Okay, so did some more building last night/today. I have NO idea if I did this right, lol!
The area in red is the barony. Sir Charles lives in the brick house off to the left.
The area in orange is the Viscounty. The Viscount's house is right in front of the fief house on the right.
The whole green area is the County. His house is set behind the house of the Viscount.

All the smaller houses set on 3 x 3 lots are fiefs.

Meginmd, your county can be quite a lot bigger, as can the viscounty--a county can be up to 350 plot squares, so even if most of it is wild/unsettled territory, it can easily be drawn a lot bigger to give you room for multiple fiefs to be located within it. The same goes for the viscounty that can be up to 250 plot squares. The viscount's house would be inside his fief, as would the earl's, and so forth. Everything can be quite a bit more spread out.

As to your other question:


Actually, you have three noble families--an earl, a viscount, and a baron. If you would prefer to have a duchy, you might consider just consider making one of your other nobles a duke and converting that fief to a duchy. It's up to you. The main thing is keep some balance between the classes so that you don't have too many noble families in proportion to the lower classes.

I honestly have no idea, sorry! Maybe Arbordale or Pleasantview? I wasn't paying attention when I chose it. I wanted one that would give me lots of room to spread out, so to speak.

Hello,
I would love doing this challenge but I really hate doing the set-up, and I'd like to ask of there is a neighbourhood download for this.
It looks like a great challenge and I really want to try it.

Hi! I'm new to this challenge, so I haven't posted in this thread yet. This looks like it's going to be really fun!

My neighborhood's going to be more medieval-set, and I'm kind of making it a medieval Megahood. I'm extracting some of the Maxis characters with SimPE and cloning them in Bodyshop. I've changed some of the names, too (I just can't have a medieval woman named Brandi!!), along with some of the ages to mix things up.

The Goths are the royal family, and some of the other families are:
- The Montecchis (nobles). Their backstory is that they made their fortune in banking, a la the Medicis. When they joined the nobility, they passed their business along to the Wrightley family.
- The Capulets (more nobles). I'm going with the patrilineal system, so Cornelia, Goneril, and Regan all took their husbands' names. Kent is the heir. He's seventeen now, and has felt a calling to life in the Church. But that would mean (I assume) that his nephew Tybalt would inherit the duchy of Ludshire once Duke Consort dies. Although he's only eleven, Tybalt seems to be cruel and cold-hearted, and Kent is worried about what would happen to the people of Ludshire if Tybalt were in charge. So, he's thinking about getting married.
- The Curiouses Monoculuses. Glarn Bursegand Monoculus is the royal astrologer. He and his wife Kitty Anne have three sons. They're all very intelligent, but the middle child, ten-year-old Vidcund Edmund is in terrible health (health score 10).
- The Beaker Ilwicht family: Loki, his wife Circe Hawota, and his younger sister Thora Bjorndottir. Thora is dumb but sweet, and is currently Queen Cornelia's only lady-in-waiting. Loki, the royal alchemist, is pretty much her polar opposite, evil and cunning. Hopefully he's content to be the alchemist and not astrologer- I'd be really concerned for Bursegand if he is!! Hawota's evil too, but I haven't come up with any ideas on what she could do. Any ideas, anyone?
- Olive Specter, whose new name I haven't come up with yet, will be a hag selling suspicious potions in her creepy shop. EEE-hee-hee-hee-hee....!
- The Dreamers, now the Potters, are guess what- potters! Shocker!! (And they still wear plenty of blue.)
- The Brokes are now the Godbiemiduses, and serfs (what else?) There's John (Skip), Maudie (Brandi), Matthew (Dustin), Ralph (Beau), and Eliza (the one Brandi's pregnant with at the start of the game; exported from my modern-day Megahood). After three children with no midwife present at any of the births, Maudie's body's fairly worn out right now. Although she would like more kids, she and John have decided they should wait until she's gained back her strength. But John's a Romance sim with three nice points, and although he loves her, will he be able to practice self-control and wait, or will he look elsewhere for physical contact?
I think this is the one family I'm going to play more as a challenge as opposed to a playstyle. Matthew's probably going to try to get ahead by thievery, while the other two kids will probably try to get ahead by behaving themselves.
- Most of the other serfs are townies or NPCs I've moved out on their own and married off to each other. If there's a townie kid with either parent's facial structure, I use the Sim Blender to have them adopt him or her and pretend that he/she's their biological child.

