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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 5th Nov 2017 at 3:45 PM
Default How do sims age?
ok the way i see it every simday is a year but this causes some problems for realism because here are the ages at the end of each life stage:
babies=3
toddlers=7
Child=15
teen=30(!)
Adult=59
Elder= 84 (the longest i've seen a sim live)

so comment below how do you think sims age?

I May Be Life Dumb But I'm Sim Smart(mostly).
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 5th Nov 2017 at 4:22 PM Last edited by Rosawyn : 5th Nov 2017 at 6:09 PM.
I use an aging mod that makes every sim day roughly equivalent to 9 human months; combined with a 24 hour pregnancy mod, it works out pretty nicely and makes my sim ages make a lot more sense!
Mad Poster
#3 Old 5th Nov 2017 at 4:24 PM
I use the default aging (no aging mods), and I'm not too worried about logic.

For me it's
Pregnancy: 1 day = 3 months (3 days=9 months)
Baby: 1 day = 3 months (3-4 days =roughly 1 year)
Toddler: 1 day = 1 year (roughly 3-4 years)
Child: 1 day = 1 year (roughly 5-13 years)
For teen and up I just don't care if anything makes sense.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 5th Nov 2017 at 4:27 PM
That depends on who's running them.

If you want ages to be proportional, you need to either change pregnancy duration, or lifespan. Both mods are available. I believe Almighty Hat's "It's the Proportion" mod is the most popular aging mod; I have no interest in shortening pregnancy so don't know about those mods. Mods for hacking seasons also exist.

Other useful dodges are aging off days, use of elixir, acceptance that sim days are composites of many days and may vary in "length" by a great deal, and simply not worrying about it.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Scholar
Original Poster
#5 Old 5th Nov 2017 at 6:05 PM
ok just one word university;how does that work? would it be the 8 semesters x the 72 hours each time?

I May Be Life Dumb But I'm Sim Smart(mostly).
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Mad Poster
#6 Old 5th Nov 2017 at 6:11 PM
University is one thing that doesn't really work in the "proportional" system my husband and I came up with. We use a mod that makes each semester 48 hours, and work it into our rotation as 3 days in university equals 1 day in the rest of the hood. Does it really make sense? No, but then neither do vacations.
Scholar
Original Poster
#7 Old 5th Nov 2017 at 6:23 PM
i have the 24 hour variation of that mod so sims are elders at 67 if they go to uni in my game and are adults at 38,wow aging for pixel people is complicated...

I May Be Life Dumb But I'm Sim Smart(mostly).
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Mad Poster
#8 Old 5th Nov 2017 at 6:35 PM
University isn't nearly as hard to work out as people think it is. Remember what I said about days being composites? University is a time in a sim's life when time seems to flow differently - so much is happening that less of it can be stylized than for days in the main hood. Just readjust your time scale, play them a little more often and more intensely than the sims in the main hood, and take them to community lots a lot, and you'll find a comfortable place to play them from.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Field Researcher
#9 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 7:40 AM
My main problem with aging is the way parents become elders while their kids are still teens, even though they tried for baby as soon as they became adults. That's like becoming grey and stooping before you're 40! So my simple, no-mod system is for every adult in a main household to drink a full flask of elixir at some point during their adulthood, giving them enough time to get to know their grandchildren before they die. If their kids are equally keen to reproduce early, the grandparents become elders when the grandchildren are toddlers and live to see at least their teen years.

University is on a decompressed timescale, as Peni said; I let my students stay away for one season in the main hood before they graduate.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#10 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 7:51 AM
I use a double aging mod, 2 day pregnancy mod, a shorter uni mod, add extra days for adults, use YA in the main hood mods.

I work on 1 sim day = 6 months.

pregnancy - 2 days (12 months)
Babies - 2 days (so birth to 12 months)
Toddlers - 8 days (1 to 5)
Children - 14 days (5 to 12)
Teens - 10 days (12-18)
YA - 10 days-uni or at home. (18-23)
Adults -74 days (up to 60)
Elders - I don't know, I haven't had any yet since using this method the past two years.

If you want toddlers for 7 days but base your aging on 1 sim day then your toddlers would be aged between 1 and 8. I would suggest changing it to 6 months like I do.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#11 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 8:12 AM
I agree with Peni.

