What are you ideal life stages?
I'm sure everyone has a slightly different idea of how many life stages there should be, and I'm curious to hear what that would be for everyone! So if you were in charge of this decision in future Sims games, what ages/life stages would be included? I'm gonna include my list below, everyone feel free to comment with their lists!
Mine would go as follows:
Newborn: Equivalent to a few months old. Functions like the babies in TS1 and TS4, being tied to the bassinet, but would look like the little bundles from TS3 and have discernible features based on what they're gonna look like later. Newborns do not have traits yet; all they know is eat, sleep, poop, cry.
Baby: Equivalent to about 1-2 years old. Kind of a mix of babies and toddlers from TS2/TS3. Can be carried anywhere, uses cribs instead of bassinets, can be dressed up in diapers/onesies/etc. and can be taught basic walking. Babies would have one baby/toddler-specific trait which follows them into toddlerhood.
Toddler: Equivalent to about 3-5 years old. Copy and paste toddlers from TS4 haha, a little older and can do basic walking by default even if not yet taught. Higher walking skill means running and using stairs, and they use two-tile toddler beds that they can get in and out of. They can be sent to non-mandatory pre-school/kindergarten type stuff to build skills like the older life states, or be kept at home if you prefer. Toddlers would have the same baby/toddler specific trait, and gain one other baby/toddler specific trait upon aging up to toddler.
Child: Equivalent to about 6-8 years old. Not much to say, they're just kids who can run around and play. Very similar to child-aged sims we've already had; they'd be in mandatory elementary school by now. They get two child/tween specific traits, which carry through into the next age.
Tween/pre-teen: Equivalent to 11-12 years, basically represents the middle school years. As such, they'd go to middle school, which is a school we've never had in the games before despite being a very important part of growing up! This is the earliest that I think stuff like crushes would be added; it would only ever be tame stuff, like butterflies in the stomach and holding hands. No "mess around" or anything, I'm talking literal schoolyard romances. As mentioned, the two child/tween specific traits carry through, as well as one teen-and-up trait. However, if you are making a tween in CAS, you can use any amount of either set of traits, it just has to total up to 3 traits.
Young teen: Equivalent to 13-15. Half of the life stage is spent in middle school, the other half is spent in the beginning of high school. Unsure about the name of this group, I just know that they should be separate from older teens. This age is when most of the puberty stuff (like the stuff from High School Years) starts. I know that puberty hits some people sooner (I was one of those people in fact) but my understanding is that I'm in the uncommon category on that one! Hence it starting in this stage. (Plus, I always wished it had started later, and I don't wanna inflict THAT much trauma on my sims lol) Young teens lose the two child/tween traits and replace them with two teen-and-up traits for a total of three.
Teenager: Equivalent to 16-18 ish. Later years of high school, and this is where more serious romances can form. "Mess around" would be implemented around this age. The puberty stuff from the last age stage calms down a bit but doesn't go away fully. Teens can be taught to drive either through lessons or through older sims teaching them. Teens gain one more teen-and-up trait for a total of four.
Young adult: Equivalent to 20-25. Puberty stuff finally evens out, and all the "adults-only" stuff (juice, college, woohoo instead of mess around, etc.) is finally unlocked. An important note: Teen sims look different from YA and up in my perfect world! I don't like how they look exactly the same in TS4, so young adults would be taller and more "fully formed" as it were once they get to this stage.
Adult: Equivalent to about 30-40. Basically the same as it is in TS4; they look very similar, but their age starts to show a bit in their features by default. Adults unlock the fifth and final teen-and-up trait, being fully-formed adults now.
Middle-aged: Equivalent to about 50-60. Retirement is an option, but sims are not required to take it. If they do take it, the payout is smaller due to cashing out earlier. Middle-aged sims are eligible to hit a mid-life crisis.
Elder: Equivalent to about 70+. Sims are auto-retired at this stage, but the retirement payout is higher because they waited long enough. Sims in this stage can still pick up part-time jobs if they want or need to, but are no longer eligible for full-time jobs. There is an option to move into a retirement home for end-of-life care, and at the end of this life stage, the urn/gravestone is simply sent back to the family. If the elder stays at home, they are much more frail and can easily pass due to over-exhaustion just like in TS4.
I know this is a LOT of life stages, but I personally think we should have as many life stages as possible in order to more accurately reflect real-life's gradual growth. But I'd love to hear what others have to say! I'm sure plenty of people have reasons why they think it should be way less than this, and I'd love to hear them! I know when I told my mom my ideas, she had reservations about dividing young teens and older teens until I explained that we don't have gradual aging, so I was trying to compensate for that. I'd love to hear any other opinions that provide different views on this!
