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I'm not sure I understand autonomy

I generally play solo Sims. Every now and then, however, I play multi-Sim households (often because it's required in a Challenge). I find it to be extremely stress-inducing. Why? Because if I let the non-active Sims in the household fend for themselves for 24 or more sim-hours, I find they haven't taken adequate care of themselves (by my definition of "adequate care"). By the time I get back to them, they typically have at least one basic need that's blood red, usually two or more. It feels like takes me half a sim-day to whip them back into shape.

I wonder: am I doing something wrong? Or is this the way autonomy is supposed to work?

Comments

  • mushplomplommushplomplom Posts: 760 Member
    Autonomy isn't that great. But it has improved a lot since released. Also a household with one sim, autonomy does a pretty good job because it isn't busy talking to other sims to death, literally.
    I bought a GTX 1070 to play Sims 4.

  • SimPoseyYumSimPoseyYum Posts: 995 Member
    I haven't tried letting a solo Sim loose. Maybe I should one day, just to see what they do.
  • Evil_OneEvil_One Posts: 4,423 Member
    Cinebar wrote: »
    I generally play solo Sims. Every now and then, however, I play multi-Sim households (often because it's required in a Challenge). I find it to be extremely stress-inducing. Why? Because if I let the non-active Sims in the household fend for themselves for 24 or more sim-hours, I find they haven't taken adequate care of themselves (by my definition of "adequate care"). By the time I get back to them, they typically have at least one basic need that's blood red, usually two or more. It feels like takes me half a sim-day to whip them back into shape.

    I wonder: am I doing something wrong? Or is this the way autonomy is supposed to work?

    The tag line "Smarter Sims" isn't necessarily true in this game. No, you aren't doing anything wrong, they ain't that smart. :#

    Maybe they're smart by EA's standards?

    raw
  • SimPoseyYumSimPoseyYum Posts: 995 Member
    I had one who did nothing but run the the home bar and mix herself drinks. All. Day. Long. On the positive side, she max'd the Achievement for 100 Drinks in virtually no time :).

    I had another who spent virtually all her time in the home gym. The muscle-bound brute look didn't suit her at all.

    I wish they would y'know, paint paintings or write bestsellers or fulfill their work/school requirements.
  • SimPoseyYumSimPoseyYum Posts: 995 Member
    Cinebar wrote: »

    The tag line "Smarter Sims" isn't necessarily true in this game. No, you aren't doing anything wrong, they ain't that smart. :#
    Evil_One wrote: »
    Maybe they're smart by EA's standards?
    I guess it's all in the definition of "smart":).

  • DeKayDeKay Posts: 81,472 Member
    I generally play solo Sims. Every now and then, however, I play multi-Sim households (often because it's required in a Challenge). I find it to be extremely stress-inducing. Why? Because if I let the non-active Sims in the household fend for themselves for 24 or more sim-hours, I find they haven't taken adequate care of themselves (by my definition of "adequate care"). By the time I get back to them, they typically have at least one basic need that's blood red, usually two or more. It feels like takes me half a sim-day to whip them back into shape.

    I wonder: am I doing something wrong? Or is this the way autonomy is supposed to work?

    I play with 3 sims in one household, but I'm always focusing on one sim but I find his other two room mates to be quite alright. It depends how you play.

    Are you only bringing that one sim to another lot and leaving the rest at home? If so, you should click on the arrow thing beside their profile pics (skewer) and tell them to care for self. It should help. I also do this a few times to 'remind' them to care for themselves. They will tend to solve the needs that are in the yellow.

    If all of them are at home, you can always queue up tasks by clicking on the sims' needs bars (or the round button beside the bars, actually) and they will auto solve it themselves if you don't feel like scrolling through the house to click on the objects, etc.

    PS: I do this all the time and so far, none of their needs are in blood red. Worst case scenario, it's in the orange. :P
    My Top Song of the Day: Fancy Footwork by Chromeo
    FwDXXd5.gif
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    DeKay wrote: »
    I generally play solo Sims. Every now and then, however, I play multi-Sim households (often because it's required in a Challenge). I find it to be extremely stress-inducing. Why? Because if I let the non-active Sims in the household fend for themselves for 24 or more sim-hours, I find they haven't taken adequate care of themselves (by my definition of "adequate care"). By the time I get back to them, they typically have at least one basic need that's blood red, usually two or more. It feels like takes me half a sim-day to whip them back into shape.

    I wonder: am I doing something wrong? Or is this the way autonomy is supposed to work?

    I play with 3 sims in one household, but I'm always focusing on one sim but I find his other two room mates to be quite alright. It depends how you play.

    Are you only bringing that one sim to another lot and leaving the rest at home? If so, you should click on the arrow thing beside their profile pics (skewer) and tell them to care for self. It should help. I also do this a few times to 'remind' them to care for themselves. They will tend to solve the needs that are in the yellow.

    If all of them are at home, you can always queue up tasks by clicking on the sims' needs bars (or the round button beside the bars, actually) and they will auto solve it themselves if you don't feel like scrolling through the house to click on the objects, etc.

