I want to keep my OP short, to stay focused on the question for the thread, which is: Do you use autonomy? And, what are your thoughts on it?
The short version of my answer is that if I'm managing any more than 1-2 sims, I tend to use autonomy because otherwise I have to micromanage them all the time and it gets exhausting. But it's a double-edged sword. Autonomy has a lot of annoying quirks that only get worse the more sims you have in a household and the bigger your house is.
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I'm not control-freaky with my Sims, and don't feel the need to micromanage every little thing they do. If I need one to do something specific of course I will control them, but what they do when I'm focusing on another Sim doesn't matter to me really. You're correct of course that some autonomous actions are very annoying, and I use mods to disable some of the worst offenders (mainly hugging, getting water from the sink, and forum trolling) but overall I don't find my Sims to be too irritating, most of the time. I have an insane Sim that I need to watch carefully because if left alone he will argue with and insult his family all day, lol....but I made the character crazy for a reason so I just have to deal with that behavior.
I'm sort of allowing the story to tell it's self. Then I go back, and reenact the scenes, to get better pics.
I know, I'm bonkers.
That's how I play too when I am storytelling. I rarely ever follow a scripted path, but prefer instead to let the story tell itself through the Sims' actions, whims, and chance occurrences.
And when I'm reading other people's stories I prefer the ones based around what happens naturally in the game rather than scripted stories.
Then again, I control my Sims in certain situations. But when I do, it's either for repairing/upgrading something, for filling their needs or for storytelling purposes. For example, I can't imagine anyone but an insane Sim to not shout at the Grim Reaper and insult him after he took away a relative or other beloved person. An insane Sim on the other hand would chat quite friendly with him, and a romantic one (that is Very Flirty) would instead try to seduce death (especially with the Serial Romantic aspiration).
But that's just me trying to keep the game a little bit realistic (this doesn't mean that I don't play with aliens though, it's more about the unrealistic emotional reactions that bother me).
And the other case where I take full control is when they have a whim. I always make them sticky so they don't go away (unless it's a whim to greet someone who already left the lot) and then try my best to satisfy that wish.
There's a mod that disables autonomous hugging??? Where can I find it?!
Add Manage Neighbourhood Options - assign your own Sim to NPC jobs!
The Problems with Death in The Sims 4
Distinguish Elder gameplay with Elder-only reward traits
Filter Rugs by Room Size
@Terra It can found in this set http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=571552
You must be a registered Mod The Sims member to download it. Works with the latest patch for me.
That mod and MC Command Center are my two mods that I refuse to play without. I always avoid patching until I know they are working with the patch or get updated. The hugging drives me bonkers, I find that they will choose that action like 75% of the time. With the mod, the variety of autonomous socials I see them choose is a lot better.
I'll probably pick up that mod @StarlingGray
Thank you!
Add Manage Neighbourhood Options - assign your own Sim to NPC jobs!
The Problems with Death in The Sims 4
Distinguish Elder gameplay with Elder-only reward traits
Filter Rugs by Room Size
depends on how i'm feeling at the moment tho, like sometimes i'lll be super paranoid and want to manage exactly what every sim is doing, but sometimes i just let them live their own little lives.
“Instead of putting players in the role of Luke Skywalker, or Frodo Baggins, I'd rather put them in the role of George Lucas.”Will Wright.
For example, in one of my side saves I have a young adult female looking for love. I got her flirty, sent her to a bar and paired her with the first man she flirted with. He wouldn't have been my first choice for her had I been controlling her, but I found that they played well off of each other because they have clashing traits, and that opened up a lot of possibilities for future stories.
It was the simguru in the toddler livestream who inspired me to explore the autonomy options. The one who said they play without autonomy (I was a bit shocked that someone would do that).
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And sometimes, the game really tells a story better than any player could.
Like when I planned a romantic relationship to grow, but my Sim instead autonomously used a romantic interaction that made it fall down again rather early. Which in the end made me stop talking to that particular potential partner for a while (in fear of their relationship turning into outright rivalry). And during that time, my Sim had already found another one whom she was getting along really well with.
Some time later I checked the traits of that first Sim in World Management. He hated children. So now I keep imagining that my Sim was watchful enough to notice a bit of that trait although she never officially found out. And after realising this, she deliberately brought the conversation to a fall in order to prevent him from ever calling again. Which worked perfectly.
But otherwise, yeah, they just stand there unless you tell them what to do.
INFJ -A/-T
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity....
The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison