Gameplay Ideas

Crzydramaqueen · June 2018

Hey all!

I am a longtime Sims player and am curious how you play!

I can't seem to keep playing unless I'm doing a legacy or writing a story. How do you keep it interesting? (Challenges, play style, stories, building, whatever)

Thanks!

N0NoTToN0N · June 2018

I watch "Let's play" You Tube videos when I start to get bored. I'll see things that I haven't experienced in my game yet and then I want to see it in my game. Or I get annoyed by how they play and have to "do it right

" in my game. I like Sim Supply, he has a lot of simple fun challenge ideas; especially his "Rags to Riches" one's. They're fun to do.
I usually have individual general back story ideas that I try to stick to for each save game. I also like to build so I go back and forth between building for a long while and playing. Unfortunately I'm also a sucker for new content.

simmerlyrose · June 2018

I like playing challenges! They're more motivating for me to play because I have things I know I need to get done. I get ideas from Youtube! I like the 100 Baby Challenge, the Not So Berry challenge, and the Homeless Sim challenge (or Runaway Teen). But then I have saves that I like to just play in for fun, where I have no real objective

Crzydramaqueen · June 2018

@treece01 and @simmerlyrose Thanks for the ideas! I love the legacy challenge and its variations but I've never really made an effort at any others. I just always hit a point where I stop - I think my problem is that I can't play with no objective. I feel the need to take pictures and document everything, but it can get tedious sometimes. I'll check out those videos and challenges! Thanks again!

aaronrulz · June 2018

The time I was most invested in my game is when I was playing a celebrity family. I did a Lucy and Ricky gameplay with the Mertzes as their neighbors in San Myshuno.

Here is the link to the thread I started: https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/912128/for-the-i-love-lucy-fans

It was more fun because I was already familiar with the characters and not just some random Sims I created or downloaded from the gallery.

klestrella · June 2018

I like to create backstories for the sims I play, and even for some of the Maxis-made premades if they become a part of my sims' lives. Before I started doing this, I couldn't really stay invested in a character or save file for too long because I didn't feel like I really "knew" them. They were just a random character with a few traits and an aspiration; they didn't entertain or captivate me. For me, I've discovered that having a story (especially one that's imperfect, highlights a character's flaws, and one you can relate to) for your sims helps to form a connection and spark gameplay ideas. Also, watching what your sims do autonomously helps to flesh out their characters.

The sims I currently play (over time and many different save files) were created after I read different challenge ideas. I had originally started reading up challenges thinking I'd give one a try, but I ended up deciding I'd take the premise of one, build my own story around it, and then let the sims and the game autonomy do the rest for me. Doing this has given me sims I am so incredibly invested in; so much so, that some of my friends, family, and some users here know their story because I've mentioned it in other discussions. It's probably now been over two years (maybe even three) since I first created those characters, and I still recreate them and play them to this day. I sometimes laugh when I think about the fact that simply reading a challenge description inspired me so much!

As for trying to keep it interesting, all I can say is that you can't be afraid of stirring up some drama from time to time. I know how easy it is to keep things happy and peaceful, but trust me, the drama can make a game that once felt like it came to a standstill feel brand new. For example, one of the save files I had played with my favorite sims started to feel like I had hit a brick wall. My particularly sassy sim was in a relationship with her childhood sweetheart, Max Villareal, at the time. Since they were both teenagers with unpredictable emotions, hot tempers, and a decent dose of immaturity, my sim was very clearly giving him the cold shoulder when I allowed her to function autonomously. I remembered that the day before, Max, while very sweet 98% of the time, was having one of his temper flare-ups and was taking it out on her. Their relationship took a pretty decent hit, both in the romantic and friendship bars. She was both hurt and angry, and was making it very clear while I let the game AI take the wheel. So I got an idea... if Max wanted to be horrible to his girlfriend, she would give him a real reason to be angry. To cut to the chase, she flirted with another teen, invited him to the park with herself, Max, and a couple of their friends the next day. I let the autonomy do its thing, and the other teen eventually kissed her in front of Max. Max was livid; to the point that he stormed around the surrounding areas of Newcrest (where the park was) and didn't calm down until the next day. My sim was very embarrassed to be caught, which I took as a sign that she'd want to end things with her fling and apologize to Max. Max accepted her apology, and after some time, their relationship was as strong as it could be. Eventually, they married and had kids. Over the length of their marriage in that save, neither one ever attempted to autonomously cheat on the other. They were extremely faithful to one another, and learned how to work out their disagreements. If I hadn't instigated this drama, I don't think I would have ever had an opportunity to see how their relationship could withstand the blows of turmoil. I gained a deeper appreciation for both sims, their relationship, and their unique personalities. To this day, I still get these two together in my saves and it's always a strong, albeit occasionally tumultuous, relationship.

