Hi, I’m roBurky. I make stuff.
You can find more about me, more about the things I do, and more stories like this at my website:
roburky.co.uk
You can find some other sims-related stuff I’ve done, like my mods for The Sims 4, at my Sims Tumblr:
roburkyplaysthesims.tumblr.com
You can email me at aliceandkev@roburky.co.uk
Alice and Kev 
Robin, you’re writing some amazing story. Kudos. However, if there’s something I’d like to suggest to you now given that it’s getting quite popular, is: don’t change. Don’t try to cater to popularity or to what people will request in the future. Just let the game do its thing with the eventual push once in a while like you’ve been doing. Thanks.
What they said…..
I agree
Agreed! You are a wonderful storyteller, I have loved every chapter. It’s brilliant. Thank you for sharing!
Hi I think you are very talented. When I saw that you are a student of game design, I said no wonder, and surely you will excel in this area.
Cheers
you should make a twitter and spread this story. maybe we could trend it. 🙂
You are very great i check back daily for updates! But dont become a Tweet Whore lol, Personally i hate twitter, But please just keep it up!!!
lol i love that song!!!
Congratulations on your excellent blog. I enjoyed reading it and will be looking forward to seeing how Alice and Kev get on.
Interesting story. 🙂 I’m taking on my own homeless challenge now while I keep up with your story.
Same as I! It’s challenging, and how do i get rid of all household funds!
just get lots of plants like a junk yard look.
dude i LOVE this story!!! please update asap!!!!!!!!
WOW! Robin, you are talented. How old are you?
I can’t wait to see the end of the story, to see if there is any surprising twists to it.
Robin, I bought The Sims 3 on the strength of your experience with the homeless family. I assumed you were from the US when you posted the Amazon link so I couldn’t give you the referral for buying it in the UK. I suggest you add one for .co.uk so you don’t miss out from others like me.
Enjoying the story so far!
Rob
Great stuff, keep it up!
OMG! Meluv ur storiez! I want homeless sims now! xD *runs off to make homeless sims*
I downloaded Alice and Kev and moved them in, I’m still playing my first family but I check in on them now and again.
Yesterday Alice invited one of my sims home from school, so I popped over to watch them and found a baby lying in the grass. It’s called Lashandra Bin Diver and I have have no idea where it came from, can teenagers have babies! Either that or social services have made a BIG mistake giving Kev another child…
you could find out where the child came from if you change your active household and then make it your active household for just a moment to see the babies family tree. I’d really be interested in finding out how a new baby was born…and more importantly how it hasn’t been taken away by social services yet.
I checked the Bin Diver family tree and apparently Lashandra is Kev’s daughter. There is no mother listed so I assume he phoned social services for a laugh and they didn’t think a lack of housing was a problem…!
The baby is now a toddler so Kev can’t be doing that badly unless Alice is doing all the work. Very strange!
While I was there Kev aged into an elder so he probably doesn’t have long left, and Alice has a job at the Mausoleum – with household funds of $999.
Oh and Lashandra Bin Divers traits so far are couch potato and absent-minded…
I added them as npcs (alice as a child) and then later I moved my self sims right across the street. I didn’t even notice until I saw kev rummaging through the trashcan. Since this story has made me feel for alice i kinda of changed the story by inviting her over everyday after school and then preparing a meal. Before i knew she was my best friend…which i found amusing since all i did was not kick her out of my house when she brushed her teeth or slept in the spare bed (never even talked). I had a baby boy and thought I’d maybe have him grow up and start something between the two but she grew into a teenager and I was shocked…didn’t know the sims still aged if they weren’t the active house hold. I changed the story line a bit…alice packed on a few pounds and instead of unlucky is an angler.
thanks for telling me where the baby came from, glad to hear its not alice’s!
I really love this experiment. I am also a Game Design student here in the U.S., and I’ve found the Sims 3 to be fascinating from a research standpoint, as well as from an entertainment one. This is a fantastic display of both. Thank you for putting this up!
I just set up http://twitter.com/aliceandkev to listen to the RSS feed for this site. I hope you don’t mind. If you’d like to manage Alice’s twitter account, just let me know, and I’ll give you the login, and you can do what you want with it.
Fascinating! Thanks for doing this.
I’m speechless.
I love your story! Please keep it going. By the way I downloaded Alice and Kev. They are fun and challenging to play. Thanks for uploading them on The Exchange.
