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How to use Outdoor Retreat and make it interesting?

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I have had Outdoor Retreat since 2015. For me it has always been the least interesting Game Pack(I know it was also the first GP for The Sims 4). I just never know what to do with it. I've used it like once or twice maybe.
I'm looking for ways/ideas to make it interesting so I'm open for ideas.
(I'm not a family player and I dislike toddlers(too needy for me). When I play I focus on sims from kids to elders)

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    BMSOBMSO Posts: 3,273 Member
    If your a bit of a deviant you could always make the fireleaf extract and have your sims put it on their skin.
    Bmso85's emporium - mysims4studios

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    ItsJanierItsJanier Posts: 884 Member
    BMSO wrote: »
    If your a bit of a deviant you could always make the fireleaf extract and have your sims put it on their skin.

    I'm open for ideas :smiley:
    I always enjoy good drama while I play.
    How does it work? And how do I use it? I'm not really familiar with the content that came with Outdoor Retreat, so sorry if I ask stupid questions.
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    DannydanboDannydanbo Posts: 18,057 Member
    I plan on making it snow half the year in GF. It should look spectacular. I wonder if the brown bear will become a polar bear in winter. :D
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    killed.Persephonekilled.Persephone Posts: 53 Member
    edited March 2018
    ItsJanier wrote: »
    BMSO wrote: »
    If your a bit of a deviant you could always make the fireleaf extract and have your sims put it on their skin.

    I'm open for ideas :smiley:
    I always enjoy good drama while I play.
    How does it work? And how do I use it? I'm not really familiar with the content that came with Outdoor Retreat, so sorry if I ask stupid questions.

    Your sim needs to learn and master the skills of herbalism and gardening and have to find all the ingredients for the recípes in all worlds. Oh, and homestyle cooking might be useful as well
    ORIGIN-ID: killedPersephone
    My Builds: Dark Dreams Architectures
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    paradiseplanetparadiseplanet Posts: 4,421 Member
    Place my park ranger Sim, Forrest Greene, as your park ranger. :p Maybe that'll make it more interesting. I haven't actually visited GF yet so I can't really help you there.
    Origin ID: paradiseplanet27
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    ItsJanierItsJanier Posts: 884 Member
    Dannydanbo wrote: »
    I plan on making it snow half the year in GF. It should look spectacular. I wonder if the brown bear will become a polar bear in winter. :D

    That sounds like a great way to use the seasons(once we have seasons in TS4).
    ItsJanier wrote: »
    BMSO wrote: »
    If your a bit of a deviant you could always make the fireleaf extract and have your sims put it on their skin.

    I'm open for ideas :smiley:
    I always enjoy good drama while I play.
    How does it work? And how do I use it? I'm not really familiar with the content that came with Outdoor Retreat, so sorry if I ask stupid questions.

    Your sim needs to learn and master the skills of herbalism and gardening and have to find all the ingredients for the recípes in all worlds. Oh, and homestyle cooking might be useful as well

    Thank you for the tips! I'll do my research for that.
    Place my park ranger Sim, Forrest Greene, as your park ranger. :p Maybe that'll make it more interesting. I haven't actually visited GF yet so I can't really help you there.

    Can I download your Sim from the Gallery?
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    paradiseplanetparadiseplanet Posts: 4,421 Member
    @ItsJanier boop

    However, if you want to set him as the actual NPC forest ranger for Granite Falls, that requires going into testingcheats. There's a way I'm sure, but I can't help there. Maybe @PsychoSimXX could help with that; she has experience in setting up specific Sims to be specific NPC's in save games.
    Origin ID: paradiseplanet27
    tumblr_ojq4r339Ni1usy5rpo1_100.png
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    ItsJanierItsJanier Posts: 884 Member
    @ItsJanier boop

    However, if you want to set him as the actual NPC forest ranger for Granite Falls, that requires going into testingcheats. There's a way I'm sure, but I can't help there. Maybe @PsychoSimXX could help with that; she has experience in setting up specific Sims to be specific NPC's in save games.

