Welcome to a my blog I created to keep track of one of my first (documented) Sims 3 challenge.
Link to Challenge and rules
Name:Doomsday Challenge Pt 1: Countdown.
Creator: MistyDW
Rules:
There is very little initial set-up for this challenge. The setup unfolds as different events take place.
1. You may start in any town (except Sunset Valley). This challenge takes place after supernatural so no towns beyond that point are included (i.e. no traveling to the future).
2. Make at least one young adult sim.
3. When building your household, traits cannot be repeated. If you give your first sim the genius trait, no one else can be assigned that trait. If a child is born with a used trait (assigned by the game) then that’s fine.
4. You may start out in a home of any size or value. Just a friendly heads up…you won’t be staying there long, so don’t invest a lot of time building something.
5. You can start out with as much money as you want (how many challenges say that).
6. Sims are confined to their homes so no jobs or schooling. You can delete the school from your neighborhood or use a mod to enroll in home schooling for kids.
7. All seasons should be active and set to 7 days each (if you have the expansion).
Setup:
There is very little initial set-up for this challenge. The setup unfolds as different events take place.
1. You may start in any town (except Sunset Valley). This challenge takes place after supernatural so no towns beyond that point are included (i.e. no traveling to the future).
2. Make at least one young adult sim.
3. When building your household, traits cannot be repeated. If you give your first sim the genius trait, no one else can be assigned that trait. If a child is born with a used trait (assigned by the game) then that’s fine.
4. You may start out in a home of any size or value. Just a friendly heads up…you won’t be staying there long, so don’t invest a lot of time building something.
5. You can start out with as much money as you want (how many challenges say that).
6. Sims are confined to their homes so no jobs or schooling. You can delete the school from your neighborhood or use a mod to enroll in home schooling for kids.
7. All seasons should be active and set to 7 days each (if you have the expansion).
8. Aging should be on. Age span should be set to normal except for the following: Young Adult (30 days), Adult (30 days).
Backstory:
6:45 PM: It’s a warm summer evening in the town of Moonlight Falls. On your way home from work, you pass Sam’s Market Diner and decide to stop in for a quick bite. Twenty minutes later, a friendly waitress drops off a steaming plate of Goopy Carbonara at your table. As you shovel the first forkful into your mouth, the diner’s television changes from a sporting event to a late breaking news bulletin:
“This is Bob Newbie reporting to you live with late-breaking news right here in Sunset Valley. A few moments, ago, Dr. Morgana Wolff, Chief of Staff at Sacred Spleen Memorial Hospital, held a press conference regarding the discovery of a life threatening virus. Over the past 24 hours, twelve cases of this virus were reported at the emergency room. If you experience nausea or fever, report to your local emergency facility immediately. Until further notice, the town of Sunset Valley is considered quarantined and police officials are not letting anyone in or out. Channel 6 will provide any updates as information becomes available. Thank you and good evening.”
You glance around at the other patrons who share your shocked expression. If they quarantined an entire town, this must be serious. You finish your meal, pay the bill, and head home.
7:40 PM: You unlock your front door and flip on the lights immediately followed by the television. Channel 6 is still broadcasting the sporting event and you breathe a sigh of relief. I’m sure they have this under control, right? The evening passes without further incident and you crawl into bed and turn on your bedroom TV before drifting off to sleep.
2:03 AM: You are startled awake by the loud beeps of an emergency broadcast message. A reporter appears, this time visibly shaken:
“This is Channel 12 reporting to you live from Midnight Falls. Please be advised that a state of emergency has been declared in the town of Sunset Valley. A wide spread virus has devastated the town’s population with 37 cases currently reported. The virus has claimed 28 lives at the time of this broadcast and 7 of the remaining 9 are in critical condition. Medical and science teams have joined forces to combat the infestation threatening to destroy this once serene town. The disease is reported extremely lethal. Due to the risk of potential spread, Moonlight Falls has implemented a mandatory curfew requiring all citizens to stay in their homes until further notice. If you believe you may have contracted the virus or if you need other emergency assistance, contact the emergency response service at the number on your screen. Thank you.”
6:17 AM: It’s been a rough night and you’ve barely slept. You pour yourself an early-morning cup of coffee and make your way to the couch for another news report.
“Good morning, further events concerning the virus that ravaged Sunset Valley have unfolded. Marshal law has now been declared on the streets of Sunset Valley. The death toll continues to rise and citizens are resorting to desperate acts of crime to survive.
