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PianoAshes's avatar
11 years ago

A Farming Challenge with a Twist

Hello! I've been wanting to do something like this for a whilst now and well, now's the time! I had a feeling there would be other challenges like this out there and I found one which inspired me a little https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grltGhWT_UI. My farmhouse seems to resemble his a lot, though that wasn't at all intentional. :lol: Anyway!

(Rules updated 6/07/2014!)

(updates in red text)


What you'll need for this challenge:-

- Sims 3 (obviously)
- Pets (definitely)
- Ambitions (as washing is part of the challenge)
- World Adventures (for nectar production)
- Supernatural (for consigning produce and honey etc and for the rocking chair which your sim's elderly father spends most of his time in.)
- Showtime (simply because the windows and one of the beds are from Showtime. If you don't have Showtime then feel free to just replace these things.)
- University (for an end table and chair, same applies, if you don't have this then they can be easily replace.)
- Late Night is recommended.
- Seasons is highly recommended and will play a big role in this challenge.
- All farm related store items are also recommended.

(Store bought content "Perpetual wall ivy" and "Pleasant Wall Ivy" are used on the lot, but it's no real problem if you don't have them. Though a lot of people have had the ivy replaced by wall trains... If that happens feel free to switch it over and act as nothing happened. xD)

Story:-

Our story begins with an old, rundown farmhouse with an unknown history. You have an elderly father who's ill and very frail, a teenage main character and just 500 simoleons.
Our main character's elderly father has just recently lost everything and they've had to move to a new town. They basically came to Appaloosa Plains with nothing and were given an old beaten up farmhouse and 500 simoleons on the condition that they renovate and build it up to be a working farm once again. The main character's elderly father is too frail to do any work and has to be cared for by the main character.


Rules:-

- You must begin with an elderly father and a teenage sim (which are on the lot by default. You may use a cheat and edit them in CAS. The elderly father must stay male but the teenager can be either male or female. You may also choose whichever traits you desire for this challenge. (Although the gatherer trait is discouraged). They must stay human though- no supernaturals.
(This does not apply to heirs later on- they may marry into supernatural families.)

- No cheats unless there's a glitch and it becomes a necessity.

- You start out with 500 simoleons and you may spend that on whatever you feel would be most productive. (You may start out with less if you choose. You may also remove walls, food from the fridge etc. Basically anything to make the challenge harder!)

- Lifespan is entirely up to you, but for more of a challenge keep it under or around 100 sim days. (This goes for supernatural sims. Try to age them up at the same rate as a regular sim (with witches you won't have a problem).

- Neither the elderly father nor the first generation may travel abroad, attend university or travel into the future. The second, third, fourth and so on, may.

- Teenage main character must attend school as normal and earn an A.

- MC must fix all broken items and clean up the horrific mess by him/herself.

- MC must also do all the growing of the crops him/herself.

- MC must also do all general housework (with the exception of old newspapers and dirty clothes that may be dragged by player.)

- MC must care for the elderly father as he is ill and very frail and must rest...
- Cook him a proper meal at least twice a week. (Father can eat leftovers whenever they're there and can get quick meal once a week)
- Clean up after him as much as you can.
- Don't leave him unattended unless MC is going to school.
- Don't allow him to do any housework if possible, especially cleaning, gardening or cooking. (Bringing in the washing now and again is acceptable if your MC is completely snowed under.)
- When the father wants to leave the house then MC must accompany him everywhere up until his passing.

- The elder may do anything he wishes so long as it's not strenuous such as read, rock in the rocking chair, fish so long as he is accompanied by the teen (you may sell these fish at the consignment store (or supermarket if the option is unavailable)) and socialise with other sims he meets.

What the elder can do to help-
- Keep pets company
- Feed pets if your MC is too busy
- Check weather in newspaper
- Talk to plants
- Bring in washing on occasion if MC is too busy

- Nothing that comes with the house/lot can be customised. You must wait until you can afford to replace it all- this includes objects, windows and doors, wallpaper etc. Trees, plants and weeds must be deleted and not sold. Items such as fridges or beds may be sold only if they are to be replaced.

