Help staying with one family?

nicolethebowl · March 2017

So my biggest problem is I've never been able to stick with one family for long on any of the sims games. I'm currently on my fifth attempt of the legacy challenge and am finding it hard to look for reasons to keep playing them aside from the motivation of saving up for a bigger house. So how do you guys stay with one family for a while? I've never made it past four generations.

elanorbreton · March 2017

Four generations is pretty good! Do you have sims from each gen do something different? So, for instance, the 1st gen dad was a policeman, 2nd gen had a gardener, 3rd gen had someone who played the field and broke hearts, 4th gen lost all their money and ended up homeless etc...

I tend to carry on with a family best if I have a new storyline in my head for a favourite sim.

RedDestiny92 · March 2017

well stories have always worked for me when I was interested in playing a family for a while, just starting off simple can get you going we know the basic moodlets but coming up with why they feel that way and playing them to get over it...or sink further can add something interesting. There are plenty of side challenges if story is not your thing. One gen does one thing the next does another and just continue from there.

nicolethebowl · March 2017

elanorbreton wrote: »

Four generations is pretty good! Do you have sims from each gen do something different? So, for instance, the 1st gen dad was a policeman, 2nd gen had a gardener, 3rd gen had someone who played the field and broke hearts, 4th gen lost all their money and ended up homeless etc...

I tend to carry on with a family best if I have a new storyline in my head for a favourite sim.

I try to give them different jobs and keep up with their aspirations but I still always manage to get bored of them if I don't have a good enough goal. I like storylines but have a hard time making them.

AvaSims4080 · March 2017

I find that having drama will stop the temptation to quit the game. I normally have affairs, fights, and general issues take place. I find that you can make things up if you wish, whatever keeps the storyline alive!

taspastarstrike · March 2017

I'm the same get to the 4th generation then get bored and start again am now on the 3rd generation for my new family and am getting bored especially when the family get to the teenage years.

nicolethebowl · March 2017

taspastarstrike wrote: »

I'm the same get to the 4th generation then get bored and start again am now on the 3rd generation for my new family and am getting bored especially when the family get to the teenage years.

yeah I seem to struggle the most when there are kids/teens who are school almost all the time and don't have much time for relationships of skills. They start to feel like drones.

pinkish · March 2017

Four generations is great, I can only make it to two.

JessicaSimston · March 2017

I think the Not So Berry Legacy challenge would suit your play style, from what you've said. Each generation focuses on something different but there is a story aspect as well.

http://lilsimsie.tumblr.com/post/157671494755/not-so-berry-legacy-challenge

Croxycook · March 2017

I managed to complete a legacy back in the beginning. Strangely, some of the bugs back then helped to keep me interested quite a bit.

Right now, I'm playing three save files: a regular legacy, an isbi, and a file just to do whatever silly thing I feel like. Switching between them helps a lot.

I also share what happens on Twitter. A few people seem to enjoy getting updates on my families which keeps my interested, too.

Also, try randomizing a few things like lot traits, or big decisions. It helps to shake up day-to-day stuff. I'm pretty micro-managey. Giving up a bit of power keeps me on my toes.

And watch for the game to throw some stuff at you. In my current legacy, I had my sim chatting up someone I thought would be a good spouse for him. He chatted for a bit, autonomously canceled it and ran over to another sim to show her some videos. They ended up married and she is my favorite sim, currently

I guess for me, losing control is what keeps me interested.

GalacticGal · March 2017

I agree with @elanorbreton. You have to switch up the careers, by trying a different one each generation. I made it a goal to reach the top of particular careers, mostly the active ones. And to play ones I'd never played previously. I also gave each generation their own storyline. It helped that I was blogging about what went on. In most cases, I provided the motivation behind what happened. So, the Sims basically told me their own story. LOL Once in awhile the game gave me a gift, too. My second Gen. Heir was a detective, for instance. (He started seeing a Sim, and got a text from his deceased mother, congratulating him. This had never happened in my game before. I all but fell off of my desk chair!) But, this also gave me something interesting to blog about. After that Sims kept dying around him, even at the precinct. This fit in nicely, since his paternal grand-aunt was very clairvoyant. Her esper-rating off of the charts. So, like her, he sees 'dead people'. The death of his co-workers led to news headlines. The Mobwives were blamed for the 'hits'. First a prisoner up and died, which was cause enough for concern. He must have known too much. Eventually his older, and only sister (since moved out of the legacy household) was seen as the ghostly apparition she now was. Investigating the situation, she told him to be on his guard. His younger brother refused to say what his career was. My Sim told him there was nothing shameful about being a janitor, since he noticed his brother worked some odd, late hours.

The family, including their resident ghost (my founder) went camping one weekend. Jade Rosa, my Gen. 2 Heir's wife made the family a nice grilled dinner. After the couple's two sons went to bed, Aidan and Jade had a heart-to-heart conversation. He told her he was worried about the Mobwives and all of the 'hits' occurring around Willow Creek. Which was why he had taken the family on this weekend outing. He needed to unwind from all of the stress. Later on, he went to their tent. Jade spoke with her brother-in-law trying to get to know him, get him to open up. Then he suddenly confessed a deep secret to her before he suddenly left the campsite. She sat there, stunned by his revelation. He was employed by the Mobwives!

Was it really such a surprise, his disappearance, and the grill-fire that broke out with such fury that it consumed Jade along with burning the ground? (She was my very first random death in the game, too.) Later on, Aiden got abducted by aliens on his way home from work. He wasn't preggars, but he was an elder, too. His son got abducted right before his wedding. Sometimes, the game itself, just hands you a gift.

