Inspired by Damion Cormier's SSU career I thought I'd draft a related Challenge (I've never tried to write a Challenge before). This is just a draft; suggestions for improvement welcome. This is a short challenge, that could probably be played through in a sitting or two (or six), rather than an enormous long challenge like Legacy.

"Sleeping Through College" Challenge

The basic aim of the Sleeping Through College Challenge is to graduate from college as well as possible while doing as little academic work as possible. The Challenge involves just a single main Sim, and the rules apply from the moment that Sim enters college to the moment e graduates (or the moment the challenge is failed, whichever comes first). The main Sim may be male or female, and of any aspiration (although certain aspirations may lend themselves more naturally to it), and may come from Create A Student, from moving in a previously-uncontrollable dormie, or from a neighborhood (if the main Sim comes from a neighborhood, the incoming Skills should not have been too egregiously elevated by mods or cheats; use your own judgement). The main Sim may live in any type of college housing, and there may be other controllable Sims living on the same lot subject to the rules below.

Basic rules: No cheats. Specifically, no typing anything on the cheat command line, or using any mods that change the game behavior, with these exceptions: moveObjects may be used to move or delete glitched objects; mods that are solely to prevent or fix nasty obvious game bugs / glitches may be used as required (but if they have other features, those other features may not be used); cheats and mods that have only a visual effect (blur removal, improved lighting models, etc) may be used at will. Aspiration rewards may be used at will, but hacked rewards (buyable, hacked collections, etc) are forbidden. (i.e. pretty much Legacy cheat/mod rules.) Unlike Legacy, you may exit the lot without saving (life is too short), with scoring consequences as described below.

Academic rules: No assignments or term papers or tutoring or research. The main Sim may not work on an assignment at any time (the College / Do Assignment verb may be used, but must be cancelled as soon as the Sim has put down the little assignment book), nor on a thesis, nor do research nor join group research. No other controllable Sim may ever work on an assignment or thesis for the main Sim, or Influence any other Sim to do so. (The main Sim may influence non-controllable Sims to do so at any time without penalty.) No other controllable Sim may Introduce the main Sim to any professor. The main Sim may not ask any professor for tutoring at any time. The main Sim may attend up to three classes (in the entire course of the Challenge, not per term or per year), and any number of final exams, with scoring consequences as described below.

Scoring:

Number of classes attended (entire college career):
none: +1000 points
one: +500 points
two: +0 points
three: -250 points
four or more: FAILURE

Number of assignments or theses worked on:
none: +0 points
one or more: FAILURE

Main Sim from CAS (no incoming skills): +100 points

+100 points for each final exam skipped.

+100 points for each semester (each half of a year) in which the main Sim uses neither "Influence... to do my assignment" nor "Influence... to write my thesis".

Drama bonus: graduate without majoring in anything but Drama: +100 points

Dorm bonus: graduate never having lived in any non-dorm college lot: +100 points

Loner bonus: graduate never having lived in a college lot with another controllable: +100 points

Academic probation: -500 points per incident.

Kicked out of college: FAILURE

Exiting the lot without saving: -100 points per incident, and you must appropriately annotate your score (e. g. "450 points, including a 100 point penalty for exiting without saving that time the dorm burned down").

Graduation:
Summa C Laude: +1500 points
Magna C Laude: +1000 points
C Laude: +750 points
Other: +500 points

(Note that Damion's college career would have failed on several counts, but that knowing what I know now I think I could score 500 or 1000 at least...)

Comments most welcome! I'm sure the points aren't perfectly balanced (I don't actually know what skipping a final does to one's grades, for instance, never having done it...)

DC

Is that 2 classes per term, or 2 classes during the entire college career?

Greg wrote:

Is that 2 classes per term, or 2 classes during the entire college career?

The entire college career. Wouldn't be much of a challenge otherwise... *8)

(I'll clarify the writeup.)

dmchess wrote:

Greg wrote: Is that 2 classes per term, or 2 classes during the entire college career? The entire college career. Wouldn't be much of a challenge otherwise... *8) (I'll clarify the writeup.)

(I also raised the maximum to three, with a medium-sized penalty.)

At least it might give folks something to do with "influence." This is the first time I've heard it being worth anything other than practicing being a jerk.

Greg wrote:

At least it might give folks something to do with "influence." This is the first time I've heard it being worth anything other than practicing being a jerk.

It's also a good way to avoid paying for maid service without wasting valuable study time in cleaning. Of course that might come under "being a jerk". *8)

I'll bet the Challenge could be done without using Influence. Hm, how many points would that be worth...? (Challenge updated with a first guess.)

DC

I've been fiddling with it more, adding various bonuses and explicitly forbidding research (which I'd forgotten to mention). I may actually have to try it myself... *8)

Right! Research would make it even easier than doing assignments because you get the socialization bonus.

The obvious central theme is to get a college degree without ever doing a bit a actual school work.

B'b'but... how do you know what college professors to butter up if you never go to class?

Is romance necessary? Do you get the same school work credit if you just make friends with them?

Greg wrote:

The obvious central theme is to get a college degree without ever doing a bit a actual school work.

Exactly!

Greg wrote:

B'b'but... how do you know what college professors to butter up if you never go to class?

Yeah, going to class zero times would be a real challenge (hence the big bonus). I don't know exactly how it would work, but notice that collaborating with other controllable Sims isn't completely forbidden. (See Justin Danvers getting his first few grade points before attending a single class, at the end of Damion's story.)

Greg wrote:

Is romance necessary? Do you get the same school work credit if you just make friends with them?

The Prima guide claims that daily and lifetime relationship increases with the right professors, romantic or not, are worth grades, but that there's an extra special boost from woohoo. From my own experience I'm not convinced of that last part. So yeah, it might well be possible to do it entirely platonically. (Maybe there should be a bonus for never falling in love with a Prof...)

(And of course there's always grade hacking; another thing I've never tried.)

Well, I have to say this sounds interesting.

I'd give it a go, but I'm not a big fan of challenges. I'd barely got past the first generation of my Legacy family before getting bored with it.

Hacking grades involves either high logic or mechanical points. (Don't remember which). Once you are part of the secret society, it is conceivable that you would never have to go to class at all! But don't push your luck, because you CAN get caught if 1) your skill isn't high enough and 2) you stay at it too long. It might also have to do with your aspiration status.(Like the counterfeiting machine).

Liss wrote:

Hacking grades involves either high logic or mechanical points. (Don't remember which).

Logic, at least according to the Prima guide.

Nihale199 wrote:

Well, I have to say this sounds interesting.

Thanks! I might even try it someday myself. *8)

Nihale199 wrote:

I'd give it a go, but I'm not a big fan of challenges. I'd barely got past the first generation of my Legacy family before getting bored with it.

It should be much shorter (and therefore hopefully less potentially boring) than Legacy (that was part of the idea, anyway).

It does sound much more interesting than the Legacy challenge, which strikes me as more of a way to play the game than an actual challenge.

I'd say this is more like Trollops & Johns than Legacy. Both Sleeping Through College and Trollops & Johns last about the same number of sim days, have a definite end point where you determine your score, and have the central theme of strategically building relationships.

You could even play by the published T&J rules by just modifying how you determine the score.

Greg wrote:

I'd say this is more like Trollops & Johns than Legacy.

Ha, that's great! Don't remember seeing it before. Don't remember seeing any special rule sets / challenges for the original Sims before; are there others? (Tangent!)

DC