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fuzzyspork) wrote2012-07-25 04:42 pm
Trailer Park Challenge Rules
Trailer Park Challenge.
The one overlying rule in this challenge is this: If it makes money out of thin air, it’s not allowed! No “deleting” things for money in buy mode, no aspiration perks that earn cash advantages, no career rewards that generate money, and definitely no high level jobs allowed! This challenge is to get from start to finish with very little cash, way too many kids, some family dysfunctionality, and a knee-slappin’ good time all the way. (*Knee-slappin’ Good Time not guaranteed for all. Results will vary. Symptoms may include dizziness, nausea, hair loss, and uncontrollable swearing.)
This is a generational challenge that begins with a founder and ends when the third generation heir becomes an adult.
This challenge is best played with Seasons and Open for Business installed. (Pets is highly recommended, but not ultimately required.) Hacks and game mods that give an unfair advantage during the challenge (especially any that make getting money easier) aren’t allowed. This is a “challenge” after all! Some mods and hacks can actually enhance the game play in this challenge. If you use them in your game already, then ACR and InTeen will likely add a level of difficulty fun thanks to the chances of unplanned pregnancies! Having a “larger household” hack can make things a lot more interesting, too.
The Founder: Create a male or female sim in CAS who will act as your founder. You can assign them any personality you like, by randomizing or picking everything yourself. You are also allowed to import any sim to act as your founder as long as they enter this world through CAS without any skills or friends. No college start! You must start with an adult Sim.
Have fun with the clothes and names for this one!
Moving In: Your founder must purchase a 4 x 4 lot for their trailer home to sit on. When building the trailer you can arrange the interior walls any way you think is best, and you might want to plan on having at least two bathrooms (though you may only be able to afford one toilet right now) and at least two rooms to act as bedrooms. Keep in mind you will not be able to move interior walls later! You can’t delete walls or build new ones. (There is one exception to this that I will get to in a minute.) Here are the requirements for your first trailer:
- The “trailer” must be on a foundation that is exactly 6x20. You are allowed to use the Column Deck foundation since it’s the cheapest.
- Trailer homes do not come with unfinished walls! You must put paint or wallpaper on every interior and exterior wall. (CC is fine, but it must cost at least 2 simoleons.)
- Don’t forget a roof! Any roof, pitched or flat.
- Each room with an exterior wall must have at least one window.
- There must be a front door and a back door, each with a porch that is a minimum of 4 squares which are added onto the main 6x20 foundation after it is built (railings are not necessary right now) and steps for access.
- There must be a stove and refrigerator.
- There must be at least three counter tops in the kitchen.
- There must be a kitchen sink.
- There must be at least one toilet and one tub (the tub is required! You can use a tub/shower combo fixture, but just a shower isn’t allowed).
- A smoke alarm is allowed if they can afford it. A burglar alarm is not, but you can install car alarms in their vehicles when they have them.
- You can add and remove half walls and floor strips at any time after the trailer is built. Adding or removing full walls is not allowed.
I know most of you probably have custom content that costs nothing, but when building the trailer use only Maxis fixtures or CC that is comparable in price to the Maxis items. CC wallpaper is acceptable if it costs at least 2 simoleons.
NOTE: Be mindful of where you build the founder’s trailer on the 4 x 4 lot. By the end of the challenge you might have to fit at least two more 6 x 20 trailers on the same lot! Maybe more. As well as a driveway, some trucks, possibly an outbuilding or two, and maybe a garden and/or pond. Not to mention all that yard sale stuff. Plan ahead.
Splitting Heirs:
- This challenge will run for 4 generations, like this:
- Founder
- First Heir
- Second Heir
- Third Heir
- There is a minimum requirement of four (4) pregnancies every generation. If one pregnancy results in multiple babies, it still only counts as one pregnancy. More than four pregnancies is acceptable!
- Children can be legitimate, or from any number of “genetic donors”. Including alien abduction and extramarital affairs.
