TS4 Living Off the Grid Challenge- Specialist!

When we left off Flora had finally harvested and planted the elusive cow berry completing the gardening part of the challenge.  She spends the rest of the day talking to the cowplant until bedtime.

In the morning the baby cowplant has sprouted!

Flora tends her needs and then the garden as usual then goes fishing.

She finishes off the "fish for 100 hours" part of her aspiration and completes the Angling Ace aspiration!  She is only 5 days into adulthood.  I think all in all she did good with this challenge.  I switch her over to The Curator aspiration.  The challenge creator Recipe_Simmer mentioned that it might be fun to do that one too.  Flora digs up the 2 digsites nearby then she makes some hotdogs.  After selling all of her plants and fish from her inventory she has $16,000 simoleans!  There is no need to worry about making money in this challenge.  The bills are so low.  Flora talks to the cowplant then heads to bed.  She wakes up and tends to her needs and her tiny garden.  She digs up all the digsites I can find in the neighborhood then goes to Sylvan Glade.  I can only find 3 frog logs there.

I send her to the dessert neighborhood where my Runaway Teen Challenge was.  I know where all the digsites and frogs are there.  Then she goes home to up her needs before bedtime.  The next morning the cowplant is full grown!

I love cowplants.  They are one of the coolest things in The Sims 4 in my opinion.

Final score: Specialist- 17,700.  I think I will continue to play Flora with The Curator aspiration because I'm enjoying this challenge so much.  A big thanks to Recipe_Simmer @ Sims 4 Challenges for creating it.

TS4 Living Off the Grid Challenge- The Elusive Cow Berry

**Credit for which plants to graft cuttings to make new plants goes to Carl's Sims 4 Guide.**

I'm sorry this post is so long and doesn't have many pictures.  I was so into playing I played for 4 hours strait trying to get that elusive cow berry!

When we left off Flora had just visited Sylvan Glade.  She got her cherry tree cutting and a bunch of fish while there.  I switched over to the Angling Ace aspiration and bowled then put back into inventory all the fish.  I usually mount them but Flora needs them for fertilizer.  She takes cuttings from a strawberry plant and a snapdragon plant and puts them on daisy and strawberry plants.  Soon she'll have bonsai and dragonfruit.  Then she heads to bed. 

She wakes up in bad shape and tends to her needs.  She trims her bonsai to become focused and hits level 9 gardening!  Then she tends and harvests the garden.  She takes so much time that when she's done it's bedtime again.  She wakes up in dire need of fun so I have her fish.  She completes the 3rd part of the angling ace aspiration.

It's nice having a fishing spot so close to the house.  If you look in the picture you can see her in the top right corner.  She tends to her needs then the garden.  Her needs always seem to be low and there's so much to do!  I get the notification that it will be her birthday soon.  She grafts a lily onto a snapdragon to make an orchid.  Then she maxxed her gardening skill!  She grafts a tulip onto a chrysanthemum for bird of paradise.  She then reads until bedtime.  All she needs now is a cow berry, bird of paradise and orchid.  She wakes up the next morning with her needs all low again.  She has plants to evolve and it drives me crazy waiting for her needs to go up first.  She completes her Freelance Botanist aspiration!!!  Now I don't have to keep switching back and forth between that and Angling Ace.  She fishes for a bit to celebrate and hits level 8 fishing.  The dragonfruit plant is taking forever to reach maturity.  I already know the cowplant will be the plant that keeps me from finishing the challenge on time.  Flora wakes up the next morning and grafts the snapdragon to the dragonfruit plant.  Now it's just waiting for the cow berry.  She only needs that and bird of paradise now.

Today is Flora's birthday, I got the notification.  She tends the garden like always.  There will be no cake to celebrate.  I wait for her to age up and she fishes a bit.  She goes to bed and still no birthday!  I always age up my sims with a cake so I don't know how long it takes.  She wakes up at 2:30 am and talks to her plants.  She harvests the bird of paradise now all she needs is a cow berry.  Then all of the sudden it pops on the screen that she aged up.  How weird.  She's sad about having missed a birthday party.  She has 20 days until aging up again.  I know she won't need them all.  She loses 100 points for each day it takes her to get the cow berry now.

