#test of time challenge

[sychik]

ANCIENT ROMAN NECESSITIES. PART 1: WOMEN

I know, it's very unexpected. I've been having lots of fun with the Test of Time challenge, and then I got to Ancient Rome… and the fun ended :/ enormous respect to all creators who have made cc for that era, but it's just not enough. I hereby present to you the results of my latest hyperfixation.

the meshes are my own, frankenmeshed from maxis meshes and modified. no need to fret about violating my TOU, because I don't care. use, modify, recolor, include. they all should have fat and pregnancy (tf-af) morphs.

1) long-sleeved, low-waist tunic. because of… common sense reasons, it's suited best for women who are more well-off. tf-ef, 28 swatches. DOWNLOAD

2) tunic with a stola; again. tf-ef, 73 swatches… I am sorry. I went ham. the actual Romans probably weren't THAT fun with their color combinations, anyway, but my sims Romans will be. they all have pretty borders, for the sake of consistency. DOWNLOAD

3) simple shorter tunic for working class women. tf-ef, 20 swatches, no fancy dyes or borders. DOWNLOAD

4) girls: shorter basic tunic and longer fancy one. those aren't as different, I guess. DOWNLOAD SHORT | DOWNLOAD LONG

that was a lot. if you encounter any issues, don't hesitate to contact me! also, my post-creation aversion is kicking in, so I hope you'll enjoy this more than I do :D

[nonsensical-pixels]

then vs now... just 20 years apart 👀 from stone age to roman times...

(it's also a monitor + computer upgrade apart lol)

[liri-sims]

Download at SFS or Box.

This is a default replacement for all the conversation icons: the basegame interests, the Freetime hobbies, the "tell story about" interaction that came in Apartment Life, and the pet interests that will sometimes turn up in a pet's dreams or thought bubbles. That extends to the UI elements, where the sim's level of interest in a subject or enthusiasm for a hobby is displayed.

I made this for my Test of Time challenge, because every speech replacement I could find was way too modern for my Stone Age hunter-gatherers.

My sample shots were taken against both Eddysims' high-res speech bubbles and Simborg's TSM speech bubbles, so you can see how they look against both. This was absolutely a deliberate choice and not just that I decided to switch my default in the middle but didn't want to scrap the screencaps.

As you can see above in the crabby toddler shot, I also default-replaced the motives, because I was tired of seeing the same "TOILET!" or "BED!" thought bubbles in the stone age as I'd seen in Pleasantview. A sim who's too hot will think about wanting a cool breeze, not an iced beverage; a sim who's on the verge of bladder failure (or wetting their diaper) will think about relieving themselves in a shrub; a sim in hygiene desperation will think about washing off in a waterfall, because of Marvine's waterfall shower. (If you see the manure pile, they want the place cleaned up.) This is a separate folder from the speech defaults, so you can choose if you want that or not.

This isn't perfect - some icons have some compression/color bleeding that I can't seem to get rid of, and the fuzziness of the era and setting (I don't call it the "Neanderthal" era but that is the official name) means that there are some anachronisms and inconsistencies baked in - the next stage is the Roman Empire, so any New World vegetation or animals shouldn't be there, but they're in a tropical setting, but if there are strays in the neighborhood they have domesticated cats and dogs, which Neanderthals wouldn't... My seven-year-old daughter, in fact, pointed this out and refused to let me have domestic cats and dogs in the children's speech pool. Kids talk about wolves and leopards instead:

The other samples of basegame interest discussion:

In my game, I have Almighty Hat's alien abduction mod, and Plantsims, so the discussion of elves and dryads fits right in. Instead of school or work, sims will discuss important survival skills and cultural knowledge: hunting, fishing, weaving, making tools and preserving food. And so on. It may not suit everyone's game perfectly, but it's better for mine than anything else I could find.

Credit and acknowledgments: The icons used here came from a variety of artists via Freepik and Flaticon. The Puppet Characters collection, Max.Icons, Monkik, and Eucalyp all got heavy use. I also got some from UltimateArm, though I'm having a hard time finding a link to their page specifically.

Without Sims in Low Space, this default wouldn't exist - it was from her novel default that I got the idea to use Flaticon as a source. I also referred heavily to other speech defaults, including Keoni's modern one, and the medieval replacements by ClstlDrmr83 and rugrat0ne.

And if you read all this, you may not want to scroll back up, so here are the download links again:

Download at SFS or Box.

Everything is compressorized and clearly labeled so you can delete any parts you don't want. Let me know if you use this, or if you run into any problems!

