... poor Ziggy! Get him healed up fast, I would have chosen the same! Yes a point for cleaning the laundry is cleaning! Congrats to Jack for the promotion! Can you yourself pull the item the lighten left and sell it? Whitney is living dangerous! Will is racking up those points! I hope he can hold it!
Oh good, glad to hear that about laundry, thanks! I tried putting the crystal in one of the contestants' inventory and selling it, but it has to be 'claimed' first. I might be able to sell it in build mode, but I haven't tried that yet. Yes, about Whitney and we'll see about Will.
... your day 4 starting out with what looks like a kiss with Will and Nadine! Congrats on the promotion Will! Whitney and Will are still leading with points, I hope their sickness goes away soon, can't wait to read Day 5!
I wish it had been a real kiss. *sigh* Will has been doing extremely well, proud of him!. Day 5 will be up in a few hours. I wanted to post it sooner, but my internet went out last night and again this morning.
... Ziggy is as adorable as ever! All those illnesses have me a bit concerned ... hope they can recover from then sooner rather than later. Your screenshots are stunning and the story as entertaining/enjoyable as ever. So glad you're playing too!!
Thank you! I love my gaming desktop, it's been like night and day playing this game now as opposed to when all I had was a 10 year old laptop. lol It's been so much fun, I'm glad I found this challenge.
Off to read the continuation of both your stories now. Thanks again for posting your playthroughs, very much appreciated! I'll be back to comment!
Left comments for you on your thread @BreeMiles and I just finished your Day 3 @ADWilson, wanted to comment on it here, hope that's okay. Anyway, weird about what happened when Tyler & Darrell got home from work. This game has a lot of glitches like that though, unfortunately. Happy for Doodle learning to go outside! Yay! Good puppy!
Surprised Tyler ignored the TV to sleep. My contestants would try to sleep when the stereo was on, but would only for a few moments and wake right back up. I wish I knew what possesses Sims to use couches/benches to sleep over beds. It's so weird, mine did that too. Brant swearing at the door cracks me up! Maybe it is the house causing all the foul language. lol
Gah! I feel so bad for Alisha! So glad the others were able to put her out though and the house didn't burn down. Whew! I can't help noticing that the fridge is still broken. Just wondering why you didn't call someone to repair it. Guessing it was a day they'd all be penalized for it? They seemed to be fine without it anyway. Surprised Virginia ended up being the top contributor to the swear jar. I was sure it would be Tyler. lol
Interesting day, I know it was raining, but was it another thunderstorm? Or do they all just like spouting blue words because of their traits? Looking forward to the next Day!
Annnd now I'm off to try to sort out Day 5 screenshots for my roomies. Imgur mixed them all up again. I've never had this much of a problem with Imgur before. Oh well, be back later with Day 5!
@Karababy52 I was not expecting that to happen at all! I have never had sims do that in the pool before! 5 Days was a good run though. I think my first time doing the challenge it only lasted 1 day, before one of the sims burned the house down! Not naming names
@BreeMiles Day 3 was quite fun to read! Marcus and Tyrell made me laugh!! Marcus wearing his swimwear to Geek Con & Tyrell for cleaning while wearing the mascot suit. Queen Cupcake is adorable, that goes without saying. Looking forward to Day 4 for your crew.
@Karababy52 I was not expecting that to happen at all! I have never had sims do that in the pool before! 5 Days was a good run though. I think my first time doing the challenge it only lasted 1 day, before one of the sims burned the house down! Not naming names
I had a feeling it was going to happen to one of them the way they couldn't resist that back float option and were always exhausted when they tried it. Whitney was at a disadvantage over the others too since she only worked part-time, 4 hours a day. That gave her more time to get into trouble.
I had the seasons set for 14 days, so didn't even make it to the halfway mark. I was/am disappointed. 1 day though, yeah, that's a bummer. I guess I got lucky that none of my contestants started a fire. I kept expecting they would when cooking at such a low level, but it never happened. One thing that I think helped with my Sims is very, very rarely did any of them cook just a meal for themselves, it was always a group meal. Because of that there wasn't a lot of cooking going on. The WW fruitcake helped satisfy their hunger needs the first day too.
I've learned a lot about our Sims and full autonomy/free will while doing this challenge. I think the biggest thing I learned was that despite what most believe, newly created Sims can not survive for very long on their own without our help. Now, if you were to start them out with some skills and safe-proof their lot for anything that might cause their demise, maybe they'd last awhile, I don't know.
I think the biggest factors that caused Whitney's death was #1, of course, the back float. But what contributed to that and made it so deadly was their exhaustion and hunger. Both these were compromised in a big way, in my opinion, by the glitch where Sims will put grilled food immediately in their inventory instead of placing it on a table and eat a serving right away. Other Sims would also have access to that food too.
