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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 1st Oct 2014 at 6:00 PM
Default “Modernize the Asylum” challenge
Hi. I've been a lurker here and played some challenges, too. This is the first challenge for a game I've ever made, so please feel free to ask questions and comment. Also, I don't play the English version of the game, so it's possible that I got some Sims-specific terms wrong ...


Sims 2 “Modernize the Asylum” challenge (modification of asylum challenge)

This challenge is based on the Sims 2 Asylum challenge. I played and liked it, but found it regrettable that the challenge ends once the SYC leaves the asylum. So I decided to make some modifications to allow for the continuation of the asylum with the patients left. The original goal was rehabilitatiing a single sim. In this modification, we will modernize the run-down asylum we started out with into a high-quality institution. The rules are kind of longish, but most don't matter during rehabilitation. You will notice that I adopted a lot of ideas from the asylum challenge. In fact, this challenge plays like a chain of asylum challenges, where the asylum undergoes a slow transformation from "horrible" to "great". The most important parts of the rules that are different from the original are the items you start with, upgrading the asylum and choosing the next SYC. Points are counted each time a sim leaves the asylum or somebody dies.

Brief outline:
We start with an asylum full of patients in a run-down mansion. Everything is fairly cheap and old. And there are not even enough beds for all the patients... this is all the government's fault for cutting the funds on
psychotherapy. Just yesterday, the boss has received a letter stating that our institution will be closed, unless we can prove that our treatment method is efficient. We cure sims by helping them fulfill their lifetime goal, upon which they are rehabilitated and reintroduced into society. For every sim cured this way the ministry of health has promised a small bonus to our institute which allows for upgrades. Unfortunately, we are chronically low on staff, so that only a single sim can be treated with this special program at the same time. The goal is using the bonuses we get for rehabilitating sims for turning our run-down asylum into a modern institution that patients won't even want to leave from (so we can get even more money from their hard work, har har).

Detailed rules:
Starting items
We start with:
- 6 cheap single beds (max. energy 3, comfort 3)
- any number of cheap chairs (max. comfort 3)
- a cheap couch in the common room (max. comfort 3)
- two of the following: TV, radio, computer (cheap quality)
- a medium quality stove and fridge
- a hammock in the garden
- two restrooms with two toilet stands and a sink each
- two shower rooms (male/female separated) with one shower each.
- only one kind of skill-building furniture for each type with the
exception of bookshelf/TV (cooking) and bird/mirror

We don't have:
- a dishwasher
- a trash decomposer
The above things are critical. Items not listed here can be bought at your convenience, i.e. wardrobes, tables, decoration,...

Goal:
Fully modernized, our asylum should have:
- 8 of the best single beds
- 8 of the best chairs
- at least one good couch
- a good radio, TV and computer
- a high-quality fridge, stove, dishwasher and trash decomposer
- three fully equipped high-quality bathrooms (toilet, shower an sink in one room)
At the start of the game, generate eight random sims and pick their aspiration using 6-sided die. You can control only a single one of these sims. The sim you control (SYC) cannot have “Family” aspiration because the lifetime goals associated with the family aspiration typically require getting married and/or having children, both of which are forbidden for the asylum patients.
You may also use teen sims, though I believe when using CAS they must be blood-related to one of the adults. We don't want that, so if you want to use teens in your asylum, create only a few adults for your asylum lot and then add teens via the tombstone of life and death.

Playing
- You may control only a single adult sim, whom you pick at the beginning of the challenge. The other sims may be selected, but only out-of-character. This means that you, as the player may know the other sims' stats etc for fun, but this knowledge should not affect your playing style.
- You may distribute the other sims' lifetime aspiration points. Put the first four points in the “needs” tree and further points into the “aspiration” tree. You may distribute the points however you like, but putting them into the "career" tree doesn't make much sense, except for the SYC. A secondary aspiration may be chosen only for the SYC.
- Career/aspiration rewards are off-limits with the exception of the thinking cap. In particular, the anti-aging elixir is forbidden.
- You may hire a maid but not a gardener or butler. The repairman can be called only if the broken item is in an area not accessible to the SYC, e.g., mens' shower room if you SYC is female. But then, it doesn't really matter it the shower is broken.
- The sims must not leave the lot, except for work (SYC only)
- Using the matchmaker is generally allowed, but you can have only the cheapest blind date possible
- When a sim dies, replace them immediately with a teen or adult using the tombstone of life and death. The dead sim's tomb must remain in the asylum garden in a cemetary area and must be decorated with flowers.
- The teen sims may go to school, but they cannot be forced (you can't command them). They cannot go to college
- No date gifts (must be kept in inventory) except for flowers
- The money restriction form the original asylum challenge does not apply. You do not need to reduce your funds after starting the game. Feel free to use “motherlode”. In fact, it doesn't really matter because upgrades for critical items can only be bought after rehabilitating a sim.
- Adding/rearranging furniture after the challenge starts is allowed, but keep it to a minium and don't use it to your advantage (making items unavailable for other etc.). You may only freely buy items that are not listed as “critical” items
- The “aging off” cheat is forbidden.