Scientists have reported that the virus is strongly believed to lie dormant in host sims who contain a genetic resistance to it. Anyone who comes in direct contact with the host becomes a carrier who must either develop antibodies to force the virus back into dormancy or their bloodstream is poisoned leading to organ shutdown and death. The survival rate in humans is 1 out of every 12 infected. There have been very few reported cases in the supernatural community. Scientists are calling it the “T-12 Virus” but survivors in Sunset Valley are rumored to have given it a very different name, “The Doomsday Virus”.
The Virus:
You can use the Vector mod from NRaas if you like (set to no vaccine/cure). It can be a bit complex to install so if you’d like to use an alternative, do the following:
The only rolls you will have to do in this challenge are for contracting the virus. You can roll by using real life 20-sided dice, a dice app, or websites like random.org. You only need to roll for the virus if the events for a particular day require it OR if your sim starts to feel ill. If you don’t have seasons(where the germy moodlet came from) then you must roll a virus check any time your sim comes in direct contact with (touches) anyone outside of the household.
There is no antidote so no going to the hospital to get a shot.
Each countdown event will have a virus threshold. So for example, if it says T12 Threshold: 5 and your sim has to make a roll, a 5 or below means the sim is infected. If the sim gets the virus, a second roll of 1 – 20 is required. The base score to beat is 12 (meaning a 12 or below and the sim dies from the virus). For every point of athletics skill, subtract 1 from the requirement (12). Here is a scenario.
Its day 55 and my sim starts feeling ill. The virus threshold is only at a 1 that day so I do my roll of 1-20 and damn if it isn’t a 1 and she contracts the T12 virus. Now I have to roll again. Over the past 5 days I’ve raised my athletic skill to 4. Since the base score to beat is 12, I subtract 4 making the new score an 8. I roll my dice at get a 9. My sim survives (barely).
Here is the good news, once a sim contracts the virus (fails the first roll) and recovers from it (passes the second roll) they are immune and not required to make any virus checks until a new strand comes out in the countdown.
The Countdown:
The countdown takes place over a 60-day period and counts down to 0.
EXTRA CHALLENGE: If you want an extra challenge, DON’T READ AHEAD of where you are right now in the countdown. If you do, try not to use your knowledge to prepare for something coming up. Imagine you are the sim armed only with the knowledge available at that time. What would you do?
DAY 60
T-12 Threshold: 0 (no rolls)
This is your sim’s first day. Check to make sure that your young adult(s) are showing 29 days remaining to age up. If not, adjust the young adult age slider accordingly (i.e. if your sim is showing 28 days until age up, change the slider from 30 days to 31 days). The game is notorious for not starting sims out on day one of their aging cycle. Your sims must have a full 60 days of play including young adult and adult.
This day picks up directly from the prologue. The information you have is what has been given to you in the three news broadcasts you’ve already seen. You’ve been instructed to stay In your home; however, at 8:00 AM the following emergency message appears on your television and is announced over the radio:
“For emergency purposes only, the town is allowing residents to leave their home for a brief interval to gather supplies at an emergency outpost established at the local grocery store and bookstore. Supplies are limited so each household may only spend up to $300 at the grocery store and $700 at the bookstore if they so desire. Residents are being released on a street by street basis. Residents on your street are released at 4:00 PM and must be back in their home by 6:30 PM. Streets will be blockaded (impassible) until the indicated times. Anyone not returning in time will encounter the police, have all purchased items confiscated, and returned to their home.”
Note – Any collectables you find can be kept.
Later that evening another emergency broadcast was received notifying everyone that cases of the T-12 virus had been discovered in a neighboring town. Officials recommend that while the virus has not been reported in your town, precautions will continue to be in place and residents should prepare for the worst.
DAY 58
T-12 Threshold: 1
The first cases of the T-12 virus have been reported in your town. From this point forward, any ill sims must be checked for the virus (see instructions under the virus section above).
DAY 55
T-12 Threshold: 1
The citizen’s of your town have demanded an opportunity to leave their homes for leisure. Your street is free to go anywhere they like between the hours of 6P – 9P. Stores are not open. This is a great opportunity to get out, stretch your legs, take a drive, and meet someone new! Remember, if you touch anyone, you must do a virus check.
