Does anyone else overthink their game?

nightowl1

I'm going to start this with the most obvious thing - I shouldn't even be worrying about this in the first place.

It's like my mind can't cooperate and I feel myself blanking out instead of enjoying the game. I start to look at myself and think "hey! I should make my sims do this and this and this!" but when it comes round to actually doing it I keep worrying about how its going to fit into my storyline or waiting for a perfect moment to do something. Sometimes I never even get round to doing what I want, because I worry about specific... little... things...

For example, in my storyline one of my sims is a comedian. Or... he tries to be. I wanted to create a comedy club so he can go down sometimes and participate in some stand-up, which is all good. Apart from the fact that whenever I try and create the club I have no idea on how to make a club interesting enough. I've tried to create my own comedians, but then I'm faced with trying to create the right kind of sim for my game. Which intimidates me a little, because I've never been the best at creating in-depth sims. Eventually I find myself giving up or becoming embarrassed over myself. I keep shaming myself for having a lack of imagination or enough enthusiasm, but I don't want to quit playing.

I want to make friends for my characters, but whenever I hang out I always get stuck on where to go. I can't think of how I should make conversations meaningful. I don't know how to make outings more meaningful.

When my sims sit down and chat I keep blanking out over the dialog box - what should I even say? What's a good conversation? How long should a conversation be? How do I use these conversations as a way of building my story? If you think this can't get any sillier, listen to this! I have a dilemma over my couple. I don't know how often a couple should go out with each other, and I don't mean dating, I mean in general. Do partners tend to go everywhere a lot? Do they like the space? Should I separate them a bit more? I'm pretty much sat here thinking that I'm making my sims "too clingy".

I keep fearing I may be isolating my sims. Like, I feel ashamed about how awful my sims lives must be.

I don't know how weird this sounds, but I am guessing it sounds pretty weird. Maybe I'm just looking for a few kind souls to tell me to calm down and just play the game, y'know? I'm probably trying too hard to make things "perfect". I don't know.

XannWhitefire

I have a slightly different agervation in that the game has a bad habit of doing things I don’t want it to do because almost everything it has sims do is random and you can’t control all of them at once. Which usually means instead of long dating periods, or things like that, wind up getting rushed so I can add them to my household and reign them in a bit.

XannWhitefire

You might try playing like I did when I first got started. Just create the one sim and get an idea of their personality and goals then just let the game go where it takes you without worrying to much about creating a rigid narrative.

nightowl1

That's a good idea. But once I create some characters I just keep getting stuck on what to do next! Like, what do I do? Where do I go? How do I make their lives good? There's no telling, man! These sims (aka. me) are too demanding!

Netzspannung

I do think you should start treating it like a game and not like you are responsible for the life of simulated people. I mean, do whatever? The game is about you, not the simulation. This is supposed to be something that brings you joy and relaxes you. What would be the consequences if your decision turns out to be "wrong"? None, really. You can exit the game without saving, you can start the Sim out again and have them live their life all over. I guess my question would be, what is the end of your train of thought? This is a game where nothing bad ever has to have consequences and nothing has to end if you don't want it to. I guess what I am saying is, calm down and just play the game.

Simmerville

Hm, reading about all your dilemmas, it struck me that you probably are playing the game just as it is. I mean, there are so many possibilities, so no wonders you wonder what to do next or if you did it wrong etc. I think getting to some sort o fa flow in this game, is pretty satisfying, but it might take some time, depending on how well you connect to your sim(s).

To push you a bit forward, did your sims have kids yet? If it's too early, how about adding one extra sim to the household, pretending it's a renter, or a distant relative staying for a year or so. It might make it easier for you to see the individual qualities in your sims, as the intruder will take some of their space for a while. I don't think there is a right answer to how often a couple goes out, or if they go out separately, but with a renter occupying their livingroom, they might seek new ways to go out more often - visiting relatives, growing hobbies, tending the graves at a cemetery... whatever. And when the renter finally leaves, they might have a much clearer image of what they want from their humble home

Ok, kind weird, but this is the weird corner, right?

