The ISBI Challenge

[mangaroo]

I can't believe we didn't have a thread for the ISBI ("I'm Surrounded by Idiots") challenge. It's the chaos of an Asylum + the commitment of a Legacy: you control only one Sim in each generation for as many generations as you can take the insanity. The original rules -- updated through Pets -- can be found here: http://isbichallenge.blogspot.com/2005/07/isbi-challenge-rules.html

(If anyone knows of an updated rules set, please do post a link. Otherwise, let common sense be your guide for the features introduced in Seasons and later.)

[Maranatah]

I think I'll have to go with this as soon as I'll finish Nummela Legacy. :)

[mangaroo]

Death stalks my ISBI:

I just lost my second-generation spouse to triplet birthdays. She was hungry, tired, stinky, and picking up and dropping babies left and right. It's kind of sad that she had just managed to age one of them up when Grimmy came for her. (Note to self: have the torch holder use cake to age babies midday. Do NOT let the 6 o'clock baby aging dance kill another spouse.)

Meanwhile, two random walkby guests were downstairs having a cat fight in the living room when the founder's ghost scared one of them to death. (I'm guessing it was the loser, but I didn't get to see the fight, since I was with the torch holder trying to age up the other two babies amidst incredible grief.) This is only the second time I've had a townie die in my game. Cool, but I could have done without the extra grave.

[lauratje86]

It sounds, ummmmm.... interesting?! :-D I may give it a go, though I think it'll drive me nuts pretty quickly...... Is it actually fun, or just annoying (in your opinion)??

[mangaroo]

For me, it's fun because it's annoying. (Isn't that helpful?)

The ISBI is a test of how well I know the game and how competent I can be managing the needs of Sims outside my control. Now the "call to eat" a served meal isn't about the perfect 50s family dinner hour or keeping up household socials: it's about making sure no one starves. I have to play close attention if I want to catch everyone's hobbies and figure out mystery careers. I thought my founder's spouse was in Business until she finally got a chance card and I discovered she was in Politics. I have to do things I rarely do in my regular game: to keep the kids from flunking out and being taken away, my torch holder has to help them with their homework every night...or do a heavy round of homework catch-up on the weekends.

It's a very different style from my Prosperity neighborhood, and that also makes it fun for me. I still prefer Prosperity style above all, but I don't have birthdays in my rigidly synced Prosperity hood because that would throw off the aging. In my ISBI, it doesn't matter if ages fall out of sync by a day, because all spares are going off to live in happy immortality. If my neighborhood hadn't been glitched at creation (nothing to do with the ISBI; everything to do with the neighborhood I used), then I would be looking forward to playing all the spares Prosperity-style once I ended the ISBI (probably at gen5, because I believe that's how long Sims can hold onto their family ties).

However, if you've never played an Asylum, I would recommend starting with that before doing an ISBI. It will give you a sense of how comfortable you are with resident Sims that are out of your control. It can be incredibly amusing and frustrating to watch the game's AI at work.

[lauratje86]

I've played an asylum a couple of times, it was kind of fun but of course there were no children or working adults that I couldn't control! I shall give this one a go, I think, it sounds pretty entertaining. And I can always stop playing if it gets too annoying! :-)

Thanks for starting a thread about it, mangaroo.

[aishah2195]

i remember seeing blogs about this challenge....its pretty kool!

[mangaroo]

...and I am ending my ISBI at generation 5. Which is technically as far as I've gotten in any multi-generational game. Mostly I'm ending it because the neighborhood I used is borked (the tombstones from generations A and B just vanished), but to answer lauratje86's question a second time: oh, good grief, being surrounded by idiots is annoying!

I saw behavior I have never seen in my better-managed games, and I enjoyed figuring out the most efficient ways to accomplish various goals using only one controllable Sim. However, the Sims' AI continues to disappoint. A starving Sim would rather rage at "god" before stuffing their face for a few measly nutrition points when they are perfectly capable of autonomously preparing a meal from the nearly-full refrigerator. (In a regular game, Grilled Cheese Sims bore me. In an ISBI, they are the only Sims smart enough to keep themselves and the family fed in the absence of the torch holder.) And why is autonomous baby-feeding tuned to like 220% while diapering is at -150%?

I was also too curious about the lives of the Sims I couldn't control. I kept peeking at LTWs and skill panels until I finally had to accept that I like to play all my Sims.

