What mods make autonomy better? I am a player that likes to let my sims do their own thing, but in TS4, the only things they do is stand around talking. After playing with a family for a couple of sim weeks, one of them has started watching tv on her own and the other is always gardening, but still, they don't do anything. They want to play on computers all the time.
Why not remove their computers or only let one have the use of it?
What mods make autonomy better? I am a player that likes to let my sims do their own thing, but in TS4, the only things they do is stand around talking. After playing with a family for a couple of sim weeks, one of them has started watching tv on her own and the other is always gardening, but still, they don't do anything. They want to play on computers all the time.
My sims tend to do pretty well with autonomy, but I'm not doing anything "right." I primarily play on a giant lot with a pool, computers, a ping pong table, etc. which is "wrong" because my sims have a lot of options to do whatever.
But I think it may help to have mods that generate whims/push sims to do things - so the big mods like Slice of Life, More Personality Please, Wonderful Whims, MCCC, etc. Personally, I only use WW and MCCC for big mods because the others do too much for me. I don't do this but with MCCC you can also disable sims from doing specific actions autonomously if they get on your nerves instead of getting rid of those objects in your household.
I think it helps to have sims develop a bit of a personality first as well as they tend to repeat things that they've already done. So if you give a sim a hobby like painting, watching movies, or playing a particular instrument, they're more likely to repeat it.
I play relatively large households of 5 to 8 sims, so autonomy isn't boring for me because it mainly happens when I'm focused on directing a few sims and I let the others kind of do what they want because they've already accomplished what I'd like them to do for the day.
It probably helps that my computer is a powerful gaming desktop (Alienware, i9, 2080 Ti) and that I've been lucky not to really have simulation lag or any other kind of lag.
I play big families usually and I play with autonomy on. I have always played with it on. I only turn it off when I'm trying to take family pictures and I need them to do what I want. I like to see what my sims do and how they interact on their own.
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I always play with autonomy off. I don't like my sims doing anything that I didn't tell them to do. I'm still upset that we can't play pets and turn off their autonomy. They have autonomy even with the playable pets mod so I can never have pets in my households.
I keep the autonomy on and I usually concentrate on one Sim and the others will do whatever they want. I've also had saves in which I put random Sims with different traits living together and I never clicked anything, I just watched them doing their things. There used to be a lot of deaths and fights between those Sims, but never a romance. It was entertaining, but it was difficult not to click anything. I don't have those saves anymore.
Right now I have to play with autonomy off on selected Sims because there is a bug that makes Sims drop everything from their queues. I hate to do it, but there is no other choice if I want my Sims to do their work tasks etc. I hope the bug will get fixed soon.
What mods make autonomy better? I am a player that likes to let my sims do their own thing, but in TS4, the only things they do is stand around talking. After playing with a family for a couple of sim weeks, one of them has started watching tv on her own and the other is always gardening, but still, they don't do anything. They want to play on computers all the time.
Why not remove their computers or only let one have the use of it?
At the time, they were both in college so they needed them. They're also authors so they still need them. I just picked up a CC typewriter with the computer fun stuff disabled, so maybe that will help.
What mods make autonomy better? I am a player that likes to let my sims do their own thing, but in TS4, the only things they do is stand around talking. After playing with a family for a couple of sim weeks, one of them has started watching tv on her own and the other is always gardening, but still, they don't do anything. They want to play on computers all the time.
My sims tend to do pretty well with autonomy, but I'm not doing anything "right." I primarily play on a giant lot with a pool, computers, a ping pong table, etc. which is "wrong" because my sims have a lot of options to do whatever.
But I think it may help to have mods that generate whims/push sims to do things - so the big mods like Slice of Life, More Personality Please, Wonderful Whims, MCCC, etc. Personally, I only use WW and MCCC for big mods because the others do too much for me. I don't do this but with MCCC you can also disable sims from doing specific actions autonomously if they get on your nerves instead of getting rid of those objects in your household.
I think it helps to have sims develop a bit of a personality first as well as they tend to repeat things that they've already done. So if you give a sim a hobby like painting, watching movies, or playing a particular instrument, they're more likely to repeat it.
