Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
Homemaker Challenge for TS3
litabelaqua
Posts: 4,322 Member
I put together the Homemaker challenge when I first played TS2. The Legacy challenge was very popular, as it now, but in the beginning TS2 was so buggy that playing a family over many generations in the same house became too buggy. So i devised a challenge that had generations moving into a different house at each generation, and so avoided some of the bugs. It also kept the game play interesting and it had quite a few followers.
Ive now had a chance to play TS3 for a few weeks and have now devised the rules for Homemaker TS3.
The challenge looks simple on the surface, you start with 2 sims, 1 works and the other raises the family. But when you start playing it, it is actually very challenging and interesting. Each generation moves into a new house, giving you new challenges all over again, and avoids the problem of too much money and not enought to spend it on. It keeps the game fresh, and gives you a sense of renewal.
Its also a good challenge for those who dont like building or are not very good at it. You can add other players houses to the game and aim to get your sims rich enough to move into a fabulous property. TS3 is a really good vehicle for the Homemaker challenge, as your extended family will gradually populate the town over the generations, and it is interesting to check the family tree to see how they are all doing.
Too many children was always a problem with TS2, moving them out meant they would be forever young if you didnt play them, but in TS3 they will still have their own lives.
The rules will follow
Ive now had a chance to play TS3 for a few weeks and have now devised the rules for Homemaker TS3.
The challenge looks simple on the surface, you start with 2 sims, 1 works and the other raises the family. But when you start playing it, it is actually very challenging and interesting. Each generation moves into a new house, giving you new challenges all over again, and avoids the problem of too much money and not enought to spend it on. It keeps the game fresh, and gives you a sense of renewal.
Its also a good challenge for those who dont like building or are not very good at it. You can add other players houses to the game and aim to get your sims rich enough to move into a fabulous property. TS3 is a really good vehicle for the Homemaker challenge, as your extended family will gradually populate the town over the generations, and it is interesting to check the family tree to see how they are all doing.
Too many children was always a problem with TS2, moving them out meant they would be forever young if you didnt play them, but in TS3 they will still have their own lives.
The rules will follow
0
Comments
Create 2 young adult sims in Cas, these are the first generation sims
1 will be designated Homemaker, the other will be designated Breadwinner. They will have a starting cash amount of $18,000
The job of the Homemaker is to bring up the family and keep house and garden.
The job of the breadwinner is to go to work to earn money and to earn the heirloom items, and take up fishing if they so wish (or any other hobby such as gardening, writing, gem collecting and so on).
Normal Lifespan is applied (90 days). NO ambrosia or lifefruit is allowed, if you want your sims to live longer, get them fit.
The challenge ends when the 6th generation moves to their new house.
Their first property is 60 Maywood Lane in Sunset Valley, unfurnished. I have not yet found a suitable property in Riverview, but if you can place one that leaves no more than $500 left over when bought unfurnished then you can use that.
Unfurnished homes will come with basic kitchen and bathroom requirements, but nothing else. On entering the house at 60 Maywood Lane, sell back the car park space which will net $150 and will allow the purchase of a double bed. Nothing else can be sold back until the Breadwinner starts earning money from their job,and can only be sold back if the items are replaced with higher quality items. You cant just sell back items to cash them in.
The Homemaker does not work. Their job is to bring up at least 3 children, potty train them, and teach them to walk and talk (The breadwinner can help with this, but the Homemaker must finish the job). The homemaker must also max out cooking gardening and handiness skills. A maid can be hired once the 2nd child is born, but prior to that its the Homemakers job to keep the house clean.
The Homemaker can earn money any other way, other than working as long as it does not interfere with their responsibilities to the family. So for instance they can take a guitar to the park and play for tips, but it has to be when the Breadwinner is at home, they cant hire a babysitter to look after the kids just so they can go earn money. Babysitters are allowed however if the couple wish to go out on the town for instance.
