Prosperity Rules

ATTENTION!!! THESE RULES ARE WAYYYYY OLD, PLEASE GO HERE FOR THE LATEST RULES!!!

(this was copied from the original thread on the Sims2 Exchange.) WAAYYY BACK IN 2006….

Please note that although the Prosperity Challenge seems very long when looking at this listing, it is only because we have taken every care to explain it. The set-up and play schedule of this challenge is so different from the way most people would normally play, that we did our best to keep anyone from getting confused. The sections we’ve broken it into will make skimming for answers to your questions after you’ve begun playing much easier.

This is the second listing of the Prosperity Challenge. Straberiwine and I have been shocked at the success it’s had in the last month. The original posting has currently had 168 replies and 1875 views, which makes it rather hard for some computers to pull up the thread at all.

We’ve also decided to make a few minor changes to the scoring, as well as clarifications throughout the rules. At the end of this post there will be a list of just the changes so that anyone who’s already been playing can find them easily. We are also making allowances for those who’ve already started. For example, there has been an increase in points for joining the Secret Society. If you decided not to bother because the points were too low, but are willing to try for the higher points, you can start counting from now and still gain the full bonus.

Prosperity Challenge

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a rut in your Sims 2 playing? Do you find yourself giving each of your CAS sims the same aspiration and personality? Well here’s a challenge that will break you out of it!

The design of The Prosperity Challenge is to create a well-run, prosperous neighborhood. The difference comes in with the set-up. From the very beginning, you must stretch your abilities by creating sims from the roll of a dice.

The Prosperity Challenge was created as a joint effort by Kivrin5511 and Straberiwine74. You will notice that the challenge itself is posted by both of us, so if you’d like to rate beneficial, please rate both.

We have also set up a Yahoo Group for easier discussion. If you’re interested in trying it and would like to talk to other players, please visit http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/prosperity_challenge/ If you do not already have a Yahoo ID, it will ask you to create one, but the process is painless.

Please feel free to ask any questions, either in this thread or on the Yahoo board. Straberiwine and I have done our best to insure that all major issues are covered up front, but there is bound to be something we forgot. Remember, if you have the question, chances are someone else does too and is too afraid to ask.

Due to message length restrictions, the Prosperity Challenge will be listed in separate posts, each replying to the last. Please reply only to the last section in order to keep the rules at the top of this thread. For easier reference, there are 3 separate sections: Set-up, Game play, and Scoring.

Set-Up:

To begin, create a new, empty neighborhood and name it whatever you wish. It is suggested you place at least one community lot in the neighborhood. You are welcome to design your own, move one from another neighborhood, or download one from the exchange. You may also use a Maxis neighborhood if you delete all the existing characters. This can be done either by physically moving them each out, or by bringing up the cheat window and typing DeleteAllCharacters. If deleting this way, you must also use boolprop to “generate new townies” and “generate new NPCs”, or you can have your sims immediately visit a community lot to cause the game to start generating on its own.

The following instructions for set-up are based on dice rolls. However, Straberiwine has created a computer program that will generate the rolls for you. You can find this program either in the files section of the Yahoo Board: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/prosperity_challenge/files/ or by clicking this link: http://aitp.astate.edu/swalls/randomizer.htm

Roll the dice to determine how many families you start off with. If you roll 1, roll again. You must start with at least two families.

For each family, roll the dice again to determine how many sims in the household. Note that 1 is no longer roll again. If you roll 1, it will be a single sim household.

For each sim, you will roll to determine their age, sex, aspiration, and personality. Their appearance is completely up to you and you are welcome to use custom clothing, hair, skin tone, etc.

Age:
1 = Toddler
2 = Child
3 = Teen
4 = Adult
5 = Elder
6 = Roll Again

Gender:
Odd (1,3,5) = Girl
Even (2,4,6) = Boy

Aspiration:
1 = Fortune
2 = Knowledge
3 = Romance
4 = Family
5 = Popularity
6 = Roll Again*

* Please note that although 6 is “Roll Again” in the set-up section, it is “Your Choice” when choosing aspiration for a teen or University Junior within the game. We feel that randomness is necessary in set-up, but some choice is nice later.

For Personality, you must make two separate rolls in order to get a full 12 zodiac sign choices (unless you happen to have a 12-sided dice). The first roll will determine the “set”, the second the sign. You may not redistribute personality points within the sign. You must take it as it comes up automatically.

Set:
Odd (1,3,5) = Set 1
Even (2,4,6) = Set 2

Set 1:
1 = Aries
2 = Taurus
3 = Gemini
4 = Cancer
5 = Leo
6 = Virgo

Set 2:
1 = Libra
2 = Scorpio
3 = Sagittarius
4 = Capricorn
5 = Aquarius
6 = Pisces

If you are unlucky enough to get all Elder Sims, you may start the determination rolls over. Although you may play this arrangement and adopt children to keep the challenge running, we realize how unfair this unlikely situation would be and make concessions for it.