Lastly, if I get bored with playing the game, I'll go into build mode for a little while, renovate a town, or simply take a break. There's never anything wrong with stepping away and coming back refreshed! Also, if you're lacking creativity or new ideas, I've found that TV shows, movies, and even music can be really inspiring. Another member mentioned it, but you could even watch some Let's Plays on YouTube to see if they lend any ideas.

Anyway, I hope I helped spark some ideas, OP! Sorry I wrote such a massive post; this always happens when I talk about my sims.

s_stutler · June 2018

I'm playing with myself. But I started out as a teen. I made my parents as young adults, their parents as Adults. Plus I made my Aunt, Cousins, Step siblings, step parents, best friend, their spouse and kids.. My spouse, their parents and siblings (Basically my entire extended family) We all live in our original houses that we grew up in and have the same pets we had too. So far, my Sim grew up, and got married and has kiddos of her own now. Family members are starting to die off- and its just that much more "engrossing" with so much family at dinner gatherings (I have Seasons) It took a REALLY long time, to make all the Sims, (as I have a big family in RL) But its been worth it! I'm having a blast! Plus- with it being Sims, you can have that dream job you really wanted, the house you really wanted, that pet you really wanted.

I'm really enjoying it.

So_Money · June 2018

I like to create stories for my sims and then roleplay them. Going through the motions and churning through generations doesn't do it for me.

Crzydramaqueen · June 2018

@aaronrulz That sounds fun! I've never used "real" fictional characters before. I Love Lucy is great!
@klestrella I totally agree! I love to write and create characters, so I have to have a backstory to connect with it. I always technically give them full autonomy, but I'm super bossy

Maybe I should let the game steer more! Also I'm a big fan of adding drama. My current story is full of it. I guess my concern is more that I can't seem to "just play," but I guess needing to write is how I play. I do tend to get really into video games for a while and then get bored, but I always come back to them. I guess everyone needs a break sometimes, especially since we're all so busy! Thanks for the insightful comment! I tend to write a lot too, so I get it!
@s_stutler I think I maybe did that once way with The Sims 2. It's always really weird to see stuff happening to your real family! Also, good to hear there are some other adults on here because I just turned 28 and sometimes I get self-conscious about still playing! Haha! But the haters can deal, right?

@So_Money I agree. I think my problem is that I feel like I need a story to play when I should just be playing for fun, but I guess that's just my play style. I really like legacies, but generations does get tiring, especially if you don't connect with the characters.

This is really interesting conversation, just to hear how people play! Thanks all! Keep 'em coming just cause I think this is fun!

MadameLee · June 2018

I started out with just 2 immigrants who meet in Windenburg and then now I have 7 gen legacy story which every single gen deals with drama you could say they have the "Swanson Curse" on them.. . I do get inspired by poses on Lana's CC site

Gen 2's Eldest Triplet daughter Carly falls in love when she's 14 with someone she think is 17 but when she's 16 she is kidnapped. (the kidnapper marries and has 2 children with someone else) but the entire time Carly is in the kidnapper's clutches she has to be their slave (and later Jacob and Emma's Nanny). The triplets (2 girls, 1 boy)' baby sister (Was born the eve of Carly's kidnapping) defends the children of kidnapper from other children and as a teenager duels the main bully but gets horribly injured. But Jacob (the son of Carly's kidnapper) is the only one with compatible blood he donates it for Hannah. But that makes (main bully Kerry-?) really mad and she plots this plan for putting one of Hannah's daughters in prison in the future.

