#ts2 test of time

[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!

[executables-sims]

Deadly Bee Swarms | Download A mod that helps make 'death by flies' a tiny bit easier to achieve.

I've never had a ghost of this death type in my game naturally, even when intentionally neglecting my sims' cleanliness, but now it's an added risk when hiking and hunting bugs! Still rare, but no longer seemingly impossible. x)

Behaviour This mod adds a simple coin flip to determine whether the swarmed sim will die or not.

I haven't seen enough bee swarms in normal gameplay to feel like this would need additional logic, but if there's interest I can add some extra checks for a sims' activity and body skill levels, too. :)

Conflicts This mod overrides the BHAV Interaction - Chased By Bees.

As far as I can see, there hasn't been a hiking or bug hunting mod to alter this particular BHAV yet, but please do let me know if you run into any conflicts!

MF mirror: Download

[liri-sims]

Don't get me wrong - this isn't a default replacement for the cab itself. This is a replacement for the stupid little thumbnail of the cab that appears on every comm lot entry in hood view...

...and for the larger thumbnail of the cab that appears when you go to the lot by taxi. I rarely do, but not everyone has the option to walk to lots, so.

Yes, it may look a little weird because the image is flat but the loading screen is angled - some images it's worse than others - but I don't feel like trying to warp the images.

Most of these started out on a light-colored background and will probably look weird on dark UI replacements. Wherever possible I've used artwork from the period, or reproductions of that artwork. Of course, some of these periods covered many years, but this is just a start.

I've included many options. There are a couple of prehistoric choices, an Egyptian boat, a Greek chariot, a Roman sedan chair and three Roman carriages, half a dozen medieval choices - carts, carriages, and people on horseback - a couple of 17th-century choices, and a handful for the Regency era, one late-18th century and a couple early -19th. Gaps include more Renaissance styles, Baroque/Rococo, and anything post-Regency-England, but I plan to address those in later versions; I was trying to cover eras that seemed popular first.

I fully intend to do additional versions of this, and carry on through additional eras - I have plenty saved for the rest of the 19th century, and a lot of medieval equestrians waiting to be converted.

I've tested most of these but not all, so if any of them don't behave as expected, or have weird marks/artifacts that don't seem intentional, let me know!

Download: SFS or Box.

[nonsensical-pixels]

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

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

[sychik-personal]

long technicalities post

I just had to change some things before starting the new "year" (which amounts to approximately 8 human years in my game).

first of all, MODS I found myself in desperate need of:

antibodies after a sickness

get dressed autonomously

mini residential and community lots

also forgot to link the Stolen by Fairies mod. I thought about making my own multi-PT with gods instead of fairies/elves, but antiquity will pass while alien elves are timeless.

now that my sims won't be permanently sick (as realistic as it is - though I will make it worse in other ways), won't be prancing around in underwear in front of their servants, and I can finally have a proper 1x1 cheap taberna instead of ending up with lots of unused space and disrupting the look of the city part of the map...

ROS

the modified ROS scheduler doesn't do it for me. it's amazing, but it's linked to days of the week, and it tends to land on the same events a lot. I also got tired of the money events, though it was my fault for leaving them there. and all in all, even modified, it's not historical enough for me.

as a VERY cool base for my own ROS list I ended up using @12raben's random event list. they also have some useful mods in the beginning of the post. I haven't changed that much. I made some events less gendered, deleted a few, and made some others more reflective of my own situation with the ToT challenge. that said, right now it is tailored to the Roman era - I'll be stuck in it for two more generations, I think, and I don't mind. I'm thrilled about the party events, because I hate bothering with parties in my own game and I need something to MAKE me throw one. I also added two events for visiting the community lots - because I hate that too.