It would've helped if they ate the spoiled food from their inventory, as gross as that sounds, but unlike your Sims, none of mine would eat it. They just pulled a plate out when hungry, set it down and then got stuck standing there, hungry and complaining only to pull another plate out and repeat the process. I hope that glitch is fixed soon, it's horrible. I used to rely on Townie grilled food in the parks for my Rags to Riches Sims too. Not anymore. I wish I'd known it was within the rules to pull the grilled food from their inventory and set the platter on a table like you did @ADWilson. I believe Whitney wouldn't have died and my challenge would still be going if I had done that.
Another big contributor to their exhaustion was the stereo. Not the lack of enough beds, they had plenty of places to sleep otherwise; the loveseats, the couch on the patio, as well as the lounge chairs. But that stereo being on 24/7 kept waking them up whenever they would try to nap on the loveseats. AND for whatever reason, when they could sleep in the beds, they didn't. That puzzles me. They'd rather do anything and everything other than sleep, despite being exhausted.
I'm thinking perhaps a bigger lot would've helped too, at least in the case of the 'play in the rain' animation. They didn't really have anywhere to run around is why they would do it in the house.
If I try this challenge again, I would definitely make some changes, such as; no grill, no pool, no stereo and a bigger lot. Also, I'd randomize the Sims more than I did and play with more of them. Having only four with their appearances/clothing tweaked to my liking only made it so I cared about them more. Don't get me wrong, it was fun doing it the way I did, but I got too involved in their 'stories' and personalities instead of treating it like an experiment. Perhaps then my Sims would be able to survive longer than not even 5 full days. lol
In light of that, is it even allowable to not place those objects? Or are they necessary to the experience? I might still give them a grill though now that I know we can drag the food out of their inventory. But the stereo and pool? Hopefully not required. *crosses fingers* Oh, I don't think I'll use a washer/dryer again either. It was cool Whitney/Nadine actually used them, but they only did the one load and then clothes started piling up everywhere after that.
I think I might be too much of a micromanager/perfectionist/softie for this experience. lol But I might give it another go, we'll see...
Just because it's available doesn't mean you have to eat it!
I wish mine had eaten their spoiled food. lol The look on his face is hilarious though. Soooo much swearing still going on with your group. Are you still getting thunderstorms? Or is it just their 'nature' to swear so much? lol Good idea making another bathroom. Too bad your Sims seemed to gravitate toward one still though. Sheesh! Silly Sims! Doodle sure seems to be having fun though eh? Loves those puddles to play in at least. So cute! Looking forward to the next day!
By the way, in case you're wondering, no, I did not save that last day. I just couldn't do it. Whitney is still alive and well. I cheated to make them all happy, cleaned up the house and gave them all their own bed. I got rid of the stereo and the washer/dryer too. They now have island counters/bar stools in place of them with two new computers. Also, Whitney and Ziggy are BFFs now. She will also go fishing for the first time soon. I thought it was kind of silly she was an angler in the fishing career but had never touched a fishing pole. lol I would've sent her right away, but there was yet ANOTHER thunderstorm. o.O
@Karababy52 It's interesting how some Sims eat spoiled food and others not. Some gravitate to floating in the pool etc etc.
The food being left in the inventory appears to be a glitch and I seem to recall there being a post about it over on the EA Help site.
Later on, I added a table next to the grill and it was used once/maybe twice for setting food down.
Once I adjusted the weather to stop rain (it was Summer season and 14 days), my Sims stopped being foul mouthed for the most part.
I don't think you are required to have a pool or stereo, but I like having plenty of things for lot bound Sims to do. The stereo could be placed outside on the patio and if you'd rather not have a pool, you could have a hot tub <- my 2nd play-through has one. I opted not to place a washer/dryer so Sims wouldn't have to worry about laundry or catching things on fire. I might place them in the 3rd go-round for variety sake, lol. We'll see.
Hopefully, you enjoyed this and will give it another go at some point.
Happy to hear you gave them a second chance and made things easier for the four Sims. So ... any sparks between any of them?
@ADWilson Yup, I knew that's a glitch, but I thought we had to just go with whatever happened and not interfere. I'd already interfered once when I shouldn't have so I just decided I needed to leave them totally alone. We could adjust the weather too? o.O Well, dangit, wish I'd known that as well, I would've turned off thunderstorms. My play through was in Summer as well. Maybe the rules should be updated to reflect these two things? Just a thought...
I wanted to have plenty for my contestants to do as well, they had as much as I could pack in that tiny house/lot. I'm sure they could've found something else to do rather than back float and dance 'til they drop. lol I think if I do this again I will put in a hot tub. In my Asylum challenge they could eventually afford a hot tub and sometimes the inmates would sleep in it. lol
I did enjoy this and now that I know that a few things are allowed that I didn't, I'm thinking I will eventually try it again. I'll probably just tweak that same house rather than build a new one and place it on a different, bigger lot. But maybe not, I love to build anyway. Concerning the weather, are we also allowed to turn off temperature effects on our Sims? I was going to do that, but figured it was against the rules.
