The Centurian's Solo Challenge

[Pam]

I suspect that I'm going to be living proof that a person can do poorly on this challenge.  I'm at week 7, day 1:

Money:  $41,633
Happiness:  46,111
Total:  87,744

[Carl]

I loved this challenge. It gave a purpose to trying to make as much money as possible. This is something I've never actually done. I chose to go with a writer as well. I selected the following traits:

Bookworm - increases writing ability
Loner - less need for social interaction
perfectionist - hope for more hits and best sellers at cost of speed
over-emotional - he's always going to be happy and this will keep lifetime happiness points rolling
couch potato - with the best chair and over emotional, he'll get a +62 bonus to mood while sitting at his desk

I really wasn't sure how this one would go at first. it seemed bleak. He started out with the best bed, desk and computer but everything else was crap and all he could eat was bread and jam. I saved all his money and invested in businesses around Sunset Valley. He eventually owned 10, and managed to get full ownership of a few. I stopped investing around week 9 because he wouldn't get a return on investment. As Honeymooner said I followed my own advice and didn't buy items that would depreciate in value.

My Sim specialized in Masterpieces, and wrote a total of 80 books. His peak income was $322,000 a week. Tomorrow I'll post the page I made detailing my work, but for tonight I'll just post his final stats:

2,089,050         cash on hand
   343,753         lifetime happiness
+   16,156         lot value
__________
2,448,959          points total

Thank you Metropolis, I really enjoyed it like I said. I look forward to someone beating me, we'll learn a lot if they log their experiences! Like I said I have a full page made devoted to this, and I'll publish it tomorrow. Screenshots are scant though, what could I do? take 50 pictures of him sitting at his desk?

[Metropolis Man]

Carl, what an amazing performance you had in this challenge! Awesome job! I'll update the leader board with your stats.

[Honeymooners]

Thanks Carl for reporting on business aspect - I thought about investing  but I wasn't sure it was worth it.   

[Pam]

Oh, man!  One of my Sim's boyfriends asked her to move in with him!  She had to say no because it's a solo challenge.  Bummer!

[Carl]

Didn't get it posted as quickly as I'd wanted as I ended up hanging with company a lot yesterday. My log is up and live now at http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/challenges/. i put it there so that later I can add more challenges to that directory. I hope this will help to promote the challenge a bit, and serve as a log to how I did it. It's a long read, but I'm sure there's some things to learn there, especially about being a successful author.

[Metropolis Man]

Carl, that was a nice read. Thanks for taking the time to post it. I know I could do better if I had another shot at it, but I really don't feel like that would be the right thing to do. Besides, I'm wrapped up in the da Vinchi Challenge anyway. Congrats again!

[igzigpuff]

This sounds like fun, I wish I had more time to play...but then you all are a very competitive and I feel a little intimidated  ...whoa, way to go Carl. 

[Carl]

Yeah it's sort of competitive I guess, since we are keeping score, but I had fun doing it just to see how quickly I could make all that cash. It wasn't too hard to keep him constantly happy so the points would roll in.

I updated the shots on the page, so you can see what I did to his house after he had the moodlet manager and didn't need anything

[Pam]

I'm sticking to the plan of my Sim working for a living, even though I'll probably come in last place. 

She's doing very well, though.  As a Star News Reporter, she continues to get huge raises every week, in addition to the nearly $12,000 per week in royalties.  Her current salary is $1,274 per hour.  I've got just one more week to go, then I'll post my final points.

[Metropolis Man]

Good luck in the home stretch Pam.

[Kreathyr]

hehe, sounds like fun, I think I'll free up some time for this one.
I think I'll be a painter, I love it when a painter gets a lot of money for something that's been made in half a day.

[Pam]

Yay!  I'm done!

My Sim, Trinity, worked hard at the journalism career and wrote books on the side.  She didn't make the crazy money, but she did alright.  Final stats:

Cash:  $229,503
House Value:  $31,763
Total Worth:  $261,266
Happiness Points:  213,197

TOTAL POINTS:  474,463

So, maybe my Sim didn't win with money, but she sure had a happy ending.  All during her life, she had a romance with Sherman.  They went through hard times, like when Sherman was so jealous and upset when he caught her seeing another guy (even though they weren't going steady yet).  Many times, Trinity had the wish to move in the Sherman and I had to say no because the challenge has to be solo.  On and on it went as Trinity diligently worked toward the goal of money for me.  Then the last wish I granted for her before tallying up the final score was to propose to Sherman.  After collecting the last of her royalties and pay, they got married.  Awwwww... 

