How do you feel about needs management?

Mareah · June 2022

I personally don't care about it. I have been using cheats and mods to manage the needs of my sims even in previous iterations. To me, it is more of an inconvenience that gets in the way, but i know other types of players feel the opposite way and, for example, cannot imagine playing with needs decay turned off. I thought it would be interesting to find out how everyone else goes about needs management since it is a prominent aspect in these games.

Babykittyjade · June 2022

I use mccommand to slow their needs to snail pace. I try to balance it out because I do like taking care of needs but not when it becomes the sole purpose to get through the day. My main focus is the story. And with time slowed down I allow my sims to do everything they want to do in a day.
Needs quickly going down and speeding time makes me feel pressured rather than just enjoying things.

Chicklet453681 · June 2022

I feel like needs in TS4 are much slower to lower and much easier to raise compared to playing the older games, especially TS2, and TS1 was an unbelievable nightmare for me to keep needs up, that's all I felt like I was able to do.

I don't play with them off, but I also to stress about them. Sometimes I cheat them back up, sometimes I use a mod to make them only fill to a certain degree so there's always some type of "need" but not to the point where they will starve or have bladder loss or anything, but just enough that "eating" and "taking a bath or shower" make sense to actually do.

But, if I'm busy with my sim out and about or whatever, I'll just cheat their needs back up rather than having to go find food or restroom, etc.

cyncie · June 2022

I generally let my Sims manage their own needs and work around that. If the need gets in the way of something story related, I’m not above cheating it to get it out of the way. I’m mostly interested in a bigger story and really don’t like a game that’s just about cooking, cleaning and paying bills.

DaniRose2143 · June 2022

I don't meddle a lot, if I have a sim in my rotation who has half or more of their needs in the yellow when I switch to them I will use the make happy cheat to set them right quickly.

EnkiSchmidt · June 2022

I enjoy needs decay for the layer of realism it adds to my story-heavy playstyle, just like skills. If my cop sims spot a criminal and charge at them, without needs decay that would an exercise in routing only. With needs decay my sim might waste time to perform a hunger idle and thus lose the suspect. (That isn't playing the active career, but while playing my story. In the career there is no need to give chase.) Or a tired sim might snap at the CEO during a promotion interview.

The only need I sort of cheat is Energy. I use a power nap mod to refresh my sims when it feel appropriate. However, that habit is very hard to let go, so whenever I play a gameplay challenge, I have to go through a day or two of adjusting.

Brd709 · June 2022

I find some of my house households are easy to manage and larger houses can be a bit of a nightmare sometimes.

CK213 · June 2022

I tend to them, but when things start to get out of balance when I have a lot of sims, I just cheat the needs at the mailbox in the morning.
It doesn't bother me because needs aren't the main point of the game for me. The overall experience is.

Nyxeris · June 2022

I keep an eye on them because for some reason the sims will rather go to bed than to use the toilet and/or eat, which has been especially annoying lately as I've been using bunk beds due to having them live in micro homes

wahini2024 · June 2022

I use the needs fairly often and rarely let them get low unless it's hunger. It adds a little realism and a little challenge to my larger households. I don't need them to assist the story or anything but I do pay attention to them and whims as well. I more often forget the aspiration.

KyreRoen · June 2022

They're a part of the game, so they occur as per usual, and I manage them as needed. No cheats, just what's available to me in-game (unless it's a testing session that I won't save). If a need bothers me, I'll try to find a legitimate strategy to dealing with it. Sure, they're sometimes annoying (especially vampiric thirst and mortal energy), but in those instances they challenge me to play smarter.

telemwill · June 2022

I often cheat bladder. I send them all in the morning, but don't want to be interrupted when something interesting is happening. Mostly I enjoy playing with the other needs. I also cheat needs when I rotate to a different household to wherever they should be for that time of day. For example, it's early morning, so energy need should be full. But you may need to take a shower and eat breakfast.

simgirl1010 · June 2022

I use UI Cheats to manage my Sims' needs and my gameplay. For example, if energy is getting low and it's too early for bed I'll adjust it so they can continue with whatever they're working on. If hunger drops and it's not time to prepare dinner I'll adjust hunger so everyone can eat together. The one motive I usually keep in the green is bladder. I don't even bother sending my sims to the bathroom. Unless it's to take a bath or bathe the dog, etc.

Calico45 · June 2022

Fairly similar to you. I don't hate 4's needs being "easy." In fact, needs in 1 and 2 are a pain in the butt. However, needs could be more meaningful. I really like 3's moodlet system, so the needs felt like they mattered beyond just life and death and skill learning fuel. 4's emotion system and whims are lacking, so it isn't really the fault of the needs system tied to it that it is less interesting.

