Hollywood Challenge 12/31/18

Faith Pederson reached retirement age this round, which cuts her income by 2/3.  That sucks for them because also this round Kaitlyn left for college and now her parents have that debt to pay off via Faith's pension and barista income.  It's going to be brutal.  Sydney Drake had the day off, but did her personal training and called a friend to chat, who told her she'd definitely be getting a promotion next time she works.  Cool!  Her "wife" Andrea got promoted and made a new friend, bringing them ever closer to leveling up to 2*.  Jocelyn Silver got a promotion, met her celeb hour requirement, and got home in time to watch Grey grow into a toddler.  Dante has become more or less a stay-at-home dad since he doesn't have a regular job, but luckily he's a better father than he is a husband.  The only requirement left for them to meet is the money requirement.  Nolan and Savannah Pederson had a quiet day, bartending in the afternoon, then Nolan went to work.  Typical newlyweds, right?  Rachel Burke and her boyfriend Drake both went to work (she got promoted, he didn't but will soon) and Drake brought home Jocelyn Silver.  At one point, Drake went up to the roof where some of the other residents were hanging out.  I was watching Rachel and didn't see what happened, but I did hear the "boing" of someone getting caught cheating.  I paused and went to check out the roof, but couldn't tell what had happened, however Jocelyn, Dante, and Savannah were all on the roof (don't know why Dante was there?) and Dante and Savannah were dancing, while Drake and Jocelyn chatted.  Since Savannah didn't seem mad, I'm guessing that it was Jocelyn who caught Dante and Savannah together.  Bad news for Dante!  So I went to check and, sure enough, Dante cheated, so I had them split up.  Dante moved out to a new apartment and Jocelyn stayed in the current apartment and (based on the 4 point scale to determine custody) retained custody of Grey.  Caryl Karr actually made $300 while freestyling, so that was good for her.  Later I had her invite one of her moms' neighbors over, since she doesn't have many friends, and they hung out for a while (making friends, yay!) before Caryl decided to go to bed.  She also got a call from the cow mascot and befriended him, so now she has a grand total of 4 friends.  Brandi and Elise Karr both reached retirement age this round, but other than that nothing to note.  Samantha Sanders finished another cookbook, netting over $3000, while Justyn continued trying to earn that gold cosmetology badge he's been working on.  Lexie Burke retired from her job, but immediately took an elder job.  Nicholas did yoga hours and then went to his elder job and Michael asked Brooke Sanders to go steady.  Happy New Year!

Hollywood Challenge 12/30/18

Faith Pederson got promoted and it will likely be her last promotion as she'll be reaching retirement age (65) next round.  It'll be just in time for Kaitlyn to leave for Uni as well, meaning they'll be gaining a large debt and losing a significant portion of income at the same time.  Fun!  I was very excited for Sydney Drake and Andrea to get married next round until I realized Sydney has what I call the "phantom marriage" glitch where the game thinks she's engaged or married to someone who is not even in her relationship panel and therefore she cannot get engaged/married to anyone else.  I've had this glitch a few times before and so I know that killing and resurrecting Sydney will likely not break the marriage so it looks like Sydney will have to remain technically single for life.  Usually I don't allow unmarried couples to adopt because the children will only count one parent as family, but this is a special circumstance, so I'm going to allow it.  They're not ready for kids yet anyway.  They want to wait a while and after that there will be the adoption waiting period that I impose on them in this challenge, so it'll be a good long while before that happens.  The Silvers had a relaxing day at home with their new baby.  Jocelyn had the day off from work, though she did do a barista shift in the afternoon.  She is still blissfully unaware that her husband is having an affair with (newly married) Savannah Pederson.  That's right, Nolan and Savannah tied the knot as scheduled.  They are not planning to wait long to have the one and only child Savannah will agree to (I guess she wants to get it over with?), so if things go south we could have multiple confused nooboos wondering what happened to their parents' marriages so soon after their births?  Rachel Burke finally made her move on Drake, they fell in love, and she moved him in.  He wasted no time in getting a job in Science.  They're a fairly good match, both neat, shy, and serious.  Only big difference is that she wants 7 kids and he only wants 2.  Caryl Karr is off to a bit of a rocky start.  She decided to just do freestyling, no day job.  Unfortunately she apparently stinks at freestyling?  She made no money in 4 hours.  Sad.  Brandi and Elise Karr both had the day off, so the only income was Brandi's dj-ing.  They were able to pay off the last of the Uni debt, so that was good.  Unfortunately they'll both be retiring next round, which means even if they get elder jobs, their income will diminish greatly.  It's going to make it much tougher to save up the needed cash to level up.  The Sanders had an uneventful Sunday.  Justyn did makeovers and didn't mess up anyone's face, Samantha worked on her latest cookbook and went to work, and Brooke maxed her logic skill by playing chess with old people.  The Burkes were also uneventful.  Nicholas did his yoga class and spent some time playing chess, Lexie and Michael have both been on health kicks, working out on the exercise bike and jogging.