Mine would go as follows:
Newborn: Equivalent to a few months old. Functions like the babies in TS1 and TS4, being tied to the bassinet, but would look like the little bundles from TS3 and have discernible features based on what they're gonna look like later. Newborns do not have traits yet; all they know is eat, sleep, poop, cry.
Baby: Equivalent to about 1-2 years old. Kind of a mix of babies and toddlers from TS2/TS3. Can be carried anywhere, uses cribs instead of bassinets, can be dressed up in diapers/onesies/etc. and can be taught basic walking. Babies would have one baby/toddler-specific trait which follows them into toddlerhood.
Toddler: Equivalent to about 3-5 years old. Copy and paste toddlers from TS4 haha, a little older and can do basic walking by default even if not yet taught. Higher walking skill means running and using stairs, and they use two-tile toddler beds that they can get in and out of. They can be sent to non-mandatory pre-school/kindergarten type stuff to build skills like the older life states, or be kept at home if you prefer. Toddlers would have the same baby/toddler specific trait, and gain one other baby/toddler specific trait upon aging up to toddler.
Child: Equivalent to about 6-8 years old. Not much to say, they're just kids who can run around and play. Very similar to child-aged sims we've already had; they'd be in mandatory elementary school by now. They get two child/tween specific traits, which carry through into the next age.
Tween/pre-teen: Equivalent to 11-12 years, basically represents the middle school years. As such, they'd go to middle school, which is a school we've never had in the games before despite being a very important part of growing up! This is the earliest that I think stuff like crushes would be added; it would only ever be tame stuff, like butterflies in the stomach and holding hands. No "mess around" or anything, I'm talking literal schoolyard romances. As mentioned, the two child/tween specific traits carry through, as well as one teen-and-up trait. However, if you are making a tween in CAS, you can use any amount of either set of traits, it just has to total up to 3 traits.
Young teen: Equivalent to 13-15. Half of the life stage is spent in middle school, the other half is spent in the beginning of high school. Unsure about the name of this group, I just know that they should be separate from older teens. This age is when most of the puberty stuff (like the stuff from High School Years) starts. I know that puberty hits some people sooner (I was one of those people in fact) but my understanding is that I'm in the uncommon category on that one! Hence it starting in this stage. (Plus, I always wished it had started later, and I don't wanna inflict THAT much trauma on my sims lol) Young teens lose the two child/tween traits and replace them with two teen-and-up traits for a total of three.
Teenager: Equivalent to 16-18 ish. Later years of high school, and this is where more serious romances can form. "Mess around" would be implemented around this age. The puberty stuff from the last age stage calms down a bit but doesn't go away fully. Teens can be taught to drive either through lessons or through older sims teaching them. Teens gain one more teen-and-up trait for a total of four.
Young adult: Equivalent to 20-25. Puberty stuff finally evens out, and all the "adults-only" stuff (juice, college, woohoo instead of mess around, etc.) is finally unlocked. An important note: Teen sims look different from YA and up in my perfect world! I don't like how they look exactly the same in TS4, so young adults would be taller and more "fully formed" as it were once they get to this stage.
Adult: Equivalent to about 30-40. Basically the same as it is in TS4; they look very similar, but their age starts to show a bit in their features by default. Adults unlock the fifth and final teen-and-up trait, being fully-formed adults now.
Middle-aged: Equivalent to about 50-60. Retirement is an option, but sims are not required to take it. If they do take it, the payout is smaller due to cashing out earlier. Middle-aged sims are eligible to hit a mid-life crisis.
Elder: Equivalent to about 70+. Sims are auto-retired at this stage, but the retirement payout is higher because they waited long enough. Sims in this stage can still pick up part-time jobs if they want or need to, but are no longer eligible for full-time jobs. There is an option to move into a retirement home for end-of-life care, and at the end of this life stage, the urn/gravestone is simply sent back to the family. If the elder stays at home, they are much more frail and can easily pass due to over-exhaustion just like in TS4.
I know this is a LOT of life stages, but I personally think we should have as many life stages as possible in order to more accurately reflect real-life's gradual growth. But I'd love to hear what others have to say! I'm sure plenty of people have reasons why they think it should be way less than this, and I'd love to hear them! I know when I told my mom my ideas, she had reservations about dividing young teens and older teens until I explained that we don't have gradual aging, so I was trying to compensate for that. I'd love to hear any other opinions that provide different views on this!