After some thought I decide to sell off most of Flora's garden.  She needs the time to fish.

The box containing the dragonfruit is all that is left.  I'm sad to see the garden go but it takes the entire day to tend it.  Flora wakes up and tends what's left of her garden and then fishes until she's hungry.  She grills hotdogs as always.

This is the first day I subtract points for her not finishing her collection on time.  Her score is 10,900.  She fishes some more and reaches level 9 fishing skill.  Another day starts with no cow berry.  Down to 10,800.  She tends her little garden and fishes until bedtime.  Then the next day comes with no cow berry.  Score = 10,700.  She tends the garden and fishes again.  I check on the dragonfruit plant constantly to see if it's ready to harvest.  She maxxes the fishing skill.  The next day she wakes up to no cow berry.  Down to 10,600 unless it shows up sometime today.  She tends the tiny garden and fishes like every other day.  Then it happens!  The plant is ready to harvest! 

She plants the cow berry, waters and fertilizes it.

My score is now 10,700 since she got it today!  She only has to fish for 9 more hours to reach specialist level by completing the Angling Ace aspiration.  Looks like my next post will be the last for this challenge.

TS4 Living Off the Grid Challenge- This Girl's Not on Fire

**Credit for finding places to take cuttings that I couldn't find is given to Carl's Sims 4 Guide.  Except the cherry tree which I couldn't find and had to google.**

After reading more about grafting I have Flora graft a lemon tree cutting she took onto her apple tree.  It turns back into a tiny plant which she fertilizes and talks to.

She reads for fun for a few hours.

Then she goes to take more cuttings.  First she gets a tomato and onion from the dessert garden area.  Then I send her home because she's hungry.  She now has a basil/tomato and spinach/onion plant.  She fertilizes and talks to them until bedtime.  She wakes up at 1:00am.  She tends her garden in the dark then grills some hotdogs.  She reads for fun then travels to get more cuttings.

She gets a pear and rose but the lily plant is not ready.  The only option is view.  So she fishes in the area for a bit in hopes that the plant will grow some and it does!  The plan works and she gets a lily cutting.  The problem I have next is not knowing which cutting is from which plant.  Which is how I got a plantain/rose plant, a grape/pear plant and a potato/lily plant.  Ugh.  She levels up to 8 gardening skill.  She's very tired by bedtime.  She wakes up at 4am this time but all of her needs are low.  She tends her needs and then the garden.  She harvests a tomato and onion, grafting works!  Yay!  She goes off in search of more plants.  She can only view the plants again so she starts fishing.  Then I get a notification that there is a fire on the lot.  I'm like what the heck?  I look around and Don Lothario has set a grill on fire!

I sit and watch the fire spread while I wait for the cuttings.  Then I realize it's getting late and try to send Flora home.  She can't go home because of the fire!  She knocks on the door and uses their bathroom and bed.  I don't know what else to do.  The fire spreads through the night while Don and Nina just stand outside their front door.

Finally, out of options Flora extinguishes the fire.

She takes her cuttings and gets the heck outta there!  She now has bluebell/blackberry and parsley/tulip plants.  Her needs are all low so she again tends to them and then the garden.  Then it's already time for bed.  She wakes up at 12:30am!  She tends to her needs and evolves some plants then she's off to find the elusive cherry tree.  I cannot find one anywhere.  She goes back to her neighborhood to check inside the special tree.

She enters Sylvan Glade and I find a cherry tree that's not ready yet so she fishes for several hours.  She catches a pomagranate!  What luck!  Finally the cherry tree is ready.

She goes home and plants the pomegranate and grafts the cherry tree completing the 3rd part of her Freelance Botanist aspiration.  She has 6 days until she ages to adult and has only found 18 of the 30 plants needed for the challenge.  The rest are plants made from grafting which will take time so I have no doubt she'll be into adulthood when she completes the challenge.  I'm a bit bummed out about that.  It's -100 points for every day into adulthood and I still have to complete the Angling Ace aspiration if I want to get specialist or legendary.

