Need help understanding settings - rotational play etc?

"mightysprite;c-18335663" wrote:
Hi @Alexy and welcome to playing, and to the forum :)

1. For save games, the game keeps track of which save is which according to its internal filenames in the save folders, not according to the name you give it. The name you give it from inside the game is just a convenience to you. If you want to make another copy of your save, you can either "Save As" from inside the game, or make a copy of the file from the save folder manually. When you are looking at your saves folder, the easiest way to identify the save game you want is to look at the time the file was last modified, which will be when you last saved that game.
2. Unfortunately yes, although whether you actually delete the household you create is up to you. When I'm starting a new game to play premades or a scenario, I like to pop a household into Create-a-Sim from my library to save time. Sometimes I leave them running around in the world as NPCs while I'm playing the other family I wanted to play.
3. Sounds like what you have is two different played households in the same save. (if you open Household Manager and see them both under "My Households," that's what you have.) For aging, yes, you're right that "Active Household Only" is what you want if you want the households to stay at the same age while not being played. I like to turn on NPC aging while playing one and only one household in a rotational game, so that the NPCs age at the same rate as one of my played households. If I want everyone to age at the same rate I make sure that I'm playing the households for about the same amount of time, like a week each or something. For story progression, yes, if it's turned off in Game Options it should be turned off for all households at all times. You can also fine tune it from Household Manager, just be aware that the settings are different for played households (My Households) vs. unplayed households (Other Households), that isn't very clear in the interface.
4. I'm not sure about this one, as I keep my aging settings so similar between saves. It never hurts to double check.
5. and 6. I don't have the new pack so hopefully someone else can help!

Have fun!

"WildIrishBanshee;c-18335668" wrote:
For 4, most settings are universal, but aging is not. So you can have a save with aging off, one on normal, one on long etc.

"SweetieWright_84;c-18335669" wrote:
@mightysprite answered most of your questions so I'm going to answer number 4. As far as I know, the settings are saves-based. Meaning the settings you set for one save, will not transfer over to another save, unless you save as/copy the original save (if that makes sense). Apart from graphics and audio settings, I'm not sure if you can make 'blanket settings' (for lack of a better phrase) from the main menu.

Also, hi and welcome to the game and forums.

"EgonVM;c-18335687" wrote:
Here are my answers to the questions:

That is ok. If you'd like, you may see each save as an alternative universe: same worlds, but different lots, sims, and/or happenings.

Unfortunately, it is one annoying thing to deal with...

I would say the following on it:

• Save as indeed creates two different save files. I wouldn't use it for switching, but rather to make an alternative timeline for example. Or to make permanent backups of the save to go back to when things go wrong. Things that happen in one save won't affect the other save.
  
• Well, on Settings, only Gameplay, Environment, and Pack settings are per-save, meaning changing these settings in one save won't affect the other saves. The other settings are universal, thus applied to other saves.
  
• On aging settings, there are distinction between played and unplayed households. If you set "Active Household Only", only the aging of all the other played households will stop. If you want to fully stop the aging of other sims, you can untick the aging for unplayed households below. But yes, if you set "Active Household Only", your other household won't age.
  
• On neighborhood stories, you can either turn it off in Gameplay Options, or open Manage Households in Manage Worlds and manage the Neighborhood Stories there. If that is turned off, then they won't progress by having a baby for example. However, if your households know each other well, they can call for advice (which will affect them when you choose yes). Also, avoid "Discuss Expanding the Family" and "Ask Sim to Pursue Their Dream Job" interactions, as these will have those sims have a baby or change their career respectively. Here's a picture on Manage Households:
  

Only Gameplay, Environment, and Pack settings are applied to one save only. The other settings are applied to all saves. On creating a new game, the settings from your last played save will be brought over there. So, if you were playing a save with long lifespan last and make a new game, it will have long lifespan too. Changing it will not affect the other saves.

If you are playing the same save, yes. If you evict the household as a landlord, you can't switch to them until they have a new home. Until then, you can find them in Manage Households with "Currently Not in World" text.

On that regard, there is one pre-made landlord sim who will "own" the unowned Residential Rental lots. They will not prevent other sims from buying the lot, but yeah, they are there to fill in the property owner role as otherwise there would be no such sim.
Unfortunately, you can't complete Discerning Dweller aspiration as one of the goals requires you to break a unit rule. However, no rules are set by default and the only way to set the rules is to have someone own the Residential Rental lot.

Don't worry about the long text. I also tend to write long texts sometimes (and for the same reason too). Just don't feel that I can express what I want to express with few words only, at least how I explain it myself. Though I couldn't fully understand the questions, I hope I got your questions answered. If not, feel free to ask more questions. We are here to help after all!
No need to delete EA folders.

