đźÂ Homeless Musician Challenge đźÂ :
This is just a short little challenge that I recently did because I wanted to compare earnings from guitarđ¸vs violinđťÂ in a Rags to Riches challenge. Rules are in the screenshot. Please note that you can licence music you write with your instrument of choice; that is included in ‘making money from that instrument’.đ
I chose to do this with a teen, but you can use any age, teen and up. I have Seasons so I made the school days holidays so my teen didn’t have to worry about skipping school.
Please let me know if you have any questions! I’d love to see how you do! đÂ
Here’s the sim I used, she’s a teen who is creative and a music lover and has the muser trait from choosing a creative aspiration (Musical Genius): 
Here is how I set up the calendar since I have Seasons:
One of her first whims won’t be able to be completed for a while since she has no house, never mind a door, so I promptly dismissed it!
Perhaps one day in the not to distant future! Stay tuned to see how she did…
I recently saw someone ask what celebrities came with Get Famous so I thought I’d take a look and summarize them here. Let me know if I missed any and I can add them to the list!
Celebrities in Del Sol Valley:
In The Pinnacles Neighbourhood:
In Mirage Park Neighbourhood:
Celebrities ‘Not in the World’:
Meet my two sims, who unknown to them, are about to embark on a Rags to Riches Challenge.
Felicity Evans, who is a creative teen and who is also a bookworm.
Jasper Evans, who is an outgoing child.
They are best friends and have been since Jasper was a toddler and Felicity a child.
They are both children of Father Winter, who was active in raising them even though it took him many attempts to finally convince their mother to marry him.
So their parents are now finally engaged and they are both busy with plans for their wedding, a toddler, and another nooboo on the way.
Felicity has recently developed an interest in drama and she was able to get her parents to agree that she and Jasper could go to a summer drama camp in Del Sol Valley. Jasper is still more into Scouts, but wanted to tag along with his sister.
Unfortunately their reservation and payment somehow went missing and to top it off, they were robbed of everything but a few basic belongings. They don’t want to tell their parents as they think their parents will make them return home. However, since their parents are busy, they really want to try and survive the summer and summer school all on their own. They are even more determined to succeed in this endeavor since their mom has overcome similar obstacles when she was younger. Will they be successful?
I ended up choosing Alien Encounters Challenge as the title of my new Let’s Play as it seemed to encompass the fact that the Let’s Play was a challenge and that the main goal was to somehow encounter aliens! đ
Here’s a link to the play list if you’d like to check it out. As of the date of this posting, there are four parts up and the regular dates for posting this challenge on YouTube will be Wednesdays and Saturdays!
My sim Eric Bloom, who was the youngest sibling in my Abandoned Kids Challenge and my Abandoned Kids: The Teen Years Let’s Plays, is going to join the scientist career once he ages up to a young adult and I’m planning on following him with a new Let’s Play and I’d love some help choosing a title for this new Let’s Play.
The goals of this Let’s Play are for Eric to:
I also plan to use the new expansion pack Get Famous in this Let’s Play to see if he can become a famous scientist.
Note the idea of this ‘challenge’ stems from when I had two male sims in different saves get abducted and come back pregnant shortly after EA increased the chances of pregnancy from abduction with the pre Cats and Dogs update! I was however waiting for the right sim to try it with. đ
Here is Eric as a teen; his traits as a teen are Genius and Geek.
His sister Sylvia, who recently aged up to young adult, will be joining him in his journey. Her traits are Creative, Music Lover and Neat.
Now as I mentioned, here’s where I’d love some help. I’m not sure what to call my Let’s Play! I have a couple of suggestions, which are:
I would love to see some other suggestions so if you have any, please comment! IÂ plan to do a poll with my two suggestions and any others I get, and will go with whichever title wins the poll.đ
Link to my Abandoned Kids Challenge playlist…Â https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyPCBQSeZfrLLu_3hVG5aF_MpMDGGnMVT
Link to my Abandoned Kids: The Teen Years playlist…Â https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyPCBQSeZfrL0sF2zNjqWvYDp-KQZ-2mAÂ
Love Day is coming and Star Crawford, recently aged up to a Young Adult, needs a love interest for Love Day. I’ve had a few people create or provide some sims and Star has met them all. We spent the last two parts of my Seasons Let’s Play trying to meet them; Part 32: https://youtu.be/D-vHcecf1Is and Part 33: https://youtu.be/RguorPJ_yQQ.
