Download: Nylons

Ever since  base game release the general nylon leggings nearly made me  pull out my hair! Five swatches with only one brown which was very dark! Dressing up a bit classy would require lighter nylons, perhaps just a tad darker than your skin. Not dark brown that would work only with very dark dresses or skirts, and mostly if you want to look like a granny.

So, I finally  created some color versions. It was harder than I expected - I expected the skin color to affect the look, but at least my sims now have a wider selection. I'm not yet sure whether I will need to add more light tones, but I find these options better meeting my needs anyway. So, I'm sharing :)

Boarding Schools

(Year 229) My kingdom already has several private high schools where students can attend in order to focus on certain skills, without moving out. The Showbiz Academy is one, the traditional Butler Academy another. All those students technically just visit another lot occasionally to study harder.

Now I'm adding two real boarding schools where students will reside during the period that covers most of their life stage. One school is for children (primary) and the other for teenagers (high school), and because they are residential lots with minimum one Principal residing there, the number of students will be vey limited.

HRH Crown Princess Emireze (front left) studies at Summerfield High.

I'm not familiar with real life boarding schools (never was a big thing where I live), so my take on this might be a bit off the real stuff. Still, I'm very much looking forward to sending some kids there. When playing the royal family I quickly noticed that the house gets too full too quickly - there will hardly be room for more than one servant and definitely no pet dog. So what to do? Yup, send those Princes and Princesses away! Same goes for the families of Dukes and perhaps even Counts. They go by different rules, though: While a Monarch can send off all children (within boarding school capacity), the lower ranked peerages will only send their main heir. This way I think the household size limitation might feel less of a problem, and the boarding school capacity will normally be satisfying even if the number of students is very limited.

Gossips #1

(Year 229) You might recall Antoinette Morck either from co-hosting the REG12 News, or for being the city girl buying a cow farm in Henford-on-Bagley and moving there with her hubby and their 5 kids. Now she is back with a regular gossips section on this blog! Just another way to keep track on some of the celebrity stuff going on in this corner of SimNation!

- Welcome to this first edition of my brand new GOSSIPS column! Becoming a country girl does not mean that I'm not keeping an eye on the celebrities, and here I'll share some of the gossips with you - while I'm not busy tending my five children and four milk cows... I worked with TV and Media production for some time, and because I can prepare this from home, it won't be as time consuming. As soon as we've got this column running, I might pass it on to a younger reporter - contact Simmerville Studio if you are interested!

Problems grabbing my Downloads?

Please help me testing if the problem is solved!

Now that I am aware that several visitors to the blog can't get to my downloads, I tried to solve the problem. Although I don't release tons of downloads, this blog had a few TS4 downloads over the years - liked the CC ceilings, more red/pink nails, several sets of new backdrops for the Photo Studio object.

I'm now testing whether it will work better off Blogger, so I have created a download list on my Simmerville webpage. At the time thee are only 3 items available and you probably won't desire all of them, but I really need someone to help by testing at least to download the zip files. It is the downloading that is the problem, you won't need to install anything in your game.

Please comment on this blog post how it worked for you, and whether you had problems in the past.

If this new list works, I will add all my downloads to the new list during this weekend. I already added all downloads to the new page. Link to be added to related pages over the next couple days.

New list of my TS4 Downloads

Thank you!

History: Tartosa in Tredony

(Year 229) Region 3 was created as early as in Year 2 and is commonly named Tredony, after the old Porto Tredony. The old town was an important cargo harbor ever since the Medieval era, benefiting from its deep waters perfect for large ships. They had one of the earliest institutes, and early on students realized that commerce earned more than industry. Tredony county was created in Year 4, but in the early period also the Merchant Prince was powerful. Tredony disapproved on King Baltazar II assigning them with a regional signature crop and flower, they argued they already did very well with their trades.

This region also covers Tartosa and a few small and less populated islands. Tredony town is still the administrative center of Region 3, but Tartosa near by is about to win the tourists over. Tartosa not only provides picturesque wedding venues. The royal family hails from Tartosa and the kingdom's current President, Laurent Pepperstone (LEFT), is from Tredony town. But also the fact that the region's highest nobility, the Count de Tredony, actually a title held by the royal house for 225 years, was always seated in Tartosa and their Castello Tredony has become a tourist attraction. The old building is located just a short walk from the village.

History of Tartosa is not without community highlights (Mazaloom History Book), besides most of the lots have their own story up to the current owners. So, let's take a quick tour!

