My apologies if a similar topic already exists. All the existing and past "challenges" (a la rags to riches) make searching for such a topic rather difficult. As I find it boring just to play out stories that I've made up, and sims are devoid of any inner character, I was wondering about ways to add some challenge to the game. I know that some people like to set themselves very unrealistic/funny goals. But I'd rather prefer to keep the game a bit more realistic and "serious". So here are a few thoughts. Let me know what you think or add your own ideas/suggestions! keep "normal" aging or even choose "fast" aging increase the time it takes to increase skills (via MCC) increase the cost for living (increase bills via MCC) don't manually put dishes into the sink don't buy reward traits/potions when you sell/get rid of objects, reduce your money accordingly . Right now, the game gives you back 80% of the sold object's original price, which is pretty insane. when splitting households, get rid of the free extra 20.000 Simoleons that you get for some magical reason keep the budgets of sims who live on the same lot but are not family seperate (this requires you to take manual notes...) Restrict social interactions to realistic durations. Don't just chat with someone for 3 hours. Don't spam interactions until you reach the desired outcome; 2-3 interactions are enough for an ordinary chatting situation. Also: allow the target sim to do one interaction of his own before you trigger another social interaction. Relationships should build up more slowly and the outcome of a single social interaction should matter more. Buying clothes: Either go to a retail store, where buying clothes will cost actual money, or pay for any new outfit you create and use. Use a mod that disables all the positive moodles that you get from environment objects. A mod I can suggest in general is this one: https://roburky.itch.io/sims4-meaningful-storiesAs you can see, the ways that these suggestions increase the challenge is either by reducing the time available to a sim (he can't accomplish all his goals in life before he dies; he has to make decisions) or his money.

You can use the SNB mod for individual accounts and there are a couple of different mods (ATM or SimCity Loans) to allow credit or loans (good if you want to move out a sim or start a business etc.)

This is a returning topic. I think there was one recently...a few pages back.My best advice when someone gets bored with their game, is to walk away and try something else for a while. I will never see the point of trying to force a game to entertain when it clearly cannot. I know of someone who has played the same game day in and day out for years, and they are always grumpy and feeling dissatisfied because of it. Why waste precious time with this self-torture?When it happens to myself, I have no qualms leaving The Sims dormant for months even, while I rotate between a handful of other games that I usually come to feel the same about. Then all of a sudden, I feel Sims-inspired anew and return to either an old exsisting household or create something new.When I feel my frustrations with the game take over, it's time to look for something else. Afterall, it's time I won't get back. Life is too short to spend it willingly on something that makes me unhappy.Personally, I never play the challenges out there created by others. One surefire way to get me fed up with something is to impose rules on me. I have commitment issues :D But I enjoy trying out new mods that seem either crazy or controversial. I enjoy making and playing with unorthodox families and Sims. I can also hit a building mood, where I spend most of the time designing. Other times, I feel like exploring genetics or Costum Content. Or everything all at once. It's pretty easy to undo any chaos.So, I suppose you actually mean 'entertaining' when you say challenging. Because it's all in the entertainment, right?

"Beardedgeek;c-17168120" wrote:then get a job she really don't want, Afaik, sims don't have preferences for particular jobs? I'd love if they had those. make sure you don't get any promotions and then gets laid off after awhile then repeat...I'd have to actively try NOT to get promoted. ^^ Part of my problem is that getting promotions is quite easy.

"EmmaVane;c-17166648" wrote:You can use the SNB mod for individual accounts and there are a couple of different mods (ATM or SimCity Loans) to allow credit or loans (good if you want to move out a sim or start a business etc.)Thanks a lot! I will definitively give it a try!

"Nindigo;c-17166655" wrote:My best advice when someone gets bored with their game, is to walk away and try something else for a while. I will never see the point of trying to force a game to entertain when it clearly cannot. I know of someone who has played the same game day in and day out for years, and they are always grumpy and feeling dissatisfied because of it. Why waste precious time with this self-torture?When it happens to myself, I have no qualms leaving The Sims dormant for months even, while I rotate between a handful of other games that I usually come to feel the same about. Then all of a sudden, I feel Sims-inspired anew and return to either an old exsisting household or create something new.When I feel my frustrations with the game take over, it's time to look for something else. Afterall, it's time I won't get back. Life is too short to spend it willingly on something that makes me unhappy.I never start playing the game as long as I find it boring! So actually, these are my tips to make the game interesting in the first place. If you wonder why I even bought the game, it's because of the build mode, which is pretty good. :) I'm just searching for ways how I can also enjoy the other, the "gameplay" part of The Sims.So, I suppose you actually mean 'entertaining' when you say challenging. Because it's all in the entertainment, right?Well no. The topic was more specific. Sure, some people are entertained by doing challenges, other people like their sims to act out the narrations they've come up with, other people prefer to build. All of these are valid ways to enjoy and play the game. This topic, however is more specific in that asks for suggestion to make the game more challenging (--> the game should offer some form of achievement, resistance; it should not just do whatever you like it to do) but in serious/realistic (not funny as in "have 30 children with one sim") way.

JacquesDeLalaing

New Novice

7 years ago

Ideas to make the game (realistically) challenging

My apologies if a similar topic already exists. All the existing and past "challenges" (a la rags to riches) make searching for such a topic rather difficult.

As I find it boring just to play out stories that I've made up, and sims are devoid of any inner character, I was wondering about ways to add some challenge to the game. I know that some people like to set themselves very unrealistic/funny goals. But I'd rather prefer to keep the game a bit more realistic and "serious". So here are a few thoughts. Let me know what you think or add your own ideas/suggestions!

keep "normal" aging or even choose "fast" aging
increase the time it takes to increase skills (via MCC)
increase the cost for living (increase bills via MCC)
don't manually put dishes into the sink
don't buy reward traits/potions
when you sell/get rid of objects, reduce your money accordingly . Right now, the game gives you back 80% of the sold object's original price, which is pretty insane.
when splitting households, get rid of the free extra 20.000 Simoleons that you get for some magical reason
keep the budgets of sims who live on the same lot but are not family seperate (this requires you to take manual notes...)
Restrict social interactions to realistic durations. Don't just chat with someone for 3 hours. Don't spam interactions until you reach the desired outcome; 2-3 interactions are enough for an ordinary chatting situation. Also: allow the target sim to do one interaction of his own before you trigger another social interaction. Relationships should build up more slowly and the outcome of a single social interaction should matter more.
Buying clothes: Either go to a retail store, where buying clothes will cost actual money, or pay for any new outfit you create and use.
Use a mod that disables all the positive moodles that you get from environment objects. A mod I can suggest in general is this one: https://roburky.itch.io/sims4-meaningful-stories

As you can see, the ways that these suggestions increase the challenge is either by reducing the time available to a sim (he can't accomplish all his goals in life before he dies; he has to make decisions) or his money.

challenges