Setup
The Ship
You can build a modern fish trawler or a sailship. Other than Sulani, the best lots for this challenge are those with a nice view of the ocean, of course. I used the largest one in Brindleton Bay and also added greenscreens.
The ship needs to consist of a lower and an upper deck. The lower deck can be ground level or a basement.
https://64.media.tumblr.com/b1ed536e01d2e63bfbf0cc5e078c432d/1fe6013fa9be7ba3-c9/s540x810/d98ccdabdc7a134301d9c7a386acd80f6278e630.pnj
The boats
You also need two boats big enough to accommodate two sims. Accessing these boats in my gameplay was done by teleportation (testingcheats true, then shift-click “teleport here”), but you could also build a fake ocean with blue floor tiles and simply let your sims walk into the boats. In Sulani they can swim normally.
I better show you what the boats are for first thing, before mentioning anything else about the challenge, because this part requires heavy suspense of disbelief and may be a dealbreaker already if you prefer to realistic visuals.
Giant tuna fishing can look decent close up, like in this shot:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/569f134446c718bc7b7d9e053fb31038/f02c2a5265ea7c8f-01/s540x810/930190c5e2c80fc52450cc2e6b72e3d8347fda69.pnj
But what you’re really doing is this:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/11b99f682eedf5eb3674655cddf3886a/f02c2a5265ea7c8f-c8/s540x810/5312c186c35be7387de01cf80493d78e23507c17.pnj
While one sim pilots the boat, another sim will play darts with a board hidden in the boat’s bow. The points scored will get projected into the air.
For the pilot operating the rudder there are two options:
Using the steering wheel from Get Famous, thus skilling Acting
OR
Using bb.moveobjects and the microscope from Get To Work, thus skilling Logic
The logic version looks worse, but I prefer that over leveling a skill that doesn’t make sense in the challenge’s context.
Still with me? Alright, then let’s finish building the ship itself.
The crow’s nest
Put a lookout somewhere on your ship. It needs to have a telescope or other means of raising logic skill.
https://64.media.tumblr.com/8c5c808a978afb6e8912546c507bd2dd/35e6d081af0adb28-e7/s540x810/2524b349b884e5d71ad2987d50a966d8edfc7b56.pnj
The workstations
Place one woodworking station anywhere and four more close together into the main deck.
Place two embroidery boxes, two knitting bags and two easels anywhere.
Place three stoves or cc canning stations and also three candle making stations anywhere.
Place toilets, showers, beds and kitchen amenities as desired.
Finally place a planter box and a sized down fabricator somewhere inaccessible. You only need those to cheat in raw materials later.
The crew
Decide how long you want to send your sims fishing. Anything from six months (two seasons) to four years is realistic. This challenge is best played with young adults that will use the money earned here to found families.
Your household gets one week’s bill worth in cash, in my case 13,000 simoleons. That’s the money the fishing company is willing to invest in the journey and they expect it back at the end. Any surplus goes to your sims.
If the sims return with less than the starting money, they get fired (and maybe settled with a debt, your choice.)
As for regular bills, stop them incoming with any mod of your choice or cheat the money to pay them.
You need six sims, three pairs of one harpooneer and one pilot each. You can also add a captain and a wildcard sim for atmosphere, but they are not strictly needed.
The sims you pick profit from having skill points in Logic, Fishing, Handyness, Embroidery/Knitting/Painting, Canning/Cooking, Fabrication and Fitness. You can use starter sims without skills, too, or mix starter sims with experienced ones.
Lot traits: Moby D.
Add Earthquake Zone (with CL) or Volcanic Activity (with IL) or roll a die every day. When you get a “1” or the earthquake/volcano trigger, that means your ship has encountered Moby D., a sea monster.
That’s him in my game, an enlarged and rotated anglerfish. You can use whatever you want to represent Moby D.
https://64.media.tumblr.com/175a6b6e92af289cf5e2e48956089c59/07d172681ceb331d-bc/s540x810/e2257702057da500ddad798589fdbf79bc33708e.pnj
The Sea Monster encounter is potentially lethal. It deals 40 damage that the sims can mitigate with points from their defense (aka playing darts). Damage not negated by dart playing is applied to hull and rigging, but you can freely choose how many points go to which category.
Your ship has (Number of sims)x2 hull points. If they reach 0, the ship sinks and the sims die.
Your ship has (Sims present)x2 rigging points. If they reach 0, the ship is incapable of controlling its course, but sooner or later the sims will hit an island or get captured by slavers, both of which might lead to a different challenge.
Note: It’s better to track hull/rigging damage instead of hull/rigging points, because the maximum number go can up and down depending on how many crew members you have.
The sea monster has 40 life points. Subtract whatever your defending sims scored from that number. Moby D. doesn’t regenerate between his appearances, so it is possible to defeat him once and for all.
Lot traits: Other
Decide if you want to play with the Simple Living challenge (recommended) and fill up the remaining lot trait slots to your liking. You can even make the ship a haunted lot for an extra challenge.
N.A.P.s
Cheat in four that you find the least intrusive.