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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 21st Nov 2021 at 11:29 AM Last edited by Krystal_Masaki : 7th Jan 2022 at 7:08 AM.
Default Virtual Families Legacy Challenge
"There is a tiny world hidden in your computer...
There are little people in here too, lost and in need of adoption.
Oh, look! A big, broken house. Maybe with a little love and hard work it can be made into a dream house.
Come, let's start a family!"


Welcome to The Sims 4 Virtual Families Challenge! This is the first challenge I am posting to Mod The Sims so I hope it will be an enjoyable one.
This is a 5 generation legacy challenge about re-building a broken home. This challenge is inspired by the game Virtual Families 2: Our Dream House and Deligracy's Rags to restoration challenge. There is quite a bit to this challenge so be prepared.

Setting up the game:
-The Lot:
  • Place the "My Virtual Family Home" lot from the gallery. This is a build that I made just for this challenge. You can find it either by searching "My Virtual Family Home" on the gallery, looking up my origin ID (Krystal_Masaki) or by searching the hashtag "Virtualfamilieschallenge"
Warning
To be able to find this lot, you must check the custom content box when searching for it on the gallery! There is no cc in the lot, however, because I use overrides for the plants in my game, the sims automatically marks any of my builds as cc builds. The house itself is a base game build so everyone should be able to access it. The overrides should not get in the way of the build itself or the challenge.
*Optional*
-Build Your own Virtual Family House! Must start with 1 Kitchen, 1 deck/porch into the house, 1 workshop, 1 office, 1 large bathroom.
  • If you choose to build your own lot, within those starting rooms must include the bare minimum and cheapest objects such as:
-Kitchen:
  • Cheap tile floor
  • Cheap tile walls
  • Cheap fridge
  • Cheap stove
  • Cheap trashcan
  • Cheap counters (You can have up to 7)
  • Cheap table and chairs (Must be able to seat at least 5 sims)
-Bathroom:
  • Cheapest toilet
  • cheapest sink (only 1)
  • 1 mirror above the sink
  • toilet paper
  • The "Under the sea clawfoot bathtub and shower"
  • Cheap tile floors and walls
-Workshop:
  • 2 woodworking tables
  • concreat or cork flooring
  • plastered walls (Or cheap walls that make sense for a workshop if you have other packs like eco-living)
  • 2 cheap tables
  • 2 cheap chairs for the tables
-Office:
  • 2 cheap desks
  • 2 cheap computers
  • 2 cheap desk chairs
  • up to 4 cabinets (use the same ones as the kitchen)
  • 1 bookshelf (You can add the small books that fit on top of the counters too for a total of 5 bookshelves)
  • 1 rug
  • 2 wastebaskets beside the desks
-Outside of the house and the deck:
  • you can landscape around the house as much as you like. I suggest making it look overgrown and slowly cleaning it up as the challenge goes along.
  • House must have a double tile entrance
  • House must be painted in stucco wall coverings
  • Have a blue roof
  • choose which windows you want
  • You can add window boxes to the house
  • You CANNOT add railing or fencing around the deck/porch leading into the house but you can add a fence around the house/lot
*If you choose to build your own lot, additional rules are located at the bottom of this thread.*

-Play with lot challenges!
  • If you have cottage living, Play with the simple living challenge. This is a challenge that cannot be taken away.
  • If you have City Living, play with the Quake Zone, Gremlins, Filthy, and Grody lot challenges. You can remove one of these challenges once per generation.
  • If you have challenges from other packs, you can use those too. Pick your own rules for how you'll go about deleting them or keeping them.
  • You can also pick and choose whichever lot traits you want for your lot. There are no rules for lot traits.

-Adopt Your Sim:
  • Create your sim in CAS however you want. The only rule here is you can only have 1 sim.

-Move Your Sim Into The Build:
  • If need be, use "Freerealestate on" to move your sim into the build.
  • Once moved in, set money to 0
  • Lock the doors and put fencing around the rooms where your sim does not have access to just yet.

From this point on I will be referring to the house I have built for the challenge with these photos as a guide. There will be optional messages when prompted for those who choose to not use my build.


