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Department Store Dynasty - A Get To Work Challenge (with SimLit)

nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
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This is a challenge that centers around the Retail Store in the Get To Work expansion. Money is STRICTLY earned through the retail store, investor meetings and corporate work (more on that later). Any money that's earned not by those activities is prohibited and considered as debt! Rules are going to be tweaked here and there, but at this moment I am confident that these rules are workable and probably complete.

GOALS
• Have a Retail Store with at least 10 Departments, and a total lot value of $250,000.
• Complete the “Mansion Baron” Aspiration.
• Have Debt at $1,000 or less.
• Completed the above goals for 10 Generations or less.

HOW TO START
• Create a New Game
• Create a Sim. This will be the Founder. No other Sim can be created.
• Pick any traits. You can handpick them or randomize.
• Roll an 8 sided dice (Google “Roll 8 sided dice”) to determine your Founder’s personal aspiration. See Aspiration section for outcome.
• Buy and Move-In to Bargain Bend. This will be your temporary household.
• Build your home in Bargain Bend, but make sure you have enough to buy a 50 x 50 lot and have enough for your Store (aim for $12,000 or more leftover).
• Bulldoze and clear a 50 x 50 lot of your choosing
• Buy the cleared 50 x 50 lot as a Retail Store

GAMEPLAY OPTIONS
• Auto-Age (Played Sims): Yes
• Auto-Age (Unplayed Sims): Uncheck
• Sim Lifespan: Normal

GENERAL RULES
• Money can only be earned through RETAILING, INVESTOR MEETINGS, and CORPORATE WORK. More to follow.
• If money is earned NOT BY retailing, investor meetings and corporate work, then this earnings must be noted as DEBT. More to follow.
• No beds for sleeping in the retail lot. You can have a couch for naps.
• No cheats allowed except for the following:
◦ bb.ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement
◦ cas.fulleditmode (only for Neighbors)
◦ freerealestate on (only for Neighbors)

RETAILING
• This will be your main avenue for income. The store can be open at any time and does not have to be open every day. Store hours are up to you.
• Any items are sellable in the store. These items must be “Set for Sale” to qualify as retailing income.
• Employees are forbidden. It is a family owned business, so only family members are allowed to work there.
• To create a department, a room must have at least 4 items For Sale that conforms to a department’s theme.
• Interactive items are allowed, but must fit the department’s theme (playable toys in Kids Department, watchable TVs in Electronics, etc.)
• TYPES OF DEPARTMENTS
1. Clothing and Cosmetics: In the search bar in buy/build mode, search for clothes, shoes, perfumes, colognes and makeup. Also “Dressers” in the Storage section.
2. Furniture and Fixtures: Items in Comfort, Surfaces and Lighting section
3. Kids: Items in Kids
4. Activities: Items in Knowledge, Creative and Recreation in Activities & Skills section. Also “Bookcases” in the Storage section.
5. Sports: Items in Active in Activities and & Skills section.
6. Electronics: Items in Electronics section
7. Home Appliances: Items in Appliances section
8. Plumbing: Items in Plumbing
9. Home Improvement: Decorations (not including clothing and cosmetic items). Collectible items.
10. Gardening: Items in Outdoor Plants in Build Mode and Indoor Plants in Buy Mode.
11. Store Exclusives: Items that are crafted and collected by your sims.
12. Pack Items: Items available for a specific expansion/game/stuff pack. (Pets Department, Knitting Department, etc.)

INVESTORS MEETING
• Throw a “Dinner Party” or “House Party” for friends who are “investors.” The location can be your home or their home.
• Designate the hosts as your family. You can have more than 1 host.
• If throwing a “Dinner Party,” the host must have the “Always Welcome” trait to avoid being kicked out.
• You CANNOT finish the party prematurely. You MUST let the party time run out.
• After the dinner party, the item rewards received in Household Inventory can be sold immediately.
• Roleplay-wise: Your Sim will meet with investors and distribute the “capital gains” of the retail store. Your Sim will also benefit from this capital gain.