Side benefit: I had a torch holder use the Resurrect-O-Nomitron to zombify the dead townie I mentioned in post 3. Now it's time for the zombie apocalypse.

[A.G.Doren]

Hey Mangaroo-

I'm playing an ISBI too. Its mad fun,but terrifically difficult. I haven't decided if I'm going to play all the way to gen 10 yet. I haven't even passed the first torch yet. I don't think its too terrible to peak at the sims LTWs, its not like they are going to reach them anyway. In fact according to the rules you can roll the cursor over their aspiration meter and view that want without open their panel so thats okay. And you can always look at the spares once they are off the lot and such.

Anyway the ISBI is fun and you will see a lot of things you've never seen in a game before.I haven't had any accidental deaths yet, but I've always got at least one child on the lot that seems to have lost their mind and repeatedly jumps their sibs. Its sad when their kids, its kinda funny when they are teens though.

Also this ISBI family is super active they exercise and use skilling stuff all the time, the oldest actually managed to earn two scholarships.I've had great success with taking them to community lots and letting them roam and make friends.

[mangaroo]

Anyway the ISBI is fun and you will see a lot of things you've never seen in a game before.

This times infinity. I'm a moderately controlling player: freewill is always on and I don't always have interactions queued, but I check in on all my Sims regularly and their mood is always green or better unless they've just had a tragedy. I had never seen a flower-stomping teen tantrum or two siblings that absolutely hate each other. It's rare for me to see quite so many stinky Sims outside of Uni, so many aspiration failures, and (since I was playing with ACR installed) so many booty calls.

[katalina522]

So glad you suggested this one, mangaroo. I'm having fun with it, too! I had my first teen temper tantrum that involved smashing children's toys, which was amusing... and speaking of ACR, my third-gen TH just had a second set of twins. :blink: I'm not sure I can handle this... I left in my hack to allow more than 8 sims per lot. Surrounded by idiots will be very literal very soon!

Aside from that, it's going surprisingly well. Grandpa (second-gen TH) just died at perma-plat. The only one currently miserable is my third-gen spare... a romance sim who almost never gets to leave the house because i'm too busy taking care of babies. :lol:

[Kailacat]

Wow, I really want to try this. Controlling multiple sims for multiple generations can get boring, I guess, if it's a challenge. But this seems less ... I don't know ... high maintenence? Just control one sim and ignore everyone else.

[llamajam]

I'm going to try this. The furthest generation i have got up to in a legacy is generation 3 lol :D
i'm going to download a hack to let me have more than 8 sims on a lot.

[katalina522]

Wow, I really want to try this. Controlling multiple sims for multiple generations can get boring, I guess, if it's a challenge. But this seems less ... I don't know ... high maintenence? Just control one sim and ignore everyone else.

It's actually not so much ignoring the other sims as trying to figure out how to manipulate them via the one you are controlling. If you completely ignore them, chances are you'll get a few who starve, or drown in the swimming pool, or repeatedly keel over in the street and never bathe. (But some people enjoy that, so whatever. ;)) To me this is actually harder than controlling all the sims, because you can't look and find out what's wrong with them before attempting to fix it.

[Kailacat]

^Aw, but otherwise they wouldn't exactly be idiots, right? ;) It IS the I'm Surrounded by Idiots challenge. :)

[A.G.Doren]

The goal is to manage the household and kept it going through at least ten generations. If you ignore them completely you won't last past so one. So basically my torch holder does what she can and then goes to sleep work etc and the rest is on them. Its such a nice moment when my torcholder goes to sleep for the night. After that I just watch the idiots do what they do.

One of my teens brought home a sim that quickly made enemies with his psycho sister. They spent the evening fighting. When my torcholder came home I considered sending him on his way, but I found their back and forth fighting and slapping too funny. The next day he came home with someone else and the battle raged on.

The joke was on me though. The idiots got the flu which he got and then took home to my traditional legacy house.

[babyblueearly4]

I started an ISBI and it was going really well until my founder, who had already had one child, gave birth to unexpected quadruplets.

The first child is now failing out of school, and the neighborhood is haunted with the cries of dirty-diapered children. Everything's always dirty (despite the butler And a maid) and I'm worried about the social worker. Nobody can get in a good enough mood to help the failing kid with his homework.