No sparks flying between anyone yet, it's only been one day. The closest relationship at the moment is between Whitney and Ziggy. I love them both. In fact, I'm thinking seriously about putting all four in my custom template as townies so I'll be seeing them around in other saves.
Day 5 in your play through certainly had a lot of cleaning going on eh? Wow! The points racked up by Brooks is impressive, he almost doubled his lead! Doodle looked so cute sleeping on his back. hehe I love it when Ziggy does that. Looking forward to the next day!
@Karababy52 I will let Bree know about your suggestions.
My rule of thumb for glitches is to find workarounds so the game can continue as it is supposed to.
For example, my Sims come home from work and will stand on the sidewalk for hours unless I direct them to go inside the house ... where they will then stand around for another hour before doing something/anything. At least I know where to find them when I'm busy checking up on all the contestants, lol
Brindleton Bay in the Summer is very rainy! I got tired of the tense mood (rather quickly!) so I turned off thunderstorms for a couple of days and then a day or so later turned off rain, too. I randomly picked how often to change the weather so there would be variety but mainly so my Sims would go outside in their backyard without having to flee back inside the house. Also, seeing Doodle spend most of his time hiding under beds was sad.
Hmm ... not sure about turning off temperature effects. That is definitely something I hadn't considered and will be sure to message her to see what she says.
Thanks for your input. Challenges need to be played and tested so the creator/s know what works and what doesn't since we can't duplicate all scenarios while playing through this ourselves. The more things that happen, the more fine-tuned the challenge will be.
I think you should! They're great Sims and if you're not playing them, then you can at least see them around town or maybe have yours meet/get to know them.
The points racked up for cleaning go to be ridiculous!! Hence the reason there is now a rule for being able to call for repairs, lol
I had Sims that would mop the kitchen, go to the bathroom, then back out to the kitchen and start the process over. I kept saying "would you go do something else so I can watch something else a bit more fun than counting how many puddles you mopped!" ha ha
Doodle is a dear dog. I rarely play with pets but am growing to like having them in game even if I can control them.
@Karababy52 you make the house to your liking, what you add to the house per say as to stereo's, tv's, and such is up to the builder! The only required thing to do in building the home for your Free Willer's is how many beds you add for the amount of sims you are playing with! In my house I didn't have a stereo at all only a tv! I will post in rules on the first page of this thread that you are aloud to take the grilled/group food from the sims inventory and place it out! Also on the grill its up to the builder if they add that or not, its not limited at all! NOTE: The grill is what burned down the house in my first game play! LOL I agree with Addy on her rule of thumb with glitches!! NOTE: also in my first play though, I didn't save it when they burned the place down so all my sims and house are still in tack! We are alike in that! I have a fondness of all sims I make and all sims I play with, whether they be mine or others!
My thought to you is give it another go with what you have learned from this one and see how the next round plays out! I'm glad you played the challenge and sorry it ended bad! I hope the next play through will happen through a few generations!
Thank you both @BreeMiles@ADWilson so much for your comments, suggestions, updating the challenge and the encouragement to try again. Well, I had so much fun despite the unhappy and early ending... I'm doing it again! This time though everything is totally randomized and I used story mode to create 7 contestants; 2 elders, 2 adults and 3 young adults. I also randomized a dog instead of a cat, just to mix things up.
I know the dog's random name, Oreo, but I don't know all the contestants names, I just hit the randomize button once for first/last and moved on. I also don't know all the jobs/traits everyone has either. A couple must have the neat trait though since they keep spraying down the computer desks. lol One I know is in the military career since she greeted another contestant with a salute and had medals in her inventory.
They are all the same as how the game created them too, right down to their physical appearance and clothing. I might tweak some of their wardrobes though. Most of them look fine, but some are... yeah, out there. o.O Plus, I don't know why, but for some odd reason the game likes to put glasses on Sims for the sleep category. *rolls eyes*
I decided not to use the Free Will Roomies house for this group. Mostly because I did go ahead and put them in my custom template and they're living in that house. They're still marked as unplayed townies though. I didn't want them to be homeless because of Ziggy. That house was built for four Sims too and now I have seven, so it needed to be bigger. I spent most of last night building Free Will 2.0 a house on a 30x40 lot in the wealthy neighborhood of StrangeVille. I love that world, it's just so beautiful with the red rock mountains.
No pool this time, went with a hot tub instead and no stereo. They have pretty much everything else the others had, including a grill, plus I placed a debug fishing pond and they have two rather than one computer. I turned off all weather and weather effects on Sims. It's interesting that they still will 'complain about the hot weather' since it's a heat wave even though it shouldn't bother them. Probably just a social added to their menu depending on the weather. *shrugs*
I played through Day 1 and took screenshots, but I need to update my spreadsheet after I find out whos who, take individual pics of the contestants, see who has what job/traits, etc., enter their scores and upload. I'll post a link when I'm finished just like last time. I probably won't upload the Sims this time, but I will upload the house, I love it! Single story again, but not so much modern. I used mostly the Cats & Dogs + Parenthood objects for the build, but there's stuff from other packs too.
