"Build A City" Challenge Info

This challenge was originally conceived by clintcasey85 on the official Sims 2 BBS. I took some of that person's ideas and some of the ideas and suggestions found here and then added in a few of my own ideas and modifications to create my own little play method. Note that this kind of game play focuses very heavily on the business-owning aspect of the Open for Business expansion pack and really doesn't work without it. So if you don't have that expansion, unless you're really creative, I wouldn't bother with playing this way. Note that I do not have the Bon Voyage or Apartment Life expansion packs, so my rules do not address the features of those expansion packs. Feel free to create your own rules for those expansion packs, if you have them.

In any case, for me, this is not a challenge so much as just a way of playing the game, in that I have no ultimate goal and there is no scoring. If played as a challenge, then the game ends when the population of your city reaches 50,000.  I will be playing (and documenting) this neighborhood for as long as it holds my interest.

I've pretty much always played The Sims 2 by starting neighborhoods from scratch, rarely playing any of the Maxis-made neighborhoods or families except at the very beginning, when I was just learning how to play. I've just never been quite so regimented about going about adding to and building up the neighborhoods I've created and played before. I'm finding that, surprisingly, it's more fun to be regimented, probably because it makes it more challenging.

This iteration of this challenge is about my tenth stab at the thing. I have changed my rules and playing style quite a bit since my first stab (which is why, for instance, Redmond Flats already has a Uni and a Downtown attached), but you can still access my original edit of the rules at the link below, since I know that a lot of people are using them.  And then, if you're interested in seeing the additions, deletions, and tweaks I've made as I've developed my own style of playing this challenge, you can now access those at the second link below.  (Beware! The Changes list is about as long as the original rules! Sorry about that, folks. I'm just...verbose. )

My Original Build-A-City Challenge Rules

My Rule Additions, Deletions, Adjustments, and Tweaks
(And some new ideas you might or might not like.)