Sims 3 Legacy Challenge (Reprise)

Due to some serious glitches in my save game, I decided to restart my Sims 3 Legacy. I have the same founder and the same lot in the same town… but I’ve already started doing some things differently.

For an overview of the challenge and its rules, visit the Sims 3 Legacy Challenge website. In short, the challenge is to play for 10 generations without using cheat codes, extending your sims’ lifespans, raising them from the dead, etc. You start with just one sim on a very large empty lot and $1800 starting cash.

I decided to alter some of the rules for my challenge run:

I added a total of 10 days to the “normal” sim lifespan.
I decided that the camera in the founder’s inventory at the start of the game may not be sold.
I added “No Bills Ever,” “Fireproof Homestead,” and “Young Again” to the list of forbidden Lifetime Rewards.
Updated: I set up my own rules governing the traits I choose for sims that are born in-game (instead of requiring them all to be random):
1. They must have the family trait
2. One trait must be from the mother
3. One trait must be from the father
4. One trait must be random
5. I have unrestricted choice of one trait
6. If the sim acquires an additional trait (e.g. from completing a degree) I will keep whichever one is suggested by the game
I’m playing a matriarchal family: I have a female founder and “only female children may become the heir to bring in the next generation.” Males born into the family may (but are not required to) stay to help take care of their nieces and nephews.
My goal is for each heir to have children with whichever unrelated male sim(s) she chooses – without the need for marriage or other committed romantic relationships. (This way I don’t have to take control of non-player characters.) In fact, I’ve chosen “Commitment Issues” as the family trait to support this play style.
I’m going to try to make additions to the legacy house without altering the existing structure. That means existing walls, exterior wall coverings, doors, and windows will remain whenever possible.

I’m inclined to show images depicting how the family and their house has changed over time. That’s what brings me back to play this game over and over and over again: the compression of time.

Founder: Aurora Bonaventura

The founder of my Sims 3 legacy spent her young adulthood climbing the culinary career ladder, making friends throughout Riverview, and developing the diverse skills she needed to earn a partial scholarship to University. She completed a Fine Arts degree with a grade of A, causing her salary to more than double! Now she is a full-fledged adult ready to start her family.

Aurora as a young adult

Legacy House

The legacy house has changed quite a bit. $1800 was just enough to buy the items I considered absolutely essential: a bed, a refrigerator, a chair, and a light source. They furnished a 3×3 hut with a simple door and a tiny window. My sim had $1 left over. For the entire summer she had to travel across town to use the toilet and shower at the gym.

Aurora relaxes in her tiny home.

A view of the whole legacy lot (345 Riverblossom Hills Drive in Riverview). In time the legacy house may come to rival its rather ostentatious neighbors.

In autumn I added a second, larger room to be my sim’s living space, then slowly acquired the items necessary to convert the original hut into a bathroom. It was well into winter before everything was in place.

Aurora eats cereal in the middle of her far more spacious combined living room and bedroom.

Winter Wonderland

She saved over the winter (I can’t imagine anyone doing construction in the snow) so she could add a spacious, state-of-the-art kitchen and upgrade to a queen-sized bed. She was thrilled to finally cook for herself instead of living on cereal!