- All children in the main house who are born to the heir or the heir’s spouse are eligible for becoming the next heir, regardless of their parentage.
- They can adopt, but the child must be adopted as an infant to be eligible for heir. Adoption does not count as a pregnancy.
- Spore-grown plant babies are allowed, but they are NOT eligible for heir. (only because they have no teen stage) They do not count as a pregnancy.
- Even if they are fathered by the heir, children born to another playable Sim who is NOT a member of the main challenge house are not eligible for heir. If the child is adopted into the main house as an infant, they can be eligible for heir.
- The challenge is over when the third heir reaches adulthood.
Marriage and death: Your founder and every subsequent heir can be any sexual orientation you choose (or they choose). The only requirement is that they find a significant other and get married. Here are the restrictions:
- The Diva and Mr. Big are off limits. Do you really think they’d move into a trailer?
- Your founder and heirs must marry Townies or NPC service sims. No playables. (Though it’s easy enough to turn any sim into a Townie if you want sims like, say, all simselves as eligible spouses. *evil cackle*)
- Your Sim’s future spouse can move in either before or after they become engaged.
- The future spouse must quit their job (if they have one) based on the employment restrictions listed below.
- Anything in the spouse’s inventory must stay in their inventory! You cannot sell these items until they have their first yard sale in the summer.
- You can pick ONE item out of the spouse’s inventory to use on the lot, and only one. Everything else stays in inventory until the yard sale.
- Career rewards the future spouse has already unlocked can be placed on the lot and used. With the exception of any career reward that earns money! Money earning objects are not allowed! Mood boosters and skilling boosters are perfectly acceptable.
- Either the founder or the future spouse must be showing their pregnancy before the wedding can take place! Either during the first or second “bump”. Really, who gets married unless they HAVE to? And being obviously pregnant sure makes it a “have to”, you all.
- The wedding must take place before the first baby is born. Don’t wait too long!
- The wedding arch is the ONLY thing you can ever “rent” from the buy catalog. If your sims have enough money for it, they can buy it for the wedding then sell it back immediately after. Or just have them get married without it. You may also keep the wedding arch for future weddings if you prefer, but if you decide to keep it you cannot sell it at any time! Not even at a yard sale.
- The founder and every heir must throw a wedding party!
- They can only “get married” while the wedding party timer is still running.
- You must purchase the Fruit Punch Barrel ($145) for the party! It’s just not a good ol’ fashioned trailer park party without red Solo cups all over the place.
- You can only delete the Fruit Punch Barrel after it runs out of punch and the price is zero. (If it’s stuck at $58 even after it’s empty, then put it in someone’s inventory and forget about it. You just can’t sell it or delete it for money.)
- If for any reason the heir’s spouse dies before the requisite number of pregnancies have been had, the heir may marry again and pick up where they left off.
- There must be a photobooth picture of the founder, every heir, and their spouses in the trailer(s) by the end.
- The one grave you must keep on the main lot is the founder’s. Grandaddy or Granny are gonna want to keep an eye on things. Their ghost must be able to roam the lot.
- You can move all the other graves to a community lot or keep them at home. Whether they are free-roaming is also up to you. The founder’s ghost must roam though.
- You must purchase the founder a "funeral" outfit before they kick off. They are gonna want to look their best in the afterlife! And while scaring the pee out of your uncontrollable teens. Hehe. (This is only required for the founder, you are welcome to get every heir and spouse a funeral outfit as well.)
Chances are the future spouse is going to bring some money into the household! Here’s how you handle that:
- Any funds the spouse brings into the household can be used right away.
- If the spouse brings in a significant amount of money, here is what you have to do:
Up to 5000: Do with it what you like!
5000-8000: Buy a truck and a driveway ($2400 total).
8000-10000: Buy a truck, a driveway, and the old junker * ($3200 total).