I'm still working on it, and I'm not ready to really play yet. I haven't extracted all the sims I'm going to use yet, haven't gotten all the houses, etc. But it's still fun! Sometimes (for me anyway) a big part of the fun of Sims is planning things out, which might sound pretty geeky.

I've got a few questions...

1. About the self-sufficient economy: I'm using Beck's choppable tree. For the exchange rate, I was thinking that a chair = one piece of lumber, a loveseat = 2 pieces, single bed = 3 pieces, single bed w/canopy = 4 pieces, etc. But the thing is, each log sells for $100. Say my (pretend) furniture maker wants to sell a single bed that has a catalog cost of $200. The furniture maker would lose $100!

2. How would I play the exchange system? Would my woodchoppers set up a home business and sell the pieces as they get chopped? In that case, how would the furniture maker buy the wood for his furniture? Should I teleport him to the lot, put a piece into his inventory, then have him send them $100?

3. I was going to have a blacksmith that sold the DR robots, and using Sunni and Frac's mine objects, have the blacksmith pay the miners however much the iron used to make the item would cost. But from what little I've tested, each ore sells for $25. A SentryBot sword costs (IIRC) $720. Rounding up, wouldn't that mean the blacksmith would have to buy 29 pieces of ore?! I was thinking about just pretending the whole thing by having him send the miners however much the bot would cost, and just pretend they have that much more available. Any thoughts?

4. There was that wheat object mentioned earlier in the thread that didn't have a lot of instructions on how to use it. Has anyone tried it? If so, what did they think?

5. You mention in your Warwickshire neighborhood that some duchies produce alcohol and sell it. How do you do that? Do you sell objects like the Barrel of Inebriation, or is there another system that you use?

6. This one's about titles and so on: Okay, the patriarch of the Montecchis is Lord Patrizio, a Marquis. If I understand the page you linked to earlier in the thread right, that means his eldest son, Lord Claudio, is an Earl. But what about his second son, Lord (?) Antonio? The page talks about how to address second sons, but not what title they would have or what "level" they'd be at.

7. Lord Patrizio's youngest child is his only daugher, Lady Bianca. What would her title/"level" be?

Thanks in advance for any answers or input!

I can't thank you enough for all the work you've put into this!!! I can't imagine how long and how much effort it must've taken.

Welcome! It's always nice to meet new simmers and hear about their stories and ideas. I hope you'll post some pics to let us see how things develop for you. One suggestion for Hawota, could she be a midwife? sounds like you could probably use one.



Of course, this all depends on your exchange rate. What I generally do is have my carpenter buy wood from the woodcutter. He then sells the wood back to the EA silent corp and exchanges it for furniture. It is also possible to sell the wood and buy investment coins so that the amount will appreciate over time. If your carpenter buys new furniture on the first day of every season, it gives the coin time to go up in value; hence, the ability to purchase more furniture or whatever with the money. The other alternative is to go in to SimPE and adjust the prices of raw materials to fit your economy, but that's a little more work--easy to do, just another step in the process.



Yes, that is what I do. I set aside a certain portion of the raw goods on the side to merchants who need to buy it, and that way I can set the price without the EA corp deciding what it "should" cost. The rest I sell in the shop to random customers who show up.



Hmmm ... isn't it good to buy cheap and sell high? If your materials cost equals your finished product cost, there is no markup. And your blacksmith doesn't get paid. What am I missing here? Maybe I don't understand the question. Looks to me like he could buy two pieces of ore for $50 and sell the bot for $720 and make a tidy little profit. Right?



I have it downloaded, but haven't gotten around to playing with it much in my game. Once you place it on the lot, I think you have to wait a while for it to mature, then you can harvest it--but I'm not entirely sure how it works.