Note that it is very possible that you will end up with a family without an adult. If there is a teen or elder, you must play the family as it is rolled using the “placeholder sim” as explained below. If all sims in the household are toddlers or children, start the family determination rolls over.

Set-up Continued:

Placeholder Sim:
A Placeholder is an adult created simply to load the family. Gender, personality, and aspiration do not matter because he/she won’t be around long. I do suggest, however, that you give him/her clothing you like as the game has a tendency to assign that clothing to the children when they age. Tip: If you plan to keep the gravestone, make the placeholder with 10 neat and 10 nice. The ghost will clean up while floating around at night.

You may either move out or kill the placeholder. For this purpose, boolprop is acceptable to institute their death. If you chose to kill them but do not want to use boolprop, you may immediately lock them in a room or a ladder-less pool. Make sure the other sims have no access to the dying placeholder. The benefit to killing them is that the family’s children will now qualify for the Orphan Assistance Grant. The downfall is that it could send members of the household into aspiration failure, for which you will lose points (this is even more likely to happen if you don’t use boolprop as the sims have more time to get the fear). If you move them out (using the “find own place” option in the newspaper or computer), you may NOT put them back into the neighborhood. Delete them from your sim bin. Placeholders may not effect the lives of the other sims in any way. For the few hours they are alive before moving out or dying, they may NOT teach toddler skills, help with homework, etc. Unless by accident of autonomous action, they may not speak to the other family members at all. Keep them busy while they wait for the newspaper by commanding them to “read a book”, “relax on bed”, etc.

All members of a family must be related to each other. There can be no roommates in the initial families, although you’re welcome to move in roommates once play starts.

Once your families are determined, place their names on a list in the order they were created. You will play their houses in this order.

Families may move into any home or size lot you choose. They may live in Maxis-made houses, houses downloaded from the exchange, or houses you design yourself. They may be moved around throughout the game if they outgrow their current lodging, however they are encouraged to remain and expand, so there are bonuses set up to that purpose.

When first setting up the neighborhood, before playing the first family, move each family into their house/lot and install them a phone. If you’re moving them onto an empty lot, you are welcome to give them only an end table and a phone, then begin building their house when you get to their family in the play schedule. By setting them up in this fashion, you will ensure that even the first family on the schedule can visit and call the other playable sims. If you have a placeholder sim, you are allowed to play the family before the official start of the game only long enough to move the adult out or kill them via boolprop. If you choose to kill them by locking them in a room it will take longer than a few hours, so you must wait until their turn on the playlist.

Once play has started, you may break up a larger family by having members move out through the computer or newspaper, or by being asked to move in with another family. This can be done immediately. However, you may NOT rearrange families within the CAS screen because it would change their last name. If the members moving out start their own house, it need not be considered an original house for the purpose of the bonus.

Game Play:

The Prosperity Challenge is designed to resemble the Family Dynamics Challenge created by Straberiwine74. The goal is to have a prosperous neighborhood in which the families age at a similar rate. Challenge ends with the first 5th generation death or with the death of the last descendant of the original families created in CAS.

You must play each family for the same amount of time, maximum of 7 sim days. The amount of time is up to you. Due to time constraints or attention span, you may decide that 3 or 4 days are easier. Whatever you decide, you must play each family for that length. When you return to #1 on your playlist, you may change the time amount.

When a child ages into a teen, you must roll a 6-sided dice to choose their aspiration.

1 = Fortune
2 = Knowledge
3 = Romance
4 = Family
5 = Popularity
6 = your choice*

*Note that 6 is now “Your Choice” rather than “roll again” as in the set-up.

There are no cheats allowed. You may not use boolprop except in the areas specified in these rules. No money cheats. No hacked items that affect mood or game play. You are, however, allowed to use any custom clothing, skins, hair, etc. You may use fixes or move_objects to correct bugs. The Greek House Level 6 Fix is acceptable (Because this one is important, we are including a link: http://www.variousimmers.net/vsimforum/showthread.php?t=72
). Rule of thumb: if the fix/hack is an item likely to be included in Maxis’ next patch, you may use it.

From the moment you start the challenge, you are not allowed to add new CAS sims to the neighborhood. The families must progress through natural birth, death, move-in, or marriage. If a sim moves out, their household is added to the bottom of the playlist. If all sims die, leaving a house empty, scratch that name off the list. If a family simply changes houses, they may keep their normal space in the playlist.

With the exception of a placeholder sim as mentioned in the set-up section, you are NOT allowed to intentionally kill a sim. You may not lock them in a room or take away a pool ladder. All deaths must be either natural or a true accident.

Challenge ends with the first 5th generation death or with the death of the last descendant of the original families created in CAS.

Edited thanks to a heads up by BrendaLynne1872: All CAS sims are first generation, regardless of what family members they have when they begin. A second generation sim MUST be born or adopted into the game, even if his sister is first generation due to the original roll of the dice.

