I did this as a way to explore the whole gathering of goodies in the environment of Sims 3 and had SUCH a blast that I thought I'd see if anyone else is enjoying it too?

I made a self sim WITHOUT the green thumb and love outdoors traits, and just played an unemployed sim who gathers plant seeds, rocks, gems, goes fishing, bug capturing and trying to live just off of stuff she finds or grows herself.

So the challenge is this (and it might be easy for some but woot its fun to do):

Gather up goodies from the Land itself and make a living off of it. No cheats just start in a small place and explore! I'd be interested in what folks think of this aspect of the game?

I'd be interested in hearing your tales! ^_^

This is something I will attempt to do, count me in. I want to hear your stories too though!

I've already been doing it, except my Sim is an angler, loner, loves the outdoors, bookworm, and green thumb. It's been really fun except watching her sleep is so boring Also, I haven't really figured out where best to look for these things.. sometimes I can't find many.

OK! Well, for starters my sim-me is Excitable, so every time (just about) that she finds stuff she claps her hands and does a glee-dance. It's hysterical to watch! I gave her Natural cook, Good, Artistic and Good sense of Humour. No matter what she does she has a GREAT time and is always laughing!

She's also chubby like me so to see her RUNNING everywhere is enough to make me break into a sweat watching her... it's very funny to watch her running all over the place. (with a big silly grin no less!)

I just went off exploring all over the place and I've found a few places that are a bit of a bonaza. There's the waterfall lake area that has plants and sometimes stone things on the ground, and the fishing of course. To the west of that is another pond that has some of the same, nearby there a bit to the east and north is a brown rocky area that looks like it has a boarded up ex-mine (complete with glowing eyes watching you from the shadows! EEK!)and there's lots of rocks there. The Stone henge has some, and sometimes some butterflies.

Far as seeds are concerned, sometimes I find them best just below or around the Science dome thingie, sometimes Special or uncommon and even rare ones show up. The Cemetary also spawns some stones, and I even found a Death Flower there. Not sure what it does, but I scooped it up anyways.

My self sim doesn't have ANY gardening mojo, but I was surprised to find she could plant stuff, even stuff from the store! O_o Seriously! You can PLANT the produce from the store! I had her use the yucky quality stuff to fertilize my plants and their quality went up. I also found out you can use your fish to fertilize with! (more on that in a minute) In fact the higher my gardening level got and the better higher level fish I used, the better my plants got! I also discovered that there is a sprinkler in the outdoor plaything area that does wonders for keeping plants from wilting. After fixing my broken toilet and shower, the option to 'tinker' came up... something about making it automatic - worth exploring! I somehow managed to get a Money Tree and I fertilise and water the living heck out of it, once it starts giving cash it gives a great income boost!

I've made some SERIOUS cash selling off my lowest level veggies to the store and smelting the higher ores (anything below silver isn't worth the investment). I've also found some sort of bugs/ beetles that sell too, but they're a bit hard to find, you have to really watch out for those.

Fishing... I have taken a course when they are on sale (via the newspaper) and bought a couple of books to help figure out lures. Jellyfish like grapes (LOL), Minnows like apples, Red Herrings like the sausage links, and the black goldfish like goldfish. That's all I've found so far and it made me laugh! My excitable sim gets SUCH a mood charge from fishing it's hysterical. She also likes playing in the sprinkler... O_o

No clue on how to cook the fish though, although she caught a blow fish once and made sushi from it. LOL! (Poison, poison, poison... tasty fish!)

So far that's my explorations. Keep up the great work! I'm having more fun doing this than doing the usual career grind!

I sadly didn't make a self-sim this go around, I made a sim named Nene Pixins and she's uh a Brave, Never-Nude, Kleptomaniac who both Frugal annnd Artistic. Naturally, and now I have to figure out where to go from here.

Simsissy just start a new neighborhood and create a self sim to play in it. You aren't limited to just playing the one neighborhood the same way. You can start new ones over and over and have 10 different scenarios if you want. There may only be 4 slots showing at a time for save, but you can actually save a multitude of different neighborhoods. The slots just move over and whatever one you last played will be the first in the line up. I think a arrow comes up that you click on to advance to the right of the screen to see more and more of your separate saves. Some people initially thought we were limited to the 4 slots, but that is just not so.

Go forth and prosper! =)

Elfmaid, if you keep your sim happy and keep fulfilling its wishes, eventually you'll have enough lifetime reward points that you'll be able to choose the collector's award, which makes the collectibles show up with a shine on your screen. When you pan out to neighborhood view you'll see icons showing you areas where what you want can be found. You can click on your collectors award and set it to show whichever item you're collecting at the moment, be it seeds, rocks, insects, etc., and it will show you all over the neighborhood where those items can be found.

SWEET! Thanks Momicajack! I shall have to do that eventually. In the meantime I am having an absolute riot running around collecting stuff.

