PREPARATION:  GENERAL

• For those who are using a previously saved game, your original adult sims should be aging to senior (since countdown took place over their young adult and adult years).  Let them.  As for your 2nd generation, they must be given at least 30 days as a young adult and 30 days as an adult to complete this challenge.  Your founders (if they’re still alive) are essentially turning over the reins to their heir.  If you do not have at least one young adult child from your original family, hold off on making the 1st generation sims a senior until at least one of their children becomes an adult.  This challenge cannot begin until that point.  If you have a young adult child that is close to aging to adult, you must disable aging (or use a mod) to allow them a full 30 days as a young adult. 

 

• If you do not have a previous saved game from Doomsday Challenge – Part I, not to worry!  You can create a male and female adult to start your family.  Select one to be your main character.

 

• As in Countdown, you cannot repeat traits among family members unless they are born with them.  For example, if you create a sim with the natural cook trait, you cannot give that trait to anyone else in the family. 

 

• Again, make sure your young adult protagonist has a full 30 days before they become an older adult.  In total, ages should be set to:  Infant (2 days); Toddler (3 days); Child (5 days); Teen (7 days).  The intention here is you could conceivably have your first “heir” within 17 days of starting.  By the time you reach Day 30, it would be HUGELY beneficial to have at least 2 adult children.  It is highly recommended that you don’t stop there as having daughters and sons plays a key role in this challenge.

 

• Seasons should be at default (7 days each).  If you do not have seasons, every 4th week is considered “winter” and you cannot harvest any food that week.   If you have a saved game that is already in winter (or close to it), you may end winter (by removing the checkmark).  Once Spring hits, place the check mark back in Winter.  Note – Some of the daily events are intended to coincide with seasons.  It’s not 100% necessary, but set your seasons to start with Spring for the best effect.

 

• If you have pets, build a small barn on your property.  Gasoline isn’t available any more.  Either use a bicycle to get around or ride horses.  You may start with up to two horses if you like and you may breed them.  Cats and dogs are not available unless you had them from your original game.  Wild animals may be tamed but carry the virus so you will risk death to tame them.

 

• Before you go any further, you need to make a decision.  This challenge can be played two ways.  You can either be a goody two-shoes and do your best to lead your town through this nightmare or you can be an evil son of a $@!# and start your own crime family and rule with an iron fist.  The choice is yours! 

 

 

• Set your family funds to a good amount to pay bills and purchase items when you are told to.  In actual game play, simoleons aren’t worth the paper they are printed on anymore.  We have a new system of currency J

 

PREPARATION:  YOUR TOWN

• Delete schools, hospitals, fire/police stations, city hall, libraries, museums, etc. from your town.  There are no emergency or community services.   Do not delete the general store or bookstore.  They are not open but you will need them occasionally for the challenge.  I’d simply recommend downloading a small town map from the exchange to make this easier and modifying from there but you can modify any town.

 

• Create a standard shack (10 x 10) for your neighbors.  This should be run down and follow the same guidelines as the “MY HOUSE” section below, but they are smaller.  Save this shack to the bin so you can place it on 10 lots.

 

• Delete any other homes in your town or leave them vacant and turn story progression off to avoid anyone moving in.  All families should be reassigned to shacks above except yours.  You will be setting up half of these houses to be neutral and the other half enemy so you can create a “good vs. bad side of the tracks” atmosphere in your town if you like.

 

• Create a couple community lots (or modify existing) to serve your needs.  You will definitely need a small bar (with back room) that should be run down with no fancy electronics.  You could use the grind as a starting point.  The second building will either be a sheriff’s office (with cells) if you are a savior, or a safe house if you are a crime lord.  The bar should be a community lot, while the office/safe house should be a residential lot that you own as a 2nd house. 

 

 

SURVIVING IN A POST-APOCOLYPTIC WORLD:

The world is in chaos.  You’re living in a shack with very little.  There isn’t a super market, there isn’t a school, there aren’t organized jobs…in short, welcome to the 7th level of hell.  If you put up a light fixture, exactly how are you powering it?  If you buy something from the build/buy menu, exactly how did you get it when at this point, stores have been ransacked and Wal-Mart doesn’t have an apocalypse hot line?  I’ve tried to clarify as much as I can in the challenge below but please use your best judgment.  If you’re not sure, don’t do it or ask on the forum first.

