Post by Tina ☺ on Aug 4, 2009 8:26:29 GMT -5
Welcome the Homeless Simsselves of DD Challenge!
This is a fairly involved challenge with many steps. The accomplishments one sim achieves depend greatly on the accomplishments of others, therefore it is a good idea to READ OVER THE RULES very carefully before you begin and refer back to them as you go along and your sims make progress. I made up the rules and I have to look back over them from time to time because I cannot possibly remember them all...lol.
There is no point system on this challenge. It is meant to be merely a fun, and hopefully, enjoyable diversion from your normal way of playing The Sims 3. During the course of this challenge, you will help guide your wayward simselves from homelessness to happiness by helping them 'get off the streets' and into a suitable home where they will find food, shelter, and comfort.
The sims start out in an abandoned park and will end up in the Super Duper Shack, both of which MUST be used in this challenge. There are links to the downloads below.
The park must remain 'as is'. At NO TIME during the challenge are you allowed 'remodel' it in build mode. Nor may you purchase anything in buy mode to make the sims more comfortable. This is an abandoned park and these are homeless sims, therefore the lot cannot be made more 'homelike'. If you have a sim with the kleptomania trait and he swipes things autonomously, you must return them to owner via the mailbox, or you may sell them. The exception to this rule is if the item is something small like a stereo or a guitar, etc. In those cases, you may keep the item if you wish.
Concerning non-game-created sims: Ideally, this challenge should be played in a fresh version of either Sunset Valley or Riverview, but it is acceptable to put them into an already-played game as long as you don't direct your sims to pillage the gardens of any previously-played lots. Also, once the challenge begins, your homeless sims MUST remain the ONLY playable family in the hood until the challenge is over. It is against the rules to switch away from them and then back again.
Hacks and cheats: Only the cheats mentioned in the rules are allowed and NO hacks or cheats are allowed which would make homeless life easier on your sims. If it feels like cheating, it probably is.
If at anytime during this challenge, the repo man comes, or a simself dies, you have failed at this challenge. Better luck next time..lol!
The goal of this challenge is to get those simmies into a home, but the main thing is to get in there and have fun! So, if you decide to take on this challenge, I sincerely hope you have as much fun playing as I did!
Rules:
1. You must download and use my lot, Homeless Haven, available here: www.box.net/shared/k686xzi139
2. Use the familyfunds cheat after moving in to reduce the households funds to $150.00. The bills only come to around $70.00 on this lot, which is plenty to cover you until you can bring in some cash. I know, because I played it and made through this stressful part. lol
Note:
To use the familyfunds cheat do the following:
a. Hit the Ctrl + Shift + c to open the text box that will appear at the top of your screen.
b. Type - testingcheatsenabled true and hit the enter key
c. Type - familyfunds thelastnameofyourfamily 150 and the enter key
d. Type - testingcheatsenabled false and hit the enter key.
Contrary to what some believe, turning on testing cheats is perfectly safe and cannot harm your game ... unless, maybe, you start clicking on the mailbox or a sim and start choosing options that you know nothing about. Don't do that! LOL Some folks play their games with testing cheats enabled all the time with no problems whatsoever.
It is also a great idea to get used to the idea of turning on testing cheats because it is only way I am able to get the resetSim cheat to work. Several times during my play testing of this challenge, I have had sims with very low hygiene (low hygiene is a regular occurrence in this challenge) get stuck in a loop of sniffing, fanning, and holding their noses upon arrival to a community when I took them there to get showers. The resetSim cheat sends them back home, safe and sound.
3. You must pick out eight simselves to use from the Simselves thread. One of those MUST be your own.
4. You must assign 'jobs' to all of your sims. There will be a cook, a gardener, a handyman, a fisherman, a 'thinker' (logic), a 'charmer' (charisma), a collector, and a writer. No one is allowed to get a regular job.
5. You are only allowed a total of 32 (four per sim) commands per day to share between all your sims. One of those must be used to take them off their 'home' lot at least once a day. You may send them somewhere all together, or they may split up and go to different places, but that uses up more of your commands, so use them wisely. Autonomous actions may be canceled when necessary. This does not count toward your command limit.