DAY 53
T-12 Threshold: 2
While the virus seems to be widespread in most towns, yours is fairly contained. It looks like the town’s interventions have helped control the spread. In an effort to allow citizens to refresh their supplies, another lift on the restriction confining residents to their homes takes place. Your street is being permitted to go to the grocery store only from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM. All other businesses are closed.
DAY 50
T-12 Threshold: 2
In an attempt to quell local protests springing up demanding freedom, the city has yet again agreed to open up the leisure facilities to you. Your street is free to leave from 8:00A – 11:00A. Again, remember to do your checks if you touch anyone.
DAY 48
T-12 Threshold: 3
Many cases of T12 have been reported in your town and the situation continues to deteriorate. Only your town has managed to contain it but for how long? All communication have been lost with Sunset Valley and the increased number of victims has made public services hard to provide. At this point:
Call for Services: All services, with the exception of police and fire department, are not available.
Power: Due to decreased staff, the power plant can no longer provide 24-hour services. Your home will only have power from 8A – 8P. Outside of those hours, no electric items/lights can be used. I hope you have candles!
Sewer/Water: Same as power. Outside of 8A-8P your sims have no running water (i.e. no baths, washing dishes, or flushing toilets if you can prevent it).
A new strand of the T12 virus has been discovered. Any sims who contracted the virus in the past (and survived) are no longer immune.
DAY 45
T-12 Threshold: 3
The morning news update flips on promptly at 8:00A. Your town is seeking volunteers to assist the local police and medical forces to get help to those who need it. This will raise morale and help reduce the criminal acts of desperation that are threatening the streets. Volunteers will be able to leave their home at any time today to bring plates of food to neighbors. You do not have to go straight home; however, when you leave, food must be delivered before anything else. You then have up to two hours to return home. Do with that what you will! Remember, no stores are open (other community lots are).
Note: Food must be presented as a gift to someone from another household; however, the assumption is you would not directly touch them to give them the food. It can be prepared or unprepared food or something else that would be considered critical need during a time like this.
If you actually touch anyone while out, roll the virus check.
If you are not volunteering, you must remain in your home.
DAY 43
T-12 Threshold: 4
The town is allowing residents to leave their homes today; however, resources are growing scares. You may only spend $100 at the grocery store. Your available time for today is 10:00A – 11:30A to travel to the store.
DAY 40
T-12 Threshold: 6
Things are REALLY getting tight now. The power/water hours are now 10:00A – 4:00P. Outside of those hours your sims have no electricity, lights (except candles), or running water.
Police are on a skeleton crew meaning they no longer have time to respond to burglaries.
Fire fighters are experiencing delay times. (Wait until the object on fire has burned and the fire spreads to another object before calling).
DAY 36
T-12 Threshold: 6
The town has issued notices that a vaccine is being tested for the virus! ALL members of your household must report to the local hospital (you can do a tour or just visit it with each member of your family. Each family member is taken into isolation separately. This must be accomplished within the hours when power is available.
The administrators inform you that they are conducting a “virus check” prior to administering the test vaccine (you do not need to roll). The whole thing seems rather ominous. They take particular interest in one member of your household (whoever has the highest combined skill points) and declares them possibly infected. They insist that this sim must stay at the facility for 24 hours (you can go into edit town and have them temporarily reassigned to another house or just keep them out of the house for 24 hours (whatever means necessary).
*Note*: There is no vaccine available at this point. Also, remember to do your checks if your sims come in contact with someone outside of the hospital lot.
DAY 33
T-12 Threshold: 7
Disaster! Due to the general lack of maintenance, the town’s power plant explodes leaking deadly toxic waste into the water supply. While water can be purified for drinking/bathing, the fish population is decimated and any that survived are toxic to eat.
Power is cut off to the town entirely.
DAY 30
T-12 Threshold: 8
By this point your sims should be aging up to adult.
The police are no longer able to contain the streets! There is a mad run on the few remaining supplies at the grocery store. If you attend, you must leave the house at 8:00; however, you will come into direct contact with other sims and have to do a virus check.
That night, a band of street thugs with guns start declaring themselves as law. They’re going from house to house taking what they want and killing anyone who gets in their way. You hear the screams coming from neighbor homes and decide that it is in the best interest of you (and your family) to get out. You only have a few moments to take the essentials. Your family can carry up to 5 items per sim (up to a max of 15 items). Books count as an item. Three units of food (i.e. 3 apples) counts as one item. You can only take what you can carry (i.e. items that could be carried in a backpack or suitcase, no large items, furniture, etc.) You must leave the house at 10:00 PM.
