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Instructor
#26 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 6:03 PM
It's not set in stone, and not set in water either.

Sometimes it's depending on my mood, sometimes on the Sim's mood (like, red aspiraton > Grilled Cheese), their personality (like, serious > Knowledge), and/or whatever I at the choosing moment remember from their childhood wants (some children of Knowledge Sims have a lot of learning wants > Knowledge) - and sometimes I just choose something I like. I tried the random thing, but that ment often that I had to play a certain aspiration when I didn't wanted it or an aspiration which didn't suited the Sim or that 'hood, so I tossed it out of the window. But I always make sure to think a moment about it, so the Sim can live a happy life.
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Instructor
#27 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 6:56 PM
I roll a die. If I start playing something else than my BACC, I might just choose it however I want. But I think random is the funniest way to do it.
Field Researcher
#28 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 6:13 AM
I'm a little of what's already been said, when a child grows up in-game usually think about what experiences they had and how would they respond to it.

For example, I was almost going to post in another thread that currently a family of four had both adults reach the top of their respective careers (business and sports), so their oldest adopted child remembered being loved as a toddler yet as he grew older he saw less and less of his parents and his sister while constantly trying to figure out how to find it fun to read books. So, he got pleasure aspiration. I've also done Sims with fortune aspiration after growing up in small one-room houses. Others, I do think of the personality and/or how many friends they have.

Create-a-Sims ones I've trained myself to think of what aspiration they'll have before creating them (I think in the over 5 years I've had Sims 2 I've created maybe one child and one toddler, the rest have all been adults or teens).
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#29 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 6:45 AM
Loving the responses!

I think it's interesting how everyone seems to have their preferences.

Part of why I like rolling Sims' Aspirations so much is because, even if it doesn't seem to fit their personality as far as stereotypes go (someone mentioned that a shy Sim wouldn't mesh well with the Popularity Aspiration, for example), when I look at a Sim's personality compared to what they rolled, it challenges me to think more about why they would aspire to X and Y based on how they act. Once again using the shy/Popular example, I would say that perhaps a shy Sim wants to be popular because they were lonely as a child, or maybe as a teenager they saw classmates out and about with friends and lovers, and they want to make up for lost time as an adult. Of course, they'd have to break out of their shell, but it's definitely something that could piece together a story.

I dunno about all of you, but I play mostly on speed 3. I create a story in my head as I play a family, but based on all of your replies, I don't think I really get to know my Sims as well as many of you (and I envy you all for that, lol). Most of my Sims have little quirks and such in my head, but there are many that get little to no attention as they're out-shined by siblings. It's something I'm trying to improve in my gameplay, because I think I'd have more fun if I slowed down and watched my Sims more, rather than playing stat manager all the time.

I'm also surprised to see that many of you have mentioned only sometimes/rarely using the secondary Aspiration! I don't think I could play without them at this point lol.
Mad Poster
#30 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 11:31 AM
I usually choose primary aspirations based on:

Personality
Interests
Hobbies

I also assign the secondary aspiration in the same way.

This gives them a more varied personality, I think.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Lab Assistant
#31 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 11:48 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Nukk
I'm also surprised to see that many of you have mentioned only sometimes/rarely using the secondary Aspiration! I don't think I could play without them at this point lol.


I was so happy when that was introduced. Made my little people a little less one-dimensional.

I'm trying to break out of making all knowledge sims. So I've actually changed my play style for this hood. And I'm loving it so far. They all have back stories, and there's a fortune sim and even a popularity sim (which I never ever play). But I'm giving them reasons for being who they are and who they'll become. I do have a story in mind, but there's some leeway. One of them can't hold a job to save her life. So, I've decided she's got her head in the clouds and is kind of a free spirit.

AKA. Anora Acadian
Test Subject
#32 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 1:37 PM
I used to give them mostly family or knowledge aspiration. My actual hood's founders, who are cloned from sims created years ago, are mainly family or knowledge. One is a popularity sim but I think she is the only one not knowledge or family among the founders. So I decided, once a sim become a teen or if I create a new one, that I first use a random generator/dice to decide their aspiration but I don't always follow the random result if I think it doesn't suit my sim. It just helps me have other ideas and add diversity.

