No Motherlode Challenge (playing without cheats) «12...Next Go

pamy1124

So I've never really done many of the game play challenges. I always find them... too challenging lol.
I think the main reason is because I always use the motherlode cheat and basically give my sims whatever they want. I have a hard time seeing my sims suffer and I like being able to give them nice homes to live in.

So I've decided to make up my own, somewhat easier, challenge. It's basically playing one sim without using the motherlode cheat. I start out on an empty lot, and then I buy that knight statue that costs like 8000 simoleons and keep it in my household inventory. This leaves me with a little more than 9000 simoleons and I think that's a good place to start from. So basically, the main challenge is to just play my sims game without any cheats (no money or mood cheats especially) and to eventually build up my lot with a decent house.

I actually found it to be pretty fun. My sim is out more meeting other sims and have built up quite the garden...

Here she is, my sim Katy Happy, and her lot as it is currently:





So how do you guys play? Do any of you have the motherlode issue I do when playing?

Zafireria

You can use the money x cheat, instead of buying a statue. Since the statue will be added to the value of the house, meaning you'll pay a bit more in bills since you have the statue than you would do without it.

pamy1124

Zafireria wrote: »

You can use the money x cheat, instead of buying a statue. Since the statue will be added to the value of the house, meaning you'll pay a bit more in bills since you have the statue than you would do without it.

I did not know that! What is the money cheat? I've only ever used the motherlode money cheat.

SageRainWillow

Testingcheats on then money 500 (or however much you want to give her)

pamy1124

SageRainWillow wrote: »

Testingcheats on then money 500 (or however much you want to give her)

You just type "money 500" or whatever amount in the dialogue box?

SageRainWillow

I play like this all the time. I even have a mod the reduces career income to real world levels... like an assistant dishwasher will only make $8 an hour. Although they might be sleeping in a tent, peeing in the bushes, and going to the nearest venue to bathe in the sink, it's pretty easy to keep their motives up. The hardest part is food. Mine gather all wild grown plants and if someone makes hamburgers at the park, I'll swipe one

And singing might be slow, but it'll raise fun levels for free.

SageRainWillow

Yep, "money ___" in the dialog box. If you ever played 3, this money cheat replaces the old familyfunds cheat from 3.

Triplis

I can never seem to last long doing challenge type things. I end up going into high gear and play it like a grindy MMO, trying to eke out every bit of effectiveness I can lol (this is some learned behavior from my MMO days and it isn't exactly the most fun way to play for me).

Your sim looks cute though and I like that purple tent. I have some admiration for people who are able to stick with the challenges. I did a runaway teen challenge once and got decently far in, but I ended up stuck in a groundhog-day-style getting up, managing my needs, and painting as much as possible for maximum profit, until the next day came around. So that kind of bored me to death.

I have tried to do challenges where I become rich from the ground up (with no specific challenge rules), but it's hard for me to stick with a save long enough to become rich and still be enjoying myself in that save. Plus if the focus becomes profit, I can easily get locked into a repetitive routine. So I'll often start with little money, but if I get a bug in me to do decorating, I'll just cheat the money I need to make it happen. I guess it's a reflection on how I am about money in RL; it's just a means to an end, really, that I don't like dealing with unless it becomes necessary.

SageRainWillow

See, I'm just the opposite. If my sim has the best of everything and a ton of money, I'm so bored I quit. I deduct money using the money cheat for "taxi rides" anytime I go somewhere. If they are sick, I deduct for doctor visits. I mange their income and they slowly build up. I have to think about every purchase and make sure I can still pay the bills come Monday. I don't even let them paint because it's too easy to get rich from it.

metalfenix_Raf

I usually use cheats like CASFulleditmode or things like that but I avoid motherlode like a plague on my playthroughs. It's something that comes from the old sims 1 days, I dunno why but I like to have the sense of progression of my sims from little to no money towards rich.

feetinstockings

I don't use money cheats to increase their money, Its too easy to make money in sims4. and I like to work my sims up, start small. As soon as they start getting rich I get bored. Except in my recent game, I'm playing a ready made family, but she wants to grow all the plants in the game, so they move and each move is onto a slightly bigger lot and in a new neighbourhood, No money cheats.

Zafireria

pamy1124 wrote: »

Zafireria wrote: »

You can use the money x cheat, instead of buying a statue. Since the statue will be added to the value of the house, meaning you'll pay a bit more in bills since you have the statue than you would do without it.

I did not know that! What is the money cheat? I've only ever used the motherlode money cheat.

Like everyone else has already pointed out. Testingcheats on then Money x. X is whatever amount you want. However, I'll like to point out that the cheat does not add money, it gives you that exact amount of money. So if you have for example 10000 in your household and then use the cheat and write 3000, then you will have 3000 in your household and not 10000.

SageRainWillow

Good point, @Zafireria. X is the total amount of money your sim will have.

pamy1124

Zafireria wrote: »

pamy1124 wrote: »

Zafireria wrote: »

You can use the money x cheat, instead of buying a statue. Since the statue will be added to the value of the house, meaning you'll pay a bit more in bills since you have the statue than you would do without it.

