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Perfect Children - a new challenge - rules updated 25 Sept

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Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
The challenge

Take four children, each with a different childhood aspiration. Try and complete all the aspirations before the children reach teen. The lifespan must be set to normal.

The household must start with the normal amount of cash. This will restrict your ability to buy skilling objects for the kids; you may take them to community lots to skill. You may not create a lot that has *all* the possible skilling objects. So the library is good for the computer and a chess set but less so for creativity. The park has chess sets, monkey bars and a jungle gym but no computers.

You may have either one or two adults. Their ability to help with skilling tends to be limited.
Create the family - with all four children - in CAS. You can set each child to whatever childhood trait you like including traits that will assist them with their aspiration.

The points

10 points for each child that finishes the first tier of their aspiration.
20 points for each child that finishes the second tier.
100 points if they complete the aspiration goals
Special bonus - 200 points if the Whiz Kid completes their aspiration - the combination of things that aspiration requires makes it difficult.

5 points per child that has a B average
10 points per child that has an A average

-10 points if their grades fall to D
-50 points if their grades fall to F
You lose the challenge entirely if the social worker comes.

Recommendations
You can set up the house however you like with the starting cash. But consider
  • With 6 Sims total - you may want two toilets - it will make traffic management a bit easier
  • You need a drawing table and an instrument for the creative aspiration
  • You need a computer for the motor aspiration (monkey bars are available in the park.) Consider buying 2 computers so the other members of the household have one to use
  • Your mental aspiration will need the chemistry set and they could use a chess board at home - playing chess can build the mental skills of two of the children at a time
  • Your social aspiration can have a talking toy or a dollhouse - but they can learn by talking to the family or calling/texting others.
You can open up the aspiration panel at any time to remind yourself not only of the goals for the current tier but what will be coming up next.

---
So this is my base idea. Any comments, questions?
My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
Post edited by Nicarra60 on

Comments

  • SALTPASTILLENSALTPASTILLEN Posts: 2,639 Member
    What lifespan were you thinking? And are you allowed to add extra kids to town.
    d3z9696camt4x0dfg.jpg
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    I've been tossing up lifespan options. I don't think you can actually finish one of those aspirations on normal - though you can get up a few tiers on all of them. But long is *so* long that it feels like cheating.

    I should try it once or twice on normal and see how far you can get on average. Or let others try and report back.

    You can set up the rest of town as you like. Just don't play any other households.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • SALTPASTILLENSALTPASTILLEN Posts: 2,639 Member
    I think they are doable on normal, as long as you get right on the schoolwork you should be able to get an a in school, and that was the main stumbling block to the whiz kid on normal for me.

    Also, sometimes family members register for social butterfly sims so that should help.

    d3z9696camt4x0dfg.jpg
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    It should be obvious that you can ignore the grades if it's too much with the aspirations. The last level of aspiration does take some effort to achieve.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • SALTPASTILLENSALTPASTILLEN Posts: 2,639 Member
    Nicarra60 wrote: »
    It should be obvious that you can ignore the grades if it's too much with the aspirations. The last level of aspiration does take some effort to achieve.

    Yes, but the whiz kid aspiration requires an A, so that has to be achieved. Looking forward to see what your tests reveal.
    d3z9696camt4x0dfg.jpg
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    edited September 2014
    On normal lifespan, they have 14 days. This should be sufficient, so the lifespan should be normal, not long.

    Do have two adults unless you want a real challenge. There are some things that adults can be doing in the background, like making meals. And some of the things the kids need to do require a parent.

    I'm not quite done with day one, my social butterfly is on the 2nd set of things. So is the rambantious scamp.
    The Whiz kid with 5 chess games and reading to by adult for 3 hours won't be done on day 1. Neither is the artistic protegy (lost the inspired mood before he got in the three drawings.)

    Additional recommendations
    The household should have
    • One computer
    • One activity table
    • One chemisty table
    • One stereo
    • One child bookcase
    • One child violin
    • One chess table (though you can do this at the park)

    In addition to the normal stuff a Sim family needs

    I had a starting amount of 30,000 - built a new home - added beds for all the kids. So far, I haven't run out of money but the house isn't going to win any superior building awards.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    Here's some pics of the test family and home
    Test family
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    On Thursday of week 1 - the Social Butterfly moves on to the third tier. Friends with 5 children (good thing she has 4 siblings!), 3 adults and level 10 in Social. Meeting the people to make friends is going to be the majority of her weekend!

    Rambuntious Scallion only has 2 more hours of video gaming before he goes to tier three
    Whiz kid has only just really started on tier 2 - those chess games and 3 hours of reading time take effort to arrange.
    Artistic Protegy - is partly completed tier 2 but has a lot of work to do.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    One week into the challenge

    All four children are sitting at the top of a C average. On Monday, they should all make B

    Derek, the artistic child only needs one point to push him to the final tier. The final tier requires drawing 5 different things on the drawing table, playing a musical instrument for 10 hours and max creativity.

    Julie, the Whiz kid, needs to do her homework one more time while focussed to move the the third tier. Once she’s done that, she needs to craft potions, get an A and max her mental skills. We can work on mental skills all Sunday since that is going to be time consuming. But she has a hard week ahead.

    Rumbunctious Scallion Zane is on the third tier. He needs three more points in motor skills and a high score in the typing game to get there.