You are welcome to move in a townie or NPC, but to prevent the unscrupulous from doing this just to get their money, the townie/NPC must stay in the house until their next age transition unless they are moving out with an original family member. (example: The daughter in a family marries a townie while still living with her parents, then he and she move out to start their own family.)

You may not use the “combine household” feature to add families together. They must move in through traditional methods (move-in or marriage). The only acceptable use for this is sims graduating from University. The graduate may merge into any household in which they have family members or best friends, but once there, they must stay at least 7 sim days. This prevents an unscrupulous player from merging them into a house that simply needs a cash infusion.
Game Play Continued:

Your sims may marry/join with any sims in the game, including sims from other households, Townies, NPC, campus townies or NPCs. They must be moved in through traditional methods: marriage or move-in. The only exception to this is if the glitch occurs in which you are unable to move in a campus NPC. Boolprop or a fix to correct this are acceptable.

When marriage occurs, it is not against the rules to have the man take on the woman’s last name, however there is a bonus if all marriages are “traditional”. In the case of same sex joining, either last name may be taken. Last name is determined by who proposes marriage (not engagement). If a woman is marrying a male townie, move him in first, then have him propose marriage to her.

You must take all career chance cards. If you choose to “ignore”, you will lose one score point each time. These cards represent situations that could potentially come up in the job and there would not be an option to ignore in real life.

We have separate scoring databases for players with and without the University expansion pack. The following rules apply to University:

You are welcome and encouraged to send your teen sims to college, but there are rules that apply to them as well:
The college graduates must be re-added to the neighborhood within 7 sim days of leaving or after playing their family in the neighborhood without them once, whichever is greater. For example: If Bobby Smith is sent to college on the second day of his family’s 7-day play schedule, you may play his family again once more before returning him. Therefore he has actually been gone 12 days, but you are not breaking any rules. You are also welcome to return him BEFORE their next play cycle, therefore having him gone only 5 days. You can also play the University phase through and re-add him immediately, therefore having no time pass for the rest of the family.

—- Suggestions for University play:
– Put University on the schedule just like you would a new household and play them to graduation.
– If you want time to pass for the rest of the college sim’s family as if he were away, you can put University on the schedule in one place and play 2 years (4 semesters), half their college life.
– Similarly, you may add University in two places on your list and play each time for 1 college year (2 semesters). This keeps the time frame of the University play schedule more similar to the time frame of your neighborhood play.
– Finally, you can choose not to add it to the schedule and simply play University when you feel like it, keeping in mind the rule that the sims may not be away from the neighborhood more than 7 days or one rotation.
Game Play Continued:

Townie teens can be sent to college with your playable sims ONLY if their relationship is at Best Friend. Townie teens or campus townies that have been moved in or pledged into a Greek house may remain in the sim bin after graduation. Sims who originated in the neighborhood may NOT remain in the sim bin. They MUST be returned to the neighborhood after graduation. Townies/NPCs who became playable during University may be added to the neighborhood in their own homes if you choose. However, they must be added to the playlist. They cannot be installed in the neighborhood simply to retain the friendship.

Maxis University Sims can only join the neighborhood if they are moving in with a playable sim within the challenge, either in the campus house or Neighborhood. They cannot be played in their own house and then given their own lot in the neighborhood. Example: If you play Francis Worthington III in his own house throughout college and he graduates on his own, he cannot be moved into the neighborhood. However, if he is moved into the Prosperity Challenge campus house or marries a playable sim immediately after graduation, he can be.

You may NOT create a sim in the Student CAS and move them onto the campus. The above allowance is for Maxis-made students only.

When you are given the option to change aspiration at the end of Sophomore year, you have a choice. If you would like to retain the aspiration chosen when they became a teen, you may click “no”. If you click “yes” to change it, you must roll a dice and use the coordinating numbers above. You must take the aspiration rolled if you choose “yes”.

Young Adults from the neighborhood do not have to live together during college, but please plan accordingly to insure all Young Adults move back to the neighborhood within the required time of leaving.

A newly arriving young adult may be merged into a dorm with another playable young adult. However, if you want to merge the new arrival into an existing private house or Greek House, you must do so through “move-in” or “ask to pledge” (put them in a dorm first, then move them through the accepted means). In the case of a Greek House, it is your choice whether you have the sim already in the Greek House ask the new arrival, thereby putting them through a pledge period in which you are not in control of the younger sim, or if the younger sim calls the Greek House and asks to be pledged in.

Scoring:

All scores are based on the honor system. Do your best and let us know how you did.

Neighborhood Scoring:

1 pt per sim in the game including your original sims. People who start with a larger amount of families will get a head start, but trust me, it will even out.

1 pt for each home in the neighborhood that has held a single family for 3 generations or more. Sims may count for two different houses. For example, if Betty is the third generation in her family’s house, but moves out when she becomes an adult, she is also the first generation of her new house.

1 pt per $100,000 net worth neighborhood-wide (add all family’s net worth together) Round up.

