The thing about rotational play is that it makes the generations move very slowly, unless you're aging people up early, or keeping aging on for everyone all the time. My San Myshuno rotational game has probably hundreds of hours of playtime invested in it, around 12 played households, and the first born-in-game sim hasn't quite aged up to young adult yet.
I've been tempted to play rotationally at times with my legacy game because of not wanting to let go of the extended family, but, I don't want the legacy to move any slower than it already is
The thing about rotational play is that it makes the generations move very slowly, unless you're aging people up early, or keeping aging on for everyone all the time. My San Myshuno rotational game has probably hundreds of hours of playtime invested in it, around 12 played households, and the first born-in-game sim hasn't quite aged up to young adult yet.
I've been tempted to play rotationally at times with my legacy game because of not wanting to let go of the extended family, but, I don't want the legacy to move any slower than it already is
This is very true. I've played the same legacy, off and on, for over a year now, and my 3rd generation heirs are all still children and younger. The eldest two of generation 2 have just now aged up to adults. I play with a modified normal lifespan and aging for active households only. I've thought about trying the short lifespan to see if things move at a faster pace but also gives me enough time to connect with them.
I don't have a set rotation pattern.
Who I decide to play is based on a whim, or a goal I have in mind.
For example, I will usually have more than one family have kids, and I will try to get them all aged up around the same time. Other times, I am like, I haven't played them for awhile, so I will check in on them.
I play rotational since the Sims 1 (or 2?) and I could never play with a schedule. That would stress me out - I'm not at work 👩💻
So I play the household as long as it's fun and then I play whatever household I miss most.
This can be for one session or over a year ^^'
I rotate my different timeline game saves from Ancient Times to Medieval/Victorian Age to 20th Century to Futuristic 2525.
I've had multiple timeline game saves since I got bored back in the Spring of 2020 for obvious reasons. Before that I only had two game saves, Historic & Advance Modern.
I tend to go rotate households based on which family I feel like playing, and sometimes I play with one household for a while, and sometimes I play one household one day, and the next time I play, I play another household.
I play rotational since the Sims 1 (or 2?) and I could never play with a schedule. That would stress me out - I'm not at work 👩💻
So I play the household as long as it's fun and then I play whatever household I miss most.
This can be for one session or over a year ^^'
There are so many different ways to play rotationally, depending on your personality and how you like to play. I think playing your way @Lenny_Ogg would stress me out I’d worry that I wasn’t spending time with my other families and that I was missing out on things or getting behind. So I play a household strictly for a week before moving on. This also stops me getting bored as each household is in a different world, so there’s plenty of variety. (My rotation is also a bit unusual in that each household is now also in a separate save, so it’s not a rotation where family stories interact with each other. It was getting too big for my computer to cope with everything in one save.)
I have a legacy save, build save and rotational game save. They all serve different purpose. My legacy save is only for that but sometimes I play with the siblings of the heir if they moved into another lot. I think I like the rotational one the most at the moment. I can play with many themes at the same time.
(My rotation is also a bit unusual in that each household is now also in a separate save, so it’s not a rotation where family stories interact with each other. It was getting too big for my computer to cope with everything in one save.)
Unless your played sims are the only ones in your saves, I am not sure how separating them like that makes any difference to your computer. There are other sims in the worlds any way and it might as well be your own played sims.
(My rotation is also a bit unusual in that each household is now also in a separate save, so it’s not a rotation where family stories interact with each other. It was getting too big for my computer to cope with everything in one save.)
Unless your played sims are the only ones in your saves, I am not sure how separating them like that makes any difference to your computer. There are other sims in the worlds any way and it might as well be your own played sims.
The maximum number of played sims on my computer is 80 and I have now exceeded this number. I tried setting the limit higher but it did affect performance. There were other reasons too why I split them into separate saves, and I'm happy with the results.
I dont really have any rules. I st up different families and homes, ( I replaced nearly all townies with my own). and once set up, it's what ever stories I feel like playing. I don't play anyone one home for too long unless there is something specific I am working on, but I go back and fourth with the stories like a show or film goes on different characters. My sim self I played non stop for a long time, but when new packs come out, her dhd career, seems irrelevant to new game play, I havent really played her in a long time, but every week I do check in on her to progress her story.
