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Parents, Toddlers and Children! Oh My!
MySims124
Posts: 16
Okay, so like many simmers I would love new life options. I would like newborn, toddler, young child, tween, teen, young adult, adult and elder. The jump from child to teen is very... unconventional. 
I seriously want my sims to live life to the fullest. Here are some things I would love to see:
-Middle Names!
-Divorce. I've seen this other places and I like the idea, like you go to city hall and file for divorce, you then go to court and fight for custody of children, money and he house.
-The ability to drop you kids of at daycare/ the ability to hire a nanny.
-Career option: Nanny.
-Neighbourhood carpools to school.
-The ability to befriend sims easier.
-NO RABBIT HOLES.
-Dating much easier.
-Remember how in the Sims 2 when the father wasn't present, he wouldn't show up on the Family Tree, and the mother's memory just said "WooHooed Random Sim". Thats a feature I would love to see. But, if said sim wanted to find out who their father is, they could go to the library and look it up in a book.
-Dramatic back stories.
-More testingcheatsenabled true options.
-Better furniture, such as daybeds and maybe even a "Create Furniture" option.
-Options like "WooHoo Without Protection" or "Woohoo With Protection". Dont even say this is "not for children" this game has a specific Teen rating for a reason. I think birth control should be taken as frequently as bills have to be payed.
-Maybe even miscarriage. This would be rare like a 2:100 ratio.
-Also, teen pregnancy.
Any suggestions, comment bellow!
I seriously want my sims to live life to the fullest. Here are some things I would love to see:-Middle Names!
-Divorce. I've seen this other places and I like the idea, like you go to city hall and file for divorce, you then go to court and fight for custody of children, money and he house.
-The ability to drop you kids of at daycare/ the ability to hire a nanny.
-Career option: Nanny.
-Neighbourhood carpools to school.
-The ability to befriend sims easier.
-NO RABBIT HOLES.
-Dating much easier.
-Remember how in the Sims 2 when the father wasn't present, he wouldn't show up on the Family Tree, and the mother's memory just said "WooHooed Random Sim". Thats a feature I would love to see. But, if said sim wanted to find out who their father is, they could go to the library and look it up in a book.
-Dramatic back stories.
-More testingcheatsenabled true options.
-Better furniture, such as daybeds and maybe even a "Create Furniture" option.
-Options like "WooHoo Without Protection" or "Woohoo With Protection". Dont even say this is "not for children" this game has a specific Teen rating for a reason. I think birth control should be taken as frequently as bills have to be payed.
-Maybe even miscarriage. This would be rare like a 2:100 ratio.
-Also, teen pregnancy.
Any suggestions, comment bellow!
0
Comments
Do not link to, request, or discuss content that may raise the game rating to an "M". This includes linking to teen pregnancy hacks, nude hacks, etc.
I think dating and being friends is too easy already.
No rabbit holes? I don't want to see my sims working and things, it would also make the game run slower.
The woho thing I disagree with. And miscarriage? are you serious? I am sorry but no, it is not something to put in a game, and if they did I would not buy it.
You might want to look at mods if you want teen pregnancy and things.
i think it would be interesting if there was a small chance of getting pregnant even if they "woohoo with protection" lol
I agree with this post 100%.
Dear creator-of-thread,
You may want to delete the teen pregnancy thing. It's not going to happen. EA wants to keep their teen rating, and teen pregnancy would push to a Mature rating.
Also, miscarriages aren't cool. The Sims' tragedies should be ones that can have a little bit of humor in them, but a miscarriage is a bit too far.
Secondly - I don't think that miscarriage is something fun that should be added to the game.
Edited to be not obnoxiously rude.
2.) Teen Pregnancy would never happen. But there are plenty of mods for the sims 3 that allows that. So ill probably get the mods in the sims 4 too.
3.) I want some Rabbit Hole, Like School, and work. But restaurant, movie theater, ect shouldn't be.
All your other ideas are good, thoes are the only ones that sound bad to me.
Twitter @Snaffles1301
I like some of your ideas, others not so much. More life stages, the nanny career option, better furniture, and a few others are great ideas.
However, some of the things you posted I absolutely do not want in my game. TP is not something I want in my game. I know some players like it for story-making reasons, but it's not something that would be supported by the T rating and it's honestly just not appropriate. No hard feelings to any teen parents out there; I'm a teen mother myself. I do not want it in the game. Miscarriages, no way. Sorry but that is a touchy subject for a lot of people and EA would never add it. I think the "woohoo with protection/without protection" is not a great idea either. We already have "Try for baby" or just plain old "woohoo".