Hollywood Challenge 12/28/18

Neil and Kaitlyn Pederson spent the day hanging out together, while Faith went to work and did not get promoted.  Then the family tried to get a good night's sleep but couldn't because first the neighbors kept being loud and waking them up and then a tree outside kept getting struck by lightning and catching fire, and for some reason their building has smoke alarms outside, so that kept waking them up.  Needless to say, they're pretty miserable.  Kaitlyn has had the want to go to college since she aged up to teen.  Guess she can't wait to get out of there, lol.  Sydney Drake continued to move forward by achieving her celeb hour requirement. She almost has the money requirement also, so they just really need to work on friendships and they'll be good to go.  The Silvers settled into their new apartment.  Jocelyn went to work, gave birth on the sidewalk as soon as she returned home, then promptly went out to her barista job for 4 hours, did some skilling, ate dinner, and cleaned up the kitchen, before finally getting to bed.  She's a superwoman, lol.  Anyway, their new son is named Grey and he's perfectly adorable.  Savannah Sanders invited Dante Silver over again while her boyfriend Nolan Pederson was at work.  This time their 3 bolts got the best of them and they are now officially having an affair.  Dante left before Nolan got home, so he was none the wiser as they headed out to do their bartending jobs.  Nolan and Savannah are set to get married next round and I almost hope the affair comes to light before then because Nolan would be much better suited to Rachel Burke, Savannah and Dante could get together, jilted Jocelyn would likely pursue Nicholas Burke, and (with the exception of Lexie Burke) everyone would be happy.  The domino effect of drama would also make me happy so win-win right?  (Again, except for poor Lexie, lol.)  Rachel Burke got a promotion, did some personal training, and had a disappointing evening with Drake who, after a couple of non-romantic interactions, decided to just leave.  Sigh.  The Karrs had an uneventful round: they made a tuition payment, Brandi went to work and did celeb hours, Elise hung around the house all day.  Since it was Saturday, Justyn Sanders took his daughter Brooke to the beach with him.  While he did hair and makeup, Brooke met up with Michael Burke and, some flirting later, they're crushing!  Meanwhile, Samantha finished up her 4th cookbook.  Not a bad day.  For Nicholas Burke, rather than waste the time I spent building the yoga studio/spa, I decided to eliminate the masseuse job and change the yoga instructor job from a per student pay rate to a flat rate for 5 hours like most of the other 2* jobs.  This way he gets paid whether any "students" join him or not.  It's a compromise, but it'll work.  Nicholas also got an elder job in Music in which he got promoted on the first day, so pretty good.