I usually like to look for signs of which sim my sim is interested in, however Star doesn’t appear to have a marked interest in any of them, so now I need some help picking for her. I’ve created the following poll which will be open until early tomorrow evening and I’d love to get some votes! (Details of who has created them are in the poll, for most you’ll need to show custom content (CC) to see them, though the version in my Let’s Play are CC free).
STUFF PACKS:
All stuff packs add 1 or more interactive items, as well as a lot of build/buy/CAS items. Sims 4 does have a lot of stuff packs as they seem to have replaced the store that was used in Sims 3 and compared to that, they seem to offer more for your money than it did. I find I use things from all the stuff packs, but hereâs a summary Iâve written about them to see what might suit your play style the best:
Do your sims like to be outside?
Backyard Stuff: Adds a lot for outside, including a bird feeder (sims may get attacked, which makes them angry, when filling it, but it’s random), wind chimes, a water slide which can be a fun group interaction and a lemonade tray that sims can use to make lemonade and a couple of other drinks. It also adds 2 six-seater round tables with built in umbrella (so doesnât work well inside).
Perfect Patio Stuff: Adds a Hot Tub (2 versions) plus a new BBQ, bar and matching kitchen counter/island as well as some more outdoor furniture and other outdoor inspired build/buy/CAS items.
Romantic Garden Stuff: Adds the Wishing Well which can add some randomness to your game as well as the interactive fountain (you can play in and sit on). Iâve added the wishing well to some of the parks in my game. It also added some more flowers if you like landscaping, as well as other outdoor items that are good for building outside.
If you like family play, both Kidâs Room Stuff and Toddler Stuff are good additions. I also find My First Pet Stuff to fit in well with family play:
Kidâs Room Stuff: adds the puppet theater that kids can do puppet shows in as well as build social skill and the void critter station which adds a new collection to the game. Since this is focused on kids, it also adds a lot of kidâs CAS items and, as the name suggests, build/buy items for kidsâ rooms. đ
Toddler Stuff: This gives toddlers some outdoor stuff to interact with and adds a lot of cute outfits (plus the toddler play date). The interactive items are a slide (which Iâve found helpful in building your toddlerâs movement skill quickly), the ball pit and the tunnels, as well as a new dollhouse that works well outside. It also adds a lot of CAS items (hair and clothes) for toddlers since thatâs itâs focus.
My First Pet Stuff: This is a controversial pack as it requires Sims 4 Cats and Dogs to take advantage of everything in the pack, though it can be used without it. It adds the rodent cage (with four types of rodents, Hamster, mini hedgehog, rat & the voidcritter Bubalos which you can interact with, and also introduces a new death type from the new Guinea Pig Disease (which you can also prevent by researching, then buying and taking the inoculation). Without Cats and Dogs, you canât access the new pet outfits and the pet objects in buy mode become dĂŠcor items, though the sims CAS items can be used, as can the rest of the build/buy items. I find the build/buy items to be quirky and mostly suitable for toddlersâ and kidsâ rooms, which is why I think this is a family friendly pack.
Iâve not categorized the restđ:
Fitness Stuff: This adds some fitness videos to your TVs, the climbing treadmill (I tend to add this to community gym lots) and earphones (which has been patched to give sims funđ). It did add a lot of fitness wear which I use a lot. I also frequently use the shower and tub that came with it since they are high stats (hygiene, reliability, etc.) for a comparably low cost.
Cool Kitchen Stuff: Adds an ice cream maker which I use to have my sims make Taste of Diet ice cream which can help your sims lose weight very quickly (I find it takes two bowls/cones). If you have Dine Out, you can add ice cream to your menu (it comes with a lot of flavours). It also adds some nice dÊcor items for decorating kitchens and it comes with quite a lot of CAS items for teen and up (I recently compared a bunch of stuff packs as someone was asking me which packs came with the most CAS items, and at that time this was near or at the top).
Movie Stuff: Adds the popcorn maker and some movies your sims can watch on any TV as well as a lot of boho CAS/build/buy items (I use these quite often when playing). Some people have created âmovie theatersâ though there isnât a specific lot type for movies.
