I don't like the pets and seasons expansion packs in the game, as they make the lag worse. The similar packs do work fine in Sims 4, though. Also, I don't like putting too much custom content in my game. The only CC I have is a default skin, and I have a few Nraas mods.
I build and decorate for sims, not for humans. That means
1. I lay out the furnishings and appliances so that I have less crossover of paths. Especially in the kitchen where the path used to fix food does not cross over the path to clean up the dishes and does not cross the path through the room and does not cross the path to get leftovers from the frig.
2. I do not add appliances or furnishings for decoration purposes. They must be used by the sims. That means, in general, no sitting room where sims don't actually go and sit or entertain guests.
3. I do not add clutter for a "lived in" look. It brings no benefit to the sims. I will add clutter if it contributes to the overall environmental value of the room. I do like those +40 moodlets for beautifully decorated.
@cwaddell I'm giving you an Insightful on that one because I honestly didn't think anyone played like that.
1. I lay out the furnishings and appliances so that I have less crossover of paths. Especially in the kitchen where the path used to fix food does not cross over the path to clean up the dishes and does not cross the path through the room and does not cross the path to get leftovers from the frig.
^I am curious how you accomplish this though. I get sick of sims going in directions I don't want them to, to DO what I want them to do! I see the direction they should go and I expect them to take it! When they go around it, it drives me bonkers!
@cwaddell : you got an awesome, because I always build the houses with the routing in mind, too. And I don´t use Move Objects often, just so that my Sims can rout properly in the houses.
This means, that my Sims often get very large, but empty houses and rooms. And the environmental moodlet my Sims get from pictures on the walls.
Every time I renovate premaid houses, take away the clutter and tear down walls to make the rooms bigger.
My unpopular opinion: I find sims being with just one other sim in their lifetime boring. My Sims almost never marry their first boyfriend or girlfriend. They usually get married two or three times, too.
2. I do not add appliances or furnishings for decoration purposes. They must be used by the sims. That means, in general, no sitting room where sims don't actually go and sit or entertain guests.
I disagreed with this at first and wasn't going to say anything, but then it made me laugh because I realized where the initial impulse was coming from.
Am I the only one who grew up in a house with a sitting room (living room) with perfect furniture and decor, the sofa cushions wrapped in plastic, that no one was allowed to use? "It's for company." We never or rarely had any company that scored high enough to get to use that room for its intended purpose; the family congregated to and spent time in the "family room," also called the "den" and that is where such things as the television and bookshelves were. This was my grandparents' house. When my parent and then stepparent were able to take over and I moved in with them, I found that they had much more efficient ideas about use of space especially since they had so much less of it to work with at first.
Much, much later I stayed with my great uncle and aunt for a while, that's my grandfather's youngest sibling and family, as they lived in the area where I went to grad school and I had trouble finding an apartment right away. Their house had the same setup, a formal living room that no one was to use and a family room where everyone spent time when not in the kitchen or their bedrooms although admittedly my great aunt was much more relaxed about these rules. But sometimes, in some of my sims' houses, I do end up with space usage that resembles these what must be very outdated ideas of what living rooms are for.
@cwaddell I'm giving you an Insightful on that one because I honestly didn't think anyone played like that.
I am curious how you accomplish this though. I get sick of sims going in directions I don't want them to, to DO what I want them to do! I see the direction they should go and I expect them to take it! When they go around it, it drives me bonkers!
I just keep moving stuff around until it works as I wanted. If I see any crossing passes or work areas that block access to appliances, I move stuff. I have a few "ideal" layouts, but those won't always be possible within the available space. Those single narrow entrance layouts many of the EA kitchens have are a PITA.
@DillynJames I have the same outlook. It's unrealistic to just meet someone, fall in love, and live happily ever after.
Mine: EA Worlds are lacking in variety for all types of players. I prefer more metropolitan worlds for most of my sims. With all expansions, store content, etc, The Sims 3 has 18 (if I counted correctly) worlds to choose from. Of those 18 worlds:
-6 quiet towns. (Aurora Skies, Appaloosa Plains, Twinbrook, Riverview, Sunset Valley, Hidden Springs).
-6 supernatural, or otherwise themed to not fit a normal save, worlds. (Lunar Lakes, Midnight Hollow, Moonlight Falls, Barnacle Bay, Dragon Valley, Monte Vista).
-3 metro worlds, Starlight Shores being the least metro, but still metro enough. (Bridgeport, Roaring Heights, Starlight Shores). And you could argue Roaring Heights also has the themed handicap. If you like the town, but want a more modern population you'd have to edit every single person in the world.
-3 island/tropical worlds. (Isla Paradiso, Lucky Palms, Sunlit Tides).