I don't necessarily see what this would add to gameplay but I'm not against it. Maybe there could be an option for the Sim to be called by their middle name (or nickname) by a select group of Sims. For example, the Sim could go by their first and last name in their career but be addressed by their nickname by family and friends.
I think the way divorce works in the game now is fine. But I would like for one of the divorced Sims to have the option of leaving the household if need be. I find it strange in The Sims 3, how couples continue to autonomously live together if they divorce whereas in The Sims 2, the Sim would leave and be found in the family bin later. I prefer that method. I do agree about shared custody but not about fighting over the kids. That's getting into heavy, sad territory. I've expressed my wish for more trauma and misery within The Sims depending on the context but I feel it would be in bad taste to show families fighting over their children and the kids stuck in the middle between two parents. You can create that in game anyway if you get the two parents to fight with one another.
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Definitely agree with both options. I would like to see babies, toddlers and children be taken to either a daycare business or a family friend hired to watch the kids.
It's a nice idea but we already have the school bus to pick up the children.
Back in The Sims 2 days, I would have agreed with you because making friends and romantic relationships was often very frustrating. But now I would like to see that system back. I played The Sims 3 a few days ago and a woman I made was married, pregnant and had killed her first husband before she had even started her first day of work. It's way too easy and everything you make your Sim do feel so trivial because of it.
I do agree with this wholeheartedly. I can see the need for rabbitholes from a technical standpoint but technical difficulties aside, I want everything opened up. I hate rabbit holes because, unlike everything else in the game, it's something I can't customise. I want all jobs, careers and schools to be open so that I can get fully involved in my Sims' life (an autopilot feature could be added for those who do not want to control all of their Sims). There is huge potential for fully interactive careers in the game if EA have the imagination/technical experience/is not burdened by technical limitations. And yes that includes office jobs and classes...don't let the flawed and limited open classrooms or the repetitive Ambitions professions be a mark on what could happen. There is huge potential with these things, they just need to be tweaked and made more versatile.
I would like both a memory system and the photo album from The Sims 2 to be returned in a similar form for The Sims 4. I like the library idea but what I would enjoy even more is making a mother and teenage daughter in CAS for example. You could make a back story where the mother had the daughter with a criminal for example. Then after playing the mother/daughter duo for a while, you could go to Create A Sim, make a dodgy looking male Sim and then have the option to add him to the family tree of pre-existing families in the neighbourhood. That way you could make him the father of the teenage daughter and cause chaos in the mother's life again. This feature would be great for expanding on already existing families if the stories you are telling expands by what you want.
I mean this is a personal wish from me. I like to create my extended family on The Sims but so far because they can't be related, the only way I can do that is if I make my grandparents and my parents, aunts and uncles as kids and then eventually work my way down through the generations until they have me, my sister and my cousins. It's a lot of work. Not to mention traumatic when you have to make your parents in Sim form Woo-Hoo so that they can bring you into the game. *shudders*
Agree with both. The Sims 2 did a fantastic job in making towns and families something to really invest your time in. More testingcheatsenabled true options and abilities to cheat are also welcome.
Agreed. Buy and Build Mode need significant upgrades. They haven't really advanced much beyond The Sims 2, not discounting useful tools that make building/designing easier like the expanded hand tool and of course Create-A-Style.
I don't think it's inappropriate but why rename it to "WooHoo Without Protection" and "WooHoo With Protection"? "WooHoo" and "Try For A Baby" work fine and are less obvious then those options mentioned. Subtle humour and hinting at more mature themes have always been in the spirit of the Sims rather than spelling out exactly what they are or aren't doing.
Disagree. Misery is fine in the game as long as it causes the occasional hindrance or element of challenge to the game. But miscarriages are just completely tragic and there's no fun spin you could put on it. Death is tragic too but it's something we all will face eventually so there's more room to find humour in it.
I don't want this. I do understand the wish for this. Teen pregnancy is a common dramatic trope in fiction and there are teen-oriented shows such as Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. It would be fun and dramatic from a storytelling point of view and make teens more realistic and dynamic. However, I completely see why it's not in the game. While the majority of players would probably just use it for storytelling reasons, there is a skeevy element to it when you think of Sims being graphical representatives of real teenagers and the player is watching them WooHoo and give birth to kids. In the above docudramas, you see the effects of being a teen parent and it is dressed up as informative viewing for teenagers even though it's really trashy, exploitative reality television. In television dramas, it is adults playing teenagers when teenage sex or pregnancy comes up. In The Sims, the player is watching and causing teenagers to WooHoo and fall pregnant. As you can see there is a somewhat sinister element to that.
