Well, folks, it was time – time for a new Land Lubber’s Challenge, TS4 style! I’m taking some of the rules from before and attempting to test and adapt the entire idea to our new Seasons EP. Let me tell you, testing has been FUN so far!

If you haven’t heard of Land Lubber’s, it was a challenge idea I came up with back in TS2 when we got the Seasons EP for that generation of the game. The basic idea is to live very simply off the land for one year (28 sim days) and survive – with very little in the way of shelter. 😉 Some simming friends helped me tweak it back then and also came up with their own variations, which added to the fun! My goal is to once again come up with the “base challenge”, see if it’s even do-able (I’ve not hit winter yet!), and then enlist help for variations of various varieties. 😀

My test sim is Cora Dixon (my simself). She’s sporting a new Seasons haircut (one I’ve been known to have personally in the past) and some new traits. One of the traits I picked, unfortunately, was “squeamish”. As a result (unbeknownst to me at the time), she HATES fishing! Finds the whole thing highly distasteful! Whimpers and whines the entire time! And then when she finally catches something, she stops fishing and barfs in her bush!

For this first trial, I’ve settled Cora at Dock Den on the island in Windenburg. There are no houses or businesses in Windenburg. In fact, there are no houses or businesses anywhere in this save. So all the meandering sims are just generated townies. Makes for a bleak social life. 😀 And ensures you can’t just run to a neighbour’s house for shelter. 😉

As you can see from the picture above, I tested whether you could keep fish in a storage trunk so as to get rid of the constant attempts to get a “quick meal” from the fridge. However, the fish go bad in there too quickly. 😦 So I ditched the trunk and put a fence all around the fridge. Works like a charm! I just drag the fish into it and they are always ready for her when she needs to roast one over the fire pit! No opening of the door needed and no sneaky snacks! 😉 Now it is more of a “cold room”, which is what I needed for the challenge.

Ha! She thinks that now…

So the only way to make money is to hold Yard Sales with the special table that came with GTW. This money will be used to pay bills throughout the year, and for other “emergencies”.

Cora started in Spring, so she planted some of what she could glean from around the island (snapdragons, strawberries, and bluebells, I believe), sold some in Yard Sales, and ate some when she was in too bad of a mood to fish. 😆 Which, being as she hated fishing, was more often than I’d been counting on. 🤣

She’d made some acquaintances and invited one dude over to hang out at the campfire with her one night – when the inevitable happened.

Something caught fire. 😀

At first, since this was the angle I saw this at, I thought it was her on fire! Thankfully, this was not her day to die. It was only her ROCK-SOLID CHAIR. (Really? These things can burn, EA? I’ve always wondered… Whyyyyy???)

When it was all over and the panic had subsided, the dinner she’d only partly eaten and two of her rock chairs were ka-put-nicks.

But that wasn’t the end of that Spring. Oh no. She had another yard sale on a particularly hot day and then, being low on Social needs, invited one of the purchasers to stay and hang out.

Around the firepit.

As you do on a hot day.

Well, Cora changed into her cool clothes once I saw her bad “hot” moodlet. The guest, however, didn’t.

What can I say? Oh, I know – Sims are stupid. 😀

You know, you’d THINK that a straw hat, a tank top, and capris would be cool enough, but man, those fully-enclosed loafers just put the heat index over the top, I tell ya!

Meh. Never said she was overly kind. 😀

Grimmy was nice enough to hang out and chat with Cora while she cooked her fish. I’m not ashamed to say that he listened to aaaaaall her troubles. After all, he was there and seemed chatty…

I’ve learned a few things. One, the cheaper tent doesn’t seem to protect a sim from the elements as well as the bigger tent. I’ll test further, but so far, that seems to be true. Two, fridges work with fences around them, but not in the rain. 😀 And three, a sim should always plant A LOT of whatever is in season if they want to level up and/or get enough Fun need out of gardening!

Oh. And don’t pick Squeamish. Frammit.

I’ll leave you with a pretty picture.

I have more adventures to share from testing out summer, so I’ll post that soon!