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Rotational Players - How are you going to handle Seasons?

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For those that play rotationally, with the default of the seasons set at 7 days each season, how are you going to factor that into your play?

Will it make your rotations longer? Will you change the default time for each season?

I want my sims to experience all the seasons through out their life, but I usually am only with a household for 1 sim week before I get bored and want to move onto the next one. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to factor the seasons into my game play so I'm looking to see what other people are thinking of doing.
My EA ID is TranquilloSims - where I upload starter homes, family homes and some more ambitious creations.


Comments

  • SimTresaSimTresa Posts: 3,210 Member
    edited June 2018
    I'll most likely change the default to whatever's longest. Or I can just play each of my 3 families during a different season. They'd all get a turn at each season eventually anyway.

    I play with long lifespan, so missing a couple of weeks with one family isn't too big a deal.
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  • BabySquareBabySquare Posts: 7,869 Member
    I have 5 couples I've been saving for seasons - I'm going to change households once every sim year. Probably.
    Gallery ID: babysquare
  • MVWdeZTMVWdeZT Posts: 3,267 Member
    I've got 11 families going, and I play on long, but with certain requirements for aging up early. I plan to go with the longest possible for each season. My guess is that that will be 28 days. I figure I won't get to each family each season, but eventually they'll all get to experience the 4 seasons.
  • CK213CK213 Posts: 20,525 Member
    I just let Seasons happen when they happen.
    It doesn't bother me much that a sim might miss a season.
    It's more for me than it is for them. :D
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  • fullspiralfullspiral Posts: 14,717 Member
    I was a rotational player until SIms 4 showed me that every sim is the same and plays out the same. I can't have dysfunctional family dynamics and I can't have diverse households that play differently if I invest my time in them. They don't remember anything and they aren't invested in anything. Despite proclaiming that these sims drive off their emotions, they do not. They are driven off of moodlets that aren't in line with how you try to play the game otherwise.

    I am going to attempt to play this game with ONE family. Which isn't my play style at all. I prefer to run the dynamics of the whole town, but that's impossible because every sim is the same. I'm hoping I can invest in one family.

    I've only played a couple of times since JA came out. It bothers me that the game I loved for almost 20 yrs is not as interesting or engaging as the past. I can't get in to the toddlers or the pets, or anything.

    I said the sims 3 sims were robotic, ( and they were to me) but the sims 4 sims are even worse. They don't care about anything. And that makes it hard to play a game I have loved for so long.

    Sorry for the long-winded response, and in answer to the question. I am planning on trying this game a different way to see if it helps me get back in to it. If not, then I can't buy seasons....and I can't justify buying anything else for this game. It just might end up being a game that is not for me any more. :'(
  • ldmarkoldmarko Posts: 5,487 Member
    I play them on long life, so chances are most of them will get to experience every season at every life stage. I'm starting fresh with a new save (yet again) and will be working the families in for their whole week one at a time, so I can focus on just that family, getting their homes & clothing updated, instead of scrambling to get them all done at once. I've got all the households ready to go & am working on their homes & community lots right now. I may go 14 days on the seasons, I haven't decided yet.

    I did think about just playing a single household, but every time I try that I get bored too quickly & can't stand not seeing my other sims around town, or being stuck in the same neighborhood all the time. I need variety.
    Gallery ID: LDM2
  • joleacojoleaco Posts: 2,250 Member
    I play on long and rotate households every 7 sim days, so I will probably use the longest season setting they have. Hopefully it will work out and all households get to experience every part of each season during their life time. :)
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  • fullspiralfullspiral Posts: 14,717 Member
    No idea now. I decided to try to work with this couple because LW met Paula when he was in Selvadorada and fell in love with her. He brought her to his new home and decided to ask her to move in with him. She accepted because Selvadorada is a poor country and she wants a better life....and she loves him too. The first night in her new home with him.....

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    Another of my own sims (Souk Phen) came by

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    I LOVE that is was Souk and not Vlad or Caleb! And I LOVE that is was random and just happened! I wonder if this is because it was a new save and not just me overwriting my old saves.

    Now this wants me to go play Souk and his wife too. And THAT story of her brother trying to find her after she was taken by vampires. I love Souk. I love all my sims I've created.
  • purplestarz2006purplestarz2006 Posts: 340 Member
    I already play my households for 7 days each, so I’m probably going to leave the setting at the default and spend 1 season with each family. I have 25-ish households (soon to be more as more of my Sims grow up and marry) so trying to play through the entire town in one season will not work for me. (I’m also smack in the middle of a round right now, and having the seasons change at house 12 as opposed to house 1 would throw me off.)