Great story! Cheers mate.
A great concept, your writing is captivating!
man, you are a genius. great story
Mate, with skills like these you deserve a place at the other university near you! :p
But seriously, you say you’re studying game design? I reckon EA should employ you because you’ve certainly hit on a sure-fire sales method. And the homeless charity links are completely awesome.
Also, from your other blog I see that you are a Dwarf Fortress fan. My estimation of you rises by the minute! Keep up the great work, and all the best with your stellar career!
This is really touching – and makes me want the Sims, which introduces a whole whirl of conflicting emotions! I’m also a uni student and I wish I could have time to do this sort of stuff too – very impressive.
Thanks for sharing your exploration. It’s funny, deep and caring.
What a great story!
You’ve inspired me to try the same thing in my game, minus the story telling.
this is a fascinating experiment, and great storytelling on your part. please keep it up 🙂
I love your story. It actually brought me to tears at one point, very unexpected. It’s a treasure. Thank you.
Erin
When the story is of Kev and Alice is finished, you need to make it into a video.
Simple video: string together the photos you’ve already posted here, and add the voice narration to them with the comments you’re already written.
…Wow… I found myself incredibly moved by this. Despite the fact that they’re virtual characters, this has really made me think about life. Whether it was the everyday tragedy that the two of them faced, the selflessness of Alice or their continuing strength in the face of relentless adversity, I found myself truly moved by this. Brilliantly done, my only hope is that the two of them find some sort of happiness in their lives… But things are never that easy. Keep at it.
Hey there!
I’ve been reading your blog about alice and kev and I really enjoyed it and liked how it’s been layed out on the site, so when I decided to post my ts3 legacy I chose wordpress, but for some reason I cant shrink my posts down on the main page like they are on yours. I’ve tride Excerpts but that doesnt seem to do anything. I was wondering if you could help me out maybe :3
You need to use the ‘more’ tag at the point you want the shortened version to cut off.
Ah! thank you thank you thank you!
I really love reading your work, and cant wait to see what else you do in the futer with TS3!
i love the alice and kev story. i think im gonna make my own on the sims 2
hey roBurky! nice story you got going on here… i’m not one for advertising and the likes, but i have a site on wordpress too, and i’m trying to do basically the same thing as you… but anyway, great work and i hope you’re game making career works out!
P.S. it’s very noble of you to give any profits you might have made to charity.
Please tell me how to find your blog, forrestgoodson! I’m very intrested in reading other sims stories too, but I haven’t really found any…
Hi,
This might be covered somewhere else on the blog, but I haven’t been able to find it: I was wondering if you might be able to post your computer specs (possibly somewhere in the “about” tab? Your screenshots are beautiful and I’d love to see what it takes to get everything look so great.
Thanks, and keep up the great story telling – I’m hooked!
I just wanted to drop a quick “thank you” to you, as someone who is both a Sims addict and a human rights advocate. I actually work at a group home for teen girls, so I see a lot of Alice and Kev in my daily life. I think that what you are doing here is both interesting and enlightening. I love following it! Keep up the good work. And thank you for promoting a worthy cause.
How do they avoid the repo man?
They live on an abandoned lot and the repo man has nothing to take.
Acually, the park is full of plants and trees and benchs, so technically the repoman could take the stuff, but the bills are only 4 or 5 simoleans.
I am just hooked,thats it.
Aww I loved your story!! What a great idea!
❤ AsHie
This is, perhaps, my favorite blog. I keep coming back. It’s very well-written and fascinating. Will you be doing more Sims 3 stories? I hope so. Be a shame if this was the only one.
BTW, I added you as a link on my blog. Gotta share with the world the story of Alice and Kev.
hi,
i wouldnt doubt others in your story skills, but i wish you would have picked a better and more appropriate topic.
creating a blog and a sim life about ‘being homeless’ isnt going to impact others to give a hand and help the homeless. maybe it might make people think, but is that all we can do? we humans have so much more potential than to ‘make people think’.
i hope if you really want to learn what its like to be homeless, go and sit down with someone who has no home, and ask them for their story.
It’s making people more sympathetic to the struggles of homeless people by showing us some of the things they struggle with.
It doesn’t show us all of them, but since we know that their lives are more difficult than just a computer game can show us, it might makes us more aware or wonder what they’re really going through. :[ That might also be why he gave us links on this page.