TS4 Living Off the Grid Challenge- Struggles with Foliage

After my last post I thought about it and decided that Flora's garden is too big.  Especially since she hasn't found all of the different plants yet.  So instead of 2 of each plant I cut it down to 1 of each plant.  Here's the before and after:

Sorry the pics are so dark.  I did it while Flora was sleeping.  Flora starts her day off grilling hotdogs, evolves 2 plants and weeds & waters the rest.  She reached level 6 in gardening.  I decide today she will find some new plants, hopefully.  I go to the area my Runaway Teen Challenge was at.  There is a little garden there.  None of the plants are harvestable!

 
I have her check other places that I know have little gardens too.  None of them are harvestable.  She comes home empty-handed and almost misses her bedtime.  When she wakes up most of her plants are ready to evolve.  She evolves her plants, cleans her grill and grills some hotdogs.  She has to be getting bored of hotdogs.  She talks to her plants for social.

She fishes for fertilizer and fun.  She's level 4 in fishing now and has completed the 1st part of the Angling Ace aspiration.  She tends her garden and then it's time for bed again.  When she wakes up she fishes some more.  She still has plants that need fertilizer.  Once she's caught the 4 fish she needs for fertilizer she uses the outhouse and grills some hotdogs.  She has to fix the broken toilet then she fertilizes the remaining plants.

After that she reads for some fun until bedtime.  The days are flying by.  I thought I had a good strategy for this challenge but I'm starting to doubt myself.  The next day she checks on the dessert garden again.  Still nothing can be harvested.  I don't know how I'm going to get all of the plants!  She fishes there for awhile and then heads home.  The bills are delivered.  They are next to nothing with the tiny house.  Flora talks to her plants until bedtime.  The next day she wakes up and takes care of her needs then waters the garden.  She reaches gardening level 7.  She fertilizes the plants that need it and harvests the garden.  Then she visits the desert garden again.  The sage is ready but nothing else.  It gives me hope but after having her check the other gardens nothing else is ready.  Flora has 11 days until she ages to adult.  I don't see how she'll finish in time at this rate. 

I have her fish, she's level 6 in fishing now and has completed the 2nd part of the Angling Ace aspiration.  After some investigation online it turns out the plants I have been waiting for may never be harvestable unless Flora spends a lot of time there.  She can't because she has to tend her garden.  One forum poster suggested that a graft could be made from one of these plants to get their fruit.  I wish I had known that all along.  I wasted a lot of time.  Part of me wishes I could start the challenge over but Flora has gotten so far I'm going to stick with it.  One thing's for sure I'll be a gardening pro by the end of this challenge!

TS4 Living Off the Grid Challenge- I Think the Garden is Too Big!

Flora buys starter packs of flowers, fruits, herbs and vegetables.  She plants 2 of each type. 

Then she waters them all completing the 1st part of her aspiration.

Then she prunes a bonsai tree.

She has just enough time left to grill some hotdogs, use the outhouse and it's off to bed.  7:30 comes quick!  She's awake at 2:00am and the hotdogs are still good so I have her eat some.  Since the plants don't need anything yet I have her fish for fun.  She can use the fish as fertilizer later.  Her social is low so I have her stop a lady jogger and chat.

Then she weeds and waters her plants.  This takes a long time.  I scope out the neighborhood and find plants for her to harvest.

She fishes again but it doesn't help much with her fun and it's time to go home and cook more hotdogs.  She barely makes it to bed by 7:30.  She wakes up at 4:00am this time.  I have her eat leftover hotdogs then use the outhouse.  By then it's light so she reads for fun.  She plants some potatoes, snapdragon and strawberries that she harvested the day before.  Her social gets low again so I have her flag someone down.  I don't notice how late it is until it's too late to cook.  She goes to bed hungry.  She wakes up at 3:00am and grills more hotdogs.  A bunch of her plants are ready to evolve which is exciting.  She does that and then it's back to weeding and watering.  I think I made her garden too big.  She has to stop with her garden to read for fun.  I wish gardening didn't bring down fun so much.  She tries to finish with the garden but it's time for bed already.  She wakes up at 2:00am with all her needs low.  Finally she gets to the garden and completes the 2nd part of her Freelance Botanist aspiration.  The goals now are hard.  At least she can talk to her plants for social.  (Sorry there aren't more pics but it was so repetitive it seemed pointless.)

