I had a look at my old thread to see how it's doing a year after I wrapped it up and found out that it reached and surpassed 40.000 views. I still don't get it but here we are and it was obviously time to reinstall the game. - I once more decided against posting in the original InZOI thread. I tried that with Paralives and it did not work: these threads are about news and updates and not about stories. - And finally, I wondered whether I should revive my old thread but also decided against it; after all, it is a document about the early stages of the game and as such, evidently valued by historians.

Anyway, I started almost the same way as the first time: I grabbed a Korean-looking Zoi from the presets, adjusted some of her clothing and put her in the same Dowon appartement as Narae (who still lives there, but in a parallel universe; I do hope that one day we'll be able to play more than one family). This time, however, I made her a teen – I wanted to see how the school is working. Then I let her loose on the town; there are quite a few places to visit now but she went to karaoke den first (tradition matters) and sang a song (terribly); that made her very happy so I bought her a microphone.


Jiwon practicing at home. This time I turned the microphone the right way. Use your earplugs.

On Monday she went to the school for the first time. The building is the same but with a grand new entrance, designed to instill as much awe and fear as possible. (Lasciate ogni speranza …)


It was summer and 38 Celsius and Jiwon had to wear her school uniform. She barely reached the entrance.

School is more fun than I expected. Every day students get a lecture in a different subject (language, maths, etc.) and a different activity (painting, chemistry with a lot of explosions, etc.) and some (easy) tasks; a school restaurant (alias the chatting room) is available. Students leave at 4 PM and then they have to do some homework (also easy but time consuming; they don't have time for much else during the week). Thursday is for exams (the exact day when Jiwon caught a cold, of course, and was lethargic all day; results were published on Friday) and there will be a prom on Saturday. She secured a partner but I have no idea who he is; we'll see how that will go.


Sculpture workshop. Four hands are better than two.

I think the developers solved clipping in the town but at school it's terrible. However, this is not a big problem; quite a few others were solved and those old ones that I had encountered (like the unmovable/invisible chess figures – that one does irk me) are really minor. PC is still overheating but less than before; no bugs encountered so far.

More importantly: one night Jiwon started to walk in her sleep, put out four pieces of cake from the fridge and went back to bed. Nothing to do with anything but this is the kind of silliness I missed in the "old" InZOI. Also, somebody in the team obviously likes The Wall. Methinks that the potential is being realized.

Prom night came and went. Luckily, I did not have to look for Jiwon's partner: he came to fetch her and they were magically transported to school. Unluckily, she was feeling curious and offered him a mystery drink which turned out to be some sort of fish sauce I've never heard about; he did not seem to have any sense of humor, however, and so they became instant enemies. (She tried to apologize but he would not accept her apology; good riddance, then.) She spent the rest of the night dancing with other Zois and practicing facial expressions in front of a mirror: a rather underwhelming experience.


The next evening she went to a disco which turned out to be much more fun.

On Monday, autumn started and the temperature fell overnight from 30 ++ to 16 +/-; well, at least her school uniform made sense now. The schedule remained the same, classes and activities in school and homework in the evening: a bit monotonous after a while but that is, as far as I can remember, quite realistic, so no complaints there. Anyway, the next weekend I sent her on a trip to Cahaya, to see what happened there: this time she did not have to buy a lot or a house – she just moved into a villa and spent most of Saturday swimming and diving and finding treasure chests (not in the sea, on the beach; they were just lying around). On Sunday morning the monsoon started (not again!); she wandered around for a while, sometimes with an umbrella and sometimes without - the game just could not decide - and finally capitulated and returned to Dowon.

Monday was the first day of winter; it began snowing heavily and the temperature fell once more, to -10 +/-. Jiwon went to school and did her homework but at midnight, the game struck once more and she aged to young adult.


Winter festival, with Jiwon pretending to be a snowman (?). More snow was predicted but by then, it magically disappeared, never to return.

