Veil's Gardener/Angler/Cook Challenge

Gardenia Completes the GAC Challenge! (Days 44-45)

2009-07-31T12:23:00.014-04:00

Gardenia slept for only a few hours Monday morning--she was too excited about being so close to finishing the Gardener/Angler/Cook Challenge.

Restless, she got out of bed and checked her mail. She was puzzled to find a certificate from a cooking group congratulating her on "knowing all recipes".

A quick check of her skill journal confirmed Gardenia's suspicion that she did not in fact know all recipes--she knew only 93% of them.

"Perhaps by 'all recipes' the cooking people are referring to only those recipes that I've acquired just by increasing my Cooking skill, and not also to the recipes that I have to buy from the bookstore?"

Confused, she returned to bed.

She got up again after several hours, and spent quite a bit of time tending her garden.

"I sure do have a lot of dead Death Fruit plants lately!"

She harvested 3 more money bags, which she sold for $989.

She took a long nap in the late afternoon, so that she would have enough energy to read the last couple of recipes she needed to learn.

On her way to the library, she stopped by the 4 businesses in which she was a partner. She was thrilled to find out that the investment she had made in the theater just the day before had already netted her profits of $3,000!

This, added to her profits from the bookstore,

the grocery,

and the bistro,

together with the $2,199 she got from selling her remaining fish and produce (Gardenia was so certain that she was about to complete the GAC Challenge that she sold everything left in her inventory except for the one Flame Fruit that she carried around to improve her mood),

brought her Household Funds up to $14,928 by early Tuesday morning.

In a very good mood, she went back to the bookstore to purchase the last 2 recipes she needed.

Before 4:00 a.m., she had learned how to make Baked Angel Food Cake,

but she thought she should attend to some of her low needs before tackling the final, difficult recipe--Ambrosia.

Since she had sold all her produce, she had to eat fruit off the trees in Central Park for nourishment.

She showered and used the toilet at the gym before resuming her reading.

Mid-morning Tuesday, she had to take another break for nourishment.

At 10:57 a.m. on Tuesday--Day 45--Gardenia learned the recipe for Ambrosia, and so completed both the "Menu Maven" challenge and the Gardener/Angler/Cook Challenge!

Her score follows:

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Because the Deadline is flexible, Gardenia could have continued playing, but the game crashed and all her files on my hard drive were instantly deleted (both her active file and her backup file). Since I was visiting my Dad at the time, and he doesn't have internet access, and my most recent Carbonite back up was from 2 days prior--which was more than a week in Gardenia time--her progress was just too painful to redo. (I still have that 2-day-old version, so I may catch her up at some point.)

Too bad, because Gardenia--the enthusiastic hard-worker that she is--would probably have scouted around with her Collection Helper, making money hand over fist, till she owned every business in town. She's competitive, and certainly would have liked to break 100,000 with her score.

Things Gardenia sorely regrets not having done: She didn't finish the Omni Plant Challenge. She never found a Life Fruit seed, so didn't have that plant. She wanted to make enough money to buy the beautiful beach house overlooking Sunnyside Strand. She wanted to adopt a baby girl and raise her into a fine gardener, and leave her a comfortable lifestyle.

You, dear readers, may have noticed the "Deadline-While-Elder" entry from the spreadsheet above. That's because, since Gardenia completed the goals on Day 45, she's technically an elder (which happens on Day 42 with the Normal lifespan that's required by the GAC Challenge). Because of a (-nother) glitch in my game, Gardenia didn't age from Young Adult to Adult till Day 24 (instead of Day 21). So--Gardenia being the honest person she is--she didn't try to claim that she had achieved the Goals while still an Adult.

I would love to hear everyone's ideas on scoring and strategy, either by comments here or in the S3 Yahoo group.

Thanks for reading,

Veil

Gardenia: Days 41 - 43

2009-07-30T12:47:00.001-04:00

When she woke up Friday before dawn, Gardenia--her needs high--set out again for the library to try to master the Cooking skill, which was one of the very few requirements she still needed to fulfill for the GAC Challenge. She resumed reading "Cooking Volume 3".

About 5 and a half hours later, Gardenia reached Cooking Level 9 (though she still hadn't finished the book).

"Even with that 'Fast Learner' Lifetime Reward I purchased, it still takes me a really long time to complete these higher skill levels," she said to herself. "I bet someone with the Bookworm trait would do much better. If I ever write a blog about my experience, I'll be sure to pass that idea on."

By late afternoon, she was so tired she had to give up and go home. "This must be the longest book I've ever read!"

She went to sleep just before 5:30 p.m.,

and slept well into the night.

Saturday morning, Gardenia harvested her garden, talked to her plants, and sold 12 money bags for $2,223.

She found that she finally had a few--but only a few--of the Outstanding steaks that she needed for the Omni Plant challenge.

She returned to the library to study Cooking, and just after 7 p.m. on Saturday finally reached Cooking Level 10.

"I still have to learn a few more recipes, though."

On her way home, she stopped at the grocery and sold her extra produce and fish,

for the impressive total of $5,399.

(Gardenia had decided to sell all of the Vampire Fish and Deathfish that she had accumulated, as she had determined that stocking her pond with various types of fish was not worth the trouble, since it took her so long to catch anything at home.)

Gardenia went home, slept for a few hours, then went to the Science Facility early Sunday morning to try to catch the last type of fish that had so far eluded her.

In about an hour, she had caught a Robot Fish,

and so had completed the Amateur Ichthyologist Challenge.

She also caught an old electric guitar, which she sold immediately for $600.

She checked her Lifetime Happiness points, and found that she was back up to 9,592 points.

(Gardenia was saving up her points for the Bookshop Bargainer reward, so that she could get a good discount on the remaining recipes she needed, including the recipe for Ambrosia, which she had heard normally cost $12,000. Gardenia had been hoping for a 20% discount from the bookstore, but so far there hadn't been one.)

She spun a wish to catch an insect,

so used her Collection Helper to find the nearest bug,

and quickly caught an uncommon Rhino Beetle,

netting her 350 Lifetime Happiness points. Since she was already at the Science Facility, she quickly sold the insect, for $132.

Gardenia now had more than $23,000 in family funds, and she elected to invest $18,000 in the theater.

Gardenia knew that partnership profits for every business in Sunset Valley were always paid on Mondays, and she wasn't sure whether investing on Sunday would get her a profit payment as soon as the following day. "I guess we'll see," she mused.

She returned to the library before noon on Sunday, and sat down to read the last recipe in her inventory, Eggs Machiavellian.

Having mastered that, and still having some energy, she went to the bookstore and bought another recipe.

"I sure hate paying $650 for a recipe!" Gardenia needed 4 more expensive recipes, so she was still hoping for either a big sale at the bookstore or to amass enough Lifetime Happiness points that she could get a good discount.

By 4:13 Sunday afternoon, Gardenia had mastered the Tri-Tip Steak recipe,

and had reached 9,933 Lifetime Happiness points. (She needed 10,000 for the Bookshop Bargainer reward she had her eye on.)

Anxious to learn all the recipes required by the GAC Challenge, Gardenia ran to the bookstore to look for new recipes.

The next recipe, for Stuffed Turkey, was priced at $800. Though Gardenia technically had enough money to afford it, she balked at spending that much.

"Oh come on!" she cried. "I'm not going to pay that, and I'm just sure I can earn a discount before too long!"

To increase her Lifetime Happiness points, she went to Central Park and fished, which always made her happy. She caught yet another electric guitar, which she immediately sold, for $600.

She was soon over 10,000 points.

Gardenia then purchased the Bookshop Bargainer reward she needed to make the remaining recipes that she needed relatively affordable.

Gardenia went back to the bookstore, and was delighted to see that the recipe prices had come down considerably.

She returned to the library and learned her new recipe.

She headed home to sleep at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, stopping only at the grocery to sell a few items.

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Join us next time, for the completion of Gardenia's GAC Challenge!

