Then better for any Sims game. I would partcipate in the Sims 4.

Edit: Oops! Oh dang. No, I won't.

I would be interested in participating in another build/decorating contest -I'm not very good at making sims. I'd rather the rounds were longer than a week (I didn't get to post my thoughts on Cat's contest as I was on holiday immediately after it finished). 1 week rounds are just too tight for me.

Same here

Can agree with that. Same for judging, too (sometimes life throws stuff at you at the worst possible time)
Two weeks likely would've been better, adjusting the amount of rounds accordingly.

All I know is - the shorter time frame had less attrition of contestants.
Contestants had the whole month to do three builds (it didn't have to be 1 a week.)
Judges not so much - that was def a quick turn-around.

It took me most of that time to decide whether or not to enter lol. I don't think I would enter another 1 week round contest again until I retire in 2 years. It was definitely too tight for me with work, activities and home life all thrown in.

Same! It didn't quite occur to me until partly into the first round, but my work schedule that month did not at all fit in with judging a contest. I had 6 days of work (most being 12 hour shifts) within a 7 day period around one of the weekends (and wasn't much better the rest of the month-long period), so I was just lucky people kept trickling in their entries so I could get one or two done each evening, instead of everyone finishing the last possible day.

It was fun, though - and the builds were quite inspiring. Even tinkered a bit with one of the lots myself (not 100% finished, but I'm fairly happy with the result. Haven't done much entirely CC-free decoration in a long time)

Think we just need to accept those fact we all are grown up. I had no such contest experience like here before. I found that I am not superman.

Sadly I fear this post will come into the "TL-DR" category! Sorry!!

Well, I'm retired (in my mid 70s), so I should have plenty of time, but even doing those two play-along entries felt at times as if I was back working full-time, and working to tight deadlines too. If I had tried to compete as a "proper" contestant, I couldn't have posted three entries on time. Or, probably more likely, I would have posted three entries (probably incurring time penalties), but I know I'd then be posting entries well below the standard of work that I expect of myself, and well below the standard of work that Andrew expects of me.

I always feel relieved when a contest is finished. I no longer have to work to deadlines -- I can play the Sims at a more relaxed pace, that generally suits both me and my Sims. At the end of Justpetro's contest, Andrew and I were both totally exhausted. You may recall that he fell asleep (with his face in his food!) while visiting a client. I was every bit as exhausted as he was!

When I took part in Justpetro's contest last year, I not only built the four business-oriented lots required for the contest, but created four families (a total of 15 Sims) to own the businesses. I also built 5 houses (and extensively modified one downloaded house) for the families to live in. Also one Sim, who was already in my game, joined one of the families and started working in the business. Andrew, helped by Jones & Moltke staffers, visited the families, discussed their requirements with them, and helped them to settle in. As you can imagine, all this required quite a commitment of time and effort on my behalf. So it was a little frustrating to finish last in every round, and, among those of us who completed all four builds, last in the contest overall! (I really think I deserve a "booby prize" for that! I don't think I could have done that if I'd tried!!)

I suppose I could have played the contest the "normal" way, just building the lots, trying to impress the judges, and play-testing them with "throw-away" Sims. But I don't think I'd have got nearly as much fun playing it that way! As it is, the Sims and their businesses are now an important part both of the Monopolis sub-hood and of the Grand Duchy of Veronaville. Anyway, I don't do "throw-away" Sims; when I create a Sim in my game, I reckon I'm making a commitment to them "as long as we both shall live". Well, maybe not quite like a marriage vow, but a commitment to look after them and try to keep them from serious harm to the best of my ability.

