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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 25th Apr 2015 at 11:04 PM Last edited by cespencer7 : 19th Jul 2015 at 4:06 PM.
Default Merry Merchant Challenge (OFB)
Do your Sims have the business skills needed to sustain a successful family business? The Merry Merchant Challenge is designed to test your Sims’ business skills.
The first goal is to have one shop open with ten (10) business stars (rank) so you can have perks to use to advance the shop. The ultimate goal is to have ten shops open with a minimum of ten (10) business rank stars at the end of two (2) generations. Nine shops also have Master Guild Goals for the shop owner which require that a related item be baked, caught, or crafted.
(Download the pdf for easier reading - Google Doc for MM Challenge

Set-Up:
At a minimum, you will need the Open for Business Expansion Pack for Sims 2. Other EPs are needed for the master guild goals since each EP created related shop options and rewards. Adapt the master guild goals based on what you have.

Create your family and settle them into a base neighborhood. You can use the motherlode cheat to set family’s funds to $70,000 so they can buy their first home and their first business. (I incorporated the Merry Merchant Challenge into my existing Test of Time Challenge so I already had ten Barons I wanted to make into merchants. If your Sims already own a home, use the familyfunds cheat to set the funding to $35,000 before your Sims buy their first shop)

In a Downtown or Shopping District, build your shop or buy one of the existing shops. If you want an extra challenge, build ten (10) shops on small community lots. (Since I incorporated the Merry Merchant in a legacy challenge I had a potter, baker, candlestick maker, tailor, blacksmith, apothecary, florist, fishmonger, toymaker, and grocer. I found great medieval custom content hobby tools and supplies. You can set up your own kinds of shops. Keep the total cost for each shop around $30,000). Remember each family’s $70,000 startup has to buy a home, buy a shop, and buy items to sell while still having money left for feudal tithes, food and other home needs.

Use the following checklist to help you set up and furnish your shops:

Cash register on a counter (registers won’t work on tables)
Shelves and/or display areas
Telephone (there is a community phone outside for transportation, but you will need one inside to hire employees and to invite other Sims)
An open/closed sign
Toilets for customers (may add another one for employees that locks)
A lockable work area. Based on shop include tools to build, bake, or create
Seating and dining table for customers and employees to use during breaks
Food prep: add a grill, an empty counter and a sink

Have your family buy a shop. (Since I was in a medieval age, the men bought the shops, except the apothecary which was bought by a witch). At this point, don’t increase your funds with any cheats. Your Sims must make do with their $70,000 start up cash. You can always decrease funds if you want a harder challenge.

Remember the highest priority is customer loyalty and master craftsmanship. The owner must be willing to sacrifice family members’ wants to make their shop a success.

The Challenge Playing Guide:
Your family’s task is to live their daily life in the neighborhood while managing a community lot business. (Repeat these steps for each family if you have taken on the extra challenge of opening ten shops)
Send the owner (and other family members if desired) to visit their shop at least once every other day.
Craft, bake, fish, or farm items to sell. Stock shelves with crafted items or buy items from the catalog. Click on the items to set their prices.
Open the shop. Have the owner (and family) work to sell items and serve customers. As the business grows hire employees, gain perks, get good ratings and make some money.
The shop owner must visit and work at the shop at least every other day for a minimum of one hour. The only exception is when the owner has hired a manager for the shop then the owner must call to check on the shop daily.

No matter what, you cannot use any cheats to increase family funds after buying shop.

If any shop gets to a negative five (-5) in business rank points, the family must sell that shop and start over with a new shop.
Before the first generation shop owner dies be sure to pass on their perks to their heirs. This will help the shops to grow and thrive.
If your family becomes very successful, they can build/buy a second shop.
If all family members die, their shop will be sold and you have failed the challenge.

Start young to develop your shop heirs’ needed skills.

Work to achieve your shop related Master Guild Goal. Each shop has a progression of things that can be made or caught as your owners earn badges. [Chocolate requires the cooking career reward so your bakers will need a job in the cooking career in addition to running their shop. Apothecary requires the owner to be a witch/wizard with a cauldron).

I created a chart to help me track each shop. The top list is repeated for each type of merchant.

