Are you finding the current story progression working for your style of play.

verlainem

I do love my mods but I have always had an issue with MCCC story progression. I don't know which settings to change (I have changed many) to stop MCCC from breaking up families and often have one person in the marriage then marrying someone of the same gender. Not that I am against that and in my mind I can think they just discovered who they really were, even if they had umpteen kids with different baby mommas. The amount of break ups and kids from different BM / BD is driving me crazy. I love many things about MCCC but not the over the top story progression at least when it comes to break ups and affairs. I don't have a current screen capture of a convoluted family tree on this computer but it's terrible.
I would like to stop playing with some households but hate to put them into the MCCC world. I stopped playing a few and now the family are no longer together and one after his wife died married a much younger man. I am pretty sure if I turn off the game story progression for those families MCCC would still mess with them

I find the nice easy story progression that Maxis has introduced works much better for my play style. I appreciate the having babies and adoptions - not so much the random deaths, but it's okay.
What are your opinions?

cyncie

I actually like Neighborhood Stories better than MCCC. It’s easier to customize and less aggressive.

catmando830

I don't understand what neighborhood stories are, nor where they are to be found in the game.

PlayerSinger2010

I LOVE it! I'm so happy they finally introduced a proper story progression and townies aren't just aging up and dying without doing anything with their lives.

verlainem

catmando830 wrote: »

I don't understand what neighborhood stories are, nor where they are to be found in the game.

If you go to manage worlds and manage neigbours you can choose if they can have babies/adopt kids/pets change jobs /retire / move in/out or have accidental deaths. If you click on the mailbox in your game and choose view neighbourhood stories it will let you know what is happening. You have to click several times to see all the stories

verlainem

cyncie wrote: »

I actually like Neighborhood Stories better than MCCC. It’s easier to customize and less aggressive.

That is what I was trying to get across. I do like other aspects of MCCC though like the dresser and being able to click on a sim to see who they are married or have kids, even there parents. I also like the cheats for upping alien abductions etc. I just find the multiple partners in relationships over the top.

luciusstorm

Personally, having tried both MCCC and Neighborhood Stories... I don't like either one.

MCCC, as you observed, moves people around and creates some really crazy, messed up families. Neighborhood Stories isn't quite as bad, but I found it was too aggressive in moving, having kids and especially killing off sims for my taste.

In the end maybe I'm just too much of a control freak. I've turned both off except for a few specific cases where I'll turn Neighborhood Stories on briefly and then turn it off again when I've accomplished what I wanted (like when I wanted all the families in Henford to adopt pets but didn't want to hand-make them).

musteni

I've only used MCCC for like a month, didn't like it much. I used neighbourhood stories for a little while, but it doesn't suit my main rotational save so turned it off (too aggressive with everything). However I'm using it in my legacy save and relatively happy with it. The problem is that it doesn't pair up sims romantically, so it only keeps some family lines going through adoption.

verlainem

musteni wrote: »

I've only used MCCC for like a month, didn't like it much. I used neighbourhood stories for a little while, but it doesn't suit my main rotational save so turned it off (too aggressive with everything). However I'm using it in my legacy save and relatively happy with it. The problem is that it doesn't pair up sims romantically, so it only keeps some family lines going through adoption.

hmm I thought it did pair up, I do know that it will move the kids out sometimes and I thought if there was some romance, so maybe taking some sims with you to the romance festival would do it.

musteni

verlainem wrote: »

musteni wrote: »

I've only used MCCC for like a month, didn't like it much. I used neighbourhood stories for a little while, but it doesn't suit my main rotational save so turned it off (too aggressive with everything). However I'm using it in my legacy save and relatively happy with it. The problem is that it doesn't pair up sims romantically, so it only keeps some family lines going through adoption.

hmm I thought it did pair up, I do know that it will move the kids out sometimes and I thought if there was some romance, so maybe taking some sims with you to the romance festival would do it.

Sims sometimes ask if they should go on a date, but I've read they get no romance bar (haven't checked this). Also haven't seen any sims move together. I'm on generation two and I only get adopted babies now. Sims live with their siblings that NBS generated while their parents were alive. The adopted babies get added there and it's a big happy family.

VeeDub

The best thing (to me) about Neighborhood Stories is being able to turn it completely off if one doesn't want it, and being able to customize it if one does want it. As @cyncie said, it's definitely easier to customize, but I personally prefer the broader and finer amount of control I can get with MCCC. However, it does require learning what does what (and what doesn't do what). It can be aggressive, but it doesn't have to be.

For example, in most of my saves I don't use the moving in/out settings on a regular basis, but whenever I do (for occasional purposes in some saves), I can fine-tune them to my own preferences. I also don't let MCCC handle marriages (or other relationships) on a regular basis. I do let it handle random pregnancies, but the pregnancy chance percentages are low enough to prevent it getting out of hand while also being high enough to keep my saves populated. I also don't allow them to be completely random; my settings are based on whether or not the sims chosen for potential pregnancy have ever woohoo'd together. Sims in romantic relationships, whether it be BF/GF or other SO types, engaged couples, or married couples, are considered by MCCC to have woohoo'd at least once, whether or not they actually did. That's still better than the game picking random couples without regard to their sexual preferences or without their ever having met.

If you have no interest in experimenting to find your own best settings to suit your style with MCCC, I'd definitely recommend experimenting with Neighborhood Stories instead. Assuming you do enjoy at least some of the elements of "story progression" in the first place, of course.

duriankind

I really like the neighborhood stories, I think it's one of the best gameplay updates they've added in a long time, and it's also much appreciated as a console player. It fits really well with my playstyle because I love to play with genetics and have multi-generational families including siblings and cousins and whatnot, but previously it would have taken a lot more effort to expand my family tree in the way that I want without spending a ton of time playing each different sibling separately to expand on their section of the family, whereas now it's a little easier with the neighborhood stories and automatically having children/adopting/etc. Although I will say the automated baby-making in my game can get a little out of control hahaha, so I like the fact that I can turn different aspects of the neighborhood stories on and off, and customize it so greatly from family to family.

pearlbh

Neighborhood Stories doesn't handle marriage, which I dislike, but as others have said, MCCC creates too much chaos. I've been trying to tweak the settings though; most recently, I made it use traits for marriage. I THINK that means Sims will only marry other Sims they have at least one trait in common with, but I'm not really sure that's what it means. I do know though, for those who were wondering, nearly all the marriage, pregnancy, adoption, and moving settings are under the pregnancy menu. Maybe not every single thing, but most of it is there.

MoonCrossWarrior22

Neighborhood Stories really needs to get the relationship system added cause without it; it's kinda causing the population to wither away and yea... It's kinda problematic...

RedShoe7

I have neighborhood stories off for now. I'm setting up my save file for my very large rotational play. I need to have control over everybody. I may play around with different aspects of it later on.

GalacticGal

I don't set very many things in MCCC to worry about. I do have issues with NS because I went for broke, so to speak, and left death on as a possibility. This was a HUGE mistake. I had no idea certain iconic Sims from Get Famous would systematically be removed from my game. At first it was Thorne Bailey, who merely retired from the Entertainment Career, to become a Stay-At-Home Dad, which I respect. A parent should be home with the kids. I was gratified, at least when he attended the Show. But then Dirk Dreamer died when he tried to fix a bowl of cereal and the bowl caught fire. Be afraid, be very afraid … Next thing I know, I get a popup that Thorne Bailey, with whom my young Global Superstar, Rock Star, had a mild rivalry with, died. He drowned. The Starlight Accolades just aren't the same with these two missing.