Make a story and have fun. Yes, there is a certain amount of tedium to the Challenge, but I'm thinking that's the challenge part of it. Keep going, keep your eyes on that tenth generation and let that drive you to the end!

In case I've intrigued anyone, here is the first chapter: http://galacticgals.blogspot.in/2014/09/chapter-one-eriks-choice.html

Ramsses · March 2017

On generation 22 at the moment, I find what helps is not having your main sim work, have their spouse/parents/kids work and bring in the monies while you do fun stuff with your main sim.

-Just rolling with whatever the game throws at you spices things up I think. Once I had a fire that killed 3 of my teenagers and felt like quitting right there but ended up weaving it into the story and it made for a pretty fun generation to play.

-Pretty much all of my sim end up having 1-3 spouses before they settle with someone for their elder years, also makes it interesting.

-Most of the time my current heir/couple end up having another kid when their older kids are in their teens, helps keeps me interested until it's time to focus on the new heir.

-I also 'reset' every now and then, having the new hair start fresh when I've gotten to the point where I have a big mansion and a million in the bank, make up some drama where my sim has to move to some slum, lol.

Those are just things that personally help me. Hope you find your style.

Kilov17 · March 2017

nicolethebowl wrote: »

So my biggest problem is I've never been able to stick with one family for long on any of the sims games. I'm currently on my fifth attempt of the legacy challenge and am finding it hard to look for reasons to keep playing them aside from the motivation of saving up for a bigger house. So how do you guys stay with one family for a while? I've never made it past four generations.

It's my OPION that the trick is to be inlove (in a sense) with the Sim(s) you have and are playing with, not just another sim, but one that got/ has you excited about playing and advancing with. Also having a personal goal the whole time through, like mine is to try to max out their careers as I am going in Legacy Challenge. Nail other Achievements too along the way.

PsychoSimXX · March 2017

The farthest I got was to the 5th generation in TS3. My heir had FINALLY won the heart of the girl I wanted them to marry. I had great storyline all mapped out in my head on how that generation was going to be played. The two had been best friends since toddlers and became sweet heart shortly after starting high school. Then I sent the family on vacation in which the heir got hit by a meteorite and died.

I have each generation set with a different career in mind. The male was always wild in his YA stage but settled down when he became an adult.

duhboy2u2 · March 2017

@nicolethebowl I have the same problem so what I do to combat the issue is play on short lifespan and like @elanorbreton suggests, I make sure to do something completely different with each generation. I don't have it installed right now because I'm having some sort of issue with cc causing my builds to be modded even though they aren't, but there's a mod over at modthesims.info that speeds up the rate for promotions at jobs witch is almost necessary on short lifespan.

nicolethebowl · March 2017

@duhboy2u2 thanks! I've actually been having that same problem with cc. I just turned it off and now it no longer says things are modded.

luthienrising · March 2017

Just going to play devil's advocate here: Why stay with one family if it's being hard? Maybe you'd enjoy playing two or three different families and switching between them.

shellbeme · March 2017

Just play on rotation. I get bored with all my families now and then but playing on a rotation helps me out. I don't have a specific rotation I just play who I feel like playing and that family that bored me a while ago, is a ton of fun the next time I play-until I get bored of them again. It happens.

Linzz · March 2017

I have three saved games and I mostly pick which one I'm in the mood for. I have a legacy family that I have been playing and I'm finally on gen 3 but sometimes I need to mix it up and play on my other saves. Each save has different people and different things going on so that way I don't get too bored with the game. But I would definitely try something that will actually challenge you and try a different game play than your used to, sometimes that gets you excited to play.

EmmaVane · March 2017

You should try the Random Legacy. You roll for each generation to determine marital status, number of kids, jobs/income sources, generation goal and a fun/hobby objective.

No two play-throughs are the same, and there is always something to work on.

Emma_Smith101 · March 2017

I have had problems keeping to the same families so a few days ago I thought I would try something new, a tumblr following the story of my Sims. I haven't really done much with it yet because it is early days and people don't know it yet. It is http://simplicityplays.tumblr.com if anyone's interested.

orkhid22 · March 2017

I have 3 saves I'm playing. 1 is the official legacy challenge I've basically been playing for 2 years and am only at gen 5. I play intermittently. My second save is rotational and i play 9 different families. This is probably my favorite save because aging is off and I'm taking my time. I've mastered gardening; 2 of the active careers in 2 different families. One family items a restaurant, her sister a clothing store. Basically I'm spreading out what the game has to offer. My third and final save is 100 baby challenge. That one keeps me busy. 25 down, 75 more to go

Jestina · March 2017

My longest has been the drifter challenge. That's basically because every generation is starting on a different lot with zero funds. I get bored fast in the legacy challenge after the first generation, being stuck on the same lot and having more money than can be spent.

EnkiSchmidt · March 2017

I take breaks from legacy play, sometimes up to half a year. When I return to that family, it is like bonding anew with old friends you've gotten out of touch. The longest I've managed was 7 generations in Sims 2, then the neighborhood blew up.

As mentioned before, giving each generation a different lifestyle (including switching towns, though that's not legacy-legit) helps a lot.
I also found that staging a "rite of passage" for each generation gave me a nice routine, something to look for that kept me going. In my case the rites of passage were a custom college admittance test and the family curse that forced the teens to live like their ancesters had done (as sheepherds in the underworld of greek mythology). The "We are obligated to WHOM to do WHAT?" every generation always made for funny screenshots and stories.

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Help staying with one family?

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