@ReneHollyDesign1 In Sims 3, sims have a genetic weight and a current fitness. Cardio decreases their fitness but doesn't affect their genetic weight, so if they stop exercising, they gradually revert to their original weight. The same goes for overeating: they won't keep the extra weight on once the start eating normally. And they can only gain weight if they eat while having the "stuffed" moodlet, which in turn only happens if they eat when already full or close to it.
Interestingly, babies inherit the current fitness level as their genetic weight, not the parent's genetic weight. So if you have a naturally very fat sim that temporarily loses the pounds during the pregnancy, the baby will be the thinner weight even if the parent reverts later. This goes for the pregnant sim as well as their partner, whichever one the game chooses for the baby to inherit.
@puzzlezaddict Yes in The Sims 3 you did have to change the body type if you wanted them to stay smaller cause exercising wasn't a cure for weight gain. As for getting stuffed and gaining weight I don't remember that happening. However sure they weren't overeating when I wasn't playing the house hold cause they don't eat when they aren't played they stand around or run around the town.
So how do you feel the weight about the weight gain system in The Sims 4? How do you feel about all the chores the Sims carry out not counting as exercise?
@ReneHollyDesign1 I just meant that in Sims 3, if you made a sim lose weight, then didn't make them exercise (whether you were playing them or not), they'd gradually revert to their genetic weight. So Claire gaining back the pounds isn't a surprise.
Sims wouldn't typically gain weight past their genetic weight when inactive unless they're on-screen. For example, a sim might overeat at a party with a buffet, or keep going back to the deep fryer you placed on a community lot. As in real life.
For the Sims 4 system, I feel that, as with many other features, the devs tried to make a more complicated and believable system than in previous Sims games but ended up with something unnatural and annoying to use.
If I were building it, I'd prefer that the weight system was a little less responsive on the margins. A sim eating two standard home-cooked meals a day shouldn't gain or lose weight at all. Weight gain should come from too much food, or lots of junk food; weight loss should come from eating salads or smaller portions. If I were drawing it, I'd have a minimum and maximum line for calories, with some (more) room in between, and sims would have to be outside the boundaries to change weights. The day's exercise should move both lines upwards by an appropriate margin.
I don't know whether it would be feasible to build exercise-like effects into various kinds of everyday movement—whether that would be too much of a hassle or too much data for the game engine to handle. It would be nice if a sim who spent 4 hours gardening got the same benefit as one who spent 90 minutes on the treadmill, but that opens up a lot of possibilities. Chasing around a toddler is hard work, but how do you measure it? Stairs are work too, and running to "go here" is more exercise than walking. Even standing is healthier than sitting, so does standing at the easel or woodworking bench count as a plus? Or is that neutral, and sitting count as a minus? It might be the kind of thing that requires an entirely new game engine to manage.
@puzzlezaddict I use UI cheats and make sure my sims are very hungry before they eat, the hunger line is not all the way full when they finish eating sometimes. However they still gain weight in about 5 real life hours of game play so many Sim days have passed. I am always surprised because I know how careful I am at checking their intake.
@ReneHollyDesign1 @SqueamishNerd I wonder whether not eating until full actually helps at all. Since the hunger bar will decline at the same rate (absent a mod or reward trait), don't your sims just end up eating more smaller meals throughout the day? I'd only expect that to help, from a game mechanic standpoint, if being full was itself a contributing factor to weight gain.
At any rate, I think we all agree that there should be a way for sims to maintain their weight without reward traits or mods, and without having to spend a lot of their time in designated athletic activities.
I found one thing that may be working for me but will require a lot more testing.
I created a few Sims with Athletic Aspirations to get the High Metabolism Creation Trait. I then later switch it to the Aspirations I want for them once my Sim enters the world. I usually always give them a knowledge aspiration so they will be a Quick Learner, but I've just done this with a few so I can compare. I'm doing this with some that will or won't be exercising a lot and just watching how things progress as I see them around. Because it's really affecting Sims in previous households the most. I noticed that Sims so far with the creation trait are staying the same size for now, but I'll see how it goes. I've used the trait before over the years but I usually prioritise other Creation Traits more.
