County Fair Expansion

jadonbakes

In another thread @Jasper7702 mentioned County Fairs as an aspect of a Farming Pack, which was a HUGE inspiration for this idea. I'm using the theme of County Fairs to execute what a lot of simmers in the community want in terms of farming gameplay, rural living, and quaint build/buy. It won't satisfy everyone, but I think this is a good way to get as much as we want all in one pack.

The Sims 4 Country Living

New animals: Cows, Horses, Pigs, Chickens (with baby, adult, and maybe elder life stages)
New World: Leghorn County. Lots are spaced between acres of decorative hay, wheat, and corn fields.
New Lot Type: 100x100 Lots, Fairgrounds (Fairgrounds require Auction/Judging stage or equipment, a carnival ride, a stadium stage, oh, and a toilet and sink)
New Build/Buy: Sliding barn doors, chicken wire fence, farm stall fencing, silos, troughs, straw beds (3x5 area of straw for farm animals to sleep in), chicken coops, carnival games, stadium bleachers, stages, carnival rides, food trucks (maybe). I could see the industrial/rustic items (like sliding barn doors) work really well in an urban loft build--so these items have cross-appeal for sure.
New Skill: Rearing (raising livestock) (1-10), Auctioneering (1-5), Competitive Eating (1-5)
New Aspirations: Animal Aspiration>Faithful Farmer. Food Aspiration>Chow Down Champion(life of gluttony and eating contests). Location Aspiration>Fair Follower (live the fair life)
New gameplay:
AUCTIONS: buying baby livestock (or produce or artwork) at auction, selling adult livestock them at auction (but not to be eaten).
SHOWING/JUDGING: sims can submit paintings, sculptures, vegetables, and livestock to be judged and hopefully win a prize ribbon
REARING ANIMALS: Sims will try and raise the best animal possible (to win a grand prize, or just out of love!), there would be a Rearing skill that works like Parenting from Parenthood; animals will earn "Character Values" (different name), and then, sell them for profit?... which is sad
CARNIVAL RIDES: Sorry, not roller coasters, but super fun stuff like the Zipper, Ferris Wheel, Carousel, Pony Rides
EATING CONTESTS: how many pies can you eat?
STADIUM SHOWS: Sims sit in bleachers and watch Rodeos, Tractor Pulls, demolition derbies, or guitar/piano/violin concerts
SIDESHOW TENTS: Have your fortune told, have your weight guessed, explore oddities... like werewolves? (just sneaking that in)


There's a bunch of features included in this made-up pack. Maybe even too many for one expansion. Narrowing the scope of rural living to just county fairs seems limiting, yet there's still a lot of new stuff sims can enjoy.

That being said, this pack would not incorporate raising crops. I honestly can't wrap my head around that ever being possible in the sims 4. But the world (Leghorn County) will have decorative fields (and maybe even debug rows of corn/wheat). I think the gardening update we got around the time Seasons came out was great, and Seasons really stands out as a gardening-oriented pack, so adding another new way of growing crops just feels like TS4 Seasons part 2 for me

Also, some folks in this community are rightfully concerned with animal welfare. This pack would focus on raising high quality animals, but not for harvest or slaughter. I think that's a touchy way to go. So the county fair pack would treat farm animals as pets and not food sources.

And an additional concern is that I'm not sure this translates well to cultures outside of the USA. I was raised in a small town, so county fairs were a significant part of the experience. I worry that this might not be inclusive enough to everybody around the world.


But what do you think? What would you add? Any questions? Any thoughts?

jadonbakes

What if, instead of fairgrounds being a lot, the fair just sort of existed in the center of the Leghorn County world--like the Spice Market, Fashion District, Arts Quarter, and Uptown in City Living--and daily events spawn there. E.g. Monday is a pie eating contest, Tuesday is a livestock auction, Wednesday is a rodeo, Thursday is the tilt-a-whirl etc.

Pros: No fairground lot with a ton of requirements, no need to build something so huge
Cons: Less customization, some cool objects (like carnival rides) may not be available in regular build/buy mode (debug only--and thus not functional)
Double Cons: I actually don't know anything about video game developing or programming

DaWaterRat

Now this sounds much more interesting than a Farming expansion focusing on crops to this city gal. I used to visit my mom during fair week when I was a kid, and this sounds very much like that experience. (Even managed to raise an almost champion dwarf rabbit. )

I think having the fairgrounds as a special lot (like the lab in Strangerville, or the Police station/hospital in Get to Work) would work out better than having to build the thing manually. And I'd be okay with the lack of customization. That said, the lab and the police station can be edited, so the fairgrounds could be too.

Cold as selling livestock sounds ... it is part and parcel of the whole farm life thing. I'm not sure if character values are the right way to go if they use the same interface as the cats and dogs from pets - since we can't actually see that. And it would probably be easier to adapt those mechanics than the parenthood ones.

I'm also not sure how the stadium shows would work, though if they've introduced cars by then, some way to participate in the demolition derby might be fun...

jadonbakes

@DaWaterRat totally counting on that car patch

Movotti

Here in Australia, we have Agricultural Shows, and Royal Agricultural Shows.

