NEIGHBORHOOD RAGS TO RICHES CHALLENGE
Hi Simmers! I have been watching a YouTuber simmer, Salise Plays, who, I believe, created this challenge. It's a rags to riches challenge where your sim starts with nothing on an empty lot with 0 sim...
Forum Discussion
1 - SAN MYSHUNO - UPTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD
RULE CHANGE: Since Allie is permitted to purchase items in Buy Mode, I will allow her to purchase 1 seed packet if she is in jeopardy of starving. Let's say she did a mail order for seed packets. (This rule change occurs after her near starvation in Neighborhood 3 - Brindleton Bay, Cavalier Cove neighborhood).
Neighborhood: There are two community lots, the Skye Fitness gym, and the Stargazer Lounge. Both have been bulldozed. This area is surrounded by apartment buildings inhabited by Lily and Victor Feng and Diego Lobo.
Resources: There are 3 electrical boxes where you can collect posters; and 2 boxes of junk, where you can rummage for snowglobes, although other items can be found in here as well. They spawn daily. There is a food stand (on the 2nd level, which I didn't even know existed), and 2 public bathrooms near the Skye Fitness lot. There are various benches to sleep on (solo brown leather couch with the obstructor (fireplace) coffee table is the best with comfort level 5), and an area with a bubble blower. No fishing spots, no grills and no festivals take place in this neighborhood. There is a seated area with a podium, where you can give speeches (can you make simoleons from giving speeches?), and a Center Stage Performance Space (Must have Level 4 in guitar or violin to busk). There might also be a roaming Human Statue that you could tip $5 simoleons and then gain the costume to busk yourself.
Day 1: And here is Allie in her City Living winter attire. It is cold and windy on her first day in Uptown. And after cloudgazing, she takes 5 selfies. She keeps one and sells the rest.
She looks happy now, but how will she look in a day or two? So far, she has $35 simoleons. Since she has to wait for items to spawn, Allie decides to give a speech. Is she inspiring anyone?
Um, maybe not. Well, she heads over to introduce herself to a sim and he doesn't seem too happy. Maybe he's lost. She tells him a joke and then excuses herself to go and rip posters off of electrical boxes and see what she can find in some junk boxes.
Allie heads to the food cart next and tries her luck at "borrowing" another sim's food. Not that she is hungry, but better fill up while she can. The trick is to wait until they set the food down, and then click on it to eat it. And boom, one free caprese salad and one unhappy, hungry kid. Um, sorry.
Of course, there is the Welcome Wagon's fruit cake, but I cancel that, as in some worlds, there is no Welcome Wagon, so trying to make this part at least consistent. And she has a bit of red with all those Welcome Wagon sims now. Sheesh!
Allie has nothing else to do now, so maybe she can sing for tips. I am not sure if this will work because technically she is on her home lot.
After singing badly for a few minutes, a sim passes her and gives her a second glance. Oh my word...who is that good-looking sim?
Allie tries to compose herself, but ends up running after him just to say sul sul, but he mysteriously disappears. Maybe next time. So, she meets another sim, and it has now started to snow, so she can gather snow. Another way to make simoleons when you live off-the-grid. is sell water.
Allie continues to gather snow and give speeches nobody hears. At the end of Day 1 she has $1,015 simoleons. All her needs are good except hygiene, so it's time to start her house and buy her a tub or shower. All houses in all worlds will be a micro tiny home of 32 tiles. Nitey nite Allie.
1 - SAN MYSHUNO - UPTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD (Finale)
With the funds Allie has earned, it's time to build her house. It is a simple start, and she places her selfie and a poster she found on a piece of wall. I will try to use build mode items from Base game and City Living for her house. I later swapped out the poster for an Uptown poster, and switched the light for another one.
She also voted on a Neighborhood Action Plan (NAP) for Back to the Old Days, and bought a pile of books to comply with the NAP.
Making Simoleons:
Her days are pretty much the same as she goes to each electrical box grabbing posters (they actually spawn every few hours), and rummaging for items in the junk boxes (these spawn daily). She makes pretty good simoleons from this, as some posters are worth $200 simoleons. And, of course, she collects snow whenever she can to sell on her bills. There is a cool-down period for collecting snow. In fact, she collected so many posters that on Wednesday, Allie completed the Poster Collection and received a plaque in the mail.
Allie was lucky to see a Human Statue in Uptown and tipped them $5 simoleons, so she could get the outfit and busk herself.
Even though she did this everyday, by the end of the week, she had made $0 simoleons busking for tips. What she should have done was concentrate on her charisma skill at the podium, and at Level 7 she could have asked sims for a Small Loan. Oh well.Allie did see celebrity Brytani Chu in disguise in Uptown and was able to get an autograph from her. (Appraise the autograph and then wait 2 days before selling it as it is worth more then). She made $600 simoleons from the sale of the autograph.
Allie also saw celebrity Judith Ward, but she wasn't as lucky in getting an autograph from her.
Food Needs:
Even though Allie had a fridge and counter, due to the Simple Living lot trait, she had no food to cook any meals. She could have ordered a grocery delivery; however, I was hoping that she would have found some seed packets in the junk boxes, but she didn't.
