Hey Amara, you funny bunny! :D
Some of the BIG mods like Master Controller have a LOT of functionality and do a lot of different things. For the biggies I'd say install them one at a time in a new 'test' save and play around with them until you feel used to them. Installing a lot of mods all at once can feel overwhelming.
I'll list some of my favourites and explain what I use them for. :D
Nraas:*
Master Controller---> I use this for switching households without going to 'edit town'. I use the advanced CAS by choosing the 'stylist' option. It also allows you to edit things like skills and career, which is very useful, especially when the game decides to make ALL your sims into sim-fu masters. :roll: :lol:
I use the integration and cheat modules.
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Consigner---> A simple one. This lets you sell many more things at the consignment store.
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Cupcake---> This mod is used to auto-fill the bakery stands. You can select each rack individually and toggle the auto-fill on and off, so the stands don't fill in your owned bakery, for example. You can also decide which foods will auto-spawn.
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Decensor---> I always feel like a rude-y when I admit I use this mod! :oops: It removes the censor blur. The blur really bothers me because it's just too big and you can't see some of the nice animations because of it. :(
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Error Trap---> I love and hate this mod in equal measure! It kind of saves your game from potentially game-breaking bugs and glitches, which is awesome. BUT it can be a bit too giddy sometimes and can spam you with notifications which gets really annoying. It's a core mod so it actually alters the game files. If you install it I believe it's hard to uninstall without upsetting your save games so use with caution and maybe read up on it thoroughly first.
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Overwatch---> To me this is sort of similar to error trap but I definitely recommend this one! It helps the game to run much more smoothly and prevents the build-up of things that cause lag, like the accumulation of cars. It usually runs at 3 am and you get a bit of lag while it does it's thing, so I usually save right after. I used to have a lot of save fails, but since installing overwatch I rarely get them.
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Relativity---> I ADORE this mod! It's definitely a favourite! It lets you control the speed that time passes in the game. I set it to '25' which makes it run at just over half speed. It means I don't feel rushed to do things and I can actually enjoy my sim's day. :D
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Selector---> I basically use this mod to switch to other sims by right-clicking on them. It means I don't have to go to 'edit town' to switch households. Let me give an example of when I would use this: If I was playing a household with a broken sink, I could call over my 'handy' sim (from another household), then right-click on him to select him and direct him to fix the sink, and then switch back to my original sim. :D
That's just one example but I use this CONSTANTLY for so many different reasons.
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Tempest---> I only recently installed this but it cleans up the 'stuck' fallen leaves in the winter.
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Traveler---> Allows you to choose any installed world when going on vacation. You can switch between worlds without losing relationships.
I use other mods from Nraas, but those are probably my favourites. I don't use story progression (because I don't use sp anyway) but I know that one is a very popular one!
Ani's ModsI absolutely adore Ani! I love her style of gameplay, which is fairly similar to my own, she rotates through many households and has a self-sufficient community. I recommend her
let's plays for really great ideas! She also often explains how her mods work.
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Shop for Clothing Pedestal Display Mod---> This mod gives you much more control over the shopping mannequins from Into the Future. You can set the mannequins to specific ages/genders, and set multiple outfits. It lets you set the outfits without having to own the lot. Great for stylists!
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Savvier Seller Mod---> This mod expands the amount of things you can sell with the MH savvy seller collection and gives you much greater control over which sim owns each rug/display/register. You can sell crafted items with this! This is an absolute favourite mod of mine! It has done so much to help me play my game in the way I want to play it. :D
I definitely recommend checking out more of her mods at MTS, I use quite a few of them. :D
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Tax Collector---> This. mod. is. awesome! It lets you add/remove households from a tax list, and then you can actually tax your sims and have that money go to a community fund. I use it for all sorts of random things. When I play my politician, any money he makes from donations gets put into the community box at city hall. I plan to use this money to improve the church. I also have a 'bank' now from which my sims can get loans, I'm just in the middle of setting this up. I recommend watching
this video to get an idea how it works.
Zerbu*
Ultimate Careers---> This mod is amazing!!! One of my top top mods! It means that your sim no longer needs to go into a rabbithole to work. I build my own open workplaces and enable the career, and my sim will go to work on that lot and use appropriate objects that improve their career performance.
I modded the mod to make it so that my sim
doesn't lose work performance when
not using the career related items. So I have a lot of freedom to do profession-like jobs that I think are appropriate for that sim. One of my scientists is particularly interested in oceanography, so when I play her she might go off the lot to go to a dive spot and collect fish, taking them back to the science lab. :D My politician will do a lot of networking, throwing fund raising parties, and using Ani's tax collector mod to collect tax from the town. :D
This mod has made the game what I want it to be! I made Crumpleton specifically with Zerbu's mod in mind. :D
There is a small learning curve so I recommend playing around with a test save first, until you get used to it. :D
There are quite a few other little mods I use, mostly from Mod the Sims, like the curfew remover. And of course, I have quite a collection of my own mods now! :lol: