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This week's challenge:

The day has finally arrived!

The ribbon’s been cut, the cake’s been eaten, and soon it will be time to get down to some serious business.

After a whole long week of building, decorating, landscaping, and (gasp!) roofing, your firm’s doors are finally open.

You smile as you scan the (admittedly) small crowd. Just out of the corner of your eye, you see a man you don’t recognize. And he appears to have your scissors! You know, the super-big impractical ones everyone uses for such occasions. He glances around and slowly starts backing away.

“Wait a minute,” you think to yourself. “He’s taking off with my scissors!”

As a brave sim—you would have to be to start a new business in this economy—you decide to chase him!

The second you catch his eye, he looks guilty. And sad, actually.

“Um,” he says, “hi.” He scratches the back of his head and gives you that embarrassed sim look. He quickly begins to explain. “I’m so sorry about the scissors. I saw them and just had this weird compulsion.” He sighs, “I’ve been trying to get better about that.” He reluctantly passes them back.

You should be fuming, but for some reason, you actually feel a little bad for the guy. He does seem sincere.

“I know you probably want nothing to do with me, but I’d like to make it up to you. I actually came by today because I’m moving to town next week and need a new home. If you’d be willing to give me a second chance, I’d love to have you build it for me. I’ll pay and everything, I promise. I can’t exactly run off with a house full of furniture.”

It’s against your better judgment, but you consider it. Your celebration party is not even over, and here your first client. That lucky trait really is paying off.
“OK,” you sound more reluctant than you really are. “Let’s go inside.”

You usher him through the door and into the overly comfortable chair you included to get ‘em while their guard is down.

“Tell me what you need.”

“Well, I have about 16K to spend. I’d like a home with a carport, as I’d eventually like to purchase a new car so I can drive myself to work. And I’d like an entrance to the home off of the carport, too. For the inside, I’d really like the walls in neutral tones. I would like it furnished, and I want the furnishings and accents to throw in some splashes of bright color. Also, I love to paint. I would like a nice little area with lots of light to do my painting. Finally, I would like either a little attic or basement area for extra storage. I tend to accumulate things wherever I go. Funny, I know. But I don’t know, I’m just lucky or something.”

He grins a crooked grin.

“OK. I think I can do that. A week. That will be rough, but I’m sure we’ll pull it off somehow.”

After he leaves, you reach for your office set to jot down a few notes.

Funny, it was right here when you came in with…you start to second-guess your decision.

But the next morning you arrive to find the set on your doorstep tied up with a bow.

You don’t have to read the card inside.

The Challenge:
Create a home for Cody Klepto and meet as many of his wants for his new home as you can.

Budget:
$16,000

Deadline:
Wednesday, June 18, no later than 7 a.m. (eastern time, USA)

*A note for the “brand spankin’ new” and “beginners":
Don’t fret too much about the carport. You don’t have to include this. If you’d like to give it a try, I’ll post some instructions below. I will also include information on how to make a basic basement.

A note about depreciation
The game seems to immediately take money off the cost of your build once you exit the lot and reenter. Please don’t reenter 20 times to build a mansion. This needs to be realistic as a starter. I think it deducts 15% off the top. I haven’t calculated it, but I remember reading it somewhere. For a guide on what you could realistically include, see the most recent starter on my sim page. It’s not a masterpiece, but it shows about how much you can build and decorate with 16K, as I built it without reentering. I will see if I can find the link to the thread so you can see some pics if you don’t want to go through the hassle of downloading it. If you want to cheat and reenter once, I suppose I’ll live. The second modern on my page (and on the page with pics) I think reflects this (slightly depreciated) pricing.

Welcome to the first Build-n-Share Weekly Challenge!

The Build-n-Share challenges will be posted Wednesday of each week and run through the following Tuesday night. Results will be posted one week after all entries have been submitted.

The benefits:
Each entry into the competition will receive an automatic rec (recommendation) on their entry lot. First, second, and third places will receive additional recs. First place will receive 3 recs, second place will receive 2 r ecs, and first place will receive 1 rec on additional lots from the builder. Winners may request recs on a particular build/s by providing links to the related lots once results are posted.

Weekly challenges also create an opportunity for community on the forum site. We get to know one another’s names, share news, builds, and positive words. This is a chance to get your name out there, and hopefully make a few friends along the way.

The rules:
All entries must be original work. Any competitor who submits another builder’s work will be disqualified and banned from any future Build-n-Share challenge. These competitors will also be removed from the Yahoo! Group 321 Builders’ Boulevard if they have chosen to join (membership of the Yahoo! group is not required to enter a Build-a-Lot challenge).

Any object that is purchased from the Sims 3 store may not yet be on my system, so please realize that when I judge, I may see a substituted item instead. You may use these objects, just please recognize this caveat of the store.

Please try to post one photo with your official lot entry post. Directions are posted below in the replies section. Links to additional photos would also be helpful. I plan to download and check out lots, but if numbers get too big, this may delay the weekly winners post a bit. Photos are nice to publicize your lot anyway, so you could use them then as well. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to do this on the Sims 3 site, so if you choose to include photos, you might want to make a story and include your pics there. Please provide a link to this story so I know to check it if you use this option. The other option is to provide a link to a separate online hosting site.

Entries must be submitted by the deadline, midnight Tuesday (the week after the posted competition begins).

An additional opportunity:
I have created a Yahoo! Group for builders. It can be accessed at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/buildersboulevard/. You do not have to be a member to enter. Those who compete in three challenges (whether they are a winner or not), will become moderators and able to add photos of their builds to the site as well as a link to their Sims 3 page.

Challenge Number One
This week’s challenge actually consists of two projects. Creating a sim and creating a lot. You may enter just the lot or both of the challenges. Winners will be announced for each, creating an opportunity for six possible winners this week.

The Sim:
Create a representative for your building firm. This may be a “simself” or a pretty face for the public. Your sim may be uploaded with the lot or separately (from the sim bin).

The Lot:
Create your building firm. It can be a community lot or “home business.” It can be as big or small as you want on whichever size lot works best for you. You may also choose the style of your building (ie. ultra-modern, country, etc). Also create a name for your firm. This is the name we will associate with you and all of your builds in the Build-n-Share challenges. You should include this name in the deion of your lot when you upload it to The Exchange.


Some tips for your build:

Consider your usual architectural style in your build. If your builds are all ultra-modern, perhaps your firm should be, too. Are you more eclectic? Reflect that in your build.

Don’t forget the outside. We’re talking curb appeal. Play with those terrain tools and great new trees and flowers.

Play up your lot with your post. Give us details about your new lot. Think of it like a sales pitch. Also, for this first one, please include your firm name and a little background on your experience. If we have enough interest, I may break things down into levels of experience so brand-new players aren’t competing against the “pros.”

Deadline:Tuesday, June 9 at midnight.

OK, I think that’s it. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Happy Building!
Addict