Health System

another part of it is the health system. for this idea, I have to thank @guessimate and this post (also the author of the Warwickshire Challenge - this, I think?). I like micromanaging in small amounts, so my version is somewhere in between. I used fewer age groups, made the starting Health Score reflective of the parents' Total Health Score (unless for a new sim), tweaked the Random Health Rolls and Modifiers. "fat" in ts2 is not really that fat (not a bad thing either, especially in those times), so I made being unfit less punishing and being fit more rewarding instead. Flu in ts2 is caught from roaches, it kind of resembles dysentery (or similar) in my opinion, so I made it more punishing. there was no mention of Pneumonia, but I feel like getting to this stage should be more severe. Food poisoning is rare enough, so it's also more punishing.

regarding the Midwife modifier: if there are multiple Vestal Virgins, I will make it so one of them will have to take on a Medicine career, so that I even have a midwife.

on the basis of THS, I divide my sims into four groups: Sickly, Weak, Average, Healthy. the Sickly get a whole special treatment, adapted from The Sick Child ROS in 12Raben's post. the health category also affects the outcomes of some events - I will have to test it, of course, to see if it's viable.

the main reason for adopting this combination (ROS + health system) is that predestined deaths at a certain age don't do it for me, either. I don't like coming up with the reason for someone's death unless it's obvious. this way, health will be dealt with its own module, and random accidents with their own.

all at once in an Excel sheet:

ToT rules and rolls

feel free to copy, modify, alter and delete my dumb comments if you like

[snapdragoned]

After her first day of work, Gina heads on an outing to the roller rink downtown and strikes up a flirtation with townie Addison, previously seen with Bianca Babinski...

They seal the deal in the all-ages photobooth :| Alrighty! Anyway--

[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!...

[plumbob-boy]

LyleSnake's Test of Time Challenge

I wasn't enthused about the existing versions of the Test of Time Challenge so I went ahead and made my own. It's inspired by existing Sims 2 challenges, other games, and history of course.

What's different about mine compared to the others?

No slavery or patriarchal ownership of women

Supernatural Sims incorporated into the challenge

Scoring system based on skillpoints and talent badges

Historically inspired abilities

Occupations that incorporate the expansion packs

Here's the short version:

Start with eight adult sims split evenly between two huge lots. these are the first tribes

once their grandkids are adults, move on to the next era

there are 6 eras, so the challenge will last a total of 18 generations

count up each sim's skillpoints. when you finish the game, that number is your score

I have the detailed guide here on google docs

rules for the early modern era coming soon

let me know how your playthrough goes if you decide to try it out!

[simcatcher-ts2]

Crashing Site, because what would be a good historical setting without my dearest queen, anachronism.

[ts2-testoftime]

WELCOME TO THIS SIDEBLOG FOR EVERYTHING ⏳ TEST OF TIME ⏳ RELATED!

It is run by @nonsensical-pixels and will be updated whenever I find the time or motivation to 😊

FAQ | MY DOWNLOADS (WIP) | FINDS MASTERLIST (WIP) | HELPFUL SITES

Mobile-friendly FAQ below 💗

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Test of Time challenge?

The Test of Time challenge was first created by anna220 and is based on, or follows, their original ruleset at ModTheSims. It is a multi-generational, extremely complex historical challenge that follows your sims from the Stone Age to modern times.

How did you discover this challenge?

It was widely popularised by PleasantSims back in 2021 with their own ruleset and accompanying streams, right around the time that I was first 'really' getting into The Sims 2. While I no longer support nor am affiliated with Cindy in any way, I still find this to be my absolute favourite Sims-related challenge to play.

Why did you create this sideblog?

I have always struggled to find CC and mods that are appropriate to this challenge, especially in the mostly-uncharted Roman Era. So I'm trying to compile everything I've been able to find in one place for my own sanity, plus help make the transition simpler for

What era are you at?

I am currently at the Roman Era, playing in my custom neighborhood, Lake Ego or The Egoan Empire. So the self-made content that I post to this blog will be heavily influenced by the era that I am playing in 🙂

Will you ever post your downloads folder?

I'm happy to post mod lists and other recommendations, yes. But I will never upload my Test of Time downloads folder in its entirety. Possible conflicts and creator TOUs aside, it's 18 darling GBs large and I'm not paying OneDrive to upload it.

Why is your icon the Grim Reaper?

Death. There is much death. In this challenge.

[spell-bloom]

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

[liri-sims]

Followers gift part 2: Medieval magazines!

So, magazines didn't really exist until the 18th century. But before that, there were cheap, widely available publications - broadsides, chapbooks, pamphlets - that covered a wide range of subjects like news, true crime, political commentary, entertainment (some ballads were literally just existing poems set to music) and news-of-the-weird subjects like witchcraft and prophecies and that woman in England who claimed she kept giving birth to rabbits, and so on. A lot of the same subjects covered by Sims 2 magazines, in other words. They weren't done in periodical form, but neither are Sims 2 magazines, which are the same week after week.

