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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 9th Apr 2018 at 2:12 PM Last edited by Florentzina : 9th Apr 2018 at 7:16 PM.
Default Household "Routines"
With routines, I'm not talking about rotations on how long you play each family, but rather WHAT do you do when play each family, to keep them interesting but maximize the time playing them?
( I know you can do alot of different stuff in the game already, so no this question is not the same as the sticky one. ).

Currently playing Uber-hood (with several other ones from this site and townies moved in, ca: 200-250 households but a handful is single sims from the premade or user made families which I plan to move into couples) and gone through a 7 day rotation where the couples had only returned from college. All I had time for was having the babies, arrange a wedding party and adopt a dog. The Father got impregnated by aliens and that's it. Playing the family with "minimal" cheating, it took me like three-four hours to do only the parenting part in one sitting.


I'm considering switching to do shorter rotations instead as it feels like going through this massive hood, it going to take a real life year to go through it. I don't think I will go through all of the families in normal manners (having only the moved in townies and extended families as "supporting", aging them up as needed), but this made me think about the activities you do when playing a family.

SO, How do you keep each family interesting, individually? Routines like everything from taking care of their needs, parenting, friends, work, dating/parties, going to community lots etc - How do you maximizing these into game-play?

I also use community time and shortening the university to 4 days (extending by adding more hours on the College Adjuster if I want them to a better degree or education) because I don't have the patience to use aging off or extending their lifespan as I always preferring playing a larger hood but going through them more quickly, so I'm not sure if this just affect that I use slightly shorter lifespans


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Mad Poster
#2 Old 10th Apr 2018 at 9:28 PM
Move all the singles into one household - that always causes some interesting and unexpected things.

Community lots - that is my answer. Sending sims to community lots also means that there are other playables there and the sent ones can interact with them. So teens may approach knowledge sims and ask for knowledge; fit sims can train others, all kind of teaching with Sophie David's mods (I love the dancing with the flamingo). New friendships, new romances and new enemies can all happen in one session. Strict rotational play has never been the answer for me - I like to keep the game exciting. However, if the family who is being played - or at least some of them - go out, a bunch of other playables will do some interesting things that will have an effect on them later.

I was quite surprised when Jodie Larson decided to bully Herbert Goodie into a photo booth once - I was playing neither of them. Then I saw her doing it once again, much later. And then, when Faith died, she turned up late at night and the got married

If the parenting gets too much, a new roomie may be an answer - and that always gets interesting too. I often move Sims out of one home to go and help a relative with a baby and back later.

Many of the Sims in my hood run their own businesses, and my Sims have to buy from each other as far as possible. So if food is needed, you go and get it from my grocer, etc. The grocer is the only one who may order food over the phone.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#3 Old 11th Apr 2018 at 12:09 AM
Quote:
SO, How do you keep each family interesting, individually? Routines like everything from taking care of their needs, parenting, friends, work, dating/parties, going to community lots etc - How do you maximizing these into game-play?


Each sim in my hood holds thier own role in running the town, but I can only do that because I have about 20 households. Instead of focusing one role per sim you could do one role per family.

Household: Hairdresser/boutique owner-----mechanic/Jack of all trades. For me that is one couple but you could split that into 4 families to encompass more sims. I only put being a hairdresser with selling clothes together originally as I didn't have enough sims.

Household: Fishermen. They all fish and sell fish and weren't the most interesting pair so I had them adopt. Stil not the most interesting family and the son will be off to UNI soon. I'll figure something out.

Household: Police Chief------ Cafe owner. The police house is also a shop and the cafe I find interesting since she makes lunch time sandwiches then later switches to the desert cart.

Household: Grade School teacher------ Banker. She teaches at my playable school, he runs the bank.

Household: Mayor----Nurse Pet Shop Owner----Undecided. So this family has Grandparents and then the one married son and also the grandchild. Mum would like to be a sporting person but I am not sure how to go about that yet. Something else I have to give thought to. She might have to own some kind of sport venue.

Household: Vinyard/BB/Winemaking and selling. ----- Journalist. He (photojournalist) helps with the vineyard too especially since kids moved out.

Lots more households as you can imagine, but each one does something different. Very few of my sims go to rabbit hole jobs and if they do they will also run a shop or service as well. Anytime I don't want them leaving I stick out the institution sign. I never let rabbit hole jobs affect my play. The other stuff like parenting just fits in around it. I have about 3 townies, so all my playables interact so never short on friends, those just happen naturally. On a weekend or day that suits them I try and get the whole family out, perhaps bowling, a park or a beach.I don't have any routines for needs, I just do those as they come up.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Alchemist
#4 Old 11th Apr 2018 at 12:23 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
Anytime I don't want them leaving I stick out the institution sign.


