5.Another fun thing I like to do is temporarily move relatives in with other family members. For instance, when I go in my game today, It'll be time to play husband and my simself. In game they are now elders, with grown children and grandchildren living elsewhere of all ages. One of the things I like to do is have my sim visit one of the households to help take care of the children, and do some cooking. Maybe even spend the night. Or, I'll move in one or more grandchildren of the family, pretend their parents need a week away from the kids so grandma and grandpa can spend more time with them. It raises relationships and changes things up. At the end of the sim week, I move the children back to their own home. I also like to move grandparents, aunts, cousins to a household for a week to help take care of kids, or for that extra income.
Thank you so much for writing this post, I had no idea this was a thing, and now I really want to do this in my save, more then one legacy in one save is the most genius thing I have heard in a while!!!!
Awe you're so welcome! Keep us updated on your save!
Here is a way that I use Holidays to help with my rotational game.
Every now and then I need to bounce around in a lot of different households in order to set things up. Getting sims their jobs, a couple of teenagers aged up and I want to give them good clothes and clubs. At lot of little stuff to be done in many households so I stay for a few hours in each.
For these specific days I have a NPC-holiday so that every sim is free from work and school. Before seasons I had to give all my sims the slacker trait because their bosses would get mad when I rotate in at 11 am and they go home from work. Just being able to quickly hop around for one day and get a good look at the world is great for me.
3. When it comes to seasons, I keep it at whatever season i'm in in real life. I've been doing that since sims 2 seasons. I enjoy sims weather so much more that way. After real life Christmas and New Years is over I tend to ignore it in game then my sims get negative moodlets. Poor sims. Actually when I get in game today I can switch to spring for the first time. yay
.
How are you choosing your seasons? Mod, cheats, or weather machine? I used to do the same thing with Sims 2 & 3, but I find it difficult in this game.
to set a specific season, open the cheats window, type:
seasons.set_season0 (this is summer)
seasons.set_season1 (for fall)
2 is for winter and 3 spring
For my rotation, I pick at least one household per world (a couple of them I have two), have seasons set to 28 days and ageing off.
I play each household for a while, no set days - usually from 3 to 7 sim days per house, depending on how much I am enjoying them - and then move on to the next. When I get to my last household I turn ageing on for a sim week so that everyone (including NPCs) will get a little older. And then turn it back off for my next rotation.
I set up jobs and clubs, even in households I am not playing, so that it adds to my overall story.
I also tend to take a lot of screenshots as I go along, to remind me what has been going on in a particular household. Sometimes I put them together as a story in Word or something like that. Or sometimes I just add really brief details to the info tab in game.
For me, it is enjoyable for my sims to get involved with other sims I play in the same save - as friends, co-workers or romance. It adds to the fun this way, instead of concentrating on only one household.
What a smart idea to prevent sims from aging up too quickly while you play other households. The main reason I shy away from rotating my families is because I don't want to deal with catching up with families who have aged up significantly since last playing them. Thanks for the tip!
Wow, @simmer_jay ...20 generations is quite the undertaking. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Your Sims look great!
I started my rotation way back in 2015 with 5 households. It's now grown to 28. I'm currently on my 19th rotation and I'm roughly on generation 4 or 5 (depending on which side of the family you count). The Prosperity Challenge (which is the set of rules I follow) stops at the end of generation 5. I can't even imagine trying to get to 20!
I stick to a much more rigid schedule (1 week per household, switch at midnight Sunday). Seasons are set to 2 weeks, with at least 1 major holiday each week so every household gets to experience one while I'm there. As far as aging goes, I have it set to aging on for my active household only, with the exception of the first household on the list. While I'm playing that house, I allow the unplayed households to age as well; that way all the townies also age 1 week for every rotation.
I can definitely vouch for things like family holidays and weddings feeling more "real" with all the interconnected households. Since every household I have stems from those original 5, my Sims don't seem to know the meaning of a small event anymore. (Once you get to a certain number of Sims I would look into "Longer Parties/More Guests" on MTS. I don't know how I'd get through a wedding without it anymore. There are just too many cousins to invite!)