- The house cannot be developed by MC and although you can buy new wallpaper, furniture etc. the building must stay the same until the second generation is in charge. (Windows and doors may be replace and you may add a ladder to the attic and use this space to make room for your growing family.)

The only ways you can make money:-
- Selling produce
- Selling nectar you've made yourself
- Selling eggs
- Selling cheese from milking cows
- Selling honey and bees wax (can be from own bee hive or the two from the elixir store once a week).
- Collecting bugs, rocks and general collectibles when there is time to spare. (Bugs must be traded at the science lab and rocks can either be sold or must be smelted/cut through mail for a fee.)
- Fishing when there is time to spare (fish may be sold (at the supermarket only), eaten or mounted.
- Your sims may also accept opportunities relating to their skills i.e. "fix broken stereo".
- Selling flowers that you've picked from your home lot only.
- Breeding and selling horses (next generation may enter horse races and earn that way also).
- Next generation may make money anyway you'd like- this includes getting a job!
- Children may have bake sales.
- If you have the store content that allows you to sell baked goods then you may have your MC or his wife do that also when there's time.

(All collectibles, crops, nectar honey and everything possible must be sold at either the consignment store or the elixir store. For things that aren't possible to be sold that way they may be sold normally. Crops may also be sold at the supermarket if you do so wish.)

- You may not steal or sell stolen items.

- You may not merge any other sims with your household.

- Your MC may not attend university (this goes for the elder and your MC's partner).

- Your MC must marry and and have at least 3/4 children in his/her lifetime.

- MC can marry anyone you like with any traits you desire, but for more of a challenge stick with non-wealthy sims.

- The family may all help out with chores.

- Your MC may have either a cat and a dog, two dogs or two cats and up to three horses. As soon as the second generation reaches young adult then you're free to have as many pets as you like. Minor pets are always allowed.

- Bugs and animals caught by cats may be sold or kept as pets, but obviously bugs must be donated to the science lab.

- Anything to aid your sim in farming is permitted if it can be afforded, such as sprinklers, tractors and harvesters. It's really up to the player- if you want more of a challenge then stay away from things such as Swiftgrow Gardening Station at least until your money is steady.

More about the farm when it's becoming a fully functional working farm:

- Chickens must be fed once a day and eggs must be collected once a day. If you specifically want some chicks then be sure to have two chicken coops so that you're able to still collect some eggs.
- Cows must be milked at least twice a day to make cheese.
- Bees should be tended to at least once a day, this includes cleaning and smoking the hive and feeding the bees.

More about second (or third or fourth etc) generation:

- Despite having more freedom the farm must remain a working farm. The rules, however, are more lenient- for instance, you may skip milking the cows or tending the chickens sometimes. It's recommended that you keep on top of the crops and bees, though.
- Changing the house and farm's theme based on your heir's personality, tastes and experiences is strongly encouraged!
- You may have your sim/sims attend university.
- You may also have your sims travel into the future.
- Traveling abroad is also permitted, but discouraged as your sims does not age during this period.
- Your sims may now use the gem cutter if they desire.


- Finally, have fun! It may seem like a lot of rules, but it is meant to be a challenge and it is certainly doable.


Notes:
- The time portal may not be sold- it can be either deleted or kept.
- The university packages may be sold or kept.
- Wedding gifts are fair game and you may do with them whatever you please.
- Gift giving parties are permitted once a year- generally on Snowflake day.

______________________

Download household here:- http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=8265173

Some pictures of the house and inside:-

http://lvlt.thesims3.com/sims3_asset/sims3_asset/media/shard000//shard000/222/299/017/00/screenshot_original.jpg

http://lvlt.thesims3.com/sims3_asset/sims3_asset/media/shard000//shard000/230/299/017/00/screenshot_original.jpg

http://lvlt.thesims3.com/sims3_asset/sims3_asset/media/shard000//shard000/229/299/017/00/screenshot_original.jpg

http://lvlt.thesims3.com/sims3_asset/sims3_asset/media/shard000//shard000/226/299/017/00/screenshot_original.jpg

http://lvlt.thesims3.com/sims3_asset/sims3_asset/media/shard000//shard000/227/299/017/00/screenshot_original.jpg

http://lvlt.thesims3.com/sims3_asset/sims3_asset/media/shard000//shard000/223/299/017/00/screenshot_original.jpg

http://lvlt.thesims3.com/sims3_asset/sims3_asset/media/shard000//shard000/224/299/017/00/screenshot_original.jpg

http://lvlt.thesims3.com/sims3_asset/sims3_asset/media/shard000//shard000/221/299/017/00/screenshot_original.jpg