Wish me luck! Or rather, my Sims!
Great Day 6 with your playthrough @ADWilson I can see how that would be frustrating (and boring) with them mopping all the time over and over because something is broken. I had that happen in my Asylum challenges. Silly Sims! The bathroom is quite busy with my new group too and I had my first 'embarrassed' contestant from walking in on another. lol Thought I'd set-up the toilet situation well to prevent that, but nope. lol I might just leave it the way it is though.
The dance party looked like fun and Congrats to Tyler! Will you be putting her Rock of Ages stereo career reward in the house in place of the Spa Day stereo? Just curious... I see Brooks is still in the lead, Go Brooks! Congrats to both him and Tyler for winning an outing too. As always, looking forward to reading the next day!
Anyway, have a great evening/morning, whatever it may be where you are and Happy Simming!
@Karababy52 Hooray! Glad you're giving this another go
Looking forward to reading about their adventures. Maybe you'll change your mind and upload the Sims, too.
And now you saw firsthand how many points were earned by broken things & how the repair rule came to be, lol
These Sims ... entertaining and sometimes annoying. But I wouldn't change a thing because it has been fun more than anything else.
LOL
Oh my! I totally forgot about the goodies they get with the promotions.
I went back in game to see & grabbed a screenshot. Will post when the last page has been linked. No spoilers that way! ha ha
@Karababy52 I'm overjoyed that you are giving it another go, I wish your sim family all the best and I can't wait to see the new house, I'm with Addy you should upload your sim family also!
@ADWilson Day 6, I see everything is breaking in the bathroom! Congrats to Darrell on his work opportunity! Congrats to Tyler for his promotion! Brooks is really leading this house!
Day 7, I'm glad Darrell didn't catch anything on fire! Neighborhood Brawl Day is really doing good as far as getting points and having them taken away! Super fun! Oh No sorry Virginia and Doodle lost their friendship! Brooks is still climbing in points standings, its really looking good for her!!
@Karababy52 Hooray! Glad you're giving this another go
Looking forward to reading about their adventures. Maybe you'll change your mind and upload the Sims, too.
And now you saw firsthand how many points were earned by broken things & how the repair rule came to be, lol
These Sims ... entertaining and sometimes annoying. But I wouldn't change a thing because it has been fun more than anything else.
LOL
Oh my! I totally forgot about the goodies they get with the promotions.
I went back in game to see & grabbed a screenshot. Will post when the last page has been linked. No spoilers that way! ha ha
I might change my mind, we'll see. I've tweaked them now, mostly just their wardrobe, but a couple have new hair styles. They all look so much better with just those small changes. I doubt you'd want these contestants totally untouched, trust me. lol But if you still do, let me know after you've read Day 1, you'll see what they looked like before I changed them afterward. I'd upload the tweaked ones, but they have more skills now and wouldn't be good for anyone wanting to use them for the Free Will Experience. But maybe y'all or someone else would want them despite that, so I don't know. Let me know your thoughts.
I have the spreadsheet updated now, Day 1 calculated and their group shot taken. I just need to upload everything and write the captions. I know their names, aspirations and traits now too, so I can include that with the group shot. Haven't uploaded the house yet, but I'm hoping to have time to do that later tonight when I get back to my game. I'll post a link when it's there.
So glad the rules were updated to allow for repairs, yep, I can see how that could rack up points. o.O I forgot about the goodies too until I started building their house. I was confused about all the stuff in the household inventory and wondered where it came from until I figured it out. lol Margaret's medals were in her personal inventory though and I can't remove them except to put them on the ground or a table. I might have to get the medal display case or something for her. Probably just leave them in her inventory for now.
What a fun Day 7! I like that park in Brindleton Bay, but there really isn't much there for Sims to do eh? I think that's why everyone always gravitates toward the chess table and will cheer for those who happen to be playing at the time. hehe Very, very good thing Tyler had immunity, passing out is such a big negative hit to their scores. So cute how Brooks and Doodle were having a meal together. Poor repair guy, he certainly earned his pay eh? lol
@Karababy52 I'm overjoyed that you are giving it another go, I wish your sim family all the best and I can't wait to see the new house, I'm with Addy you should upload your sim family also!
Thank you! House will be up soon and maybe the Sims too. Haven't decided which version if either I'll upload yet. Let me know your thoughts on that.
@Karababy52 My contestants are mostly untouched. I did minor outfit changes here & there but left the Sims the way the randomness of creation via story mode made them. I thought it would be fun to play them this way And for me, it is. They start off with skills and those don't get counted for points purposes because those making Sims the other way wouldn't have skills.
Anywho ...
You indicated that you changed the looks so I think that should be the group you upload. I would share the newly created Sims instead of the more skilled ones, but again that's just me. Those who download them might/might not play the Free Will Experience with them so may appreciate their having more skills.
@Karababy52 My contestants are mostly untouched. I did minor outfit changes here & there but left the Sims the way the randomness of creation via story mode made them. I thought it would be fun to play them this way And for me, it is. They start off with skills and those don't get counted for points purposes because those making Sims the other way wouldn't have skills.