3 pts per impossible want fulfilled. Impossible wants are defined by their aspiration points being over 30,000. (Note: It is not necessary that the want be in the panel at the time it is reached, so no need to waste a lock. It must, however, coordinate with the aspiration. A Fortune Sim who reaches $100,000 will earn the bonus even if he doesn’t have the want at the moment he earns the last simolean. A Family Sim who earns $100,000 would not earn the bonus because family sims do not receive this impossible want.) Family sims who “Have 10 Kids” will also earn this bonus even though it is not worth 30,000 points.

1 pt per platinum grave neighborhood wide.

1 pt if sim has top influence level at the time of death. Top influence is defined as having 12 friends not related to you. The influence meter does not have to be filled, only available. Players without University may also claim this bonus simply by reaching the required friends.

1 pt for reaching top of an adult career (max 2 points per sim. Second career must be a DIFFERENT career to claim the second point. Teen and Elder careers do not qualify.)

-1 pt for each visit from the Sim Shrink.

-1 pt for each visit from the Social Bunny.

-1 pt for each college drop out.

-1 pt if a sim is fired due to poor work performance (not applicable if due to a chance card). This includes teens fired due to bad grades.

-1 pt for each ignored chance card.

-1 pt for each child taken by the social worker. (Even if only one child is failing and she takes all 3, you get –3)

University Scoring:

1 pt per summa cum laude graduate (4.0 grade point average).

1 pt per “Big Sim on Campus” (12 friends at any point during University. Can be taken in addition to having top influence at time of death).

1 pt per $50,000 net worth on campus. Round up. Please note that ONLY Greek Houses retain their money when sims graduate. Dorm money is depleted because the graduating sims take a percentage with them. You are still allowed to count this bonus in a dorm, but may only count the amount of money physically there, not estimate the money the graduated sims took.
Scoring Continued:

Bonuses:

10 extra pts if 10 or more impossible wants are filled throughout the course of the challenge (in addition to individual points received)

20 extra pts if 15 or more impossible wants are filled throughout the course of the challenge (in addition to individual points received. Not in addition to bonus for 10.)

12 pts if all sims who go to college pledge into a Greek House started within the challenge. If at any point you have more than 6 sims in college, you may start a second Greek House (or 3^rd if more than 12 sims, etc.). As long as all sims pledge into one of these houses, you may still claim this bonus.

5 pts if 75% of sims who go to college pledge into one of the Greek Houses (Not in addition to bonus for all)

25 pts if all sims who go to college get into Secret Society.

10 pts if 75% of sims who went to college get into Secret Society (Not in addition to bonus for all sims)

30 pts if everyone in the neighborhood over the course of the challenge achieves their lifetime wants (excluding CAS Elders. Not to be taken in addition to the bonuses for less than 5 or 10 misses.)

20 pts if 5 or less sims over the course of the game miss their lifetime wants (excluding CAS Elders. Not to be taken in addition to the bonus for 10 or less.)

10 pts if 10 or less sims over the course of the game miss their lifetime wants (excluding CAS Elders)

10 pts for each CAS Elder who achieves an impossible want in their lifetime. (This is INSTEAD of the 3 points normally given, not in addition to.)

10 pts for each CAS Elder who achieves their lifetime want (Nearly impossible since most have to do with Adult jobs). This cannot be taken after death. For example, if a sim has a “Have 6 grandchildren” want, they must be alive to see the sixth child.

5 pts if all male-female marriages throughout the game take on the male’s last name.

If each of the original family houses remain inhabited by an heir with the same last name as the family began with…
— 5 pts if this was achieved while taking only the male last name.
— 2 pt if this was achieved by a man taking the female’s last name.
(These points in addition to the bonus for a house that’s held a single family for 3 generations or more.)

5 pts if no tombstones are deleted throughout the challenge and ghosts have access to all sims on the lot. (placeholders in the initial set-up may be deleted. Since they couldn’t affect the other sims in life, they need not effect them in death.)


Changes From Last Posting:

1. There is now a bonus for the overall value of campus households set at 1 point per $50,000, rounded up. Please note that ONLY Greek Houses retain their money when sims graduate. Dorm money is depleted because the graduating sims take a percentage with them. You are still allowed to count this bonus in a dorm, but may only count the amount of money physically there, not estimate the money the graduated sims took.
   
2. To gain the 2^nd bonus point for reaching top of an adult career track, the second career must be a DIFFERENT career.
   
3. The bonus for all college sims joining the Secret Society in college has been raised to 25 points. 75% of all college sims joining the Secret Society has been raised to 10 points.
   
4. The bonus for all college sim joining the same Greek House has been raised to 12 points. 75% of all college sims joining the same Greek House has been raised to 5 points.
   
5. A 10 point bonus has been added for CAS Elders reaching their lifetime want while still alive.
   
6. A –1 point penalty has been added for each child taken by the social worker. If only one child is failing and she takes all three, you get –3.
   