Hollywood Challenge 12/26/18

Well, the Pedersons must be the unluckiest sims ever.  While Faith did get promoted back to her original job level, her husband Neil got fired!  Stupid chance cards.  It sucks because he was fairly high up in the Athletic career and probably would have received one more promotion before retiring in a few days.  Now there will be no promotion bonus, no daily income, and no pension.  Sigh.  As unlucky as the Pedersons are, that's how lucky Sydney Drake is.  She had a fantastic round during which she got a promotion, did her personal training, fell in love with Andrea, and asked her to move in.  Andrea only brought a couple of friends, but she brought in a substantial amount of money.  They will likely level up in the near future.  Woohoo!  The Silvers are nearly ready to welcome their first baby, so after Jocelyn received a promotion at work, they decided to move to a bigger apartment in preparation for the new arrival.  They moved into the building where the Burkes and the Sanders live.  Nolan and Savannah had a typical day: bartending in the morning followed by Nolan going to work in the afternoon.  Savannah rolled a want to be best friends with Dante (I guess they became friends while I was playing another family?) so I had her invite him over.  They hung out a little, but didn't become best friends or romantic.  Nolan arrived home and they both went to bed.  I was actually hoping for a little drama.  Sigh.  Rachel Burke spent another quiet day at home.  Her dad Nicholas stopped by for lunch.  She didn't roll any wants for Drake, but she did roll a want for a first kiss.  Poor girl still hasn't had that milestone.  The Karrs did not make any progress on their money goal since the only money they brought in was from Brandi's dj-ing and they had to pay rent and Caryl's tuition.  Luckily the tuition's almost paid off and rent won't be due again for a while, so they can get back to saving next round.  Justyn Sanders earned his silver cosmetology badge which will earn him more money.  Samantha went to work and worked on her cookbook.  Brooke brought home Chloe Gonzaga from school and befriended her over a game of chess, securing the friend requirement for the family.  My plans for Nicholas Burke did not work out at all.  I built a yoga studio/spa with massage tables and a yoga/tai chi area, but when he went down there, he couldn't give massages, nor could he get anyone to join yoga.  So I don't really know what I'm going to do with him.  I'm frustrated to say the least.

Hollywood Challenge 12/24/18

The Burkes leveled up!  Having met all but the money requirement, all they needed was to earn a few thousand dollars and they just barely went over the mark.  Since they already lived in an appropriate apartment, all I had to do was reduce their money back down to $35,000.  Nicholas retired from his Science job and will look for an entertainment related job.  He will also switch to 2* celeb work, but I haven't decided what to have him do yet.  The only things he's qualified for at the moment are makeup artist and dj, but I've already got sims doing those and wanted to try something different.  If I build a yoga studio or spa, I'll have some other options so I think that's what go ahead and do.  Both Pedersons had the opportunity to get promoted this round, but only Neil succeeded.  Faith actually got demoted because of a bad chance card.  Nevertheless, they did earn enough money to finally pay off their Uni debt.  Too bad in a few more days Kaitlyn will hit them with another one.  Sydney Drake got a promotion which is great, but her new work hours will make it harder to get her personal training hours in.  She also made best friends with Andrea Hogan, so that's something.  This girl really likes to take things slowly, lol.  Nothing eventful happened with the Silvers.  Jocelyn didn't get promoted and was too tired to work her celeb hours.  Dante did his celeb hours, but made no money.  Nolan Pederson and Savannah Sanders spent most of their day at home, aside from their bartending gigs.  Savannah rolled the want to be friends with Dante Silver, but he never left his apartment and wasn't interested in hanging out when she knocked on his door.  Maybe he's trying to avoid temptation?  Rachel Burke had the day off, so she did some personal training and then hung out on the roof of her building with some of the neighbors.  She too rolled a want to be friends with Dante Silver.  What is it about that guy?  However, she also wanted to be best friends with the guy from college, Drake.  She achieved that with a phone call.  I'll have to have her invite him over to see if any sparks fly.  The Karrs met both their friend and celeb hour requirements in the same round.  Now they just have to work on money.  It helps that Caryl earned 3 scholarships and got A+ both semesters of her Freshman year at Uni.  It means her moms won't have to contribute as much out of pocket and might potentially be able to level up one more time.  Samantha Sanders finished her third cookbook and Justyn messed up some townies' faces.  Brooke rolled a want to be friends with Kaitlyn Pederson and accomplished it.  Unfortunately, she lost Michael Burke as a friend, but I'm sure she'll regain him soon, since they live in the same building and see each other all the time.

