I currently play 48 households and rotate every sim day. I started with 4 young couples (recreated the same ones I started with in TS2 and TS3), and as their children become young adults, they move out and get added to the rotation. I do use a spreadsheet to help keep track of a few things about each family, as I do play families extra days when they go on vacation or have a pregnancy (pregnancies continue when you rotate away, no matter what your settings are), then skip them on the following rounds, so they all get played the same amount of time and ages stay "in order". I also cheat their money back to where it was when I left them, as they tend to earn crazy amounts of money the longer I am rotated away.
Children that are born during the same rotation will be partnered up (unless they are related), to keep my population explosion a bit in check (poor things, having their marriages arranged at the time of their conception). I add a new couple from CAS with every generation, to keep the town from being inbred (without having to create every single partner as they could otherwise quickly end up all being related).
I like to keep my families as diverse as possible, so I never get bored. Some are rich, others are poor, some are family-oriented, others are career-oriented, some rarely leave their lot, while others go out constantly, some have normal careers, some have active careers, some stay-at-home, some live of their hobbies, some have retail businesses, others manage restaurants etc etc I play with all features available to me on every rotation, but it takes forever to complete anything, so I am never "done" or "bored".
You guys are so organised, I love it! I've started a Berry legacy challenge so I may build up my rotational 'hood by moving the spares out and doing it that way. Thanks for all your ideas!
I've never played rotational on any of the Sims games, but I made my legacy founder some parents and a sibling in CAS recently...and decided to toss them in for fun and to broaden the family a little bit. I just don't want everyone in the same house, because that's too many for me to manage lol. But I also want to play them in the same save! I wasn't sure how this would work, and I'm really glad I found this thread. I'll probably play with aging off (which I've also never done) and just take my time and age them when I feel it's appropriate. I just have to remember to do it because I'm so used to the game notifying me that it's their birthday, lol. I'm kind of excited, honestly....because every game I've ever played before had a fresh new save. This is certainly something different! You guys really -are- so organized, I'm not sure I could keep up with spreadsheets....but that's not a bad idea. Hm. As for the townies, I'll probably turn on aging for unplayed Sims for a few Sim days and then turn it off again, so it's not so stagnant.
Thank you for all your insights and ideas, very helpful and informative!
I only have one save, aging off and play rotationally. I love watching all the separate families grow alongside each other and having the occasional crossover.
Throughout most of my simming, I've played rotationally (except for Sims 3, where it's not really set up to play rotationally). The main save I've been playing since December has 7 households that I play in rotation, and I keep info about everyone and the household in an online database I've set up. In that save for most households, aging is on for the active family only.
However I've just started a traditional Pinstar legacy which is new for me, and if I follow the rules, that will not be rotational.
I have 15 families on rotation. Currently aging is off. I try to keep up with how many days I play each family so I don't miss birthdays. I've been playing the same lineage since Sims 4 launched and now I'm like on generation 23.
Simming for 19 years! Family Tree Playing Mod & CC Free
@TriX0099 : I know this thread has been gone for a minute, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with that many houses played rotationally! I'm at about 39 currently and I put in MCCommander to help with the relationship culling issues, but this is the same save from when I started in 2014 with just new families adding in. I keep having issues with my Sims forgetting each other regardless of the mod because of all the updates (I think). Do you play with a mod for this? Or has this not been an issue for you?
And we do play so similarly! I love have a diverse game with different careers, goals, etc etc. I think the only difference is that I don't rotate every Sim day... I'm bad at tracking that. So perhaps that's your saving grace?
I think I probably play my rotational save a little differently than most. I stick to aging on for active household only (because I don't want ANY sim in the neighborhood to so much as sneeze without me being present) and I play on long lifespan, so I'm similar to a lot of people on that regard.
My current save I've been working on for over a year. I dubbed it my Timewarp Legacy save, which isn't actually a traditional legacy save at all but a legacy in the sense that certain family names will stick around for generation after generation. I created versions of all TS2 premades, and TS3 premades favorites of mine. I play every single household at some point, which is in the ballpark of 30 families give or take.