As you can see, it heavily favors players looking to play quiet, family-oriented saved games and players who want to play themed saves (supernatural or otherwise). I know the "solution" would be to find a custom world, but the fact of the matter is that most custom worlds don't come with a population and I think most of us don't really have the time, patience, or willingness to create a huge amount of sims to populate a world.
My sims don't usually fit into any category but metro and maybe island/tropical, but I greatly prefer metro. And it gets pretty tiring, then, playing the same 3 worlds. And often the same world (Bridgeport) repeatedly because I'd have to de-1920's Roaring Heights to play a modern save, and Starlight Shores just isn't my cup of tea in most cases.
@cwaddell I'm giving you an Insightful on that one because I honestly didn't think anyone played like that.
1. I lay out the furnishings and appliances so that I have less crossover of paths. Especially in the kitchen where the path used to fix food does not cross over the path to clean up the dishes and does not cross the path through the room and does not cross the path to get leftovers from the frig.
^I am curious how you accomplish this though. I get sick of sims going in directions I don't want them to, to DO what I want them to do! I see the direction they should go and I expect them to take it! When they go around it, it drives me bonkers!
I try to do this too. I usually get it to work reasonably well, but I do also have a mod to reduce the foot tapping and other behaviours that slow down the game if they do intersect. It'd be impossible for me to play households with 16 or more sims in them otherwise.
Am I the only one who grew up in a house with a sitting room (living room) with perfect furniture and decor, the sofa cushions wrapped in plastic, that no one was allowed to use? "It's for company." We never or rarely had any company that scored high enough to get to use that room for its intended purpose; the family congregated to and spent time in the "family room," also called the "den" and that is where such things as the television and bookshelves were. This was my grandparents' house. When my parent and then stepparent were able to take over and I moved in with them, I found that they had much more efficient ideas about use of space especially since they had so much less of it to work with at first.
@igazor No you're certainly not the only one. I grew up in a home with a formal living room too where it was never messy and we were not allowed to play in it (but it was ok to sit and read books and chat when family came to visit. ) It was mostly reserved for guests who happened to stop by like say...oh...the Home or Visiting Teachers. (Anyone who is LDS/Mormon will understand. )
We bought a 1982 split level home and it also has this formal living room (I LOVE the bay window! ) and a family room when you descend one of the stairs. When I was a kid a house like this was my dream home and...we got it.
In the one time during a blue moon that I build a house for my sims I usually skip the whole living room and just do a family room. Mainly because I knew they wouldn't really use both rooms for their "intended" purposes.
Those single narrow entrance layouts many of the EA kitchens have are a PITA.
^Yes they are! :grimance:
Thanks for the tips!
@Emily4331 You get an Insightful from me because I never even thought about the different themes of many of the EA created worlds and I loved how you broke them down and showed that. Also you make a good point about how there aren't many metro themed worlds - never really realized that until now - and yeah renovating & updating Roaring Heights would be a PITA! And I hardly ever play in that world because of the 1920's setting and...I'll admit, I know hardly anything about that era.
First world problems. Whenever I hear that, I think of this song:
@Karritz I have a mod that completely eliminates the foot tapping and I will never ever play my game without it!
@Nikkei_Simmer I don't care for Vampires either...rarely will I ever use them in a sims story.
::::Hey no foreshadowing emorrill!::::
I know I am oldish so my opinion on the lack of "respectable clothing" might not be popular I see my female sims age up in short shorts or mini skirts/dresses and I cringe and my first thought is "trash" (apologies to anyone who reads this and dresses this way) It's all well and good when they are teens or YA but I know I would have been appalled if my mother had dressed like that and I certainly wouldn't embarrass my son by doing it either. Sure, there are some outfits of a decent length but mostly in themed sets from a different era.
I know I am oldish so my opinion on the lack of "respectable clothing" might not be popular I see my female sims age up in short shorts or mini skirts/dresses and I cringe and my first thought is "trash" (apologies to anyone who reads this and dresses this way) It's all well and good when they are teens or YA but I know I would have been appalled if my mother had dressed like that and I certainly wouldn't embarrass my son by doing it either. Sure, there are some outfits of a decent length but mostly in themed sets from a different era.
^You're not alone in this @Mikezumi . In fact a simmer on the Sims 4 version of this thread expressed her disappointment with the lack of modest clothing options and I have to agree! I've thought the same during all my years of simming. (Thank goodness for CC clothing. )
And yes, I would be totally grossed out to see my mother dress in some of that "trash" clothing too! She's a very refined woman so it would be quite the shocker!
