The Challenge Challenge!

[Ellatrue]

See Emma's Ghetto Fabulous Challenge [/size]

Ahem!

[Kyna]

This challenge isn't too bad on the quantity of scoring categories (fewer than Pescado's!) but forces you to count a bunch of petty things.

Yeah, but you can avoid all the penalties, so you don't even need to consider counting them.  Even the burning food/fire penalty can be avoided if your sim lives on chef's salad and/or gelatin.  But on the whole you're right, counting those multiple trips to a community lot to buy food is a petty task that will get repetitive and tedious.

I agree with your point about accounting and grinding making challenges boring.  I enjoyed the original Apocalypse challenge, even with the tedious selling & rebuying everything before Crime is lifted, and played it through several times.  But with all the extended rules for later EPs it really feels like a grind now, not all the restrictions make sense (I ignored the Pets rules on my last playthrough, even though Seasons was my latest EP at the time), and by the time you're about halfway through and have lifted the critical restrictions, as well as some that aren't critical but are nice to have lifted, you're just coasting along waiting for the last generation to grow to teens to be packed off to uni to finish the rest of the challenge.

[Emma]

See Emma's Ghetto Fabulous Challenge [/size]

Ahem!

 

I was just going to post-it's not mine! I can't think of a good/hard enough challenge, and I've tried lots of scenarios. Each EP adds to the 'easy' factor.

[Zazazu]

It's corrected. I have Emma on the brain since I was working on photographing my SC4 conversion lots and had staged this tiny, tiny duplex to show Emma (who apparently is shocked by small lots) that it was playable.

[aguawaterhesjing]

And did YOU write the challenge? Or are you plagerising it?

Yes, I wrote it my self. This is just one version of the original one I wrote up on a piece of paper. I'll set that challenge up instead if you'd like.

[Kyna]

And did YOU write the challenge? Or are you plagerising it?

Yes, I wrote it my self. This is just one version of the original one I wrote up on a piece of paper. I'll set that challenge up instead if you'd like.

Keep in mind the following things:

1. We do not like challenges that requires us to do VBTs, such as deleting sims.  Creating pointless, unneccessary sims just to kill them off immediately is also not very popular here.  Especially when there's a cheat that will allow us to turn an adult into a teen.

2. We want hard challenges.  As has already been suggested, take a look at Pescado's Email challenge, or his Ethiopian challenge.  Both of those challenges were broken by OFB (as that EP & subsequent EPs made them too easy), so try to imagine playing them before OFB and the later EPs were released.  For something easier, take a look at the Ghetto Superstar challenge.

3. We want challenges with meaningful penalties that are not trivially easy to avoid.

4. We want challenges & restrictions that make sense.  No challenges like: "the idea is to reach the top of this career, and one of the restrictions is that you can't have premarital woohoo".  There's no connection between the goal and the restriction, it simply doesn't make sense.

5. We like challenges that test our game knowledge, and that force us to explore obscure nooks and crannies of gameplay.  I have to wonder if your game knowledge is up to testing ours, given that you didn't even know if it was possible to become a Celebrity Chef without chance cards.

6. We don't want too much accounting, particularly of petty stuff (like counting trips to community lots to buy groceries).  We want the points system to make sense too, with high value point bonuses and penalties being for the really meaningful stuff rather than for petty stuff.

7.  Prying us away from our hacks - particularly the critical ones that fix game-breaking EAxis bugs - isn't going to be easy.  Take a look at the rules regarding hacks used by other challenges in this forum, and you'll note that they ban cheaty hacks that make the game easier but allow other hacks.  Keep in mind that many of the hacks here don't make the game easier (such as the macrotastics set which simply saves us a lot of clicking), and that some of the hacks at this site actually make the game harder (such as harder jobs and no 20K handouts).

8.  We don't like EAxis pre-made fugly sims.  Many of us use clean templates and make our own townies to avoid having the EAxis townies in our neighbourhoods.  Your challenge will not be well-received here if one of the requirements is marrying an EAxis made sim.

[Jelenedra]

The only way a restriction on premartial sex would make sense is if it was something that was supposed to be "in-character." Like how in the Ethopian Challenge, you're too poor to afford birth control so EVERY woohoo must be  "Try for Baby." Think of something like, "OH HAI I R A QUAKER! I NO LIKE SEX OR ELECTRONICS!!1 kthxbai!"