The first contest I entered, and I think the one I enjoyed most, was d_dgjdhh's Monopoly Game Town Contest. Soon after I started building for the contest, I downloaded the empty version of his Monopoly Game Town Neighborhood and attached it to Veronaville as a sub-hood. This allowed me to integrate the contest builds into my regular game. We had to give a name for a construction company. I named ours Jones & Moltke Construction (Veronaville) Ltd., a company run by "two talented and enterprising Veronaville schoolboys, Andrew Jones and Julian Moltke", who, as I'm sure you all know, have been in my game (and been together) since my first month as a Simmer. As is normal for small private companies in my part of the world, I made the boys the shareholders and directors of the company. Andrew became Managing Director (the equivalent of a CEO in a large public company) while Julian became "Creative Director", which was and is a bit of a sinecure. (It gives him a nice job title!) As MD, Andrew is in charge, and I work as their architect (for which of course I really have no qualifications!) This meant that I had to work closely with Andrew, and talk over the designs with him. As Andrew is my "imaginary friend" as well as my very first Sim, I enjoyed working with him. We had some interesting discussions together. That contest was scored not in "points" but in Simoleons. We had a "coffer" of Simoleons which we carried forward from one build to the next. A lot of the scoring was for meeting requirements, with only a small amount of Simoleons for the quality of the design and build. I'm a better bean-counter than I am a builder, an I was tempted to build as cheaply as possible, while meeting all the requirements. Andrew vociferously disagreed. He saw the contest as his "shop window". He insisted that we had to go for quality too. We didn't win that contest, but we finished about the middle. At the end of the contest we had a "coffer" of over §400,000. It seemed sensible to me to divide this sum equally between the two shareholders, Andrew and Julian, since it was effectively their money.

Jones & Moltke has continued to exist as a construction company in my game, generally specialising in quality homes at affordable prices. I generally use FamilyFunds to pay Andrew and Julian a proportion of the selling price of all the firm's buildings (but a lot less than they got for the original contest, which transformed their families from poor ones to comparatively affluent ones). I suppose one reason why I liked that contest was that it lifted Sims that I regarded as my friends out of near penury. They no longer had to worry about whether they could afford things, as many of my other Sims still do (and indeed as I generally do myself).

One of the things I think I do fairly well in my contest entries since (a few of which have been as a play-along) is writing a detailed description of the lot, including the stories of the Sims who purchased it. All my pictures must have proper detailed captions, often with extensive additional commentary. I enjoy writing these, and I think people enjoy reading them, but they do take quite a lot of time to write. For this reason I think I need more than a week between rounds. I was really very glad that I was "only" a play-along in the Fix it or Flip it contest, so I only submitted two entries. Even if I hd been in better health, I don't think I could have finished three builds, written up to the standard that I expect of myself (and that Andrew expects of me). But of course the quality of my descriptions is not (I think) something that the judges consider, nor would I expect them to.

Doing it as if I was working for Andrew's company, does tend to make it feel like real work, especially when deadlines have to be met. Like real work, this can be stressful. But, when we succeed in meeting the deadline, on time, and within budget, this can be very satisfying, just as it can be in Real Life. The stress becomes worthwhile, when you know you've done a good job. However, getting a comparatively low score from the judges can reduce my feeling of satisfaction. I suppose my criteria are often different from what the judges are looking for: I suppose Andrew and I are more interested in how satisfied the buyers are with their purchase. For this reason I think I enjoy contests more as a play-along than as an actual contestant -- as a play-along I'm free-er in how I interpret the rules.

I suppose I'm not all that enthusiastic about taking part in another pure building contest. I think I'd prefer something a bit broader that included making Sims families, playing them, and writing their story. I like playing my Sims much more than I enjoy building for its own sake. I often see building as a bit of a chore -- necessary as my Sims need somewhere to live and places to visit.

Having said all that, if a Simmer that I think of as a friend starts a building contest, and it looks like it might not go ahead for lack of contestants, then I'll probably enter rather than see the contest fail. Sometimes I think I'm a bit of a glutton for punishment! That's why I entered Justpetro's contest last year -- to make sure she had enough contestants for it to go ahead. (In)famously I finished last, but I'm still glad I did enter it. It brought a lot of lovely new Sims into my game, and four new venues for them to visit. It's maybe worth mentioning that Priscilla Fleming, the little girl who (with her mother and brother) just moved into the ranch in CatherineTCJD's contest, wants to be friends with Fiona Anderson, the toymaker's daughter from Justpetro's contest. I think that in itself makes my participation in both contests worthwhile!

