The Sims 3 Immortal Dynasty Challenge

[paskapytty]

I have a few things on my mind:

1. You really need to update the rules on the main site! I started playing mine a week ago and had quite a lot of questions and decided to come ask them here, but after reading the updated rules on the first post, I found all of them (that I remember) unnecessary. And I think I've done some things wrong. But anyway, I don't care, I'm doing this just for my own entertainment, I don't care if I don't follow the rules to the very point.

2. Why is travelling banned before 2nd gen YA? And what's wrong with the travelling unmarried Sims?

3. Do I have to "lock up" my exclusive choices for the Immortals? Can I, say, take 8 LTRs, complete 10 opportunities, etc. and choose later, after eating Ambrosia, what are the exclusive ones? I think yes, but the bigger question here is, can I change them after eating Ambrosia for the first time? Eg. take LTR X as one of my 3 LTRs, eat Ambrosia for the first time, and later decide to take LTR Y and make it as my exclusive LTR to allow other Immortals to take the LTR X as well?

4. Do non-immortals' actions restrict Immortals' choices? Can they max any skill, career, take any opportunities, LTWs etc and not make those prohibited for Immortals?

5. I chose my first Immortal to be a scientist. He's an adult now, and he has done everything necessary to become Immortal except for the best friends, 2 portraits and super maxed skill. I know the scientist path wasn't very wise choice, as handiness, gardening and fishing are hard to complete, if I'm right. Well not that hard exactly, but to get all the seeds or catch all the fish, gardening and fishing requires travelling, which is still banned for me. And as I play with World Adventures, Ambitions and Late Night, I don't know how to get Sea Sludge, Kissing Gourami and Sewer Trilobite in Sunset Valley. Handiness is hard also, because I can't come up with a way to fix 10 objects. My Sims have broken 2 on accident, but I don't have the time to wait for 8 more to break, as I don't have any Clumsy Sims on my household. My first Immortal is handy, so he won't breaking those machines either while tinkering on them. And I really don't have the nerves to check the community lots all the time, if some random Sim broke the toilet or whatever. So what do you guys suggest? I'm considering to give myself the permission to travel. After all I'm doing this for myself.

EDIT: well there's a chance to travel anyway, as my heir becomes YA quite soon, but I don't know, if I have the time, as my first Immortal will be nearly or not so nearly dead by then. But if my memory serves me right, the travelling freezes the Sims' ages for the duration of the trip, right?

[Seabody]

I can answer some of those:

3. Yes you must lock them up. If you complete, say, the Fresco Fest opportunity and decide not to count it, a later immortal cannot count it as it is not unique. Once you've eaten Ambrosia, they are locked in, no changing them.

4. Nope! A non-immortal can do anything short of eating Ambrosia or performing a globally banned action.

Travelling stops the aging clock, but they can still die of accidents.

[Audren]

I can answer a few more.

2. I'm not entirely sure about the before Generation 2 thing, (that might simply be because it's easy to get a lot of money early on from that, but I don't think that's it) but the unmarried thing is simply a warning. World Adventures (especially when it first launched) was rather buggy, and could give unmarried Sims a spouse or children out of nowhere. It doesn't happen as much now, but it's still a threat.

5. Really cheap appliances break more than the more expensive ones. I'd buy a really cheap toilet, sink, or even shower, and repeatedly use them. Since they're cheap, they'll break more easily, and you'll have more objects to fix.

[Pam]

Welcome to our Forum.  I'll add to what has already been answered.

1. You really need to update the rules on the main site! I started playing mine a week ago and had quite a lot of questions and decided to come ask them here, but after reading the updated rules on the first post, I found all of them (that I remember) unnecessary. And I think I've done some things wrong. But anyway, I don't care, I'm doing this just for my own entertainment, I don't care if I don't follow the rules to the very point.

Thanks for the notice.  I've sent this to Carl to review.

