i have never rotated play between families but i see in the forums that many folks have. I think it would add a bit more depth to my play ..i tend to create characters to place in a save along with a main household...my sim begins single but over time develops a love interest...the majority of the time her love interest will be a sim i created and moved into a home. i generally have two additional families for "friends" and create a neighborhood. you can post anything about rotational game play but here are my questions i would be most interested in.1. When you begin your play what rules do you abide by (if any) 2. How many characters do you play and are they usually single..married...married with kids or are they direct family members (example ..mom dad and/or siblings3. how long does this type of play hold your interest approximately? ( for example..a week...a month ...longer?)4. Do you usually use NewCrest so you can create your own town or do you have a favorite neighborhood and why?5. Would you say there is any draw backs to rotational play and if yes then what would those draw backs be? 6. other then using rotational play what type of simmer are you in game...for example ...do you prefer family related play....single sims over couples...do you prefer to begin as a teen in a family or something else.

1. The only real rule I abide by is switching households between 5 and 6 AM, so no one inconveniently comes home from work because you switched households. 2. At the moment I play five households with 14 sims in total. The dynamics within the households differ. I can't say I usually play with a specific set-up because there isn't one. Two of my households consist of one sim. One household is a mother and daughter and the two other households are parents with some of their kids.3. I've been playing (and storytelling) with this save for months now, so I'd say it has kept my interest for quite long. I think it's the variety in household size and the different storylines that keep it interesting.4. I've barely used Newcrest. I put a roller rink and a park there and that's it. I started playing with premade households so they already had houses. Most of my sims live in Windenburg because that's where they started out and I wanted my related sims to be close to each other. One sim lives in San Myshuno in an apartment but that's because his girlfriend (at the time) moved there and he moved in with her.5. Depends on how long your rotations are. Mine are very short sometimes which means none of my households pay bills. I don't know why but they don't get them anymore. It's also harder to get a promotion with shorter rotations because you usually have to go to work twice with all your tasks completed so when I get back around to a sim they're a couple days older already. The coming home from work/school thing in the middle of the day whenever you switch is a real drawback too but avoidable by switching at a time when you know everyone in the other household is home anyway.6. I started the save with a single sim and that's my go-to starting set-up but I fell into the Villareal family and it all went on from there. I do enjoy bigger households so you could say I'm into family-play but I'm also really happy when I can switch back to a single sim and focus on them.

1. I do not really have rules beyond what fits with my story. For example, my vampire bartender that is too busy for kids is not suddenly going to become a teacher. I also try to maintain family bonds and develop a story to the world. Even minor characters need a little flavor.2. Me, I usually start with parents and kids or a group of siblings. Then slowly marry them off and start their own families. Like I said previously, part of my goal is to maintain these bonds as they grow into an expanded and more free world.3. This is complicated, because you try the formula out and either it sticks or it doesn't with that go through. The characters themselves I usually have saved in my library. My first big save like this I took over all of Newcrest and cannot bring myself to delete it to this day. I updated it regularly for nearly three to four years with new pack content and I may still go back. My other ones... If it sticks it can easily keep me preoccupied for three months. I save a lot of stuff in the library so the saves are not so vital anymore.4. Usually, no. I have to be in one of those moods and have a grand plan to take over Newcrest. That three to four year save I did and I saved all those lots to reuse, but this is not typical. I love the space of Newcrest, but the neighborhood itself is boring and some of the lots are super small. I only recommend it if you do have those grand ambitions because you can get bogged down.5. Just if you are trying to force it. I fell into this play naturally (when I do it) because I cared about the characters. I wanted to see them grow into houses with spouses and kids. Some I created parents or what not for later for some backstory. If you do not feel it for the characters it is just a chore, but if you do it comes naturally.6. I usually play with large families. Either parents with a bunch of kids or or siblings and their pets. I have several families where I have a Sim in every age group and then matching pets. A lot of times I just play this unit, but when I do rotational I break up my large family after playing with the original unit and exploring where their lives go. Sure this is family play, but it also has elements of single Sims getting back to the large family stage and all the steps in between. I also have a penchant to make them occult families normally, but I do not break up my occult families so often. Rotational play let's me shake up my normal play by letting the family grow up.

A bit off topic but curious to know why people have an interest in rotational play? I tried to do it myself but it’s too much to keep up with & I prefer to just play a single household. So I guess my question is, how do you find it fun & not complicated to keep up with?

@Justin What's complicated about it? I don't think anything is complicated and like I said in my post, I think the variety is what makes the game fun for me. I haven't always played like this but it definitely started with TS2 for me already, so about ten years now maybe?