CORPORATE WORK
• You can make money through HACKING. Other money-making Programming action is prohibited.
• Can be used daily.
• Can be done by anyone in the household.
• Roleplay-wise, you are doing Accounting Work, Online Sales and Emails.

DEBTS
• If money was gained NOT BY retailing, investor meeting or corporate work, then that money is regarded as DEBT.
• Furniture bought and eventually sold at your home lot is not counted as debt.
• To keep note of DEBT, you must take a photo of your house or retail store and name it as DEBT.
• Whenever you incur DEBT, add this to the photo by renaming the photo.
• So, if you earned 700 by selling a crafted painting, then rename the photo as DEBT 700. And let’s say you sold another crafted painting for 400, then rename the photo as DEBT 1100. Basically, add to the DEBT photo.
• Round the sold amount to the 100s. If you sold something for 150, then that DEBT is 200. If you sold something for 149, then that DEBT is 100.
• To reduce DEBT, you must DONATE TO CHARITY by computer. Depending on the amount you donated, that amount will be deducted against the DEBT. So, if your DEBT is 1100 and you DONATED 1000, then rename the photo to DEBT 100.
• Your sim must have a Charisma of 3 to gain the ability to DONATE TO CHARITY.
• Roleplay-wise, as a business, you sometimes need a loan to push your business to the next level.

HOUSEHOLD RULES
• You are allowed to move your whole household to a bigger lot. To do so, you must do it by phone, not by manage household.
• You can move out sims from your household. When moving them out, they must be marked as a Played Household so they age. Sims moved out from the main home will lose ownership of the retail store.
• You must randomize your descendant’s traits, and whatever comes up is their trait. No do-overs, no exceptions!
• When adding a new member to the household, you can only transfer $500 from their Simoleons.
• Only potential spouses to Founder and Descendants are allowed to be added as a new member.
• Marriages can be finalized either by “Elope Immediately” or “Plan Wedding Event.” Reward items received after the Wedding Event can be sold and is not considered as debt.
• Children adopted by the Founder or a Descendant Family is considered a descendant and can carry on the dynasty.
• If a child is born outside of the household, then that child can be moved in as a new member, with or without their non-Descendant parent.
• You can have more than one family unit living in the lot.
• Household members cannot have a job or career.
• You cannot prematurely age up any sim. You can only age them once they have 1 or 2 days till age up, or wait until they age by themselves.
• You cannot plead to Death on a household member’s demise. Let Death run its course.

ASPIRATIONS
• The Family Aspiration is “Mansion Baron.”
• When a Child Sim ages up to a Teen Sim, you must roll an 8 sided dice to determine their Personal Aspiration. See below for outcome.
• When a potential spouse is added to the household, you must roll an 8 sided dice to determine their Personal Aspiration. See below for outcome.
• At any time, you can switch between a sim’s Personal Aspiration and the Family Aspiration.
• When a sim completes a Personal Aspiration, you can pick any aspiration of your choosing.
• Aspiration Rewards are allowed. However, you CANNOT buy “Potion of Youth” and “Money Tree.”
• Aspiration potions CANNOT be transferred to another sim.
◦ 8 Sided Dice Outcome:
1. Bodybuilder
2. Big Happy Family (OR) Super Parent
3. Nerd Brain
4. Serial Romantic (OR) Chief of Mischief
5. Soulmate
6. Party Animal
7. Friend of the World (OR) Friend of the Animals
8. Freelance Botanist

OTHER NON-DYNASTY FAMILIES
• You can use the cheats “cas.fulleditmode” and “freerealestate on” to populate your neighborhoods and worlds with household for roleplaying or storytelling.
• If you want a specific household to age up with your dynasty family, mark that household as PLAYED.

