Okay, yeah, I know this is weird.

Sims 2 Castaway, a game which features a bunch of Sims who have quite a story to tell. Not the usual 'doll house' sort of theme most gamers are familiar with. Instead, this is a game with some rather surprising features and unusual roleplay. I first played S2C long ago in 2007, and it was one of my daughter's first videogames as well, at the age of 4.

Honestly, I have no idea how this will go. But I need to get my mind off some wicked serious things going on. We all do, right? So let's enjoy this weird Renee gaming phase while it lasts, at least.



For this thread, I am going to post fuller-sized pictures instead of links. Mostly because this is a Playstation 2 (lower resolution) game. I wouldn't want to burden anybody with clicking on a bunch of links only to bring up shoddier graphics. There is a PC version of Sims 2 Castaway, but ironically its story isn't as compelling.

Meet the star of the show, whose name is Jenna Rossity.



Jenna is a teacher from Los Angeles. She is very giving and caring, with a knack for dealing with tough situations, as any teacher is wont to possess at times. Some time in the early 2000s, Jenna went on a cruise to celebrate the anniversary of one of her friends. Two of their girlfriends also came along for the ride, which was piloted by a dude, all of who can be seen below.



From left to right we can see Captain Crank, the sole male of the group, and (of course) the boat's captain. Clara Fye (nerdy scientist) is pictured in the striped Polo shirt. She's got red hair. At the boat's steering wheel is Jenna Rossity, and next to her, wearing a black tube top, is their slacker friend Mona Lott (musician / artist). Finally we have Anna Verssary (businesswoman). Everybody's on this boat ride because of Anna, who is having her anniversary, I guess.



As we can see, plenty of partying commenced upon this boat. As the boat drifted farther away from the city, and eventually past the island of Catalina, Jenna herself is shown tipping a wine cooler in the picture above.



Their revelry continued as skies grew dark... even Captain Crank was too blitzed to notice.




As we can see, something is wrong in the picture above. What could it be? What could it be??




Oh no!!!

The next couple hours were a blur to Jenna. As their boat got knocked over by a gigantic wave (I guess) poor Miss Rossity was forced to grab hold of a chunk of the boat's wooden planking, and hope for the best. She dog-paddled in fear, sadly getting separated from the rest of her group, hoping she was not about to become shark food, wondering if she'd make it back to civilization alive.

When the ship capsized, the captain was sloshed drunk. Everybody was. So no distress calls were made. No planes were flying overhead at the time, and no other boats or ships were nearby to witness the accident.




The next morning Jenna found herself here, beached apparently upon an island. Unfortunately this island did not seem to be Catalina, as she could see no human structures or establishments nearby.

She awoke and coughed and shook herself off.




Oh no! What will become of Jenna Rossity???

This is cute! Oh noes! What will Generosity Jenna Rossity do next!

A fun story and concept, Renee!

Another game with classic Renee style names - I like! Though I'm surprised I've never seen Renee Saunce


Bonus points for the pics instead of links!

I messed tonight's post up. Try again later.

Cool, glad to see you all are enjoying this.

mirocu, I agree Renee Saunce is a great name, and surprised that I never thought of it. You should definitely use this name. Since it is your idea, you own it. I won't be upset. Renee can be a guy's name too, just in case. Now ... go hit that New button!

-------------------------------------

Days 1 and 2


Jenna Rossity spends all day on her sandy beach, doing not much at all.




She hopes to see something, anything or anybody. A ship or a plane, or even one of her friends, stranded and floating on debris. But there's just nothing out there. Oh... gosh! This isn't going so well.




Eventually the sky darkens, as night falls. Despite being marooned in this warm climate, it does grow colder at night. Jenna is surprised by this.

Being stranded on a tropical island is something everyone has fantasized over, she realizes. It's something she has even discussed casually with her students, miles away in her Los Angeles classrooms. In these discussions and fantasies, the idea often seems to include being ecstatic about the situation. Like, wouldn't this be great, to be separated from society? Maybe be surrounded by colorful birds! And find some treasure! Maybe fall in love with an attractive native who has never heard of cellphones! Or makeup! Or computers!! Or deodorant! All this native person knows about is love, truly unconditional love, unmarred by typical societal factors.

