Very interesting thread. I think I will add some NAP's. I like water conservation for oasis springs.
I only have a few rules, but they are not set in stone
- no money cheats to add money. Subtract money is allowed.
- no cheats to advance in skills, careers or aspirations
- spellcasters must specialise in one branch of magic and are not allowed to unlock the top 3 perks of the other branches
- magical nature is a part of a Sims identity. Spellcasters stay spellcasters, vampires stay vampires and mermaids stay mermaids for the rest of their lives. Sims don't switch between supernatural states. The only exception to this rule is my supersim who had to temporarily become a vampire to complete the aspiration
- no money tree.
- Copypasto and the cloning machine are limited. They are not to be used as a money maker. Fot example a spellcaster is allowed to copy insects from outdoor retreat to create herbalism potions, but not to copy plant ingredients which can be grown
- make travel reasonable. My sims mainly travel to nearby locations, for distant destinations, they need to rent a place for the night. I have my own mental map of which worlds are close enough to be considered nearby.
nearly always make my lots a home studio with wild foxes! i have a lot of artsy sims, so home studio is really helpful. and i really like the fox feature (well, when i havent got a free-roaming chicken coop of course!)
I don't have any hard rules per se more like habits I am trying to wean myself out of. Mostly stop pausing so much and letting my Sims do their own things once in a while and also have my Sims be more outgoing. When I first got this game, I avoided the outgoing trait and the aspirations that required a lot of interactions with other Sims, for instance Party Animal and Friend of the World aspirations. I have nixed that avoidance as much as I can and and my rotations have more than a few outgoing Sims (yes some even have that trait). Some have really active social life and I love the club system. Although I do have some introvert Sims I can 'escape' into for time to time.
As I usually play rotational with more than one household in each neighborhood, I prefer my Sims to be diverse both in appearance and traits.
There are traits that I dislike but not as much as I dislike the kleptomaniac. I nix that trait wherever I see it. The other negative traits I don't mind much but I also never use the NAP that encourages theft at community lots. Don't remember what it is named at the moment, but I never allow it and if it accidentally get voted in I remove it instantly with cheat.
Another rule I have is that I can not change any traits of my Sims unless they have earned the 5000 satisfaction points for the trait changing potion. I have made exceptions now in my new saved game, because most of my Sims are either homeless townie/npc rescues or Sims the game has moved into empty houses when I had that ticked. So if I don't like their trait combos they get a free 5000 satisfaction points via cheat for the potion. But my rule is that they have to have at least one negative trait (except of course kleptomaniac).
When it comes to choose traits for toddlers, I usually just randomize it unless I feel that certain toddler trait would work well with them (usually if I have a sketch on how their future and future traits they will be having). The traits chosen from child and up are usually 1 trait from each parent and the 3rd a trait chosen at random or a trait that will suit them. If a child is adopted, the traits will usually not be from the adopted parents and either randomized or chosen with a specific story line for them. And not all of them will get a positive traits from Parenthood. The negative ones are fun too.
I never use snob or evil traits. That's about the only thing I can think of. I tolerate goofball but never give my sims the trait and if they become friends with one, like Johnny Zest, I lock the bathroom for household only when they visit.
1) No cheats, other than to reset stuck sims - this tends to include not using things I consider to be 'cheaty' like certain lot traits or rewards which help build skills faster
2) No entering certain jobs without a degree (things like the doctor career, which I figure they should go to uni for)
i have a number of rules i stick to religiously to combat the absurdly of this thoroughly despicable autonomy feature.
1. Reset famous sims when they attempt to attract fans, sign autographs and especially posing for a picture when they aren't in places that doesn't require them to act in an official capacity. the posting for a picture and attracting fans completely disrupts every other sims actions in the immediate area and i can't allow that.
2. Prevent random nobody sims from communicating with my famous sims. If they persist i'll delete them off the world, if it continues after the fact i'll delete the nobody sim from the game altogether.
3. Force sims to take my orders when they don't, and i don't care what the autonomy wants to try as i will have it bending unnaturally until it begs me to have my own way.
4. Reset yoga teachers, mixologists and gym trainers from getting involved in massages when they are meant to be on duty.
5. Use MCCC MC control to get sims to have the massages they want and it prevents this musical chairs where another sim comes along and cancels the massage so they can get on the table, cancel the massage and then they wonder off moments later. highly inefficient autonomy.
