About The Apartment SwitchStill working as intended with all new expansion packs! - added rule in Getting Started about mermaids for Island Living
The Apartment Switch is a generational challenge all about building, decorating, making money, and most of all learning about the "City Living" Expansion for The Sims 4. It was heavily inspired by the
Drifter Challenge by
@Vihisha Tak'Nai and the
Movin' On Up challenge by ImaginingMystic. It also could be said there's a little of a
Legacy Challenge by PinStar in it as well. It requires, obviously, that you own Sims 4 Base game and the City Living expansion, but can be completed without any others. The challenge takes place exclusively in the San Myshuno neighborhood in Sims 4, although travel to the other neighborhoods is not restricted. There are also two difficulties available for The Apartment Switch, Normal and Extreme, but I'll explain more about them later.
What's a Switch?
A "Switch" is a single challenge inside of the Apartment Switch challenge. The Apartment Switch is made up of six of these Switches, each intended to be played over the course of a single generation. You are penalized for taking more than one generation to complete each "Switch," but you don't fail the challenge for taking longer. The term "Switch" came about when I needed a way to easily refer to each separate challenge within the whole The Apartment Switch challenge.
Each Switch is made up for four interlinked challenges each requiring that you build and/or decorate an apartment. In other words, each switch is four apartments long. With six individual Switches, this means that by the end of the challenge you will have built and/or decorated twenty four total apartments.. and what an achievement that will be!
At the beginning of each "Switch" your heir will be forced back to starting with 0 Simoleons. This is most definitely on purpose to make the challenge.. well, a challenge. Each Switch can be played separately with a brand new sim, but it's meant to be played with an heir from the previous Switch. However, inside each switch you won't be starting back from 0 for each successive apartment. In other words, feel free to save up as much money as you wish before moving onto the next apartment within a switch. Having that buffer can make the next apartment much easier.. but waiting more time before moving will make getting all your goals done before the next challenge harder.. so the two must be balanced carefully.
Comments
The rest of this post is devoted to some general information about the challenge. Be sure to read it carefully before you move on. After that, move onto either my "Getting Started" picture tutorial on my website or the post after the main rules here, and then through the six switch pages/posts as you play. I separated everything out so that people who don't want spoilers can avoid them easily. I include the links to all Apartment Switch rule pages and forum posts here, that way you can get around easily, but the pages are all directly linked, as well.
The Apartment Switch on my website
Getting Started picture tutorial on my website | Text tutorial on this post
Switch One on my website
Switch Two on my website
Switch Three on my website
Switch Four on my website
Switch Five on my website
Switch Six on my website
Feel free to post and or discuss your challenge in this thread. I'm hosting the challenge information on my website (linked above).
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My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
Scoring
It is possible to score the Apartment Switch Challenge, but not necessary. If you're just not into counting points, that's perfectly fine! I added a point system just so players who want can a measure of how well they did at the challenge. (Face it, some people like using points for their challenges.) I tried to make the point categories simple so it's easier to remember and keep track of them.
I have the points set up so that you get 100 points for completing a switch with a married couple and one child, their heir, at young adult stage and ready to move on.. but, there are ways (obviously) to make more or less than that. 100 points per switch is a successfully completed Switch challenge, with 600 total for the full challenge. How do you think you'll measure up?
Tips and Tricks
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This is a step-by-step guide to getting your Sim and game set up for playing The Apartment Switch challenge. If you have any questions about how to do any of the things listed, check out the "Getting Started" picture tutorial on my website.
Step 1: Decide Which Difficulty You’re Attempting
There are two difficulties in Apartment Switch – Normal and Extreme. The normal challenge is for anyone who wants to give this challenge a try, no matter your experience with sims. There is no pass/fail with this challenge. If you need to take longer on a particular Switch, that’s perfectly alright, but it will affect your score overall (if, indeed, you decided to keep score). Extreme adds some layers of difficulty and is for more advanced and or brave players who really enjoy building and decorating for your sims.
Normal Difficulty (for people who want to just decorate)
Extreme Difficulty (for people who like building from scratch)
Step 2: Sim Creation
Your first task is to get a sim ready to move into their new home. There are two basic options for doing this:
Option A: Start with a brand new sim
This is pretty self-explanatory. Start a “New Game” from the main menu and create your sim. There are no restrictions on traits or aspirations for your sims. Feel free to create them however you see fit. (Cannot be a vampire, however – I explain why later. Aliens and mermaids are okay, though. Mermaid would definitely make things difficult/interesting, but because they do age, they're not disallowed.) One of the Switches does require completing a specific aspiration, but that’s not to say you can’t change out and work on other aspirations. Careers aren’t picked in CAS, so we’ll discuss those later.
