The Sims 4 Immortal Dynasty Challenge

[Whirligig]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking around this board for a while and finally decided to bite the bullet and try my hand at an Immortal Dynasty challenge last night. I do have a couple of questions.

Choose New Game and create a single Young Adult. Gender, Aspiration, and Traits are all player choice (except Bodybuilder — this Aspiration is banned for all household members).

• Non-Immortal household members (spouses, spare children, and other live-ins) are not tied to the same restrictions as immortals. They are free to choose any careers, skills, etc.

So if a sim should happen to move in, say a potential spouse, with the bodybuilder aspiration, we have to change their aspiration immediately? Is that correct? I was wondering, though, since it also said that they aren't subject to the same restrictions. Also there was this post that threw me before I realized that cheats aren't required to change the Aspiration the same way they were in TS2. (I was going to ask if one could use the cheat to select an aspiration other than bodybuilder).

Can you do cas.fulleditmode and change the aspirations of a Sim in your household, not your founder or heir?  Like suppose you wind up with an evil Sim and really don't want to have to go around insulting people?  Is changing their personalities allowed?

No this is definitly not allowed. That cheat may only be used if you should end up with a boy as your 7th heir.

Also, I started a new game folder (you know how you can rename the "The Sims 4" folder in my documents, and the game generates a new one?) so that I would play my Dynasty without mods, but still have mods for my other households. I immediately missed the "no intro" mod - is that one allowed? It doesn't effect gameplay in the slightest, just skips the maxis logo and the video and goes straight into launching the game.

Additionally, would you be able to clarify how it works for generation 7 and 8? As in, explain more clearly why the 7th generation heir needs to be female, and that the 8th generation's father is the only case where both parents won't be living in the dynasty house. I picked up on that going through the thread, but when I initially read the rules that minor detail was lost on me.

On that note, would a mod permitting same-sex-couples to naturally have children together be permitted? I don't know if/that one exists for TS4 yet, but I know I have one in the Sims 2 (I didn't spend much time on TS3, and I still play TS2 quite regularly).

(As you may be able to tell, one of the biggest challenges for me will be playing without mods. :-P )

[smartburn]

I can't address the bodybuilder aspiration question, and a mod will have to answer the "no intro" mod question, however I'll take a stab at the rest...

Additionally, would you be able to clarify how it works for generation 7 and 8? As in, explain more clearly why the 7th generation heir needs to be female, and that the 8th generation's father is the only case where both parents won't be living in the dynasty house. I picked up on that going through the thread, but when I initially read the rules that minor detail was lost on me.

The maximum number of sims you can have in a household without mods is 8, and since the goal is to have 8 immortals, generation 7 must be the one actually giving birth to generation 8 because there is no room to have both the non-immortal parent and the final heir in the household at the same time. The cheat is necessary because in The Sims 3, it was possible to influence gender by eating certain types of fruit but apparently there is no similar mechanism currently in The Sims 4. Since you don't have any control over the baby's gender and generation 7 must be female to continue the dynasty line, the CAS cheat is allowed to be used only for gender-bending purposes and nothing else.

On that note, would a mod permitting same-sex-couples to naturally have children together be permitted? I don't know if/that one exists for TS4 yet, but I know I have one in the Sims 2 (I didn't spend much time on TS3, and I still play TS2 quite regularly).

I don't have Sims 4 yet, but I'd bet a million simoleons that the answer is no, just as all mods that actively affect gameplay are banned for all challenges on this site, including this dynasty, no matter how much variety you'd get in the gene pool that way, lol.

[Zyffyr]

So if a sim should happen to move in, say a potential spouse, with the bodybuilder aspiration, we have to change their aspiration immediately? Is that correct? I was wondering, though, since it also said that they aren't subject to the same restrictions. Also there was this post that threw me before I realized that cheats aren't required to change the Aspiration the same way they were in TS2. (I was going to ask if one could use the cheat to select an aspiration other than bodybuilder).

The issue with Bodybuilder is that completing it grants the Long Life trait, which makes the Sim in question live longer. As any non-Ambrosia life extension is banned, you aren't allowed to complete it. I am, obviously, not in any position to give an official answer but completing PART of it really shouldn't be an issue at all. Since changing aspirations around is utterly without cost, you really should be swapping around regularly to match whatever task they are working on at the moment anyway.

[Whirligig]

The maximum number of sims you can have in a household without mods is 8, and since the goal is to have 8 immortals, generation 7 must be the one actually giving birth to generation 8 because there is no room to have both the non-immortal parent and the final heir in the household at the same time. The cheat is necessary because in The Sims 3, it was possible to influence gender by eating certain types of fruit but apparently there is no similar mechanism currently in The Sims 4. Since you don't have any control over the baby's gender and generation 7 must be female to continue the dynasty line, the CAS cheat is allowed to be used only for gender-bending purposes and nothing else.

