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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Episode 23 Self Supporting Society

Written by Karin
Friday, 23 March 2007
The main objective of this challenge is to build a self supporting society. This means the sims can only buy things in businesses owned by other sims. The only things sims can purchase on their own lot are the items from the "Build"-menu that cannot be sold in a shop (walls, roofs, fences). The owners of a business can buy things when they are on their business lot only with the objective to put it up for sale in the same shop. There's one other way for my sims to get their things: produce them by themselves (gardening, fishing and benches).


These rules are written based on this installation of the sims2: basegame + NL, OFB, seasons, FFS and glamour stuff. Additional rules for uni and/or pets might follow at a later point for people wanting to play with all EP's.

Setting up the neighborhood

Create a new neighborhood and select the seasons. Once you start playing this challenge, the seasons cannot be changed anymore. Don't select any subneighborhood yet, they will be added during gameplay. If you like, you can add some neighborhood decorations.


Create 4 sims in CAS. Roll a dice to determine their gender, aspiration and zodiac sign. For the latter, you have to roll twice: first to determine the set and then to determine the zodiac sign.

Gender:


* Odd (1,3,5) = Girl
* Even (2,4,6) = Boy



Aspiration:

* 1 = Fortune
* 2 = Knowledge
* 3 = Romance
* 4 = Family
* 5 = Popularity
* 6 = Pleasure


Zodiac sign:
Set 1:

* 1 = Aries
* 2 = Taurus
* 3 = Gemini
* 4 = Cancer
* 5 = Leo
* 6 = Virgo



Set 2:

* 1 = Libra
* 2 = Scorpio
* 3 = Sagittarius

* 4 = Capricorn
* 5 = Aquarius
* 6 = Pisces

How they look, what their turn-ons and turn-offs are is completely up to you. You're free to use custom skins and clothes if you like.

Prepare four furnished lots for your sim with a maximum networth of 20,000 simoleons. You can refer to the basic inventory (see below), however for starterhomes you can buy other things too. This is meant to help the sims make a good start in the neighborhood. I recommend you don't use large lots for these starterhomes, just use a 2x2 or a 2x3 lot so there will be enough money to start a little vegetable garden.


These prepared lots are the four starter homes. Move the CAS-sims to these lots. After you have moved the sim in, you cannot add anything to the lot that can be bought. So, when the gameplay has started, you might add another room to the house, but you cannot put a door in it or windows.


The following classes have been defined:

1. "farmers" (main task: provide for fruit, vegetables and fish)
2. "industrials" (main task: make flower bouquets, toys and robots using the workbenches)

3. "merchants" (main task: run all other kind of businesses)
4. "entertainment industry" (main task: run venues like restaurants, parks)

Of course, farmers and industrials would have little shops to sell their products. Moreover, I say "main task". This means a farmer could also run a clothing store or have a cafeteria with home-made cakes besides his gardening, fishing and selling those products. Every household has to choose one of the four classes, but which class you choose for your family is up to you. After all, you have to make sure your simmies can buy everything they need.


You have created a neighborhood, created for new sims and determined their personality and main task. You moved them in in their furnished houses. So, let the fun begin!
Playround

Make a list of the 4 starter families and play them in this order. You play each household evenly, for example 1 sim-week. After a sim-week with the first family move to the next of the list. New households are added to the end of the list. At the end of the list, create a new sims in CAS (with the same rules for set-up) and move this sim into a starterhome if any of the 4 original starterhomes has become empty.


At the beginning of each simweek for each single household, you can decide two things:

1. If you want to move the household to another house, or not
2. If you want to change the class of the household,or not


These choices cannot be made during a playround. These choices only apply to the household as a whole and not to individual sims. Individual sims can only move out to marry/join with another sim, after a break-up or after becoming an adult to start a new household. All household members have the same main task.


When a household moves to a new house, only the items listed on the basic inventory (see below) can be purchased through the buy-menu and the build-menu. All other items will have to be bought at a shop.
Basic Inventory

doors and windows
1 toilet
1 shower or bath
1 sink
2 counters
1 fridge
1 mirror
1 dresser
1 phone
1 security unit
4 squares of soil
1 lamp for each room
1 bed/place to sleep for each child, teen, adult and elder
1 chair for each child, teen, adult and elder
1 crib for each baby and toddler
1 decorative item per room
1 bookcase
1 easel
2 fruit trees

You cannot use the buy-menu to purchase a crib before a simbaby is born or to purchase a bed before the toddler has grown to child. However, you are allowed to store in the backpack anything from the former lot you want to have your sims on their new lot. I would recommend this for career rewards and aspiration rewards.

