The Apocalypse Challenge Support Thread

[christinal3106]

@oshizu Thanks for mentioning the DecaDynasty.  That challenge was able to keep my interest by the ability of changing scenery.  It was a bit repetitive for sure because every generation I had to have the spouse learn alchemy and gardening, making the same potions and growing the same plants over and over, but it was completed really fast thanks to the really over-powered skilling objects like the multi-tab and brain enhancing machine.  The rest of the time when the heirs were children mostly spent on speed 3 in front of the TV, so I tried to get through the boring bits as fast as possible.  The tedious bits were also helped by my obsession with keeping the townies alive and making sure their whereabouts were always known.  This probably should be in another thread though. 
Anyway, I am playing with townies aging off and free will off in the apocalypse challenge.  It is really nice have free will off because you don't have to worry about all those multi-tasking commands popping up all the time. 

[oshizu]

@LenaLJ   Hurry and finish your Rival Dynasty, lol! Well, no, don't. I'm looking forward to reading your story!
                 But, of course, you would also be hardcore. I can't wait!
                 As for me, I am enjoying the challenge of the Apocalypse but it's also just an excuse to play with the descendants of my favorite sim--so I didn't even consider a CAS-created sim.
                Hehe, the challenge is hard enough for me with a Wonder Child...
 
@christinal3106 I just took a visit over to the Sims 3 Hall of Fame to see if you'd written more about your Dolan DecaDynasty strategy and learned that you'd also completed a Life States Dynasty.
                I wish Sims 4 would come out with a Supernatural EP--I would play a Life States Dynasty in a second!
                Free Will off, why didn't I think of that? I've been chasing the sims around, canceling their 'drink from the fridge" whims or having them throw away their drinks.  Gonna fix that right now!

@Shewolf13  :-(   We all eagerly await the day you emerge from your planning stage.     Fly, butterfly, spread your wings! lol
                 

[JudesSims]

I'm starting with Chef, Zoe will clear Secret Agent Diamond Agent and Rowan will clear Athlete bodybuilder. Their second child will clear a teen restriction.

[oshizu]

I realize this is a support group for the Apocalypse Challenge but, since some players might want to do a Wonder Child Challenge first, I wanted to share what I did wrong in my WCC.

Wonder Child Challenge Regrets
* Cloning Moodlet Solvers
   In my WCC, I sent one parent to the Scientist Career until she made a cloning machine. This was completely pointless and a waste of the parent's time.
   I'd thought to clone moodlet solvers but the family club's Rally the Troops was quite sufficient and everyone was always taking mood-boosting showers or baths anyway.

* Writing Skill Books
   In my AC, once the founder aged to elder, I had him switch from the Chef to Author career so he could write skill books. In hindsight, I wish I'd had my Wonder Child reach at least L7 for Comedy
   and Mischief, too. He had to finish leveling those as an elder to write their skill books.

* Bestselling Author aspiration
   As a Wonder child, my founder completed every Bestselling Author milestone but ran out of time to finish the "earn $25,000 in publishing income" one.
   I wish my AC founder had completed that aspiration as a Wonder Child--right now, he could be writing Books of Life for his household. As a Wonder Child, he should have simply started this aspiration earlier.

[Shewolf13]

@oshizu

lol, I have become distracted by the Sims' Database idea XD I've run into some- snags with it, snags that are frustrating.  Unfortunately, I have a bit of a one track mind, so the fact that I haven't been able to do this Database stuff makes it so I can't play Sims because I can't get into it because this Database isn't done... Yes, I know I'm crazy XD   But eventually, once it's done, I'll get back to everything.  Plus, just been tired from work and had a couple of doctor appointments the last few days.

