4x4 Dynasty Workbench

[Metropolis Man]

The 4x4 Dynasty




Goal: A 4x4 Dynasty? Founders and heirs hop into an off-road vehicle and drive down mountains? Not quite. We’re talking about playing in 4 separate worlds with each world having 4 generations. And you Dynasty pros will settle in nicely with the whole “requirements before moving” concept. But here’s the kicker—this Dynasty must be played on Medium lifespan.

Setting up Your File + General Rules

• Always play with the most current EA patch.
• CAS option: Create 2 Young Adult Sims and place them in any fresh EA designed neighborhood. The Forum’s Union Cove is also acceptable.
• Allowed life states: Human, Ghost, Witch, and Mermaid. Future bloodline heirs can be any of the above states as well as Aliens and Imaginary Friends.
• Townie option: Choose a existing townie household so long as the Townies you designate as your founders do not already have any bloodline children and meet the above life states requirement.
• Combo option: Create 1 YA Sim with the intent of using an existing Townie to help bring in Heir #1. Again, the existing Townie must not have any bloodline children and must be the correct life state.
• Game Options: Length—Medium; Aging—On; Story Progression—On; Freewill—High; Lunar Cycle—Player's Choice; Population Controls—Player's Choice; Disabling Memories—Player's Choice; Season Length & Weather—Player's Choice.
• Edit Town changes must be completed before you go into Live mode for each neighborhood. Additional changes can be made only if given permission due to game glitch or if a new expansion has been released. See FAQ post for extensive coverage of the ins and outs of Edit Town.
• Once a house (must be unfurnished)/empty lot/houseboat is chosen for your Dynasty, you are not allowed to move in a given neighborhood. After you have chosen your lot, use the family funds cheat to bring your household funds to 4,000 simoleans. This needs to be done in each neighborhood.
• A household is allowed to travel 4 times total while in each world. This time can be used for vacation or University. Each trip length is player discretion.
• If any standard EA designed buildings are missing from your town you are free to use Edit Town to place these. You may also have some liberty with Edit Town by juggling empty lots — i.e. changing 2 small empty lots to 1 larger one, or vice versa. If your town library is missing the skill books, you may use Edit Town to place Book Corrals in the library.
• In general, all cheats are banned. If you have a stuck Sim and need to reset him/her, go ahead and use the cheat. Building cheats and ones used for screenshots are fine, too. Anything that does not give you some kind of advantage is probably going to be okay. If in doubt — ask. Exiting without saving to avoid an unfortunate event is considered cheating.
• All mods are banned. The single exception would be a mod that allows you to turn off all mods for your Dynasty file. Occasionally a player’s file becomes so corrupt and bloated over time that a mod may be an answer, but do not ever assume you have the green light to use a mod as a fix. The challenge team needs to know the situation before making the final call.
• The Wishing Well Sims 3 Store Item is banned.
• Wish Enhancing serum is banned for Founders and Heirs.
• Midas Touch is banned.
• You may only kill to create a ghost and this is crucial — it has to be freewill on your Sim’s part that kills him/her. You cannot directly instruct a Sim to do an action resulting in death. Here’s an example: you can set up a situation where there is a puddle of water near a broken electrical appliance, BUT you cannot tell Sims to fix the appliance. They have to do it themselves.
• SimBots may be obtained from a LTR or an Inventor can make them; however, they must immediately be released into the wild.
• Heirs cannot become PlantSims but spares can at anytime and spouses only after the next heir has been born.
• Life state changing elixirs can be thrown at non-Founders/Heirs.
• Mermaids are not allowed to count scuba diving skill challenges.
• Children that result from your Sim being abducted must be returned to their homeworld at the end of the pregnancy and may not become a member of the household.

Adding to the Household
Your founders (CAS or Townies) need to Try for Baby (adoption is not allowed) no later than Week 1, Day 4. Hopefully the result will be heir #1 three days later. Heir #1 then brings in a spouse/partner to produce heir #2 after heir #1‘s requirements are finished. And so on...

Heirs are the only ones allowed to invite potential spouses into the household.

Heir #4, #8, and #12 are your "moving heirs." They cannot have a baby before moving to a new world. They must move to a new neighborhood and need to Try For Baby no later than 4 days after arriving in the new neighborhood.

Items/Sims Heirs #4, #8, and #12 can take to the next world:

• A spouse or potential spouse. No other Sims may move to the next world. You can also wait to find a spouse for an heir in the next neighborhood.
• Heirs #4, #8, and #12 and their spouses/potential spouses are allowed to pack up any career rewards that they earned before the move. They cannot bring career rewards from other Sims.
• The family graveyard.

Before beginning play in a new neighborhood you are allowed a one time tweaking/customization of options like the weather, Supernaturals, and Celebrities.

Requirements for Adding an Heir

You automatically assign a Sim to be an heir if he/she is the firstborn of the previous generation. Each heir has 4 requirements that must be completed before the birth of the next heir.

1). Have 1 Unique Maxed Job. This can be a rabbit-hole career, a profession, or a self employment career.
2). Have 2 Unique Best Friends. Best Friend status (check the heir’s relationship panel) must be maintained in order to Try for Baby and the next heir. After an heir is born you are allowed to have a Best Friend relationship decay. These Best Friends must be totally unique to a given heir and cannot be Best Friends with anyone else in the household.
3). Complete 3 Unique Skill Challenges. Collecting and Consignment Challenges do qualify.
4). Complete 4 Unique Opportunities. As long as one word in the title of an opportunity is different, then it qualifies as unique. These cannot be opportunities from school or after-school activities.

Requirements for Moving to the Next World

Before the 4th, 8th, and 12th heir are allowed to move to the next world, the household (only founders and heirs can contribute to family goals) must complete the following 4 requirements. Note: Upon arriving in a new town Heirs #4, #8, #12 and their spouses are then considered founders for that town, so those particular spouses may contribute to the moving requirements for the next town.

1). Have 1 Family 4x4 Collection. In each neighborhood your household must accumulate 16 objects. These might be objects from a skill (paintings, sculptures, photos), objects from collecting (rocks, metals, bugs), or things like career rewards or celebrity and wedding gifts. Nearly any type of object qualifies to be in the collection, the stipulations are that the entire collection must have a minimum value of 16,000 simoleans and each collection must be composed of 4 sets of objects with each set being a different type. So, for example you'd have paintings, beetles, butterflies, and photographs as your 4 types of sets in one town. In another town you might have celebrity freebie gifts, inventions, street art, and fish. Note: If you are limited in the different types of sets you can come up with due to fewer expansions, then you have permission to repeat certain types when you move to new neighborhoods. Otherwise, it’s mandatory to make all 16 sets of a unique type.

The Family Collection must be on display at all times either on your home lot or on a purchased lot and must remain in the neighborhood and not packed up when it’s moving time.

Collection value must be assessed at the time of moving.

2). Own All Properties/Buildings in a given world. Properties must also be upgraded to their highest level.
3). Attain 4 different rewards. These can be from a rabbit-hole career, a self-employment career, or a profession. Qualifying objects would be things like skill certificates directly tied to a career/profession, objects like the Police Cruiser, Director’s Chair, and Uber Fridge from the Culinary Career; and Service Rewards. These 4 career/profession rewards must be unique to the entire Dynasty.
4). Attain 4 Large Tombstones (the Sim that dies needs at least 150,000 Lifetime Happiness points).

**Extending Life** You may not use any method to extend an heir's life until he/she has completed the 4 requirements necessary to bring in another heir. Once all requirements are completed, then you are free to use whatever methods you wish to extend an heir's life. Non-heir household members are not tied to these restrictions except for one. The Genie wish to extend long life cannot be used by either parent until an heir is born.


Finishing Up
You’re done when your 4th heir in your 4th world has completed all 4 requirements, as well as your household completing its 4 requirements necessary for moving. Congratulations! You made it into the Dynasty Hall of Fame. Send a member of the team (Metro, Ricalynn, or ratchie) a private message to let us know you have finished.

Here is a very helpful spreadsheet to keep you organized: Deklitch's 4x4 Dynasty Spreadsheet.

Good luck, everyone.


Please be aware that the game is constantly changing. All Dynasty rules are subject to change and have clarifications made as information is gathered over time. All changes to the rules will be noted with a date change at the bottom of the rules page as well as details given within the Dynasty thread. Dynasty players are expected to keep up with these changes on their own as part of playing the challenge. If there is a rule clarification and you break that rule, there is no guarantee a second chance will be given by the Challenge Board team.

[Audren]

Well, this is a way to perk up in the morning, I suppose. 

There is one question I have right now, though maybe more might pop up later. Are previous heirs allowed to die after continuing the bloodline, or must they all be alive at the time of the move? I'm reading it like the former, but I just wanted to make sure.

[Trip]

And here I was, thinking that the next dynasty would consist of nine generations.

this Dynasty must be played on Medium lifespan

You evil dog, you...

[Metropolis Man]

Well, this is a way to perk up in the morning, I suppose. 

There is one question I have right now, though maybe more might pop up later. Are previous heirs allowed to die after continuing the bloodline, or must they all be alive at the time of the move? I'm reading it like the former, but I just wanted to make sure.

They're definitely allowed to die. In fact they will most likely be your main source of large tombstones.

