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Help with gameplay ideas.

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DramaticJedi5DramaticJedi5 Posts: 60 Member
I’ve been playing a lot recently, but am losing interest easily. Any suggestions? I can’t use mods because I’m on Console. Thank you.

Comments

  • mustenimusteni Posts: 5,403 Member
    edited May 2022
    I have my main save where I play rotationally 30+ households. I have no schedule, I just play who I want for how long I want (I pay attention to aging though). My aging settings are long lifespan, active household only, and townies aging when needed. I try to think of a story for each sim and play in a way which suits it. I take a lot of screenies and publish some of the stories in my blog.

    I also started a legacy to play more goal oriented. The aging is on normal, for everybody. Neighbourhood strories are on, NAPs are on. I love the challenge of first starting with a household, so I created legacy rules where each generation unlocks a new world (they can visit the previously unlocked worlds, but have to spend a night there). Each gen gets 20k from the household funds when they move to the new world and they must provide that amount to their own child. I remake the world when they move in to suit their needs, for example my next heir is a foodie so there are two restaurants. It's like a legacy that gets reseted each gen.

    Edit: Forgot to say that in the legacy I randomise all their traits and aspirations. I try to play as the game tells me to play.
    Post edited by musteni on
  • simgirl1010simgirl1010 Posts: 35,701 Member
    1. Start with a new sim and try one of the Scenarios.

    2. Try a new challenge.

    3. Pick a career and aspiration you've never done.

  • BoergeAarg61BoergeAarg61 Posts: 949 Member
    I only play on pc, but my sims are very social active visiting each other or visiting community lots together.
    Sometimes they are not even at home when I enter their household, and I have no idea what they are doing where they are. :)
  • wahini2024wahini2024 Posts: 547 Member
    Depending on how many packs and extensions you have

    Try a challenge
    Include more occult sims
    Pick traits you've never or rarely used
    Try a new career or aspiration
    Give your sim your own milestones or life events
    Do the not so berry challenge, it seems to shake up game play for many and expands the game play by doing things some of us don't even know about or tend to consider

    Have a terrible sim that seeks redemption after getting the atrocious reputation. Aim for pristine. Have a pristine sim that becomes terrible after some life changing event like a divorce.

    Challenges tend to help me the most
  • SimmervilleSimmerville Posts: 11,644 Member
    edited May 2022
    There's so many things you can try, but also none of them will guarantee that you stay focused over time. Some times the best thing is to take a break from it all.

    You could try adding some longer lines into your game. Here's an idea that you can up/down scale as you like:
    Create 4 households and give each of them preferences such as one career field they love and one they hate, one color they love and one they hate, a main aspiration they love and another they dislike strongly - and maybe a few more things to focus on like one specie to grow etc. These things won't need to be complicated to add to interesting story lines.

    Try to make a few long lasting conflicts between some of them, or perhaps even some deals that were made between their ancestors. Say two and two households are well connected, while two will not have any contact with the other two.

    See if there are teens or YA who might fall in love with someone in the wrong family The fun might start when trying to blend two opposite families. Or perhaps 2 kids per family and 1 kid doing everything correct, while the other does it "wrong".

    Point of this all would be to end up with a few households that actually have a back story that might affect future generations a bit. You can make it as complex as you like, or perhaps quite simple. Not all mentioned preferences can be registered in game, so you might need to keep some notes, at least for the start.
    Post edited by Simmerville on
    Simmerville on Youtube | My blog is updated weekly: Simmerville's Sims<br>a.jpg
  • mightyspritemightysprite Posts: 5,806 Member
    edited May 2022
    I really like having different households with different things going on in them and rotating.
    Leaning into the weird things the game throws at you, instead of avoiding them, tends to create more funny and fun gameplay imho.
    I also like to have a couple of different save games, where one or two saves are more involved stories that I can be really creative with long-term, and one or two saves are just relaxing and watching my sims go about their lives day to day.

