12th Birthday Party - BABY BOOM CHALLENGE (TS2/3/4)

[itsjulie]

. The Boolprop Baby Boom Challenge .

Written by itsjulie and Thaitanic

To celebrate Boolprops 12th birthday, we have a new challenge for you!!
A Baby Boom Challenge.

A challenge that can be completed with all versions of the sims - 2, 3 and 4

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This challenge is to be completed using a sim couple ...
who together have to create and raise 12 boys AND 12 girls from birth to young adult ...
so that is 24 babies in total.

Basic Rules of the Challenge:
• No money cheats.
• Life extenders are allowed. This includes Elixirs of Life (TS2), becoming a Supernatural sim, etc.
• You can’t send your kids to boarding school!
• You can use any lifespan you like, but if you go ridiculously short it’s just not as fun.
• If one parent dies, you lose the challenge.
• Cheating or aging kids up early etc are fine to fix a glitch.

Further Rules:
• All the children must have the same two parents.
• You can adopt, but the adopted baby doesn’t count towards your final 24 children.
• All countable children must be named according to one of two name schemes: H T T P S B O O L P R O P N E T I N D E X P H P (If your first 12 babies were boys would be named from H to O, but your thirteenth boy wouldn’t be laden to the naming scheme, however your 13th child, if a girl, would be), or B O O L P R O P B O O L P R O P B O O L P R O P. You may alternatively choose to play the "NOT THE BS!" mini-challenge, in which case you would get +20 points
• If a child leaves the household in any way APART from moving out as a YA/Adult (TS2 without University), you must have another child to replace them. This includes death, social services, etc.

Playing the Challenge:
• Create your sim couple. They can be any gender, have any aspirations, any appearance and have any traits you want.
• Move your sims onto a big empty lot. (TS2/3) Buy the biggest lot you can, legacy challenge style. (TS4) Buy a big lot, then purchase the Knight of the Octagon Table decoration to reduce your funds.
• Only one of the future parents can go out to work, the other must stay at home to look after the legions of children they’ll be producing. You can also shift this around – for example, Sim A can work for the first five children whilst Sim B is at home, and then Sim B decides to go to work, so Sim A must leave work and look after the children. But you can only have any one parent working in a salaried job at any one time.
• Money attained in other ways than working by either parent is fine. Painting, writing novels, collecting, fishing, etc. are all perfectly viable ways of bringing in a second ‘income’.
• Service sims aren’t allowed, because how else will you suffer horribly?

Winning the Challenge:
• You will need to raise 12 children of either sex (12 boys, 12 girls) to (TS3/4) young adult or (TS2) young adult in university, or adulthood if you don’t have university to win. You win when your 24th child becomes a young adult or (TS2 without University) adult.
• You must have 12 of each sex to win, so even if you have 12 boys and 11 girls, and give birth to a 13th boy, you must continue having kids until you get that 12th girl.

Scoring the Challenge:
• You get 30 points for every countable child born (your first 12 boys and first 12 girls).
• (TS2/3) You get 15 points for every countable child who also learns all of their toddler skills – walking, talking, potty training, etc. (TS4) You get 5 points for every toddler skill a toddler maxes.
• (TS2/3) You get 30 points for every LTW you complete for your sim parents outside of uni. (TS4) You get 10 points for every stage of your sim parents’ aspirations you complete.
• At the end of the challenge, you get 10 points for every $25,000 in your family’s net worth.
• You get 10 points for every countable child that reaches (TS2 with Uni/TS3/4) young adulthood or (TS2 without Uni) adulthood.
• You get 5 points for every aspiration reward you earn.
• You get 20 points for the first career each member of your couple reaches the top of, and then 15 points for the second career, 10 for the third, 5 for the fourth. If you top a 5th or 6th career and beyond, it’s 5 points for each career topping indefinitely. Example: Sim A reaches the top of the Politics career track (+20 points) and then Sim B reaches the top of the Artist career track (+20 points), Sim A goes back into the job market and reaches the top of the Military career track (+15 points) and then Sim B reaches the top of the Artist career track again (+15 points), etc. Remember that you must always have one sim permanently at home.
• You get 10 points for every (TS4) adult skill or (TS2/3) skill that any sim (a parent or a child) maxes.
• You get 10 points for completing a teen's LTW before becoming an adult (TS3/4).
• You get 5 points for every teen who gets on honour roll.
• You get 5 points for every teen who maxes their teen job.
• (TS2 only) You get 10 points for every teen who becomes an overachiever - gets on honour roll AND maxes teen job. This stacks with the honour roll and teen job points for a max of 20 points.