    I’m not really that concerned with Sims missing seasons when I’m not with them since I hold a lot of multi-household events on each lot. (Some of my families have spread to 5 or 6 branches and have cousins all over, so every birthday party and wedding turns into a family reunion. Between that and the toddler play dates, I see my other households quite a bit.) I suspect that with the custom holidays this will only increase, so they’ll still get to experience the season even if it’s not my week with them.
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  • HermitgirlHermitgirl Posts: 8,825 Member
    I do plan on playing a rotational save game for seasons. There are three families that have a garden so I'll probably focus on them at first. I play with aging off so... it might be weird but many years can go by while I'm making my rounds.
    I am kind of tempted to play one a year though...
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  • fullspiralfullspiral Posts: 14,717 Member
    Changed my mind. LW started laughing after he looked upset and then went and watched tv

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    while his woman that he just asked to move in with him because he loves her is like this:

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    Yup. Seriously. And I am supposed to immerse myself in sims who don't know what's going on in their world? His little bit of surprise and concern didn't even last any length of time. As soon as Souk got his drink and left, LW didn't care about Paula one. Single. Bit. He went to watch tv. And THAT is why this game has lost me.
  • fullspiralfullspiral Posts: 14,717 Member
    Yup. LW is dancing in the kitchen while the love of his life is passed out.

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    I don't think I can even get in to playing ONE household and get involved in their life. I can't overlook this crap. I can't get immersed and keep playing storytime when the game can't even give me a workable storyline to play with!

    Seasons isn't going to change what's WRONG with Sims 4.
  • RedDestiny92RedDestiny92 Posts: 7,819 Member
    Guess it depends on what control we have or if it's longer on a longer lifespan, though I might stick around for a few days then rotate to another house but that's more for older save. In a new save I might focus on a house a season and go from there. Even without seasons I have spent so much time in ts4 that it'll probably be easy to work it into whatever schedule I decide.
    Reddestiny921 on the gallery...still not sure if I capitalized the second d..lol
    All the sims err'day
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  • KamioKamio Posts: 2,213 Member
    I don’t play rotationally at the moment but I am in the process of getting a rotational save going and I intend for the seasons to mark a sim year and I’ll age sims up accordingly. It means I’ll miss Sim families every year. I play with aging off and track my sims ages so I’ll basically be going off of that.

    Babies are 0-1 years
    Toddler is 1-5
    Child is 5-10
    Teenage is 10 - 18 (I just make them look like tweens until 13/14)
    Young Adukt is 18-40
    Adult is 40-60
    Elder 60+

    Playing this way it’d take me over 1500+ days to hit elderhood. I’ll more likely skip years as I see fit and aim for interesting mile stones and story line as opposed to truly dedicated and strict years.
    Simming since 2001!! Origin ID: KamioMax[/center]
  • InvisibleaesInvisibleaes Posts: 1,526 Member
    I’ll probably experiment with different saves to rotate through in different ways once I have seasons. (18days and counting!) I usually play on normal so I might have to try a new save on long to see how it goes and to get me through till we get Seasons
  • elanorbretonelanorbreton Posts: 14,518 Member
    edited June 2018
    Well, I was unsure about how to do it but I now plan on rotating different saves rather than rotating in one save. I am going to play one family per world per save and do it that way.

    I'm kinda sad really, as I like to have the families I play intertwined within the same save, but I just can't think of a way I'd like to carry that on and not miss the seasons with each household.

    The only other way I considered was if we can extend the seasons to, say, 10 days long then I could pick 5 families to play in one save and play each for 2 days. But that's quite a short time before moving on.
  • LatinaBunnyLatinaBunny Posts: 4,666 Member
    I tend to rotate pretty fast, but I can spend a varied amount of time depending on the family, so depending on how long the seasons themselves actually are, I might be able to share some seasons amongst my households in the same world (and in the same save).

    My sims are spread out in the different worlds, so I don’t know how the seasons work between the worlds. I guess it could be different, like it could sunny in one world, and winter in another?

    I’m fine if I missed playing with some families experiencing some seasons (in live mode), due to the varied rotation times. I can experience those seasons again, if the seasons are fast. (I usually turn aging off for my sims families, and control the aging myself.)

