Episode 43

The Land Rich, Cash Poor Challenge

I’m sure there are other similar challenges to this one, but here’s my take on the basic idea of having 2 sims living off the land as best they can. I’ve play tested this a few times, it’s doable. I had a lot of fun with it.

Note: this challenge requires Seasons. It's assumed you have NL, OFB, and Pets, but that's not required.

The outer regions of the sim word is a harsh and unforgiving place. With freezing winters, scorching summers, and plenty of wolves, very few sims have ventured forth to tame these extreme lands. Sim City government is desperate to expand due massive overcrowding caused by unscrupulous cheesecake venders. So a new "Free Land! Plus Money!" program was born.

Two poor, lonely, mismatched sims apply for the program and are accepted. They are whisked through an all too Brief Orientation program and quickly shuttled off to their new home. They must live together and make the best of their new life, their new home, and each other.

Who are these two crazy, brave sims?

- make 2 sims in CAS. They must be roommates.
- personalities don't have to be a default zodiac, but you must use one of these pairs:
Aries/Cancer
Taurus/Virgo
Gemini/Capricorn
Leo/Capricorn
Libra/Scorpio
Scorpio/Aquarius

- turns on cannot ever match the other sim
- the turn off must always match the other sim
- choose whatever aspirations you want

The Free Land! part:

(you might want a new neighborhood for this)
- adjust the seasons of the neighborhood to be in this order (1-4): Summer, Winter, Autumn, Winter. (If you start the challenge and find the day of the season to be anything but the first day of Summer, use the Season and Weather Controller hack on http://www.simwardrobe.com to fix it. It's under TS2/Objects/Other Objects on the website. In the game it's under Misc/Misc - a $3 vase. Choose Set Season, then Season 1 and the starting point should be 5 days of Summer remaining. Sell back the vase when you are done.)
- you may play on any sized lot you wish, but it should be decently large
- enter the lot before moving in the sims and adjust terrain to your choosing
- add at least one pond
- add $10,000 worth of trees that drop leaves (as close as you can get it, +/- $100 at least). No fruit trees.

The Plus Money! part:

- move the sims onto the lot and use familyfunds (contrary to popular opinion it does work in lot view) to adjust their cash balance to §2500 (or lower if you're game).

The Brief Orientation part:

"Welcome, welcome! I'm sure you're very excited about your new home. There are some very minor details we have to go over now that you've signed on the dotted line:

- There is no public transportation to your new land yet. You won't be able to get visit community lots until you can purchase a car or until we extend taxi service to your new neighborhood. By moving onto this lot, you agree not to steal good paying jobs from hard working city sims. Ever.

- We haven't zoned your land for business use. It's too far away to attract customers anyhow. We will eventually be building up a downtown or shopping district close by so you'll be able to purchase a lot to conduct business at that time, providing you can afford it. However, due to agreements with the businesses who are funding this expansion, you cannot compete with existing businesses by selling stuff already on the market. You can only sell stuff you grow, catch, craft, cook, or paint on your land.

- Because of the long trip to your neighborhood, the poor quality of the dirt roads, and the low population, only one truck makes it out each day. This truck must service everyone in the Free Land! Plus Money! program. So, due to size restraints, you can only purchase 2 objects a day, provided services for those objects are available (see below). This includes all Build, Buy, and Aspiration Reward objects. Planting soil is excluded from this limit. There is an exception for walls and foundations. We can send you up to 3 wall sections or 20 foundations for each 'object'. The truck arrives in your neighborhood at 8am and makes deliveries until sundown. No exceptions. We expect to expand delivery services eventually.

- On the return trip back, the truck can take back up to 2 items a day. Sorry, we only reimburse you the depreciated price. This includes used aspiration objects.

- Our truck is not refrigerated. Thus we can't deliver food unless you buy a refrigerator. There will not be any food deliveries nor food for sale in stores in your area. Probably ever.

- Currently the truck cannot make deliveries in winter. No buying or selling any items until we get funding for snow plows.