I don't use secondary aspiration much. Generally, I mean to play a bit with only one aspiration to get to know that sim better and choose later, and I tend to forget to add the second.
I also had a "bad" experience with a secondary aspiration years ago (around 2008 I think). I don't remember the sim's first aspiration, probably family or knowldge , and I decided to add grilled cheese as a secondary aspiration. And suddenly he only rolled grilled cheese wants, so annoying!
It seemed as if his first aspiration was totally erased by the second, I didn't recognize my beloved sim anymore. I had hoped for a more balanced personality between the two aspirations.
After that I was reluctant to had secondary aspirations, for fear it would totally take over the first.

But maybe it is normal for the grilled cheese aspiration to act that way.
How are your sims with two aspirations acting? What kind of wants are they rolling?
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#33 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 1:53 PM
That's what grill cheese aspiration does, even as a secondary it tends to take over. The normal aspirations don't have that issue.

"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
#34 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 1:59 PM
I have a sim who's a popularity/family sim. He's pretty balanced. And the family part has offset getting annoying popularity wants all the time. Actually, those two seem to go really well together.

AKA. Anora Acadian
Scholar
#35 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 3:51 PM
i used to always pick,mostly family (thats my favorite!) and knowledge and i rarely picked romance or pleasure never grilled cheese

now i randomize aspirations all the time which isn't always good eg:i have an heir to a household but that person has no wants for marriage or children,can romance/pleasure sims wish for marriage or children?

I May Be Life Dumb But I'm Sim Smart(mostly).
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Mad Poster
#36 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 4:03 PM
Maybe if they have Family as their secondary aspiration they eventually would?

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 . :)
Theorist
#37 Old 2nd Feb 2018 at 5:30 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Emerald1234
i used to always pick,mostly family (thats my favorite!) and knowledge and i rarely picked romance or pleasure never grilled cheese

now i randomize aspirations all the time which isn't always good eg:i have an heir to a household but that person has no wants for marriage or children,can romance/pleasure sims wish for marriage or children?


I remember I once had a fortune/pleasure Sim who wasn't even married or engaged who kept rolling wants to have a baby. But that was the only one I can think of. A lot of Sims can roll wants for children in the days after marriage though.
Forum Resident
#38 Old 3rd Feb 2018 at 6:05 PM
With the exception of my 3 founders all of my Sim were born in-game so I pay attention them as children to determine their aspirations. I take into consideration things they talk about, what they like to do, what they dream about (or day dream) and wants that they roll. I pretty much always play secondary aspirations with a few exceptions;I like well-rounded Sim folks. I have never played the Grilled-Cheese aspiration; as much as I love grilled cheese myself I can't imagine this aspiration to be fun to play.
Field Researcher
#39 Old 5th Feb 2018 at 6:57 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Nukk
I dunno about all of you, but I play mostly on speed 3. I create a story in my head as I play a family, but based on all of your replies, I don't think I really get to know my Sims as well as many of you (and I envy you all for that, lol). Most of my Sims have little quirks and such in my head, but there are many that get little to no attention as they're out-shined by siblings. It's something I'm trying to improve in my gameplay, because I think I'd have more fun if I slowed down and watched my Sims more, rather than playing stat manager all the time.

I'm also surprised to see that many of you have mentioned only sometimes/rarely using the secondary Aspiration! I don't think I could play without them at this point lol.
Second part first, I don't have the expansion that adds the secondary aspiration and I play the game on a computer/OS that isn't connected to the Internet.

As for the game speed, I only use the fastest speed for single or two adult households when it automatically goes to that speed while sleeping or everyone's at work, or when they're skilling for a promotion and needs are high. The rest of the time, it's either 1 or 2.
Test Subject
#40 Old 5th Feb 2018 at 1:28 PM
A lot of times I'll take the wants they roll as a kid into consideration, but I recently noticed that the wants are kind of seasonal!! Lemonade stands (fortune) in the summer, skill/grade related wants (knowledge, maybe family) in the autumn, and interacting with family members in the winter. So maybe I'll start taking the season they age up into consideration?? Romance and pleasure in the spring (because of the relationship bonus), fortune and popularity (pool parties!!) in the summer, knowledge in the autumn, and family in the winter. I guess grilled cheese could be winter too, since people tend to want warm food when it's cold. Am I forgetting any?

I'll also sometimes give them the same aspiration as a family member or older friend that they're closest to, or have that be their secondary or combine it in some other way. Like, for example, Desdemona Capp's bio states that she wants to be just liker her older sister (romance) when she grows up, but I still wanted her to be a little unique & she kinda gave me popularity vibes, so I gave her pleasure since it's sort of a mix between romance & popularity. But I just noticed this time around that she has science as a predestined hobby, so I might make her knowledge or give her that as a secondary. Miranda's also got a science hobby and is constantly rolling skill wants, so I'll probably give her a knowledge secondary as well.
Mad Poster
#41 Old 5th Feb 2018 at 9:43 PM
I view the Grilled Cheese aspiration as the explanation for pixels that have temporarily lost their minds.

