"mightysprite;c-17994189" wrote:
I like this way, which I learned from someone here on the forum--
-Aging for active household only
-Keep NPC aging off most of the time
-Choose one household to age at the same rate as the NPCs- a household you'll probably play regularly. Whenever playing that household, turn NPC aging to on. Don't forget to turn NPC aging off when you switch to another household.
-If you want everyone in the save to age at exactly the same rate, you can play each household for a set amount of time. I've been using a week each for my San Myshuno save.
AFAIK the families you're not playing don't do anything at all unless they are on the lot you're playing as walkbys or visitors. If they make friends, they've made them by standing around having background conversations on the lot you were on while you were playing another household. They may leave a visit with the "work" thought bubble, but they don't actually go to work or earn money or promotions. The only thing that progresses in a family you're not playing is pregnancy, if you tried for baby while playing the family and then rotated away during the pregnancy.
Keep in mind that a lot can happen in a neighborhood, and there are some worlds with specific residents. Like Sulani Residents or Batuu Residents, there are some sims that are more likely to show up if they are a resident of that world. Sulani Residents simply need to be sims that live in that world or are NPCs created in that world.
The Fabulously Wealthy Aspiration Trait does add funds to a household while you aren't playing it.
There are random phone calls about couples that want to try for baby. One of my rotation sims was good friends with Makoa and Lilliana Kealoha and he got a call about them wanting to try for a baby. If you tell them to go ahead, you can have unplayed households produce new sims. They will go through the pregnancy without the player "Trying for Baby."
I usually use one household for managing all the retail stores. I like to increase the challenge by making my sims buy everything from a retail store. It makes catalog items more expensive. Anyways, if you have Get to Work, then it's a good idea to have one household manage the stores. Relying on Employees is not the most effective way to manage a store. They do not efficiently restock items as quickly as they get purchased.
There are a few store types you can create with Get to Work:
Bakery Shop (There's a special item for selling baked goods similar to the LICE Refrigerator)
Grocery Store (Made possible with the Lice Refrigerator and it's a very efficient way to sell harvestables. Due to infrequent use, it has bugs that were probably never noticed by most players. The bugs have a lot to do with markups and the sale price of harvestables.)
Clothing Store (Made possible with Mannequins. A single store can have up to a maximum of 8 Mannequins, and each outfit category can have up to 5 different outfits. A single store can sell around 40 different outfits, but only 8 outfits can be featured at a time. I usually create stores that focus on a theme like Swim Specialty, Costumes, Everyday Seasonal, Kids Clothes, Party, and Etc.)
Furniture Store (Simply place items from the catalog in a store to be sold. Rugs, Counters, and a few other items can't be sold in stores. Again, I usually theme the stores around things like Indoors, Outdoors, Gardening, Farming, and etc. The Henford-on-Bagley grocery can be placed on any lot.)
My sims do interact with each other, and I've noticed that Elementals tend to make enemies with
Children of the Islands because they are always denied their connection to the island. It's probably an oversight with Elementals and Children of the Islands. Elementals seek out Children of the Islands to pass Judgement. There is no escape for the Children of the Islands, and Elementals will pass judgement on completely different floors of a house. This act of passing Judgment is a Priority Autonomous Behavior and doesn't take long. However, I've had my twins drop whatever they are doing to pass judgement. Sometimes, they aren't anywhere near the sim when it happens, and for some reason, it does impact relationships outside the household.
Furthermore, my current household has a teen that built up the conflict resolution character value because of many negative relationships that developed between my rotation sims and random townies I never saw while playing their households. The thing about relationships is that they normally decay over time. However, thanks to Dylan and Zeph having the Beloved Trait, I know that sims do in fact form friendships and enemies while they aren't played. Dylan and Zephyr do not have the normal relationship decay that would make the friendships disappear on their own.
I have more to share, but that's enough for now.