Anywho ...
You indicated that you changed the looks so I think that should be the group you upload. I would share the newly created Sims instead of the more skilled ones, but again that's just me. Those who download them might/might not play the Free Will Experience with them so may appreciate their having more skills.
Uh oh, I forgot about the skills Sims get in Story Mode and I don't think you can go back and see what they were awarded, can you? Maybe I should start over with these contestants? Hmm, I think I might be able to find out another way. Perhaps I could put the unplayed version of them I saved down in another save, check out what skills they have and deduct accordingly back in the challenge save. That might work.
Still haven't uploaded their house or the Sims yet, but I did get their Day 1 screenshots uploaded. The last screenshot shows their scores, as usual though, so I'll need to wait until I try out whether or not I can adjust that before posting it. In the meanwhile, here's the group shot and their Aspirations/Traits/Careers:
Jacobo Bauer - Elder
Aspiration - Body Builder
Traits - Glutton, Loner, Goofball
Career - Secret Agent
I got a kick out of the name the randomizer gave him. He's basically an elder Jack Bauer from the TV series '24'. LOL
Madelyn Gonzalez - Elder
Aspiration - Successful Lineage (no way that's getting fulfilled)
Traits - Hates children (this wouldn't help either lol), Active, Evil
Career - None
Terrance Rodriquez - Adult
Aspiration - Angling Ace
Traits - Outgoing, Active, Ambitious
Career - Business
Shanna Lowe - Adult
Aspiration - Beach Life
Traits - Bro, Clumsy, Jealous
Career - Diver
Saul Morrison - Young Adult
Aspiration - Mansion Baron
Traits - Vegetarian, Creative, Materialistic
Career - Critic
Margaret Andrade - Young Adult
Aspiration - Painter Extraordinaire
Traits - Romantic, Neat, Good
Career - Military
Janette McCollum - Young Adult
Aspiration - Friend of the World
Traits - Neat, Bro, Foodie
Career - Culinary
I'll upload their modified version to the Gallery, their house and post a link for those and Day 1 soon! Oh, and I posted comments about Day 7 on your blog. Just so you know.
It worked! Was able to remove points for contestants that arrived with some skills due to Story Mode. I apologize for posting back-to-back but wanted to share links to Day 1, the Free Will 2.0 Contestants and their house which are now both on the Gallery. I elected to go with the modified versions of the contestants so they didn't have such in-cohesive outfits. lol I also used the hashtag #freewillexperience if the links don't work for whatever reason. Have a great rest of your weekend!
EDIT: *Note - I've changed the layout of the bathroom, so it doesn't look much like in the Day 1 screenshots anymore. I also did a little more landscaping than what shows in the screenshots and also in the kitchen I changed the flooring and added a couple decorative objects.
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Oh good, glad to hear that about laundry, thanks!
I wish it had been a real kiss. *sigh* Will has been doing extremely well, proud of him!. Day 5 will be up in a few hours. I wanted to post it sooner, but my internet went out last night and again this morning.
Thank you! I love my gaming desktop, it's been like night and day playing this game now as opposed to when all I had was a 10 year old laptop. lol It's been so much fun, I'm glad I found this challenge.
Off to read the continuation of both your stories now. Thanks again for posting your playthroughs, very much appreciated! I'll be back to comment!
Surprised Tyler ignored the TV to sleep. My contestants would try to sleep when the stereo was on, but would only for a few moments and wake right back up. I wish I knew what possesses Sims to use couches/benches to sleep over beds. It's so weird, mine did that too. Brant swearing at the door cracks me up! Maybe it is the house causing all the foul language. lol
Gah! I feel so bad for Alisha! So glad the others were able to put her out though and the house didn't burn down. Whew! I can't help noticing that the fridge is still broken. Just wondering why you didn't call someone to repair it. Guessing it was a day they'd all be penalized for it? They seemed to be fine without it anyway. Surprised Virginia ended up being the top contributor to the swear jar. I was sure it would be Tyler. lol
Interesting day, I know it was raining, but was it another thunderstorm? Or do they all just like spouting blue words because of their traits?
Annnd now I'm off to try to sort out Day 5 screenshots for my roomies. Imgur mixed them all up again. I've never had this much of a problem with Imgur before. Oh well, be back later with Day 5!
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I had a feeling it was going to happen to one of them the way they couldn't resist that back float option and were always exhausted when they tried it. Whitney was at a disadvantage over the others too since she only worked part-time, 4 hours a day. That gave her more time to get into trouble.
I had the seasons set for 14 days, so didn't even make it to the halfway mark. I was/am disappointed. 1 day though, yeah, that's a bummer. I guess I got lucky that none of my contestants started a fire. I kept expecting they would when cooking at such a low level, but it never happened. One thing that I think helped with my Sims is very, very rarely did any of them cook just a meal for themselves, it was always a group meal. Because of that there wasn't a lot of cooking going on. The WW fruitcake helped satisfy their hunger needs the first day too.
