Ways to make the game more interesting (apart from challenges) «12...Next Go

Huiiie_07

What are some ways to spice up your game when you get bored? To be honest, I haven't touched TS4 for a quite a while now, simply because I don't know what to do once the lot is loaded. It seems like my sims don't have anything interesting to do at home, and going to another lot needs a loading screen (which have gotten longer in my game, which kinda annoys me).

Now I'd like some suggestions on how to make the game more interesting. Many people would probably suggest trying a challenge, but trust me, I tried and failed multiple times. Playing with a strict set of rules just isn't fun to me, so I'd love some ideas apart from challenges to make playing more fun.

NationalPokedex

Maybe since challenges are not your thing, you can focus more on creating stories that you play out. For me, I feel like challenges help generate storylines.

There are also build challenges that you might find interesting (I see in your signature that you like building).

I cannot help but recommend the Build a City Challenge because it's helping me to think differently about how Sims can live while building a town one lot at a time.

Maybe think about what kind of things you normally do in the game, and try to avoid those things specifically and see how else your Sims can live their lives. I've never really played with the Off-the-Grid lot trait, my Sims always have careers, and I generally renovate rather than build lots. With the BACC, I'm playing Off-the-Grid, none of my Sims are in careers, and I'm building everything from the ground up. It's fun because it's a change from the normal things I do in the game.

LaBlue0314

When it comes to game challenges, I too just don't get very far and do not find them enjoyable. Something I do though is I took a brand new game save, turned off all aging, and turned off culling. Went through and completely gave every single sim and lot a complete makeover according to my liking. (The lady in my avatar with the green shirt, short hair, and hat is Moira Fyres from Wendenburg.) After learning the hard way, keep a copy of the newly updated save in a separate folder. I can't even tell you how many times I had to start over because of accidentally playing that save in gameplay. Whenever a new pack is added, go through every lot and maybe sims, and add some new aspect of that pack.

If there is something I want to do to a certain lot, will play a copy of the save, make the changes, save the lot, and then place it in the game save that has not been played. Don't bother with upgrades because that does not save through to the library.

Amandèle

I created a list of events that I use when I am bored. I just select one randomly from time to time to make my save more interesting

Hermitgirl

Since you don't like loading screens maybe you can rotational play if you don't already, especially in areas you haven't had your sims live in before so it doesn't get stale. I tend to start my sims in certain hoods but it's usually refreshing to me to force myself to do something unfamiliar and often I learn something about an area I didn't see before. Personally I like the day to day including jogging, collecting and gardening and fishing and I like getting familiar with the different areas doing this it's always fun to me to look at areas from a different perspective.

I also really like the work from home or living off the land and sim skills possibilities those can often tie in well for sims that don't like to leave home.

Clubs are great too once you meet other sims (or to draw them in) I especially like them for helping to complete aspirations, make money or just cause drama/havoc for my sims.

Some challenges are fun to me if less challenging and more about seeing things you haven't before. More like game guidelines than challenges. I did one where I made two roomate sims with opposite traits you had to advance them in their career and skills but only play one a week for about a sim year. It was fun to me to see how the other roomate slipped or succeeded when I wasn't controlling them. I also got to see more of what the sims traits do this way since I couldn't micromanage them every second I played.

I'm not a big mod user but sometimes I start a save just to experience a mod... especially one that changes or adds to gameplay. I usually strip the mods out later but it was a different way to play for awhile.. and if I limit it to one save it's not a big loss when you take that mod out.

Mostly my advise is to .. play a different or slightly different way. It helps me get out of a rut anyway.

verlainem

I have a couple different saves
#1 is a rotation based on two families - now I am up to 6 families. I just play them sometimes let the game decide what happens. This is one that has a few mods but nothing crazy.

#2 is my ginger challenge started with one red hair and his job was to make as many red haired children with as many NPCs as he could lol. We currently have gen 3 being toddlers (with more toddler aunts and uncles lol) Last count I think Atticus had like 20 offspring. I at one time had MCC paying out child support - I had to stop as he was always broke and couldn't feed the offspring that lived with him. The goal of this challenge is to see if the sim world will become all red heads eventually. There are currently 4 households that I play with this save.

#3 is my alien one I have MCCC alien abduction set really high and again trying to see if the whole sim worlds will eventually be aliens or hybrids.
Currently I haven't played this one in a while and only 2 or 3 households - lots of alien children running around though

#4 is my rotation with an unmentionable mod

#5 was my Strangerville game play

WaytoomanyUIDs

Thing with challenges is lot have a lot of IMO unnecessary and nonsensical rules, presumably to make them more difficult because they are made by people who only play challenges and do so all the time. So I tend to just take challenge rules as a guideline, its much more fun that way.

Although there are a couple of challenges that are so insanely complex I still haven't figure out how to actually play them so I can decide what rules are necessary.

MaggieMarley

Challenges are fun because they give your gameplay a focus and a goal. And you know, rules are made to be broken I certainly bend the rules when I play challenges to keep it fun.

NationalPokedex

The BACC is my first challenge and I’ve found myself enjoying the rules, bending the rules, and reshaping rules to suit my gameplay goals. If you feel stressed about a rule, you can try to ignore the rule and continue on with your gameplay.

