Forum Discussion

Mamascrack

7 years ago

Solved

I've never played a Sims game...

And I'm thinking about diving in.

What are some of the "Wish I would have known " items that will help me enjoy the game?

gameplay issue

SheriGR
7 years ago
@Mamascrack
These guides may be useful:
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/tutorials/how-to/new-game-house.php
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/tips.php
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/
So many awesome tips from @gardenlobster and @PugLove888 ...I am adding a few more, and I apologize if there is any overlap that I didn't catch. 🙂
If you don't mind, I thought I would add here a few things I do in gameplay with my sims:
If your sim begins to get too buff or too fat and you don't want to deal with workouts, you can go into the CAS and 'sculpt' the sim - press inward at the waste, for instance, to reduce waste size or muscle size on arms/legs, etc... Then...
I normally add one or two treadmills to the lot (if two are side-by-side they can talk at the same time and increase social. Have them do a workout every day or two for a while and they seem to get into the habit. I find that many of my sims (especially if they have an 'active' trait) will get on the treadmill here-and-there on their own and maintain their form and seem to enjoy it also, after they're used to it. (At a certain fitness level they also get a 'no sweat workout' option, which is great. You can also buy the 'gym rat' reward and then they don't have hygiene decrease by working out. After these things are in place, and they don't take that long, weight tends to be a non-issue.
I normally play with aging off, or at least until you get through the grind of completing the lower-level, more difficult career challenges.
It helps to add other sims to the household for support and so they don't have to do/pay for so much to enjoy decent food/lifestyle/career-prep items. Hint: don't add them in the initial household. Create the roomies all as their own separate households then one-by-one add them to the household with your sim and save after adding each one. This way your new sim brings their initial $20,000 to the household, and you have the money as a group to own a decent home and get the items for it that you each need for your career/goals/comfort.
Have at all sims earn at least one cooking skill point so no one burns the house down because they're hungry, but I usually have a couple of sims in the household get good at cooking (and use it for a career for one sometimes) and cook a couple of big meals a day meals - add to the refrigerator and they can all just grab leftovers as needed.
Have one or two sims get really high handiness skill (some careers use this also) and have them upgrade and fix. Some of the upgrades are really helpful.
Get a maid. Who needs all that cleaning worry. It doesn't cost much and then you don't need to worry about any of that stuff. If you clean everything she just does not come for the day or only for what is needed, which is brief if you do some cleaning also. Have a neat sim and they will likely do most if it anyway.
The NanoCan trash can is your friend when you can afford it. No more taking out the trash and you earn money back when they use it (or when you drag something into it).
If you have a cat, get the expensive self-cleaning litter box. Never worry about it again. Period.
When you can afford it, get the sprinkler system (fire sprinklers - find it by the smoke detector).
The larger your household the more bestest friend that pause is. Queue up what they each need to be doing and let 'm rip. Keep your eye out for interference as their tasks get skipped then.
Multi-task is also your friend. Your sim can eat, watch the cooling channel while sitting next to another sim and earn: social, hunger, cooking skill, & fun simultaneously.
Back up your game as often as you would want to cry or throw a tantrum if you lost it. I do it daily. 😉 http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/help/save.php

