THE SIMS 4 PART 1 SERIES

This is the first of a series of three articles to help you on the road to the future, firmly rooted in the past.

This style is one of my favorite and the Sims 4 catalog is easy to use to create it. I see Steampunk as a mixture of high technology and steam power with a Victorian decor. When you've got this level of admin going on behind the scenes of your sex life, you know the spark really has gone. I'm already about 25 hours deep here: I'd hate to go to all the trouble of conceiving, cooking up and caring for a rugrat only for them not to count towards the tally because their daddy is a long-forgotten old flame. You can't be too careful with these things. Oh, and did I mention the spreadsheet? Yep, I've got a real-life Excel document on the go, keeping careful track of each child's birth order and parentage. Is it any wonder she has to lie back and think of England? I can't even recall the last time she had an uninterrupted night's sleep.

Even allowing poor Zara a few days' recovery between gestations makes for an utterly brutal schedule. This does not, however, allow any time for sleep, earning enough cash to keep your ever-growing brood fed or, y'know, nurturing the tiny terrors you've already got running around. The most effective way to go about things is to get your next baby daddy in the frame during one pregnancy, so that you can hop right back on it (ahem) for the next as soon as the infant is snoozing in its bassinet. Given that the overall aim of the challenge is to rack up 100 sprogs within as few generations of matriarch as possible, time is of the essence. The hardest part is finding a guy in the bar who hasn't already sired a Centum. It's like taking candy from a baby, if the candy were a baby and the baby were a potential father. She can give a dude the horn with a single flutter of the eyelashes. Since Zara racked up enough satisfaction points to purchase the 'beguile' interaction-and given her 'big happy family' aspiration, it didn't take long-things are even easier. When parenting a large family, do make sure you take some time out for yourself. Heaven knows that nobody has time to clear up the bloodstains, not with seven kids rampaging about the place. It's a bit like being a praying mantis, only less murderous. Once the deed is done, head straight to the bathroom for a pregnancy test while he enjoys a post-coital nap (in case he's needed for an immediate re-do) and, once those two blue lines show up, ask him to leave. Get the first kiss out of the way in public, then invite them back for a coffee. Notch the friendship-o-meter up to a third or so, and then go in hard on the flirtation. Throw a query about whether or not they're single in there nice and early, because while it's certainly not impossible to seduce a married man, those pesky vows seem to mean success is far more labour-intensive. She can't really afford to be picky, so anyone with a Y chromosome will suffice. She can't really afford to be picky, so anyone with a Y chromosome will suffice.ДЄ pickup artist could hardly be more ruthless or efficient: Zara's modus operandi is to head to a community lot and strike up a conversation with the nearest unacquainted gent. She'd managed to charm, bed and get impregnated by Travis Scott before the other townies had even managed to tear themselves away from their fruitcake. My hopes for her were high when the neighbourhood welcome committee showed up on the doorstep of Bargain Bend during move-in day. The younger members of the family may be near-feral, but there is one routine Zara has finely honed: catching her man (or rather men, plural). 'I've got some big news for you-we're having a baby! You can leave now.' (Image credit: EA)

The sims 4 part 1