[sartsasims]

Pharaoh's palace

[guessimate]

Happy Women's Day to everyone celebrating!*

Today we are visiting the Bruni household, where the imperial nuptials are finally taking place. I'm excited to finally see the royal couple tie the knot. We can also see the emperor's sister carry her first pregnancy, since she's still residing in the palace.

Some of my sims got little makeovers because I wanted to use these awesome pallas so they look a bit different in later screenshots.

~*~

Sesheshet's first pregnancy and birth went swimmingly. The baby is a healthy baby girl named Fausta. She has got her mother's gray eyes and dad's blond hair. Laetus talked his wife into trying for a baby one more time before he would go off to war, but sadly that baby was not meant to be...

Fausta is a Gemini. She's 2 Sloppy (her dad is 3 Sloppy), 10 Outgoing (her dad is 8 Outgoing), 10 Active (her mom is 9 Active), 5 Playful (her dad is 6 Playful), and 8 Nice (her mom is 9 Nice). She is a nice mix of her parents in terms of personality.

~*~

The young empress's pregnancy went without any complications as well. However, the royal couple had some issues conceiving... They likely won't have a lot of children even if Mnevis comes home safely.

I am happy to announce that there is an heir to the throne! Sen gave birth to a baby boy, prince Sertor. Should anything bad happen to Mnevis, he has got a son already. Fausta and Sertor might as well be siblings and not cousins; they are both gray-eyed blondes.

~*~

I got the emperor a job in the Military career on the last day of his adolescence. He went to work and got promoted after his age up, but he definitely needs to work on his body skill. He is quite a lazy sim who is more interested in fine arts. Sesheshet encouraged her brother to be a bit more active before he went off to war.

PS For some reason the wedding party was a disaster, even though the couple got married. Maybe it's because the evil witch showed up and everyone was freaking out about the cockroaches? My sims must be afraid of a new plague wave... or signs of the incoming war. I sort of like it for the story, perhaps nobody but the royal couple enjoyed the feast. In reality it's probably some sort of a bug with the community lot weddings, but I wanted to throw a community lot party...

* And I'm sorry my post is 1 day late!...

[ts2-testoftime]

HELPFUL SITES FOR THE TEST OF TIME CHALLENGE

These sites are particularly helpful for The Sims 2 (2004)'s versions of the challenge. I'm talking general places to find mods, custom content, and other stuff that you need for an immersive and enjoyable game experience.

anna220's Original Version of the Challenge - useful for inspiration as well as helpful tips on how to play the challenge, as they intended it

PleasantSims' Edited Ruleset - has some helpful CC and mod links for the Neanderthal era, and a ruleset up to the Victorians

🌟Chicklet's Test of Time Blog - more inspiration, rulesets, and finds for plenty of stages in the challenge, and more!

leopardeyes' Just Another Test of Time Blog - plenty of inspiration for the Neanderthal era

🌟The Plumb Bob Keep - in my opinion the best repository of historical custom content, mods, and so much more; it's especially useful in later stages of the challenge but offers so much for earlier eras, too!

🌟 AlmightyHat's Historical Blog - custom content, tips and tricks, and creator assistance; essential to any historical challenge!

ModTheSims' Themes and Challenges Page - mostly medieval downloads, but plenty of other juicy custom content, too

This ts2history Blog - some incredibly useful custom content for later stages of the challenge

Kalynn's Pinterest Board - more historical CC, best for later stages of the challenge but useful in earlier ones, too

Let me know if you have any other sites that you frequent for this challenge, but these are the ones that I use myself 😊 A 🌟means I consider it especially useful to my own playthrough!

[cruciferous-spatula]

This morning on House Qallariq: Autumn is here.

Wakin and Sacha are getting the final harvestables of the year planted

In the evening, Sumaq and Saminchay's father Entzu drops by

and bonds with his youngest

While the young people occupy themselves outside

The adults do some catching up.

Mutia's got a mean streak.

And Sky has had quite enough of her nonsense :( use a phone? I can't even use the phrase "has ran" without smirking like one of those smug asshats who think grammatical errors matter at all while making more than any I know in my own writing every day of my life jfc who even am i

existential crisis aside, and oh shit we lost the cat oh no... aside, the evening passes without further incident

peace out

[froynlaventje]

I've finally finished playing the Picaso's next round. Bran and Gaba are getting along well and are now friends.

Gaba had her birthday and is now a child. Her favorite thing to do is playing with big brother Bran and she gained the lucky trait.

Bran meets Bumelia Parviflorum

But right after that the whole family passes out due to heat stroke. Only mom Jessica is still on her feet.