I play relatively large households of 5 to 8 sims, so autonomy isn't boring for me because it mainly happens when I'm focused on directing a few sims and I let the others kind of do what they want because they've already accomplished what I'd like them to do for the day.
It probably helps that my computer is a powerful gaming desktop (Alienware, i9, 2080 Ti) and that I've been lucky not to really have simulation lag or any other kind of lag.
I tend to play on smaller lots with some options, but I do have like a tv, computers, usually at least 1 hobby/skilling item, etc. This one family is the first time I've ever seen them do anything on their own and it took a whole university degree + 1 extra semester for it to start happening. That's a long time. And then it's still kind of me forcing the personality on them because I still have to direct them to do it first. I'm the kind of player that likes for them to do stuff that I can notice about them. It tells me who they are. Before this, they literally just stood in the walkway between the living room and kitchen and talked forever. They never stopped. My other families are also doing the same thing. Gathering in a bathroom and talking the whole time. I think because I play rotational and only for a week at a time, it isn't allowing the AI to shift and handle it on it's own. I only played this one house for longer because they were in college and that's how I stumbled upon them doing more than talking autonomously.
I'm going to check out the mods you suggested. I had SOL and that wasn't updated even for the patch before this one so I doubt it's good now. I won't do MCCC - I just can't figure it out and hate that it put families in my empty houses. I'll look into wonderful whims as I've never heard of it.
I always have full autonomy on. In private I control them, but when they're in a public setting (like a bar or club), I pretty much let them do their own thing.
One thing I learned with autonomy is to never let them have a tv---they will spend the entire day watching it if you let them
I had an interesting example of autonomy affecting my play last night. I have a Sim who I thought was just going to produce a band, and not perform in it. But last night, when I was playing the other bandmembers and not him, he autonomously immediately ran to the microphone and took centerstage as the lead singer. Some people just have to have all the attention! So now I’m considering having him be the lead singer instead of just being the producer.
Yeah my family runs on auto pilot. I only intervene when the Gen4+ family members start to get a little frisky with <Gen3 family members. I can't have Gen 5's making babies with Gen 3's and 2's.
I tend to play on smaller lots with some options, but I do have like a tv, computers, usually at least 1 hobby/skilling item, etc. This one family is the first time I've ever seen them do anything on their own and it took a whole university degree + 1 extra semester for it to start happening. That's a long time. And then it's still kind of me forcing the personality on them because I still have to direct them to do it first. I'm the kind of player that likes for them to do stuff that I can notice about them. It tells me who they are. Before this, they literally just stood in the walkway between the living room and kitchen and talked forever. They never stopped. My other families are also doing the same thing. Gathering in a bathroom and talking the whole time. I think because I play rotational and only for a week at a time, it isn't allowing the AI to shift and handle it on it's own. I only played this one house for longer because they were in college and that's how I stumbled upon them doing more than talking autonomously.
I'm going to check out the mods you suggested. I had SOL and that wasn't updated even for the patch before this one so I doubt it's good now. I won't do MCCC - I just can't figure it out and hate that it put families in my empty houses. I'll look into wonderful whims as I've never heard of it.
It's really interesting to hear how different people play. I'm similar in that I also like for my sims to do stuff that I can notice about them, so that I can build/understand their personalities from there. I play legacy style, so I get the sims from babies and I never rotate . I randomize their toddler traits and kind of watch them and build upon everything. I use the whims a lot to help. My sims talk a lot too, but only once did they chat in the bathroom. Even though I play a giant lot, I also try to keep my sims together so that they have opportunities to interact with one another. More than having any big things that happen, though, I just have a lot of cute little moments. Like a teenager will be dancing with her friends and her dad will randomly come in trying to impress with his own moves, I guess, and fall on his face embarrassing her.
Or on New Years sims will autonomously kiss their significant others and hug close family members and friends.