Clarifications:

1. Points for top of a career track are adult jobs only. Teen and elder jobs do not qualify.
2. If at any point you have more than 6 sims in college, you may start a second Greek House (or 3^rd if more than 12) and still qualify for the full bonus as long as everyone joins one of them.
3. Top Influence level at time of death means only that the influence meter be raised that high, not that it be filled. This is accomplished by having 12 non-related friends. Players without University can still count this bonus as long as the deceased has 12 friends who are not related to them when they died.
4. We have created a separate scoring database for players without University because we realize how different the scores will be with and without.
5. Note that although rolling a 6 for aspiration is “Roll Again” during Set-Up, but “Your Choice” during the game.
6. Maxis University Sims can only join the neighborhood if they are moving in with a playable sim within the challenge, either in the campus house or Neighborhood. They cannot be played in their own house and then given their own lot in the neighborhood. Example: If you play Francis Worthington III in his own house throughout college and he graduates on his own, he cannot be moved into the neighborhood. However, if he is moved into the Prosperity Challenge campus house or marries a playable sim immediately after graduation, he can be.
7. If a teen is fired from his/her job due to bad grades, it is STILL being fired for poor work performance and will earn a –1 point penalty.
8. Bonus for CAS Elders reaching an impossible want is INSTEAD of the normal 3 points, not in addition to.

Updated Rules 123105 uploaded to the Prosperity Challenge Yahoo Group by straberriewine:

Prosperity Challenge

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a rut in your Sims 2 playing? Do you find yourself giving each of your CAS sims the same aspiration and personality? Well here’s a challenge that will break you out of it!

The design of The Prosperity Challenge is to create a well-run, prosperous neighborhood. The difference comes in with the set-up. From the very beginning, you must stretch your abilities by creating sims from the roll of a dice.

We haveset up a Yahoo Group for easy discussion. If you’re interested in trying it and would like to talk to other players, please visit http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/prosperity_challenge/. If you do not already have a Yahoo ID, it will ask you to create one, but the process is painless.

Please feel free to ask any questions, either in the BBS thread or on the Yahoo board. Straberiwine and I have done our best to insure that all major issues are covered up front, but there is bound to be something we forgot. Remember, if you have the question, chances are someone else does too and is too afraid to ask.

Set-Up:

To begin, create a new, empty neighborhood and name it whatever you wish. It is suggested you place at least one community lot in the neighborhood. You are welcome to design your own, move one from another neighborhood, or download one from the exchange. You may also use a Maxis neighborhood if you delete all the existing characters. This can be done either by physically moving them each out, or by bringing up the cheat window and typing DeleteAllCharacters. If deleting this way, you must also use boolprop to “generate new townies” and “generate new NPCs”, or you can have your sims immediately visit a community lot to cause the game to start generating on its own.

The following instructions for set-up are based on dice rolls. However, Straberiwine has created a computer program that will generate the rolls for you. You can find this program either in the files section of the Yahoo Board: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/prosperity_challenge/files/.

Roll the dice to determine how many families you start off with. If you roll 1, roll again. You must start with at least two families.

For each family, roll the dice again to determine how many sims in the household. Note that 1 is no longer roll again. If you roll 1, it will be a single sim household.

For each sim, you will roll to determine their age, sex, aspiration, and personality. Their appearance is completely up to you and you are welcome to use custom clothing, hair, skin tone, etc.

Age:
1 = Toddler
2 = Child
3 = Teen
4 = Adult
5 = Elder
6 = Roll Again

Gender:
Odd (1,3,5) = Girl
Even (2,4,6) = Boy

Aspiration:
1 = Fortune
2 = Knowledge
3 = Romance
4 = Family
5 = Popularity
6 = Pleasure ** If you don’t have Nightlife installed, 6 is roll again during set up.

For Personality, you must make two separate rolls in order to get a full 12 zodiac sign choices (unless you happen to have a 12-sided dice). The first roll will determine the “set”, the second the sign. You may not redistribute personality points within the sign. You must take it as it comes up automatically.

Set:
Odd (1,3,5) = Set 1
Even (2,4,6) = Set 2

Set 1:
1 = Aries
2 = Taurus
3 = Gemini
4 = Cancer
5 = Leo
6 = Virgo

Set 2:
1 = Libra
2 = Scorpio
3 = Sagittarius
4 = Capricorn
5 = Aquarius
6 = Pisces

If you are unlucky enough to get all Elder Sims, you may start the determination rolls over. Although you may play this arrangement and adopt children to keep the challenge running, we realize how unfair this unlikely situation would be and make concessions for it.

Note that it is very possible that you will end up with a family without an adult. If there is a teen or elder, you must play the family as it is rolled using the “placeholder sim” as explained below. If all sims in the household are toddlers or children, start the family determination rolls over.

Placeholder Sim:
A Placeholder is an adult created simply to load the family. Gender, personality, and aspiration do not matter because he/she won’t be around long. I do suggest, however, that you give him/her clothing you like as the game has a tendency to assign that clothing to the children when they age. Tip: If you plan to keep the gravestone, make the placeholder with 10 neat and 10 nice. The ghost will clean up while floating around at night.