I did not know that! What is the money cheat? I've only ever used the motherlode money cheat.

Like everyone else has already pointed out. Testingcheats on then Money x. X is whatever amount you want. However, I'll like to point out that the cheat does not add money, it gives you that exact amount of money. So if you have for example 10000 in your household and then use the cheat and write 3000, then you will have 3000 in your household and not 10000.

Ok, thank you. I did assume that was what was meant but thank you for clarifying that.

pamy1124

deleted because it was a double post

Zafireria

pamy1124 wrote: »

Zafireria wrote: »

pamy1124 wrote: »

Zafireria wrote: »

You can use the money x cheat, instead of buying a statue. Since the statue will be added to the value of the house, meaning you'll pay a bit more in bills since you have the statue than you would do without it.

I did not know that! What is the money cheat? I've only ever used the motherlode money cheat.

Like everyone else has already pointed out. Testingcheats on then Money x. X is whatever amount you want. However, I'll like to point out that the cheat does not add money, it gives you that exact amount of money. So if you have for example 10000 in your household and then use the cheat and write 3000, then you will have 3000 in your household and not 10000.

Ok, thank you. I did assume that was what was meant but thank you for clarifying that.

You are welcome. Have fun with your challenge

pamy1124

Zafireria wrote: »

pamy1124 wrote: »

Zafireria wrote: »

pamy1124 wrote: »

Zafireria wrote: »

You can use the money x cheat, instead of buying a statue. Since the statue will be added to the value of the house, meaning you'll pay a bit more in bills since you have the statue than you would do without it.

I did not know that! What is the money cheat? I've only ever used the motherlode money cheat.

Like everyone else has already pointed out. Testingcheats on then Money x. X is whatever amount you want. However, I'll like to point out that the cheat does not add money, it gives you that exact amount of money. So if you have for example 10000 in your household and then use the cheat and write 3000, then you will have 3000 in your household and not 10000.

Ok, thank you. I did assume that was what was meant but thank you for clarifying that.

You are welcome. Have fun with your challenge

Thank you

pamy1124

Triplis wrote: »

I can never seem to last long doing challenge type things. I end up going into high gear and play it like a grindy MMO, trying to eke out every bit of effectiveness I can lol (this is some learned behavior from my MMO days and it isn't exactly the most fun way to play for me).

Your sim looks cute though and I like that purple tent. I have some admiration for people who are able to stick with the challenges. I did a runaway teen challenge once and got decently far in, but I ended up stuck in a groundhog-day-style getting up, managing my needs, and painting as much as possible for maximum profit, until the next day came around. So that kind of bored me to death.

I have tried to do challenges where I become rich from the ground up (with no specific challenge rules), but it's hard for me to stick with a save long enough to become rich and still be enjoying myself in that save. Plus if the focus becomes profit, I can easily get locked into a repetitive routine. So I'll often start with little money, but if I get a bug in me to do decorating, I'll just cheat the money I need to make it happen. I guess it's a reflection on how I am about money in RL; it's just a means to an end, really, that I don't like dealing with unless it becomes necessary.

I've never been able to stick the challenges either so we'll see how long it lasts. The same with generations. After a few I get bored and start over.
And I think I tend to get stuck in ruts too. Because of that I've been trying to get my sim to go out more. When there's festivals, she goes. If sims invite her places I make her go unless she has work she has to do. I try not to get her stuck on her lot too much and that seems to help keep her from getting stuck in a rut, at least for now.

pamy1124

SageRainWillow wrote: »

I play like this all the time. I even have a mod the reduces career income to real world levels... like an assistant dishwasher will only make $8 an hour. Although they might be sleeping in a tent, peeing in the bushes, and going to the nearest venue to bathe in the sink, it's pretty easy to keep their motives up. The hardest part is food. Mine gather all wild grown plants and if someone makes hamburgers at the park, I'll swipe one

And singing might be slow, but it'll raise fun levels for free.

SageRainWillow wrote: »

See, I'm just the opposite. If my sim has the best of everything and a ton of money, I'm so bored I quit. I deduct money using the money cheat for "taxi rides" anytime I go somewhere. If they are sick, I deduct for doctor visits. I mange their income and they slowly build up. I have to think about every purchase and make sure I can still pay the bills come Monday. I don't even let them paint because it's too easy to get rich from it.

Wow, that actually sounds like an interesting way to play. And knowing that money cheat now actually makes me wanna try some of this stuff. How much do you deduct for taxi rides? Is it more if it's going to a different world, neighborhood?
What mod do you use to reduce how much you make in a career?

SageRainWillow

This is the mod:
http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=580531

The sort of things I deduct:

Monday (on top of household bills): I deduct for incidentals. $50-200 depending on household size. This is for toilet paper, toothpaste, diapers, deodorant, ect.

Taxi rides: $10 if it's within the same map, $20 if they are traveling to a new map. Carpool for work is $5-10 a day for "gas money" depending on where they work and where I think that job might be located. Politician living in Oasis Springs? Pay $10 because your office is in San Myshuno.