Upgrading the asylum
The short-term goal is reaching the SYC's lifetime goal, whatever that may be. Once the SYC has reached their goal, they can move out of the asylum. Replace them immediately with a new teen or adult sim.
The original asylum mini-challenge ends at this point, but we will continue the game. For each sim successfully leaving the asylum the asylum gets a small upgrade. This is a bonus the asylum gets from the ministry of health for successfully applying their rehabilitation program. The upgrade can be TWO of the following things
- upgrading OR adding a bed
- upgrading OR adding one piece of kitchenware
- upgrading three chairs (chairs can be added at any point, but only cheap ones)
- upgrading OR adding an entertainment appliance
- upgrading OR adding a shower or toilet (sinks do not cost an upgrade)
When you add an item, it must be of cheap quality. Upgrade has no cost limitation. You can upgrade to the most expensive TV if you'd like to. If you want to buy an expensive item without upgrading, e.g., buying an expensive bed without selling a cheap one first, this costs two upgrades.
Upgrades can be exchanged, too. You can exchange a shower for a toilet of similar quality, or a toilet for bed, for example.

Choosing the next SYC
While one sim has worked on their life, all other sims have also continued their standard medical therapy. The number of aspiration points they have gathered per day is a measure for how successful their therapy has been.
The next SYC will be the sim who has collected the most aspiration points per adult day. This means: Elders and teens cannot become the next SYC. Sims that have turned elderly have to remain in the asylum until they die.
This rule gives sims that came into the asylum as a teen some advantage (but there is a point malus... see below) because only adult days are counted. This reflects the fact that a therapy might be more efficient when the patient is younger. As in the original
challenge, sims with the family aspiration cannot be the SYC, because their wishes revolve around having children or having a golden anniversary. Getting married and having children is not possible in the asylum, therefore these sims are excluded.

Since the new SYC is not necessarily young anymore (they can already be quite close to becoming elderly), they are somewhat pressured for time. Keep playing them - even if they become elderly, they can still be rehabilitated, so don't give up on them, just because they are old. If they happen to die, choose the next SYC by the same rules.
If the new SYC's goal is reaching the top of a career track, you may get them into that career by cheating (shift-click on the newspaper with testingcheats enabled). For this, the following rules apply:
- Only the lifetime goal career is allowed
- For each four adult days that have already passed, the sim may skip one job level. If your sim has lived for 10 days, you may enter them into level 3, regardless of whether they actually fulfill the requirements or not. The asylum management provided the job opening via connections to help your aged sim with the rehabilitation. You can do this only the first time you adopt a new SYC! Also, this is not a must. You can work them up all the way from the bottom.
- If your sim is fired from their job, they must enter the career one level lower than they had when fired.
- Further career cheating is forbidden!

The challenge ends when the asylum is modernized. Your asylum should have:
- kitchen: the best stove, fridge, dishwasher and trash decomposer
- bedrooms: 8 of the best single or double beds (eight sleeping spots in total)
- general: 8 chairs with comfort 5+
- one of the best TV, computer and radio
- 3 'normal' bathrooms (shower, toilet and sink in the same room).
By calculation, this means that you have to rehabilitate 14 sims to get the required number of upgrades.


Scoring
The following points are counted when a sim is rehabilitated
rehabilitated sim was an adult when they came to the asylum: +5 points
no influence used: + 5 points
each friend of the rehabilitated sim: +1 point
each money earning memory: +1 point
no maid used: +5 points
each 1000 aspiration points: +1 point
each enemy of the rehabilitated sim: -2 points
days that have passed since becoming SYC: -1 point
each time the matchmaker was used: -1 point

The following points are counted when a household member dies a natural
death (death of old age):
each skill point below 5: +1 point
each skill point above 5: +2 points
each friend that is not friends with the current SYC: +2 points
each other friend : +1 point
each 1000 aspiration points: +1 point

Additional points for “special” events
each patient that died of unnatural cause (everything but old age): -20
points
each visitor that died: -30 points
each SYC that died of unnatural cause during treatment: -40
each SYC that died of old age during treatment: -10

As you can see, most of the points counting is done when a rehabilitated sim leaves the lot, or when a patient dies of old age. The points for “no maid” and “no influence used” can be earned repeatedly by every SYC.

That was kind of long. Happy playing
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