Wherever the mood takes me! Aging off, full autonomy on, no less than 14 day seasons (sometimes more, it depends).
I create a rotational save per story world theme. These themes currently include:
Old Time World with Old West & Georgian / Victorian-esque towns and campsites.
Medieval style Fantasy with castles, taverns, cosy little farms and campsites.
Sci Fi - Spacehips galore.
Supernatural Action Adventure, which is gothic - retro 80-ish - 90-ish / modern-ish themed with haunted houses, abandoned military camps, shacks with creepy basements, you name it. Sort of like Indiana Jones meets Twilight Zone meets Predator meets Poltergeist meets Nightmare on Elmstreet.😵💫
I build all my active lots myself since I know exactly what I want for a particular set of characters and their stories. Some of these lots also live in another save, albeit modified, depending on the era that I play in. I’d have a “Now” version and a “Then” version of that same lot.
I do have a main character per save, but for a story to progress I occasionally have to jump to other households. I used to be very strict about who my main household is and what they do, but I’ve become more relaxed in my play style these days. I let my sims dictate how their story plays out, I love surprises and twists, it makes a play session more exciting. I create my own main characters and do not play or mate with premades. I fill the rest of the worlds with interesting looking characters created by talented fellow simmers.
Most of my stories are quest based, this means my sims travel a lot. Every so often they would travel to a different era and end up in a different save. I pretend that the werebeast tunnels are time tunnels. No time to get bored!
Currently I have about 150 sims in my main rotational play ( lesser in my scenario rotational play ).
I play with aging off most of the time, and when it’s on, it’s on long life.
My sims usually socialize with other sims in my rotation, when they do socialize with someone else it’s usually because they need social badly. Once in awhile there will be a townie I might like that that I add to a house hold or start a new household with.
The biggest household I have right now is 7 I think. And the smallest is 1 household member. I have broken larger households into smaller ones lately.
I play whatever household I feel like playing at the moment. I usually play them from several days to several weeks. I try to end my sessions between 8pm and 10pm. I try to get all homework or work assignments done before leaving. And when I go to the next household. I also try to leave enough time so that the new household I switch too has time to sleep, and do work or homework
I play almost exclusively rotationally. I’m currently holding off on playing household with babies waiting for the milestone bug to be fixed, and have been adding horses to some households and playing them.
I play with aging on current household only and I cycle back and forth between households as I see fit in terms of progressing my story-line and who is pulling my interest at the time. I found setting a time frame for each family too frustrating because sometimes it was a grind to push through with a household I just wasn't feeling at that time or other times I was really engrossed in a story and didn't want to cut it off just because time was up.
I want to say thank you so much for so much inspiration. Now that I've tried it for a few weeks, with three families in separate home in my decades challenge: the Whittaker Saga, I find I switch often, sometimes several times in a sim day, but at least every few days. I am no good at keeping a schedule but mostly try to see what story I want to tell right now.
At the moment the two most interesting stories, at least for me to play, are in two different household. The teenage Anna rebelling against her mum by going to suffragette meetings and wearing too short skirts, and Frank who is partying a bit too much and leaving his wife and child alone all the time. So I find switch a lot. Also these are all related to each other and would spend time, so very often they are on the same lot anyways. I guess I will switch less when I settle on just one heir but I'll see. Either way, thank you for all your replies.
Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
I play somewhat systematically but not with a rigid schedule. In each save I only rotate two families but play others on occasion. I roughly play them 3-4 days, but sometimes it's more and sometimes it's less. To date I've stuck to game order rotations, though am tempted to skip around. So many goals and with all my saves it's still a big event when they reach a goal I've set them.
The only time I play rotationally is for premade sims, different worlds/packs different save files. Every households will start on Monday (sim day) sometimes might be Tuesday. I usually prioritize those that have teens to level up their skills and finishing their aspirations or children first then those who have toddlers/babies if any.
I play all houses in my save, and with most worlds they are numerous and I need to rotate often. I keep a spreadsheet with notes on when say a birthday is coming up, or when something important shall be done, a graduation or wedding is coming up etc, so I rotate randomly according to my "todo" list. Some lots, like my private high schools, I play on every rotation, while some households are visited only every 3rd sim year or so.
I play with aging off - but turn it on for all on New Years Eve. I've realized that even sims who die from old age needs plenty more "aging on" time to reach their death moment, and this has become a problem - wish they would drop dead at least within a few hours, but it seems they now take a random number of days.
