I don't remember that being in the rules. :P

My sims are mostly happy to puke anywhere!

I do enjoy making my sims suffer a little

Agreed! In fact, I had to laugh when I saw one of the judges was worried about security issues at my restaurant--I opened up the back patio on purpose so sims would have an easier time skipping out on the bill, if they so choose. If my budget allowed it, I would have loved to put a sprinkler in the kitchen for prank-loving sims to cause shannegians. But it didn't work out that way. I forget to mention little details like that when I'm uploading; I'm usually too busy worried about the pictures and making sure I finish on time. But yeah, I gotta remember the story you tell with the lot and pictures can give important context for judging.

Anyway, thanks to the judges and Justpetro for the feedback and notes. Time to think about how to incorporate that into my Round 3. I did come up with a new idea (a gym) but I still got problems as I'm over budget with no lights and an empty vip room! Time to get creative.

Anyway, well done everyone and good luck next round.

The reason there are 3 judges is exactly because they will notice different things

I will, if I see an obvious mistake from the judges, let them know before posting the scores, because we are all human and may make a mistake or may simply not know that something slightly different actually works perfectly in a game.

It was not needed in Round 2, and the scores were pretty close as well, which also made me feel more comfortable, because it has been a long time since I last judged a contest.

@Phantomknight, I think the question from the judge about security is more about the open arches (burglaries, for instance) and weather (during a snowy winter) than about a fire. I hope none of your sims steal the Hunts' income, though

How is everyone's building going? I hope you are all making good progress!

After the 9 kids grew up and left home, Diana Silke ditched her hapless husband (who was always getting himself abducted and electrocuted and chased by bees and all sorts of stupid things), and moved to the barrenly beautiful planet of Saskion Prime alone. Peace and quiet at last, apart from the occasional asteroid strike! But, Diana missed the children, and began to get wistful for the days when they were small, and she would take them on fun outings before their father could accidentally carry them off to work with him.

So, she decided to open a little venue where sims (and aliens) of all ages could go to have fun and meet other fun-loving sims. And get away from their husbands for a while.

Welcome to Astro Ice!







I hope you enjoyed Astro Ice! Note- the management deny responsibility for any bruised gluteus maximus muscles (or impacted fart glands in the case of native Saskions).

Oh, my, @simsample !

I laughed so much now that I will have to look at the lot later

Especially when I learned that they don't sweat, but they fart a lot

Poor Daniel Silke...(hahahahaha, you remembered everything)... Brandi Le Tourneau won't mind, though

Edit: Welcome to Round 3, simsample!

oh my, @simsample is really taking us on a journey through space and time


I'm honestly struggling with this one, I changed ideas three times and now I think I'm onto something? let's see where this goes. I really liked my first build but started doubting that it would stand the competition, I'm going to keep it anyway and decorate it with no budget limit if I don't use it for this round. maybe I'm taking this a bit too seriously lol

Try to worry less about the competition and more about having fun Your lots are great up to now, just keep it going and make something you would like to use yourself. Keep in mind it still have to be an owed business. Sometimes, in the words of Karen Lorraine, who was in many ways my mentor, because she was the moderator when I first started to upload lots : Less is more

Good luck, Monsieur

@Justpetro Does a bar count as a "fun" activity?

Yes, it will count as a fun activity.

Not well - I had a spate of pink flashing, got that fixed, struggled with a lack of inspiration and have been making slow progress, and having a sick day off work today didn't help because I didn't have the energy to build. I have a shell and a lot of objects strewn over the grass outside it while I try to figure out where they should go... I may have to cut my original ambitious plans down a bit in order to finish in time.

I hope you are well again, @Pebblerocker. Look after yourself!

Good luck with this round, I am sure you will get something nice together in the end. Please have some fun with it, don't punish yourself

Thanks, I'm having fun building and CC shopping
it's just that I can get very obsessive when I have an idea in mind and can't manage to implement it as well as I would like to. And I'm not used to building on a budget haha


good to know, it didnt occur to me that it could be

The budget is part of the challenge I think everyone has done pretty well with the budgets up to now!

No need to go 3 or even 2 floors - I added that because the skating rinks are so big and have one in my game with a cafeteria upstairs.

The bar is fun because I can't see how it can be food It could work well in some lots, I think.

