Suburb Sim

Suburb Sim is a soap opera series created by Anthony Troy. Using the Sims 2 engine the story is created using on average 22 - 24 screens per episode with a running storyline thread. These screens are uploaded in the form of a soap opera at the host of Simborough.com1. Based in the fictional town of Sageway, the soap follows a number of residents through the lives as they encounter trials, deaths, celebrations and much much more.

First conceived by creater Anthony Troy the soap first aired in June 2003 using The Sims engine. The release of "The Sims 2" meant that not the storylines and characters could become much more lifelike due to the revolutionised engine. It meant bigger and better sets, more diverse characters and a chance to really experience what the characters felt through their facial expressions.

Plot

Following a number of residents of Sageway the pilot episode opened featuring main 6 households : The Heppals, The Bains, The Martins, The Dixon's, The Tomlins & a rented home with several young attractive tentants. In addition a small shopping complex consisting of a resident run pub & diner was included in the mix.

June 2003 opened our eyes to the housewives Maria Heppal and Penelope Dixon, happily resting on the salaries of their husbands, the happily married couple Marc and Carrie Martin & the new arrival of teacher Harry Neal. Of course, all was not to stay the same and by the end of Episode 3, Geoff Heppal had lost his job, Jennifer Tomlin was held up at gunpoint in her diner, the new teacher Harry Neal and student Laura Heppal seemed to be getting on a little too well, and Penelope Dixon's husband was working behind her back to get her mother out of the picture and into a nursing home.

The two major storylines of 2003 & 2004 were focussed on that of the evolving relationship between teacher Harry Neal and his student Laura Neal and the relationship between Marc & Carrie Martin when she became pregnant only to find that she had cervical cancer.

August 2004 saw the birth of a new resident - Chris Martin and the first death as Carrie Martin, after refusing any treatment for the cancer until her first child was born, died in her hospital bed with Marc at her side. Kate Gleeny - nee Lipglow also saw her marriage fall apart at this time as she comforted Marc Martin and mourned for her best friend. August 2004 also saw the airing of Episode 42 in the new format using the Sims 2 engine.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom, Feb 14th 2005 saw Suburb Sim's first double episode and second marriage as sacked teacher Harry Neal married Laura Heppal. With the marriage briefly being interuppted by Maria Heppal, who was released from jail after her appeal against a [...] trial was held up, burst through in the middle of the ceremony. It didn't halt proceedings however and the marriage went on without another error.

In 2006 another first was seen as Suburb Sim spawned a 3 part spin off Leaving Sageway as the Tomlin family had to enter witness protection and leave their life and family for good. The once wealthy Penelope Dixon, poor at the expense of her husband through his gambling debt, had the DEEDS to the diner and became the new owner and none of the residents were ever to see the Tomlins again.

Winter 2006/2007 saw the uprise of soap opera [...] Dee Dixon. The daughter of Penelope and Garth she had a turbulent past within the soap starting life off smoking, drinking and nearly losing her life to a car accident. She really started her path of destruction when she got designs upon her mother's new boyfriend, sleeping with him and being caught by her mother. Moving in with her father she dropped out of school and tapped her grandmother's boyfriend for money. Seeing an opportunity to steal money from the pub "Cathy's" she thought her financial problems were resolved, until her plan started unravelling. Turning to Merle Lawson for an alibi she left him to die when he had a heard attack and in turn implicated her father in the robbery - for which he was sent to prison.

Winter 2006 also saw the break up of hear throb couple Laura and Harry as they lost their first child and couldn't cope with the tragedy.

2007 saw a renewed look at character depth and storylines, with big block buster stories and scripts being held back in favour of character development. This didnt mean by any accounts that the storylines became lack lustre. The sentencing of Garth Dixon (Keith Brooks) saw Daniel Dixon take a downward spiral as he rebelled against his normal consciencious self. Several characters from Maria Heppal's (Anne Wright) past arrived in Sageway including mother (Agatha Pieron) and ex prison cell mate Lisa Benton (Honey Michels).

One of the major storylines was the introduction of Rachel Lawson (Judy Ballong) who hid a crooked life behind one of class and riches. A fall out of Dee and Rico discovering hidden data files caused Rachel to hit out with a warning - one that left Thomas Heppal in a deep coma, and Dee fearing for her future.

Characters

Supporting Characters

Other Characters

Production

Production is a three part stage. The scripts are lined out in skeleton form, simply noting the scenes, characters and general direction of the dialogue. Using the Sims 2, the Sageway neighbourhood is logged into and the appropriate screen stills taken. The final stage is then to upload these stills in the soap format and add the dialogue.