I can also vouch for using the club system; I have clubs set up for various groups of siblings or cousins that I want to be able to gather quickly. They also tend to show up together during other events at public venues, so they interact even when I'm not visiting their houses. Parties and events tend to be good for this too. Honestly that would probably be my biggest piece of advice for making the town feel alive. Find ways to get Sims from the different households together as they get to know each other.
Sims in your my family area will not forget skills or be curreled, sims that are in the npc service sim household can't be seen in household management you can always add them to your household by calling them, if you want teenagers to not age until you are ready play the teenagers and have the busk with city living they now have requirements for that job, now after that send them home and turn off teenage sim is a played household, this will make them availabe for npc jobs and give them the don't age trait.
Sid1701d-"I love my life, live my life and live to play, laugh and have fun."
"Love will Fight, Love will Win and Love will Survive."
I play each household for a while, no set days - usually from 3 to 7 sim days per house, depending on how much I am enjoying them - and then move on to the next. When I get to my last household I turn ageing on for a sim week so that everyone (including NPCs) will get a little older. And then turn it back off for my next rotation.
I used to do that and then I forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me of that great system!
Origin ID is: AlbaWaterhouse
All my creations are CC free.
I am now at the forth generation. The first generation was just one simple household and they had one kid, so it was an easy choice to play further with their son when he became a teen/YA. He moved out, lived with roommates, got married with 4 kids, so then it became a little tricky. They moved out in pairs, so I had 2 households to worry about.
I then had to learn about the options for rotational game play in TS4. I decided to play with each household 1 sim week and then switch to the other. I always have aging on for everyone in town and my sims, so then I thought: Hm, but if i don't play with one household, the other household will age up.
I learned you can set your important households as played in the household editing window. Like this only sims in town would age up all the time and if you set aging on active household only, only your current household you play with would age. So that problem would be fixed.
Then I came across the problem where I didn't want the sims in town to age up faster than my households. I don't think there is a solution for that though. I also have a set of twins, which would then not be of the same age anymore, if I didn't follow my exact one sim week plan.
It's a bit messy. And i totally messed it up already where i forgot to change my settings a few times.
The best way to go for me now is to just to keep aging on for everyone and just play a bit with every household. I play long life, so usually there is enough time to let them all live their lives as desired. I think long life in TS4 is very long which actually works amazing with this method.
I just started ten families in rotation. I'm going for the Legacy Leader achievement. Actually I only have the first family up -- Bob and Betty Newbie. But I've been playing rotational saves almost since I first got Sims 4. I've never used any mods or CC. Over the years they've made several improvements for us rotational players. Culling is not a problem any more. Your played households don't get touched, and you can give a heart to unplayed households that you want to save. The Sims that you're not currently playing are less likely to get into romantic relationships on their own, but they can gain skills, especially if you send your played Sims to community lots.
I play with 28-day seasons, and I play about a week per family. I have a system for assigning traits to children that is based on the day they age up.
Two things I'd recommend: Keep a notebook or index cards on your families. If you have pets, stock up on the wellness treats that you can get at the vet clinic. Your pets will always be sick when you return, but the treat cures them instantly.
I think the most fun about playing in rotation is running into your families at the park, restaurants, etc.
> @purplestarz2006 said: > Wow, @simmer_jay ...20 generations is quite the undertaking. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Your Sims look great! > > I started my rotation way back in 2015 with 5 households. It's now grown to 28. I'm currently on my 19th rotation and I'm roughly on generation 4 or 5 (depending on which side of the family you count). The Prosperity Challenge (which is the set of rules I follow) stops at the end of generation 5. I can't even imagine trying to get to 20! > > I stick to a much more rigid schedule (1 week per household, switch at midnight Sunday). Seasons are set to 2 weeks, with at least 1 major holiday each week so every household gets to experience one while I'm there. As far as aging goes, I have it set to aging on for my active household only, with the exception of the first household on the list. While I'm playing that house, I allow the unplayed households to age as well; that way all the townies also age 1 week for every rotation. > > I can definitely vouch for things like family holidays and weddings feeling more "real" with all the interconnected households. Since every household I have stems from those original 5, my Sims don't seem to know the meaning of a small event anymore. (Once you get to a certain number of Sims I would look into "Longer Parties/More Guests" on MTS. I don't know how I'd get through a wedding without it anymore. There are just too many cousins to invite!) > > I can also vouch for using the club system; I have clubs set up for various groups of siblings or cousins that I want to be able to gather quickly. They also tend to show up together during other events at public venues, so they interact even when I'm not visiting their houses. Parties and events tend to be good for this too. Honestly that would probably be my biggest piece of advice for making the town feel alive. Find ways to get Sims from the different households together as they get to know each other.