You may either move out or kill the placeholder. For this purpose, boolprop is acceptable to institute their death. If you chose to kill them but do not want to use boolprop, you may immediately lock them in a room or a ladder-less pool. Make sure the other sims have no access to the dying placeholder. The benefit to killing them is that the family’s children will now qualify for the Orphan Assistance Grant. The downfall is that it could send members of the household into aspiration failure, for which you will lose points (this is even more likely to happen if you don’t use boolprop as the sims have more time to get the fear). If you move them out (using the “find own place” option in the newspaper or computer), you may NOT put them back into the neighborhood. Delete them from your sim bin.

Placeholders may not effect the lives of the other sims in any way. For the few hours they are alive before moving out or dying, they may NOT teach toddler skills, help with homework, etc. Unless by accident of autonomous action, they may not speak to the other family members at all. Keep them busy while they wait for the newspaper by commanding them to “read a book”, “relax on bed”, etc.

All members of a family must be related to each other. There can be no roommates in the initial families, although you’re welcome to move in roommates once play starts.

Once your families are determined, place their names on a list in the order they were created. You will play their houses in this order.

Families may move into any home or size lot you choose. They may live in Maxis-made houses, houses downloaded from the exchange, or houses you design yourself. They may be moved around throughout the game if they outgrow their current lodging, however they are encouraged to remain and expand, so there are bonuses set up to that purpose.

When first setting up the neighborhood, before playing the first family, move each family into their house/lot and install them a phone. If you’re moving them onto an empty lot, you are welcome to give them only an end table and a phone, then begin building their house when you get to their family in the play schedule. By setting them up in this fashion, you will ensure that even the first family on the schedule can visit and call the other playable sims. If you have a placeholder sim, you are allowed to play the family before the official start of the game only long enough to move the adult out or kill them via boolprop. If you choose to kill them by locking them in a room it will take longer than a few hours, so you must wait until their turn on the playlist.

Once play has started, you may break up a larger family by having members move out through the computer or newspaper, or by being asked to move in with another family. This can be done immediately. However, you may NOT rearrange families within the CAS screen because it would change their last name. If the members moving out start their own house, it need not be considered an original house for the purpose of the bonus.

Game Play:

The Prosperity Challenge is designed to resemble the Family Dynamics Challenge created by Straberiwine74. The goal is to have a prosperous neighborhood in which the families age at a similar rate. Challenge ends with the first 5th generation death or with the death of the last descendant of the original families created in CAS.

You must play each family for the same amount of time, maximum of 7 sim days. The amount of time is up to you. Due to time constraints or attention span, you may decide that 3 or 4 days are easier. Whatever you decide, you must play each family for that length. When you return to #1 on your playlist, you may change the time amount.

When a child ages into a teen, you must roll a 6-sided dice to choose their aspiration.

1 = Fortune
2 = Knowledge
3 = Romance
4 = Family
5 = Popularity
6 = Pleasure ** If you don’t have Nightlife installed, 6 is ‘Your Choice’ when aging to teen.

There are no cheats allowed. You may not use boolprop except in the areas specified in these rules. No money cheats. No hacked items that affect mood or game play. You are, however, allowed to use any custom clothing, skins, hair, etc. You may use fixes or move_objects to correct bugs. The Greek House Level 6 Fix is acceptable (Because this one is important, we are including a link: http://www.variousimmers.net/vsimforum/showthread.php?t=72
). Rule of thumb: if the fix/hack is an item likely to be included in Maxis’ next patch, you may use it.

From the moment you start the challenge, you are not allowed to add new CAS sims to the neighborhood. The families must progress through natural birth, death, move-in, or marriage. If a sim moves out, their household is added to the bottom of the playlist. If all sims die, leaving a house empty, scratch that name off the list. If a family simply changes houses, they may keep their normal space in the playlist.

With the exception of a placeholder sim as mentioned in the set-up section, you are NOT allowed to intentionally kill a sim. You may not lock them in a room or take away a pool ladder. All deaths must be either natural or a true accident.

Challenge ends with the first 5th generation death or with the death of the last descendant of the original families created in CAS.

All CAS sims are first generation, regardless of what family members they have when they begin. A second generation sim MUST be born or adopted into the game, even if his sister is first generation due to the original roll of the dice.

You are welcome to move in a townie or NPC, but to prevent the unscrupulous from doing this just to get their money, the townie/NPC must stay in the house until their next age transition unless they are moving out with an original family member. (example: The daughter in a family marries a townie while still living with her parents, then he and she move out to start their own family.)

You may not use the “combine household” feature to add families together. They must move in through traditional methods (move-in or marriage). The only acceptable use for this is sims graduating from University. The graduate may merge into any household in which they have family members or best friends, but once there, they must stay at least 7 sim days. This prevents an unscrupulous player from merging them into a house that simply needs a cash infusion.

Your sims may marry/join with any sims in the game, including sims from other households, Townies, NPC, campus townies, downtownies or NPCs. They must be moved in through traditional methods: marriage or move-in. The only exception to this is if the glitch occurs in which you are unable to move in a campus NPC. Boolprop or a fix to correct this are acceptable.