I've learned a lot about our Sims and full autonomy/free will while doing this challenge. I think the biggest thing I learned was that despite what most believe, newly created Sims can not survive for very long on their own without our help. Now, if you were to start them out with some skills and safe-proof their lot for anything that might cause their demise, maybe they'd last awhile, I don't know.
I think the biggest factors that caused Whitney's death was #1, of course, the back float. But what contributed to that and made it so deadly was their exhaustion and hunger. Both these were compromised in a big way, in my opinion, by the glitch where Sims will put grilled food immediately in their inventory instead of placing it on a table and eat a serving right away. Other Sims would also have access to that food too.
It would've helped if they ate the spoiled food from their inventory, as gross as that sounds, but unlike your Sims, none of mine would eat it. They just pulled a plate out when hungry, set it down and then got stuck standing there, hungry and complaining only to pull another plate out and repeat the process. I hope that glitch is fixed soon, it's horrible. I used to rely on Townie grilled food in the parks for my Rags to Riches Sims too. Not anymore. I wish I'd known it was within the rules to pull the grilled food from their inventory and set the platter on a table like you did @ADWilson. I believe Whitney wouldn't have died and my challenge would still be going if I had done that.
Another big contributor to their exhaustion was the stereo. Not the lack of enough beds, they had plenty of places to sleep otherwise; the loveseats, the couch on the patio, as well as the lounge chairs. But that stereo being on 24/7 kept waking them up whenever they would try to nap on the loveseats. AND for whatever reason, when they could sleep in the beds, they didn't. That puzzles me. They'd rather do anything and everything other than sleep, despite being exhausted.
I'm thinking perhaps a bigger lot would've helped too, at least in the case of the 'play in the rain' animation. They didn't really have anywhere to run around is why they would do it in the house.
If I try this challenge again, I would definitely make some changes, such as; no grill, no pool, no stereo and a bigger lot. Also, I'd randomize the Sims more than I did and play with more of them. Having only four with their appearances/clothing tweaked to my liking only made it so I cared about them more. Don't get me wrong, it was fun doing it the way I did, but I got too involved in their 'stories' and personalities instead of treating it like an experiment. Perhaps then my Sims would be able to survive longer than not even 5 full days. lol
In light of that, is it even allowable to not place those objects? Or are they necessary to the experience? I might still give them a grill though now that I know we can drag the food out of their inventory. But the stereo and pool? Hopefully not required. *crosses fingers* Oh, I don't think I'll use a washer/dryer again either. It was cool Whitney/Nadine actually used them, but they only did the one load and then clothes started piling up everywhere after that.
I think I might be too much of a micromanager/perfectionist/softie for this experience. lol But I might give it another go, we'll see...
Just my thoughts on everything.
I wish mine had eaten their spoiled food. lol The look on his face is hilarious though. Soooo much swearing still going on with your group. Are you still getting thunderstorms? Or is it just their 'nature' to swear so much? lol Good idea making another bathroom. Too bad your Sims seemed to gravitate toward one still though. Sheesh! Silly Sims! Doodle sure seems to be having fun though eh? Loves those puddles to play in at least. So cute! Looking forward to the next day!
Happy Simming!
@Karababy52 It's interesting how some Sims eat spoiled food and others not. Some gravitate to floating in the pool etc etc.
The food being left in the inventory appears to be a glitch and I seem to recall there being a post about it over on the EA Help site.
Later on, I added a table next to the grill and it was used once/maybe twice for setting food down.
Once I adjusted the weather to stop rain (it was Summer season and 14 days), my Sims stopped being foul mouthed for the most part.
I don't think you are required to have a pool or stereo, but I like having plenty of things for lot bound Sims to do. The stereo could be placed outside on the patio and if you'd rather not have a pool, you could have a hot tub <- my 2nd play-through has one. I opted not to place a washer/dryer so Sims wouldn't have to worry about laundry or catching things on fire. I might place them in the 3rd go-round for variety sake, lol. We'll see.
Hopefully, you enjoyed this and will give it another go at some point.
Happy to hear you gave them a second chance and made things easier for the four Sims. So ... any sparks between any of them?
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I wanted to have plenty for my contestants to do as well, they had as much as I could pack in that tiny house/lot. I'm sure they could've found something else to do rather than back float and dance 'til they drop. lol I think if I do this again I will put in a hot tub. In my Asylum challenge they could eventually afford a hot tub and sometimes the inmates would sleep in it. lol
I did enjoy this and now that I know that a few things are allowed that I didn't, I'm thinking I will eventually try it again. I'll probably just tweak that same house rather than build a new one and place it on a different, bigger lot. But maybe not, I love to build anyway.
No sparks flying between anyone yet, it's only been one day. The closest relationship at the moment is between Whitney and Ziggy. I love them both. In fact, I'm thinking seriously about putting all four in my custom template as townies so I'll be seeing them around in other saves.
