Question about stories vs legacies.

StokedSimmer

Hello, Simmers!

So I'm planning out a thing to write when the game comes out and I'm sooo new to legacies and all that, so I don't really know what I'm doing, lol. It's my first time ever. I'm making my characters in the demo, and I've got my story, and I'm setting up my simblr, but what I'm really stuck on is whether I name it a legacy or a story. I'm gonna sound so dumb, haha, but what's the difference?

Do legacies have to follow the legacy rules and guidelines? I've read over them but I got so confused, I dunno if I'd be able to keep on top of all that tbh, lol.

So I guess what I'm asking is, does a legacy story span over different generations and stuff? Would it be easier for me, as a first time simblr-er (lol) to just write a "story" instead of a legacy? Or is there no real difference between a story and a legacy? And if my blog was just a "story" could "legacy" still be in the title? Or do we name stories like we would name an actual...y'know, story, lol.

Sorry for my rambling, haha. Thanks for any tips!. :p

WaxingCrescent05

Basically the legacy rules are that you start with one single adult Sim and buy them a huge empty lot and your goal is to get them a career, build a house, (no cheats) get them married, have kids, choose one of those kids to continue the family, and on and on until you reach ten generations, then it's a complete legacy. There's a bunch of other bells and whistles if you want to but if you're a newbie and you just wanna get into it go right ahead and stick with the basics, there aren't any legacy police or anything. :)

If you're going to classify something as a legacy then you should at least stick to these basic rules, but spend some time studying the legacy guidelines or wait for an official Sims 4 legacy outline first (IDK there might already be one) and then start. It doesn't really matter though. You could really call any multi-generational family a legacy, nobody will know...

EDIT: okay so I found where the TS4 legacy challenge (simslegacychallenge .com) will be and everything I wrote up above was about the one for TS3 but I guess it's the same. I'll read over it when it comes out though and check for any major deviations.

RachelRosebud

"Legacy" is not copyrighted. You can call your creations whatever you want. Just know that most people on this forum correlate "Legacy" with Pinstar's original thread about a specific way of playing the Sims. I say do whatever feels right

berrypie27

A lot of legacies are both. Most qualify a legacy as a documentation of ten generations. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. Some follow the rules to the letter some not so much. If you are planning to follow through ten generations and you are unsure just call it a legacy story. In all honesty you can call it whatever you like. It's yours.

Nicarra60

You can call almost any generational game a legacy style game. The heart of the challenge is to a) not cheat b) start with very poor Sims and c) get to the tenth generation.

Once I get past three generations, I'll call it a legacy. I don't follow some of the rules but I never ever use money cheats. I do tend to move house between generations because the lots in TS3 can get so laggy.

Kaleeko

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head on all points!

In order to be a legacy, you pretty much just need to fulfill the following criteria:
○ Have multiple generations

If you can put a check next to that, it's a legacy! Wahoo!

Now, there's a specific kind of legacy called the Legacy Challenge, which has very specific rules you need to follow. Some people approach this purely as a "goal", while others like to make a story out of it. So: some legacies are stories, some are challenges, and some are hybrids. You get to pick!

So if you like, you definitely can call it a legacy. I personally don't label my generational gameplay "legacies", because I don't want them to be confused with the challenge, how I pick my "heirs" tends to be very wishy-washy, and I am very very story/plot driven (I tend to call my stories "dramas"), so it's also an option to call it something else if you prefer, too.

Simblr is definitely a great place to go, but in the beginning it can be easy to get overlooked, so have patience. Also, tumblr makes it a bit hard to have any story that's text heavy, so if you want to go on the novel-esque side of things you may want to look at posting on wordpress/blogger instead and using simblr+forums as places to "advertise". But, there's definitely ways to do it on tumblr; as some examples, one of Berry's stories and one of mine. The great thing about tumblr is that even if it's tough, you can get really creative with your posting style! As long as you enjoy it, you can't go wrong.

Sorry that that's a bit lengthy--I've probably just reiterated a lot of what everyone above me has said, but I think it's worth repeating. ^-^

StokedSimmer

Ah, thanks so much everybody! I think I've got the hang of it now! C: