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  • Karababy52Karababy52 Posts: 5,952 Member
    edited September 2020
    Welcome to the forums @Confutus! In answer to your first question, I've found that this website is one of the very best to find answers to most questions new and old Simmers have about TS4:

    Carl's Sims 4 Guide

    Click on the green category buttons at the top of the page for your best experience. That site will most likely be able to answer all your questions posted here, but I'll try to give a quick summary to the best of my knowledge and experience. For more details visit Carl's site.

    In order to answer your question about what moods are best for certain activities, I would need to know which specific activities?

    Harvestables have a set number of hours it takes for their initial growth and your Sim would need to be in the area where they are growing for that time period or they won't grow at all. There are a few exceptions. Community gardens seem to grow faster than normal. However, your Sim will need to be in the neighborhood before 5 a.m. That's the time that every harvestable in the game can be harvested after their initial growth period. But, again, you have to be there to harvest them. If you're not there, there will be no harvestables available.

    This includes on your home lot in your Sim's neighborhood. If they have a garden, they must be home before 5 a.m. If they are visiting another lot and come home at 6 a.m. expecting to harvest, they won't have anything to harvest. Carl's site explains this in much better detail. He also has an excellent video on the topic, and many other videos about different topics that you can watch if you prefer.

    Flower Arranging is a skill that came with the Seasons Expansion pack. If you don't have that pack, you won't be able to do this skill or the Floral Designer career that also came with the pack. If you do have the pack and want to have your Sim try flower arranging, they will need to buy a flower arranging table from build/buy mode. I believe it's in the gardening section under Activities and Skills. Sims can buy flowers straight from the table to make arrangements, or if they want to save a lot of simoleans, they can use flowers they've grown themselves.

    At a higher skill level, arrangements can be 'scented' with other flowers that will give these arrangement special effects. For instance, an arrangement scented with crocus will keep bees happy when placed near their hive. An arrangement scented with the death flower will age up a Sim if given to them as a gift. In the event an arrangement is given to an elder, they will immediately die. Arrangements scented with bluebells will never wilt and be fresh forever. That's just three examples, there are a lot more. Again, Carl's site can give you more details on this subject.

    I hope what I've posted is helpful and...

    Happy Simming! <3
  • ConfutusConfutus Posts: 113 Member
    Yes, @Karababy52, that is helpful. I wasn't aware that Flower Arranging came with an expansion pack I hadn't acquired yet; that's useful to know.

    It took me an embarrassingly long time to notice that the right emotion could greatly affect the speed of gaining or using a skill, as well as the quality of results. I notice this first with Painting, where being Inspired could make the difference between ordinary and excellent quality of paintings, and with computer programming, where being Focused was useful, so I was wondering about Writing Jokes and Comedy Routines. Playful, I guess. And, since some of the objects in the surroundings also affect emotions, planning an environment for effect takes on a whole new level of importance.

    Now that I have a Sim with a max skill level and the ability to mentor others, oh yes, that noticeably improves the rate of learning, too.

    So if I want the harvestables to grow in an neighborhood, I need to spend time there. So---wait. I need to find an excuse to be there, rather than just hanging around and waiting for time to pass. That's boring. Something like befriending the Sims that live there and going to parties at their houses might help.

    I had already figured out that the traits (and the moods!) of Sims affect the rate of forming friendships, and that actively steering a conversation toward topics of interest (and away from distressing ones) rather than default chatting can greatly speed up the process. This makes the "Get to Know" interaction, when it occurs, especially useful.
  • Karababy52Karababy52 Posts: 5,952 Member
    Glad I could help! :) Yes, Playful is the best mood for writing jokes and Comedy Routines. There's four ways to accomplish that I like to do; watch funny videos on a computer, take a bubble bath, watch the Comedy channel on a television or enable the playful mood on a MySim trophy and place it on their computer desk. Sometimes I'll do a combination of those things to get even more playful. But, be careful! You don't want them to get too playful or they might get into a Hilarious mood and die! o.O

    Yes, staying in the neighborhood other than your Sims own to get plants to grow can be tedious. I like your ideas for making the stay less boring though. There is one other thing you can do if you don't want them to stay a long time. Get their gardening skill up to the level where they can graft plants, I think it's Level 5. That way your Sims only need to stay long enough for the plant to mature and take a cutting. I like to have my Sims grow tomatoes to graft other plants to them because they grow very fast.

