I’m not sure what it is about warmer weather that makes me want to join a cult, but sure enough, as soon as it got nice enough to open the windows again, I got the itch to play and work on this challenge.
Challenge Updates:
I had to update the challenge a little for a few reasons.
- Plumbing: the handcrafted bath tub the challenge was formerly limited to just doesn’t always work off-the-grid. Sometimes it works and other times it just doesn’t. It must be a bug. Technically it doesn’t say it’s functional off-the-grid in its description, so I had to work under the assumption that that’s its default and it was a bug that it actually worked at all with that lot trait. The handcrafted toilet still works off-the-grid reliably though, so my workaround has been to update the challenge so that once 1 Sim from the household has achieved level 10 Handiness skill and has crafted a tub, the player is then free to purchase a tub or shower from the off-the-grid plumbing category in Build Mode. Since we broke the “nothing from the plumbing category” rule, I see no reason not to also purchase sinks, but I think in the spirit of the challenge, they should be limited to natural materials like metal, porcelain, and wood. And since the handcrafted wooden toilet still works for now, I think the challenge should be limited to using that for Sims to not have to potty in the bushes.
- Careers: out of the blue, Faith got a call to join the Stylist career at level 5 and when I was trying to get the notification off the screen, I accidentally accepted it. Since the pay only amounted to $560/day and Faith was already making enough money to mostly keep herself and Gemma happy making $350 per crafted mirror, I didn’t think it would make a major difference in gameplay, so I decided not to have Faith quit the job and see how far I could get in a traditional career while living in an off-the-grid community. I’m still undecided as to whether or not it affected gameplay negatively or if that was the best decision, so I officially changed the rule on careers to reflect current gameplay. If all adult Sims in a household had careers that start at level 5, I think it would be too much money and make the game go too fast for me, so I’m limiting it to just Faith right now, or possibly just 1 Sim per household can have a full-time job.
- Veterinarians: Faith & Gemma’s dog Abigail got really sick and started vomiting everywhere and wouldn’t stop for days. The amount she was throwing up took 1 Sim mopping up behind her the whole time to the point of exhaustion, until another Sim took over, in order to avoid a permanent negative buff on all Sims for having trashy surroundings. I didn’t care if the dog died, but the only way to get rid of the negative buff or prevent it in this scenario, was to take the stupid dog to the stupid vet. I downloaded a random vet clinic from the gallery and popped it into Newcrest, then pretended Charlie let Gemma drive the Moody Family’s psychedelic bus to take the dog to be cured. In all other instances of pet illness I’ve seen so far, they’ve eventually gotten better on their own and their symptoms, while often annoying, were surmountable. The dog vomit was impossible to deal with and making the game extremely unpleasant, so I broke my own rule and changed the official challenge rules to reflect that specific circumstance.
Challenge Tips, Tricks & Surprises
- I found an advantage to not having a sink: if you don’t have a sink, your Sims will put their dirty dishes in a trash can. If you have a kitchen trash can with trash in it, you can click on it and select “Rummage For Bits & Pieces”, which gives you bits & pieces you can use to make candles. Candles can be sold or used off-the-grid, so they could be valuable. If you have a Bee Box or several, you can collect and use their bee’s wax to make candles, rather than spending money on candle wax. As much as I hate the constant whims to buy Bee Boxes in warm seasons, I do like the idea of the bees and I’m very interested to see if you could actually make a functioning candle home business this way.
- Even better, if you let the trash get full before you rummage for Bits & Pieces, your Sim will leave a pile of trash on the ground that you can rummage through to find precious upgrade parts. Since Sims have no access to computers in this challenge, this is the only way I’ve found so far to get upgrade parts.
- I am obsessed with my bills now, and watching my water and power output to make sure my plumbing and appliances keep working. Each house is supposed to be fully functional off-the-grid, so buying things like dew collectors and wind turbines is necessary, as is upgrading appliances and plumbing to be more efficient. Also important is using eco-friendly building materials in the construction of your house to reduce your neighbourhood’s carbon footprint and your utility bills.
- I think the Natural Well and Geothermal lot traits might be too powerful for this challenge by making lots sustainable immediately and without challenge, but I haven’t changed the rule yet because I haven’t figured out what *is* needed for a lot to be sustainable yet.
- Faith has been increasing her writing skill for her job by writing in her journal. Slow, but effective.
Story Updates
Faith met Charlie this weekend while she was looking for signatures to repeal a Neighbourhood Action Plan and they really hit it off, so Faith asked Charlie to take her to the Romance Festival where they drank flirty sakura tea and had their romantic futures read by the Love Guru. They also had their very first kiss and Faith asked Charlie to be her boyfriend. She’s looking for her soulmate and thinks Charlie might be it, while Charlie’s just looking for another Moody Family Cult member and is likely monogamous to no one.
Shortly after Faith & Charlie’s outing to the Romance Festival, Faith came skulking around Charlie’s yard and started watering plants. Charlie thought it might be nice to have someone around to water his plants, so he asked her to move in with him. He didn’t know her teenage sister Gemma was part of the deal, and, disgruntled, he moved himself to the 2nd floor and put the girls in the basement. And that’s where things stand with them right now.
Cult Progress
I completely fucked up the cult/club mechanic by misunderstanding how it worked and inviting Sims to join willy nilly. I didn’t know there was a limited number of people who could be in a club and now I’m not sure how to kick them out without causing issues with their relationships. You can only have 8 Sims in a club, so I’ve gotta figure out how to delete the club and start over, only inviting the heads of key households to officially join the cult.
If Faith and Charlie end up being soulmates and getting married, then I’ll have Faith start her own identical cult/club on Charlie’s behalf to invite 8 more. It won’t be the whole community by a long shot but 16 cult members in white robes bowling will look fucking awesome once I get it all figured out.
To Do
- I still have to create cult holidays.
- I still have to play the rest of the families and make their homes self sustainable.
- I want Charlie and Faith to start a retail business to sell their handcrafted goods.
So that’s all the poop that’s fit to scoop right now! Follow along with the Moody Family on Twitter!