Starting a business

Unlike the houses, for shops you can use the complete buy- and build-menu. So, for your shop you can buy anything both as stock and for the shop itself, otherwise the simmies would never be able to buy anything. Besides they have already worked hard to gain anough money to start a shop. And I think planning to have shops for anything you want your sims to buy is also already another way of playing the sims.

Children,marriage and move in

When a child becomes a teen, you have to roll dice to determine the aspiration. You do this as follows:

* 1 = Fortune
* 2 = Knowledge
* 3 = Romance
* 4 = Family

* 5 = Popularity
* 6 = Pleasure

Sims can marry playable sims, townies and NPC's. You can move in this sim first, if you want to keep his/her last name. You can only move in sims with the intention to marry (or join) the sim to one of the household sims. Individual sims can move in (and out) at any time during the playround. Moved out sims (with the intention to start a new household) will be added at the bottom of the list and will be played in the next playround.

Plant-sims and servo's

Servo's are not considered playable sims. You can activate them if you like and have them contribute to the household, but they don't score points for playable sim, LTW and such. Money they earn will of course contribute to the household funds.


If you like you can move activated servo's together into one house in the neighborhood that you don't play. This way Servo's can be hired to work in shops but you don't have to play them. These servo houses however only count toward the neighborhood-bonus if the house is played.


Playable sims that become a plant-sim (at adult lifestage) can still count as playable sim, gain LTW and other points. Plant-sims that are sprouted by other sims don't count as playable sims and cannot gain other personal points (LTW, IW and such).

Subneighborhoods

Once the challenge has started you are free to add new, empty subneighborhoods. To maintain the spirit of this challenge, create different subneighborhoods as different parts of the town: one full of farmland, a shopping district, a downtown area, a posh area etc. Be aware that you can place a maximum of 50 businesses/owned community lots in each (sub)neighborhood. Otherwise your game might crash.

Other rules:

* No cheats and hacks allowed
* Don't use the maxis-made Downtown and Bluewater subneighborhoods.
* All venues have to be owned by playable sims.

End of the challenge


The challenge ends when the first sim of the fifth generation dies. At that point, you can count your total score .

The challenge is over when the first sim of the fifth generation dies. At that point (or at the end of a round) count your total score as follows:

  • 1 pt for each playable sim
  • 1 pt for each LTW
  • 2 pts for each IW
  • 1 pt for every 100,000 simoleons (houses and businesses)
  • 5 pts for owning all golden badges
  • 1 pt for each business with level 5 or higher (once per sim)
  • 1 pt for each business with level 10 (in addition, once per sim)
  • 5 pts for each (sub)neighborhood consisting of at least 50 owned lots (houses and businesses). Empty houses and businesses do not count towards this score.
  • 1 pt for each merchant business lot
  • 2 pts for each industrial business lot
  • 3 pts for each entertainment venue
  • 4 pts for each agricultural business lot

Bonus points

When the challenge is over, the following bonuses can be scored as well:

  • 25 pts if you have never broken the "no-buying-in-the-house"-rule during the whole challenge
  • 5 pts if all the male-female marriages throughout the game take on either the male's last name or the female's last name.
  • 10 pts if you have at least 10 businesses of each type



http://karinssimsworld.com/sims/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=35


Call in your comments at 206-984-2871

Bon Voyage Pictures

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Episode 21 - Population Explosion

Population Explosion

There was a young couple who lived on Sim Lane
They had so many kids it was quite a pain.
While keeping them happy, these two almost died,
The kids, they grew up, and now elsewhere reside.
From Albert to Zelda and Alice to Zach,
They keep coming and going and not coming back.
So please just remember in passionate throes
If you Woohoo unsafely, Population Explodes!

Okay, folks, this is POPULATION EXPLOSION time!

How quickly can 1 couple (or single mom) have 26 babies? Name them alphabetically (Alice/Albert to Zelda/Zach, etc). Your counter starts when you Try for Baby the FIRST time.

