Autumnal/whatever the spring equivalent of "autumnal" is greetings to all of you MTSers! (Okay, admin Heaven looked this up and apparently the spring equivalent is "vernal"? Weird. I don't care for it. Not changing my phrasing.) Anyways, to celebrate the post-spooky/pre-festive season, we wanted to do a fun event in our live chat! But instead of another movie night, we figured we'd try something new, different, and Sims-related! So, introducing the first ever MTS Speed-Building Challenge! Come join us! Build things! But, like, quickly!

What's all this then?
This is a timed foundations challenge which will be run in our live chat Discord server. At the agreed upon time, we all log-in and start building! Post screencaps as you go, updating everyone on your progress. Or just weep. At the end of the time limit, we all post pics of our finished (or unfinished) houses, and see all of the awesome creativity everyone has come up with!

What is a foundations challenge?
A foundations challenge is a lot building challenge. Before the event begins, you will download a lot file which will contain a building foundation, but nothing more. You then build a lot on that "footprint".

When and where

Where
The MTS Discord server! Specifically in the "mts-events" channel.

When
Sunday, November 11th! We have two sessions available, one roughly corresponding to early evening for Western Europe, the other early evening for Eastern North America. You can, of course, participate in whichever works for you, regardless of geography. To see the options click here, the poll should adjust to display in your time zone. At this stage we are limiting each session to 20 participants, to keep chat from turning into too much of a zoo. Depending on interest we may reassess the number of sessions and/or number of participants per session.

Rules
What is the time limit?
90 minutes. This time will not include loading your game/installing the lot, both of which should be done in advance of the start.

Is this judged? Are there winners?
No and no. This is for fun only. It isn't a competition, it won't be judged, and we're all going to be winners because we'll be having fun!

For further rules/FAQs, see the next post in this thread.

Sounds great! How do I sign up?
Three easy steps!

• Register on our Doodle poll, selecting the time slot that works best for you. Please note that you must register using your MTS username. Otherwise we have no way of knowing who you are.
• Post a comment in this thread confirming your registration and stating which game (TS2/3/4) you intend to build for.
• Create a Discord account (if you don't already have one) and join our Discord server. Once in our server, head to the "mts-events" channel, ping me using @PharaohHound and say your MTS username (if different from your Discord name) and which session (first or second) you have signed up for. I will add you to a list of users who will be participating.

That's it!

Also please note that this is a commitment. Please only register if you are confident you will be able to participate at the time you have registered for. If you're not 100% sure you want to join, or you aren't 100% certain what your schedule will be like, please wait until you have those things figured out.

Rules/FAQ
What can I build?
Anything you want which follows the provided foundation. It does not have to be a residential lot.

Which games?
This challenge is open to TS2, TS3 and TS4 builders.

Can I use CC?
You can use any CC you want as long as it is not pay content. We encourage people to try limiting CC, both as a way to add to the challenge, and to "level the playing field" a little, but it's entirely up to you!

Can I use moveobjects/cfe?
Yes.

Can I place the foundation on a larger lot?
Yes.

Can I expand beyond the given foundation?
No. That's the challenge!

Can I move/delete walls from the provided foundation
You may move/delete walls during the building process for special techniques like CFE, but you must add back all walls from the foundation in their exact location for your finished lot.

Can I rebuild the foundation at a different level?
Yes, provided the position of all walls remains identical to the original. Also, you will not be given extra time to rebuild, so consider this before doing so.

How do I download the foundation?
2 hours before the first event, we will post download links for the foundations in the mts-events Discord channel. I will also send out a Discord ping to all participants at this time.

If you are participating, please allow yourself time to download and install the lot before the challenge begins. And though I think this goes without saying, please don't peek! So don't download the lot two hours in advance and spend two hours meticulously planning what you're going to build before the challenge starts. We can't stop you from doing that, but it goes against the spirit of the challenge.