In short, I like for the needs to have more varied consequences than life and death, but I am asking for it to interesting and not difficult.

mitchiebanjo · June 2022

Been playing since The Sims so I have seen my share of peeing, showering, eating, etc. I don't need to see my sims do all that a million more times. I may let them eat at the festivals and such to pick up recipes, or take a bath with some kind of soak to help with emotional difficulties, but letting needs interfere with my enjoyment is something I don't do.

logion · June 2022

I don't mind it when I am controlling my sims.

But when I'm not controlling them and leave the lot and leave some sims at home, then their needs becomes annoying, I have often returned home late in the evening and everyone are awake with a full energy bar. That just makes me want to stop playing.

Sharonia · June 2022

I enjoy managing my sims needs, it's a part of the game that I enjoy, especially with big families.

GalacticGal · June 2022

I used to be what I would call a 'purist'. No cheats, no mods, no disabled decay. I began playing with Sims2, really my very first true venture into the realm of Video Gaming. I started using mods, in general, with Sims3 since that game (even on my gaming rig) was too unstable. Now, so many years far removed from the Sims2 (which was all about needs management), I have grown soft. I do find my Sims' needs decaying way faster than in previous iterations. It's very hard to send a celebrity Sim off to a concert (another mod I use) if I don't cheat up his needs, first. He gets the call for gigs and photoshoots at all hours of a day. Now, I just cheat all of my Sims' needs in the household unabashedly. However, even I have limits. I won't cheat the needs of any Toddlers. To me, that is cheating. If I find I can't keep up, then I know it's me. I will likely save and exit before I do too much damage.

I have certainly come a long way. LOL

Simmingal · June 2022

I've played both ways but I like it better when my sims have to tend to their needs

without needs i just get stuck in endless loops of skill building or whatever cause its never interrupted by anything and needs remind me to give my sims and myself a break to do something else

(+ its like without needs there really is no incentive to do most things in the game like why cook if no one is ever hungry)

it was(is) definitely very annoying in sims 1 though where sims are always too depressed to do anything

and i think sims 2 had some issues too with needs going too quick

but i think ts4 version is good how it is even if i wish some actions added fun that don't like doing magic how can that not be fun

with ts4 I don't cheat often but i cheat if situation arises like say i have all my sims in red cause one of them had to go somewhere and apparently sims remaining in house didn't fill their needs or whatever

oh and yes also if my toddlers are about to be taken away by evil social workers soon TM and I simply can't run the animations fast enough otherwise

simgirl1010 · June 2022

I've cheated needs for my toddlers. Especially on hectic mornings trying to get everyone to school, work, or Uni. I'll decrease the energy bar and let them sleep later until everyone else, except Mom, has showered, eaten, and on their way.

EnkiSchmidt · June 2022

Second post in this thread, because I wanted to add that my playstyle apparently has changed over time. I used to enjoy a challenge just as much as weaving a story. This screenshot from Sims 2, showing a sim who had narrowly escaped a fire...

... I captured "Phew, saved. From here onwards it only looks terrible, but he´s actually over the worst. With his hunger back in the orange there´s no way Lazlo could starve anymore now."

So I must have been pretty good at the game. Nowadays with the focus being on my sims Vs. other of my sims, I have little reason to become good at the game itself, since I don't play against the game anymore.

VeeDub · June 2022

If dealing with needs (or purposely not dealing with them) is an important element in a story I'm working on, it matters. Otherwise I cheat needs before they ever start to take attention away from the actually important stuff in the story.

haneul · June 2022

I don't cheat needs. For me, they're much easier to manage than in past Sims games. They add just a little challenge and don't annoy me.

dogzdinner · June 2022

I dont usually cheat as such but I do work on some easy aspirations so I can reward them with the reduced need for sleep/food/hygiene/etc options.
Even on large families Id usually rather play with the chaos and have somebody collapse on their way to bed!LOL

Only time I properly cheat is when it makes sense. So for example my plantsim is engaged to Patchy so I did cheat him so he never feels heat, cold or hunger because it made sense a scarecrow wouldnt feel those things!

Atreya33 · June 2022

Needs can be annoying but are a part of the game. It would be too easy and too unrealistic to cheat them up. I played in sims 1 and 2 and managed needs in those games without problems although I can't recall if those were harder to manage after all this time. Some of my sims get the reward trait to have less decay on the bladder need. I intentionally refuse to give them reward traits to disable needs. I even use a mod to make the potion of plentiful needs no longer fill every need.

The only exception is if I load up the game to only make screenshots and not actually play. Then I max all needs.

Kimmer · June 2022

My Sims manage their own needs mostly, but I help them if they need help. I don't mind doing it, it doesn't bother me at all, just the opposite, it's part of the game and I actually enjoy doing it. I never cheat needs.
The need that I mostly have to manage is sleeping, because sometimes Sims just refuse to sleep even if their energy bar is on red and if they're going to work the next day I want them to have enough energy.

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How do you feel about needs management?

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