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    Tricks for a Better Gameplay in The Sims 4!

    SimyimSimyim Posts: 142 Member
    edited August 2020 in The Sims 4 General Discussion
    Sul, Sul everyone! :D

    I know Sims 4 still has quite some room for improvement, and the updates mentioned in the EA polls are so much needed! But in the meanwhile, wanted to share some ideas in case they help you enjoy the game a little bit more! If you have more tricks, please do share them! :smile:

    Step 1. Turn default townies into realistic sims with unique stories.
    • Give them facial and body proportions as realistic as possible, with different features, ethnicities and body sizes. Use scars, freckles, piercings… The more varied, the better!
    • Create unique clothing styles according to their personalities and lives. Hipster, gothic, country…
    • Assign them traits, skills and more! Careers, degrees, vampire or magic perks. Pro tip: with the cheat console you can add extra skills, like Alluring, Piper, Supergreen Thumb, Waterproof and many more! Check them here: https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/traits/cheats.php. With them, for instance, you can even enhance mermaids, giving them superpowers like beguiling sims, invoking elemental spirits or being immune to water and cold.
    • When choosing traits, pick at least 1-2 flaws to make them imperfect, just like real-life people :). For instance, if your sim is creative and genius, you can make them evil!
    • Lastly, create a story to play for your sim. You can develop the default one by Maxis or invent a new one for them! Even better if they are all connected, and you create one or two story lines fo each neighborhood. This can make rotational play so much more interesting!
    • Don't forget pets! Play with the sliders and the painting brushes to make it more realistic, and assign them some flaw traits as well.




    img]
      Here we have a comparison between the default Alice Martin, the main character in Strangerville and a remake to show different body proportions.



      Step 2. Create beautiful, immersive worlds

      First, choose a unique, strong theme for each world and create or download buildings that match that style. For instance, here go some ideas for supernatural fans!
      • Willow Creek: New Orleans magical vibe, with jazzy cafes, haunted mansions, romantic cemeteries and swamp huts for voodoo witches.
      • Sulani: an enchanted mermaid kingdom with sunken pirate ships, sacred cenotes and waterfalls, and Atlantis ruins for your mermaids.
      • San Myshuno: dark Asian metropolis invaded by aliens, with beautiful parks, hipster places to hang out, and spaceships on the rooftops.

      Here go some additional tips:
      • Don’t just focus on residential lots. Create community lots with plenty of activities to do, so your sims never get bored when they go out!
      • Don’t forget to add lot traits. Adding «Haunted» to a victorian park or «Cat Friendly» to a café can give the lots way more life!
      • Pro tip: you can create entries to hidden worlds like Sylvan Glade or the Forgotten Grotto. Just enter «bb.showliveeditobjects» and «bb.showhiddenobjects» in the cheat console, and then type «debug» in the search menu. Look for the Magic Tree that works as portal to Sylvan Glade, or the Cave that gives you access to the Hidden Grotto. This works for basegame players too!
      • Make your venues more alive with Clubs! If you have Get Together, you can make special clubs to meet in assigned venues. For instance, I have a Sons of the Night vampire club that always meet in a Haunted Library in Forgotten Hollow... and they have tons of fun with the poor Page Turners.
      You can create your buildings or download amazing creations from the Gallery, or catalogs like The Sims Resource. If you use an external source, just place the unzipped files in your tray folder, and you will see the buildings on your library.



      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMmKZaC0gbw

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1SwFd1Sq3Q

      For instance, here we have two incredible replacements for the Magic Realm: The sanctum, by SatiSim, and the Wozwith's School of Spellcasting, by Devon Bumpkin (tour stars at 3:12). Both are genius builders and Sim Youtubers!




      Step 3. Combine gameplay mods and add more life to the game!

      Installing them is fairly easy. If they just have .package files, just add them in your Mods folder, where you can organize them in subfolders (e.g.: mods/gameplay/supernatural/vampires). If they also contain .script files, you can just store them in the first subfolder level (e.g.: mods/scripts).