I know I am oldish so my opinion on the lack of "respectable clothing" might not be popular I see my female sims age up in short shorts or mini skirts/dresses and I cringe and my first thought is "trash" (apologies to anyone who reads this and dresses this way) It's all well and good when they are teens or YA but I know I would have been appalled if my mother had dressed like that and I certainly wouldn't embarrass my son by doing it either. Sure, there are some outfits of a decent length but mostly in themed sets from a different era.
Yes, I think we shouldn't underestimate the psychological effect the clothes of sims have on how we as players perceive them. Clothes can tell more than just the few sentences that are normally used to characterize them. I noticed this myself with Jamie Jolina, the family mother in my current game. At some point, I decided that, as the game considers her to be the head of a wealthy family and she's basically head surgeon, she should also look that way. The result was that this totally changed how I made use of her in the game. It's funny how this works.
@Turjan Jamie definitely needs a lot of help to look the part of a World Renowned Surgeon! I realize she doesn't start out very high up in her career and hasn't made much money yet but she looks very unworldly to me
I don't think they have more personality like most people think. Even with full autonomy on, they didn't really do anything really random (my witch was just obsessed with fire and love spells and that about all she did unless I told her do something. More sims died in fires than I can count) and more often than not, just kind of stood there with a robotic face for what seemed like a long time. I don't know if the game was thinking or what; but always found it unsettling just seeing them stand and stare.
@Mikezumi : I can support your opinion about respectable clothing! And CC is even worse, I think! There are a lot of clothes which are completely inappropriate for daily use. Way too skimpy!
Dressing a female Sim in normal clothes is sometimes hard when you don´t want to use the same outfit all the time.
@SimTrippy@bekkasan : the atracction system is a joke! Being accused of being unfaithful because some random stranger asks you to watch the stars, what you refuse??? Meh!
@SimTrippy I totally agree on that one. My game, I rule, stay faithful! hehe
^^^Same!
I was always taught to be faithful to my partner, so my Sims darn well will be too!
(Unless I am writing a specific story with drama than some of those sims won't be faithful , but for the most part my sims are. )
the attraction system is a joke! Being accused of being unfaithful because some random stranger asks you to watch the stars, what you refuse??? Meh!
I know I am oldish so my opinion on the lack of "respectable clothing" might not be popular I see my female sims age up in short shorts or mini skirts/dresses and I cringe and my first thought is "trash" (apologies to anyone who reads this and dresses this way) It's all well and good when they are teens or YA but I know I would have been appalled if my mother had dressed like that and I certainly wouldn't embarrass my son by doing it either. Sure, there are some outfits of a decent length but mostly in themed sets from a different era.
I'm kind of the same way, actually. I'm 26, but I tend to prefer a bit more modesty than what I see in other people's LetsPlay(s). It's just my personal style. Typically business casual, or business outing lol. My female sims usually wear a pencil skirt, dark tights, pumps (or flats, depending on their personality) and a blouse with shorter sleeves or a blazer. My male sims usually wear a sports coat or sweater, long pants and dark shoes. I usually will give both genders a funky pattern on their top to make them stand out, but they're all pretty covered at most times. Just like me, lol xD
Comments
I build and decorate for sims, not for humans. That means
1. I lay out the furnishings and appliances so that I have less crossover of paths. Especially in the kitchen where the path used to fix food does not cross over the path to clean up the dishes and does not cross the path through the room and does not cross the path to get leftovers from the frig.
2. I do not add appliances or furnishings for decoration purposes. They must be used by the sims. That means, in general, no sitting room where sims don't actually go and sit or entertain guests.
3. I do not add clutter for a "lived in" look. It brings no benefit to the sims. I will add clutter if it contributes to the overall environmental value of the room. I do like those +40 moodlets for beautifully decorated.
^I am curious how you accomplish this though.
This means, that my Sims often get very large, but empty houses and rooms. And the environmental moodlet my Sims get from pictures on the walls.
Every time I renovate premaid houses, take away the clutter and tear down walls to make the rooms bigger.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/953447/streuner-a-cat-s-tale
Am I the only one who grew up in a house with a sitting room (living room) with perfect furniture and decor, the sofa cushions wrapped in plastic, that no one was allowed to use? "It's for company." We never or rarely had any company that scored high enough to get to use that room for its intended purpose; the family congregated to and spent time in the "family room," also called the "den" and that is where such things as the television and bookshelves were. This was my grandparents' house. When my parent and then stepparent were able to take over and I moved in with them, I found that they had much more efficient ideas about use of space especially since they had so much less of it to work with at first.