Certain families take priority, such as the Goths, Landgraabs, Altos, Wolffs, Smiths, Specters, Curious, Capps, Montys, and Summerdreams, as those family names will be sticking around for the duration of the save. However, all households play their part in the overall story arc. Certain marriages, children, and break ups/unsuccessful relationships are planned out already, but other things develop as I play. For instance, Cassandra Goth (once she becomes a YA) is going to become engaged to Don Lothario, just as she is when you enter the Goth household in TS2. He is going to leave her at the alter just like he does in TS2 (will probably have him break up with her at the wedding event and see what happens, as I have no idea how that will effect the event). But I'm currently planning for her to marry Connor Frio one day, something that developed organically through gameplay. Even though he's currently a YA and she still just a teen, she runs into him often at the library and they seem to enjoy each other's company, which I imagine will only improve once she's in his age bracket.
I've been playing the Goth family a lot in particular. Even though I do play rotationally, I've been playing them for about a month in sim time. When I get bored, I'll go work on another household. If one of the children ages up before I get bored with their household, then I will pop out of the save to age associated Sims up accordingly. For instance, when Cassandra ages up, any boyfriend of love interests can stay a teen because they will become irrelevant to my plans for her as a YA. A few of her close friends I'll age up with her as they are important to her personal story.
I don't limit myself on time with my families. I don't stick to a solid rotation, more so an "as needed or as wanted" style rotation. I've found that so long as I keep aging to the active house, I can basically take all the time I need to develop that household's particular story. If I need a break from a certain household/story, I've got plenty of other families in various stages of development to play with, from single sims looking for love and career success, to elders wanting to dote on grandchildren and play chess in the park. This works for me personally. I can micromanage the plum out of my households, and change up my gameplay goals often enough that I don't get burnt out on the game as often.
I have always played rotationaly. If anyone is considering having a go, I would highly recommend it. I don't have a set schedule, but rather play according to how the flow is going. I simply couldn't face seeing a spreadsheet program contaminating my gaming time - shudder.
My essential mod is MCCC, not just for its pile of of options, but there is this great thing that happens if you modify a household in CAS on a visible sim.
If I am playing one household and I am in a location where I can see another one of my sims, click on that sim, select modify household in MCCC. I don't actually modify it, but just select the tick and when I am back in the game I am controlling that sim. This allows me to switch between households/sims on the fly in a single location.
I can switch back, or even another household sim altogther. This can be really good fun to do on a busy community lot.
Awake.
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity.... The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
So I was playing fairly rotational or so I thought, until the past that changed the opening screen oops. Now every family has their own game. I only discovered this recently (I don't get much time to game) I have one family the Pharaoh's Oldest son is married and living in an apartment, daughter, married living on her own. However the youngest is in their game a young adult and was married to the youngest daughter of my Queen family. I went to play the Queen family and oh dear Tut is a teenager. So now I have two Astra's (Queen and Pharaoh) and Astra Pharaoh is in the family way. Not sure how to fix the mess I have. I thought it was bad when I had invited Tut's older brother Ramses(a vampire) to the outdoor daytime wedding and he died. I did not save that game, I really like Rames and he is married to an alien. I want to see what their child turns out to be vampire or alien.
I haven't tried rotational play yet. I usually play one family until their child ages to young adult. I then save the child who turned young adult to my library and create a brand new save with that Sim as the founder of the future family. That way I don't miss anything, I think, lol
... I'll give them appropriate careers and career levels, cheat skill levels, add or subtract funds, change relationship levels from the default ones ...
I realise this is a little old, but I was wondering if this has to be done in live mode? I presume there is no way to do this from manage household or any other menu? How do I go about it please?
I am just setting up my 'starter' rotation hood (with 33 families lol). I cheated some into bigger homes so that I would not have to have an entire world of starter homes but would also like to give them careers and a few skills so that they are not all starting out at the same level.
I am not sure about relationships. Would I have to cheat both sides? So, for example, if I wanted to make Bjorn Bjergsen best mates with Don Lothario, would I have to go into the Bjergsen household to cheat the relationship and then do the same in Don's house?
... I'll give them appropriate careers and career levels, cheat skill levels, add or subtract funds, change relationship levels from the default ones ...
I realise this is a little old, but I was wondering if this has to be done in live mode? I presume there is no way to do this from manage household or any other menu? How do I go about it please?
I am just setting up my 'starter' rotation hood (with 33 families lol). I cheated some into bigger homes so that I would not have to have an entire world of starter homes but would also like to give them careers and a few skills so that they are not all starting out at the same level.
I am not sure about relationships. Would I have to cheat both sides? So, for example, if I wanted to make Bjorn Bjergsen best mates with Don Lothario, would I have to go into the Bjergsen household to cheat the relationship and then do the same in Don's house?
It's all done in live mode. But for relationships, you only have to do it with one household loaded - the relationship will reset for both Sims.