I also keep a massive residents registry with tons of community info and history for my save - it's all online here. I guarantee that you won't find all the info - there's way too much, and very detailed, LOL.
Comments
I've been tempted to play rotationally at times with my legacy game because of not wanting to let go of the extended family, but, I don't want the legacy to move any slower than it already is
This is very true. I've played the same legacy, off and on, for over a year now, and my 3rd generation heirs are all still children and younger. The eldest two of generation 2 have just now aged up to adults. I play with a modified normal lifespan and aging for active households only. I've thought about trying the short lifespan to see if things move at a faster pace but also gives me enough time to connect with them.
Who I decide to play is based on a whim, or a goal I have in mind.
For example, I will usually have more than one family have kids, and I will try to get them all aged up around the same time. Other times, I am like, I haven't played them for awhile, so I will check in on them.
So I play the household as long as it's fun and then I play whatever household I miss most.
This can be for one session or over a year ^^'
🎁 Best of Buydebug ☃️ Short trips to the Oggiverse - Short Clips 🎬 My Builds: Houses 🏘 Rooms 🛋 SciFi 👾 creatively edited Screenshots 🎨
I've had multiple timeline game saves since I got bored back in the Spring of 2020 for obvious reasons.
There are so many different ways to play rotationally, depending on your personality and how you like to play. I think playing your way @Lenny_Ogg would stress me out
Unless your played sims are the only ones in your saves, I am not sure how separating them like that makes any difference to your computer. There are other sims in the worlds any way and it might as well be your own played sims.
The maximum number of played sims on my computer is 80 and I have now exceeded this number. I tried setting the limit higher but it did affect performance. There were other reasons too why I split them into separate saves, and I'm happy with the results.
Wherever the mood takes me! Aging off, full autonomy on, no less than 14 day seasons (sometimes more, it depends).
I create a rotational save per story world theme. These themes currently include:
I build all my active lots myself since I know exactly what I want for a particular set of characters and their stories. Some of these lots also live in another save, albeit modified, depending on the era that I play in. I’d have a “Now” version and a “Then” version of that same lot.
I do have a main character per save, but for a story to progress I occasionally have to jump to other households. I used to be very strict about who my main household is and what they do, but I’ve become more relaxed in my play style these days. I let my sims dictate how their story plays out, I love surprises and twists, it makes a play session more exciting. I create my own main characters and do not play or mate with premades. I fill the rest of the worlds with interesting looking characters created by talented fellow simmers.
Most of my stories are quest based, this means my sims travel a lot. Every so often they would travel to a different era and end up in a different save. I pretend that the werebeast tunnels are time tunnels. No time to get bored!
I play with aging off most of the time, and when it’s on, it’s on long life.
My sims usually socialize with other sims in my rotation, when they do socialize with someone else it’s usually because they need social badly. Once in awhile there will be a townie I might like that that I add to a house hold or start a new household with.
The biggest household I have right now is 7 I think. And the smallest is 1 household member. I have broken larger households into smaller ones lately.
I play whatever household I feel like playing at the moment. I usually play them from several days to several weeks. I try to end my sessions between 8pm and 10pm. I try to get all homework or work assignments done before leaving. And when I go to the next household. I also try to leave enough time so that the new household I switch too has time to sleep, and do work or homework
I play almost exclusively rotationally. I’m currently holding off on playing household with babies waiting for the milestone bug to be fixed, and have been adding horses to some households and playing them.
At the moment the two most interesting stories, at least for me to play, are in two different household. The teenage Anna rebelling against her mum by going to suffragette meetings and wearing too short skirts, and Frank who is partying a bit too much and leaving his wife and child alone all the time. So I find switch a lot. Also these are all related to each other and would spend time, so very often they are on the same lot anyways. I guess I will switch less when I settle on just one heir but I'll see. Either way, thank you for all your replies.
I play with aging off - but turn it on for all on New Years Eve. I've realized that even sims who die from old age needs plenty more "aging on" time to reach their death moment, and this has become a problem - wish they would drop dead at least within a few hours, but it seems they now take a random number of days.
I also keep a massive residents registry with tons of community info and history for my save - it's all online here. I guarantee that you won't find all the info - there's way too much, and very detailed, LOL.