Day 5 in your play through certainly had a lot of cleaning going on eh? Wow! The points racked up by Brooks is impressive, he almost doubled his lead! Doodle looked so cute sleeping on his back. hehe I love it when Ziggy does that.
Happy Simming!
My rule of thumb for glitches is to find workarounds so the game can continue as it is supposed to.
For example, my Sims come home from work and will stand on the sidewalk for hours unless I direct them to go inside the house ... where they will then stand around for another hour before doing something/anything. At least I know where to find them when I'm busy checking up on all the contestants, lol
Brindleton Bay in the Summer is very rainy! I got tired of the tense mood (rather quickly!) so I turned off thunderstorms for a couple of days and then a day or so later turned off rain, too. I randomly picked how often to change the weather so there would be variety but mainly so my Sims would go outside in their backyard without having to flee back inside the house. Also, seeing Doodle spend most of his time hiding under beds was sad.
Hmm ... not sure about turning off temperature effects. That is definitely something I hadn't considered and will be sure to message her to see what she says.
Thanks for your input. Challenges need to be played and tested so the creator/s know what works and what doesn't since we can't duplicate all scenarios while playing through this ourselves. The more things that happen, the more fine-tuned the challenge will be.
I think you should! They're great Sims and if you're not playing them, then you can at least see them around town or maybe have yours meet/get to know them.
The points racked up for cleaning go to be ridiculous!! Hence the reason there is now a rule for being able to call for repairs, lol
I had Sims that would mop the kitchen, go to the bathroom, then back out to the kitchen and start the process over. I kept saying "would you go do something else so I can watch something else a bit more fun than counting how many puddles you mopped!" ha ha
Doodle is a dear dog. I rarely play with pets but am growing to like having them in game even if I can control them.
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1. Bathrooms get really busy in game!
2. Dance Party!
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My thought to you is give it another go with what you have learned from this one and see how the next round plays out! I'm glad you played the challenge and sorry it ended bad! I hope the next play through will happen through a few generations!
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I know the dog's random name, Oreo, but I don't know all the contestants names, I just hit the randomize button once for first/last and moved on. I also don't know all the jobs/traits everyone has either. A couple must have the neat trait though since they keep spraying down the computer desks. lol One I know is in the military career since she greeted another contestant with a salute and had medals in her inventory.
They are all the same as how the game created them too, right down to their physical appearance and clothing. I might tweak some of their wardrobes though. Most of them look fine, but some are... yeah, out there. o.O Plus, I don't know why, but for some odd reason the game likes to put glasses on Sims for the sleep category. *rolls eyes*
I decided not to use the Free Will Roomies house for this group. Mostly because I did go ahead and put them in my custom template and they're living in that house. They're still marked as unplayed townies though. I didn't want them to be homeless because of Ziggy. That house was built for four Sims too and now I have seven, so it needed to be bigger. I spent most of last night building Free Will 2.0 a house on a 30x40 lot in the wealthy neighborhood of StrangeVille. I love that world, it's just so beautiful with the red rock mountains.
No pool this time, went with a hot tub instead and no stereo. They have pretty much everything else the others had, including a grill, plus I placed a debug fishing pond and they have two rather than one computer. I turned off all weather and weather effects on Sims. It's interesting that they still will 'complain about the hot weather' since it's a heat wave even though it shouldn't bother them. Probably just a social added to their menu depending on the weather. *shrugs*
I played through Day 1 and took screenshots, but I need to update my spreadsheet after I find out whos who, take individual pics of the contestants, see who has what job/traits, etc., enter their scores and upload. I'll post a link when I'm finished just like last time. I probably won't upload the Sims this time, but I will upload the house, I love it! Single story again, but not so much modern. I used mostly the Cats & Dogs + Parenthood objects for the build, but there's stuff from other packs too.
Wish me luck! Or rather, my Sims!
Great Day 6 with your playthrough @ADWilson I can see how that would be frustrating (and boring) with them mopping all the time over and over because something is broken. I had that happen in my Asylum challenges. Silly Sims! The bathroom is quite busy with my new group too and I had my first 'embarrassed' contestant from walking in on another. lol Thought I'd set-up the toilet situation well to prevent that, but nope. lol I might just leave it the way it is though.
The dance party looked like fun and Congrats to Tyler! Will you be putting her Rock of Ages stereo career reward in the house in place of the Spa Day stereo? Just curious... I see Brooks is still in the lead, Go Brooks! Congrats to both him and Tyler for winning an outing too. As always, looking forward to reading the next day!
Anyway, have a great evening/morning, whatever it may be where you are and Happy Simming!
Looking forward to reading about their adventures. Maybe you'll change your mind and upload the Sims, too.
And now you saw firsthand how many points were earned by broken things & how the repair rule came to be, lol
These Sims ... entertaining and sometimes annoying. But I wouldn't change a thing because it has been fun more than anything else.
LOL
Oh my! I totally forgot about the goodies they get with the promotions.