6. once my sim is on a treadmill i have all other sims exercise if they are in a spa where there is gym equipment or at the gym since they are there to exercise and not chit chat.
7. queue up orders once my sim(s) are on massage tables and exercise equipment to prevent them from leaving the table early before the massage ends and also to keep them from chit chat which makes their exercise take a billion times longer than it should take (and this includes autonomous orders from other sims distracting your sims without good reason).
8. queue up an order when engaged in a massage or cure while on the massage chair as the first autonomous order is to grab a drink of water without fail after one of those orders is completed.
9. Never have a music device anywhere in the house or on a lot. sims are attracted to it above anything else.
10. Disable certain naps, especially we wear bags, roughhousing, juiced and free love. as these are highly disruptive in one manner or another, and that's something i can not allow.
11. delete random sims from the world when their dress sense and especially their body shapes are unnatural looking (more often than not fat female sims are generated or overly massive chested females with thin bodies and males that have shrunken shoulders or no hips or both), i'm not prepared to go into dozens of households to fix them, especially when the autonomy will have something stupid done to them anyway.
12. Always get storm chaser sim for my sims where appropriate in order to remove the scared buff, it's often a detriment to the massagers in the spa facilities and any other staff in other places like in a restaurant or a bar, any place where a bad mood can reflect on the crafted object from a sim on job.
I only allow Sims to become occults if they are born in game that way to occult parents or if they like fruitcake. Since liking fruitcake is such a rare trait, they obviously possess rare latent abilities and therefore are capable of transitioning into the occult form of choice. I try to keep my occult populations small.
Almost all lots have the Simple Living lot trait enabled.
Advanced jobs like Scientist and Doctor HAVE to have University degrees.
I do not allow most NAPs to be active because they annoy me.
I don't really have a strict set of rules. I don't allow NAPs or at least I don't allow NPC voting.
I recently started my Westbrook legacy over and I've made a few rules for all generations to follow:
1. All sims must complete a degree.
2. No repeat careers or aspirations in one generation
3. Sims cannot date anyone they don't find attractive; they can't marry someone unless they find the Extremely Attractive (Wonderful Whims). That's a more universal rule throughout all of my saves though.
4. When future generations are born and I start rotating, I'll rotate every Sunday and Wednesday.
That's all I can think of right now. I have them written down but I'm not at my computer at the moment. Most of my rules are to break out of my comfort zone.
Oasis Springs
- you have to use solar panels (if your household can afford them)
- lot trait: geothermal
Lots near water (in every world)
- lot trait: natural well
Lots with garden/or many indoor plants/or chicken/or cow
- lot trait: simple living
How to become a lawyer/teacher/doctor/judge/engineer
- with a degree only (without a degree you can only get the low-level jobs)
I'd love to see a singing career in game, EA! You can't let the singing skill go to waste! My TS4 EPs: GTW, GT, CL, C&D, S, GF, IL, DU, EL, SE, CoL, HSY, GrT, HR, FR GPs: OR, SD, DO, V, P, JA, SV, RoM, DHD, MWS
I have a few, but mostly just follow the rules for whatever challenge I'm playing at the current time.
Sims in a committed relationship or married NEVER cheat. There's enough of that in real life. The one exception has been my current challenge Sim. However, he's doing the 100 Baby Challenge under the influence of aliens. They temporarily took away his memories so he doesn't know he was in a committed relationship at the moment.
Always delete game generated townies unless I like or need them for whatever reason.
Always play offline unless I need to upload/download something for a challenge or by request.
NAPs, Neighborhood Stories, Fame, and Lifestyles off by default. NAPs will be turned on if I'm playing an Eco challenge, same with Fame. However, Neighborhood Stories and Lifestyles will never be turned on.
No highchairs for any reason.
No kitchen sinks, they get a dishwasher unless it's a Rags to Riches Sim just starting out.
Every bathroom must include a toilet roll.
Aging is always off unless it must be turned on for a challenge.
No autonomy unless it must be turned on for a challenge such as the Asylum challenge. Sometimes I'll give them a 'free day' just for kicks when they have nothing else pressing to do or as a 'reward' for accomplishing something, such as completing an aspiration.
Now that I have body hair, all my played males must have it.
Same with eyelashes, teen-elder must have them. I might get a Mod so toddlers/children can have them too.
No cheese colored hair allowed in my game.
Every Sim has a favorite color theme for their wardrobe and house.
Never use the perky, snooty, goofy or sluggish walk styles. Males will have swagger or tough, females mostly feminine, but sometimes swagger or tough. Both might have bouncy depending on their personality.