Your livestock list lacks sheep. Australia was built on the sheep's back. You can't have a pack like this, and not include sheep. It's just rude to do so.

Sheep are a form of livestock that are not solely for consumption. Wool farming is a big thing. Australian wool is highly prized.
Sheep get shorn, the wool goes to market, it's washed, carded, spun, dyed, woven. It can become basic products, such as blankets, or high end products, such as designer clothing, all depending on the quality of the wool, the yarn, and the weave.

Cows can be dairy cows, rather than beef cows. Milk them, skim the milk, turn the cream into butter, or ice cream, turn the milk into cheese or yogurt. Make the cows have a use, and not just be pets.

Pigs, however, there is no point in including them unless they end up as bacon!

Chickens are good for eggs, and they sometimes drop feathers that could be used in hat making.

Ducks and geese could also be included, for eggs (their eggs are highly prised by cake bakers), and their feathers could be used for hats too. Additionally, the duck pond could have harvestable reeds for the making of hats.

At our Agricultural Shows, we have show jumping, it's a good use for horses, and could give cause for spectators to wear fancy hats.

Our shows also have some unusual competitive sports, such as wood chopping, and sheaf tossing. And competition for baked goods, such as bread, scones, cake, biscuits (that is proper ones, that you'd dunk in tea). And competition for yarn crafts, and competition for sewn items, and art and photography competitions...

jadonbakes wrote: »

And an additional concern is that I'm not sure this translates well to cultures outside of the USA. I was raised in a small town, so county fairs were a significant part of the experience. I worry that this might not be inclusive enough to everybody around the world.


But what do you think? What would you add? Any questions? Any thoughts?

Your concept is a bit too american, and needs some Australian, English, and European flavour to it, since we also have similar events, and rural locations.

Personally, I really want a farming world with an English vibe to it.

Lady_Ballora

I'd LOVE to see a county fair GP or EP! No being bound to just one world or being useless events like the boring and pointless fesitvals. I would like a venue you can build and customzie(like cafes,libraries,vet clinics,etc),and not too many requiremennts. The requirements could be a ticket booth and 3-4 different rides. I want to build county fairs/carnival/theme parks in different worlds like Sulani,Willow Creek,Brindleton Bay,etc.

sueplayssims

I would much prefer a 'farming' pack if it ended up like this instead! Country life appeals to me much more. Perhaps some nice community lots in a new world like a small village bar, little rural shop etc
The country lifestyle features just make the concept of this GP / EP more appealing to me

jadonbakes

@sueplayssims Yeah, I really was not on board with all the hype about "Farming" packs but I think that was because the "ideas" everyone had were blurry concepts that invoked feelings more than any actual gameplay. Most just want a setting or a world, I think, and more gardening, and like cows I guess... what else would we do with cows but feed them or potentially eat them? I don't know. Would planting a field of crops be cutesy and immediately finished like in Farmville? Or would we have to watch our sims put in HOURS of labor into planting, tending and harvesting these crops? Plus how would that work for players with seasons? Growing crops could only work for one to four weeks per simyear. Haha, as you can see I still have a lot of confusion about the generic "farming" concept.

I think the county fair setting is at least something grounding to center a larger pack around. It satisfies the people who want a rural world, and farm animals. Plus there's some fun things to do.

Even if this county fair idea wouldn't work or have enough interest, I think any forthcoming farming/rural pack will have to have some kind of central concept to it.

Movotti

jadonbakes wrote: »

what else would we do with cows but feed them or potentially eat them? I don't know.

Is my previous post not showing?

Cows can be dairy cows, rather than beef cows. Milk them, skim the milk, turn the cream into butter, or ice cream, turn the milk into cheese or yogurt. Make the cows have a use, and not just be pets.

Would planting a field of crops be cutesy and immediately finished like in Farmville? Or would we have to watch our sims put in HOURS of labor into planting, tending and harvesting these crops?

Give the game two options: hand planting, and machine planting. Hand planting could take 12-24 sim hours, and could be spread over 3-4 sim days, or the work shared between multiple sims.
Machine planting would require a tractor, and a seeder, and the field could be planted in 3-6 sim hours, by one sim. But machinery likes to malfunction, so sometimes, they will stop working, and require some maintenance.
This would satisfy those who want a 'ye olde' setting, and those who want modern farming.

Plus how would that work for players with seasons? Growing crops could only work for one to four weeks per simyear. Haha, as you can see I still have a lot of confusion about the generic "farming" concept.

Plant grain crops in late winter/ early spring, harvest in later summer/ early autumn

I think the county fair setting is at least something grounding to center a larger pack around. It satisfies the people who want a rural world, and farm animals. Plus there's some fun things to do.

It would be better to go with the English term: Country Show. It's in the country, and you show off what you grow! Or maybe even Rural Show, cos farms are rural...

But yes, it's not a bad concept. It's a festive event on rural calendars.

Morkovka

I wasn't sure I want a pack like that but the more ideas I read the more I like it
Not so sure about the English vibe though, but only because we already have a lot of worlds with English or American vibe to them
I'd rather prefer Central European/Carpathian setting.