    Social butterfly Kay always is on the last tier. She only needs three more social skill points. But she needs 5 child friends and 3 adult ones. Unfortunately for Kay, they have to be new ones. Her siblings and parents aren’t counted. This could be tough in a single week.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    Having tested it, it's certainly a valid challenge.

    I didn't do prioritising right for the Whiz kid - there is no way that she'll finish in 5 days.
    - I'll have to be lucky for the social butterfly - I didn't realise that the last tier had to be all new friends.
    - The creative child and the motor skills child will have no problem getting their aspiration.

    I don't think any of them will have the time to get an A. All but the social child have a B.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • SALTPASTILLENSALTPASTILLEN Posts: 2,639 Member
    The whiz kid needs an A in order to complete - but if it's possible theoretically, then it's a valid challenge.
    d3z9696camt4x0dfg.jpg
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    I think if you get your priorities right, you can get the A for your whiz kid. Mine has a B, no problem but it took too long to get her first set of aspiration items complete and I didn't pay enough attention to the school work. She just doesn't have time for the work left to complete it.

    Not to mention, you don't have to get every aspiration to do well with the points. As long as your kids do all right in school, you should get points.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    Anyone else game to try this challenge? Or just me?

    I do have to try again. The Social butterfly is likely to fail because the friends she had didn't help toward the final level - which I did not anticipate. Also I took too long to get the Whiz kid up to the second tier - she'll never finish in time.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • SwanSong0SwanSong0 Posts: 3 New Member
    Hello Nicarra60

    All four children completed their unique aspiration within 10 days. They all achieved four levels in all four skills before tackling their aspirations. The family never 'travelled'. All educational items were bought by the parents who worked from home.
    I continued playing and gave the children a new aspiration each time they fulfilled another one.

    My score is 1450. It could have been higher, but the children never skipped school. They were all A grade students and each child remained that status until their teen birthday. Also, the children could have used more 'mood solver' potions to boost results further.

    Thank you for this challenge! It was fun and I learned a lot. :)
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    I was away @Swansong0 and missed your comment.

    I'm glad that you liked the challenge. I found it interesting to try, though I did fail my Whiz Kid on the first attempt. Nice to know it's quite achievable.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • JenniferShapcottJenniferShapcott Posts: 11 New Member
    Sounds difficult but fun. I have thing where I almost always have to get all aspirations for my child, so this'll be a change. Do you get bonus points if your children get more than one aspiration completed?
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    I would say that for the second aspiration - the tiers are worth double points - so for the second aspiration we would have

    20 points for each child that finishes the first tier of their aspiration.
    40 points for each child that finishes the second tier.
    200 points if they complete the aspiration goals

    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • TMan2203TMan2203 Posts: 1 New Member
    For the creative aspiration, if you are having trouble getting your child inspired, you can have him/her wear the chicken animal hat, if you have the digital deluxe version
  • aria_kingbloodaria_kingblood Posts: 11 New Member
    I'm going to try this one, I will build a nice house (if that's okay) but I will use only the normal amount of cash to get the skill objects so they will be limited. Once the house is created I can just decrease the money using cheat and have them progress without cheats afterwards. I'll post pictures when the house is done, then you can tell me if the house is appropriate for use or not. ☺
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    @aria_kingblood Just remember, part of the challenge is that they shouldn't have too much money - if you build the house first, you may be giving them appliances and furniture that is better quality than they could really afford.

    But I'm not that dedicated to following the rules of other challenges myself so if building a nice house makes you happier - then by all means build a nice house.
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • aria_kingbloodaria_kingblood Posts: 11 New Member
    @Nicarra60 Of course, I remembered to only buy the cheapest of the items and I only have a few in-home skill objects.
  • EngramEngram Posts: 79 Member
    I am playing this challenge right now and am recording a Let's Play of it, to be uploaded to YouTube. I have so far recorded 2 episodes, which cover the first day. They're about 20 minutes each, which is not bad for the amount of stuff happening. If I manage to keep going at this rate, I should have about 28 episodes by the time I finish. I'm not sure when I will start publishing them, as I plan on participating in NaLeWriMo in January, which is just 1 day away for me.

    I moved the family onto the empty 50x50 lot in Oasis Springs. They didn't have much money so they have bare walls and bare essentials. I'm having to get creative with use of community lots for the kids to achieve each stage of the aspiration. They also had 5 bucks to their name once I had finished building and "decorating" (understatement of the year!). 12 now that the mother caught a fish worth 7 bucks.

    Huge thanks to @TMan2203 for the tip about getting the kid inspired. It is now after midnight and I have stuck a note to my monitor which says "wear chicken hat to get inspired". Please pray that I actually remember what that is supposed to mean by the time I wake up and look at those words of wisdom in the cold light of day.
    All aboard the hype train!

    Twitter | YouTube | Twitch
    #EAGameChangers
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    Anyone can also get inspired by taking a "Thoughtful" shower from memory.

    It's great to hear about someone taking the challenge - and doing a Let's play as well. The way I game, Let's play would be really *really* horrible. :D
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • Nicarra60Nicarra60 Posts: 2,916 Member
    It has come to my attention that the childhood aspirations were all made easier to achieve.

    I will therefore contemplate methods of making this harder for those that want a more difficult challenge. (You can always try to have the 4 children finish a second aspiration in the meantime.)
    My Sim Story blogs -- Hi Mum, It's Sammy || WA with the Grants || Art flows through || Sims Short Stories (Adult content warning)
  • cmccree24cmccree24 Posts: 5 New Member
    seems fun imma try it :D
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