"Alexy;c-18335965" wrote:

"EgonVM;c-18335687" wrote:
Here are my answers to the questions:

That is ok. If you'd like, you may see each save as an alternative universe: same worlds, but different lots, sims, and/or happenings.

Unfortunately, it is one annoying thing to deal with...

I would say the following on it:

• Save as indeed creates two different save files. I wouldn't use it for switching, but rather to make an alternative timeline for example. Or to make permanent backups of the save to go back to when things go wrong. Things that happen in one save won't affect the other save.
  
• Well, on Settings, only Gameplay, Environment, and Pack settings are per-save, meaning changing these settings in one save won't affect the other saves. The other settings are universal, thus applied to other saves.
  
• On aging settings, there are distinction between played and unplayed households. If you set "Active Household Only", only the aging of all the other played households will stop. If you want to fully stop the aging of other sims, you can untick the aging for unplayed households below. But yes, if you set "Active Household Only", your other household won't age.
  
• On neighborhood stories, you can either turn it off in Gameplay Options, or open Manage Households in Manage Worlds and manage the Neighborhood Stories there. If that is turned off, then they won't progress by having a baby for example. However, if your households know each other well, they can call for advice (which will affect them when you choose yes). Also, avoid "Discuss Expanding the Family" and "Ask Sim to Pursue Their Dream Job" interactions, as these will have those sims have a baby or change their career respectively. Here's a picture on Manage Households:
  

Only Gameplay, Environment, and Pack settings are applied to one save only. The other settings are applied to all saves. On creating a new game, the settings from your last played save will be brought over there. So, if you were playing a save with long lifespan last and make a new game, it will have long lifespan too. Changing it will not affect the other saves.

If you are playing the same save, yes. If you evict the household as a landlord, you can't switch to them until they have a new home. Until then, you can find them in Manage Households with "Currently Not in World" text.

On that regard, there is one pre-made landlord sim who will "own" the unowned Residential Rental lots. They will not prevent other sims from buying the lot, but yeah, they are there to fill in the property owner role as otherwise there would be no such sim.
Unfortunately, you can't complete Discerning Dweller aspiration as one of the goals requires you to break a unit rule. However, no rules are set by default and the only way to set the rules is to have someone own the Residential Rental lot.

Don't worry about the long text. I also tend to write long texts sometimes (and for the same reason too). Just don't feel that I can express what I want to express with few words only, at least how I explain it myself. Though I couldn't fully understand the questions, I hope I got your questions answered. If not, feel free to ask more questions. We are here to help after all!
No need to delete EA folders.

Hi, thanks so much for your detailed response and I’m so sorry I didn’t make my questions clear enough - but you’ve answered them all perfectly, so thank you so much. I’m so glad I posted what I was thinking as now I fully understand what to do. Cheers. ☺️

"Alexy;c-18335960" wrote:
Thank you so much for your detailed reply and help, that really means a lot. How do you only set aging for NPCs whilst playing one household as the settings remain whatever you set when you open up another household? Thank you again.

"mightysprite;c-18335663" wrote:
Hi @Alexy and welcome to playing, and to the forum :)

1. For save games, the game keeps track of which save is which according to its internal filenames in the save folders, not according to the name you give it. The name you give it from inside the game is just a convenience to you. If you want to make another copy of your save, you can either "Save As" from inside the game, or make a copy of the file from the save folder manually. When you are looking at your saves folder, the easiest way to identify the save game you want is to look at the time the file was last modified, which will be when you last saved that game.
2. Unfortunately yes, although whether you actually delete the household you create is up to you. When I'm starting a new game to play premades or a scenario, I like to pop a household into Create-a-Sim from my library to save time. Sometimes I leave them running around in the world as NPCs while I'm playing the other family I wanted to play.
3. Sounds like what you have is two different played households in the same save. (if you open Household Manager and see them both under "My Households," that's what you have.) For aging, yes, you're right that "Active Household Only" is what you want if you want the households to stay at the same age while not being played. I like to turn on NPC aging while playing one and only one household in a rotational game, so that the NPCs age at the same rate as one of my played households. If I want everyone to age at the same rate I make sure that I'm playing the households for about the same amount of time, like a week each or something. For story progression, yes, if it's turned off in Game Options it should be turned off for all households at all times. You can also fine tune it from Household Manager, just be aware that the settings are different for played households (My Households) vs. unplayed households (Other Households), that isn't very clear in the interface.
4. I'm not sure about this one, as I keep my aging settings so similar between saves. It never hurts to double check.
5. and 6. I don't have the new pack so hopefully someone else can help!

Have fun!