    Here's a tip for faster friendships too. Have your Sim introduce themselves, pause, then click on their cell phone to 'take a photo of' and chose that Sim, unpause. They can take five photos or just one, it doesn't matter. This will increase their friendship bar extremely fast! It's a glitch that's been in the game for quite awhile now if you want to take advantage of it. :) Just a thought... Oh! If you have the Outdoor Retreat gamepack, cloud or stargazing helps to increase friendship quickly as well. :)
  • ConfutusConfutus Posts: 113 Member
    Does anyone know if reading different genres of books influences emotions? I know that Geeks prefer science fiction, but otherwise I don't see it mentioned in the guides.
  • Cavapoo_KingCavapoo_King Posts: 5,148 Member
    Confutus wrote: »
    Does anyone know if reading different genres of books influences emotions? I know that Geeks prefer science fiction, but otherwise I don't see it mentioned in the guides.

    I dont think so but they can gain skills from them
    Gallery ID: cavapoo_king
  • ParkPark Posts: 625 Member
    edited October 2020
    I'm not new to The Sims, nor am I new to this forum, but I had been on an 18 or so month "hiatus" (Life has a way of doing that from time to time)-- and I'm happy to say it wasn't because of any major life events, well, until this abysmal year that is, but having been away this long, of course I don't recognise anyone---- so it's the next best thing to being new.----

    Hello All!
  • Cavapoo_KingCavapoo_King Posts: 5,148 Member
    Park wrote: »
    I'm not new to The Sims, nor am I new to this forum, but I had been on an 18 or so month "hiatus" (Life has a way of doing that from time to time)-- and I'm happy to say it wasn't because of any major life events, well, until this abysmal year that is, but having been away this long, of course I don't recognise anyone---- so it's the next best thing to being new.----

    Hello All!

    Hi
    Gallery ID: cavapoo_king
  • SvineprutterSvineprutter Posts: 2,302 Member
    Hello

    I only play Sims 4, so this is about Sims 4.
    Hiding Whims may make it harder to score points for completing Whims, but to me it feels much better to play with hidden Whims. Instead of just doing what they want at all times, I get to play the way I want and do what makes sence to me. If it does not work well, it's easy to make em vicible again.
    To increase the ods of success, it seems the more Mood bonuses sims stack, the better. Recently I worked hard on knitting great stuff and it was not until I focused on those Mood bonuses for my sims, they started knitting the good stuff. It's not all that hard though and many mood bonuses simply work automatically.
    F.ex. these 2 sims on the way to school in the morning.
    From left: Bonus from maintaing needs, waking up with special lamps at bed that keep monsters away, sleeping in upgraded bed, eating good food, using upgraded toilet, using upgraded sink.
    Experiment with your sims, to find out what is possible and what works best for your gamings style and feel for the game.
    PeQ2kMA.png

    Building friendship
    There's many ways to gain new friends for sims and many ways to maintain friendships. In my opinion it is best to keep a few close friends, than knowing the entire population.

    This fountain from Romantic Garden Stuff is my favourite object in relation to building friendship atm. Sims bond very fast and gain fun at the same time. Sims can interact with the Fountain in many ways. Click the Fountain and select play with and pick one of the available sims .....
    YJz7V9y.png
    Zpj9msL.png
  • Admiral8QAdmiral8Q Posts: 3,303 Member
    Confutus wrote: »
    Does anyone know if reading different genres of books influences emotions? I know that Geeks prefer science fiction, but otherwise I don't see it mentioned in the guides.

    Actually, that is an insightful question. Like watching movies on TV. Maybe? Personally I have noticed that books of a certain genre will give an emotion boost based on the book read to any Sim, (other than skill learning books), but not the other way around where a Sim's traits affects what books they like to read will only for that Sim give an emotion influence.
    Reticulating Splines...
    9ODVlJh.png


  • ConfutusConfutus Posts: 113 Member
    @Admiral8Q Actually, any effects at all from the different genres of books would be useful. Considering all the other more obvious features that I've overlooked, this doesn't seem to be a major one, but sometimes, any little bit helps.
  • PENchaoticPENchaotic Posts: 13 New Member
    Hi! Just popping in to greet everyone. Been playing around with the Sims 4 (well, most of the franchise) for years! :)
  • MsCherrypieMsCherrypie Posts: 3 New Member
    how do I select a non playing Sim in the game and play them?
  • WiredTVCrazeWiredTVCraze Posts: 8 New Member
    I hope they continue with Sims cheats in future versions as well.
  • Cavapoo_KingCavapoo_King Posts: 5,148 Member
    how do I select a non playing Sim in the game and play them?

    Do you want to add them to your household or do you want to play as their household in their house
    Gallery ID: cavapoo_king
  • ConfutusConfutus Posts: 113 Member
    how do I select a non playing Sim in the game and play them?

    You can develop friendships with the minor characters such as a Postman, Repairman, Athletic Trainer, or Pizza Delivery Girl (who don't appear in any households). I have one Sim who is even trying to befriend the Grim Reaper, but that would take a pretty high charisma skill to form a friendship in the short time he sticks around. I haven't tried it, but If you get that friendship to the point where you can ask them to move in, that should convert the NPC Sim into a playable character Sim, and I believe the game will randomly generate another Sim for the job.
  • SimerallaSimeralla Posts: 949 Member
    > @MsCherrypie said:
    > how do I select a non playing Sim in the game and play them> @MsCherrypie said:
    > how do I select a non playing Sim in the game and play them?

