The Sims 3 LandLubbers' Challenge Rules

Original challenge page Sims 3 Musketeers. This is not challenge wrote by me. I found it interesting so posted on my blog to play it one day. 

The challenge will need Sims who think outside the box. Sims who aren't afraid of bucking convention. Sims who don't mind working hard and running a lot! It's rather like the Sims 2 Land Lubbers' Challenge, but without the extremes of weather. But never mind - it's hard enough and fun enough.

Challenge Concepts

1) Live off the land - this means no jobs allowed, full- or part-time. One must survive by searching for and gathering rocks, gems, seeds, fish, food, and insects. Your Sims must sell the things they find/gather/harvest for cash to pay for all living expenses.

2) One CAS Sim, male or female, must start off the challenge (the "Founder"). Their goal is to build a house, get married, and have a child who would serve as an "heir" (even the Easy level must have at least one child to support). These do not have to happen in that particular order, of course. ;)

Three Levels of Play

1) Easy/Short Term - Take one sim through life living the challenge. Challenge ends officially when that sim dies.

2) Medium/Longer Term - take 3 generations through life living the challenge. Challenge ends when 3rd generation heir dies.

3) Hard/Long Term - take 5 generations through life living the challenge. Challenge ends when fifth generation heir dies.

How to Start

1) Make a Sim, male or female, in CAS to serve as the Founder. Choose traits, but keep in mind that they may need to be changed here and there if the combination you picked does not allow for a LTW option that can be accomplished outside of work/career (see #2 below).

2) Move Sim into any lot you choose in either town. Then set up a small "camp" area, which may consist of one room to serve as a bathroom, and the rest of the purchases must be laid on the lawn. You may buy cheap-end fixtures only - fridge, microwave, counter (x2), table, 2 chairs, 1 bed. A couple of lights are allowed, and a door and window for the bathroom. Buy the cheap shower, sink, and toilet.

3) Then you must buy enough stuff to put into the family inventory to ensure that the Founder has only §500 left (or as close to that as you can come). They must never touch what's in their family inventory, it is lost to them. They must now build their house and life using their wits and their hunting skills.

4) Your Sim and his/her family must live in their little camp until their "official" house is finished enough to move in (i.e., you could build the entire house, finish the main floor, and have them move in there while they finish the rest of the house). They may improve their little camp along the way, of course, but remember that this will take more money away from their house building. (Being as there's no winter, however, it's not a huge deal.)

Challenge Rules

1) Anything that might make the job of gathering an income easier is allowed, such as Lifetime Rewards (and the Collection Helper is highly recommended!). Money cheats, however, are NOT allowed.

2) You must fulfill the Lifetime Wish of each main Sim in the inheritance line, which means the Founder Sim and each heir that follows after that. For the Easy Level, you must only fulfill the wish of the Founder Sim. This means that you must pick LTW's in CAS (and when a child is old enough) that can be achieved outside of a regular job, such as the 20 Friends or Silver Fingers, Silver Tongue, Etc. Fulfilling other family members' LTW's is entirely optional (but you do get points for them).

3) You must build or improve the family's home or surroundings once a week at a minimum. You may improve more often, but by each Sunday for sure something must have been built or added onto or improved. This includes upgrading furniture and fixtures to higher quality items, building rooms onto the house, landscaping, adding pools, cars, etc. Your goal should be to build enough that you only have a few dollars left each week, approx. §200-500.

4) You may not lengthen the lifespan of the Founder Sim or any Sim in the inheritance line by any means.

5) Gardening is not allowed in the Easy level. If you choose to go to 3 or 5 generations, the second generation (and those that follow) may plant and maintain a garden. They may eat or sell their produce.

6) Earning Money - All gems found must be sent to be cut. All ores found must be sent to be smelted. All space rocks must be analyzed (sometimes you get more money for them, sometimes less!). Space rocks can be sold into the money slot after analyzing. Gems and metals can be sold after they have returned from being cut. If you can't afford to cut or smelt, you'll have to donate insects or sell food or fish to pay for it and/or send them off when you can. Insects can be sold straight from the backpack or donated for cash to the Science Lab.

7) By the end of all three levels of challenges, you should have one of each type of gem displayed (after being cut) in the house.

8) Medium and Hard levels will find that they soon have scads of money hanging around. When that happens, Sims may buy up real estate in town to truly become self-made moguls! Partnerships in businesses or buying out businesses is allowed in these levels when you feel it can be achieved and when the house can no longer needs to be added onto (i.e., it should already have plenty of rooms and be well-decorated and furnished). Business ownerships may be transferred to spouses if it seems they will survive longer than the heir in order to ease the tallying at the end, if needed.

Points

Unless otherwise stated, points can be awarded to all Sims living in the family home through the challenge. Sims who have been moved out of the family home no longer count for future point gains, although anything they did while still in the home counts.

One Point is awarded for:

-          each Sim in the inheritance line (1/3/5 points max.)

-          each LTW fulfilled within the inheritance line (1/3/5 points max.)

-          each Sim who catches one of each type of fish (Amateur Ichthyologist) (variable)

-          each Sim who collects one of each type of gem (Gem Collector) (variable)

-          each Sim who collects one of each type of insect (Butterfly Collector and Beetle Collector) (variable)

-          each type of gem that has been cut and kept on the lot (variable, 10 max.)

-          each Collection Helper earned throughout the length of your chosen challenge (variable)

-          each §50,000 that the house is worth, rounding up to the nearest 50,000 using the Furnished Value plus available cash at the end of the challenge (variable)

-          each business owned completely (partnerships don't count) at the end of the Medium and Hard levels (i.e., upon the death of the last generation) (variable)

Bonus Points are awarded for:

-          each Sim in the inheritance line who completes all the Challenges under the Collecting area of the Skill Journal (Gem Collector, Metal Collector, Amateur Rock Finder, Awesomest Rock Collector in the Universe, Butterfly Collector, Beetle Collector)

-          each Sim outside of the inheritance line who gets their LTW fulfilled

-          each Sim outside of the inheritance line who becomes a Commercial Fisherman

-          each Sim outside of the inheritance line who becomes a Master Farmer

Options

Of course, you don't have to play for points. Or you could make it harder on yourself somehow, or take it to ten generations. In other words, feel free to adapt to your own playing style.

ENJOY! :)