This sounds interesting. What does it mean?
Mad Poster
#5 Old 11th Apr 2018 at 12:41 AM
I don't think I do anything special to keep myself interested. All my sims are interesting just by being who they are, and this is way enough for me!

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#6 Old 11th Apr 2018 at 12:45 AM
@Sunrader It's a sign by simlogical. You have to download the 'patch' that you want for it. So one patch will stop the car pool and school bus, one will allow for walking, etc. You add the one that suits you. The sign is one of my must haves in being able to play my integrated hood. It allows sims to go and stay at the hospital or on a holiday/vacation res lot (Winery B&B) without having any kind of warning pop up, or they can just stay home sick or go off and run their business. http://www.simlogical.com/sl/Sims2P...itutionSign.htm

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Alchemist
#7 Old 11th Apr 2018 at 12:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
@Sunrader It's a sign by simlogical. http://www.simlogical.com/sl/Sims2P...itutionSign.htm
Oh, thanks, got it. I use the flex school one, but didn't know about this one.

I play with aging off and only age sims for certain reasons when I feel like it, so my sims have all the time in the world. This way they have very developed personalities, skills, and relationships and, because of that, they are more autonomous. I tend to play in what I think of as "story arcs" but those arcs are suggested by random acts of the game that I add to. It's rather like a soap opera in the way things evolve, sometimes with the focus on one family or character, then shifting to another through some connection. For example, there has been a long running story arc with Angela Pleasant, triggered by her accidentally dying after childbirth. She was gone for about 6 years while her baby grew and Dustin partnered with someone else who was also a game accident (a passerby who looked interesting, so I joined her to another household). Finally one of Dustin's new kids saw Angela's ghost and wished for the genie to resurrect her. So, Angela is back to a family she barely knows. Dustin still loves her, but Angela has issues, of course. Then one day, randomly, Angela's daughter (who she is just getting to know, obviously) brings a friend home from school who looks just like Angela! A child with no past, no family. I have Angela adopt her and the mystery begins. Where did the child come from? And why does Angela feel so drawn to her? Was Angela really dead? Could the child be Angela's? Who was the genie, really? He bears a striking resemblance to the gypsy in the camp on the edge of town. Could it be that Angela was kidnapped and her memory erased? Where is Angela's twin sister....?

For me, it's the combination of giving the characters plenty of time, enjoying the random things that happen in the game, and making stories to explain them that keeps it interesting. The fun part is that things that had no significance originally become significant and grow in directions I wouldn't have imagined. For example, I didn't know that there was a genie before Angela died, or that he could resurrect people before he appeared to one of the household kids. I didn't think anymore about the genie after Angela came back until the visiting child showed up and I started thinking about where she might have come from, then I cloned the genie, gave him and the random visiting child violet genie eyes, then starting thinking about the back story. Then, I remembered the twin sister who'd never been played, and I played out a whole prequel where Lilith and the genie and Dirk Dreamer all hooked up and.... It can't really help being interesting.
Link Ninja
#8 Old 17th Apr 2018 at 10:44 PM
@Florentzina
I was meaning to answer this when I first saw it the other week but lost my original reply. Anyway I hope this is the kind of answer you were looking for.

So a lot of my general playing 'routine' for households goes into trying to make 'combos' where I can fill needs and wants simultaneously. I play a needs-driven game so anything in yellow or red status usually gets taken care of first as it's more urgent. If they are hungry and have low social I make them eat with family, go out to eat with a friend (if they have a want to go to a community lot) or invite a friend over for dinner (this also could fulfill an 'invite sim over' want) so hunger and social needs go up in any of those scenarios.

Another example of 'combo-ing' is if they have low comfort and hygiene I send them to take a bubble bath. If they have low fun and comfort I have them watch tv or if they have a want to gain a logic point I have them play chess.

So after needs are full, and any quickie daily wants are fulfilled such as juggle, or call a sim to chat, I lock any high-value wants for the long term if they happen to have any such as marriage, job promotion, learn a skill, etc. I check their work status, see if they need to skill, see if they have any friends they need to make or relationships they need to upkeep and go from there. It's much easier to manage a one-sim household, however it can get less exciting than playing a family because all focus is going to one sim. So there's nothing to do except fill their queue while they take a shower or make breakfast as opposed to a multi-sim household where you can jump around and have other sims do things (did I mention I am really micro-managey?)