"Duvelina;c-17614104" wrote:@Justin What's complicated about it? I don't think anything is complicated and like I said in my post, I think the variety is what makes the game fun for me. I haven't always played like this but it definitely started with TS2 for me already, so about ten years now maybe? Keeping up with as many families is a bit complicated for me personally . Remembering their stories & what not. But thank you for answering my question. I will continue to follow this post in hopes of trying it again

How do you "rotational" play | EA Forums

Moebym
5 years ago
"wickichick;d-979839" wrote:
i have never rotated play between families but i see in the forums that many folks have. I think it would add a bit more depth to my play ..i tend to create characters to place in a save along with a main household...my sim begins single but over time develops a love interest...the majority of the time her love interest will be a sim i created and moved into a home. i generally have two additional families for "friends" and create a neighborhood. you can post anything about rotational game play but here are my questions i would be most interested in.
1. When you begin your play what rules do you abide by (if any)
2. How many characters do you play and are they usually single..married...married with kids or are they direct family members (example ..mom dad and/or siblings
3. how long does this type of play hold your interest approximately? ( for example..a week...a month ...longer?)
4. Do you usually use NewCrest so you can create your own town or do you have a favorite neighborhood and why?
5. Would you say there is any draw backs to rotational play and if yes then what would those draw backs be?
6. other then using rotational play what type of simmer are you in game...for example ...do you prefer family related play....single sims over couples...do you prefer to begin as a teen in a family or something else.

No real rules. My rotational save is one in which I allow myself to cheat, but not excessively.
I don't know the exact number, but in my current save the number of Sims that I actually play is probably somewhere around 20. Each of my households has, at least, a married/betrothed couple of any and all sexual orientations. Most have children at the moment. My plan for this save is to connect all the families through marriage or friendship.
I've been playing the same save for months, and I keep things fresh by occasionally adding new households to the rotation.
My households are spread among several worlds.
The main drawback is that because I have a mod that requires degrees for promotions, most of my adult Sims have to attend University at some point, which forces me to play a household at least seven days if I want the best possible GPA, even if I didn't necessarily want to play them one full week.
I prefer to begin with YAs, send them to college to earn honors degrees and find their soulmates, get them well-paying jobs, and get them married with children once they're firmly established. I rarely deviate from this.
simsimsere
New Adventurer
5 years ago
1. I do try to rotate around 5am because I don't want sims to miss work/school. Other than that I have no rotation schedule or anything. I try to keep siblings and friends aging up so that it makes sense. I don't usually cheat, but it depends on the circumstances.
2. I play over 20 households, so that's quite many sims, not even sure how many! Some I play a bit more actively than others. It's all kind of households really.
3. I have played the same rotation since I got the game, so years really. I hardly play other saves.
4. I use all of the worlds. Some neighbourhoods like Willow Creek are more "finished" as I've been playing them longer and have had more time to work on them. Some like Strangerville I have barely done anything with.
5. For me I guess the drawback would be that rotational play is addicting, I would find it very hard to play just one family. Then another one would be that sometimes sim relationships get culled while playing other families.
6. I love variety! Overall though I often end up doing familyplay at some point because I want my sims to have offspring that I can play later on. Then again I also like to give most of my sims some time when they're single living alone to get a better feel on what kind of character they are.
mingussssss
New Spectator
5 years ago
1. When you begin your play what rules do you abide by (if any)
No cheats except reset sim and bb.moveobjects on. No forcing relationships upon the sims (I pursue friendships with sims that call my sim often and I pay attention to my sims' whims) and I try to prioritise them socialising over other things if they get the oportunity.
2. How many characters do you play and are they usually single..married...married with kids or are they direct family members (example ..mom dad and/or siblings
Around 10, although I plan for this number to grow a lot. They are all from the same family, I don't really get attached to the households that came with the game. It started as a regular legacy challenge, which I still maintain, so I keep the heir in the "legacy lot" and keep track of the points (just because I feel that it leads me to discover new things about the game that I wouldn't explore if it wasn't for that).
I usually figure out the sibling's life (at least what they should do after becoming young adults) and I move them to a different lot, normally. I also decide how much money they get when they move out,for example, if they had a part time job, I estimate how much they made and give them that, sometimes I give them nothing and do a rags to riches with them, if it fits the story.
Other times I started in a less organised & less story-driven way, also playing with random sims and I used to lose interest quite fast. I also would like to be a bit more organised still, and keep track of more things related to my game play, as the family tree grows.
3. how long does this type of play hold your interest approximately? ( for example..a week...a month ...longer?)
For me it's all about the story line, I randomise my sims traits, unless there's a specific trait that's perfect for the story. And then I like to figure out what they should do as adults observing what things they like to do as kids and how their relationship with the rest of the family is. So with each new kid I see a new possibility and this way it is always interesting to me. **
4. Do you usually use NewCrest so you can create your own town or do you have a favorite neighborhood and why?
I tried populating New Crest once, but the scenery is too bland for me and I gave up. Now I just put most of the generic cummunity-based lots there, restaurants and cafes, a spa. More thematic community lots I place in towns with more "personality" to them, for example I place the cementery in Forgotten Hollow (gives me an excuse to go there often, because otherwise I wouldn't). My favorite town is Sulani because it is so stunning. San Myshuno is also cool to me.
5. Would you say there is any draw backs to rotational play and if yes then what would those draw backs be?
As mentioned above, University is not quite compatible with this type of game play
6. other then using rotational play what type of simmer are you in game...for example ...do you prefer family related play....single sims over couples...do you prefer to begin as a teen in a family or something else.
I'm not fascinated by the concept of marriage irl, so I only have my sims get married if it makes sense in their story, I have no problem having unmarried couples. If I start a new save, I like to start with a single sim and no money and I usually do the most and write a story about how they got to that point, because it's fun to me. I feel that I wouldn't care that much about my sim if they just fell from the sky onto a lot with 20 000 simoleons and no backstory.