Most of the time, Allie "borrowed" food from other sims. However, the food stalls change in Uptown, and at some food stalls, sims just stood and ate their food, so Allie didn't have a chance to "borrow" any. Food stalls in Uptown are Gourmet (eg caprese salad), Japanese (ramen), American (hot dogs) and Cupcakes.
So, when that happened, Allie had to pay for her food. Allie got to know the vendor first and then haggled with them. Most of the time, she was successful and got a discounted meal.
Sometimes, Allie was lucky, and food items were just sitting there waiting for her to retrieve them. So, yes, she found some free food, too.Allie hung around the food stalls a lot, waiting to "borrow" food from sims, and also to busk for tips. But the vendors didn't seem to mind, as Allie also helped clean up the area for them. She was then able to rummage in the garbage cans, and rummage in the dirt piles. She found a few items (post cards, Blarffy), which she sold, and with the rummaged piles, she dragged them into her inventory and then placed them on her lot. The dirt piles then turned into trash fruit plants. Yes, Allie ate trash fruit to survive in Uptown.
On Wednesday, a sim visited her with a free gift, which happened to be an Uncommon seed packet with blackberry seeds in it.
So, Allie purchased a planter pot and planted one of the seeds.And with the others, made her first meal of a family-size fruit salad. Now the fruit salad did go bad, and when she clicked on get leftovers, if was greyed out. However, we know that food was in there. So, if you choose "Open", she can grab a serving of the spoiled food this way. Yes, I made her eat spoiled food, too.
Social Needs:
That good-looking sim who glanced her way when she was singing badly introduced himself to her. Akira Kibo became her first friend. If this was a true rags to riches legacy, Akira might have become a romantic interest, But, Allie's focus was on making simoleons this week. So, sorry Akira and Allie. It's not meant to be.
Allie was pretty social during her week in Uptown and, got a pop-up that she was Outgoing.
The End Is Near:
Aside from grabbing posters rummaging through junk boxes and busking, Allie did do some other things during her week in Uptown.
She took part in a protest......and made a speech that someone actually liked.
She saw that the homeless population was on the rise, which spurred her to work harder towards her goal...
...even during a blizzard...
....and when she was so exhausted that she collapsed in a heap.
But, the good news is that on New Year's Eve, Allie had enough simoleons to finish building and furnishing her house. She looks excited...albeit a bit dirty! lol
Finished House & Final Stats:
When the banner flashed that Spring had arrived, the challenge was finished. Allie now had a nice loft in Uptown, had gained some skills, and even had $1,026 simoleons left! Congratulations, Allie! You survived your week in San Myshuno in the Uptown neighborhood.
The Next Neighborhood:
Using the randomized wheel spinner, Allie will next travel to Chestnut Ridge, in the Galloping Gulch neighborhood. Her home lot will be Palomino Junction. Oh gosh! I don't think she likes that idea! Until next time...
I welcome your comments and any suggestions you might have on what Allie could have done differently. Thanks for reading and commenting. Have a great day! :)
2 - CHESTNUT RIDGE - GALLOPING GULCH NEIGHBORHOOD
Neighborhood: This neighborhood is HUGE! Travelling by foot from one area to another took a long time. There are 2 residential lots and 1 rental lot, all were bulldozed. Palomino Junction actually has the wild prairie grass lot trait, so I kept that as well as giving it the off-the-grid, Simple Living and reduce-recycle lot traits. There is a swimming area near the waterfall, and there are several areas to train your horse in barrels and jumping.
Secret Area - Deadhorse Caverns: A rabbit hole secret cavern (look straight to see the cave opening), where your sim can go and defeat spiders, skeletons, etc. and get items. There are levels to get to the end, and sometimes your sim has to have specific items in their inventory to get past a level. So, no matter if they return the next day, they are stuck at that level if they don't have that item. You can click on your sim and you get the option to explore Deadhorse Caverns. A word of warning that your sim has to traverse through water...and they will change into their bathing suit...and if you don't change them back into their cold weather gear, they could freeze to death.
Resources: No foodstands. One fishing spot. There is a firepit area with 2 campfires, benches to sleep on, and an outhouse. There are also 2 pee bushes in the neighborhood. Collectibles include 3 frog areas, 2 fossils, 1 time capsule, and wild prairie grass. There are two grape bushes; however, they are out of season. After the first day, the collectibles did not spawn again, except the wild prairie grass. There are 3 areas to collect water (waterfall, stream in front of Deadhorse Caverns & fishing spot) for the off-the-grid lot trait. Snow can be collected anywhere.~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Day 1 - FAIL
This is a hard neighborhood. Lack of food sources, and the real possibility of freezing to death while collecting water in the waterfall area, or running through the stream to get to Deadhorse Caverns are the biggest challenges.
