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SheriGR's avatar
SheriGR
Hero
5 years ago

Re: Question About Building Bigger Muscles

@AprilTheSimmer96 Hmmm... I'm always trying to not get my Sims fat or bulked up. I almost always keep a treadmill on the lot as it doesn't make them bulk up. The only time I had them bulking up was when someone was using the weight machine a bunch.  I didn't worry about the calorie count of the foods as they worked off what they ate fine. Personally, if I were you I would just feed him normally, but not have a treadmill. 

You may want to have them do the bodybuilding career - at least for a while. If you get your Sim 'energized' they can then. Confident is also helpful. There are some good tips in this article: https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/careers/athlete/

Also, if you get frustrated you can do some 'sculpting' yourself in CAS, then just work to maintain it.

13 Replies

  • RandomBuzziness's avatar
    RandomBuzziness
    Seasoned Ace
    5 years ago

    @AprilTheSimmer96 According to Carl's video and guide your Sims will need to do at least some cardio or they will gain weight as Sims do not burn calories through regular activities. Cardio exercises like jogging, using a treadmill, or swimming will reduce weight but will not affect muscle. If you have the City Living EP you'll notice some of the townies will gain weight because they eat at the food booths but they do not do cardio exercises. For muscle gain your Sims need to lift weights or do other types of non-cardio exercises. Lifting weights will increase fitness but it will not reduce fatness. So it's like there are two separate systems. I think using a punching bag will do a little of both, it will increase muscle and decrease fat.

  • RandomBuzziness's avatar
    RandomBuzziness
    Seasoned Ace
    5 years ago

    @AprilTheSimmer96 Carl also explained how when you create a Sim in CAS, wherever you initially set the Muscle slider is the "floor" of how far their muscle mass will decrease over time. So if you create a Sim with a high level of muscle mass on their slider, then in theory they should retain that mass even without all of the weight lifting. They'd still need to do some cardio though, just to keep their fatness level down. It's probably going to take a little trial and error to figure out the right amount of cardio to keep your Maui from getting too heavy but without him that six-pack look that you're wanting to avoid. All of this is basically what I did with my favorite Sim: I created her in CAS with the muscle mass I wanted her to keep in the game & then I just had her do cardio exercises to keep her weight where I wanted it. She looked really weird when she got too thin!

  • AprilTheSimmer9's avatar
    AprilTheSimmer9
    5 years ago
    @RandomBuzziness Yeah when you have something at where you want it and they get too thin it looks weird. Like if I get to a point where Maui gets too thin I'll take a picture and show it. Honestly in my opinion he reminds me of the real Maui legend when he does and I think he looks like a rip-off of the real one. 😆

    Not from Hawaii (I was born in Seattle) but I read about Maui on the Disney wiki before seeing the movie and that's how I learned he was based off an actual Polynesian legend. ☺️ I've seen images of illustrations of the one from the legend too, so that's why I think Maui looks like a rip-off of real Maui when he gets too thin. 😆
  • Sashas0nic's avatar
    Sashas0nic
    Seasoned Ace
    5 years ago

    Hi, @AprilTheSimmer96 Just stopping by with some notes on Mods, it may not be your preferred style, but they can customize your game quite a lot. If you only have a few, that also makes it easy to keep up to date per patch..

    There's a few I can think of

    1. There's a few Mod Sliders, that are more 'exact' in cas (neck/leg/calf/butt etc etc..)
    2. There's also a 'Balanced Calories Mod' you can find at mod the sims.. (and an explanation from there below the spoiler, if of interest)
    3. This and the other mods I mention have been updated (slider rated as compatible) in August.
    Spoiler
    How does the game behave by default ?

    In the Sims 4, almost all foods are full of calories. The problem with the game is that it makes all foods have a positive calorie count, like in reality. But in reality, we have a baseline metabolism that burns calories even when we don't exercise, and in the Sims there is no baseline metabolism, so sims that don't workout regularly are condemned to gain weight, more or less quickly, but they can't escape it on long term. Even if they just eat salad !