Hollywood Challenge 12/22/18

The Burkes have almost made it.  They both got large promotion bonuses this round, putting their money goal just a few thousand away.  They've already met the friend and hour requirements, so they're in the home stretch.  They also paid off Rachel's college tuition (she graduated, btw, and moved into her own apartment) and Michael became a teen.  The Pedersons continue to tread water financially.  They made a small payment on their college debt, but neither worked this round.  Faith did her celeb hours at the café, more for money than anything which is sad.  Neil should score a promotion next round (Faith might too) which will hopefully pull them out of their slump.  Sydney Drake had a pretty quiet day.  She did her personal training, chatted with Andrea on the phone, went to work, and got a promotion.  Not bad, but not exciting.  Since Jocelyn Silver had the day off, they spent some time working on that baby they both want.  Success!  Baby Silver is on the way.  Afterwards they did some celeb hours, etc.  Savannah Sanders moved in with Nolan Pederson right after graduation.  They are very different, so I'm not sure this is the best match.  He's Family, she's Romance, he wants 8 kids, she wants 1, he wants to get engaged to her, she has 3 bolts for Dante Silver.  Nolan would likely be better suited to Rachel Burke who is also Family and wants 7 kids.  For now we're going to see how things go.  Will Savannah and Dante cheat on the respective partners?  Will they get caught?  Will two relationships be down the tubes?  Who knows?  Speaking of Rachel Burke, she moved into her own place in the same building as Nolan, Savannah, Sydney, and the Silvers.  She immediately found a job in Law Enforcement and picked up a part-time gig as a personal trainer.  She also put in a call to a guy she met at Uni during her senior year.  She has a want to be best friends with him and 2 bolts, so we'll see where that goes.  Brandi Karr is doing well on her requirements; she just needs 2 more friends, 2 more celeb hours, and about $50,000 more.  Granted that last one is tough, and made even tougher by the fact that Caryl left for Uni this round, but both Brandi and Elise are high up in their careers so I don't think it'll be terribly difficult for them to achieve.  The Sanders paid off their Uni debt, Samantha got promoted to the top of the elder Dance career, and Brooke grew up to teen.  They have a long way to go on their money requirement.  Samantha will have to sell quite a few cookbooks in the next week in order for them to level up before Brooke goes to college and they get hit with another Uni debt.

Hollywood Challenge 12/20/18

During last round Nicholas Burke had somehow become transparent, which had me worried, but luckily when he went off to work this round he came back normal.  Whew!  Other than that, nothing really to note.  Nicholas and Lexie worked, but didn't get promotions, Nicholas padded his celeb hours by bartending, they paid another $5000 towards Rachel's tuition, and Michael went to school.  Neil Pederson almost didn't make it through this round.  He's been on a health kick recently, wanting body points, so I sent him out jogging.  He came home overheated, but went straight to the bathtub anyway.  He got out of the tub and immediately passed out.  When he revived he went to bed, waking several times to pass out and dragging his Hunger bar into the red.  I managed to get a plate of leftover spaghetti into him somehow, despite his falling asleep in the plate every few minutes.  He went to bed again, passed out a few more times, but finally got his needs high enough to stave off immediate death.  It was a long day for poor Neil.  Sydney Drake had the day off from her Culinary job, but she still went to the gym in the morning for her personal training gig.  Afterwards she invited Andrea Hogan over to hang out.  They had some comfort soup, danced, flirted, and by the end of the night they had mutual crushes, though they're not yet best friends.  All in all, a successful day for Sydney.  The Silvers did their usual routine.  Jocelyn went to work while Dante hung out at home for the day.  After work, they both went out to do their celeb hours, then back home for dinner, skilling, and bedtime.  Next round they will start trying for a baby so that should be more interesting.  Nolan Pederson, having recently graduated, settled into his new apartment, found a job in Culinary, did a little bartending for his celeb hours, and spent some time trying to get to know his neighbors.  Since he fell in love with Samantha Sanders while in Uni, she will likely be moving in with him as soon as she graduates.  Until then, he'll keep doing what he's doing.  The Karrs finally got back to work this round, with Brandi landing a promotion.  They made a significant gain on their money requirement, but with Caryl leaving for Uni next round, they won't be able to progress on that for a while.  They also lost a couple of friends and will lose a few more when Caryl leaves, so the friend requirement has also taken a hit.  Hour-wise they're in good shape with 93/100.  The Sanders both met their celeb hour requirement this round.  Samantha also finished a cookbook and got a promotion in her elder job, which helped to balance out the tuition payment a bit.  Savannah should be graduating next round, so hopefully they'll get the Uni debt paid off and having some time to save before Brooke goes to Uni.