Scratch that, the social worker just took all my kids :/

If you're going to do this challenge, REMOVE any multiple births hacks you have.

Otherwise, it's actually pretty fun! :)

[A.G.Doren]

I started an ISBI and it was going really well until my founder, who had already had one child, gave birth to unexpected quadruplets.

The first child is now failing out of school, and the neighborhood is haunted with the cries of dirty-diapered children. Everything's always dirty (despite the butler And a maid) and I'm worried about the social worker. Nobody can get in a good enough mood to help the failing kid with his homework.

Scratch that, the social worker just took all my kids :/

If you're going to do this challenge, REMOVE any multiple births hacks you have.

Otherwise, it's actually pretty fun! :)

Meh' I had two single births and then quads, and while it was hard I managed to raise all the kids to teenage thus far, no one has failed out of school and no social worker visits. I did have a nanny there almost 24/7 until they transitioned to child age,but its definitely doable. Seriously multiple births make and ISBI what it is. :jest:

edit- one of the quads is always in aspiration desperation.

[lauratje86]

I just started this, will let you know how it's going! So far it's just my founder living in the house, so no real issues yet, though it was weird going on dates and not looking at my sim's dates Wants/Fears! Having fun so far, can't wait to move in a spouse and start having kiddies! :-)

[Kailacat]

I'm trying to figure out whether I should put this in my regular neighborhood or my challenge one... I'm thinking the regular hood right now, the Challenge hood is more for stuff like Yeoman Farmer or Serial Killer.

---

Okay, I'm starting! :D

Edit: What exactly are the rules on moving?

My sim Jetta Fire (who I've never played, but decided had good genes) is married and pregnant. I used up her husband Barry's one action for him to get a job - except that he already has one! Oh well.
I'm glad my pregnant sim is my torch-holder - pregnant sims taking care of themselves NEVER ends well.

[amyandmia]

I decided to use a family i already had for this (i know its cheating)When i opened the game the houe had 7 people, the torch holder piper, her boyfriend nick, their baby Eli, plus piper's brother Henry II, and his children Penney and Henry III. Also, piper is pregnant.

Edit- Henry 2 Penney H3 and Nick were pretty much self sufficient, while Piper took care of Eli. Eli became a toddler and can already walk. Plus penney and H3 hate eachother, this is getting fun

i hope its not cheating if i use the eclectic enigmatic energizer on piper? what if i got it with a non-torch-holders points?

[mangaroo]

Kaila, I believe the intent is to keep all torch holders and their spouses (past and present and graves) on a single lot. So if you move the family en masse, you're following the spirit of the challenge. If you move just the current torch holder & spouse (and kids), leaving behind the former torch holder or spouse, you're breaking the legacy chain.

I don't build, so I moved my first generation couple + their torch-holding son (just returned from Uni) into a larger home with a more legacy-like capacity (two bedrooms capable of holding a double bed, plus two rooms suitable for children).

For spares, "finding their own place" via the newspaper or computer is considered their one adult action.

[lauratje86]

I decided to have a shot at this with a male founder - he is now married and his wife Candice is expecting their first child. How I'm going to keep a pregnant sim alive and well without controlling her I have no idea - so far my founder's been serving lots of meals and calling her to eat, she's doing ok so far but is only in her first trimester.

It's driving me a bit nuts already, it's certainly different to how I normally play! I am having fun though :-)

**EDIT** Candice survived the pregnancy - just - and she and Daniel now have a baby boy, Edward. She's going to have to go through it all again though, I may well need a spare! :-D

**EDIT AGAIN** And another baby - a girl this time, Eleanor. Candice is still alive too, wow! No more babies for her though, it's too hard keeping her alive.... Despite all this baby making, Daniel is doing well, has almost reached the top of the Science career and has maximised 3 skills......

**EDIT AGAIN AGAIN** Both kids are teens now, and Daniel and Candice are elders. Daniel spent loads of influence points getting spare Eleanor and uni townie Steven Ternynck to socialise together, as he hopes that they'll get together when Eleanor becomes and adult. Edward became an Overachiever after reaching the top of the Slacker career, and Eleanor is well on the way to the top of the Adventurer career - provided she has the right skills, as I don't know if she does or not! Daniel reached the top of the Science career and has almost maxed 5 skills - one more Mechanical point and he's there! :-) He almost has platinum life aspiration too, I hope he gets it before he passes the torch to Edward.....

