The Reddit post was about what I expected to see, so yeah, the next improvement to Neighborhood stories will have to be romantic relationships, splitting households, and marriages.
For now, I can leave that to MCCC, but I really need MCCC to take existing relationships into account more. It always seems to split up the unmarried couples living together (Stirling-Rico and Darrel & Emilia from the Charms) in my saves
Yes, that was my issue with MCCC too. It also doesn't take any notice of people in romantic relationships when choosing a spouse. I've had people who my sim had hooked up, who then suddenly were married to someone else.
That just reminded me it also tended to move foxes in with other households if you have cottage living when I tried it. So maybe romantic relationships where sims are moving in or out might be one area where the phone calls would work better than shuffling sims in and out of households if flaggin the right sims passively is an issue.
> @mightysprite said: > @Stormkeep Just checked. No! She does not have a pink bar. Interesting. > (These calls are new to me since the update)
This happened to me cos I added them to a household together cos I was hoping to get the “I found a ring” phonecall so they’d get engaged and then I’d go in Cas to marry them but when I went into the household; there was no pink bar, there was no green bar and they hadn’t even met before. That’s so disappointing.
Does anything happen if the household doesn't have sufficient space for additions? For example, no pet bowl or bed, no toddler or child beds?
The Vatores have adopted a dog via Neighbourhood Stories. Can’t remember if Vampires came before or after Cats & Dogs.
I quickly swapped to them to give them pet stuff. Then marked them back as ‘Other Households’. I might sweep round other houses tonight to ensure all pets have max care.
Also to help ensure there’s groups, I’ll be grouping townies. So far I’m only getting single Sims appearing in the bin.
I’ll choose the house, move them in as mark them ‘Other Households’ as well so if they get adoptions or pets I know there’s room.
@mightysprite, but does the person who said "I am so in love" actually have a pink relationship bar that is at least partially full with the other sim?
That's been the issue up until now. Those phone calls aren't new, but every time I've loaded up the sim in question to check on them they have no actual romantic relationship developed for the sim they supposedly are "so in love" with. The same is true for those with whom you hook up as just friends. Phone calls say they had a great time or whatever, but the game doesn't actually give them any relationship progress.
I haven't checked on either since this last update.
@mightysprite, I'm pretty sure there's an older one too, cause I could swear I me-too'd a bug report on it ages ago. What's funny is I am pretty sure that it is how it works for all of us because based on the tuning files themselves, I don't see anywhere that it is giving the relationship progress.
I just think most simmers don't actually load up those sims and look. Or when they do, the sims in question already had some relationship progress, so they aren't aware the neighborhood stories phone call is doing, literally, nothing.
Yeah, I recently noticed the “Talk up another sim” social only works temporarily. I had success with this, or so I thought, then these sims ended up moving in together and they still needed to be introduced.
These things are only meaningful if they’re real. What a farce.
I've been playing my Supervillain scenario for 2 weeks so I thought I'd give a summary of what happened in Neighborhood Stories in a new save.
I have everything enabled except Move Out.
I didn't bother looking at everyone's careers. I remember seeing a few accidental death notifications. I don't remember how many. It wasn't a lot. I'm playing on normal lifespan so the original elders have just died.
Who moved house:
Willow Creek: nothing
Oasis Springs: 1 single townie moved in
Windenburg: nothing
San Myshuno: Holly Alto moved in next door to the Bheedas
Brindleton Bay: 1 single townie moved in, McKinnon moved into Hound's Head
Del Sol Valley: nothing
Britechester: nothing
Glimmerbrook: nothing
Evergreen Harbor: Chopra moved into Pinecrest Apartments
Mt. Komorebi: Dustin Broke moved into Senbamachi, Itos moved out of their house even though I have the Move Out option turned off
Henford-on-Bagley: 1 single townie moved in
Who had children, adopted children, and adopted pets, among the premades:
Bjergsen: had a baby and adopted a child
Spencer-Kim-Lewis: had a baby and adopted a cat
Landgraab: adopted two children and a cat
Roomies: nothing
Caliente: adopted a dog
BFF: nothing
Goth: had a baby
Zest: adopted a dog
McKinnon: had a baby
Pleasant: nothing
Bhamra: nothing
Fletcher: nothing
Ito: nothing
Father Winter: nothing
Akiyama: had a baby
Moyer: nothing
Greenburg: nothing
Sterling Rico: nothing
Harris: adopted a child
Charm: had a baby and adopted a child
Acolytes: nothing
Jang: nothing
Benali: nothing
Feng: nothing
Lobo: nothing
Rasoya: nothing
Bheeda: had a baby and adopted a child and a cat
Karaoke Legends: adopted a child and a dog
Watson: nothing
New Start: nothing
Scott: adopted a child and a baby
Bell: nothing
Chopra: nothing
Goldbloom: nothing
Free Spirits: nothing
Fyres: had a baby and adopted 3 dogs
Munch: adopted a dog
Partihaus: adopted a dog
Bro: nothing
Behr: nothing
Ember: nothing
Faba: nothing
Silversweater: nothing
Jeong: adopted a cat
Ward: nothing
Bailey-Moon: had a baby
Cho: nothing
Dreamer: nothing
Fabulous: nothing
Broke: nothing
Alto: nothing
Flemming: nothing
Baby Ariel: nothing
Lynx: has 4 cats now, don't remember how many she starts with
Delgato: has 2 dogs and a cat now
Hecking: nothing
Best of friends: nothing
Elderberry: nothing
None of the random townie households had children, adopted children or adopted pets so far as I can tell. But, they don't live in lots except for the 3 who moved into lots, so that may be why.