Hollywood Challenge 12/18/18

The Burkes had a quiet day at home, but thanks to Lexie's early morning work hours she scored a chance card bonus of $4000 right before the end of the round.  Nicholas padded his celeb hours a bit and Michael invited his friend Kaitlyn Pederson over to play.  After paying rent and making a payment towards Nolan's tuition, the Pedersons are more broke than ever.  There was some happy news, however, when Kaitlyn grew up into a teen.  No more nanny bills!  Sydney Drake had a good day.  She did personal training in the morning, went to work and got a promotion in the afternoon, and spent several hours chatting on the phone with Andrea at night.  Despite Brandi Karr's interest in her, she seems to be more interested in pursuing Andrea.  She rolled a generic fall in love want and a want to be best friends with Andrea.  The Silvers continued to plug away at their goals.  I'm a little concerned about the fact that Jocelyn brings Nicholas Burke home from work every day and she has 3 bolts for him.  She and Dante are very close to starting their family and if she starts getting interested in Nicholas it could throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing.  Brandi Karr finally let go of the want to fall in love with Sydney.  Maybe that ship has sailed?  She's met her friend requirement and nearly met her hours requirement.  They just need to earn a lot of money as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately both ladies have been off work for several days and the dj-ing doesn't bring in much.  On top of that, Caryl will leave for Uni in a couple of rounds, slapping them with a tuition bill.  She should get decent scholarship money though, since she's practically glued to her mom's electric guitar.  She also has an A+, so she should get two scholarships at least.  The Sanders have nearly met their hours goal, but they're having trouble holding onto friendships and money is becoming a problem as well.  Justyn makes next to nothing as a makeup artist, even with the bronze badge he earned this round.  Samantha's elder job pays very little and it takes time to write a novel, so she effectively earns less than she did in Culinary.

Hollywood Challenge 12/17/18

After another round of play, the Burkes met their friend requirement, though with Rachel's college tuition debt still hanging over their heads, they're having some trouble with the money requirement.  Once they get it paid, however, they'll have a small window in which to level up before Michael heads off to Uni and they get hit with another $25,000 bill.  The Pedersons are very broke.  They got a genie lamp this round and, while I was tempted to let them wish for money, I decided instead to just allow them to sell the lamp for $1000.  Wishing for money would just be way too easy, but I thought they deserved something.  They weren't able to put much towards Nolan's tuition with rent coming due next round, but hopefully one of them will get promoted soon and they can catch up.  Sydney Drake had the day off from work, so she spent most of her day at Action!, the local gym, doing personal training and meeting new people.  While there she rolled a want to fall in love and then a short while later she met Andrea Hogan.  The two hit it off right away (2 bolts) and became friends before Sydney had to leave.  Promising!  The Silvers had an uneventful round for the most part.  They are advancing slowly, but surely on their goals.  They both rolled the want for a baby which I'll allow them to have in the near future.  It will require moving to a larger apartment as their current home is about the size of a shoebox.  Brandi Karr has rolled (and refused to re-roll despite me not locking it) the want to fall in love with Sydney Drake.  This would not be a good thing for either of them honestly.  Brandi is married for one, and from a challenge standpoint alone, losing Elise's income of $1400/day would make it very difficult for her to level up again.  From Sydney's perspective, it might be good in the short term to effectively move up a level, but in the long run she wants to have a couple kids and Brandi is not likely to want any more now that she's an elder.  In the end, I decided not to lock the want, but to allow them to make the decision for themselves.  If it happens, it happens. C'est la vie!  The Sanders lost some friends when their daughter Savannah went to college, so they are trying to build more friendships to make up for that.  I don't think Justyn made too many friends in his new makeup artist job though.  Since he doesn't have a badge yet, he gave a lot of really bad makeovers.  Samantha, however, did manage to finish her first cookbook and she got an elder job in Dance.

Hollywood Challenge 12/14/18 (part 2)

First up in the rotation is always Uni.  I only have one student there at the moment and I really don't enjoy Uni that much so I generally play through it as fast as possible.  The only reason for even sending sims to Uni in this challenge is so they can later have jobs in Art or Show Business, so I'm not really going to post about the sims in Uni other than to mention them in their family's post.  That being said, the first regular family in the rotation is...

The Burkes!  Nicholas Burke is a 1* celebrity.  He is 55 days old, has a job in the Science career, has achieved the hourly requirement to level up (he mostly does bartending and barista), but has yet to meet the friend or money requirements.  His wife, Lexie, is a non-celeb.  She is also 55 days old and works in the Oceanography career.  The couple has two children:  Rachel, who is a teen, but heading off to Uni this round, and Michael, who is a child (6 days to teen).  Since I make sims pay for both private school and college, the Burkes have already shelled out $20,000 in private school fees and will be facing a $25,000 bill for Rachel's tuition as well.