UPDATE on my sim:

I got fed up with all the guys being married etc so I made myself a Prince Charming (literally named him that LOL) and got them together after more than a few bits of puzzlements over the interactions needed. We got married and he's well into the Police career on his way to being a secret agent (cues Secret Agent man song and laughs). While he slaves away at fighting crime, I run around fishing and gardening and painting and so on... often bringing in more money per day than he does *laughs*

I now have *2* Money Trees that I have fertilized with Lobster (nothing but the finest for my trees!) These are from SPECIAL seeds found near the science dome randomly. What a hoot!

I've found all sorts of rocks, and even some DIAMONDS! O_o (near the stone henge thing) Sent those away to get em cut - and I caught a siamese fish thing and named him George. I've put him in a fish bowl you can find in the buy mode and feed him every day and make silly noises at him. Did I mention my hubby also has a Great Sense of Humour... it's a bit wild having these two puttering around the house and garden chortling to themselves.

After a couple of days of working the veggies, I've discovered that both garlic and the peppers sell for a fortune, some of the fish do too but I end up using them for fertilizer. I've now maxed out my gardening skill and bought the extra green thumb thingie... will have to save for the finder thing. My sims both want a baby for a stupid amount of points, so I'd imagine my poor self sim will be running around barfing her fool head off very soon. I still have to figure out how to move em to a bigger and better house and still take my money trees with me! O_o

Oh yes, I found another location rich in rocks... its way way south on that peninsula near the ocean there.

Hope you're all having as much fun with this as I am! ^_^

Are you playing Riverview or Sunset Valley?

This looks like fun! I'm having fun with the family I made, so I'm thinking I'm going to go ahead and raise the daughter my current sim has and then send her off to start this challenge.

Or should I just make a new sim? Decisions, decisions!
EDIT: I made up my mind--I made a new sim named Sydney Orchid. I got lucky and got a lot that was built on an ancient burial ground. There were three gems on the lot already!

I have read countless challenges for Sims 2 and never really found one that appealed to me. This one is wonderful! I cant wait to try it out. What a great way to get to explore and discover what an open neighborhood is all about.

I am planning on buying the game and additional 1Gb memory (have 1 Gb now on XP) to run it this weekend.

Woops! ChickenDress: I'm playing Sunset Valley! My bad! *laughs sheepishly*

No Robot: GREAT name for that sim! Rocks on your lot already? Wow! I'm jealous! Good luck with the entertaining search for goodies! I'm sure you won't be sorry. Glad to see you all having fun with this! *happy dances* yeah yeah I really AM a LOT like my self sim... >_<

Sookielee: Oh please DO, it's seriously fun to do this - I'm VERY glad they added this aspect to the game, it's a nice change from the usual career grind and I must admit my excitable sim makes it even funnier!

So, I did it, I had a baby girl, so no collecting for me unless daddy is home - I've heard that babysitters can steal your children... bugs bugs bugs. *laughs* No stealing my kid.
You know my self-sim ran around collecting right up till she went to the hospital? Literally, she came home and was about to eat dinner when she grabbed her belly and started going into labour. How typical is THAT? Now that I think about it, it would have been funnier if she'd had the baby right in the middle of stonehenge!

This is exactly what I'm trying to do when I get my game to play more than 10 min without crashing *deep sigh* Anywho, this is a great way to explore the options and details of the land!

Collecting rocks, butterflies, fishing, gardening, painting...all these things are working out wonderfully for my klepto of a sim! It is helping me as well create a story so to speak with her and exploring, and going on tours. I got to build her a simply /beautiful/ house...oh my god, so gorgeous and when her garden finishes growing it'll be even more lovely. (on the outside)

I am playing this as Nene Pixins, an Alien princess from a more savage planet where there is no system of economy (hence the not getting a job and not seeing what's wrong with taking things...that's how you get stuff! Everybody owns and shares everything on her planet, Sunset Valley is opening her eyes ) and she's always had to be brave because her clan was the one that did all the hunting and such. She loves to paint and to save money wherever she can. Planting her own veggies and harvesting and fishing helps. She wants to start her own 'clan' so to speak in Sunset Valley, but she has to have a significant little plot of land/money before she can afford it. So she believes in becoming the 'Artgror' or the master of the arts, almost a shaman like position so that she can earn her family who is far far far away's respect and get a new one close by.

That said, she is one of the prettiest sims I think I have ever made so far and it surprises me cuz she has green skin, pale green eyes, all her clothing is animal print (to reflect hunting and skinning it all herself *coughs*) and red hair...AND freckles, I know it sounds bizarre but even though she's extremely muscular...I dunno, somehow she's turned out so pretty! OMG. Pretty sim. Pretty house ( built it myself...I can hardly believe it...this challenge is really really turning out great.

Serenity: AW! No fair on the computer crashes. *comforts* Hopefully it's still fun inbetween though. I've had system set ups that do the same darn thing. *empathies*

Simsissy: um... WOW. What a GREAT story! Now you make me want to see pictures! I'd post some of mine but I think they are pretty boring for the most part. I often forget to take screenies. I'll look through my shots anyways and see what I can put up to amuse you guys with. ^_^

I decided to make a new sim very early in the wee hours this morning to explore Riverview named Gaia Bounty. SHE has greenish skin and green hair and is remarkably pretty. Who would have thought green skin would be so nice? O_o I've just gotten started so this will be entertaining. I'll go back to my family later on today - had to speed up aging cause the little mite was staying a baby for absolutely EVAR and getting to be a pain- that and I am excited to see her all grown up.