10000-12000: You get a doublewide trailer!**
12000-15000: You get a doublewide, a truck, a driveway, and the old junker!***
*One Man’s Junk Car ($800) can be placed anywhere in the yard using ‘moveobjects’. You don’t have to buy a driveway extension for it. If you do not have Freetime, then purchase the cheapest car and place it in the yard.
**A doublewide trailer is just what it sounds like. You will build another 6x20 foundation attached to your first trailer, so you end up with 12x20. It needs walls and wallpaper just like before (you do NOT have to put more kitchen fixtures, but you do have to add one more toilet). Now is when it is legal to delete walls in your first trailer! You can open up a length of wall between the two halves of the doublewide to create a larger living space. You can’t delete any other walls unless they are part of the shared wall between the original trailer and the new one. If they already have a doublewide, then build another stand-alone trailer on the lot complete with a kitchen and all the required elements following the building rules for the first trailer.
***You do not have to buy a driveway segment for every single vehicle. You only need ONE driveway, then use the ‘moveobjects’ cheat to place all extra cars and trucks in the yard.
Inheritance Money: (This whole section is new!) Use the same money scale you would use for a new spouse moving in. However, you’ll likely see a much larger sum of money when someone dies! So here is what you do about those extra tens-of-thousands of simoleons:
Over 15000: You get your own huntin’ land! This will be a vacation lot in the woods (requires Bon Voyage) or a non-business community lot in their home neighborhood. Here are the requirements:
- The lot must be furnished and cost at least 5000 less than the total inheritance the household acquired. Example: Granny kicked off and left the main house a sum total of 47000 simoleons. The heir must then purchase a lot that costs at least 42000 simoleons.
- The smallest lot you can buy is 3x3. Any larger lot is allowed.
- Getting a 3x3 to cost that much will require putting things on it! Plenty of trees, some tents, a hot spring, toilets, etc.
- Keep in mind this is “hunting land” so make it a camp ground or build a small cabin. Make sure they have everything they will need for a full day or an extended stay (toilets, beds, showers, barbeque grills, etc).
- Add whatever else you think the family would enjoy (a swing for the kids, a fishing hole, etc), excluding items that will earn them money. Digging and fishing are allowed!
NOTE: If your family purchased this as a community lot, you can prevent Townies from eating their food and using their toilets by placing an open/closed sign on the lot and setting it to “closed” while they are staying there. Or set it to “open” if you want guests! (You cannot make this a venue or earn money from it in any way! No ticket machine and no items that will gain them money.)
If you decide to buy them a vacation lot, keep in mind it will cost them money to travel to their land for a visit! But they can have real beds and enjoy the things a normal vacation offers.
IMPORTANT: If your family inherits 15000+ and you really need a doublewide trailer and some other things for them, go ahead and build/buy those first. Use what is left of the money to buy a lot that costs as close to the remaining sum as possible (empty 3x3 lots cost 4800 and you’ll also have to give them at least a toilet and a way to cook food, so make sure you’ve got at least 5000 left to buy the lot!).
You can purchase huntin’ land at any time! If they can afford it, go for it.
Raising the Kids:
- If you feel like the toddlers need to have all their skills, go for it.
- Kids should be allowed to be kids! Let them run wild and play in the yard! You can give them Needs-related commands (so they don’t get taken by Social Services) and tell them to do homework. You CAN tell them to do fun things (anything that adds to their fun meter) but try to keep this to a minimum and only if their fun meter isn’t in need of it. If you lock away all other fun objects, they will likely decide they want to paint or fish if you need paintings or fish for the annual yard sale.
- Teenagers are just completely uncontrollable. Literally. When a child becomes a teen you are no longer allowed to give them ANY commands! You read that right: none. In fact don’t even click on them if you are tempted! (Influence is allowed! USE IT)
- You are allowed to use a couple of free commands right after a teen ages up in order to send them to a dresser to plan their outfit(s) and/or to a mirror to change their appearance. The dresser and the mirror are it! After that they are on their own.