My AI right now is on point. Even the butler is working well. My sims may be sitting at a table to eat (perhaps amazing in itself) and then the butler will pick up the plate as they finish. She also fixes things immediately after they break. But, overall, the game seems to be very finicky and unstable.
I suppose the closest I come to what you described is that I play a full household, most of the time, which requires autonomy be on. I will then primarily focus on my 'main' Sim, if you will, and pretty much allow the rest of the household to do their own thing. Once in a great while, I'll intervene, (unless I've got students and Uni and then I direct their days so that they graduate Summa Coom Laude, all A's, highest distinction). The main character is my would-be celebrity Sim. I've played this same family in several iterations. Sometimes I've had to start all over due to a corrupted file, or Operator Malfunction (me goofing things up a bit). But, recently, with the patches playing havoc and not wishing to sit on my hands not playing until the mods I use are given the all-clear or are updated, I have taken to starting this family again in a TEST SAVE.
I play on console, I do not use these mods.
This is what works for me, if you want to give that a shake.
Husband and wife meet, next is a job.
I build some skills, starting with tasks that mundane, like housework.
I give sims fun ideas, like singing, or computer games.
Making sure sims have tasks to use outside, when autonomy is on, they don't stay on their rear ends all day.
Make a few friends, join mommy groups. Sometimes penpals, great fun.
I have the wife ready for a baby, and she takes leave.
Have family and close friends gain sentiments for each other.
Average nineties move, I put the families computer in the TV room. Sims interact with family watching TV, so they aren't cooped up.
Then I send them on their way.
I go back when baby is grown, and add chores, and they do them themselves when parents praise so much.
The home is very poor first off, but when they get money I decorate, add real things, like sunscreen. I change tasks, removing a swing set for monkey bars so foward.
They pretty averagely copy this life I made, and do ambitious things I don't think of, too.
I always play with autonomy on but don't leave My families to their own devices until I've trained them up a bit.
They all have to have their own beds assigned to them from the start, with lucky Sims who get a double bed to themselves, having both sides assigned to them to stop another member of the family getting in with them.
Never start off with a pool, tent or a barbecue in the garden. Sims will start off by swimming, sleeping in the tent or burning themselves to death on the barbecue because they haven't got the proper skill to use it. Stop the kids from using a computer by limiting it to the adults for a bit.
Always start off with what the Sims basically need and not what I would like them to have. This is what I learned from the first Sims Game and it still stands with this one.
You have to have the right house, one that is right for them and doesn't entail them going upstairs to wash the dishes or not use the dishwasher because they are in the wrong place. There's a lot of satisfaction in seeing your Sims clearing the table and putting the plates in the dishwasher without being asked and seeing the children actually opting to do their homework is a bonus. The simpler the house layout the better and plenty of room to get around without being stuck.
Get your Adult Sims a job, with one doing it from home, Others having to go out. A butler, nanny or maid can help if affordable.
I like to leave my Sims going on with their lives whilst I make lunch etc and it's a great bonus to come back and see they are keeping all their needs in the green and no one dead!
I can then leave them to flourish and rotate to a new family. I usually meet the old families in the Diner, cafe or bar etc. to socialize with later.
This. ^^^
In my house, dog hair sticks to everything but the dog.
Build testing - Sims become fixated with putting away staged items that are part of the build.
It never crosses my mind to shut off autonomy, this results in multiple rounds of cat and mouse With Sims fixated on putting away toys or magazines or other display items.
What mods make autonomy better? I am a player that likes to let my sims do their own thing, but in TS4, the only things they do is stand around talking. After playing with a family for a couple of sim weeks, one of them has started watching tv on her own and the other is always gardening, but still, they don't do anything. They want to play on computers all the time.
I have mods to turn off specific things, like drinking water, playing with their phone or playing computer games. I think Bienchen is the person who made most of them. I also use MCCC to turn off autonomy on things they obsess over, like the popcorn maker, icecream maker and at the moment cooking because of the current bugs.