157 Replies

  • @Reina It's still going pretty well. Definitely better than before where it got to the point that I couldn't even play that game. Yeah, I was thinking of maybe posting the story online somewhere. My teen (I made her a girl instead of the male teen that was in the download) just aged up into a young adult so I'm excited that I'll be able to do more with her.
    Also, from what I can tell, the mod for changing the rate of pay for some jobs that @zchase2315 uses seems like it would definitely help out with you not getting bored. I may even need to check it out and add it to my game. I have that same problem of getting bored. So far the challenge has kept me interested in and of itself, but I've had to fix and clean the house while finding a way to make money to pay the bills.
  • @Raenic - I'd love to read it if you upload it :] I also made my teen a girl. I'm not even sure why since I usually creates guys in my game.. maybe to change it up some? I don't know lol. Maybe you can post a picture of her if not uploading the entire challenge? I did take a look at the mod mentioned but have yet to try it in game. I will probably just do the challenge for a bit, because I'm crazy busy these days, and so it won't bother me when it comes to how quickly Sims makes money. I like how produce etc. doesn't produce too much income.
  • It seem like its been forever seen I posted on here. Well anyway I hope to work on releasing some more chapter real soon. If you're reading this post and you're new to the challenge check out how my sims got their start in Chapter One and here is a link to my lastest chapter: Chapter 13.
  • I know it's been a few years since anybody has posted here. I just found this challenge and liked the way it sounded. Here is my attempt at it. I started w/and elder man, Don Bellamy and created his son Arturo Bellamy. I chose Appaloosa Plains and an existing house which I made pretty run down looking. In respect to the rules, I am not altering the house structure until Joseph grows up to YA. I modified the house w/room to spare before anybody moved in. They had very cheapie everything. Here is the original house as I started.

    https://i.ibb.co/4F9zr0Z/House-Exterior.jpg

    https://i.ibb.co/MnKsg77/House-Interior.jpg


    It was tough at first. Arturo had to "work on late homework" many times when he went to school. Also, sometimes he didn't get enough sleep and had to catch up when he got home. He found a couple or Red Berry Bean seeds and planted them. They now have many. Those are pretty lucrative. There was another time when he saw an unsmelted Plutonium nugget and bought it. That netted a nice profit! They started off w/just the chicken coop. It seems as though you can harvest the exotic egg almost every day. Also, only 1 chicken coop is needed to get chicks. There were a couple of times when he just didn't get to the eggs in time and they hatched. Eventually, they were able do really good and currently have the chicken coop, dairy corral, and 2 horses which I plan to breed. Here is the current farmhouse:

    https://i.ibb.co/Zd1DZ8j/Currrent-Farmhouse.jpg

    https://i.ibb.co/wJmZtJP/Farmhouse-Interior.jpg

    Arturo eventually grew up and graduated Valedictorian and voted to be the most popular! He married Benni Hennessey and they have two sons Joseph and Benjamin. Interestingly, Joseph got a random black hair. Benjamin is just born so no pics yet. I peeked though and he has his dad's hair color.

    Don or Gramps https://i.ibb.co/NZFTGJJ/Don-Bellamy.jpg

    Arturo https://i.ibb.co/C0MYqfk/Arturo-Bellamy.jpg

    Benni https://i.ibb.co/QmS4xn7/Benni-Bellamy.jpg

    Joseph https://i.ibb.co/4s6pdk5/Joseph-Bellamy.jpg

    There was another time when one of the paparazzis caught fire and gramps put her out. It's truly amazing though that gramps is now 106!! Don helps out a little by caring for the animals (autonomously).

