Forum Discussion

waterywatermelo's avatar
waterywatermelo
4 years ago

Turning Off Story Progression

First of all, what are the limits of Story Progression? What can it do and not do? I know it is to make the neighborhood seem more balanced and all that. But, I want to know what would happen if I just turn off Story Progression for just one save file.

My idea is this, I would turn off Story Progression, Aging, and 3 Seasons. Story Progression is turned off, so the game will not automatically assign inactive Sims jobs or make inactive Sims quit jobs. Aging is turned off, so all the Sims will not age. Also, 3 of the Seasons will be turned off or grayed out, leaving 1 active season; and this active season is just 7 days long (1 week, default). The household will be played for 1 season (7 days, default), and after that, I go to the next household in rotation... and the next... and the next... until I finally get to the last household. Then, I return to the initial household and change the season. Season 2 will also go for 7 days, and so on. Now, when I return back to the initial household, I will turn on Aging again, and everyone will be allowed to age up for 7 days. Those 7 days will just be about enjoying life and growing up instead of hyperproductivity.

I know that some people would play with the Story Progression mod, but I am wondering about a mod-free alternative.
  • Llandros2012's avatar
    Llandros2012
    Seasoned Rookie
    4 years ago
    I've played like this and it works pretty well - story progression (the EA standard) doesn't really do much when it's active but is known to kill off some sims and move some out of your world completely. Your plan of playing with one static season, aging and story progression off, then rotating will work fine. Some sims may be assigned jobs/roles until you have played them once but that's about it. Once I have assigned them a job I have not had them change or switch careers.

    One word of advice is to place all you inventory items (I do personal and household items) somewhere on the lot ( a basement, a room, in the fenced in yard, etc.) because when you come back it will most likely get deleted - some rare times it doesn't but I would rather be safe than sorry.

    I like the story progression mod but sometimes it does very random things that I didn't want and I don't always know what settings to use to prevent that. Even though I had it set to not add pets, it seems that the majority of the households get a pet! I like this method that you are playing but it does take a long time if you plan to play the whole town!
  • Keiomestre's avatar
    Keiomestre
    4 years ago
    Your mod-free alternative should work, with the exception that if you have Pets expansion, that stupid neighborhood pet adoption system might create puppies, kittens or foals in the households you are currently not playing.

    After a few rotations, your households will be filled with small animals.
  • Cororon's avatar
    Cororon
    Seasoned Rookie
    4 years ago
    "waterywatermelon;d-994064" wrote:
    I know that some people would play with the Story Progression mod, but I am wondering about a mod-free alternative.


    I would still recommend the Overwatch, Errortrap and MasterController mods. The first two to fix errors, stuck sims, too many spawned cars and other things that could slow down your game's performance over time. And MasterController won't do anything unless you use it yourself. You can use its Total Annihilation to remove unwanted sims/pets from the game. It removes them completely, like they have never existed, without causing corruption.
  • waterywatermelo's avatar
    waterywatermelo
    4 years ago
    @Cororon I already have Overwatch, ErrorTrap and MasterController mods, and ever since I found them out on the web, they are the most useful mods.
  • LiniSim's avatar
    LiniSim
    4 years ago
    "Keiomestre;c-17981042" wrote:
    Your mod-free alternative should work, with the exception that if you have Pets expansion, that stupid neighborhood pet adoption system might create puppies, kittens or foals in the households you are currently not playing.

    After a few rotations, your households will be filled with small animals.


    That is the only (and very annoying) problem I have, I play in rotation, among families I have made myself, aging off, story progression off, sometimes only one or maybe two seasons and no problems, not even with family or personal inventories. The only problem is the pets. And I don't get why the game would give horses or dogs, not just one but many to my families when they have no food bowls, no nothing. Very strange. But I don't do mods so I'm stuck with getting rid of them all when I go back into that family.

  • waterywatermelo's avatar
    waterywatermelo
    4 years ago
    @nickibitsward Luckily in the Sims 3, deleting Sims and Pets won't corrupt your game as they will in The Sims 2.
  • IreneSwift's avatar
    IreneSwift
    Seasoned Newcomer
    4 years ago
    "waterywatermelon;c-17987600" wrote:
    @nickibitsward Luckily in the Sims 3, deleting Sims and Pets won't corrupt your game as they will in The Sims 2.


    Not true. Deleting sims and pets will corrupt your game in Sims 3.
  • LiniSim's avatar
    LiniSim
    4 years ago
    "IreneSwift;c-17987645" wrote:
    "waterywatermelon;c-17987600" wrote:
    @nickibitsward Luckily in the Sims 3, deleting Sims and Pets won't corrupt your game as they will in The Sims 2.


    Not true. Deleting sims and pets will corrupt your game in Sims 3.


    Yes, never delete sims, and pets are sims. I have to painstakingly put each one up for adoption to get rid of them and then they play that sad music and I feel awful, lol.

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