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ESCAPE TO NOWHERE

--INTRO—

I really enjoyed play testing this challenge and I hope you will as well. The concept is fairly straightforward but it is a definite struggle and you will have to rely on some problem-solving skills to endure it!

 

--STORY—

Rebekah glanced down at the copper-haired toddler sleeping peacefully on her lap. How she wished she could rest like that, free of the worries of adult life. She smiled gently and placed a protective arm around her young daughter.

 

Aiden, her 7 year old, sat slouched in the seat directly next to her reading this month’s edition of “Super Hero Squad” comics. Unlike little Amelia, he was old enough to know what was going on around him but didn’t quite know how to process it.

 

Her eldest, Alex, sat sternly in the aisle seat, headphones blaring as usual, staring directly at the seat head of him. Rebekah feared for him the most. He had experienced the trauma of their lives head on, now at the young age of 15. The age most boys spent in football practice and learning how to be a man from their dad. Instead, he was her rock and had tried to protect her time and time again against the raging inferno that was her husband’s temper. He was forced to grow up way to fast in a home where fighting and arguing were the norm. Whenever her husband, their father, took it too far, Alex would always rush out of his room to protect her. How many times had he taken the blow that was meant for her? Far too many, although she had taken more than her fair share until she could no longer stand to raise her children in such an environment. Not to mention finally gathering up the scraps of her own dignity and getting away from that life for her own sanity.

 

It had taken almost all of the money she had secretly squirreled away over the past few months just for bus tickets for four. With only 500 left, she didn’t know how they would survive. They were on their way to a new town, a new beginning, but there wasn’t even a home for them to go to! She would have to start with nothing, rely on the kindness of others, until she was able to provide a proper home for her kids. Still, it was better than what they left behind…

 

*Note: This is one possible story. If your character is male the roles could easily be reversed and your sim could be taking his children from a wife that was abusive, a drug addict, whatever you want to use.

 

--EXPANSIONS—

The “Ambitions” expansion is highly recommended for this challenge. The reason being that many of the careers that came with ambitions provide housing (of a sort) for your sims (more on that below). If you do not have that expansion, you can create similar community lots.

 

Having “Late Night” is also very helpful as part of the challenge calls for the mixology skill. If you don’t have late night and you get to that part, you’ll have to substitute with something else.

 

--MODS—

None required (unusual for my challenges).

 

--SETTINGS—

1. Seasons (if you have them) should be set to normal. All 4 seasons should be active for 7 days each.

 

2. Pets are not available at challenge start (unless you want to say they took the family dog but it would almost be impossible to place dog food bowls, etc. on pubic lots and you cannot edit them to include special items. I would recommend adopting a pet after you get your first apartment or house.

 

3. This challenge takes place over a 60-day period. Children are not intended to age up (think of it as real life, you have to put up with toddlers for a lot more than a few days). I would recommend turning aging off entirely for the challenge or setting all ages to 60 days (except infant which can be whatever you like). If you absolutely cannot tolerate a toddler for 60 days you can modify the rules (but the challenge is not designed for that).

 

4. Obviously children cannot go to school until you have a physical address. The school would notify child protective services if you listed “the junkyard” as a residence. Once you have your first apartment, your kids can go to school. Until then, just don’t send them (there will be time for them to raise their grades) or if you have the home school mod from NRaas, you can use that.

 

--GETTING STARTED—

1. Create your family in CAS. You can choose traits as you see fit. For the mother, I chose traits like family oriented, nurturing, natural cook, etc. For my teenager, I made him athletic and brave but also artistic (he likes to play guitar).

 

2. Select a lot. It can be any size honestly; you are only purchasing it because the game requires it and once you have the first apartment, you’ll be moving (or building it there).

 

3. Once you are on your lot, you may use some of your money to purchase the following items that must be placed in each sim’s inventory as follows: Parent – Stroller (any kind), laptop (the cheapest you can buy), sleeping the following store items if you have them (baby walker, playpen, and multi-tab). Teen – Sleeping bag, stroller (any kind), laptop (the cheapest), a leisure item (i.e. guitar), and multi-tab (if you have it) Child – Sleeping bag, toy that can be placed in inventory (i.e. I gave him the Robo Bearbot), an athletic toy (football, etc.). Toddler – A toy (I gave her the fairy bear).

 

Note: These items represent things that you took from your old house when you escaped. 4. Set your funds to 500 (use the “familyfunds” cheat).