In Bellefleur one of Armand Borgia's kids lost his position as a doctor due to charges of malpractice and he was utterly bereft for a while. I threw grilled cheese onto him for an aspiration, and soon he was back to his old self, thereupon I reset his primary aspiration back to fortune after he had the appropriate nervous breakdown.

Sometimes they just need a break from being utterly sane. That was his escape.

As to speeds, I use the 'half-speed' mod by Chris Hatch and it has helped my enjoyment of the game-you get time to notice things when it's that slow, and the only time I play at a faster speed is when they're asleep.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Scholar
#42 Old 6th Feb 2018 at 11:02 PM
Occaisonally, I get a Sim whose aspiration is obvious, in which case I select accordingly. However, for most Sims, every aspiration, or all but one aspiration, looks plausible given a little nudging. For the rest... ...I look at the Sim's leftmost want (if I remembered to select the Sim at the appropriate moment) and select whichever aspiration is most compatible with why that Sim was likely to want that thing. Occasionally I have a different Sim selected, in which case I try the same thing. However, if it's something I have trouble imagining that Sim ever wanting (for example, a child without a mean bone in their body grows up when I have their mean elder sibling selected who mostly wants to attack the Sim who's been kicking over the bin for the last week), then I roll between all plausible aspirations for that character instead.

Secondary aspirations are counted clockwise from the primary aspiration, using either the Sim's name or a dice roll as the amount to go round by. If the process gives an unsuitable secondary aspiration (no, the Sim who seems quite happy despite rarely communicating to anything except the Social Bunny is probably not about to get a Popularity secondary), then I re-roll and start the count from the rejected aspiration. Occasionally, I will have a household get an aspiration changer and use it on all the elders, adults and teens, just for variety.
Field Researcher
#43 Old 7th Feb 2018 at 12:45 AM
I used to use Phaenoh's Random Aspect Generator, and before that I used http://mangaroo.com/sims2/ but now I use The Sim Randomizer by katrisims. Of course, there's also the good 'ol fashioned dice roll for aspirations, too. Some people like to pick aspirations based on personality, wants, etc. but I've been using randomizers because before doing so, I would tend to pick the same two aspirations
Test Subject
#44 Old 10th Feb 2018 at 9:45 AM
It depends on which Sims I make, 'Fit Sims' will be really active but quite angry at people but if I making Mum or Dad I make them nice and neat sometimes.
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#45 Old 10th Feb 2018 at 12:01 PM
I use popularity aspiration quite a bit with sims I think are going to have careers where they need to interact with people a lot - politicians or vicars mostly atm. It seems to me that often a need to be popular is a driving force for such people (not always of course). With vicars, I often combine it with knowledge as primary or secondary - though not with Egon Lovett, the archdeacon in Sirencester, who is definitely in it for political reasons. With politicians, fortune can make a good pairing though other aspirations work with popularity too (romance is an obvious combination - good for actors, for example)

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Mad Poster
#46 Old 17th Feb 2018 at 4:37 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Emerald1234
can romance/pleasure sims wish for marriage or children?

Yes, as far as I know, but in my experience any sim with either Romance or Pleasure as either first or second aspiration will invariably skip wanting to get engaged and want to get married...while simultaneously fearing getting married.
Lab Assistant
#47 Old 17th Feb 2018 at 12:15 PM
In my almost-megahood (I couldn't get Veronaville to work, so in-story it was destroyed mysteriously), I work out secondary aspirations and the aspirations of children aging up by reading their biography and memories and choosing whichever seems more appropriate.

In my other neighbourhood (or neighborj as I accidentally called it in its biography and haven't bothered to fix), the only two households are my selfsim and her family and some Pokémon characters, so that was pretty easy as they were based of existing people or characters.

I post once in a blue moon and then hibernate and draw- sorry about that!
Alchemist
#48 Old 17th Feb 2018 at 9:37 PM
about Romance sims wedding; wedding a rich sim would produce a positive memory for them. but wedding a non-rich sim would produce a negative memory for them.
the other base game aspirations would get positive memories for both kinds of wedding. and any sim from Create-A-Family would have a positive wedding memory if a spouse was set; regardless of aspiration.

babies; as far as I recall, all base game aspirations get positive memories when those are born.
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