Extra: Olivia Clump comeback!

(Photo special - current year 224) Our region's leading jazz singer, Olivia Clump, is back!

Last night she threw a birthday concert, showing the nation that she aged well and that she's still got it! Her son Garvin Clump accompanied her on piano, and the night turned out memorial and beyond to a packed Club Hillside in Crestville, Newcrest.

The popular singer turned elderly last week, but except from a new hairdo she was still the old same that her audience loved a couple decades back. It's no secret that she had a pretty tough down period with decreased sales. She openly told the JazZ magazine how she considered selling her family home at Rivercrest to make ends meet.

Court House: Chaos at Barony of Verde Trial

[Current year 224] After Malcolm Landgraab, Lord Cacti, claimed to be the correct successor to the high nobility Verde peerage, the trial has now been running at Region 12 Court House for a week. The current Baron Verde, Jarret Ross, Duke of Rossie, was accused for not being legit successor because there are 2 following female generations between him and deceased last Baron of Verde, Javiar von Donnersmalt. According to heritage law only one female generation is accepted.

Yuma Heights is owned by the Verde peerage Trust, which is 100% owned by Baron of Verde.

Court has already confirmed that Jarret Ross was incorrectly instated as Baron of Verde.

Download: 9 Custom Ceilings

July 2022: Downloading from this blogger post no longer works, so please head over to a new page listing all my TS4  custom content. All free. DOWNLOADS

I'm bored with the default white ceiling everywhere. How about you?

Thanks to an online tutorial I was able to create a set of wooden replacements. My favorites are the subtle light textures, that just about make a change from the white. This set contains 9 versions.

As this is a replacement it's supposed to override the default white ceiling, but you will still get the same ceiling in all rooms in all houses. Place ONLY ONE of the 9 files into your Mods folder. If you want to change the version, you must exit your game, then replace the file in your Mods folder, and restart the game. Please note that the ceiling you choose for your home will also be the ceiling for your church, stores and Police station...

Gloom District Order Gala

Despite the lack of real royals, my nobility has a well thought out system for annual gala events, although a tad small scale. Each district (=world) has a District Order, also referred to as the Friendship Orders, administrated by the district's high nobility peer. Membership includes a sash and medal in a set color system, the 1st day of Winter ceremony (if there is a new member to be knighted) and of course the annual gala dinner. The dinner event takes place during the season when the district's signature crop and/or flower can be harvested, and these are often included in the menu as well as decor.

Gloom District Order's annual gala dinner taking place at Umbrage Manor in Spring.

These orders are exclusive with maximum 8 members. Often the first 4 are taken by the peerage's high nobility household; peer with spouse, their main heir and perhaps one more member of the family. The remaining members are good for building both network and status, and there's normally only one member per other districts. When there is an event the member is normally invited to bring a spouse or other company, anyway. In theory there can be up to 16 guests for the annual event, but 8-10 is more typical.

Barony of Verde taken to Court - Successor not legit?

[Region 12 Court House, year 224] The Barony of Verde has been remotely operated ever since the last Baron Javiar von Donnersmalt died in Year 173. He was a widower, both his sons already died young, and his daughter Lady Juliez only had one little daughter. This 220 years old peerage can only be inherited by males, but skipping one female generation is tolerated. However a distant heir was found, the deceased Baron's oldest sister Lady Eva Maria had married to the Lord of Prome, and their daughter Julia had married to the Duke of Rossie, who in Year 173 had a 3 years old son, Jarret Ross. As long as a successor is born and alive, age is no issue and a peerage might simply be operated to a minimum until the new Peer can be crowned at age of 25 (the youngest possible age of coronation).

Jarret Ross, Duke of Rossie.

Verde is the old name used for the Oasis Springs district, which House von Donnersmalt reigned for 168 years. This family spread widely, and they were also strongly tied to the Royal family - House de Froux. Princess Emergale, daughter of King Baltazar II of SimNation, married to the 2nd Baron of Verde, Victor August von Donnersmalt - indicating how important the Verde peerage actually was. Their son, Wizar Colin, became the next King of Sim Nation, as House de Froux expired. The House von Donnersmalt's full family story will be told in a future blog article.

High Nobility Male Attire

You might be more interested in the females' dresses and tiaras, but also the noble men must follow certain rules when they dress up. It gets less colorful and although there might be some golden decor and shiny medals for some occasions, they often wear some form of a black suit. It's not random though, and neither is their accessories.

I've put together collages trying to present their preferred attire for most common occasions. The dress code will be either GALA, FORMAL or CASUAL, and the two latter codes have different rules based on whether the event takes place at day or night.

