funds of noble houses that didn't exist anymore.
Tie in with Detroit Become Human (the PS4 game which this save is based on)
Originally I didn't want to include aliens in this save, but then one day they grabbed an android from his home and not just, that, Daniel returned pregnant. I hadn't felt the need to make my androids sterile, because try for baby is always user-directed, so there was no risk. So now I had a little cyborg coming and a backstory to write that explained why a robot would have an half-alien child.
Fortunately in Detroit the androids are powered by a (fictional) substance called thirium, which is mined in the polar regions mostly. Androids also start to deviate from their program code in that game, they develop fears and desires. I decided to combine these two facts with my alien backstory and declared that thirium is what's left of the perished/destroyed colony, basically the desecrated remains of the settlers. Normal servos therefore cannot deviate, only androids running on thirium.
Upon realizing this, Morgyn now believed they could bring back the colonists. They not just analyzed dna anymore, but started creating the hybrid babys. Morgyn erred, each hybrid child is a new individual, no cloned alien.
With that backstory in mind I randomize possible bloodlines for my abduction babies and for each android who sends in a blood sample for a test. So far many blood samples contained enough recoverable dna to prove kinship (and thus apply for citizenship on Sixam), but only sim's thirium was pure enough to allow linking to a specific family: Connor Anderson, an international negotiator. He is related to a poor family of factory workers, so no political upheaval yet.
The Paranormal
I wanted this save to be about androids, and I still do not allow vampires, animated skeletons, talking ghosts or spellcasters to exist, but some lowkey paranormal activity (island spirits, komorebi spirits, haunted lots) is subtle enough to fit in. In my headcanon it occurs whenever Sixam and Earth come close. This also means that Guidry is no ghost in my game, but an A.I. that projects a picture of itself into the room.
Relations
Strictly feudal Sixam is divided into several noble houses, but they act as a unity in their dealings with Earth. Those nations of Earth that are aware of the aliens took up negotiations individually. So far these are the USA, Canada, Russia and Sulani.
Scientists, tourists, exchange students, workplace interns etc. travel back and forth with relative freedom, there are speciality restaurants and I also built a campground on Sixam. I do not have RoM, but in my headcanon the magic world is either a moon of Sixam's or maybe the planet consists of several asteroids held together by a shared gravity field (torn apart in a war, maybe?).
Motherplant
She is the head of a noble house, but got left behind during the 1818-38 cycle, believed dead. In truth she'd only went dormant, and in the present was found by scientists, who revived her. However, Mother was confused and then her reproductive cycle set in, that Earth's ecosystem had no counter for.
After the crisis was solved in 2039, the investigators learned the secret of Sixam and returned Mother to her home. They promised to keep quiet about it, but then the abductions started.
Abductions
The noble houses were not aware of those and when they got accused by the victims, they payed compensation in addition to helping stop the assaults.
It turned out that Morgyn Ember, Sixam's head scientist, and Elijah Kamski, Earth's most brilliant mind, had teamed up in secret. Their goal was to find whether some specific dna sequences still existed in humankind and to what extent interbreeding was possible.
Morgyn found the dna he was looking for, but not in humans. Baffling as it sounded, it was in their androids. But Elijah had created those androids and to him the discovery was equally baffling. What the heck was going on here?!
The dark secret
Long ago Sixam mainained a colony on Earth. With each away-cycle the colonists became increasingly independent, to the point where during one cycle the noble houses ordered a complete retreat, for fear of their colony growing into a rival during the next circle. When the colonists refused, they got bombed from orbit.
This act of genocide was covered up by Sixam's rulers, who taught future generations that there had been a colony alright, but that it had perished during an away-cycle. Earth was just too dangerous to permanently settle. However, the Omiscans kept knowledge of the original events and after many forays into the omiscan ruins, my sims now know the full story.
Morgyn believed in the lie he had grown up with, however, they suspected that there had been breeding between early humans and Sixamites. Morgyn's goal was to find proof of that theory and then enjoy the chaos that would ensue when thousands of earth people suddenly turned out to have ties to current rulers or claims to the funds of noble houses that didn't exist anymore.
Tie in with Detroit Become Human (the PS4 game which this save is based on)
Originally I didn't want to include aliens in this save, but then one day they grabbed an android from his home and not just, that, Daniel returned pregnant. I hadn't felt the need to make my androids sterile, because try for baby is always user-directed, so there was no risk. So now I had a little cyborg coming and a backstory to write that explained why a robot would have an half-alien child.
Fortunately in Detroit the androids are powered by a (fictional) substance called thirium, which is mined in the polar regions mostly. Androids also start to deviate from their program code in that game, they develop fears and desires. I decided to combine these two facts with my alien backstory and declared that thirium is what's left of the perished/destroyed colony, basically the desecrated remains of the settlers. Normal servos therefore cannot deviate, only androids running on thirium.
Upon realizing this, Morgyn now believed they could bring back the colonists. They not just analyzed dna anymore, but started creating the hybrid babys. Morgyn erred, each hybrid child is a new individual, no cloned alien.
With that backstory in mind I randomize possible bloodlines for my abduction babies and for each android who sends in a blood sample for a test. So far many blood samples contained enough recoverable dna to prove kinship (and thus apply for citizenship on Sixam), but only sim's thirium was pure enough to allow linking to a specific family: Connor Anderson, an international negotiator. He is related to a poor family of factory workers, so no political upheaval yet.
The Paranormal
I wanted this save to be about androids, and I still do not allow vampires, animated skeletons, talking ghosts or spellcasters to exist, but some lowkey paranormal activity (island spirits, komorebi spirits, haunted lots) is subtle enough to fit in. In my headcanon it occurs whenever Sixam and Earth come close. This also means that Guidry is no ghost in my game, but an A.I. that projects a picture of itself into the room.