Jessica stays awake until evening falls and passes out just as her family wakes up. It does not last long, since the sun is down now.

Jessica has a want to have another baby and that night chimes are heard from inside one of the tents....

The next day Bumelia walks by again and she and Gaba become friends.

And Agapios Sipos walks by as well. No one seems to like him much, but at least he manages to catch a fish so he's going home with some food. The Sipos family has just moved in from elsewhere and will soon be played.

The next evening Jessica finishes potty training Dob. It's a good thing she got that done before the new baby arrives.

In the last night of this round with the Picaso's, Jessica gives birth to their second son. They name him Mondi.

[mishas-sims]

Granted Wish - Garden of Shadows

@rudhira granted my wish for a witch/wizard default. it’s perfect for my Test of Time Challenge.

“Here you go! I made a teen conversion as well. I also made two versions, v1 being the one you requested and v2 being some colours from Castaway that I thought looked nice. v1 is texture referenced, so it requires University.”

get them Reply #3 ————-> HERE

thank you, @rudhira

[spell-bloom]

I wonder if there is an overlap between test of time players and civ/rise of nations players

[sychik]

ANCIENT ROMAN NECESSITIES. PART 3: LENGTHY WRAPS, JUST LIKE ON THOSE STATUES

WARNING: CLIPPING ISSUES. these are ACCESSORIES, so they don't have morphs and are prone to clipping through the body mesh. 1) I made them to fit the fat+pregnant morphs specifically. they might look too spacious on thinner frame in the front. 2) I have tried to reduce clipping to minimal amounts, so the issues aren't that annoying. I made these for myself, and just to be clear - I don't think they're really worth publishing. I can't promise I'll go fixing the clipping issues later, because at this point, they are a trade-off (I make one thing better and ruin the other). sitting, standing, walking, flailing arms a little bit should look fine, but download at your own risk!

toga for tm-em. we don't have a lot of variety here. ~1200 polys.

plain white is supposed to be toga virilis, white with purple borders - toga praetexta, purple with golden borders and pattern - toga picta (my best attempt at it, anyway), and dark one - toga pulla. toga praetexta is not available for teens: too old to be a child in need of protection, too young to be a senator.

clipping occasions:

DOWNLOAD (mediafire) | DOWNLOAD (SFS)

palla for tf-ef. it's rectangular and not quite as long. more variety here. 961 polys.

the morphs weirdness:

clipping occasions (older version, most still persist):

DOWNLOAD (SFS)

pallium for men, in cases toga is too formal or just doesn't fit the status. a little bit different from palla, both in terms of mesh and swatches. not perfectly happy with this one, but if you don't look closely enough, it'll do. 796 polys.

clipping occasions:

DOWNLOAD (mediafire) | DOWNLOAD (SFS)

enjoy if that's your cup of tea <3 and please, inform me if anything doesn't work as expected! accessories are a completely new territory for me.

[nonsensical-pixels]

something something for an upcoming upload 👀 @clepysdra's gladiator sandals converted from ts4 to ts2 as a pantless bottom! i've always desperately needed something like this for the test of time challenge 😊

they're for teens to adults, but enabled for elders; they're also unisex - wow, a male pantless bottom! they're medium-poly at just 2354 polys. 13 swatches, all other ages are repo'd to adults of their gender. categorised as everyday, formal, and outerwear!

DOWNLOAD: SFS | MF ⚔

credits go to @clepysdra for the original ts4 meshes & textures! 🥰

SWATCH

if there are any issues that you find with this set, please don't be afraid to let me know! happy simming, and when you download this, do keep in mind,

Love, ~ Ky 💖

[liri-sims]

This is a default in two parts. I believe both parts require Freetime; one replaces the standard bookcase novel plots, and the other replaces the plot icons you use when your sims write a novel and later read and discuss it. What it does not replace is the book itself or the book cover; this is purely about the contents.

All the graphics used in this default are by MaxIcons. Basically, I liked the MaxIcons mythology icons too much not to use them in something, and since my hood is currently in the Roman era, using mythology for novel plots made sense. Not everything used here is from the mythology collection, but it does make up the bulk of both defaults.

While I created this for my Test of Time challenge, the icons can work in a modern game and alongside any novel cover default you choose. Maybe your sims want to get in on those Greek myth retellings that are all the rage right now.

Downloads and more info under the cut!