 

4. Go to the grocery store. Mom should go in and spend at least $250 on groceries. Note: In this challenge, having a toddler represents a cost (diapers, etc.) of at least $15 per day. While you are at the store, purchase something for approximately that price (I purchased jars of honey and pretended they were baby bottles). Each day, have someone “consume” the item or delete it entirely. If you do not have one of these in your inventory you cannot change your baby’s diaper until you do!

 

5. Now go to the bookstore. Purchase at least one skill book (mine was Cooking 1), the 3 cheapest toddler learning books (ignore the jimmy sprocket ones), and a few books for your child to read. The teen has a laptop and multi-tab, he doesn’t need books unless you want to buy one. This should leave you with less than 100 simoleons, your starting cash!

 

--MAKING MONEY—

As you advance from residence to residence, different money making options will be available to you. If you don’t see something listed, then assume you can’t do it. --BABYSITTERS— Until you at least reach the apartment, you may not have a babysitter. --MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN— Your sim has been through a lot and is not willing to even consider re-marrying until he/she is on their own two feet with their own house. They can; however, have more children if they are crazy enough to do so (or if you’re unlucky enough to roll it in the random events below).

 

--RANDOM EVENTS—

Life has a way of throwing you a curve ball and so does this challenge! Every other day (or at least 3x a week) when your adult sim gets out of bed, roll a random number between 1 and 20 (you can use random.org). If you do not have the money and you get charged for something, you’ll have to pay in installments (i.e. if your kid breaks a window and you only have $50 on you, you’ll owe the rest and have to pay it immediately as you make more money.)

 

1-2: Your toddler comes down with the measles and you must keep her indoors and care for her the entire day. To make matters worse, you’ve had to take her to the doctor which cost you $50.

 

3-4: Some of the locals have seen what you’re going through and took up a little collection of $100 for you.

 

5-6: Your younger child was playing ball and managed to break someone’s window! You agree to pay $200 for a replacement!

 

7-8: Your teen takes up babysitting for the local neighborhood and makes a tidy sum. He/she gives you $50 to contribute to the household and insists you take it.

 

9-10: Your elementary school aged child comes home with lice! Take him to the salon (or use CAS if you don’t have ambitions) and have them shave his head. After 3 days, you can restyle his hair.

 

11-12: It’s half off day at the grocery store! If you go to the store today, give yourself half back (i.e. if you spend 100, use familyfunds to return 50 to your account).

 

13-14: Your teenager gets in a fight at school and gets suspended for 2 days. This will hurt his grades.

 

15-16: You enter your toddler in a cute baby contest and she wins 2nd place! You win $150!

 

17-18: All of your kids have the flu! You must keep all kids home from school or other activities and try to get them to stay in bed while you take care of them. If you’re working, you’ll have to call off.

 

19-20: Oh no! You’re pregnant! Don’t ask how the heck that happened…guess it was that one night stand you had a few weeks ago (get your adult sim pregnant if she’s female or get someone else pregnant if he’s a male). If you have a teenage daughter and the woohooer mod, you could get her pregnant instead.

 

--IT'S ALL ABOUT FAMILY—

In addition to just trying to survive, your adult sim wants to provide a traditional family environment for his/her kids. This includes celebrating all holidays to the fullest (i.e. on spooky day, you decorate with jack-o-lanterns, the kids go trick-or-treating, etc.) Also, once a week take the family out just for fun. It could be a spending a few hours at the festival or going to see a movie. Have regular family meals together, have a family game night, celebrate mother’s (or father’s) day, and anything else you can think of that would represent a well-balanced family environment to bring some sense of normalcy while you’re living in junk yards and waitressing in dive bars.

 

--FEEDING THE TROOPS—

Nothing is free in this challenge and nothing is automatic. You must have the ingredients from the store to make a dish. If you see a price next to an item when you click on the fridge, you can’t make it because you don’t have the ingredients to do so.

 

Exception: In the beginning it's difficult to cook because it's not really easy to do so on community lots. Purchase foods at the grocery store in the form of snacks (apples, etc) and items you can make at public grills (i.e. hot dogs). You should be providing at least one cooked meal per day while living at the junkyard/fire station and fill in with snacks for the rest (or cook twice if you like). Once you unlock gardening/fishing at the fire house, you can harvest other people's gardens as well as fish and use public fire pits (or ones at people's houses) to offer more substantial meals until you get your first apartment.

 

-TAKING UP RESIDENCE—

There are various places you will “live” or more accurately, “squat” while you are trying to save money for your own place. You must meet the conditions before you can advance to the new home.

 

The Junkyard:

Prerequisites: None, this is your first home!