Gen 3..America gets bossed around by others..a lot (ie when there's a school group project she does all the work). Kerry's son Harley claims that America is always cheating off of him (when it's really the other way around)..but since Harley's family is very rich...unlike America and Lucy (her twin)'s family. As a teen Harley gets America to shoplift stuff and this is for the plan to get America into prison.. ..after one 2 hours time America spent in the slammer (until Harley showed up..to post bail).. Hannah kicked America out and she gets stuck being a slave at the Kerry&Harley's house. One New Year's Eve America gets drunken out of the house with Harley and she wakes up some place else and when she gets back to town she's arrested for stealing a famous diamond from a dessert museum. David (another "prince"- Goths, Landgraabs-David is from Landgraabs, and Berjgesens are royal families in my head) is the only one who believes in America and 1)Breaks her out of jail by cross-dressing and 2)hires Tony "Meatball" C to get the truth. America does get the sentence kicked out of court because of it being a kangaroo court

Gen 4: family Drama
Elizabeth and Cora are twins and the parents prefer Elizabeth the outdoors one to Cora who because she's not getting what she wants just causes trouble. As children, a new family moved into town and the family comes from a mixed combination of Russia (early 1900s), 1996 Afghanistan and 1940s Germany. America tries to see if their family could do an arranged marriage with the Woods (new family) and the idea is Wyatt and Elizabeth will marry when they're older. As teenagers Elizabeth doesn't know yet about her arranged marriage so she dates one of their classmates but Cora has a crush on this classmates and sends Elizabeth on these crazy.. trips and then pretends to be Elizabeth on dates with classmate. The only person who knows is their baby brother (there are 4 siblings all together 1 set of twins Elizabeth&Cora, Elliot -middle brother, and the baby brother-whose name I have forgotten) and he threatened to tell Elizabeth if Cora didn't take him along. At a dance (not Prom) Elizabeth takes (classmate) as her date and when she's returns from the restroom she discovers (classmate) kissing Cora (It didn't help that both Elizabeth&Cora are..wearing identical dresses and hairstyles I think) So that the 2 twin sisters get into a catfight and are suspended from school for a bit.

(oh and before the School dance drama.. Elizabeth and Elliot were in Willow Creek to visit relatives and a police officers was acting like they didn't like Elliot's colour and tried to arrest him for not showing ID. But they discovered later for a gossipvine that the Bergjsen's daughter was responsible for that which made him-Elliot face off a bit with the Bergsjen's son in the cafe. Which lead to the B's son trying to attack Elliot in school)
After the catfight Elizabeth discovered she's has to marry Wyatt they spend some time (Well *too* much time) and she at 17 gets in the "Family Way" and has 2 children.. Juliet and Hailey

I could continue ...for 3 more gens

s_stutler · June 2018

@Crzydramaqueen - Ohh no worries. I just turned 30- (yep I'm old) But I love my Sims. I've been playing since the very first one came out, and I can't stop! LOL. I took a break from playing when TS4 came out (and played the other series more) as I hated some things in TS4- but its fun now.. there are still a few things I would address. (Like Next Of Kin options) but for the most part, i'm pretty happy now. Seasons has added so much to my gameplay, that I am about to break 1,000 hours played in my Origin soon.. I'm over half way there. Of course being old, I have a family in RL, so finding time to Sim isn't always possible.. but yea- I'm old, and i'm still playing The Sims:)

I look at The Sims series as a creative outlet and also a means to address stress. For teens and adults alike. Its a sandbox game which allows anyone to play any way they want, for the most part. Mods and CC have saved the Sim series for me though, Without the Mod community- I would have probably gotten bored with my content and I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much as I do.

drakharis · June 2018

Unless I am testing what is wrong without mods because of updates, I play scenarios with objectives for my Sim to accomplish. Yes, I play way too much (Warhammer) 40K, which is a miniatures strategy skirmish game. I tend to add that kind of attitude when playing a Sims game with multiple households. I normally don't do legacy gameplay or legacy challenges.