"If you were stranded on a desert island," the rhetorical question often begins, "what / who would you bring?"

Well in Jenna Rossity's case, she hasn't got any choices like this. She's just stuck on a patch of sand. Night is falling, and so is Jenna. Eventually she crashes, right on the beach.




The next morning, her situation fares no better. She's still stranded, and nothing else has changed. The sun is warm overhead, the air just about perfect, but she's still stuck, and still stranded.




This will not get her down. She decides to think positive, and starts her day with some yoga.

She begins with the "standing lotus pose". As she stretches, twists, and turns her body this way and that, she closes her eyes, imagining she's back in her day room, or back in class with forty others who are doing the same poses as she. At this point, the only thing missing is her Enigma soundtrack, or some other such atmospheric music to guide her energies by.




Jenna is also hungry, and there's not exactly any markets on this island. No Starbucks on the corner to foam her favorite Caramel Frappuccino, no Panera Bread at the mall to grab a quick salad 'n' sandwich combo meal (for just $8.99, with coupon!). Good thing there is plenty to eat, right here on this island!

Here she is enjoying a coconut, for instance.

(Note .... as far as I know there are no enemies in this game, but it is possible to starve! Unlikely, but possible.)




She even decides to gather her wits, and climbs a palm tree. Plenty of coconuts can be harvested up there!





She uses some driftwood to build a simple table, for crafting or.... whatever. It does not look like any sort of rescue is imminent for Jenna Rossity. Might as well stay busy, at the very least.

Jenna eventually finds a path which goes deeper into the island, as seen below. But she's not really ready to go on this path.




What if a ship or a plane passes nearby? She will need to be ready to display hand-signals, in an attempt to return to safety. No, it's better to stay here, for now. Problem is, Day 2 is also uneventful. The brilliant, breezy sunshine of the day eventually fades to night again.




With nothing else to do, Jenna thinks back to Girl Scouts. She spent some time as a den-mother for some of her pupils a couple years back. Nothing too extensive. But she does think she remembers how to build a fire.




Presto!!! Now she'll be able to stay warm at night.




As Day 2 comes to a close, Jenna Rossity continues to try, try, try staying in good spirits. Captain Crank did enter his party boat on some sort of day manifest back on the coast, right? Which means by now, there must be somebody, best case the Coast Guard, who knows their ship never returned to shore after that storm, right? Right?

Neat listening to Jenna's inner thoughts as she gradually figures out how to make the best of her situation.

First pic: What is that green diamond doing over my head?


Yay for campfire! Just don't burn down all the trees like Kiera Knightley did

Stylish clothes on the stranded island!

Can she go to swim? Are there slaughterfish?

I'm curious, where does that path lead...is there an in-game map?

I hope that green diamond is not going to fall down and split her head open!

The Enigma soundtrack is perfect for Jenna doing yoga.

I know. If I could mod this game, the green diamond would go! After awhile I get used to it. Just remember this is a cutesy game made for preteens, so stuff like this is part of the game.

Yes Rosa, Enigma is fun to listen to! Glad to hear you know of them, too.

Yes Lopov, she can go swimming. I'll try to remember to post a swimming pic. No slaughterfish. I am pretty sure this game is devoid of enemies, which is rather nice. Very relaxing. If I want to pwn some bots, I can just fire up Skyrim or one of those others.

Ah, you notice her stylish clothes. That part of the game is going to get interesting.

I had to Google Kiera Knightley, mirocu. Never heard of her, although I've probably seen her in some movie. Did she burn something down?

Yes Acadian, I am enjoying her thoughts too. I am actually roleplaying this, going outside my usual Bethesda Box. So far, I know Jenna's from Torrance, California (a suburb of Los Angeles where I once lived myself) and teaches elementary or middle school.

Next episode coming some time this weekend. Happy New Year!

Day 3 after the shipwreck begins, and Jenna Rossity awakes in a panic, well before sunrise.