Note:
Sims do not nap very long at a time, so quite a few of your allotted commands will be used telling them to nap again when they wake. These homeless sims are a tired bunch...lol
Tip: If you are sending only one sim somewhere to do something specific, you save one command by zooming in on the place and clicking on the object you want them to use, instead of telling them to go there first.
6. There is a grill on the lot, but it is merely a decoration since it's useless without a fridge and a counter to prepare food on. Cooking may be done on community lots, but no cooking is allowed until the fisherman gets at least four skill points. Other sims may fish, but any skills gained do not count toward gaining the ability to cook. .
7. It is the gardener's job to 'forage' for food by raiding the neighbors' and community gardens. The goods may then doled out to the other sims to prevent starvation (manually putting them in the other sims' inventories is the easiest way to do this or the items can be placed on the ground for the other sims to pick up). Nothing may be planted until the cook has at least four cooking skills.
8. The collector may pick up seeds and rocks, but no insects. The seeds must left in the sim's inventory until the gardener is allowed plant them. (The rocks will be dealt with later). Once the gardener has four gardening skills, insects may be collected, but must be kept in the inventory until the selling of them becomes allowed.
9. Visiting the homes of other sims is not allowed (except to raid their gardens) until The Charmer gains five skill points from interacting with other sims (the first skill point must be learned from a book, or the mirror, in order to get this option. See note below.) At this time, a sim can visit a neighbor to try to catch some zzz's in a warm bed, or to cop a hot, free meal.
Note: It appears that sims with charisma chosen as one of their traits may come with a charisma skill book in their inventories. If your charmer doesn't have one, you may use the mirror. After that, the book (if you have one) must remain in the inventory, untouched and 'practicing speech' in the mirror is no longer allowed.
10. The writer is allowed to use the library computer, but can only practice/refine writing until The Thinker has gained four logic points from playing chess in the various public areas AND the acceptance of opportunities is allowed (as specified below). The writer then must wait until a writing opportunity is offered before he can begin writing for profit. The writer's first independent novel must be from the non-fiction genre portraying his life as a homeless simself.
11. Once The Handyman has gained four handiness points from fixing the broken plumbing that is sure to occur in the restroom and from tinkering (one skill point from repairing something must be gained to get the tinkering option), the collector may then sell the rocks that may have accumulated in his inventory. Fixing broken things on community lots is also acceptable.
12. Paying bills: You and I know that homeless people do not have bills, but they cannot be avoided while playing with sims, so unfortunately, we have to pay them in order to avoid the dreaded repoman. The best way to avoid him is to make sure you don't run out of funds before you are earning a bit of money.
a. Rocks may be sold when the handyman has four handiness skills.
b. Fish may be sold when the cook has four cooking skills.
c. Fruits and vegetables may be sold when the gardener has four gardening skills.
There will, of course, be more cash flow later in the challenge, but these are the early ways to keep the repoman at bay. Also, if the fisherman happens to pull in something besides a fish, that may be sold immediately if your funds are running low.
Tip: It's a good idea to wait to pay the bills until the popup box tells you you only have one day left instead of sending a sim to the mailbox. It saves a command for something else.
13. ALL opportunities offered MUST be turned down until all sims have have the required number of skill points that pertain to their positions as mentioned above. The purchase of Lifetime Rewards is not allowed in this challenge.
14. There is to be absolutely no shopping for books or groceries, or no luxury entertainment that costs money! These are, after all, homeless sims. It is acceptable to read books and play on computers at the library. Also, sims may raid the picnic baskets of other sims on community lots and eat food that other sims have cooked while there.
15. Once the writer has completed his first novel, ONE easel may be purchased, (if the sims can afford it while still having enough money to pay their bills), in order to learn the painting skill so that paintings may sold to add to the family's funds. The first sim to autonomously use the easel also becomes the 'artist'. (The Gardener and the Fisherman are excluded from this because they have too much to do to spend time painting) Once that sim gains four painting skill points, you may purchase a guitar if you can afford one.
16. It would be wise to choose a sim who has less to do on a daily basis compared to the other sims to be the guitar player. Keep the guitar in that sim's inventory, to be played only by him. Once the guitarist has four skill points, the collector may sell insects or donate them to science.
17. Once a sim maxes out his 'chosen' skill, he will be allowed to get a part-time job from one of the venues around town. No full-time are allowed. If the sim has no chosen skill, ie, the collector, he will be allowed to get a part-time job once all of the other sims' chosen skills are maxed.
