So, Just to Keep Things Interesting ... I'm taking a little break from writing this week and instead am giving myself interesting challenges. My asylum challenge isn't going too well. I've already lost two sims and it's only day 4! But I can't honestly see how I could have kept them alive. They died from stupidity, and as far as I'm concerned, good riddance. More beds for my sim to choose from. So it's down to one guy and five women. My sim hasn't earned $5,000 yet, let alone $100,000. I think I got a really hard LTW, but at least it wasn't 50 dream dates or 30 simultaneous something or others. On the teen raising toddler front, Nora raising Liza was pretty easy so I thought I'd up the stakes. I took a romance sim, gave her a teenaged daughter, twin boys who were children and twin girls who were toddlers. Then once I started playing I used my one and only cheat to get her instantly pregnant with twins. Once the newborn twins were born--both boys--she took off, leaving her teenaged daughter to raise everyone. They live in a ranch house exactly like the Broke's. (They live in Pleasantview.) I ended up making one big bedroom and moving the bathroom closer to the kitchen. I also divided the toilet from the tub. But they only get one toilet, other than potties, because there's no room for any more. No money trees, or cheats of any kind. I am planning to make one of the oldest boys get a job, though. So, I played that today and the youngest four are all children now. The older boys were each assigned a younger twin boy once they became teens, and oldest sis went on a much-deserved date, with Dustin Broke. No one died, only one person fainted, and that was the mom before she left, the younger kids are almost always in the gold or platinum, and now that she's been on a date, so is big sis. She'll go off to college in a few days, leaving the youngsters in the oldest boys' capable hands. So, another success story. I like this challenge, even though it's apparently not hard enough, because it's quick. I did the entire thing in one day of playing. And, it's fun. Funny how attached I got to this family. Big sis even got her first kiss, though she's not going to get any scholarships other than the good grades one. All five of the older kids have A+ grade averages, and some of the younger ones have a shot at a "points" scholarship. The two youngest haven't gone off to school yet. I won't consider this done until the youngest ones are out of danger (that is, teens), and maybe not until they're all in college. Ways to make it even more challenging: Each kid has to earn at least one "points" scholarship Every kid has to have a first kiss Lose points each time anyone falls below gold mood All kids in household must be friends Give the teen six toddlers and babies to raise (yikes) Toddlers must learn all three skills (so far I only teach 'em potty training) But as always, it's just for fun. These are just ideas if it's too easy for you.
I did an twist on combining both my asylum and the teen challenge. After I failed miserably at the asylum challenge...4 people died and the LTW was to have 20 simulatious lovers; I had two of them adopt a child once they were elders and I could finally play them. Of course since they had transitioned so badly they died in her few days of being a teen. Before that I had them adopt a toddler. I moved someone else in, used the insim to get her pregnant, and since I have the quads/triplets cheat she ended up having triplets. By this time the toddler was now a child, teen was doing okay so far with the help of the pregnant lady. Well the new mom had an "accident" which left the teen to care for one child and THREE infants...I'm surprised she made it. Since there was enough money from the asylum challenge left she didn't have to work, and had enough money to hire both a maid and a nanny when she needed it. All the same she didn't make it to school till the triplets were children and she was constantly passing out. Child did okay since she could pretty much fend for herself, but she didn't get to know her big sis very well as the teen was always busy with three toddlers. The child still isn't a teen, but the triplets just finally transitioned to children. Man...I'm wiped and I haven't even finished it yet! That's a challenge for you, One teen, one child, and three infants.
I'm thnking I need to look at the asylum challenge as a kind of rat maze: build a better maze, and maybe they'll stay alive. Also, my sim is pretty selfish. She never makes group meals. Maybe if I had a sim who made food for everyone, they'd stay alive longer? Who knows. Here's what I've learned: put lots of doors everywhere. Put the stove on the other side of the kitchen from the fridge. Put the shower, sink, and toilet each in their own rooms. Put the common living area in the middle and have everything else rotate around it. And oh, I didn't have a dining room table because I wanted a chess table, but I'm thinking a common social area would help the sims stay alive too ... though I really want them to be all crazy. Just not dead. You can't really have a telescope, can you. I mean, the rules say everything has to be indoors. Does on the roof count? I'm trying to figure out a way to include a flamingo. Maybe an inner courtyard? Is that cheating? Are flamingoes allowed? And, do you consider Bathroom Uses You as cheating? The rules say no hacks or cheats, but I consider that an enhancement. I'm not using it in the asylum right now ... And, Yikes, Shana. Three infants at once would definitely be a challenge. I don't have that hack, but maybe if I made two moms they could each have twins ... am I evil or what. One set nearly made my teen plotz at one point but once her brothers became teens things got easier.