General Rules:
  • You can only move 1 sim into the house at the start of the challenge.
  • To upgrade your house, You must pay the bank a fee depending on the upgrade before you can decorate or build anything in it. This fee includes construction and clean-up costs for each upgrade.
  • You cannot renovate or move the starting furniture placed in the yellow marked rooms (i.e the starting bathroom, Kitchen, Office, Workshop, and Deck) Until you unlock the ability to do so.
  • You can add furniture to the rooms marked in yellow as long as you have the funds, you just cannot move the starting furniture like the cabinets, office desks, and so on.
  • You can only move a sim into your household after you marry them. You can take their money.
  • All children except for the heir to the house are to be moved out once they hit adulthood or once the previous generation dies off. The game sends them to college at this point but you can choose what you want to do with them.
  • You can have as many children as you want for each generation.
  • If the current generation is having trouble conceiving, you can pay 4000 simoleons to the bank to adopt a child.
  • You can hire services like the gardener, maid, and butler at any time once you pay 1000 simoleons to the bank to unlock them.
  • If a sim goes to the hospital, you must pay 1000 simoleons to the bank each trip.
  • Your sim can have any career they choose, but they cannot change that career unless they pay 1400 simoleons to the bank and they must start at level 1 in the new career.
  • The next generation starts the instant the previous one dies. You cannot unlock anything for the next generation until they pass away.
  • Keep the money the previous generation gained. If they die with 200 simoleons, you keep the 200 simoleons.
  • Only the current generation can get jobs and bring income into the house. This also means people of the next generation cannot sell things like artworks or woodworking items to contribute to the household income.
  • If any money is made when cleaning up the house then you must subtract that money from your funds.
  • If you have seasons installed and father winter gives you a gift, you must sell the gift if the current generation has yet to unlock that object.
  • You cannot add additional furniture to the house unless the challenge says it has been unlocked. An example is adding the thermostat or a smoke detector to your house during generation 1 when these objects are not unlocked until generation 4.
  • The challenge ends once the house has been restored in generation 5 (A win) or the current generation dies off and no heirs are left to take over (A lost).
  • When building the addons to the house (i.e the west utility room or deck expansions) Use the money that is to be paid to the bank to build these expansions first. This only includes the basic walls (or cheap fencing), cheap wallpaper, cheap flooring, and cheap doors. If there is money left over from the initial bank payment, delete that from your household funds.
  • Do not remodel the outside of the house at all until you have bought all of the upgrades to the house! (Does not include remodels of the starting rooms).

*Optional Additions to the rules*
  • Play on short lifespan.
  • Play with mods to make the game harder like SNB Bills or the 50% less salary mods.
  • Finish a collection. Virtual Families lets you collect things like fossils, coins, bottle caps, and nature items in the actual game so how about doing a collection per generation for an extra challenge?

-Generation 1
Finally, time to start the actual challenge. once you've read through everything above you can slowly but surely remodel this house to its former glory.
To begin, get your little person settled in. Have them clean up the areas where they can go for now, find a job, and maybe go collect a few rocks or fish to sell while you're getting settled into the house for the first night. You still don't have a bed or a couch so it's going to be a long night. Once settled in you're ready for your first steps.
The rules for this generation and the ability to move onto the next generation are as follows:
  • Clean up the house! You cannot be living like this.
  • When getting rid of the laundry piles around the house, put them in a corner in the starter bathroom. You do not have the ability to do laundry this generation.
  • An extra challenge is adding a clothes hamper to the lot when you can afford one. If bought, you can get rid of all of the laundry that was in the house to start but you can't do the laundry that your sim will continuously spond.
  • Get married to add another sim into the household. You can keep as much as the money they have as you want.
  • Have children or pay 4000 simoleons to the bank to adopt. Gotta start getting the next generation going somehow.
  • You can only buy the cheapest of everything as of right now. This goes for cc users too. If the bed gives you 10 of everything you cannot use it no matter how cheap it is!
  • Many objects are locked for this generation. Meaning you can't buy a lot even if you have the money. A list of objects you can buy include:
- Cheapest couch, double bed, single bed, children's bed, and toddler bed.
- Cheapest toddler potty, toybox, and other child and toddler needs. No highchair, dollhouse, outdoor activities, or toys like the big stuffed bears can be bought this generation. (You can buy a night light)
- A pet! Must be a small mix bread cat or dog and you can only buy them the cheapest bare minimums. no pet bed yet.
- Small tv
- Nothing for a dining room
- 1 cheap dresser
- Cheap artwork like children's posters
- Cheap rugs like a welcome mat for the house
- Most clutter items for the bathroom like soap, toothbrushes, towels. Also includes other clutter items that do not exceed 300 simoleons.
- A guitar
- Fishbowl
- Cheap outdoor grill
- House plants under 100 simoleons can be purchased.
- Objects needed for your career like skill books can be purchased at any time.
- Sims can garden their food if you use the simple living lot challenge however animals cannot be purchased during this gen.
- Grocery services are open throughout the entire challenge.
Anything else will be unlocked in future generations.
  • For a toddler to age up you must either wait for their birthday or max out their potty, communication, and movement skills.
  • For a child to age up you must either wait for their birthday or they have an A in school and have completed their childhood aspiration.
  • For a teen to age up, you must either wait for their birthday or they must have an A in school and have good manners, are responsible, and 1 more attribute from the parenthood pack.
  • To go to the next generation, the current generation must have died off, and you have both paid and built/cleaned up any house renovations available for that generation.
Generation 1 House Renovations:

