Renewable Resource Items

There are not a lot of ways to make money on Castaway Stories. You can sell your paintings. or you can purchase resource items that will eventually provide some resource income on a regular basis. Some lots will already have some resource items on them, so purchasing the item may not be necessary.

The most comment renewable resource is the wood pile. However, if you don't leave your lot (except to work) you may have to wait up to a "Sim" week to earn 3 more Simoleons. If you leave your lot to visit some other lot, when you come back, the wood is available again to cut.

Personlly, the most frequently renewing items are you best bet. The Bamboo, Stones and Bones are the quickest to renew without leaving the lot. Bamboo requires the Machete which will cost you 40 Simoleons. You earn a little every day. If you purchase the Machete and the plant, it will take 20 Sims days to start making a profit.On the other hand, if you purchase the Stone and the Pick Axe, it will take you a little over 62 gatherings to recoup your investment. So, it's important to think about the amount of time it will take to recover from the original expenses. I feel that the Bones are the best investment. Just about anyone living on the lot can gather them as soon as they become available (approximately every other day), and no additional tools are necessary. It will take 14 gatherings (approximately 30 Sim days) to begin to receive the profit of 15 Simoleons per gathering. Bamboo is another quite rewards investment of 6 Simoleons per day after about 20 days.

The renewable resources are also fair game on the public lots, but their refresh time frame seems slower than on the Sim's primary lot. 

Below is a table

Option	Resource Price	Renewing Sim Value	Approx. Refresh	Collected By	Tool Needed	Tool Expense	Profit after Gathering X times	Image
Woodpile	40	3	1 wk or leave lot & return	Adults/Elders	Hatchet	5	15
Bamboo	80	6	7/8 of a day	Adults/Elders	Machete	40	20
Stone	160	12	1-1/8 of a day	Adults/Elders	Pick Axe	475	62
Bones	200	15	every other day	All Except Infants & Toddlers	None	0	14
Grass (PhenoPlast)	280	7	every other day	Adults/Elders	Machete	40	46
Parts	320	29	4.5 days	Adults/Elders	None	0	14
Obsidian	400	30	6 days	Adults/Elders	Pick Axe	475	30

Careers and Rewards

It has been a spell since I last posted anything.  But I discovered that I don't have to build a career from the beginning, in order to receive a career reward. 

One of the circumstances of Sims is careers and "building" a career reputation and income. For the Castaway Sims, they have three career options; Gatherer, Hunter and Crafter. As an adult Sim reaches career level 5, he/she is awarded a valuable device/station for added benefit. The reward is the focus of this post. 

The Reward

For the Gatherer, at the career stage of Trailblazer, the Concoction Junction is the reward. 

This Junction provides potions for life changing events and also for fun. Teens can use the station but they can't use all the potions until they become adults. The potions do not have any resource value.

For the Hunter, at the career stage of Stalker, the Hyena Pace Obstacle Course is the reward.

This Course provides Fitness and Body skills. However, plan for Hygiene to quickly lower. Children and teens can also use the course. 

For the Crafter, at the career stage of Scrap Technician, the Crafter's Bench Crafting Bench is the reward. 

This Bench provides three electronic devices. One is battery powered, one is solar powered and the third requires electricity (wind-powered generator). Each device requires payment with resources to create. The devices provide Fun and in some cases can be used for Fitness and Body skills. Teens can use the bench.

Space Requirements

Some of the career rewards take up a lot of space. They can be placed on the ground or on flooring for use. The Course takes up the most space, requiring at least 3 by 9 squares to be flat. The Junction is the next largest, required at least 2 by 4 squares to be flat. The Bench is the easiest to set up, needing only 2 by 2 squares available. The least expensive option for placing the reward on the lot is to use the elevation tool and creating a flat/level space, large enough for the reward to be placed and still allow the space for the Sim to access to it.

Start in the Middle of the Career

One way to earn the reward without starting at the beginning of the career track is to have the necessary skills and friends already in place for the Sim before accepting the career. What I have discovered, over time is that sometimes having exactly the number of skills required for the career is enough, while other times, the Sim may need to have a one or two extra skill levels in place. Also, the Sim may be offered the career level 4, but after accepting, they really start at career level 5 and receive the reward. So keep that in mind when building skill levels. 

For the Gatherer career reward, have at least 2+ cooking skills, 4+ logic skills and 2+ creativity skills. Also have at least 2+ friendships outside of the family. 

For the Hunter career reward, have at least 2+ charisma skills, 5+ body skills and 1+ cleaning skills. Also have at least 2+ friendships outside of the family. 

For the Crafter career reward, have at least 4+ mechanical skills, 3+ logic skills and 1+ creativity skills. Also have at least 1+ friendship outside of the family. 

Having access to these career rewards can help make other events in life a little easier. One word of caution, don't leave your rewards on a lot if you move. You lose the reward and you are not awarded any resource compensation for them. 

Wanmami Island Real Estate Properties

Wanmami Island's 15 Lots

Moving into a Lot
Sims Family characters can move into an empty lot as long as it has enough resources. Sims can also move in to lots that have a family on it already and then the funds from that "move in" Sim will be co-mingled with the family's resources. Additionally a Sim or group of Sims can move out of a lot without moving out the entire family. Each moved out collection will receive 8,000 resources as long as the entire family does not move. When an entire family moves out of a lot, all furniture and lights that are not saved in the family "backpack" will be sold off and the proceeds of that sale becomes the overall family resources. The available lots are listed on the map above. The numbers will correspond with the lot information provided at the very bottom of this article.