6 Replies

PugLove888
Hero (Retired)
7 years ago
@Mamascrack, excellent question, but one that is difficult to answer in order to help you since I don't know which problems/mistakes you are likely to have! 😃 For me, the biggest thing is not losing my progress with households. But the starting screen has changed a bit since TS4 was launched, so I don't know if I would have had the same issues.
For example, when I started playing I made a family and then went to make and play another family … and I used the same Save Game. They were next door, but I was thinking that because TS4 didn't have a completely open world like TS3 did, that I could play a family "A" and then move to family "B" for a while and then return to family "A" from the exact point I left off at. I did have the original copy in my library so I was able to start a new Save Game and move the copy back into the world and start over, but I couldn't do that with the Maxis-made families like the Goths or the Spencer-Kim-Lewis Family. They didn't include a copy in the library! 😮☹️ So when I went to play with the S-K-L family, the grandparents had died and the little girl was a teen and I was sad that I didn't get to know that family. Fortunately for me, my computer was old, so when I got a new computer I just stared from scratch and was finally able to play the families that came with the game! :eahigh_file: (Unfortunatly for me I lost the families I made, but since I wasn't too far into the game, it wasn't that big of a deal). Now, every time I make a new family I preserve them in their own Save Game. Most people would not go to this extreme, so I don't know how much help that would be to you or anyone else, but it is a huge deal for me, so that is what I wished I understood before I started playing TS4! 😇 You might prefer purely rotational play, or a combo of small groups of households to rotate with within each Save Game. 😎 You can also adjust the lifespan duration in the Game Options panel, and if un-played Sims automatically age or not, so I wish I knew that also!
And since I had played all the previous versions of The Sims before, I wish I had known that in TS4 there are no fire-fighters!!! 🤨 That was a bit of a nasty shock when I placed my smoke alarm and expected it to call the fire department or at least the ability to call the fire dept. from my Sims' phones! I didn't realize that you had to direct your Sins to put our the fires themselves! 🤭 😞 Good thing I exited the game without saving! 😉 I don't know if they will add fire-fighters to the game in the future, but after several years I have gotten used to them not being in the game. 😃
Also, if you get the Cats & Dogs EP, just know that when you have a cat and you place a littler box and it is clean, you will get messages that your kitty is upset because it wants a clean litter box. Everybody thought the game had a bug because we kept adding several litter boxes and still got the message. 😮 🤔 But what was really going on was that this message was just saying that your cat wasn't in the best of moods because it needed to potty and was feeling uncomfortable, not that it didn't recognize the littler box, or that it thought it was too dirty to use, or that something was blocking it. 🤨🤭 The message was just giving an update on our cats' feelings! 😃
That's all I can think of at the moment. I know there are some other things I wish I would have known, but I will add them if I remember them! Have you ever played any Sims game before? 🤔 That might make a difference in what you expect out of TS4 and what might surprise you! 😉
You can also watch YouTube (Let's Play) videos of people playing their game to get a feel for it if you haven't already. 😎 Also, I recommend Carl's Sims 4 Guide for wonderful explanations on how the Sims 4 works! ❤️ http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/
Happy Simming! 🥳
gardenlobster
7 years ago
I just started playing myself. Here are some things I wish I'd known. Your mileage may vary, as it depends on what you're expecting.
Pause to queue actions. You never have to do anything in real time.
Save often. There is no auto-save. You will eventually exit without saving on accident at least once or the power will go out or something will otherwise happen, so save save save. And Save As... if you get to a decision point with your game and you think you might do it differently next time.
You can change the length of lifespans, and playing on long is essentially easy mode. No matter the lifespan, pregnancy is 1 day per trimester, + maybe a day or so extra at the end. Don't buy the bassinet in advance. The game will give you one regardless.
You might get emotionally attached to your first Sim or Sims, and cry when they die.
Sims can die of accidental death, not just old age, so be careful when repairing anything that's sparking.
Buying things is ALWAYS done in build mode. I initially expected shops.
If you're playing without cheats, the best ways to make money are painting and writing. Not so much the careers, but doing it on your own time. You get nice rewards from the careers, though.
Read up on rewards for various career promotions and such ahead of time. Find guides, walkthroughs, and forums.
Cheats, custom content, and mods are available and pretty much encouraged. Personally, I'm playing without them for now because they tend to make me get bored faster.
I wish I had known about some of the more common bugs, like family leave not working since November, or pizza delivery sometimes not working randomly (or not having a pop-up when the pizza place is closed).
I wish I'd known how important having Sims exercise daily is, as my original playthrough Sims (I used the tutorial) got pretty chunky pretty fast.
Sims only need to eat about twice a day, and they don't have to drink but they like to get water and juice on their own. They don't seem to get drunk. They don't care what they eat. Coffee is had at night instead of the morning.