I entered the first building contest because I was completely and utterly useless as a builder, and I thought I could learn something and build nicer lots for my Sims! I started to enjoy the building itself, but I do prefer to be able
to use the lots in my own game.

And, @AndrewGloria, most of the lots I have built for contests over the years are still in my lot bin and used regularly, whenever I need them. I still use the hotel I built for that Monopoly contest too!

With Cat's contest, I picked the lot in Riverblossom Hills, despite the fact that it had the lowest bonus and I knew I was going to lose another 5 points when I removed the roof - but I knew I was not only going to like my end result, but I was also going to use it! As I have been thinking about a new art gallery, I decided to use the Belladonna Courtyard for that. The DT house is also easy to use. I was never going to use the Strangetown lot (although I would have liked to do that one too) and i honestly don't like to play residential lots with wraparound porches (I always find them too narrow to enjoy playing them) - but I may have, if I could enlarge the porch

I do not like playing apartments, which means I may try not to build one at all (It is not that different from building a hotel, but since I don't use them, I don't see the point).

I still am not interested in making sims, it does not actually matter in what form the contest is (I also don't know the TV show referred to, but I think there is a similar thing here, which I don't watch, because I'd rather play sims).

When talking of sims, though, I may like a contest where one builds lots for the social groups. A house for a gearhead will be very different from a house for a Bohemian. And I can imagine a bar for the Gearheads, a coffee
cafe for the Bohemians, a film and literature lot for the Socialites, a sport bar for the Jocks and a very nice internet cafe for the Techies And I don't think one actually needs AL to take part in that?

How do people feel about supernatural/spooky themes? I think it would be fun to do a create-a-hood type contest where we make a Halloween-y town. Round 1 could be make and/or decorate a neighborhood. Think deserted island, forest clearing, alien planet, etc. Round 2 would be for making your founders - a Leader, a Builder, a Healer, and a Chef, maybe? Round 3 would be for making a residential lot for one or more of the founders. And Round 4 could be a community lot for them to enjoy. If we have each round last two weeks, we can start the first week of August and have the contest over and our hoods ready to play just in time for Spooky Month! I would be more than happy to host, or co-host if anyone would like that.

I think if we split it into four separate contests we might struggle to get the ten required participants for each round. But I'd love to be proven wrong!

Thoughts?

@Treehawk, I can do spooky, although Halloween is not really a thing where I live (a theme at a bar here and there on the day).

As for making Sims, I think that can be done without having them in a separate round and judged (Have a look at Jo's Community Spirit Contest (https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=592998) and even mine, stealing a bit from Jo, of course (https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=689383).

You also qualify to host a contest, by the way, and to be a judge

About the map - I think contestants should be allowed to use any map, because not everyone makes maps, and you need SC4, which not everyone has. The idea will work better if the contestant (why do I now remember I've seen this before, probably on here) can choose any map and then just has to decorate it.Fami

Two weeks - I like that. Being a bit of a slower builder, even if I had all day, I still need a bit of time to do something properly, especially if it is something I have never done before.

You probably have to get it all done in 4 rounds, so I think you will have to make 2 families?

Very quick idea:

Round 1 - the decorated map
Round 2 - House for Founder family 1
Round 3 - House for Founder family 2
Round 4 - A community lot.

Halloween does seem better suited for October though. XD

Not to discount the idea of doing any of these ideas as another contest, but it seems like several of them could also work as something akin to the monthly themes/stickers that were done a few years ago, or the challenges more than a decade ago- It's probably a question for the mods more than the community, but I wonder if there's been any thought to doing something like that again too.

I like monthly theme feature. but I don't know that I might have offer.

