Rules: Starting Out

These rules were originally posted by me at Mod The Sims: http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=557578

The Crash Site Colony Challenge

This is a fairly long-and-detailed challenge that I've been working on and playtesting in my own game. This challenge is heavily based on / influenced by:

Backstory:

Miraculously, the entire crew of the Cosimos 5 mission survived the crash. Even more miraculously, the ship is still habitable... though the engines are trashed, stranding the crew on this unexplored planet. Even much more miraculously than that, the planet they crash-landed on has a breathable atmosphere, mineral-rich soil, and even traces of liquid water on the surface! This is an amazing discovery, sure to make heroes of the crew... if they can ever get back home, that is.

Unfortunately, both the primary and secondary communications modules seem to be non-functional -- the crew is stranded in radio silence, without hope of rescue. They must find a way to survive until the ship can be repaired; failing that, they have no choice but to try to make a life for themselves on this new, strange world.

Starting Out:

  1. Create a new game in whichever neighborhood you like. (Recommended: Oasis Springs, for that "inhospitable desert wasteland" feel.)
  2. Delete all the pre-existing buildings and Sims/households from the neighborhood.
    Recommended mods:
    • "Reduced Townie Generating" http://simsicalcreations.blogspot.com/search/label/Shimrod%27s%20Mods

      Note: It is not possible, as far as I know, to completely and permanently remove all of the automatically-generated Sims in a neighborhood. One idea is to use the cheat "CAS.fulleditmode" on such auto-generated Sims and turn them into something more... "native" to this planet.
  3. Decide how many crew members you want. Assign roles/duties to each crew member. This will likely influence your choice of traits, aspirations, etc. Some ideas for possible roles/duties are listed below. Feel free to make up your own, and feel free to combine two or more of these into a single Sim if you like.
    • Captain/Commander: this is the only role that is *required* to be assigned -- after all, every ship must have a captain, right? Good skills/traits might include Logic, Fitness, Charisma, Rocket Science, Self-Assured, Outgoing, Family-Oriented 
    • Engineer/Mechanic: good role for a Handiness sim 
    • Science Officer: Logic, Collecting ("geology"), Gardening ("botany"), Fishing ("marine biology"), Mixology ("chemistry"), Genius, Bookworm, Geek 
    • Medic/Doctor: Logic, Handiness, Mixology?, Genius, Neat, Herbalism 
    • Security Officer: Fitness, Handiness, VideoGaming? ("tactical simulations") 
    • Communications Officer/SysOp: Programming, Logic, Geek 
    • Cook: any Culinary-related skills/traits, Gardening, Fishing 
    • Counselor/Chaplain/Diplomat: Charisma, Outgoing, Writing, Creative, Painting/Music/Comedy 
  4. Create your captain and crew in CAS with whatever genders, looks, outfits, names, traits, and aspirations you like. They should all be at least Young Adults. Make them all a single household for now (since they all live together in the spaceship/crash-site initially). You are free to make some of them related if you like.
  5. Build the initial "crash site" / spaceship wreckage... be creative! This is ideally done on one of the large 50x50 lots, especially if you have a "full crew" of 8 sims. You are allowed to use money cheats (including the "freerealestate" cheat) in order to achieve the design that you have in mind for the wrecked spaceship; any extra remaining funds will be adjusted at the end. (A list of ideas and restrictions for the spaceship design is a separate section below.)
  6. Move your new household/crew into the "crash site" that you've built. You may purchase the following items at the start -- if you need to place a computer temporarily in order to purchase these, you may. These represent things the crew would have brought along for the mission: 
    • seed packets: 
      • 1 packet for a crew of 1-3 sims 
      • 2 packets for 4-6 sims 
      • 3 packets for 7-8 sims 
    • skill books (lowest level): 
    • medicine: 1 for each crewmate.
  7. Once you are ready to begin the challenge, you must use the cheat "money 0" (or some other method) to set the household funds to $0. However, since there is no economy or system of government on this planet, you won't need to pay taxes or bills. Use the cheat "households.autopay_bills true" to disable bills for now. (You can also use the "bb.moveobjects on" cheat to move the mailbox out of the way, for design purposes.)

