The Perfectly Happy Challenge

[Pam]

You know, I got to thinking about the whole thing with Schipperke and her switching Active households at the Edit Town screen. There's always been the rule about the fact that you can only play one Sim. That's never changed. So, if you'd change Active households wouldnt you be playing a different Sim than your tourney character? It's something I've never done, so am I missing something? In other words, I want as few rules as possible. Is the can't switch active households even needed with the play only one Sim rule?

I think it's still interpretation, Metro.  Some would think it means only one Sim in the entire game/town/file.  Others may think it means only one Sim in the tournament household.  To be on the safe side, I would include the part about not changing active households.  That's also one of the stated rules of the famous Legacy Challenge, so it's obviously come up as an issue for other challenge writers.

[Metropolis Man]

Sounds good, Pam. Thanks. I'll just leave the rules as is.

[mordana666]

I've been a fan of the site for ages, but never joined. When I saw the 'Perfectly Happy' Challenge, I decided to jump in feet first and give it a go. I'll do my best, and would just like to thank everyone who's contributed to the site - it's always pointed me in the right direction when I've needed help with LTWishes etc. So Thanks 

[Metropolis Man]

mordana, welcome to the forums and good luck with the challenge. I'll get you on the leaderboard.

[mordana666]

I've just read the whole thread, and realise there have been some issues with interpretation of the rules. I'm up to day 30, and suddenly realised I should have asked an obvious question earlier - is my newly created sim, Happy Challenge, allowed to have a career. She's just managed to get to the TOC in cuisine, and been awarded the super fridge. This may give her an advantage when it comes to preparing perfect meals. So before I continue, I want to make sure a career is allowed. If not can I start again? 30 days of a sims life isn't a great deal to lose, and I really want to compete in the challenge fairly. I await your ruling ........ Su Sims (and yes that's my real life surname, and the reason I bought the game in the first place

[Metropolis Man]

Hi mordana, in general, if I don't specifically say you can't do something, then you can. But, it's always a good plan to ask and I'm glad you did. Smart. Anyway, yes, you can do the career. Another player chose the cooking career as well. I don't look at that super fridge as an unfair advantage at all because of time necessary to get that reward — all of that time invested into your career is time away from fishing and gardening. Good luck with the rest of the challenge.

[mordana666]

Thanks for such a quick reply. Oh I'm so happy now - it was worrying me all last night! Back to the challenge with a clear conscience. There's not much else to do in snowy England at the moment. Thanks again Metropolis Man ..... Mordana

[Pam]

I'm done!  My game clock reads Week 15, Day 2, 11:59 p.m.

Perfect points:  384,000
Happiness points:  293,327
Total points:  677,327

I really enjoyed doing that challenge.  Cheers to Metro for writing it! 

[Metropolis Man]

Nice job, Pam. I'll update the leaderboard.

[meamalso2]

Hello, I am new to this forum. I have played the Sims on and off and just got the Sims 3 for Christmas. This challenge sounds appealing to me, I do have a couple of questions though... I do not have WA (yet anyways), so may I participate in this one?

[Metropolis Man]

Hello, I am new to this forum. I have played the Sims on and off and just got the Sims 3 for Christmas. This challenge sounds appealing to me, I do have a couple of questions though... I do not have WA (yet anyways), so may I participate in this one?

Hi meamalso2 and welcome to the forums. I would wait until you have World Adventures to begin this challenge. Otherwise your score would be crippled from not being able to get all of the fish, recipes, and plants from the foreign countries.

[meamalso2]

Thanks for the recommendation, but to be honest I have already started am well into week 12. I couldn't honestly start over and consider it my one try. 
I was aware that I would need to compete very strongly in happiness points to rank well so I have worked hard on the wishes I currently have 346,372 LTH.  Because of fewer perfect specimens, I have completed all my available perfect specimens, including the hot dogs I have 21 fish, 28 foods, and 18 plants (first time getting the omni plants, they are cool.)   So 67*4000=268000 if I am right, and 268,000+346,372= 614,372 so far, if you will count me in!

[Pam]

Welcome meamalso2!

Sure, I don't see a real reason not to count you in.  You realize that there are a lot of points that you'll miss out on.  Maybe Metro can put a notation beside your score to say that you played it without World Adventures.  It wouldn't change your ranking, but it would at least explain why your score of perfect items is low. 

p.s. Hot dogs are my nemesis!! 

