#the great british sim challenge

[gabthehistorysimmer]

Anglosaxon update

Warnings: Adultery, Child death Landen of course took power of the lands as he was Krarbad's heir. Alongside his wife, who became a great advisor. They sent out the news of his court's need for new courtiers and servants, as the family scrambled to organize the chaos that had been left in the wake after Krarbad's death. A lady, whom seems from very far bowed at the sight of the couple.

"Hello. My name is Leoflaed Brookes, I am from a land far from here- where the ground can't grow any crops. My father who has been the chieftain of my tribe, could not find me a suitable husband and sent me on this way, to find a suitable place to settle. I promise to be a loyal courtier, and my skills are perhaps suitable for your highness" Landen seemed to smile in approval.

"Of course. You are welcome to join us. Antonia, would you help them find the womans quarters..?"

She smiled placatingly, though she seemed to get a bad feeling about this.

The interest her husband had shown in her.. and truly, she was beautiful, she felt jealousy at the competition but felt somewhat lost. She knew her husband was kinder than most- and perhaps she should be grateful.

It seems even the greatest of people, kind as they may be, had their shortcomings when their head was filled with the promises of power.

her fears hadn't been for nothing.. as they began to have an affair.

So far, the marriage between Landen and Antonia had not been very fruitful in the matter of heirs. She had only gotten pregnant twice, her second pregnancy resulted in a stillborn, and seemed to struggle greatly with fertility for quite some time. They had gotten help from the master herbalist and spellcaster, Agah, Landens great aunt. It seemed the potion had worked afterall, as soon she was with child.

To complicate matters further, Valora also came to be with child shortly after. The news were hard on Antonia, as she had confirmation of her husbands escapes with the woman..

But despite her wishing to be able to hate on the woman, she could not help but also be thankful for her presence. She was a great help with the household, naturally good with children and also did all the chores around the gardens, and home dutifully. She was certainly a better cook. It gave Antonia time to spend on her real passions, weaving and knitting arts. She made beautiful rugs for the halls of their settlement, and clothing for the babies been born soon.

Thankfully, her eldest & first son and heir to Landen, Aethelbald, seemed to be doing great. He survived most of his childhood rolls in a breeze, and it gave hope to his poor mother.

"Alright Aethelbald, blow the candles son!" Him and Aethelbald in fact had a good relationship, he spent more time with his son than was even expected of him as a ruler, but he wanted to take part in his education.

His happy childhood proved to be fruitful, as Aethelbald grew into a child, he rolled for the 'good' trait, showing that he would at the very least be an empathetic ruler one day.

Justina also gave birth to another son, whom has survived to infancy.

And a few days later, so did Leoflaed. To a son....

Aethelbald began also his studies in reading and writing. Under the tutelage of the great Cyrus, their courtly scribe. PREVIOUS - NEXT

[justasimblr]

So I’m trying out the Greath Britsh Sim Challenge and it’s going alright. My founders are pregnant and I have made a tiny Iron Age village in Newcrest.  They are celebrating Ostara when suddenly a ******* vampire sneaks into the lot and burns to death and THEN while everyone is crying over this bloodsucker who crashed their party the Grim Reaper just freezes. He’s just standing there for HOURS, staring at the dead body while thw flower bunny cries and my founders are flirting in the background. 

I can’t with this game sometimes😂

[greatbritishsimchallenge]

Pirate Era Loading Screens

Made these for me and a bit of fun - loading screens to go with the Stuart era of my challenge. Thought I'd share them in case anyone else wanted to use one!

Free on Patreon

Only add one file to your mods folder. If you use a reshade, the images' colour may look different on your screen.

