2021 Sims 4 Challenge Tournament Overview

[Metropolis Man]

2021 Sims 4 Challenge Tournament Overview

Welcome to the 2021 Sims 4 Challenge Tournament! The 14-event Tournament runs from January 1 to November 21. With the exception of the mid-season Major and the Tournament Finale, five weekends, and six weekends, respectively, all events will span three weekends. The team will always post a preview ruleset the Friday before the next scheduled event to give players a full week to practice. Here is a link to the official 2021 Sims 4 Tournament Events Calendar.

General Challenge Rules

Players are responsible for knowing and following the General Challenge Rules. The rules below apply to all 2021 Tournament events (Dynasty challenges are not Tournament events). Any exceptions will be noted in individual rulesets.

Participation and Practice
Participating in Tournament events is easy - just pick an event and dive in. Live events and/or events that are soon to go live have a thumbs up topic icon. Practicing before a challenge officially goes live is fine, but once you create your scoring file, that’s it—you have one attempt and cannot create a 2nd scoring file.

Starting Dates/Closing Dates
At the bottom of rulesets are official starting and closing dates. Playing your scoring file before the starting date or after the closing date is not allowed. You must submit scores in the individual challenge thread before the closing date has come and gone in your local time zone. Scores submitted after the closing date will not be accepted.

Creating Your Scoring Game File
Always create Sims in CAS (not CAS Storymode) from scratch; no gallery downloaded Sims or library Sims. All challenges begin in a fresh, completely unaltered town of your choosing. Missing community EA lots, such as the spa, must be placed at the beginning of your file. You are free to travel and/or move to any neighborhood or town. Options - all default settings: Autonomy > Full; Auto Age (Played Sims) > Yes; Auto Age (Unplayed Sims) > Yes; Sim Lifespan > Normal; Fill Empty Homes (checked). 

3rd Party Custom Content
3rd party Custom Content that alters appearance for CAS purposes is acceptable and can be used at the player's own risk.

Expansions and Game Packs
Any new Expansion or Game Pack content (less than 30 days before a Tournament challenge goes live) must be disabled before starting your scoring file. If there have been at least 30 days after an Expansion or Game Pack, then you are free to use it (unless a specific ruleset says otherwise).


Banned Content for the 2021 Tournament

Cheats panel. You are only allowed to open the cheats panel for three things: a stuck Sim (ResetSim Firstname Lastname), a stuck object (Moveobjects), or preventing abductions with a satellite dish (showhiddenobjects).
Modifications (mods) are patches that alter some core component of gameplay and are never allowed, including your practice runs.
Tricks to reset Whims, such as reloading a game or traveling/entering CAS.
Editing Non-Home Lots. Personal inventory items can be placed on a non-home lot, but this is the only allowed editing of non-home lots. 
Household Management screen. Do not click on this tab during any challenge. 
Inventory Exploits - removing and replacing inventory items to make Aspiration milestone progress.
Exiting without saving and/or restarting from an earlier save. In the event your challenge file is plagued by a bug, then PM the team with specifics.


The Honor System
The 2021 Tournament is about friendly competition and having fun. It attracts players of all abilities and competitiveness from casual first-timers to seasoned high-caliber veterans. We all want to have a good time no matter what we’re seeking to get out of the Tournament, which means we all need to play honestly — no cheating and no exploits. If you discover an exploit, then you must PM the team (Metropolis Man, sdhoey, MarianT, LenaLJ, GlazeyLady, and Teresa) so we can quickly edit a ruleset. We have a zero-tolerance policy for cheating.

Submitting Scores
When you have finished all the requirements for an event, submit your final score in the individual challenge thread, and the team will update the leaderboard with your information. Remember not to comment on how you approached the event with specifics until the event is closed.


Prizes
**Champion. The 2021 Tournament Champion will be the player at the top of the World Ranking at the close of the Tournament Finale on November 14 and will receive a 2021 Sims 4 Tournament Championship Plaque and a $100 gift card (player’s choice - Amazon, Steam, EA, etc.).
**Runner-Up. One $75 gift card  (player’s choice - Amazon, Steam, EA, etc.) will be awarded to the runner-up.
**3rd Place. One $50 gift card will be awarded to the 3rd place finisher.
**Fabulous Fifty Club Winner. All players who participate in at least five regular events (or one major + three regular events) will be entered into a random drawing at the end of the year. The lucky player chosen will receive a $50 gift card. It’s the team’s way of saying thank you to those who dedicate a serious investment of time to get the participation component of their world ranking to 50%.


We hope the 2021 Sims 4 Challenge Tournament adds new and exciting dimensions to your playing, and most importantly, we hope everyone has a great time. See you on the leaderboard — Metro, sdhoey, MarianT, LenaLJ, GlazeyLady, and Teresa.

[Metropolis Man]

Someone brought to our attention that the Fill Empty Homes option was not specifically mentioned for setting up challenge files. So, we added that to the General Rules...

Always create Sims in CAS (not CAS Storymode) from scratch; no gallery downloaded Sims or library Sims. All challenges begin in a fresh, completely unaltered town of your choosing. Missing community EA lots, such as the spa, must be placed at the beginning of your file. You are free to travel and/or move to any neighborhood or town. Options - all default settings: Autonomy > Full; Auto Age (Played Sims) > Yes; Auto Age (Unplayed Sims) > Yes; Sim Lifespan > Normal; Fill Empty Homes (checked).