    PS: I do this all the time and so far, none of their needs are in blood red. Worst case scenario, it's in the orange. :P

    But you are micromanaging. If you turn your Sims loose you will find out they aren't that smart. They are just as silly as the TS1 Sims because their social is full (unlike TS1 Sims who could never fill their social) but they will keep moving around and running down other Sims who are 'busy' and interrupt them and cause things to fall out of queue inorder to make them talk or hug them. The OP is talking about why aren't they doing what they need to do, because they can't get past the need to group talk and play musical chairs.

    Yes, they are 'fine and very happy' if you micro manage which I do micromanage and find I have to cancel group talks and musical chairs just to get them to do what I want and to stop putting away the skill book for the tenth time. But micromanaging is not free will left up to them.

    You find out fast they are worse than all the other games if you care they didn't do what you told them to go do if you leave them to it.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • SimPoseyYumSimPoseyYum Posts: 995 Member
    Thanks, @DeKay. I'll have to look in-game for the skewer because I'm not sure I remember where/what it is :).
  • DeKayDeKay Posts: 81,472 Member
    Thanks, @DeKay. I'll have to look in-game for the skewer because I'm not sure I remember where/what it is :).

    The skewer is basically the little icons of your sims at the bottom of the UI. Well, the gurus call them that, so I'm just using the same term. There will be a bent arrow at the top right of their icons if they are another lot. :)
    My Top Song of the Day: Fancy Footwork by Chromeo
    FwDXXd5.gif
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited June 2015
    I haven't tried letting a solo Sim loose. Maybe I should one day, just to see what they do.

    I have some videos, I put one Sim in a house recently (very tiny, poor house) No tv, no bookcase, nothing. She didn't care for herself at all. I kept my fingers away from the mouse though it was hard and I had to hold them so I wouldn't click. lol She played on her phone for hours non stop until her needs were in the red. She needed social, I made her go stand on the side walk where other Sims were passing her house...she did not go over to them to greet them...her social was in the red...she took out her handy dandy phone and played games. You don't want to turn them lose if you are not prepared to kill one.

    ETA: Fun was full but she took out that phone and played games for three straight days. ETA: she did not go to bed to go to sleep, she took naps and would only eat cereal. She had no wish or desire or smarts to cook some food. Oh, and got drinks out of the fridge 'After' she was finally full.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • SimPoseyYumSimPoseyYum Posts: 995 Member
    @DeKay Ah, I see. Never heard that term. Thanks!
  • kremesch73kremesch73 Posts: 10,474 Member
    Cinebar wrote: »
    But you are micromanaging. If you turn your Sims loose you will find out they aren't that smart. They are just as silly as the TS1 Sims because their social is full (unlike TS1 Sims who could never fill their social) but they will keep moving around and running down other Sims who are 'busy' and interrupt them and cause things to fall out of queue inorder to make them talk or hug them. The OP is talking about why aren't they doing what they need to do, because they can't get past the need to group talk and play musical chairs.

    Yes, they are 'fine and very happy' if you micro manage which I do micromanage and find I have to cancel group talks and musical chairs just to get them to do what I want and to stop putting away the skill book for the tenth time. But micromanaging is not free will left up to them.

    You find out fast they are worse than all the other games if you care they didn't do what you told them to go do if you leave them to it.

    You can't leave them to it. They're too smart to do what you told them to do for long periods of time.
    Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
  • AstroAstro Posts: 6,651 Member
    In other words, they're so smart they're dumb! ;)
  • kremesch73kremesch73 Posts: 10,474 Member
    Astro wrote: »
    In other words, they're so smart they're dumb! ;)

    So, they're realistic. :D
    Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    kremesch73 wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »
    But you are micromanaging. If you turn your Sims loose you will find out they aren't that smart. They are just as silly as the TS1 Sims because their social is full (unlike TS1 Sims who could never fill their social) but they will keep moving around and running down other Sims who are 'busy' and interrupt them and cause things to fall out of queue inorder to make them talk or hug them. The OP is talking about why aren't they doing what they need to do, because they can't get past the need to group talk and play musical chairs.

    Yes, they are 'fine and very happy' if you micro manage which I do micromanage and find I have to cancel group talks and musical chairs just to get them to do what I want and to stop putting away the skill book for the tenth time. But micromanaging is not free will left up to them.

    You find out fast they are worse than all the other games if you care they didn't do what you told them to go do if you leave them to it.

    You can't leave them to it. They're too smart to do what you told them to do for long periods of time.

    One of the most annoying things is when you tell one to read that skill book, and their needs don't diminish and they should be fine, they get up and hide it, and go talk to someone else. I play eight Sims in most of my Sim households. These are enough to make me wish I had a peashooter just to knock them off one by one when they interrupt each other. Or just stop and hide the books.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • kremesch73kremesch73 Posts: 10,474 Member
    edited June 2015
    Cinebar wrote: »

    One of the most annoying things is when you tell one to read that skill book, and their needs don't diminish and they should be fine, they get up and hide it, and go talk to someone else. I play eight Sims in most of my Sim households. These are enough to make me wish I had a peashooter just to knock them off one by one when they interrupt each other. Or just stop and hide the books.