Mermaid deco sim credit: @reigningsims

Masquerade deco sims credit: @theroyalthornoliachronicles

[schadenfrau]

I've been on a historical gameplay kick lately and recently picked up the @greatbritishsimchallenge. Finding good quality CC for this has been trickier for me than normal CC. I'm not being a real stickler for absolute historical accuracy, and one of the things I cannot stand is how limited your cooking options are with the off-the-grid lot challenge. So I just try to use zero electronics and find historically accurate looking appliances (even if they still technically use electricity since I'm not using OTG). So far my two ABSOLUTE FAVORITE pieces of CC have both come from @hamsterbellbelle. The sack fridge (https://hamsterbellbelle.tumblr.com/post/685263141650726912/sack-fridgegrocery-fridge-download-sack) and the Traditional Asian Stove (https://hamsterbellbelle.tumblr.com/post/674191101354295296/traditional-asian-stove-with-animated-flame). They both work flawlessly and make my (very not totally historically accurate) more primitive builds feel so much more authentic and homey. I'm obsessed and I can't recommend them enough. (Even if my dang neighbors do keep stealing them every five seconds.) Another favorite is this Korean Potty from @atelierlena (https://www.tumblr.com/atelierlena/641343445558067200/lena-sims-korean-potty-functional-new-mesh). The other outhouses/privies I've found tend to be glitchy, either causing my Sims to stretch/float and constantly stop before completing their task, or just not be hidden while on the toilet (seriously, why are you leaning backwards out the outhouse when you potty, friendo?). This one just looks like a perfectly unassuming, chronologically ambiguous pot over in the corner and my Sims can use it with zero trouble (although it does tickle me to watch them flush it). Anywho... To the one other person who might see and find this useful, enjoy!

[littlemisswolfiesims]

Going Live at 7:00 CDT!

I’m going to start streaming the Great British Sims Challenge on my Twitch at 7:00 tonight. Let’s see if my Decades Challenge skills help me out at all starting in the Iron Age.

[umlewis]

Sorry if you have a tag for this, but, you said he talks or takes pictures with fans w disabilities? 🥺 i’d love to see some

(sorry i’m new here 🧏‍♀️)

that's okay, and welcome to f1blr! (: i sadly don't have a tag for that, but maybe i should start one 💜

here he is visiting great ormond's children's hospital in late 2022

he did the same in 2018 :) [more pictures here!]

at the track with kids from great ormond street back in 2007

here's an article about nicolas, lewis, and when lewis got nicolas into his seat in the mercedes (and driving the sim!) 💜 in 2019 lewis arranged to have his car and spanish gp trophy taken to a little boy with terminal cancer named harry shaw, which you can see here, dedicated the spanish gp win to him here, and paid tribute to him at the canadian gp after his passing he also had his car sent, along with a parade of supercars, to a 3-year-old boy named morgan riddler in the same situation who was supposed to attend silverstone and sadly didn't make it [here]

here he is with billy monger at the 2017 british gp after his accident, and here's his post from 2017 congratulating billy on his nomination for laureau's sporting moment of the year and encouraging people to vote for him

lewis with a fan at the factory this year

'nother picture with billy! and here's all the pictures of lewis and billy that motorsports images has (:

lewis became an ambassador for the invictus games in 2015 and playled some wheelchair basketball

with a fan at the u.s. gp in 2015

lewis and lewis! with lewis hammans in 2018

lewis with 9-year-old luca, who was visiting with other patients from great ormond, at the british gp

sir lewis taking sir frank williams on a hot lap of silverstone in 2019 🥺

and, of course, lewis always making sure nicolas is involved in his career. that, i do have a tag for (: also! only tangientally related, but if you would like disabled drivers to cheer on, nicolas (who has cerebral palsy) races in the british touring car championship and robert wickens (a paraplegic after a horrific indycar crash) drives in the imsa michelin pilot challenge (which is gt racing) 😊 everybody, abled and disabled, please feel free to reblog this! us disabled and chronically ill fans belong here and the goat said so 💜👑

[vodkacheesefries]

i'm hyperfixating on the sims again and i love two of my Sims in particular rn

because i can't play sims like a normal person I started the "Great British History" challenge. Basically you start in the Iron Age and go all the way to the 2000s. Idk how far I'll make it but I'd like to at least play a few generations/make it to the Tudor era so I can build a castle. I usually only make it to the grandkids on a file and then get bored and start over. Hopefully this changes things up enough that it'll keep me entertained.

ANYWAY.

My founder Sim Gwendolyn died in an event roll I did and it was very tragic and sad, but her husband Aidan has literally survived every single thing the challenge has thrown at him and just won't die. (Not that I want him too, but considering how many other Sims have died so far it's sort of a miracle lmao)

Anyway his grandson, Finn, is likely going to be the heir for this generation because I think he's a cutie, and also he isn't a mage. (Playing as a caster is fun, but I want to try and max out everything in the skill tree and trying to do that and stay on top of all the other things I have to do in the challenge is difficult)

I was actually actively playing as Finn's dad because he was two fish away from finishing the Angling Ace aspiration and I realized Finn and Aidan had been talking the whooole time Finn's dad was fishing and had maxed out their relationship bar.

Finn is actually the only "child" age Sim in the game rn because everyone else has aged up so there's no one his age and he doesn't really have a relationship bar with any of the other now teens. (might have to give him the loner trait when he ages up lol)

So I had Finn ask Aidan to be his best friend, and he of course said yes and its adorable to watch him be a good grandpa, but I am not ready for the heartbreak of Aidan aging up to Elder and dying because Aidan is like one sim week away from aging up and it's gonna be so fucking SAD

Anyway here they are stargazing because it's cute.

[hushed-chorus]

Thirty Books in November Challenge - Ten day check-in

I’m going for it! November has thirty days, which means one book a day. So far I’ve read seven, but I have a plan to catch up (which involves some novellas and graphic novels).

Here’s what I’ve read so far. Writing reviews for all of them would take time I should spend reading Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat, but here are three short reviews.

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag - The book that made me curl into a squealing ball

Of course I loved this. Queer romance, ocean bullshit, selkie bullshit. This graphic novel is an aggressively cute coming-to-age story which had me rocking with glee, laughing, and punching me in the feels. The art style is absolutely adorable too. One of the best graphic novels I’ve read for a while!

Love and Let Die by John Higgs - The book that was as wonderfully weird and thought-provoking as I expected

John Higgs writes some of my favourite nonfiction, always exploring fascinating ideas. 50% about The Beatles, 50% about James Bond, 40% about the British class system, and 5% about Russia. (Yes I know that doesn’t make 100%). He narrates the audiobook and he has a great voice for it.

Penance by Eliza Clark - The book that made me want to reinstall The Sims 3

Fuuuuck. This book has dick-punched its way onto my top 20 books ever. But do I recommend it? I don’t know. Do you like the sound of a faux-true crime book which tackles a lot of dark themes? Do you like unreliable narrators? Troubled teenage girls? Fandom, superstition and mid-2010s tumblr? (CW: death, murder, mentions of SA and CA)

Fingers crossed I get caught up by Nov 20th!

[astrea16]

F1 drivers as equestrian disciplines

—an important analysis from a horse girl at heart

If you don't know shit about horseback riding, that's honestly great and I hope you can learn a thing or two from my brainrot.

Charles Leclerc: Show jumping

What’s more iconic than a good old obstacle course with dozens of sponsors plastered every five feet? Aside from Il Predestinato’s very marketable image (Longines is actually a huge sponsor in the industry and they make watches, so,,) I feel like this discipline perfectly reflects his skills as a driver. His raw talent makes him a ferocious threat over the course of one lap and his intelligence is an incredible asset to calculate the best trajectory and angles of attack. Show jumping is thrilling, stressful, and makes you hold your breath until the very last second—just like a good qualifying lap. I feel like Charles would love the attention of doing victory laps around the arena with one fist in the air before spraying everyone with champagne.