However, I don't consider single sim households as boring, because I shake it up a lot. Some have pets they need to take care of, some have robust dating lives, some are in struggle mode trying to make some decent money and keep up rent. Their wants, interests, aspirations and hobbies also play a role in their routines.


Multi sim households are a bit more hectic to control and fit routines into - it takes a lot of juggling, at least for me. I don't have a lot of BIG households with 4+ sims anymore because it got downright crazy to keep up with everyone without pausing every other second to remind myself who needed what and where they were in their action queues.


Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Mad Poster
#9 Old 18th Apr 2018 at 12:10 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Florentzina
SO, How do you keep each family interesting, individually? Routines like everything from taking care of their needs, parenting, friends, work, dating/parties, going to community lots etc - How do you maximizing these into game-play?


I make sure no two households are the same. You'd be hard pressed to find two people in real life with the exact same interests and exact same daily routines and goals in life. So why should our Sims be? To me playing sims is like reading a book, the more personality there is, the more story and depth there is the more fun it'll be. I figure out who my Sims are, and from there I figure out what they would be doing if they were real people. I let my perception of who they are that affect everything, from what their goals are (aka what I should be working towards with them) and what they do during the day just as general "I exist and therefore I do things"-things and needs-filling.

I don't try to maximize things, and by that I mean I don't necessarily use the most effective way to fill a need, or to reach a goal. Skills are not something you learn in a day, so often times my Sims may skill for a little bit and then move on to something else and come back to skilling another day. Fun is something you deal with when you have time to spare, whether or not your fun meter is high or low. Some things we do out of habit, some things because we have to. I have one Sim that reads the paper every morning, not because her fun need is low or needs a boost, but because I see her as being involved with society and wanting to know what's going on in the sim world. I have one that starts each morning with a morning jog with her dogs, because she's very active and I feel like she'd be the kind to enjoy that kind of wake up call. Her body skill is maxed and she's always at top fit levels, but she does it because it suits her, not for gains of some other kind. Even things like what they eat. Lots of people are repetitive eaters and so some of my Sims have 1-2 options for each meal time that they always eat. Some people hate cooking, so some Sims hardly ever cook. The not cooking can be because they don't know how, in which case if they do cook I limit the to really basic things, or because they don't care to even if they know how, which means if they do cook they may make fancier things. Some parents serve their kids regular food, some unhealthy food, some like to make sure there's variation in nutrients. And so on and so on

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Lab Assistant
#10 Old 18th Apr 2018 at 1:06 AM
I'm huuuuuge on micro-managing my Sims--at least the ones I care about, anyway.

My playtime is spent generally switching between pause mode and speed 3. Occasionally I'll think "I should slow down and enjoy the animations" and that lasts for a few seconds. All in all, I basically play the Sims as a stat manager more than anything else. I try really hard to do different things per household, but I find myself falling into my typical routine more often than not. When a Sim's needs are all set and happy, I move right on to the next Sim. If it's a solo household, I speed 3 my way to the next objective. Playing a BACC has helped me get my Sims involved in the community more, going out to lots and such, but I still do the same old, same old. Grow up, get married, have babies, rinse & repeat. I find that the households where I break away from this are a lot more memorable, but I like to get a town settled into a few generations before doing much in the way of story.

I do like to do "themed" households, like several people above.

Might edit this post with more info later, gotta run!

I'm actually really having a huge mental debate about whether or not I want a mod to sync community time with home time, so when my Sims go back to their houses, the time isn't the same as when they left. I think it'd make my gameplay more difficult but it'd lead to more.. consequences and it'd force me to actually pay attention to the time when my Sims are on community lots. I'm going on an off-topic tangent I suppose, but the point is that it would help me break out of my routine and make me think harder lol.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#11 Old 18th Apr 2018 at 2:25 AM
Why not slow down and see what the sims will do and say? They may surprise you.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Lab Assistant
#12 Old 18th Apr 2018 at 3:48 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
Why not slow down and see what the sims will do and say? They may surprise you.


It's so hard to break a habit! I've played like this for over 10 years now, you know? I do try, trust me, haha. I just like fast-paced gameplay.
Scholar
Original Poster
#13 Old 18th Apr 2018 at 7:08 AM
Guess I got a clone, Nukk. I'm the same. I'm been trying to play more slowly and tryied going through Uberhood, my hands keep itching on using speed 3... or I might be even worse: Using the set-hour cheat.