I went back in game to see & grabbed a screenshot. Will post when the last page has been linked. No spoilers that way! ha ha
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Outing
Thank goodness Tyler has immunity!
Home Lot
The repair guy came! The repair guy came!
It's the little things that make one happy, lol
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@ADWilson Day 6, I see everything is breaking in the bathroom! Congrats to Darrell on his work opportunity! Congrats to Tyler for his promotion! Brooks is really leading this house!
Day 7, I'm glad Darrell didn't catch anything on fire! Neighborhood Brawl Day is really doing good as far as getting points and having them taken away! Super fun! Oh No sorry Virginia and Doodle lost their friendship! Brooks is still climbing in points standings, its really looking good for her!!
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I might change my mind, we'll see. I've tweaked them now, mostly just their wardrobe, but a couple have new hair styles. They all look so much better with just those small changes. I doubt you'd want these contestants totally untouched, trust me. lol But if you still do, let me know after you've read Day 1, you'll see what they looked like before I changed them afterward. I'd upload the tweaked ones, but they have more skills now and wouldn't be good for anyone wanting to use them for the Free Will Experience. But maybe y'all or someone else would want them despite that, so I don't know. Let me know your thoughts.
I have the spreadsheet updated now, Day 1 calculated and their group shot taken. I just need to upload everything and write the captions. I know their names, aspirations and traits now too, so I can include that with the group shot. Haven't uploaded the house yet, but I'm hoping to have time to do that later tonight when I get back to my game. I'll post a link when it's there.
So glad the rules were updated to allow for repairs, yep, I can see how that could rack up points. o.O I forgot about the goodies too until I started building their house. I was confused about all the stuff in the household inventory and wondered where it came from until I figured it out. lol Margaret's medals were in her personal inventory though and I can't remove them except to put them on the ground or a table. I might have to get the medal display case or something for her. Probably just leave them in her inventory for now.
What a fun Day 7! I like that park in Brindleton Bay, but there really isn't much there for Sims to do eh? I think that's why everyone always gravitates toward the chess table and will cheer for those who happen to be playing at the time. hehe Very, very good thing Tyler had immunity, passing out is such a big negative hit to their scores. So cute how Brooks and Doodle were having a meal together.
Thank you! House will be up soon and maybe the Sims too. Haven't decided which version if either I'll upload yet. Let me know your thoughts on that.
Anywho ...
You indicated that you changed the looks so I think that should be the group you upload. I would share the newly created Sims instead of the more skilled ones, but again that's just me. Those who download them might/might not play the Free Will Experience with them so may appreciate their having more skills.
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Highlights:
Little ol' me, just being cute as usual.
Evil and I know it. Evil and I show it.
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Uh oh, I forgot about the skills Sims get in Story Mode and I don't think you can go back and see what they were awarded, can you? Maybe I should start over with these contestants? Hmm, I think I might be able to find out another way. Perhaps I could put the unplayed version of them I saved down in another save, check out what skills they have and deduct accordingly back in the challenge save. That might work.
Still haven't uploaded their house or the Sims yet, but I did get their Day 1 screenshots uploaded. The last screenshot shows their scores, as usual though, so I'll need to wait until I try out whether or not I can adjust that before posting it. In the meanwhile, here's the group shot and their Aspirations/Traits/Careers:
Jacobo Bauer - Elder
Aspiration - Body Builder
Traits - Glutton, Loner, Goofball
Career - Secret Agent
I got a kick out of the name the randomizer gave him. He's basically an elder Jack Bauer from the TV series '24'. LOL
Madelyn Gonzalez - Elder
Aspiration - Successful Lineage (no way that's getting fulfilled)
Traits - Hates children (this wouldn't help either lol), Active, Evil
Career - None
Terrance Rodriquez - Adult
Aspiration - Angling Ace
Traits - Outgoing, Active, Ambitious
Career - Business
Shanna Lowe - Adult
Aspiration - Beach Life
Traits - Bro, Clumsy, Jealous
Career - Diver
Saul Morrison - Young Adult
Aspiration - Mansion Baron
Traits - Vegetarian, Creative, Materialistic
Career - Critic
Margaret Andrade - Young Adult
Aspiration - Painter Extraordinaire
Traits - Romantic, Neat, Good
Career - Military
Janette McCollum - Young Adult
Aspiration - Friend of the World
Traits - Neat, Bro, Foodie
Career - Culinary
Oreo - Female Adult Mixed Breed Dog
Traits - Sleuth, Playful, Troublemaker
I'll upload their modified version to the Gallery, their house and post a link for those and Day 1 soon! Oh, and I posted comments about Day 7 on your blog. Just so you know.
Day 1- Free Will 2.0
Free Will 2.0 Contestants
Free Will House 2.0
Happy Simming!
EDIT: *Note - I've changed the layout of the bathroom, so it doesn't look much like in the Day 1 screenshots anymore. I also did a little more landscaping than what shows in the screenshots and also in the kitchen I changed the flooring and added a couple decorative objects.