It depends.
My main save has aging off. Those twin girls were aged up straight from baby (they were babies for about a minute or two). Then, they jumped out of the bassinet as children (2016), and I had aging on and long live span (52 days for a child at that time.) They mastered every skill and completed every aspiration, so, they are both mentally-gifted, creatively-gifted, socially-gifted and physically gifted. I turned aging off when they got to be about 11 and a half, and so they are really precocious --- with the genius trait too! Before that generation, all the sims went from baby, child to elder.
In challenges, I follow challenge rules, and in just for fun play though, it depends on if I want to deal with toddlers, but Sim children are fun. I love all the cute stuff they can do. I use the birthday cake to age them up when I feel like it, in unofficial stuff.
I make the choices that fit each of my sims from each of my households. Dixon Cooper (Like me) is Non Committal, a bro and ambitious, so he doesn't really want kids or a long term relationship. He likes to live free and unchained. Focusing all his efforts on having a good time, working on his hobbies, increasing his skills and advancing his career. Jenny Cooper on the other hand might start a family one day because she's a much different person than her brother, with much different beliefs.
I think if you want any sense of Sim individuality or personality or story, playing these stages is essential! It gives your Sims a full life story, at least as much of this as the Sims 4 will allow (oh, to have the characters of Sims 2).
There's a reason Im not big on family play, and when I do the parents arent the best at parenting to put it lightly. xD
I play toddlers, but my god they're so demanding. I mostly just have them raise themselves and feed them and care for them when I absolutely have to. Ive noticed that they'll gain their skills pretty quickly without me to directly intervene.
I currently have household with four kids, three toddlers and an old caregiver, with lots of potions of youths (earned in game, not by cheats). It's fun because I always have something to do.
I love playing with generations. My current household is four generations deep. I especially like how much playing those early life stages can affect how your child turns out. Teaching them manners, emotional control, etc. Encouraging/discouraging them to certain actions. For my personal game play I love being able to shape the youth. If I get everything accomplished earlier than their age span then I may age up early but I don't play that way often. I've actually only done that since Tiny Living since the tiny homes offer double skill increase. The child stage is probably my favorite.
I usually start with some sims in their young adult life stage. But after that, when they have kids I play through every single stage. I have the aging off too, so I play the stages pretty long too.
I play children most out of these stages, I do have aging off though so they are all "eternally young", I find children the best stage of the three, they can look after themself (unlike toddlers), have some activities exclusive to them and don't already look like adults (like the teens do).
I like to see how talented I can make a sim by the time they reach YA.
I keep wanting to do a bad childhood, but just can't help trying to keep them happy lol
Yes, because I like shaping my sims as they grow. Plus the first sim I always want to make is inevitably me, so I want to make myself as good at everything as I jokingly say I am.
I marked other because I play them through for my SIMSelf save to bond with my adopted and "birth" child but not for the stories for the Let's Plays or other saves I have unless it's part of the challenge.
When Toddlers were introduced I had to give em a try in my game. My teen was telling em fun stories and asked what they needed. The Toddler was almost always angry.
Toddlers in NPC households seems to work ok in my game.
I could litteraly leave em alone for days and it never gave any problems.
It was great to age up babies, but it will be a while before Toddlers become part of my active households.
With or without cheating or quick aging up? *shifty eyes*
Not often without snapping and aging them up in a hurry, I find the tantrums and moods really shred my patience. Some parts are fun and really cute but then they go off into a snit and I'm making birthday cake as fast as I can.
Parenthood is one of my favorite packs that I own so I guess it makes sense I like playing with them. But it wasn't always that was - I used to hate playing through kids lifespans, it was super boring to me on the base game. But the emergence of toddlers brought some really interesting gameplay for me, and for once I felt like I had to actually do something to develop them. Once again, Parenthood made it really fun, because of things like grounding and curfews and projects that made everything more interactive. I recently got Seasons and found that it made things a lot more interesting for me, too! Nothing like the family lounging in the kiddie pools or bundling up in warm turtlenecks and jackets to exchange gifts for Winterfest. I typically like Toddlers and Teens best. Children....can be fun, but since they were all I played for a while they seem really boring for me. I feel like toddlers have more room for development and are just super cute, and teenagers have greater abilities to tell more dramatic or interesting stories. I do tend to play Young Adult a lot, but I think that's because it's what The Sims is revolved around rather than an actual preference on my part. But my favorite saves with children are the ones where my Sims are either young or single parents, as it gives me that extra challenge as well as room to get creative for the plot outside of just raising children!