When marriage occurs, it is not against the rules to have the man take on the woman’s last name, however there is a bonus if all marriages are “traditional”. In the case of same sex joining, either last name may be taken. Last name is determined by who proposes marriage (not engagement). If a woman is marrying a male townie, move him in first, then have him propose marriage to her.

A sim is only allowed to move to a new lot a total of three times during their lifetime – once as a teen (excluding the move to and from University), once as an adult, and once as an elder. This is to prevent a sim from moving from lot to lot gathering $20K each time they move.

You must take all career chance cards. If you choose to “ignore”, you will lose one score point each time. These cards represent situations that could potentially come up in the job and there would not be an option to ignore in real life.

We have a separate scoring system for players with and without the University expansion pack. The following rules apply to University:

You are welcome and encouraged to send your teen sims to college, but there are rules that apply to them as well:
The college graduates must be re-added to the neighborhood within 7 sim days of leaving or after playing their family in the neighborhood without them once, whichever is greater. For example: If Bobby Smith is sent to college on the second day of his family’s 7-day play schedule, you may play his family again once more before returning him. Therefore he has actually been gone 12 days, but you are not breaking any rules. You are also welcome to return him BEFORE their next play cycle, therefore having him gone only 5 days. You can also play the University phase through and re-add him immediately, therefore having no time pass for the rest of the family.

Note on Greek Houses: There is a bonus related to the number of sims who pledge to a Greek House. Your sims do not have to live at the Greek House. If everyone pledges into the Greek House, you earn the bonus. Please remember that the house must stay open to be active, however. One of your playable sims MUST start the house (the first one to attend college if you want the full bonus). But after it is started, you may pledge and move in a placeholder, then let the later sims pledge through him/her.

—- Suggestions for University play:
– Put University on the schedule just like you would a new household and play them to graduation.
– If you want time to pass for the rest of the college sim’s family as if he were away, you can put University on the schedule in one place and play 2 years (4 semesters), half their college life.
– Similarly, you may add University in two places on your list and play each time for 1 college year (2 semesters). This keeps the time frame of the University play schedule more similar to the time frame of your neighborhood play.
– Finally, you can choose not to add it to the schedule and simply play University when you feel like it, keeping in mind the rule that the sims may not be away from the neighborhood more than 7 days or one rotation.

Townie teens can be sent to college with your playable sims ONLY if their relationship is at Best Friend. Townie teens or campus townies that have been moved in or pledged into a Greek house may remain in the sim bin after graduation. Sims who originated in the neighborhood may NOT remain in the sim bin. They MUST be returned to the neighborhood after graduation. Townies/NPCs who became playable during University may be added to the neighborhood in their own homes if you choose. However, they must be added to the playlist. They cannot be installed in the neighborhood simply to retain the friendship.

Maxis University Sims can only join the neighborhood if they are moving in with a playable sim within the challenge, either in the campus house or Neighborhood. They cannot be played in their own house and then given their own lot in the neighborhood. Example: If you play Francis Worthington III in his own house throughout college and he graduates on his own, he cannot be moved into the neighborhood. However, if he is moved into the Prosperity Challenge campus house or marries a playable sim immediately after graduation, he can be.

You may NOT create a sim in the Student CAS and move them onto the campus. The above allowance is for Maxis-made students only.

When you are given the option to change aspiration at the end of Sophomore year, you have a choice. If you would like to retain the aspiration chosen when they became a teen, you may click “no”. If you click “yes” to change it, you must roll a dice and use the coordinating numbers above. You must take the aspiration rolled if you choose “yes”.

Young Adults from the neighborhood do not have to live together during college, but please plan accordingly to insure all Young Adults move back to the neighborhood within the required time of leaving.

A newly arriving young adult may be merged into a dorm with another playable young adult. However, if you want to merge the new arrival into an existing private house or Greek House, you must do so through “move-in” or “ask to pledge” (put them in a dorm first, then move them through the accepted means). In the case of a Greek House, it is your choice whether you have the sim already in the Greek House ask the new arrival, thereby putting them through a pledge period in which you are not in control of the younger sim, or if the younger sim calls the Greek House and asks to be pledged in.

Scoring:

All scores are based on the honor system. Do your best and let us know how you did.

Neighborhood Scoring:

1 pt per sim in the game including your original sims. People who start with a larger amount of families will get a head start, but trust me, it will even out. This includes all sims who have ever been part of the game, include deaths and sims taken by the social worker.

1 pt for each home in the neighborhood that has held a single family for 3 generations or more. Sims may count for two different houses. For example, if Betty is the third generation in her family’s house, but moves out when she becomes an adult, she is also the first generation of her new house.

1 pt per $100,000 net worth neighborhood-wide (add all family’s net worth together) Round up. Net worth is not cash – it is the amount shown for the family from the Neighborhood screen.

