100 Day Creativity Challenge - CAS & Build
This challenge is all about stretching your creative muscles. You know the saying – “Practice makes Perfect”? – well, it reflects a truth that practicing something will make you better at it. I, personally, used to be quite bad at building, but through practice, I’ve gotten better. Now, CAS seems to be my achilles heel in Sims, and something I usually avoid… so I’ve decided to force myself to do some sim-making. There’s a lot of challenges out there for doing a number of CAS themes OR build themes, but, as far as I know, there isn’t one that combines the two skills. I used ideas from as many different CAS challenges as I could find, and then changed them to suit what I thought would work. I tried to make things neither too specific or too generic, and to pick stuff that most people can relate to. I made a list of 100 of the best ideas I came up with (because that’s a nice round number) and randomized the list several times on the random.org website. The hardest part was then fleshing out each of the ideas. The list of themes is the result of hours of work, which was hopefully worth it. My hopes is that other simmers will find this challenge and help fill the gallery with themed sims and builds under the #100daycreativity hashtag.
How to Play
For each day/theme listed, make a household (one or more sims), then make a build based on that theme. By “Build” – I mean either build the Sim-household that you made a house, make a venue based on the theme, or – at the very minimum, build a room (or rooms) following the theme guide. I have tried to give some ideas for each theme to get you started. Do not feel like you have to do this each and every day, or even that they have to be done in order. Work through the list at your own pace and in whatever order you want – remember – this is for fun! Feel free to print off this list and cross stuff off as you go. Since the list is already randomized, you can start at the beginning and not feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over, or you can use a randomizer to roll for a number, and be really random. Another way to play would be to just pick and choose what is inspiring you on any given day.
Cheats: Money cheats are perfectly alright, do whatever you need to be able to build whatever you want. Build cheats are also okay, make a note if the lot will require Move Objects on. Debug cheats, cas full edit mode and unlocking career objects is also fine.
Expansion Packs: The beauty of this challenge is that you can do it without having the expansion packs. You’ll have more options if you use more packs, but it’s completely do-able without the packs. If a theme calls for, say, an alien, and you don’t have Get to Work – be creative, make a regular sim that looks as alien as you can.
Custom Content/Mods: These are allowed if you’re the type of person who likes using them. Again, make a note if it needs CC to be downloaded. Going mod and CC-free is another way to go, and might be a good way to really challenge yourself.
World Set-Up: If you want, make a completely blank save (or download one, there’s plenty of them out there), and put each build/family you make on a different lot. This will allow you to look back on previous creations. Of course, there’s no need to actually make a save for this at all if you don’t want to save things, because you upload your creations directly from the CAS or Build mode screens. I, personally, will be making a world full of my sims and builds.
One More Note on diversity, inclusivity, and stereotypes: Yes, most of my listed themes are based on typical stereotypes, but I’m absolutely not knocking on any of them. This is about celebrating them, not making fun of them. Different races and genders are good and encouraged, except for where race or gender is specified in the theme description. Make your sims and your builds as diverse as you can! The goal here is to be creative, so if your creativity points you in a direction that would “break” one of the challenge “rules”, feel free to bend them to suit your needs. The only rules I ask that you NOT break are – don’t try to steal someone else’s creation or ideas as your own, and don’t make a creation meant to make fun of someone. Some of the themes require you to download someone else’s Gallery submission and give it a makeover – try to make sure to note and thank the original poster in your upload description!
Sharing Your Creations
Upload your creations to the gallery once you’ve finished them! Use the hashtag #100daycreativity so that everyone who works on this challenge can find things easier. Part of the fun of the challenge will be seeing what other people’s ideas are, because everyone is different, and nobody thinks of exactly the same thing when presented with a creative challenge.
For full challenge rules and the list of themes by day, go to https://illusorythrall.wordpress.com/100-day-creativity-challenge-rules/
How to Play
For each day/theme listed, make a household (one or more sims), then make a build based on that theme. By “Build” – I mean either build the Sim-household that you made a house, make a venue based on the theme, or – at the very minimum, build a room (or rooms) following the theme guide. I have tried to give some ideas for each theme to get you started. Do not feel like you have to do this each and every day, or even that they have to be done in order. Work through the list at your own pace and in whatever order you want – remember – this is for fun! Feel free to print off this list and cross stuff off as you go. Since the list is already randomized, you can start at the beginning and not feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over, or you can use a randomizer to roll for a number, and be really random. Another way to play would be to just pick and choose what is inspiring you on any given day.
Cheats: Money cheats are perfectly alright, do whatever you need to be able to build whatever you want. Build cheats are also okay, make a note if the lot will require Move Objects on. Debug cheats, cas full edit mode and unlocking career objects is also fine.
Expansion Packs: The beauty of this challenge is that you can do it without having the expansion packs. You’ll have more options if you use more packs, but it’s completely do-able without the packs. If a theme calls for, say, an alien, and you don’t have Get to Work – be creative, make a regular sim that looks as alien as you can.
Custom Content/Mods: These are allowed if you’re the type of person who likes using them. Again, make a note if it needs CC to be downloaded. Going mod and CC-free is another way to go, and might be a good way to really challenge yourself.
World Set-Up: If you want, make a completely blank save (or download one, there’s plenty of them out there), and put each build/family you make on a different lot. This will allow you to look back on previous creations. Of course, there’s no need to actually make a save for this at all if you don’t want to save things, because you upload your creations directly from the CAS or Build mode screens. I, personally, will be making a world full of my sims and builds.
One More Note on diversity, inclusivity, and stereotypes: Yes, most of my listed themes are based on typical stereotypes, but I’m absolutely not knocking on any of them. This is about celebrating them, not making fun of them. Different races and genders are good and encouraged, except for where race or gender is specified in the theme description. Make your sims and your builds as diverse as you can! The goal here is to be creative, so if your creativity points you in a direction that would “break” one of the challenge “rules”, feel free to bend them to suit your needs. The only rules I ask that you NOT break are – don’t try to steal someone else’s creation or ideas as your own, and don’t make a creation meant to make fun of someone. Some of the themes require you to download someone else’s Gallery submission and give it a makeover – try to make sure to note and thank the original poster in your upload description!
Sharing Your Creations
Upload your creations to the gallery once you’ve finished them! Use the hashtag #100daycreativity so that everyone who works on this challenge can find things easier. Part of the fun of the challenge will be seeing what other people’s ideas are, because everyone is different, and nobody thinks of exactly the same thing when presented with a creative challenge.
For full challenge rules and the list of themes by day, go to https://illusorythrall.wordpress.com/100-day-creativity-challenge-rules/