This has been a longtime dream of mine, yes. But, I've never really developed a whole system. For a while, I had some maxis garden vegetables that I designated as "wheat" or "barley" and had those sold to a brewer, or a winemaker, who then ran a pub, but that was about the size of it. With the new crafting tables over at PBK, I am laying in what for what is in store for us there, because wine and other liquors are on the list!



All are at the father's class and station, i.e. noble, level 13. However, only the eldest son can inherit the title and the fief. If the father wants to purchase additional titles for his sons he may, or they may do so themselves when they come of age, earn the money, or whatever. But their title is stable, and taken from their father's class and station. The thing is--they want and need those titles because that is the best way to accrue royal favor points, through the holding of a fief. And royal favor means big benefits, i.e. power and influence at court.

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Level 13, until she marries, at which point she will take her husband's class and station. Marry well, milady; marry well. Another reason it is good for the family to have royal favor.



No problem--it is truly my pleasure.

I hope this isn't already asked, but at page 59, table 39, what does hiring requierment and boarding school mean? Is this about what the teachers should have learned? I am sorry if this is a stupid question.

Hi, LegacySimsAwesome
Yes, that's right. The table shows what education level the professors should have attained for each of the institutions given on the chart. The secondary requirements, i.e. Boarding School, or Badges & Skills, etc indicates how many of the total points required must come from that category. So, for a Gentry class Nanny: she should have 15 education points total, with a minimum of 8 of them coming from boarding school and 5 from badges and skills--those are minimum requirements, and do not add up to the total. So the other two points can come from anywhere after that.

Just want to make clear I'm still supporting the warwickshire challenge 100% and can't wait for the next update!
I'll try and find some interesting screenshots from my neighborhood later!

I can't wait for the next update either!

Hello, it's me again! Building burned me out fast, especially since I was trying to do that and start college at the same time, but I want to play again now that it's summer. My backups were destroyed thanks to my USB getting broken, so I'll be starting fresh with the 3.0 rules, and with a smaller neighborhood too; I'm starting with just a single duchy (which I'll treat as an independent kingdom) and working my way up to a full kingdom, because I'm itching to test out the new rules and get back to playing!

The ducal/future royal family is currently just the five-year-old duchess, her older half-brother, and her mom. They also have with them a between maid and her older sister the kitchen maid, and the duchess has a fiancee too. This fiancee is the grandson of the lord chancellor (this part sounds like my last hood, but what can I say, the idea of the ruler of the land marrying a familyless orphan never appealed to me). The lord chancellor also has his cousin's teenage son staying with him (well, he'll probably be off to boarding school soon enough). Beyond them I have a physician with two kids, a nephew, and the toddler orphan of his late servants, a merchant couple with a teenage son, a merchant couple with two teenage daughters and a toddler son, and three serf couples.

I already see potential for some interesting stories: the orphan servant is going to grow up to be an evil radical, so she'll probably break some laws in the name of anarchy and generally stir up trouble. On the other side of the scale in terms of social class and ethics is the lord cancellor and his cousin's son, both evil authoritarians. They'll probably use their social and political power in morally questionable ways, which should be interesting!

I do have a question though: how should I figure out people's THS fresh out of CAS? Trying to retroactively roll just leads to people dying off, in some cases in ways that really mess things up (eg. someone's mother who should have been a stillborn).

The way I did it was I didn't give CAS THS. I applied it only to Sims born in game. (but that's just my play style )

Hmmm I can definitely see advantages to that (no need for a physician until the first sickly child is born so I can have an actually playable tutor for my duchess instead, don't have to worry about people dying while I'm still trying to establish a population, etc.). Besides, I'm not really sure how else to go about it.

I'm almost done building (I would already be done by now, but I've had a few last-minute IRL plans taking time away from simming) and I know I can get through sim & townie creation quickly, so I think I'll take your suggestion so I can finally get to playing. Thanks!