Porto Luminoso

In the old days Tartosa was even smaller, and all land was owned by the Mazaloom Royal Trust. The villagers made a living from fishing, and typically sold most of their harvest at the old town market in Tredony. Tartosians shortly discovered the beautiful art of nectar making, and for more than a century Tartosa has been widely known for its good nectars. They say grapes build a unique flavor in this area, and nobody can explain why. So why not just enjoy the lovely result - the nectar?

Mid picture (1) is Castello Tredony, Tartosa's oldest building.

The oldest build of them all is Castello Tredony (1), home of the Count de Tredony.

Perfume Ladies

(Year 229) Not long ago we heard about Nina Caliente's new perfume shop. Her business goes quite well, located in the gym at the commercial area of Oasis Springs. Nina Caliente (70) makes some perfumes herself, but she called for others to sell their perfumes in her shop, and now it seems the delivery is already satisfying. This is a new way to run a business!

Nina do produce Energizing Scent (Chrysanthemum), Mourning Scent (Dahlia), and Evil Scent (Begonia) herself, and while her perfume making skill is still building, she has been rather productive. Thanks to regular deliveries from others she can now offer most flavors. Only the higher level brands are still very much anticipated (until skills are built a bit more).

Nobility: Orders and their Sashes

(Year 229) How about a closer look on those sashes? With the high number of peerages in Mazaloom kingdom, one should expect lots of pictures from gala events with sashes and tiaras all over the place. But this far there were rather few such reports on this blog. That does not mean that there is not a rigid system of sashes, though. So, in this article I'll try to introduce you to the most essential. Keep in mind that although my system is based on real life stuff, some details are not ;)

The Peerage of Mazaloom, also known as the large peerage consists of 4 noble levels: Royals, Dukes, Counts and Barons. Peerages close to the Monarch are granted with a so called District Order (aka friendship orders), which make them high nobility. Peerages with no such order stated in their Letter of Patent, will be considered low nobility (or actually, just plain nobility). While the unique sash color refers to the District Order, the star brooch worn with the sash comes in 4 version referring to 4 different rankes within the large peerage.

1. King/Queen
Top notch of this system is naturally the Monarch. Also the spouse (Queen/Prince Consort) and heir apparent (Crown Prince/Princess) are seen as of same top rank. They all wear the 1st level of the star brooch, regardless of which sash they may use for the occasion.

Because noble men normally wear a sash inside a tuxedo, rather than over their shoulder, we'll let a female model display the sashes for this article. Some male uniforms come with the star brooch already, and when that is the case I can not replace the brooch with the correct version. But for females these details are followed rigidly as they are separate accessories.

Most Monarchs will at some point in their lives lead a military career. Most reach Officer levels, either through hard work or granted them as they are head of the military organization. For gala events they will often wear the uniform with a red sash.

Tartosa Promenade - a Multi Content Lot

(Year 229) The popular Tartosa Popular is owned by the Tredony Trust, now owned by House de Luminosa. The beach lot has been offering tourists as well as locals many services over the years, mainly focused at eating and drinking, but also shopping of souvenirs, art and clothes.

I built the beach building recently. It's not yet quite completed, I think I'll play with alternaive wall textures, and also a few features like beach showers are missing. But because I took some pictures - and am away from my game for a few more days, I'll just share as things are currently. Perhaps you will fiind some inspiration for your own beach lot.

Tartosa Promenade (aka Baia dell'Amore) is quite spacious, but without coming across as too massive. The lot is categorized as Restaurant, but I guess that can alter over time. It means the beach supplies like sun beds, will probably not be used by anyone but the active household. I prefer the 2nd floor shop/dining areas to be busy.

Chateau Peak: Prince Jerome splits from House of Luxe-Hamper

(Year 229) At today's press conference at royal estate Chateau Peak, His Royal Majesty King Tarriot announced that House of Luxe Hamper is formally splitting. The Tartosa branch will now be known as House de Luminosa.

Castello Tredony was built 200 years ago by House de Luxe-Hamper.

The old and top notch House of Luxe-Hamper originates from Tartosa in Tredony (Region 3), and held the Tredony County ever since its creation back in Year 3. When King Tarriot's grandfather, King Tybe, accepted the Mazaloom kingdom, he had to give up on his Count title. Tredony county has a District Order, making it high nobility, and rule one of the large peerage is that each house can only hold one high nobility peerage (but unlimited low nobility peerages). Traditionally the Monarch will never hold any Peerage aside of being the head of it all. Although King Tybe was forced to give up the title Count de Tredony, the peerage was still held by close relatives, making House of Luxe-Hamper actually not going by the rules. This did upset some, and it was said that it was possible only because the Monarch was involved. After all he is head of the large peerage.