[Audren]

They're definitely allowed to die. In fact they will most likely be your main source of large tombstones.

Ah, okay. It'll be... interesting to get all of this done with Medium lifespan, but the challenge is the point of this, after all. 

Edit: I'm assuming that a household that has a pregnant member counts as a household having bloodline children?

[Deklitch]

Will pets be allowed?

[Metropolis Man]

Edit: I'm assuming that a household that has a pregnant member counts as a household having bloodline children?

Right. You would not be able to choose a townie household with a pregnant female because you would not be starting with a clean slate. Heir #1 has to be her 1st child.

Will pets be allowed?

Definitely.

[Trip]

Alright, my turn to ask questions.

1. Are there any restrictions on moving sims in and out of the household?

2. What is meant by one complete collection? Is it all collectables of a certain kind?

[RainBeau]

Hurray! Another Dynasty! This looks to be an interesting one for sure! Hmmmm . . . 31 August? I guess that gives me a month to finish my Life States Dynasty! I can hardly wait to play this! I'm going to start planning immediately, of course. Oh wow, this is going to be so fun!

I have a question. What qualifies as a complete collection? Does that mean you must have every single butterfly (or metal, or gem) in the game? That would be a lot . . .

Trip beat me to the question

[Deklitch]

And another from me (probably tied in with Trip's question 1)

If you take the options of using townies rather than CAS sims, and choose a household such as the Roomies or Working Friends, are there any requirements on what happens to the sims who won't be your founders?

[Jamie]

I was just wondering when you were going to think up another dynasty.

Do the founders count as the first generation or will there have to be four heirs born into the household?

[Deklitch]

I have had a go at doing up a spreadsheet for this. Here is the link to the spreadsheet.

(If nothing else, it'll reveal whether or not I understand the dynasty rules.)

[MarianT]

Yay! I was wondering if there would be another dynasty challenge. And I'm so glad that it involves different worlds. A few questions:

I'm assuming a complete collection means all of the beetles, butterflies, fireflies, fish, gems, metals, plants, rocks, or shells available. If so, would we be allowed to place a spawner for the Late Night insects or the Island Paradise fish and shells? Also, would we be allowed to buy gems and metals at the consignment shop or do they have to be found?

I assume that all properties/buildings excludes residential properties.

Does the heir have to wait until he/she is able to try for baby, or can the heir move upon becoming a young adult?

Can we choose seasons and weather appropriate to each new town, or do we have to stick with the choices for our original neighborhood?

Does it make a difference which form of moving we choose, i.e., edit town or the 20,000 simoleons move? (The latter entails moving the entire household.)

I think that's all for now. Looking forward to August 31!

[simfulicious]

Do the founders count as the first generation or will there have to be four heirs born into the household?

The Adding to the Household section of the rules say that the founders will try for baby and that will result in heir #1. 


What I would like clarification on is whether the founders have to complete the adding the heir requirements (I'm guessing yes), and if so, do we just pick one of the founders to do the requirements, or can they both do it?

[Metropolis Man]

Alright, my turn to ask questions.

1. Are there any restrictions on moving sims in and out of the household?

Not at the moment

2. What is meant by one complete collection? Is it all collectables of a certain kind?

Right. All butterflies. All rocks, etc.

And another from me (probably tied in with Trip's question 1)

If you take the options of using townies rather than CAS sims, and choose a household such as the Roomies or Working Friends, are there any requirements on what happens to the sims who won't be your founders?

No.

I was just wondering when you were going to think up another dynasty.

Do the founders count as the first generation or will there have to be four heirs born into the household?

Founders are just sort of there to kick things off for the first heir. You'll need 4 heirs per neighborhood. The founders do not have requirements to bring in Heir #1. But maybe they should. We'll kick that around.

Yay! I was wondering if there would be another dynasty challenge. And I'm so glad that it involves different worlds. A few questions:

I'm assuming a complete collection means all of the beetles, butterflies, fireflies, fish, gems, metals, plants, rocks, or shells available. If so, would we be allowed to place a spawner for the Late Night insects or the Island Paradise fish and shells? Also, would we be allowed to buy gems and metals at the consignment shop or do they have to be found?

probably found would be a requirement.

I assume that all properties/buildings excludes residential properties.

correct

Does the heir have to wait until he/she is able to try for baby, or can the heir move upon becoming a young adult?

Well the heir cannot move to a new neighborhood until the 4 family requirements are done

Can we choose seasons and weather appropriate to each new town, or do we have to stick with the choices for our original neighborhood?

I see no reason not to allow player choice.

Does it make a difference which form of moving we choose, i.e., edit town or the 20,000 simoleons move? (The latter entails moving the entire household.)

Not sure at this point.