[Aggie]

Well, now that I've thought about it, perhaps she meant that there was to be no sleeping their way to the top. You know, seducing the boss and whatnot. I've seen a popup where a Sim has 'pulled some strings' to get another Sim promoted. Maybe that's what the restriction was meant to have you avoid. Not likely, but there's a tiny chance.

And maybe by EAxis-created Sim she actually meant a townie/NPC and not a playable (which would mean you could still keep your semi-attractive Sims to marry).

[Emma]

It's corrected. I have Emma on the brain since I was working on photographing my SC4 conversion lots and had staged this tiny, tiny duplex to show Emma (who apparently is shocked by small lots) that it was playable.

I'm more intrigued than shocked

[Zazazu]

They are in the Peasantry.

[Kyna]

Well, now that I've thought about it, perhaps she meant that there was to be no sleeping their way to the top. You know, seducing the boss and whatnot. I've seen a popup where a Sim has 'pulled some strings' to get another Sim promoted. Maybe that's what the restriction was meant to have you avoid. Not likely, but there's a tiny chance.

And maybe by EAxis-created Sim she actually meant a townie/NPC and not a playable (which would mean you could still keep your semi-attractive Sims to marry).

Those "pulled some strings" promotions happen after your sim has had a successful outing and one of the outing members is a sim who is higher up in the same career.  I've had a sim have multiple "pulled strings" promotions from one successful outing, and in the case I'm thinking of, both the sims were straight males.  It's not about seducing the boss.  But the "rewards" restriction could refer to outing/date rewards rather than aspiration or career rewards - or could refer to all 3 types of rewards.

If she actually meant a townie/NPC, then she should have stated that.  Her words were "a Maxis created sim" and she didn't state that it had to a non-playable.  Her words are open to interpretation, and could mean your sim is allowed to marry a Maxis-made playable.

[kuronue]

I think they also happen if you marry someone into the family? Or maybe the stepdad was on a date when he married in, I don't remember anymore, it was so long ago.

[aguawaterhesjing]

I have a harder version with many restrictions and other stuff...Do you want me to put that one up?

[Jelenedra]

How many times are you going to ask before you put it up?

[Milhouse Trixibelle Saltfucker III]

I suspect that s/h/it doesn't really have a harder version, and is delaying until it has the chance to make one. That, or hoping we'll get annoyed and tell it to fuck off. Not sure which.

[Charamei]

can i choose pictures people drew?

As long as they're in colour. No point if they're not.

[Kyna]

I have a harder version with many restrictions and other stuff...Do you want me to put that one up?

You can put it up if you want, if you think it meets MATY standards.  Be warned that we're not very nice people here, and we will point and laugh at you if it doesn't.

Several of us have explained what we thought was wrong with your previous challenge and you've had some constructive feedback on what we expect from a MATY challenge, so you should be able to decide for yourself whether you want to post it here or if you'd prefer to post it to a site that likes easier challenges.

[Emma]

They are in the Peasantry.

Yeah, gonna grab them all when I set up my new hood.

[simsfreq]

A career-based challenge which is harder: Disadvantaged Background.

Your sim has had an unfortunate start in life. He or she never really paid attention in school and grew up with awful social skills. When they grew up, they begged, borrowed, stole, won or saved §20,000 (Your sim - you decide) which was just enough to get them out of the neighbourhood that brought them nothing and into their own place.

Goal: Reach the top of a career.

Start off with one adult CAS sim, male or female. She or he may have any personality and aspiration you like, except for he/she may only have a maximum of 2 points in Outgoing, making him/her shy. For added funnies, make them a chav/trailer trash/stupid celebrity.

No hacks/cheats which might make the challenge easier. No aspiration rewards. No business perks or Free time benefits. No career rewards. No rerolling of wants or lifetime wants, even if you get one which the challenge renders impossible.

If you have Seasons, you can have any combination of Seasons you like but Autumn must only appear once in the rotation.


Skill points:
Move the sim into an empty lot, and build/buy/furnish the house however you like except you cannot buy or make, at any point:
Anything which can be used to build skills
Anything which affects mood without requiring interaction (e.g. Snapdragons)

Exception is made for the computer and stereo.