Gardenia: Days 38 - 40

2009-07-29T12:30:00.017-04:00

Gardenia spent the rest of Monday evening fishing,

working on her wish to catch 150 Red Herring.

By the time she packed up her gear, she was up to 111.

"It's going to take me a while to satisfy this wish!"

On her way home she sold her extra produce and fish,

for a total of $891.

On Tuesday, after she harvested her garden,

she spun a couple of easily satisfied wishes:

She fished in her convenient home pond just until she got the 150 Lifetime Happiness points, then sat down in her comfortable armchair and started reading the recipe she had bought for Fruit Parfait.

Unfortunately, Gardenia was so obsessed with her "Perfect Garden" Lifetime Wish that she found herself getting distracted, and looking up from her reading every few minutes to check whether she yet had one more Perfect plant that would achieve her wish.

"This is ridiculous," she told herself. "It's just a matter of time, and sitting here staring at my plants isn't going to speed it up." She decided to go to the library to read.

At the library Gardenia sat down to read Cooking Volume 2, and was surprised how quickly she got through the book.

She got 750 Lifetime Happiness points for satisfying her wish to improve her Cooking skill.

She decided to continue her study.

Gardenia was right to suspect that reading at the library was more efficient than reading at home.

Gardenia was so absorbed in her reading that she lost track of time, and of her needs.

Gardenia went home, but slept for only a couple of hours. As soon as the sun came up Wednesday morning she jumped out of bed and checked on her plants. She still did not have the final Perfect plant she needed. "Come on, guys!" she pleaded with her plants.

So, she harvested her garden, sold 4 money bags for $1,336,

and went back to bed to sleep till she was fully rested.

Gardenia woke up just after 9:00 p.m. and went back to the library. "After all," she told herself, settling into a comfortable chair with the Fruit Parfait recipe she had brought from home, "the GAC Challenge isn't just about the Perfect Garden. I've still got to master Cooking."

Gardenia learned that recipe, and another for Cobbler.

It was just after 11 p.m. and, since Gardenia had finally caught up on her sleep, she decided to stay at the library and read all night. She resumed reading Cooking Volume 3.

In about 2 and a half hours, she had reached Cooking Level 7. "That's great, but I sure wish I could read faster than this," she lamented.

At 5:15 Thursday morning, Gardenia finally achieved her Lifetime Wish of the Perfect Garden, together with 32,500 Lifetime Happiness points.

Her Potato plant and her Onion plant had both reached Perfect status.

Her achievement seemed slightly anticlimactic, though, since she was still so absorbed in her reading. She did take time out to celebrate by purchasing the Super Green Thumb Lifetime Reward that was required for the GAC Challenge,

and, since she still had so many points, she decided to purchase the Fast Learner reward as well.

"That should help me with my reading," she observed.

By 10:18 a.m., she had reached Cooking Level 8.

At 2:17 Thursday afternoon, she finally gave up reading, since certain of her needs were getting very low.

Although Gardenia always brought fruit with her to the library so that she wouldn't go hungry, and though she could use the library's bathrooms to keep her bladder and hygiene needs up, she had no way of avoiding getting tired.

On her way home, she stopped at the market to sell her extra produce,

for $1,042.

Arriving back at her lot, she sold 3 more money bags for $803,

and went to sleep for the rest of the day.

Gardenia: Days 35 - 37

2009-07-24T00:01:00.001-04:00

Gardenia finished out Friday by harvesting one of her Money Trees (and turning in 3 money bags for $575),

and doing some leisurely fishing for fertilizer in her home pond.

Saturday morning brought the happy news that she had completed another challenge.

Unfortunately, none of the Outstanding plants that Gardenia harvested that morning had yielded Perfect produce, so she still hadn't achieved her Lifetime Wish. "I'm so close, though--I can just feel it!"

A quick check revealed that her Lifetime Happiness points were up to 4,884.

Just after midnight Gardenia went to catch Angelfish. Her goal was to catch 10 Angelfish so that she could stock her pond with them.

She fished till she used up her Alley Catfish bait, having caught 7 Angelfish and several other fish,

then--in a moment of insanity, since she completely forgot about her plan to amass 10 Angelfish for the purpose of stocking her pond--she went to the graveyard and tried to use the Angelfish to catch Deathfish. Fortunately, she was too tired to do so.

She went home Sunday at dawn and slept.

She was awakened shortly after 8:00 a.m. by a phone call.

"Sure thing," she said sleepily into the phone, then went back to bed.

She got up around noon, tended her garden, which still hadn't yielded any Perfect produce of a new type. "It's just a matter of time," she told herself. She bided her time catching up on reading her stack of purchased recipes.

Late Sunday afternoon there was a harvest from one of her Money Trees,

in the amount of $1,263.

Her family funds now equaled $5,167.

Noting that she still needed 3 more Angelfish in order to stock her pond,

Gardenia used her last piece of cheese to catch another Alley Catfish for bait. It took her a couple of hours to catch 1 fish in her home pond.

She took a nap, then went back to Summer Hill Springs, where she caught the 3 additional Angelfish she needed.

On her way home, she stopped by the grocery to sell her extra fish and produce (being careful not to sell any of the Angelfish!),

for a total of $1,222. Her family funds now equaled $6,389.

She hurried home to stock her pond,

and was relieved to see that the introduction of Angelfish did not cause her other fish to disappear.

Monday morning, Gardenia briefly considered sleeping until she was fully rested,

but as she rolled over, she saw out of the corner of her eye that there was produce to harvest. Gardenia thought she needed a Perfect item from just one more variety of plant to achieve her Lifetime Wish of "The Perfect Garden".

"I just know this is the day!"

She was happy to harvest 4 more money bags and sell them for $693,

bringing her family funds total to $7,082.

But she was crestfallen to discover that, although her Outstanding onion plant had produced a Perfect onion, that didn't result in satisfying her Lifetime Wish.

Gardenia realized that she may have misunderstood the GAC Challenge Rules. "Maybe I have to plant this Perfect onion? And maybe when it comes up, I'll have my Lifetime Wish?"

Still somewhat confused, she consoled herself by going downtown and collecting her partnership profits from the grocery,

the bookstore,

and the bistro.

"Well, at least I'm financially comfortable..."

Her family funds equaled $11,051, so she was well on her way to being able to invest in the theater.

"Still, I better save some money to buy that Ambrosia recipe, which I think costs $12,000. Gee, I hope there'll be a sale at the bookstore."

Gardenia: Days 32 - 34

2009-07-23T00:01:00.003-04:00

After sleeping for a few hours, Gardenia got up Wednesday before dawn and went fishing for Angelfish.

She caught her first lobster.

It was a pretty successful outing, and she quit only when she was too tired to continue.

Gardenia spent the rest of Wednesday tending her garden and restoring her needs, and didn't go out again till late at night. She didn't yet have a Life Plant, so she went to the graveyard and used her new Collection Helper to find Special seeds.

Gardenia figured that, as long as she was already at the graveyard anyway, she would fish for Vampire Fish and Deathfish.

After she ran out of all of her bait for those 2 types of fish, she went to Central Park to fish for more Red Herring.

Just after dawn on Thursday, she returned home and harvested her garden, and found that she finally had 10 Excellent/Outstanding cheeses to complete her Opportunity! She hurried right over to the Bistro to deliver her produce.

Gardenia could now plant burger and steak plants, so she made sure to go to the grocery to buy the necessary items to plant.

While she was at the grocery, she also sold her extra produce and fish

for a total of $485.

Leaving the grocery, Gardenia was still obsessing about her 1,500 point wish.

"Even though I already have my Collection Helper, I could really use more points to get that Super Green Thumb reward I need to complete the challenge!" She thought again about the "100 Red Herring" wish she had had for a quite a while.

Checking her fishing skill journal, she confirmed that she had already caught 95 Red Herring, so she knew the big reward was not very far off.

