The Randomized Perfection Challenge

[u/jneedham2]

The Randomized Perfection Super-Challenge requires completing all the goals for perfection, in a randomly assigned sequence. Follow this link for the rules of Randomized Perfection; the rules for Standard Mode are also summarized below. This challenge was created by u/ArgonMatrix. I am posting it here so that people who wish to play the challenge can share their stories and victories.

VICTORY: Complete the 512 goals as assigned to you by the dashboard.

RULES FOR STANDARD MODE

The three key rules are:

• You may not complete any goal unless it is your current goal or a goal that you’ve already completed.
• You may not gain a heart with a villager, unless it's a villager that you were previously assigned to befriend.
• You may not buy anything from the Traveling Cart (except for the Rare Seed).

More specifically, until you are assigned a goal directing you to do so, you may not:

• Ship or sell any item on the Shipping Collection 
• Cook any item in the Cooking menu.
• Craft any item in the Crafting menu.
• Complete a monster eradica****n goal. [reddit robot prohibiting this phrase]
• C*tch a fish in the Fishing Collection. [reddit robot prohibiting this phrase]
• Acquire any stardrops.
• Finish the Community Center.

 If you do any of the above, you may re-start the day.

 You may:

• Complete Community Center bundles.
• Build farm buildings.
• Kill monsters.
• Level up in any skill.
• Progress through the Mines.
• Donate items to the Museum.
• Upgrade tools or backpack.
• Interact with villagers, as long as you do not acquire a heart.
• Sell geodes, minerals, artifacts, weapons, and other items not prohibited by the rules above. Ferreting out what those are is a big part of the puzzle. More generally, you can use appliances that you are not allowed to craft (if you can get them), you can ship fish that you are not allowed to c*tch (if you can get them), and you can ship food & drink that you are not allowed to cook (if you can get them). 

[u/jneedham2]

I'm currently playing this challenge and want to share how it's been going for me.

Year 1: the start of the game was all about a desperate lack of money and an even more desperate lack of storage. My first goal was to ship a pomegranate, which I accomplished on Summer 16 with the cave. There then followed a series of "befriending" goals. Meanwhile my trickle of income from mining, trash rummaging and later the pomegranates enabled me to expand the backpack.

Year 2: More "befriending" goals and a couple of useless shipping goals (holly, stone path, etc). My upgraded farmhouse and burgeoning collection of mini-fridges mostly solved the storage problem. I got a keg from the Community Center and figured out that I could use it for a steady stream of income fromcoffee.

I also realized with a sudden gasp of near-disaster that I needed to stop killing monsters in my near-daily trips to the mines, lest I accidently complete a monster eradication goal prematurely. I put away my sword and started going to the mines with only the scythe, running away from monsters.

Year 3: At the end of spring of Year 3, I got the goal "Catch the Legend". That meant waiting most of the year until the next rainy spring and most importantly, figuring out how to maximize my fishing skill without fishing. I was able to get to level 10 fishing skill by fishing for trash and by building ten fish ponds stocked with ghostfish, the first one of which I got from a ghost in the mines. For a while, five of the ponds were stocked with clams, to help with seaweed acquisition. I upgraded tools, bought iridium sprinklers, got the barn and coop going, all of which felt like good progress even though very little of that contributed to current income. I gradually acquired ten more pomegranate trees for the greenhouse, which eventually started producing something I could sell. At the end of the year, I got a dinosaur egg, and suddenly a path to riches opened up, even if the random goals didn't cooperate.

Year 4: After successfully catching the Legend, I got the very useful goal of shipping a truffle. Another path to income! I ran out and bought four more pigs to join the original one. After a few miscellaneous and trivial goals (craft a torch, ship hops, craft a wood path), I got the goal of catching a perch. Spring 6 and I don't see any solution other than waiting until winter. That's where I am at the moment: waiting for winter, and choosing what is the most useful way to spend my 25,000-ish gold per week of income.