18. The goal of this challenge is to get your sims 'off the streets' and be able to afford to move them into 'The Super Duper Shack', which is an EA-made home found in the lot bin that I remodeled from super to super duper! LOL It will easily accommodate eight sims and has been play tested to make sure everything works. It can be downloaded here:
www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=635761
Note: The lot is 20x30 and costs $34, 313 completely furnished. The price of Homeless Haven may be deducted from the cost. The amount of cash your sims need to have in order to move into the Super Duper Shack is around $18,000. This should leave them with an extra few hundred after moving. It is a good idea to not place the lot down in your hood until your sims have, or are very closing to having, the money necessary for moving, so that no neighbors move in before you are able to move in.
19. Special Notes:
a. I would suggest setting your aging option to epic or turning aging off to play this because it may take a while and you don't want your poor simmies growing old and dying, if they don't die from starvation first...lol
b. If you have a sim with the kleptomaniac trait, commanding him to swipe something is not allowed, but it's okay if he does autonomously. If the item is something that will not change the workings of the lot like a stereo or a light, etc., it is okay to keep it. But if it is a toilet or a shower, or anything else that will cause remodeling of the lot in order to use it, you must either sell it, or return it to the owner via the mailbox.
c. I was taking my sims to the gym in order to shower, but it was very stressful in several ways, one of which was keeping them off the gym equipment to get stinky again after showering, or jumping into the pool, even though they were exhausted.
As a viable alternative, I remodeled the 'All The Rave Warehouse' and turned it into a homeless shelter/soup kitchen of sorts. I put in some toilets, showers, a few nice couches/love seats, some counters, a fridge, a grill, a desk with a computer, a trash bin, and a chess table. Those are the only things allowed if you choose to build remodel your own, or mine can be downloaded here:
www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=675601
Note: I uploaded the lot before thinking to add the desk, computer, and chess table, so if you download it, you will need to add those. Also, to use it, you may safely bulldoze the one already in the game and put this one in its place.
d. It is acceptable for sims to use objects outside neighbors' houses even before they are allowed to visit the neighbors as long as the action is autonomous. You may not direct them to do so.
Note: If your sim happens to become best friends with a neighbor, it is acceptable to watch their TV, or to read a skilling book from his bookshelf (if there happens to be one in it) to help build a chosen skill.
e. If you are on a community lot that contains a fridge, it is acceptable for your sims to take food out of it autonomously. You may not direct them to do so.
f. The Catacombs: Only The Collector is allowed to explore the catacombs at the cemetery, but not before the writer has completed one non-fiction novel.
g. Cell Phones: Homeless people usually do not have cell phones, but it can't be helped in this game. Your sims are NEVER allowed to call sims to chat or invite them over, but it is okay to answer the phone if it rings. Clicking OK or No thanks when sims call to chat is acceptable and does not use up a command.
20. Skilling: Quick Reference Guide
The Fisherman: 4 skills gains the ability to cook
The Cook: 4 skills gains the ability to plant a garden and to sell fish.
The Gardener: 4 skills gains the ability to sell produce.
The Charmer: 5 skills gains the ability to visit neighbors' homes.
The Handyman: 4 skills gains the ability to sell rocks.
The Thinker: 4 skills gains the ability for The Writer to start a novel AFTER a writing opportunity is allowed to be accepted, and then the first novel must be a non-fiction account of his life has a homeless person.
(NO opportunities may be accepted until all of the above have gained the amount of skills mentioned above.
Completion of first novel: gains the ability to purchase ONE easel.
The Artist: 4 skills gains the ability to purchase a guitar.
The Guitarist: 4 skills gains the ability to sell insects or donate them to science.
In order to keep this post separate, and to make it carry less baggage for those who would like to print out the rules of this challenge, I am going to stick and lock this thread. If you have any comments or questions, follow the link below:
desirablediscourses.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=sims3challenges&thread=1289
Note: It took me quite a while to think up these rules and to 'iron out' the creases. Therefore, there is to be NO RULE BREAKING or changing just to satisfy the desire or request of someone who wants to use different lots not mentioned here or a sim that is not in the simselves thread. In this case, rules are NOT made to be broken. The reason for having specific lots to use is so the everyone begins this challenge on even footing. If I let everyone change the rules to suit themselves, it would not be much of a challenge, would it?
