Little personal challenge for some realism in my game

I personally like to use the shredder for old furnitures as recycling. It maybe give you the crafting materials, which I don't use anyway, but also no money. Dr Gluon gave me the idea to buy the things twice and then delete one of it, but I believe the last step is mod related. I could do it when I had a specific mod, but after I had dismissed it from my mod folder the cheat doesn't work anymore.

My Sims have to "pay" for new clothes and completely different hairstyles. E.g. they can tie a simple ponytail on their own of course, but if they want their hair cut shorter or dyed, they'll have to spend those $$$.

I have small headcanons on where the worlds are located.
For example, I imagine Willow Creek, Newcrest and Magnolia Promenade are quite close, so Sims can easily travel between those worlds in just a day. But if they want to go to, say, Sulani or even Oasis Springs, they'll have to invest a bit more time. Example: My Sim lives in Newcrest and is "invited to a job interview" for a position as Conservationist. It's all the way over on Sulani, though, as I think those two worlds are probably far apart. So my Sim has to pack up a day before and leave the house in the morning. Travelling to the islands takes a Sim day, so they aren't allowed to do anything on the day they go there to simulate that. Can't go swimming by midday if you've only left in the morning and travelling takes almost a day, yadda yadda.

On the note of job interviews: I like using a random generator to roll if my Sim will "get the job". Let's say my Sim wants to apply for a job as Mixologist. So they do, but instead of using the phone (since you'll get the job right away), I open the generator and roll for either "Got the job" or "Didn't get the job". Got the job? Congrats! If not, they can either apply for a different job or try again in a week or so. Sometimes I'll let them apply for the same one again, but if the second roll is successful, it's not the same company / place, so they might have to move since it's too far to travel between two worlds daily. Hope that explanation makes sense. ;

I do "opening hours" for certain venues as well. Parks are always open, but libraries, museums, nightclubs etc are not. I make up opening hours during which Sims may visit, and they cannot go there outside those hours. E.g. a library may be open from 10 AM to 6 PM, so once it's about 5:50 PM my Sim will have to get ready to leave for the day.

Something really small, but I never see anyone mention they do it: I always make sure my Sims brush their teeth in the morning and evening. :D

There are some wonderfully creative ideas in this thread. Taking notes. ?

"chonkie;c-17847528" wrote:

I do "opening hours" for certain venues as well. Parks are always open, but libraries, museums, nightclubs etc are not. I make up opening hours during which Sims may visit, and they cannot go there outside those hours. E.g. a library may be open from 10 AM to 6 PM, so once it's about 5:50 PM my Sim will have to get ready to leave for the day.

This reminds me I have a teacher sim without a laptop. She has to visit the library to use the computer there in order to do some of her job tasks. That's how I found out there are librarians in the libraries. :lol:

Speaking of...that's another way I make the game more challenging. I never have objects on my home lots that you wouldn't actually find there. No huge recycling bin, no giant cupcake machines, etc. If I want to use those things, I usually make up "jobs" for my sims to do and then have actual warehouses or lots specifically for those types of objects. And as far as recycling goes...I don't know about you people, but my city makes me pay to recycle so there is no free money in that.

"UniqueKhaos;c-17847183" wrote:
I charge my sims to travel since we don’t have cars.
Same world, different neighborhood: $3 per sim for the round trip bus ride
Non-vacation world: $20-$100 depending on where they’re going (per group for the “Uber”)
Going on vacation: $300 per sim child-elder for plane fare.
Toddlers always travel free and I have a map in my head of where the world are in relation to one another and I try not to let the sims travel where it doesn’t make sense for them to be.

I plan holiday meals. I try to always have a sims that’s completed the culinary aspiration for the forever fresh trait. Then I cook and bake all the time and stick it in the household inventory for special occasions. Sometimes I have so much food that it lasts for a few generations.
Harvestfest: Turkey dinner, salad, breadsticks, baked potatoes, iced tea, sweet potato pie and chocolate cake
Winterfest: Ham dinner, salad, veggie casserole, breadsticks, iced tea and punch, decorated fruit cake and winterfest cake
Pride: Usually BBQ ribs and baked beans (mod), burgers, hot dogs, elote, grilled chicken, lemonade, and 2 rainbow cakes, one decorated and one undecorated
Sunday family dinner: Rotate family favorites (Shepard’s pie, roast chicken, spaghetti, etc) salad, something that can be considered a side dish and random desserts.

When sims age up, they always have their favorite dinner, a confetti birthday cake (mod) and their favorite ice cream and a present pile. (They don’t really have favorites of course but for story purposes, I give them favorites)

I also use mods that add realism and those little things that the game lacks.

This is incredible! Such inspirational!

"calaprfy;c-17848130" wrote:

"Mstybl95;c-17846880" wrote:
If you play with children, I find it more challenging to not play as them so the parents can only influence them to do things. That way to get all the skills up and make the kids successful is totally dependant on how much the parents work with them.

I do this. It's the main reason I bought Parenthood. But some interactions are bugged like pick up trash. And it's nigh-on impossible to have them complete school projects so, for them, I control the child, invite friends over and have them assist.

Ah, I use the club system for stuff like that. Every family in my hood is in their own "household" club. Depending on what type of family they are (some of my families are not great parents), I make them clean and do homework and projects, mentor one another, stuff like that. That way some of those bugged interactions do get done.