Take a snapshot of the whole family every Friday, and tell how many days (from the first "try for baby") have passed.

You may NOT use any cheats or hacks, except Moveobjects to repair a glitched item.

The counter starts from when they Try for their first baby. Anything you do before that is just for fun and profit. Make sure your Mom is back to 29-26 days before becoming Elder when the counter starts

We judge it by the number of elixirs Mom takes after the counter starts, so make sure you save her empties, but nobody elses. Take a picture of all the empties for the end of the album.

You must raise them all to at least childhood, if any are taken by social services, you must have new babies to replace them.

The counter stops when Zelda/Zach (#26) turns into a child.

When one of the offspring grows to Adult, he/she may move out with any other Adults/Teens/Children but NOT toddlers or infants.


If you have any questions please respond to this thread and we will try to answer them quickly.

Trixie Town and Violet Kitty

Links to the BBS threads:

Population Explosion Update Thread


Population Explosion LONG Original Thread

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Episode 20 - Cream of the Crop

Cream of the Crop Challenge for Sims2 Seasons

Made by: SimMasterJen

Here's a challenge for the new Sims2 Seasons Expansion
Pack. I was playing it and thought what I was doing
would make a good challenge so I am asking for
constructive feedback from all you avid Sims players
out there.


THE CHALLENGE

To run a household on the profit made through farming
alone. Have a minimum of 2 children that eventually
help out around the farm. Have the Sim couple share
responsibility so they build up badges. The challenge
is finished when you have made a profit of $20,000
simoleons through produce alone.


WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

1. Create a couple in CAS, any aspiration and star
sign.
2. Buy a medium lot eg., 3 x 3 which leaves you
$15,200 simoleons to build a house and set your Sims
up to start a farm. You will need about $150 simoleons
for fertilizer and tomato seeds initially. (Enough for
8 plots)

3. Build a basic house with the bare essentials (you
will need to get a roof now with Seasons)
4. Keep enough money to set your farming life up.

When you move in you will need to purchase initially:-
a. One 3 x 4 greenhouse with roof.

b. One of the three types of orchid trees (think about
dormancy times before your purchase the first time) -
eventually build up to two or more of each species.

Challenges to fulfil as soon as possible.
c. Purchase a compost bin - 5 points

d. Purchase at least one ladybird nest – 5 points per
additional
e. Purchase a juicer as soon as possible – 10 points
f. Purchase sprinkler systems when it becomes too hard
to maintain by hand – 5 points per sprinkler.

g. Build up to 2 of each orchid tree or more - 10
points for any additional trees purchased.
h. Have minimum of 2 children. When they reach
childhood, add 1 greenhouse for each child to take
responsibility for - 30 points per extra child
/greenhouse.

i. Make a pond and fish for profit – 30 points once
you have a pond with fish.
j. Mount 1 of each type of fish (and boot) to display
on Sims walls – 5 points per object caught and
displayed in pond.
k. Each additional tree over and above the original
six - 5 points. Extra bonus of 15 points per plant if
harvesting when thriving.

l. Earn gold badge for gardening – 10 points
m. Earn fishing rewards – each additional stage 5
points.
n. Join Gardening Club - 20 points
o. Receive wishing well reward - 10 points

RULES

• Only one of your Sims can work only until they reach
the top of their career. (If you can time it so that
they are elders by the time they do at least you will
get a pension coming in if you need more money. The
other needs to stay home and tend the farm.

• No cheats for simoleons, age or mood boosters etc.
• No CC skins because if you are destined to become a
plantsim then CC skin may prevent that.
• Can use custom hair, makeup, and clothes etc., just
no skins.

• When having children none go to university, they are
to stay and help out on the farm.
• Sell at least ½ of your produce and keep the other
half to stock the juicer and the fridge. The juicer
and fridge must be stocked with some of your produce.

• Free use of any reward objects as your Sims have
earned them.

* You will need to keep a tally of all sold produce
over and above the wage of the lone partner working so
keep alert!



A Few Tips from Wen
Keep them awake 24/7 once they hit teen by using the energizer.
Get the kids up super early to tend the garden.
Have the higher level badged sims do the planting.

Wen's Blog

The Fruit Bowl of Awesomeness


Recipes in the Game