    What does this mod change to the game's behavior ?

    As sims should burn very quickly all calories of low calorie meals, some foods have been modified to induce weight loss instead of weight gain : it's the case for salads, as well as dishes made of fruits and vegetables. Grains, lean meats and fish are low calorie. High fat, high sugar, desserts, most quick meals (with the exception of oatmeal and yogurt) and junk foods in general are high calorie. Some gourmet foods are now low calorie or even inducing weight loss ! Your sims can now enjoy some gourmet dishes without guilt ! But beware of cake !
    This mod has been designed to force your sims to adopt a diversified diet. Some foods induce weight gain, others induce weight loss, and very few are 0 calorie. This means that your sims have a much lower risk of being overweight, unless if they like junk foods and desserts too much. But if they like only salad, they risk being underweight on long term. Fortunately, they can avoid that by choosing the right balance between high calorie and low calorie foods. If your sims like mac and cheese, they can now enjoy it, and eat a garden salad later to lose the weight gained with mac and cheese. This way, your sims can maintain their weight much more easily than before, with simple and intuitive choices.
    Even toddlers can maintain their weight as peas and yogurt will keep them in better health than crackers. And just like adult sims, toddlers need a diversified diet to keep a healthy weight.

    All the best, hope this helps some.

    Sasha



    I have no connection to EA, am an Avid Mods/CC user, but don't make them

  • AprilTheSimmer9's avatar
    AprilTheSimmer9
    5 years ago
    @Sashas0nic Thank you! 😊 I can't use mods since I'm an Xbox player but I appreciate the info. ☺️ You can feel free to leave your post here though if you want in case any non-console players come across this. 😉
  • Sashas0nic's avatar
    Sashas0nic
    Seasoned Ace
    5 years ago

    @AprilTheSimmer96 Ah yes.. just noticed it now 🤞  

    Yes, I'll leave it here, as that may help others searching for a similar problem.  I keep forgetting 'general' has a spattering of console/mac and others, there is the Technical forum here for each type, but would be good if they could make it an 'option' when posting in any of these areas, so it's 'auto titled' with the platform I think 😎

  • AprilTheSimmer9's avatar
    AprilTheSimmer9
    5 years ago
    @Sashas0nic Yeah that'd be cool if they did that. ☺️ Plus if I didn't mention being an Xbox player in my original post I'll be sure to next time. 😆
  • RandomBuzziness's avatar
    RandomBuzziness
    Seasoned Ace
    5 years ago

    @Sashas0nic Lol yup, there's a little bit of everything on GD&F xD I started using a mod to freeze both physique sliders just to keep the San Myshuno townies in better shape.

    @AprilTheSimmer96 Not to get too far off-topic, but I've been to both Seattle (several times) and Kauai (twice) and I love them both! 

    Sulani reminds me very much of Kauai, there are wild chickens there too xD

  • AprilTheSimmer9's avatar
    AprilTheSimmer9
    5 years ago
    @RandomBuzziness Oh wow... 😆 So this game's pretty accurate. Either that or it (Sulani) was based on Hawaii (or Kauai). ☺️

    @Sashas0nic Yeah I reread it after I posted and realized that I mentioned it at the end too. Lol, my bad. 😆
  • AprilTheSimmer9's avatar
    AprilTheSimmer9
    5 years ago

    Okay so I managed to fix Maui to where I'd be able to move the body fat slider to the very top and have him still look thin (and more like him). 

    I moved the camera to where I had a side view of him (since I was looking in the Gallery and downloading stuff before going back to in-game) and moved the stomach more inwards towards the body and fixed the six-pack that had appeared on him after I left the Gallery (actually just remembered it was due to me having to save and quit since it gave me the "Couldn't Connect" error when I tried to go to the Gallery). 

    Now he can have big muscles and not look too big due to the body fat slider being at the very top! 😊 

    I wish I could've thought of that yesterday (or at least tried it since I didn't think it'd let me push the stomach in more). 😆 

    EDIT: Added a photo of what he looks like now from the side after the little edit I did on him.

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