At least he’s doing *something.* Making people aware of the problem is the first step. It’s better than doing nothing, anyways, right? 🙂
i think its very rude of u to talk to him like this. it doesnt sound like uve ever talked to a homeless person so maybe u should keep ur mouth shut. people comment to be nice not to be judgmental.
This is certainly a great project, I just can’t believe how catchy it is. Very good. I congratulate you. =)
I’m going to make a legacy too, maybe. I talk too much, but I’m going to take a leaf out of your book and try to keep things more simple, but not boring (yours is simple but awesome. I need to set lower goals for myself in order for me to be motivated XD That’s why I said maybe, try, and not boring) 😀
GO ALICE! AND THE STORY ALICE AND KEV! BUT NOT KEV! WOOT!
i know it would be extremely hard, but why not and try to make a video, piece by piece and string them together of Alice and Kev?
Keep up the great work!
I think I’ve said this before, but I love this blog. xD
Today I finally got my own copy of the Sims 3, partially motivated by this! 😀 It just finished installing. 8D
My copy of the game (ordered via your amazon link, so I hope the commission is decent 🙂 should arrive today and I can’t wait to get started. This story is genius. Thanks for doing it and getting me started on a new game. I’ve got Sims 3 on my phone but didn’t see any point in getting the proper game until I read your blog. EA owe you, judging from the number of people who have said similar things. 🙂
You should put Amazon.ca with your other links. That way you can make a commission when I buy my copy of the Sims 3.
~Olivia from Canada
Because of you I’m buying Sims 3 🙂
I disagree with ZEHHH. I think you should radically change now that you have become popular. Start dressing in tight trousers and hang out with drug-addled strippers!
whaha.. good one 😛
(fora moment there in the first line I thought you were actually serious… x’D)
I rly look forward to readin alice & kev every day, and am dissipointed that some dys there rnt any new posts. also, i think it would be nice if something big happened in alice & kev’s life, -like alice got married or kev got a job- and you could make an extra long installment for it.
also, what is alice & kev’s last name?
This is excellent story-telling using the game. I’ll be following you via Twitter for more updates. Keep up the good work!
Hey 🙂
Your Kev and Alice story is amazing. I downloaded them and I will try to make my future baby boy date Alice to marry her and give her a good future ;D
What to do with Kev… humm, no idea!
hey, i am a big fan of alice and kev, such a great story!! i think u should make alice and Z wind up together. they r just made for eachother! hope to see more of ur brilliant work! bravoooo 🙂
i created alice and kev on the sims 2 and i made a bathroom stall and evrybody rings the door bell on there!!!!!!!!!!! and most peeps come just to go to the bathroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you a Girl Robin or a Boy Robin?
Thank you for a great story…will follow this for as long as you enjoy doing it. Update whenever you like, we’ll wait.
Wow, you’re really good at spinning these stories about your two sims. I found a link to this site on some other blog on Yahoo, and then sat on my bed for the last hour reading it, even though I haven’t slept yet and have to wake up in less than four hours. Keep up the good work, and, most importantly, have fun while you do so. These characters are amazing, so don’t forget to take some time to admire your stories yourself, alright?
this story is really good. i wish i knew what your graphics settings were… these pics are so detailed 😀
Hiya roBurky, I was just wondering, I know you’re using WordPress, but are you using a host? I really want to start a blog, but I’m really confused about hosts and stuff.Can you help me please? Or alternatively anyone? Thanks.
Okay, ignore that. I figured it out. What I was wondering was how the posts are cut off on the main page. I have two posts and they are both full and on the same page (main page). Help?
Thanks,
Macamoo
xxx
I Think Alice And Kev Are Great Stories And I Hope He Keeps On Writing I Also Agree With Zehh.Dont Change
If you make this into a book and donate proceed to charity I’m sure it will raise a TON of cash!
hi roburky, can I just ask you how you managed to delete Alice and Kev’s money? I’d like to try and play the sims3 your way for once, but that’s kind of hard when my “homeless people” are wondering around carrying somewhat 16000 simoleons they have left over from buying their lot… :S
please help, thank you!
p.s. Your story is really amazing, I read through all of your entries in one go cause you’ve got me completely hooked…
I believe there is a ‘familyfunds’ cheat that lets you set the exact amount of funds for a family. I didn’t know that cheat worked when I started, though, so I ended up buying a lot of fish from the market and then letting them go into a pond.
yeah I tried the familyfunds one, but I’m not sure it works in the sims3 cause it just said ‘unknown command’ or something…
Anyway thanks! I’m off to buy some fish 🙂 x
Do this:
testingcheatsenabled true
THEN you can enter:
familyFunds [family last name insert here] [desired money from 0 to 9999999]
Have fun with no money! LOL
Hey,
I’ve only recently had a look at Alice and Kev but it’s really good. I’m an Animation student and I’d love to have a chat with you some time when you’re not doing one of your many projects. I’m trying to get into games also, if you have msn…add Love_me_then_die at yahoo.co.uk…if not just email me, if u want to of course lol.