**EDIT AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN** Daniel has now passed the torch on to his son Edward. Just before he did so he invited friend Steven Ternynck to move in, and reached platinum aspiration! Edward became an adult and asked his teen love Marsha Bruenig to marry him. Then he adopted a kitten, which he named Alice. Not long after that Candice died of old age (she'd aged into an elder with really red aspiration). Then Eleanor became an adult, and using her and Steven's one action as an adult/elder (Steven's an elder - he aged up with Daniel), as well as an Influence To... from Edward to make them flirt and fall in love, I managed to get her pregnant! By this point Marsha was already one day pregnant. Marsha had twins - eeek! - Frederick and Frank. The next day Eleanor also had a son, Ferdinand. Both sims survived their pregnancies, though it was a close run thing for Eleanor. So it's a full household now, and Candice's ghost keeps scaring people, but it's still a lot of fun to play! :-D Shouldn't be long until Daniel and Steven die of old age too, that will make the household a bit smaller, though I'm not looking forward to having 2 more ghosts around!

**EDIT AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN** Steven has now died, but Daniel's hanging in there! The twins grew up into toddlers, but haven't learned any skills yet. Candice's ghost scared Marsha to death twice, but both times Edward pled with the grim reaper and saved her. Edward is a MVP in the Athletics career track, but he needs quite a few skill points before he can get promoted, and he's far too busy looking after the toddlers and Ferdinand to spend time skilling! It's still fun, though the household is waaaay too crowded now - I may move the whole lot, graves and all, to a bigger lot so they can actually have enough space....

[A.G.Doren]

I decided to have a shot at this with a male founder - he is now married and his wife Candice is expecting their first child. How I'm going to keep a pregnant sim alive and well without controlling her I have no idea - so far my founder's been serving lots of meals and calling her to eat, she's doing ok so far but is only in her first trimester.

It's driving me a bit nuts already, it's certainly different to how I normally play! I am having fun though :-)

**EDIT** Candice survived the pregnancy - just - and she and Daniel now have a baby boy, Edward. She's going to have to go through it all again though, I may well need a spare! :-D

**EDIT AGAIN** And another baby - a girl this time, Eleanor. Candice is still alive too, wow! No more babies for her though, it's too hard keeping her alive.... Despite all this baby making, Daniel is doing well, has almost reached the top of the Science career and has maximised 3 skills......

**EDIT AGAIN AGAIN** Both kids are teens now, and Daniel and Candice are elders. Daniel spent loads of influence points getting spare Eleanor and uni townie Steven Ternynck to socialise together, as he hopes that they'll get together when Eleanor becomes and adult. Edward became an Overachiever after reaching the top of the Slacker career, and Eleanor is well on the way to the top of the Adventurer career - provided she has the right skills, as I don't know if she does or not! Daniel reached the top of the Science career and has almost maxed 5 skills - one more Mechanical point and he's there! :-) He almost has platinum life aspiration too, I hope he gets it before he passes the torch to Edward.....

**EDIT AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN** Daniel has now passed the torch on to his son Edward. Just before he did so he invited friend Steven Ternynck to move in, and reached platinum aspiration! Edward became an adult and asked his teen love Marsha Bruenig to marry him. Then he adopted a kitten, which he named Alice. Not long after that Candice died of old age (she'd aged into an elder with really red aspiration). Then Eleanor became an adult, and using her and Steven's one action as an adult/elder (Steven's an elder - he aged up with Daniel), as well as an Influence To... from Edward to make them flirt and fall in love, I managed to get her pregnant! By this point Marsha was already one day pregnant. Marsha had twins - eeek! - Frederick and Frank. The next day Eleanor also had a son, Ferdinand. Both sims survived their pregnancies, though it was a close run thing for Eleanor. So it's a full household now, and Candice's ghost keeps scaring people, but it's still a lot of fun to play! :-D Shouldn't be long until Daniel and Steven die of old age too, that will make the household a bit smaller, though I'm not looking forward to having 2 more ghosts around!

**EDIT AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN** Steven has now died, but Daniel's hanging in there! The twins grew up into toddlers, but haven't learned any skills yet. Candice's ghost scared Marsha to death twice, but both times Edward pled with the grim reaper and saved her. Edward is a MVP in the Athletics career track, but he needs quite a few skill points before he can get promoted, and he's far too busy looking after the toddlers and Ferdinand to spend time skilling! It's still fun, though the household is waaaay too crowded now - I may move the whole lot, graves and all, to a bigger lot so they can actually have enough space....