- Aspirations cannot be rolled for a child until they become a teen. Then you roll a dice or use whatever randomizing technique you usually use to determine which one they get.
- Knowledge Sims are immediately disqualified for heir! But they get special privileges:
- Unlike the other teens, you ARE allowed to give Knowledge Sim teens up to 5 commands a day, BUT these can only be skilling related! If it doesn’t earn skill points, you can’t tell them to do it. (Cleaning does earn skill, so you can make them scrub tubs and wash dishes all day if you like.)
- You can tell a Knowledge sim to do homework and it counts as one of their commands.
- Knowledge Sims are the only ones allowed to go to college, but they must have 3 scholarships before they can go! (You can use a free command to have them apply for scholarships, either by phone or computer.)
- Knowledge sim teens can leave the house and move to college as soon as they have those 3 scholarships. Whether or not you want to play them through college is up to you.
- All other teens must remain in the house until they become adults (This is a long haul! Have some aspirin ready, folks). Once they reach adulthood, the spares must move out.
- They have to age up on their own. No commands to send teens to a cake a day early. (And man, won’t you be glad to see them go when they do?)
- You must conduct an heir poll to determine the next heir before the oldest one becomes an adult.
- You do not have to enter every eligible heir into the poll, but you must enter at least two of them.
- If by some fluke you end up with ALL Knowledge sims, the youngest becomes heir by default and must re-roll their Aspiration if it’s Knowledge, too.
- Teens that run away from home are disqualified to become heir. Make sure you have enough eligible candidates around in case this happens!
- You cannot call the police on a runaway teen. They made their choice! I’m sure they are happier working in that circus they ran away to join anyway.
There are lots of ways to get uncontrollable sims to do things without giving them a direct command! Be creative. :D
Employment, or lack of: Only one adult in the household is allowed to work at a time, and it can be the founder, adult heir, or one of their spouses. Teens can’t work. Elders can’t get a job either, but if they have a job already when they turn elder then they can continue to work until they drop dead. Or until they quit. NO RETIRING. Pay attention now, there are only a few acceptable jobs! Your sims are uneducated and unskilled, they just don’t get to be CEO’s and rock stars.
- Culinary up to level 4: Host/hostess. $242 a day.
- Slacker up to level 4: Record store clerk. $252 a day.
- Criminal (up to level 3: Bookie, $385 a day) is also allowed, however there are more restrictions for this career!
Criminal Restrictions:
- The same Sim must have first worked through Culinary to level 4 AND Slacker to level 4 before they can take a job in Criminal.
- In order to keep working in the Criminal career, your Sim will have to pay off the police every day they work. That costs 2 gnomes every work day!
- Yes, every day your Sim comes home from work you have to purchase 2 gnomes out of the catalog. These can be placed on the lot, or stored in someone’s inventory – your choice.
- These “pay off” gnomes can never be sold! Not even at the annual yard sale.
- If you Sim is accidentally promoted to higher than level 4 in Culinary and Slacker (or higher than level 3 in Criminal) they must quit their job immediately. They must also buy something out of the catalog that costs as near as possible to the amount of the bonus they received. Example: Your Sim is promoted to Party DJ and receives a bonus of $770. You can purchase one of the $800 televisions or an $800 painting. This item must be placed immediately into someone’s inventory and never sold or used. If you give it to one of the spares they can use it after they move out.
- If your sim is fired or quits, they can’t immediately go back into the same career. They have to start in a different career if it’s available. Another adult sim in the household can start working in their old career, though.
NOTE: You may play or ignore the chance cards when they pop-up. Money earned from a good chance card is perfectly legal!
The Annual Yard Sale: When summer rolls around its’ time to unload that unwanted stuff! Your founder will need to open a “home business” for the first yard sale and you keep this same home business for the duration of the challenge. Each heir can pass on the business perks they earned to the next heir. There are restrictions:
- The yard sale can only happen during the summer season. Any day is fine, as long as it’s during the summer.