- Sim City scientists have devised a way to suck food right out of your hands and instantly transport it back here in order to feed our burgeoning population. So, we can buy your produce directly as you harvest them or buy edible items right out of your inventory (no boots) at any time.

- Sorry, but no services or deliveries (from the phone) are offered that far out from Sim City at this time.

- We do provide mail and repossession services, so don't ignore your bills.

- Of course, we couldn't offer this program without guaranteeing emergency and school services. At least that was the court ruling after a long and bitter legal fight.

- Your lot comes with plenty of trees. You can cut down enough trees to fund wall purchases. Furthermore, you can sell trees to fund the purchase of up to 3 wall sections a day (up to $210 a day but not over, unless you want to keep track of any carryover) over the item per day limit.

- The following utilities and specialized services are not currently available, but will be in the future (including but not limited to): phone service (land and cell), computer internet hookup, sprinkler system installation, cable television, radio station signals, gas lines for ovens and cooktops, burglar alarm hookup to the police station, fire alarm hookup to the fire station, aspiration reward delivery, ladybug loft delivery, driveway construction, fruit tree deliveries, non-owned career reward permits.

- Over time we'll be expanding standard Sim City services to your new neighborhood. Please be patient and just hang in there.

Well, that about covers it. The door's over there. Thank you and good luck. Next!"

Expanding Services - At the end of every winter (twice a 'year') Sim City expands it's standard services to your sim's neighborhood. There are 7 basic restrictions that can be lifted in any order you desire (technically restrictions are lifted the first day of Summer and Autumn, excluding the first Summer, of course):

- Phone services - all options on the phone except grocery and food delivery are permitted, provided you have a phone

- Public transportation - sims can travel via taxi anywhere, make purchases at non-owned community lots, except purchase groceries or eat at restaurants.

- Driveway installation - doesn't count for the item per day limit.

- Downtown/Shopping District opening - sims can purchase a community lot. Ideally in a downtown or shopping district sub-neighborhood, but if loading times are an issue for your computer you can purchase a community lot in the main neighborhood.

- Speedy courier delivery of craft bench supplies - Sims can use craft benches to produce goods. You can't sell them from the bench or inventory though. You can only sell crafted items on a community lot.

- Road/highway upgrades - doubles the number of items per day you can buy/sell. This can be unlocked multiple times.

- Snow Tires, Plows - the first time you unlock this, items can be delivered during winter except when there is enough snow on the ground to make snowmen/snow angles. The second time you unlock this, deliveries can be made all throughout winter according to the trucks normal schedule.

Utilities and Specialized Services - The first day of each new season (except the first Summer) brings a new option to your neighborhood. In addition to unlocking these items, you get to purchase your first item in that category unrestricted by any item per day rule. Unlock them in any order you wish:

- phones (land and cell)
- televisions
- radios
- computers
- garden sprinklers
- stoves/cooktops
- burglar alarms
- fire alarms
- ladybug lofts
- fruit trees
- aspiration rewards (except the ReNuYu Senso Orb and the weather machine)
- 2 career rewards - use boolprop to give your sims any two career rewards you like. These are not subject to the 2 item per day rule. This can only be used once.

- The Garden Club - is very excited to help out those moving to these new neighborhoods. They can conduct inspections once you have a phone and the city provides transportation to your area for all services. If your garden is found to be in suitable shape, the Garden Club will make a donation to help you further develop your garden. All money from received from the GC must be spent on gardening supplies (anything in the Garden Center of Build mode, purchases using the GC money that are made on the day of inspection do not count towards the item per day limit). Use the wishing well at your own peril.

- End Game - eventually you'll get tired of this challenge and go back to your usual way of playing. Eventually the family will make tons of money. Just play until you get bored, or you've decided that the family has 'made it' and then toss the remaining restrictions.

The actual fine print:

- No cheats except aging off. You can turn off aging if you'd like and turn it back on when you want to have kids.