I got that, sorry it wasn't clear. I was just asking that someone from the team clarify/explain it better in the first post. I remember reading the rules for the sims 3 version a while back and it was well-explained there why the 7th heir had to be female. This initial post lacked any explanation and I found it somewhere else on page 5 of the discussion (maybe not page 5, but you know what I mean).

And bummer about the same-sex partners thing. I kind of figured the answer would be no, but no harm in asking, right?

The issue with Bodybuilder is that completing it grants the Long Life trait, which makes the Sim in question live longer. As any non-Ambrosia life extension is banned, you aren't allowed to complete it. I am, obviously, not in any position to give an official answer but completing PART of it really shouldn't be an issue at all. Since changing aspirations around is utterly without cost, you really should be swapping around regularly to match whatever task they are working on at the moment anyway.

Yeah, I sort of got halfway through writing my post before I realized that cheating isn't necessary to change aspirations because it can, as you said, be done easily and without cost in this game.

Thanks for your help, you two.

[Metropolis Man]

I got that, sorry it wasn't clear. I was just asking that someone from the team clarify/explain it better in the first post.

Well, from my perspective as the writer of the rules, I want things to be as short and sweet as possible because shorter rule sets are more inviting. Almost everything could potentially be "explained" more right in the rules - in other words, not just tell a player that you cannot do x, but here's the reason. But, then the rule set would be twice or three times as long. It's going to get longer, that's for sure. Especially with expansions coming - new things to consider, etc.

[Nutella]

So if our Second gen is at deaths door and still needs a promotion before eating ambrosia, grim comes to take them, we can't plead for them?

If you haven't complete your requirement (needs a promotion) and grim comes, your dynasty ends, sorry. 

[sdhoey]

If you haven't complete your requirement (needs a promotion) and grim comes, your dynasty ends, sorry.

I figured as much, I just keep pushing him and hoping he gets it before grim gets him. LOL Don't see it happening. At least Colt did his part. I see a restart soon.

[Nutella]

Added to FAQ page:

Can I use book of life to cure negative moodlets?  Can I use book of life for museum contribution?
-- Yes to both.  You cannot use book of life to extend life, but you can use book of life to cure negative moodlets and you can write book of life and contribute it to the museum for requirement.

[MarianT]

Right now I'm feeling Tense, and I should probably go and talk to myself in the mirror to calm down. I just finished a black-and-white party, in which 3 sims had to listen to classical music at the same time. At one point, I sent the 3 sims under my control to do that, and according to their queues, they were all doing that, but I didn't get credit for it and so only got a silver medal for the party. I also tried having them talk to another person and then did "listen to classical music together", but that didn't register, either. In an earlier birthday party, I had my sims pay numerous compliments to the birthday boy, but the game didn't register enough for that one to get gold either.

I think someone earlier asked about parties where a game glitch prevented you from getting a gold medal, but I didn't see the answer. So, the question is, can you count a party as gold if your sims did what they were supposed to, but it didn't register?

[sdhoey]

Well, back to the beginning Colt. Jace didn't get his last promotion before from grim came. I really thought he would, he was 5 days past his wife dying. Everyday was chance but in the end Grim won.

[Metropolis Man]

I think someone earlier asked about parties where a game glitch prevented you from getting a gold medal, but I didn't see the answer. So, the question is, can you count a party as gold if your sims did what they were supposed to, but it didn't register?

Not as of now. I am am guessing that listening to the music individually is different than listening as a group. Are you doing the "Listen with..." interaction? Keep trying, Marian.

[Nutella]

After the immortals eat Ambrosia, may we place Death Flowers in their inventory in case of an accidental death like in the Sims 3 Immortal Dynasty?

After some discussion, the team decided that you cannot put deathflower in your inventory to prevent accidental death, and you cannot plead to grim either.

Any death to immortal at any stage (pre/post ambrosia) = game over for HOF.

[Rhoxi]

In an earlier birthday party, I had my sims pay numerous compliments to the birthday boy, but the game didn't register enough for that one to get gold either.

I had this issue with a birthday party, too. The solution I found was to use the flirty interaction "compliment appearance." I believe the happy emotion (green) compliments work also. For whatever reason, the standard friendly compliments did not provide credit for the goal.

[MarianT]

Not as of now. I am am guessing that listening to the music individually is different than listening as a group. Are you doing the "Listen with..." interaction? Keep trying, Marian.

That's what I figured <sigh>. But I just got gold for the Incognito party, so only 1 more to go. Thanks, Rhoxi, for the tips about compliments! I was spamming Heartfelt Compliments and Compliment Outfit, but will add Compliment Appearance next time.

[Playalot]

With some items for the museum, some are expensive to make (mixology drinks for example) yet if you go to sell them, they sell for $0. Do we take their value at what they would sell for or as what they cost to make when adding up the museums value?