Traits are randomised. When a baby is born, or each time a sim ages up and gets an opportunity for traits, you must click the randomise button. If you really hate the trait offered, you are allowed to take a second chance. To take the second chance, you must click the randomise button 3 times and accept what is offered. You will lose points for taking the second chance. I close my eyes when I do this and try not to look at it before I click accept. The only time you are allowed to choose traits is when you create your original sims in cas. You will be surprised at how much extra interest it adds to the game when you randomise traits.
The Breadwinner will get a job to keep the family, and will use their Lifetime rewards to provide the heirloom objects. The heirloom objects are as follows
Teleportation Pad 75,000
Moodlet Manager 60,000
Food Replicator 50,000
Collection Helper 40,000
Body Sculptor 30,000
Each generation must provide one or more of the items until they have all been acquired, and the Breadwinner must get at least one BEFORE they can use their lifetime rewards for anything else. The Homemaker cannot earn any of these items, it is the breadwinners job to get them. The Homemaker can use their lifetime rewards whenever they wish on anything else.
All of the heirloom objects must be obtained before the challenge ends, and will be passed down to the next generation. Once these objects have been gained they can be used as often as you like.
The Breadwinner must retire by the time they reach 85.
The next generation ( and following generations) will move to a different house, and must move before they turn to the Adult stage.
There will be at least 3 children in each generation, it is up to the player to decide which one of them will carry on the next generation. One of the remaining children will stay in the current house, and the other 1 (or more) can be moved into homes of their own or be kicked out to fend for themselves.
The one that carries on with the next generation will need a partner before they can move out, as there must be a Homemaker and a Breadwinner. They will move into a new home, and the cost of this needs to be planned for. They can take one or both of their parents with them or leave them behind, but the parent who worked must be retired in order to move. They must buy the most expensive unfurnished house they can afford (there can be some leeway afforded here is there is a particular house you want them to move into, but it must be unfurnished).
If your Homemaker or Breadwinner dies, you cannot move in another one. The remaining one will have to cope.
Adoption is allowed but at least 4 days must elapse between each adoption or after a baby is born (bloodline is not an important factor in the Homemaker challenge). This allows for same gender couples, if this is how you want to play.
The next generation cannot start their own family until they have moved into their new house, but the one staying can start a family whenever they wish.
When the next generation moves they must take with them any of the heirloom items earned, any Mysterious Mr Gnomes, any pink diamonds that have been cut, and any paintings valued at more than $1500, but otherwise their inventory (and anyone who moves with them) must be empty. The paintings can be kept or sold, this is to allow each generation to improve their living conditions on the previous generation, but requires some effort from the previous generation to supply the paintings.
Cheat codes are not allowed unless it Moveobjects, resetsim, or a building cheat. You can play with story progression on or off, but ageing must be on.
Points are awarded as follows
minus 1 point each time you call the repairman
minus 1 point each time you take a second chance on traits
minus 5 points if homemaker does not max out cooking
minus 5 points if homemaker does not max out gardening
minus 5 points if homemaker does not max out handiness skill
minus 5 points if Breadwinner does not achieve lifetime wish
minus 20 points if a Breadwinner does not fulfill their heirloom responsibility
1 point for each child raised well (potty walk & talk by homemaker)
2 points for each set of twins born
6 points for each set of triplets born
2 points for each skill maxed out by homemaker and breadwinner (for each generation)
5 points for each different type of fish that can be stocked in a home pond (for each pond at each generation)
10 points for each if deathfish, vampire fish or tragic clownfish stocked (for each pond at each generation)
10 points for Teleportation heirloom item (only for 1)
8 points for mood manager (only for 1)
6 points for food replicator (only for 1)
4 points for collection helper (only for 1)
3 points for body sculptor (only for 1)
10 points for growing 10 different perfect fruit/veg (for each house at each generation)
2 points for each painting valued over $1500 the 6th generation take to their new home
3 points for each Mysterious Mr Gnome the 6th generation take to their new home
10 points for each pink diamond the 6th generation take to their new home
first update, rules and points included for pink diamonds and gnomes
I will bookmark this most definately and study the rules later on and will most likely do this challenge.
Great! Let me knwo if you do. Im still trying to get the website up for it.