Aging on, aging off when needed (also, using the blender to make them 3 days older/younger when needed)

Uni - send them to community lots, that's all.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 8:38 AM
I really like Jo's system, but I needed my sims to age a bit faster, because one of my main goals is to actually get into generational play. I've been playing this game off and on since launch and never so much as managed to age a born in game child to teen. So I use the Maxis overall number of days but move the days around so that things are proportional. So far, it's working really well.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#13 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 9:15 AM
I do generational play, only it's very slow. The grandchildren of gen one are just now turning into kids and my founders are about to age to elder. I plan that they will get to see their great grandchildren when they are really old. I have 60 as my age up point to elder because I am 51 myself and I sure ain't no elder! *off ma lawn you whipper snapper's!* The founders are between 50-58 now. Maybe you need each life stage to be a bit faster.

One day is 1 year you would want babies 1 day, toddlers 4, kids 7, teens 5, YA 5, adults 37. (to age to elder at 60) It's only really the Teen and YA ages that throws maxis aging way off- if like me you want the ages to make sense with each other. Our you could do uni still over 10 days but play two days there to 1 in the hood. I am rather precise with my aging though, as I am sure everybody can tell.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Inventor
#14 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 9:21 AM
I'm afraid that my system isn't as complex and relies solely on however long I feel like playing certain life stages via Simlogical's aging mod then adjusting ACR's fertility arc. I don't even calculate how old they are by days.

Fantasy hoods (my usual):
Pregnancy - 2 days (sometimes I find the waddlng cute)
Baby - 2 days (enough to play with and/or introduce them to loved ones)
Toddlers - 4 days
Children - 7 days
Teen - 8 days
YA - 8 days (2 days = 1 academic year, not in the uni subhood)
Adult - 60 days because darn it, they're usually broke when they age up (like I did ) and I just want them around longer

Everything is the same in the other hoods except for Toddlers - 3 days, Teen - 7 days, and Adult - 46 - 60 days. Just like Pebblerocker, I wasn't fond of sims becoming elders while their children were still fairly young so I adjusted the adult days to be much longer, but depending on character/storyline/circumstances, the adults have varying age ranges. Then again, most of my sims don't die elders (either by sudden in-game deaths or randomized deaths in high-risk jobs like Military).
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#15 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 9:25 AM
You realize people become grandparents at 40 and even younger sometimes? I am quite old enough to be a grandma and don't have much grey hair at all. Being a grandparent does not equal being ancient.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#16 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 9:32 AM
Wow really, cool. I don't know, say the word grandmother and people think grey hair, rocking chairs and knitting needles; but these days grandma is just as likely to be middle aged and into rock climbing...or simming. :D

"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 6th Nov 2017 at 10:51 AM
yeah my grandma was a grandma at 36! so i wonder why sims have to be grandparents at 60 or so

I May Be Life Dumb But I'm Sim Smart(mostly).
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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#18 Old 6th Nov 2017 at 11:40 AM
Well you as a player can do whatever you like. Even vanilla game play has aging off and elixir of life.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Inventor
#20 Old 7th Nov 2017 at 6:26 AM
In most cases I like to leave aging off. The only time it's on is when I need a young Sim to age into their next stage. The latter has especially become more common with families I've been working with lately. I could always force these kids to age using the InSimenator, but I prefer the more natural way of raising them.

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Forum Resident
#21 Old 7th Nov 2017 at 10:19 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I use a double aging mod, 2 day pregnancy mod, a shorter uni mod, add extra days for adults, use YA in the main hood mods.

I work on 1 sim day = 6 months.

pregnancy - 2 days (12 months)
Babies - 2 days (so birth to 12 months)
Toddlers - 8 days (1 to 5)
Children - 14 days (5 to 12)
Teens - 10 days (12-18)
YA - 10 days-uni or at home. (18-23)
Adults -74 days (up to 60)
Elders - I don't know, I haven't had any yet since using this method the past two years.


I use a very similar mod, except that I haven't altered pregnancy lengths (they're pregnant for 18 months, meh), and sims become children aged 4 and 'adults' at 19, so that those going to university can go at 18 and then there are some buffer days in adulthood so that the 'x days old' thing for elders is right.

