How to do Rotational Play and how to do it right?

Step 1: Get the MC Command Center mod if you don't already have it, so you can customize things like relationship decay and what sorts of relationships the game is and isn't allowed to generate for your sims when you're not playing them. Trust me, it's a lifesaver.

Step 2: Go play.

I don't use mods in my game. My number one tip would be to rotate during night so sims wont miss school/work. Also think how you want your sims to age. I have aging on for active household only and occasionally turn it on for non played sims.

I like mccc when I'm in the mood for it, that is sometimes I just get rid of it for a bit, it's a big mod and easy to get confused by at first if you haven't used it I'd say first make a test save and go through options to see what sounds good to you to see if you want that.

Now without the mod I always start slow, make a family see if they make friends, new house, think up a rival love interest or another new friend, new family. Then I have made a family of eight deciding who to have to split up into different houses, or pick a main family and rotate wildly until a rotation sticks with you. Simply put, try things out and see what works.

"AntoniaBaybee;d-975603" wrote:
So previously, I have gone back on old saves and have re-played them with a fresh look. I just built a unique house for my sims in which I could make huge improvements, but still, I was wondering about rotational play, like what is the best way to do this and is there a right or wrong way? I have always just played the one family and usually get bored so was thinking of rotational play and seeing if there's any way that brings a new way of play for me. Any tips would be helpful?

I honestly believe there is no wrong way to play rotational, I am going back and forth between 4 saved games at the present time. I started a new one today based on a fanfic I am writing. I have a challenge/scenario/storyline I set for myself with objectives to accomplish within the game. You just play how you want to play. Your way is what is right for you. I also have many households in each save I'm playing. Usually, I write down what I want to do check my notes to keep on the objectives set for that particular game. Sometimes these are loose guidelines with room for sim autonomy and things they do which isn't part of the original plan. So I just roll with it.

I don't think there is a wrong way to play rotationally, but maybe it takes some time to find the right way for one personally.

I play rotationally with just one save file, a lot of families and a normal life span. Only the household I am currently playing is aging. However, once I finish my rotation and cycle back to the first household, I enable aging for unplayed sims, so that my Townies/NPCs age as well. I disable their aging again, when I leave that household and move to the next. This way, my townies are aging in the same speed as my played sims.

I write down some notes, so I know which Sim is born in which generation and no one accidentally marries the cousin of his/her aunt (but even with notes this almost happened ;) ).

Usually I rotate early in the morning ( 5 - 6 am), so I can start a new day with a new family and no child is missing school.
Apart from that, I have no 'rules'. I try to age my Sims up approximately in the same order as they are born, but I am not very strict, because sometimes I have no interest in playing one family for a while and sometimes I have fun playing another for 'too long', sometimes I even disable aging completely, e.g. when Sims are at University. As long as I can rely on my notes when it comes to relationships and marriage, everything is fine.

The thing I love most about rotational gameplay is the freedom I have, but at the same time knowing every Sim in my world. I can play an evil vampire and a standard suburban family or a crazy cat lady - all in one save. Once a new pack is released, I grab a young adult, disable aging and explore everything. I never had the urge to create a new save file, apart from my building save file.

So I agree with the others, there's no right or wrong way to play rotationally. Just do what feels best!
I currently play with three households in one save file. One is the heir of my legacy challenge, the other is the sister, and the third is the daughter of the heir who's now a teenager and I'm doing a challenge with her. I just rotate whenever I feel like it. I only automatically age the family I'm currently playing with.
One thing I think you should consider is aging of townies. Due to the rotation they age a lot faster than your own sims. So my sim's boyfriend, who she had been dating since they were teenagers, has now died of old age whereas she is still a young adult. In fact, the entire town has pretty much died out (currently at G3) so I'm going to slowly fill it up with new families and probably turn their aging off. This way I can have a lively town and create a ton of clubs and friends for my sims.

I play this way.

I start with a single sim or a couple. They have kids. Once a kid moves out they go on the bottom of the list --> I have a strict schedule. I change households in my order every Monday at 6am. Aging is on only for active household. Townies age only on the first week of each rotation. My sims can't get pregnant later than on Thursday. That way babies are born until Sunday and I get to name them immediatelly and not once they are toddlers. If my sim goes to uni, then I have to turn off aging for everyone.

Playing rotationally is higly addicting. Once you figure out how to play rotationally properly for YOU - your way! then there is no way back to play ... any different way :D Some simmers don't have any schedule, some age whenever they feel like that is the right time. There are no rules. You create your rules. And you know what is the best? That you don't even have to always follow them! Nothing is worse then forced play.
For example if there is a family I don't like to play then why should I bother and make myself unhappy just because they are on my schedule rn. I will simply skip them and let them age with townies so it doesn't mess up their age.

Btw., I keep track on my families with the plum tree app. It is an amazing thing, really. I highly recommend that to everyone.

"DoloresGrey;c-17496655" wrote:
There are no rules. You create your rules. And you know what is the best? That you don't even have to always follow them!

So true. <3

"AntoniaBaybee;d-975603" wrote:
So previously, I have gone back on old saves and have re-played them with a fresh look. I just built a unique house for my sims in which I could make huge improvements, but still, I was wondering about rotational play, like what is the best way to do this and is there a right or wrong way? I have always just played the one family and usually get bored so was thinking of rotational play and seeing if there's any way that brings a new way of play for me. Any tips would be helpful?

I only have 12 games
I play each one until they get a promotion then save and move along to the next game.

First off, I agree, there are no rules to follow. Back when I started rotation play in Sims 2, I would play for three Sim days, ending the third day at midnight. Switch to the next household and play them for three days, and so on and so forth. I made a chart for myself using those little squares underneath each day of the week. I would fill in the square with a marker (highlighter) to show me where I was. I used the same color for all households for the first 'round. (This was very helpful, should I have to quit for the day before I'd made a full 'round. Also, this ended the argument with myself as to which household to play that day, because I knew at a glance where I had left off.) Then switch colors for the next 'round. I did this up front because I wanted my Sims to age evenly. In Sims4, I have aging on for Active Household only, but I also play for a full seven days. That way if I want a Sim to have a baby, I will be there when it comes and the game won't give my precious new one a name I can't tolerate! (Yeah, it's happened to me in the past. Sticky thing is, you can change it in CAS, but you can't bring baby into CAS until they reach toddler.) I also use mods, MCCC being the most important one to me. I just made a delightful discovery with it, too. (Late to the party as I often am.) You can pause a pregnancy and then unpause it later on. (I had a couple of random woohoos, due to another mod I use and there was a baby on the way I wasn't yet prepared for. How dare my Sims go off script!)

Best advice I can give is play around with it, see what works for you and what helps you enjoy the game. Nothing worse than playing and not enjoying the time being spent. Hope this helps. :)