Summary:
- When you're looking at all the notifications on the mailbox, the level of activity seems kind of crazy, but when you look at Manage Households and see how many households had nothing happen, it isn't crazy at all.
- There is not a crazy number of child adoptions. Looks like an equal number of adoptions and biological births.
- It's a little odd that the Itos moved out of their home when I have "move out" disabled. Wonder what happened there.
- It's also odd that more people didn't move into vacant houses. 3 townies moving in in 2 weeks seems about the same amount as I used to have with just the "fill empty houses" checkbox ticked. Now I have that box ticked and Neighborhood Stories move-ins enabled. Doesn't seem to be any effect.
- Lots of things happened to households that my played household never met. I was wondering if "neighbor" meant "people you know" or "everybody in the world." I guess everybody in the world is our neighbor
- If nothing happens to random townies, over time as the random townie pool increases and the premades die out, Neighborhood Stories activity will diminish.
- It's a little odd that the Itos moved out of their home when I have "move out" disabled. Wonder what happened there.
The description for Move In is that sims are allowed to move into unoccupied homes. You said you didn't disable this. Did they move to a different home?
I don't say this esp often to them much these days, but bravo Sims team (and esp SimGuruNate) for bringing an update to the Neighborhood Stories that provides so much options and settings to tweak our saves the way we wanted and it still (so far) works for the most part! I'm even almost tempted to finally take out MCCC from my game. Almost.
I'm even almost tempted to finally take out MCCC from my game. Almost.
I did for awhile. I finally just put back the main module for custom aging, Dresser for outfit management, and Tuner for tweaking autonomous behaviors that are excessive.
It's not perfect right now, but I think it's a step in the right direction. They just need to add more options, especially marriage, dating, and divorce. I'd love to see a frequency option where we can specify how slow or fast we want things to happen.
- It's a little odd that the Itos moved out of their home when I have "move out" disabled. Wonder what happened there.
The description for Move In is that sims are allowed to move into unoccupied homes. You said you didn't disable this. Did they move to a different home?
I've been enjoying the new neighbourhood story update but it isn't without scandal. One of my female sims is married with two children. Checking in on all the new additions to the neighbourhood I discovered she has had twins. I had a quick look at her family tree and discovered the babies arent her husbands but her teenage sweetheart I forgot to break up with!!!! 😯
I was playing this weekend and nothing fun happened in my world. The Goths got a baby but that's it.
I wanted to see what it will do. So today I started a fresh game, put in a family from the gallery, mom dad and toddler. I set them up with lots of money, I took their stove away because they had a fire within minutes. I got them a nanny and a butler. I set them in a club where the parents would clean, repair, sleep and eat. Then I made Vlad's house active (because he is immortal?) so if they die, the game won't just stop.
I got them started and they will go all day til I get home. I doubt my original family will survive but I'm interested in seeing what happens in the world.
I noticed sims with the “family oriented” trait are baby/adoption factories now. I had several families with up to 4 babies or 4 toddlers at once in a matter of sim days……it’s a bit too much.
I love seeing sims adopting pets randomly. I like that they move in/out on their own, even though they don’t always chose the proper house (not enough beds for everyone).
I noticed sims with the “family oriented” trait are baby/adoption factories now. I had several families with up to 4 babies or 4 toddlers at once in a matter of sim days……it’s a bit too much.
I love seeing sims adopting pets randomly. I like that they move in/out on their own, even though they don’t always chose the proper house (not enough beds for everyone).
Yeah... they should probably add some limiter options.
I feel like the likely hood of couple to have babies is skewed heavily to older adults. Which stresses me out because I have seen alot of adult sims have a few "late in life" babies then age up to elder with a bunch of small kids. (I have since changed options individually)
Meanwhile I have been keeping an eye out for some younger couples that I have manually married in CAS but any young adults haven't had any kids yet. Any one else notice this?