Bowling Night Stuff: Gives you the ability to add bowling lanes to bars, nightclubs and lounges (i.e. there is no specific lot type for bowling). It added a 5-level bowling skill that kids and up can learn. I find it takes a while to actually bowl, but it did add a lot of mostly bowling inspired build/buy items to the game. I do use the CAS items quite a lot.
Laundry Day Stuff: This is the stuff pack that was made with input from the community. It adds laundry (as the name indicates) in the form of a washer and a dryer, as well as a wash tub that sims can use to wash laundry by hand and a drying line. If your sims use the wash tub to do laundry they will build their fitness skill. There are also three types of hampers that you can interact with. The need to do laundry will only trigger if you add one of these laundry items to your lot and unlike in Sims 3, you only need one hamper to collect the laundry from anywhere on the lot (though it may get full very quickly, so you may want to add more depending on how many sims you have in your household. It also adds some nice build/buy/CAS items, including a round six-seater table.
Vintage Glamour Stuff: Gives sims the ability to hire a butler and a vanity table that sims can interact with to add temporary make up (this doesnât replace the makeup given to them in CAS and I believe goes away when they shower, possibly when they sleep). It adds build/buy/CAS items in the theme of the pack, including 2 new double beds.
Luxury Party Stuff: This adds a buffet table and drink fountain as well as a few new recipes, sims with mischief skill can also be mischievous with the Drink Fountain. I find the buffet table can be useful for wedding lots and if your sims like to entertain a lot. It adds build/buy/CAS items in accordance with the theme (i.e. it adds more formal outfits in CAS đ).
Spooky Stuff: Adds a new party (spooky party), a lot of costumes, which some people use for role play (pirate, fairies) a pumpkin carving table (builds handiness for teens and up, kids can also use) and an interactive candy bowl as well as a lot of build/buy items that suit the âspookyâ theme.
Moschino Stuff: Adds the new freelancer fashion photographer career, and the tripod, photo marks & a camera you unlock by maxing the career. It also adds two photography skill books and build/buy/cas items that suit the theme. The tripod is a fun addition; if you use it, it means the photos will always be excellent (no more thumbs, blurry pictures or photo bombing gnomes), it gives you more poses, you can take up to 10 photos, you can change the pose and more freely change the angle of the photo you’re taking.
I have an overview video here: https://youtu.be/sXDleg-UmAk
Tiny Living Stuff: Adds the new lot type ‘Tiny Home Residential’, the murphy bed and the all in one television, bookcase and stereo. The murphy bed adds the chance of death and a new ghost type if a sim is killed by the murphy bed. At the time of release the murphy bed breaks every time it is used (see report on EA AHQ https://tinyurl.com/s2noys4 ). There are also mods to eliminate the chance of death, among other things.
There are three tiers to the new lot type, ‘micro home’ which is 4 to 32 tiles, ‘tiny home’, which is 33 to 64 tiles, and ‘small home’, which is 65 to 100 tiles. As the lot gets smaller the property gets more advantages; see screenshot.
I have a couple of speed builds using the new lot type, including some ‘tips’ on how to add more space without increasing the number of tiles.
Nifty Knitting: This is the second stuff pack that was made with help from input from the sims community & the voted pack theme is ‘DIY Delight’. It comes with a new creative aspiration ‘Lady/Lord of the Knits’, the 10 level knitting skill which children can also learn (it will also help children’s motor skill at the same time if that has not been maxed). As sims increase their knitting skill it unlocks additional things that can be knit, including baby onesies. When a sim completes the knitting aspiration they unlock the ability to knit a yarnie toy & the forbidden sweater and the ability to dispel the sweater curse. It also adds Plopsy, which allows sims to advertise things they knit, as well as other things sims craft (paintings & woodworking sculptures {base game}, flower arrangements {Seasons}, candles {Eco Lifestyle}) for a small fee. For those with Parenthood, knitting also helps children and teens with their emotional control.Â
GAME PACKS:
I think the Sims Team has done a great job with the game packs and I enjoy them all. I find they all add a lot to the game, but again whether it’s a fit for you depends on what you like to do in your game.đ
Parenthood:
If you like family play, then I would recommend Parenthood as it adds a lot to family play, including new interactions and with the use of the family bulletin board the ability to give curfews (but itâs for all the kids in the house, regardless of age, but itâs also optional). It adds new character values which toddlers through teens can work on and earn when they age up to young adult (manners, responsibility, empathy, emotional control and conflict resolution, either positive or negative depending on the actions as a toddler through teen). It also adds a new family aspiration (for parents/caregivers) and it makes it a lot easier for a sim caregiver to influence their children to do things, which is very handy if you are doing challenges that don’t let you control them directly (such as Drifter Challenge). It also adds a lot of nice CAS/build/buy items which I use a lot.