      Important note: Mods and script mods must be enabled in the gameplay options inside the game, or they won’t be recognized.

      Now, here we go with some recommendations!


      Better interactions
      • Have some personality please! By PolarSims: https://modthesims.info/d/594573/have-some-personality-please.html It removes the idle chat between sims and replace it with actual interactions based on their moods, traits and relationship levels.
      • Meaningful stories by Roburky: https://roburky.itch.io/sims4-meaningful-stories
        Roburky has created a smarter emotion system that includes emotional inertia buffs, so changes in mood will last longer. And they will just feel truly happy with big events, like getting a new friend, a partner… My favorite feature? Your sims’ traits will impact them in a stronger way. Your hot-headed sims will get angry buffs frequently, while your evil sims will be happy with the misery around them.

      Deeper relationships


      New romance interactions

      Enhanced supernaturals
      • Zero’s mods for vampires and spellcasters. https://www.patreon.com/posts/realm-of-magic-35030446 and https://www.patreon.com/posts/vampires-mods-35030813. You can play with the sages, create deadly duels, use Outdoor Retreat ingredients for potions, avoid NPCs becoming spellcasters or using ugly outfits… As for vampires, her «Immersive vampires» mod will allow you to confess being a vampire, asking opinions on vampires, and so much more, and your sims will get tense or flirty bluffs when being near a vampire, depending if they like or hate vampires.


      Important notes about mods and custom content in general:
      • Please only download them for reliable sources.
      • After a patch update, check if they are incompatible and download the updated version from their creators’ websites.
      • Some mods like Immersive Vampires may require the XML injector, available here: https://scumbumbomods.com/xml-injector
      • Mods like Improved Relationships and Road to Romance may give hidden traits to your sims. So if you plan to upload them to the gallery, save them with the mods disabled to remove the «Modded» tag.

      Bonus ideas


      Custom World maps

      Your custom buildings will look so much better with these beautiful maps. They work as mods, so you can store them in your mods folder.
      Post edited by Simyim on

      Comments

      • happyopihappyopi Posts: 1,355 Member
        I 100% agree with the general concept and thanks a lot for the neat ideas and recommendations, but I don't get why making Wolfgang Munch "generic attractive male sim", looking eerily similar to the top downloads on the gallery, was a requirement.

        The flaw thing is very true and should be a requirement akin to The Sims Medieval imo, which makes it even weirder that you got rid of his original flaws, mean, gloomy and dastardly.

        Just confused by your example. I do understand the need to improve that sour-looking teen though, I mean I did the same.

        76boeacl.png
      • SimyimSimyim Posts: 142 Member
        edited August 2020
        Hi happyopi!

        Thanks so much for your comment! You did a very valid point! :)

        Wolfgang was just an example about reworking townies and their traits to fit your gameplay, but it's perfectly valid to keep their original essence, as you did. Your version is brilliant! :smiley:

        To make the point clearer, I used another example to compare different body proportions. Thanks for the advice!
        Post edited by Simyim on
      • SimyimSimyim Posts: 142 Member
        Hi all again!

        Here go some updates on great upcoming mods if you are interested!

        - Romance in France by Nando: public release on September 12. It will transform Magnolia Promenade in a tiny Paris with its Eiffel Tower! :)

        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G9kcDuqHwq0

        - Wohoo Wellness and Pregnancy Overhaul by Lumpinou: part 2 already in development, will be public in some weeks after the Patreon release. Your sims and their partners will get different reactions when they discover they are pregnant! https://www.patreon.com/lumpinou

        - Open Worlds mod by Arnie Plus: already entering in alpha testing with Patreon subscribers. He has created a semi-open world with shell buildings, swimable waters, working planes and some more surprises! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gk_4701pVE
      • BloosmooBloosmoo Posts: 754 Member
        Thanks for the hints on the mods and for the info and ideas on how to make the game more enjoyable for other players.
      • SimyimSimyim Posts: 142 Member
        My pleasure! 😁
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