2015 Challenge Tournament Overview

[MissZoef]

When I encounter that bug I just restart my game. This seems to work every time so far.

[ClayMask]

Although most are, there are some things not fixed by restarting the game.  Be careful when repairing you game, though.  It reset my achievements when I did it.  To me it was intuitive that repairing my game would be allowed.

[Metropolis Man]

Although most are, there are some things not fixed by restarting the game.  Be careful when repairing you game, though.  It reset my achievements when I did it.  To me it was intuitive that repairing my game would be allowed.

Absolutely. No one needs to ask permission to do so.

[Shewolf13]

I may be overstepping my bounds, but I was wondering if it would be possible to have a list of known bugs (mostly for things like the aspirations) and a fix that is challenge approved?  I know these things are supposed to be on a case by case basis but I have seen so many issues with the aspirations (whether completing before they are done or not completing when they are) that it seems it might be more efficient to make a list of the issues as well as approved solutions.  I apologize if I overstep anything, just thought I'd throw it out there to see what the team says.

[Deklitch]

Thanks all for your assistance and/or suggestions. I'll try those things to see if it makes a positive difference to my gameplay experience.

Dek

[Nutella]

@Sheworlf13
I have a list of aspiration bugs on the baby boomer page, the premature completion bug.  As for those aspiration bug that won't complete even after you finish the requirement, we are just asking players to PM the team so we can approve it case by case basis, the fix for this issue is mostly using the aspiration milestone cheat.  Since it is a cheat, we like players to PM us instead of just randomly using it at will.  I am afraid if we put down "milestone cheat" approved, some players may abuse it (even if they miss something on the aspiration and did not complete it actually, all the while thinking they did).

Also EA changes the game a lot, sometimes aspiration bugs changes with the patch.  If EA comes out with a patch tomorrow, who knows what might change. 

[CynKuy]

My Sim had a whim to plant something while on a non-home lot. To my surprise, I was able to plant while in live mode. Would this be considered editing a non-home lot? 

[Metropolis Man]

The team went back and forth and back and forth, so I finally decided to go with the simplest solution on a newly discovered potential exploit:

The Curator Aspiration - effective for March 26 events and later this Aspiration is banned due to a potential inventory exploit.

If you need more detail than what we are giving here, then PM the team. Otherwise, just never choose that Aspiration until a fix comes.

[AprilRose]

I’m really excited to find a website like this as well as a challenge tournament. I had been gone from the sims 2 and started up again play sims 4. I do have one question about the tournament. I'm not very bright at things like this. How do we do the score, do we figure out the score our selves and just leave a comment on the challenge.

[Nutella]

Welcome to our Forum, @AprilRose.  Yes, you figure out the score and leave a comment on the challenge post.  Every challenge is scored differently, and it will be posted on the challenge rules page individually.  If you are unsure of how to score your results, please PM the challenge team and we will help you out. 

[ladybugnd]

I know we can practice before a challenge starts, but can we do a practice run once the start date has passed, and then begin our scoring file a couple weeks in?
For example, can I start a practice file for Collecting tomorrow 3/26 and finish it in a week or two, and then start my actual scoring file in mid-April?
Also, can we do more than one practice run?

<didn't do so hot for my first challenge, but had lots of fun>

Thanks bunches!

[Metropolis Man]

I know we can practice before a challenge starts, but can we do a practice run once the start date has passed, and then begin our scoring file a couple weeks in?
For example, can I start a practice file for Collecting tomorrow 3/26 and finish it in a week or two, and then start my actual scoring file in mid-April?
Also, can we do more than one practice run?

<didn't do so hot for my first challenge, but had lots of fun>

Thanks bunches!

You can definitely do more than one practice run of any event, and as long as you submit your final score by the closing date you're fine.

[Metropolis Man]

The Curator Aspiration - effective for March 26 events and later this Aspiration is banned due to a potential inventory exploit.

The team has been quite busy as of late discussing this whole issue (and my thanks to Tixxis and ClayMask for joining in the discussion). Here's the bottom line: there is an exploit that exists involving moving things in and out of inventory. It has a big impact not only on the Curator Aspiration, but also the Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration - both of these Aspirations have milestones containing "find x items" those kinds of things. So, what happens is let's say you have a crystal in your inventory - you left click the crystal, drag it a bit as if you were removing it and then place it back in. Bingo...the game now thinks you found another crystal.

So, this has a huge impact on the Aspirations because you can actually make progress on those various "find x items" milestones assuming you have one of the required items to begin with. This exploit also impacts Whims that fire regularly depending on a trait you may have or an Aspiration.

Here's what the team finally decided: The Tournament has always focused on honesty. You know you should not do these actions in the game. It's an exploit, and EA has it on their bug list. So, we have decided to remove the Aspiration ban from the General Rules - you are free to pursue it - just do it legit. Now everyone knows what's up, so just play nicely and steer clear of this exploit.

Thanks, everyone.

[MarianT]

On the Curator Aspiration exploit, here's a question -- what if you've already found the items, but you did it at an earlier level? I'm thinking mainly of the requirement to get 15 insects in Outdoor Enthusiast. If you have 15 (or more) insects in your inventory, can you move them out and move them back in again? Or is it necessary to go to Granite Falls and catch another 15?

[Metropolis Man]

On the Curator Aspiration exploit, here's a question -- what if you've already found the items, but you did it at an earlier level? I'm thinking mainly of the requirement to get 15 insects in Outdoor Enthusiast. If you have 15 (or more) insects in your inventory, can you move them out and move them back in again? Or is it necessary to go to Granite Falls and catch another 15?

That's a tough one. Part of me say no because you'd be doing exactly what we're asking you not to do . And then we'd have to make yet another exception and write it out. But, the other part of me says - why not? Your Sim did the work already and found those insects. Let's see what others say.