[oshizu]

@Shewolf13   

Hey, I didn't mean to pressure you! Could you explain again your Sims Database idea? It will contain stats about your sims across all your game files plus premade townie stats?
If you are crazy then you are definitely in the right company. (-_^)
I hope all is well with you.
Sending you energized vibes! <3

[Shewolf13]

@oshizu

Lol, no pressure at all.  I've been dying to play, but the way my brain is, I just get frustrated because I keep thinking about the database that's driving me crazy XD  But yes, in a nut shell, the database would contain all the information for each individual sim across all games.  Since I tend to keep records for all my own Sims anyway, using spreadsheets, the database is a logical extension since I have sooo many spreadsheets, it gets fairly unwieldy after a while.  A database would collect all the info in one place.

[Caterina]

I am very close to finishing my Apocalypse Challenge. 

I've made a few mistakes that would disqualify it.  I chose to allow clubs since they were not a part of the original rule set.  However, I allowed Sims into my home before I cleared the associated restriction, that was my mistake. 

Tips
I found that working both paths of a career in the same generation to be helpful.

I forced my Sims, whenever possible, to complete their homework/work requirements immediately upon returning home.  This seemed to make managing 4-7 Sims manageable.

"Strategy" (which may not be your preference but is working so far for me)

All names were randomly chosen.

The following are not in birth order but rather in the approximate order cleared:

Drake Hayes – #1 Downloaded Gallery Sim/Gene donor/CAS father of Ryan Hayes

failed attempt to clear Writer – Journalist
    *Ryan Hayes – Founder
failed attempt to clear Athletic – Bodybuilder
    *Marcus Flex – Founder’s SPOUSE

Culinary – Mixologist
    *Cayden Hayes – 1st Generation
Teen Career – Fast Food Employee
    Elliot Hayes – 1st Generation (twin) (died of starvation)
Teen Career – Retail Employee
    Elena Hayes – 1st Generation (twin) (died of starvation
Business – Management
    Miranda Hayes – 1st Generation
failed attempts to clear Tech Guru – eSports Gamer, Criminal – Boss
    *Yuki Behr – 1st Generation SPOUSE

Tech Guru – eSport Gamer
    *Abby Hayes – 2nd Generation
Astronaut – Interstellar Smuggler
    Sylas Hayes – 2nd Generation
Astronaut – Space Ranger
    *Blaze Cano – 2nd Generation SPOUSE

Athlete – Bodybuilder
    Katelynn Hayes – 3rd Generation
Tech Guru – Start-Up
    *Ashley Hayes – 3rd Generation
Secret Agent – Villain
    *Ullal Pollak – 3rd Generation SPOUSE
Athlete – Professional Athelete
    Knox Hayes – 3rd Generation

Entertainer – Musician
    *Elliana Hayes – 4th Generation
Entertainer – Comedian
    Marisol Hayes – 4th Generation
Criminal – Boss
    *Johan Lambert – 4th Generation SPOUSE
Writer – Author
    Grayson Hayes – 4th Generation
Writer – Journalist
    Jordan Hayes – 4th Generation

Teen Career – Barista
    Sierra Hayes – 5th Generation
Teen Career – Manual Labor
    Kai Hayes – 5th Generation
Culinary – Chef (planned)
    Keegan Hayes – 5th Generation
Secret Agent – Diamond Agent (planned)
    ? – 5th Generation SPOUSE

Business – Investor
Painter – Master of the Real
Painter – Patron of the Arts
Criminal – Oracle
Teen Career – Babysitter

[oshizu]

@Caterina
Thank you for sharing information about your challenge. I enjoyed reading how you approached the challenge.
I'm impressed that you are completing it in so few generations. Do you count your founder's children as Gen1 or Gen2?
Regardless of how you're counting, I had thought I would take longer without planning it out or anything.

What does it mean when there's an asterisk symbol in front of a sim's name? Like *Marcus Flex

I'm a wimp--I couldn't bear to let my teens starve. :-(

Are there any careers that you wish, in hindsight, you'd cleared earlier? Just wondering.

[Caterina]

@oshizu

I count the founder's children as Gen 1.

The * denotes husband and wife and/or parents of the next generation.

I really don't have any regrets.  It was hard watching my Sims starve.  I didn't realize I could have saved them with a Potion.  I tried not to use potions unless I was in a pinch.