    You Can look on the very top right side of your screen and there you can manage households. Once you click that , you can select household you don't play and you can also select households no in any of the sim worlds. You can add them to your game and play them or edit them whatever you like. I an currently trying to have a relationship with aka Mr.Christmas aka Santa Claus :D
  • MsCherrypieMsCherrypie Posts: 3 New Member
    > @Cavapoo_King said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > Do you want to add them to your household or do you want to play as their household in their house

    I just want to play them in the household. I dont want to add them to the household
  • Cavapoo_KingCavapoo_King Posts: 5,148 Member
    > @Cavapoo_King said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > Do you want to add them to your household or do you want to play as their household in their house

    I just want to play them in the household. I dont want to add them to the household

    At the top of the screen there is a button that says manage worlds. Click on it. Select the house you want to play, like you are selecting the household you usually play

    Then it should load.
    Gallery ID: cavapoo_king
  • MsCherrypieMsCherrypie Posts: 3 New Member
    > @Cavapoo_King said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > At the top of the screen there is a button that says manage worlds. Click on it. Select the house you want to play, like you are selecting the household you usually play
    >
    > Then it should load.

    No, I mean when they invite a Simmie over to their house, how do I make that Simmie playable? Or when I through houseparties, how do I make all Simmies playable?
  • Cavapoo_KingCavapoo_King Posts: 5,148 Member
    edited October 2020
    > @Cavapoo_King said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > At the top of the screen there is a button that says manage worlds. Click on it. Select the house you want to play, like you are selecting the household you usually play
    >
    > Then it should load.

    No, I mean when they invite a Simmie over to their house, how do I make that Simmie playable? Or when I through houseparties, how do I make all Simmies playable?

    Enable cheats then

    PC: shift click on the sim then click on add to household

    Console: press both X/O for ps4 A/B for xbox then click on add to household
    Gallery ID: cavapoo_king
  • QueenEbony1113QueenEbony1113 Posts: 380 Member
    Hello! New to the forums but not to The Sims.

    So, my vampire couple had twins. When I saved the household to my Library, I noticed that the toddlers had dark forms? I know it's not supposed to happen because toddlers and children do not have dark forms, and there's no option for them in CAS. And yet these vamp toddlers have 2 selves on their preview pics in my Library, their regular form (on which I spent time designing each outfit category), and their "dark" form with a completely different outfit, and for one of them a different hairstyle even. The same thing happened with another vampire toddler in a separate save, wherein the hair and outfit were totally different in their second form in the Library.

    I was wondering if there was a workaround to editing their dark form somehow? I know it can't be done in CAS but I'm wondering if there's some sort of cheat/mod, or a way to change their wardrobe while they're in "dark" form? Kind of like the way MCCC has the option for a Sim to "show dark form". I'm aware I can use cheats to humanize them and turn them back into vampires, just to entirely get rid of the dark form on the gallery. Vampire toddlers having "dark forms" in the Gallery/Library must be some sort of bug, because when I create a new vampire Sim and make them a toddler, they don't get dark forms in the library. These toddlers with dark forms were born in-game and not made in CAS. Does anyone have an idea of the reasoning behind why this could happen?

    If ever no one has an answer to my question, I just thought I'd put this out there. Has anyone else ever experienced the same thing with their in-game born vampire toddlers?
    2bcb85bc6df30a1fc5a19f876b8e2f22.jpg
    My real name isn't actually Ebony!
    Mainly a Fandom Simmer!
    I'd totally make Sims videos of the characters in my game but I don't know what to call my channel!
    Twitter: FrerardChild
  • LeanneStrong57LeanneStrong57 Posts: 66 Member
    I hope you all really enjoy it here!
  • Hallie22Hallie22 Posts: 64 Member
    Confutus wrote: »
    Does anyone know if reading different genres of books influences emotions? I know that Geeks prefer science fiction, but otherwise I don't see it mentioned in the guides.

    When buying books from the bookcase, you can filter books. There are books for certain emotions. Just read the description to find out what emotions.
  • Hollie9Hollie9 Posts: 3 New Member
    If you are doing the one hundred baby challenge you should sell the bassinets every time the baby ages up you get money from them every time and you get them free from the hospital.
  • SimStyleUrquijoSimStyleUrquijo Posts: 1 New Member
    Can anyone tell me if there is a way to move out a sim when i have MC Command center setup to have a household more than 8. When i try to move out a sim it doesnt let me hit the check mark because it says i have two many sims in my current house hold. I really want to move one out to be with her new husband before she has a baby and it wont let me! HELP PLEASE its driving me crazy.
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