You pack your family and what little belongings you’ve managed to carry into your car (if you have one, if not you’re hoofing it). You only have enough gas to get you to the edge of town.
*Go into edit town* and find a small lot on the outskirts of town (no larger than 20×20). Create one if needed. This will be your family’s new home. Create the following:
A small, 1 room shack up to 10×10 (can have a tiny bathroom but rest should be one room)
Outside: Several trees, room for a garden, a fire pit, and one ball (soccer, etc.)
Inside: The cheapest version of the following: Small table and two chairs, loveseat, 2 beds, 1 crib, toilet, tub, small mirror, and candles. There is no form of kitchen.
There is absolutely no electricity and a very limited supply of running water from 6A – 8A. No baths can be taken outside of that time. Once you have that set, go ahead and return to game and move your sims there.
Set your family’s income to 0 (using familyfunds cheat). Money is no longer a viable form of currency. That being the case, you are not permitted to use buy mode or purchase anything, anywhere for money (unless told otherwise here). You will be given chances to barter.
From this point forward, there are no police or fire services of any kind.
If you have a kleptomaniac in the family, now is a good time to start making runs into town to swipe needed items. Just because you swipe something doesn’t mean you can use it. If you get a television, no power renders it pretty useless.
A new strand of the T12 virus has been discovered. All previously immune sims are no longer immune.
The virus is now spread by close contact, not just touching. This is really only an issue if you go into town to steal. If so, avoid contact with sims if at all possible. If a sim is close enough to hold a conversation, then you must roll a virus check.
DAY 26
T-12 Threshold: 9
You hear a loud BOOM followed by the sound of laughter off in the distance. You awake in the dark, your best guess, around 3:00 AM. You peek out the window of your shack and see nothing but darkness. In the interest of safety, your most athletic sim is chosen to go investigate (if you have two that share the same skill, pick one).
Your sim sneaks outside in absolute darkness peering around for any signs of trouble. It doesn’t take you long to find it. You see fire burning in the distance. It looks like the local hooligans have attacked someone. You hear the roar of an engine and duck behind the trees thankful your cabin is completely dark and somewhat off the beaten path. A car of screaming hoods drive right past as if they were chasing something. You breathe a sigh of relief when you hear a timid voice from the darkness a distance behind you. “H..hello, please help me”.
CHOICE:
You squint at the form of a small child, approximately 7 or 8 years old. She (or he if you choose) is in rags, dirty, and looks generally sickly. She is not close enough to you to do a virus check right now and you warn her to stay put. You strike up a conversation with her from a safe distance and learn that she was in the recently burned home. Her last remaining family member, her older brother, got involved with a group of bad kids and a rival gang attacked their home tonight. Her brother abandoned her and drove away. Do you…
1. Tell her to hit the street. No more mouths to feed and no more virus checks here. If so, she runs off sobbing in the dark. No need to do a virus check.
2. Help her. This means a virus check against the sim speaking to her ONLY (the rest of the household is tucked safely away). There is a special threshold for her of 7 (instead of the daily 9).
A. If your sim is infected and survives the virus, you can, at your own peril, try to bring her into your home BUT each family member will have to make a virus check. If everyone dies you cannot add her.
B. If your sim passes the check, she is not infected and you may add her if you wish (no other family members need to roll). You can do this by either pausing the challenge and have a social worker bring someone out or creating her in edit town. His/her traits must include shy and green thumb (yes, I’m giving you a freebie on that one) and must be pale and thin.
DAY 22
T-12 Threshold: 9
It’s another day on the homestead. You happen to notice a cart, driven by an old man, approaching you. It appears he has quite a few things to barter. Here are your options:
Ask him to Leave: He does so without an issue.
Barter: He offers you the following trades:
–A battery operated radio in exchange for 15 units of food
–A battery operated television for 30 units of food
–A water pump (extra 2 hours of running water per day) for 50 units of food or one of your beds/crib.
–A small generator (2 hours of power per day) in exchange for 50 units of food or your kitchen table and chairs.
–A small child’s toy in exchange for your small mirror
–Five snack bars or cans of soda (university expansion) for a fair offer on your part (perhaps something you brought with you that isn’t too expensive).