2. Why is travelling banned before 2nd gen YA? And what's wrong with the travelling unmarried Sims?

It's banned in order to make the challenge harder.  It requires more strategy to complete the necessary requirements of the first generation if travelling is banned.  As already mentioned, there was a terrible bug in World Adventures that was targeting mostly unmarried Sims.  Husbands and children would suddenly show up in the relationship panel and it would cause a great deal of trouble.  I haven't heard of it happening lately, though.  Still, be sure to save right before your Sims travel.

3. Do I have to "lock up" my exclusive choices for the Immortals? Can I, say, take 8 LTRs, complete 10 opportunities, etc. and choose later, after eating Ambrosia, what are the exclusive ones? I think yes, but the bigger question here is, can I change them after eating Ambrosia for the first time? Eg. take LTR X as one of my 3 LTRs, eat Ambrosia for the first time, and later decide to take LTR Y and make it as my exclusive LTR to allow other Immortals to take the LTR X as well?

The requirements all have to be locked in and completed BEFORE Ambrosia is eaten.  No switching afterward.

4. Do non-immortals' actions restrict Immortals' choices? Can they max any skill, career, take any opportunities, LTWs etc and not make those prohibited for Immortals?

Non-immortals can do pretty much anything they want.  It is completely unrelated to the requirements of the immortals.

5. I chose my first Immortal to be a scientist. He's an adult now, and he has done everything necessary to become Immortal except for the best friends, 2 portraits and super maxed skill. I know the scientist path wasn't very wise choice, as handiness, gardening and fishing are hard to complete, if I'm right. Well not that hard exactly, but to get all the seeds or catch all the fish, gardening and fishing requires travelling, which is still banned for me. And as I play with World Adventures, Ambitions and Late Night, I don't know how to get Sea Sludge, Kissing Gourami and Sewer Trilobite in Sunset Valley. Handiness is hard also, because I can't come up with a way to fix 10 objects. My Sims have broken 2 on accident, but I don't have the time to wait for 8 more to break, as I don't have any Clumsy Sims on my household. My first Immortal is handy, so he won't breaking those machines either while tinkering on them. And I really don't have the nerves to check the community lots all the time, if some random Sim broke the toilet or whatever. So what do you guys suggest? I'm considering to give myself the permission to travel. After all I'm doing this for myself.

If you mean you have to max handiness, gardening, and fishing in order to reach level 10 of the Science career, it's not necessary.  You can easily reach level 10 without maxing the skills.  Also, Science doesn't require the completion of any of the skill journal challenges you mentioned.  If I've misunderstood, please clarify.

To get the Sea Sludge, Kissing Gourami, and Sewer Trilobite, you need to click on water that is NOT an active fishing spot.  Say, for example, there is a pond with two active spots with the fish jumping out of the water.  Click somewhere between or away from those spots.  Also, baits are as follows:  Goldfish for Kissing Gourami, Minnow for Sewer Trilobyte, and Links for Sea Sludge.

EDIT: well there's a chance to travel anyway, as my heir becomes YA quite soon, but I don't know, if I have the time, as my first Immortal will be nearly or not so nearly dead by then. But if my memory serves me right, the travelling freezes the Sims' ages for the duration of the trip, right?

From what I understand, your first immortal candidate is very near completing the requirements for Ambrosia.  I don't really see a need for him to travel.  What exactly does the first candidate need that requires traveling?

[_Annika_]

Hurrah! I finally did it! I finished a dynasty!!

I played with all EP's to date, but turned off many of the functions, like weather, celebrities and supernaturals. I kept things simple. I opted for good old Sunset Valley, but with the advantages of University, I chose some somewhat different spouses. Every spouse was an elder, except for 2 - gen 7's spouse, and Lazarus's spouse.  I forgot to feed one mummy her watermelons, and ended up with one male, though a matriarchy was not my inital goal, I was disappointed.

The Abram family, on Week 44 Day 6 welcomed their 8th Immortal. For a nice finishing touch, she aged up to elder into the exact same hair has my founder started the game with. The museum value is $386,905 with paintings only. They are a bunch of insane fuddy-duddies - I didn't bother with the wardrobe too much by the end - my only goal was completion.

[Nutella]

Congratulations Annika on finishing your dynasty.

[Carl]

You really need to update the rules on the main site!