 

Description: I guess you really have hit the bottom of the junk heap. While shopping, you find a ad from the local junkyard offering a place to stay for anyone who will help clean up. The junkyard office will be your residence. There you can use your sleeping bags. There should be a small kitchen (BUT nothing is free so you cannot get free snacks from it). There should also be bathroom facilities but no showers. For everyone to shower, you will have to take them to a public pool/gym, etc. You cannot purchase anything as far as furniture so you will have to rely on the playpen to help with the baby’s energy. When she gets really tired though, unless you get lucky and a crib spawns outside (not sure if you can use that even if it does), you’re going to have to put up with the crying until she finally goes to sleep on the floor. In exchange for living here, you must keep the place clean (inside and out) as much as possible (I.e. discarding ruined items, etc.)

 

Making Money: The junkyard unlocks the following money-making options for you (keeping in mind you can still do these things after you leave): Dumpster Dive (max of 2 times/day), collecting and selling items (max of 3 items/day), scavenge for scrap metal as much as you like.

 

The Fire Station:

Prerequisites: Must have been at the junkyard for at least one week; must have at least 2,000 simoleons saved up.

 

Description: There is an advertisement that the fire department is looking for a “cook”. In exchange for providing meals whenever fire fighters are on duty, your family is welcome to live there (fortunately I never see any fire fighters). Thankfully they have showers!

 

Making Money: Moving to the fire station unlocks bee keeping (there are usually bees at consignment stores) where you can make good money selling honey. You have also now unlocked fishing and harvesting from gardens (public/private).

 

The Bad Side of Town:

Prerequisites: Saved at least 5,000 simoleons and lived at the fire station for at least one week, and have a cooking skill of 5 or better (you can use books to do this).

 

Description: The good news is you’ve managed to save up enough money for a place of your own. The bad news is the only thing you could afford is a one bedroom rundown apartment on the bad side of town. You will need to place a lot next to a seedy bar in your town (usually has the icon of a beer mug). In exchange for living there, your adult sim must take a job “waitressing” at the bar at least four hours a day (the last four hours before closing). To do this, you must get your mixology skill up high enough to tend bar there.

 

The apartment should not be larger than 15 x 15 and should contain a small living area, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. For realism, use a larger lot and set up more apartments then invite roommates using the computer. Just make sure your apartment door is locked to everyone but your household. You can add a shared laundry facility if you like. You’ll be spending a while here.

 

Note: Your kids can now go to school and you can have a family pet(s)!

 

Making Money:

You unlock the ability to moonlight and make money form mixology. You can also now play for tips.

 

Movin' On Up!:

Prerequisites: You must master the mixology skill, have at least 10,000 in savings, and have spent at least 3 weeks at the cheaper apartment. You must also have mastered the cooking, gardening, OR fishing skill (your pick). Your children need to have at least a B in school or better. You must also have a family vehicle (at least the 2nd cheapest or better).

 

Description: You’ve built a reputation around town as being a good worker and a great bartender. One of the local businesses (either a nicer club or, if you would prefer, go into one of the professions like architect, designer, etc.) has offered you a job. In exchange, you get a reduced rate on some nicer apartments and your kids get to live in a much nicer neighborhood.

 

The apartments are decently decorated middle-class homes (not Fifth Avenue but a significant step up from where you’ve been living) and you now have 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, not to mention your own laundry room! Again, for realism, you can build a complex of more than one apartment.

 

Money Making: You feel inspired by your new home and unlock either writing, painting OR sculpting (your pick).

 

My Own House!:

Prerequisites: You’re going to need at least 25,000 simoleons to either buy or build your own house. You must have spent at least 3 weeks at the nicer apartment and mastered either painting or sculpting. In addition, your toddler must have maxed all toddler skills and read all 9 toddler skill books (as well as be able to walk, talk, and use the potty). Your child needs to have maxed at least two skills (up to the cap for children), have an A in school, and have been enrolled in an after school activity for at least 3 weeks. Your teen should have mastered at least 3 skills, have an A in school, be able to drive (and have his own car even if It’s crap), and have held a part-time job for the past 3 weeks.

 

Description: Finally! You’ve made it. Your own little place. Your kids will each have their own room. You are also now free to turn aging on and marry if you like. All money making options are now available to you. The size of your home is only limited by your savings.  Congratulations!

 

--LOSING THE CHALLENGE—

You will have lost the challenge if at any point the social worker comes and takes any of your kids away. This could happen because you’re completely bankrupt and can’t afford to pay the daily fee to diaper your baby or if you can’t afford groceries, etc.

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