Your family is now part of your Life
A major part of LIVORA is making every Life feel like it belongs to the person you are playing.
With this update, we’ve taken another big step towards that.
Your family is no longer something that only exists when a particular event or scenario needs it. Every Life can now have its own persistent family network, built around the circumstances of that Life and carried with you as the years pass.
Parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, partners, spouses, children, grandchildren and other relatives can all form part of your story where they make sense.
And importantly, they are actual people within your Life — with names and persistent identities.
A family that belongs to your Life
Your family depends on the Life you create.
If you begin through Formative Years, the family and household you grow up with remain part of your history as you move through childhood and into adulthood.
Your parents don’t suddenly become different people when you turn 18. Your siblings don’t disappear because you leave home. The people who were part of your childhood remain part of the Life you are building.
If you choose to start directly in adulthood, LIVORA establishes a family background that fits the Life you have created.
Family structures can vary too. Not every Life is built around the same traditional household, and LIVORA now has a stronger foundation for different family situations and relationships.
Your family has names
Family members now have their own persistent identities.
Instead of a scenario suddenly introducing an anonymous or newly generated relative because the game needs one, LIVORA knows who that person actually is.
If Sarah is your mother, she remains Sarah.
If you have a brother, scenarios involving your sibling can use the brother who already exists in your Life.
If you don’t have a brother, LIVORA shouldn’t invent one simply because a scenario mentions one.
It sounds like a small distinction, but it makes a huge difference to how believable a Life feels.
Family now connects across LIVORA
This isn’t just a new list of relatives.
The family system connects into the wider simulation.
Your actual family circumstances can now be considered across areas such as:
scenarios and Life Events
Health and illness
relationships
partners and marriage
children and parenting
household life
messages and conversations
social life
memories and your Life history
ageing
bereavement
future generations
This also means family-related scenarios can be more intelligent.
A situation involving a sibling should only make sense if you actually have one. A decision involving your children should reflect the children in your Life. Family illness can relate to somebody who genuinely exists rather than a generic relative appearing for the purpose of an event.
Families change as your Life changes
Your family isn't frozen at the beginning of a save.
Relationships can develop as your Life progresses.
Partners can become spouses. Children can become part of your family and eventually grow into adults themselves. Families can experience illness, separation, reconciliation, ageing, loss and other changes across the years.
The aim is for your family history to become another continuous thread running through your Life rather than a collection of disconnected events.
Existing Lives are included
This update isn't only for new saves.
We’ve also put work into ensuring existing Lives can carry forward into the new family system, using the history and information already established within those saves wherever possible.
Existing partners, children, household information, family history and other established relationships are preserved rather than simply replacing them with a newly generated family.
The goal is simple: your existing Life should remain your Life.
Another step towards one connected Life
This update is part of the wider direction we’re continuing to take with LIVORA.
Health, relationships, work, money, family, ageing, your home and the decisions you make shouldn't feel like completely separate mechanics.
They should affect one another.
And the people around you should feel like people who have actually been part of your story.
There’s plenty more to come as LIVORA continues to grow.
Thank you for playing, sharing feedback and helping shape what LIVORA becomes.