TS4 Living Off the Grid Challenge- Starting Out

For more information about the Living Off the Grid Challenge stop by Sims 4 Challenges Rules.

I found this challenge while looking through them on the Sims 4 forums.  It sounded different and I figured even a terrible builder like myself can build a house for this challenge!  Basically you have no electricity.  So no stove, fridge, computer, ect.  So after reading and re-reading the rules I made my sim and built her a house.  I haven't actually started the challenge itself yet. 

My sim for this challenge is named Flora Fauna.  LOL  She loves the outdoors and is a cheerful loner.  Her goal in life is to be a Freelance Botanist.  She'd also like to be an Angling Ace.  But first she'll concentrate on her plants.  When she can fertilize she'll start fishing I think.  Luckily there is a fishing spot right in her backyard!

As I said before I'm not much of a builder but I think I did okay with the house.  I started putting in lighting before I remembered no electricity.  Oops!  So here's her house from a couple of different angles.

She has a little porch out front.  The inside has a small living room where she can read for fun.  She has a small bedroom with a single bed and some plants.  Outside is the outhouse with the cheapest toilet and shower.  (I bet she'll be fixing those a lot)  There's also a grill and picnic table next to the outhouse.  She has 6 garden boxes and 3 bonsai trees.  All that only took up about half the lot, lol.  I'm looking forward to starting this challenge and am trying to think of a strategy so that she can finish it as quickly as possible and get me more points!  There are 4 levels of this challenge and I hope to finish the fishing aspiration as well to get one of the higher levels.

TS4 Roleplay Challenge- Day 7

Post 1: Roleplay Challenge  

I'm not sure why the Roleplay Challenge posts changed order.  My blog messed up somehow.  Luckily I have them titled by days so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.  Today is Day 7!  Yesenia is our lucky sim so we'll be following her whims all day while Makayla is our unlucky sim so she will be on cleaning duty and not skill during skill time.  Makayla and Ana are up early needing the restroom and neither goes back to bed.  Instead they end up staying up playing video games on the 2 computers.  Yesenia's 1st whim is to tell a joke so she tess one at breakfast to Lexie.

 Then she wants to meet someone new so I send her to the neighboring park where she meets this guy.

She next wants to chat on the phone so I have her call someone and then she wants to catch 3 fish.  This could take awhile.

After catching 3 fish she wants to fish for an hour so she continues fishing.  Then she wants to take a nap because she's lazy so I send her to nap on the couch since I'm not sure which bed is hers.

After her nap it's time for the daily activity.  They roll visit the museum.  Once they get to the museum Yesenia wants to be friendly with Addyson.

The ladies just roam the museum and talk to each other.  Nothing exciting happens and Yesenia only has fishing whims.  They come home for dinner and free will then at 11:00 it is time to tally everyone's points for the day.  Kayla is still in lead but Addyson and Yesenia aren't too far behind.  One reason is because Kayla had the worst plumbob today.  She will be tomorrow's unlucky sim.  Makayla will be tomorrow's lucky sim.

Kayla- pts 106

Addyson- pts 91

Yesenia- pts 90

Lexie- pts 78

Ana- pts 74

Makayla- pts 72

Diana- pts 60

Julia- pts 41

TS4 Roleplay Challenge- Day 4

Post 1: Roleplay Challenge 

Day 4 scores:

1. Lexie- 46pts

2. Addyson- 55pts

3. Yesenia- 48pts

4. Makayla- 45pts

5. Julia- 25pts

6. Diana- 38pts

7. Kayla- 69pts

8. Ana- 44pts

Kayla has the lead and she's tomorrow's lucky sim that's not good for the rest of the house!

 Diana and Lexie at the infamous coffee pot.

 Yesenia is kinda boring for a lucky sim.  At first all she wanted to do was catch fish...

 ...then she wanted to be mischievious to Addyson and call someone on the phone...

...and take a nap.  Yesenia you're pretty boring for a lucky sim!

 

 Today's activity rolled library again.  Here's all the ladies trooping in.

 Tomorrow's unlucky sim is Lexie.  Does it have anything to do with that coffee pot?

 Tomorrow's lucky sim is Kayla.  Looks like gardening tomorrow.

(sorry for the lousy shot I guess there's bad lighting in that room)