I will take part if there are monthly themes again, but that is normally done by the admins, and perhaps we could ask @HugeLunatic if it is possible to start those again?

Still, a contest is a lot nicer, people like me learn a lot from the comments of the judges and it is always amazing to see how contestants, within the rules, come up with completely different lots.

I don't think the two should exclude each other.

Edit - I think that a challenge is supposed to be a bit different, and seem to remember a post from a mod saying so at one stage - it should not be a challenge instead of a contest or something like that,
when I have time, I will see if I can find it again.

Themes generally are overly vague, with a topic that will fit all games and be able to include multiple upload categories. There isn't meant to be a "challenge" to them, unless you are challenging yourself in a different area of creation.

I've sort of followed the conversation, but other than a general spooky/halloween/fall suggestion I'm not sure any would be directly suited to a site theme.

Simblreen?

I liked Adventcalendar event before. Every day of December meant some new custom content item.

But I don't like it anymore. Borgs assimilated me and now I serve at their mundane duties.

Differences between contests and challenges can be found here (It is in the contest rules)"

https://modthesims.info/showthread....986#post4552986

I was thinking that my idea of make a sim, make a house for them, make a family for them, make a hood for them etc., might be better as a challenge, as people could do the bits they want, no winners or losers but entries could be critiqued.

@simsample - I am not sure it has anything in common with the challenges (I read some of them quickly, I know the Legacy and BAC ones a bit).

Your idea will work very well for a contest - I don't think you should allow the 2 or 3 of us who don't want to make sims to put you off! Most players seem quite willing and eager to do so?

I can always help to judge the 3 non-sim rounds (you should probably get a judge there who knows more about making sims than one who just like Goopy and Sandy) - and I will play along in the other 3 rounds too

I dunno, I just think it may be a bit ambitious to run as a single event, as it would probably need to run for about 6 months to do it all! Also I was thinking that what I wanted to avoid was having clear overall winners and losers, since I know some people find it a bit upsetting to be scored last. So I was wanting something with participation stickers perhaps, and maybe critique and scoring could be offered for individual rounds, but no overall contest winner?

...I think really I just want to make everyone happy and tell everyone how good their stuff is, because I always love it all, and would never be able to make a good judge. Perhaps I should stick to clicking the love buttons, like I usually do!

@simample

Round 1 - the map. Contestants get 2 weeks to make/pick and download a map and to decorate it.

Round 2 - the founder and family (2 to 3 sims?) - contestants can make them in 2 weeks as well? Or does it take long to make a sim for a contest?

Round 3 - the house for the founding family - surely, it is one lot, and can probably build in a week or 2 as well.

Round 4 - the community lot - same as above, depending on size and whatever has to be on the lot.

I thought the previous contest was a bit rushed, especially for those contestants who did not see it at once - but I don't think it will take 6 months, probably 2 to 3 months, including the judging. Perhaps, instead of a week or 2 weeks once could think about 10 days? 10 days for the judges too, because they should not be rushed either.

As for being unhappy with ending last - well, somebody is going to end last in a contest, and I have never been bothered when I ended last in some rounds (I just worked harder). The important thing imo is that the judges should be more or less on the same page, and if all of them give very similar scores to a lot, one can hardly argue that all 3 of them are wrong.

Judges can be wrong at times, of course, but it will be one, not all 3 - and the host can easily correct that (e.g. I had to ask a judge to change a score because he honestly and mistakenly thought a certain object would not work in the vanilla game. and I found that the only mistakes here and there had to do with playability). I thought that (and said so) a certain judge did not quite grasp the rules of the Riverblossom Hills roof (it could have affected my bonus 5 points, but not the rest of the score - I got the bonus anyway).

I still (and I have never won a round, if that explains it) think winning a round is enough of an achievement to get a sticker for that, even if it may make more sense to give it to those contestants who don't win overall.

And whether you are last or second, you get the same sticker for taking part (if you don't have one already) I am honestly not bothered by that, it only bothers me if I am supposed to get one and it does not show up.