    Oh, and try some of the traits you don't use very often, if there are any. Some of the annoying ones (kleptomaniac, evil) can actually be super fun if you lean into them and use them in gameplay rather than trying to minimize their effect on your game.
    gen3-banner.png
  • ItsMeThatGuyItsMeThatGuy Posts: 305 Member
    Try to "Play Vanilla". Without using ANY cheats or MODS, it will give your Sims a real challenge. Try to make a legacy generation where your family tree has lots of people, and it'll make you feel like you're a... Well I can say, the king of tree....
    I am NOT part of anything in EA and I'm just a player. I try my best to answer questions in the Sims forums, and showing info about the Sims, even posting answers and thoughts of feedback! I have been playing the Sims 4 for 2 years.
  • cynciecyncie Posts: 4,547 Member
    edited May 2022
    I don’t like to play goal based challenges, so generally when a sim’s story ends, I have to wait for inspiration to start a new one. My current save is my longest Sims 4 save, yet. The difference is that I’m playing a whole imaginary world that takes place in our sims worlds. When one part of the story goes stale, I can always find another character that interests me. I tend to bounce around a bit, but it keeps my game from becoming repetitive.
  • Umbreon12Umbreon12 Posts: 877 Member
    I have a set idea, but sometimes I just kind of wing it. I pretty much own all of Sims 4 for a console, with just the base game on a PC.
    I have multiple save files, with different things going on to keep my interest.
    For example my somewhat planned ideas are things like Frozen or Harry Potter. Some families I keep as canon as I can, others would be semi-canon, or AU. I throw some gender bends in as well. It keeps me entertained, because you see a variation of the same Sim running around.
    Another save file, I recreated the Sims I created in Sims 2 in the Sims 4.
    A couple other save files I have a mixture of Sims I created, and ones I downloaded.
    I am also playing a challenge for a save file.
    I have so many families, and choose the one I want to play at that moment. Some of my Sims get more attention than others.
    Finally, I tend to focus on a family to further their careers, or play off the grid. I have one family that lives just on a lot, and it is a father and two teen sons. They all work, and the plan is to slowly give them more rooms when they get enough money.
    Also, if you find yourself making the same families, switch the dynamic a bit. In some families, I have the typical mom/dad and kids, single sims, and some that have grandparents, the parents, kids, and maybe a sibling to one of the parents.
    If you are bored with giving the Sims the same look, try going to the Gallery, and download some Sims, and mix genetics. I got some really unique looks for Sims that I wouldn't give them by doing this.
  • butterflydivinebutterflydivine Posts: 1 New Member
    I have an idea.
    If I wanted to learn more about personally who I am, I would first identify with my own world of sims.
    Meaning, I focus on aspirations, goals, traits , what they do , how they are.
    After all, I create them. so there must be some truth , about who I am already within in the game.
    So, I learned. I'm a loner in real life, I tend to focus on my skills and put my sims in medical, science or astronaut fields.
    My sims tend to garden a lot and go out collecting. I do not send my sims to college, I have them go to college from home.
    They learn way more logic, they learn way more science and medical things.. so I am just saying, if I personally wanted to create a career for myself, wouldn't those be indicating factors?
  • dogzdinnerdogzdinner Posts: 422 Member
    I really enjoy the scenarios for giving me abit of inspirations of what to play.
    Also 'pick a pack!'. I find that I often tend to ignore the gameplay in some packs so if Im bored I decide on a pack and immerse myself in the gameplay. So throw myself into university life, aim to be the best spellcaster, become a selfsufficient farmer, etc.
    or I just Google challenges and copy somebodies elses good ideas!LOL
  • SERVERFRASERVERFRA Posts: 7,108 Member
    Have you ever tried playing a household based on a different timeline like Medieval or 1920s or 1970s or even Sifi Future?
  • EmmaVaneEmmaVane Posts: 7,847 Member
    Try a Random Legacy. Each gen has randomised goals and family size/structure. It gets you out of your comfort zone and playing in ways you might not have considered, and it's different every gen and play through.

