I'm done with building the house and I really like it. The only issue is that it costs 100k simoleons Margo's gonna have to paint a bunch to get that much money, which is why I'm going to first save up about 25k to buy the small gallery / retail lot I created for her and from there it should be easier to buy this house. I don't know why it costs so much, I think it's the large pool and the plants. The house has everything that's needed and is furnished, even though there's rooms that look pretty good and rooms that are just empty. There's a nice patio, a playground for the kids, I managed to put in the pond and a garden at the side. Plus I made a cowplant pen because I really want to have several of them. If more space is needed for anything the pond can be removed and the space there used. If any of you are interested (you might want to remove a lot of the more 'unnecessary' stuff like plants, planters, the pool... stuff like that) it can be found on the gallery using the hashtag #TooExpensive. It's literally the only lot with that hashtag
I feel like it's mostly an improved version of the house I made and was unhappy with. Still, I like it a lot better than what the family currently is in. I'm thinking about creating another house that's a bit cheaper because I think 100k is too much for most families.
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
@ThomasLeThomas Thank you so much I loved working on it but as I said I might've gone a bit overboard. I mean, there's even a graveyard behind the house! It's on the other side so it's not visible on that picture and it's tiny but still, it exists
So... Uhm, Margo had Mortimer's baby and I have no idea how or why but instead of the expected single female baby it turned out to be a single male baby. I very much hope that that means that the savefile is still working fine. I named the little boy Mason Can't wait to see what kind of toddler he'll be! I really hope he'll inherit Mortimer's black hair because if he gets red hair too then I fear my sims have some sort of ginger plague!
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
Ughhh! I am starting to REALLY get sick of the toddler autonomy thing. I told Brian to place Juliet in a high chair and give her food. She just started eating the food when Margo, who was supposed to be busy painting, ignores all my commands and rushes to the toddler to get her out of the high chair BEFORE SHE EVEN HAS EATEN ANYTHING. This is so useless! I cancel the action out about five times but it always just reappears and takes precedence over anything else in her queue. Ffs, they really need to patch this or I'm going to loose my mind. Now the baby is crying and I can't get Margo to leave the darn toddlers alone long enough so she can care for Mason... Argh
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
You know, Suzie... If we're being super nitpicky here this is also just a box with a few more boxes added on to it. I usually start with a box shape and then literally just add more boxes wherever I feel like they fit. So maybe you've just not yet come to the 'add more boxes' stage This house isn't anything special in that regard, I'm sure everyone here can build something like that as well once you get the hang of the boxes thing
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
The high chair... it's a nice addition to the game and I'm sure when I'll play the toddlers to the fullest I'll love it, but for this challenge it's actually better not to use it. The toddlers can grab the food from the table easily and they'll never play it with it. Just eat it.
I've done the 100 Baby Challenge, check it out on my tumblr.
I feel the high chair is useful if the toddlers would be left alone in it untill they cry. Personally I'd rather put them into the high chair for a while instead of having food and plates in random places around the house
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
I'm done with building the house and I really like it. The only issue is that it costs 100k simoleons Margo's gonna have to paint a bunch to get that much money, which is why I'm going to first save up about 25k to buy the small gallery / retail lot I created for her and from there it should be easier to buy this house. I don't know why it costs so much, I think it's the large pool and the plants. The house has everything that's needed and is furnished, even though there's rooms that look pretty good and rooms that are just empty. There's a nice patio, a playground for the kids, I managed to put in the pond and a garden at the side. Plus I made a cowplant pen because I really want to have several of them. If more space is needed for anything the pond can be removed and the space there used. If any of you are interested (you might want to remove a lot of the more 'unnecessary' stuff like plants, planters, the pool... stuff like that) it can be found on the gallery using the hashtag #TooExpensive. It's literally the only lot with that hashtag
I feel like it's mostly an improved version of the house I made and was unhappy with. Still, I like it a lot better than what the family currently is in. I'm thinking about creating another house that's a bit cheaper because I think 100k is too much for most families.
Plants add quite a bit to the price of a house, especially with moo enabled because it's easy to "stack" them. One trick is to temporarily resize the pool so that you can afford the house sooner, and then gradually expand it as money comes in. You can also delete a few windows until later, particularly on less conspicuous facings of the house. Especially once curtains and such are added, windows add quite a bit to the price. I gave these as "sim-friendly" suggestions, because the sims won't notice the size of the pool or a missing window here and there. Of course plants are not technically a necessity, but they contribute to the aesthetics a lot, and they are fussy to replace later, so I'd leave them, unless there are spots where you placed them thick and can take a few out without diminishing the look. If you have any wide staircases, narrowing them temporarily to a single slot can trim some cost.