KNOWN BUGS AND PROBLEMS
• Mannequins have a bug that doesn’t deduct the restocking fee. Because of this, mannequins are forbidden until your Department Store has a lot value of $100,000.
• There is a bug that causes restocked items to be burned up or turned into ash. If this happens, you can use a money cheat to replace the burned item. To prevent this from happening, restock all of your merchandise before saving and exiting your game. This bug occurs when you save and exit a game with the merchandise not restocked, and then is restocked when you load the game.

COMPLETION
• When done, share your Department Store to the gallery with the hashtag #DepartmentStoreDynasty and mention how many generations it took for you to achieve all of the goals.
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Comments

  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    edited February 2021
    Post edited by nastyjman on
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  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    Cool! I've added to my challenges' to-do list.
  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    telmarina wrote: »
    Cool! I've added to my challenges' to-do list.

    Thanks! Hope you have fun with it when you get to it. :smiley:
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  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    edited February 2021
    EPISODE 1
    A Dynasty's Dream
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    Like many dynasties, all come from humble beginnings.

    Denzel Simton left Selvadorada and moved to a land of opportunities in Willow Creek. Denzel wasn’t interested in archaeology nor hidden treasures. To earn such riches, one had to dig and get dirty--a prospect that made Denzel shudder.

    No. Denzel Simton sought to gain riches through capitalism. Buy low, sell high. Gain investors, keep them happy. Push the paper to keep the greens coming in. The only thing Denzel wanted to dig out was people’s wallets.

    With dreams of wealth, he begins, however, in poverty. He bought his kitchen appliances from dilapidated garage sales, and the home he erected was unadorned. It saddened him from time to time, especially when he burned his meal and almost burned himself up. But to strive in this world, one had to endure great sacrifice.

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    And that sacrifice yielded him a retail store at Oakenstead. It was as bare as his home, but at least there was merchandise. Merchandise that he had gotten a great deal from his birth place at Selvadorada.

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    The store didn’t gain much attention until celebrities started showing up. The exotic silks and fabrics that Denzel sold was a hit.

    Despite not having any funds for advertising, word of mouth had made him profitable. And the word spread like wild fire.

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    Not soon after, he ordered shoes from Selvadorada as merchandise. Because of his financial state, he had to use the computer from the local library. Owning a computer would have been nice, but that money was better spent to make more money.


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    And so with new merchandise and some new investors, Denzel Simton’s store, which he named SimMart, began, which was on its way to become the largest Department Store in the SimWorld.


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  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    Updated Known Bugs in the rules:

    - There is a bug that causes restocked items to be burned up or turned into ash. If this happens, you can use a money cheat to replace the burned item. To prevent this from happening, restock all of your merchandise before saving and exiting your game. This bug occurs when you save and exit a game with the merchandise not restocked, and then is restocked when you load the game.
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  • crstassecrstasse Posts: 33 Member
    I really like this challenge and your first episode. I'm going to start this today.
  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    crstasse wrote: »
    I really like this challenge and your first episode. I'm going to start this today.

    Thank you @crstasse . Hope you enjoy it and let me know if you have any questions. :smile:
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  • crstassecrstasse Posts: 33 Member
    I do have one question, are you allowed to sell your paintings in the store? I had started with my Sim selling four of her paintings to get the retail store happening along with some collectibles but then I began thinking maybe paintings are not one of the departmental store themes? I don't mind starting again if I have to as I've only just played a couple of days.
  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    crstasse wrote: »
    I do have one question, are you allowed to sell your paintings in the store? I had started with my Sim selling four of her paintings to get the retail store happening along with some collectibles but then I began thinking maybe paintings are not one of the departmental store themes? I don't mind starting again if I have to as I've only just played a couple of days.

    You can sell your paintings, but as a retail item (Set For Sale). And it is a department theme, which is "Store Exclusives." Roleplay-wise, your store starts out as a crafts store, which will eventually evolve into a department store as you grow it.
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  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    edited February 2021
    Updated Household Rules:

    • Only potential spouses to Founder and Descendants are allowed to be added as a new member.
    • If a child is born outside of the household, then that child can be moved in as a new member with or without their non-Descendant parent.