IDEAS and RESTRICTIONS on spaceship design:

  • Bedrooms: Each crewman (or crewwoman... crewSim?) is allowed his/her own "bunk" (i.e., own bedroom). These are typically tiny rooms, sparsely furnished with a single bed/cot, a storage locker/small dresser and/or nightstand, maybe a desk and some shelves, and little else. No double beds.
  • Bathrooms: Depending on crew size, there will be one (for a crew of 1-4) or two (for a crew of 5-8) community/shared washrooms. Luckily, the water reclaimer system doesn't appear to have been damaged in the crash, so each washroom will have a working toilet, sink with small mirror, and shower. (If you like, you may split the toilet/sink/shower into separate rooms, but no tubs are allowed -- they take too much water, and so are unsuitable for life in space.)
    Recommended mods: 
  • Eating and socializing: There is usually a "common room" (also may be known as a "rec room" or "mess hall") where the crew come together to take meals and socialize. This room may have: 
  • There should be a "control room" (also known as "the bridge"), from where the captain issues flight orders. This room should have one or two desks with computers (non-functioning). Either bring in already-broken computers from another saved house, or use the mod "Enable advanced debug/cheat interactions" (http://modthesims.info/d/532735) or similar to set the computers to "broken" state. (You could also simply not put chairs in front of the desks, or block off the entire room, or use a mod that prohibits autonomous PC usage, or anything else that will make it so that Sims cannot use a computer until certain Challenge Goals have been met.)
  • There is almost always an "engine room", which houses the ion engines, nuclear reactors, or whatever else powers the ship through space. (Right now, it houses a large non-functional scrap heap.) This room will typically have a workbench, where the mechanic/engineer would do some repairs on small mechanical engine parts... luckily, it is also equipped for woodworking, if there is any wood to be found on this planet.
    Recommended mods: 
  • There may be a gym with up to two pieces of workout equipment, since maintaining muscle tone while in zero-gravity is very important.
  • There may be a laboratory for conducting research while in space. This room may have: 
    • a microscope 
    • a few bookcases, desks, shelves, counters, tables (to make it look like a lab) 
    • some number of garden planters (for conducting botany experiments, or as a hydroponic garden), based on crew size: 
      • 1 large (square) planter for 1-2 sims 
      • up to 2 large (square) planters for 3-4 sims 
      • up to 3 large (square) planters for 5-6 sims 
      • up to 4 large (square) planters for 7-8 sims
  • Electricity and electronics: The crew have managed to salvage some solar cells that were only slightly damaged in the crash, and these provide enough power for the lights, doors, food storage and preparation, and other essentials. However, other electronics such as computers and monitors (TVs) are non-functioning, in part due to the non-functional communications module. The crew each have personal communications devices (i.e., cell phones) which communicate directly with each other (and therefore still function), but they are unable to contact anyone on the Sim homeworld.
    Recommended mods: 
  • Water and plumbing: As mentioned above, the water reclaimer system is still working, so the crew still has use of toilets, sinks, and showers, which all utilize the bare minimum of water to operate. A small amount of water has also been allocated for a small-scale botany experiment and/or hydroponic garden in the science lab, but other than these exceptions, nothing is allowed which uses water -- this includes tubs, hot tubs, pools, fountains. 

Other RESTRICTIONS:

  • Services and townies: The members of the crew are, as far as they know, the only intelligent life on this planet; i.e., no services (including actions such as "Order...") and no townies. 
  • Businesses and community lots/venues: None at the start. The only non-empty lot in the neighborhood is the initial "Crash Site". 
  • Careers: No intelligent life, and therefore no established economy, means no career prospects on this planet. You must, quite literally, "live off the land". 

Playing the Challenge:

The rules for playing the challenge are divided into two "Acts", which may be played together or individually, as you see fit:

Act I: Repair the spaceship and get home!
Act II: Establish a colony on this new planet.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)