New Save Ideas
I'm playing a huge and complicated save right now that is taking up so much time, but even so, I'm tempted to start a new one. Here's my save idea. Not sure if I'll act on it, but I wanted to share it. Post your own save ideas below.
I would do this as an early 20th century game (30s through 50s), but that would be totally optional.
The best world to do this in is Willow Creek because it's larger. You can also expand into Newcrest as you make more commercial lots.
Start with 4 Families:
Delete all structures and all sims.
Make 1 good-sized house and copy it to 3 other lots on the same street, then change the color and landscaping, so you have a cookie-cutter type neighborhood.
Move in 4 families, each with 2 kids each, both child age. Rotate play through each family.
Everyone is aged up at the same time. Do not have more children.
Add Commercial Lots:
Each family would own a business. I'm thinking essentials would be a wedding venue, cafe, bar, and something fun for the kids like a roller rink. Mods could be used to charge people to come onto the lot or just use money cheats for non-traditional businesses.
Non-owned commercial lots would be parks, a cemetery, a school, a library, a lodge (club for men), and possibly a church.
Clubs For Each Group:
For schools, use a "shorter hours" mod so kids go to school regularly, but then have them go to the faux school during the extra hours so you can follow them and have them socialize with each other. Use a club for this. The kids' club could also get together at the park, library, rink, etc., or each other's houses.
All of my wives would be stay-at-home moms, and they would have their own club activities either in each others' homes, at the cafe, or at church.
All of my dads would be in some sort of club, like the masons or a moose lodge-type club and would meet one night every 1 to 2 weeks. They would wear funny hats and possible funny outfits.
As the children grow:
When the children age to teen, have a new school that's a high school. You could make a gym and have a basketball team and basketball games at the school.
In the last part of the teen phase or the first part of the young adult phase, have a university that is also residential with a boys' and girls' dorm. Move your university-age sims in there and have them study, party, etc.
Next Generation Housing:
Make an apartment and, again, copy the same apartment over to 3 other lots on the same street so that it looks like one giant apartment complex. Move your young adults into the apartments. Each building would have 3 or 4 apartments. You could have 4 sets of roommates and move only 1 household into each building, or you could have fewer buildings and use door locks to just put your sims in different apartments in the same building.
Make one more set of houses with 4 homes with identical layouts on the same street, but make these homes smaller so that they're appropriate for first homes. Eventually, your younger sims will make enough money to be able to move into these starter homes.
Build one condo community with 4 condos on 1 very large lot. As the original parents start to age, move some or all of them onto the condo lot. Have activities for seniors on this lot. This will free up the 4 original houses for your next generation to move in. Don't forget to play your elders and have them visit with their grandkids often once they have some.
Have your younger sims either take over the family business or start new businesses of their own.
Once your younger sims start to couple up, have families of their own, and move up in the world financially, pick your 4 favorite families to be the founders for the next generation. Try to have twins or, once you have a baby and it grows to toddler, go into CAS and make one of the children so that you can always have 2 kids the same age. You can either stop playing the non-picked sims and leave them where they are, or if you need the room, you can move them to a different town or make them into townies.
Repeat.
What do you think of my idea?
I would do this as an early 20th century game (30s through 50s), but that would be totally optional.
The best world to do this in is Willow Creek because it's larger. You can also expand into Newcrest as you make more commercial lots.
Start with 4 Families:
Delete all structures and all sims.
Make 1 good-sized house and copy it to 3 other lots on the same street, then change the color and landscaping, so you have a cookie-cutter type neighborhood.
Move in 4 families, each with 2 kids each, both child age. Rotate play through each family.
Everyone is aged up at the same time. Do not have more children.
Add Commercial Lots:
Each family would own a business. I'm thinking essentials would be a wedding venue, cafe, bar, and something fun for the kids like a roller rink. Mods could be used to charge people to come onto the lot or just use money cheats for non-traditional businesses.
Non-owned commercial lots would be parks, a cemetery, a school, a library, a lodge (club for men), and possibly a church.
Clubs For Each Group:
For schools, use a "shorter hours" mod so kids go to school regularly, but then have them go to the faux school during the extra hours so you can follow them and have them socialize with each other. Use a club for this. The kids' club could also get together at the park, library, rink, etc., or each other's houses.
All of my wives would be stay-at-home moms, and they would have their own club activities either in each others' homes, at the cafe, or at church.
All of my dads would be in some sort of club, like the masons or a moose lodge-type club and would meet one night every 1 to 2 weeks. They would wear funny hats and possible funny outfits.
As the children grow:
When the children age to teen, have a new school that's a high school. You could make a gym and have a basketball team and basketball games at the school.
In the last part of the teen phase or the first part of the young adult phase, have a university that is also residential with a boys' and girls' dorm. Move your university-age sims in there and have them study, party, etc.
Next Generation Housing:
Make an apartment and, again, copy the same apartment over to 3 other lots on the same street so that it looks like one giant apartment complex. Move your young adults into the apartments. Each building would have 3 or 4 apartments. You could have 4 sets of roommates and move only 1 household into each building, or you could have fewer buildings and use door locks to just put your sims in different apartments in the same building.
Make one more set of houses with 4 homes with identical layouts on the same street, but make these homes smaller so that they're appropriate for first homes. Eventually, your younger sims will make enough money to be able to move into these starter homes.
Build one condo community with 4 condos on 1 very large lot. As the original parents start to age, move some or all of them onto the condo lot. Have activities for seniors on this lot. This will free up the 4 original houses for your next generation to move in. Don't forget to play your elders and have them visit with their grandkids often once they have some.
Have your younger sims either take over the family business or start new businesses of their own.
Once your younger sims start to couple up, have families of their own, and move up in the world financially, pick your 4 favorite families to be the founders for the next generation. Try to have twins or, once you have a baby and it grows to toddler, go into CAS and make one of the children so that you can always have 2 kids the same age. You can either stop playing the non-picked sims and leave them where they are, or if you need the room, you can move them to a different town or make them into townies.
Repeat.
What do you think of my idea?