Lewis Hamilton: Dressage

I actually had to rethink this one and wonder whether or not I’d picked this discipline because he was British, but I think my point still stands. This man lives for his sport and for the crowds, and I honestly think that as long as his ass is in a car he would drive laps around an empty track all day. Dressage is majestic, it’s prestigious, regal, and the epitome of elegance. This discipline accepts nothing less than excellence and the judges are notorious for being extremely picky, rarely ever giving the maximum score to a movement. It may not look as impressive as show jumping and its counterparts, but it is undeniably just as intense. The goal is to make it seem effortless, like the rider is dancing with their horse and everything else has stopped existing. And look—we all know Lewis is a fashion icon, that one person everyone can’t help but look at when they enter the room. That’s what dressage feels like. It’s classy, sophisticated, sometimes a little bit pretentious—in short, the one that lives under the spotlights. I also think it’s too big of a coincidence that Isabell Werth—the most successful dressage rider of all time—holds the Olympic record of seven gold medals in all equestrian disciplines.

(Also: Nico gets the same assignment ;))

Lando Norris: Show jumping

Something about this guy reminds me of that one friend at the stables that would be there every competition weekend and whose biggest dream was to participate in the Olympics. And yes, that applies to the entire grid, but it feels more prominent for Lando who’s younger and a bit less experienced than some of the older drivers. I don’t want to call it innocence (especially because it must be long gone after five years at McLaren) but there’s something about him that hits you right in the feels and reminds you about the dreams you gave up on. He’s got the drive of a winner and a fun energy that I think suits show jumping quite well. I feel like sponsors would adore him and try to put his face everywhere—probably in an attempt to refresh their image.

Max Verstappen: Eventing

Intense, unforgiving, and hella dangerous, eventing is the perfect discipline for thrill-seekers and people who dislike staying in the same daily grind. Which is funny because we’re talking about Max Verstappen, the guy who spends all of his days glued to his sim chair, but let me explain. The strenuous nature of eventing doesn’t necessarily come from the exercises themselves but from the way they are arranged one after the other with little time to rest in between. This equestrian triathlon often takes place over three days: one day for dressage, one day for cross-country, and one day for show jumping. The goal is to challenge the athletes’ resilience and stamina with various tests. The first one, dressage, determines the ability of the rider to keep their horse in control and perform a series of movements in a relaxed manner. Cross-country is a test of strength. The athletes have to power through an outdoor course of around thirty natural obstacles within a given time range, while making sure that they are saving energy for the third day. Finally, show jumping requires precision and fitness, which—combined with all of the other skills required by eventing—make this discipline the most complete and challenging of all, and therefore the most suitable to our reigning champion imo. As much as I would rather praise other drivers, Max genuinely seems like he never has a bad day and just… knocks it out of the park every single time. And trust me, that’s not something you see often in any kind of sport. Besides, I can easily picture him covered in water and mud, galloping through the forest like a cannonball.

Lance Stroll: Polo

Polo is expensive, classy, luxurious—what more is there to say? Lance would make a great polo player, as long as he’s got the team spirit and isn’t afraid to potentially lose his kneecaps.

Zhou Guanyu: Hunter

Hunter is basically the athleticism of show jumping mixed with the elegance of dressage. The horse/rider combination is judged on their style and technique, and that also comes down to presentation. Both athletes must look neat and well-groomed and have excellent manners throughout the competition. As opposed to show jumping, which can get quite… extravagant at times, hunter isn’t about being the fastest. It’s about who’s got the best equitation and achieves the cleanest performance possible, and that’s why I think Zhou would absolutely slay in this discipline. (Note that my judgement isn’t actually based on his abilities as a driver but rather on his incredible outfits which I KNOW is awfully subjective, but I never claimed to be right in the first place.)

BONUS

Sebastian Vettel

I think Sebastian could have had a career in show jumping before realizing that it wasn’t his thing at all and he retired to do endurance or some western discipline, before getting dragged back into the industry by Charles Leclerc who quickly became his protégé. Although Seb is no longer competing, he’s basically Charles’s mentor and has a ton of tricks up his sleeve from his time as an Olympic rider. He’s actively against horse racing and when he’s not busy coaching, he probably likes to run off somewhere more peaceful—like in a farm lost in the depths of the countryside.