Thanks for the ideas, I am only on my first rotation/generation but I do currently have 8 families in my rotation.
> I have a system for assigning traits to children that is based on the day they age up. > > If you have pets, stock up on the wellness treats that you can get at the vet clinic. Your pets will always be sick when you return, but the treat cures them instantly.
I would like to know more about your system for assigning traits for children. Also thanks for the treats idea, I always seem to have a sick pet.
Then I came across the problem where I didn't want the sims in town to age up faster than my households. I don't think there is a solution for that though.
There is a very simple one. If you have two households, toggle aging off for unplayed households while you play the first household and toggle on for the second one.
If you have more than just two households, let your townies age during the first (or last) week of your rotation and toggle aging of unplayed households off for the rest of the time.
Now now EA, don't be stinking up our lovely lavender bath with your shopping fart. - My TS4 mods - Gallery ID: 83bienchen
It's always interestting seeing what others do with rotation I like to play that way whether I use mccc to control the background families or not, I'm mostly looking in on families from time to time with a main family taking the slow road I won't be rotating more until their kids can move out that'll give me four or five rotations in the end guess we'll see how that goes. I also never really stick to a schedule whatever I feel like doing just happens.
Reddestiny921 on the gallery...still not sure if I capitalized the second d..lol
All the sims err'day
It's based on sort of an astrology system: Spring 1-14 is the Penguin, Spring 15-28 is the Llama, Summer 1-14 is the Dog, Summer 15-28 is the Womrat, Autumn 1-14 is the Cat, Autumn 15-28 is the Raccoon, Winter 1-14 is the Freezer Bunny, and Winter 15-18 is the Bear. To give an example, a Sim born on Spring 1 would become a toddler on Spring 4, and angelic; a child on Spring 11 and cheerful; a teen on Spring 25 and outgoing or insider; and a YA on Summer 11, and a music-lover, jealous, or materialistic. Of course, playing rotationally, you never know where the birthdays are going to land.
It's based on sort of an astrology system: Spring 1-14 is the Penguin, Spring 15-28 is the Llama, Summer 1-14 is the Dog, Summer 15-28 is the Womrat, Autumn 1-14 is the Cat, Autumn 15-28 is the Raccoon, Winter 1-14 is the Freezer Bunny, and Winter 15-18 is the Bear. To give an example, a Sim born on Spring 1 would become a toddler on Spring 4, and angelic; a child on Spring 11 and cheerful; a teen on Spring 25 and outgoing or insider; and a YA on Summer 11, and a music-lover, jealous, or materialistic. Of course, playing rotationally, you never know where the birthdays are going to land.
Is this just for when they age from toddler to child? Does it have all of the traits from the EPs? Tell me more, this sounds awesome!
It's based on sort of an astrology system: Spring 1-14 is the Penguin, Spring 15-28 is the Llama, Summer 1-14 is the Dog, Summer 15-28 is the Womrat, Autumn 1-14 is the Cat, Autumn 15-28 is the Raccoon, Winter 1-14 is the Freezer Bunny, and Winter 15-18 is the Bear. To give an example, a Sim born on Spring 1 would become a toddler on Spring 4, and angelic; a child on Spring 11 and cheerful; a teen on Spring 25 and outgoing or insider; and a YA on Summer 11, and a music-lover, jealous, or materialistic. Of course, playing rotationally, you never know where the birthdays are going to land.
Wow! That's so well thought out and useful, thanks for sharing.
Origin ID is: AlbaWaterhouse
All my creations are CC free.
Oh, some advice I've picked up from recent experiences! If you are going to have your sims in a work from home job, make sure you send them to work or take a vacation day on their last scheduled work day before you switch households. Otherwise, you can do all their work tasks for the day and they never get paid because you're in the other household when the time comes. If they go to work or take PTO they'll get paid for that day.