    Edit: Just to make sure this is a reply to my first attempt, I'm adding to this post. I'm trying out https://modthesims.info/d/658435/functional-sheep-look-a-living-sheep-v1-2.html Lyralei's sheep on this one to see how it goes. So far, they're just now starting in spring. Up til now, it's been winter and all the sheep do is eat, drink, and stay in the shelter, lol. I've not done it yet, but it is possible to interact w/them.

    Edit 2: If anybody sees this, so far at least for me, the sheep are just deco items that you can interact with. I'm sure she's working on getting the shearing functional.
  • I decided to start over b/c the last one was a bit too easy. The previous guy found a couple of Red Berry Beans and those a very lucrative.

    Anyway, I d/led the house on page 1 and tried to delete part of the foundation to be able put the ladder inside of it, but that didn't work. I have the seasons set for a very long summer, short fall, and short winter and a short spring. I decided to play Riverview b/c I'm familiar w/that town and it does have a lot of resources. I took him and his dad to the park to fish and he found and picked a couple of Cosmos flowers and an Indian Blanket flower and cashed them in. I next took him to the abandoned mine and picked up a few gems and then to Sim Henge and picked up a couple more gems and some seeds. I sent the gems in to be cut and the couple pieces of metal also to be smelted. All told, they have a bit over $1700 now. I usually don't open the fridge and just click on it to prepare meals. I think I was curious how much of the last meal that was prepared was left. When I opened it, I was totally floored! Many of the fruits and veggies that he could plant as well as eggs and cheese!! I'll take him to the Elixir shop and consign all of the eggs and most of the veggies. He has a small garden planted in the front now and also has a puppy and a cat. The cat of course will keep them in good shape w/her hunting and the dog can help dig up gems. No horse or cows yet. I'll get the chickens when he graduates b/c he'll have more time then. I sent him to prom to see if he would gain a love interest and he did! I think I'll have to have her move in either just before or just after she graduates b/c she is a babysitter and often times, they either wind up getting culled or shipped off overseas so to speak. I don't want to lose her. In trying to put the ladder inside the foundation I discovered the secret which I won't disclose.
  • Here is a bit of an update. Leon and Sally finally got married and now have a little daughter, Allegra and another on the way. When Sally moved in, she brought in a whopping $162.00!!! So they're sitting pretty good now. I have them in the celeb line up and they just got a dishwasher for free. They both graduated on the same day. He graduated w/an A and she barely w/a C. That's expected since she moved in only a day before. Here are some pics. Just click on the pic and it will become big enough to see.

    https://i.ibb.co/4dcvWZs/Sally-Before.jpg

    https://i.ibb.co/0f5m7gS/Sally-After.jpg

    The graduation pics:

    https://i.ibb.co/TYXBtHm/Leon-Graduates.jpg

    https://i.ibb.co/ZYtR6ng/Sally-Graduates.jpg

    Also, I explored the secret and to be honest, as far as I can see, there is nothing except a cryptic msg. I don't know if there's more to that or not. Anyway, here is a pic of Sally exploring the wall:

    https://i.ibb.co/QrByHG8/Inspecting-Wall.jpg

    https://i.ibb.co/YbsYLJ8/Inspecting-Wall2.jpg

    The only reason I included these is b/c I've never seen this graphics glitch before.

    Edit: They only have 5 days left of summer so I bought some ITF garden rugs and put them in the basement. When the next generation takes over, I'll build a greenhouse outside.
  • As others above mentioned, this house is way too small for a family of 5. How much room does a sim need to bend down and give the toddler a bottle? Mom would go all the way downstairs and of course, the baby would sit at the top of the stairs. : / I moved the older daughter down to the basement. All three kids share a bedroom down there. When the oldest daughter becomes a YA, I'm going to totally revamp that house and make it bigger and eliminate the 2nd basement/tomb. Leon married his high school sweetheart, Sally and they have 3 children Allegra, Wrenly (named for the small bird Wren), and Amelia. She wants one more and I'm debating whether to do it or not.

    Here is Allegra as a toddler https://i.ibb.co/C1WJhBS/Allegra.jpg

    Allegra as a teen https://i.ibb.co/rcgGjtr/Allegra-as-Teen.jpg

    Wrenly as a Toddler https://i.ibb.co/17gCBMX/Wrenly-as-Toddler.jpg

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