I don’t dabbled with Real-Time Strategy games, so I’m afraid this contest is over my head. To those who do you may want to continue reading or head on over to CrispyGamer for the full scoop!
If you’re up to the task, drop Mr. Boomturtle into a fresh copy of Sunset Valley and play him either until he dies, or until midnight of his 100th day of life (he’s currently 74 days old). At that point, note his total number of Lifetime Happiness points. That’s your score.
The goal is simple. Do whatever it takes to earn Happiness points for Mr. Boomturtle. A few rules:
1. You have to use the naked copy of Sunset Valley as it ships with the game. No resorting to your own Sims, and no buying anything from the store. You can’t get a Prius or deck him out with fancy clothes and hairstyles bought with real money. You can’t drop him into Riverview. You can’t surround him with rich, generous neighbors.
2. You cannot mess around with Mr. Boomturtle from the Edit Town menu. In other words, no fair merging his household with the Landsgraab household to take advantage of their money. And no using the cheat codes, of course. I’m watching you.
3. This is not a poverty challenge! You may freely use the Buy and Build modes. Amass and spend wealth. Gatsby it up as much as you can! Right off the bat, consider going into the Build mode to cut a few windows into Mr. Boomturtle’s house, or buy him a few lamps. Given that Mr. Boomturtle is cowardly, he’s going to have an Afraid of the Dark moodlet until you get some light into his house. You might want to put a door on the bathroom. Feel free to adjust the godawful coloring scheme or lay some nice tile. You’ll see that he’s not terribly happy about the naked walls. Do you dare spend your early money on wallpaper? Mr. Boomturtle isn’t flush with cash.
4. You have to play “Iron Man.” That is to say, no reloading if something happens that you don’t like. Given Mr. Boomturtle’s unfortunate collection of traits, you can expect the unexpected.
5. You can spend your Lifetime Happiness points on Lifetime Rewards, but keep in mind that you’re spending your score. Given Mr. Boomturtle’s limited time, I can’t imagine any of the Lifetime Rewards are going to be worth the cost. But it’s your call.
6. You have through Friday, June 19 to submit your final score. Save your game at midnight on Day 100 or on the occasion of Mr. Boomturtle’s death. Upload it and send me a message on the Sims 3 community site (my name there is “tomchick”). I’d love to know a bit about how you managed your score, and screenshots are always welcome, but they’re not mandatory. This is not a bunch of pansy storytelling AAR silliness! This is a manly, results-oriented Sims 3 RTS challenge.
