Rewind: King Tarriot's Coronation

Along my rapid royal journey there are a few major events that deserve attention. In year 198 Queen Evez unexpectedly died, and time had come for eldest son Tarriot Baritom Ruphus Luxe-Hamper to become Monarch. Following protocol the coronation can take place 6 months later, the earliest, and always at Royal Court on Investiture Day (1st day of Winter). The 6 months wait is to allow for any relative to protest, which was more needed in the medieval era when a family tree often involved a surprise or two. These days the line of successors will rarely be subject of debate at all. Anyway - 6 months is also giving time for the palace staff to prepare the big event that the coronation is.

This is also a good occasion for a family portrait. Some attendees naturally longed for the celebrations to follow - a grand banquet followed by mingling in the Chateau Peak salons.

Rewind: Queen Evez is dead!

 I've created a huge family tree for my royal House of Luxe-Hamper. Several existing families got involved in the past, mostly the dukes and counts. The only detail remaining before I can focus on the current royal household, is to say goodbye to the previous Monarch, Queen Evez.

When a central member of the royal household passes, there is created a small oval portrait like pictured above. This portrait decorates the condolence protocol in the Grand Mazaloom Hall, where the public can access without making an appointment. Similar portraits of Queen Evez' parents, King Tybe and Queen Consort Anna  are currently displayed upstairs in the King's Tea Salon.

Building a Royal Estate - Part 3

Here's part 3 of my series of 6-8 weekly blog posts, sharing the progress as I build a huge home for my royal family, House of Luxe-Hamper. You can follow the progress as well as getting a first introduction to this family and some of their traditions.

In case you missed the previous articles; if you see some CC of interest, just drop me a comment and I'll look up credits and link. I have too much CC to give links as we go. 

Queen Evez and Prince Consort Clempus won't reign much longer, but they don't know. I created a huge family tree and this couple is only the parents of the current monarch. To gather some paintings and family photos, and allow them to influence on the interior, I had them around while building.

Chateau Peak is located at The Pinnacles in Del Sol Valley. Some of the exterior was already adjusted, but this series will focus on what's inside. I'm used to much smaller households, and it is quite a challenge planning for the biggest household I ever had. Making it playable is more important than to look like awesome royals, besides this lot is already lagging as there are 2 more floors to go...

House de Cavalier: Engagement

(Year 229) House de Cavalier, Brindleton Bay, announces the engagement between Charlopold Demitris de Cavalier, Duke de Cavalier and Lady Luna V. Heimlich.

Duke Charlopold (38) took over the Brindleton dukedom two years ago as his father, Aquess de Cavalier, stepped back due to health issues. He got his History degree at University of Britechester and has started a career in Military.

Building a Royal Estate - Part 2

I'm having fun building a castle! In this series of 6-8 weekly blog posts, you can follow the progress as well as getting a first introduction to the royal House of Luxe-Hamper.

In case you missed the previous article, if you see some CC of interest, just drop me a comment and I'll look up credits and link. I have too much CC to give links as we go. 

So, this is Chateau Peak, located at The Pinnacles in Del Sol Valley. This far the exterior is just a base, and will be adjusted later. I find the indoors more interesting because that is where the household and staff will live their lives. I think my strength as a builder is to plan thoroughly, though, not necessarily to decorate appropriately. I'm used to smaller households and it feels a bit off to add as much gold and stash as possible - so, all details might change in the future anyway. I like to think that each Monarch might cause a few changes over the generations.

My 20 Years Anniversary

I just realized it's been 20 - TWENTY! - years since my first The Sims web site was released in February 2002*! So to celebrate this amazing anniversary I invite you to dive into the past to explore bits of this journey.

My first site was for The Sims 1, and already back then I had a community focus with a council, experts on food and babies and much more. It was perhaps the first sims site out there that was "for sims, by sims". SUN, anyone? The site had guest writers from other games, and it turned out as a nice role playing universe.

Building a Royal Estate - Part 1

Wanna join me building a castle for my royals? This series will cover the process and also introduce you to the Royal family. I assume there will be 6-8 blog posts posted more or less weekly.