    Thank you for the link and tips! I'm gonna try and find a tutorial from youtube or a quide from Google to do that :smile:
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    BMSOBMSO Posts: 3,273 Member
    Also you can always use cheats to get the herbs if you don't fill like having your sims read the books and just master herbalism just cooking them. My sims don't sit down long enough to read books so I end up using cheats for herbalism.
    Bmso85's emporium - mysims4studios

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    TheLibrarySimTheLibrarySim Posts: 966 Member
    I love Granite Falls. It's beautiful and there's always lots to do.
    Especially for my Serial Romantic Sim. Granite Falls is the perfect place to seduce a married Sim without worrying about those pesky spousal jealousy reactions.
    Add an easel and make some gorgeous Paint From Reference paintings. Level up their handiness skill.
    Got a vampire who loves to drink deeply without annoying co-workers and friends? Go to Granite Falls and feast on passers-by! You'll probably never see those poor sods again. And there's nothing more refreshing than a midnight snack of fresh bear blood.
    Heck, put a Build-It-Yourself Rocket Kit in Granite Falls and raise your Rocket Science skills without spending the 6000 simoleons to buy and build one at home. "C'mon honey-let's go to Granite Falls and woo-hoo! In SPACE!"

    Or, you could go camping. Whatever.
    7mQr8Yt.jpg
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    ItsJanierItsJanier Posts: 884 Member
    I love Granite Falls. It's beautiful and there's always lots to do.
    Especially for my Serial Romantic Sim. Granite Falls is the perfect place to seduce a married Sim without worrying about those pesky spousal jealousy reactions.
    Add an easel and make some gorgeous Paint From Reference paintings. Level up their handiness skill.
    Got a vampire who loves to drink deeply without annoying co-workers and friends? Go to Granite Falls and feast on passers-by! You'll probably never see those poor sods again. And there's nothing more refreshing than a midnight snack of fresh bear blood.
    Heck, put a Build-It-Yourself Rocket Kit in Granite Falls and raise your Rocket Science skills without spending the 6000 simoleons to buy and build one at home. "C'mon honey-let's go to Granite Falls and woo-hoo! In SPACE!"

    Or, you could go camping. Whatever.

    Thank you for the ideas! I might use some of those or all of those haha :smiley:
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    LoanetLoanet Posts: 4,079 Member
    edited March 2018
    I turned it into a version of Camp Crystal Lake from Friday 13th. Ghosts, curses, tunnels, concealed entrances that allow serial killers to sneak up on teenagers as they roast their spliffs on an open fire... A run-down house and a lake...
    Prepping a list of mods to add after Infants are placed into the game. Because real life isn't 'nice'.
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    PeculiarPlumbobPeculiarPlumbob Posts: 535 Member
    I gotta admit... I've never been to the Granite Falls and I've owned the game pack for quite some time now :''D I'm actually just about to start playing with a couple that I'm finally gonna send there so the lady can learn the herbalism skill...
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    ItsJanierItsJanier Posts: 884 Member
    Loanet wrote: »
    I turned it into a version of Camp Crystal Lake from Friday 13th. Ghosts, curses, tunnels, concealed entrances that allow serial killers to sneak up on teenagers as they roast their spliffs on an open fire... A run-down house and a lake...

    Wow that sounds AMAZING and so creative! Now I want a horror pack for TS4.
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    PsychoSimXXPsychoSimXX Posts: 4,403 Member
    edited March 2018
    @ItsJanier boop

    However, if you want to set him as the actual NPC forest ranger for Granite Falls, that requires going into testingcheats. There's a way I'm sure, but I can't help there. Maybe @PsychoSimXX could help with that; she has experience in setting up specific Sims to be specific NPC's in save games.

    There are three ways to do this and it mainly depends on what you want the end result to be.


    1. For the cooks, mixologists and entertainers. You just have to create a sim with the associating aspirations and traits. The mixologists will show up in your bars as bartenders. It is still pretty random. To hire them for parties you might have to have them have those jobs and your sim know them I think. I don't mess with parties all that much anymore.

    Now for the NPC services jobs that isn't an playable job.

    2. My method of choice is to just edit the ones game produces but I have done it the hard way a time or two.

    Create your own service Sims

    4. This one you will need to use plenty of cheat codes. I have only done it a time or two and only use this method for a sim I have created as a townies and wanted them to have a certain job. Using the cheat codes is HIGHLY important. I also suggest using the Teleport Any Sim mod to achieve this. You can also use the MC Command Center mod to summon the sim but they have to already be in your relationship pool to summon them. With the teleport sim you can summon all pets and sims with exception of babies.

    Teleport Any Sim
    MC Command Center

    Once you have summoned the unplayed sim you will need to get their Sim ID and set their skill. To set their skill I just use shift and click on the sim. Then choose Cheat Sim info and from there set skill. All of them are there even the hidden ones. You can do this with SOME of the traits as well.

