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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 14th Sep 2012 at 12:03 PM Last edited by TimeWillTale : 16th Sep 2012 at 10:31 AM.
Default Giving Them (Almost) Every Opportunity Challenge
This is an Asylum Challenge spin-off, but here the goal is to have all your Sims move out before they reach elder. It's a quick, semi-autonomous challenge.


Preamble

You are a prominent psychiatrist who wants to run an experiment that tests if the insane can self-rehabilitate. The city has given you a grant and a lot in order to run the experiment through. Your goal is to have all your Sims attain moderate-to-high success in their skills or careers and to ultimately live independently. You believe that given the right environment and opportunities, the 'insane' can help themselves. As each Sim improves their skills and/or careers, and thus proving themselves worthy of the project, the more you can step-in to provide guidance.

However, the city has set some rules and guidelines. To begin with, they will only accept young adults and will reclaim the property once there is no-one, or only elders living in the household. There are other rules too, which are outlined below.


The Set Up
  • Build your lot using Edit Town. You're building a place for 8 Sims, so give yourself some space.
  • The city has been generous, but not that generous, so you may only use the cheapest build/buy objects in all cases.
  • You can have a bed for each Sim.
  • You can have two toilets and two showers. You can separate the showers and toilets (i.e. have four rooms).
  • Your kitchen can only have the cheapest stove, fridge and sink. You can have one small appliance. You may have as many counters as you wish.
  • You can have both the burglar and fire alarms.
  • Buy 5 unique skill objects (TV's, radios, bookshelves, mirrors etc don't count).
  • Now, create your Sims. Eight (8) of them.
  • Randomise their traits, and then choose two traits you don't want and replace them with Absent Minded and Insane.
  • When you're happy, accept the household with no relationships.


The Road To Rehabilitation
  • In Options, set Sim Lifespan to Normal, Enable Aging, Enable Story Progression, and set Sim Autonomy Level to High Free Will.
  • Start your game and accept the initial lifetime happiness wishes for each Sim (i.e. become Surgeon, Athlete, etc).
  • Once a Sim gains a level of 2, you can send them to get a job pertaining to that skill. BUT, you can't register them as Self employed or take a job as an Architect (or any profession that gives them free reign in town). You may instead take a part-time job (but see Notes section below).
  • After the first Sim gets a job reduce your family funds to 200 simoleons.

Milestones to Rehabilitation:
At these skill OR career levels you may:
  • 2 - Get a job in that skill, OR a part-time job (see Notes below about part-time jobs)
  • 3 - Control work options (i.e. work hard, meet co-workers, etc)
  • 5 - Have full control of the Sim at home; accept opportunities which only can be done at home or work; change job; be self-employed
  • 7 - Have full control of the Sim in town; accept all opportunities; accept lifetime happiness wishes; buy objects; attend parties
  • 8 - Be considered rehabilitated and your Sim can move out; complete control of all actions

You can keep a Sim in your household beyond level 8 for extra points (see below). BUT, if a Sim has achieved their LTW, or reached level 10 in any skill or in their career, they MUST move out.


Along the Road
You may:
  • Check inventories to move books, a guitar, etc and scrap paintings and sculptures, but only once a day.
  • Call a Repairman, but only when 3 items are broken. Of course, level 5 Sims can always repair and upgrade items.
  • Momentarily control a Sim that has read 5 novels to practice writing on the computer until level 2 and then get a job (but will have to wait to control them again until level 5).
  • Not intervene in the house at any point (i.e. no putting away dishes, call for services, etc) until someone is level 5.
  • Pay bills via the notificiation/warning.