-Deck Expansion: Expand your outdoor living space.
  • Costs 1500 simoleons.
  • Allows you to now place furniture on your front deck + expansion
  • Do not add fencing around the first-floor deck. If wanted, this ability unlocks during generation 5 once all additional upgrades have been made to the house.

-Rear Deck Expansion: Expand your rear deck and enjoy the outdoors.
  • Costs 700 simoleons to the bank.
  • I know it's kinda pointless since you can't access it but just put a new fence around it for now.

Once all renovations are bought and built and the previous gen has died, you can move on to the next generation.


-Generation 2
Now that you've gotten onto your feet and your parents have passed on, It's your turn to try and make this house a better place to live. All rules from gen 1 still apply but you now get a few more upgrades.
  • Generation 2 unlockables:
- Second cheaper everything!
- Still nothing for dining rooms (Or outdoor dining rooms either)
- Cheap bookshelves under 500 simoleons
- Cheap rugs under 300 simoleons
- House plants under 200 simoleons
- slightly more expensive art under 200 simoleons
- Radios under 400 simoleons are unlocked
- outdoor grills under 800 simoleons are unlocked
- floor lamps are unlocked
- outdoor activities under 300 are unlocked
- clutter items under 500 are unlocked
- Nothing to do laundry with is unlocked this generation.
- Art easel is unlocked
- Vertical plant wall is unlocked. (eco-living)
- Children and toddler objects like slightly better beds, potties, a highchair, crafts table, large teddy bear toys, and other activities under 100 simoleons are unlocked.
- Pets like a tabby cat or a large lab are unlocked but you can still only buy the bare (and cheapest) necessities for them. No pet bed yet.
all other objects are still locked until future generations.
Generation 2 house renovations:
-West Room Renovation: The room is in decent shape, but pest control services are badly needed here.
  • Cost 1000 simoleons to the bank.

-Bedroom 1: Waste hauling and cleanup needed for this bedroom.
  • Costs 3000 simoleons to the bank.

Once all renovations are bought and other requirements are met, You can move onto generation 3.


-Generation 3
Halfway there! At this point in the challenge, you probably have a good footing on how it works. Many exciting things get added during this generation. Once again all rules from generation 1 still apply.
  • Generation 3 unlockables:
- All previous objects under 1,500 simoleons unlocked.
- Dining Room Objects Unlocked!!! Must be under 500 simoleons
- Bars unlocked (under 500 simoleons)
- All laundry objects unlocked! We can finally get rid of all those dirty socks!
- Anything under the comfort category that gives you 5 or 6 of anything is unlocked (Must be under 1,500 simoleons)
- No new outdoor activities are unlocked except for outdoor tables and seating under 1,500 simoleons
- All toddler and children objects under 1,000 simoleons unlocked.
- items like pianoes, chest tables, and telescopes are unlocked.
- Basically, everything unlocked in the previous generation that is under 1,500 simoleons are unlocked in this gen unless said otherwise. (Like children objects)
- New dog and cat breeds like Persian cats and beagle dogs are unlocked. No new objects for pets unlocked yet.
All other objects will be unlocked in future generations.

