The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy - Hoods and geography

Oh my! The elegancy, nobility and scandals of the new EP makes it one of those packs flying straight into my game. It would be pointless to wait for a sale, and it would be wasted to debate with myself whether I want it or not. That I could have survived without it, is another dish - right now this is not so much about survival, but desire :)

Hoods Bellacorde, Dambele, and Verdemar. Each comes with dynasties claiming the vacant royal throne.

The worlds look awesome and different, and content seems promising. My only concern is that my royals already have crowns and most of what they need in their palace. And the throne is definitely not vacant. I play most of my nobility with quite regular lives, just a bit better outfits and more spacious estates. CAS look great on the ball/historical side, but we don't know yet whether there will also be a few more everyday high nobility outfits for a modern kingdom.

My biggest puzzle so far was to place the new world geographically into my existing map. And I found a surprising way!

For the first time I decided to split the world, placing its 3 hoods miles apart - actually in each their nation. More about that below.

This pack turns out to be slightless about royals and more about nobility and family dynasties, which is even more exciting to me as it will suit my many noble households. The nobility system itself comes in the form of a new career. It might turn out less compatible with my game, because I already have a well thought out system based on RL nobility combined with "imagination and notes on the side". But I expect to plce most peers into tht new career, someway, just to give them the extra gameplay. The system of raising an Heir. In my game each peerage's letter of patent decides the heir, but s/he still needs to be prepared for the task and some corontion will add to it all. Swordfighting and scandals, too, and obviously also a system for residents of the kingdom to earn status with the monarch in order to climb the nobility grades. My entire aristocracy might be affected someway working for a respect and positions. Playing on rotation their houses will not climb quickly unless I really want them to.

I see my sims' peerages as rather locked assignments staying with the family for generations, and not something come-and-go. Maybe I don't want random events to have huge impact on this, but I expect ways to stay in charge. Most titles are old and they are Baron of Gloom or Duke of Meadows - involving both geography and history. Some of them would even be forced to switch addresses if switching peerages. But all that can probably be dealt with. I also have a large "underwood" of Aristocracy that live regular lives but will definitely enjoy some elegancy, scandals and swords. I'm pretty sure this pack will keep me busy even if I use just a few selected features.

I already have 3 nations - two kingdoms and 1 empire, but only one kingdom is played rather intensively. The new world Ondarion contains 3 hoods with each their unique design, so I chose to place those hoods far apart geographically, and not see hem as one world or another nation. In fact, I'll place each hood in a different ntion - something I never tried before. Sims need to travel anyway, so why not?

And - believe it or not - in my existing system of districts spread on three nations, there are a few holes to fill, that matches the new concept pretty well! Here's my early plan for each of the new locations.

Sea kingdom: Verdemar - Thebe dynasty

We all get interested when Princess Cordelia is involved. In my game she died 150 years ago, so I will rather play a great-granddaughter. And according to the trailer it is quite likely that the blonde female member of the Thebe dynasty is not the true Cordelia, but a descandent. It makes sense timewise that Princess Cordelia founded a dynasty far away from her origin. She was a born princess, but lived on various places like Henford-on-Bagley, Tartosa and maybe Britechester. She partnered with pirates, and it will be my story that she founded a mini district named Thebia in the Sea kingdom, a huge nation including beachy Sulani and the jungle. As Princess Cornelia's dynasty lost power, the Thebian palace was taken over by my royal family and the district renamed Verdemar.

There is a logical problem with her story, as it has been pretty clear that princess Cordelia did not have descendants. Still, the female fesatured in the trailer is blond, adventurous, and with Cordelia's purple eyes. So, did the princess have a child anyway? Does history claim "no child" because her child ws born outside marriage, which can be quite the scandal within nobility?

Another fact is that I already have a House of Thebe in my game, pretended to descend from princess Cordelia's brother. This House holds a barony. My ongoing story is complex though, and I don't know for sure how this Thebe family branch will develop. They obviously has no contact with Verdemar.

Verdemar, populated by heroic outlaws and cunning nobles, is as unpredictable as the sea that surrounds it.

My Sea kingdom was in need of a location where their royal famly can have their main seat. They have a palace in the Selvadoradian jungle, but as it is not livable, the Verdemar (ex-Thebe) Palace might be a good option. The lot seems a bit small for a royal seat, but that will be a good match with this nation's culture - they focus more on spirits than physical possessions.

Simerinina in Empire of Snorthia: Dambele - Darong dynasty

A bigger palace is the one where the Darong dynasty has their seat. In my Empire of Snorthia there is an Emperor, and he doesn't really allow much nobility. Instead they have their own unique system of «protected families» with a certain noble status. Originally, there were 3 kingdoms, but then they were all conquered by the first Emperor - generations ago. However, this far I had a world for only 2 of hose old kingdoms - Mt Komorebi and Tomarang, but Simerinia was missing.

Dambele is a community where the arts are cherished, and shared spaces such as the open palace gardens and communal market embody its culture of generosity and togetherness.

Not much longer! The Africa inspired Dambele hood might be a bit off the Asian area I always imagined Simerinia to be, but I will just place it farther south than the 2 other regions, which will explain the palm trees and the darker skin. It will actually be a very good match!

The Darong dynasty will become one of those old protected families of Simerinia, I'll just replace the Ming family which history must be slightly adjusted.

I think this hood looks amazing with a very different layout. I'm excited to see what other lots it offers.

Tredony in Mazaloom: Bellacorde - Capp dynasty

My Region Tredony (of my main kingdom Mazaloom) includes Del Sol Valley, Tartosa and a district Tredony, which I this far had to pretend. With the Capp family's hood, Bellacorde, I can finally fill this spot, too, completing the region. My imaginary Tredony district had 2 small hoods, but I can still pretend there exists one extra hood, or simply ignore that fact. I guess it helps seeing the layout of this hood, Bellacorde.

On Sims Fandom there is a huge Capp family tree. I will fill them into my story book as the most important family of the old Tredony district (I know this district's story back to the Medieval era), but  the Capp dynasty will not have a very high position within nobility, simply because they have no peerage to start with. They have 3 young grown ups that should be of interest to many other of my noble Houses looking for spouces.

Bellacorde is defined by romance, opulence, and candlelit corners that invite illicit rendezvous.

My existing royals already own one nice estate in each of the nation's 8 regions, and I don't see them moving in at the Capp's estate, but they might turn the Capp build into their Tredony estate, and offer the Capp family another estate in exchange. Ideas are spinning as I write... but these details need to wait for release date.

I didn't really find how the Capp family tree above meets the family tree from TS2, but now it seems likely that Tybalt Capp (TS2 teen) is today's head of the Capp dynasty. This allows me to calculate generations and see how the Capps fit into Tredony's long history line.

Placing all three hoods geographically was essential for me, before I can move on with my planning. I'm going out of town for a couple weeks, then return for the release, but shortly leave again for another 3 weeks, so it will take a while until I can dive into the pack itself. However, planning is fun, too!