Sounds like you're having a great time. It's just about time for me to play my ISBI household again. I'm looking forward to it with joy and dread.

[beafish123]

Mine was going great, until the husband glitched so he wouldnt get out of bed (me not figuring out it was a glitch until it was too late :faceslap: )

I'm kinda depressed now and debating giving up the challenge so she can bring him back from the dead and live happily ever after...but I probably won't...

Here's my ISBI challenge album if anyone wants to see it

http://s358.photobucket.com/albums/oo21/beafish123/Isib/

[lauratje86]

Sounds like you're having a great time.

I am! :-) I moved the whole lot of them, graves and all, to a bigger lot and a more sensibly designed house. The three boys are now children, other than that nothing much has changed - I haven't played the household for a while now and the time I did spend playing them mainly went into building their new house! :-D

[A.G.Doren]

Mine was going great, until the husband glitched so he wouldnt get out of bed (me not figuring out it was a glitch until it was too late :faceslap: )

im kinda depressed now and debating giving up the challenge so she can bring him back from the dead and live happily ever after...but probably not..

heres my ISBI challenge album if anyone wants to look

http://s358.photobucket.com/albums/oo21/beafish123/Isib/

If a game glitch causes something to happen I just cheat and fix it. I'd bring the dad back to like and keep playing it as an ISBI.

[grammapat]

About kids getting taken away due to overheating (& I have a CC bed toddlers love to jump on), can they be directed to go to another room, where there's something else fun to do? Could "call over" a child to stop them, but don't think can do this with toddlers. Trying to figure out how many people would live in house by 5 generations..wouldn't there ALWAYS be 6? pair of elders, Heir & mate, & their 2 kids (is one "spare" enough?)..by the time those kids are adults, wouldn't the elders die?.. But it sounds like people have MORE in the household.. so it doesn't sound that tough..eh? PS: would leave mod for big families active, but remove a romance mod that would result in unwanted pregnancy & other complications.. But I will start this interesting thing & hope for more info.

[grammapat]

I created Lotta Hair in University. This is in Pleasanwateratablossomville - a hood I created with many families from the differant original hoods (which I downloaded). Most of the people are my playable Sims, so they aren't "acceptable mates" but it's fun to see how they will interact with my innocent Lotta.

In the first picture, Lotta makes a phone call home, with Benedick Monty, Jessica Capp, and Xenon Test (an alien/frog cross from my Frog challenge) rocking out - as usual. "Hi, Gramma, I'm all moved in and meetin lots of people.

2nd pic: Gramma wanted me to go to college where some old families attend, but they all seem pretty strange. That Benedick Monty - if he's not teasing me about my freakles, he's sneaking up on me and grabbing things.

3rd: I've met the sweetest boy, Edwin Sharpe. With that shaggy hair, he looks like the cutest surfer dude! He talks about living on the beach, but I hope he's not just a beach bum; Gramma always told me it's important to think about my future.

[grammapat]

College life went by so fast..we've moved to that beach Edwin always talked about, and had our first fight! Geez, when he said "lot" I assumed there would be a house, or at least some trees. I guess it's a good thing he helped himself to some furniture from our dorm, as we don't have much money, and no jobs yet.

We've build a modest home, and I'm planting trees; I intend to make this a home for many future generations.

We went to the mall to get jobs, and a more professional look for me. Edwin didn't have much fashion sense in college, and when he became an adult he still wanted to wear shorts, but Gramma says I mustn't try to change him. I promised to "leave him alone". {The hardest part of this challenge!}

[Abrahadarba]

Just wondering - is this challenge still up for grabs? How does one state their intention to begin a challenge? I just happen to have a solitary Sim that has recently completed his University degree, and it sounds like a lark...

[lauratje86]

Just wondering - is this challenge still up for grabs? How does one state their intention to begin a challenge? I just happen to have a solitary Sim that has recently completed his University degree, and it sounds like a lark...