Shop Type
Novice
Apprentice
Journeyman
Master
Guild Goal

Baker
Berry Pies
Layer Cake
Cheesecake
Baked Alaska
Chocolate

Toymaker
Fire Truck
Clown Box
Kites
Twirl & Spin
Wiggler

Florist
Daisy
Wildflower
Tulip
Roses
Snapdragon

Potter
Vase
Tea Set
Pot
Pitcher
Amphora

Tailor
Teddy Bear
Curtains
Quilt
Clothes
Custom Item

Blacksmith
Hydro Bot
Hover Bot
Sentry Bot
Munchie Bot
Servo

Grocer
Strawberries
Cucumbers
Peppers
Pole Beans
Eggplants

Fishmonger
Large Bass
Jumbo Bass
Catfish
Rainbow Trout
Golden Trout

Apothecary
Plantophic
Witchbegone
Cure Tails
Love Potion
ReNuYu

Perks Used
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-

Year awarded 10 Stars Business Rank

Employee # and Badges that they have

Who was hired as the manager?

Other Awards (Best of Best, Badges, etc)

I couldn't stay away from my Sims, they help my creative side come out! Taking a break from my RV life to take care of family issues, so Sims helps me to unwind. Let me know what you are up to with your Sims so I can check it out!
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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 28th Apr 2015 at 10:34 PM
This sounds like an interesting challenge. I have never played around with OFB, but I might try it when I reach a more advanced era in my ToT.

Check out my ToT neighborhood Hoohoo. Last updated: February 2, 2020
Family Trees
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#3 Old 19th Jul 2015 at 3:51 PM Last edited by cespencer7 : 19th Jul 2015 at 4:02 PM.
If you want to incorporate this challenge into your medieval game, here are some links to the default replacements, recolours and custom content that I used in my game.
https://sites.google.com/site/asims...ent/merchant-cc

Here are two photos of my 2nd generation Medieval Sims (Test of Time Challenge) learning their crafts.
Yanik's Pottery


Lyon's Lights (Candles)

I couldn't stay away from my Sims, they help my creative side come out! Taking a break from my RV life to take care of family issues, so Sims helps me to unwind. Let me know what you are up to with your Sims so I can check it out!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#5 Old 22nd Aug 2015 at 1:05 AM
Quote: Originally posted by PlatinumPlumbbob
Cool challenge! I think I am going to set one up with Antonio Monty of the Monty family in Veronaville. He and his children have moved back into the house of Patrizio and Isabella. The Monty family is exceptionally wealthy, so that may be an unfair advantage over other players that start with CAS Sims.

Never mind. I think I am going to create a CAS and follow the challenge strictly. But I am going to make the challenge harder by forcing the founder to make all the money from scratch. The founder must earn money primarily through the careers, which is interpreted as working for others. When the founder has enough capital to invest in a business, he may buy out the community lot and run it as sole proprietor. Then, he and his offspring must earn their way up to 10 top-ranked businesses.

1. Are aspiration rewards allowed? The elixir of life would be helpful in this to give the founder more time.
2. Can ownership of the businesses be spread out among the family members? Can the founder's spouse own a business and be counted in the 10-business count? What about the children?


I didn't use the elixir of life but I did spread the shop work out among the family members. Everyone works together to make money. I haven't checked, but I think the owner may be the only one who can pass on the perks.

I couldn't stay away from my Sims, they help my creative side come out! Taking a break from my RV life to take care of family issues, so Sims helps me to unwind. Let me know what you are up to with your Sims so I can check it out!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#6 Old 12th Sep 2015 at 10:57 PM
Default Custom Content for Medieval Merchants
Quote: Originally posted by cespencer7
I didn't use the elixir of life but I did spread the shop work out among the family members. Everyone works together to make money. I haven't checked, but I think the owner may be the only one who can pass on the perks.


I am collecting a list of custom content that I used for building medieval themed Sims 2 shops for this challenge. If you know of good custom content, feel free to post the links here and I will add them to my webpage.
https://sites.google.com/site/asims...merry-merchants

I couldn't stay away from my Sims, they help my creative side come out! Taking a break from my RV life to take care of family issues, so Sims helps me to unwind. Let me know what you are up to with your Sims so I can check it out!
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