    I used this to make a massage therapist. So I gave her max Wellness Skill once i brought her to the lot.

    sims.get_sim_id_by_name [First name] [Last name]
    Example:
    sims.get_sim_id_by_name Ashley Hudson

    You will have to write this down because you can't copy and paste it.

    traits.equip_trait trait_ MassageTherapist
    Example
    traits.equip_trait MassageTherapist 59962140532212373

    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_MassageTherapist_Service
    Example
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_MassageTherapist_Service 59962140532212373

    Here is the rest of the list
    Gardener (Park) (Adult or Elder, Gardening skill) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ MasterGardener
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_Gardener

    Fisherman (Fishing skill) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ MasterFisherman
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_Fisherman


    Maid (Homeless) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ Maid
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_Maid


    Mailman (Homeless) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ Mailman
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_Mailman


    Nanny (Homeless) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ Nanny
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_Nanny


    Pizza deliver (Homeless) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ PizzaDelivery
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_PizzaDelivery


    Repairman (Homeless, Handiness skill) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ Repair
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_Repair


    Gardener (Service) (Gardening skill) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ Gardener_Service
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_Gardener_Service


    Grim Reaper :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ GrimReaper
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_GrimReaper


    Tragic Clown :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ TragicClown
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_TragicClown


    Masseur (Service) (Wellness skill) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ MassageTherapist
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_MassageTherapist_Service


    DJ Headliner (Homeless, DJ skill level 10) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_Hidden_NPC_ DJ
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_DJ


    Restaurant critic (GP03 Dine Out) (Homeless) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ RestaurantCritic
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_RestaurantCritic


    Stall Vendor :

    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_StallVendor


    Landlord (Handiness skill) :

    traits.equip_trait trait_ Repair
    traits.equip_trait trait_Hidden_Landlord
    careers.add_career career_Adult_NPC_Landlord


    Bonus :

    NPC without career :

    Weirdo (Raccoon, ...) :
    traits.equip_trait trait_ Weirdo
    Statue Busker :
    traits.equip_trait trait_ StatueBusker
    Repairman (San Myshuno streets) :
    traits.equip_trait trait_ CityRepair


    Post edited by PsychoSimXX on


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    Peace, Love, and Unity.

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    PsychoSimXXPsychoSimXX Posts: 4,403 Member
    ItsJanier wrote: »
    I have had Outdoor Retreat since 2015. For me it has always been the least interesting Game Pack(I know it was also the first GP for The Sims 4). I just never know what to do with it. I've used it like once or twice maybe.
    I'm looking for ways/ideas to make it interesting so I'm open for ideas.
    (I'm not a family player and I dislike toddlers(too needy for me). When I play I focus on sims from kids to elders)

    I would suggest either building or downloading lots that you will use while there and are geared for your own game play. Outdoor is my fav pack just because it is a vacation spot and that is all I use it for now because I have explored the world a million times. I don't even have to search for the cave any more. What you have stated is pretty much how I feel bout Oasis Springs. I do not like the whole desert look to it and I never have. I never even played them in the previous games. I love greenery way to much...LOL so I have been turning it into mostly a venue world with different classes of venues. If I wouldn't be doing that, I would never even venture over there. Heck I haven't even really explored the world....lol

    My sim owned a store in which he made herbal remedies. To gain money for the store I had him go and collect bugs and sold the ones he wouldn't need. He grew the plants needed.

    I do take my Sims on vacations. Sometimes it is just weekend getaway with friends or a romantic getaway with his love interest of the moment. I'll even have his kids move in just for the weekend and go on family camping trips. Now that we can have venues in the destination worlds, I built a few lots for my Sims to do while on vacation. I have a Spa retreat for romantic getaways. Cabins for weekend trips with friends and family and camp ground for camping. I even have a bar for when he's off with his friends. That is what I do as for taking my sims there. As for the objects, I use them in various of my builds.

    I haven't tried locking sims in a dungeon for a while now so I don't know if the prisoners still leave once your sim leaves the lot or not. If they do you could still play the whole "Cabin by the Lake" scenario by torturing and killing sims. Just don't leave the lot when you have a prisoner. LOL



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    Peace, Love, and Unity.