You just go for it! There's not set times for starting or finishing challenges and no reward for completing one (other than the fun of trying it and maybe bragging rights!), so if you want to give it a go you can do so anytime! If you want to post about what you're up to here you can, and of course if you have questions or whatever about the challenge rules people will try and help you out :-)

It is a lot of fun :-D

[beafish123]

If a game glitch causes something to happen I just cheat and fix it. I'd bring the dad back to like and keep playing it as an ISBI.

I would have but then I would have had to unlock the career reward for paranormal and that seemed like too much of a cheat to me *shrug* shes an elder by now anyway. I might have a future generation go for the paranormal career so if it happens again, I'll be prepared...

My game gets too many happy endings anyway. lol

[grammapat]

Opps, we got a bit carried away in the phone booth. Hope nothing -you know - HAPPENED; we need to be established in our careers before we start a family.

Ooo, shoes, jewelry! Got a new outfit for our beach house, but "extras" will have to wait.

Edwin, that's a terrible burn! No dear, even a wet suit (snicker) won't protect your delicate skin from burning.

[grammapat]

Well, the twins were a surprise (but a wonderful one!). Harietta & Harry Hair (the heir). I think he's going to be a strange one..{sorry for the plumb-bob, this glitch took me by surprise :faceslap: }.

Harry becomes a teen; recognize my college friends? {I changed "control" to him at this point; forgot it was supposed to be when he became ADULT! Going to continue anyway..}

Harry gets abducted - continuing his "strange ways". {I've never had a teen get abducted - & only the 2nd time he watched stars}

[grammapat]

{Hope this turn of events doesn't offend. I have a hack that allows spontaneous actions, which I mostly STOP, but his faces and reactions were not "created" by me - & surprised me!- so I am letting him "write" his story!} Any body have comments?

[grammapat]

Some questions: the rules sound like I can send the POTENTIAL heir to college, and control him there. If I can get him to fall in love with someone, can I then ask the love-interest to move into the dorm (or house in college?) - and then control BOTH of them? But the rules say something about "right before becoming an adult".. when he moves back home he will BE an adult - so he becomes the heir (controlable) then? Sounds like everyone (except sibs of the heir) have to continue to live together, but may move to another house - right? My 1st sim (Lotta Hair) started in college, got ingaged to a townie there; they both moved onto a small beach lot & had 2 kids. First kid (Harry) had abduction child (Jerry) and is now middle-aged. I want to send Jerry to college and find a future bride there. I want them to have at least 2 kids, and lots of pets - just because there is not enough caos with a little household! I assume Jerry will have to move home, then move out with everyone to a new lot. Does all this sound correct?

[grammapat]

Mom passed away after a long illness; we buried her by the palm tree she planted. Dad has started "sunbathing" again - in that funky wet-suit Mom used to laugh about. Last winter Sis moved back east to marry some VIP named Landgrab. I thought a visit would cheer him up; he keeps talking about how much my twin, Harietta, look like mom. What I noticed was her maid outfit, her unhappy tired eyes, and the lack of a wedding ring.

My son Jerry is born -the strange result of yet another abduction. I am working now; so is Milton (did I forget to tell you he moved in?), and I wonder if Dad is up to babysitting.... sometimes he will hold Jerry for hours, but seems confused when a diaper needs changing, and sometimes just lays him on the floor and wanders off.

One morning when I went to work Dad was waiting for his turn to play with Jerry. But when I came home Jerry was filthy and crying on the floor! I decided to hire a nanny..
But the next day he became a toddler - with Mom's red hair! So I'll stay home a few days.

A few days later, we got a surprise visit from my twin, Harietta. She explained that Lotta's father, Malcolm Landgrab, treated her like a servent and never intended to marry her. She actually LIKED keeping a house, and had found a kindred spirit in their European butler. He has found positions for both of them in a grand house in England with a genteel family he know. They will be treated (and paid!) well; but bringing a child is not possible. It really didn't take much to convince me - the cousins are so cute together.

[TaliaKirana]

Neat story you're telling!

[Savalara]

I remember when I did the Asylum Challenge back before restarting my game! A real hoot, that was...I need to try this.

Challa Hills will never be lacking in challenges at this rate! :)

[lauratje86]

My game went stupid and I had to reinstall, and I forgot to save the neighbourhood that this household was in....... So I'm starting again now with a new founder :-) I shall keep you all posted on how it's going!