I never built this big before, and I like details and logics, so I will definitely include a bit of back-and-for thoughts in addition to the building and interior. If you see some CC of interest, just drop a comment and I'll look up credits and link. I have too much CC to give links as we go. This will probably be my only chance to go wild with the extravaganza (not my specialty, btw), so I must try my best making it all both spacious, impressive and practical. Plus - it's not a bad thing if it is also playable, once I'm done :)

So, this is Chateau Peak, located at The Pinnacles in Del Sol Valley. Not your 400 rooms castle with impressive towers, but at least it has a splendid view. With 3 full floors plus a basement it's easily the largest in my game. The building has a backstory, but was upgraded for this new royal family in my Year 150. This is the 2nd exterior I try, I want to avoid the very rustic stonewalls, because Year 150 is less than a century ago. I started with bright sand color, but found that it looks better with a tad darker color, because shapes and details will show better.

Yes, it looks a bit plain and dull, but I'll add some more trims, deco and adjust stuff like windows later. I'll leave the exterior for now - let's look inside! Just saying what you see is not the final result ;)

Graphics - Let the sunlight in!

(Year 229) I can't believe I did not up the light settings much earlier! I had them at medium, because my graphics card is integrated (which normally means low quality with no dedicated video RAM), so I thought my computer could not handle the better settings, but I was so wrong!

From my new Chateau Peak - still in progress - a mini series from the building coming soon!

I set the lighting to max, and compensated by reducing sim details. I'd love those details, too, but to be honest I don't see much of a difference. And - the sunlight coming into the rooms makes up for it a million times! I love how the light effects creates depth, direction and sometimes quite spectacular effects. And they change all the time depending on the hour, giving a totally new reason to plan your layout - what rooms should get daylight effects at what time of the day?

My Wedding Stories Game Pack - Tartosa World, Trailer and Live stream

So, the new game pack is finally being announced! A trailer is online, and this Friday, tomorrow, there will be a live stream, hopefully answering all our questions.

I had decided not to get a wedding pack as i hardly ever play weddings - if I do there is no real party. But the new little Tartosa Beach World looks stunning, and there seems to be some nice decor and features that won't be strictly limited to weddings. I will need to check this out!

I took some screenies to study the world more, and here's sharing, just in case you like to stare at pictures forever to spot new details, like I do :)

House von Heimlich: Breaking News

(Year 228) Duke Merlin von Windenburg, Head of House von Heimlich, announces the incredible news that he recently met his unknown daughter! Young adult, Luna Villareal, had been suspicious to who her right father is, as her mother was first married to the Duke, then to Jacques Villareal, and Luna was born less than 9 months after the Duke's disappearance in Year 190. Her official father refused to take a DNA test, and he died 4 years ago (as featured in the As Sims Go By video series).

When Duke Merlin heard about this, he promptly offered a DNA sample, and they had a full match!

Duke Merlin von Windenburg posing with his newfound daughter, Luna.

Rewind: The Mazaloom Kingdom

Surprise! I have since long stated that there is no Royalty in my Region 12, but this is no longer the truth! I tried to hold back for this long, but my numerous noble Houses need some organization with a little more omph than what is the current situation. So, during my ongoing journey researching today's royal family, which of course comes with a past, I came across some "older" photos from a very special occasion that took place 78 years ago:

 The coronation of the first King and Queen of the modern Era!

The biggest event of the times made a flying start for DSV's very first TV production company, Plumbob Studios.

The current King is actually the 7th Monarch of Mazaloom, with the first getting his crown in Year 1 (Perhaps you met the first two kings in my video series this Winter, «Mazaloom Medieval»). After a few generations there were riots; The goal of the Great Revolution in Year 118 was indeed to remove all nobility including the Monarch. Nobility did not get completely removed, though, but their privileges shrunk drastically. The royal family extinguished themselves by having no heir to the Crown, and the main seat of House de Froux and House von Donnersmalt, Hedgewood Castle, was vandalized.

The Simmerville Show - Premiere!

(Year 228) Finally, my new TV-show is airing! It's lots of fun with a mix of guests in studio and video reports from visiting local households. Main host Fritz Mervil (CEO of Simmerville Studio, Inc.) is assisted by a Castle Reporter and Guest Caretaker.

This show is also a nifty way for me to share stories and builds from my Region 12. There's plenty of references to the past, but you won't need any knowledge to watch, neither will there be many links between the shows. Each show lasts about 12 minutes,

I hope you'll enjoy :)