** other things I do to keep me interested in the game is I keep a list of new things in the game I would like to explore (careers I haven't played through yet, aspirations I haven't explored, some types of occult sims I haven't explored much yet, more unconventional types of relationships
- ones that are not the canon of a married pair, I haven't really had a criminal sim yet and I have some cool ideas of how that would go). So whenever I don't know what to do I check out that list

how do you usually use your groups
I love groups, I have one for every hobby that I can think of (I have a community lot equipped to house club meetings where sims can do any hobby), one for rebel teens & kids, one for homework, one for debate, one for single sims that are ready to mingle :wink: and I create more as I think of new possibilities.
I am very interested what other players like to place in their neighborhoods to create a good community feel
all types of community-based lots that I can find, the more the merrier for me. Especially restaurants, cafes, parks. I always have a stunning wedding venue, so if my sims get married, the ceremony looks great. In general, I love to send them to community lots / visit other sims at their homes and take pictures with their friends and hang those at home
NyxValkoinen
5 years ago
1. When you begin your play what rules do you abide by (if any)
2. How many characters do you play and are they usually single..married...married with kids or are they direct family members (example ..mom dad and/or siblings
3. how long does this type of play hold your interest approximately? ( for example..a week...a month ...longer?)
4. Do you usually use NewCrest so you can create your own town or do you have a favorite neighborhood and why?
5. Would you say there is any draw backs to rotational play and if yes then what would those draw backs be?
6. other then using rotational play what type of simmer are you in game...for example ...do you prefer family related play....single sims over couples...do you prefer to begin as a teen in a family or something else.

1) My only rule is to keep it to one week play for each family, so that everyone gets the same amount of time played.
2) I play with up to 3 families, and 1 or 2 singles mixed in that I keep alone or just serial romancing around. So, 5 overall households in total.
3) Like 2 days, but I do keep the rotational save so when I get bored of playing 1 household in one save I'll just switch to my rotational one.
4) I can't build at all, so no. NewCrest is just the world I throw all the spa and restaurants in. My favorite world to play in is Willow Creek. In Sims 2, I'm obsessed with Pleasantview. In Sims 3, I'm obsessed with Sunset Valley. The first base game hoods always become my favorite.
5) Playing rotationally. I love sticking to one family, especially when I get on a roll with their lives. Kind of feels annoying to have to switch when I'm having fun with one family, but I don't want their playtimes to get too separated.
6) I am entirely a family player. The only reason why I have those 1 or 2 singles in my rotation play at all is just to add some different flavor at the end of a rotational play of all 3 families. It's more boring, but it does give me time to relax slightly, because trying to balance two parents and two or three kids is a big hassle, especially when I'm obsessed with micromanaging the entire game at all times. I can't let my Sims do what they want because they'll somehow set everything on fire, so I have to watch them like a hawk.
ra7orrat
5 years ago
1. When you begin your play what rules do you abide by (if any)
None, just have fun.
I guess the only "rule" would be, that I don't play my sims out of character, meaning a loner sim would not go to a night club and stuff like that...but it's a pretty loose rule tbh.
I have to schedules eithers, I play the household I feel like playing for however long I want to, sometimes I play 3 households in one hour and sometimes I play one household for 3 hours...whatever I feel like that day.

2. How many characters do you play and are they usually single..married...married with kids or are they direct family members (example ..mom dad and/or siblings
Currently? Idk...I've got everything, single, married with kids, couples, multi-generational households (from grandparent to grandchild), with and without pets, all of them.

3. how long does this type of play hold your interest approximately? ( for example..a week...a month ...longer?)
well, when did Sims4 come out for consoles? since then and still going.

4. Do you usually use NewCrest so you can create your own town or do you have a favorite neighborhood and why?
I use whatever world I feel like fits for the sim(s) to live in, my sims are spread out over multiple worlds...NewCrest is not one of them though, I do not like that world.

