I have been simming ever since the first Sims game came out and I have to say I am very set in my ways in the way that I play my game. I am always up for new ideas though. These past few weeks I have had more time than usual to be able to spend on the forum and I have been thoroughly enjoying reading about people's very different ways of playing the game. One of the ways that has really caught my attention has been the story-telling aspect of the game. I am NOT a creative person. I really wish I was but I seem to live with a permanent creativity block and this applies to all aspects of my life. However, with using the camera to take screenshots I have discovered that I actually can tell my Sims's stories rather than just rushing through their lives.
Just now the Love Day holiday rolled round in the calendar. Elle Washington, a fifth generation sim in my Emery Legacy has just begun dating Atlas Michaelson and I thought I would send them out on a date and document it as it progressed. Usually I would just do the bare minimum to get the satisfaction points. This was much more fun and I feel so much more involved in their lives now.
Here is how the date went....
They began by taking a couple of selfies to commemorate the start of their first ever Love Day together.
Atlas and Elle take photos to commemorate the start of their first Love Day celebration by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
Atlas and Elle on Love Day by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
They exchanged gifts. Elle gave Atlas a stylish black and red Grim's Ghoulish Guitar and Atlas gave Elle a Dr F's Robotic Workstation. That may seem like a strange gift but he knew how much Elle wanted to get into robotics after seeing a Servo one of her cousin's had made at his house. I'm not sure how either present managed to fit into those tiny boxes but both sims were over the moon with what they received.
Atlas and Elle exchange Love Day gifts by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
Atlas and Elle exchange Love Day gifts by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
They both loved their gifts by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
They started their date at Elle's favourite place; The Tudor Cat Cafe in San Sequoia.
They started their date at Elle's favourite place....the Tudor Cat Cafe in San Sequoia by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
The date was going very well. The next night was Prom Night so Elle had decided to bring her homemade Promposal sign with her in her back pocket and took the opportunity to ask Atlas if he would be her Prom date. He excitedly agreed!
The next day was prom and Elle decided to present her Promposal sign to Atlas by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
The date was going well by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
They finished their date with a late-night romantic movie. Elle's Mum and Gran had agreed that there wouldn't be a curfew set that night so the young lovebirds made the most of their evening together.
They finished the date with a late night romantic movie. Luckily Elle's Mum and Gran had agreed their would be no curfew tonight. by
Kerry Sayers, on Flickr
So that was Love Day for Elle and Atlas...and for me. I really enjoyed slowing down and actually playing the game rather than just rushing through it solely for the purpose of collecting Satisfaction Points. From now on I plan on putting more thought into the Sim holidays in my calendar and playing through them each time. I will also extend this to events such as birthday parties etc. I have quite a few holidays in my calendar. In addition to the holidays that are already there I have included some that are more relevant to where I live in the UK, ie Boxing Day and Bonfire Night. I have also added Mother's Day and Father's Day in and I have made some up such as Children's Day and National Spa Day.
I would love to hear about how you celebrate your holiday's with your Sims and what holidays you have made up for them.
Sorry for the long post. I have only just learned how to post pictures but now I really need to learn how to hide them behind a spoilers tab!!
Comments
(I mean... what is the satisfaction in just racking up satisfaction points?)
I love doing the holidays differently each time they roll around, based on which sims I have in my game at that point and what ages they are. On one recent memorable Love Day, my sim's evil ex-boyfriend Roderick Goth (son of Bella and Mortimer) autonomously showed up at the lounge where she was singing to an empty room, didn't say any evil things all night, and well, the next day she was pregnant....
I love that!!
A few months ago I renovated one of the larger Granite Falls cabins and turned it into a Christmas themed family cabin for the sole purpose of Winterfest. It's not something I'll use for every household. I only recently used it for the first time because the premade family I'm currently playing lived in a small house with a lot of kids and not a lot of space so they took a day trip to the Christmas cabin I renovated.
Here's my list saved on a storage drive for holiday ideas... I don't always use all of these holidays nor do I stick to the traditions but it's a good guideline for my own game. * I also use a few mods for more holiday icons, unlocked hidden traditions, and additional traditions.