Your sim may gain skill points by doing things around the house, for example cleaning or cooking.


Making friends:
You may not move anyone in, marry, or move in with any other sim. Your sim likes his/her private space too much.

You may not visit a community lot at any time. Your sim does not like being in the vicinity of so many people at once. You may not go on vacation.

Your sim is allowed to get pregnant and have children. In fact, your sim missed sex ed in school and doesn't know how to use birth control - therefore any woohoo must be "Try for baby."


Getting a job:
Since your sim has no qualifications, whether they get a particular job or not will depend on how they perform in interview and what enthusiasm they have for the job. So job requirements are as follows:

Base Game Jobs:
Athletic - At least 7 interest in Sport
Business - At least 7 interest in Money
Culinary - At least 7 interest in Food
Law Enforcement - A maximum of 3 interest in Crime
Life of Crime - At least 7 interest in Crime
Medical - At least 7 interest in Health
Military - At least 7 interest in Weather
Politics - At least 7 interest in Politics
Science - At least 7 interest in Sci-Fi
Slacker - A maximum of 3 interest in Work

Seasons Jobs:
Adventurer - At least 7 interest in Travel.
Education - At least 7 interest in School.
Gamer - A maximum of 3 interest in Weather
Journalism - At least 7 interest in Culture
Law - A maximum of 3 interest in Sci-Fi
Music - At least 7 interest in Entertainment

Free Time Jobs:
Will be added later unless someone wants to suggest interests for them before I do.

Note: You don't actually have to have an interview, but sims can only take jobs which they meet the required interest level for.

Your sim may not have a custom job, only an EAxis one.

You may not ignore chance cards.

When you get to level 10, you must go to work for at least 1 day, and then retire to complete the challenge. You may not retire before this point.


Scoring:
The challenge ends when your sim has retired; or when your sim dies.

If you get to level 10, go to work for at least one day, and then retire, YOU WIN!

If your sim dies before this happens, YOU LOSE.

Now, calculate your score.

-2 for every day your sim is unemployed.
-1 for every day you call in sick, take a vacation day or miss work because of pregnancy. A day missed due to pregnancy which would have been a day off anyway does not count.
-5 if you get fired for any reason.
+5 for every pregnancy.
-3 for every child taken by the social worker.
+2 for every skill point gained by the end of the challenge.

Notes/Questions:
I don't have Pets, BV or Freetime, so please point out anything in those EPs I haven't mentioned which I should have.
How much should the bonus for playing with harderjobs be?
Should there be a bonus for fulfilling a sim's LTW?

[Kyna]

Since you don't have FT, I thought I'd mention this:  FT makes it easier to train mechanical without a bookcase.  You tinker with stuff (such as the shower or electronic equipment) until it breaks, then you can repair it.

I have a question for you: is doing the crossword in the paper permitted?

[simsfreq]

Buggery, I thought tinker might have something to do with mechanical skills. Hmm.

Yes, the crossword is allowed.

[Kyna]

Tinker itself doesn't appear to train mechanical.  But repairing the broken item does.  If I send a sim with no mechanical skill to tinker with a shower, it's guaranteed to break almost immediately.  Repair, rinse & repeat, tend to the sim's needs, tinker again, etc, and a sim will easily gain several mechanical points from the repairing.

It's also handy if you are trying to get an "accidental" death by electrocution.  Send a sim with no mechanical skill to tinker with a computer, tv, or exercise machine, and then get them to repair it when it breaks.

I haven't played with tinker a lot, but I assume that the higher the mechanical skill, the longer it will take for a tinkering sim to break the item.

[Jelenedra]

That does seem to be the case, Kyna, it always ends with them breaking it, but they take longer to do it. 

[Jack Rudd]

Is eggplant juice permitted?

[simsfreq]

I had forgotten that too - yes, why not. Although perhaps I ought to change the rules about seasons so every season has to appear once so that you can't grow eggplants all year round - or the rest of the fruits/veggies.

I ought to ban tinkering too, as long as that's the only thing I'm going to have to ban. I don't want it to end up like the apocalypse challenge where you have to have a huge list of stuff you aren't allowed to do because it's impossible to remember them all.