 

• The T12 virus is still active and has wiped out a large majority of the human population.  Between the general death toll and people who were swept off to colonies, settlements are few and far between and contain only a few dozen survivors at most.  Everyone is now infected; however, those with prolonged exposure have developed an antibody to prevent the virus from progressing within their bodies.  Basic human contact is no longer a concern; however, virus cells are concentrated in bodily fluids which may cause shock and death when exchanged for the first time.  This means that the first kiss, first sexual experience between couples, or even a dog bite can cause the virus to activate and result in death.  The devastating side is that children, whose bodies have not had prolonged exposure, are dying at alarming rates!  Infants, toddlers, and young children must roll a virus check before they age up.  If they fail the check, they have not developed sufficient antibodies and die from the virus.  Virus checks are conducted by rolling a random number using random.org or another random number generator from 1 – 20.  Anything beneath a 12 (1-11) means the child failed the virus check.  Good news is, the older a child gets, the stronger their immune system becomes.  An infant has no bonuses; however a toddler gets a +1 to their roll and children get a +3.  So if you have a toddler about to age up and you roll an 11, add +1 to make it 12 (meaning they just barely pass).  Once a child becomes a teen, they are in the clear.If you want more of a challenge, include teenagers in the roll and give them a +5 bonus to their roll before they become an adult, but this is voluntary!

 

After becoming a teen, the only virus rolls that take place are when bodily fluids (saliva, blood, seaman, etc.) are exchanged for the first time and you must roll the same virus check (1-20 with anything below a 12 meaning death).Athletic skill, in this situation, provides a bonus.If you have an athletic skill of 9 then add +9 to your roll, etc.Here are some examples of when virus checks must be made:

 

--Attempting to train a wild animal (chances are you are going to get bit or nipped)

--Kissing, eating after, or having sex with anyone not in your original household

--Coming in contact with anyone’s blood (except your original family)

 

This gives you something to think about before sewing wild oats or trying to save a gunshot victim.

 

• Setting up your garden:  One person in your home may be a green thumb if you choose.  If you are using a saved game, you may either keep your current garden or delete it and start over with a new garden using the setup outlined shortly.  As you will not have the luxury of waiting for seeds to grow, go into build/buy mode and enter the cheat codes “testingcheatsenabled true” followed by “buy debug”.  Go to the plants tab and give yourself six (6) full grown plants (ready to harvest).  These must be standard plants (i.e. apple, tomato, etc.).  Secondly, find a common seed spawner under the same plant tab and place ONE on your lot.  For more of a challenge, place the seed spawner on a nearby lot forcing you to roll an event check (see below).

 

• Stoves consume electricity.  If you want to cook during “power on” times, that’s up to you; however, you must use a fire pit to otherwise cook your meals which will either consist of vegetables you grow or fish you catch (or whatever you steal from the poor unfortunate souls that cross your path if you’re doing the evil run).  No roasting marshmallows unless you’ve got a skilled cook in your household (see the skills section below).

 

• Electricity is a commodity.  You start the challenge with a medium generator (you can place the air conditioner unit if you like and pretend it’s a generator).  This will give your 4 hours of electricity per 24 hour period.  Outside of that time, electric lights, appliances, etc. cannot be used unless they are battery operated (i.e. a small radio, etc.).  Once a battery operated item breaks, it’s assumed the batteries are dead and you cannot fix the item until you get more batteries (they are considered a Category II trade item, see the TABLES section).  If you are playing from a saved game and had more generators, it’s assumed they have broken down and you only have the one medium generator mentioned above.  You may only have up to 12 hours of power for your house.  No more!  That would be the equivalent of 3 medium generators.  Small generators are available in trade but they only add 2 hours.