Today is Sunday, she realizes. October 28, 2007. Why... grandma's birthday is today! And everyone in her family will be at the party, but her. Her father, her mother, her sister, her brother, along with all sorts of relatives and friends of relatives, at least fifty people were expected! The food would be catered, a polka band had been hired ... this party was going to be grand. It had been planned since June. Oh... no!

How long would it take people to realize she is not present? Does anybody by now even notice she is missing?

Jenna begins to backtrack, going through all the little things which had been going on in her life.

... The student she'd hired to take care of her cat and goldfish ... Her date with Phil Mypockitz was supposed to be last night ... She had left her Mazda sports car parked at a marina in Long Beach! ... ... All these thoughts crashing through her head at once. Jenna finds herself apprehensive and panicking, big time!




Who exactly had she told about that stupid boat trip? Anybody? Well, yes, of course. She had sent that email to Beth, one of her fellow teachers, right? ...And she had called a couple friends, mentioning to them in casual conversation that she'd be going on 'that boat ride' with Anna Verssary and a few others. At least a dozen had been invited by Anna, yet only four of them showed. Four of her girlfriends, plus the captain. All the others who hadn't gone? Well, they'd still be living their normal lives, unaware of how lucky they are.

She had also lied to her boyfriend Phil! There's no way he would understand what craziness their stupid day trip was supposed to be about. No way at all. So she had lied to him. Told him she had an extra caseload of papers to grade. Because otherwise, he would could get all jealous about their trip, surely. "Aren't I feeling stupid now?" Jenna asks herself as waves crash nearby endlessly.

Overall answer: she hadn't really told anybody within her closer circles where she'd be going on Friday. They'd eventually realize she was missing, but news would travel slow. Therefore, her grandma's delightful lawn party up in Palos Verdes would eventually become a nightmare.




A couple hours later, the sun rises. Another day full of perfect weather, and not much to do. Jenna is hungry, but she's sick of coconuts by now. Time to see if there's anything else to eat on this island. She decides she'll finally explore its jungle.




An unknown amount of time passes, it's hard to be sure how long, as Jenna scrambles through underbrush. Dodging vines, getting her feet stuck in deadfalls. By the time she emerges into a clearing, her clothes are dirty and torn!



These were the clothes which she'd so carefully picked out at J.C. Penney a week ago, in anticipation of Anna's stupid party. Her new mostly-cotton, plain-weave, ivory-colored blouse (Liz Claiborne, $39.00) damaged and shredding, as though it'd been worn an entire year without care. Her slate-colored, mid-length skirt (Izod Lacoste, $49.95, 50% rayon / 50% polyester, with elastic waistband!) which she'd been previously swishing around to music a couple days ago as they all got drunk from wine coolers, dancing to Cardigans and Bananarama. Look at it now. If Jenna walked into class tomorrow looking like this, they'd all assume she'd become homeless!




But the good news is, at least there are other things to eat. Bananas and berries and starfruits and cucumbers, as well as stuff she doesn't know about.



Hmm, what's this? Jenna finds this strange plant for instance, and decides she'll experiment. To her, it looks like one of those exotic herbs they sell back at Whole Foods.




Yuck, shouldn't have eaten that, oh no!




Well at least she knows what that plant is, now. Somehow.



Jenna is also surprised to learn that the island does have a few inhabitants. As they scramble and dash around for attention, they remind her of shorter, hairier versions of her students.

In the end, her trip into the jungle was a success, she thinks. Time to head back to the beach ...




... for another night of rest by the fire.

Phil Mypockiz! Another brilliant Renee gem.

Ewwww, green puke! Don't eat that again!

Jenna's ruminations about 'life back home' were neat to follow as she gradually learns more about surviving on Gilligan's Island. I hope her cat doesn't eat her goldfish!

'As they scramble and dash around for attention, they remind her of shorter, hairier versions of her students.'

Her clothes are now fit for the Fallout universe!

It's nice that you're putting some background to Jenna and her life before being stranded on the island.

So, what's the object of the game? To escape the island or to make it your home?

I don't actually know the full story, mirocu. I originally played this game way back in 2007-2008 when I was stressing about job searches, right in the middle of the 2008 Recession. S2C is such a relaxing game, it would calm my stress right down. But I only got about halfway through its 'story' at the time. I assume there's some sort of rescue at some point, but not sure.

Yes, Lopov, looks just like she's wearing a Dirty Prewar Outfit. If I recall, we should also be seeing some changes with her hair, as well.

Thanks, Acadian. Writing her ruminations is really fun for me, even though it's not for her. She's pretty tough though. She will not give up.

SubRosa: funny how in one game, mandrake root cures us. In this game it makes us sick! I think it can be blended with other ingredients in Sims 2.

I'll probably play more some time this week or weekend.

"When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"

... Jenna Rossity calls these words out to the jungle, imagining she's on stage somewhere, a packed house full of playgoers seated before her, all of them captivated and listening ....




"When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.

That will be ere the set of sun.

Where ... is the place?

Upon the heath.
There it is, to meet with Sir Macbeth."

A graduate of SoCal University who majored in English while minoring in Theater, Jenna Rossity's recall of Shakespeare is flawless. As she busy-bodies to the pounding surf on Day Four of her new stranded existence, she can't help but call out the opening lines to Act 1, Scene 1 of Macbeth, her favorite Shakespeare drama. As she does so, she acts the voices of each of the three witches, with wicked and varied aplomb.




"I come, Graymalkin! she shrieks in a gritty voice as she pretends to be Witch #1, while a gull lands nearby, trying to crack open some sort of mollusk.

"Paddock calls!" ... Witch #2's voice is higher-pitched and nasal, Jenna decides.

"Anon, anon, begone! begone!" ... The third and final witch, who speaks with a tone as wicked as Jenna can muster.

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air..."

This semester, Jenna was right in the middle of analyzing Macbeth for English 201, with her seventh grade students. And though the votes hadn't all been cast yet, it was looking as though Macbeth might even become this year's Spring Play. Well, it would either be Macbeth, or yet another mediocre rendition of Oklahoma. Godspell had already been voted down by the majority of staff as being too much of a 'hippy shebang', and the one teacher who suggested Spring Awakening had almost gotten his head cut off, after Jenna informed those who had shown up for the latest PTA meeting of the controversy Spring Awakening was supposed to contain. "Just think of the Victorian Era equivalent of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Might be okay in front of a college audience, but not here at Torrance Middle!" she had complained.

Back to reality. Eventually, it was time to come back down to it. Still marooned, and still no rescue in sight! To quell her fears, Jenna decides to make another trip into the island's interior. This time, she takes a different path, and finds herself located on the island's northern section. She determines her location by using shadows on the ground, just like she had taught some kids when she was a Den Mother for Girl Scouts.




This time, she locates a beach with a breath-taking waterfall, a hundred feet high does its top crest over the cliff up above. This is the sort of waterfall which is always pictured in tropical travel brochures.




But there's not just a waterfall to gaze upon ...




Yes! A shipwreck, and one which seems to be from an era long ago. She wonders if there's any treasure aboard this large, beached vessel.




But this seems not to be so. Other than a Captain's Log which records bad weather and massive waves (sounds familiar, Jenna thinks), there is no long lost treasure to behold. Gah! Jenna chides herself for such foolish fantasies.

"A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap," she continues Macbeth, now deep into its third scene.

"And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd:--
'Give me,' quoth I:
'Aroint thee, witch!' the rump-fed ox-bred cries...." ... her voice both fierce and sad.

Much later in the afternoon, she finds another path which leads to yet another portion of the island.





By the time she gets to where she's going, it is dark. The air is getting cooler. And again, there's nobody else in sight.




But Jenna thinks she sees something, far in the distance. Can it be...



... Can it be ... another island??

"Till then, enough. Come, friends!" Jenna calls out to salty waves, mocking King Macbeth's Scottish male voice, finishing Scene III to imaginary applause. She takes a bow as the tide pulls inward. Already, she feels some excitement. Not just to delve into Scene IV (which she's thinking of starting tomorrow) but also, if there's a second island, the chances that the rest of her party might just be over there is something to look forward to. Maybe they survived!

She decides she'll stay here for the night. Stay, and hopefully get a better look in the morning, when the sun arises.

