Little peculiarities of your Sims 3 gameplay

In my case, it bothers me that the game generates the same multi-coloured umbrella for all townies. So I try to spread personalised umbrellas across my towns. The households I created and keep in my library, as well as those I shared on the Exchange, all have individually styled umbrellas. When I move a sim out of the active household, I make sure they have an umbrella in their inventory. Also, if I have a sim with a high level in handiness and nothing important to do, I will go into buy mode, buy several umbrellas, give them all different solid colours, stripes, polka dots or tartan patterns, and let the handy sim upgrade them to unbreakable. Then I put the umbrellas in the sim's inventory, and the next time they're out and about they give the umbrellas as gifts to townies.

https://i.imgur.com/dIjSSCP.jpg

It isn't really a lot of work, and it makes me happy when there is rain and I see townies in the street carrying unique umbrellas!

OMGoodness, If I made a written list of all the quirky things I do in game, this site would shut down from server overload!

Familywise:
1). I make certain the parents of my Sim children (and teens) meet the parents of the Sims they play/interact with. Sometimes things happen and when they do I like having the option to have my Sim parents 'complain' about that sim (usually a teen) to their parents.

2). I have my parents pick their children up from friends' houses when it is late or dark outside. I just don't like seeing children peddling around alone at 10 o'clock at night. I don't care if the neighborhood is safe.

3). Everyone must keep a piece of fruit in their personal inventory for when they become hungry.

4). Walk! If they live close enough, I love having my Sims walk to the park or to visit neighbors in their neighborhood.

5). Speaking of walking, teens are not allowed automatic use of the family ride. They are given bicycles as their 'mode of transportation' and when they get part-time jobs or earn money through other means, they can purchase themselves a scooter to ride on (or a sloppy jalopy if they really need a car).

6). Use the WHOLE house. This place isn't just for eating, sleeping, using the bathroom and doing homework. 9 times out of 10 my sims have worked very hard turning the house they started in into a real home. I make them pay for everything, from upgrading furnishings to renovations so, every inch of that lot gets used.

*Living rooms are for visitors of adults (or adults w/toddlers) and family-time (of course).
*Front Porches/Basements/Dens/Backyards are spaces where kids and teens can entertain their visiting guests. I also keep a few toys on the front porch of families with toddlers.
*Single guests of children and teens are allowed to hang out in their bedrooms if they want.

7). I keep additional food in the fridge for the babysitter.

8). I keep a toybox in the living room for visiting toddlers and childish Sims.

9). I can all leftovers and keep the pantry stocked with ingredients (Needs the canning station & canning station overhaul mod).

10). Create and stock medicines and rejuvenators for my families. This needs SN for some elixirs, canning station overhaul mod for double boiled ginseng to cure illness and, a healthy stock of sweet grass, life fruit and death flowers.

11). This one is not family related. My sims who own a business with employees always host the annual holiday party (at a community lot).

I love all your posts. Such cool quirks and inspirational ideas!

Outside of my randomly torturing premades other than River McIrish, Bebe Hart and Samantha Gray? ?
https://i.pinimg.com/200x150/48/f8/5d/48f85d9eb53bc10eeef704e22facf4b2.jpg

I always make my sims do their laundry at the laundromat, and i place one near my played households for convenience.

@PalmArrow those umbrellas have been a bit of an eyesore for me too. I do occasionally try to personalise the umbrellas of the sims I play.

The quirky thing I've been doing lately is turning everyone's imaginary friend real. I tried to eliminate all of the dolls in my child or older sims' inventories by making them real. That seemed to be working until I discovered some of my sims don't want to lose their dolls from their inventories. They are happy enough to offer the potion to their live imaginary friend and have them become real. But some of them just get a new doll and play with it. And if I make that doll real too then the sim just generates another one. I give up. Fortunately it doesn't happen with all of my sims. Just a very select few.

I like to dress my sims in their favorite color( even if it is just one part of the outfit) . This helps me find them in a crowd if they are at at a party or a community lot and it’s just fun .

I like this thread! I got some good idea :)

For me I have parents drive their kids to school and pick their kids up

@PalmArrow - Great Thread! It's the frequency which sims pull out those dang umbrellas which bother me more than the lack of designs. Since I play the entire town, eventually I get around to personalizing everyone's umbrella. Although every sim will get an umbrella for rain, very few of them have one for sunshade. I also have my handy sim upgrade the rain umbrella to unbreakable because those seem to wear out the fastest.

@StephSteb - Socks are must for my children's athletic outfits. However, when it comes to the adults' wearing socks, it all depends on the outfit they are wearing and the shoe choice.

@Nikkei_Simmer - Yeah, when you're not giving your townies a fear complex, what kind of life does your actives lead?

@Mareah & @PalmArrow - Laundromats are a must in my towns as well. Only my very large households have a washer & dryer in their homes. I do place hampers in all of my homes though whether there are machines or not. I put them in places where I know a sim will change to keep those clothes from piling up on the floor.

@Karritz - I guess your Sims really like their dolls :D! I don't have Generations installed so I don't get the doll. If I do change my mind and install it one day, I may just follow your lead and convert them into real Sims.

@KNORear - I like to use their favorite color in their personal space (bedrooms) or on skill objects such as the painting easel. It helps to personalize their space even more.

@GraceyManor - I tried having my sim parents take/pick-up their kids from school. In the beginning it seemed to work okay-ish but as my families began to expand or their daily lives became more hectic, I had to abandon the task. Now the only time my sim parents pick their kids up from school is if the kid stays on the schoolground playground too late.

@mw1525

10). Create and stock medicines and rejuvenators for my families. This needs SN for some elixirs, canning station overhaul mod for double boiled ginseng to cure illness and, a healthy stock of sweet grass, life fruit and death flowers.

Wow! Didn't know you could make medicine
My sims only have 1-2 kids so isn't too bad for me.
Would love to try your family style play, but it seems difficult to control guests XD