I rotate between many different families. When I return to one, they have usually formed some friendships, so I tend to pick from those and I don't care too much about looks and traits. The ultimate test however ... is that the potential partner must be able to handle a dirty joke.
Traits are important, I usually don't stick with lazy sims unless for story purposes (like this is sim will just be their ex or they love them despite the flaws) or if my sim is lazy too.
But really it depends on how well the sims are getting along. The only time I bypass that is if I created the sims for the purpose of getting them together.
Except once it did not work. Every romantic option for my sims just wasn't working out and they were best friends and partners in crime. But it ended up being for the best. I like the idea of having a friendship that will never be just more rather than sims going out with whomever
I created two clubs (one for men, one for women) and gave them the same hangout which I filled with flirty objects. I set their activity to "be romantic" with the opposite club and it was working. Sims were copping off with each other!
I don't generally have a set way of doing this. Sometimes I go with a sim he or she expresses interest in, sometimes I pick a friend for them. Usually it works but once I had my sim Jaime break off a fledgling romance with Zara Goth because she was showing interest in one of her employees (restaurant) Quinn. They married, had one child and she overruled me and kept flirting with Zara whenever they happened upon each other. I ended up having her divorce Quinn and Zara moved in, I finally remembered to get to know her and discovered she was insane They had a few children, it was never dull with Zara about.
I really miss the attraction system from Sims 3 sometimes. I'd like to see something similar return, because I enjoyed getting my sims' input on who they'd like to date.
I don't know how feasible that is, though. I suspect the reason it was left out of Sims 4 is, there aren't really enough townies for it. If you were to depend on it to find love interests for your sims, you might never find a match.
"Well, sorry, my little Teen girl, but there's no attraction between you and the only Teen boy in town, so I guess you'll just have to wait until you're a Young Adult to start dating."
(later)
"Oh, look; now you're a Young Adult, but the game culled all the eligible single men so it could generate more Insane hobos to sleep in the park."
I really miss the attraction system from Sims 3 sometimes. I'd like to see something similar return, because I enjoyed getting my sims' input on who they'd like to date.
I don't know how feasible that is, though. I suspect the reason it was left out of Sims 4 is, there aren't really enough townies for it. If you were to depend on it to find love interests for your sims, you might never find a match.
My thoughts exactly! Recently, I very briefly played the sims 3 and my male sim was attracted to a female sim that wasn't the intended mate. I was so sad for her! Haha! It does add the sense of realism though and that's why I would like for it to be reintroduced. Now, my main sim is the biggest flirt and has waaaaay too many love interests.
As far as the original question - Shallow Hal here but it's by looks.
My sims usually just stay single. I don't like horrible traits like non-commital, slob, mean, etc. I'm not going to just create another sim for my sim because that would feel too much like cheating. So, since they don't really put any decent single sims in the game...my sim is happy by herself.
Attractiveness plays a fairly large part because that's the primary thing to be worried about in the Sims when having children, but all the better if they have similar traits.
"It's not about changing the world. It's about doing our best to leave the world... The way it is." - Big Boss, MGS4
Like PawsNyuu I rotate through households (I play all premades), except they don't just form friendships they also fall in love. I rarely initiate relationships they do that just fine on their own.
But when I do, I have to witness the sims getting closer at restaurants/festivals/parties first.
Well, I like to have a story in mind, and if I have an idea for an ideal partner, I create them in CAS based off of what I think of them. I usually go off the top of my head for looks; traits is what I actually think about, because I consider personality and how their dynamic will be with my Sim but don't really care for looks. Just make them look pretty, I guess. Also, I adopt, so I don't consider it cheating since it's not like any genetics will be passed down. I tend to also make a backup just in case if they don't hit it off, but that rarely happens as I can be very persistent to get the game going in my direction!
First of all, I think your post is awesome! I mean, I know what you mean.
Actually, how I choose tends to depend BUT like you I am a bit shallow.
It's the truth, it hurts but...
Often I see a sim I really would like to connect my sim with.
Back in Sims 3 where they had that 'attraction' thing, I'd look for a particular connection word phrase like "We have so much in common.." or"What's your sign? Looks like you and me were meant to be!"
but in Sims 4, I am having some trouble figuring out a good way to make such a choice based on something other than, OH, I like this sim, flirt- flirt- match made lol. Unless both sims are in a Flirty mood or 'romantic', I don't see sims ever flirting with each other, so... It's hard for me lol. Guess I need both sims to feel flirty and let them chat, if there IS an attraction there they WILL in time start flirting on their own. I am sure of this due to a bunch of experimentation with sims and the flirty mood.
In TS2 I made everyone soul mate basically, they just usually lived separately. In TS4 so far I either create a perfect Sim and have them "bump" into each other OR if I'm not in the mood to make a whole story up in my head about a single Sim, I let my Sims into the city to pick a mate. That's pretty fun for me- I look for the most attractive Sim and start chatting it up and date them and build a relationship. Occasionally I'll redo hair/make-up/clothes, but I don't look at their traits. I let my Sim find them out. and let drama ensue. I like to have either their aspirations or some traits mesh with each other, but never the same traits. I also love mixing genetics, so I enjoy seeing someone with small features or pointy features get with big features or round features.
