[L&D] Another little WIP preview

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your support and making all this possible!

Today, let's have another little look inside Law & Disorder.

Obligatory DISCLAIMER: I don’t want to equate the features of this mod to the real life stuff, and this mod is not either any sort of attempt at making a representation thereof.
This is for a GAME that is a life simulation, has a "Criminal" career, etc. I do NOT approve of any of this in real life, nor am I advertising it. Respect the law, respect others, do not cause harm! :)

Today, let's talk about the 'action to consequence' pipeline in more detail.

I HAVE shown and mentioned SOME of this before, but. Aspects have changed, and the separate pieces come together as the process becomes closer to completion, so I want to go over it again with you and in MORE detail.

Below, I describe the processes 'in words', but first, I want to show you visually.

ALL IN-GAME TEXT SHOWN IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE LATER / IS NOT NECESSARILY FINAL.

Patreon makes It difficult to show you footage property as it offers no way to embed videos inside the flow of posts, so we are stuck with using GIFs. I will also add images in the text below.

GIF (60 seconds): Report and Authorities process for MINOR misbehaviors:

GIFs (2 x 60 seconds): Report and Authorities process for MAJOR ones:

pt 1: misbehavior to confrontation

pt 2: confrontation to end

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WALKING YOU THROUGH THE MOD's GAMEPLAY PROCESS:
FROM Sim Misbehaving to Sim getting assigned trouble

• The emojis “🚧🔨” denote features / areas still Under Construction.

Step 1.     Your Sim does something ill-advised, like stealing Bella’s dining chair right under her nose.

2.     If another Sim witnesses said ill-advised action, or if one can be considered directly a victim of it, they react.

• Typical witness Sims are shocked, angry or scared.

• Witness Sims who are Mean or Evil, however, might be amused

3.     Witnesses and Sims inconvenienced by your Sim’s actions can decide to report your Sim. If so, they call authorities.

• As said in previous WIP posts, "whether or not a witness or victim decides to report shall depend on their own traits, the misdeed and the relationship existing between these Sims."

• A notification shows to let you know their decision to report, and you see them use their phone.

At this point:

• If you Sim is not particularly Confident or Evil, they will fret

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• If a Sim is Confident or Evil, they remain confidently composed

4.     Authorities promptly arrive and go to your Sim. Meanwhile, your Sim keeps fretting (or stays composed if warranted)

5.     Authorities confront your Sim.

• For Minor misbehaviors: the officer chastises the guilty Sim verbally

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  • If a Sim is Mean or Evil, they yell back at the officer.

• For Major misbehaviors: a fight ensues [‘fight’ here to remain consistent with the BG’s spirit, which has burglars fight authorities]

6.     Either way, your Sim will end up following authorities.

• For Major misbehaviors: your Sim is taken into custody (Rabbit Hole).

  • If they qualify for bail-out: a required sum is calculated and the Sim is offered to pay it. If they can afford and accept to, they will be allowed to return home, until their hearing the next day.

    • 

  • It’s possible they don’t qualify for bail-out options. In that case, they must stay in the rabbit hole till their hearing the next day.

• For Minor misbehaviors: in a Rabbit Hole, your Sim gets processed and gets a ‘ticket’ to show up in court the next day. They return home after 1-3 hours.

  • HOWEVER: if your Sim has accumulated several Minor ones, they might not be allowed to return home without having to go through the bail-out process

7.     Now, your Sim is waiting for their court hearing.
If they managed not to be stuck in custody:

• they can tell others about the situation 🚧🔨

• they can try to convince the Sim who reported them to change their story or drop their case, all in usual Sims fashion. They have 1 chance which they can use to do any of the following:

  • The typical Sim would attempt to plead, charm, or even resort to bribes

    • several answer texts possible. Result depends on friendship and charisma and chance

    • 

  • Sims who are Mean or Evil might attempt intimidation - which can cause another report against them

• Your Sim can decide to skip their court hearing

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  • this is obviously a bad idea, and results in the worst conclusion to the hearing, as well as loss of bail amount if any was paid

• they can decide what kind of legal representation they want

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  • if a decision regarding legal representation has been made, the Sim can prepare for the hearing (alone in the mirror if they chose self-representation or with their attorney on the phone if they have one)

    • 

  • if preparing with a lawyer: the lawyer will make a recommendation (plea deal or take it to trial)

    • 

    • 

8.     The next day, sometime between 8 and 10 AM (and unless they chose not to), your Sim will have to attend their court hearing.

• They will automatically go, but you can also manually trigger it.

  • 

• If they haven’t addressed the matter of legal representation yet, they have a chance to do so now. Doing it now vs earlier doesn't give them a chance to prepare, making the defense less effective.

• They then specify if they wish to admit to the fault or dispute the complaint

  • as shown in previous WIP post, just a hint different:

  • 

  • If admitting: a 'plea deal' sentence might be decided, without trial (your Sim might even get away with a simple warning)

  • If disputing: trial occurs. For first release, it occurs immediately - later I will probably delay it by a day.

    • Your sim must choose to plead guilty or not guilty

    • Trial occurs and decisions are made (Some sentences are only for Major offenses, some only for Minor offenses, some can occur for either; acquittal also possible )

• Your Sim’s reputation, traits and outfit play a part in results of court hearings and trials, as does the representation choice, past conviction history, and some other things

  

  9. And after all this... Your Sim gets to enjoy either one of the sentences we had discussed over the two last times (here and here) or simply being let off the hook.

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Now, 'what of cases where my sim did several bad things?', you might ask. Well. That's where things get a bit... Messy. I've changed my mind on this too many times. At present, I am on a model of 'take care of each case separately but one right after the other'.
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As I keep tying more of the finished elements together into their final flow, I will make more descriptions of the mod processes as they will stand for the mod's first version.
= Expect more previews soon and THEN sometime after, the more exciting stuff - prototypes / testing files.

I'll get as far as I can get in the 10 days left in the month. Every day brings me closer to finally finishing this thing and honestly it'll be a joy and a relief. I thank you again for hanging in there through the years on this one. It had no right to take this long and be so depressing for everyone involved.