- Streaking
- Talk Like a Pirate
- Mischief Spirit
- Holiday Gnomes
- Purchase a Lottery Ticket
Fitness Day / Day off x
- Exercise
- Fasting
- Water Fun
- Do Laundry
- Cleaning
Egg Day / Day off √
- Egg Hunt
- Flower Bunny
- Grand Meal
Love Day / Day off x
- Romantic Spitit
- Give Flowers
- Go on a Date
- Free Food and Drink
- Watch Romantic TV
Earth Day / Day off x
- Cleaning
- Gardening
- Make Resolutions
- Skill Improvement
- Thankful Spirit
Family Day / Day off √
- Thankful Spirit
- Give Gifts
- Games
- Shopping Rebate
- Arts & Music Spirit
4th of Summer / Day off x
- Fireworks
- Bar-B-Que
- Drinking
- Shopping Rebate
- Water Fun
Leisure Day / Day off √
- Go on a Vacation or Travel
- Water Fun
- Bar-B-Que
- Shopping Rebate
- Drinking
Midsummer / Day off x
- Art & Music Spirit
- Fire
- Give Flowers
- Invite Guests
- Holiday Gnomes
Skill Day / Day off x
- Fishing
- Skill Improvement
- Baking
- Dancing
- Play an Instrument
Deal Day / Day off x
- Fighting
- Shopping Rebate
- Purchase a Lottery Ticket
Harvestfest / Day off √
- Grand Meal
- Thankful Spirit
- Sports TV
- Air Grievances
- Baking
Spooky Day / Day off x
- Tell Stories
- Carve Pumpkin
- Wear Costumes
- Trick or Treat
- Watch Movies
Souls Day / Day off x
- Attend Holiday Ceremony
- Remembrance
- Spooky Spirit
- Party Spirit
Lazy Day / Day off √
- Sleep
- Games
- Eat Popcorn
- TV Season Premiere
Winterfest / Day off √
- Decorate
- Festive Spirit
- Open presents
- Grand Meal
- Father Winter
New Year's Eve / Day off √
- Party Spirit
- Make Resolutions
- Countdown to Midnight
- Drinking
- Fireworks
The spoiler tag works like this without spaces. Put the image format between spoiler. [ spoiler ]TEXTGOESHERE[ /spoiler ]
edit: I forgot to mention oshinsims has a YT video on holiday ideas + tips that I found useful.
https://youtu.be/9lTK3RtozqY
S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
I always sell them. Sometimes I keep them around for a bit to get the seed packets, but if they misbehave and they usually do, I sell them with no regrets. They are quite expensive and with the money earnt from selling them you can buy many seed packets.
> I always sell them. Sometimes I keep them around for a bit to get the seed packets, but if they misbehave and they usually do, I sell them with no regrets. They are quite expensive and with the money earnt from selling them you can buy many seed packets.
OK, so it is safe to sell them. Good to know. :)
There are easy guides to appeasing the gnomes online if you search.
I like to collect the gnomes but I sell the spares. It does get a bit chaoticon subsequent Harvestfests though when there are loads of gnomes dropping seed packets and causing trouble.
Sadly, the most recent birthday party I threw in-game, was a total and complete failure. I may go ahead and do a game repair, as I couldn't get either the father or the mother to help their wee one blow out the candles. With all of the falderol going on, or I should say not going on as my Sim seemed glued to the floorboards, the timer ran out on the Event. I had to age up the kid, instead. So not the same.
http://www.getfreeebooks.com/star-trek-original-series-fan-fiction-trilogy/
I celebrated real life Halloween in the sims by making a spooky bowling alley and my sims had a Halloween party there. I celebrated real life Christmas with a few different sims taking pictures in Santa Hats and around a Christmas tree etc.
As for the in game calendar holidays, at one point or another I’ve made a big deal about all of them (except love day as it never comes at the right time) but now it really depends on what my sims are doing if I acknowledge them or not. I mostly try to tick most of the objectives but don’t spend much time on it now.
New Year’s Eve, I always do. I usually send them to their local bar and watch the tv show there. I love the ‘shoshooby’ bit where they count down, it’s one of my favourite things in the game.
S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
I edited love day to replace the dating tradition with watching a romantic movie. My sims only date their love interest and I don't want pressure my single sims into dating.
I removed the gnome tradition from harvest fest. It was fun at first but I got tired of all the seed packets. The extra cash for the seeds and the gnomes felt too cheaty.
I spread winterfest over two days : winterfest eve and the actual winterfest.
I added a few extra days like spring cleaning and easter (flowerbunny, egghunt), a summer holiday where all sims get a few days off to go on vacation.
I have the calendar set to 2 weeks per season so I try to avoid having many holidays. About 2 per season.
My sims don't have to fulfill all the traditions every time. Sometimes I am focused on other goals and I just complete enough traditions to have a successful holiday.
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