I’ve been reading and trying out many challenges lately and had this idea. It has elements of other challenges but a lot of new to add a twist.

Note:Ambitions absolutely required! Pets would be good too but if you don't have it, you can ignore the Pets part.

This is the story:

After a nuclear apocalypse, the world was uninhabited for many generations due to the radioactive fallout. Entire cities were destroyed in the early attacks and people barely had any time to run into their basements and bunkers. Billions of people died either from the war or the fallout and it’s an estimate that several thousands are now living in underground facilities built by the government. After the initial strikes, a few lucky sims managed to get to them, but most of the population was left to fend for themselves in any way they could. The ones that survived lived isolated deep in abandoned mines, volcano shafts or bunkers that they built themselves, but their lack of time and planning forced most of them out into the world before the planet had fully recovered. Radiation is tolerable in most places though dangerous spots can often be found. The water is still undrinkable. There is no electricity other than the ones provided by some of the old generators that managed to survive the years. There are barely any people left in the world, so you are mostly alone in the vast wilderness.

To start:

First, choose an empty neighborhood. This means, no houses, no lots, no community buildings, no people. You may decorate the neighborhood to fit the theme, place some ‘No Visitors Allowed’ lots with decorative objects (ONLY DECORATIVE OBJECTS), some dead trees, broken cars, trains and ruins. Also place a junkyard with a few piles of scraps.

Then, create 8 sims in CAS, four of each gender, most of them YA but you can make a a T or two. You are allowed to make two of them blood related, or two sets of two if you think you can manage, but that’s it. Any more than that will make it difficult to avoid inbreeding. You will have to rebuild this city in ruins using only the sims you have created at this time. You are not allowed to bring in any new sims because there aren’t any anywhere close to your location. This means no mail carrier, no paparazzi, no service of any kind, including newspaper so be sure to cancel the delivery first thing in the game.

These sims will be the survivors that were forced out of out their shelter earlier because something happened (you can make out what it was – some combination of elements that made it impossible to bring a lot of stuff with them to the surface) and have decided to venture into the world and see if they can survive. You can make them with any appearance you want but it’s better if you dress them in clothes that would fit a post-apocalyptic world. Place a large lot and decorate it appropriately (I decided to put a mine entrance nearby as where they climbed out) and move in with your sims.

At the start of the game they have just exited into the world and they have only what managed to carry with them:

- Fire
- sleeping bags
- a couple of tents
- canned food and provisions
- a few basic seeds (1 tomato, 1 lettuce, 1 grape and 1 apple)
- a few tools (hammer, spade, bucket…)
- an old generator with enough power for 1 refrigerator ONLY
- two counters
- a cheap sink (so you can wash the dishes)
- an old battery powered stereo
- some books (1 cheap book shelf)
- a couple of cheap chairs
- a football OR a baseball for fun
- a chemical bathroom

Besides this, you need to place the sculpting thingy and the inventing bench (what are they called in English? – my game is in Portuguese). Everything else needs to be created by you in some fashion. You can put a fence in your garden.

There is no electricity other than barely enough for your refrigerator, so no appliances and electronics until you have unlocked them. Objects need to be either sculpted or retrieved from the junkyard. Other objects need to be earned.

Invention, handiness, athletic and logic are vital survival skills. Athletic sims will do the building and smart sims will do the creating. Logic is used to pass on that knowledge.

General Rules:

- No buying out of the fridge. You need to eat what you plant.
- Seeds found can be planted.
- Metal, rocks and jewelry need to be kept to build objects (details about that further on) and only sold raw (once you have used them).
- Insects can be used as decoration.
- Raise athletics only by jogging. The exception is to raise the first level where it needs to be done using the stereo.
- No service is available. The world has ended. You can call the police and the firefighter once you have a police station and a fire department. Details to get those further on.
- No traveling if you have WA. Again, it’s the end of the world. There isn’t anywhere to travel to, and there are no more airports left.
- Objects need to be earned. Details further on.
- Building also needs to be earned.
- No electronic and appliances until you have electricity. Details further on.
- No water (except bathroom) until you have a water pump. Read further on.
- You may have small pets. This means snakes, birds, lizards, turtles and rodents you find. Horses, dogs and cats need to be adopted as strays/wild ONLY. Don't sell any you find because they are going to be used. If you don't have Pets just ignore this rule.
- You may not have a job or a profession until you have the building necessary to have it.
- No inbreeding so be careful with mixing the genetics. Sleeping around will make it more difficult, so try to keep the couples monogamist.
- You can’t buy scraps out of the bench.
- Decorate lots and objects having in mind this is a post-apocalyptic world.
- Be reasonable.