    I have a different issue. In this pic (adequately named: So Smart, It's 🐸🐸🐸🐸), you'll see that dude decided a tasty meal was more important to him than peeing himself. I've brought it up plenty of times. But apparently I must have mods, CC, or computer issues. *shakes head to all*

    NOTE: His hunger never hit yellow.
    SoSmartItsStupid.jpg
    Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
  • DeKayDeKay Posts: 81,472 Member
    kremesch73 wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »

    One of the most annoying things is when you tell one to read that skill book, and their needs don't diminish and they should be fine, they get up and hide it, and go talk to someone else. I play eight Sims in most of my Sim households. These are enough to make me wish I had a peashooter just to knock them off one by one when they interrupt each other. Or just stop and hide the books.

    I have a different issue. In this pic (adequately named: So Smart, It's stupid), you'll see that dude decided a tasty meal was more important to him than peeing himself. I've brought it up plenty of times. But apparently I must have mods, CC, or computer issues. *shakes head to all*

    NOTE: His hunger never hit yellow.
    SoSmartItsStupid.jpg

    Maybe he wanted all the food to be digested first so he can go to the loo at one go. LOL.
    My Top Song of the Day: Fancy Footwork by Chromeo
    FwDXXd5.gif
  • Evil_OneEvil_One Posts: 4,423 Member
    kremesch73 wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »

    One of the most annoying things is when you tell one to read that skill book, and their needs don't diminish and they should be fine, they get up and hide it, and go talk to someone else. I play eight Sims in most of my Sim households. These are enough to make me wish I had a peashooter just to knock them off one by one when they interrupt each other. Or just stop and hide the books.

    I have a different issue. In this pic (adequately named: So Smart, It's 🐸🐸🐸🐸), you'll see that dude decided a tasty meal was more important to him than peeing himself. I've brought it up plenty of times. But apparently I must have mods, CC, or computer issues. *shakes head to all*

    NOTE: His hunger never hit yellow.
    SoSmartItsStupid.jpg

    It's an issue I mentioned in a thread about why multitasking prevents restaurants from being in the game, there's no prioritization of actions, so any action (especially social ones) can override any other.

    raw
  • kremesch73kremesch73 Posts: 10,474 Member
    edited June 2015
    DeKay wrote: »
    Maybe he wanted all the food to be digested first so he can go to the loo at one go. LOL.

    Who knows. My biggest peeve is I'm always finding them in bed when they're not even tired. They can be starving or on the verge of soiling their pants, but a nap is always most favourable. I've been griping about it since release, but it appears to just be my game.
    Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
  • kremesch73kremesch73 Posts: 10,474 Member
    Evil_One wrote: »
    It's an issue I mentioned in a thread about why multitasking prevents restaurants from being in the game, there's no prioritization of actions, so any action (especially social ones) can override any other.

    You may be onto something here. They're not being smarter. In other words, they're not tending to their needs as they should be. They're just prioritizing to the highest advertisement. Makes me wonder how much the devs are into commercialism.
    Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
  • DeKayDeKay Posts: 81,472 Member
    kremesch73 wrote: »
    DeKay wrote: »
    Maybe he wanted all the food to be digested first so he can go to the loo at one go. LOL.

    Who knows. My biggest peeve is I'm always finding them in bed when they're not even tired. They can be starving or on the verge of soiling their pants, but a nap is always most favourable. I've been griping about it since release, but it appears to just be my game.

    I have this problem as well. But only one of my sims is like this especially when I tell him to auto-solve his energy bar, he would decide to take a nap even when the bar is already in the yellow.
    My Top Song of the Day: Fancy Footwork by Chromeo
    FwDXXd5.gif
  • kremesch73kremesch73 Posts: 10,474 Member
    edited June 2015
    DeKay wrote: »
    I have this problem as well. But only one of my sims is like this especially when I tell him to auto-solve his energy bar, he would decide to take a nap even when the bar is already in the yellow.

    I don't use auto-solve though. It irks me because their bladder, fun, and/or hunger can be in the red, but they'll favour napping, sleeping, and/or eating the second it hits yellow. It's been like this since day one, and managing a large family becomes frustrating when they're all wide awake in the middle of the night because of it, and I hate playing with autonomy turned off because they all just stand there like statues in my game.

    The only solution is to make them play chess or some other skilling task (which I may not always want them to skill on) that they won't autonomously quit like they do with reading or other fun tasks.

    I don't even know why I'm still bringing it up, to be honest. It's not like it's going to change or improve. It's been almost a flipping year for Pete's sake.

    Edit: and don't even get me started on the ridiculous breakage rate:
    ridiculousBreakage.jpg
    Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
  • SiliCloneSiliClone Posts: 2,585 Member
    edited June 2015
    I haven't tried letting a solo Sim loose. Maybe I should one day, just to see what they do.

    They troll the forum, most of the time.
  • kremesch73kremesch73 Posts: 10,474 Member
    SiliClone wrote: »
    They troll the forum, most of the time.

    It makes so much sense when a good sim does it.
    Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
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