I create the Scenario first. Them create the objectives needed to make the scenario happen. I'll come up with the backstories for the household used to make the story happen. I come up with retcons for premades delving deeper into their past as a way to better explain why they are the way they are how they met each other etc,

For example, I came up with scenario a while back in which the primary objective was to eliminate the non-alien and non-vampire population down to 1% human because vampires still need prey to feed off of. I had 14% alien. Even though MCCC was installed I didn't use it to create Vampires quickly by commanding sims to become vampires. That would have disrupted the objective. I wanted to see what the custom Templar trait could do and created this scenario and objectives for it. Other Objectives were to find other Templar Sims that the game would randomly generate through townies and premade kids and teens ageing up. Creating other Templar sims would have defeated the purpose of the objective and I set a limit of 4 sims max for that household starting off. I created 5 Vampire households and only one Templar household with mother and daughter Templar sims and was switching back and forth between them. The last objective was to get all the vampires to at least Master level in the game having the vampires of higher rank training them.

Crzydramaqueen · July 2018

@MadameLee , Wow! That's creative! Interesting how you use different cultures. I think I would feel like I couldn't represent them properly. I also enjoy poses, but sometimes it's hard to find ones I know are safe. Maybe I'll check out Lana's!
@s_stutler I've been playing since the original too. I've always primarily used it for creating stories. I have yet to buy seasons cause we just bought a fence and now we're broke (haha!) I remember not being super excited about Seasons in the past. Is this one better?
@drakharis Interesting that you use premades! I only use them in legacies. I like how you create backstories for them. That's a really interesting way of playing. I am unfamiliar with Warhammer. Can you give any other examples of scenarios? Also is Templar a reference to Dragon Age? I definitely saw there's a mod for a Grey Warden trait too. I love that game!

artistichippie2009 · July 2018

I am always watching lets play videos from my favoriate youtubers, or their streams whichever (PeanutButter Gamer and LGR) anyways. I usually have to have a legacy going as well as something to work for, like a house to fix up, I have to have a goal

Crzydramaqueen · July 2018

@artistichippie2009 , I never realized so many people watched the youtube videos. Also nice to know that most people do have a goal. I was worried I was focusing too much instead of just playing!

MadameLee · July 2018

Crzydramaqueen wrote: »

@MadameLee , Wow! That's creative! Interesting how you use different cultures. I think I would feel like I couldn't represent them properly. I also enjoy poses, but sometimes it's hard to find ones I know are safe. Maybe I'll check out Lana's!
@s_stutler I've been playing since the original too. I've always primarily used it for creating stories. I have yet to buy seasons cause we just bought a fence and now we're broke (haha!) I remember not being super excited about Seasons in the past. Is this one better?
@drakharis Interesting that you use premades! I only use them in legacies. I like how you create backstories for them. That's a really interesting way of playing. I am unfamiliar with Warhammer. Can you give any other examples of scenarios? Also is Templar a reference to Dragon Age? I definitely saw there's a mod for a Grey Warden trait too. I love that game!

Most of the one's from Lana's Tumblir site (or the from the sites, they're linked too are safe).. I sometimes re-use poses for a purpose

artistichippie2009 · July 2018

Crzydramaqueen wrote: »

@artistichippie2009 , I never realized so many people watched the youtube videos. Also nice to know that most people do have a goal. I was worried I was focusing too much instead of just playing!