I may play toddler and child mostly for goals (I love the skill boosts), but I do play them. Teens are much the same. Get the skills so that at young adult I can go whatever direction I choose.
I always enjoyed playing with children in Sims 2 & 3, but with Sims 4 I had stopped playing with children because I felt they have no real direction in the game, esp with how rough the toddler years are. Now that we have university in game, I feel like I have some direction and goals to accomplish with them from toddler-hood to teen now.
I like family play. The main way I keep it enjoyable is rotational play where I try to have my families in different stages in life, like switching between YA's without kids or college students and families with kids. I also make sure that I have a storyline going in every family and to always keep that storyline interesting. Also, mods.
I like playing with toddlers, the animations & the bonding that occurs with the parents/caregivers is very satisfying and fun! However, toddlers, as in life, really take over the household so they really change the game's emphasis, which I enjoy. Childhood is a joy, kids are more independent & it's fun to explore the worlds as a child & enjoy the activities for kids. Again, as in life, school homework is a little bit of a pain but it's fun to see grades go up (or down if the kids have been having TOO much fun!). I wish the teen years had more to distinguish them--they seem like a chidhood/young adult hybrid, but not the best parts. Still the age progression is satisfying and seeing the life choices manifest in the grown up Sim is incredibly fun and feels like an achievement.
I am a family player, but lately I have found myself struggling with the child stage, because there is just so little to do for them. I have never played Sims 1, 2 or 3, but reading about all the games and activities they had for children makes me a little sad that we no longer have these things. Not everyone wants to play young adults obsessed with electronics 100% of the time.
Yes, because I play with mods and I also make the toddlers and kids top all their skills. And I love playing with teens so I can make all sorts of teenage drama.
Comments
My main save has aging off. Those twin girls were aged up straight from baby (they were babies for about a minute or two). Then, they jumped out of the bassinet as children (2016), and I had aging on and long live span (52 days for a child at that time.) They mastered every skill and completed every aspiration, so, they are both mentally-gifted, creatively-gifted, socially-gifted and physically gifted. I turned aging off when they got to be about 11 and a half, and so they are really precocious --- with the genius trait too! Before that generation, all the sims went from baby, child to elder.
In challenges, I follow challenge rules, and in just for fun play though, it depends on if I want to deal with toddlers, but Sim children are fun. I love all the cute stuff they can do. I use the birthday cake to age them up when I feel like it, in unofficial stuff.
My Youtube Channel (Slightly Strong Language): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjmePn-fjafqrWjjnrlZqrg
I play toddlers, but my god they're so demanding. I mostly just have them raise themselves and feed them and care for them when I absolutely have to. Ive noticed that they'll gain their skills pretty quickly without me to directly intervene.
I love playing with generations. My current household is four generations deep. I especially like how much playing those early life stages can affect how your child turns out. Teaching them manners, emotional control, etc. Encouraging/discouraging them to certain actions. For my personal game play I love being able to shape the youth. If I get everything accomplished earlier than their age span then I may age up early but I don't play that way often. I've actually only done that since Tiny Living since the tiny homes offer double skill increase. The child stage is probably my favorite.
This. I play this way also.
I totally know what you mean!
Toddlers in NPC households seems to work ok in my game.
I could litteraly leave em alone for days and it never gave any problems.
It was great to age up babies, but it will be a while before Toddlers become part of my active households.
Not often without snapping and aging them up in a hurry, I find the tantrums and moods really shred my patience. Some parts are fun and really cute but then they go off into a snit and I'm making birthday cake as fast as I can.
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