I feel like the likely hood of couple to have babies is skewed heavily to older adults. Which stresses me out because I have seen alot of adult sims have a few "late in life" babies then age up to elder with a bunch of small kids. (I have since changed options individually)
Meanwhile I have been keeping an eye out for some younger couples that I have manually married in CAS but any young adults haven't had any kids yet. Any one else notice this?
@Melmack I can only say that married YA sims in my game are indeed having babies, some one right after another. Adults and oddly elders were also having them until I turned off babies for elders. I'm still not sure that was intentional.
I'm finding Neighborhood Stories to be a great addition to the game. it's super powerful though I have had it turned off for a couple of days while I sort through everything that has changed. I noticed one of my families that was supposed to be exempt still suffered a death and added 3 more children to the household. I use mods though and I know there is some conflict with Neighborhood stories. Still loving what it is bringing to the game though.
@mightysprite, but does the person who said "I am so in love" actually have a pink relationship bar that is at least partially full with the other sim?
That's been the issue up until now. Those phone calls aren't new, but every time I've loaded up the sim in question to check on them they have no actual romantic relationship developed for the sim they supposedly are "so in love" with. The same is true for those with whom you hook up as just friends. Phone calls say they had a great time or whatever, but the game doesn't actually give them any relationship progress.
I haven't checked on either since this last update.
disappointing, @mightysprite. You temporarily gave me hope.
I do hope they fix it at some point in the future.
This lack of actual progression kills it for me. Disappointing, I agree.
I also seem to recollect that early in the game's history if two sims start chatting/flirting randomly when meeting for the first time then they will gain a friendship/romance bar. Recently I have noticed this is not always the case. On a number of occasions I have seen one my sims chatting away with another sim, but when i select them and then try for a manual interaction, I have to use one of the introduction interactions first.
I suspect this lack of relationship gain is related to the game not being able to handle too many relationships due to performance impact - am speculating of course.
Awake.
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity.... The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
I agree with the general consensus of "glad we have it but boy is it powerful!" What I've taken to doing is turning it on for a few days and then turning it off. I feel like that is the best way I've been able to still have a balanced game.
The deaths, especially, have led to some interesting storytelling opportunities. For example, the Watsons lost their patriarch in my main save and I know he was all about the farm life. So the rest of the family is picking up and moving to Britechester.
Comments
That just reminded me it also tended to move foxes in with other households if you have cottage living when I tried it. So maybe romantic relationships where sims are moving in or out might be one area where the phone calls would work better than shuffling sims in and out of households if flaggin the right sims passively is an issue.
> @Stormkeep Just checked. No! She does not have a pink bar. Interesting.
> (These calls are new to me since the update)
This happened to me cos I added them to a household together cos I was hoping to get the “I found a ring” phonecall so they’d get engaged and then I’d go in Cas to marry them but when I went into the household; there was no pink bar, there was no green bar and they hadn’t even met before. That’s so disappointing.
I quickly swapped to them to give them pet stuff. Then marked them back as ‘Other Households’. I might sweep round other houses tonight to ensure all pets have max care.
Also to help ensure there’s groups, I’ll be grouping townies. So far I’m only getting single Sims appearing in the bin.
I’ll choose the house, move them in as mark them ‘Other Households’ as well so if they get adoptions or pets I know there’s room.
I’ll be busy this evening! 🏃🏻♂️🏋🏼
I have questions.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
Looks like there's a bug thread for this here
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/Neighbourhood-stories-phone-calls-not-having-intended-affect/m-p/11370414#M209718
I just think most simmers don't actually load up those sims and look. Or when they do, the sims in question already had some relationship progress, so they aren't aware the neighborhood stories phone call is doing, literally, nothing.
The Winters family Tree --- My Mods
These things are only meaningful if they’re real. What a farce.
I have everything enabled except Move Out.
I didn't bother looking at everyone's careers. I remember seeing a few accidental death notifications. I don't remember how many. It wasn't a lot. I'm playing on normal lifespan so the original elders have just died.