Rules for building:

Everything you build need to come from somewhere. If you want walls, you’ll need both the manpower and the material. If you want fancy objects, you not only need the manpower and material but also the knowledge to create it.

To make walls:

You need at least one strong sim, but the more you have the better. The amount they can build varies with the skill level they have in athletics:

1 – can’t build
2 – can build one chunk (one side of the square) of wall every seven days
3 – can build one chunk every six days
4 – a chunk every five days
5 – a chunk every four days
6 – a chunk every three days
7 – every two days
8 – every day
9 – two chunks a day
10 – three per day

I assume they are making the material as they go by using mud, wood and dirt, roof included, and that’s why it takes them time. The more they build, the better and faster they get at it. They also get stronger from the exercise of building, so be sure to spend at least a couple of hours exercising everyday your sim spend building (even if you don’t place the wall – remember that at first it might take days). If you have more sims, you’ll go faster by working in teams. For example, if you have three sims with level 3 in athletics, they will build a chunk of wall in two days (6 days divided by 3 sims = 2). If your sims have different levels, use the average number to calculate the number of days. For example, you have a sim with level 2 and one with level 4, working together they will make a wall in six days (average is level 3).

Everything in your neighborhood needs to be built using this method. If you want to move sims out (and you will need to to eventually to start making babies), first, you have to build and furnish a basic house this way. Houses will be pretty basic. There is no luxury at the end of the world.

To make objects:

Objects need to be sculpted or gotten from the junkyard, but there will be some objects in which this won’t be possible so you will have to make them. You will need skills and material. You can get creative with this, but there are some rules.

For the material:
- objects that have metal in them will be built using scraps and metals you collect around the neighborhood. Be reasonable with the amount you need. A good way to judge is by calculating the amount of scraps the inventions use to be created. Metal is better than scraps so 1 metal = 2 scraps.
- you can modify objects you find in the junkyard. For example, you can use the metal from one object to create another, given you have that skill.
- objects that have wood in them will be done using the trees around. Sell the tree to use the wood. You can plant more later using your gardening skill (just place it and wait the amount of days it takes for it to grow or, if you want to be picky, plant an apple tree and throw it out when you use it).
- you can also use stone to make parts of your objects (like counters). You need rocks for that.
- for fabric use fur or leather. Use small creatures like rodents, lizards and squirrels (need Pets expansion!).
- Once you build your object, you can sell the material you used to make it.

For the skill:
- either inventing or sculpting can be used, it depends on the object. Different levels of the skill equal different results:

1 – can’t make objects
2 – can make tiny objects in one day (like very tiny decorations)
3 – can make small objects in one day (like small rugs)
4 – can make medium objects in three days (like small tables and counters)
5 – can make medium objects in two days
6 – can make medium objects in one day
7 – can make large objects in four days (like bookshelves, dressers and other furniture)
8 – can make large objects in three days
9 – can make large objects in two days
10 – can make large objects in one day

Again, you can combine sims and make a group effort.

For community lots:

They have to be built using the same method as houses, except it is assumed everyone in the neighborhood will make a joint effort and contribute (assuming you have moved out people). Of course, not everyone will help 24/7 and not everyone has the same level of skill, so for this make a simple calculation and it doesn’t have to be exact. Count the sims in the neighborhood. Four sims = 1 chunk of wall per day and 2 sims = 1 medium object per day or a large one every 2 days. While you build anywhere in the neighborhood, either community or residential lots, you need to set it to ‘No Visitors Allowed’. Besides this, at least one sim in the neighborhood needs to have maxed the skill necessary for that building. For example, for a grocery store at least one sim needs to have maxed gardening in order to supply it. (IMO, it’s more realistic to first make a small community garden that gets larger and finally turns into a grocery store, but that’s me.)

Basic buildings come first: Parks, graveyard, beach…

Medium difficulty lots come after: a library (once you have a writer to write the books), a gallery (once you have an artist to supply the paintings), consignment store (once you have inventors and sculptors to supply goods), a hangout maybe once you have a musician.

Shops are more complex and take more work, so they are easier if done when you have a sizable neighborhood. Fishing is very dangerous at this stage of recovery of the world. The water is too polluted and there isn’t a lot of fish around.

For eletricity:

You will be able to construct a decent generator once you reach level 10 on inventing. You can build a windmill when that happens and start making electronics using the rules to make objects. The more windmills you build, the more power you can supply. Each windmill can supply power for a 10x10 space provided they have few basic appliances or lamps. If you want to have more expensive devices, you will need more power and more time to make them. Be reasonable.