    `•.,¸¸,.•´¯ ¯`•.,¸¸,.•´
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    SimsLovinLycanSimsLovinLycan Posts: 1,910 Member
    Bulldoze the park in Oasis Springs, turn it into a National Park, put a cabin and some other amenities there, and go on a long desert camping adventure instead of going out to the lush woods.
    There is a song I hear, a melody from the past...
    5MNZlGQ.gif
    When I woke for the first time, when I slept for the last.
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    HermitgirlHermitgirl Posts: 8,825 Member
    edited March 2018
    I loved your post @TheLibrarySim I got some ideas from it. I really want to make the bear pass out now. Little private blood doll.

    Anyway, despite all the flack and .. well hate this pack got for so long it's been my favorite GP. I haven't even explored JA long enough for it to top it (yet). I'll just tell you a few ways I play.. doubt it's exciting though.
    I really love to start off a sim and move them into an empty lot in game. Then I go to build in Granite Falls and flatten the cheapest lot there and rent it for I think about 11 bucks a day.. might be a few bucks more.
    Then I just take my brand new sim on vacation. They don't have a house to bring in bills for. I just skill them herbalism, fishing, gardening, collections ect... if I set up lots before I go and add the traits then I can skill them in many other things also.. whatever I want the sim to become they can get a good start. You can set up free general or community lots for them to live in. My sim normally makes their home base in the National Forest. I almost always start a massive garden there also. Splicing it down as I go (this can take a few trips and even different sims) . I try not to evolve the plants to high so that other sims in that save can eventually make use of them.
    I have used it as was mentioned also for romantic aspirations... you get caught a lot less because the sims rarely wander into the national forest build unless invited.. You can have dates there also.
    I stay there as long as I want or until I get tired of doing it. I've usually gotten deep into the collectors aspiration, herbalism, gardening and fishing. My sims usually have a really good base of skills to start their lives off this way too. When they get home I keep what I want to keep and sell the excess and always have much more money then the start of the game.
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    GrumpyGlowfishGrumpyGlowfish Posts: 2,208 Member
    Yeah, as beautiful as the vacation world is, Outdoor Retreat could definitely use some kind of gameplay upgrade.

    My simself's first trip to Selvadorada unexpectedly turned into a fun travel journal with me taking screenshots of everything and writing a little story around them. In the end I had a PDF with 80+ screenshots. Now I want to do the same thing with Granite Falls, and I already have some story ideas, like someone being bitten by a vampire hiding in the woods and requiring a herbal remedy to be cured, or me and my sister running from a bear which turns out to be our mother trolling us in a bear costume, etc. But I'll have to stage most of the screenshots because things like these don't happen naturally in the game. In fact, almost nothing happens in Granite Falls.

    I really wish we had Seasons already, because I can see them (especially winter) significantly enhancing the gameplay experience.
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    Scarlett2kScarlett2k Posts: 183 Member
    I usually end up stalking other NPC Sims just roaming around to see where they go.
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    jimbbqjimbbq Posts: 2,734 Member
    I guess you can use it as a honey moon destination , or once I set up a fat camp in granite fall for my fat sims to lose weight lol
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    ItsJanierItsJanier Posts: 884 Member
    jimbbq wrote: »
    I guess you can use it as a honey moon destination , or once I set up a fat camp in granite fall for my fat sims to lose weight lol

    Oh my fat camp sounds like an awesome idea! The Biggest Loser Sims edition :lol:
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    LoanetLoanet Posts: 4,079 Member
    edited March 2018
    Use the Haunted and cursed traits, plus a third negative one of your choice.

    Then turn it into Haunted woods.

    I turned it into a copy of Camp Crystal Lake with tunnels and thick trees and bushes and right in the middle, a place to tell spooky stories about the little boy who drowned in the lake when cruel children took the ladder away, and have your chest and nuts roasted on an open campfire.
    Prepping a list of mods to add after Infants are placed into the game. Because real life isn't 'nice'.
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    paradiseplanetparadiseplanet Posts: 4,421 Member
    The new Creepy Crawlies lot trait might be very useful to place in Granite Falls...just sayin'.
    Origin ID: paradiseplanet27
    tumblr_ojq4r339Ni1usy5rpo1_100.png
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    megiaremegiare Posts: 421 Member
    I love Granite Falls. It's beautiful and there's always lots to do.
    Especially for my Serial Romantic Sim. Granite Falls is the perfect place to seduce a married Sim without worrying about those pesky spousal jealousy reactions.

    I very much just did this yesterday! Worked perfectly after I purchased the beguiling reward trait and continuously put my companion a flirty mood.

    It was a toss up for me b/t GF or Selvadorada, but I had never given GF a fair try and decided it was best to start there. IT'S SO GORGEOUS.

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