Micro Lot Living Discussion

[MeestorMark]

I had a legacy idea this weekend and wondered if anyone else has ever tried this. Did some searching and couldn't find anything. Also wanted to post this in the Challenges area for discussion there, but that seems locked to only official stuff.

So I was sorta challenged by a friend to create a micro build. That is work with a 10x10 lot that you can place through edit town. She does them all the time and is very good at using small spaces and making them useful. So I was doing one to try to get better at such things. After I was done building, I got to wondering what would it be like to have to make sims live and function there long term.

Normal legacy, the challenge at the start is making it go without much money, so you are required to buy the biggest lots so your starting sims are cash strapped. Well, we have all learned to make money pretty easily by now I suspect. So what if the challenge is space instead of finances? Force yourself to do a legacy with a 10x10 lot. If you want to get really into space constraints, maybe even force yourself to have two or three kids minimum each generation too. And you can buy other properties for farming or art studios or something, but no living/sleeping family members on the other lots.

Has anyone ever tried something like this? If so, how did it go? I am not big into finishing off official legacies, so if anyone wanted to take this and make an official challenge out of it, I would think that would be wonderful.

[Shirin]

The Challenge area would be an inappropriate forum for this idea, as that is for the tournament and Dynasties, but I believe there is a project board you can suggest for ideas. Alternatively, you could also PM an idea to the Challenge team and see if maybe it could be used as part of the tournament.

Onward, this is an intriguing idea. I did build a 10x10 house/lot once, but that was for a single person only. I don't generally play legacies, but I might try one with this.

[MeestorMark]

I have never done an official legacy or anything like that. Just like playing for fun and never get much past second or third generation anyway. That is mostly the discussion I am looking for about whether it sounds intriguing or not to others. I might give it a try if I ever get actual playing time again before Sims 4 comes out.

Thanks for the info about how to submit ideas for official challenges here.

[Shirin]

In fact, I will need to find the time to do this, but I just may.

I find that for Dynasties, the challenge isn't money or space, it's whether my computer will survive the duration!

[saltpastillen]

I think this sounds very interesting indeed. I think this would most appropriately be placed under sim projects on the stories board. There are a whole bunch of different ones there that you could take a look at for inspiration. You could also check out the Dynasty rules on the challenge board to see what kind of restrictions you could add to make it harder.


I would be interested to chat with you if you want someone to discuss it with. Sometimes the best ideas come though discussion.

I do think you are right to say a minimum number of sims living in the household at all times is a good way to make it harder.

Maybe as a first twist, instead of beginning the game with only one sim, you would be forced to make a family with kids. 2 parents, 2 children and 1 toddler....

Edit:

Also, if you restricted the number of floors (basement included) you could add to the house (for example: 1 floor for generation 1, 2 floors for generation 2 and so on) it would really make it super hard. It would require you to do most of the things on community lots, which would be a challenge in and of itself.

[MeestorMark]

Pam graciously opened this thread back up so any of us who want to experiment with smaller lot living can discuss it. I started a micro (10x10) lot on Friday and played it a little bit. Gardening in any decent way is hard to still have space for living. Lol. I kinda like my house even though it is tallish. Will post some pictures next time I get in game and take some.

Limiting the floors sounds like an idea for really challenging the space issues. I didn't do that this time as my greenhouse portion of the house is already cramping me severely. I must confess, if I didn't allow myself to use the elevators from ITF and the single tile bathroom combos, I am not sure I could be making this work with the garden.

Anyone else giving this a shot at all in their playing? Would love to hear any ideas/struggles.

[saltpastillen]

I'm interested in trying this out once my computer is back from the shop.

How many sims do you have in your household at the moment?

And have you given any thought to how many generations a challenge should be?

[MeestorMark]

Right now it is a couple and a toddler. Going to add another kid next time I play I think. But the dude of the couple is about six days or so from croaking. So that will put the house count back to 3 before too long. I started with an elder I had in my bin to see if I could get his gardening lifetime wish done before he kicked off. Lol. Looks like he will be on track thanks to all the beans being "common" plants that grow fast.

As far as number of generations... I never get too far into second generations before I get bored, so don't expect a huge number from me. Lol. Maybe this small, confined lot and the challenge of space will keep me more interested. A lot of my multiple generation attempts bog down when they get money and I build them a big house. Finishing off the big interiors drains me, so I get distracted by other stuff/games. This way I can't build too big.

[saltpastillen]

Since a normal legacy is 10 gen, maybe 5 would be a good starting point for this?

[Shirin]

I could get behind 5 generations. And maybe no more than 4 levels for the house? So you can either do all 4 above ground, or maybe 3 story plus a basement, or 2 and 2?

So, ideally, you could have your family live above the greenhouse, if you so chose.

I'll try to make a 10x10 next time I log in, if I don't get distracted with my current Dynasty.

[Stormi71]

I had a game for a while on a 10 x 10 lot. I used the family funds cheat to make my sim have no money. I played it that my sim could not get a job until he had earned 20,000 simoleons in other ways, and could not move to a house or new lot until he had 50,000 simoleons. He furnished his tiny lot to start with from dumpster diving. It was quite fun to play, as its hard to fit much on a small lot like that.

[Caterina]

If you play the Apocalypse Challenge you are restricted to an 8 x 8 plot.  You may have a total of 4 floors.  You are very restricted on finances and what you are allowed to buy/build at the beginning of the challenge.

[blackforest0]

I think this would be a kind of challenge I could actually do. It's not that I can't stick with a family for ten generations, it's that I simply don't like big builds. I lose my patience pretty easily when I'm building them, and my computer doesn't like them too well either.

I know Midnight Hollow has a 10x10 lot that's already placed (next to the graveyard), so I'm planning on starting a legacy family there and seeing how it goes with a micro build.

Edit: I was mistaken. The lot I was referring to in Midnight Hollow is 19x19.

[KRae]

I like the idea of 5 generations and only being able to add a floor when the next generation becomes a young adult.

[saltpastillen]

Does anyone else have an idea of how many sims that should be required to be part of the family?