3 pts per impossible want fulfilled. Impossible wants are defined by their aspiration points being over 30,000. (Note: It is not necessary that the want be in the panel at the time it is reached, so no need to waste a lock. It must, however, coordinate with the aspiration. A Fortune Sim who reaches $100,000 will earn the bonus even if he doesn’t have the want at the moment he earns the last simolean. A Family Sim who earns $100,000 would not earn the bonus because family sims do not receive this impossible want.) Family sims who “Have 10 Kids” will also earn this bonus even though it is not worth 30,000 points.

Impossible wants are:
Fortune: Earn $100,000
Knowledge: Max All Skills
Popularity: Have 30 Best Friends
Romance: Have 30 Loves
Family: Have 10 Kids -and- Have 20 Grandkids (can get double points if you fulfill both)

Also note that if you fulfill an impossible want before Junior year, change the aspiration in University and fulfill a new impossible want, you may claim the bonus twice for the same sim.

Note on Elders – Moving elders in (such as college professors) will not cost you the bonus for fulfilling all LTWs in the neighborhood. However, if you do fulfill their LTW, it doesn’t count toward the bonus for CAS elders.

1 pt per platinum grave neighborhood wide.

1 pt if sim has top influence level at the time of death. Top influence is defined as having 12 friends not related to you. The influence meter does not have to be filled, only available. Players without University may also claim this bonus simply by reaching the required friends.

1 pt for reaching top of an adult career (max 2 points per sim. Second career must be a DIFFERENT career to claim the second point. Teen and Elder careers do not qualify.)

-1 pt for each visit from the Sim Shrink.

-1 pt for each visit from the Social Bunny.

-1 pt for each college drop out.

-1 pt if a sim is fired due to poor work performance (not applicable if due to a chance card). This includes teens fired due to bad grades.

-1 pt for each ignored chance card.

-1 pt for each child taken by the social worker. (Even if only one child is failing and she takes all 3, you get –3)

The point deduction for use of the Orb aspiration reward has officially been changed to 5 points. If you use the orb, you automatically take a point reduction of 5 points, but a very dedicated player can make that up by getting Impossible Wants in both the previous and new aspirations.

There is one exception to the -5 point rule with the Orb. If you are using the Orb ONLY to get Grilled Cheese aspiration, you do not have to take a reduction. But you MUST stay Grilled Cheese for this to take effect. If, at any time before death, the Sim uses the Orb again to change to a non-Grilled Cheese aspiration, you must take -10. This is -5 for the original use that resulted in Grilled Cheese, and another -5 for getting out of Grilled Cheese. This penalty is primarily for those who paid too little attention to aspiration and used the Orb during green or red aspiration. However, it also applies to anyone who thought they wanted Grilled Cheese, and then changed their mind.

University Scoring:

1 pt per summa cum laude graduate (4.0 grade point average).

1 pt per “Big Sim on Campus” (12 friends at any point during University. Can be taken in addition to having top influence at time of death).

Bonuses:

10 extra pts if 10 or more impossible wants are filled throughout the course of the challenge (in addition to individual points received)

20 extra pts if 15 or more impossible wants are filled throughout the course of the challenge (in addition to individual points received. Not in addition to bonus for 10.)

12 pts if all sims who go to college pledge into a Greek House started within the challenge. If at any point you have more than 6 sims in college, you may start a second Greek House (or 3rd if more than 12 sims, etc.). As long as all sims pledge into one of these houses, you may still claim this bonus.

5 pts if 75% of sims who go to college pledge into one of the Greek Houses (Not in addition to bonus for all)

25 pts if all sims who go to college get into Secret Society.

10 pts if 75% of sims who went to college get into Secret Society (Not in addition to bonus for all sims)

30 pts if everyone in the neighborhood over the course of the challenge achieves their lifetime wants (excluding CAS Elders. Not to be taken in addition to the bonuses for less than 5 or 10 misses.)

20 pts if 5 or less sims over the course of the game miss their lifetime wants (excluding CAS Elders. Not to be taken in addition to the bonus for 10 or less.)

10 pts if 10 or less sims over the course of the game miss their lifetime wants (excluding CAS Elders)

10 pts for each CAS Elder who achieves an impossible want in their lifetime. (This is INSTEAD of the 3 points normally given, not in addition to.)

10 pts for each CAS Elder who achieves their lifetime want (Nearly impossible since most have to do with Adult jobs). This cannot be taken after death. For example, if a sim has a “Have 6 grandchildren” want, they must be alive to see the sixth child.

5 pts if all male-female marriages throughout the game take on the male’s last name.

If each of the original family houses remain inhabited by an heir with the same last name as the family began with…
— 5 pts if this was achieved while taking only the male last name.
— 2 pt if this was achieved by a man taking the female’s last name.
(These points in addition to the bonus for a house that’s held a single family for 3 generations or more.)

5 pts if no tombstones are deleted throughout the challenge and ghosts have access to all sims on the lot. (placeholders in the initial set-up may be deleted. Since they couldn’t affect the other sims in life, they need not effect them in death.)