Congratulations
@thekatie0409 and
@Deveroux — those are amazing scores!
Even though I didn’t end up in first, I thought I’d share my strategy:
Hunny Bunny was given the Master Chef Aspiration (Essence of Flavor bonus trait) in CAS and the traits of Loves the Outdoors, Cheerful, and Good. I chose to play in Summer because that is when the bees are supposed to be most active. She moved onto the Bargain Bend empty lot across the street from the BFF Household in Willow Creek and Lot Traits were set to Private Dwelling, Chef's Kitchen, & Homey. I purchased the London’s Choice Stove, Crisponix Ultragreat w/ Deluxe Crisper, one Cheap (Used) Counter, Come and Get it Street Store Table, and six Bee Boxes. This left me with §9,370. Throughout the two weeks, Simoleons were only spent on purchasing the cheapest pedestal sink, Flavorizing the Stove, Mite Treatments, making Honey Cakes, and one set of bills.
I did not do a practice file, so my plan was to focus on the swarms getting gifts and selling those items at my Yard Sales. With the addition in the rules of being able to sell honey, swarm gifts, and honey cakes with a vendor table, I chose to not have retail space at all and to only hold yard sales with my vendor table. I had no idea how valuable Honey Cakes could be until near the end of the two Sim weeks of play — if I were to do this again, my approach would be to focus more on the Honey Cakes and less on the Swarms.
Game Play:
Changed aspiration to Leader of the Pack and created a club. Club Activities were Work Out, Cook, Eat, Clean, and Friendly Socials. Once I started making Honey Cakes, I swapped out Cook and Eat with Repair and Funny Socials so the Club Members wouldn’t be in my way to make the Honey Cakes and so they wouldn’t eat my Honey Cakes.
Hunny started off by cycling through all six bee boxes with Bond with Bees while the club worked out, cooked, ate, and cleaned. By the evening of the first day, the six swarms were sent once for gifts, but the club did not yet have enough points for Rally the Troops. So they all went over to the BFF house so Hunny could use the restroom and sleep. Because she did not have the Always Welcome trait, Hunny was kicked out of bed, but had a long enough "nap" to power through until Rally the Troops was purchased at 4:42 AM on Day 2. After that, Rally the Troops was used for her Bladder, Hunger, and Sleep needs, while potions were used for Hygiene and Fun. Social never declined much — I only had to initiate a conversation once for the sole purpose of raising her Social Need.
For the first few days, Hunny’s routine was to cycle through all the bee boxes with Bond with Bees, then to Collect All the Swarms, then to Send All the Swarms for gifts, then to Bond again, then to collect Honey (if any was available). She would then make a couple Honey Cakes and then hold a Yard Sale to sell honey, swarm gifts, and honey cakes. Then the cycle would start all over again. After I had a Yard Sale in the middle of the night where NOTHING was sold, I decided to only hold Yard Sales during the day. So she sent the swarms & bonded all night and held back-to-back Yard Sales during the day. Using this cyclical strategy, by the end of Week One, Household Funds were just over §40,000.
Tuesday of Week Two was when I had my first of two "ah-hah" moments with a big lightbulb over my head. I had been tracking how much I earned with each item at each Yard Sale (I’m a spreadsheet junkie) and noticed I was consistently getting §1,160 for each Honey Cake. This was more than I received for ANY gift that the swarms brought. I still sent the swarms out at least once per day, but increased the Honey Cake making exponentially.
Thursday of Week Two was my second "ah-hah" moment with a HUGE lightbulb and a face-palm of "…and how long have we been playing Sims now…?" (For the record, ’01 or ’02 was when I discovered the original Sims for the Mac — been addicted ever since…)
So, there I was, getting a little potion because Hunny was either sad or stinky, and I said to myself, "I wonder if there is a trait or two that I should get." As I’m scrolling through the traits I can purchase, I see both the Marketable and the Stoves & Grills Master. I about fell out of my chair… After purchasing these two reward traits, and adding Flavorize to the stove, Hunny started making some Impeccable Honey Cakes. The most I received for an Impeccable Honey Cake at a Yard Sale was §3,396 — Holy Honey Cakes Batman!!!
Obviously, my focus from that point on was Honey Cakes. At 7:50 AM on Sunday, Week 3, Day 1, I paused and sold all remaining honey and swarm gifts through the inventory.