While I use all the features from Parenthood in many of my Let’s Plays, including my Drifter Challenge & Foster Child Challenge, I have a completed Let’s Play that was specifically for the Parenthood Game Pack, here’s a link to playlist:
I also did a two part tutorial on the benefits of having positive Parenthood values and how to get them, here’s a link to the first part:
There are two vacation packs, Outdoor Retreat and Jungle Adventures.
My favourite game pack is Outdoor Retreat because I like to do challenges and it is used in a lot of challenges (more so than any other game pack) and I use it myself when I do Rags to Riches challenges as the tent, portable shower and cooler can come in handy for those. I also like to use the cloud gaze/star gaze interaction to make my Sims inspired and if you do it with another sim it helps build their friendship very easily. The Carl Sims 4 Guide it mentions that it added three reward traits, one of which is ‘Incredibly Friendly’ (it costs 2000 reward points) which I often get my sims as it makes making friends so much easier. This pack also comes with one new (nature) aspiration, one new trait and one new skill (the herbalism skill). I also like to use Granite Falls as a destination for family vacations and honeymoons. The world of Granite Falls comes with a rental neighbourhood with 5 rental lots, one of which is a camp site. It also has the National Park and the hidden lot for the hermit that you access from the National Park. The rental lots and the hermit’s hidden lot require the bb.enablefreebuild cheat to edit while your sims are on the lot. I do use the CAS/build/buy items, but I like and use build/buy items from most of the other packs a bit more (apart from some of the terrain plants, which I do use quite often from Outdoor Retreat.
I have a tutorial on how to find the Hermit, here’s a link:
Iâm really enjoying Jungle Adventures and if you max the new archaeology skill that comes with the pack it can be a real money maker (as can exploring the temple). It fits well if you have Outdoor Retreat as the tent, portable shower and cooler can come in very handy when you are exploring, and you can also use the insect repellant and deodorizing cream you can craft with the herbalism skill. The vacation world of Selvadorada is very large, even more so when you include the jungle that you need to explore (and the areas are shown on the map with a â?â as you always have to explore to find them). It also adds two new lot traits, two new aspirations (one knowledge & one nature), two new collections and a few more collectibles to existing base game collections (fish, fossils and crystals). It also works really well if you like to build your simâs skills as certain skills (gardening, fishing, handiness, logic, rocket science and charisma, as well as the two new skills, archaeology and the local culture skill) help you do better when exploring the jungle and the temple. The CAS/build/buy items work well with the theme and I love the new display case you can use to display collectibles that came with this pack.
I did a Let’s Play exploring Jungle Adventures, here’s a link:
I also have a three part tutorial with some tips on Jungle Adventures, here’s a link to the first in the playlist: 
https://youtu.be/guLUqy1ylHU
Spa Day:
Spa Day adds the new wellness skill and the items you need for it (yoga mat, meditation stool, massage chair and massage table). It comes with a few pre-built spas that you can add to any world, but you can also add the spa items to any gym, including existing ones in the world and the massage therapist and yoga instructor will come to those lots (so they function as both a spa and a gym). You can also have your female sims get a fertility massage which is supposed to increase their chances of getting pregnant (for a window of time) and increase the chances of multiples. I use the CAS/build/buy items from Spa Day quite a lot.
Dine Out:
Dine Out is great if you want to run restaurants and it can be fun to take your sims to restaurants, though dining can take a lot of time. You can own more than one restaurant and unlike retail stores that come with Get to Work, they can run when you arenât there, though they are likely to lose stars. Your sims can manage the restaurant, but they canât be the chef, host or wait staff, and neither can any of your household members. It still is challenging to try and get a 5-star restaurant. I use the build/buy/CAS items from Dine Out quite often, especially the dĂŠcor items.