Never use the Hates Children, Gloomy, Unflirty, Lactose Intolerant, Lazy, Slob, Insider, Evil, or Noncommittal traits. I loved the goofball trait until it got borked with the silly toilet prank. Now I don't use it.
Never use Motherlode unless it's allowed for a build challenge/contest.
Never cheat for skills, aspirations, careers, degrees, etc. unless it's a Sim I am not controlling. Played Sims have to earn all those things through gamelplay.
Never play premades, they're just in the background to be used as friends/potential spouses for my currently played Sim.
Never use a default save game to start, I always use one of four custom save templates I've created for myself.
Always use the neutral white color for basic lights. Candles might get a pale yellow and I'll use colored lights to set a mood for different reasons, but will never use the strongest yellow lights for anything.
Always remove extra slot saves, cachestr (spotlight thing), localthumbpackage, and screenshots before or after every gameplay session.
Every bed and couch gets a rug under it. Always include at least one rug in the bathroom too, sometimes more if it's big enough. There has to be one in front of the shower/tub though at the very least.
Never use any uncomfortable bed and also try to avoid the uncomfortable cheapo toilet too. Sometimes my R2R Sims might get one, but I switch it out for the next one up in the catalog as soon as possible.
Never go overboard with landscaping. Too much makes the lot lag in my experience. Same with clutter and decorations. I love a bit more clutter, but not a ridiculous amount of it.
In that same vein, I almost never, ever play on lots larger than 30x40 and mostly use 30x20 or smaller. My favorite is the 20x15 size. The only time I've ever played on a large lot is when I tried doing the Legacy challenge. I'll place them though for nonplayed Sims. For instance, I've been giving my challenge Sim's baby Mamas mansions from the Gallery to live in.
If any of my committed or married couples have children they get one only. Unless they surprise me and have twins or triplets.
Always lock my Sims doors for household only and lock laptops for use only by their owners. If someone visits, I'll unlock the door for them, but it gets locked again after they leave. If there are toddlers/children in the house, I also lock the parents room door for just them.
All toddlers/children get the Coolala Defender light. No monsters under the bed for my kids.
No dumpster woo hoo for my Sims. I tried it just once and regretted it. Ewww!
Never ever have my Sims make/eat cake except for birthdays and wedding goals. They get one slice and the rest of the cake is tossed.
Houses don't get a chimney unless they have a fireplace.
Congratulations if you read all that. o.O Guess I have more than just a few 'rules.' There's probably more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
Comments
Child :
- Traits : Cheerful, Goofball, Mean
Teen :- Traits : Erratic, Jealous, Materialistic, Childish, Adventurous
- Walk style : Sluggish walk
Elder :The Sims 4 Ideas Corner
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The Sims 4 General DiscussionI only have a few rules, but they are not set in stone
- no money cheats to add money. Subtract money is allowed.
- no cheats to advance in skills, careers or aspirations
- spellcasters must specialise in one branch of magic and are not allowed to unlock the top 3 perks of the other branches
- magical nature is a part of a Sims identity. Spellcasters stay spellcasters, vampires stay vampires and mermaids stay mermaids for the rest of their lives. Sims don't switch between supernatural states. The only exception to this rule is my supersim who had to temporarily become a vampire to complete the aspiration
- no money tree.
- Copypasto and the cloning machine are limited. They are not to be used as a money maker. Fot example a spellcaster is allowed to copy insects from outdoor retreat to create herbalism potions, but not to copy plant ingredients which can be grown
- make travel reasonable. My sims mainly travel to nearby locations, for distant destinations, they need to rent a place for the night. I have my own mental map of which worlds are close enough to be considered nearby.
As I usually play rotational with more than one household in each neighborhood, I prefer my Sims to be diverse both in appearance and traits.
There are traits that I dislike but not as much as I dislike the kleptomaniac. I nix that trait wherever I see it. The other negative traits I don't mind much but I also never use the NAP that encourages theft at community lots. Don't remember what it is named at the moment, but I never allow it and if it accidentally get voted in I remove it instantly with cheat.
Another rule I have is that I can not change any traits of my Sims unless they have earned the 5000 satisfaction points for the trait changing potion. I have made exceptions now in my new saved game, because most of my Sims are either homeless townie/npc rescues or Sims the game has moved into empty houses when I had that ticked. So if I don't like their trait combos they get a free 5000 satisfaction points via cheat for the potion. But my rule is that they have to have at least one negative trait (except of course kleptomaniac).