Huiiie_07

Thanks for all the suggestions, they're very much appreciated Now that some of you mentioned it, I like the idea of changing the rules of challenges a bit, since many of them seem really unfun to me with their original rules (i.e. living on the same lot all throughout the legacy challenge). Maybe I'll also just spend some time just building and looking for stuff I've never done before. Nice ideas everyone, I'll keep them in mind next time I start the game!

juliekaye

I like using some challenges to start a new game but then I don't continue to follow them really. It's just a loose guideline. Like the 100 baby challenge for one. It is NOT fun to me to have baby after baby after baby. So I made it a longer goal of hitting 100 babies but doing it at a more reasonable pace. Playing the families out more in depth. I even let my matriarch work. They might only have 4 or 5 kids in total but that's ok. I don't care about hitting 100 within the least amount of generations. I'll get there when I get there.

Huiiie_07

juliekaye wrote: »

I like using some challenges to start a new game but then I don't continue to follow them really. It's just a loose guideline. Like the 100 baby challenge for one. It is NOT fun to me to have baby after baby after baby. So I made it a longer goal of hitting 100 babies but doing it at a more reasonable pace. Playing the families out more in depth. I even let my matriarch work. They might only have 4 or 5 kids in total but that's ok. I don't care about hitting 100 within the least amount of generations. I'll get there when I get there.

That's why I'd probably use a male sim for the 100 baby challenge, since they can just make baby after baby without even having to interact with them at all, as long as the mom doesn't live in the same household

mapletreesims

Like other people said, having sims are different from your usual would definitely help. There are still plenty of careers and skills I have yet to try, even in base game. Try to pack your home lot with as many activities as possible so you don’t get bored staying at home. I also like to play stories, or at least write a short bio in my notes so that I become more attached to my sims. If you like legacy gameplay, try plum tree which doesn’t cull like the in game family tree and helps motivate me to play.
In general, think about interesting events in your own life: holidays, birthdays, graduations, weddings, vacations, even just family/friend outings, and incorporate those into your sims’ life.
I also find that having more sims makes the game more interesting, so maybe start with a family, pets, and established relationships instead of starting at square one every time.

keene61

I'm running into the same sort of thing right now with my game. One of the things that I'm changing is switching from long lifespans to normal. I normally play by seeing how many big things I can complete with one sim and it feels repetitive when I go to play other sims with the same goals or aspirations so I'm trying to mix up my goals for them. I also am trying to give each sim a background story that is integrated with the rest of the world. I noticed in the Sims 2 I really liked how all the households knew each other and had history, so I'm trying to build that as well.

Simtown15

@LaBlue0314 I knew I recognized Moira! She's my favortie townie!

Svineprutter

Make a new save. Place your build, Child and Youth Center and let that be the center of a bunch of houses, You build yourself and populate with teens only, that You make yourself and then play em on a rotational way and connect em all to the Child and Youth Center. It can be the hacker Club or a play Club, if they have Childish Trait.

Huiiie_07

Svineprutter wrote: »

Make a new save. Place your build, Child and Youth Center and let that be the center of a bunch of houses, You build yourself and populate with teens only, that You make yourself and then play em on a rotational way and connect em all to the Child and Youth Center. It can be the hacker Club or a play Club, if they have Childish Trait.

I laughed about seeing my build in someone else's game, I don't really know why I like this idea, kinda sounds like the premise of a tv sitcom

PlumbobCrossing

Have you tried adding some events to a wheel spinner and letting it decide what happens in your game? I’ve started doing this along with a challenge I’m doing and it’s the best way to keep things interesting and fun.

texxx78

@OhMyHemsworth what kind of events you add to the wheel?

PlumbobCrossing

telmarina wrote: »

@OhMyHemsworth what kind of events you add to the wheel?

Things like get a new job, cheat on someone, have a baby, have twins. Anything you want really that might bring drama or give your sims something new to try. You can google it too, there are some already done up. I use an app called spin the wheel random picker and there is already some made up you can use. You just search sims on the app.

texxx78

OhMyHemsworth wrote: »

telmarina wrote: »

@OhMyHemsworth what kind of events you add to the wheel?

Things like get a new job, cheat on someone, have a baby, have twins. Anything you want really that might bring drama or give your sims something new to try. You can google it too, there are some already done up. I use an app called spin the wheel random picker and there is already some made up you can use. You just search sims on the app.

Thanks! Great!

XxEmoDreamerxX

I like to do things such as creating storylines, building new lots, and making new Sims. For example, making a storyline about a family being separated by cheating or something, eventually resulting in divorce and the kids maybe starting to dislike one of the parents or not seeing each other again for years or anything like that. Or building new lots like a kid's play center or wedding venue for example. That's just what I like to do so I hope maybe this helped you.

Aristarchus310

Honestly, mods.

Coming up with stories helps a lot too, and if you're like me then you probably spend more time creating a Sim and designing their home than actually playing the game.

SquirrelTail15

Again, try stories. Also, have a go at some of the more interesting aspirations - mansion baron or grilled cheese are both good ones. Try buying a new pack, as that helps too.

loubyloulou

This the wheel spinner I use when I want to add a bit of randomness to my games:

https://ophelia-nygmos.tumblr.com/spindatwheel

EgonVM

I usually rotate when I'm bored. If I can't find anything to do with that household, there is always another where I can do something.