Sorry for any inconvenience that caused. I followed Pam's suggestion and redirected the page here, so that players can also easily seek support and pose their questions to the challenge team.

[_Annika_]

Thank you Nutella Do I need to add that I would like to be added to the HoF?

[Shirin]

Congratulations, Annika!

No, you don't need to do that, just make sure to send a PM to Metro or ratchie or Rica (though I think she's on hiatus still?),  so they can update the HoF.

[paskapytty]

Thank you all for the quick responses. I think I have to clarify myself a bit on Qs 3. and 5. I'm sorry, I'm not an indigenous English speaker, I don't have the skill to express myself shortly.

3. So if an Immortal does requirement X to eat Ambrosia, no later Immortal can do that (even just for its sheer benefit or for fun) nor can the former Immortal change his unique requirements in order to let other Immortal have those as well (again for their sheer benefit). Ok, I got that, but I'm still confused about one thing.

My first Immortal has taken 6 LTRs, so he's well beyond the requirement of three unique LTRs. Do I have to choose now which are the ones to qualify for the requirement? Or can I opt not to choose them and just have at least 3 unique LTRs and later have some other Immortals take some of those LTRs as well, as long as the first Immortal has at least 3 unique LTRs? Of course the mutual LTRs wouldn't be unique to the later Immortals either, but they could want them anyway.

LTRs was just an example, the same principle would work for any other requirements, wouldn't it?

5. The reason I have to travel is, because I have to Super-Max a skill. And because he's scientist, he's closest to Super-Max handiness, fishing and gardening, but I just can't decide which one to choose. Well handiness doesn't require travelling but the other two do, am I right? Good tips from Audren and Seabody. So I have to either buy cheap appliances and use them repeatedly and hope they break often enough, or wait till my heir is YA and travel to get all those needed fish/seeds and just hope my first Immortal doesn't die before it. Any other suggestions?

----------------

Did I make myself clear this time?

[RainBeau]

3. Decide which 3 you want to be unique. Decide it now. Then the others can be taken by anyone you wish. Keep in mind that with 3 EPs you need to be careful of giving just anyone whatever LTRs you want. You don't want to run out of options!

That goes for any requirements. Decide what is unique for your Founder now. Trust me, it's just better that way.

5. It's usually best to decide ahead of time what skill you plan to SuperMax so you don't have to spread out your effort like this. However, that is no longer an option. Base Game skills such as Gardening, Fishing, and Handiness can all be SuperMaxed using base game only, so travelling is not required. Does make it easier though. With all of those skills, I can see why you might not have got the Op where you plant eggs and cheese. If you do follow that opportunity chain, though, you will plant all the necessary plants with no need for travel. Same with fish, except those don't need opportunities. You can catch all the fish you need without travelling, I promise. You spread yourself thin trying to SuperMax three different skills.

[Nutella]

You spread yourself thin trying to SuperMax three different skills.

Exactly.  For your scientist, I recommend supermaxing fishing.  Since you can't travel yet and gardening is going to be hard to supermax (unless you get the opportunity chain).  Handiness I am assuming you don't have enough broken appliances yet to supermax.  Fishing is easy to supermax with just base game, there is 21 fish in base game, plus late night adding 3 more, so that's 24 types of fish, and you only need 19 different types for the first skill challenge in fishing.  The second skill challenge in fishing is just fish as much as you can, doesn't matter what you catch.

As you play your dynasty, you will come across broken plumbings and appliances, don't call the repairman or fix it yourself, put them away (in your family inventory) -- save those broken items for your future immortals that wants to supermax handiness.

If you use the bathroom a lot, the cheap toilet breaks so fast, its almost annoying.  As for electrical objects, the cheap dishwasher is the way to go.  If you want to speed things up and get lots of broken stuff as soon as possible, throw lots of parties and invite lots of guests.  Make sure you have buffet table, dishwashers or sink out for them to wash the dishes. 