[vintagesimstress]

Guess who's back (...kind of...?)

Hello everyone!

It's been 1,5 years. Wow, how the time flies!

You might have seen me lurking around on other simmers' tumblrs, writing a comment or two every now and then, but only now I feel like the time has come for me to return to my own space.

Here's a couple of announcements to get things re-started. I bet you're all busy, so I'll try to keep it short!

Private matters: A massive thank you to everyone who wrote me while I was gone ❤ There was quite a lot of you and I'm afraid I can't reply to each of those messages individually, but just so that you know: I've read them, they made me smile and I'm very grateful for all your kind words. I'm doing perfectly fine, and so is my little daughter. She's a beautiful and fascinating creature, learning new things all the time, and so unexpectedly that it really feels like if she was a sim levelling up and unblocking new interactions ^^

My CC: I still have very little free time and zero chance of going back to my old cc-making habits. That being said, in the past weeks/months I made a couple of teeny tiny things which I'd like to share with you, and also when I'm done with them I might make something new once in a while. Please keep your expectations low though! None of those things are Victorian; the majority (I guess?) aren't even clothes but mod add-ons, bug fixes, bb recolours - stuff like that. Still, someone might find them useful, so why not share?

For some more context, in case you care: my Victorian save got to the point of being quite paralysing (i.e. I wouldn't proceed unless everyone was dressed perfectly, living in perfect surroundings, reflecting not only their times, but also status and personality - and that perfect point turned out to be rather unattainable. Surprise surprise), and I really wanted to have some TS4 fun, so I started the Great British Sim Challenge. From the very beginning. Iron Age. At first I was determined not to make any cc for it and just roll with whatever I'd find, like any normal player, but you know how it goes XD So that's what pretty much everything I'm making is related to those days. Iron Age. Especially campfire. Why does everything I make have to do with the darned campfire...? The challenge is super fun, btw. I mean, for me. My poor sims would probably disagree.

Curseforge: I know many creators have by now moved to that new, EA-curated cc platform, and I've been thinking about doing it myself - even created an account - but in the end, for a number of reasons, decided against it. One of the main ones is that learning to use that platform and uploading there all my creations, old and new, would require quite a lot of time, which I simply don't have. If I have the choice between actually playing the game and having some fun, creating new cc I could share and uploading old stuff on yet another site... well, I guess it's clear which point has the lowest priority. So: nothing will change. Just as before, I'll be posting new things on my Patreon and simblr (linking to the Patreon page); everything will be free ofc, no early access either; and I'll keep constantly updating my downloads page, so that you could easily get an overview of everything I've ever made.

That's all folks! Have a nice day/evening and talk to you soon 😊

[soulful-simmer]

Hi everyone! I thought I would do a post to reemerge from hiding haha. I have been on a bit of an extended hiatus from posting due to computer issues and life in general.

I've finally worked up the courage to go back to my roots and start the Great British Sim Challenge (credit to @greatbritishsimchallenge of course). When I tell you I have had this story in my head for so many months and am excited to actually get to play it.

Anyway, if you don't know me, I'm Dayle and I hope you enjoy the story. I can't promise I'll have a regular schedule for posting because life happens and creativity wanes, but I'm just glad to be able to share at all!

If you think anyone will be interested, feel free to like, reblog, or comment :)

** This story will contain potentially sensitive content such as violence, death, and sexual themes

[gabthehistorysimmer]

ANGLOSAXON ERA - GBSC

Some pics of my current heir. (My previous gens main sim joined his extended family of anglosaxons in Britannia once more, but was not met with kindness and open arms at first...)

