How do you make your sims? What inspires you?

I'm a storyteller, so I usually start with a story seed or concept... some of my examples include - a changeling witch raised by an ordinary suburban family, a slightly naive party girl who is an aspiring actress, and teenage werewolf twins. From those simple seeds spring appearances and personalities. Then I play and the story grows.

I don't make many Sims but when I do I usually have an idea of what that sim will look like. Sometimes it's based on a particular lifestyle, aspiration, career, etc. Other times it's based on an outfit or even a build where I imagine what type of sim would live there. Sometimes I make a sim based on what would appeal to an existing sim.

I usually start with my story concept and go from there but also just letting your imagination take you. I will sometimes browse the gallery and find sims that I like because there are so many talented creators out there and I love to play with their creations but add my own flare to them. :)

I also play as a story teller. I usually come up with the basic idea of the story I want to play, then develop the cast of characters who will be involved. Usually I have one strong personality as my “lead,” and by the time I get to CaS I already have their appearance and personality figured out.

My last save, however, did not develop that way. When I got RoM, I saw in Morgyn Ember a potential fantasy quest character, so I pulled them out and set that story in motion. My current save is a sort of sequel to that save and has developed into a multi character fantasy world story that now has multiple storylines that keep changing. I’m really enjoying it and will probably be here for a long time.

I'm not at all a storyteller, so that isn't a factor for me---no backstories, or current stories either. They live for the moment. My sims appearances all come from imagination, there's never any reference I'm going by.

Some of them are created strictly for comedic value, can be male or female, and they'll have wacky clothes and exaggerated body proportions, while others will be created simply because I like creating beautiful ladies in CAS :smile:

I don't really get too attached to sims anymore, because I realized that aside from minor differences due to traits, sims are pretty much all the same

"Nate_Whiplash1;c-18173088" wrote:

I don't really get too attached to sims anymore, because I realized that aside from minor differences due to traits, sims are pretty much all the same

What about the contextual differences, like relationships, environments and events? Would you say these help to make your sims feel different at least a little bit?

Variable - sometimes totally random, sometimes to fit an experiment in mind, sometimes a character from a book i've read to see how they cope with living in the Sims world, sometimes a TS4 version of a favourite from prior editions (usually TS2).

I have more fun developing my sims bit by bit through gameplay, especially when they age up, than creating new sims. My most fun games so far have started with premades and then seeing what happens to them and their children.

It's also been fun to use a challenge and then give my starting sim some quirk that works against the challenge or makes it more interesting. Like a rags to riches legacy challenge with a freegan or lazy founder.

I usually start with a loose backstory, and let the game decide how the story goes from there. I make my sim around the backstory.

Currently, I'm playing legacy-style (without the rules) with my founder being an alien. His backstory was pretty cliche. He crash-landed in StrangerVille. With no way of communicating with his home planet, and no way back home, he started to blend in with his surroundings. He took a job as a scientist. He later became a single father of three, 2 were with a human sim, and one was through abduction. He eventually found the love of his life, and had another child.

I am watching this thread, because I have the same questions. How to make a great Sim to get attached to. Therefore, judging by my track record, I’m not the person to ask.

I do love making Sims, in general. I tend to come up with some basics (job, personality quirks or even stereotype…) and then mash that randomise button in CAS til I find a “base” I can work with. From there it’s refine the hair (all over these days considering body hair and facial hair for any dudes) and make their wardrobe.

One huge helpful tip that may be helping me is give them some roots. Have a wee bit of backstory in mind and consider giving them a parent or sibling. Happy Simming!