    I have recently bought some more packs, including Dogs & Cats and Jungle Adventures, and the worlds are so lovely, so I just can’t wait to see how/if seasons will affect those places! :blush:
    ~*~Occult Family Player player~*~
    (She/her)
  • ldmarkoldmarko Posts: 5,487 Member
    I'm toying with a new idea, instead of rotating weekly as I've always done, I might give each family a whole "year" i.e. all 4 seasons, for the first round at least, then maybe go back to weekly. It'll take forever to get to them all, but it's the only sure way to ensure they get to experience every season.
    Gallery ID: LDM2
  • Francl27Francl27 Posts: 761 Member
    I was considering starting new families to have some rotational play and now... I don't know. The problem really is that I DO want townies to age at the same time too, but I don't want to have my families age without me, so yeah... I'm in a bit of a pickle. Add seasons to that and it complicates things even more.

    I don't know how people do it.
  • filipomelfilipomel Posts: 1,693 Member
    For my rotational play I don't typically follow a certain pattern with which households I play and when, I just play whatever household I feel like playing, and once I get my hands on Seasons I'm sure it will effect which households I'll want to play with during certain seasons or for specific holidays. I'm excited to see how this expansion will change my experience with the game and my households experiences.
  • fadingaudiofadingaudio Posts: 933 Member
    Depends on how much freedom we have to decide the lengths ourselves. I use MCCC and so my age lengths are customized. I doubt the seasonal lengths will be that customized so they'll probably go on long until MCCC is updated for custom lengths. Then I'll probably set it myself to match the closest to my lifespans. I generally ignore the whole "life goes on while not playing active households" so it'll be harder to pretend that for myself. I don't play for specific time lengths. I go based on my own desires.
  • kemiszkemisz Posts: 602 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I was considering starting new families to have some rotational play and now... I don't know. The problem really is that I DO want townies to age at the same time too, but I don't want to have my families age without me, so yeah... I'm in a bit of a pickle. Add seasons to that and it complicates things even more.

    I don't know how people do it.

    Hey @Francl27,

    I was told this trick by another player and it helps me age my townies at the same time as my rotated families.

    I pick one family to be the start of the rotation - Family A, if you will.

    I turn aging on for active household only and for townies.

    When I switch to the next household, Family B, I turn aging off for townies.

    When I rotate back to Family A, I turn aging back on for townies.

    So it looks like this:

    Family A: Aging on for townies.
    Family B: Aging off for townies
    Family C: Aging off for townies
    Family A: Aging on for townies again.

    Rinse and repeat.

    That way my townies age with my sims.

    But you're right, Seasons is going to complicate how we play rotationally. I'm looking forward to the changes though.
    My EA ID is TranquilloSims - where I upload starter homes, family homes and some more ambitious creations.


  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,617 Member
    I play with aging off and don't worry much about time passing beyond whether it's a weekday or a weekend until I feel like aging some Sims up. I actually feel like playing without scheduling household changes and with aging turned off has made dealing with stuff like this easier. I simply angst less about missing stuff in general than when I used to play aging-on.
    EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
  • kemiszkemisz Posts: 602 Member
    I play with aging off and don't worry much about time passing beyond whether it's a weekday or a weekend until I feel like aging some Sims up. I actually feel like playing without scheduling household changes and with aging turned off has made dealing with stuff like this easier. I simply angst less about missing stuff in general than when I used to play aging-on.

    I agree, it depends what save I'm playing. In one save I have one family as my rotational, so I want the townies to age with my family. In my other save it's a bunch of interconnected families and I play with aging off, because it's just easier that way and my play style is more loose. When it comes to the sims, it's all about finding what works for you.
    My EA ID is TranquilloSims - where I upload starter homes, family homes and some more ambitious creations.


  • XxAirixXXxAirixX Posts: 2,567 Member
    I don't do rotation very much now with MCCC mod which helps with story progression, so I don't have as much to worry about as sims get married, have children, etc....on their own. I have this main family that I stick with mostly. Sometimes I will check in with other households to help them with certain skills and aspirations; the majority of the time I leave them to their own devices and they do just fine.

    I don't get why people don't think Sims 4 don't have diverse families and I had multiple sims break off relations, some sims who have multiple love interests and some sims are harder to get together then others, etc.... One wrong move, families can go down hill fast actually. Like just calling off a wedding because I decided I wanted to wait for Seasons messed this one couple big time. Since I like the couple though, I made sure they worked all their problems or others I would of just let them be.
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