I have a very lenient play style when it comes to the Apocalypse Challenge.  It is so difficult and there are so many rules to remember.  If I miss something, or forget something, I just move forward and make the necessary changes.  Several of my Sims had failed attempts to clear a restriction.  Some were so very close.  My Yuki was Late for Work the day she would have reached Level 10.  That mistake was very painful.

My best choices were to clear the Teen Retail career, Business - Management, and Astronaut(lifting upgrades) careers early.  The Teen Retail career allows you to replace broken objects like sinks toilets and computers immediately, Business - Management takes away the stress of getting Sims to work on time, and being able to upgrade a sink is...priceless.  The Tech Guru career that lets you use your cell phone and computers freely is also a good one to lift early.

Hope this helps!

[oshizu]

@Caterina   Thanks for replying. It's so fascinating to compare which lifts different players prioritize.

I really don't have any regrets.  It was hard watching my Sims starve.  I didn't realize I could have saved them with a Potion.  I tried not to use potions unless I was in a pinch.

I think this almost happened to me when I paid off the mob without leaving much money for cooking.
All potion drinks are restricted by Mixology (I think) but I wonder if eating wild plants in the neighborhood would also fend off starvation? In my hood, there are strawberries.
Health potions on the children's science table also restore some hunger, don't they?

As for leniency, Pinstar remarked in a post that if one makes a mistake, just fix it and move on.  Oh, Yuki being late for work and quitting at Level 10!  Ouch!
I have a 7-sim household now with one stay-at-home, but I'm thinking two stay-at-home sims would make life easier. Fewer promotions to worry about.

It's so hard to decide the sequence. Part of me wants to wait and lift Space Ranger (upgrades) and Startup Entrepreneur (items of any quality) at the same time. I two Gen3 sims now.
Thanks for sharing.

[JudesSims]

I don't think you can use potions until Mixology is cleared. If I'm wrong, someone please let me know.

I'm just restarting mine again because I lost my blog. Houses and stories all have to be redone. My founder, again, will be Coen Isola. Mainly because that story is one that comes up quite early on google pages when apocalypse is searched for. My strategy is going to change somewhat though. Not quite sure what that strategy is going to be yet

[Caterina]

I might try a different "strategy" when I start a new one.  Some of what I learned I will keep doing.  I might clear the career that lets you move the urns of your loved ones sooner.  While it was fun seeing them around, it was very expensive to need to replace 2 broken toilets and 3 broken sinks every night.

I am really happy with my Apocalypse starter home and how it has evolved in 5 generations.  It will have ALL of the career rooms in it by the end.

I am playing in a part of Windenburg that has no wild plants or collectibles.

[oshizu]

@JudesSims
I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to your old blog. I know it's not much consolation, but you're new blog looks fantastic!
About "strategy," I had started out with plans but I recently threw them out because my priority now is moving a sim I used in a tournament challenge into my Apocalypse home.
That's more whim than planning, haha.  In that connection, though, I moved in Nancy Landgraab (who's a Level 5 Criminal) to clear Oracle. 
She's working out really well and I'd never played her before but she's super fun to play.

@Caterina   
I would love to see your starter home! Now that it's possible to attach jpeg images to forum posts, would you consider posting it in this thread?
I'm so curious!  If there are no plants/collectibles, I imagine you're in downtown Windenberg, in the library neighborhood?

Keep us posted, ladies!

[boomboomraccoon]

@oshizu Regarding health potions I used them primarily in my challenge as meal substitutes and I only need one per meal. (rather than six or seven apples, for example) With the Mixologist restriction, I wouldn't use them.

I plan on primarily living off of produce, in my AC. I know that I can't grow or sell it. The neighborhood that Johnny Zest lives in has a fairly decent edible population, and multiple fishing accesses.

Now that I've decided not to prioritize the Business - Management restriction, I might play a smaller household/longer game, just to worry a bit less about being late to work.

Also, how do you guys deal with the shower/tub restrictions? (Writer - Journalist) Do we just have them wash their hands 80 times a day, or struggle along with a generation or two of constantly grubby sims smelling their pits a lot?