It's a great looking house, and 100k isn't really that expensive. I realize that the restrictions of the challenge effect the household income though.
If you have City Living, there is an item that let's you sell paintings on public lots. I completely forget what the silly thing is called, but you can put it in Sim inventory and make some money that way while saving up for the store. If easels fit in inventory (strangely I've never tried it) you could take one along and create more stock as you wait for sales. Added bonus you can meet new people while you're making money, and i don't think it breaks the spirit of the challenge. I'd consider it in the same vein as playing guitar for tips, but potentially more profitable. If there are teens in the house, you can put them to work writing books. Books are nice because they bring in money every day. Of course, buying multiple easels and making the teens paint is equally valid.
Get pen pals and sell the postcards. The household won't get rich doing this, but the time investment is fairly small, and it's free money.
harvest all spawners near your lot, and sell the collectibles as often as possible. Low time investment if you only get the close ones, and it's free money.
Another trick is to buy an observatory. They are relatively cheap and kids will use them autonomously. Prints can be sold, which allows the kids to actually bring in a little money (though it takes some time to make the initial cost back). Just be careful not to let a bunch of prints in inventory, because they add to the bills. Nice thing about this object is that it tends to be "sticky" meaning that sims use it autonomously and will keep using it until you stop them, or until their needs take priority. It's a way to make money that doesn't require much micro management.
If you have a garden, plant extras of dragon fruits and other high value plants. It's surprising how much the garden can bring in once the plants are evolved. In a challenge, it best to keep the garden small, and concentrate on the more valuable plants, though. A garden can eat up a lot of time if it gets too big.
Sorry for being long-winded. I'm just giving some of my "money with no job" tips because I think someone might find them useful. There are a few other skills that can make money, but aren't quite as useful in a challenge because they are a bit grind-y.
@Erica87 I just get the food out of the fridge and put in on the table when their need is low and the put right back so it doesn't spoil. They do leave the plate whatever when they're done but for now it didn't bother me much... maybe 'cause I have a small house.
I've done the 100 Baby Challenge, check it out on my tumblr.
@meubanks Temporarily resizing the pool is a great idea, I might even completely delete it for the time being, after all I know where it goes in the end. I wouldn't want to remove windows because most rooms don't have that much daylight anyway. I think the most windows I have in a room is the one in the front (planter box infront of it) and it would be pretty noticeable if I removed those. Don't have any curtains though! I tried to avoid plant stacking, I could possibly remove a few but I'd rather keep them because then I don't have to bother with landscaping in the future. I think I'm just going to remove the pool and just power through to buy the rest of the house unaltered. Selling paintings on public lots sounds like exactly what I need! Unfortunately easels can not be dragged but there's a ton of spots where they can be found. I've had my sim paint in the Casbah gallery which was especially great because of the lot traits there. As for the teens I usually focus on getting their skills up and their homework done and after that I have them help with the garden and the children so they're usually busy. But now that I think about it, when Percy and Paige age up I'll have Percy take on a career and Paige can do some writing. How do I get a penpal? I've always wanted to own some postcards myself because they give an inspired emotional aura which I could really use. Now that you talk about the observatory, that's something I completely forgot to add to the new house. Hnmm, I hope I can find room for it somewhere in the back, if I can't it'll have to go in the front As for the garden I have one spliced dragonfruit and one bush of just dragonfruit, unfortunately the space is getting really tight (guess why the new garden is so big) so I can't afford to plant any additional things right now. Thanks so much for your help, these are things that are going to help out tremendously! @Mareviola Yeah it's easier in a small home. In mine I found plates upstairs next to the doll house, in the lower slot of the hallway table, randomly placed on the nursery floor, on the TV table... And since my sims rarely clean up everything (usually only the plate they are using) I have to gather everything myself. I wish I made my matriarch neat, that would've made the household chores easier.
So Percy and Paige aged up into children and I think they're super cute!