    Here's the randomiser. Link to the challenge rules are at the bottom of the page.

    https://www.simsrandom.com/
  • maggiemae8135maggiemae8135 Posts: 790 Member
    I look for inspiration in the books, tv shows and movies I read/watch. If I really enjoy certain characters I want them in my sims. I make them in CAS with the traits that match their personalities, descriptions of hair, eyes etc, and jobs. I put them in my game and use gameplay to tell their story. I have a game with Mulder and Scully from X-Files with them in Strangerville solving the quest there. Then will introduce aliens to the game to save the mother plant. I recently found out that the scientist career has alot to offer, and you can actually clone yourself! So that inspired me to add a mad scientist who will clone himself or others, and make a robotic army as well. I also love family stories without supernaturals and plan a game with a farming community with characters from 1940-50's shows, the characters from Bones, and from Castle (especially excited to try Get Famous with Castle's mom, who plays an actress in the show. Just let your imagination go wild!
  • TammorsTammors Posts: 357 Member
    edited May 2022
    It's hard to know what to recommend without knowing what you've already tried, and what you're into.

    Your name suggests that you're into sci-fi. So I am guessing you probably have the Star Wars pack, City Living, Get to Work, and Strangerville. Am I wrong? Are you interested in some sci-fi roleplay, or something different?


  • TammorsTammors Posts: 357 Member
    I enjoy creating new Sims, even before I started using cc. It's amazing what you can do with a sim's face even without cc. The cc just gives you a wider variety of options.

    Before I started using cc, I was making spellcaster for a variety of different ethnicities and cultures. I actually spent a lot of time trying to mold the faces of my sims after genetic traits common to the ethnicity of the sim. I think the first characters I did that on where the voodoo characters I made, Baron Samedi and his wife, plus the love loa. I also spent a lot of time molding a Norwegian wannabe warlock and a Native American wendigo.

    My masterpiece, though, was a mummy princess, that I modeled after Nefertiti. I actually did her after I started using cc, but the cc was only for her clothing and jewelry. Her face was all careful manipulation of the features that are available in the game. I just found a photo of what Nefertiti would look like with modern cosmetics and fashions, and studied it while stretching her facial features to match the photo. You don't need cc to do that.

  • DramaticJedi5DramaticJedi5 Posts: 60 Member
    edited May 2022
    musteni wrote: »
    I have my main save where I play rotationally 30+ households. I have no schedule, I just play who I want for how long I want (I pay attention to aging though). My aging settings are long lifespan, active household only, and townies aging when needed. I try to think of a story for each sim and play in a way which suits it. I take a lot of screenies and publish some of the stories in my blog.

    I also started a legacy to play more goal oriented. The aging is on normal, for everybody. Neighbourhood strories are on, NAPs are on. I love the challenge of first starting with a household, so I created legacy rules where each generation unlocks a new world (they can visit the previously unlocked worlds, but have to spend a night there). Each gen gets 20k from the household funds when they move to the new world and they must provide that amount to their own child. I remake the world when they move in to suit their needs, for example my next heir is a foodie so there are two restaurants. It's like a legacy that gets reseted each gen.

    Edit: Forgot to say that in the legacy I randomise all their traits and aspirations. I try to play as the game tells me to play.
    @musteni Thank you for the ideas. I have started to remodel some of the games existing venues to fit with my sims.

  • DramaticJedi5DramaticJedi5 Posts: 60 Member
    edited May 2022
    1. Start with a new sim and try one of the Scenarios.

    2. Try a new challenge.

    3. Pick a career and aspiration you've never done.
    @simgirl1010 I tried a challenge, but it ended early and I can’t figure out why.

  • DramaticJedi5DramaticJedi5 Posts: 60 Member
    edited May 2022
    I only play on pc, but my sims are very social active visiting each other or visiting community lots together.
    Sometimes they are not even at home when I enter their household, and I have no idea what they are doing where they are. :)
    @BoergeAarg61 Load screens are the problem for me. I have started to make my sims go places more and it is definitely more enjoyable.
    wahini2024 wrote: »
    Depending on how many packs and extensions you have

    Try a challenge
    Include more occult sims
    Pick traits you've never or rarely used
    Try a new career or aspiration
    Give your sim your own milestones or life events
    Do the not so berry challenge, it seems to shake up game play for many and expands the game play by doing things some of us don't even know about or tend to consider

    Have a terrible sim that seeks redemption after getting the atrocious reputation. Aim for pristine. Have a pristine sim that becomes terrible after some life changing event like a divorce.

    Challenges tend to help me the most
    @wahini2024 I tried an alien for the super rich supervillain challenge with all the negative traits, but the challenge ended early because apparently I didn’t have a sim to complete it.