And, in fact, Allie did die on her first attempt in this neighborhood. She was in her bathing suit running from collecting water in the waterfall to running to the fishing spot to collect water and she froze to death. So, yes, she FAILED the challenge on her first day in this neighborhood. Sorry Allie.However, I just didn't save and started again. This time I am going to ensure that after Allie collects water in the waterfall, that I will change her back to her cold weather outfit to prevent her from freezing. Because let's face it, sims need our help.
Day 1 - Take 2:
And here she is, for a second time, ready to start the challenge dressed in her Horse Ranch winter clothing. She takes her 5 selfies, sells 4 and keeps 1. She now has $36 simoleons to her name.
Since there is no snow yet, she might have a chance to fish. She spends almost the whole day fishing and catches 2 fish. That night the temperatures turned to freezing, so the fishing spot was no longer available to fish from.
While she is fishing, she meets another resident, Dani Davila, and says Howdy. Allie then tells Dani a joke and Dani leaves. Was the joke that bad?
She needs to use a pee bush and there is one at the crossroads. She heads there and sees celebrity Brytani Chu and asks her for an autograph. And, yes, she gets one. Brytani, are you going to be Allie's lifesaver in all the worlds?
Back to the pee bush where she fertilizes it, and she also has a quick nap before she has to head to her next destination.She travels down the various paths and collects frogs, rocks and wild prairie grass. She is also very lucky and while harvesting the wild prairie grass finds Elderberry and some normal horse manure ($15 simoleons).
Allie heads to the waterfall to collect water and then I quickly have her change. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for her to warm up.
There is a frog near the Deadhorse Caverns, and she collects some water there, too. As soon as she changes into her bathing suit, she is freezing. So I get her on dry land and change her back to winter wear.
She has 3 frogs in her inventory (worth $10, $10 and $25 simoleons), which she will keep to breed and sell. She already called to have the autograph appraised and will keep it for 2 days and then sell it. Her earnings for the day are rather slim at $231 simoleons.
Her needs in hygiene, social, hunger and energy are in the red. It's time to head to that campfire area. roast a fish for dinner (which is against her vegetarian principles, but, hey, she needs to eat), and get some shut eye for the night. Rest up for tomorrow Allie...it's going to be a long day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~2 - CHESTNUT RIDGE - GALLOPING GULCH NEIGHBORHOOD (Part 2)
Allie's funds from yesterday weren't really enough to start her house. So, all she has is a house layout and a roof overhead. The floor is the 0 simoleon colored cement, as I felt that the grey would be hard to see in the snow.
I only purchased 3 items for the house. Thinking about all the travel time it took her to get around the neighborhood, I opted to purchase her a Base Game bike for $100 simoleons.The second item was a planter pot and she planted the Elderberry. It is under shelter, as Elderberry is only in season in summer and fall. And the third item is an overhead off-the-grid light.
Making Simoleons:
In Chestnut Ridge, there is a Community Board where you can get Odd Jobs, and purchase horses, mini goats and mini sheep. Getting a job is not part of the challenge, and I felt that the animals were not part of it either. So, Allie didn't use any of the options on the Community Board.Once her first day was done, her routine included breeding frogs whenever she could, collecting water and snow, and harvesting wild prairie grass. Sometimes she got other items in the wild prairie grass, and several times she got nectar (one was worth $1,919). This really helped with her funds and building her house.
With the help of her bike, she just whizzed through the neighborhood.
Allie also explored Deadhorse Caverns, and some of the reward items, she could sell (future cube, horse statue).
Obviously Allie wasn't the only sim to have an idea to use a bike for this neighborhood.
Allie also kept a look-out for celebrities to see if she could get some more autographs. That first autograph she got from Brytani Chu sold for $600 simoleons. And she was lucky on her last day to spot Brytani Chu in disguise and get another autograph! Yes!
Deadhorse Caverns:
Allie attempted this when her needs were in good shape. As mentioned, it's a rabbit hole. Allie's hunger and energy were the first to plummet. She only made it to Level 1 because she was blocked by a door, and needed to speak "bee". I knew that she needed a bee swarm in her inventory to get past this, but because of her limited simoleons, I didn't want to purchase a bee box. So, that is where she ended.
Here are some sample pop-ups that occurred in her exploration, and some of the rewards she earned. After Allie survived exploring the Caverns she got a dazed moodlet that lasted 6 hours.
Food Needs:
Food was scarce, especially since she was unable to fish with the stream frozen.Thankfully, she could roast an unlimited supply of marshmallows at the fire pits. But this didn't fill her up too much.
Allie's greatest source of food was in the "extra" items she found while harvesting the wild prairie grass, and also from rewards in the Deadhorse Caverns. Most of the fruits and vegetables were "out of season" but she planted them under shelter and was able to harvest them. The fruits, flowers, and vegetables she found were Elderberry, Potato (winter crop), tomato, black bean, Holly (winter-from a seed packet she got as a reward), carrot, lemon (winter crop), and pomegranate (winter crop).
The winter plants were planted in the planter pot and then in build mode moved outside. If you try to plant directly outside, you will get a notice stating that it is too cold to plant. So, this is a way around it for plants in season.
Some plants took longer to grow than others, and her first meal of fruit salad was on Thursday, made in her own kitchen.
(to be continued...)