Can't WAIT to see where the goodies are hidden in Riverview! *squee!*

I'd be more than willing to share pictures eventually and I'm sure everybody else would as well! Possibly something like...showing them living off the land or just crazy wild awesome pictures that you can get if you watch them carefully. Aka, picture of fishing, picture of collecting, picture of gardening...picture of signature/special moments. I'm trying to make a check list of all the places she's toured so far, and to remember that going into that weird building in the graveyard has them coming back out looking like they've been toasted...due to zombie bears. Again, awesome story potential and her garden is looking faaaaabulous!

I almost made my sim a loner, but then realized I didn't have to... just because he's going to be a dirty hippie living off mother nature '=)

He's a natural cook, angler, lucky, loves the outdoors, has green thumb... is there something else?

His lifetime wish was to have 13 perfect fish of different species each in fish bowls, he managed before becoming adult.

Now, I'm discovering the wonders of good gardening and fishing skills... He has mastered both...

SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD


I saw on youtube a ghost sim returning to life after eating a recipe made with death fish and life plant... ;-)

Nene Pixins sounds so cute, simsissy! I'm considering making an "alien" to marry my sim, because she can't find a single guy and I don't want her to be a homewrecker like my other sim.

EDIT: Whoops, I accidently hit enter before I finished my update. Sydney is doing great! She's unfortunately very poor, though. She has a big garden and a lot of fish. She's also been painting since I made her artistic. I'm trying to find a mate for her, though!

Maybe later I'll try to post some pictures of her. I've been taking a lot. :-p

lol i tried to make the Sims live out of guitar i just make her a "studio apartment like " house with only bed,sofa,guitar, bathroom and fridge and a microwave.. so i had enough cash left to pay the bills till she maxed guitar skill and then lived out of tips.. the tips like crazy x3 easy mode !!

didn't try the gathering and gardening yet will do next time i play ^^

I am a crossroads and pondering what to do really. Nene got married, had a beautiful and apparently epic wedding party at the science institute, and she is now preggers...however...her husband got/has a job as an athlete, now does this effect the challenge? His lifetime goal it to be the top of that career, but do I just concentrate on Nene's being a gatherer and what not oooor should the both? Hmmm...

ooo i am going to try this out cause frankly i am already bored with the usual way of playing the game...lol.

Think i will make a new simmie of myself and start fresh out of a studio shack. bbl with my store...hehe

^_^ oohh i like this sort of thing!!!! XD I'll try it out myself.... sounds like fun ^_^ and i have yet to try out that aspect of the game!

my girl name is Bea Busy. She is a large woman and lives out of a tin can. (trailor) Everything she has in it came from yardsales and was given to her by someone else. (not really cause the game wont let you do that)

Her stats are... Life time wish to have the perfect garden.
her traits are... Loves the outdoors, natural cook, green thumb, friendly, and angler.

when she first started out, she went exploring of her new town to find what it had to offer. She met a couple of guys and chatted for a bit, did some fishing, harvesting, and found some seeds. Went home and started her first garden by planting what she had found which was apples, lettuce and grapes.

She lives a quiet life, enjoys reading to pass the time while she is in her home.

So far during her exploration she has found/fished/havested the following...
Fruits and veggis-
apple, lettuce, grapes, onion, watermelon, lime, potato, bell pepper, 2 unknown rare seeds and 1 unknown special seed. (unknown special she cant plant yet)

Items found- space rocks

Fish- minnow, gold fish, rainbow trout, red herring, catfish (alley, siamese), tragic clownfish, tuna, jelly fish

bugs- common monarch, ladybug, water beetle. Uncommon mission blue butterfly, royal blue butterfly and light beetle

she has 1,022 in the bank and it was all made from selling items. She doesnt have a job nor wants one.

I want to see how long she can survive by just selling what she grows and catches.

That collection helper life time reward thing is SO useful. I'm pretty sure I'm done gathering without it. And what's even more awesome is that it can passed down when a Sim dies, so anyone can use it without having to spend the points!

Money is getting super tight right now as Bea needed to buy some expensive books on fishing and gardening. But she is getting by with what she can.

She went wondering though the mountains the other day and found a bunch new things, most of which were gemstones.

(anyone know where i can sell these at?)

She did come upon an abonded mine, but couldnt figure out how to get inside as it was all boarded up.

Bea is getting lonely these days. All the guys she has met are married and is starting to wonder if there are any single guys out there. At this point she could care less what thier traits are. She just really wants some bedtime companionship!

You can send the gems off in the mailbox to be cut. There's a formula for the money you can make off of different cuts. Depending on the gem and the cut, you can lose money, but mostly just on low quality gems.

I think the mine is just for looks, I've seen it too.

Good luck finding Bea a man