Just have some fun

Oh dear!! Two rounds gone and I'm in last place in both of them! And as each round is taking me further into terra incognita, I really don't expect much improvement on that in the final rounds. At the moment I've got two dogs to look after in addition to my normal real life commitments, and, beyond the vague idea of a music venue, i seem to have absolutely no inspiration for what to build for Diana Silke. I'm hoping she tells us what she wants. I'll have to arrange a meeting between her and Andrew. I don't expect to improve my position, but I promise to do my best to produce something by the end of the round. If I don't submit an entry, it can only mean one thing -- that Andrew has finally lost patience with my incompetence and sacked me.

I could try to defend my choices. I was originally thinking of using "Good Taste" / "Great Taste" tables with tablecloths, but on consideration wipe-clean tabletops seem more appropriate for the lunchtime trade. The tables I chose ("Vintage Retro" and "American Tableau") look rather like the "Good Taste" / "Great Taste" ones without the tablecloths. The dining chairs? Well I have to admit that I rather like the "Tea Time in Teak" chairs. They seem to be well-made traditional wooden seats at a price which, while not a give-away, represent reasonable value for money. There are at 14 of these seats in the restaurant, which represents an investment of §1,400 in the business -- not to be sniffed at. If instead she had used "Contempo Penn Station Side Chairs", they would have cost more than three times as much and looked much the same. But we are also looking to the future: before long Amanda hopes that, with improved business, she will be adding two more tables. That means 10 to 12 extra dining chairs, or §1,000 to §1,200, even using the cheapest chairs. To Amanda's mind, and to mine, dearer dining chairs just don't make business sense, at least not in this type of restaurant. Amanda isn't going for a Michelin Star!

I rather like the roof too. We were going for a symmetrical look, especially as seen from the street. I don't see the point in going for a more complicated roof for its own sake. I find this design both functional and aesthetically pleasing. (And I like the covered entrance to the restaurant too.) However I admit the roof isn't very original. This is a house we handed over to the Allerton family back in December:
Our roofers may have had a feeling of déjà vu when working on the restaurant roof!

Last Monday I ate a late lunch at my favourite Real Life restaurant. The tables are very like the ones we put in Amanda's restaurant, except that the table tops are dark purple to match the rest of the decor there. The movable seats are plastic, and look as if they're cheaper than our Tea Party in Teak seats. They look a bit like the "Retratech Padded Egg Chairs", but have a spindly leg at each corner, and they have no padding. In practice though they are comfortable enough. Comfort may not be all that important in a restaurant dining chair; few diners sit in it for longer than a couple uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu There is also some fixed padded seating (which is where I was sitting myself). This is very like Sims 2 Jacuster's "Last Stand" Sectional Booth seating, which at §300 a seat is quite a bit dearer. The advantage of movable tables and seats in Real Life is that it makes easier to move them to accommodate dining parties of different sizes. Toilets? The Real Life restaurant has three toilets, but it has 14 tables (plus another 6 upstairs, that are brought into use at the busiest of times. Amanda's restaurant has only three tables, or four if you count the bar as a table. So I think that her two toilets should be more than adequate, even if and when she adds two more tables, as she plans to do. The distance you have to walk to get to the toilets is about the same in the real life restaurant as in my build for Amanda. Actually at one or two restaurants I've been at recently, I've had to ask for directions to get to the toilets. The routes to them were long and involved, often including flights of steps; so, if this is a problem for our Sims, it's at least as bad in Real Life -- if not worse!!

I do appreciate what a difficult job the judges have. I once put my name down to judge in a contest, and then chickened out of actually doing it. Like the Dodo in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I just wanted to say, "Everybody has won . . . . And all must have prizes"!!

With six days left to finish it, this is how far I've got with my Round 3 entry!

Andrew has now met with Diana Silke. They talked together for hours today. So hopefully he'll tell me what she wants us to build!

@Justpetro : this is the post I was writing that I mentioned to you in my PM.

Points are given by me as follows (which I copied from Cat's judging sheet)

5 = WOW!
4 = Excellent
3 = Good
2= Acceptable
1= Try harder

Sometimes, I feel it is a bit better than just Good, but not quite as good as the Excellent ones, so I add half a point.

@AndrewGloria - well, somebody has to come last and I have been last several times in contests too I like the table of teak party chair (or whatever it is named) myself. Like you, I like to build lots in contests that I can actually play afterwards. I think just a bit of decor could have made a big difference to that part of your lot.

