Category: Hobbies -> Exercise
Cost: $25
Poly Count:
EPs Required: Base-game compatible unless you have the Kitchen & Bath SP; then is required

Of all the objects I’ve made, my body-skilling trampoline is my absolute favourite. All my Sim families own at least one – or two or three, if they’re a big family.

Well. My modern families do, anyway. No matter how much I love it, the trampoline is much too contemporary-looking for my medieval game, so my poor medieval Simmies have to do without. I still think it’s a pretty nifty item, though (not that I’m in any way impartial), and I’ve missed it in my medieval game – so I started thinking. What’s a medieval Sim peasant – or a contemporary, rustic Sim who doesn’t like neons and chrome, for that matter – gonna do if he wants to have some fun (and do some body-skilling) after working hard in the fields all day, bringing in the hay?

Why, jump in the hay, of course! So – I made a haystack. 😀

Update, 4 March 2019: Mortia has made four seasonal recolours for this here.

Even though you’re only getting outdoor pics here, the haystack can be placed both outdoors and indoors, just in case you have a barn or the like you want to put it in. It comes in three colours: hay, darker hay and lighter hay.

 
It functions mostly the same as my trampoline, but there are a couple of differences:

First of all, the haystack is on two tiles, so two Sims can use it at the same time (as demonstrated by the Smiths above). Also, Sims won’t change into athletic wear to use it, but will jump in their everyday clothes. Call me crazy, but I don’t think a medieval peasant, who’s been toiling in the fields all day, would change clothes before jumping in the hay to avoid getting them sweaty and dirty.

The entire haystack will jiggle when Sims jump on it, and if you have Seasons, you’ll hear it rustle as well. (If you don’t have Seasons, all you’ll hear is your Sims’ laughter.) There is some clipping at times, especially when Sims sit down after they’ve finished jumping – but that’s by design. I mean, they’re jumping and sitting down in hay; of course they’re going to sink into it! 🙄

Other than that, the haystack has the same features as the trampoline. So, your hay-jumping Sims will both gain body skill (and Fitness enthusiasm, if you have Free Time) and get fitter – and they’ll have fun doing it! 😀

To add to the fun, when a Sim is jumping in the hay, other Sims can look on and cheer. The onlookers won’t gain any skill or enthusiasm, no matter how vigorously they’re cheering, but at least they’ll have fun and be social.

Yes, that is indeed Hunk the smith of anvil fame; he (reluctantly) agreed to clean up for this photoshoot. The boy is his son, Runt.
(Actually, his name is Henry, like his Da, but Hunk affectionately calls him Runt because, well, he is. 😉 )

 
As long as the Sim’s body skill is below three, they will just jump up and down, but once it’s three or above, they can do backflips (like Runt). Not only that, they will also be able to teach other, less skilled hay-jumpers, how to do it properly – even if the teaching Sim is just a runt and their pupil is about four times their size.

I almost forgot: If you have Seasons, by design Sims will not get warm from jumping in the hay, so you won’t have to worry about the Social Worker coming to take your little Simlets away because they’re too hot. (Not from hay-jumping, anyway; if you have your Sims jumping outdoors on a hot summer day, they might get heatstroke anyway – but then it will be from being too long in the sun.)

Tip: If you put the haystack on a home business lot and don’t want your customers to use it, I suggest you fence it in so they can’t get to it, lest they might get a bit… obsessed, shall we say? I didn’t want to make it not usable for visitors, though, just in case your ‘hood has a community barn or the like – or in case you have a home business and do want your customers to use it. (Bandatron + haystack = easy Simoleons. 😉 )
 
The haystack is base-game compatible, unless you have the Kitchen & Bath SP. Then, and only then, Free Time is required.

If you don’t have K&B, Free Time is not required.