Added my time thingy to the doodle poll and will also be doing it with ts3! Although if necessary I guess I can do ts4 too... but to make thing extra confusing, let's just say I'll do ts3

Hi, a question!

-You mention deleting/moving walls on the foundation, but can we add walls? Like internally, regular walls or half walls or no adding walls at all?

@Charmful You can add as many internal walls as you like! All wall heights.

Ok thanks! I registered for the latter Sunday session, and I will be building in sims 2

Sounds fun so I signed up for the later one, TS2.

I would like to note that although I'm confident that I can participate at that time, on that day.. my health may have other ideas.

I recently reinstalled TS4 so I'm probably not the best at building but I'd like to give it a shot! I'd like to use TS4 this time.
I'll be wanting to play in the earlier session.

@mustluvcatz - I totally get it, sometimes health has its own ideas about what we can and can't do on a given day. No worries either way. Also, do remember to pop into Discord in advance to confirm your registration.

this sounds very interesting..but!!! i can do A LOT in 90 mins.. (Pun intended) what about the outside of the foundation? Like i tend to build huge gardens on mansions, and always do some kind of outdoor plant/lighting in the front and back of the lot, and depending on the lot, a ton of outdoors themed areas? I assume this is allowed, but figured id ask? (Like as long as we keep the room of the default foundation in tack we are good to do lit w.e we want?) i mean sims 2 and 3 have cars and driveways? i do on my sims 4 but not everyone would..obv.. Lol

@TravisB/tso/jollypines Yep, landscaping is fine! Just remember that the main structure has to stay within the original foundation.

I'm in! TS2 Old Guard Represent!

@Phaenoh Woot! Don't forget to pop into Discord to confirm your registration.

Great idea! Sounds like fun.

I have a couple of clarifying questions.

1. Can we add more stories (2nd floor, basement, etc.), or are we only allowed the 1st floor outlined by the foundation?

2. Can we build things that might have walls but aren't part of the main structure? I'm thinking about garages (with walls), or backyard/pool areas (with fences).

2.5. If the answer to #2 is they would not be allowed, what about just a driveway with no walls? Or a backyard/pool area with no fence?

@Chicken0895

1. Yes.

2. I don't see why not, with a couple of stipulations. A) the structure must be detached from the original foundation (e.g. you can't add a big-ass garage onto the original foundation), and B) the original foundation must obviously be the "main" structure on the lot (e.g. don't make the original foundation a garden shed and build a big-ass mansion beside it).

I'm in for TS3! I'm not 100% only because I'm a caregiver for a stroke patient and sometimes stuff happens, but I'd say I'm 99%. Will that be okay?

Sounds like a lot of fun! I'll be joining the later one, and I'll be playing TS3. Really cool idea.

So, should the ping to you be in the general channel, or one of the others?

@orose - 99% is good enough for me!

@Kylaaab - as mentioned above, ideally put your ping in the mts-events channel, which is also where the event will take place!

I'm in for TS4

I have a question can i do it for TS2

Yes you can do it with Sims 2, 3 and 4

I have a question too. Can we use build cheats? Reffering to the ones unmentioned, but mostly the floor limit cheat.

@PharaohHound
I'll try to remember to do that before I get off the computer today. (I don't get on it often anymore, usually on my phone or tablet and Discord works like shit on both of them.)

@Judycb
Yes! This is for TS2/TS3/TS4.

This is my confirmation. I've registered for the first timeframe. I'll be building in TS2
Good luck everyone!

@mixa97sr - I'm also going to say "don't see why not" for this, mostly because it's a fun challenge, not a competition, so I'm not extremely concerned about having everyone working from a perfectly even starting point. I'm curious to see what your creativity can come up with!

I don't want to brag, but I can totally build a house, demolish it because I hate it, and then build a new one in two hours.
I'll be in for TS3, as I only have Basegame TS2 on hand and, whew, I'm not into torturing myself like that.