Jiwon aging up was not a game breaker like in Narae's case. The only problem was caused by me: I decided she should get a new haircut and sent her to a hairdresser who, however, gave her a haircut she absolutely hated. A great drama ensued, with her kicking the furniture (and hurting her leg in the process) and so on – the less said the better; I finally managed to get her home where she calmed herself by composing a commercial ditty. (Composing looks rather like writing, but a Zoi gets royalties only if and when the song is performed.) The next day she had a blind date, but she obviously preferred cafe americano to the poor guy who was, for some reason, dressed in summer clothes and freezing. She has some friends but her love life up to this point leaves much to be desired.


On Sunday (springtime by then) she finally graduated, new haircut and all. She was also awarded the Outstanding Completion Trophy, was a valedictorian and almost died of hunger – the ceremony was endless.

Now I'll have to make a decision about her future. I took a look at K-pop career to see if anything has changed: nothing has. There are, however, lots of other possibilities, either as a freelancer or in a company; she can also proceed to the university or start a business of her own. And then there is the question of her personal life, of course, and also of her moving to another place – the appartement she is in now is good for one or two people but certainly not for a couple with a child or two. In short, lots of problems ahead.


But some problems remain the same as always.

Jiwon finally decided to enroll in university (multimedia arts major); I think she's the type who likes to postpone important decisions for as long as possible. (Or is that me? I am never sure with these games.) Lectures began the next day but just when she was about to leave a boy who had been stalking her for quite a while sent her a messege asking if they are still friends only; I misunderstood the question and they ended on a date. The wooing process is rather strange, a series of tasks that, however, start automatically only after you talk about something else (like "I'll say that I love you but only after we have discussed the trending memes"). After I managed to figure it out there were no further problems and they ended as what the game calls deeply connected BFFs.


Being deeply connected. Somebody tried to outdo TS4.

Afterwards she finally left for the university but first, she changed into university uniform (? - I looked it up and such uniforms do exist, but are not mandatory). Hers was more or less the same as the high school one, except that socks were white – sometimes; sometimes they were still grey. She walked a few paces and disappeared, a skip button appeared and then a fast moving clock took over the screen; finally she reappeared in front of her flat. She did get some assignments which, however, turned out to be always the same: obviously I stumbled upon a part of the game that is still unfinished, a rabbit hole without a rabbit hole - there is still no university in Dowon.


The uniform was, of course, far too hot for the coming summer. I finally remembered that I could simply change it at the wardrobe: much better. But this is all I can show for her university study.

On Sunday the 30 ++ summer began again; she spent most of the day at home composing (and feeling fine although she was living on the 5th floor with a flat roof above and no air conditioning; insulation looks good, though). In the evening she had a music competition for which she applied while I was still wondering about her K-pop career. The process is the same as it was a year and a half ago – she entered a taxi and I was left staring at the screen until she reappeared. Well, at least she won and got 1000 meows. Later she took part in a literary competition and won again – easy money.

The boyfriend disappeared for a week; then he suddenly paid her a visit and they made love (at least they cuddle a bit now before those hearts take over), but he still would not tell her what his job is: suspicious. She finally decided that he was good looking enough to have a baby with but not trustworthy enough to marry so, after he visited her yet a week later, she acted accordingly and, since he still would not answer her question, sacked him - can't think of a more appropriate word.


Being sacked.

The following days were rather a mess. Luckily, university lectures take place only from Tuesday to Thursday so Jiwon had more free time than before and spent most of it composing, writing and painting; for a while, she got nothing out of it but then royalties suddenly started rolling in - just in time too, because she really had to move now. There were no appartements and only two plots available; I chose the one near Harang River Park and plopped down a premade house. (I was quite a builder in TS to early TS3 times, but by now I just want to play.) The groundplan is not very good but that can be helped and at least the house has all the basics as well as air conditioning (insulation seems worse than it was at the appartement, though).

Pregnancy went well; several actions/scans became available at the hospital but once more, Jiwon just entered a taxi and disappeared; another rabbit hole but at least there is a hospital in Dowon. She gave birth at home, TS2-style, on Halloween – if that's not typical of her I don't know what is.


Jiwon wondering about her son, Minjun: he looks rather like a middle-aged accountant and nothing like either of his parents.