I'm not saying people who want this in the game or have mods to do this for them are playing the game with sinister undertones. I generally imagine they are just playing it for storytelling purposes. But yeah, I see why EA will not officially endorse it. Get a mod instead, I'm sure The Sims 4 will have one! :-)
I brought up these television shows because generally when I say teen pregnancy shouldn't be in the game, the counter argument is "Well, kids watch 16 and Pregnant nowadays and there's teen pregnancy all the time in TV so why can't it be in The Sims!" I simply brought up the reason why teen pregnancy wouldn't be in The Sims even if it is a big feature of many other teen-oriented mediums.
As for these reality shows, I've only seen bits and pieces of a few episodes here and there but it goes without saying that all forms of reality television dramatise or outright falsify issues so they can make better TV. These teen moms may have money concerns in front of the camera but clearly they are getting paid to be documented on camera so obviously it's fake or exaggerated!
And I'd like more things to do with toddlers. It was disappointing to me that after you go to all that effort to teach them to talk, all you can do with them is chat. Once a toddler can talk, they should be able to ask for things - food, toys, stories, to sit on your lap, to watch tv, to go to the park. And similar to being able to tutor children, you should be able to talk about colors and shapes with a toddler and give them a boost to painting, like how you can read books with them.
I'd also like to see toddlers that get into trouble - crawling into the dishwasher, coloring on the walls, pulling all the toilet paper off the roll. Then you can scold them like with children and teens.
I've also had frustrations with not being able to create full families the way that I want b/c of age restrictions. I can't make kids and teens that live with their grandma unless I also make their parents and then kill those parents off.
Teen pregnancy - I'm not sure how I feel about it personally, but I can see why EA doesn't want it in their game. And I'm def. against miscarriage being in the game. It takes the sims to a dark and tragic place that I don't want to see.
The no rabbit holes bit is the only one I completely agree with. To clarify, rabbit holes should work like in TS1 and 2, where your sim walked/drove off the edge of the map and disappeared for anything that couldn't/shouldn't be done in the game. Anything in the playable world should be playable.
I agree with all these points. While I like the absurdity of watching your Sim jump into the next life stage over physical gradual aging, I am for giving Sims actual ages and having gradual aging occur in a more subtle way. This is how I envision life stages in The Sims 4.
THE FIVE CHILD STAGES:
1. Baby (approximately 0-2): Babies would have arms and legs and begin the game being similar to how they are now. Needing a bottle to feed them, changing the diaper and social interaction. However mid-way through the baby stage, they would learn to sit up and crawl. Towards the end of the baby stage, they would be able to use the high chair and eat food (babies generally start eating liquidised food at about 3 or 4 months if I'm not mistaken).
2. Toddler (approximately 2-5): Toddlers would be slightly taller than infants and would be combined with the small child stage many were suggesting. At the beginning of the lifestage, your toddler must be taught how to talk, walk and use the potty but as they get older, they should cause chaos around the house like real toddlers. Real life toddlers are always on the go in my experience, running around and falling over. Toddlers would need to learn the basic skills early in the life stage but by the time they get midway through or towards the end, they should be able to interact with other family members, learn the alphabet and counting and can attend daycare/preschool.
3. Child (approximately 5-11): Children would be similar to how they are now. They would attend elementary school and would act like little kids basically. They should not be as limited when it comes to skills like they are in TS3 and should be able to help parents on tasks that need supervision.
4. Preteen (approximately 11-14): Preteens would be taller children and the game could really have fun with puberty here. Obviously nothing too graphic or sexual but I like the idea of preteens voices quivering (i.e. their voices are on the verge of changing) and they may experience cramps (not necessarily those kind of "cramps" but growing pains). Preteens may be prone to the occasional mood swing. They will still be interested in playing with toys and typical kids things but may be embarrassed if the other preteen kids see them playing in the sandpit. Preteens would attend middle school. Preteens may have chaste little romances with classmates and may experience a moodlet expressing a crush for an older Sim who may match their traits.
5. Teen (approximately 14-18): Teens would attend high school. They would be similar to how they are now. However, a teen at the early point in this life stage would not be able to drive and may express nervousness or mixed feelings about romantic relationships. By their late teens, they will be more comfortable with this and can be taught how to drive and graduate from high school and go to prom.
THE FIVE ADULT STAGES:
6. Young Adult (approximately 18-25): As an adult, you aren't necessarily confined to do anything but for most people between the ages of 18 and 24 in contemporary society, this is a time in their lives when they are trying to figure out their lives. While players can allow their 18 year old Sims to get married, get started on a career and have kids...this life stage would put a special focus on living the young adult experience. Young Adult Sims would express wishes to attend college, rent a house or apartment, go out and party, try out several different jobs and perhaps play the field when it comes to romance. This would all be dependent on their traits of course but this life stage would be about being young, free and experimenting with life.