Anyway…Love your stuff, Anna xx
thanks Chad17! I reckon a few more old cheats might work via that way 🙂 Yay, here come the simscheats lol 😛
YAY
I’m famous! LOL
You can also buy tons of stuff and sell and buy repeatedly LOL
But that’s the slow way!
this story is amazing…i just read the entire story in about two hours, and it has definitely changed how i see things. my dad photographs the homeless in san francisco and other cities he visits, so i have been exposed to homeless stories, but this is just a amazing. I cannot believe how much feeling a sim can have and it has just touched my heart. keep up the good work
i downloaded this to my game, and i learned that you can use others peoples outdoor to sleep on and stuff like that. and i was looking around in the neighborhood and there was a house with an underground basement and i saw that i could click on the tv and couch inside and now alice and kev are staying there to sleep and have some entertainment.
and ps. i love this blog(: i have never really been into reading but if its anything about the sims im into it.
Insanely creative site. Well done. Of course it makes sense that you are into game design.
Hi Robin! I was reading the story of Alice and Kev and I have a few questions. Please email me as soon as you can. Thank you 🙂
This is amazing. I came over here from TVTropes and read the whole thing in one sitting. I have never played the Sims so I don’t understand the game mechanics or how much happens on its own vs. by player direction, but the story is incredible. It was pure creative genius to come up with this idea. Stephen King says he gets an idea and starts writing and sees where the characters take him, and sometimes they take him in strange and unforeseen directions. You have taken that an interesting step forward. Well done!
Have you considered a FAQ? I know a lot of questions must have been asked an answered in the comments. Organizing those into a FAQ of some sort might give you at least a little peace from your inquiring fans.
Thanks for a great project!
I’m working on my version of it. I downloaded Alice and I’m playing on from then. I’ll post back soon when I’ve finished the story and you can read it (:
yo, iz u a guy or a gal? robin could be either see.
respect, jp
Do you like writing stories about the sims? Are there any tricks of capturing for the story?
Great story, Robin (:
Great sense of humor, too.
That was great.
Really touching,
but also entertaining.
Like a good movie.
I learned something.
Thanks for this great story. I’m inspired to start my own homeless family now!
Insane.
Status update on your life, Robin? =)
I love this blog! It’s so well written!
I read this a few weeks ago, I got inspired to write a sims 3 blog story, so I did! It’s called Tate Grey, and it’s about this guy (called Tate Grey xD). It’s just generally another blog lol 🙂
https://xpinkstreakzx.wordpress.com/
Great story. It’s amazing how much you can come to care for a couple of pixels. I’m not sure if I will get a reply, but I was wondering what world you played this on? I don’t recognize it but it seems very interesting with lots of places to explore. Thank you.
You had a great idea and made something fantastic with it. I only played The Sims for a month or so years ago, and you really made me want to play more and buy The Sims 3. It’s just sad that homelessness is such dramatically increasing phenomenon, which doesn’t take anything away from your idea. Thank you and congratulations.
Marcel
Now that the Sims has been turned into a facebook game, are you going to play? I’d be interested to see how you could tailor the experience and reach a global audience.
Hi Robin! I first read the whole story of Alice and Kev in late 2009. Very fascinating and an interesting study. You had said there were plans to write more later, but it’s obvious that you must have moved on to bigger and better things. If there are any updates or you’ve had time, I’d be very interested in hearing how Alice’s world has changed.
Thanks again for such an intriguing read!
I found this blog through reading Tynan Sylvester’s Designing Games book; it’s a great story and kinda made me feel like playing the game agian. xD
I appreciate your keeping this up. I first read this before it was even halfway done.
It was really a powerful narrative and I not only still have it book marked 3 computers later, but I come back every year or so and re-read it because it was so well done.