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    Template save file

    texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    in The Sims 4 General Discussion
    Hi everyone :)

    I'll spend some time in my next play sessions doing a template save file for every time i start a new save.

    For example, it's important to me to have a resting place for my legacy sims. But i don't always like to have private cemeteries at my sim's home lot as ghosts will visit the lot almost every night... So i'll include a graveyard for sure.

    What have you included in yours or would you include if you did one?

    Comments

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      EgonVMEgonVM Posts: 4,937 Member
      Usually when I do a template save file, I remove pre-made sims, replace them with my own, change lots, and so on.
      Making The Sims Tutorial videos on YouTube since 2015!
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      Calico45Calico45 Posts: 2,038 Member
      I usually like to fill up specific lots with restaurants and other public lots. (I noticed I placed them in the same places every time, so they are just assigned there now.) I would also replace certain families and homes I redesigned. Then I would set up the calendar with all my holidays (this has been a real chore for me every new save). Now with Eco Lifestyle I would probably set up NAPs and Eco Footprint, too.
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      texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
      EgonVM wrote: »
      Usually when I do a template save file, I remove pre-made sims, replace them with my own, change lots, and so on.

      Thank you for answering. Do you have any type of lot that you find essential for your save file?
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      texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
      Calico45 wrote: »
      I usually like to fill up specific lots with restaurants and other public lots. (I noticed I placed them in the same places every time, so they are just assigned there now.) I would also replace certain families and homes I redesigned. Then I would set up the calendar with all my holidays (this has been a real chore for me every new save). Now with Eco Lifestyle I would probably set up NAPs and Eco Footprint, too.

      I'm def including a variety of restaurants: fish, meat and vegetarian at least.
      Setting my holidays from start also sounds good.
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      sunblondsunblond Posts: 1,035 Member
      For mine I fill all the empty lots, over the years, I have downloaded a bunch from the gallery and websites so that I only have one vacant lot in my games.

      I have a bowling alley, spa, a couple restaurants, and a bar I use in my template saves. I also edit the premades a bit, mostly just adding cc body hair to all the men, I don't change traits or anything to them otherwise.

      I also edit some existing lots that are missing items like sinks, appliances, and for Parkshore, I add another bathroom.
      Origin ID is: sobenewbie
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      crocobauracrocobaura Posts: 7,385 Member
      I don't like having stuff on the home lot either, so I build a lot of venues. I have a little church with a graveyard, 2 shopping malls that sell clothes, baby furniture, toys, cakes, electronics, Christmas decor, cinema, arcades, 2 smaller shopping buildings with florists, book store, gems store, ice cream parlor, beauty parlor, bakery, spa, bowling alley, a big city cafe, pizzeria, black tie restaurant, pirate ship restaurant, community pool, community garden/market. I have kept most of the bars and lounges, museums, library etc that came with the game. Where it makes sense, I add the crafting stations so sims could skill-up/earn some money while doing so.
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      CamkatCamkat Posts: 2,329 Member
      In my save template, I have a graveyard, churches (wedding venues), cinemas, restaurants, retail (stores selling things I don't always care to grind out like things made with robotics), daycare, indoor ice and roller rinks and a few extra parks. I've gone through all community lots and added lot traits and added things from other packs to the lots already there. I've set up the holidays too. I've replaced a few Maxis lots entirely with ones I've made and a few that I've downloaded. I've also added a few sims that I'd made from either other saves or just straight out of CAS and I added all the sims 2 sims from the gallery because I just love and miss those guys!
      Origin ID: Peapod79
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      KathykinsKathykins Posts: 1,883 Member
      edited July 2020
      I'm working on a template save right now. First thing I did was give all pre-mades makeovers. They all stay. Then I've filled up houses with sims from my library (both mine and others). There will be very few lots open for randomly generated sims.

      I've added a spa and a couple restaurants. I'm keeping: 1 library, 1 museum, 1 gallery/art center (San Myshuno), 1 pool, 1 karaoke bar, 1or 2 lounges, 1-3 parks (most likely the big ones in WC and OS and Myshuno Meadows). I'll keep most of the regular bars, since those are the public lots my sims visit most (my sims don't get out much). The rest of the existing community lots are made residential and kept empty for any future generations.

      The biggest problem for me when I scroll through all the households (not the premades)...? What families to play in the rotation?? They are basically all my favs from different saves o.o
      Tumblr - TS4 stuff

      Gallery: Kathykins

      AHQ - Game help and Bugs
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      stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
      I have a mausoleum that I built on that 20x20 lot on the island in Windenburg; I can fit a lot of urns in there because it's in a 4-level basement. I also do some major remodeling or replacement of existing venues to add pack content, like I've added the climbing walls to the Windenburg gym. I scour the Gallery for good venues and use those in my game and move venues around; in Willow Creek I moved the library to the empty Potter's Splay lot then put in a spa on the original lot.