I always pick the one I want but it never seems to work out. I dont think there's an official attraction system so I guess it is based on the current motives and the interactions but my luck is generally that my sim never "clicks" with the ones I initially want them to be with...my legacy founder had 3 boyfriends (I loved all of them) but things kept turning into a disaster!
Have patience though, because very shortly after she met a randomly generated sim that she totally fell in love with and he is probably my favorite ever sim!!! I also didnt have her persue him at all - they became friends quickly (after 1 night of a somewhat short convo) and then he called and asked her on a date. Everything went great and now they are married with a baby!
Ever since then i've decided i'm not going to try to choose for my sims, im just going to have them autonomously make friends and see where it takes them! Lol
I create a variety of sims, but I don't know ahead of time who will end up together but most of the couples in my game are usually opposites personality wise. It's so funny when they annoy each other sometimes, makes it more fun personally.
Irk. Hard question. My main sim usually has 4+ lovers. But for continuing the family? Usually, the one with the best aesthetics.
In my recent game, my main sim married a guy from a festival. I liked his traits so they married and had a child.
But then, I fell in love with--I mean-- my sim fell in love with a random townie. He had a man bun, a scarf, and the romantic/goofball traits! Instant divorce, remarriage, and babies.
Combination of looks, traits and general interactions.
I generally used to play with a hands-off rule and let my Sim pick her partner - I've gotten a bit more match-makerish with my current project simply because I really enjoyed the dynamic from the prior world state I had running.
Definitely fun to just let it roll sometimes - I've made partners for my Sims before but usually I feel like there are enough interesting townies around. Or when I inject someone like say Ms. Kaylynn Langerak in (looking at you @ENolan *wink*) and then it's on like donkey kong.
I must confess I am a bit shallow. Looks play a big part.
LOL Me too. But then they always have lousy personalities. I try not to cheat, but eventually when I can't find the perfect Sim (looks +desirable traits), I just pick an almost perfect one and change the bad traits.
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But really it depends on how well the sims are getting along. The only time I bypass that is if I created the sims for the purpose of getting them together.
Except once it did not work. Every romantic option for my sims just wasn't working out and they were best friends and partners in crime. But it ended up being for the best. I like the idea of having a friendship that will never be just more rather than sims going out with whomever
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But when I do, I have to witness the sims getting closer at restaurants/festivals/parties first.
Don't be scared! It's unbelievably easy to have a good relationship in this game, so don't worry!
Actually, how I choose tends to depend BUT like you I am a bit shallow.
It's the truth, it hurts but...
Often I see a sim I really would like to connect my sim with.
Back in Sims 3 where they had that 'attraction' thing, I'd look for a particular connection word phrase like "We have so much in common.." or "What's your sign? Looks like you and me were meant to be!"
but in Sims 4, I am having some trouble figuring out a good way to make such a choice based on something other than, OH, I like this sim, flirt- flirt- match made lol. Unless both sims are in a Flirty mood or 'romantic', I don't see sims ever flirting with each other, so... It's hard for me lol. Guess I need both sims to feel flirty and let them chat, if there IS an attraction there they WILL in time start flirting on their own. I am sure of this due to a bunch of experimentation with sims and the flirty mood.
Have patience though, because very shortly after she met a randomly generated sim that she totally fell in love with and he is probably my favorite ever sim!!! I also didnt have her persue him at all - they became friends quickly (after 1 night of a somewhat short convo) and then he called and asked her on a date. Everything went great and now they are married with a baby!
Ever since then i've decided i'm not going to try to choose for my sims, im just going to have them autonomously make friends and see where it takes them! Lol
Ya, but I can't stand negative interactions or interactions that are intended to be good going wrong
In my recent game, my main sim married a guy from a festival. I liked his traits so they married and had a child.
But then, I fell in love with--I mean-- my sim fell in love with a random townie. He had a man bun, a scarf, and the romantic/goofball traits! Instant divorce, remarriage, and babies.
I generally used to play with a hands-off rule and let my Sim pick her partner - I've gotten a bit more match-makerish with my current project simply because I really enjoyed the dynamic from the prior world state I had running.
Definitely fun to just let it roll sometimes - I've made partners for my Sims before but usually I feel like there are enough interesting townies around. Or when I inject someone like say Ms. Kaylynn Langerak in (looking at you @ENolan *wink*) and then it's on like donkey kong.
You could always put them in a flirty mood first? I know I hate seeing those little red "x"'s, like I'm doing something wrong! Lol
LOL Me too. But then they always have lousy personalities. I try not to cheat, but eventually when I can't find the perfect Sim (looks +desirable traits), I just pick an almost perfect one and change the bad traits.