I know this picture isn't the best but I just wanted to show them to you guys rightaway There's better ones in the family tree. They remind me of my first Rose kids. If you think that their chin is too big, you'd be surprised because that's completely gone once they reach teenagehood Percy rolled Cheerful and Social Butterfly, Paige rolled Evil (Haha!) and Whiz Kid. I think their aging brought some of the lost motivation back and I'm excited to see what Juliet's going to end up with as far as traits and aspirations go. As for the next fathers, Margo has a really good chemistry with Akira and I've had Geoffrey on my list for a long time so those are going to be the next baby daddies. I attempted to meet one of the aliens I knew about but he and Margo did not get along at all so I gave up on it. Once the vampire pack is out I'll create at least one full household of vampires, aliens, sims with elf ears and sims with special skin colors. I'd like a bit more diverse genes around
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
@Erica87 I just get the food out of the fridge and put in on the table when their need is low and the put right back so it doesn't spoil. They do leave the plate whatever when they're done but for now it didn't bother me much... maybe 'cause I have a small house.
I did this a lot until I noticed that most of the time my toddler was going upstairs or downstairs (at a super slow toddler pace) to eat instead of staying on the main floor. If you don't have more than one floor, it's great. Otherwise, it can be quite obnoxious.
Currently Playing - Generation One of the Bloom Legacy
@Erica87 Your new house is just lovely! I'll have to check it out on the gallery and give it a 'fave'. I've been wanting to do a full rebuild for my family, but I want to have a lot of extra funds before I start for that exact same reason... I know I'll go over my budget. Someday it will happen, I hope. Or I'll just do like you did and build it regardless and give the family some goals!
Currently Playing - Generation One of the Bloom Legacy
@VanillaChai Yeah I actually dread moving to the new house, which has 2 floors, for that reason. I actually miss the lock mod because you could restrict for age. I would totally block off the second floor to the toddlers. Maybe if it get too much I'll do it anyway. It's just annoying going every time and allowing the ones the age up.
I've done the 100 Baby Challenge, check it out on my tumblr.
@VanillaChai Having the goal of a nicer house is actually super motivating! That way you have something you can look forward to and something to work towards. Before I built this house I just had Margo paint whenever we'd need funds for something, now I'm actually having her paint as much as possible and I'm looking into other ways of making money as well, for example the gallery lot I want to buy has freezers so that she can sell food as well as shelves for collectibles and produce. Since I can decide the markup myself I feel like I'd gain a lot more money through that. I also bought that canvas thingy to sell paintings in a public place, that should help too. I feel like with te triplets leaving my challenge kind of lost the momentum and it's just now gaining it again
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
@meubanks Temporarily resizing the pool is a great idea, I might even completely delete it for the time being, after all I know where it goes in the end. I wouldn't want to remove windows because most rooms don't have that much daylight anyway. I think the most windows I have in a room is the one in the front (planter box infront of it) and it would be pretty noticeable if I removed those. Don't have any curtains though! I tried to avoid plant stacking, I could possibly remove a few but I'd rather keep them because then I don't have to bother with landscaping in the future. I think I'm just going to remove the pool and just power through to buy the rest of the house unaltered. Selling paintings on public lots sounds like exactly what I need! Unfortunately easels can not be dragged but there's a ton of spots where they can be found. I've had my sim paint in the Casbah gallery which was especially great because of the lot traits there. As for the teens I usually focus on getting their skills up and their homework done and after that I have them help with the garden and the children so they're usually busy. But now that I think about it, when Percy and Paige age up I'll have Percy take on a career and Paige can do some writing. How do I get a penpal? I've always wanted to own some postcards myself because they give an inspired emotional aura which I could really use. Now that you talk about the observatory, that's something I completely forgot to add to the new house. Hnmm, I hope I can find room for it somewhere in the back, if I can't it'll have to go in the front As for the garden I have one spliced dragonfruit and one bush of just dragonfruit, unfortunately the space is getting really tight (guess why the new garden is so big) so I can't afford to plant any additional things right now. Thanks so much for your help, these are things that are going to help out tremendously! @Mareviola Yeah it's easier in a small home. In mine I found plates upstairs next to the doll house, in the lower slot of the hallway table, randomly placed on the nursery floor, on the TV table... And since my sims rarely clean up everything (usually only the plate they are using) I have to gather everything myself. I wish I made my matriarch neat, that would've made the household chores easier.
So Percy and Paige aged up into children and I think they're super cute!
I know this picture isn't the best but I just wanted to show them to you guys rightaway There's better ones in the family tree. They remind me of my first Rose kids. If you think that their chin is too big, you'd be surprised because that's completely gone once they reach teenagehood Percy rolled Cheerful and Social Butterfly, Paige rolled Evil (Haha!) and Whiz Kid. I think their aging brought some of the lost motivation back and I'm excited to see what Juliet's going to end up with as far as traits and aspirations go. As for the next fathers, Margo has a really good chemistry with Akira and I've had Geoffrey on my list for a long time so those are going to be the next baby daddies. I attempted to meet one of the aliens I knew about but he and Margo did not get along at all so I gave up on it. Once the vampire pack is out I'll create at least one full household of vampires, aliens, sims with elf ears and sims with special skin colors. I'd like a bit more diverse genes around
Pen pals can be obtained from any computer under the "socialize" menu. It requires a little set up, but it is an easy source of free money after a few days. First choose "find pen pal" and then follow up with "check pen pal response( something like that, I don't know the exact wording)" You'll get pen pals from each location over time. After you write them a letter (added bonus is that it build writing skill) you can then request postcards. Post cards are also a collectible, but sometimes the game glitches out so it's tough to complete the collection without cheats. after you start getting postcards (which can provide a small inspired aura if you keep some) you can sell them. You won't get rich. The higher value ones sell for just over $100 or so, but the time investment is relatively low and requires no skill of any kind. I wouldn't do it over painting or writing if you're limited on time, but early in the game it can be a decent source of subsistence money.
I also like to hang a post card or two near the stove for the inspired buff. Inspired moodlets actually reduce the chance of cooking fires, and this is an easy way to get them, in case a low-skill bonehead sim decides to cook autonomously.
Ahh, thanks for explaining the pen pal thing to me, @meubanks. I knew it was possible to have penpals but I rarely use the computer to socialize so I missed the option. I thought that I should hang some postcards in the living room (where Margo is painting at the moment) but placing them next to the stove is a very good idea as well! I'll have Margo start on finding a penpal as soon as she's awake again.
Concerning inspired auras, do any of you maybe know of an object that gives off a hidden inspired aura? My sims always get inspired when they sit at the chess table and while I usually appreciate my sims getting inspired this is literally the only place on the lot I don't want that effect. I have a bird feeder and a wind chime there but removing either of them does nothing. I also removed the bonsai tree with no effect. Do plants sims can grow give off inspired auras? I'm super confused as to where this might come from...
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
"in case a low-skill bonehead sim decides to cook autonomously" xD
I actually want my sims to leave their dishes out. I have the trash can that gives you 10 simoleons per sim in the household when you put dishes in it. That's another way to make money, to add to @meubanks list. It costs 1200 initially, but I really find it useful. I have one on both floors of the house so that I don't have to bother trying to move dishes downstairs.
@Erica87 that's a great house! awesome job. Paige and Percy are cute! such a challenge when they roll the "bad" traits. My Johanna got mean. We'll see how that goes and how much havoc she'll create. lol
So, the first post has been updated with the revamped rules and it would be nice if everyone could give them a quick read-through. Thanks again to @Rawla and @SuzieSocks for helping with the thread and to everyone else who gave their input,
I appreciate your help a lot!
CURRENTLY PLAYING: Forum mafias & Minecraft, mainly. Taking a break from the sims for a while!
Comments
I feel like it's mostly an improved version of the house I made and was unhappy with. Still, I like it a lot better than what the family currently is in. I'm thinking about creating another house that's a bit cheaper because I think 100k is too much for most families.
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
So... Uhm, Margo had Mortimer's baby and I have no idea how or why but instead of the expected single female baby it turned out to be a single male baby. I very much hope that that means that the savefile is still working fine. I named the little boy Mason
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
The high chair... it's a nice addition to the game and I'm sure when I'll play the toddlers to the fullest I'll love it, but for this challenge it's actually better not to use it. The toddlers can grab the food from the table easily and they'll never play it with it. Just eat it.
Babies: 100/100
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
Plants add quite a bit to the price of a house, especially with moo enabled because it's easy to "stack" them. One trick is to temporarily resize the pool so that you can afford the house sooner, and then gradually expand it as money comes in. You can also delete a few windows until later, particularly on less conspicuous facings of the house. Especially once curtains and such are added, windows add quite a bit to the price. I gave these as "sim-friendly" suggestions, because the sims won't notice the size of the pool or a missing window here and there. Of course plants are not technically a necessity, but they contribute to the aesthetics a lot, and they are fussy to replace later, so I'd leave them, unless there are spots where you placed them thick and can take a few out without diminishing the look. If you have any wide staircases, narrowing them temporarily to a single slot can trim some cost.