She went to one of her favorite Red Herring fishing spots, Central Park, which was nearby.

Inside of a couple of hours, Gardenia had caught the fish she needed,

and gotten her 1,500 point reward.

She returned home, napped for a while, then tended her garden, planted the 3 Unknown Special seeds she had found at the graveyard the night before,

and harvested 4 more money bags, which she turned in for $1,183.

A glance at her skills journal revealed that Gardenia had produced Perfect plants of 7 types:

"Just one more Perfect plant to go, and I'll have my Lifetime Wish of a 'Perfect Garden'!"

Since it was only a matter of time till one of her Outstanding plants produced a perfect item, Gardenia turned her attention to a new project--stocking her pond.

Though her pond held 5 types of fish,

it didn't contain Alley Catfish, Angelfish, Vampire Fish, or Deathfish, and Gardenia was tired of having to travel to remote locations to get the particular fish she needed. And she always hated going to the graveyard--the memory of the bear attack was still with her.

Her approach was to catch 10 fish of a certain type and release them into her own pond. She began with Alley Catfish, so she went to Summer Hill Springs.

stayed till she had caught 10 Alley Catfish,

then returned home and (after a nap) released them into her pond.

She was dismayed to discover that all of her existing types of fish disappeared from the pond.

Since she always had plenty of Red Herring in her inventory, she added 10 of those to the pond.

"Phew!" she said aloud. "Now all I have to do is catch 10 Angelfish, 10 Vampire Fish, and 10 Deathfish, and I can do all my fishing from home!"

Gardenia: Days 30 - 31

2009-07-22T00:01:00.001-04:00

After she woke up, Gardenia spun a wish that somewhat confused her.

"Well, I certainly don't have a 'bargain john', since I spent quite a lot of money on this toilet!"

But, she upgraded her expensive toilet anyway, hoping that doing so would get her 300 Lifetime Happiness points,

and she was happy to see that it did.

She also spun a wish to improve her cooking skill, and did so.

She went back to sleep, and just from her happy moodlets (being comfortable, being on a nicely decorated lot, having had a satisfying meal, being outdoors, and possessing a Flame Fruit in her inventory), she passed 40,000 Lifetime Happiness points while she slept.

She was finally able to purchase the Collection Helper,

which put her back to only 1 Lifetime Happiness point.

"I'm really going to have to apply myself in order to get another 20,000 points for the Super Green Thumb reward that's required for this challenge!"

But she thought the Collection Helper was certainly worth getting, and she set out exploring. In record time, she had gathered numerous rocks, gems, and ores, among them:

She returned home, sold the cheaper gems outright, sent worthier gems off to be cut, and was finally able to get the Pear Cut,

which she used on the most valuable gem she had found.

On Tuesday morning, Gardenia tended and harvested her garden,

and sold the money bags she had harvested for $1,364.

She had to fix her dishwasher again ("Gee, for a top-of-the-line dishwasher, this sure does need a lot of repair work!").

She got back several items in the mail,

including her Tanzanite. The pear cut had increased the gem's value from $77 to $134.

She sold her 4 oval-cut yellow sapphires for $282,

and her palladium ingot for $647.

That evening, she collected her partnership profits from the grocery ($1,000),

and from the bookstore (another $1,000),

so Gardenia finally had enough money to become a partner in the bistro.

She went back to the grocery and sold her extra fish and produce and, after stocking up on links to use as bait for Red Herring,

Gardenia's family funds equaled $2,022.

Gardenia: Days 27 - 29

2009-07-21T00:01:00.004-04:00

Gardenia spent the rest of Thursday tending her garden, and finally reached Level 10!

She celebrated by taking a short nap, then got up to go fishing. Her aim was to catch more Angelfish, and she tried a new spot, Summer Hill Springs.

Not only did she catch some Angelfish, she finally figured out its preferred bait--Alley Catfish.

(Using the cheese that had come with her refrigerator, Gardenia had figured out early on that the Alley Catfish's preferred bait was cheese. But, since she used up that cheese fairly quickly, and hadn't had any more until just recently, when her first Cheeseplant started producing, Gardenia had not fished with cheese--and had not caught any Alley Catfish--in a very long time.) "No wonder it took me so long to figure out the bait for Angelfish!"

Since it was now too late to catch Deathfish at the graveyard, Gardenia returned home Friday morning to sleep.

When she arose, she tended her garden, a got a surprise.

Her present to herself was to harvest her Money Tree, and sell its produce for $733.

She took a short nap so that she would be fresh for a fishing trip to the graveyard.

Upon arising, she had a short conversation with her Money Tree to raise her Social need,

before heading to the graveyard, where she had a very successful time.

Once the Deathfish disappeared at 5:00 a.m. Saturday, Gardenia went to the grocery to sell her catch and her extra produce.

(It took her a few tries to get the hang of the selling system, since she often forgot to put, for example, all of her tomatoes in the basket, instead of just one.)

By the time she was done, her family funds equaled $7,248.

She would have liked to invest in another business, but after checking the GAC Challenge Rules, she realized that the only investment she could afford--a partnership in the Diner for $6,000--wasn't available to her, because she had never completed an Opportunity for the diner, and she had never "done business" with the diner (because the Rules prevented her from eating there). She had completed Opportunities for both City Hall and the Police Station, but it was illegal to invest in those, and the only other businesses with which she'd "done business" (besides the grocery and the bookstore, in both of which she was already a partner) were the Bistro--which required an investment of $12,500, the Theater--which required an investment of $18,000, and the Science Facility--which required an investment of $40,000.

"They're all out of my price range," Gardenia realized. "At least for the time being."

Later that morning while she was gardening, Gardenia harvested her 75th Perfect item of produce, and so completed the Botanical Boss Challenge.

She also received a certificate from the local gardeners' group.

Ever mindful of increasing her Lifetime Happiness points, she made her favorite meal, Autumn Salad, for brunch,

and went off to look for meteorites

in the hills below her lot.

She found a Tiny Space Rock almost immediately,

and some insects, which she took to the Science Facility to sell.

Still she did not yet have the 40,000 Lifetime Happiness points she needed for the Collection Helper.

She returned to her lot and slept for a while, then got up and analyzed her space rocks and sold them.

She spun a wish to go fishing,

and, since it was prime fishing time for Deathfish, she headed to the graveyard.

After catching a few Deathfish, and running out of Angelfish bait,

and catching a few Vampire Fish, and running out of garlic bait,

Gardenia decided to explore the catacombs. This, unfortunately, did not go well.

Undaunted, and still determined to increase her Lifetime Happiness points, Gardenia decided to focus on catching 100 Red Herring.

She briefly considered fishing at the graveyard,

but decided instead to go to the gym and clean herself up, and then to fish in Central Park, which was a better location.

By the time the sun went down she had 39,000 points,

though a glance at her fishing skills journal showed that she had caught only 81 Red Herring,

meaning that she had a long way to go to get the 1,500 points (the reward for satisfying the wish).

She went to the market to sell some of her produce and fish,

was happy to see that her household funds had risen to $8,750,

and then went home to sleep.

Gardenia: Days 24 - 26

2009-07-20T00:01:00.002-04:00

On her way home very early Tuesday morning, Gardenia stopped to catch a butterfly.

She also stopped by the grocery, to sell some of the fish she'd caught.

Arriving home, she found a garden full of plants that needed to be harvested.

The first thing Gardenia did was to harvest her Money Tree, and sell the produce for $585.

After finishing tending her garden, she decided to upgrade another of her sprinklers.

Unfortunately, this took her so long that her needs plummeted,

and she collapsed into bed mid-afternoon.

She slept for an hour or so, until her hunger overcame her fatigue, at which point she got up and made herself some food,

then went back to bed.

"This is not a productive way to live," she told herself as she fell back asleep.

Gardenia got up a few hours later, full of energy, and began to upgrade her a stove,

but went back to bed before finishing it.