- Make sure you’ve purchased a cash register before you start your first sale!
- All prices must be set to “ridiculously cheap” which is 50% cheaper than retail.
- The sale can only run for ONE day!
- The sale can only run from sun-up to sun-down. That’s 7 AM to 7 PM (7:00 to 19:00). Make someone turn around that “closed” sign before it gets dark!
- Anything that isn’t sold this time must be kept around until the next yard sale (next summer). Either in the yard or in the trailer.
- You can use earned business perks EXCEPT the money ones! No money! You should know this by now!
- You can sell anything in the yard and house that the pricing tool will allow you to price. (This includes fish, produce, and paintings.)
- You cannot sell vehicles! If you have too many in the yard, just give them to spares when they move out. But really, I’ve never known a redneck who thought you could have “too many” junk vehicles in the yard.
- You can only sell lemonade from the lemonade stand during a yard sale. It needs to be left alone the rest of the year.
Note: For your own sanity, you might want to lock all the exterior doors to disallow anyone but household members. You don’t need yard sale shoppers eating your food and breaking your electronics! Move anything you want to sell into the yard (the ‘moveobjects’ cheat can be used).
MORE Note: If you do not have a fix or a hack in place that prevents visitors from complaining about the shabby state of your "business" even when it's not even open, you can get a fix for that here: http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,7026.0.html
If you don't have Open for Business:
You still have to wait until summer before you can sell anything. You will not be able to sell anything until it has depreciated in value at least 50% the retail price! When summer rolls around, pick a day then use the buy menu to sell everything out of the yard that has depreciated sufficiently enough. If an item isn't at least 50% depreciated you'll have to wait until next summer to sell it.
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For things to depreciate in value, they have to be sitting on the lot. This means removing the new spouse's inventory items and placing them. These items have to remain unusable! So either lock them in an unused room, put them in a door-less outbuilding, or fence them in.
Keep track of the days and weeks! Your founder will move in on a Monday, so you can have the first yard sale the third Sunday after that. Then every third Sunday after that until the end of the challenge.
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Huntin’ Dogs: There is one thing a redneck is never too proud to admit: he loves his dogs! So here are the rules for that one (requires Pets):
- Before the first heir becomes an adult, there must be at least two dogs living on the lot. From then on, there must always be at least two dogs on the lot!
- Dogs can be acquired through adoption or befriending strays.
- You can breed the dogs, but any resulting puppies have to either stay on the lot or move out with a spare.
- There must be a separate pet bed or doghouse (or a combo of beds and doghouses) for every dog. The kids might not all have their own beds, but by golly the dogs do!
- The dog beds cannot be inside, but they must be on a covered porch. (which of course requires a large enough porch, with a roof, that you'll have to build for them if you don’t already have it)
- No dog jobs! That's just silly, you all.
- If a dog runs away, you CAN call the police to get them back.
- Other pets are allowed, but you’re not getting any special points for them.
If you don't have the Pets EP:
You all just signed up as foster parents! Every generation you must adopt at least one baby before the next heir is an adult, whether you want to or not. This child will be eligible for heir like any other adopted infant. Keep in mind that Social Services requires a minimum of 3000 simoleons in the bank in order to qualify to adopt. Adoption itself is free though.
Crafting, hobbies, and sundry:
- The hobby benches are allowed. They can use any crafted items in the household, but the rest should remain in their inventory until the next yard sale.
- Servos and Snapdragons are allowed if an heir or their spouse built them.
- Digging for treasure is allowed. Any decorative objects your sims dig up can be used on the lot. Everything else can remain in inventory until the next yard sale. (You can give bones to the dogs.)
- They can sew their own clothes.
- Salvaging from the garbage bin is allowed (if you have sims messy enough).
- Garden Club membership can only be applied for ONCE per generation. So if you are trying to get the wishing well, make sure you have everything they are looking for before you call them!