It's a great looking house, and 100k isn't really that expensive. I realize that the restrictions of the challenge effect the household income though.
If you have City Living, there is an item that let's you sell paintings on public lots. I completely forget what the silly thing is called, but you can put it in Sim inventory and make some money that way while saving up for the store. If easels fit in inventory (strangely I've never tried it) you could take one along and create more stock as you wait for sales. Added bonus you can meet new people while you're making money, and i don't think it breaks the spirit of the challenge. I'd consider it in the same vein as playing guitar for tips, but potentially more profitable. If there are teens in the house, you can put them to work writing books. Books are nice because they bring in money every day. Of course, buying multiple easels and making the teens paint is equally valid.
Get pen pals and sell the postcards. The household won't get rich doing this, but the time investment is fairly small, and it's free money.
harvest all spawners near your lot, and sell the collectibles as often as possible. Low time investment if you only get the close ones, and it's free money.
Another trick is to buy an observatory. They are relatively cheap and kids will use them autonomously. Prints can be sold, which allows the kids to actually bring in a little money (though it takes some time to make the initial cost back). Just be careful not to let a bunch of prints in inventory, because they add to the bills. Nice thing about this object is that it tends to be "sticky" meaning that sims use it autonomously and will keep using it until you stop them, or until their needs take priority. It's a way to make money that doesn't require much micro management.
If you have a garden, plant extras of dragon fruits and other high value plants. It's surprising how much the garden can bring in once the plants are evolved. In a challenge, it best to keep the garden small, and concentrate on the more valuable plants, though. A garden can eat up a lot of time if it gets too big.
Sorry for being long-winded. I'm just giving some of my "money with no job" tips because I think someone might find them useful. There are a few other skills that can make money, but aren't quite as useful in a challenge because they are a bit grind-y.
Babies: 100/100
@Mareviola Yeah it's easier in a small home. In mine I found plates upstairs next to the doll house, in the lower slot of the hallway table, randomly placed on the nursery floor, on the TV table... And since my sims rarely clean up everything (usually only the plate they are using) I have to gather everything myself. I wish I made my matriarch neat, that would've made the household chores easier.
So Percy and Paige aged up into children and I think they're super cute!
I know this picture isn't the best but I just wanted to show them to you guys rightaway
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
I did this a lot until I noticed that most of the time my toddler was going upstairs or downstairs (at a super slow toddler pace) to eat instead of staying on the main floor. If you don't have more than one floor, it's great. Otherwise, it can be quite obnoxious.
Babies: 100/100
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
Pen pals can be obtained from any computer under the "socialize" menu. It requires a little set up, but it is an easy source of free money after a few days. First choose "find pen pal" and then follow up with "check pen pal response( something like that, I don't know the exact wording)" You'll get pen pals from each location over time. After you write them a letter (added bonus is that it build writing skill) you can then request postcards. Post cards are also a collectible, but sometimes the game glitches out so it's tough to complete the collection without cheats. after you start getting postcards (which can provide a small inspired aura if you keep some) you can sell them. You won't get rich. The higher value ones sell for just over $100 or so, but the time investment is relatively low and requires no skill of any kind. I wouldn't do it over painting or writing if you're limited on time, but early in the game it can be a decent source of subsistence money.
I also like to hang a post card or two near the stove for the inspired buff. Inspired moodlets actually reduce the chance of cooking fires, and this is an easy way to get them, in case a low-skill bonehead sim decides to cook autonomously.
Concerning inspired auras, do any of you maybe know of an object that gives off a hidden inspired aura? My sims always get inspired when they sit at the chess table and while I usually appreciate my sims getting inspired this is literally the only place on the lot I don't want that effect. I have a bird feeder and a wind chime there but removing either of them does nothing. I also removed the bonsai tree with no effect. Do plants sims can grow give off inspired auras? I'm super confused as to where this might come from...
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
I actually want my sims to leave their dishes out. I have the trash can that gives you 10 simoleons per sim in the household when you put dishes in it. That's another way to make money, to add to @meubanks list. It costs 1200 initially, but I really find it useful. I have one on both floors of the house so that I don't have to bother trying to move dishes downstairs.
I appreciate your help a lot!
Taking a break from the sims for a while!
Did not have much money to furnish it tho!
One day I'll finally able to post images... until then, tumblr it is!
Babies: 100/100
You're making fine progress. Keep going!