Faith Pederson is a 1* celebrity.  She is 55 days old, has a job in Journalism, has achieved the hourly requirement (mostly barista) and the friend requirement, but is still working on saving enough money.  Her husband, Neil, is a non-celeb who works in the Athletic career and is also 55 days old.  They have two children:  Nolan, a young adult who left for Uni last round, and Kaitlyn, a child (4 days to teen).  The Pedersons  have struggled with money quite a bit.  They've had a number of financial setbacks (bad chance cards mostly) and paid for two private school educations.  Now they're in debt for Nolan's college tuition also.  Luckily, Nolan is helping pay some of the tuition.  However, at the rate they're going, I doubt they'll level up.

Sydney Drake is a 1* celebrity, who is 23 days to elder and is working in the Culinary career.  She hasn't achieved any of the requirements to level up yet, but she's working hard doing personal training in the mornings and then working as a dish washer in the evenings.  She is still single, spending most of her time focusing on her career goals.

Dante and Jocelyn Silver are newlyweds.  They are 1* celebrities who are both 23 days to elder.  Jocelyn works in the Science career and is a barista on the side.  Dante prefers to focus all his attention on his craft and spends his time freestyling for tips.  They don't have any children yet, but are in agreement that they'd like to have two someday.  For now, they're working to fulfill the requirements needed to level up.

Brandi Karr is a 2* celebrity.  She is 55 days old, works in the Music career (which is one of 5 allowable careers for 2* celebs), and has not met any of the requirements for leveling up yet, but is doing quite well considering she only recently reached level 2.  Aside from her Music job, she also does dj-ing at the club.  Brandi's wife, Elise, is also 55 days old.  She's a non-celeb who works in the Slacker career.  They have one daughter, Caryl, who is a teen (13 days to adult).  Brandi recently got a large bonus (chance card) which paid for Caryl's private school with quite a bit left over.  Considering the Karrs have also recently moved to a new apartment (a condition of leveling up) they are doing amazingly well.  It's possible they might reach 3* in Brandi's lifetime.

The Sanders were promoted to 2* just last round.  They are both 55 days old.  Samantha has been working in Culinary up until now and tending bar on the side.  However, since 2* celebs are only allowed jobs in Artist, Entertainment, Show Business, Music, or Dance (modified from the original rule allowing only Entertainment, Show Business, or Politics) she will be retiring from Culinary and looking for an elder job in one of the acceptable careers.  In addition, she will write novels (probably cookbooks) for her celeb hours.  Her husband, Justyn, was fired several rounds ago, so rather than go the traditional job route, he will stick with just doing celeb work as he has been doing, except he will switch to a 2* job.  The only jobs available to him at this time are dj and hair/makeup artist.  Since I've already got someone dj-ing I think I'll have him become a makeup artist, which will require him to go to a community lot and perform makeovers for five hours per day.  The Sanders have two children:  Savannah, who is leaving for Uni this round, and Brooke, who is a child (6 days to teen).  Both Samantha and Justyn have most of the hours they need already, so they will primarily be looking to gain friends and money.

Those are all the families I have at present.  Obviously the town will grow as time passes.  I still have many community lots to build and many houses/apartment buildings that need to be added, but I'm trying to grow the town gradually and as needed.  Until next time, Happy Simming!

Hollywood Challenge 12/14/18

I am now playing The Hollywood Challenge, which was originally created by SwallowTail87 on TS2 Forum.  The basic premise is that you play celebrities (or wannabe celebrities) up through the ranks of stardom, ranging from 1* to 5* level.  The way this is done is by working various "celebrity" jobs on community lots.  Now, for 1* and 2* celebs, this work is basically bartending, freestyling, dj-ing, etc.  They're just trying to get noticed.  Higher levels will work as actors, directors, singers, models, etc.  A number of special lots are required to act as movie sets, photo shoots, concert stages, you name it.  How it works is: sims go to community lots and perform certain actions for specified periods of time, for which they earn a certain amount of money.  In order to level up to the next star level they will need a certain number of work hours, a certain number of friends, and a certain amount of money.  (In the original rules, they only needed to earn one of those 3 things to level up, but I'm mean so I make them earn all three, lol.)