Also no work tasks or homework will carry over. Once you play a different household and come back, they all reset to "Not started." So don't waste time on them on your last day.
And in the acting career, you have to find the gig, do the audition and go to the gig before you switch households, or you won't be able to do the gig. Same for awards - if you get a message that your sim has been nominated for an award you have to go to the ceremony before you rotate or you'll miss the chance to win.
I have not yet figured out how to make gardening work with rotated households and seasons. Anyone else have any tips on that?
Oh, some advice I've picked up from recent experiences! If you are going to have your sims in a work from home job, make sure you send them to work or take a vacation day on their last scheduled work day before you switch households. Otherwise, you can do all their work tasks for the day and they never get paid because you're in the other household when the time comes. If they go to work or take PTO they'll get paid for that day.
Also no work tasks or homework will carry over. Once you play a different household and come back, they all reset to "Not started." So don't waste time on them on your last day.
And in the acting career, you have to find the gig, do the audition and go to the gig before you switch households, or you won't be able to do the gig. Same for awards - if you get a message that your sim has been nominated for an award you have to go to the ceremony before you rotate or you'll miss the chance to win.
I have not yet figured out how to make gardening work with rotated households and seasons. Anyone else have any tips on that?
If my sim has a pretty big garden and the plants are on the higher level I hire a gardener but that never helps for picking anything - the gardener just keeps everything healthy. I don't do like I did in my old save though and give everyone a huge garden any more anyway - so it hasn't been a big issue in my present saves.
In one of my older saves where I had a lot of nice big gardens with lots of perfect plants - when I would start up playing the game - I would basically visit every house on my rotation, harvest the plants and sell them, then after it was done on all my houses - I'd return back to the house I was in the rotation with the last time I played and finish the rotation of that house. But even if I didn't hire a gardener or stop by every house - I don't recall any plants dying - the household just doesn't get the money out of the plants they normally would make if I was playing them.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
I have not yet figured out how to make gardening work with rotated households and seasons. Anyone else have any tips on that?
I'm not exactly sure what you are referring to with making gardening work, but I use greenhouses and always rotate between 2am(holidays) and 5am(when plants produce).
For me, it's all about the aging settings, and I play with two styles and I don't use any mods or CC.
1. If I age the townies, I only do so when I play the original household, otherwise, no one ages except the active household. I try not to worry too much about how my played households age up against each other because 1. it's confusing and 2. I don't like feeling like I HAVE to play a specific household. People don't really grow up and age equally in the real world anyways, do they?
2. This way is a lot more involved, and takes a lot of world management, but I will age up all townies and only the active household, play whichever active household I feel is right at the time, (I usually attach for a week or two IRL and then move on. If you play with no mods, after a very short while, the only baby's that spawn will be your doing, so I go through once a Sim week and move a good deal babies that were created by my more promiscuous Sims into a few orphanages to keep track of where they are, and when they are an adult, I cheat them into marriage with another orphan and roll a couple toddlers for the happy couple, I may go through a roll a couple toddlers for pre-existing Sims or add a few pets here or there as well. I'll often group elders that live alone into a retirement home to make room for younger families. For me, it's Saturday (Sim world) that all this gets done for easy tracking. This does cause a discrepancy where the unplayed Sims age fast and households age slow, so many times by the time I get back around to a specific household, all of the their friends are ghosts, or not even that anymore at times. But I figure in life, how many friends do you really hold on to for more than a few years anywho?
I have not yet figured out how to make gardening work with rotated households and seasons. Anyone else have any tips on that?
It requires a bit of math, how often you rotate households, and how long you want to experience each season for yourself. I'm not sure how many households you want play with, which also matters.
So for example, say you only want to rotate between a few families with one week long seasons. You would have to play 5 households in rotation for 1 sim week each in order to get each household to experience each season. Example:
If you played each household 1 sim week with seasons set to 1 week it would look like this:
Household 1 - Spring
Household 2 - Summer
Household 3 - Fall
Household 4 - Winter
Household 5 - Spring
Household 1 - Summer
Household 2 - Fall
Household 3 - Winter
Household 4 - Spring
Household 5 - Summer
Household 1 - Fall Etc.
I play 17 households 1 week each, with seasons set to 2 weeks long. Since I have many households with seasons only set to 2 weeks each, 2 sim years worth of seasons go by in one rotation. But I would only go through 1 year worth of seasons with 17 families at the end of rotation if seasons were set to 4 weeks long.
Easy way to do the math:
So there are 4 seasons in a year, right? You want a number by 4 (or 8 or 16 if setting seasons longer) + 1 so you always will have an odd number of households, which triggers the rotation. So you would have to have for example (4+1) 5, (8+1) 9, or (16+1)17 households in total for this rotation to work.
@MLadyAzzera, Toddlers get the toddler skill, and then I usually give children an emotion-based skill. Teens and YAs get one of the 3 (or 4) other skills listed later.
Comments
What a great idea! Thank you!!
SimmerJay CAS Challenge! ✨
Awe you're so welcome! Keep us updated on your save!
SimmerJay CAS Challenge! ✨
Here is a way that I use Holidays to help with my rotational game.
Every now and then I need to bounce around in a lot of different households in order to set things up. Getting sims their jobs, a couple of teenagers aged up and I want to give them good clothes and clubs. At lot of little stuff to be done in many households so I stay for a few hours in each.
For these specific days I have a NPC-holiday so that every sim is free from work and school. Before seasons I had to give all my sims the slacker trait because their bosses would get mad when I rotate in at 11 am and they go home from work. Just being able to quickly hop around for one day and get a good look at the world is great for me.
Thanks
What a smart idea to prevent sims from aging up too quickly while you play other households. The main reason I shy away from rotating my families is because I don't want to deal with catching up with families who have aged up significantly since last playing them. Thanks for the tip!
Wow, @simmer_jay ...20 generations is quite the undertaking. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Your Sims look great!
I started my rotation way back in 2015 with 5 households. It's now grown to 28. I'm currently on my 19th rotation and I'm roughly on generation 4 or 5 (depending on which side of the family you count). The Prosperity Challenge (which is the set of rules I follow) stops at the end of generation 5. I can't even imagine trying to get to 20!
I stick to a much more rigid schedule (1 week per household, switch at midnight Sunday). Seasons are set to 2 weeks, with at least 1 major holiday each week so every household gets to experience one while I'm there. As far as aging goes, I have it set to aging on for my active household only, with the exception of the first household on the list. While I'm playing that house, I allow the unplayed households to age as well; that way all the townies also age 1 week for every rotation.
I can definitely vouch for things like family holidays and weddings feeling more "real" with all the interconnected households. Since every household I have stems from those original 5, my Sims don't seem to know the meaning of a small event anymore. (Once you get to a certain number of Sims I would look into "Longer Parties/More Guests" on MTS. I don't know how I'd get through a wedding without it anymore. There are just too many cousins to invite!)
I can also vouch for using the club system; I have clubs set up for various groups of siblings or cousins that I want to be able to gather quickly. They also tend to show up together during other events at public venues, so they interact even when I'm not visiting their houses. Parties and events tend to be good for this too. Honestly that would probably be my biggest piece of advice for making the town feel alive. Find ways to get Sims from the different households together as they get to know each other.
"Love will Fight, Love will Win and Love will Survive."
I used to do that and then I forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me of that great system!
All my creations are CC free.
I then had to learn about the options for rotational game play in TS4. I decided to play with each household 1 sim week and then switch to the other. I always have aging on for everyone in town and my sims, so then I thought: Hm, but if i don't play with one household, the other household will age up.
I learned you can set your important households as played in the household editing window. Like this only sims in town would age up all the time and if you set aging on active household only, only your current household you play with would age. So that problem would be fixed.
Then I came across the problem where I didn't want the sims in town to age up faster than my households. I don't think there is a solution for that though. I also have a set of twins, which would then not be of the same age anymore, if I didn't follow my exact one sim week plan.
It's a bit messy. And i totally messed it up already where i forgot to change my settings a few times.
The best way to go for me now is to just to keep aging on for everyone and just play a bit with every household. I play long life, so usually there is enough time to let them all live their lives as desired. I think long life in TS4 is very long which actually works amazing with this method.
I play with 28-day seasons, and I play about a week per family. I have a system for assigning traits to children that is based on the day they age up.