[grammapat]

Neat story you're telling!
But it has come to an end; my matcheen went poo-poo -- again. And the off-site back-up I had installed just for such a disaster was ill-advised: it did NOT save GAME info! And the worst is my Download folder loss; so many game mods I have virtually a whole custom game... gone, all gone. The only reason I still play is to interact with others, and try to learn how to DO things like create stories. It will be a long process to re-build.

[TrillianRikku]

sounds interesting

[x0xkitkat]

I just started this challenge, mostly in an attempt to break myself of being such a controlling simmer. I'm the kind of player that pauses the game, racks up like five commands in a row, and then goes speed 3 through them. There is no randomness to my sims lives. I read forums about the crazy things that happen and it makes me sad that I miss out on those things.
So I'm playing this challenge to hopefully remedy that. So far it has been interesting. I saw the first ACR woohoo (I've had ACR installed for months but my sims never got the freetime to autonomously get together) and my first sink sponge bath (why my sim's husband refuses to use the tub in the very next room and instead strips to the nude in the kitchen and washes himself that way I will not understand).
However, I've found that in some ways I play the way I did before. I control my girl a ton, and kinda just let her husband do his own thing like he is a townie that just happens to be around. I feel like this is not the point of the challenge.
So I'm asking for some hints/tips on how y'all control the non-torch holders lives through your torch holder. I call him to eat every time I make a meal but how do y'all get your sims to build skills or bathe or sleep or anything else? And is it cheating to use information that pops up? (Like my sim was "so excited that he tried that music and dance activity!")
Thanks guys! I'm really excited to get further into this challenge!!!

[lauratje86]

I'm just starting this challenge again, so I'll be sure to let everyone know how my new founder Gareth Simmons is getting on! :-) I've had so many game issues and laptop issues since last time I tried this, but I'm looking forward to starting again! :-D

My attempt this time won't really be comparable to other people's attempts, as I have a mod in my game to edit the lifestage durations, so that one sim day is roughly equal to one real life year as far as ages are concerned. This means that my sim babies, toddlers, children, teens and elders don't spend as long in those lifestages, whereas my adults are adults for 42 days. I'm also playing with ACR and Inteen installed, and I intend to make use of them :-)

**Update** Well, Gareth has settled into his new home in Amersfylde already! He dated a couple of townies, but decided to marry Lindsay Louie (now Lindsay Louie Simmons). Click here for pictures. (http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3477049&postcount=226) They have 2 bolts for each other, so there's definitely chemistry there! :-) They recently had twins (gotta love cheesecake) - a boy, William Simmons, and a girl, Catherine Simmons (Upcoming British royal wedding, anyone? Can you tell I wasn't feeling hugely creative?! :-D).

I've decided that male children will become the heir/torchholder in preference to female children; girls will only become the torchholder if there are no males available, whether that's due to none being born in a generation or due to them dying young. So William stands to be my next torchholder - if he survives that long!

The twins are now teens, and William will take over as torchholder in 3 or 4 days. I rolled a dice to decide the twins' aspirations, and Catherine rolled Family and William Romance. I shall be sending them both to college when they turn 18, but only William will return to the household. The day after the twins became teens Lindsay gave birth to her and Gareth's ACR baby, Harry Simmons. He is now a toddler. All three youngsters have their Mum's hair colour (brown) and eye colour (brown). They also have her eye shape, so it'll be interesting to see if that continues to show up in future generations. Ooooh, and Gareth was given a magic lamp by the gypsy! :-) I haven't decided what to do with it yet though.

[beafish123]

I never made it to the third generation because I deleted the neighborhood. I recently tried again. I failed epically. My sim's husband died. I have no idea what he died from, as his icon thing showed him in yellow, so I don't think he died of starvation. His ghost showed up as white, which I think is old age...but he wasn't old... My torch holder had twins (Wendy and Lisa), and never fully recovered from her pregnancy. She went outside to clean something up and her husband's ghost scared her to death. So my ISBI ended during generation one.

I think I'm going to start another one soon...though it seems like this thread is somewhat abandoned...

EDIT: I guess I lost already. Everyone is alive, but after further reading I guess I've been cheating. I asked a date what turns him on. :faceslap:

[grammapat]

Looking for a new challenge, I was surprised to find ME here...I had totally forgotten! So I'm going to give it a try, using mods that allow any number of people (or pets) on lot, plus ACR (which will, after the initial settings, allow attonomous baby (and enemy!) making.

Is this thread still supported? I had - and still have - questions.