I've a personal debate of whether to play the families in 1 day rotation to get through everyone quicker by knowing them faster, longer rotation to get into the slower "gamestyle's" or keep cheating with age of everyone I don't find interesting. I removed the Community Lot time because it got glitchy with AL, so I rather set-hour cheat when they are back (if majority or going or only less interesting peeps are staying home, like pregnant nursing kids, that part I don't mind cheating through) instead to speed up the time they did at those community lots.

Watching sims reading books or talking with their kids about first woohoo, gets a bit tedious, as well as micro-managing when nursing a couple of kids. One thing that helped me was Simlogical auto teleporter which randomize visitors, so there is always something happened (like watching ACR actions are more hilarious than normal day by day basics, one thing that made it more interesting to me recently when visitors popping up doing their own "stuff".)
Mad Poster
#14 Old 19th Apr 2018 at 5:40 AM
You mean like the Ottomas family always sit down for dinner together when Peter gets home from work, whether or not they're hungry? That sort of routine?

That really depends on the sims in question. I think the Ottomas are the only ones where you darn well eat when Dad gets home, whether you're hungry or not, tired or not, finished your homework or not . . . but the Goths always have breakfast together--cooked by their butler, of course! And Alexander has to practice piano first thing every afternoon when he gets home from school for an hour.

Aliens and part aliens are obligate vegans in my sim-world (I totally stole that from someone, maybe Strange Tomato?) because they can't digest sim-animal proteins properly. And some of them are part of the cult.

The Grunts carry on their family tradition of slap-dancing with regular practices.

Lucy Burb, on the other hand, is very much a latchkey kid, and spends a lot of time on her own, maybe calling her cousins if she's lonely, between when she gets off the bus and when her parents get home from their jobs.

Pics from my game: Sunbee's Simblr Sunbee's Livejournal
"English is a marvelous edged weapon if you know how to wield it." C.J. Cherryh
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#16 Old 19th Apr 2018 at 11:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Florentzina
Guess I got a clone, Nukk. I'm the same. I'm been trying to play more slowly and tryied going through Uberhood, my hands keep itching on using speed 3... or I might be even worse: Using the set-hour cheat.

I've a personal debate of whether to play the families in 1 day rotation to get through everyone quicker by knowing them faster, longer rotation to get into the slower "gamestyle's" or keep cheating with age of everyone I don't find interesting. I removed the Community Lot time because it got glitchy with AL, so I rather set-hour cheat when they are back (if majority or going or only less interesting peeps are staying home, like pregnant nursing kids, that part I don't mind cheating through) instead to speed up the time they did at those community lots.

Watching sims reading books or talking with their kids about first woohoo, gets a bit tedious, as well as micro-managing when nursing a couple of kids. One thing that helped me was Simlogical auto teleporter which randomize visitors, so there is always something happened (like watching ACR actions are more hilarious than normal day by day basics, one thing that made it more interesting to me recently when visitors popping up doing their own "stuff".)


See this is really interesting to me, why do you itch to move to speed three? What do you get from it?
I think (could be wrong) that your sims are all doing much the same thing and that's why you move to speed 3 because what they are doing is boring and that leaves seeing progress as the motivating factor.
Do most of them simply have rabbit hole jobs? So that the focus is on eat, sleep, fun meter and job? (apart from breeding and kids)

I mostly play on speed 1, sometimes 2 but 3 is only for waiting for sims to return or sleeping.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
Original Poster
#17 Old 20th Apr 2018 at 9:38 AM
I don't have any specific reason, I simply impatient simmer. For me personally, what I find the game interesting is the life cycle of a sim and progress through each sims life, more than the "activities", but since I favor larger hoods, I can get rather impatient to see the hood progress age wise. My sims ages are modded but not much longer/shorter than vanilla.

I'm trying to re-try the Uberhood now, by only adding the sub-hoods more slowly, kind of like a BaCC hood, because its bigger than my custom hood and feeled a bit overwhelming, especially because I more used to medieval themes. :lol
Mad Poster
#18 Old 21st Apr 2018 at 10:31 AM
My hood is 4+ years old now, and I know each Sim in each of the more than 220 households quite well. There is no rush in my Sim world. I do use Speed 2 at times, like when a Sim is on his own and studying from a book - but I am quire afraid that I will miss something too
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