  • DramaticJedi5DramaticJedi5 Posts: 60 Member
    edited May 2022
    @Simmerville I had an alien doing a challenge and I wanted to add more households, but I can’t play the save because it lags.
    @mightysprite I just can’t seem to think of a story for my saves, which isn’t helping when it comes to playing.
    @ItsMeThatGuy I had a farm without cheats, which I had built up, but I lost the save and my legacy save. I haven’t been able to actually play a story because of it.
    @cyncie I read your Sim Story and I love it. I started to play with a younger Morgan discovering they had Magic and trying to find the Magic Realm.
  • crocobauracrocobaura Posts: 7,342 Member
    I find it's easier to play a character once I've figured out what they are like, what are their likes, dislikes, their hobbies, how they are earning their money. I also like to incorporate different elements from different packs, so if you like farming, you could get robots to help, or if you play a doctor, he could have herbalism as a side interest and guitar singing and camping as a hobby. Or take an interest in vampires, because he met a certain lady. Also, interesting community lots are important, if you have several of the same type, they should be somewhat different from one another, like an internet cafe vs. a book cafe, or an experimental food restaurant vs. an Italian restaurant or a fast food place.

  • cynciecyncie Posts: 4,547 Member
    @cyncie I read your Sim Story and I love it. I started to play with a younger Morgan discovering they had Magic and trying to find the Magic Realm.

    I’m glad you enjoyed it. That story went from Morgyn discovering his magic, going to the Magic Realm to becoming the Sage of Untamed Magic, to the development of a whole magical world that is now populated with such wide variety of beings that I have all kinds of story possibilities. If we’re getting werewolves next month, that could spin the story in a whole new direction.
  • SheriSim57SheriSim57 Posts: 6,934 Member
    I have made a scenario rotational save. My other rotational save I have had since 2014. Do you have Eco Living and Cottage living? I made a frog fanatic and put him off the grid and gave him the simple living lot trait, it’s a little bit of a challenge but doable. He has to gather water, add ice to the icebox, and I gave him one solar panel. He has no tv and doesn’t use his laptop at home, so reads a lot. It’s different as I haven’t played off the grid before. I have a few other other scenario households in the save as well, I like to keep aging off most of the time. I’m using a few jobs for some of my sims I haven’t much used before, like home decorator. I find rotational play preferable to legacy play because I can switch when I want and played households know each other. I also love the challenge of the simple living lot trait. Putting households in different worlds is good too because the weather ( if you have seasons ) can be so different. If I get bored of playing I may go into CAS and give townies make overs, or make a new household. I also like to browse the gallery occasionally, down load and change lots.
  • dogzdinnerdogzdinner Posts: 422 Member
    SERVERFRA wrote: »
    Have you ever tried playing a household based on a different timeline like Medieval or 1920s or 1970s or even Sifi Future?

    I love doing this! In one of my saves Oasis Springs is a Wild West town. I downloaded a western town from the Gallery for the park and basically aimed for every western stereotype I could think of. So the Landgraabs are the cattle barons, Johnny Zest is an outlaw, the Calientes run a brothel. There is an old timey vet, a schoolhouse, a reservation, etc. Its def a fun thing to do. :)
  • DaniRose2143DaniRose2143 Posts: 8,652 Member
    dogzdinner wrote: »
    SERVERFRA wrote: »
    Have you ever tried playing a household based on a different timeline like Medieval or 1920s or 1970s or even Sifi Future?

    I love doing this! In one of my saves Oasis Springs is a Wild West town. I downloaded a western town from the Gallery for the park and basically aimed for every western stereotype I could think of. So the Landgraabs are the cattle barons, Johnny Zest is an outlaw, the Calientes run a brothel. There is an old timey vet, a schoolhouse, a reservation, etc. Its def a fun thing to do. :)

    I have a huge collection of vintage fashion and hair cc, somewhere, I just have to remember which thumb drive it's on. Some of it was '20s and 30s flapper themed, the majority was '40s and '50s and I used to have a sim who ran a vintage clothing store. She dressed and lived the part, nothing modern day except her phone because I couldn't find a mod to get rid of it. That was a fun diversion from regular gameplay, but it helps that I love the fashion from those eras.
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