 

• Water is also a commodity.  There aren’t water pumps or city water.  If you want to take a bath, it must be in a bathtub and someone has to go down to the river (hopefully you live near a body of water) and draw water.  One sim may gather only two buckets per visit.   One bucket of water will wash dishes for one day, provide a single bath, etc..  The easiest way to keep this straight is pick an item you can place as well as carry in your inventory.  When you use water, place the item in your inventory.  When you come back with water, place the item somewhere in your house (just a suggestion).  I have not added toilet flushing here because it is very difficult to get sims to not flush.  If you want to add a layer of difficulty and can get them to leave the toilet unflushed, one bucket of water could be used to flush the toilet.  Otherwise, just ignore that and let them use it.

 

• There isn’t a school so your kids can’t attend it.  If you have a Logic skill of 5 or better, you can mentor your kids if you like but that is optional.  If they end up with bad traits, think of it as spicing things up!

 

• There is not a hospital.  If someone gets sick or goes into labor, it has to be dealt with at home.  On a similar note, if your house is being robbed or burning down, it’s your own problem.  No fire alarms, burglar alarms, etc. can be used.

 

• Outside of initial setup, you may not purchase anything from build/buy unless told to do so by this challenge (i.e. you earn something from a daily event or in trade/steal),.

 

• You may dumpster dive to search for items; however, everyone else has the same idea so you may only do so once per day for your household.

 

• Feel free to use your own creativity.  In the Doomsday Part 1:  Countdown challenge, we had some really great ideas shared on the forums.  I encourage everyone to share their ideas here as well!

 

 

SKILLS:

There are several valuable skills.  While you do not have to gain these skills, they will help you:

 

--Athletic--:  Every point in athletic will aid you on those occasional virus checks.   Imagine finding a bride for your heir.  You select someone and on their honeymoon night, your heir has to roll a virus check for having sex with someone outside the original household…athletics is crucial here.  Athletics is also helpful when fighting.  Usually the more athletic person will win the fight.

 

--Logic--:  The logic skill allows you to tutor your children,   Additionally, since it is a heavily needed skill in the medical field, anyone with a Logic skill of seven (7) or better will add a 1 point bonus to virus checks for children aging up in their home.  At Level 10 Logic, your children gain a +2 bonus.  This is not cumulative.  If you have 3 people in your home with logic of 7, you still only get the +1 bonus. 

 

--Gardening/Fishing--:  These are crucial to survival.  Anyone with a 10 in gardening gets an extra yield once per week (except winter).  You get to go to the general store and get 50 simoleons worth of grown food.   Again, this is not cumulative.  If you have 2 level 10 gardeners, you only get the 50 simoleons. 

 

--Cooking--:  Cooking skill helps you prepare food on a stove without setting the place on fire (and since there are no emergency services, that’s important).  A cook with seven (7) skill can come through in the clutch when food is scares allowing you to fill everyone’s bellies with home-made marshmallows.  You have 5 marshmallows available per week.  Use them wisely!

 

 

MONEY DOESN’T MAKE THE WORLD GO AROUND ANY MORE:

Simoleons are a thing of the past.  Trading is where it’s at.  You need a new chair; someone you know has a spare but needs food, you work out a deal unless you are a crime lord, in which case, you’ll be trying to take what you want.

 

 

A WORD ABOUT STEALING VS TRADE:

If you are taking the “Savior” path, you may NOT steal.  You are supposed to be enforcing law and order.  That said, you have a good reputation and neighbors will be happy to trade with you and may even give you a deal or an occasional free item (see the trading table below).

 

If you are taking the “Crime Lord” path, no decent person is going to want to speak to you, let alone trade.  You’ll have to use the stealing table (below) and hope it pans out.

Instructions for stealing and trading are available under the TABLES tab.

 

 

DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT:

Every time you leave your home, you must make a roll on the event table at the end of this challenge.  If you are a savior, you always have a chance of running into bandits and if you are a crime lord, you may run into townsfolk who are banding together to take you out.  Make your trips away from home count.   Use the events guide under the TABLES tab.

 

 

OTHER HOMES:

Throughout the daily events below, you will have opportunities to “take” a home.  Early on, the homes will be easy to bring under your authority.  After Day 30, the shit hits the fan when you start trying to subdue homes that are protesting you.  Just follow the daily events and, if you are successful, you will get opportunities to gather homes.  If you fail, you must try again but you will have to wait at least THREE DAYS to do so. 