I used to play with autonomy on. I was constantly frustrated by them wanting to do things other than what I had planned for them. And mods need to be updated so frequently that I try to have as few as possible (and only from specific mod makers of those that I do have.) Then I tried it with autonomy turned off. I'm *much* happier now. Even with autonomy off they sometimes still do things on their own though. (I have to make sure I have something for them to do if I've had them do a few romantic things or they'll run off on their own to woo hoo!)
I do this all the time! Mostly because I hate seeing my sims just stand there and doing nothing waiting for me to tell them what to do! Even when I'm controlling them I still keep autonomy on. It does get really hectic when your controlling more than 3 sims though! What I usually do is I usually like to raise their skills and max out their jobs/careers before I just sit back and let them run automatically! Then when they have kids I focus more on them until I raise up their skills and then just let them run automatically as well! They almost do a good job taking care of toddlers! My only thing is I wish they would feed their pets and fix things!
I tend to get overwhelmed with bigger families or just forget to set up queues for Sims I'm not actively playing, so I'd like to leave Autonomy on more often... but everything gets way too chaotic, and not in the fun way. I never make detailed plans for my households, so if the game throws random stuff like alien abductions and hungry murphy beds my way, so be it. But I always need some kind of routine to each Sim day. For example, in the morning, I get my Sims ready for school / work, and once they get home, I take care of their needs, let kids do homework and then they've got some free time between dinner and bedtime. I don't want Sims to learn random skills either (e.g. no need for my squeamish Sim to start gardening and digging in the dirt, you know...).
So, while I'd love to just sit back and watch for a couple Sim hours, everything falls apart once I turn on Autonomy, so I've given up on that.
I started doing this with my legacy in Sims 3. At nine generations in, I'm almost done, but in between birthdays, it gets boring I'm not having a sim work on something (like a skill or career). I let the sims manage themselves until it's time for one to age up or another sim to be born.
I started doing this in Sims 4. In fact, this is essentially what the Asylum Challenge is. Though, I once did it for so long, I fell asleep and the game ran all night.
They all died of starvation because the fridge broke. Oops!
I've come to realize that some Sims seem to be "smarter" than others. I keep the smart ones and use the others as townies.
I play with autonomy on except for when they have to read a book, paint a certain type of painting, cook a meal, or do something specific to a career. Right now even the smart ones, get distracted by a basketball hoop and will stop what they're doing to run outside to shoot a few hoops before going off to do something else. Is this the fault of their AI or is it faulty programming?
The first week or two of a new save what I'm basically doing is teaching them how to take care of themselves. I think this is what we're all doing. About two weeks after I start playing a Sim I notice that some will develop a tendency to override what I want them to do so I back off and leave them on their own for a few days. The "smart" ones manage just fine. They keep their needs up, including social by talking to plants or chatting online. I've never had one in this group pass out, pee themselves, or start a fire. They manage to repair things that break, take out the trash, and inspect their garden on their own. These are my keepers.
On the other hand, the not-so-smart ones are more concerned with keeping up Fun and Social instead of Bladder, Energy, Hunger, or even Hygiene. Sims in this group often have a red plumbob, pass out, and/or wet themselves because they ignored their most critical needs and ignored me when I told them to use the bathroom or eat. These are not keepers. They either get dead (one died in a kitchen fire), deleted, or sent "out of town" where townies are free to do whatever they want, whenever they want.
I've collected about eleven "smart" Sims who have started families. What I've found is that the AI of their children is consistently just as good, or even better than their parents. Another thing that I've found very interesting about this group is that all but one is left-handed. I was also surprised to find that four of them have the hidden "Likes Fruitcake" trait.
My Sims all start in the same Tier 2 Tiny Home Starter so none of them start with any extra advantages. They start with the Nerd Brain aspiration to get the Quick Learner aspiration trait. My last three Sims started with their lots designated as Off the Grid because I wanted to see if any improvements had been made to this lot trait. Yes and no (mostly no). There are still many candle lamps that aren't tagged for use off the grid. I was surprised to find that a card table can't be used off the grid. I guess the Landgraabs figured out a way to make a deck of cards function with power. Dartboards with twinkling lights must be powered too.