MrSpaceman

@nightowl1,

I have a dilemma over my couple. I don't know how often a couple should go out with each other, and I don't mean dating, I mean in general. Do partners tend to go everywhere a lot? Do they like the space? Should I separate them a bit more? I'm pretty much sat here thinking that I'm making my sims "too clingy".

Just see it as their story is 50% of their personalities and 50% your imagination, that covers small imperfections and the lack of realism.

Every couple is different. Ask yourself about your couples. I'll give you an example. My favorite sim-family ever lives in TS3, but I guess it doesn't matter. They are very rich. He's introverted and shy, but makes money. She doesn't work, but she's super-active, friendy and energized. She likes expensive things and outfits, but it doesn't mean she loves them more than her husband. She loves him so much, that she became the only person who he feels comfortable with. Their relationship scale is 100% full. That was their pre-history. And if I were you, I'd ask myself, what they would do if they were alive and what their dates would look like. I actually did it for my game a long time ago, as I'm a fan of everything realistic. And here's the answer. As far as she's very social and likes shopping and parties, she has her girls, her friends to go to the city centre with or just hang out at home. She does that more often with them than with her husband, because he doesn't like such things, but they do go out for a date time to time, because she cares about him and doesn't want him to feel forgotten. They mostly go out to the same restaurant he's used to, get a couple drinks and enjoy each other. Sometimes they go to their friends parties, but I often send him home early, because he doesn't feel good in crowded places (I imagine she makes him go with her to look polite) and she stays. You can do the same thing or you can try something else depending on your sims personalities. It's more realistic when young sims/childless sims go out often, because they don't have to take care of the kids, but mine do that whenever they want. Both of them are not too much "family persons", so they can hire a nanny and spend whole nights out not worrying.

I don't know how weird this sounds, but I am guessing it sounds pretty weird. Maybe I'm just looking for a few kind souls to tell me to calm down and just play the game, y'know? I'm probably trying too hard to make things "perfect". I don't know.

It's not weird. It can help you make the game more difficult and interesting if you learn how to use that trait properly. I have it too and I don't regret because of how much joy it brings.

BabySquare

I'm always overthinking things, the most common ones;

Skills - I don't want them to build skills too quickly, as I fear they'll run out of goals to work towards, yet I'm aware that building skills unlocks new abilities, so I never know how fast they should be gaining skill points

Jobs - their job has to suit their personality, be suitable hours, and allow them (as a group of 10 sims spread across 5 households I rotate between) to, on the whole, have days off that commonly coincide with the holidays in the calendar, and also for each household to earn precisely the right amount of money; enough to pay the bills (estimating the increase that comes from using the thermostat), with enough left over for general expenses and saving towards a holiday, while allowing for modest savings to accumulate. Also I want them to all have different jobs. This one requires a lot of foreplaning.

Relationships - all 10 sims I play need to make friends with each other (maybe I want a soap opera feel to this? IDK) and those friendships need to build up at the same rate from sim to sim.

Seasons - I need every household to routinely experience every part of every season, and therefore every holiday. As I play an odd number of households with seasons set at 4 weeks long this is achievable. So long as I rotate through my households in the same order every time each household will experience every part of every season once every 5 sim years.

House location - I would prefer my sims live in the same general area (soap opera feel again), but I'm having trouble finding a suitable location for my 5th household.


There are other points I obsess over but those are the main ones

JackOnYourBack

Maybe you're connecting the game a little too much to real life for if to be enjoyable for you to actually play?

I tend to play my main household wich include several sims that has all aspirations and skills and I tend to play with aging off, so when I do play there is no real meaning or direction. I just do what I feel like, "talk with a friend for 6 hours?", sure. "Go bowling in the middle of the night?" Why not.