To make appliances and electronics you need inventing skill.

1 – can’t make appliances
2 – can make small appliances in two days (like the cheap stereo)
3 – can make small appliances in one day
4 – can make medium appliances in three days (like a cheap TV)
5 – can make medium appliances in two days
6 – can make medium appliances in one day
7 – can make large appliances in four days (like a refrigerator)
8 – can make large appliances in three days
9 – can make large appliances in two days
10 – can make large appliances in one day

Remember that even if you have that appliance you will only be able to power it once at least one sim has reached level 10 in inventing to start making generators.

For water:

Water is not so hard to filter, but some knowledge is necessary. You will need inventing to make the objects (use the same rules) and logic. You can only distribute clean water once you can build a descent water pump and for that you need at least level 5 of inventing. A sim with level five of logic is capable of finding out a way to filter the water and a filtration system can be implanted at the pump (it needs to be the same sim with logic and inventing). Each pump can distribute water for a 10x10 space. You can use the decorative water pump to represent it.

To win:

You need to have a descent sized village by the end of generation 10. Add 5 points per sim in the neighborhood, 5 points for basic community lots and houses, 10 points for medium, 15 for more complex ones and 20 for each of the following: a city hall, a lab, a stadium, a fire department, a police station, an office building and a hospital.


Opinions? Suggestions? Playtesting is needed to see if some of the rules will need to be changed (they may be a bit strict in the building department, but I didn't want it to make it too easy). Of course, the point of a challenge is to make it challenging.

You may want to specify at the start which expansions are required. I was about to attempt this, and then saw that you need things from Ambitions, which I don't have yet. (Second expansion and no one ever has it in stock. ><). I'll try this probably starting Monday; I'll have Ambitions by then. It sounds interesting, to say the least. If quite time-consuming.

Wow! You put a lot of effort into this.

@Fuzzlechan I edited the post to include in information.


I also fixed a few things, mostly spelling mistakes. The PC I was using didn't have spellcheck for English... really...

I shall attempt this starting on Monday, when I finally have Ambitions. xD Once that happens, I'll let you know how it goes. And maybe even post pictures, because woo, fun.

I started a game in the little time I had this morning. I have a few objects and a wall.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I love this challenge. I am wondering if anyone has thought of updates for the newer EPs.

This sounds interesting. I'm getting bored with my current challenge, so maybe an apocalypse is about due...

Some things that could do with further explanation...any suggestions for dealing with Seasons? How do you envisage using Logic to pass on other skills?

Medium appliances can be made at Inventing 4 (or medium objects at either Sculpture or Inventing 4), and it looks as though the intention is that cheap versions should be the first things available, saving higher quality versions for skill levels 6 or 7. Same for large items - cheap ones at level 7, up to the highest quality at level 10.
So generators are top-quality large appliances, but water filtering pumps are medium-quality, medium-sized appliances. Correct?

Once sims can build pumps, they can have more plumbing than the original 'chemical bathroom'. That is, more bathrooms, even swimming pools? Maybe they can also purify natural bodies of water (lakes and oceans)?

I can invent my own guidelines for enabling different buildings and so on, but it would be nice to hear what the orignal idea was for using Logic skill.

I think the body of water thing could be an unlock, since originally the water was too polluted for fishing.

Maybe when you can build a small pump house lot you can unlock ponds and ocean for the region?

I have been doing a mad grind with jogging, to try and get a safehouse built before the zombies spawn. I have been using fences as 1/2 a wall for my calculations.

Haven't started yet, but installed Ekonika for the world and made the founding sims. And built the junkyard lot.

So far I'm really liking this challenge. Giving it a try while on a break from my NIF game, and a lot of these ideas and restrictions are similar to ones that I put myself into the first time that I tried a NIF challenge.

I'm thinking about fudging the rules a bit, and purchasing the board breaker from buydebug. Obviously an exercise machine wouldn't be something they could easily make, but the board breaker and the initial martial arts item are both just logs really. It would be a nice way to raise up athletic while sort of also being a visual representation of them breaking wood and stone, perhaps to be used in building.

I like the idea of using the ninja training equipment.

I am also thinking of a change to the build-from-available-materials rule. It is rather fuzzy at present, and after playing a while, I am finding it very difficult to regulate. I'm planning to institute a general guideline using two resources per tile of the object's footprint (some objects reserve an access tile in front of them, which I think should be included to balance differing heights/complexities of items.) So, a chair might need two wood, or maybe one metal and one cloth/fur depending on the design. A bed needs twelve resources for its six tiles. A fridge needs four metal, because it has an access tile.