      I'm back to the game after a several month absence due to health issues so I'm thinking of planning a new template for my new starts, all but the newest pack worlds (DU and EL) since I haven't played those yet; I want to get the feel of the worlds before I start messing with them.
      Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
      Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
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      filipomelfilipomel Posts: 1,693 Member
      I like to have one retail and one restaurant in every world (once I get EL the new community lots will probably also be a standard in each of my worlds). A community lot appropriate for every career (bank for business sims, criminal hangout for criminals, city hall for politicians, school for children and teens) and then use clubs to populate these lots with sims in those careers. I like to use lot traits more as neighbourhood/world traits, I have one lot trait used for every lot in the world, then another lot trait for every neighbourhood in the world, and then a final lot trait for each individual house/lot (once I get EL I will probably use the NAP's as an extention of this concept). I set up my calendar to have a much more elaborate set of Holidays (Summer Break, First day of School, Simnation Day, Spring Cleaning, Spooky Festival, etc.) I make sure all sims have a reputation and appropriate fame levels, and I give diplomas to sims where I feel is appropriate. I also have a standard set of items I like to have at each house, thermostat, umbrella rack, roomba vacuum, laundry, family board, decoration box, bike, game console, etc.
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      texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
      filipomel wrote: »
      I like to have one retail and one restaurant in every world (once I get EL the new community lots will probably also be a standard in each of my worlds). A community lot appropriate for every career (bank for business sims, criminal hangout for criminals, city hall for politicians, school for children and teens) and then use clubs to populate these lots with sims in those careers. I like to use lot traits more as neighbourhood/world traits, I have one lot trait used for every lot in the world, then another lot trait for every neighbourhood in the world, and then a final lot trait for each individual house/lot (once I get EL I will probably use the NAP's as an extention of this concept). I set up my calendar to have a much more elaborate set of Holidays (Summer Break, First day of School, Simnation Day, Spring Cleaning, Spooky Festival, etc.) I make sure all sims have a reputation and appropriate fame levels, and I give diplomas to sims where I feel is appropriate. I also have a standard set of items I like to have at each house, thermostat, umbrella rack, roomba vacuum, laundry, family board, decoration box, bike, game console, etc.

      I love the way you set lot traits. Im gonna use this concept. I love the idea of giving each world and neighbourhood a common vibe.
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      SilentKittySilentKitty Posts: 4,665 Member
      I just built a template save that turned out to be really really buggy. Haven’t played it much at all. Not so keen on doing that again.

      So I am just going to use the system I already have in place. A specific tray-folder for every world. That gives me the lots that I can place, depending on what I want that area to be during the current save. Households that should be added to the game. Which households that gets an actual house will probably vary depending on save.
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      texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
      SilentKitty wrote: »
      I just built a template save that turned out to be really really buggy. Haven’t played it much at all. Not so keen on doing that again.

      So I am just going to use the system I already have in place. A specific tray-folder for every world. That gives me the lots that I can place, depending on what I want that area to be during the current save. Households that should be added to the game. Which households that gets an actual house will probably vary depending on save.

      😦 do you know why it got buggy?
      Sorry for the ignorance but what is a tray folder and how do you do it?
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      Karababy52Karababy52 Posts: 5,952 Member
      For my custom template I modified almost all premades, some were deleted. Most modifications were clothes (especially hot/cold outfits), accessories, make-up, hairstyles, etc. A few had their physical characteristics modified. Traits/aspirations/careers unchanged.

      I also modified a few lots; parks, gym in Windenburg, bar in Sulani (included a bowling lane), bar in Glimmerbrook, the camping lot in OR and put my Itty Bitty Bunker build on the RV lot in Strangerville. Plus, I deleted the retail lots in Magnolia Promenade and changed them to residential. The only 'extra' venue included anywhere is an Italian restaurant in Newcrest. I add other venues on an as needed basis.

      Lastly, I put in a copy of favorite Sims from other save files as not-in-world townies along with modified game generated; service Sims, vampires, townies, and a mermaid. I use this template to begin all new save files. It gets updated on occasion, especially when new packs are released.

      It's a simple template, not a complete overhaul of everything as some have undertaken and achieved. I'm in awe of y'all that have taken the time to do that! What I've created works for me and my playstyle, so I'm happy. Especially since I get to see my favorite Sims in every save. :)

      Happy Simming! <3
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      elanorbretonelanorbreton Posts: 14,549 Member
      My current template took me a loooong time to do!

