August Apocalypse Challenge Rule Set Mods

Update: After many people mentioned it in the challenge thread, I've lowered the criminal's protection fee. It should be more playable now. - July 28, '12

Update: I've finally finished the separated object hiding mods, so EVERYONE can use the object hiders now. All you have to do is download that version, and open each career folder and delete the EPs or SPs you don't have. Leave all the rest in their folders and just remove the respective folder when you lift that career. Enjoy! - July 10, '12

Update: I've included a version that has no object hiding, so it will work for anyone who doesn't have all the EPs or SPs. - 11/21/11
I've included a few more of the rules, like not being able to ignore chance cards and removing restricted food. Please see my challenge thread for a full list of what's included. - 9/6/11

It's the super bowl and all across the region, people are watching. The whistle blows for half time and every Sim in the city goes to use the toilet. Every single toilet in the region is flushed at the same time. The resulting drop in water pressure causes the three nuclear power plants in the area to go critical and melt down, devastating the region. Thankfully, the founder is off at college when this happens, but when he returns to start his family, he finds a very different world he must survive in.

Chances are most of us have read these words and have either at least read though, perhaps attempted, or possibly even accomplished Pinstar's Apocalypse challenge. I'm in that second group. I think its a fantastic idea, but the 12 pages of rules were just impossible for me to keep in my head all at the same time. This might be true for you as well. The other problem I had with it was that it was too darn easy to cheat, or to accidentally cheat. With these issues in mind I decided I needed to make a set of mods to make my game force the rules on me and my sims.


While reviewing the rule set I decided to make my own adjustments. The rules have grown organically while the EPs were still coming out, so the full final set doesn't make as much sense as it would if you had started with all the EPs. Some of the rules bugged me or didn't make sense so for my own version I rearranged a lot. Hopefully these changes make sense or help you remember whats left of the rule. One of the major changes I've made is that the rules have to be lifted in a particular order. I've not mapped out each individual one to do in which order, rather I've grouped the 28 careers into Restriction Levels. The first level is the 'Securing the Basics'. In this level your sims are focused on security, food, and medical attention. The next is 'Rebuilding Society', in this level, your sims are focusing on unlocking careers that will help rebuild the town and the community. The final level is 'Rebuilding Culture'. At this level, your sims have more time to devote themselves to the arts and pleasures in life.

There are a couple basic major differences between this Apocalypse Challenge and any others you may have done before. 1) Mine is tiered. You need to do each level before the next. 2) I allow and encourage your family to move the spares out and start their own homes (after lifting the Law Restriction) to help the afflicted neighborhood rebuild itself twice as fast. This doesn't effect how much time it takes you to finish it, but it helps the neighborhood grow more organically and when its over you should have a completely playable 'hood. 3) I've included mods to help you remember all the rules I've listed the rules that are taken care of with my mods below. Though, I didn't do very thorough testing, so please let me know if something is wrong. 4) I require you to have and visit community lots. Before your sim can take a job in any career, they must visit the corresponding community lot to 'apply' or 'volunteer'. While this is an end of the world scenario, it's also about rebuilding the community. You can't do that without visiting the community.

Included in the rar are 28 packages each one including mods that force the rules on the game and the player. There is also a Word document which lists out the remaining rules. When the top of each career is reached, save and exit your game and remove the mod from your Downloads folder. Yes, I know that's not the most ideal thing ever, but it works. I tried just deleting the mod package in game and it didn't revert any of the changes. Listed are the rules that I've managed to 'automate' and what each package changes. Please see my Official Apox Variant Challenge Thread for more details about which rules these mods cover. That thread also covers exactly which rules this mod this takes care of. Remember, this isn't a full set of the rules, its only half of what is required to play the challenge. To get the real flavor of the challenge you need to read the Challenge Thread. Read up on that and share your stories there!





Compatibility Issues!
If you have all the EPs and all the SPs, download the full version (it's the first download link). If you are missing even 1 EP, then you need to download the one that is labeled 'SeparatedByEPs'. Unrar the archive, and open each folder one at a time and delete out any EPs and SPs you don't have. Many career folders don't contain all the EPs or SPs, because they didn't contribute any objects that needed to be hidden for that career. Just delete whatever you don't have and leave the rest in the folder. When you reach the top of each career, remove the entire folder from your game instead of just the single package.

Enjoy!
-Phae

Additional Credits:
Zomg, so many creds to go around!
First, Pinstar, the original creator of the Zombie Apocalypse Challenge
Second, the official Apocalypse forums
MSD and Lee for being super helpful / geniuses
Fansee and the rest of the MTS Staff gang for hanging out and support as always