I'm also finding the building guidelines difficult. My eight sims have athletic levels varying from one to seven, so averaging all of them actually reduces the amount that can be built. If only the top athletes build, it is still hard to calculate when to do it. In the end, I'm taking an easy out and just waiting a few days before building the next side of the room. When someone tops athletics, I can stop thinking about it.

On the upside, my sims survived their first Summer with only two spontaneous combustions. I eventually used some building skill to make a shade cover (a couple of columns and some roofing). Now they are heading into Winter, and still tenting, although they may get a room finished before it gets properly cold. And they did qualify for a pump (extra plumbing! yay!) before I went crazy managing their hygiene breaks.

The building rates are... a little bit messed up. Do not average your sims for your building times if you have high level sims! The math here does not support the idea that working in numbers will result in faster building. For example:

If I have one sim that is level 10, and another that is level 2, this means that my level 10 sim has a building rate of 3 chunks of wall per day, and my level 2 sim has a building rate of 1/7 chunks per day. So, after seven days of calculating them separately I have 22 chunks of wall at my disposal.

Let's say I calculate them together and have them use an average level of 6. So then my building rate essentially becomes 1/3 of chunk of wall per day * 2 sims = 2/3 chunk per day. If I use that as my building rate, then after seven days, I only have 4 and 2/3 chunk of wall.

... The problem here is the amount of chunk that increases daily per level. Between levels 2 and 3 its a change of 1/42. Between levels 3 and 4 its a change of 1/30, between levels 4 and 5 its a change of 1/20. The bottom integer of the fraction starts at a 1/12 variance, then at a 1/10 variance, and continues to decrease by two points each day until you reach the final levels, where it becomes a full 1 integer daily increase, making this so skewed that there's no way team building will be better for you if you have high level sims.

I agree that there's always the risk of it becoming too easy, but in that case I would say make your starting rate 1 chunk of wall per day for sims level 2 and over, and add a handiness level requirement as well instead of making the building calculations so complex.

*Edited for clarification

Too many numbers for me, but I agree in principle. The other problem with it is that each sim's level changes constantly until they reach the top, so on Monday you might have a level six sim and a level 1 sim, but by the next day they could be 6/4, 7/2 or...whatever really, depending how much skilling they do. Totally wrecking the calculation of how many wall chunks they are entitled to from one day to the next!

I'm all for simplified rules. I think I'll work with:
1 sim + Athletics 4 or better at noon = one piece of wall for that day. (so, no building at all until someone reaches Athletic 4)
1 sim + Athletics 4 or better + Handiness 2 or better at noon = one piece of wall x handiness skill level per day. (so a sim with Athletic 4 and Handiness 10 can build 10 wall sections daily)

This method puts more of the stress on Handiness than Athletics. Could easily be swapped if preferred. A timed daily calculation creates less uncertainty with changing skill levels.

To shift the balance back towards gaining Athletic :
1 sim + Athletics 10 + Handiness 10 at noon = unlimited building on that sim's home lot.

In other news: do the martial arts devices raise Athletic? Tried the dummy and it seems to only increase the martial arts skill.

It does do athletic, but at a slower pace than normal. If I were to use it I would probably split the athletic requirement between the two skills.

Have spent my afternoon re-designing this challenge so it will work for me. Suppose I should restart so I can see if it does.

EDIT: Reloaded the updated document with improved electrical guidelines and a few minor changes. (As the counter has reset, this also records the 11 prior downloads in case anyone wants to know.)

I am finding it much less confusing to work with my revised challenge guidelines. Yay!

Had one more thought - I am not using unwanted sculptures as a source of materials until the sculptor is advanced enough to make wood sculptures. There are not so many things that clay is wanted for in Sims anyway, and it makes it a little harder to get the first new objects. I am still keeping usable sculptures, whatever material or level, and selling unwanted ones by low-skill sculptors.

EDIT - actually this is irrelevant as my revision already restricts any object creation until Sculpting 4. Whatever.

Update - I noticed an inconsistency in the document, and on playthrough I would change it substantially anyway.

The original generator was supposed to power a 10 x 10 area. This seemed too much, so I cut it to 5 x 5 - but forgot to change it in all the places! In any case, having played some more, I would revise it from an area of coverage to a number of electrical objects enabled. So, I'm thinking one generator/windmill/solar panel will provide power to ten tiles of electrical items. This means the footprint of the item concerned, including any access tile the object happens to have.

This should encourage your sims to keep putting effort into building power generators!

EDIT: I have reloaded the document with current revisions. Enjoy!

Definitely trying this!!