- The no-plant-sim hack from DJS Sims (http://www.djssims.com/index.php?category=10) is highly recommended (I think plant sims make this too easy). Other hacks are allowed. Fixes (like the warmth fix from MATY) are fine. But always perfect plants is not. Neither is Pescado's indoorplant fix. It fixes a bug, but also makes greenhouse plants too easy to care for. Generally anything that affects farming or fishing to make things easier is, well, if you are going to use those then why play a challenge? Put the no plant sim hack in a separate Hacks folder so you can remove it easily when you are not playing the challenge. I have it and do not intend to keep it in my game, just for this challenge.

- If you don’t get the no plant sims hack above, you must cure all plant sims immediately. The challenge will be easier for you since sims are cured with full needs, but then you’ll need to purchase the potion. I suggest buying some before hand.

- You can use any method to give your sims University equivalent want slots and locks, if you wish. Except sending them through Uni first. boolprop, hack, whatever is ok.

- Custom content must be reasonably priced (no $0 wall coverings).

- Build mode objects: One 'truck object' from build mode equals - up to 3 wall sections, up to 20 foundation/deck tiles; for wall and floor coverings one entire room counts as one one 'truck' object (enough wall coverings to cover all the walls in one style in one room or enough floor coverings to cover the entire floor in one room); one roof of any size; one dormer; one door; one window; one staircase; etc. Recoloring counts as a new object. You get up to 3 wall sections a day independent of the limit if you sell trees to fund the purchase and you can lay down as much planting soil as you want.

- You can essentially trade trees for wall sections, but only up to the cost of 9 wall sections a day (the limit that can be delivered), or $630 a day. You can't go over and actually make a profit (although it you want to keep track and roll over any unavoidable 'profit' from one day's tree sale into the next day's wall purchase, you can).

- For a community lot business, you can't sell anything in build or buy mode. Only produce, fish, boots, foods you've cooked from the produce, crafted items, and paintings. All cooked foods you intend to sell must be cooked on the home lot then transferred to the business via inventory. If you want the community lot business owner to also start a home business just so food that's cooked automatically goes to the his/her inventory, that's fine, but you can't ever open the home business to service customers.

- Sims can write and sell novels on computers.

- No craft benches since supplies can't fit on the 'truck' until you unlock it (see above).

- By no "services or deliveries (from the phone)" I mean that nothing in the Services or Delivery option on the phone is permitted.

- You can 'move' existing walls by deleting them and rebuilding them. The difference between the depreciated sale price and the cost of new replacement walls is 'labor.'

- Dating and outings on community lots only.

- You can't use the ReNuYu Senso Orb or the weather machine.

Thanks - to Twain and Izus for comments and testing during development, and LK for the initial poke to write something, and everyone else on thesporum.net for their comments.

EPISODE42 - The Sims 2 Challenges - Pushing Daisies

Pushing Daisies Challenge

You will need University.

This challenge is based off the show “Pushing Daisies” so familiarity with the show would be helpful and would make the challenge more enjoyable.

The purpose of this challenge is to see how well you can build sim relationships without having them touch each other.

To start, build a family using body-shop or create-a-sim. It must contain:

The parents of Ned- name them whatever you wish. A male and female. They must be married and both the parents of Ned. Aspirations and personalities of your choice.

Ned- make him a teen and the only child of his parents. Choose his aspiration based on what you think would work best. He must have 2 in shy, but the rest is up to you.

Chuck- a teen girl. Not related to Ned or his family. Choose her aspiration and personality based on what you think would work best.

Chuck’s parents-name whatever you want to. Aspiration and personalities of your choice.

Digby- A male golden retriever. You’ll need Pets, so this isn’t necessary, but using him will be fun in the future. Personality of your choice.

No cheats, hacks, trainers, or hacked 3rd party objects may be used at all until otherwise told to.

You may not re-load after a bad event, which there will be plenty of.

All graves must be left on the lot! No Elixer to speed up aging!

