Give Us "Per Household" or "Per Sim" Holiday Settings!
I absolutely love the Seasons expansion pack. The calendar system was a massive step forward for the franchise, and adding the ability to create custom holidays was a brilliant move. However, after playing for a while—especially with rotational play and large families—I’ve run into a major limitation: The holidays are global.
Right now, every household in the save file follows the exact same calendar. This creates some frustrating storytelling and gameplay hurdles that I think could be solved by adding a simple toggle.
The Problem: Global Holidays Break Immersion
Here are a few scenarios where the current system fails:
- Different Cultures/Backgrounds: I might have one household that celebrates "Winterfest" with a tree and Father Winter, while another household in the same save is strictly traditional and doesn’t celebrate it at all. Or, I might want one family to celebrate "Harvestfest" while another family ignores it. Currently, if I delete a holiday for one family, it deletes it for everyone.
- Rotational Play: If I’m playing a rotation and one family is on vacation in Sulani, they shouldn't necessarily be stressed about "Winterfest" traditions if they are just there to relax. Or, if I want a specific family to have a "Family Reunion" holiday that only applies to them, I can’t do that without forcing the rest of the world to celebrate it too.
- Religious/Storytelling Purposes: Some players use holidays to simulate specific religious or cultural events for specific Sims. Having a "Day of the Dead" or a "Ramadan" style holiday is great, but it doesn't make sense for every single household in Willow Creek to celebrate it unless the player wants them to.
The Solution: A "Holiday Scope" Toggle
I propose adding a toggle in the Calendar UI or the Holiday Editor that allows us to set the scope of a holiday. Ideally, we would have three options:
- Global (Current System): The holiday applies to everyone (e.g., New Year’s Eve).
- Household Only: The holiday only applies to the currently active household. (e.g., The Goth family celebrates a private "Ancestor Remembrance Day").
- Sim Specific (Optional): The holiday applies only to specific Sims (e.g., Only the children celebrate "Snow Day," or a specific Sim celebrates their birthday as a holiday).
Why This Matters for Gameplay
- No More "Fake" Holidays: We wouldn't have to delete holidays to avoid annoying pop-ups for families that shouldn't be celebrating them.
- Better Storytelling: We could create rich, diverse neighborhoods where different families have different traditions.
- Less Micro-Managing: We wouldn't have to constantly edit the calendar to add/remove holidays depending on which household we are playing.
Potential Implementation
I imagine this could be as simple as a checkbox in the "Create a Holiday" menu:
- □ Make this holiday Global
- ☑ Make this holiday Household Only