This is a fairly involved challenge with many steps. The accomplishments one sim achieves depend greatly on the accomplishments of others, therefore it is a good idea to READ OVER THE RULES very carefully before you begin and refer back to them as you go along and your sims make progress. I made up the rules and I have to look back over them from time to time because I cannot possibly remember them all...lol.
There is no point system on this challenge. It is meant to be merely a fun, and hopefully, enjoyable diversion from your normal way of playing The Sims 3. During the course of this challenge, you will help guide your wayward simselves from homelessness to happiness by helping them 'get off the streets' and into a suitable home where they will find food, shelter, and comfort.
The sims start out in an abandoned park and will end up in the Super Duper Shack, both of which MUST be used in this challenge. There are links to the downloads below.
The park must remain 'as is'. At NO TIME during the challenge are you allowed 'remodel' it in build mode. Nor may you purchase anything in buy mode to make the sims more comfortable. This is an abandoned park and these are homeless sims, therefore the lot cannot be made more 'homelike'. If you have a sim with the kleptomania trait and he swipes things autonomously, you must return them to owner via the mailbox, or you may sell them. The exception to this rule is if the item is something small like a stereo or a guitar, etc. In those cases, you may keep the item if you wish.
Concerning non-game-created sims: Ideally, this challenge should be played in a fresh version of either Sunset Valley or Riverview, but it is acceptable to put them into an already-played game as long as you don't direct your sims to pillage the gardens of any previously-played lots. Also, once the challenge begins, your homeless sims MUST remain the ONLY playable family in the hood until the challenge is over. It is against the rules to switch away from them and then back again.
Hacks and cheats: Only the cheats mentioned in the rules are allowed and NO hacks or cheats are allowed which would make homeless life easier on your sims. If it feels like cheating, it probably is.
If at anytime during this challenge, the repo man comes, or a simself dies, you have failed at this challenge. Better luck next time..lol!
The goal of this challenge is to get those simmies into a home, but the main thing is to get in there and have fun! So, if you decide to take on this challenge, I sincerely hope you have as much fun playing as I did!
Rules:
1. You must download and use my lot, Homeless Haven, available here: www.box.net/shared/k686xzi139
2. Use the familyfunds cheat after moving in to reduce the households funds to $150.00. The bills only come to around $70.00 on this lot, which is plenty to cover you until you can bring in some cash. I know, because I played it and made through this stressful part. lol
Note:
To use the familyfunds cheat do the following:
a. Hit the Ctrl + Shift + c to open the text box that will appear at the top of your screen.
b. Type - testingcheatsenabled true and hit the enter key
c. Type - familyfunds thelastnameofyourfamily 150 and the enter key
d. Type - testingcheatsenabled false and hit the enter key.
Contrary to what some believe, turning on testing cheats is perfectly safe and cannot harm your game ... unless, maybe, you start clicking on the mailbox or a sim and start choosing options that you know nothing about. Don't do that! LOL Some folks play their games with testing cheats enabled all the time with no problems whatsoever.
It is also a great idea to get used to the idea of turning on testing cheats because it is only way I am able to get the resetSim cheat to work. Several times during my play testing of this challenge, I have had sims with very low hygiene (low hygiene is a regular occurrence in this challenge) get stuck in a loop of sniffing, fanning, and holding their noses upon arrival to a community when I took them there to get showers. The resetSim cheat sends them back home, safe and sound.
3. You must pick out eight simselves to use from the Simselves thread. One of those MUST be your own.
4. You must assign 'jobs' to all of your sims. There will be a cook, a gardener, a handyman, a fisherman, a 'thinker' (logic), a 'charmer' (charisma), a collector, and a writer. No one is allowed to get a regular job.
5. You are only allowed a total of 32 (four per sim) commands per day to share between all your sims. One of those must be used to take them off their 'home' lot at least once a day. You may send them somewhere all together, or they may split up and go to different places, but that uses up more of your commands, so use them wisely. Autonomous actions may be canceled when necessary. This does not count toward your command limit.
Note:
Sims do not nap very long at a time, so quite a few of your allotted commands will be used telling them to nap again when they wake. These homeless sims are a tired bunch...lol
Tip: If you are sending only one sim somewhere to do something specific, you save one command by zooming in on the place and clicking on the object you want them to use, instead of telling them to go there first.