-Generation 3 House Renovations:

-West Auxiliary/Utility Room: Additional construction is needed for this room.
  • Costs 6000 simoleons to the bank.
  • Can be used as a laundry room.
  • Must have a door leading out to the backyard.

-Large Central Room: Was someone squatting here? Extensive cleanup services needed.
  • Costs 9500 simoleons.

-Kitchen Remodel: Allows you to remodel the kitchen however you wish for the rest of the challenge.
  • Costs 2000 simoleons to the bank.
  • All objects must be under 1500 simoleons during this generation. (Note that this is not a budget, just that each individual kitchen object is under 1500 simoleons. If a fridge costs 2000 then you cannot buy it.)
  • All kitchen appliances are unlocked (Still must be under 1500 simoleons).

-Workshop Remodel:
  • Cost 1500 simoleons to the bank.
  • If you do not want a workshop, this is when you can change the type of room it is.

Once all additional house remodels are bought (i.e utility room and central room), You can now change the downstairs flooring and wallpaper to how you like. This also includes all doors and entrances located downstairs. The only exception is the outdoors wallpaper and flooring + the starter bathroom and office, these are to stay the same unless stated otherwise.
When all requirements are met, you can move on to the next generation.
*Note: You do not need to buy the remodels of the starting rooms to be able to go onto the next generation.*


-Generation 4:
Almost done! The house is really starting to feel like a home now and with so much extra space you can finally breathe better. Just a few more years and this old house will be restored.
All previous rules still apply.
  • Generation 4 Unlockables:
-All previous unlockables under 3000 simoleons are unlocked.
-All pets and pet objects under 3000 simoleons unlocked.
-All comfort items under 3000 simoleons unlocked.
-All indoor children objects unlocked under 3000 simoleons.
-All outdoor activities under 3000 simoleons unlocked.
-No pools can be built.
-All skill objects under 3000 simoleons unlocked
-All Kitchen category objects (Except counters, plants, and misc. decore) are unlocked regardless of the price.
-All dining room category objects (Except for anything in sculptures, wall decore, misc. decore, and plants) are unlocked regardless of price.
-Items mentioned as an exception above must follow the 3000 simoleon rule.
-You can now add alarms like smoke detectors, sprinklers, and heating if you have seasons into the house.
-All office category objects under 3000 simoleons are unlocked
-All bathroom category objects under 3000 simoleons are unlocked.
All other objects are still locked until future generations.

-Generation 4 House Renovations:

-Bedroom 2: This bedroom construction was never finished.
  • Costs 15000 simoleons to the bank.
  • Do not change the wallpaper or flooring in this room if you are using my build.

-Bathroom 2: A bathroom could be added here to complement the adjacent bedroom.
  • Costs 9500 simoleons to the bank.
  • Do not change the wallpaper or flooring in this room if you are using my build.

-Office Renovation: You can now renovate the starting home office![/list]
  • Costs 1500 simoleons to the bank.
  • Unlocks the ability to change the wallpaper and flooring in this room.
  • Unlocks the ability to renovate and decorate the starter office whenever you please.

-Bathroom Renovations: You can now renovate the starter bathroom!
  • Costs 1500 simoleons to the bank.
  • Unlocks the ability to change the wallpaper and flooring in this room.
  • Unlocks the ability to renovate and decorate the starter bathroom whenever you wish.

Once all requirements are met and house add-ons are bought, you can move on to the next generation.
*Note: You do not need to buy the starter bathroom or office renovations to move onto the next generation.*


-Generation 5
Last Generation! You and your entire family have worked so hard to rebuild this house to its former glory and you are almost done. Strap in because you're not finished yet. This will be the most expensive generation yet.
  • Generation 5 unlockables:
-Pools! You can add a pool if you wish.
-All build/buy objects are unlocked regardless of the price.
-If the lot is big enough, now you can purchase animal sheds and chicken coops plus bunny dens and the bird tree. (Country Living)

-Generation 5 House Renovations:

-Small Central Room: Water damage everywhere. Needs new floors, ceilings, walls... everything.
  • Costs 35000 simoleons to the bank.
  • *Optional* Before the start of the challenge, put a bunch of sinks in the room and use testing cheats to break them, let the water run, and cause the water damage, then delete the sinks.