Wednesday morning, she had to repair her dishwasher,

and then finished her stove upgrade, earning her Handiness Level 8.

She got a message about another 20% off sale at the bookstore, and resolved to buy herself a few more recipes.

"I just have to remember to get around to reading them this time!"

While tending her garden, both of her Deathplants died and, though she was able to revive one of them,

the other was sadly a goner.

She went to the bookstore to buy her recipes,

and, because her family funds had again reached a comfortable level,

she also decided to invest in the business.

She stopped by her other investment, the market, and sold her extra produce,

and picked up more links to use as bait for her fertilizer fish, Red Herring.

She then went fishing at Pinochle Pond, which was not far from her house.

She knew that Angelfish could be caught there, and she wanted at least one in her inventory to use as bait for Deathfish (though she still had no idea what the bait for Angelfish was).

She lucked out and caught one quickly, and hurried to the graveyard, but discovered she was too early to catch Deathfish.

So, she busied herself catching Vampire Fish until midnight, when the Deathfish appeared.

Her trip to the graveyard was very productive, and Gardenia took the time Thursday morning to stop by the grocery to sell her catch--earning $1,680!--

before collapsing once again from near-exhaustion.

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Join us next time, when Gardenia finally ages up.

Gardenia: Days 21 - 23

2009-07-19T00:01:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, Gardenia got to Central Park before 6:00 a.m.,

and, inside of 2 hours, she had greatly increased her supply of fish, most of it to be used for fertilizer.

Back at her home lot, she went through her mail, and sold some gold for $145.

She spent the rest of the day tinkering with her appliances, and reached Handiness Level 3,

before retiring for the night at 9:35 a.m.

On Sunday, Gardenia had her first harvest from her Money Tree,

equaling $297!

She continued to improve her Handiness by upgrading her toilet,

which got her to skill Level 4.

Early evening, while fishing in Central Park, she spun a wish to buy something for at least $250,

so she used her cellphone to have a beautiful cherry tree delivered to her yard.

She returned home and upgraded some of her sprinklers,

ending the day at Handiness Level 5. She went to bed just before midnight.

She woke before dawn on Monday and headed back to Central Park. She had a good stock of Red Herring for fertilizer, but wanted to catch fish to sell to the market.

"Boy, I'm really starting to rack up these Lifetime Happiness points!"

She caught a lot of fish, and reached Fishing Skill Level 10.

Back at home late morning, she decided to catch up on reading the recipes she had bought,

and learned to make Cookies and Fish and Chips. "I probably won't eat those together, though," she said to herself.

She got up from her comfortable chair, stretched and went to the mailbox to pay her bills and check her mail. She was delighted to receive a certificate from the local fishermen's association,

which she displayed above her bed.

She also got back more gold from the smelter, which she sold for $185.

Her phone rang,

with another Opportunity.

"Hmmm, that one's going to be tough, and I bet it'll take some time, but it sounds worth it."

She spun a wish to prepare Fish and Chips.

Gardenia was developing a bit of flair as a cook.

Preparing the meal gave her another 250 Lifetime Happiness points, putting her total at 30,373.

(Gardenia had her eye on a Collection Helper reward, and she needed 40,000 points to purchase that.)

She continued to improve her Handiness by upgrading another of her sprinklers.

She wanted to catch an Angelfish,

which she had heard was a preferred bait of the elusive Deathfish. So, she headed to Old Pier Beach, where she caught an Angelfish almost immediately.

She then spun a wish to catch a Deathfish.

"Hmmm," Gardenia wondered aloud. "I wonder if there's any connection between Angelfish and Deathfish?" She packed up her fishing gear and headed to the graveyard.

Using the Angelfish as bait, Gardenia caught a Deathfish very quickly, gaining herself 1,500 Lifetime Happiness points.

She looked at her Fishing Skill Journal and confirmed her suspicion that Angelfish was the preferred bait of Deathfish.

She had used her only piece of Angelfish, so was now out of bait, and went home to sleep. She had 32,141 Lifetime Happiness points.

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I expected Gardenia to age up during this post, since these are Day 21 - 23, and I thought the Young Adult stage lasted 21 days. But, she didn't, and her Simology page says she has 4 days till Adult.

Gardenia: Days 19 - 20

2009-07-18T00:01:00.005-04:00

Gardenia was working in her garden Thursday morning when her cellphone rang,

and she was presented with another opportunity.

"Well, that won't be hard," she told the chef, "because I already have 20 Excellent items in my inventory--I'll be right over!"

Before she left to go downtown, she paused by one of her Unknown plants. "What a funny little tree--what on earth are you?"

The trip to the bistro went well,

and Gardenia was now able to plant eggs and cheese.

She spun a wish to catch 25 goldfish,

and, since Central Park was just across the street from the bistro, she decided to fish there, and quickly earned herself 750 Lifetime Happiness points.

She used the bathroom and shower at the gym, so that she would be refreshed enough to get in some scavenging on her way home.

She found a couple of items,

and once she reached home she sold the gem outright and sent the gold off to the smelter.

"Drat--I forgot to buy an egg and some cheese so that I can plant them!" She went to bed, promising herself she would remember to buy the items the next day.

On Friday, Gardenia woke up to discover that her Unknown tree was a Money Tree. "I can't wait for that harvest!"

This time, she did remember to go downtown and buy egg and cheese to plant.

On her walk home, she found more iron and gold,

and near the military base she found several gems.

Back at home, she opened her mail, and made $185 by selling the gold that she'd just gotten back from the smelter.

She planted her cheese and her egg,

fished for Red Herring in her home pond,

and used it as fertilizer for her 2 new plants.

She noticed she had several Perfect tomatoes in her inventory, so she planted 4 of them to fill out the column that already contained 1 Perfect tomato plant, and reached Gardening Level 9.

She capped off the day by making pasta (Goopy Carbonara) for the first time.

She went to bed at 9:42 (she had gotten much better at getting to bed early, and waking up early for prime fishing time).

************
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Notice how good Gardenia's moodlets are--it takes very little effort on my part to keep her happy. She almost constantly has more than 6 good moodlets at a time.

Gardenia: Days 17 - 18

2009-07-17T00:01:00.000-04:00

Gardenia awoke before dawn on Tuesday and immediately set about planting the garlic she had found the previous day at Crystal Springs.

She got her Luminorious Gem back from the gem cutters, and sold it for $355.

She (unusually) made herself breakfast (Gardenia usually just ate fruit out of her backpack for breakfast).

She traveled to the Science Facility, scavenging along the way, and sold her insects.

She analyzed the space rock she had found, and that turned out favorably.

Back at home, she planted the remainder of the Unknown seeds she had found,

and read recipes till she was so tired she could read no more.

After a few hours of sleep, Gardenia tried fishing at the graveyard again Wednesday morning, and this time she was successful.

Once dawn broke, she went to Old Pier Beach and caught several excellent specimens of fish:

Blowfish,

Jellyfish,

and Swordfish,

and added details to her Fishing skill journal.

Back at home, she sold her Palladium for $745,

and her Gold for $176.

She went to the market to sell her fish for $690,

and went home, slept for a while, and tried making Ratatouille.

In so doing, Gardenia reached Cooking Level 4.

Right after she ate, she spun a wish to prepare a meal using fish she'd caught,

so, though she wasn't hungry, she went to fish in her own pond, caught a Red Herring,

prepared sushi (and put it in the fridge as leftovers),

and thereby gained herself 300 Lifetime Happiness points.

Gardenia went to bed, and, after 18 days,

she had reached Cooking Level 4, Fishing Level 8, Gardening Level 8, and Handiness Level 2.

Her family funds equaled $2,702,

she had a $7,000 investment in the grocery,

her lot was worth $10,200 as furnished,

she knew 39% of recipes,

had caught 81% of fish,

and had raised Perfect plants of grapes and tomatoes.

Gardenia: Day 16

2009-07-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

Gardenia awoke Monday before dawn, starved for food,

and for company.