You have actually improved your score. The level of all our entries is imo exceptionally high and that is what makes it tough.


As far as I can see, Diana has a lot now to build on, so that is at least a start

The toilets in real life can be a PITA - I went searching for one in a big grocery shop in a mall the other day, turned out they were on the floor below. Nice employee in the aisle took me to the shop's toilets (which was almost as far as going downstairs). Getting there in extremely low comfort, the staff security first had to search me and my bag while I was wondering if I should be praying or gritting my teeth. (Perhaps I am not objective, but I don't want my sims to go through
that)!

Some tips for those of you who struggle with Round 3:
(Did I give you too many choices? }

I have made the lot larger because the big skating rinks are huge! This is a good opportunity to do some landscaping, and some terrain sculpting (which is free on a community lot that is unowned) - and perhaps make some hills or something like that if your building is not going to fill the lot properly.

Don't try to build 3 playable floors - that has also been done due to the fact that the skating rinks are big objects and can take up a big part of the ground floor on a lot this size (if you use the big ones). I know there are smaller ones, but I felt that a contestant should be able to use the big ones as well. 3 floors are not required.

Please have some fun with this one as well. Once you have an idea, you may look around at the lots here on MTS, there are quite a number of nice lots here which can inspire you - even though many of them may not work as a owned business or meet my requirements, there are plenty of great ideas.

Try to worry less about the competition (it is a very tough contest, and the entries are honestly high quality). Concentrate on having fun and enjoying the build.

{My Diana Silke is one awesome sim. She never gets any publicity because of that "hapless" husband (as simsample calls him) of hers, who tends to always make headlines whenever I post on the thread here. That is why I decided she needs to get her own business I hope your Diana Silke will be awesome too , even if she is only in your game for the contest.}

Hey um, @Justpetro how long until this round is done? I'm still dealing with IRL things and finally got internet back. But I'm out-of-the-loop, what's the final date for judges to get their reviews in?

Hi, @HarVee, good to see you back and happy that you have internet again

The round ends in just under 6 days from now (clock is running on the first post) - and judges will have 5 days to judge. Let me know if you can or can't after the round has closed? Good luck and patience and strength with the RL issues too.

Heartiest congratulations to @simsample for Round Two! I loved everything about The Simsrock Lunchbox but especially how immersive it was?! Our vanilla game is very 21st century and you managed to take your sims (and us) to prehistory - so cool.

I also want to compliment my fellow contestants on their lunch spots, you made such cute/clever/cozy/creative builds! My sims would be so happy to eat at any of them. I'm a homebody myself so my sims usually are too but looking at everyone's restaurants made me realize we are missing out. Best wishes to all of you for Round Three!

Thank you again to the judges for their time and thoughtful scoring. It sounds like real life stuff has been keeping some of you away from our game and the community so I hope things settle down for everyone.

And @Justpetro, you are a wonderful host! I know answering questions, clarifying things, offering support, plus just maintaining the thread (e.g. the contestant chart with all the links) take time. Thank you!

That looked like a dog interfered with the keyboard lol.

And hey, looking at the scoring posted, you never got below good and got above it a lot! Plus you were brave enough to enter in the first place. I would have taken the criticism too much to heart if it was me. Tell Andrew that if he wants to fire you, then he should remember that you brought him into this world and you can take him back out again lol.

Feel free to ignore me, because I am neither a builder nor a judge, but I think that you let yourself down in round 2 because you tried to make both a restaurant and a nightclub. How many lunchtime restaurants in RL do you know of that have a dance floor with a DJ booth and strobe lights? And waiters wearing only loincloths is a health and safety hazard.

Welcome to Sugar Rush Roller Rink!
A sweet skating venue that captures the magic of make-believe, play-pretend, and fairy-tale fun!

Diana Silke has been doing okaaay as an empty-nester. Last year, she helped her grown kids move into their own places and while packing, she kept finding souvenirs of their childhood. Sifting through the memories and getting used to being alone in the house, she realized she didn't like the quiet and just purchased a roller rink, you know, as one does.





As usual, I had so much fun! As usual again, good luck to my fellow contestants, I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.
PS @simsample areyoukiddingme that is another totally immersive lot and I love every single thing about it, especially the story!

This last week has been difficult for me. My mother went to the hospital because of a suspected stroke. I then caught a bad cold that still has me bedbound. I'm not sure I'll be able to build something for this round.