Vampires:
Vampires is great if you like vampires as they did a very good job with them in this iteration of the game. This pack also added the small world of Forgotten Hollow which comes with 5 lots, one is empty, 2 are occupied and 2 are unoccupied.
Vampires can level up in rank, and as they level up in rank they can add strengths and weaknesses. Only teens and up display their powers, and once they reach young adult they stop aging (or they stop when they are turned). This pack comes with three aspirations (family, knowledge and popularity). It also adds the 15-level vampire lore skill and the 10 level Organ skill. If you donât want vampires to âfeedâ on your sims and night, locking the door can help, though Iâve had my sims mesmerized and come outside. I tend to have my non vampire sims learn enough vampire lore to buy garlic (and plant it at their doors) and to make garlic wreaths. I have also had my sims (vampire and non vampire) make a lot of money by maxing their vampire lore skill, planting the necessary ingredients and making and selling the cure and the draught of reconfiguration (you can sell it into your inventory, but the real money maker is if you sell it with a 300% mark up on the yard sale table, which comes with City Living and Jungle Adventures). The build/buy items add a lot of Victorian items, as well as wall/window decals & spider webs you can use to make houses look decrepit. The CAS items are also in keeping with this theme, though even so, I still find I use a few items quite regularly.
I have a Rags to Riches series that focused on Vampires, here’s a link to the playlist: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyPCBQSeZfrLGL-akQpVx0_fUfpUekohM
StrangerVille:
StrangerVille is quite different from other game packs as it adds a story/mystery that your sims can play through. EA has made it so that the ‘possessed sims’ are only supposed to be in the new world of StrangerVille that comes with the pack. If you want to completely remove any signs of the mystery, you need to play through the mystery and the Strangerville Mystery aspiration has been added to help guide you through it (it’s found under the Location type of aspiration). That said, if you don’t want to play through the mystery, apart from having a few possessed sims in the StrangerVille world and some harmless strange plants around, there’s not much impact on game play until you start investigating. The new world is quite large for a game pack; it has 11 editable lots and one special, not editable lot (unless you add use a mod). It also adds the aforementioned aspiration and a trait (paranoid) that fit with the theme of the pack.
The pack also adds the military career, which your sims can choose to work from home or go into work (then it’s like the other rabbit hole careers). It also adds new build/buy/cas items, including laptops (2 versions, one entry level & one better quality) that can be dragged into your sim’s inventory and taken with you though it has to be placed on a table, desk or island counter to be used, sims are unable to use it in their lap.
I have a completed mini Let’s Play where one of my sims completed the StrangerVille Mystery if you’d like to check it out. 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyPCBQSeZfrLAVXnKQ86F6QvH67QCOsru
Realm of Magic:
Realm of Magic added the new occult, Spellcasters. Sims can be created as spellcasters in CAS, in the game or they can be born as spellcasters. There is no new skill but there are 24 spells from three different types of magic (Practical, Mischief and Untamed) and 15 potions sims can learn. Similar to vampires, spellcasters rank up and as they do, they earn points that they can use to buy perks. Unlike vampires, spellcasters do not have to choose weaknesses, but they can be cursed when doing magic, brewing or drinking potions since the spells and potions have a chance of failing. A spellcaster can have up to three curses at one time, though there is a spell and a potion that can be used to remove them (though these can fail and result in more curses).
If a sim is born a spellcaster, they can’t use any powers until they are teens, though those born as spellcasters can have one of the three new traits that came with the game, weak bloodline, strong bloodline and ancient bloodline. These traits affect how quickly they rank up as spellcasters and how many perk points they earn as they rank up. There are also two new aspirations with this pack (one knowledge and one nature).
This pack came with the new world of Glimmerbrook which has 5 lots, 2 are occupied, one is a bar, one is empty (with a few trees) and the other is unoccupied. It also comes with Magic HQ which you access through the magic portal in Glimmerbrook or through a spellcaster’s ‘glimmerstone’ which can be found in their personal inventory.
This pack adds CAS/build/buy items that fit with the magic theme, including a cauldron for making potions and even a few cooked meals, including mac & cheese.
I find making my sims spellcasters helps when them get to class on time as university students if you have the Discover University Expansion pack.
I have a Rags to Riches Let’s Play for Realm of Magic, here’s a link to the play list:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyPCBQSeZfrKbCbCLyrF1HCoEaDe3pbrO
Maple Simmer 