As you may or may not know, I like to modify challenges to suit my own play style, and I have naturally done this here.  I have made changes to the payments amounts and the hours/friends/money amounts that need to be acquired, I've added new jobs and new community lots, and I've added some extra rules regarding relationships and non-celebrities.  Also, rather than start with an assortment of celebs in various star levels, I started with five random sims in Uni who became 1* celebs upon graduation.  These five have been working their way up to 2* for most of their lives now.  Some of them have succeeded in reaching 2*.  They've married and had children; some of those children are heading off to Uni themselves now. In the meantime, some new up and coming (CAS) celebs have graduated  and moved to Hollywood Heights to try their luck at fame and fortune.  In my next post, I will introduce the families and give some background information on them.  As I play through the next few rounds I will try to explain some of the rules/rule changes for anyone who might be interested in that sort of thing.

Victorian Population Challenge 12/7/18

This will be the last update on the VPC for a while.  I'm ready to move on to another challenge: The Hollywood Challenge!

Poor #1 Stanbury:  Current household members are:  Faith (Gen 1 Founder - elder), Thomas & Joy (Gen 2 Heir/Wife - adults), Robert (Gen 3 Heir - child), Damon (Gen 3 - child), Toby (Gen 3 - toddler), and James (Gen 3 - baby).  Joy is pregnant with baby #5.  Robert Sr. sadly passed away since last update.  As you can see from this household, the boy/girl ratio is once again very skewed.  The current tally is 22 boys/14 girls and with the added complication of a lot of the kids being cousins to each other it should make for an interesting time pairing them up.  Faith will not be with us much longer either and she will likely push the family over the balance needed to level up when she dies.  Household bank balance is $43,364/$50,000.

Poor #2 Vacant

Poor #3 Baldwin:  Current household members are:  Hart & Josie (Gen 2 Heir/Wife - adults).  Josie is pregnant with baby #1.  You heard right folks, Hart is FINALLY married!  He wasted no time falling in love with Josie once she became an adult.  A diamond ring and it was done.  He also managed to find a new job in Law Enforcement which is actually better than Business because there's no cap.  Things are definitely looking up!  Household bank balance is $26,320/$50,000.

Poor #4 Hopkins:  Current household members are:  Henry & Alice (Gen 2 - adults), Adelaide (Gen 3 - child), and Herman (Gen 3 Heir - toddler).  Alice is pregnant with baby #3.  Nothing particularly exciting has been happening here.  Henry isn't keen on skilling so he hasn't been promoted.  Alice is pretty run down, but that's normal.  Household bank balance is $2057/$50,000.

Sub Farm #1 Godwin:  Current household members are:  Jasper (Gen 1 Founder - elder), Silas & Matilda (Gen 2 Heir/Wife - adults), Adolph (Gen 3 Heir - teen), Amelia (Gen 3 - child), Lucius (Gen 3 - child), Emil (Gen 3 - toddler), and Addie (Gen 3 - toddler).  This family is pretty chaotic most of the time, especially since the birth of the twins.  Despite being 71, Jasper still works hard on the farm every day.  Right now it's mostly caring for fruit trees and getting the fertilizing done in preparation for the Spring planting, but still.  Matilda has earned a silver sewing badge, so she's doing her part as well.  They still haven't managed to save much however.  Household bank balance is $14,896/$50,000.

Sub Farm #2 Godwin:  Current household members are:  Oliver & Louise (Gen 2 - adults) and Quentin (Gen 3 Heir - baby).  Since the Whitlocks leveled up to Trade, their old house became available for a new family.  I had originally expected Oliver to marry Olivia, however some drama ensued during a social event and long story short:  Oliver fell in love with Olivia, Olivia flirted with someone else, Oliver fell out of love with Olivia, Oliver immediately flirted with/fell in love with Louise.  Louise doesn't seem to mind being second choice.  After all, she's married with a baby and another on the way and Olivia is still living at the boarding house.  Household bank balance is $1341/$50,000.

Sub Farm #3 Hayward:  Current household members are:  Amelia (Gen 1 Founder - elder), Noah & Grace (Gen 2 Heir/Wife - adults), Abraham (Gen 3 Heir - teen), Eli (Gen 3 - teen), Solomon (Gen 3 - child), Ezra (Gen 3 - child), and Maxwell (Gen 3 - toddler).  Five boys!  Another example of the disproportion of males.  A lot of birthdays happened, but not much else.  Amelia's got one more day to live and her greatest wish is to have another grandchild.  She currently has 17, but it's possible she might get to add one or two more before she passes on.  Household bank balance is $17,291/$50,000.