[backslidesims]

a slightly different post regarding some refurbishments made to the walker's lot. i preface this with two thing: a) i could have announced the change within some kind of storyline but i am still not great at storytelling so i have just decided to make a post like this and b) i am not a builder and i typically use the premade lots and eventually decorate and add to them like here so no judgement on the fact i am playing in a very basic base-game house lol.

you probably recognise the the green home of this lot. this is where the walker's have been living. since living there, they have put a lot of effort into saving in order to expand this home to cater to their family needs...

and they have put a lot of effort into saving with my mod that increases the bills from 1.3% of assets to 15% of assets - when 15% starts getting too easy, i can increase it to 20%, 25% etc which is exciting as i like a challenge with money.

with their savings they have built an additional home on their lot (maybe something granny annexe-esque - i feel like that's a very british term lol but it is just a smaller additional home like what the sekemoto's have too). i enjoy doing this in my game play because i do not like moving sims out as i like playing with them all but the idea of having the whole entire family as they begin to branch off e.g., when francesca and / or gabriel have partners and / or children, it feels a little unrealistic for them to live under one small roof.

i thought i would introduce the construction that has took place on the walker's lot because otherwise i think it would have been strange for all of a sudden to have a new house there. also, it will probably make things easier storytelling wise when sims start moving into the additional home / granny annexe.

this was such a ramble however, i did enjoy sharing about how i go about my legacy gameplay and also about my bills mods i use. i cannot play without harder bills so i want to share if people do not know about the mod. it can be found here (you might noticed the 15% of assets bills are not there - i edited the package file as when starting out, i felt 10% was too easy by 20% was too hard. if anyone wants pointers on editing the package file, let me know and i can explain.

ah omg such a long post. if you read this far, thanks! i know it is probably not that interesting but i enjoy sharing the silly little ways i find joy in this game.

updated family tree found here.

[greatbritishsimchallenge]

Stuart Era CAS Backgrounds

Again, another little fun thing I made that I thought I'd share. One CAS background for your decadent, wealthy sims and then a pirate's cabin for your cutthroat sims.

Download for free from Patreon.

Only add one CAS background to your mods folder. If you use a reshade then the images may look a different colour.

[greatbritishsimchallenge]

I'd also add that @vintagesimstress has made some amazing mods and CC to help play with more historical accuracy in the Iron Age and Roman Britain era

I've been on a historical gameplay kick lately and recently picked up the @greatbritishsimchallenge. Finding good quality CC for this has been trickier for me than normal CC. I'm not being a real stickler for absolute historical accuracy, and one of the things I cannot stand is how limited your cooking options are with the off-the-grid lot challenge. So I just try to use zero electronics and find historically accurate looking appliances (even if they still technically use electricity since I'm not using OTG). So far my two ABSOLUTE FAVORITE pieces of CC have both come from @hamsterbellbelle. The sack fridge (https://hamsterbellbelle.tumblr.com/post/685263141650726912/sack-fridgegrocery-fridge-download-sack) and the Traditional Asian Stove (https://hamsterbellbelle.tumblr.com/post/674191101354295296/traditional-asian-stove-with-animated-flame). They both work flawlessly and make my (very not totally historically accurate) more primitive builds feel so much more authentic and homey. I'm obsessed and I can't recommend them enough. (Even if my dang neighbors do keep stealing them every five seconds.) Another favorite is this Korean Potty from @atelierlena (https://www.tumblr.com/atelierlena/641343445558067200/lena-sims-korean-potty-functional-new-mesh). The other outhouses/privies I've found tend to be glitchy, either causing my Sims to stretch/float and constantly stop before completing their task, or just not be hidden while on the toilet (seriously, why are you leaning backwards out the outhouse when you potty, friendo?). This one just looks like a perfectly unassuming, chronologically ambiguous pot over in the corner and my Sims can use it with zero trouble (although it does tickle me to watch them flush it). Anywho... To the one other person who might see and find this useful, enjoy!

[littlemisswolfiesims]

Iron Age, Baybee

I just finished demolishing the rest of the save and building the optional parks, including the woods and Stonehenge, for the Iron Age in my Great British Sim Challenge! I stream it every weekday at 5:00 CDT on my Twitch, so make sure to stop by if you’re interested! Or, if you can’t make a livestream, I’m uploading my VODs to YouTube here!