5. Would you say there is any draw backs to rotational play and if yes then what would those draw backs be?
Not for me. Btw I play with aging off, so that might take some of the struggles away.

6. other then using rotational play what type of simmer are you in game...for example ...do you prefer family related play....single sims over couples...do you prefer to begin as a teen in a family or something else.
I like variety, which is why I play rotationally, so I can play with EVERYTHING whenever I feel like it, that's why I hardly ever get bored.
I love to create my own world(s), so I delete pre-mades/NPCs in houses and build my own venues/homes, besides the creative side of it, I also care more about the sims that way.
Simmerville
Seasoned Ace
5 years ago
Cool thread!

1. When you begin your play what rules do you abide by (if any)
I started my save 6 years ago, did start with many households. I played rotationally in TS1, TS2 and TS3 as well, so my routine was already well tested.

2. How many characters do you play and are they usually single..married...married with kids or are they direct family members (example ..mom dad and/or siblings
I tried to limit the number of sims to play, but I must have 70+ households by now, and there will be more... I play with each season lasting 14 days, and I play normally just 1 simday per house. Because there's too many my rotation lasts 2 sim years (takes 2 sim years to make a full round). Sometimes I play an extra year without aging them all on new year's eve, especially when there is a new EP etc that I like to explore a bit by being with one household over many days.

3. how long does this type of play hold your interest approximately? ( for example..a week...a month ...longer?)
6 years so far, and not planning to stop quite yet...

4. Do you usually use NewCrest so you can create your own town or do you have a favorite neighborhood and why?
I play all the worlds. Some favorites, but I need to like the family I'm playing, too. Say if someone are moving to a different world, I often know them well enough to see what world will suit them.

5. Would you say there is any draw backs to rotational play and if yes then what would those draw backs be?
Some game play features require quite some played time in one household, say if you like to reach a certain skill level. I have sims crafting stuff, but it takes them a lifetime to get beyond those beginner items ;) Also, playing a feature like StrangerVille or exploring the Selvaforada jungle, will be more fun if not switching households too often.

6. other then using rotational play what type of simmer are you in game...for example ...do you prefer family related play....single sims over couples...do you prefer to begin as a teen in a family or something else.
Majority of my current population is born in game, and I don't really play a certain style as I switch so often and get variety. I like family life more than career climbing, but in my game there are a few sims who are very focused on their career, they just don't get the promotions they probably would like to have :)

There's plenty of info on my game on the blog linked in my signature. I also run an online residents registry (linked from top of that blog). It's too time consuming to recommend, but you might find some ideas there if you need some inspiration.
wickichick
Rising Rookie
5 years ago
I had to giggle when lem doodle said ..rotational play is her poison of choice ....the amount of sims included in your rotational play is just mind blowing to me...wow just wow is all i can say.

mingussss..this is a great idea. ** other things I do to keep me interested in the game is I keep a list of new things in the game I would like to explore (careers I haven't played through yet, aspirations I haven't explored, some types of occult sims I haven't explored much yet, more unconventional types of relationships
- ones that are not the canon of a married pair, I haven't really had a criminal sim yet and I have some cool ideas of how that would go). So whenever I don't know what to do I check out that list
CelesteBabyy
5 years ago
@wickichick Keeping a list is a great idea! It can also help you to create the characters for your rotation.
wickichick
Rising Rookie
5 years ago
Duvelina...i know it is a great idea and why the community (folks just like yourself) are so good to bounce idea off of....i have just started using rotational play now and laughing at myself for not having done this before ..i have played sims for a long time and yet this is my first experience doing this and it is a lot of fun already. Thanks so much for your input.
wickichick
Rising Rookie
5 years ago
simmerville...that is also amazing..you have played in your save for six years...pretty impressive to see that. I am really excited with this idea now and have things set up in game to get this rotational play started ...it is so fun to see the direction these sims will go and what will happen along the way.

Ravanspit ...1. When you begin your play what rules do you abide by (if any)
None, just have fun.
I guess the only "rule" would be, that I don't play my sims out of character, meaning a loner sim would not go to a night club and stuff like that...but it's a pretty loose rule tbh.
I have to schedules eithers, I play the household I feel like playing for however long I want to, sometimes I play 3 households in one hour and sometimes I play one household for 3 hours...whatever I feel like that day.

2. How many characters do you play and are they usually single..married...married with kids or are they direct family members (example ..mom dad and/or siblings
Currently? Idk...I've got everything, single, married with kids, couples, multi-generational households (from grandparent to grandchild), with and without pets, all of them.

I could see myself spending a couple hours in one household so it is good to see that some do it that way....pretty sure most of my sims will end up with at least a spouse ...thanks for your response ...i am enjoying so much the input of other folks!