Hobos to Heroes: Teen Scene

[oshizu]

All right.  I finished today, and honestly can say I do not like teens.  Give me a house full of toddlers any day.

Anyways.

3 teens reached Hero = 300
Hero Multiplier = 1.99
Total Score = 597

I set the bar early and low. 

Gratz on finishing so early, Teresa!
I dunno, Teresa.  .99 points worth of Hero Status components do not look like a low bar to me. 

[furbyqueen]

Devin, Janet, and Carrie ended the final required party at 5:13 in the morning of the last day[/u]. I'm not doing this again yall :'0

300 x 1.19 = 357

[Sruixan]

Well, I got some practice in yesterday and ended up with three tired, tense and terribly stinky teens... so yeah, "one of the tougher challenges on tap for this year" sure seems to ring true. I reckon I've got a better grasp on what I need to do early on now, though, so with any luck round two should treat them a lot better. Now, I've been left with some questions about the scoring process:

• When it comes to hosting their party for Hero Status, must each teen's qualifying party be hosted by them alone, or may the other two co-host? Assuming the former (which I instinctively did, by-the-by), once their three heroic parties have been ticked off can the teens host any subsequent parties together?
• Beyond the three skills maxed for the Hero Status, do the teens' other skills have to be maxed in order for them to contribute to the multiplier? The phrasing "unique skill level" suggests not. For instance, if by the end of the challenge the teens had achieved levels 4, 8 and 7 in Acting, the middle teen would contribute 0.08 to the multiplier (fair enough), but also that, if they had levels 0, 1 and 1 in Archaeology, one of the latter two would contribute 0.01, which seems a little... odd?
• You've pretty much confirmed this already, but I'm being paranoid: non-unique BFFs still count for the multiplier, yes? As in, if each teen becomes besties with Bella Goth during the challenge, then that's 0.03 for the multiplier?

I note also that, since we should "include individual Hero Status components in [our] Hero Multiplier", the minimum one can achieve if all three teens reach Hero Status is 3*(0.05+0.03+0.01+0.01) = 0.3, so I think you may have undervalued yourself, furbyqueen!

[GlazeyLady]

When it comes to hosting their party for Hero Status, must each teen's qualifying party be hosted by them alone, or may the other two co-host? Assuming the former (which I instinctively did, by-the-by), once their three heroic parties have been ticked off can the teens host any subsequent parties together?

They can co-host

Beyond the three skills maxed for the Hero Status, do the teens' other skills have to be maxed in order for them to contribute to the multiplier? The phrasing "unique skill level" suggests not. For instance, if by the end of the challenge the teens had achieved levels 4, 8 and 7 in Acting, the middle teen would contribute 0.08 to the multiplier (fair enough), but also that, if they had levels 0, 1 and 1 in Archaeology, one of the latter two would contribute 0.01, which seems a little... odd?

The three skills maxed for Hero status have to be unique - that means no other teen can gain that skill at all - it can't even show up in the other teens' skill panels.  The skills after Hero status do not have to be maxed to count - each level counts.  Your scoring examples are correct - the teens can gain levels in the same skills, but you can only count a skill for one teen, so, yes, it makes sense to count it for whichever teen has the highest level.

You've pretty much confirmed this already, but I'm being paranoid: non-unique BFFs still count for the multiplier, yes? As in, if each teen becomes besties with Bella Goth during the challenge, then that's 0.03 for the multiplier?

Correct - the only restriction is that the other teens in the household don't count as BFFs.

[Sruixan]

Thanks for the detailed responses - the fact that teens couldn't gain any levels in the unique skills of others had completely passed me by, despite it being a perfectly logical consequence of the rules as stated! I should like to point out that you've skipped over oshizu's query about scouts, presumably because of my big block of questioning text...

[Metropolis Man]

Question: Does Level 3 Scouting (Unicorn Scout) count the same as Level 3 of a part-time job?

Yes — when a Teen makes a phone call and selects "Find a Job", Scouting is an option. So, the game considers scouting a job.

[oshizu]

Question: Does Level 3 Scouting (Unicorn Scout) count the same as Level 3 of a part-time job?

Yes — when a Teen makes a phone call and selects "Find a Job", Scouting is an option. So, the game considers scouting a job.

Thank you, Metropolis The Man.

[Teresa]

I didn't even think of scouts. but a question, even though I am already done - if level 3 scouts counts as maxing the career, going to level 5 would count for 5 job levels?  Level 3 to max but levels 4 and 5 would add to the HM?

[oshizu]

I just re-read the Challenge Tournament Overview thread and saw this under "Creating Your Scoring File" and read this:

Options - all default settings: Autonomy > Full; Auto Age (Played Sims) > Yes; Auto Age (Unplayed Sims) > Yes; Sim Lifespan > Normal.

This is my first tournament challenge in a really long time, so I'd just like to confirm before I start practicing.
Question: Unless specified otherwise, the Lifespan setting is Normal, rather than Short?

[Deklitch]

I just re-read the Challenge Tournament Overview thread and saw this under "Creating Your Scoring File" and read this:

Options - all default settings: Autonomy > Full; Auto Age (Played Sims) > Yes; Auto Age (Unplayed Sims) > Yes; Sim Lifespan > Normal.

This is my first tournament challenge in a really long time, so I'd just like to confirm before I start practicing.
Question: Unless specified otherwise, the Lifespan setting is Normal, rather than Short?

I am not a member of the team, but I can confirm that is correct, @oshizu

[thefaeriesgirl]

Hmm, honestly I'm not sure how this is even manageable but clearly since people have already finished it is. I have done 10 practice runs and didn't bother going past day 5 on any of them. Tried a few different things and I just cannot keep their needs up enough to have them do anything of value. They come home work on needs do homework and sleep. Each run I had less than 1k funds.
I appreciate the work that goes into making these, but this just may not be for me. I'm bottom rung every time. I'm just not that into min maxing I guess. I'm not terribly competitive on a general basis but not being able to finish, start, or score remotely near the main pack is just too disheartening for me. 

[oshizu]

I just re-read the Challenge Tournament Overview thread and saw this under "Creating Your Scoring File" and read this:

Options - all default settings: Autonomy > Full; Auto Age (Played Sims) > Yes; Auto Age (Unplayed Sims) > Yes; Sim Lifespan > Normal.

This is my first tournament challenge in a really long time, so I'd just like to confirm before I start practicing.
Question: Unless specified otherwise, the Lifespan setting is Normal, rather than Short?

I am not a member of the team, but I can confirm that is correct, @oshizu

Thank you so much, @Deklitch !  I noticed that you were online and was hoping you'd give me a holler.

[Deklitch]

I have the same problem and feeling about it as you, @thefaeriesgirl.

I try my best to have fun with it, which is why I think I do silly things in the challenges like sit the family down to have a pancake meal together, and so forth.

I set myself the task of trying my best at the challenges and seeing if I can finish them. If not, I've tried my best with my limited understanding of the game and its mechanics and because I've tried, I can put myself down as DNF if need be.

I've stopped looking at the leadership board, apart from my position, which I know will be last, or almost last, and just focus on my individual score.

[Metropolis Man]

I didn't even think of scouts. but a question, even though I am already done - if level 3 scouts counts as maxing the career, going to level 5 would count for 5 job levels?  Level 3 to max but levels 4 and 5 would add to the HM?

Yes. Again, the game considers scouts a job for Teens.

[Vesper]

After an exhausting two weeks the teens scored

300 x 4.75 = 1425