Having homes under your authority will give you bonuses on event and trade/steal rolls and give you people to expand your family with (more on that shortly). 

 

 

MARRIAGE:

You are not the only one concerned about the survival of your family.  Everyone is.  You may use your own children as political pawns (so to speak) to keep other houses in line.  When arranging a marriage, you can use cheats/mods to set the sims to maximum relationship.  Have them court one another prior to the wedding.  The “proposal” is more of a game formality since they technically don’t have a choice.  It is up to you to hold the wedding (and foot the bill for it).

Daughters:  If you have a teen/adult daughter, you may arrange a marriage for her with one of your follower houses (you will require mods to formally marry off teens; however, if you don’t wish to move them, hold a ceremony and just transfer the teen to their new home).  Doing so will secure the house (meaning they will remain loyal to you no matter what).  Daughters always move to their husband’s home after the wedding.

Sons:  Similar to daughters, sons can marry a woman from one of your follower houses; however, his new wife must be moved to your house OR you may place your son and his new wife in a home you vacated (killed everyone that lived there before).  Houses can only be vacated when called for in the daily events.

Why not women?   I am a woman and usually portray women strongly in my challenges; however, reality has to set in here.  Women are the physically weaker sex (usually) and in a world gone mad, most women will not stand a chance against a healthy man in a fight.  We will normally go into the “female” role in this situation.  If you have a strong female protagonist (like I do in my challenge), that’s perfectly fine, just realize your character is the exception, not the rule.  Most of your female family members should be taking care of managing the home while the “men folk” are out there fighting.

 

 

RANKING IT UP:

Your “organization” has ranks.  To simplify, you can place whoever you like in whatever position as long as you meet the quotas outlined below.  Feel free to change the titles to make it more interesting:

 

--Soldier-- Your basic, run-of-the-mill guy.  If he is beaten, he is removed from the battle.  You can have as many soldiers as you like.

 

--Lieutenant-- A lieutenant must have at least 3 soldiers to lead.  It takes two losses to remove them from battle.  The “heir” is considered an extra lieutenant and need not have 3 soldiers for him/her.

 

--Boss--  This is your Savior or Crime Lord.  It will take 3 losses in battle to take him/her out of the fight.

 

 

TO DIE...OR NOT TO DIE...THAT IS THE CHALLENGE

There is a LOT of fighting in this challenge.  Initially you were asked to set up 10 households.  5 of which were neutral to you, the other 5 hated your guts.  It is important to have one person in your family be “under cover” so to speak.  The reason being, is many challenges for homes require that enemy sims be present.  If you have one sim that is “friends with everyone” (feel free to use the mailbox cheat), they can throw a party at whatever location you need and invite enemies for you to fight!  You can set your enemies using testingcheatsenabled.  Enemies should be set for all fighters in your household.

Only teens and adults can be brought to a fight (obviously) and women may only fight other women with the exception of a female Savior/Crime Lord.  Unless specified by this challenge, assume all enemies present are men.

--Subdue—To subdue an enemy (remove them from the fight without killing them) they must be beaten the appropriate number of times based on their rank.  For example, a Lieutenant who has suffered two losses is considered out of the battle.

--Murder—Once someone is subdued, you may fight them again to deal the death blow.  If you win, they must be removed from the challenge permanently.

 

SAMPLE FIGHT:

Day 9 is one of your first big fights.  At that point, the only fighters you probably have are yourself and the two you picked up from the intro.  Since you only have the two, they are both soldiers.  Once you add a third adult, you can choose a lieutenant.  Your enemies are 1 Soldier and 1 Lieutenant.  They should be enemies to all present. 

Decide who will attack whom.  At Day 9, no one is dying, so no worries there.  Plot your strategy (i.e. perhaps you will take on the lieutenant and you’ll leave your soldiers to deal with the enemy soldier).  Make sure to watch who wins the fight.  If anyone loses a fight, they are out of the battle.