I have autonomy on full, but then disable it lately for my selected sim, because there seems to be a lot of queue drops lately and this seems to really help. I can control the sim I am actively playing but everyone else goes about their business in the background.
Even though the rich families are living in mansions, I'm a believer in giving them the bare essentials at home and if they want to, say, use a computer, they must travel to a library. Want to listen to music? Go to a nightclub. Want to paint? Visit the museum, and so on. Makes good use of community lots and gets them to socialise.
I'm starting to think that getting all your Sims to happily carry on with their lives without being killed is when you have "won" the game! Eco Lifestyle gives a hint to that and what Will Wright meant when he pointed out how much do you actually really need in life when he made the original game?
I always play with full autonomy, and often have played with controlling only one Sim in the household. This actually works in TS4 -- the other Sims will take care of their needs. They won't do much else, though. With the improvement of traits, it will be interesting to see if they'll do more.
Comments
Why not remove their computers or only let one have the use of it?
My sims tend to do pretty well with autonomy, but I'm not doing anything "right." I primarily play on a giant lot with a pool, computers, a ping pong table, etc. which is "wrong" because my sims have a lot of options to do whatever.
But I think it may help to have mods that generate whims/push sims to do things - so the big mods like Slice of Life, More Personality Please, Wonderful Whims, MCCC, etc. Personally, I only use WW and MCCC for big mods because the others do too much for me. I don't do this but with MCCC you can also disable sims from doing specific actions autonomously if they get on your nerves instead of getting rid of those objects in your household.
I think it helps to have sims develop a bit of a personality first as well as they tend to repeat things that they've already done. So if you give a sim a hobby like painting, watching movies, or playing a particular instrument, they're more likely to repeat it.
I play relatively large households of 5 to 8 sims, so autonomy isn't boring for me because it mainly happens when I'm focused on directing a few sims and I let the others kind of do what they want because they've already accomplished what I'd like them to do for the day.
It probably helps that my computer is a powerful gaming desktop (Alienware, i9, 2080 Ti) and that I've been lucky not to really have simulation lag or any other kind of lag.
Yes... Good to see they are still doing what you commanded them to do...
And then stand there stupidly waiting for more orders...
Right now I have to play with autonomy off on selected Sims because there is a bug that makes Sims drop everything from their queues. I hate to do it, but there is no other choice if I want my Sims to do their work tasks etc. I hope the bug will get fixed soon.
At the time, they were both in college so they needed them. They're also authors so they still need them. I just picked up a CC typewriter with the computer fun stuff disabled, so maybe that will help.
I tend to play on smaller lots with some options, but I do have like a tv, computers, usually at least 1 hobby/skilling item, etc. This one family is the first time I've ever seen them do anything on their own and it took a whole university degree + 1 extra semester for it to start happening. That's a long time. And then it's still kind of me forcing the personality on them because I still have to direct them to do it first. I'm the kind of player that likes for them to do stuff that I can notice about them. It tells me who they are. Before this, they literally just stood in the walkway between the living room and kitchen and talked forever. They never stopped. My other families are also doing the same thing. Gathering in a bathroom and talking the whole time. I think because I play rotational and only for a week at a time, it isn't allowing the AI to shift and handle it on it's own. I only played this one house for longer because they were in college and that's how I stumbled upon them doing more than talking autonomously.
I'm going to check out the mods you suggested. I had SOL and that wasn't updated even for the patch before this one so I doubt it's good now. I won't do MCCC - I just can't figure it out and hate that it put families in my empty houses. I'll look into wonderful whims as I've never heard of it.
One thing I learned with autonomy is to never let them have a tv---they will spend the entire day watching it if you let them
It's really interesting to hear how different people play. I'm similar in that I also like for my sims to do stuff that I can notice about them, so that I can build/understand their personalities from there. I play legacy style, so I get the sims from babies and I never rotate
Or on New Years sims will autonomously kiss their significant others and hug close family members and friends.
My AI right now is on point. Even the butler is working well. My sims may be sitting at a table to eat (perhaps amazing in itself) and then the butler will pick up the plate as they finish. She also fixes things immediately after they break. But, overall, the game seems to be very finicky and unstable.
