The Big Brother Challenge

I have noticed that there are a lot of challenges that have been devised for the Sims games by players.  The 100 Baby Challenge, Not So Berry, Rags to Riches and Black Widow to name a few are all popular challenges and real life ones such as "Big Brother" and "I'm a Sim, Get me Out of Here" have also been popular.  Even EA/Maxis have devised some Scenarios/Challenges within The Sims 4 game for players to complete such as Proud Parent, Too Many Toddlers, Plant a Sim and Family Fortune.

Back in the day of The Sims 2, a challenge was placed on the old BBS website called The Legacy Challenge.  The player would have to place a Sim on the largest lot possible, not having much money left to build a house, more like a one room hovel and then work their way to get money to build up their home.  Marriage would be to a townie and the oldest son would stay on the lot, the remaining children leaving to be placed in the sim bin and forgotten about.  This would need to be done for each generation up to 10 generations or more.

I rather liked the idea of this challenge but didn't like to let my Sims go into the wilderness and be forgotten about.  So, when the University expansion pack for The Sims 2 was released, which was the first EP for the game, I decided to try the Legacy Challenge but with my own take on it.

Firstborn sons will always return to their birth home to continue the family name but other sons will be placed on their own lots, albeit a little smaller, which I call a sub-Legacy.  Daughters will marry and take on their partners names, creating a new legacy family on a large lot.  I never use townies for marriage but create partners for my Sims at University where they will meet and gain skills and relationships, giving them a good start in life.  I play rotationally and for three days for each family, allowing all of my Sims to grow up or age together.  Although it may sound a little old-fashioned having the first son return home and daughters taking on their partners names, for me it made it easier to keep track of families and new legacies within the game.  You can download my rules here if you are interested in playing this way.

I have been wanting to try the Big Brother Challenge for a while in The Sims 2 and finally got around to doing it after watching the real life show earlier this year just to get a feel for it.  Although there are certain rules for the Big Brother Challenge in The Sims that have been devised by players, I decided to create my own for my challenge which you can find here.

I built a Big Brother House and then created 8 Sims separately in CAS and moved them all in one by one.  For me, I had always thought that the Sims in 2 were a lot smarter than in 4 and although I still believe this, Sims in 2 are not as smart as I had previously believed.

At first the Sims seemed to be having a lot of fun, chatting, keeping their needs up by making group meals and showering but then something went wrong.  In a later episode, one Sim decided to take out the trash and, as the door was locked (my fault), threw the trash on the floor.  Of course this caused bugs and Sims freaking out.  They had never bothered about the trash before and now, all of sudden, it was a thing.

Here's a clip of episode 1:

If you would like to watch my Big Brother Challenge in The Sims 2, here is the first episode:

I would love to know what you think of my Big Brother Challenge or challenges in general within the Sims games!

Dag! Dag!

- Minicart

Rose Cottage

I don't usually play with pets in The Sims, mainly because in The Sims 2, you cannot control them.  So I thought it would be a good idea to come out of my comfort zone and create a little cottage that is pet friendly and move in a Sim with her cat.

At one point in real life, I had six cats.  Yes, you read that right - I had six cats.  I love cats.  I just don't usually play with them in The Sims.

I used to have a ginger tom named Rhubarb and he was absolutely beautiful but unfortunately, he has now passed away.  He was very friendly and wanted lots of cuddles, rather like a little dog.  

So I decided to create him in The Sims 2 for my Sim.  So here is Rhubarb and he lives with Jane in Rose Cottage.  He seems very happy there and Jane adores him, giving him lots of cuddles and treats.

If you would like to have Rose Cottage in your game, you can download it from the link in the video.  Unfortunately, it doesn't come with Jane and Rhubarb but it does have furniture and a brand new car in the garage.

And, if you'd like to see a few of Rhubarb's antics, check out this short video:

- Minicart (Jules)