Are there certain things you do when starting a new game? «12...Next Go

thundergimmick

I just got a new laptop and I'm eager to start over on my game. Usually, when I start a new game I will add some new buildings from the gallery like some cool gyms, spas, clubs and places for my sims to hang out. Then I'll create a few families and move them into homes before creating the one I'm going to play as. I'm just curious what you do when creating a new game? Do you do things like this too or do you just begin playing and leave everything how it is?

Jasonschick80

Wolfgang and Max get aged up, makeovers-Wolfgang keeps the dark look and gets some muscles; Max gets turned into an evil mastermind- and then I add some lots to Newcrest to give my sims something to do and then make a single lady for the dudes to fight over.

fullspiral

I made a base template of the worlds that I start with so I don't have to set it all up again. Then I save it as....and name the save different from the template.

I should really update my template because I have done so much since then and the save I am playing is the only one I have played for so long.

Simanite

Add all the lots I'll need for sure.

ListentoToppDogg

When I last played, I'd been using pre-made saves for more variety, but when I started my own all I ever did was add Iggy to Bob and Eliza's household.

MasonGamer

remove all premade Sims, Homes, townies all that matters is my sims.

QueenofMyshuno

Delete the Pancakes. Every time. I hate their name.

FraTac

I replace the default EA homes (expecially the low budget ones) that look so "American suburban" and replace them with Vicotiran/European houses / villas.

AlbaWaterhouse

fullspiral wrote: »

I made a base template of the worlds that I start with so I don't have to set it all up again. Then I save it as....and name the save different from the template.

I should really update my template because I have done so much since then and the save I am playing is the only one I have played for so long.

Same here.

MDianaSims

I usually work from a template save too. I have one with my own Sims and one with the premades, but I didn't update either of them since before seasons, so... But I am working on putting together a new one.

hali

@fullspiral and @AlbaWaterhouse, making an original template save is efficient and brilliant. Thanks for sharing this tip! I've been saving lots I build myself (and in the case of apartments 'rooms') and households I create, then re-plopping my favorites into new saves. I'm gonna implement this tip going forward, :D thanks!

@thundergimmick- making supporting households BEFORE making the main one/s you'll be playing most is a phenomenal idea, thanks for sharing :D!
Had I thought to do this for my first TS4 save, I wouldn’t have run into the problem of not being able to fulfill the last requirement of the chef aspiration’s second tier milestone - earn silver at a house party. Well, I couldn’t throw a party because I had deleted all the pre-mades and NPC townies and hadn’t had the chance to repopulate the save because I was too excited to play the household I had just minted, lol *face palm*.


In my current main save (which I haven’t had the chance to play any household yet) I've been bulldozing lots, building venues I plan to use, creating households (and writing their background stories as I save them to the game), building homes/apartments, expanding or renovating a few Maxis builds I do actually like, and giving makeovers to game-generated NPCs that have traits different to what I would typically create and aren't disruptive to my style of gameplay. Look, I’ve taken entirely too long building and decorating my lots just~ the way I like them only to get a clutter object stolen by a random kleptomaniac townie? No, townies with that trait get instantly deleted as soon as I notice them. For my play style, I enjoy building more than renovating existing builds because I enjoy making full use of community lots. That is, I want spaces that are truly usable for played and non-played sims.

Edited for clarity.

HopeyStarr

Like 2 years ago I would wipe the save clean of premades and lots and build the save up with households/lots downloaded from the gallery and my own sims. Now I'm too lazy and would rather use ready-made saves made by different people. I still have my own sims between save files do their thing all the while new faces and locations fill the world. Makes each save file feel a little unique.

So_Money

Roll dice to determine which of the 100’s of sims in my library make the cut.

Writin_Reg

Well I find my sims some kind of job or way to make money - build a basic house, and have them watch the cooking channel through their first few easy meals in the house to keep them from disasters until they can afford a sprinkler system to not burn their house down.

Toward the end of their first week in their house I generally have had them walk around the neighborhood and meet a few sims they might like - maybe pick a few plants to start a small garden, and just check out the area they live in.

Smellincoffee

I edit the calendar to make certain days less of a chore -- I don't like gnomes, and I prefer Valentine's Day to be an easy one, fulfilled by smooching or drinking, with no flowers/formal dates necessary. I also turn aging off, because I prefer to take a few in-game weeks to get my sims some established skills. The CASstories helps a little nowadays.

DoodlyDoofus

Starting new games? Oh yeah, I forget that people do that.

SiliClone

Since I made the mistake of buying Parenthood, I go in every house and age up the kids.

belpita

I delete all pre-mades.