You can drag and drop most things to the fridge or trash instead of making the Sim do it.
If you have the Parenting expansion, even the most well-behaved kids will make messes all over the place and nothing parents seem to do culls this, you just have to keep an eye on your kids and stop them if the action cues up, unless you're going for a parenting-related aspiration.
I wish I'd known to learn the aspirations ahead of time and learn to switch them often, and be strategic about it.
You can turn off autonomy but sometimes it's fun to spend a day just watching what the AI decides to do.
You may be tempted to speak Simlish out loud: "sul sul" or "dag dag" or even "sheer chihabery".
Stairs pose an interesting dynamic to the AI. Once a toddler can navigate them, parents will only pick them up to go up/down them when putting them in the high chair or putting them to bed. You're just going to have to wait for that kid to climb up/down for dinner. Stairs can also cancel out queued actions or prevent you from queuing actions.
Toddlers can grab a plate off the counter or you can sit the food on the floor. Only pre-set foods are eaten in the high chair.
You can add potty chairs and game tables and other things to public areas like parks and lounges/bars.
If you get the seasons expansion, read up on gnomes in advance. Also note that while you can disable blizzards and thunderstorms in the main menu, they will happen on occasion on "mystery weather" days (it's not a bug).
I don't want to spoil everything. Just have fun with it. Just wait until a child Sim sleeps in a non-toddler bed for the first time!
Oh, and if you romance Alex Moyer if she's your tutorial Sim (as my first Sim did), and make her playable, she still won't age. In fact, I don't think she's aged in any of my saves.
SheriGR
Hero
7 years ago
@Mamascrack
These guides may be useful:
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/tutorials/how-to/new-game-house.php
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/tips.php
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/
So many awesome tips from @gardenlobster and @PugLove888 ...I am adding a few more, and I apologize if there is any overlap that I didn't catch. 🙂
If you don't mind, I thought I would add here a few things I do in gameplay with my sims:
If your sim begins to get too buff or too fat and you don't want to deal with workouts, you can go into the CAS and 'sculpt' the sim - press inward at the waste, for instance, to reduce waste size or muscle size on arms/legs, etc... Then...
I normally add one or two treadmills to the lot (if two are side-by-side they can talk at the same time and increase social. Have them do a workout every day or two for a while and they seem to get into the habit. I find that many of my sims (especially if they have an 'active' trait) will get on the treadmill here-and-there on their own and maintain their form and seem to enjoy it also, after they're used to it. (At a certain fitness level they also get a 'no sweat workout' option, which is great. You can also buy the 'gym rat' reward and then they don't have hygiene decrease by working out. After these things are in place, and they don't take that long, weight tends to be a non-issue.
I normally play with aging off, or at least until you get through the grind of completing the lower-level, more difficult career challenges.
It helps to add other sims to the household for support and so they don't have to do/pay for so much to enjoy decent food/lifestyle/career-prep items. Hint: don't add them in the initial household. Create the roomies all as their own separate households then one-by-one add them to the household with your sim and save after adding each one. This way your new sim brings their initial $20,000 to the household, and you have the money as a group to own a decent home and get the items for it that you each need for your career/goals/comfort.
Have at all sims earn at least one cooking skill point so no one burns the house down because they're hungry, but I usually have a couple of sims in the household get good at cooking (and use it for a career for one sometimes) and cook a couple of big meals a day meals - add to the refrigerator and they can all just grab leftovers as needed.
Have one or two sims get really high handiness skill (some careers use this also) and have them upgrade and fix. Some of the upgrades are really helpful.
Get a maid. Who needs all that cleaning worry. It doesn't cost much and then you don't need to worry about any of that stuff. If you clean everything she just does not come for the day or only for what is needed, which is brief if you do some cleaning also. Have a neat sim and they will likely do most if it anyway.
The NanoCan trash can is your friend when you can afford it. No more taking out the trash and you earn money back when they use it (or when you drag something into it).
If you have a cat, get the expensive self-cleaning litter box. Never worry about it again. Period.
When you can afford it, get the sprinkler system (fire sprinklers - find it by the smoke detector).
The larger your household the more bestest friend that pause is. Queue up what they each need to be doing and let 'm rip. Keep your eye out for interference as their tasks get skipped then.
Multi-task is also your friend. Your sim can eat, watch the cooling channel while sitting next to another sim and earn: social, hunger, cooking skill, & fun simultaneously.
Back up your game as often as you would want to cry or throw a tantrum if you lost it. I do it daily. 😉 http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/help/save.php
Mamascrack
7 years ago
Thank you very much, very helpful!
Mamascrack
7 years ago
@gardenlobster wrote:
I just started playing myself. Here are some things I wish I'd known. Your mileage may vary, as it depends on what you're expecting.
Pause to queue actions. You never have to do anything in real time.