After she had remedied both those situations, she tended to her garden,

disposing of the inferior plants, as usual.

She then tried a new fishing location, Crystal Springs,

where she finally found a garlic plant.

"I've been looking for you forever!"

Her cellphone rang with another opportunity.

"That can't be too hard, since I've caught them before." Gardenia immediately set about catching the bait for the Black Goldfish, which was Goldfish, and caught quite a few of them using the preferred bait for Goldfish, which was apples.

She took time out to shower at the gym near the park, so that her needs didn't crater.

She went to Central Park (since it was very near the Police Station), and caught a Black Goldfish.

She immediately went to the Police Station to deliver the fish.

and received $1,110!

Gardenia took a moment to take stock of her earnings, and realized, belatedly, that she had enough money to invest in a local enterprise. She opted for the grocery, since she did so much business with them.

Back at home late at night, she took care of her plants,

and went to bed just after 11:00 p.m.

************
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: $1,110 seems an odd amount to be a challenge reward, and I wonder if that particular amount is due to Gardenia's "Lucky" trait, which supposedly gets her more from opportunities. Has anyone else had a Sim with this particular opportunity? If so, do you remember what your Sim got for completing it successfully?

Gardenia: Days 13 - 15

2009-07-15T15:55:00.013-04:00

After a few hours of sleep following her successful completion of the fishing-plumbing opportunity at City Hall, Gardenia arose on Friday morning and tried to fix her shower,

earning herself her first Handiness skill point.

She tended her garden, and found that she could identify another previously Unknown plant.

She got some gold back from the smelter, and sold it for $255.

She finished out Friday with the treat of a long, relaxing bath.

She arose Saturday before dawn to sell some fish and produce to the grocery store (and, on the way there, she found a couple of gems),

and picked up a few more links for bait.

She returned home and tended her garden,

and improved her Handiness skill to Level 2.

She went to sleep just after 10:00 a.m.

Gardenia slept for a few hours, then made herself lunch,

went over to the Science Facility to sell more insects,

and went to the grocery to sell that morning's produce.

She then returned home and caught up on her much-needed sleep.

Sunday morning, Gardenia got up before dawn, and reached Gardening skill Level 8.

She went out scavenging, and unfortunately ignored her hunger for too long.

Still, she had a profitable morning collecting

and fishing, and improved her Fishing skill to Level 8.

She collapsed into bed at 7:00 p.m., exhausted, without noticing that she had finally earned enough money to invest in a local business....

Gardenia: Day 12

2009-07-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

Early Thursday morning, Gardenia bravely tried fishing at the graveyard,

but by dawn she had caught nothing.

On her way to Stoney Falls to fish, though, she happened upon an old abandoned mine

that wasn't indicated as such on her map.

The ground in front of the mine entrance was littered with gems and ore.

And, on her way to Stoney Falls, Gardenia found a couple of insects, including a very valuable one.

At Stoney Falls, her luck continued,

as she found a fair-sized asteroid.

Back at home, Gardenia took a quick nap, then again made her favorite dish, Autumn Salad, and reached Cooking Level 3,

enabling her to buy new recipes at the bookstore. "I haven't even read the recipes I already have--I've been so busy!"

After lunch, Gardenia checked her mail. She received some gems back from the cutter,

and sold them.

She sold her cheaper ore outright (that is, she didn't spend the money necessary to have it smelted).

She analyzed the space rocks she had collected,

and sold them.

She stored her Red Herring in the fridge to use later as fertilizer,

and was busy upgrading some of her plants, and disposing of inferior plants, when her cellphone rang.

Though she was quite tired and had been looking forward to going to bed, she dragged herself to City Hall,

and remedied their problem.

She received $500!

Gardenia: Days 10 - 11

2009-07-13T00:01:00.000-04:00

Gardenia started out Tuesday by fishing in her pond (but she better notice those wilting plants behind her before it's too late!).

She turned on the sprinklers, harvested her plants, and,

as she had expected, got several Excellent bunches of grapes from her Great grapevine.

She spent the day collecting, and in the evening went to Justine Keaton's house to deliver the grapes,

and received $560!

She went home to sleep and sold another couple of gems, for a total of $82.

Wednesday morning she tended her garden,

harvested some Great lettuce,

and was able to identify another couple of her previously Unknown plants.

Late morning, she headed back to Recurve Strand to fish

and scavenge for the day.

On her way home she stopped by the Science Facility, and received $370 for her donations.

Back at home, she was disappointed to find that, though she was now a Level 7 gardener, she still couldn't identify all of her plants.

She decided to go to bed for a few hours, then get up and try fishing at the graveyard.

Gardenia: Day 9

2009-07-12T00:01:00.003-04:00

Before dawn on Monday, Gardenia spun a wish to go fishing before 6:00 a.m.,

which was a pretty easy wish to satisfy, since she had her own pond.

She put the one Red Herring she caught into her fridge,

then went to the Science Center to see if she could feed the Omni Plant, but she wasn't able to do so.

She decided to walk home, and this proved very profitable:

The Luminorious Gem in particular was a great find.

Back at home, Gardenia relentlessly improved her garden--harvesting produce, planting the best of what she'd harvested, and disposing of inferior plants.

"For the first time, I really feel that 'The Perfect Garden' is within my grasp."

She planted the rest of the Uncommon seeds she had in her inventory,

and sent off her gems to be cut. She had finally had enough gems polished into Emerald cuts that she was able to specify the better Oval cut for her most valuable stone, the Luminorious Gem.

"That will increase its value even more!"

She opened her mail, and found that she had received back a Tanzanite and her gold, which she promptly sold.

Just as she was deciding to turn in for the night, her cellphone rang with another opportunity.

"That's a piece of cake," Gardenia said to herself after she'd hung up the phone. She suspected that the next day's harvest would bring several Great plants--or, perhaps, even Excellent plants.

She sat up in bed for a while, gazing at the stars.

"There is no better life than this," she thought.

Gardenia: Days 7 - 8

2009-07-11T00:01:00.006-04:00

Just after midnight Saturday morning, Gardenia arose, showered, and made herself another Autumn Salad,

increasing her Cooking skill to 2.

Gardenia had 7 happy moodlets all at the same time: Well-Rested, Nicely Decorated, Comfy (from her dining chair), One With Nature, Exhilarating Shower, Satisfying Meal, and Squeaky Clean.

One of the previously Unknown plants came up as a bell pepper, so Gardenia moved it to its own column in the plot and watered it. (Though Gardenia owned several sprinklers, she preferred to water by hand if she had the time, since that increased her Gardening skill.)

She planned to return to Sunnyside Strand to try to catch the Tragic Clownfish again, but spent some time fishing in her own small pond in order to increase her stock of Red Herring for fertilizer.

She caught several, and also one new fish, a salmon, then ran out of the links she was using for bait.

After putting all of the Red Herring in her fridge, she headed to the market to sell all of her other fish,

and to stock up on links.

She hurried to Sunnyside Strand, and was happy to find that there was another watermelon to be harvested. "If I'm right, I'll need only one," she told herself.

In the course of harvesting the watermelon, Gardenia improved her Gardening to Level 6.

She ran down to the water's edge, and was relieved to see that the watermelon was now available as bait.

In no time at all, she had succeeded in catching a Tragic Clownfish,

and a quick glance at her Fishing skill journal confirmed that she had guessed correctly about the fish's preferred bait.

She rushed to the theater to turn in the fish and claim her reward.

She earned $440!

She stopped by the bookstore to sell the cookbook she had mastered.

She went to the pond in Central Park (ignoring the bad quality seeds she saw in the road next to the park,

though she did pick up a couple of Very Nice seeds).

For bait, she tried using the eggs that had come with her refrigerator and that had been in her inventory for nearly a week, and caught several Rainbow Trout.

A glance at her Fishing skill journal showed that egg was in fact the preferred bait of that fish.