Let's check out the high nobility peers; Duke of Rossie, Duke of Meadows, Duke de Cavalier and Baron of Gloom. There are more high nobility peerages, but they are currently waiting for heir to get old enough for coronation or they are held by someone with multiple peerages. So, these 4 men are actually all my high nobility peer males at the moment.

Industrial Pioneers of Evergreen Harbor

One of the first things I focus on when getting a new pack is the backstory of the world and those families that I want to keep. That's why I can present to you the stories of Evergreen Harbor's most famous men of the past - the pioneers who founded the industry which also populated this place!

Evergreen Harbor never really honored these three men, all long gone. They could all deserve a statue! They sure made good profit from the growing industry, and well - their efforts left behind a landscape where pollution and industrial waste still overshadow any beauty, but they also hired lots of settlers. Many families would not have a job if not for Henry Pigulock, Collin Grims and Hector Sterling's tireless business efforts over several decades. And all 3 of them have descendants residing Evergreen Harbor today!

Residents Registry Updated

Finally, the error causing only left side info on a sim's bio has now been fixed. At the same time Evergreen Harbor residents and a brand new feature has gone public (earlier than planned for).

Addresses are now more detailed with name of house and picture of lot.

Also, the Real Estate info on the Community site was added. The previous "Real Estate" has been renamed "Moving" as the info was actually switching address regardless of owning or renting the lot.

The new Real Estate section has minimum one post per existing lot - including community lots, and shows old and new owner, as well as whether it was a sale, heritage, gift - or just an update. Most real estate trades also shows in a sim's LIFE LINE - on the bio page.

For some addresses there is lot history included, but this is a feature that was not completed yet. I also plan to add have the household address link to a list of all current household members. Not sure when that can be added, though.

Oh - and the Residents Registry now contain Evergreen Harbor residents! In the future this new district will be sorting under Gloomville administratively, but has its own section under LOCALITY.

Calendar Year 224

I've spent quite some time on Region 12's history and all this work has resulted in a calendar packed with events and anniversaries. It's all gathered in a spreadsheet with years and districts - still a work in progress, but already making it easier for both nobility and politicians to plan ahead. At the start of each year I'll use the calendar to plan events for my upcoming year. It's good to know they are taking place, even if I don't play them all. For the first time I'll share - here's the main events in Year 224:

This year San Myshuno is the main host of the annual Farmers' Festival. Each year the districts focus on their local main crops and flora, by decorating and eating more of their local specialities. In San Myshuno there are two districts, Meadows and Myshuno, but they have the same historical signature crop - the Holly. The city normally focus more on spicy food than the other districts, and that's of course historically based, too. Duke of Meadows (House of Saxor) will probably get involved somehow, but the Barony of Myshuno is currently not operative as they still wait for the only male heir to grow up.

Residents Registry will be repaired

I just got aware of that my Residents Registry has an online script error resulting in only the left side information showing. I don't know how much traffic the registry has, but because I link many articles from both this blog and my Tumbler to the character bios, I was a bit shocked to see that this error probably has been around for a while. I use the registry daily, but that is the offline version, which has been updated with new content.

To repair the error, I'll shortly upload the new version. I'll leave a short note here when it's done, with info on some of the new additions.

Dumpster Diving Businesses

[The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle] So, this new pack has arrived, and after lots of hours exploring and playing it still feels like I've not even started. As with every new addition there are some surprises, some disappointments - and even some features you didn't know you were missing. Although it feels like I hardly scratched the surface, I'd say that this pack adds to the game on several levels. You'll find plenty of new activities good for making money as well as building the character as well as a community feel, but there is also lots of content that might look a bit dull and "done with", but that will have an impact in the long run.

The new features seem well thought out and might have an impact on old activities, too. Like dumpster diving is a way to collect upgrade parts, which will be great to anyone with high handiness skills. You can find old furniture that can be up-scaled and used (perfect for students and young settlers) or sold as retail. You can find Eco-upgrade parts. Ink for candle making and Fabrication. And probably a lot more.

Small 5x2 or 5x3 recycling stations like this is now popping up in all my worlds. Same design while content varies a bit.

San Myshuno got its first Public Recycling Station (pictured). It's small and this one includes only a dumpster and the recycling machine. I will use the same design when placing more stations like this in other hoods, but the content might vary a little. My sims will need this service permanently, not only as part of the random Community Space. Besides, this tiny installment can be added to many existing community lots regardless of lot category.

Eco Lifestyle - my plans

So, patch day is already here *), and in just 3 days the The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle pack will hit! I'm definitely not the only simmer doing some planning these days...

So, how will I implement the new world and features to my existing game of 70 households with 225 years of history?