CollectionsMicroscope Prints (called over a handyman to mentor my sim in handiness and upgraded the microscope to get these faster);
Space Rocks (from space missions);
Geodes (Sixam);
Aliens (space missions and Sixam);
Experimental food (bought a chef station and hired a chef - can get 4-5 plates per hiring, so have to keep hiring; did this one while working on the "sleep 5 nights in a tent" task because this provided food while not using Rally the Troops and my sim didn't spend time cooking);
Feathers (started with 3 cats, took them to the dog park and finished this in a day);
Frogs (Looking for frogs and breeding - it was helpful that the "Look for frogs" option at the pond started working again);
Insects (oddly, the Bee was the most difficult - she got stung 3 times before she actually caught one).
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My Sims (mostly dig sites, got the last couple at the Flea Market);
Magic Beans (got them from the rare seed packets; the red one is missing - I only had 1 and I used it to get the Forbidden Fruit);
Snowglobes (got them all at the Flea Market, all at one time);
Holiday Cracker Plushies (bought crackers until I got them all);
Voidcritters (bought the packs until I got them all);
Elements (sent extra crystals and metals to the Geo Council until I got them all);
Decorative Eggs (Egg Hunt at Willow Creek Park - fast because there are so many flower bushes all together at the front of the park);
Metals & Crystals (dig sites - spent a day and a half just digging at scientist work location; got some from Flea Market);
Postcards (Pen pals);
Gardening (mostly seed packets; bought Growfruit at Granite Falls, fished up cowplant berry, got UFO fruit from space mission, harvested quill fruit on Sixam, Got Glow Orb and Fang Flower by grafting cuttings with garlic, spent satisfaction points on the money tree seed, Forbidden Fruit from the Mystical Magic Bean Portal Tree, bought pomegranates and Bonsai Buds from the Purchase Gifts option on the phone, bought wolfsbane and plasma fruit on computer, harvested the Granite Falls produce - Toxic Chamomile is missing - I only had 2 and I used them in the Clear Mind Distillation)
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Initial setup and general notes:- Sim Traits: Insider, Loves Outdoors, Cheerful
- Lot: Tranquil Crescent in Newcrest - because there are frogs, dig sites, and 2 fishing sites with a lot of variety of fish
- Starting Lot Traits: Great Soil, Homey, Home Studio
- Seasons: Start in Summer, 28-day season; no rain/thunderstorms; no snow/blizzards, weather does not impact sims
- Buy pile of presents at beginning and take/sneak presents throughout the game - sometimes get collectibles and can sell everything else.
- Join Good Timers (for Rally the Troops); Create Collector club and have the members paint and sell the paintings
- Flea market - go straight to the table that a vendor fills with collectibles, buy what you need, and travel to another lot immediately; come back and a new vendor will have new collectibles. Do this over and over through the Flea Market day to optimize what you get from the Flea Market.
- When exploring space, if the mission is one that doesn’t give something you need, cancel it so rocket will come back quicker.
- Start early on Freelance Botanist - I planted all garlic because they grow so fast
Aspirations:- The Curator - first because it's so fast, so you get quick satisfaction points. Use them on Connections and get job as Scientist. Use Wishing Well to get promotion to Level 5 and invent the cloning machine - use it to clone moodlet solvers, Fungal Infusion Fertilizers and Insect Repellent Liniment
- Outdoor Enthusiast - Complete insect collection while working on the aspiration; sleep the 5 nights in the tent on home lot while working on other collections such as Experimental Food Photos, Postcards, Voidcritters, Plushies, etc.
- Jungle Explorer - buy everything you can from the market vendors (using items on the card challenges can get you good rewards such as crystals and relics); Raise Selvadorada Culture Skill to 5 at the cantina in a club gathering with the skill boosted - do it early so this is already completed when you get to that task and you don't lose time leaving the jungle in order to progress with the aspiration; try to finish Milestone 3 before completing the first temple so that opening the first chest will count toward the Milestone 4 task; high gardening skill is helpful, because if you lose your machete and there aren’t any at the vendor table, you can clear the gateways with your hands faster and more successfully when gardening is high.
- Angling Ace - Fish in club gathering with fishing boosted
- Freelance Botanist - Plant 20 garlic outside in the first couple of days and fertilize with pomegranates (one pom per garlic plant - you can do more, but only the first one gets the quality boost); when you can fertilize again, use poms again - this will get you to the first evolve; put 6 in home inventory (only need 5 but sometimes something goes wrong, so I saved 6 just in case); When can fertilizer again, use poms followed immediately by a Fungal Infusion Fertilizer - this will get you almost to the second evolve. When can fertilize again, use poms - they will always get you to the second evolve (other things would work too, but I stuck with poms because they consistently worked); put 11 ready-to-evolve plants in home inventory until you're on milestone 4 of the aspiration. The other three plants are for the grafting requirement of milestone 3 (I had these from the beginning just in case one or two plants failed to reach the evolve state - so I could be sure to have 10 that did get to that state); plant the cow berry as soon as you get it - if it's grown before Milestone 4 of the aspiration, just put it in home inventory until you need it.
I've tried to cover the main things I did without writing a book, but if anyone has questions - where to find a particular insect or how to breed to get the frog you need or which space missions to cancel - just ask. Of course there's a lot of luck involved but if there's anything I can help with, I'm happy to share what I know.
Thanks to the Challenge Team for a really fun year of challenges! And to all the players who participate, because really, this is so much fun because we're all doing it together.