I don't know, but gnomes can be placed inside (right?), and kicking them is just as much as kicking flamingoes! I'm guessing so because it would prevent them from having accidents...I didn't use it in mine. But after they were all elders I did! I got the hack (twojeffs) because of the fact that it allows you to choose who gets the 3 days vacation instead of giving it to the mom all the time. It's kind of nice. A pop up asks if you want to choose the number of babies yourself, have random number (between 1 and 4), or have original babies planned (which will always be single or twins but never more). I was mean and picked triplets...I wasn't quite ready to do quads yet, especially with a teen who had no help!
I have somewhat of a Legacy Challenge going, but I broke a few rules with it. The main house was bugged, so I moved the legacy family into a prebuilt house...whoops... However, it's funny to randomize what the kids are going to aspire to be with the help of my horrible dice rolling. So I have a knowledge Sim living with pleasure Sim parents, a popularity Sim living with knowledge Sim parents, and a romance Sim living with popularity Sim parents. Go figure. I guess that's a challenge in of itself.
Actually SBW, you have to delete one seating item and one bed every time a sim dies, until you have only one of each left. Frustrating, I know. With challenges, I like to look for loopholes in the rules. For example, in the Asylum challenge, Simscout never said you cant have more than one refrigerator, so I keep three of them stocked up in my sims inventory in case the hunger ghost raids the fridge or the food runs out while my sim isnt home.
I only want to say that SBW is like one of those superwomen 'bring home the bacon, cook it up in the pan' types who give feminism a bad name and make the rest of us drop dead at 50 or run away from home. holy cow.
Wow. I think I'm flattered. If only you knew ... I have feet of clay, I'm afraid. Witch Baby loves me, though. Nothing more humbling than a kid who loves you despite your many faults. I just happen to be good at managing my sims. And rats, 123. I conveniently forgot that rule. Erwood and Bancroft both dropped dead, so adios seating. Sigh.
I can't find the rules for the Asylum challenge when I do a search. Dang this wide search engine. Can someone post them for me before I go crazy? hehehehe
So, update on my teen raising three sets of identical twins challenge: Oldest sis, Bronwyn McLachlan (family sim), is at college. And well earned. Older set of twin boys, Aidan (knowledge) and Aleric (popularity) are doing quite well. Aidan's an overachiever whom I'm trying to set up with Angela Pleasant. Aleric's doing well in his job, getting straight A's and dating Lilith. Twin girls, Erinna (family) and Esmee (romance) are doing OK. Erinna is the one without the job, as the youngest twins are still kids. She's looking for love, and since I'm running this as a sort of Legacy challenge, she has to pick someone who already exists. She may end up with George McCarthy. Esmee hasn't found anyone to smooch yet. She's got a job as a golf caddy. And the "babies," Galen and Gareth, are always in the platinum. They get a lot of attention from their older sibs. When they reached toddler I assigned them each an older brother to teach them stuff. That worked pretty well. Looks like both of them are going to end up as romance sims, given their personalities. Playful, outgoing, not that nice. When Bronwyn went to college, her alleycat of a mother showed up in her video, and I was actually resentful! Sure, NOW you show up ... Man, I have to get a life.
The going off to college video. One of the parents typically drops the kid off, they hug, the parent cries, then some crazy person runs through the picture, annoying the parent and making the kid laugh. Oh, and the kid transitions to YA. You only get videos if your graphics card can handle it. I know, because I didn't get them with my old card.
At 8:11am Thursday (Sim time), Yvonne McCay completed the Chee-Z Modified Torture Townies Asylum Challenge. The results were: Skill pointage: (divided by 10 because I did not check to see what skillpoints the townies had to begin with, oops!)= 26 Friends of Household: 8 Aspiration Points: 141 Number of Days Yvonne Was Institutionalized: 30 (what's scarier than an asylum filled with townies you hate? OLD TOWNIES!) Total points scored: 145 Now what the heck am I gonna do with all these people? Should I send them back to the townie pool or...?