She returned home and tended her garden, planting the Very Nice Lettuce seed she had found in the park,

as well as the Very Nice lime tree seed.

By the time she finished tending her garden for the day Gardenia was having such a good time,

that she didn't even notice that several of her needs were getting dangerously low.

So, she used the toilet, took a short nap, then got up, showered, and made herself dinner ("I'm getting pretty good at this Autumn Salad!"),

after which she went back to sleep for the rest of the night.

She woke up just before dawn on Sunday, having a feeling that this would be a lucky day for her.

But, other than spending a happy day in her garden,

eating her own good produce, catching more fish and getting to Fishing Level 7,

nothing much happened, and Gardenia went to bed before 9:00 p.m.

************
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I have no idea what the point of that "day full of good luck" message was--absolutely nothing happened. Maybe I didn't send her scavenging, but should have....

Gardenia: Day 6

2009-07-10T00:01:00.003-04:00

Gardenia arose a few hours before dawn on Friday, and planted a Very Nice tomato seed she had found in front of the impressive beachhouse the previous day.

She also set about planting 4 of the Unknown seeds in her inventory and, by 8:00 a.m., she had two separate garden plots--one for the Unknown seeds she had just planted,

and one for the plants she could identify. She talked to the Nice apple tree she had planted the day before,

and then harvested her 3 remaining Normal plants--one tomato, one lettuce, and one grape--

("Finally I have lettuce to make myself a meal!" she cried with glee)--then disposed of the Normal plants, in order to concentrate on those of better quality.

Gardenia didn't have enough gardening skill to be able to plant the last 2 Unknown seeds in her inventory,

and, since she was getting quite hungry

(and her refrigerator was still empty), she took time out to eat an apple from her inventory.

(She also reminded herself to plant the Nice watermelon that was in her inventory.)

Still hungry, she was about to eat a bunch of grapes when she noticed that they were of Great quality.

Delighted, she planted them immediately,

and the watermelon,

and decided to fertilize her 2 new plants with Siamese Catfish which, like Red Herring, was a grade 5 fertilizer.

She improved her social need by chatting with her Normal tomato plant,

then set about to make her favorite food, Autumn Salad, for the first time.

She concentrated hard on the recipe,

and the meal turned out well.

Tired, but happy with her accomplishments for the day, she lay down for a nap,

but ended up sleeping till nearly midnight, dreaming of the elusive Tragic Clownfish and the opportunity from the theater that she hadn't yet fulfilled.

************
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Gardenia asked me to pass on to you the method she's developed for keeping track of her plants. As mentioned above, she has 2 separate plots--one for plants she can identify, and one for Unknown plants.

In the first plot, she puts all plants of the same species in a column (up and down), and all plants of the same quality in a row (left to right). So, in the picture reproduced below, she has 3 Normal plants in a row behind her back (from left to right, a tomato, a lettuce, and grapes; remember she disposed of her Normal apple tree the day before).

In the tomato column are also a Nice tomato (which shares its row with a Nice lettuce, Nice grapes, and the Nice apple tree sprout that Gardenia's tending). Ending the tomato column is a Very Nice tomato, which is alone in its row because there aren't yet any other plants of Very Nice quality.

In the next picture below, Gardenia has disposed of the 3 Normal plants she just harvested,

leaving only the Nice and Very Nice plants.

In the next picture below, she's planted the Great grapes in the "Great" row (although she doesn't yet have any other Great plants, so the Great grapes are alone in that row); note they are also planted in the grape column (with the Nice grapes).

She planted the Nice watermelon at the end of the Nice row, in a column that will be reserved for watermelon.

Kind of long-winded, I know, but this helps keep track of plants by simple visual inspection without my always having to click/hover on each plant!

Gardenia: Days 4 - 5

2009-07-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

After paying her bills Wednesday afternoon, Gardenia spun a wish to find some seeds. So, she headed to the rocky hills across the street from her lot. (Gardenia wanted to get to bed early, so she decided to try her luck close to home.)

She found some seeds,

and also a gem, Tanzanite. "I'll have to pay to get this cut, though," she surmised, worried about the cash outlay.

As Gardenia was determined to rejigger her schedule, she went to bed at sunset, planning to sleep till early morning when the fish were biting best.

Unfortunately, she was awakened just after midnight by a call to her cellphone.

"How did that guy get my number?" Gardenia wondered.

Still, she thought the opportunity was worth the inconvenience, though she was unable to go back to sleep.

Since it was still a bit earlier than prime fishing time, Gardenia endeavored to raise her Gardening skill. She tried to read the beginning gardening book that had been in her inventory for days, but found that she was unable to do so:

Instead, she planted a Nice tomato seed that she had found earlier.

Though Gardenia's strategy for raising 8 Perfect plants was to concentrate on only one plant of each type until she got that produce to top quality, and though she already had one tomato plant in progress, the existing tomato plant was only of Normal quality. Her plan was to dispose of that plant as soon as she harvested it, and keep the new Nice quality tomato plant.

Just after 3:00 a.m., Gardenia went to fish at Sunnyside Strand, which was a bit further down than Old Pier Beach.

Gardenia had heard that the Tragic Clownfish that she needed for her Opportunity could be caught there.

She didn't know what bait to use, though, and ended up catching everything but the Tragic Clownfish:

a Siamese Catfish,

just after dawn, an Alley Catfish,

and some bubble bath,

which she immediately sold.

She did the same with an old guitar she reeled in.

She was very surprised to get $600 for the instrument. "It must have been underwater forever!"

Late Thursday morning, Gardenia reached Fishing Level 6,

and, though she was having a very good outing, and was still catching new types of fish--though unfortunately not any Tragic Clownfish--she kept an eye on her needs and decided to quit before she became so tired and hungry that her mood would plunge.

Packing up her fishing gear, Gardenia checked her skills journal:

Though she had found out that the Alley Catfish liked cheese, she still didn't know the bait for the 2 other new fish she'd caught--Tuna and Siamese Catfish. And, of course, she still had no idea what the elusive Tragic Clownfish liked.

"I tried every kind of bait I had!" she exclaimed. "That fish must like something I don't yet possess."

Gardenia had heard that a fish's preferred bait often grew (or swam) in the same place that the fish could be found, so she set about foraging on the beach.

She found a space rock, and upon examination it turned out to be more valuable than she'd initially thought.

She stopped to harvest some fruit from trees and plants that were on the beach.

She found limes and watermelons.

"Hmm, watermelons," she observed. "I wonder if that's the bait for Tragic Clownfish?" (But for some reason Gardenia was unable to select the watermelon as bait.)

She had been carrying around a Wish to talk to someone about gardening, so chatted briefly with a girl named Pauline.

Resuming her foraging, she found some silver.

"Not worth having smelted, though," she realized, and sold it immediately.

She found some seeds in front of an impressive beachhouse.

"I sure hope the owners don't mind my trampling around in their yard!"

She also lucked out and found some gold.

"Now that's worth having smelted!" she exulted.

Her luck continued when she caught a rare butterfly.

On her way home, she stopped by the Landgraab Science Facility,

and received $692 for her butterfly.

She also stopped by Divisadero Discount Books to sell back the Gardening book she was no longer able to use.

She was surprised to get $231 for it.

"Wow, gardening books are expensive!" she observed. "Maybe I should make time to go to the library and read for free."

Back on her own lot in late afternoon, she quickly sent in the gold to be smelted,

and tended her garden.

She harvested apples from her Normal apple tree,

then disposed of that tree,

and replaced it with one of the Nice quality apple seeds she had found earlier that day.

"I'm beat!" she sighed, while weeding her Nice tomato plant.

But her efforts were rewarded when she reached Gardening Level 5.

"It's great that I can now plant Uncommon Seeds, and I've got a few in my inventory, but I'm waaaay too tired to do that now," she decided.

She collapsed into bed at 8:49 Thursday evening.