- The wishing well can be used for friends and love. NO wishing for money!
- The Genie Lamp can be used for anything EXCEPT (can you guess?) money.
- All supernatural sims are allowed.
- If your heir or founder marries a Witch you may place both the cauldron and the spell podium on the lot. They count as the "one item" limit from the spouse's inventory.
- Crafted magic items are allowed. They can use any crafted magic items in the household, but the rest should remain in the witch's inventory until the next yard sale.
- The Humble Computer can be used by your sims, but since it is a "special" item you won't be able to price it to sell it at your yard sale. If it breaks down, either gift it away or let one of the spares take it with them when they leave.
- Sims in the main house cannot write novels for money. With the exception of the founder who can write ONE novel after they become an elder (this is optional). They will want to pass on all their best tips for truck maintenance, meal-snatching at community lots, and the family moonshine recipe for future generations.
- Networking gifts (i.e. the huge screen TV that Townies sometimes give to your sims) can be used in the trailer. They cannot be sold at the yard sale! Just give it away or let a spare take it with them if it breaks down or you don’t want it anymore.
Keepin’ up appearances:
- Tents in the yard are allowed!
- Broken electronics cannot be repaired. If a TV, stereo, or computer breaks down, you have to put it in the yard for the next yard sale. You are allowed to fence these in so they don’t destroy the environment rating every time someone steps outside.
- Broken plumbing is the only thing that can be repaired.
- If you get new furniture or plumbing, or upgrade the appliances, you cannot sell the old ones! They have to go outside in the yard until the next yard sale. (Some things may require the ‘moveobjects’ cheat in order to put them outside.) You may store yard sale items in an extra trailer or outbuilding on the lot.
- You can redecorate the trailer as often as you like. However, you can’t “sell back” the old wallpaper and flooring before you buy new. All CC is allowed for redecorating, regardless of price. Make it look authentic, you all!
- You can’t sell windows or doors, but you can add new ones. If you don’t know where to put the old windows, doors, and ceiling lights, then maybe it’s time to build a garage out of the scraps.
- Garden ornaments are highly encouraged.
Service Sims and delivery:
- No nannies, butlers, or maids allowed!
- You CAN hire a gardener, DJ, exterminator, and bartender.
- You can hire the Matchmaker.
- Hiring a repairman is at your discretion and only for broken plumbing. Make sure he can’t access any broken electronics! Fences and locked doors are your friend.
- You canNOT order grocery delivery! The only food that can be delivered to their door is pizza or Chinese.
- Groceries must be purchased from a community lot.
- If you want this to be as redneck as possible, then they can only purchase food and clothes (and everything else!) from a Walmart store! You can build a Walmart or download one. This really isn’t required, but it’s more fun.
Nit-picking tidbits:
- Aspiration rewards are allowed EXCEPT money trees and counterfeiting machines.
- Lifetime Aspiration Benefits are allowed, EXCEPT the Fortune Sim perks (this goes for the secondary aspiration, too) and the Job perks.
- You CAN sell date roses in buy mode! We’ll pretend that pink card that comes with them is a money card you can take to the bank. You earned that sucker.
- Date gifts can be used by the household. They can only be sold at the annual yard sale.
- Your Sim can perform “freestyle” for tips, but only during a party at home.
- You sim can perform music for tips only during a party at home. You won’t be able to stop them from doing this autonomously, so that’s allowed. You just can’t command them to do it unless it’s during a party.
- Your sims can give away anything in their inventory to friends, family, or total strangers. It’s not making them money.
- Your sims can go on vacation! Had a particularly lucrative yard sale? Time to pack the kids in the truck and head to the beach! That money ain't doing you no good just sitting in the bank.
Please use this post as a discussion place to help me determine what else should be added and what might not work out. Let me know if something needs clarifying!
If you need a Walmart type store for your challenge, you can find several at MTS at this link, and the one I built for my challenge is HERE for download. Or build your own! ;D
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