[Kreathyr]

Nice one Pam.

I don't think I could do better when joining a career.
I'm thinking of starting a painter, so I can get lots of money.

Or maybe a guitarist for the heck of it.

[Carl]

Yeah your Sim led a much fuller life and had love. My Sim's existence was cold and empty, and he would die soon and possibly with no heir.

[Pam]

With the money she made over her lifetime, she retired and they bought a nice house out in the country with a big garden and a pond.  I guess I'll just leave them at that point.  Both are near the ends of their lives and I have other games to play, walkthroughs to write, and challenges to complete!

[Kreathyr]

I've read the centurion challenge on the main site.
Nice work Carl, I think it will be hard to top that (especially if I go ahead with guitarist  )

[Metropolis Man]

A respectable finish Pam. I'll add you to the finishers table.

[Pam]

Thanks, Metro.  At least we now know that working at a career in the workforce won't get you rich.  Lol.  Thanks for bringing us this challege!

[Metropolis Man]

You bet. Yeah, speaking of careers I'm hoping to top Carl in the da Vinchi Challenge, but I'm wondering if I shot myself in the foot right off the bat. I started one of my Sims in the Science career. It just seemed so natural since Fishing, Handiness, and Gardening are the metrics for promotion in that career. I finally had her quit after a week on the job so she could spend more time building skills.

Carl's a monster as he proved in this challenge. I'll see how close I can get him in that one.

I'm glad you like this challenge, Pam. I'll have plenty more challenges down the road. They're fun to create.

[Kreathyr]

All I can say is: Keep 'em comin'

[Yeshanu]

Oooh! Finally, a challange that doesn't involve multiple generations of families! I'm going to start this one tonight, and report back in a couple of days about how it's going.  Thanks so much for this, Metropolis Man!

[Yeshanu]

I started last night, and I'm up to day 14. I chose a Sim with the traits: Ambitious (which gives an increase in happiness points from wishes), Artistic, Bookworm, and Green Thumb, as she's going to make her living Gardening, Painting and Writing, and Loves the Outdoors, so she gets that mood boost while gardening, collecting, fishing, etc. I built her a house at 477 Sunnyside Blvd, which gives her the Beautiful Vista moodlet as long as she's outside or in a room with windows. It's also steps away from a great seed collecting place, an insect collecting place, and fishing. There are also rocks nearby, and the very best place to catch rare insects is just down the road a bit.

By the end of week 1, she was harvesting great veggies, was gardening level 4, and had a score of 26,345, made up of 7540 lifetime happiness points, 2900 in cash, and 15905 in lot and furnishings.

By the end of week 2, she's almost gardening level 10 (with the want to acheive that landmark locked at +8500 points!), and has 6/8 perfect plants growing in her garden. She's got 22,300 lifetime happiness points (spent 20,000 on the Super Green Thumb), has a whopping $17 in cash (sounds like *my* bank account!) and 20,281 in lot and furnishings for a total score so far of 42,598.

And 13 weeks still to go...

[Mooner]

I wanted to see how the writer career worked in this challenge so using similar guideline to Carl I finished at 11:53pm on Week 15 Day 2.

My final score was 2,331,567, so I wasn't as efficient as Carl's attempt.

I actually have an alternate idea using writing and painting.  I think I'll start trial 2 as a writer.  My gut feeling is my alternate route will improve the score.

It was long, but a fun challenge.

My Breakdown

1,923,579 money
   379,771 lifetime points
    28,267 home value
----------
2,331,567 total


Mooner

[Metropolis Man]

My final score was 2,331,567, so I wasn't as efficient as Carl's attempt.

Could you please break your score down into the various parts so I can update the table?

I actually have an alternate idea using writing and painting.  I think I'll start trial 2 as a writer.  My gut feeling is my alternate route will improve the score]

Well, yeah, if anyone makes a 2nd attempt, they're obviously going to do better. I know I would. But, the whole point is to try and get it right the first time. Then it just becomes practice if you make multiple attempts.

But, regardless, nice job Mooner.