-Large North Room: Fire damage has devastated this huge north room, which needs extensive repairs.
  • Costs 45000 simoleons to the bank.
  • *Optional* For more realism, before the start of the challenge, cause a large fire inside of this room.

-Bathroom 3: An unfinished bathroom. This room could also be used as a small office or another room, it's all up to you.
  • Costs 9500 simoleons to the bank.
  • Since this is an extra room, you get to decide if you keep it as a bathroom or change it into something else.

Once all of the above add-ons are bought, you can then change the wallpaper and flooring in the upstairs part of the house. You can also now change and renovate how the outside of the house looks too! Finally, after 5 generations you have the freedom to change this house to whatever you wish. The only rule left is to not change the layout of the house. Treat it as a shell challenge.

After 5 generations this old house has been turned into a glorious home. You've completed the challenge! From this point on you can either play through some more generations or start over again in a new save file. After your house is completely rebuilt, I'd like to see how you re-did them. Upload your build to the gallery under the hashtag Virtualfamilieschallenge.
The rest of this thread includes optional steps for those who chose to build their own house vs. using the one I had built.

-Build your own house optional rules:
  • When building your own house, the number of simoleons paid to the bank for the pre-built house will be the budget you get to build said corresponding room.
  • This budget can include the cost of building the actual walls, adding a door, some wallpaper, and flooring.
  • *Optional* The budget for each room can also include the budget you get for the furniture on top of the cost to build the room itself.
  • Once you have built at least the basic structure and added wallpaper and flooring, delete the remaining amount of the budget from your funds.
  • Once the room has been built, you CANNOT change the layout of your house. Where you build it is where it stays.
Screenshots
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Test Subject
#2 Old 4th Jan 2022 at 11:01 PM
This sounds so interesting... so, every now and then, I'll play this! I really do want to know if you're able to grow fruits during generation one because I do have cottage living, and the simple living means... uh, how do I make my food?
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 7th Jan 2022 at 6:34 AM Last edited by Krystal_Masaki : 7th Jan 2022 at 7:10 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by underneaththetales
This sounds so interesting... so, every now and then, I'll play this! I really do want to know if you're able to grow fruits during generation one because I do have cottage living, and the simple living means... uh, how do I make my food?

Yes! You can definitely grow any and all foods that your sim's skill allows. You cannot have animals until gen 5 since those are simply too expensive yet (and I have no idea if the lot can even allow the space needed for animals) so things like eggs, milk, meat, stuff like that will need to be obtained through grocery delivery (or wandering hands can snatch some from "distant neighbors") which is unlocked for the entire challenge from the beginning. (If you also have the eco-living pack then in gen 2 you can buy the vertical Planter and have the "meat wall" plant if you have the option unlocked.)
Test Subject
Original Poster
#4 Old 7th Jan 2022 at 6:52 AM
Default Known Issues with the lot
Some issues may occur when placing the lot These include: terrain paint textures not spawning in correctly when placed from the gallery (Like how there are bricks and a patio in the shape of a circle in the backyard) to fix this just replace it with a brick pattern of your choice in the game, use the photo's provided to see where the paint was supposed to be at. Upstairs rooms that have water or fire damage sometimes spawn with or without the damage in the house, this isn't a huge issue, just an aesthetic preference, to fix just spawn a bunch of broken sinks to add water damage and set off a few fires for the fire damage, or do nothing, your choice. Plants from the yard disappear when placed from the gallery, again either choose to keep them as is or just replace them. Routing issues or being unable to use an item (Like one of the computers on the desk) some fixes you can do is either move the desk slightly or flat out delete and put back the same desk and computer set up, this applies to all of the other objects that may break for some reason but so far I only know of a slight issue with a sim trying to use one of the computers.
If there are any more issues you encounter with the house please add them to the post with a possible solution to fix it or just a question on what to do if said issue occurs.
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