[LenaLJ]

Hi. I would like to take this challenge, too. I'm new to this forum, but I'm using Carl's Guides often when I look for which traits I have to roll for getting special LTWs and then I saw the link to this challenge and it really sounds cool.

Just a simple little question... if I set one save game to the long lifespan, but want to play another on normal, do I have to switch every time I change the games or can it remember which savegame has which options?

[Metropolis Man]

Okay, meamalso2, you're in. I'll put your current score in as well.

Lena LJ, welcome to the forums and the tourney. I've got you on the leaderboard. I'm not sure on the saved game question. I would think that whatever setting you created your game with would stick. Having to manually change that for various characters would be a headache.

[meamalso2]

Finished! My final score.

Perfect Points     268000
Happiness Points  445568

Total                  713568

That was fun, I learned a lot! Time for me to look at other challenges 

[Metropolis Man]

Wow, meamalso2. Pretty impressive. Did you move out your Sim to reset wishes? That Happiness score is really high. No one has ever broken 400k points without going into the Edit town screen.

[Pam]

Just a simple little question... if I set one save game to the long lifespan, but want to play another on normal, do I have to switch every time I change the games or can it remember which savegame has which options?

The lifespan setting stays the same in all your saved games unless you change it.  So, if you set it to Long to play this challenge, when you go back to another game, it will also be set on Long.

[Metropolis Man]

meamalso2, I need an answer to my question above — did you enter the Edit Town screen at any time with your character?

[meamalso2]

No, I read through the post when I was wondering if I could move my sim to a better living location, unfortunately she had to stay, seeing as I could not go to edit town.
There is a personality trait that seems pointless on the surface, but earned me around 100k happiness throughout the game Wish I could say more without giving away mood management techniques (I find it funny that people do not know how to keep their sims happy 24/7, and would waste points for the moodlet manager). And the benefits of an elated mood help complete more wishes.

[Metropolis Man]

No, I read through the post when I was wondering if I could move my sim to a better living location, unfortunately she had to stay, seeing as I could not go to edit town.
There is a personality trait that seems pointless on the surface, but earned me around 100k happiness throughout the game Wish I could say more without giving away mood management techniques (I find it funny that people do not know how to keep their sims happy 24/7, and would waste points for the moodlet manager). And the benefits of an elated mood help complete more wishes.

Wow. That's all I needed to know. Looks like you've discovered a nice little tidbit of info with that secret personality trait. I guess I'll have to do some of my own investigation for any future tourneys that score happiness points. Well done, meamalso2. I'll update the leaderboard.

[Pam]

Meamalso2,

You don't have to go to Edit Town to move your Sim.  Just use the phone and select "Move" and you can choose a new house.

[Metropolis Man]

You didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, Horkslair. On Week 2, Day 1, my character in this event started getting weekly spa vacations that resulted in +93 to mood for a solid week. He also got the nicest body treatment at the same time which gave him +125 to mood for 3 days. He lived outside on the nicest Sunset Valley lot and was Over-Emotional, and Loves the Outdoors. I mean we're talking enormous mood boosts for 14 straight weeks. I'm still confused as to how someone can net 100k more happiness points. I really need to try and find the answer because it's not just making me curious. It's bothering me.

[Metropolis Man]

One possibility 'could' be hacking... I know that when you are a hacker in the evening, the rewards for passing certain simolean amounts reset after you do the $5,000 simoleans one IIRC.  Back before I started gardening for simoleans using omni plants I was a hardcore hacker for money.  I ended up getting about 75%+ of my happiness points from the rewards for hacking milestones.

Very, very interesting. I'll do some testing of my own to satisfy my curiosity. meamalso2, I absolutely do not want you to reveal your strategy. When I said this was bothering me, I did not want you to take that as I'm implying you're cheating. If you tell me you're following the rules to the letter, then I'm good with that.

[Eftyen]

Ok, I've given it some thought and I think I'm ready to join this challenge.

Put me on the board, metro!

p.s. - I think I know what personality trait meamalso hinted at.  I'll try to keep track of the happiness that can be directly attributed to it over the 100 days!