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I play on console, I do not use these mods.
This is what works for me, if you want to give that a shake.
Husband and wife meet, next is a job.
I build some skills, starting with tasks that mundane, like housework.
I give sims fun ideas, like singing, or computer games.
Making sure sims have tasks to use outside, when autonomy is on, they don't stay on their rear ends all day.
Make a few friends, join mommy groups. Sometimes penpals, great fun.
I have the wife ready for a baby, and she takes leave.
Have family and close friends gain sentiments for each other.
Average nineties move, I put the families computer in the TV room. Sims interact with family watching TV, so they aren't cooped up.
Then I send them on their way.
I go back when baby is grown, and add chores, and they do them themselves when parents praise so much.
The home is very poor first off, but when they get money I decorate, add real things, like sunscreen. I change tasks, removing a swing set for monkey bars so foward.
They pretty averagely copy this life I made, and do ambitious things I don't think of, too.
This. ^^^
It never crosses my mind to shut off autonomy, this results in multiple rounds of cat and mouse With Sims fixated on putting away toys or magazines or other display items.
I have mods to turn off specific things, like drinking water, playing with their phone or playing computer games. I think Bienchen is the person who made most of them. I also use MCCC to turn off autonomy on things they obsess over, like the popcorn maker, icecream maker and at the moment cooking because of the current bugs.
So, while I'd love to just sit back and watch for a couple Sim hours, everything falls apart once I turn on Autonomy, so I've given up on that.
I started doing this in Sims 4. In fact, this is essentially what the Asylum Challenge is. Though, I once did it for so long, I fell asleep and the game ran all night.
They all died of starvation because the fridge broke. Oops!
I play with autonomy on except for when they have to read a book, paint a certain type of painting, cook a meal, or do something specific to a career. Right now even the smart ones, get distracted by a basketball hoop and will stop what they're doing to run outside to shoot a few hoops before going off to do something else. Is this the fault of their AI or is it faulty programming?
The first week or two of a new save what I'm basically doing is teaching them how to take care of themselves. I think this is what we're all doing. About two weeks after I start playing a Sim I notice that some will develop a tendency to override what I want them to do so I back off and leave them on their own for a few days. The "smart" ones manage just fine. They keep their needs up, including social by talking to plants or chatting online. I've never had one in this group pass out, pee themselves, or start a fire. They manage to repair things that break, take out the trash, and inspect their garden on their own. These are my keepers.
On the other hand, the not-so-smart ones are more concerned with keeping up Fun and Social instead of Bladder, Energy, Hunger, or even Hygiene. Sims in this group often have a red plumbob, pass out, and/or wet themselves because they ignored their most critical needs and ignored me when I told them to use the bathroom or eat. These are not keepers. They either get dead (one died in a kitchen fire), deleted, or sent "out of town" where townies are free to do whatever they want, whenever they want.
I've collected about eleven "smart" Sims who have started families. What I've found is that the AI of their children is consistently just as good, or even better than their parents. Another thing that I've found very interesting about this group is that all but one is left-handed. I was also surprised to find that four of them have the hidden "Likes Fruitcake" trait.
My Sims all start in the same Tier 2 Tiny Home Starter so none of them start with any extra advantages. They start with the Nerd Brain aspiration to get the Quick Learner aspiration trait. My last three Sims started with their lots designated as Off the Grid because I wanted to see if any improvements had been made to this lot trait. Yes and no (mostly no). There are still many candle lamps that aren't tagged for use off the grid. I was surprised to find that a card table can't be used off the grid. I guess the Landgraabs figured out a way to make a deck of cards function with power. Dartboards with twinkling lights must be powered too.
Even though the rich families are living in mansions, I'm a believer in giving them the bare essentials at home and if they want to, say, use a computer, they must travel to a library. Want to listen to music? Go to a nightclub. Want to paint? Visit the museum, and so on. Makes good use of community lots and gets them to socialise.
And I use whims for direction.
Anything else is a lose!