Not at all! I love playing the sims, so when I start to get bored I always find it interesting to see how other people play, what mods they use, e

SimmerSam · July 2018

I like to come up with a storyline before I begin. Sometimes if I'm struggling to think of one I'll turn to Youtube for some inspiration or base it around a book/movie I like! I like to have multiple households at one time so I technically play with several houses throughout the worlds to enhance my storytelling. I like to create rivalry between neighbors, secret romances, affairs, etc. Basically anything to add a bit of drama. I essentially play my games like a tv series lol. Sometimes I do like to try out challenges though (I really enjoyed the Rags to Riches challenge!)

drakharis · July 2018

MadameLee wrote: »

Crzydramaqueen wrote: »

@MadameLee , Wow! That's creative! Interesting how you use different cultures. I think I would feel like I couldn't represent them properly. I also enjoy poses, but sometimes it's hard to find ones I know are safe. Maybe I'll check out Lana's!
@s_stutler I've been playing since the original too. I've always primarily used it for creating stories. I have yet to buy seasons cause we just bought a fence and now we're broke (haha!) I remember not being super excited about Seasons in the past. Is this one better?
@drakharis Interesting that you use premades! I only use them in legacies. I like how you create backstories for them. That's a really interesting way of playing. I am unfamiliar with Warhammer. Can you give any other examples of scenarios? Also is Templar a reference to Dragon Age? I definitely saw there's a mod for a Grey Warden trait too. I love that game!

Most of the one's from Lana's Tumblir site (or the from the sites, they're linked too are safe).. I sometimes re-use poses for a purpose

(Warhammer) 40K and Malifaux have your scenario/strategy that all miniatures tabletop games have. This your main objective to accomplish. It might be in Terms of Sims something like me trying out a mod to make a world other than Forgotten Hollow eternal night. There is the custom Templar trait. It makes your sim a little uncomfortable because they are aware of a vampire alien custom occult such as fairies, zombies etc. They will sometimes fight these things it's the closest I can get to creating a vampire hunter in theory with the game. I use the underworlds mod, for example, to make all the worlds have eternal night. This gives me the backstory to work with. I have my main objective to turn as many sims into vampires as possible without using MCCC's command option to turn as many mortals as I can into vampires or adjust the setting for risky vampirism which can turn a mortal into a vampire even by asking nicely depending on the settings. So now the vampires need to turn as many people into vampires. Part of the objective is to leave 1% of the population mortal. Aliens being high is ok.

Crzydramaqueen · July 2018

@SimmerSam Cool! I've made a lot of families but I tend to focus on one.
@drakharis Interesting! I would like to see more occult creatures in this generation.

drakharis · July 2018

Crzydramaqueen wrote: »

@SimmerSam Cool! I've made a lot of families but I tend to focus on one.
@drakharis Interesting! I would like to see more occult creatures in this generation.

I would love to see more official occult creatures too other than just Vampires and Aliens. Except for the only way it can be done with mods. There are a few nice ones on Mod the Sims

Fairy mod by Nyx
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=605585

Sorcerer Mod Triplis
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=594052

Zombie Mod Nyx
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=610225

Mermaid Mod Nyx
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=607804

Crzydramaqueen · July 2018

Thanks @drakharis , I'll check those out sometime!

Simmerville · July 2018

I've always been focusing a lot on community aspects of my sims games. Like I think up a political system including spokes sim and a few councillors. Every 5th year there's an election. I play actively in 5 worlds, so it makes for varied political interests etc. I also have a detailed sims registry (outside the game) helping me to see where to play next, etc. And I have additional DNA, making it more interesting (to me) because I don't decide who will need glasses, who will succeed etc. I also have detailed routines on how traits, walkstyle, teeth etc are passed on. It probably sounds tedious, but it's quick when getting used to it.

Lately I made movies, and I see I get even more dragged into my game when looking for stories, locations, existing sims for wanted characters, etc. As soon as the series of eight Seasons movies is completed this month, I will start creating regular vids from my hoods. Then I will be completely hooked on it all

Crzydramaqueen · July 2018

@Simmerville , Cool! Can you give some examples of genetics rules? It sounds great!

Huiiie_07 · July 2018

I'm mostly just looking for new mods that add some new gameplay elements I can test or I simply take a break for a few months and play other games instead. Sometimes, I also watch youtubers for inspiration. As for youtubers, I would definitely recommend watching Call Me Kevin. I would say he doesn't play the game like it's supposed to be played *cough* *cough* but he has such an entertaining playstyle and I always want to play again after watching his videos.

Nindigo · July 2018

Perhaps you'll find something of interest in the mod discussion section of the forum?

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