Who moved house:
Oasis Springs: 1 single townie moved in
Windenburg: nothing
San Myshuno: Holly Alto moved in next door to the Bheedas
Brindleton Bay: 1 single townie moved in, McKinnon moved into Hound's Head
Del Sol Valley: nothing
Britechester: nothing
Glimmerbrook: nothing
Evergreen Harbor: Chopra moved into Pinecrest Apartments
Mt. Komorebi: Dustin Broke moved into Senbamachi, Itos moved out of their house even though I have the Move Out option turned off
Henford-on-Bagley: 1 single townie moved in
Who had children, adopted children, and adopted pets, among the premades:
Spencer-Kim-Lewis: had a baby and adopted a cat
Landgraab: adopted two children and a cat
Roomies: nothing
Caliente: adopted a dog
BFF: nothing
Goth: had a baby
Zest: adopted a dog
McKinnon: had a baby
Pleasant: nothing
Bhamra: nothing
Fletcher: nothing
Ito: nothing
Father Winter: nothing
Akiyama: had a baby
Moyer: nothing
Greenburg: nothing
Sterling Rico: nothing
Harris: adopted a child
Charm: had a baby and adopted a child
Acolytes: nothing
Jang: nothing
Benali: nothing
Feng: nothing
Lobo: nothing
Rasoya: nothing
Bheeda: had a baby and adopted a child and a cat
Karaoke Legends: adopted a child and a dog
Watson: nothing
New Start: nothing
Scott: adopted a child and a baby
Bell: nothing
Chopra: nothing
Goldbloom: nothing
Free Spirits: nothing
Fyres: had a baby and adopted 3 dogs
Munch: adopted a dog
Partihaus: adopted a dog
Bro: nothing
Behr: nothing
Ember: nothing
Faba: nothing
Silversweater: nothing
Jeong: adopted a cat
Ward: nothing
Bailey-Moon: had a baby
Cho: nothing
Dreamer: nothing
Fabulous: nothing
Broke: nothing
Alto: nothing
Flemming: nothing
Baby Ariel: nothing
Lynx: has 4 cats now, don't remember how many she starts with
Delgato: has 2 dogs and a cat now
Hecking: nothing
Best of friends: nothing
Elderberry: nothing
None of the random townie households had children, adopted children or adopted pets so far as I can tell. But, they don't live in lots except for the 3 who moved into lots, so that may be why.
Summary:
- When you're looking at all the notifications on the mailbox, the level of activity seems kind of crazy, but when you look at Manage Households and see how many households had nothing happen, it isn't crazy at all.
- There is not a crazy number of child adoptions. Looks like an equal number of adoptions and biological births.
- It's a little odd that the Itos moved out of their home when I have "move out" disabled. Wonder what happened there.
- It's also odd that more people didn't move into vacant houses. 3 townies moving in in 2 weeks seems about the same amount as I used to have with just the "fill empty houses" checkbox ticked. Now I have that box ticked and Neighborhood Stories move-ins enabled. Doesn't seem to be any effect.
- Lots of things happened to households that my played household never met. I was wondering if "neighbor" meant "people you know" or "everybody in the world." I guess everybody in the world is our neighbor
- If nothing happens to random townies, over time as the random townie pool increases and the premades die out, Neighborhood Stories activity will diminish.
There's random ginger genes in a lot of families...
The description for Move In is that sims are allowed to move into unoccupied homes. You said you didn't disable this. Did they move to a different home?
I think Move Out makes them homeless.
I did for awhile. I finally just put back the main module for custom aging, Dresser for outfit management, and Tuner for tweaking autonomous behaviors that are excessive.
@EmmaVane they are homeless now.
My Gallery Link
._.·´)¯)£è룵(¯(`·._.
I wanted to see what it will do. So today I started a fresh game, put in a family from the gallery, mom dad and toddler. I set them up with lots of money, I took their stove away because they had a fire within minutes. I got them a nanny and a butler. I set them in a club where the parents would clean, repair, sleep and eat. Then I made Vlad's house active (because he is immortal?) so if they die, the game won't just stop.
I got them started and they will go all day til I get home. I doubt my original family will survive but I'm interested in seeing what happens in the world.
I love seeing sims adopting pets randomly. I like that they move in/out on their own, even though they don’t always chose the proper house (not enough beds for everyone).
Yeah... they should probably add some limiter options.
Meanwhile I have been keeping an eye out for some younger couples that I have manually married in CAS but any young adults haven't had any kids yet. Any one else notice this?
This lack of actual progression kills it for me. Disappointing, I agree.
I also seem to recollect that early in the game's history if two sims start chatting/flirting randomly when meeting for the first time then they will gain a friendship/romance bar. Recently I have noticed this is not always the case. On a number of occasions I have seen one my sims chatting away with another sim, but when i select them and then try for a manual interaction, I have to use one of the introduction interactions first.
I suspect this lack of relationship gain is related to the game not being able to handle too many relationships due to performance impact - am speculating of course.
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity....
The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
The deaths, especially, have led to some interesting storytelling opportunities. For example, the Watsons lost their patriarch in my main save and I know he was all about the farm life. So the rest of the family is picking up and moving to Britechester.