How long is a sim a young adult/adult?

I originally used life spans based on the game's auto aging. Adding up all stages, they would turn YA at 29 and A at 50. This was before they adjusted the teen stage, and soon they will also insert a baby life stage.
Lately I realized I can do whatever I want (always manually aging them up anyway), so I now age them up like this:
13 teen
25 YA
50 A
70 E

YA at 25 still feels a bit too old, but with high schools I want my teens to have the chance to reach good grades when played on rotation.

"kiwi84;d-1005248" wrote:
I am trying to decide at what age a sim will go over to be an adult from young adult, and I think for me it would be about 40 years old. Only problem I feel like the sims make the adults look so much older than 40. How do you define the ages in sims 4?

I don't think the sims make adults look older than 40...It's really the player who decides that with clothing, hair, and face details. Depending on the sim, I will change their wardrobe to be a bit more classy, polished, and sophisticated to make them older. The aging wrinkles I use all the time. The black and brown gray hair swatches comes in handy as well. I do this most often for a sim who has teenagers because I do not like their parents looking the same age as them so I make sure I age them visually as much as I can while they are in the adult phase.

"kiwi84;d-1005248" wrote:
I am trying to decide at what age a sim will go over to be an adult from young adult, and I think for me it would be about 40 years old. Only problem I feel like the sims make the adults look so much older than 40. How do you define the ages in sims 4?

In my own head canon, a YA is 18, since here in America Teens of this age were given the right to vote and to sign contracts. I also think of them as Adults at about 35 years of age. (Middle age, a life stage largely ignored would begin around 40-ish.) Elders become so at age 65, because that's when we're forced into using Medicare, for health insurance. I don't find the adults looking older than 40, they don't even look old. Trust me 40 is still quite young. I have a daughter and son-in-law and my oldest son all in their forties. None of them look old. What I find laughable is that the minute a Sim becomes an "Elder" suddenly they have gray hair and are all bent over! That's simply not the case for many of us. I have a few streaks of white hair, but I walk upright, as I always have. Yes, there are aches and pains, but it's all good. I may just have to change the color of the hair for some of my Sims. And I don't dye my hair, either. I refuse.

That being said, there are no real guidelines.

"LeGardePourpre;c-18210185" wrote:
Based on the old settings (Before HSY)

• Baby : 0 - 1 year old
  
• Toddler : 1 - 6
  
• Children : 6 - 12
  
• Teen : 12 - 18
  
• Young adult : 18 - 30
  
• Adult : 30 - 42
  
• Elder : 42 - 47
  
• BONUS (Long Lived aspiration reward trait) : 47 - 80
  

Your age ranges are rather interesting to me. I became an Elder at age 65. I am now closing in on 68. I was in no way an Elder at age 42. You strike me as someone quite young, who thinks people 30+ are Over the Hill. As for teens twelve has no 'teen' in it. Teens begin with age 13 and go through age 19. 10-12 are what some consider Tweens. As in not a kid anymore, not quite a teen either. They are in between.

Yes, I'm a bit of a word-smith. Personally I plan to live to be 104. 80 is way too young to pass away. I have relatives who have lived that long, one in my direct lineage who was just shy of 101 when he passed away in 1803. Don't put us older folk out to pasture before our time. Please! ;)

@aaronrulz I like the haircut for men with the graying around the forehead and temples for my middle-aged Sim who is the father of four YAs. I have also allowed for some eye-creases since Erik is one of the four. It's a wonder the man doesn't suffer a full head of gray hair. LOL It's not easy being the father of a Rock Star. LOL

I have ages up Erik's mother appropriately, too.

I consider adult to be 30+, since no one is really an adult until they hit at least 30. Elder would be 60+ probably. Though my sims are often in the same stage for way longer than normal, since I tend to do Ultimate Sim challenges with aging off - they don't get aged up until they complete whatever they need to before moving on. Adam and Eve Thorpe are still Adults, with YA children...who have teenagers...

Which, considering they started at YA themselves, while in college, makes sense in a weird sort of way.

"LeGardePourpre;c-18210220" wrote:
@GalacticGal

It's based on TS4 lifestage lengths defined by Maxis, I agree it's not realistic.

Stages in Wikipedia :

• Babyhood (Infant) : 0 - 1 year old
  
• Toddler : 1 - 3
  
• Children : 3 - 14 (early childhood 3 - 6, middle childhood 6 - 10, late childhood/preteen 10 - 14)
  
• Teen : 14 - 19 (but "Health Organization definition officially designates an adolescent as someone between the ages of 10 and 19")
  
• Young adult : 19 - 40 (including early adulthood 19 - 30)
  
• Adult (Middle adult) : 40 - 60
  
• Elder (Old adult) : 60+ ("One study distinguishes the young-old (60 to 69), the middle-old (70 to 79), and the very old (80+)")
  

Young adult / Adult / Elder stages should be twice longer.

That is very interesting. Somebody over at EA absolutely has no clue. Thank you for sharing this with me. I really hope the Infants don't masquerade as small adults, as a result. LOL

"LeGardePourpre;c-18210185" wrote:
Based on the old settings (Before HSY)

• Baby : 0 - 1 year old
  
• Toddler : 1 - 6
  
• Children : 6 - 12
  
• Teen : 12 - 18
  
• Young adult : 18 - 30
  
• Adult : 30 - 42
  
• Elder : 42 - 47
  
• BONUS (Long Lived aspiration reward trait) : 47 - 80
  

I had a good laugh at this. Forty two is certainly not an elderly age. Women are still having babies at 42!

In my head I see it like this: (including the new life stage we'll be getting)
Baby: newborn-3/4 months
Infant (or whatever they're called): 6mos-1yr
Toddler: 2-4yrs
Child: 5-10
Teen: 15-17
YA: 18-25
Adult: 30-55
Elder: 65+

I know mine skips some years but that's what each stage presents to me.

Thank you all for letting me know how you define age in the sims :) I was considering for the first time to make my self sim and really struggled with if i was an young adult or adult ( I don't see myself as an adult sim yet ;) ) I also feel like the transition from adult to elders a huge gap in the Sims, I mean you just dont suddenly go all bent over when you walk.