7. Adult (approximately 25-40): Generally 25 is the age where society expects people to get serious about their lives and in a lot of cases, this is when people (and Sims) will express wishes to settle down with a romantic partner, start a family and pursue a career in a decided field. Of course, you and your Sim are not confined by your age. Adult Sims can attend college, pursue adventures, play the field, party all the time and never decide a career. But this life stage would focus on your Sims getting serious about life. They are still fertile enough to have children and are hopefully responsible enough and have the means to provide a good life for themselves and their future children. Adult Sims will be a bit more poised and more mature than the Young Adult Sims who may occasionally slouch or pull of slightly teenage mannerisms.
8. Middle Age (approximately 40-60): In the Middle Age lifestage, the focus would be on that Sim reaching the top of their careers and/or watching their family grow up around them. They may also wish to pursue various hobbies and adventures. Middle Age Sims could end up with mid-life crises. They will have slight lines on their face and maybe their hair will start to go naturally grey on jumping to this life stage. By the end of this life stage, Middle Age females would no longer be able to have children (and this would be treated naturally and without fuss and not as something graphic or upsetting).
9. Senior (approximately 60-80): I agree with you that 60 years old are generally in pretty good shape. Just look at actors like Liam Neeson and Helen Mirren. They're over 60 yet they don't resemble the hunched over, wrinkled Sims of The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. Senior Sims would be fairly active. They would love to spend time with family and grandkids and if that didn't happen for them, they would make good use of their retirement and pursue travel, hobbies and clubs. However towards the end of the senior life stage, a Sim with increasingly bad luck like repeated aspiration failures may pass away from old age before hitting the final life stage which is...
10. Elder (approximately 80+): Elders will have a more doddery, hunched over appearance but that doesn't make them useless. They may be old but they have tons of life experience, rounding out their personalities and giving them a few extra trait slots. Although a bit more haggard than the previous life stage, this life stage would be similar to Senior. They would enjoy pursuing activities or spending time with the family. Continue to treat them well and these elders have several years left in them. However increasingly bad luck and repeated failures will mean the Grim Reaper will come around to tell them their time is up...hopefully with Hula Zombies!
She's probably just sick of having to tell people to stop posting about it - like the rest of us. Seriously, read the forum rules. The rest of us abide by them, or at least try to. Why shouldn't the OP?
I agree with all these points. While I like the absurdity of watching your Sim jump into the next life stage over physical gradual aging, I am for giving Sims actual ages and having gradual aging occur in a more subtle way. This is how I envision life stages in The Sims 4.
THE FIVE CHILD STAGES:
1. Baby (approximately 0-2): Babies would have arms and legs and begin the game being similar to how they are now. Needing a bottle to feed them, changing the diaper and social interaction. However mid-way through the baby stage, they would learn to sit up and crawl. Towards the end of the baby stage, they would be able to use the high chair and eat food (babies generally start eating liquidised food at about 3 or 4 months if I'm not mistaken).
2. Toddler (approximately 2-5): Toddlers would be slightly taller than infants and would be combined with the small child stage many were suggesting. At the beginning of the lifestage, your toddler must be taught how to talk, walk and use the potty but as they get older, they should cause chaos around the house like real toddlers. Real life toddlers are always on the go in my experience, running around and falling over. Toddlers would need to learn the basic skills early in the life stage but by the time they get midway through or towards the end, they should be able to interact with other family members, learn the alphabet and counting and can attend daycare/preschool.
3. Child (approximately 5-11): Children would be similar to how they are now. They would attend elementary school and would act like little kids basically. They should not be as limited when it comes to skills like they are in TS3 and should be able to help parents on tasks that need supervision.
4. Preteen (approximately 11-14): Preteens would be taller children and the game could really have fun with puberty here. Obviously nothing too graphic or sexual but I like the idea of preteens voices quivering (i.e. their voices are on the verge of changing) and they may experience cramps (not necessarily those kind of "cramps" but growing pains). Preteens may be prone to the occasional mood swing. They will still be interested in playing with toys and typical kids things but may be embarrassed if the other preteen kids see them playing in the sandpit. Preteens would attend middle school. Preteens may have chaste little romances with classmates and may experience a moodlet expressing a crush for an older Sim who may match their traits.