Starting with a college student...

[Darby]

I just started this myself. Also with a YA. I chose to use Delilah O'feefe, from Académie Le Tour.

I'm not sure how seriously I'll be taking this challenge just yet. At this point, I'm just plinking around pretty casually. Features in later EPs that aren't covered in the rules will make it too easy, if exploited, and I'm not sure yet what I'm going to allow and what I'll need to ban myself from doing.

For instance, I've had Delilah become a witch. Having the torchbearer be either a witch or a plantsim probably shouldn't be allowed, but I'll probably do a bit of playing around with those options anyway. ;)

At the other end, I'm also considering a vampire torchbearer, at some point. :giggler:

[grammapat]

Hello, Mangaroo?

You said previously EVERYONE should stay on the lot, but the original said adult siblings could move out if they fell in love, and both could then breafly be controlled and "move out right away". This implies that you "peeked" to see that they were in love, and told the sib to have the lover move in. Besides, the lot will get too full in just a few generations.

Original also said that if a teen was in love they could take their intended with them (HOW?!) and then you COULD control both while in college. My first sim started in college; as a senior he kept wanting to propose to various girls. I picked one, then moved him to his own place (& built a house consisting of a bedroom/bath! ..he was broke). Then invited his fience to move in. And with my interpretation of the rules, I am controlling both. Not surprisingly, she's also a family sim, but a new freshman!

So does this sound OK? Mangaroo? ANyone?

Also: I know he can stay in the house a little while after graduating - will he be able to get a job? And he will still leave before she gets very far; when he moves back to home-hood I know he can invite her over and have her move in. QUESTION: will she have memory of going to college?

[Peni Griffin]

He won't be able to get a job till he leaves campus.

If you invite a dormie to move in while on campus, she'll start as a freshman and be a normal playable in all respects. If you invite a dormie to move in after you've left campus, she'll have the same degree as you and be a normal college graduate, with go to college memories, six wants, etc.

[mangaroo]

grammapat, I believe you must have misread me. I wrote, "I believe the intent is to keep all torch holders and their spouses (past and present and graves) on a single lot."

So non-torchholder siblings absolutely get moved off the lot when they reach adulthood (or YA, if you want to send everyone to Uni). It's just the torch holders and their spouses, including the previous generation's torch holder + spouse, that should stay on the lot.

Original also said that if a teen was in love they could take their intended with them (HOW?!) and then you COULD control both while in college.

I'm surprised the original rules let you control two Sims in Uni, but I suppose that's to make sure the Sims graduate. Without control, an unskilled Sim is almost sure to flunk out. The "how" of sending a teen you're not playing to Uni is easy -- there's an option to send Sims to Uni from the neighborhood view. The great thing is that this applies to any teen in the neighborhood (except teens from Vacation 'hoods), so you can send townie teens or teens from other households.

[grammapat]

Thanks. Odd: he was in his own house (OK, a vacant lot - he ran out of money) when he repeatedly invited her over, but never got option to "move in" or marry! He had 2 lovers in college and THEY wandered past all the time, he would want to get engaged/marry THEM (althought still engaged to the intended), and DID have option to move them in! RATS! I had to cheat to move her in. And then never get option to make baby! What the hay...barely started and already wacked. (PS, I had removed ACR)

Finally peeked at her: she still shows the college stuff (still mid soph year)! Must be a glitch, as I HAVE invited college people to move in. I had forgotten when you do that you can SEE them become adult. So I used tombstone to age her..WRONG! She went right to old age! But she HAD one child. He's now a teen and this is draaaagin on. At least dad is plat (but don't know why, he's not max skilled. And even though he's at top of job, it's not what he wanted (I picked random, as I think that is required).

I'm on 5th generation, was going to post some pics, but it's no fun if nobody is watching, playing, responding.

[Yazmynna]

I'm trying this challenge but not doing the rules exactly the same. I made a family of eight in CAS: Mom, Dad, 2 teenage boys, boy child, girl child, 2 toddler boys. The girl child (Carly) is the one I play. I'm not playing with the same point system, just +1 point for every generation. So far, Carly has started a book called Space Kittens! in her free time after school and on weekends. The other kids are inviting friends over a lot and staying up all night. The mom is on some crazy sleep schedule. Because neither of the parents are the sim I play, I broke the rules for five seconds and told the dad to get a business job.