The Score

+100 For every Sim moved out
+80 For achieving a Sims LTW
+50 For reaching level 10 in a career
+10 For reaching level 10 in a skill
+5 For every Sim that reached Milestone 7
+1 For every skill point gained by any remaining Sims


Notes:
  • Initially, there's not much to do (aside from watching the crazy antics). Later, trying to keep track of who can do what and guiding them in the right direction becomes pretty hectic. Control freaks may become incensed with the first half of the game, but will love the end-game. Autonomy lovers may find the end-game hard work and/or tedious.
  • Part-time jobs: This isn't recommended unless you're tight for money. The Sim can only reach level 3 within a part-time job and thus may benefit better from the 'spare' time at home developing other skills.
  • Money isn't the object: With a household of eight you should be raking it in by then end of week three or four.
  • There are some careers (i.e. Ghost Hunter) for which there are no skills for. You have to wait until level 5 in some other career or skill before you can change jobs to these LTWes. I haven't thought of an good exception to rules for these yet.
  • As always, keep it FUN. If there are some rules you don't like, just ignore them BUT let me know! Thx!

Please, feel free to send feed back, ask questions or post stories.
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Test Subject
#2 Old 16th Sep 2012 at 1:03 AM
On week 3, day 6 all my Looney's are finally employed. I can still only control one but he is engaged to another Looney and keeping everyone fed and happy!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 16th Sep 2012 at 5:24 AM Last edited by TimeWillTale : 16th Sep 2012 at 10:39 AM.
Hey tiffanieljones, glad to see at least someone is trying this out . I still might change the rules a bit as I play this more (the scoring especially), do you have any suggestions? Too easy, hard? Which skill items did you choose? I didn't consider the marriage thing (since you have an engaged couple) and am thinking that if they get married, they'll have to time moving out together.. or break-up agh!

On my current attempt (I've done some 'tests' but haven't played an entire game through yet) at week 3, day 2, all but one Sim has a job, and this particular Sim also has NO skills, and started two fires! Lol! Useless! Good Sense of Humour, Unflirty and Computer Whiz (as well as Absent Minded and Insane) aren't working out for her, I guess Another is almost equally useless, though she managed to read all the novels and is now in the journalism career . I can control one Sim at home, and another in town too - what a prodigy, woot!

In my testing, I have never seen a Sim:
- fishing in the pond on the lot (even with a fish spawner in it)
- garden (even with a seed spawner)
- use a tattoo machine
- use the styling station
- use the inventing bench

I bet there are others they won't touch (telescope?). Can anyone confirm?

Most Sims love the guitar with 3/8 pursuing the music career, though only one of them actually wants to be one, lol! Will have to fix that as soon as they hit level 5.

Let me know how your Looneys progress!
Test Subject
#4 Old 16th Sep 2012 at 6:18 PM
Mine haven't touched the telescope or the easel. They like the guitar but it is also a distraction because everyone else just stands around and watches. A few will hop on the treadmill here and there. They spend most of their time talking to themselves. I have a really useless sim too that finally on week 3, day 6 earned a second cooking skill and I could get him to work. I haven't really looked much at the scoring system. I have only one who has reached level 7 on the guitar. He is also the one who is engaged. His girlfriend better get her act together so they can move out with each other. I was really hoping that someone else would get to move out first so they could have a baby and I could see what it is like raising a baby while only being able to control the dad's actions.
Forum Resident
#5 Old 16th Sep 2012 at 10:16 PM
There are certain skills Sims won't autonomously do unless they already have a point of skill in it. Charisma, athletic, gardening, and fishing are some of those skills (even with the fishing skill, I'm not sure if Sims will choose to autonomously do it). They won't use the tattoo and styling machine because that requires making dramatic changes to the Sim, which the game won't do without your consent (this is also why without mods the game will also not autonomously let Sims ask each other out, WooHoo, or try for babies). I'm not sure about the inventing bench - maybe if you collect scrap they'll be more willing to work with it. They'll use the sculpting station if it's around.

If there are other fun things to do, Sims will naturally choose them over stuff like telescopes and easels. So if you have a TV or a computer in the house (or a pool, or a darts game, etc), Sims will almost always chose those items rather than the telescope. If there is only the telescope and other skill items (like the easel, chemistry table, etc), then they'll autonomously use it more often.
The exception to this is with guitars and other musical instruments. Sims will always go for those quickly and other Sims won't actively gain skills because they'll be standing around watching the one playing the instrument.

The Overlord Legacy - Taking over the world one generation at a time.
The Addison House - The reality show where eight contestants are crammed in one haunted house to survive.
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