2017 Sims 4 Challenge Tournament Overview

[Metropolis Man]

2017 Sims 4 Challenge Tournament Overview

Welcome to the 2017 Sims 4 Challenge Tournament! The 15-event Tournament runs from January 2nd to December 3rd (anyone can jump in the Tournament at any time throughout the year). Two events will kick off the season on January 2nd — one Minor event (ending after three weeks) and one Major event (ending after six weeks). Two more events will start in February once the first two events ends and the same cycle continues through the year. Here is a link to the official 2017 Sims 4 Tournament Events Calendar. Rule sets will always be posted 2 weeks before starting dates.

General Challenge Rules

Players are responsible for knowing and following the General Challenge Rules. The rules below apply to all 2017 Tournament events (Dynasty challenges are not Tournament events). Any exceptions will be noted in individual rule sets.

Participation and Practice
Participating in Tournament events is easy - just pick an event that is currently open (live events have a thumbs up topic icon) and dive in. Practicing before a challenge officially goes live is fine, but once you create your scoring file, that’s it—you have one attempt and cannot create a 2nd scoring file. You may never use any mods while practicing for an event. All mods or programs/utilities that allow you to look at code to gain information must never be used once you begin practicing for a challenge.

Starting Dates/Closing Dates
If you look at the bottom of a particular rule set you will notice official starting and closing dates - these dates are large and are in purple. If the event is a minor event you have three weeks to finish. If the event is a major event, then you have six weeks. Playing your scoring file before the starting date or after the closing date is not allowed. The only time reference you need to remember is your local time/date. You must submit scores in the individual challenge thread before the closing date has come and gone in your local time zone. Scores submitted after the closing date will not be accepted.

Creating Your Scoring Game File
All challenges begin in a fresh, virgin, completely unaltered town of your choosing. Unless a particular rule set lays down restrictions, you are free to travel and/or move to any neighborhood or town. Options - all default settings: Autonomy > Full; Auto Age (Played Sims) > Yes; Auto Age (Unplayed Sims) > Yes; Sim Lifespan > Short. Always create Sims in CAS from scratch. • Cannot use gallery downloaded Sims • Cannot use cloned/twin gallery downloaded Sims • Cannot use saved Sims from your library • Cannot use saved Sims clone/twin from your library.

3rd Party Custom Content / Modifications
3rd party Custom Content that alters appearance for CAS purposes is acceptable and can be used at the player's own risk. Modifications (mods) are patches that alter some core component of game play and are never allowed. Programs and utilities that allow you to see the game code such as ILSpy are also never allowed. Remember, no mods or code utilities can be used during practice.

Cheats and Banned Content
You are only allowed to open the cheats panel for two things: a stuck Sim or a stuck object.

ResetSim Firstname Lastname. You may only use this cheat in the event of a stuck Sim. This cheat is case sensitive, so make sure to type your Sim’s name correctly).
Moveobjects. You may only use this cheat for a stuck object.

The following content is banned in all 2017 Tournament events:

All 13 Plumbob Reward Lamps (from owning Sims 3 base game and expansion packs).
Reloading a game or traveling/entering CAS to reset Whims - This is a exploit to force the game to spawn more Whims.
Editing Non-Home Lots - Anything from personal inventory that can be placed on a non-home lot is allowed. But, going into buy/build mode F2/F3 is not allowed for non-home lots. 
Life Extension - anything that lengthens pre-Elder life stages is prohibited. Pregnancy falls into the life extension category, but in certain Tournament challenges - most obviously Baby Boomer - pregnancy will be allowed.

Exiting without saving to avoid a mistake or an unfortunate occurrence (i.e. burglar or fire) is cheating. Restarting from an earlier save is also cheating. In the event your challenge file is plagued by a game-breaking bug, then PM the team with specifics. We will then make a decision as to restarting from a previous save or simply allowing a complete restart.

Some Aspiration Milestone have you finding collectibles, etc, and these can be exploited by having items in your inventory already as the Milestone becomes active with you then removing and replacing the items to make progress on the Milestone. This falls into the category of cheating. Whims related to collectibles can also be quickly finished via the inventory exploit, so please do not do that.

Strategy Discussion
Do not discuss any strategy pertaining to a given event once that event’s rule set is posted. Asking questions like "Can I do x?" may seem innocent, but may in fact put that idea in someone else's head if they had not thought of doing that. So, please, PM the team. After an event closes you are free to discuss strategy for that event.