6. There is a grill on the lot, but it is merely a decoration since it's useless without a fridge and a counter to prepare food on. Cooking may be done on community lots, but no cooking is allowed until the fisherman gets at least four skill points. Other sims may fish, but any skills gained do not count toward gaining the ability to cook. .
7. It is the gardener's job to 'forage' for food by raiding the neighbors' and community gardens. The goods may then doled out to the other sims to prevent starvation (manually putting them in the other sims' inventories is the easiest way to do this or the items can be placed on the ground for the other sims to pick up). Nothing may be planted until the cook has at least four cooking skills.
8. The collector may pick up seeds and rocks, but no insects. The seeds must left in the sim's inventory until the gardener is allowed plant them. (The rocks will be dealt with later). Once the gardener has four gardening skills, insects may be collected, but must be kept in the inventory until the selling of them becomes allowed.
9. Visiting the homes of other sims is not allowed (except to raid their gardens) until The Charmer gains five skill points from interacting with other sims (the first skill point must be learned from a book, or the mirror, in order to get this option. See note below.) At this time, a sim can visit a neighbor to try to catch some zzz's in a warm bed, or to cop a hot, free meal.
Note: It appears that sims with charisma chosen as one of their traits may come with a charisma skill book in their inventories. If your charmer doesn't have one, you may use the mirror. After that, the book (if you have one) must remain in the inventory, untouched and 'practicing speech' in the mirror is no longer allowed.
10. The writer is allowed to use the library computer, but can only practice/refine writing until The Thinker has gained four logic points from playing chess in the various public areas AND the acceptance of opportunities is allowed (as specified below). The writer then must wait until a writing opportunity is offered before he can begin writing for profit. The writer's first independent novel must be from the non-fiction genre portraying his life as a homeless simself.
11. Once The Handyman has gained four handiness points from fixing the broken plumbing that is sure to occur in the restroom and from tinkering (one skill point from repairing something must be gained to get the tinkering option), the collector may then sell the rocks that may have accumulated in his inventory. Fixing broken things on community lots is also acceptable.
12. Paying bills: You and I know that homeless people do not have bills, but they cannot be avoided while playing with sims, so unfortunately, we have to pay them in order to avoid the dreaded repoman. The best way to avoid him is to make sure you don't run out of funds before you are earning a bit of money.
a. Rocks may be sold when the handyman has four handiness skills.
b. Fish may be sold when the cook has four cooking skills.
c. Fruits and vegetables may be sold when the gardener has four gardening skills.
There will, of course, be more cash flow later in the challenge, but these are the early ways to keep the repoman at bay. Also, if the fisherman happens to pull in something besides a fish, that may be sold immediately if your funds are running low.
Tip: It's a good idea to wait to pay the bills until the popup box tells you you only have one day left instead of sending a sim to the mailbox. It saves a command for something else.
13. ALL opportunities offered MUST be turned down until all sims have have the required number of skill points that pertain to their positions as mentioned above. The purchase of Lifetime Rewards is not allowed in this challenge.
14. There is to be absolutely no shopping for books or groceries, or no luxury entertainment that costs money! These are, after all, homeless sims. It is acceptable to read books and play on computers at the library. Also, sims may raid the picnic baskets of other sims on community lots and eat food that other sims have cooked while there.
15. Once the writer has completed his first novel, ONE easel may be purchased, (if the sims can afford it while still having enough money to pay their bills), in order to learn the painting skill so that paintings may sold to add to the family's funds. The first sim to autonomously use the easel also becomes the 'artist'. (The Gardener and the Fisherman are excluded from this because they have too much to do to spend time painting) Once that sim gains four painting skill points, you may purchase a guitar if you can afford one.
16. It would be wise to choose a sim who has less to do on a daily basis compared to the other sims to be the guitar player. Keep the guitar in that sim's inventory, to be played only by him. Once the guitarist has four skill points, the collector may sell insects or donate them to science.
17. Once a sim maxes out his 'chosen' skill, he will be allowed to get a part-time job from one of the venues around town. No full-time are allowed. If the sim has no chosen skill, ie, the collector, he will be allowed to get a part-time job once all of the other sims' chosen skills are maxed.