************
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: It has been a pretty good 5 days for Gardenia--she's at Gardening Level 5, Fishing Level 6, Cooking Level 1 (though she still hasn't prepared a meal), she has $1,578 in cash, a home lot worth $9,900, and 4,950 Lifetime Happiness points saved up.

Gardenia: Days 2 - 3

2009-07-08T00:01:00.005-04:00

On Monday, after getting up late morning, Gardenia worked hard on the few things she had planted, and got to Gardening Level 3.

She fertilized a plant with the one Red Herring she had caught, and realized she could really use more Red Herring (she had heard it was a Grade 5--out of 7--fertilizer).

She decided to visit Pinochle Pond, where she harvested more plants, and spent some time talking to them to raise her Social Need.

She fished for a long time, and caught several good specimens that she could sell at the market to earn some money.

Late at night at home, she spun a Wish to improve her Cooking skill, so she sat down with the cookbook that was in her inventory till she reached Cooking Level 1, while listening to her favorite Latin music to keep her mood up.

"Wow, it's late," she observed, upon closing her book and heading to bed.

On Tuesday, Gardenia slept till noon.

She woke up, somewhat displeased with herself.

"I'm not exactly keeping gardener's hours! Or angler's hours!!" Gardenia had heard that the best time to fish was just before dawn.

She read the paper, which had been delivered hours earlier,

and found that there was a 20% off sale at the bookstore.

"Great! I can get some recipes at a big discount!!"

She hastily fertilized the remainder of her plants with the Red Herring she had caught the previous day at Pinochle Pond, then went to the market to sell the rest of her catch.

She earned $174 for her fish.

She went to Divisadero Discount Books,

and purchased 3 recipes, including 2 that were readable only by a Level 3 cook (Gardenia was at that point Level 1).

"Still, it's a good buy," she told herself, even though she had spent $143 of her total $174.

She finished the afternoon fishing at Old Pier Beach.

"Wow--I can definitely see why they named this town 'Sunset Valley'!" she said in awe, gazing across the water.

She returned home and tended her garden, and reached Gardening Level 4.

After showering, she spent a little time fishing in her small home pond before bed.

"I keep thinking I've forgotten something!" she worried.

Wednesday morning, she realized that she had only one day left to pay a bill of $138, and that she had only $31 cash on hand.

Panicked, she realized she wasn't going to earn the kind of money she needed fishing in her own pond. Desperate to keep the repo man from taking away her wonderful bed or anything else she valued, she went to Old Pier Beach to scavenge.

She was lucky to find several items she could sell, including some silver,

which she didn't have enough money to have smelted, so she just sold it outright.

Together with the water beetles she had found, and the fish she had caught the previous night, both at Old Pier Beach and on her own lot, she had earned just barely enough to pay her bills.

"Phew!" she said as she was putting her check in the mailbox, resolving never to let herself get into such a situation again.

Gardenia: Day 1

2009-07-07T00:01:00.006-04:00

Gardenia heads for Central Park--she's heard lots of good things about the place.

She fishes for a while, without any success.

"Hmmm," she says aloud. "This cheese bait is doing me no good whatsoever!" Having caught nothing, she resolves to change bait after lunch.

She harvests fruit from a few apple and lime trees,

and eats some fruit to keep herself going.

"This is an okay apple, but I'm just sure I can grow a better one."

She notices some seeds on the ground, and picks them up to plant later.

After lunch, Gardenia uses the public restroom at the park so that she can keep fishing without going home.

"This is fairly clean," she observes approvingly. "Though my toilet at home is certainly nicer."

She fishes into the night, and her luck improves--she catches one Red Herring and a few Goldfish,

and even learns a couple of things about bait:

By the end of the night, she has improved her fishing skill to Level 4.

Tired, she goes home to shower and sleep,

but then gets a second wind and decides to plant some of the seeds and fruits she harvested at the park that day.

Her extra effort pays off--she reaches Gardening Level 1!

Exhausted, she finally gets to bed just before dawn.

************
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Join us next time, for the next couple of days of Gardenia's challenge.

Gardenia's challenge lot

2009-07-06T00:01:00.001-04:00

Though the GAC challenge's rules would allow Gardenia to add points to her score for every dollar she did not spend furnishing her lot initially, Gardenia has decided against this, and spent nearly as much money as she had available.

She has, however, elected to live outdoors, which has freed up a lot of funds.

She bought herself an excellent bed,

a top-quality shower and toilet,

and a first-rate eating and kitchen area (for when she eventually learns to cook).

(You may have noticed that Gardenia--who loves the outdoors--is a big fan of patina, and has bought a number of items with a sort of "rust patina", which may look cheap but, as Veil has discovered in RL, actually costs quite a bit more than non-decrepit-and-rusted-looking stuff....)

Gardenia's lot even has a small pond, and a reading area next to it.

(Note the small stereo, which Gardenia bought so that she can listen to her favorite Latin music while she gardens and studies.)

Following the challenge rules, Gardenia moves all the food from her new fridge into her inventory to use as bait, and heads off to Central Park to fish.

Just before leaving her lot, Gardenia reduces her family funds to zero. "Gulp!" she says. "I better be serious about this challenge...."

************
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Join us next time, when we see how successful--or not--Gardenia is on her first fishing expedition.

Meet Gardenia Grower

2009-07-05T11:32:00.001-04:00

This is Miss Gardenia Grower. Because Gardenia loves to spend time outdoors, she has a tan, and quite a few freckles.

(Fortunately, though, her hair doesn't have much sun damage, at least not yet.)

Gardenia loves Latin music and Autumn Salad, and her favorite color is green.

She is a Young Adult who would like nothing more than to have a Perfect Garden sometime in her life.

Gardenia has heard about a "Gardener/Angler/Cook Challenge" being run by the town of Sunset Valley. The challenge is arduous, and requires contestants to master Gardening, Fishing, and Cooking, and to make as much money as possible, all without ever having a job (and with several other restrictions; the Rules can be found in the July 4 post of this blog).

But in addition to having several specific Traits that would benefit her in such a challenge, Gardenia is also Lucky:

so she's determined to give the challenge a go.

She has thought long and hard about how to spend the $16,000 she's been allotted, and has decided to purchase the smallest and cheapest lot she could find, way up in the hills near Pinochle Pond.

Her tiny lot does, however, have a heck of a view:

Gardenia bought such a small lot so that she could spend most of her funds on nice furnishings and appliances that would keep her in a good mood. She knows this will reduce the points she can add at the end of the challenge, but she thinks the tradeoff is worthwhile.

************
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Join us next time, when we see how Gardenia has furnished her new lot.

The Rules

2009-07-04T23:59:00.011-04:00

The Gardener/Angler/Cook Challenge (Draft #6—July 31) ALL CHANGES SINCE DRAFT #5 ARE IN BLOCK CAPS

This challenge takes advantage of three complementary skills in S3—Gardening, Fishing, and Cooking. The challenge has lofty goals, severe restrictions, and plenty of flexibility for how anyone wishes to play and score it. I think it's really fun, and a good way to learn how to garden, fish, cook, and scavenge in S3. (This is still a draft, so I welcome all comments and suggestions.)

GOALS:

Before the Deadline (as defined below), your Sim must:

Reach Level 10 in each of Gardening, Fishing, and Cooking

Satisfy the Lifetime Wish of “The Perfect Garden”

Catch at least 1 of every type of fish (the game's own “Amateur Ichthyologist” Challenge)

Learn every recipe, both Learned and Acquired (this is the game's own “Menu Maven” Challenge—please note that your Sim doesn't actually have to make every recipe, only to learn every recipe, which she can accomplish by repeatedly making meals—any meals, I think; as her skill increases, new recipes will show up in her Cooking Skill Journal, and she will be able to read new recipes she purchases at the bookstore).