.........

I fell into some holes this time but they did not really interrupt the flow of the game, at least not for me. - I also took a look at Steam. Recent reviews are "very positive" but there are terrible battles going on in Discussions, mostly about whether the game is still soulless or not and whether it will be abandoned or not; extremists on both sides, trying hard to murder each other. However, if you want some community awards you should start a thread condemning the game as strongly as possible: success guaranteed.

Bringing up baby was much easier than I expected (not in real life, in the game). There are lots of interactions, some even for the baby, there is a lot of baby stuff available and a babysitter comes automatically (and is very efficient) if your Zoi has or wants to go out: Jiwon is a caring mother but sometimes she just has to have some time for herself.


Like when she visited the Halloween festival. The singer was terrible so she quickly left and did some busking of her own: still no success.

The part from the birth to the school years is, to put it mildly, very similar to TS2 but much easier: compared to my TS2 babies Minjun was an angel – he never cried, never screamed, never threw a tantrum. I wish … Anyway, he became a toddler at the grand age of two days. (BTW, pregnancy lasted three days. Life moves fast in Korea; small wonder that Kim Jong Un's daughter is already his successor.) As a toddler he was still an angel but a very slowly crawling one (definitely not realistic, at least as far as I know). Most of the objects I could buy for him at this stage were supposed to help him to develop his abilities (e.g., sound books for his "cognitive development" - the game loves to sound important) but mostly, he preferred just to sit in the middle of the living room and stare at the world around him.


Also: going potty without a potty. At least he learned how to float but, sadly, lost the ability later on.

Jiwon tried to teach him to walk (though, wisely, not to talk) but he began walking only on the morning of his next birthday.


Minjun's first official portrait as a child. By now he does look rather like Jiwon, except for his hair which is black like his father's.

He managed to just miss the winter festival and was immediately dispatched to the primary school, which seems to be situated in the same non-existent building as Jiwon's university so he disappeared as well. Hours later he reappeared with a group of children and, right away, discovered his first sympathy.


Their wooing abilities leave something to be desired, though.

At the end of the same day Jiwon aged up as well and, of course, immediately graduated from the university. (Since the university does not exist its graduation ceremony does not exist either.) The next evening her BFF from high school years, Rumi, called to invite her to the disco; they had a great time, Jiwon invited her to live with her and Rumi accepted. (No, they are not lovers but what the game calls "colleagues"; I think that means they have no idea what they will do next, and neither do I.) - Rumi was quite well off so I decided I should finally rebuild the house by adding another floor: a hard day's work. (Real time; the in-game tutorial and YT videos were of little help – it's the most basic stuff that was the biggest problem for me and, of course, they don't mention that.) Now the family has enough space (too much, actually, but that might come handy later on) and lots of things they don't really need - stuff is rather inexpensive, even the best one (by now it is categorized by reliability and energy consumption), so they still have a lot of meows left.

No snapshot. The end result was passable but nothing to write home about.

Have you checked out Zoiworks Mods yet? They add a wonderful gameplay loop to your world.

I did take a look at mods, mostly at CurseForge and Nexus Mods and at WickedZoi as well (no prizes given for guessing what they offer) but I know what would happen if I dived in: I would start downloading and trying stuff out like a maniac and forget about everything else.

I think it is better to continue this thread with the game as it comes out of the box, so to speak. My interest lies in saying a bit about it and, above all, in telling a story; as long as the game enables me to do that everything is fine. But there are some amazing mods out there, big and small and more to come, and I am looking forward to trying them.

How customizable the neighborhoods are in Inzoi, compared to Sims 2 or 3? I mean, can you bulldoze residential or community lots and replace them with your own builds, or downloaded ones? Or can you grab the lots and move them to another location, rearranging a whole district? Are there neighborhood deco objects like in Sims that are also moveable and repositionable?

Certainly less customizable. I noticed an "edit lot" (or something similar) button on some Dowon and Cahaya lots that my Zois visited, but not on all of them. I have never tried it so I don't know if you can only add or remove some items or tear down everything and replace it with another building or a park, etc.