I've experienced loss throughout my life like everyone else has in our time on this Earth. There can be no light without darkness. No beginning without an end. No birth without death. I've seen those my age pass on so early in life and those that I knew it was coming, but still, I felt their passing.
This time, this death has hit me more than any in the past. It took me so many retries to write this message without breaking down. Victor Andrade (The Wizard), my friend and one whom I've adopted as a brother, has passed on after a year of battling cancer at the age of 26. Since we connected in 2019 to help enhance SimRealist to what it is today, he became someone I could trust and would always be there for our team. He has been there in my highs and
my lows, always willing to listen and be there for anyone who needed him. I'm going to miss our daily conversations. I'm going to miss hearing about the game he was developing or about his cats (Zuko and Shu-Shu). I never had the chance to meet him in person or to say goodbye, but his influence on my life and those he touched with the code he wrote while being part of SimRealist will always be here with us.
Victor has touched all the SimRealist mods in one way or another. However, he helped start Mortem, Organic, R|E, SNB - Bills, and SNB - Financial Center. Before starting up with SimRealist, Victor also created Direct Controls and Classic Camera for the Sims 4. As well as Deep Conversations, The Third Person Mod, New Lifetime Goals, and Automatic Savegame Loading for the Sims 3. Outside of the Sims, as mentioned, he was developing his own game as well as one he submitted for the Mental Health Jam on itch, FlyLittleBird, and MirroredBella. You can find some of his work still here: https://victorandrade.itch.io/.
I hope that, in time, the SimRealist team can continue the legacy that he helped build with us in our code for years to come as a way to honor him. Every time he created something, he created it by thinking of you all and what you would expect in your mods. He read your feedback on Discord whenever he was online. Those "thank yous" for enhancing the game really helped him get through some really tough months this past year. I hope you know how much of an impact you had on him as much as he had on you. Please honor him by taking a moment. And then take a moment to hug your friends and family, as you never know when it will be the last time you'll see or speak to them.
As for me, though Victor helped me create Mortem as a way to work through losing both of my grandmothers back to back, I plan to use it as a way to remember him. It was one of his favorites, as you can tell based on how much time he took to build the storyline that it invokes.
May you rest in peace, my friend. A young bird who just learned how to fly. Now forever free from pain.
Nichole
- - If you would like to help Victor's family to help with the medical and funeral costs, please join me here: https://gofund.me/f2209c01 - -