Penalties:
• For every motherlode cheat you use, you have to have an extra child to complete the challenge. (Even if you have your 12 girls and 12 boys, if you used a motherlode cheat for the first child, you would HAVE to have a 25th child to complete the challenge & get the Boolprop medal, regardless of the division of sexes of your children), also -20 points.
• For every kaching cheat you use, -20 points.
• For every child that is taken by social services or dies before reaching YA/Adult, -25 points.

Optional Mini-challenges for the Challenge Inclined:
You get +20 points for every mini challenge you attempt, unless stated otherwise.

Spoiler:

NOT THE Bs!
Have all your children's names start with B, for extra props and credit but also extra confusion!

Family Gallery
a) Set up a family gallery somewhere on your lot with PAINTED portraits of both your parents and all their kids! OR
b) The same as a, but only make painted portraits when the kids are YA/Adult, before they move out.

SUFFER
No LTRs AT ALL. Sims must use non-LTR ways to stay alive. This includes: becoming a Supernatural sim, growing Life Fruit, etc.

OWBC Style – Bad Apple
Have one child of each sex be a bad apple who you can’t control explicitly or view the wants/skills/etc of.

Wishacy Style
Fulfill all the (TS2/3) wishes or (TS4) whims of your sims whenever they pop up!

Supernatural Menagerie – The Livvielove Challenge – (TS2/TS3 only)
In addition to having supernatural parents of some kind, you must also collect all the other TRANSFORMABLE supernatural life states in your children. If your parents are both vampires in TS2, then you must have one child who is a vampire, one who is a werewolf and one who is a witch. However, plantsims and alien children wouldn’t count, as every countable must be the children of BOTH parent, not just one.

’Til Death Do Us Part – The cynicalbadger Challenge
Let your couple age to be as old as possible to still be fertile, and ONLY THEN start giving them life extenders or making them a supernatural sim. So for female sims, start giving them life extenders the day before their elder birthday. For male sims, push their age bar as far as it can go before you start panicking that they might die of old age and then start giving them life extenders.

Never Learned to Share – The snazzle Challenge
LTRs can only be used by the sim who earned them – so if one sim earns the (TS2) Elixir of Life, only that one sim can use that Elixir of Life.

SimShare! – The Jenn Challenge – (+10 points)
Upload your parents and all their kids for a nice points bonus.

StoryShare! – (+10 points)
Like SimShare, but upload your story to Boolprop and let us all read it

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Completing this challenge will earn you a shiny new medal

If you are doing this challenge - please post your first update on this thread to let us know you are doing the Baby Boom Challenge
TGBO members - posting your first update will earn you a bonus 30 points for your house.

Any Questions about this challenge leave them on this thread

OLD RULES:

Spoiler:

- No Money Cheats
- No Fertility treatment is to be used.
- Life extenders, including occults, can be used to prolong the life of the parents, so that they have time to complete this challenge.

Playing the Challenge

- First create your sim couple either in CAS or you can use one of your favourite existing couples, but you MUST start with a fresh copy of them ... no skills.
- Your couples traits, LTW and appearance is entirely up to you.
- Move your couple onto an empty lot. The biggest one that they can buy which will leave them virtually broke ... they will be living in the great outdoors until they earn the money to put a roof over their head and build a home for their family.
- The money left after buying their lot, can be spent on necessities, like a toilet, a bed, something to cook on etc to start them off.
- Only one of the parents can gain employment and go out to work. The other parent however can earn money by any means available to them without being employed - writing / painting / gardening ect
- Service sims are not allowed - baby sitters, repairmen and maids are a no no.
- Pets and Seasons are entirely up to you.

- To complete this challenge you will need to have raised 12 boys and 12 girls to young adult.
As you can not control the sex of each baby being born, the end of this challenge might get a little frustrating!! Say for instance you just need 1 more boy and a girl arrives.
That girl won't count and you have to continue making babies until you get that final boy.
- Babies born as a result of anything other than pregnancy will not count. All 24 of the children must have the same parents, so any babies born from affairs or produced by any other means are extra's and not counted.
- Adoption is allowed, but these children will not be counted and will only take up necessary space and make your challenge longer.

- Lifespans - depend on which version of sims that you are playing. However, don't use ridiculously low lifespans for the children to hurry up the challenge.
- All of the countable children must be given a name in this order: H T T P S B O O L P R O P N E T I N D E X P H P (So, if you have 12 boys in order, they would be named from H to P. If you had a 13th boy, he wouldn't be laden to the naming scheme because he isn't a 'countable' child.)
- If either of the parents die before they have produced the needed 12 girls and 12 boys - you have failed the challenge.
- No aging up early or using birthday cakes ... the children must be left to age up naturally in the game.
- Toddlers are to be taught their three basic skills - walking, talking and potty training.
- You can not send your children to boarding school.
- Any children who die, move out of the active house (before becoming a YA) or taken away by social services, before becoming a young adult, have to be replaced.
- When each child reaches young adult, they must be moved out immediate - to make space for more children.