5. Teen (approximately 14-18): Teens would attend high school. They would be similar to how they are now. However, a teen at the early point in this life stage would not be able to drive and may express nervousness or mixed feelings about romantic relationships. By their late teens, they will be more comfortable with this and can be taught how to drive and graduate from high school and go to prom.
THE FIVE ADULT STAGES:
6. Young Adult (approximately 18-25): As an adult, you aren't necessarily confined to do anything but for most people between the ages of 18 and 24 in contemporary society, this is a time in their lives when they are trying to figure out their lives. While players can allow their 18 year old Sims to get married, get started on a career and have kids...this life stage would put a special focus on living the young adult experience. Young Adult Sims would express wishes to attend college, rent a house or apartment, go out and party, try out several different jobs and perhaps play the field when it comes to romance. This would all be dependent on their traits of course but this life stage would be about being young, free and experimenting with life.
7. Adult (approximately 25-40): Generally 25 is the age where society expects people to get serious about their lives and in a lot of cases, this is when people (and Sims) will express wishes to settle down with a romantic partner, start a family and pursue a career in a decided field. Of course, you and your Sim are not confined by your age. Adult Sims can attend college, pursue adventures, play the field, party all the time and never decide a career. But this life stage would focus on your Sims getting serious about life. They are still fertile enough to have children and are hopefully responsible enough and have the means to provide a good life for themselves and their future children. Adult Sims will be a bit more poised and more mature than the Young Adult Sims who may occasionally slouch or pull of slightly teenage mannerisms.
8. Middle Age (approximately 40-60): In the Middle Age lifestage, the focus would be on that Sim reaching the top of their careers and/or watching their family grow up around them. They may also wish to pursue various hobbies and adventures. Middle Age Sims could end up with mid-life crises. They will have slight lines on their face and maybe their hair will start to go naturally grey on jumping to this life stage. By the end of this life stage, Middle Age females would no longer be able to have children (and this would be treated naturally and without fuss and not as something graphic or upsetting).
9. Senior (approximately 60-80): I agree with you that 60 years old are generally in pretty good shape. Just look at actors like Liam Neeson and Helen Mirren. They're over 60 yet they don't resemble the hunched over, wrinkled Sims of The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. Senior Sims would be fairly active. They would love to spend time with family and grandkids and if that didn't happen for them, they would make good use of their retirement and pursue travel, hobbies and clubs. However towards the end of the senior life stage, a Sim with increasingly bad luck like repeated aspiration failures may pass away from old age before hitting the final life stage which is...
10. Elder (approximately 80+): Elders will have a more doddery, hunched over appearance but that doesn't make them useless. They may be old but they have tons of life experience, rounding out their personalities and giving them a few extra trait slots. Although a bit more haggard than the previous life stage, this life stage would be similar to Senior. They would enjoy pursuing activities or spending time with the family. Continue to treat them well and these elders have several years left in them. However increasingly bad luck and repeated failures will mean the Grim Reaper will come around to tell them their time is up...hopefully with Hula Zombies![/quote]
This is amazing! I would love this. I know gradual aging would be too hard to do or imposible so this would be a great idea instead. Although I would change preteen's max age to 12. Technically a teen starts at 13. I would also cut down on the amount of adult life stages. But I LOVE the baby and toddler ones.
You should make a petition with those life states. I would sign. also send this to Graham
Twitter @Snaffles1301
I don't think I'll do a petition because no doubt the bulk of gameplay has already been invented for the game. That said, I will post it on the forums and see if I can get any more feedback and if people like the idea. Thanks!
I also agree that your definitions are pretty great. I might move some the adult stages around though. Some people think as 35+ as adult. I definitely don't I was an adult at 25 lol.
Generally around the mid-20s, a proportion of society sees it as a time for people in this age group to become a bit more settled. Many people at this age are thinking about getting serious when it comes to careers and may be interested in settling down and starting a family while they are still young.
At the same time, I'm not saying that this is how it should be in The Sims. If you like your Sim want to party well into your 30s or 40s, go ahead! If you're not interested in a serious career or don't want a family until you're near middle age, go ahead. The adult life stages are not limited anyway but would follow just a basic outline of where people are in that time frame.
I'm not saying anyone is a loser if they are 25 or older and aren't working a serious career or raising/building a family. I certainly don't see myself as a fully fledged grown up in 3 years time. I still feel I have a lot of maturing to do. Each to their own. Some will wait several more years and some people may be working a serious job/career and raising a family at 18/19 or in their early 20s. That's cool but generally when thinking of young adults, it's fair to think of people just a few years ahead of teenagers while by the time you're 25, you're 8 years out of your teens and about 15 years from middle age if you know what I mean?
God, I hope this doesn't start a flame war! :roll:
^this.