All Lots provide some resources and food:
Resources = Activities on the lot that provide some funds; Branch, Bamboo Stalk, Stone, Bones, Pheno Plast Grass, Parts and Obsidian.
Food = Plants can provide some food and activities; Coffee Plant, Coconut, Banana or Papaya Trees.

Other Amenities
Ocean = Body, Bladder, Hygiene, Fun, Spear Fish
Built = Buildings exist but may require furniture and lighting
Furnished = Buildings that are partially furnished
Electric = Wind Generator
Pond = Fishing, fun, social, some allow swimming
Hot Spring = Hygiene, fun, social
Lava Pit = Nothing unless converted to pond
Marsh = Nothing unless converted to pond

Purchasing the Bare Bones Essentials: ß15 = Chest (Story Reward) PLUS ß40 = pile of leaves, fire pit & trash pit OR ß50 = Tent, fire pit & trash pit. (You can get by with this at an ocean lot. You will need bathroom facilities on an inland lot or travel some times to community lots. If you are strategic with bathroom and food needs, you can "refresh" while at work.)

Story Rewards:  You will need to have completed the Shipwrecked and Single game to have access to all the story rewards in Wanmami Neighborhoods. Depending on the renewable resources on the lot, you may need a hatchet ß5 to cut wood, a machete ß40 to cut bamboo or pheno plast grass, and/or a pick axe ß475 to gather rocks.

Convert Harsh Areas
The pit and marsh areas can be converted to water prior to moving in. While "overlooking" Wanmami Island, click on the families button (F1) without selecting a family. Find the lot and click on the Hot Property lot or the Stillwater Marsh lot. When the For Sale bubble pops open, then click on the "Enter Lot" button.

After you are in the lot (without a family) click on build mode (lower left corner the hatchet and pick axe button) select shovel (terrain) click on water drop (water), select blue water ß1 and then, with the pointer, click on the lava or marsh areas.

After you have changed the environment, click the button with 3 dots (option - ESC), click the disk icon to save the lot and then click the houses icon to return to the overview of the neighborhood.

Note - This same strategy can be used to level areas for houses or add ponds using the terrain tool prior to moving onto the lot. Performing this can end up changing the value of the lot, depending on the changes made.

Need quick resources? Raid the neighbors!  Move into a neighbor's lot while the family still lives on it, put all the household items into your character's inventory, from torches to toilets, then move out. Save the lot before returning to the neighborhood. This won't increase your worth until you return to your own lot and sell the items through the barter mode.

The guide for the map is below.

Fishing for Food Supplies (Part II)

Fishing in a pond can be a friend and family bonding activity. Click on others as they enter your property and ask them to join. Then they will converse and there will not be any fighting, even between mortal enemies! Children older than toddlers can also fish.

With pond fishing, there are only four different types of fish available. As a Sim becomes more proficient at fishing, he/she will have more types of bait become available. First will be the worm, next is the Riverblossom Minnow, then the Stink Ball Bait and last is the Sparkle Spinner. Also, as the fisher becomes more proficient, there will be more fish available. The first fish available will be the small Largemouth Bass and the Blue Catfish. Gradually the fish will become bigger and soon enough, the small and large Rainbow Trout will start biting. After considerable experience, the Golden Trout will finally become available.

Fishing for Food Supplies (Part I)

There are two ways to fish on the islands. One is with a spear (either in the ocean or pond) and the other is with a fishing rod in a pond.  After you have completed the initial guided game, you will have the ability to create your own fishing pond with the building tools option. The pond does not need to be big in order to be useful for your characters.

This first part of two fishing sections is for spear fishing.  The more you have your character spear fish, the better he/she will become at getting more expensive fish without spearing him/herself in the foot.

Spear fishing is a solitary activity for the most part. One aspect of spear fishing, if you can find a spot deep enough that your Sim is standing in waist high water while spearing fish, he/she will also handle any bladder and hygiene needs at the same time. 

Tick Tock - Crazy Clock

Time on Castaway Stories is difficult enough to gauge without the half dial 8-sector apparatus.

For the most part, at normal speed, there are about 1.25 real-time minutes to the hour or 1 minute 15 seconds. At ultra speed, there is about 13 seconds to the hour. At normal speed, a 24-hour time frame takes about 30 minutes in real time. In ultra speed, it only takes about 3 minutes for a 24 hour day.

Each dot on the Sims Clock is supposed to represent about 3 hours of time but that certainly is not precise and even though the adult Sim is supposed to leave for work at about 9 a.m. (the second yellow dot), and back at Noon (the third yellow dot), Sims are rarely only gone to work for three hours. So, either 9 a.m. is not really right at the second yellow dot, or, perhaps the Sim is leaving at 8:30 at the second yellow dot and returning at 12:30 p.m. well after the third yellow dot.... Or Something like that?

However you want to look at it, the time device seems to reflect 15 hours of sunlight and 9 hours of darkness every day. My guess is that the first yellow dot is 6 a.m. and the first blue dot is 9 p.m.

What you may start to discover is that your Sim will seem to want to go to bed later and later each day (just like real people) and one way that you can get them to wear out more quickly in any given day is to have them dig in the sand as soon as he/she arrives home from work, go swimming or go gather some rocks.

The comfier the bed, the less time your Sim will need to sleep. If you want your Sim to just catch some ZZZs during the day, he/she can always nap on a loveseat or sofa, or in a pile of leaves that you purchase from the Barter Mode.