Two things I'd recommend: Keep a notebook or index cards on your families. If you have pets, stock up on the wellness treats that you can get at the vet clinic. Your pets will always be sick when you return, but the treat cures them instantly.
I think the most fun about playing in rotation is running into your families at the park, restaurants, etc.
> Wow, @simmer_jay ...20 generations is quite the undertaking. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Your Sims look great!
>
> I started my rotation way back in 2015 with 5 households. It's now grown to 28. I'm currently on my 19th rotation and I'm roughly on generation 4 or 5 (depending on which side of the family you count). The Prosperity Challenge (which is the set of rules I follow) stops at the end of generation 5. I can't even imagine trying to get to 20!
>
> I stick to a much more rigid schedule (1 week per household, switch at midnight Sunday). Seasons are set to 2 weeks, with at least 1 major holiday each week so every household gets to experience one while I'm there. As far as aging goes, I have it set to aging on for my active household only, with the exception of the first household on the list. While I'm playing that house, I allow the unplayed households to age as well; that way all the townies also age 1 week for every rotation.
>
> I can definitely vouch for things like family holidays and weddings feeling more "real" with all the interconnected households. Since every household I have stems from those original 5, my Sims don't seem to know the meaning of a small event anymore. (Once you get to a certain number of Sims I would look into "Longer Parties/More Guests" on MTS. I don't know how I'd get through a wedding without it anymore. There are just too many cousins to invite!)
>
> I can also vouch for using the club system; I have clubs set up for various groups of siblings or cousins that I want to be able to gather quickly. They also tend to show up together during other events at public venues, so they interact even when I'm not visiting their houses. Parties and events tend to be good for this too. Honestly that would probably be my biggest piece of advice for making the town feel alive. Find ways to get Sims from the different households together as they get to know each other.
Thanks for the ideas, I am only on my first rotation/generation but I do currently have 8 families in my rotation.
> I have a system for assigning traits to children that is based on the day they age up.
>
> If you have pets, stock up on the wellness treats that you can get at the vet clinic. Your pets will always be sick when you return, but the treat cures them instantly.
I would like to know more about your system for assigning traits for children. Also thanks for the treats idea, I always seem to have a sick pet.
There is a very simple one. If you have two households, toggle aging off for unplayed households while you play the first household and toggle on for the second one.
If you have more than just two households, let your townies age during the first (or last) week of your rotation and toggle aging of unplayed households off for the rest of the time.
All the sims err'day
Here's my system:
Spring 1-7 -- angelic, cheerful, family-oriented, good, neat
Spring 8-14 -- angelic, cheerful, family-oriented, art lover, glutton
Spring 15-21 -- charmer, creative, family-oriented, romantic, dance machine
Spring 22-28 -- charmer, creative, family-oriented, outgoing, insider
Summer 1-7 -- clingy, gloomy, music-lover, dog lover, evil
Summer 8-14 -- clingy, gloomy, music-lover, jealous, materialistic
Summer 15-21 -- fussy, hot-headed, music-lover, self-absorbed, squeamish
Summer 22-28 -- fussy, hot-headed, music-lover, ambitious, snob
Autumn 1-7 -- independent, self-assured, loves outdoors, cat lover, loner
Autumn 8-14 -- independent, self-assured, loves outdoors, noncommittal, unflirty
Autumn 15-21 -- inquisitive, genius, loves outdoors, lazy, perfectionist
Autumn 22-28 -- inquisitive, genius, loves outdoors, geek, vegetarian
Winter 1-7 -- silly, goofball, bookworm, childish, foodie
Winter 8-14 -- silly, goofball, bookworm, clumsy, erratic
Winter 15-21 -- wild, active, bookworm, bro, kleptomaniac, paranoid
Winter 22-28 -- wild, active, bookworm, mean, slob, hates children
It's based on sort of an astrology system: Spring 1-14 is the Penguin, Spring 15-28 is the Llama, Summer 1-14 is the Dog, Summer 15-28 is the Womrat, Autumn 1-14 is the Cat, Autumn 15-28 is the Raccoon, Winter 1-14 is the Freezer Bunny, and Winter 15-18 is the Bear. To give an example, a Sim born on Spring 1 would become a toddler on Spring 4, and angelic; a child on Spring 11 and cheerful; a teen on Spring 25 and outgoing or insider; and a YA on Summer 11, and a music-lover, jealous, or materialistic. Of course, playing rotationally, you never know where the birthdays are going to land.