Sub Farm #4 Hayward:  Current household members are:  Levi & Elizabeth (Gen 2 - adults), James (Gen 3 Heir - adult), John (Gen 3 - teen), Anna (Gen 3 - child), Moses (Gen 3 - child), and Matthew (Gen 3 - toddler).  Elizabeth is pregnant with baby #6.  Here we have a dilemma.  James is now old enough to get married and start his own family, however his household is full and his parents are still young enough to have several more children.  I'm not sure whether I should continue to focus on expanding Gen 3 or move on to working on Gen 4.  I guess for the time being I'll just carry on with Levi & Liz and wait to see if James hits it off with anyone.  When and if he finds someone, we'll see what happens.  Household bank balance is $3456/$50,000.

Sub Farm #5 Godwin:  Current household members are:  Emory & Caroline (Gen 2 - adults), Grace (Gen 3 - teen), Louise (Gen 3 - child), Georgianna (Gen 3 - child), Hardy (Gen 3 Heir - child), and Emmett (Gen 3 - toddler).  Caroline is pregnant with baby #6.  Thankfully with the twins out of diapers, life is a bit easier for Caroline.  Now if the kids would just keep their grades up...sigh.  Household bank balance is $1732/$50,000.

Sub Farm #6 Hayward:  Current household members are:  Curtis & Charlotte (Gen 2 - adults), Victoria (Gen 3 - toddler), and Justine (Gen 3 - baby).  Charlotte is pregnant with baby #3.  Still looking for that heir and money is very tight.  Curtis spends most of his time fishing since there isn't much gardening to do as Winter approaches.  Hopefully he'll be able to put enough fish away to get them through until Spring arrives.  Household bank balance is $902/$50,000.

Sub Farm #7 Godwin:  Current household members are:  Finn & Violet (Gen 2 - adults) and Declan (Gen 3 Heir - toddler).  Violet is pregnant with baby #2.  This family is doing quite well for just starting out.  Finn has been working on getting that Fall harvest in before Winter hits.  Household bank balance is $1758/$50,000.

Sub Farm #8 Hayward:  Current household members are:  Julian & Esme (Gen 2 - adults).  Esme is pregnant with baby #1.  This is a new couple just starting out.  Apart from the usual (quit jobs, get married, get pregnant) they spent most of their time fishing.  Since they won't have time to plant anything and probably not even enough time for the trees to bear fruit, they need to make sure they're fed through the Winter and Spring while they wait for their first harvest.  Unfortunately they're not very good at fishing and only caught boots.  Well at least they can sell those, lol.  Better luck next round guys.  Household bank balance is $2030/$50,000.

Trade #1 Hopkins:  Current household members are:  Simon & Elsie (Gen 1 Founders - elders), Nathaniel & Johanna (Gen 2 Heir/Wife - adults), Leila (Gen 3 - child), Eve (Gen 3 - child), and Olivia (Gen 3 - toddler).  Johanna is pregnant with baby #4.  Simon and Elsie were both perma-plat when they aged to elder and it looks like they're shooting for 80+ days.  Neither is even close to dying at age 71.  This is both good and bad.  On the one hand, Elsie has a higher flower badge than Johanna, plus she doesn't have to deal with constant pregnancy, and more hands to help out is always useful.  On the other hand if baby #4 is a girl, Nathaniel and Johanna will be without an heir and unable to try again until either one of the elders dies or until Leila moves out.  The rules do allow for girls to inherit in the absence of a male heir, so depending on how it all works out, we might be seeing that loophole here.  Household bank balance is $82/$100,000.

Trade #2 Whitlock:  Current household members are:  Luther (Gen 1 Founder - elder), Liam & Chastity (Gen 2 Heir/Wife - adults), Tia (Gen 3 - child), Siobhan (Gen 3 - child), Oliver (Gen 3 Heir - toddler), and Owen (Gen 3 - baby).  Chastity is pregnant with baby #5.  These guys are off to a pretty good start with their toy shop.  They have a little initial stock and are working on building up their craftable stock.  Chastity has a silver badge so they should be in good shape.  Household bank balance is $469/$100,000.

That's it guys!  VPC is finished for now.  We'll check back in with them later.  Next update will be about the Hollywood Challenge!  Happy Simming!