–Replacement toilet in exchange for 25 food (or an equally valued item)
–Replacement tub in exchange for 25 food (or an equally valued item)
*Note*: Battery-operated items cannot be repaired once broke. It’s assumed the batteries went dead.
*Note*: If you buy the radio, TV, etc. you can use kaching to get them from buy mode, just make sure to reset funds to 0 when you’re done. Also, if you can come up with other equitable trades, go for it. He’s not a fool though. He’s going to want the traded items to be roughly equal in value.
Try to Rob Him: The old man’s son jumps up from a hiding place in the cart and lunges at you managing to land punch. A fight breaks out that you win but the old man grabs his boy and runs off. The battery-operated radio falls off the back of his wagon. Nice score, but now you have to roll a virus check and the old man won’t be back.
DAY 18
T-12 Threshold: 9
Yet another strand of the virus is discovered. Any immune sims are no longer immune.
A band of thugs happened across your home while you were sleeping. They weren’t brave enough to enter your home but they did steal any small items out of your front yard (balls, etc.) and in an attempt to harvest your garden, they destroyed it!
With the exception of three plants (you choose), all of your plants must be removed and replanted (no harvesting can take place on this day at any time). Hopefully you have enough in storage to replant!
DAY 14
T-12 Threshold: 10
One of your sims is up bright and early at 8:00A. In the process of making breakfast, he/she hears the roar of a helicopter overhead. You rush to the window and see a chopper with the words “emergency supplies” painted on the side. It’s heading off in the direction of the general store. You may, if you choose, attempt to obtain some of the emergency supplies. If so, do the following:
1. Choose at least one sim to make the run to town.
2. Make your way to the general store. When you arrive, you see only one ragged man pawing through the dropped supplies. They don’t seem interested in sharing. You notice a nearby package and decide to make a dash for it at the same time he does.
3. If you brought more than one sim, the man quickly realizes you are not alone and returns to what he was doing peacefully. You take the package; however, everyone present must roll virus checks if anyone comes near them.
4. If you came alone, you will have to make the virus check because you’re about to get up close and personal with a strange sim. (Look around for any sims in the area. When you find one, do what you have to do to get a fight started with them). If you win the fight, you get the box. Regardless if you win, do a virus check with a reduced target score of 5 (instead of 9).
INSIDE THE BOX: Items inside the box (food items in the box can be purchased at the store. Use the familyfunds cheat to add the specified amount to your funds).
1. If you came with someone: The box contains $300 in food (your choice of what kind). Also in the box is a syringe and medication with instructions that this has been proven to raise resistance rate to the virus by 2. The next time one of your sims makes a virus check (to see if they are infected), remove 2 from the threshold (I.e. if someone gets you on the way home, the score to beat for those who get the shot is 7, not 9).
2. If you sent a solo sim: The box contains the same $400 in food, two of the booster shots, and a water pump attached to a sprinkler (for your garden). You can run the sprinkler every day for two hours.
DAY 11
T-12 Threshold: 11
Applies only if you added the little girl/boy to your household on Day 26.
Your newest addition to the family approaches you sharing that he/she poked around their old house the other day. They found an old, large, gas generator that may be used to add 3 hours of power to your home every day. Problem is, it’s broken and out of gas. If you have a sim with a Handiness of 5 or better, they can repair it. Your sims will have to make a run to town (look for parked cars) to try and gather gas. That means staying in town a minimum of 1 hour per day of gas (if you stay in town 2 hours, you can add the additional 3 hours of power time to your home for 2 days). Of course this means risking infection.
DAY 8
T-12 Threshold: 11
(Skip if you tried to rob the trader on day 22)
The old trader is back with his wagon. He has all of the original items plus a special. A nice warm bed (second cheapest) that he’ll trade for your loveseat or crib.
DAY 4
T-12 Threshold: 11
Everyone in your home (who isn’t immune) becomes ill. Make the necessary virus checks. There is no immunity beyond this point.
DAY 0
T-12 Threshold: 12
The world has gone to hell in a hand basket but somehow you’ve managed to survive. There are rumors that the government is looking for survivors (advance to Doomsday Colony challenge if you like) that might be an option. Congratulations, you’ve made it!
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I will also be using Custom Content that I do not claim to own them in anyway. I hope to eventually start posting the challenge, I hope you enjoy!
Sims 3 Challenges 