Changing clothes: any article of clothing my sim changes into they have to "buy". I deduct $25 per shirt, shoes, pants, and if the shirt comes with a jacket, that's $75-100 separately.

Career promotions: That bonus money from a promotion is needed to buy a new "career wardrobe." Deduct $200 for level 1-4, $300 for levels 5-7, and $500 for 8-10. Business suits cost more than dishwasher aprons.

Sickness: deduct $100 for a doctor's visit. If you have a large family, you better quarantine the sick one or you'll be paying $100 per person.

Pregnancy comes with doctors visits at every trimester too (and the day of the birth!)

Basically anything that would cost real money in life, my sims pay it too. So with using the money cheat, let's say they have $500. That taxi ride costed $10. I would type in "Money 490" to adjust their household funds to reflect that deduction.

Triplis

pamy1124 wrote: »

I've never been able to stick the challenges either so we'll see how long it lasts. The same with generations. After a few I get bored and start over.
And I think I tend to get stuck in ruts too. Because of that I've been trying to get my sim to go out more. When there's festivals, she goes. If sims invite her places I make her go unless she has work she has to do. I try not to get her stuck on her lot too much and that seems to help keep her from getting stuck in a rut, at least for now.

I hear you and I know exactly what you mean about getting stuck on the home lot. Going out definitely helps for me as well.

Triplis

SageRainWillow wrote: »

This is the mod:
http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=580531

The sort of things I deduct:

Monday (on top of household bills): I deduct for incidentals. $50-200 depending on household size. This is for toilet paper, toothpaste, diapers, deodorant, ect.

Taxi rides: $10 if it's within the same map, $20 if they are traveling to a new map. Carpool for work is $5-10 a day for "gas money" depending on where they work and where I think that job might be located. Politician living in Oasis Springs? Pay $10 because your office is in San Myshuno.

Changing clothes: any article of clothing my sim changes into they have to "buy". I deduct $25 per shirt, shoes, pants, and if the shirt comes with a jacket, that's $75-100 separately.

Career promotions: That bonus money from a promotion is needed to buy a new "career wardrobe." Deduct $200 for level 1-4, $300 for levels 5-7, and $500 for 8-10. Business suits cost more than dishwasher aprons.

Sickness: deduct $100 for a doctor's visit. If you have a large family, you better quarantine the sick one or you'll be paying $100 per person.

Pregnancy comes with doctors visits at every trimester too (and the day of the birth!)

Basically anything that would cost real money in life, my sims pay it too. So with using the money cheat, let's say they have $500. That taxi ride costed $10. I would type in "Money 490" to adjust their household funds to reflect that deduction.

That is really cool and I'm impressed that you can manage the details. I'd go crazy trying to track them all. XD

SageRainWillow

It seems tedious, but instead of deducting for every individual taxi ride, I often "batch" them. If I have a sim that works 4 days a week and they pay $5 per day, then Mondays, I deduct their rides for the week (unless they are SO poor that they don't have the money upfront lol)

pamy1124

SageRainWillow wrote: »

This is the mod:
http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=580531

The sort of things I deduct:

Monday (on top of household bills): I deduct for incidentals. $50-200 depending on household size. This is for toilet paper, toothpaste, diapers, deodorant, ect.

Taxi rides: $10 if it's within the same map, $20 if they are traveling to a new map. Carpool for work is $5-10 a day for "gas money" depending on where they work and where I think that job might be located. Politician living in Oasis Springs? Pay $10 because your office is in San Myshuno.

Changing clothes: any article of clothing my sim changes into they have to "buy". I deduct $25 per shirt, shoes, pants, and if the shirt comes with a jacket, that's $75-100 separately.

Career promotions: That bonus money from a promotion is needed to buy a new "career wardrobe." Deduct $200 for level 1-4, $300 for levels 5-7, and $500 for 8-10. Business suits cost more than dishwasher aprons.

Sickness: deduct $100 for a doctor's visit. If you have a large family, you better quarantine the sick one or you'll be paying $100 per person.

Pregnancy comes with doctors visits at every trimester too (and the day of the birth!)

Basically anything that would cost real money in life, my sims pay it too. So with using the money cheat, let's say they have $500. That taxi ride costed $10. I would type in "Money 490" to adjust their household funds to reflect that deduction.

Wow, this is really well thought out. You could totally call this the "Realistic living" challenge or whatever.
It's funny, it makes you realize just how easy the sims 4 really is.

UnrealRoot

Hm I stopped using cheats tbh :x and I try to even play without fast forwarding the time so much ^^" I need to say that the game is much more enjoyable if you don't fast forward it often

SageRainWillow

Lol it has morphed into my own challenge. For me, Sims 4 has felt like a TV show. They take care of themselves and I'm just sitting there watching. This play style has put more of the decision making burden on me which I think I needed. It wasn't holding my attention otherwise. Good luck with your motherlode challenge @pamy1124. It's good to try out new scenarios!