When it comes to choose traits for toddlers, I usually just randomize it unless I feel that certain toddler trait would work well with them (usually if I have a sketch on how their future and future traits they will be having). The traits chosen from child and up are usually 1 trait from each parent and the 3rd a trait chosen at random or a trait that will suit them. If a child is adopted, the traits will usually not be from the adopted parents and either randomized or chosen with a specific story line for them. And not all of them will get a positive traits from Parenthood. The negative ones are fun too.
1) No cheats, other than to reset stuck sims - this tends to include not using things I consider to be 'cheaty' like certain lot traits or rewards which help build skills faster
2) No entering certain jobs without a degree (things like the doctor career, which I figure they should go to uni for)
1. Reset famous sims when they attempt to attract fans, sign autographs and especially posing for a picture when they aren't in places that doesn't require them to act in an official capacity. the posting for a picture and attracting fans completely disrupts every other sims actions in the immediate area and i can't allow that.
2. Prevent random nobody sims from communicating with my famous sims. If they persist i'll delete them off the world, if it continues after the fact i'll delete the nobody sim from the game altogether.
3. Force sims to take my orders when they don't, and i don't care what the autonomy wants to try as i will have it bending unnaturally until it begs me to have my own way.
4. Reset yoga teachers, mixologists and gym trainers from getting involved in massages when they are meant to be on duty.
5. Use MCCC MC control to get sims to have the massages they want and it prevents this musical chairs where another sim comes along and cancels the massage so they can get on the table, cancel the massage and then they wonder off moments later. highly inefficient autonomy.
6. once my sim is on a treadmill i have all other sims exercise if they are in a spa where there is gym equipment or at the gym since they are there to exercise and not chit chat.
7. queue up orders once my sim(s) are on massage tables and exercise equipment to prevent them from leaving the table early before the massage ends and also to keep them from chit chat which makes their exercise take a billion times longer than it should take (and this includes autonomous orders from other sims distracting your sims without good reason).
8. queue up an order when engaged in a massage or cure while on the massage chair as the first autonomous order is to grab a drink of water without fail after one of those orders is completed.
9. Never have a music device anywhere in the house or on a lot. sims are attracted to it above anything else.
10. Disable certain naps, especially we wear bags, roughhousing, juiced and free love. as these are highly disruptive in one manner or another, and that's something i can not allow.
11. delete random sims from the world when their dress sense and especially their body shapes are unnatural looking (more often than not fat female sims are generated or overly massive chested females with thin bodies and males that have shrunken shoulders or no hips or both), i'm not prepared to go into dozens of households to fix them, especially when the autonomy will have something stupid done to them anyway.
12. Always get storm chaser sim for my sims where appropriate in order to remove the scared buff, it's often a detriment to the massagers in the spa facilities and any other staff in other places like in a restaurant or a bar, any place where a bad mood can reflect on the crafted object from a sim on job.
i got many other rules.
I only allow Sims to become occults if they are born in game that way to occult parents or if they like fruitcake. Since liking fruitcake is such a rare trait, they obviously possess rare latent abilities and therefore are capable of transitioning into the occult form of choice. I try to keep my occult populations small.
Almost all lots have the Simple Living lot trait enabled.
Advanced jobs like Scientist and Doctor HAVE to have University degrees.
I do not allow most NAPs to be active because they annoy me.
I recently started my Westbrook legacy over and I've made a few rules for all generations to follow:
1. All sims must complete a degree.
2. No repeat careers or aspirations in one generation
3. Sims cannot date anyone they don't find attractive; they can't marry someone unless they find the Extremely Attractive (Wonderful Whims). That's a more universal rule throughout all of my saves though.
4. When future generations are born and I start rotating, I'll rotate every Sunday and Wednesday.
That's all I can think of right now. I have them written down but I'm not at my computer at the moment. Most of my rules are to break out of my comfort zone.
Oasis Springs
- you have to use solar panels (if your household can afford them)
- lot trait: geothermal
Lots near water (in every world)
- lot trait: natural well
Lots with garden/or many indoor plants/or chicken/or cow
- lot trait: simple living
How to become a lawyer/teacher/doctor/judge/engineer
- with a degree only (without a degree you can only get the low-level jobs)
Congratulations if you read all that. o.O Guess I have more than just a few 'rules.' There's probably more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
Happy Simming!