So that was my initial model. I started out with monochrome woodcut prints from 15th- and 16th-century books and broadsheets, but my early attempt at defaulting the magazines made me think that color might be advisable to make the images easier to recognize at tiny sizes. That led me down a rabbit hole of medieval manuscript art, with the end result that some of the magazines are using art that is far, far too lavish for a mass publication. But it's aesthetically pleasing!

All the magazines have unique interiors, unlike the originals. Most of the text is just Lorem Ipsum (I did include a bit of Chicken Little/Henny Penny in the children's magazine, because one of the illustrations cried out for it) so you're not missing anything by not being able to read it. I used Simlish TrueBadoor for all the text, titles and articles alike.

Man, that floor is pixelated. Hestia and Osanyin need to remodel their foyer. Above you see the entertainment/fashion/sports magazine, with a focus on music. That cover, like many of the others, dates to just a bit before 1500; that was my target zone, though I wasn't super-strict about it. I may well do another default later, with earlier artwork - the Codex Manesse has a lot of good candidates - but I'm a little burnt out right now, which is why I haven't followed through with the hobby magazines.

I replaced the catalog descriptions and titles in the UI, too. Mostly not very period-accurate, except for the judgmental tone towards frivolity and avarice, though I did sometimes use period titles complete with the spelling of the time.

You can see one cover for "All That Glittereth" up above, but it will display a different one when you bring the magazine home; this is normal, if annoying. Maxis for some reason included two money-themed publications and then mixed them up. The UI in use shows a sim buying the magazine in an OFB owned business, but it should look a lot the same in an unowned, NPC-run lot.

And as you can see from the image at the top of the post, I also did a recolor - two recolors, in fact - of this default replacement magazine rack by Motherof70, with my magazine covers. The rack has nine magazines on display and there are only six interest magazines, so I included the alternate cover for Rat Race and two of the hobby magazine covers (or at least early versions of them. I change my mind a lot.)

All the textures are 512 x 512, except for the magazine rack itself, which is 1024 x 1024.

Acknowledgements: These were all built on the template of Lolabythebay's 1920s magazine defaults, and some parts - the page edges and spines - are used barely altered. I adjusted the colors on the spines but kept recycling the underlying graphic. I would never have made sense of the Maxis mapping, let alone been able to increase the resolution of the texture file, without her hard work.

If not for Xia's hobby magazine defaults, I'd have had no idea where to start on looking for the catalog descriptions to replace them.

And I probably wouldn't have thought of doing the magazines at all if not for the default rack.

As for art credit: I've been painstakingly bookmarking all the images used and would be delighted to do a link post, but I don't know how many people would be interested, and this is already getting long.

Magazine replacements: SFS or Box.

Magazine rack recolors: SFS or Box.

Everything is compressorized and seems to work fine for me. Let me know if there are any problems!

[nonsensical-pixels]

the imperial palace (roman era) of lake ego 👑

it's an older build (done when i was 14-15) but it's seeing the light again now 💖 even if it's, ahem, pink soup-tinged

[sychik-personal]

I think this warrants a separate post. here is the gladiator school I built:

perhaps it should have been wider to make the inner courtyard bigger, but I also don't want to handle more than four potential gladiators at once, so it is a small school.

Kairos Viridis will become the lanista of this school. his personality makes him a less-than-ideal candidate: Nice, Shy and Lazy doesn't scream "I'll train boys to fight to the death in the arena". however, he is single, more or less young, a Popularity sim and a plebeian whose reputation won't suffer much. I also don't have any other plans for him. the building of the ludus is sponsored by the future emperor Clematis, so Kairos doesn't have to pay for moving in. he takes 8,000 out of family funds; Evios and Cleon are left with 7,000. Servius has successfully moved out (though he still comes by occasionally just to beat his sister... sigh)

other than focusing on Body skill and Charisma in training, I don't know yet how I'll handle the actual fights and earnings. one fight per season sounds reasonable, and maybe some rolls that will be affected by skill.

I also thought the city needed some gardens.

[mishas-sims]

Jaguar Citadel of Junta