I usually also delete most houses in the world and build new ones, especially if there is an area I plan to use more than others.

aldavor

Make my sim buy an empty plot of land, then delete the vampires, demolish everything in FH, and replace (or add) the public venues such as library, museum and gym with CC lots that have my own traits sets. To start making some money, I either get them into painting or I buy a camera and they sell their photos as they take them (I of course use my Viable Photography mod to make some extra cash).

And that's basically it - each new iteration then starts to take its own turns with story progression depending on what storyboard I'm using.

Karababy52

I have a custom template that I created and use for every new save. It's set up with modified lots, premades and copies of all my favorite Sims from other saves as 'not-in-world' townies. All I need to do is; open that template, click on the 'create new Sim to move in' button at the lower right of the Manage Worlds screen, create my Sim(s), place them on a lot, build them a house (or not) and start playing. When I'm ready to save gameplay for that new save, I choose 'save as' and rename it something appropriate. Lather, rinse, repeat for the next new save.

Whenever I get a new pack, I just update the custom template for any new premades/worlds to my preferences and carry on as usual for the next new save. Using a custom template has made everything so much faster when starting a new save. I don't have to spend time updating everything before I can start playing. I love it!

EDIT: Forgot to add that I always create a folder for any new save and place any screenshots I've taken in it. I also create sub-folders inside that folder for the Sims/Lot tray files and for their appropriate save game files too if I'm finished with the save file or it's on hiatus to play later. This has made it a lot easier when picking/choosing which Sims I wanted to put in my custom template. Also, if I ever want to reuse a house in another save, I have them in those folders to easily drop in the current tray file.

It helps to streamline my game too by not having it cluttered up with a ton of Screenshots/Sims/Lots/Saves in game all the time. I have very little lag (if any) as a result.

adduapina

DoodlyDoofus wrote: »

Starting new games? Oh yeah, I forget that people do that.

This. I have a lot of saves that I rotate on and all of them have turned into something completely different from the "new game"-state.

CommaSplice

I usually delete all the ready made lots. Also the Villareals.

Hermitgirl

Not organized enough for that... I wish I were. If I didn't have about 20 save games I actually use and was starting over completely . I'd put a bowling alley, spa, and some basegame restaurants in a starter save then build from there. My template save gets lost in the shuffle of my saves currently. I do usually have to add those in by hand when I run across not having them. I actually wish I'd put all of my business places in Newcrest also.. it gets confusing to remember when I move between my themed saves.

Mariefoxprice83

I change a few lots such as adding a spa to Oasis Springs or Willow Creek and most of the time I put a church somewhere as well. Usually I replace 2 of the Granite Falls lots with a spa and a bar, and search the gallery for something roughly appropriate to the theme of the game.

PlayerSinger2010

Delete Baby Ariel and fill in Newcrest with restaurants and bowling alleys. I also get rid of all of the retail lots in Magnolia Promade since I hate that feature and never use it.

GalacticGal

Currently, I only have two separate game saves. My Cantrell family and my ancestral save. Both (when restarting, or starting anew) require that I do some set-up before any actual game play. It's quite a task that is wearying, and this last time around with the Cantrells (opted to reboot in a brand new save due to the patch and didn't wish to have a corruption issue) I placed their house and a few venues in other neighborhoods, as well. I haven't added the collateral families, yet, that I normally do. Focusing more on the potential spouse of my Global Superstar in the making. What I have done this time, was to start my game and add a new family before I enter the lot I wish to play. Then I use MCCC to give skills to the new Sims created in CAS. Makes no sense to me that an Adult wouldn't have any skills and yet their child is a teen, for instance. One day, I can only hope we'll have this option in CAS. But, for now, I'm grateful for the MCCC mod. My celebrity Sim just achieved his goal almost a week after his older brother aged up. So, I aged him up, too. Just yesterday, in fact. Now, I have to figure out if I'm going to wait until his two next younger siblings age up before I have him get hitched or not. Since I have adopted a slightly different play style in how he achieves his fame, this go around, I may just break-out of the marriage order of things, too. See? I can be unpredictable.

As for the ancestral save, I set up household A (and this time I built a new abode for them) and then household B. Since having a household larger than 8 total Sims is tricky at best, I went ahead and added the future spouse of my 7th great-Aunt and when I aged her up to teen, moved her over there to make room for the younger siblings that have yet to be born. This after moving 7th great-uncles two and three to a place of their own, and my sixth great-grandfather along with his bride (eldest in household to begin their life together. Always before I move a family, I take the time to set up the next lot, which I have built already. It's not always practical to move with all of the furnishings, but I will mostly to keep the crops. Then I take what furnishings I want, and sell the rest. This also takes time.