What I usually do for CAS created sims is give them a suitably high starting number that they live at least to the next age roll or until they have a child, whichever comes first. I don't like creating sims just to kill them, so I pretty much never do that. If I need to fudge the numbers to make it work, I just do. I want everyone to have a THS because then I can fill out birth charts, disease charts, etc, so I do give CAS created sims a THS, but I just don't accept any random outcomes that causes them to die inordinately because I just don't see the point of making a sim to have them die immediately. You can even roll a flat number, say 50-100 to give them their current THS at the age of creation--that means they are at least in fair health and you can forego the earlier numbers for them, and just start from that point and move forward.

Hello. I've been looking at this for a while, and I decided to start a small kingdom using some of the rules and adding if I felt like it as I went. There's a rule under creating the monarch where children of unmarried monarchs (and I assume nobles as well) are to be considered illegitimate. I just had the thought that it's conceivable (pardon the pun) that he could be a widower, especially given the time period. So personally, I've decided to roll a d100 for any CAS sim in that situation, giving them a 50/50 chance of legitimate/illegitimate offspring. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for the time and effort you put into this. Having made a complicated challenge before, I know the work it takes.

Lauri

I've started to write down what the various Sims in my Warwickshire town will be. It's been a lot of work, but it will be worth it when the town is finished. I do have a question, though.

One of the fiefs I rolled was a baronetcy, and the baronet has a younger brother. What would his (the younger brother's) Rank be?

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions as I plan out more Sims.

@PSDuckie: the younger brother will retain the same class, i.e. serf, peasant, bourgeois, gentry, noble, but not necessarily the same rank, i.e. baron, earl, count, etc. This issue really becomes important with your titled nobles, since the third son of a duke won't necessarily be duke himself, unless there are enough titles to go around. Everyone in the family holds the same rank they were born with--so a father with level 14 rank, i.e. Duke, will confer that same rank on every child born into the family, regardless of who inherits what. This means that the entire nuclear family will be at level 14 for the entire time that the head of household, i.e. the Duke, is alive. When he dies,younger brothers will need to secure duchies of their own to keep their level 14 rank, unless the eldest brother has no living sons, and they are in the line of succession to inherit the duchy and the title. Now in the case of a Duke, it is highly unlikely that every son will be a Duke in his own right--there are not likely to be that many duchies to go around (hence the need for war and land acquisition ... but that's another issue), so it is much more likely that the younger sons will have lesser titles than the heir in a family as high as level 14. If they are not able to secure any fief/title, they may continue to occupy the original fief and retain its rights and privileges, so long as their older brother suffers them to do it. Their children will continue to be in the line of succession, BUT will be behind any legitimate sons of the heir. You can see how this might cause discord in family. It is wise to get those younger siblings their own fiefs and titles, since clearing the forest of younger untitled siblings is in the interest of nearly everyone in the family. See post #868 for more discussion of this issue with the bourgeoisie: it's the same situation with every class level. Those younger siblings are floating until they get their own situation to secure the inheritance for their own lines. I hope this made sense! ;-)

Quick update: working on trading companies. Anyone up for a sea voyage?

OMG YES YES YES, this ties so perfectly into what I eventually had in mind for my challenge, what will be your inspirations? things like the WIC and VOC, establishing colonies and 'factories'? Or companies that exploit established trade (is this even the case in), the Hanseatic League? Or will we get a system were there is no real big difference because of course the organisations like the Hanseatic league also established footholds though they weren't in the New World.

It will be interesting to see what this summer will bring the Warwickshire challenge, I'm hyped keep up the great work. :D

*takes a long close look at the contract.*

I'm definitely interested to see what you've come up with! :D

Lauri

I do have a question. In the latest teaser under education, under elite boarding school, for several of the programs of study, the student must write a novel. As far as I am aware, teens aren't allowed to write a novel without mods or hacks. I have ACR so it might be possible after they reach "18," but does this mean that your sim must attend the school for two terms if they want an honors diploma? Or am I missing something simple?

Edited to add: Another question. What constitutes part-time employment?

...You are making it very hard to stick with my "start small, build slowly" rule! I desperately want to create something like the silk road with the Far East, but then I'm going to be tempted to make Far Eastern families... or worse, I could be tempted to have my duchy trading with the neighboring duchies, as a stepping stone to uniting them under a single monarch!

There's just too much I want to do, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep things small!