The challenge is complete when the last countable child becomes a young adult.

Mini-challenges:

Spoiler:

NOT THE Bs!
Have all your children's names start with B, for extra props and credit but also extra confusion!

[Jenn]

I guess I'll be the first one to post here

Chapter One

[itsjulie]

Great start Jenn

[Livvielove]

I'm right behind you, Jenn! I got my baby boom-ers up and ready to go!

Home Page
"First Chapter" (prologue - this may not count, persay, so I'll come back and edit my first chapter into the appropriate place; I just got excited!)
Edit: Here's the actual first chapter! So now I'm officially official. XD

[Seera]

Just did some quick math. If life extenders aren't used and players are allowed to use cheesecake to ensure twins for each birth (though getting in time for the first pregnancy would be chancey), there's only enough days in the adult span of adults in Sims 2 to have 9 pregnancies, which would yield 18 kids. But you'd be stopped before that due to the max Sims per lot limit after the 3'rd pregnancy. And the oldest would only be a child since no aging up early is allowed. And unless it was counted that being shipped off to University the moment one turns teenager counts as being raised to YA, then you'd lose 15 days after the 6th child was born waiting for the oldest to age to adult.

Sims 2 adults are able to have babies for only 29 days. Sims 3 has 42 and Sims 4 has 48. Of course each one is less a few days since the game does prevent try for baby right on top of the elder birthday. Can Sims in Sims 2 use the elixir of life 5 times to get to an equivalent number of baby making days? It would put them at 44 days. Enough days for 14 pregnancies and up to 28 kids. And it doesn't take into account the 15+ days if you have to wait if you have to wait for the teens to age to Adult naturally instead of being able to ship them off to University the moment they aged to teen. As I'm assuming, I can't use a mod to allow for more than 8 Sims per lot - let me know if I can.

Can triplets & quads mod be used in Sims 2 as long as they odds aren't set to favor triplets and quads as a majority - so single births still left as most common?

And what happens if a toddler doesn't learn all 3 skills, but not for a lack of trying?

I want to try this in Sims 2, but as it stands right now, it's impossible to complete with Sims 2.

[Little White Comet]

I want to try this in The Sims 2 as well, but I don't want to start if its impossible to even attempt it. I have the Triplets and Quads mod but I have the random version and I have the multiples set low.
I would also like to know if you are allowed to use the Elixir of Life like you would in a Who's your Daddy Challenge to extend your Sims life if necessary?

[Ani-Mei]

I can try to answer your Sims 2 questions but I haven't played it for a long time mind you:

No Fertility treatment is to be used, in Sims 3 this is referring to the Fertility Treatment LTR. Unless multiples happen naturally, I didn't see anything against using the Trips and Quads hack in Sims 2 but to keep it fair I would suggest setting it to the lowest possible percentage of multiples. Forcing twins with cheesecake also seems a bit like cheating to me anyway. The Larger Households hack, there is nothing wrong with that since it doesn't affect the birth rate, it only allows for more kids to be kept in the house, therefore making the challenge a bit faster to get through. Life extenders like Elixer and Cow Plant milk are fine since it is stated that you are allowed to use them to keep the parents young enough to have all 24 kids. For me, I've already messed up my challenge and have to redo it, I am using Sims 3 so I made two fairies as the parents. They have naturally long lives anyway, even without my Immortal Life mod.

Toddlers not learning all their life skills, walk, talk and potty if something happens that prevents that, through no actual fault I don't see why it shouldn't be held against you.

[Little White Comet]

Thanks, Ani-Mei! I think I'll give it a go with TS2 then and see how it goes.

[snazzle]

She says life extenders are allowed, so I'm assuming Elixir of Life would be fine.

As for cheesecake.. I would think this would be not quite the same level as TS3 Fertility Treatment, but instead more along the lines of listening to kids' music/kids TV (which ups the chances for twins too). But I suppose the rules didn't specifically okay the kids stations either, so I'll wait for an official weigh-in from Julie.

[Seera]

I can try to answer your Sims 2 questions but I haven't played it for a long time mind you:

No Fertility treatment is to be used, in Sims 3 this is referring to the Fertility Treatment LTR. Unless multiples happen naturally, I didn't see anything against using the Trips and Quads hack in Sims 2 but to keep it fair I would suggest setting it to the lowest possible percentage of multiples. Forcing twins with cheesecake also seems a bit like cheating to me anyway. The Larger Households hack, there is nothing wrong with that since it doesn't affect the birth rate, it only allows for more kids to be kept in the house, therefore making the challenge a bit faster to get through. Life extenders like Elixer and Cow Plant milk are fine since it is stated that you are allowed to use them to keep the parents young enough to have all 24 kids. For me, I've already messed up my challenge and have to redo it, I am using Sims 3 so I made two fairies as the parents. They have naturally long lives anyway, even without my Immortal Life mod.