Move all your sims into an empty lot of any size. Use the leftover money to build a house. I do not suggest an existing neighborhood, seeing that there may possibly be many deaths in the future. For now, Ned can interact with any person in the game. He may make contact with them. Every sim (and pet) can have any job you like if you wish. No children can be born. No new sims or pets added to the household at this time.

This is a list of things that must happen before sending Ned and Chuck to college:

-Ned must be best friends with his mother, father, Chuck and Digby.

-Ned must have a mutual crush on Chuck.

-Both Ned and Chuck get an A or A+ report card. (1 point for both Ned and Chuck getting into private school. 1 point for both getting A+ report cards)

-Death of Chuck’s parents. Do this however you wish (not aging), but Chuck and Ned must both have the memory of it. (2 points)

-Death of Ned’s dad. Do this however you wish (not aging), but Chuck and Ned must both have the memory of it. (1 point)

List of things that cannot happen:

-Death of Digby, Ned, Chuck, or Ned’s mom. (Automatic FAILURE!)

Now send them off to college. No other sims can be part of their household. They can be in a dorm or Greek house. Feel free to have them make friends.

This is a list of all the things that must happen while at college:

-They must fall in love (mutual). (1 point)

-Chuck can major in any degree and must graduate. (2 points)

-Ned can major in any degree that benefits the paranormal career and must graduate. (2 points)

This is a list of things that cannot happen in college:

-Ned and Chuck must not cheat on each other.

-Either of them dies. (Automatic Failure!) (I love writing that)

-Drop out of fail out of college.

-No proposing marriage

After graduating, move the new adults into the old house they came from. You may move in other sims pets after you complete this list. This is when the fun really begins…

This is list, in order, of the things that must happen after moving in:

-Ned’s mother must die. Do this however you wish (not aging), but Ned must have the memory of it. (1 point)

-Chuck dies. Do this however you wish (not aging), but Ned must have the memory of it. (3 points) (boo hoo)

-Ned gets a job in the paranormal career track. (1 point)

-Ned can no longer make contact with Digby. If he does, you must kill Digby. (Death of Digby means -3 points)

-Ned obtains the career reward Resurrect-O-Nomitron. (2 points) (After getting this reward, Ned must quit his job and your only income can be through the home business of selling pies) (If you do not own OFB, Ned may continue to work in the paranormal career.)

-Ned uses the Resurrect-O-Nomitron to bring back Chuck from the dead in perfect condition. (3 points)

From now on, Ned cannot come in contact with Chuck. He may not kiss, hug, hold hands, or any other interaction that involves contact. (Yes, this includes whoo-hoo) If Ned does make contact with Chuck, you must re-kill her immediately. She may not ever be brought back to life again.

You may choose 1 parent to resurrect. If Ned makes contact with the parent, you must re-kill her/ him immediately. She/He may not ever be brought back to life again. No other parents can be brought back.

Ned and Chuck cannot sleep in the same bed. If they accidentally brush by each other in the game due to the pixels passing through each other or some glitch thing, it’s ok. Keep a close eye on them to make sure they don’t interact with each other and make contact. FREE WILL MUST BE KEPT ON AT ALL TIMES.

You may not resurrect any sims besides Chuck and the selected parent.

What happens afterwards and additional points:

Every person that Ned touches from now on must be killed. You must immediately kill the person that he made contact with. You may use the move objects cheat to move the person into a closed in area to starve or move them onto the lot to be killed in a different way.

- If you have OFB, begin to run a home business of selling pies. This is your only income. Chuck must help with the sales. (5 points for a level 10 business) (If you do not own OFB, Ned may continue to work in the paranormal career.)

-For every person that Ned touches and is killed (-2 points)

-For every person that was resurrected then re-killed by contact from Ned (-1 point)

-For every zombie accidentally made (-1 point)

-For every resurrection that results in a different personality (-1 point)

If and/or when Ned and Chuck fall out of love, the challenge is over. If you Chuck dies before this, the challenge is failed. If you can keep them in love until they become elders, then you have won!

Enjoy. -annie

Pushing Daisies House