    Updated Aspirations:

    • When a potential spouse is added to the household, you must roll a dice to determine their Personal Aspiration. (see previous line for aspiration numbers.)
    • When a sim completes a Personal Aspiration, you can pick any aspiration of your choosing.
    Post edited by nastyjman on
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  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    edited February 2021
    EPISODE 2
    Winter Heart
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    At a normal day, clothes flew off the shelves. Money jumped out of pockets and landed into Denzel’s cash drawer. SimMart grew in wealth.

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    But his home remained a ramshackle hovel. Investors shook their heads at his living conditions, only to be assured that their monies are being utilized to make them more money with the store.

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    Time went, and profits rose. Along with profits going up was Denzel’s age.

    “You know, the store won’t last long if you don’t have any descendants,” said an Investor. “And if the store goes, so does my investment. Get to work!”

    Denzel flirted here and there, only to be rebuffed most of the time.

    “I just want my shirt, please, thank you!” said an embarrassed customer.

    “I only came here for the pants your selling. Not the pants you’re wearing,” said another customer.

    “Just ring me up, will ya!?”

    In business school, it’s mentioned that you should never mix business with romance. Denzel did not go to business school, so he didn’t get that memo, for sure.

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    And so came winter. Denzel remained single, and the Wintersday Festivities was as lonely as the empty dish sitting unwashed in his sink.

    When he opened his store, a customer walked in that thawed his heart. He watched her at the corner of his eyes. She smiled and giggled, excited at the exotic merchandise offered.

    Denzel took a deep breath and readied himself.

    “Hello.”

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    Post edited by nastyjman on
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  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    edited February 2021
    Updated Aspirations. Instead of 6 aspirations, there are now 8 aspirations chosen by a dice roll.

    I decided to update this since the previous list of aspirations had 2 Romance Aspirations. Now, Serial Romantic is an alternative to Chief of Mischief.

    Also added a rule on Household: You can move out sims from your household. When moving them out, they must be marked as a Played Household so they age. Sims moved out from the main home will lose ownership of the retail store.

    EDIT: Also added this on Household: Marriages can be finalized either by “Elope Immediately” or “Plan Wedding Event.” Reward items received after the Wedding Event can be sold and is not considered as debt.

    EDIT 2: Also added this on Household: You cannot prematurely age up any sim. You can only age them once they have 1 or 2 days till age up, or wait until they age by themselves.
    Post edited by nastyjman on
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  • nastyjmannastyjman Posts: 1,218 Member
    edited February 2021
    EPISODE 3
    Light My Fyres
    Often times, a simple “hello” is enough to endear one’s heart. For Denzel, it was a miracle because his previous attempts were always rejected, probably from being unflirty.

    (Director’s Note: we apologize for the lost footage of Denzel’s awkward flirtation with Morgan Fyres, the first matriarch of SimMart. We blame the holiday gnomes for this. As recompense, we have asked Denzel to reenact his flirtatious advances with a mannequin, which he had recently purchased.)

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    Denzel asked Morgan to a date. Because of his financial situation, he had to make do by holding a romantic evening in his ramshackle home. He did put in some effort. He put up wallpapers, bought a table, and two chairs. The Chez Llama it was not—yet it was more intimate.

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    Morgan was not disgusted by the mold growing at the bottom of the walls. She did not mind the cheap wooden seats nor did she scoff at the second-hand nature of the table they were dining on.

    She did not see destitution, but she saw determination.

    “I can see it in your eyes,” she said. “A fiery passion in them.”

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    Denzel and Morgan saw each other regularly. As time went by, Morgan began helping out in the store, restocking some merchandise and keeping the store tidy.

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    When the store closed, the lovers would part ways. But one night, Denzel invited Morgan to stay over. With enough money earned, Denzel had bought an airbed, which they christened that night with a good ole’ woohoo!

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