Option B: Start with an heir from a previous challenge
If you’re coming right off of, say, the Drifter Challenge House 24 (the final house) or Build Newcrest, you can just continue that family and or story by using an heir from the final house/build.
Do keep in mind, though, that they can’t be older than the first day of their Young Adult stage. I’m not restricting how much they have in skills.. but be smart about it. The challenge won’t be fun to play if there isn’t a challenge, so using a “super-sim” (one with really high skills) will be detrimental to your challenge. As in Option A, there are no restrictions on traits or aspirations. Feel free to create them however you want. Three, they cannot be a vampire – I explain why later. (Aliens are okay, however.) Careers are discussed later.
Also, you have to start with a single sim, so bringing other household members from past challenges is a no-no. (Also, no bringing in past household members to your family after starting the Apartment Switch Challenge. Sims you move in must be either game-created – i.e. NPCs or Townies – or brand new “starter” sims that you pre-populated the world with.) To achieve this, split your previous challenge’s household to separate the heir, and then you’re ready to go on.
Ready?
Once you have your sim created to your satisfaction, save them and move them into Bargain Bend in Willow Creek. They’re not going to stay there, but you have some set-up to do before you move them into their first apartment and start playing.
Step 3: Game Set up
There are a few things you need to do before starting play in your challenge. Remember, our starter sim is still in Bargain Bend in Willow Creek.
You’re all ready, now go to the Switch One page/post to find the rules for your first Switch challenge. I put each Switch on a separate page so those who don’t want spoilers of what’s coming will be safe.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
Part of the fun of doing a challenge is sharing what you made with other people. Obviously, you don't have to, but I want the option to be there. There are three ways I made of sharing your content - feel free to use any or all of them!
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
First of all, I want to thank Vihisha for her fabulous Drifter Challenge. Without that challenge, this one never would have happened. Second, thanks for the Movin' On Up challenge, because, again, without trying that challenge, this one would not have happened. I must also send a really big thank you to my teenage daughter, who was instrumental in helping me flesh out the challenge and wading through the craziness of the initial play testing. Those being said, I must also thank my play testers and fellow Drifters who helped in so many ways to make this challenge a reality. Special thanks go to @Vihisha , @Illusie , and @misfit091376 who went above and beyond helping to get this challenge to get going!
Challenge Background/History
Originally, I designed the challenge to be played directly following a trip through the Drifter Challenge so as to contribute to building your own full world. Another challenge it would fit very well with is the Build Newcrest challenge, and you're always welcome to also try building any other neighborhood the Sims 4 puts out.
Initially, I had a five round challenge in mind - hence the initial play tests on a five round challenge. But the longer I worked on it, the more it made sense to go to a six part challenge instead of the five. It just fit together better.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
Drifter Challenge Blog: https://alliemacsims.wordpress.com/
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
Hmm I do have a bit of free time today, I wonder how hard it would be to set up a separate blog.
I'm in trouble now. I can feel it already. *evil laugh* but I'm gonna drag y'all with me!!
Drifter Challenge Blog: https://alliemacsims.wordpress.com/
I'm enjoying the heck out of my Apartment Switch playthroughs (I have two going for testing purposes) and I'm not even story-blogging them. I already have an entire post of pictures for Switch Two and I can't post those for fear of spoiler-ing things until the 26th! (So I'm trying out wordpress' little "schedule" feature at the same time. haha!) I love getting in my little simmie's heads and seeing how life works out for them. I like this decorate-build-move thing.. it keeps the challenge from feeling stale after a while. Just enough like Drifter that I still love it, but different enough to not be a clone. The more I play this and Drifter, the more I'm starting to think I may never go back to my Sims 4 ISBI Challenge. Too boring.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I'm currently playing switch one. I don't have as much time as I want to play the sims, but hopefully this week will be better.
@alliemac, I'm looking forward to see your story!!
Showcase | NSBC story
It is exciting to have this challenge out there with you guys giving it a try. So far, I've had a lot of fun with it. Switch Two testing is coming along nicely.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
Also, I updated Switch One with one change for those doing Extreme. Now you build the Arts Center, not the Karaoke Bar. I discovered I had the wrong lot being built as I tested Switch Two.. so if you're playing along on extreme, make a note of it.
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
Drifter Challenge Blog: https://alliemacsims.wordpress.com/
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
Showcase | NSBC story
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general
I now stream the Sims 4 on Twitch!
My Discord Server - A place to discuss my challenges, or the Sims in general