Much, much later I stayed with my great uncle and aunt for a while, that's my grandfather's youngest sibling and family, as they lived in the area where I went to grad school and I had trouble finding an apartment right away. Their house had the same setup, a formal living room that no one was to use and a family room where everyone spent time when not in the kitchen or their bedrooms although admittedly my great aunt was much more relaxed about these rules. But sometimes, in some of my sims' houses, I do end up with space usage that resembles these what must be very outdated ideas of what living rooms are for.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
Mine: EA Worlds are lacking in variety for all types of players. I prefer more metropolitan worlds for most of my sims. With all expansions, store content, etc, The Sims 3 has 18 (if I counted correctly) worlds to choose from. Of those 18 worlds:
-6 quiet towns. (Aurora Skies, Appaloosa Plains, Twinbrook, Riverview, Sunset Valley, Hidden Springs).
-6 supernatural, or otherwise themed to not fit a normal save, worlds. (Lunar Lakes, Midnight Hollow, Moonlight Falls, Barnacle Bay, Dragon Valley, Monte Vista).
-3 metro worlds, Starlight Shores being the least metro, but still metro enough. (Bridgeport, Roaring Heights, Starlight Shores). And you could argue Roaring Heights also has the themed handicap. If you like the town, but want a more modern population you'd have to edit every single person in the world.
-3 island/tropical worlds. (Isla Paradiso, Lucky Palms, Sunlit Tides).
As you can see, it heavily favors players looking to play quiet, family-oriented saved games and players who want to play themed saves (supernatural or otherwise). I know the "solution" would be to find a custom world, but the fact of the matter is that most custom worlds don't come with a population and I think most of us don't really have the time, patience, or willingness to create a huge amount of sims to populate a world.
My sims don't usually fit into any category but metro and maybe island/tropical, but I greatly prefer metro. And it gets pretty tiring, then, playing the same 3 worlds. And often the same world (Bridgeport) repeatedly because I'd have to de-1920's Roaring Heights to play a modern save, and Starlight Shores just isn't my cup of tea in most cases.
Yes, yes...first world problems, I know.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW44b3uCMtCSaq4gwC8EZg
I try to do this too. I usually get it to work reasonably well, but I do also have a mod to reduce the foot tapping and other behaviours that slow down the game if they do intersect. It'd be impossible for me to play households with 16 or more sims in them otherwise.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW44b3uCMtCSaq4gwC8EZg
All of my male Sims traditionally have higher positions in their careers than their wives
Nikkei_Simmer's Sims 3 Blog - For more Sims 3 stories...
"The only conceivable use for a vampire is as a sharpened stick tester." ~ Haruo Chikamori, werewolf
@igazor No you're certainly not the only one.
We bought a 1982 split level home and it also has this formal living room (I LOVE the bay window!
In the one time during a blue moon that I build a house for my sims
@Turjan ^Yes they are! :grimance:
Thanks for the tips!
@Emily4331 You get an Insightful from me because I never even thought about the different themes of many of the EA created worlds and I loved how you broke them down and showed that.
First world problems.
@Karritz I have a mod that completely eliminates the foot tapping and I will never ever play my game without it!
@Nikkei_Simmer I don't care for Vampires either...rarely will I ever use them in a sims story.
::::Hey no foreshadowing emorrill!::::
^I am offended!
Just kidding.
Zumi and the Winchester Brothers
The Watcher's Caretaker - A Limited ISBI
^You're not alone in this @Mikezumi . In fact a simmer on the Sims 4 version of this thread expressed her disappointment with the lack of modest clothing options and I have to agree! I've thought the same during all my years of simming. (Thank goodness for CC clothing.
And yes, I would be totally grossed out to see my mother dress in some of that "trash" clothing too!
Zumi and the Winchester Brothers
The Watcher's Caretaker - A Limited ISBI
My opinion: the attraction system drives me crazy as I like my sims to be faithful to the partner I chose for them
Zumi and the Winchester Brothers
The Watcher's Caretaker - A Limited ISBI
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Lets make this a reality!
Dressing a female Sim in normal clothes is sometimes hard when you don´t want to use the same outfit all the time.
@SimTrippy @bekkasan : the atracction system is a joke! Being accused of being unfaithful because some random stranger asks you to watch the stars, what you refuse??? Meh!
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/953447/streuner-a-cat-s-tale
^^^Same!
I was always taught to be faithful to my partner, so my Sims darn well will be too!
(Unless I am writing a specific story with drama than some of those sims won't be faithful
@AlexaKry ^Exactly!
Drives me bonkers.......
I'm kind of the same way, actually. I'm 26, but I tend to prefer a bit more modesty than what I see in other people's LetsPlay(s). It's just my personal style. Typically business casual, or business outing lol. My female sims usually wear a pencil skirt, dark tights, pumps (or flats, depending on their personality) and a blouse with shorter sleeves or a blazer. My male sims usually wear a sports coat or sweater, long pants and dark shoes. I usually will give both genders a funky pattern on their top to make them stand out, but they're all pretty covered at most times. Just like me, lol xD