Save often. There is no auto-save. You will eventually exit without saving on accident at least once or the power will go out or something will otherwise happen, so save save save. And Save As... if you get to a decision point with your game and you think you might do it differently next time.
You can change the length of lifespans, and playing on long is essentially easy mode. No matter the lifespan, pregnancy is 1 day per trimester, + maybe a day or so extra at the end. Don't buy the bassinet in advance. The game will give you one regardless.
You might get emotionally attached to your first Sim or Sims, and cry when they die.
Sims can die of accidental death, not just old age, so be careful when repairing anything that's sparking.
Buying things is ALWAYS done in build mode. I initially expected shops.
If you're playing without cheats, the best ways to make money are painting and writing. Not so much the careers, but doing it on your own time. You get nice rewards from the careers, though.
Read up on rewards for various career promotions and such ahead of time. Find guides, walkthroughs, and forums.
Cheats, custom content, and mods are available and pretty much encouraged. Personally, I'm playing without them for now because they tend to make me get bored faster.
I wish I had known about some of the more common bugs, like family leave not working since November, or pizza delivery sometimes not working randomly (or not having a pop-up when the pizza place is closed).
I wish I'd known how important having Sims exercise daily is, as my original playthrough Sims (I used the tutorial) got pretty chunky pretty fast.
Sims only need to eat about twice a day, and they don't have to drink but they like to get water and juice on their own. They don't seem to get drunk. They don't care what they eat. Coffee is had at night instead of the morning.
You can drag and drop most things to the fridge or trash instead of making the Sim do it.
If you have the Parenting expansion, even the most well-behaved kids will make messes all over the place and nothing parents seem to do culls this, you just have to keep an eye on your kids and stop them if the action cues up, unless you're going for a parenting-related aspiration.
I wish I'd known to learn the aspirations ahead of time and learn to switch them often, and be strategic about it.
You can turn off autonomy but sometimes it's fun to spend a day just watching what the AI decides to do.
You may be tempted to speak Simlish out loud: "sul sul" or "dag dag" or even "sheer chihabery".
Stairs pose an interesting dynamic to the AI. Once a toddler can navigate them, parents will only pick them up to go up/down them when putting them in the high chair or putting them to bed. You're just going to have to wait for that kid to climb up/down for dinner. Stairs can also cancel out queued actions or prevent you from queuing actions.
Toddlers can grab a plate off the counter or you can sit the food on the floor. Only pre-set foods are eaten in the high chair.
You can add potty chairs and game tables and other things to public areas like parks and lounges/bars.
If you get the seasons expansion, read up on gnomes in advance. Also note that while you can disable blizzards and thunderstorms in the main menu, they will happen on occasion on "mystery weather" days (it's not a bug).
I don't want to spoil everything. Just have fun with it. Just wait until a child Sim sleeps in a non-toddler bed for the first time!
Oh, and if you romance Alex Moyer if she's your tutorial Sim (as my first Sim did), and make her playable, she still won't age. In fact, I don't think she's aged in any of my saves.
Thank you
BlackjackWidow
Hero (Retired)
7 years ago
Oh my gosh, such great tips here. What a fantastic question - I wish I had known to ask this before I started, could have saved me a lot of time in my first couple of games 🙂
A couple of tech-related things, rather than gameplay things, that I wish I had known:
Always set Origin.exe and TS4.exe to run "As Administrator". (True for all Origin games) If you don't chat while in game, in Origin, go to the settings menu and un-check the box that says "Enable Origin In-game". While you're there, check out the other settings and decide if you're happy with the level of sharing that's enabled by default. I always turn off all sending of information because I have limited Internet access, your needs may vary.
You can play the sims offline by choosing "Go Offline" in the Origin menu. Closing Origin by the "X" in the top right corner puts the program in your task bar, but doesn't close it. Useful to get the window out of the way, but to close it after playing, choose File > Exit.
If your game starts to act "weird" - maybe a little stuttery, things keep dropping off the queue, a Sim gets stuck somewhere - do a save, then exit the game, then go back in. This will fix a lot of little things, especially if you're playing for several hours at a time.
If you find some sort of issue that isn't fixed by saving and exiting, know how to clear the cache and repair the game. It's only scary the first time, you lose nothing, and it works to fix about 90% of the problems I've run across. I've started doing a "save as" at critical points - like right after having a baby or moving someone into or out of the household - then exit the game, clear the cache and run a repair.
Delete cache files:
https://sims4.crinrict.com/en/2014/09/delete-cache-files/
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/help/cache.php
To repair the game:
In Origin, right-click the game icon and choose "Repair". You must be online for the option to appear and the repair to run.
Happy Simming!
P.S. The "Whims" that get reward points for your sim is turned off by default. In-game, Settings > Game Options > Gameplay > Check "Show Whims". Don't be afraid to use your reward points - they have some great potions and traits that can be very helpful.