There in nothing wrong with thinking about what you're thinking about but I can see how it might get frustrating with time. Just focus more on what would be fun to you and not what makes the most sense or is the "correct way". If you want to play with a sim who hangs out with a friend chatting about nonsense all day, go for it! You don't have to add meaning to everything.

I tend to not really think at all when playing which means my sims end up doing things that doesn't make sense in real life, like opening the store at 3 am simply because I wanna play with the store. It's your game, your sandbox so make it whatever you want it to be.

ElfEnchantress

I enjoy role-playing, but it's also fun to do absurd things you can only do in the sims. like woohoo with death. It might be useful to have a serious save and a wacky save.

Hermitgirl

Earlier in the game I did this more well I suppose a type of it ... because I don't have the experience in the same way.
I like to have many packs to flesh out characters .. and if I don't feel like I have what I need to play them out right I stall or shelve them or just don't make them. Like in the latest pack we got the military career and I've been waiting to play a character because it's what I needed to do so. So he's been sitting there waiting for a few years to be played basically. If I played him before it would have fallen flat. Now he's and his family are very much alive for me and I'm enjoying playing them. I have the career, uniforms, animations and setting to bring it to life.

Also it's a connection thing .. I can't seem to connect with a sim unless I can play them out the way I want too for one. Then sometimes I make a sim that just seems bland. I might play them a bit and skill them but they only come alive to me when something happens beyond my control. For and example one of the first "evil" sims I was willing to play. ... Well I found a way to do away with sims on him, then he ended up getting sad over a death and I found him crying in the shower.. then dragging around for awhile. Now probably because I hadn't experienced that yet .. it set him off as unique.. at least my memory was and then I connected with him. Since then I'm usually irritated by the mourning phase.. on other diabolical characters but not on that one sim.
Mostly it's finding a way to connect to a sim as a character that makes a difference for me.

I think your trying to be too perfect maybe. Loosen up let them try some stuff on their own (although I suggest giving them some base skills in how you want them to be or to like). You might want to try some easy challenges as a guide to play also.. you don't have to stick to them but the ideas might help when your not sure where to take it.

sleekoduck87

Just let their whims and goals guide you when you play. The Sim might need to reach Level 4 in a career, Level 5 in a skill, or achieve gold on a date with his or her partner (which is super easy because the game walks you through dates and dinner parties). It's a game, so just rack up as many points as possible. If your Sim needs a partner for his or her Aspiration, then pick one and have the Sim aggressively pursue. If it doesn't work out (my Simself had no luck in my legacy with J Huntington III because he is non-committal, for example), then just have them find someone else. It's rare for a Sim to have a bad moodlet for longer than four Sim hours. They bounce back from things faster than real humans do. If worst comes to worst, change the Sim's Lifetime Aspiration.

And remember, it is just a game.

StilettoBlack

You need to get a pair of dice. Say even numbers, yes, odd, no, double even, you have to or die trying, double odd, no way & you can never even think about it again. Let chance guide you.

ShadyLady89

As stated above, I think dice or following whims would be a good way to begin breaking the habit of that overthinking. I don't think it's weird at all. I can understand being overwhelmed by the plethora of choices. Also, as others have stated, finding ways to connect to your sims will probably alleviate some of that overthinking as well, because instead of wondering what to do the personalities you've come up with for them will help you dictate what comes next.

nightowl1

I just wanted to say that I really appreciate everything everyone's had to say. I'm not usually that confident with making threads, so it does help lift my spirits seeing people who are kind.. I think one of my main problems is I see everyone else's storylines and the ideas they come up with and it just leaves me feeling amazed/intrigued. And then when it comes to myself I often get embarrassed over my own gameplay... as in I would just start trying something out and then realising (to me) it lacks depth and find myself feeling negative over it, which is silly, because games are there to have fun with, not to bring yourself down about (which is probably enough reason I've been stressing).

The dice idea sounds pretty good, since the choice would be taken out of my own hands which makes for a more spontaneous story. The challenge idea is especially good as it could help me get out of my "comfort zone" more, so I'll definitely be checking that out!