Toddlers not learning all their life skills, walk, talk and potty if something happens that prevents that, through no actual fault I don't see why it shouldn't be held against you.

Ooops, I read can be used as can't be used XD Which means it's entirely possible even with no mods being used. Mods would just speed it up.

Triplets & Quads lowest settings are 0%. It's completely up to the player as to what the chances are. I may look into the natural rate of Triplets in Sims 3 and Sims 4. Can't be cheating if I match Sims 3 and Sims 4.

Kids music doesn't make the chances 100% if they listen to it for 1 minute. Cheesecake guarantees twins even if they just eat one bite. And I won't be using cheesecake, even if it was allowed due to that guarantee.

Now to decide which couple I want to use XD

[Livvielove]

Life extenders are allowed according to the rules - now I have a household hack for the Sims 3... is that allowed to be used or should I just keep to my 8 limit for this challenge? I doubt I would even really abuse it that much - as maintaining those children all at once would be INSANE.
Just curious since we're asking questions!

[Seera]

Life extenders are allowed according to the rules - now I have a household hack for the Sims 3... is that allowed to be used or should I just keep to my 8 limit for this challenge? I doubt I would even really abuse it that much - as maintaining those children all at once would be INSANE.
Just curious since we're asking questions!

Larger household mods are fine per Ani's response to my thread. Since it doesn't effect the birth rate or chances of twins/triplets/quads.

[Ani-Mei]

As Seera said, if you have a larger household hack for Sims 3 there's nothing against using it.

[Jenn]

I'm right behind you, Jenn! I got my baby boom-ers up and ready to go!

Home Page
"First Chapter" (prologue - this may not count, persay, so I'll come back and edit my first chapter into the appropriate place; I just got excited!)

Great start, Livvie! I like your couple!

-----

My save threw 300 excpetion errors and closed out. I did get lucky and saved just beforehand since I had just spent all day building them a house. I'm going to try and load the game again (I've repaired it twice and it opened up once). I think the save is dead though. I 'm worried that I may have to restart the challenge.

[snazzle]

I spent 2 hours creating the perfect sim.. and now it's stuck in endless processing. It's been 15 minutes (usually our PC gets the created family processed in well under a minute). I'll give it 5 more and then give up and start again. Of COURSE I didn't save that sim. *sob* She was so lovely too.

[Livvielove]

I'm right behind you, Jenn! I got my baby boom-ers up and ready to go!

Home Page
"First Chapter" (prologue - this may not count, persay, so I'll come back and edit my first chapter into the appropriate place; I just got excited!)

Great start, Livvie! I like your couple!

-----

My save threw 300 excpetion errors and closed out. I did get lucky and saved just beforehand since I had just spent all day building them a house. I'm going to try and load the game again (I've repaired it twice and it opened up once). I think the save is dead though. I 'm worried that I may have to restart the challenge.

Thanks Jenn!
Oh no! I loved your Sims! I hope you can save it! Ack. Nothing worse than a dead save. I've been trying to save frequently on my own save here.

[Jenn]

I saved it! S4S came out with a new update tonight and I was able to use that to batch fix (all the sofas also) a sofa that had turned invisible. I think that was causing all the errors.

[Livvielove]

Yayyy! I'm so, so glad! Nothing worse than losing not only progress but your entire save! My fingers are crossed for you that things stay smooth!

[somebodysangel]

Love your couples, Jenn and Livvie! And wow, Livvie, your guys got lots of money very quickly!

I'm playing too, though haven't gotten to the posting part yet. We have the first baby a toddler and a second on the way...and the couple have only just moved their bed out of the kitchen/living room.

[Livvielove]

Love your couples, Jenn and Livvie! And wow, Livvie, your guys got lots of money very quickly!

I'm playing too, though haven't gotten to the posting part yet. We have the first baby a toddler and a second on the way...and the couple have only just moved their bed out of the kitchen/living room.

Thank you! My super secret is flipping the consignment stores. It has a lot of risk if no one buys the things YOU bought and sold, but sometimes it'll yield really good returns if you're careful! I know a LOT of fast ways to earn money really quickly in the Sims 3; but I went with the one that felt the least "cheaty" but didn't leave my Sims barren and broke forever. While some may enjoy that play-style, it's not mine, so I do what I can to earn money fast so I can enjoy my game!

Congrats on the first two babies! I got lucky and pulled in twins my first go, but thankfully with my risk/reward (and Liam's tiberium find) the house is all ready to go! This challenge is so much fun!