The smaller piece - the one labeled "bookshelfnovelmythological" - replaces the plots for each of the genre books on a standard post-FT bookshelf. When a sim reads one of those books, you'll occasionally see them think about the plot elements in randomized order. It's just that now the plot elements will be things like "Demeter, Persephone, Hades, pomegranate." I tried to give each genre except cooking an actual myth; mystery is Hephaestus trying to catch Aphrodite and Ares in flagrante, children's is a couple of the labors of Hercules, romance is Dionysus and Ariadne (plus the story of Theseus and the Minotaur) and so on.

The second part replaces all the novel plot icons. This is a very loose replacement (the stethoscope is replaced by Ares; the ladybug is replaced by the Hydra; pretty sure the sumo wrestler becomes the Cyclops) which will turn any pre-existing novel plots into wild nonsense if they weren't already.

The book covers in the screenshots, and the book in the title graphic, all come from AlmightyHat's Outside of a Dog default; I designed this to work with that. Most other novel defaults (Slig, Sims in Low Space) also package covers and plots separately, if you'd rather use it alongside one of those.

As you can see, it's a mix: Greco-Roman gods and monsters, some characters from an RPG pack to stand in for any non-Olympians in the story, settings, general-purpose icons like pregnancy, death, love, betrayal (or at least stabbing) and weather, and just barely enough food icons that you can write a cooking book if you treat the sea monster as calamari.

I'm actually working on something more versatile, but I'm using it for now, and I thought others might want the option to, as well.

Download: SFS or Box

[sychik-personal]

feeling like shit after chemo so instead of playing of course I had to build the senate house. I don't even have a REAL senate, but I need to use up the place on the forum because it looks ridiculous. loosely based on Curia Julia (I don't have that many walls or floors in my game and I'm way too lazy to make my own other than half-red half-white ones I already made). also random statues. but yeah. if it looks pompous and a little bit tacky, I go for it.

the left building is an empty placeholder because I have no idea what to put in it. it's also way less spacious than the basilica on the right, but the proportions are more or less true to the maps. now what to do with the last empty corner...

[sartsasims]

From this

To this :)

[guessimate]

Today we are visiting the last family of the Roman part of my town. But before I start playing the imperial family, I would like to mention 2 things:

Sampsa Imago is back to wishing for zombies, now he wants to zombify his daughter-in-law. He might visit one of the secret witch lots to seek guidance.

While I was playing another family, Sen Siew, the future empress, was seen flirting with Tasuku Tian, whom she had just met. This situation is creepy because he wanted to kiss her mother before. Now that Lovi is no longer on this planet, he's into her daughter. I have to play the Tians so he will age up...

~*~

The ROS gods didn't want anything to happen to the imperial family. Only after I rerolled a couple of times did they get an applicable scenario that wasn't just free money. The scenario ended up being Out with you child!*

I didn't want to force Mnevis's aunt, Gautseshen, into a straight relationship, so I didn't apply this scenario to her. Instead, the emperor wants to make sure his sister gets married as soon as possible.

Sesheshet got betrothed to Laetus Machia, the uncle of Sevira from the previous post. I waited for Sesheshet to age up before they would marry. The couple's courtship was pretty long, but it was not very eventful. Laetus was giving Sesheshet conflicting signals. On their first date he rolled the marriage want almost immediately, but sadly he decided to leave the date early. The couple haven't fallen in love so far, but they are best friends at least.

~*~

Peregrina Flori had to be executed this round. Around the time of her demise Mnevis had a fear of being enemies with her sister, Titia. Peregrina was thrown into the same cell where her lover had ended up before her.

You could say Mnevis is sacrificing a servant to wish for health for his people. The imperial family has two genie lamps. Gautseshen, the emperor's aunt, got the memory of getting them long ago. Since she most likely won't be starting a family of her own, she will leave the lamps on this lot, so the emperor could use them to cure the plague if need be.

Gautseshen was working on her literature enthusiasm this round. Her novels were not considered very good but she enjoyed writing them. She simply wanted to express herself and do something with her time besides hugging the family cat.

~*~

Camilla Flori, the daughter of Camillus Fortunatus and Peregrina Flori, is now an orphan. She probably didn't fully realize what had happened. But as is tradition for toddlers, she went into aspiration failure upon her family member's death. Her whole family helped her through this hard time and taught her toddler skills.

Cleo Flori, one of Camilla's cousins, has become a teenager this round, and she's now a Popularity sim, like her newly-deceased aunt. Her elder sister Hera has become an adult at the very end of this round as well.

Edit: If you complain about something enough, you will get what you ask for I guess. I just rolled for the next family and I got The trumpets call to war ROS. I will only send my sims off at the end of the next round because there are things which need to be done before the emperor calls people to fight.