Earn the Lifetime Reward of “Super Green Thumb” (which costs 20,000 Lifetime Happiness points)

and

Make as much money as possible from Gardening, Fishing, Cooking, Scavenging, and Investing/Owning certain businesses (see “RESTRICTIONS” below)

DEADLINE: It's up to you how you define the Deadline—it can be when your Sim dies, or the first day of elderhood, or the first day of adulthood (it might well be impossible to achieve the Goals before the first day of adulthood, but I'm going to keep trying). Or it can be whenever you decide to stop playing this GAC challenge. At the Deadline, you tally your points (see “SCORING” below).

RESTRICTIONS:

Your Sim may never buy any produce, bait, seeds, dairy products, or anything else from the supermarket, except: she may always buy hotdogs/links, but only to use as bait for fishing (that is, not to EAT OR prepare a meal), and she may buy cheese, eggs, BURGERS, and steak to plant, but only after she unlocks the ability to plant those items (that will be somewhere between Level 8 and Level 10).

Your Sim may never eat a Quick Meal (at least without incurring a penalty—see “SCORING” below), may never cook anything at home that requires her to buy ingredients via the fridge (that is, she must already have grown/caught the ingredients herself), and may never eat in either the bistro or the diner.

Your Sim may never have a career or even a part-time job.

Your Sim may never move any other Sims onto the lot. (If your Sim is female and it would break her heart not to have a baby, go ahead.)

Your Sim may invest in/own only those businesses for which she has successfully completed an Opportunity, or with which she regularly does business, e.g., the market and the bookstore. (Don't forget to go by each business every week to pick up your check--it won't just get mailed to you!)

Your Sim may not earn money from Writing or Painting (they're just too lucrative).

No cheats at all, except for the one Family Funds cheat that's described below.

HOW TO PLAY:

Create a Young Adult Sim in CAS (your Sim may be male or female, though I will use “she”/“her” in these rules), with a Normal lifespan. Pick any combination of Traits you want, as long as you can select “The Perfect Garden” as your Sim's Lifetime Wish (THE WIKI SITE SAYS THAT THE PERFECT GARDEN LTW SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TRAITS: GREEN THUMB, LOVES THE OUTDOORS, NATURAL COOK, PERFECTIONIST, VEGETARIAN). Certain traits make the challenge easier, but not choosing those traits earns more points. Don't forget to select your Sim's favorite Music/Food/Color, because experiencing at least one of these on a regular basis will give your Sim happy moodlets on a regular basis. Choose “The Perfect Garden” Lifetime Wish.

Move your Sim onto any size empty or furnished lot, as you like (she may change lots as often as you want), and pause the game. If she bought a prefurnished lot, she may sell whatever furniture or fixtures she wishes. Buy/build your Sim as much or as little as you want—you may choose to start her without a roof over her head, and even without a bed, stove, refrigerator, shower, or toilet (though I think you will need those items fairly soon—till then, she can use the park toilets when she's out fishing, and the toilet and shower at the gym). For any items you do decide to buy/build, the quality is up to you—obviously there are tradeoffs between expensive items (which help Needs significantly) and cheap items (which don't help Needs as much).

Whenever your Sim does buy a refrigerator, she should click on it, select “Open”, and drag each of the multiple food icons (click on the top left corner of each icon) into her inventory. She must use all of those items only for bait on fishing trips. (Hint: they are all the preferred bait for certain fish, most of them catchable at Central Park, where your Sim can also use the bathroom, eat fruit off of trees, stash some fruit in her backpack, pick up some seeds to plant later, and collect some insects to sell at the science facility. Be sure to check your Sim's Fishing Skill Journal once you're done with this trip to see the bait information she's acquired.)

After you have finished buying/building on your Sim's lot, make a note of the amount of HOUSEHOLD Funds remaining (you will need this number for Scoring later).

Then, reduce HOUSEHOLD Funds to zero. (From your challenge lot, Shift-Control C, THEN TYPE "testingcheatsenabled true" AND THEN TYPE "familyfunds yoursimslastname 0" (IN EACH CASE without the quotation marks).

Now, have your Sim head out into that great big seamless neighborhood and try not only to survive, but also to flourish and to achieve the Goals as soon as possible!

STRATEGY:

To build skills, your Sim may choose to learn by doing, take expensive classes, wait for discounted classes as advertised in the newspaper, buy books from the bookstore (she can always sell the books back for their depreciated value), or read the relevant tomes for free at the library. Or, depending which Traits you've selected, there may be books already in your Sim's inventory.

Your Sim should look for harvestables and seeds on community lots, so that she can start her garden from those. Depending on her gardening skill, seeds may show up in her inventory.

To stave off hunger, your Sim may eat harvestables off of trees and plants she finds on community lots, and put extra harvestables in her backpack (to eat or plant later). To make money to buy more items for her lot, she may scavenge for insects and sell them at the science facility, and for gems, metals, and meteorites that she can have processed and sell. Your Sim may sell produce and fish either at the supermarket (or at the bistro or diner, if Opportunities arise), or by dragging them from her inventory leftward to the Simolean area of her inventory tab. (Hint: she'll make a bit more money by selling items to the supermarket.)

Bait helps fishing, and fertilizer helps gardening, and gardening improves meals cooked. (And handiness helps gardening, to a certain extent.)

Though “Super Green Thumb” is a Lifetime Reward necessary to complete the challenge, it needn't be the only—or even the first—Lifetime Reward your Sim takes, if you find other Rewards useful.

SCORING:

At the Deadline, if your Sim has achieved the Goals, award yourself 20,000 points! And feel good about your accomplishment, because this was hard.

To that figure, add:

The value of your Sim's lot, furnished

Your Sim's REMAINING HOUSEHOLD Funds

If your Sim has invested in or owns one or more businesses, add the value of her investments (ADD THE DOLLAR VALUE THAT YOUR SIM HAS INVESTED--E.G., IF YOUR SIM INVESTED IN HOGAN'S DINER FOR $6,000, AWARD YOURSELF 6,000 POINTS).

If the GOALS WERE ACHIEVED while your Sim was an Elder, but before your Sim's death, add 1,000 points;

If the GOALS WERE ACHIEVED while your Sim was an Adult, but before your Sim became an Elder, add 2,000 points, and go to your Simology tab, find out the “Days Until Aging Up”, MULTIPLY THAT NUMBER BY 100, and add that number of points;

If the GOALS WERE ACHIEVED while your Sim was a Young Adult, but before your Sim became an Adult, add 5,000 points, and go to your Simology tab, find out the “Days Until Aging Up”, MULTIPLY THAT NUMBER BY 100, and add that number of points.

To the subtotal of the above, add the amount of HOUSEHOLD Funds you had at the beginning of the challenge just before you USED THE familyfunds CHEAT TO reduce the HOUSEHOLD Funds to zero.

For each Level 10 skill achieved other than Gardening, Fishing, or Cooking, add 1,000 points.

For each other “game challenge” accomplished—that is, those challenges that show up in the Skill Journals other than the “Amateur Ichthyologist” and “Menu Maven” (which two challenges are already required in the Goals and help you get the big 20,000 point bonus), add 1,000 points each.

Deduct 1,000 points for each Quick Meal eaten by your Sim.

Add 1.000 points for each of the following Traits that was not selected for your Sim either in CAS or as the result of a Mid-Life Crisis Lifetime Reward: Green Thumb, Angler, Natural Cook, Loves the Outdoors.

Deduct 1,000 points for each use of Life Fruit (using Life Fruit is okay, but you should do your own cost-benefit analysis to determine whether, in your Sim's additional days of life, she can produce enough money through her investments/ownership/sales to offset this penalty).

I think this is a really fun challenge, and it showcases the best of S3 (seamless neighborhood, etc.) while ignoring S3's problematic areas (which I think we all agree on: no complex multiple-household story lines, screwed-up relationship issues, story progression, etc.). Again, I welcome all comments and suggestions.

Thanks to you all,

Veil

r_veil@yahoo.com

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Join us next time, when we'll meet Gardenia Grower.