[Zyffyr]

5. I chose my first Immortal to be a scientist. He's an adult now, and he has done everything necessary to become Immortal except for the best friends, 2 portraits and super maxed skill. I know the scientist path wasn't very wise choice, as handiness, gardening and fishing are hard to complete, if I'm right. Well not that hard exactly, but to get all the seeds or catch all the fish, gardening and fishing requires travelling, which is still banned for me. And as I play with World Adventures, Ambitions and Late Night, I don't know how to get Sea Sludge, Kissing Gourami and Sewer Trilobite in Sunset Valley. Handiness is hard also, because I can't come up with a way to fix 10 objects. My Sims have broken 2 on accident, but I don't have the time to wait for 8 more to break, as I don't have any Clumsy Sims on my household. My first Immortal is handy, so he won't breaking those machines either while tinkering on them. And I really don't have the nerves to check the community lots all the time, if some random Sim broke the toilet or whatever. So what do you guys suggest? I'm considering to give myself the permission to travel. After all I'm doing this for myself.

Gardening is quite easy. It doesn't actually require "all" plants. It requires however many are available with just the base game - 19 iirc. Travel is not required, merely helpful. I believe the same goes for Fishing, but as I haven't used it as a SuperMax I am not certain (I tend to leave it open for everyone - it is a great way to keep a couple bored immortals busy for the day).

[Squark]

So, thinking of trying my hand at the challenge. However, I do have a couple of questions.

1) While I never actually found the text something stating as such, am I correct in assuming non-immortals cannot have death flowers at all? Also, on a technical note (As in, does this work at all?), can I use a harvested death flower to plant a new one, the way I'd use harvested produce to grow new produce? (Just thinking I can use the death flower from the Sunset Valley Graveyard to grow my founder's death flower if worst comes to worst and I can't find a death flower seed)
2) Unique LTRs for my immortals are restricted to that immortal only, correct? So, if my founder takes, say, Multi-tasker as one of his Unique LTRs, no other immortal can take multi-tasker ever? Just asking because I was kind of confused by the wording.
3) Only the skill my immortal supermaxes is banned for other immortals, correct? So, if, say, my founder is a scientist and gets Gardening, Fishing, and Handiness to level 10, but only Fishing is his Supermax, other immortals can still hit level 10 gardening, correct (Mainly because I tend to go overboard with gardens, and after a while, it's tempting to draft some help from the rest of the family to pick them, which means XP, and... Yeah)
4) Am I allowed to place new Lot spaces for lots? For example, placing a 64x64 lot to make a place for the nectary?
5) The rules say that Toadified sims and similar transformations need to be cured; does this mean that if the AI has toadified a townie, I should go out, find a cure elixir, and throw it at said townie? Or is this specifically related to if my sims mess around with such curses (For that matter, does autonomous Toadifying even occur)?
6) Another technical question; are Witches considered "Occults," in the sense that celebrities get into trouble for woohooing with them? For that matter, do Occults of the same species get into trouble for that? I mean, it's stupid, but I guess I see why the tabloids might freak out over a fairy and a werewolf woohooing (Even if they're married >.>), but will the tabloids freak out that Occults are trying to reproduce even amongst themselves? Just asking because sims tend to end up becoming celebrities inevitably if you let celebrities populate, but outlawing them also prevents social groups from improving, which means no 7th trait.

[Trip]

1. Not at all. Sometimes a non-immortal harvests death flowers when caring for the garden, but remember to immediately remove them to a dynasty-legal location if that happens. Harvested death flowers are fine to plant.

2. Correct, it's only for that immortal, but it's only three that have to be unique. You can have all your immortals have Steel Bladder or Multitasker and just not claim it as anyone's unique LTR, but it's game over if Food Replicator is one of your founder's official unique LTRs and generation three buys it too.

3. Correct. It's just supermaxes that are off-limits to everyone but the immortal with the supermax.

4. Yes, placing new lots in Edit Town is fine as long as a venue goes on them.

5. If one of your sims toadifies a townie (I've never seen inactive sims toadify other sims), I'd play it safe and cure them.

6. I haven't played with celebrities on since I've had the option to turn them off, so I don't know how occult woohoo is currently handled. Turning off celebrities actually doesn't turn off social groups, though.