Hope you've been doing well!
Its so good to hear from you again! And of course you are playing TS3!
Sims3rus.com is just starting to come alive, the website has a page but nothing else yet as im still trying to put it together, give it a week or so, and i might have it sorted.
Hope you and your family are well!!
Lita
I've already gotten started on the challenge... generation one has 2 kids so far... and doing well. I'll set up a story/pictures some time in the next couple of days.
Holly
Ive been playing about with the challenge to get the rules started, so have made and discarded a few families along the way, but now I have sorted the rules out (I think lol) im now playing my first real Homemaker challenge family, but ive hit a stumbling block. Despite them being a newly married couple, they just wont woohoo! They will cuddle and make out but any suggestion of a woohoo and they just push each other away! how hilarious is that! they will be getting divorced soon on the grounds of non consumation at this rate lol!!
Hi Holly! glad to hear you like the sound of it, im sure you will, its a really interesting way to play a legacy.
Pinstars Legacy always has been and always will be the classic Sims challenge, but i think my Homemaker challenge has more long term interest to it. I hope you give it a go!
Half the joy of Homemaker challenge is finding ways of making money at home. The game really makes you focus on the Homemaker and what you can do with them within the confines of the challenge. And making a ton of money is fun when you get it, but your not stuck with it. I love my sims making money, but i hate it when they have too much money, this challenge allows to make a family rich, and then start all over again (but with a better house) on the next generation.
As you progess through the generations yuo will find yourself thinking, ok how can i make this family earn more than the last. The challenge creates new chalenges within itself, depending on how you play it.
Ive not been much of a rock collector, but ive just been reading about pink diamonds, so im going to update the rules and points to include that as it sounds interesting
Oh thanks Ibaeshac! I was meaning to post on your thread to include this challenge!
WTG Amy, 2 kids already!
Ive been playing about with the challenge to get the rules started, so have made and discarded a few families along the way, but now I have sorted the rules out (I think lol) im now playing my first real Homemaker challenge family, but ive hit a stumbling block. Despite them being a newly married couple, they just wont woohoo! They will cuddle and make out but any suggestion of a woohoo and they just push each other away! how hilarious is that! they will be getting divorced soon on the grounds of non consumation at this rate lol!![/quote]
That same thing happened, when I first got started. It was because their fun levels were done. I kept getting messages that they "weren't in the mood". I was cracking up, because not only would my female sim push the male, but she'd kick him, as well! lol
I did start with one family, but I ended up with two single births & two twin births... Which is not so bad, but... my oldest was still a toddler when the last set of twins was born. I was going out of my mind, so were my sims! lol My current family is getting ready to welcome in baby #4... I think Mom is done after that! lol
I was going to wait till adult stage before starting children as I wanted to get her skills up some first, but she got a wish for First Child, worth 5000 hp, so ive let her go for her wish and she is now pregnant with the first.
Have you got the website up yet?
So now I concentrate on Sims 3. Oh, yes, I love Hawaii (never been there much to my regret) and Victorian Houses and furniture...so....I'm combining my love for anything Hawaiian and Victorian
in this brand new hood as I go.
Is it against the rules to create other families to possibly have as future mates for Founder Family?
There is no way I'd have anyone marry one of the Ursines. There are other Game families I'm not fond of either...but you never know.
In any event, if I toss several Hawaiian families into Sunset Valley, Hawaii, my Hawaiian Founder family member has a good chance of hooking up with another Hawaiian. If it isn't against the rules (looks about for the grey area).
Holly
There is no reason why you cant add other families to the city, as long as you dont actively play them until they move into the house. If you do actively play them you will need to swap active family and when you do that your Homemaker family will act as any other npc family in the game and do whatever story pregression tells them, that includes moving away and be lost forever. You can turn story pregression off if you have downloaded the patch, but you need to be actively playing the family once you start the challenge. You can set the neighbourhood up first with other families though, before you start the challenge
The website is now up and running! complete with forum for challenge discussion
http://sims3rus.com/
Let us know how you are getting on!