The Honor System
The 2017 Tournament is all about friendly competition and having fun. The Tournament attracts players of all abilities and competitiveness from casual first-timers to seasoned high-caliber veterans. We all want to have a good time no matter what we’re seeking to get out of the Tournament. Allowing everyone to have a good time means we all need to play honestly — no cheating and no exploits. If you discover an exploit then you must PM the team (Metro, Nutella, ratchie, MarianT, and LenaLJ) so we can quickly edit a ruleset. We have a zero tolerance policy for cheating.

Submitting Scores
When you have finished all the requirements for a given event submit your final score right in the individual challenge thread and the team will update the leaderboard with your information. Remember not to comment on how you approached the event with specifics until the event is closed.

Prizes
**Champion. The 2017 Tournament Champion will be the player at the top of the World Ranking at the close of the Tournament Finale on December 3 and will receive two Sims 4 expansions (courtesy of Carl) as well as a 2017 Sims 4 Tournament Championship Plaque and $50 Amazon.com gift card (courtesy of Metro).
**Runner-Up. One $100 Amazon.com gift card will be awarded to the runner-up (courtesy of Nutella).
**Fabulous Fifty Club Winner. All players who participate in at least 5 events will be entered into a random drawing at the end of the year. One lucky player will be randomly chosen for a $50 gift card. It's the team's way of saying thank you to those who dedicate a serious investment of time to get their participation component of their world ranking to 50%. (thanks to reggikko for this prize idea)

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We hope the 2017 Sims 4 Challenge Tournament adds new and exciting dimensions to your playing, and most importantly, we hope everyone has a great time.

See you on the leaderboard — Metro, ratchie, MarianT, and LenaLJ.

[Metropolis Man]

Information on the World Ranking has now been posted and linked in the General Rules for next year. We are offering more prizes, including a new random drawing at the end of the year.

[Minnie Mouse]

Are lot traits and club content banned this year?

The first two challenges look great, btw. And I'm really looking forward to trying out the short lifespan. Should be fun!

[Metropolis Man]

Hi Minnie Mouse. The team is loosening up quite a bit with restrictions this coming year. Notice the fewer bans in the General Rules. So, the answer to lot traits and clubs - you are free to use both. Good luck in the upcoming events. 

[Minnie Mouse]

Ah, ok. More strategies to choose from... this should be interesting! Thanks for the quick response!

[PSDuckie]

Just to make sure, am I allowed to post my gameplay to YouTube after the event in question ends?

[Metropolis Man]

Just to make sure, am I allowed to post my gameplay to YouTube after the event in question ends?

Absolutely. That would actually be pretty cool to have video walkthroughs after I close an event.

[PSDuckie]

Just to make sure, am I allowed to post my gameplay to YouTube after the event in question ends?

Absolutely. That would actually be pretty cool to have video walkthroughs after I close an event.

I'm not very good at these, but I'll definitely post the ones I do!

[Metropolis Man]

The first two 2017 season events go live in just about 24 hours, so take a look at the General Rules one more time, as well as both rule sets to make sure you are clear on what to do. Good luck, everyone and Happy New Year.

[Metropolis Man]

Hey, everyone - I just wanted to remind those with questions regarding the current challenges to please PM the entire team and not just me. Yes, I am online many times throughout the day, but the whole team needs to be in the loop because someone may have a differing opinion and force others to think about something they did not think of. Team members are: myself, Nutella, LenaLJ, Trip, MarianT, and ratchie.

[Metropolis Man]

One player recently PM'd the team on the issue of pregnancy and the general Tournament rule concerning life extension, so I clarified things:

Life Extension - anything that lengthens pre-Elder life stages is prohibited. Pregnancy falls into the life extension category, but in certain Tournament challenges - most obviously Baby Boomer - pregnancy will be allowed.

[MomOfMany]

I have a tea maker that is spoiled but when I click it the option to empty is grayed out saying it is still brewing! It has been two sim days. Is that considered a stuck object?

[Metropolis Man]

I have a tea maker that is spoiled but when I click it the option to empty is grayed out saying it is still brewing! It has been two sim days. Is that considered a stuck object?

Sounds bugged. Can you just replace it?

[MomOfMany]

I could but I didn't want to have to Since money is a factor for the challenge? 

[coolsim9999999]

When does practice file time for the February challenges begin ?