I also have sims become elders at 50 rather than 60 - not because I think 50-year-olds are ancient, but mostly because 50 is the average age for menopause, and sims can have babies throughout their adult years - but maybe that's a weird way to make the decision! My TS3 games have sims become elders at 60, but they have (a) a separate YA and Adult life stage that's not just uni and (b) the amazing mod called Age that lets sims gradually grow grey hair and slowly shift into behaving like an elder.

As for uni, I have a 48-hour semester mod, and play two days at uni for every one day in the rest of the neighbourhood.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#22 Old 7th Nov 2017 at 10:36 AM Last edited by joandsarah77 : 7th Nov 2017 at 11:21 AM.
Quote:
but mostly because 50 is the average age for menopause
I wish...

Sims actually become infertile 5 days to elder, so those days plus the extra that I give them are another 10 years 50+10 makes for my 60.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#23 Old 7th Nov 2017 at 11:15 AM
My sims become infertile between 19 days and 5 days from elderhood, dependent on a dice roll. By "become infertile" I mean, "I no longer direct them to 'Try For Baby'." Since 'Try For Baby' is never autonomous in my game, it amounts to the same thing.

My sims age thus:
Baby 1 day*
Toddler 5 days
Child 12 days
Teen 12 days
Adult 55 days**

So a sims is 85 days old when they reach elderhood, which is roughly age 60, but all of them have gone through menopause before that point.

*Babies are aged manually, because it's actually impossible to make any stage less than 2 days
**In practice, basically all my sims also attend university, but because university functions on a different time scale and is in fact skip-able, I'm ignoring it here. I'm also ignoring all time spent on community lots and on vacation.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#24 Old 7th Nov 2017 at 11:24 AM
I use risky whoohoo, so whoohoo carries risk of pregnancy. This is why I keep adding 3 days each time a sim gets the pop up saying it's 2 days until they turn elder. It's the only way I can figure menopause.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#25 Old 7th Nov 2017 at 12:42 PM
Quote: Originally posted by kamoodle5
In most cases I like to leave aging off. The only time it's on is when I need a young Sim to age into their next stage. The latter has especially become more common with families I've been working with lately. I could always force these kids to age using the InSimenator, but I prefer the more natural way of raising them.
That is almost exactly how I play -- indeed how I've played from the very beginning. Right from when I looked at a very youthful-looking Tutorial Joe, sand it said "becomes an elder in 28 days", I decided, "I'm going to play with aging off." To me 28 days is only a month, and I just couldn't face the thought of my Sims growing old and dying so quickly. In my case it's the Sim Manipulator I use to adjust Sims' ages, most typically to stop CAS siblings all being twins and triplets.

So for my Sims a day is just a day, and they have time to enjoy their lives. Of the few birthdays I have played, most are baby to toddler, or toddler to child. I think that's largely because there's not a lot you can do with Sims 2 babies, or indeed with toddlers once they have learned the toddler skills. It's a pity really, because walking, talking, potty-trained toddlers in Real Life can be fascinating little people in their own right. In The Sims 2, Sims really begin to show their individual personalities once they reach the child stage, and, much though I love playing teens, I'm in no hurry at all to age my children up. In fact I've yet to play a child-to-teen birthday. (Well, I've only been playing for 5 years!)

I think the failure, for the most part, of my Sims to grow rich, may be an unintended side effect of my aging-off playstyle. Because no one has ever died, no one has ever inherited any money. And, once they reach level 3 to 5 in their careers, and they have enough money to buy the clothes they like, to keep the fridge well-stocked, and not to have to worry about the repo man coming for unpaid bills, without the pressure of "Time's winged chariot" at their heels, my Sims tend to relax and enjoy their lives, rather than keep pushing for the next promotion. Probably it all reflects my own attitude to life.

All in all this playstyle seems to suit me perfectly, and I feel no need at all for an aging mod, which I think I'd just experience as a straightjacket, limiting my Sims' freedom, and mine.

One thing I'm keeping though is the 3-day pregnancy. Not having to carry a child for nine months before birth is such an advantage over ourselves, that I couldn't possibly take it from my Sims. Anyway Sims' pregnancies can be difficult and I'm not at all sure I could keep a pregnant Sim alive for nine months.

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