18. The goal of this challenge is to get your sims 'off the streets' and be able to afford to move them into 'The Super Duper Shack', which is an EA-made home found in the lot bin that I remodeled from super to super duper! LOL It will easily accommodate eight sims and has been play tested to make sure everything works. It can be downloaded here:
www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=635761
Note: The lot is 20x30 and costs $34, 313 completely furnished. The price of Homeless Haven may be deducted from the cost. The amount of cash your sims need to have in order to move into the Super Duper Shack is around $18,000. This should leave them with an extra few hundred after moving. It is a good idea to not place the lot down in your hood until your sims have, or are very closing to having, the money necessary for moving, so that no neighbors move in before you are able to move in.
19. Special Notes:
a. I would suggest setting your aging option to epic or turning aging off to play this because it may take a while and you don't want your poor simmies growing old and dying, if they don't die from starvation first...lol
b. If you have a sim with the kleptomaniac trait, commanding him to swipe something is not allowed, but it's okay if he does autonomously. If the item is something that will not change the workings of the lot like a stereo or a light, etc., it is okay to keep it. But if it is a toilet or a shower, or anything else that will cause remodeling of the lot in order to use it, you must either sell it, or return it to the owner via the mailbox.
c. I was taking my sims to the gym in order to shower, but it was very stressful in several ways, one of which was keeping them off the gym equipment to get stinky again after showering, or jumping into the pool, even though they were exhausted.
As a viable alternative, I remodeled the 'All The Rave Warehouse' and turned it into a homeless shelter/soup kitchen of sorts. I put in some toilets, showers, a few nice couches/love seats, some counters, a fridge, a grill, a desk with a computer, a trash bin, and a chess table. Those are the only things allowed if you choose to build remodel your own, or mine can be downloaded here:
www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=675601
Note: I uploaded the lot before thinking to add the desk, computer, and chess table, so if you download it, you will need to add those. Also, to use it, you may safely bulldoze the one already in the game and put this one in its place.
d. It is acceptable for sims to use objects outside neighbors' houses even before they are allowed to visit the neighbors as long as the action is autonomous. You may not direct them to do so.
Note: If your sim happens to become best friends with a neighbor, it is acceptable to watch their TV, or to read a skilling book from his bookshelf (if there happens to be one in it) to help build a chosen skill.
e. If you are on a community lot that contains a fridge, it is acceptable for your sims to take food out of it autonomously. You may not direct them to do so.
f. The Catacombs: Only The Collector is allowed to explore the catacombs at the cemetery, but not before the writer has completed one non-fiction novel.
g. Cell Phones: Homeless people usually do not have cell phones, but it can't be helped in this game. Your sims are NEVER allowed to call sims to chat or invite them over, but it is okay to answer the phone if it rings. Clicking OK or No thanks when sims call to chat is acceptable and does not use up a command.
20. Skilling: Quick Reference Guide
The Fisherman: 4 skills gains the ability to cook
The Cook: 4 skills gains the ability to plant a garden and to sell fish.
The Gardener: 4 skills gains the ability to sell produce.
The Charmer: 5 skills gains the ability to visit neighbors' homes.
The Handyman: 4 skills gains the ability to sell rocks.
The Thinker: 4 skills gains the ability for The Writer to start a novel AFTER a writing opportunity is allowed to be accepted, and then the first novel must be a non-fiction account of his life has a homeless person.
(NO opportunities may be accepted until all of the above have gained the amount of skills mentioned above.
Completion of first novel: gains the ability to purchase ONE easel.
The Artist: 4 skills gains the ability to purchase a guitar.
The Guitarist: 4 skills gains the ability to sell insects or donate them to science.
In order to keep this post separate, and to make it carry less baggage for those who would like to print out the rules of this challenge, I am going to stick and lock this thread. If you have any comments or questions, follow the link below:
desirablediscourses.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=sims3challenges&thread=1289
Note: It took me quite a while to think up these rules and to 'iron out' the creases. Therefore, there is to be NO RULE BREAKING or changing just to satisfy the desire or request of someone who wants to use different lots not mentioned here or a sim that is not in the simselves thread. In this case, rules are NOT made to be broken. The reason for having specific lots to use is so the everyone begins this challenge on even footing. If I let everyone change the rules to suit themselves, it would not be much of a challenge, would it?