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Children that are born during the same rotation will be partnered up (unless they are related), to keep my population explosion a bit in check (poor things, having their marriages arranged at the time of their conception). I add a new couple from CAS with every generation, to keep the town from being inbred (without having to create every single partner as they could otherwise quickly end up all being related).
I like to keep my families as diverse as possible, so I never get bored. Some are rich, others are poor, some are family-oriented, others are career-oriented, some rarely leave their lot, while others go out constantly, some have normal careers, some have active careers, some stay-at-home, some live of their hobbies, some have retail businesses, others manage restaurants etc etc I play with all features available to me on every rotation, but it takes forever to complete anything, so I am never "done" or "bored".
Thank you for all your insights and ideas, very helpful and informative!
Origin ID: BlindxSecrets
However I've just started a traditional Pinstar legacy which is new for me, and if I follow the rules, that will not be rotational.
Sim Stuff by Pegasys
Family Tree
Playing Mod & CC Free
And we do play so similarly! I love have a diverse game with different careers, goals, etc etc. I think the only difference is that I don't rotate every Sim day... I'm bad at tracking that. So perhaps that's your saving grace?
My current save I've been working on for over a year. I dubbed it my Timewarp Legacy save, which isn't actually a traditional legacy save at all but a legacy in the sense that certain family names will stick around for generation after generation. I created versions of all TS2 premades, and TS3 premades favorites of mine. I play every single household at some point, which is in the ballpark of 30 families give or take.
Certain families take priority, such as the Goths, Landgraabs, Altos, Wolffs, Smiths, Specters, Curious, Capps, Montys, and Summerdreams, as those family names will be sticking around for the duration of the save. However, all households play their part in the overall story arc. Certain marriages, children, and break ups/unsuccessful relationships are planned out already, but other things develop as I play. For instance, Cassandra Goth (once she becomes a YA) is going to become engaged to Don Lothario, just as she is when you enter the Goth household in TS2. He is going to leave her at the alter just like he does in TS2 (will probably have him break up with her at the wedding event and see what happens, as I have no idea how that will effect the event). But I'm currently planning for her to marry Connor Frio one day, something that developed organically through gameplay. Even though he's currently a YA and she still just a teen, she runs into him often at the library and they seem to enjoy each other's company, which I imagine will only improve once she's in his age bracket.
I've been playing the Goth family a lot in particular. Even though I do play rotationally, I've been playing them for about a month in sim time. When I get bored, I'll go work on another household. If one of the children ages up before I get bored with their household, then I will pop out of the save to age associated Sims up accordingly. For instance, when Cassandra ages up, any boyfriend of love interests can stay a teen because they will become irrelevant to my plans for her as a YA. A few of her close friends I'll age up with her as they are important to her personal story.
I don't limit myself on time with my families. I don't stick to a solid rotation, more so an "as needed or as wanted" style rotation. I've found that so long as I keep aging to the active house, I can basically take all the time I need to develop that household's particular story. If I need a break from a certain household/story, I've got plenty of other families in various stages of development to play with, from single sims looking for love and career success, to elders wanting to dote on grandchildren and play chess in the park. This works for me personally. I can micromanage the plum out of my households, and change up my gameplay goals often enough that I don't get burnt out on the game as often.
My essential mod is MCCC, not just for its pile of of options, but there is this great thing that happens if you modify a household in CAS on a visible sim.
If I am playing one household and I am in a location where I can see another one of my sims, click on that sim, select modify household in MCCC. I don't actually modify it, but just select the tick and when I am back in the game I am controlling that sim. This allows me to switch between households/sims on the fly in a single location.
I can switch back, or even another household sim altogther. This can be really good fun to do on a busy community lot.
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity....
The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
I thought it was bad when I had invited Tut's older brother Ramses(a vampire) to the outdoor daytime wedding and he died. I did not save that game, I really like Rames and he is married to an alien. I want to see what their child turns out to be vampire or alien.
I am just setting up my 'starter' rotation hood (with 33 families lol). I cheated some into bigger homes so that I would not have to have an entire world of starter homes but would also like to give them careers and a few skills so that they are not all starting out at the same level.
I am not sure about relationships. Would I have to cheat both sides? So, for example, if I wanted to make Bjorn Bjergsen best mates with Don Lothario, would I have to go into the Bjergsen household to cheat the relationship and then do the same in Don's house?
It's all done in live mode. But for relationships, you only have to do it with one household loaded - the relationship will reset for both Sims.