What fun listening to Jenna weave her current situation into her other life and Shakespeare!

Another island! Well, that and Scene IV will wait until the following day.

I too, loved how you worked in Jenna's playful thoughts on Macbeth and Spring Awakenings into her exploration of the island. Or islands, as it turns out to be.

I like how you cleverly weaved Macbeth into the daily life of Jenna on the stranded island.

Just how big is this island? I know that it's hard to make a comparison to something but does walking from one end to the other last a long time?

Oh do be careful Jenna. That looks like a long swim through possibly dangerous waters and is that an active volcano?

macole-- Yes, that is a huge expanse of water. This is a Playstation 2 game, so we can only swim so far! This is maybe a good thing though. Who knows what's out there.

Lopov-- Good to see you here at Chorrol. I had fun writing some Shakespeare. See, I told you this would be an interesting roleplay.

The island is not open world in the way we're familiar from other games nowadays. Instead, each portion of the island (First Beach, Jungle, Shipwreck Beach, and this new beach) are separated into different cells. Moving from one portion of the island to another does make time pass by though, similar to Fast Travel in Beth games. It also causes her clothes to get more and more ratty.

SubRosa & Acadian-- I was surprised by her actions on this day (Day 4 I think) with the Shakespeare. I was working one day and began getting intense thoughts and visions of Jenna screaming Macbeth into the air as I assisted customers IRL and so on, so again, it's another odd Renee Roleplay in the midst. Fun to write!

I wanted to get to some more Sims 2 this weekend but instead spent a huge amount of time setting up Laprima Donnaugh's next chapter. I was productive with her story, but there's still a lot of work to be done! Even just 'shopping' for clothing mods takes a lot of time, even though Skyrim has been out for nearly a decade, there's a lot of crap out there which does not work.

Speaking of clothes, I need to bug ghastley for his content...

Lots of people had new things they tried during COVID. I am going to continue this game, which wow, I haven't touched since 2021!





The plot is: A schoolteacher named Jenna Rossity went on a cruise, a girls' day upon the water from Los Angeles to Catalina. She was with several friends: a scientist named Clara Fye, musician/artist Mona Lott, and Anna Verssary, a businesswoman. It was Anna's birthday or something. Anyway, they got lost, because Captain Crank, the only male on the boat, was probably not doing his job. ⛴

The boat shipwrecked, and everyone grabbed life preservers or whatever they could... problem is they got separated (apparently) from Jenna. Jenna floated to an island, but none of the others are on Jenna's island. 🏝

However, big news from last episode from 2021 is she's discovered there's another island! It's barely visible on the horizon. Will Jenna somehow be able to make it there? Will a rescue 'copter be sent to find her? Let's find out.

Here is where we last saw Jenna. She also discovered there's a shipwreck on the island. That'll be fun (for me) to explore.





And here she is peeling a banana.




Notice the icon in the lower left, where she's smiling. This is a Sims game, folks. Which means everything we do in the game can affect her mood. Jenna can become depressed, overjoyed, indifferent.

Oh by the way, she's a Sagittarius.





Hmm, not agreeing the typical Sag is shy. Anyway, tons of menus in this game to geek out with.

So, let's have a look at what Jenna looked like at the beginning of this "show".






Notice her clothes and hair. Her clothes look fresh from the laundry, and her hair's been dolled at a salon. And let's look at her now....




Her clothes are torn, and her hair's becoming matted. Pretty sure her hair has grown as well. Yep.





She falls asleep on the first beach she arrived at

Fun to see you taking this up again after several years!

Sims in survival style!

Can you play as any other character from the original party as well?

Watch out for mudcrabs.

Any news about Jenna and the mysterious island in the far distance?

Sure, I'll pick up more Castaway pretty soon, but I don't plan to play on a regular basis. But as winter gets closer and more 'bad' weather befalls, that's when you'll see more of Jenna.

Yes we can play as others in the party (sorry for spoiler but you asked specifically)! It's like a typical Sims game, except on a tropical island.

No mudcrabs but there probably are ordinary crabs. 🦀 Anyway now I'm tempted for some more Castaway. Baldur's Gate first!