Thanks, that's a great system.
Is this just for when they age from toddler to child? Does it have all of the traits from the EPs? Tell me more, this sounds awesome!
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Wow! That's so well thought out and useful, thanks for sharing.
All my creations are CC free.
Also no work tasks or homework will carry over. Once you play a different household and come back, they all reset to "Not started." So don't waste time on them on your last day.
And in the acting career, you have to find the gig, do the audition and go to the gig before you switch households, or you won't be able to do the gig. Same for awards - if you get a message that your sim has been nominated for an award you have to go to the ceremony before you rotate or you'll miss the chance to win.
I have not yet figured out how to make gardening work with rotated households and seasons. Anyone else have any tips on that?
If my sim has a pretty big garden and the plants are on the higher level I hire a gardener but that never helps for picking anything - the gardener just keeps everything healthy. I don't do like I did in my old save though and give everyone a huge garden any more anyway - so it hasn't been a big issue in my present saves.
In one of my older saves where I had a lot of nice big gardens with lots of perfect plants - when I would start up playing the game - I would basically visit every house on my rotation, harvest the plants and sell them, then after it was done on all my houses - I'd return back to the house I was in the rotation with the last time I played and finish the rotation of that house. But even if I didn't hire a gardener or stop by every house - I don't recall any plants dying - the household just doesn't get the money out of the plants they normally would make if I was playing them.
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I'm not exactly sure what you are referring to with making gardening work, but I use greenhouses and always rotate between 2am(holidays) and 5am(when plants produce).
1. If I age the townies, I only do so when I play the original household, otherwise, no one ages except the active household. I try not to worry too much about how my played households age up against each other because 1. it's confusing and 2. I don't like feeling like I HAVE to play a specific household. People don't really grow up and age equally in the real world anyways, do they?
2. This way is a lot more involved, and takes a lot of world management, but I will age up all townies and only the active household, play whichever active household I feel is right at the time, (I usually attach for a week or two IRL and then move on. If you play with no mods, after a very short while, the only baby's that spawn will be your doing, so I go through once a Sim week and move a good deal babies that were created by my more promiscuous Sims into a few orphanages to keep track of where they are, and when they are an adult, I cheat them into marriage with another orphan and roll a couple toddlers for the happy couple, I may go through a roll a couple toddlers for pre-existing Sims or add a few pets here or there as well. I'll often group elders that live alone into a retirement home to make room for younger families. For me, it's Saturday (Sim world) that all this gets done for easy tracking. This does cause a discrepancy where the unplayed Sims age fast and households age slow, so many times by the time I get back around to a specific household, all of the their friends are ghosts, or not even that anymore at times. But I figure in life, how many friends do you really hold on to for more than a few years anywho?
It requires a bit of math, how often you rotate households, and how long you want to experience each season for yourself. I'm not sure how many households you want play with, which also matters.
So for example, say you only want to rotate between a few families with one week long seasons. You would have to play 5 households in rotation for 1 sim week each in order to get each household to experience each season. Example:
If you played each household 1 sim week with seasons set to 1 week it would look like this:
Household 1 - Spring
Household 2 - Summer
Household 3 - Fall
Household 4 - Winter
Household 5 - Spring
Household 1 - Summer
Household 2 - Fall
Household 3 - Winter
Household 4 - Spring
Household 5 - Summer
Household 1 - Fall Etc.
I play 17 households 1 week each, with seasons set to 2 weeks long. Since I have many households with seasons only set to 2 weeks each, 2 sim years worth of seasons go by in one rotation. But I would only go through 1 year worth of seasons with 17 families at the end of rotation if seasons were set to 4 weeks long.
Easy way to do the math:
So there are 4 seasons in a year, right? You want a number by 4 (or 8 or 16 if setting seasons longer) + 1 so you always will have an odd number of households, which triggers the rotation. So you would have to have for example (4+1) 5, (8+1) 9, or (16+1)17 households in total for this rotation to work.
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