My daughter thought of a Sims Challenge...
I'm sure it's been done before in some way, shape, or form... but my oldest daughter and I have been having fun with those kooky Cycle of Life animals from Simslice and she announced she was going to do a Farmer Challenge using them. She was also going to use other stuff I have, like the harvestable crops from SimAddict99 and the Maxis crops and things also.
So we started writing down some rules and this is what we came up with.
Rules for the Farmer Challenge:
--The preliminaries--
The Farmer Challenge is played in the Legacy style. Goal is to achieve five generations, but you can continue as long as you like.
No money cheats are allowed once you begin play.
No aging cheats are allowed.
No cheats or hacks that increase Mood.
Aspiration rewards can be used... however, only one Elixir of Life fountain may be used per Sim. (If desired. You do not have to use any Elixir at all if you don't want to.)
Custom content may be used, as long as it is of the type that does not artificially boost Mood and is of a normal and appropriate price. (In other words, no $5 couches that increase your Sim to full Energy when he sits on it.)
You may use the Maxis juicer and get those benefits.
You may have pets, but they may not have jobs. You may breed your pets and sell the offspring.
--What to do--
Create a CAS sim of your choice. The sim may be male or female and can have whatever Aspiration, Turn-ons, and Turn-offs you want.
Move your sim into at least a 4 X 5 lot and build your sim a house and farm. You may use money cheats to build the house and farm, but you must use Familyfunds to reduce the household monies to zero once the lot is complete.
Your farm must contain items that can be grown and resold and/or consumed by the sim in a farming manner. There are plenty of options available. You may choose to use only the Maxis gardening content from the Seasons EP, or you may choose to use various other content that is out there. For example, the harvestable crops by SimAddict99 and Echo, and/or the Cycle of Life farm animals by SimSlice. (Yes they look a bit dorky, but they do breed and are salable and consumable so they fit the bill.) If you prefer livestock over produce, you can also breed your dogs and cats (Pets EP) and sell the puppies and kittens.
Fishing in ponds (Seasons EP) is permitted and encouraged... for both resale and culinary use.
You may also use (and may include these in your initial lot build) the Flower Arranging Bench and the Sewing Machine (Free Time EP). No, these aren't "farm" items per se, but it's not too much of a stretch to envision them being part of a farming operation, and they seem to fit. I also greatly approve the use of the Restorable Car from the Free Time EP. No, fixing up a junker car isn't exactly farming, but Lord knows farmers spend a good amount of their time working on broken down equipment... so I figured my farmer sims needed something broken down to work on too!
The other "crafty" type items, such as Pottery Wheel, the Robotics Bench, and the Toymaking Bench can be used also, of course, but the crafted items thereof can only be used in the sim's own home and cannot be resold. The same with the Witches' Cauldron, should any of your farmer sims decide to become a witch.
--Gameplay--
Once your sim is in his/her home and settled, you need to reduce any remaining monies in the household account to zero. From that point on, the sim must survive only from what he or she is able to grow and produce.
Your sim is not permitted to get a job. You can either sell your crops/produced items "right off the field" OR begin a home business to sell them. You may not buy a community lot business. Don't forget to stock the fridge with some of your home grown produce, too!
You may have pets, but again... your pets are not permitted to have jobs. They can be bred and the offspring sold if desired.
If you have the money, you may hire help (gardener and/or maid). Big farming operations sometimes need extra hands.
You may marry/move in Townies/NPCs, CAS or Maxis playable sims. However, if you choose to marry or move in a CAS or Maxis playable sim, you must pretend that sim had no money, and reduce the familyfunds accordingly. You may accept whatever money is brought by a Townie or NPC, however.
Any new sims you move in with your family may not get a job, and/or must quit any job that is already held. They are part of your farming family now, and need to be farmers too!
Your sim may have as many or as few children as you desire, but at least one child must be heir to the family business and carry on the farming tradition. The "spares" can move out into other homes, or move into the sim bin away from town.
No teens may hold jobs. Also, no teens may attend University unless they achieve at least five scholarships. This is a big farming operation, after all... and hands are needed around the place for work unless the child demonstrates great talent that lies elsewhere.
It's going to be a lot of work for your sims, to keep their farm thriving and productive! Are you up to the challenge?
So what do you think? Any suggestions would be welcomed!
And if any of you would like to try this Challenge, let me know. I packaged a farm lot that I'd designed for my daughter with some of the CC mentioned above, and will upload it if anyone's interested! :D
Edit: I just realize I totally forgot about scoring! *blush*