      First, I edited or replaced every single lot in every single world. Some were minor edits, some were overhauls. Some lots I built myself, some I downloaded. Added any lot traits I wanted. I included a graveyard, some 'work' buildings, all the usual lots like library, gym, cafe, bars etc, a small starter vet practice ready for purchase, a small starter empty retail lot and a bakery and also some community spaces from Eco.

      Then I set about the households. For the premades, I edited their hot and cold outfits since those were randomly assigned. Then I placed in all my favourite remade families from TS2 and TS3. Then I added all the sims I have ever created and played (I keep some old saves, so imported them from those). So I now have almost every residential lot occupied.

      I'm currently playing that template, slowly getting through the households :)
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      EgonVMEgonVM Posts: 4,937 Member
      telmarina wrote: »
      EgonVM wrote: »
      Usually when I do a template save file, I remove pre-made sims, replace them with my own, change lots, and so on.

      Thank you for answering. Do you have any type of lot that you find essential for your save file?

      Usually, I put these lots in Newcrest in all saves.
      1. A graveyard
      2. A bowling alley
      3. Three restaurants (one is fancy, one is fast food, and one is cultural)
      4. A supermarket
      5. Book store (where books my sims write are going to be sold in)
      6. Clothing store and saloon (for my style influencers)
      7. A spa
      8. A museum (where things my sims craft are going to be shown for future generations and as a wedding venue)

      I also make changes to community spaces and new ones (a scouting badge board in community gardens and a performer spaces on marketplaces. Also new work tables in maker spaces) and make changes to vacation worlds (traits, thermostats, large (woohoo) bushes, and natural scratching posts for rental lots for example). If there is a pre-made sim that is going to stay, I'll change their hot weather and cold weather outfit (also swimwear if in Willow Creek or Oasis Springs).
      Making The Sims Tutorial videos on YouTube since 2015!
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      OnverserOnverser Posts: 3,364 Member
      edited July 2020
      I usually just try to do the typical things, adding spas to the world so I have some to use, finding renovations of lots I hate, fixing some of the weird looking premades and adding new families to fill the world a bit more and give my sim dating options.
      I changed quite a lot in Sulani though, I added loads of mermaid sims as for some reason there isn't any and I tried to give it more of a caribbean vibe with caribbean type sims as well as the polynesian sims, then I edited the outfits of the premades to make them more vibrant and colourful.
      I've also been adding more of the community lots from Eco Lifestyle around as they're nice to visit! And I put a spa in Sulani as it fits perfectly.
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      SilentKittySilentKitty Posts: 4,665 Member
      edited July 2020
      telmarina wrote: »
      SilentKitty wrote: »
      I just built a template save that turned out to be really really buggy. Haven’t played it much at all. Not so keen on doing that again.

      So I am just going to use the system I already have in place. A specific tray-folder for every world. That gives me the lots that I can place, depending on what I want that area to be during the current save. Households that should be added to the game. Which households that gets an actual house will probably vary depending on save.

      😦 do you know why it got buggy?
      Sorry for the ignorance but what is a tray folder and how do you do it?

      No idea why that save got so buggy but I have been very fortunate with several other save that have worked fine for years so it's not so bad. I just took my main household and left for a new save.

      Tray-folder.

      CacheFiles.jpg

      When you save a room, or a lot or a household to your own little Gallery all those things end up in a Tray-folder. That is the big file that keeps all your stuff. If you're a collector like me you end up with a very veery big folder in the end. However, if you take out one Tray-folder the game will make a new one that is empty. Now there are other folders marked, but I did not have a pic of the Tray folders placement at hand so I used one that was already available.



      880b9915a2e80915aa0725db0255350ece060f04.png
      I have one big folder on my desktop, that is backed up, with different tray folders in them. So everytime I start the game I look what kind of Tray folder, or library, I would like to look at that time. Then I place that Tray folder in the folder for the game so I can access the items in it. I play a game that has quite a bit of mods and CC in it. So I can go long stretches of time without access to the internet and the big Gallery. So I have hoarded a bunch of lots that I liked and have a big dragonpile of them in the way of folders. I just like collecting things so this feels easy for me.

      Edit: spelling
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      sunblondsunblond Posts: 1,035 Member
      The Sims 4 tray importer is a program you can DL that allows you to save households, lots etc. As a zip file. That way you can have individual ones stored safely somewhere.
      Origin ID is: sobenewbie
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      SilentKittySilentKitty Posts: 4,665 Member

      And I am offline again.

      This is my simming-life with mods and CC. You update the stuff, download all the things you like ASAP and then prepare to go offline.

      There are several bugs out there, I had one save turn iffy but gave that household a restart. So since all my mods and CC seems to be working and I have no one of the major bugs I will not update my game.

      Back to my little... errr not so little... dragon-pile of saved stuff. Will update the game next time a major pack comes :)
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