Playing 3 or more Sims in a household, is it difficult for you too?

I frequently play with 4+ sims, usually a set of parents with however many kids. For me, needs aren't too difficult to manage if I leave full autonomy on. I also tend to give certain family members roles within the family. Cooking together is a huge help since it will increase the portion size, leaving more leftovers. Whichever kid needs manners is in charge of setting the table. One parent takes cooking duty while the other is charge of repairs. One of the keys is repeating similar actions so the sims will build autonomy for certain things, like doing their homework or working out. I leave autonomy on, but keep an eye out for their queues to make sure they're not doing totally silly things. This means some pausing, but I'll usually let them do whatever they decide they want to do. If a sim starts to get weird about computers or other objects, I'll lock it or take it away so the temptation is gone. I also don't let anyone stay up all night, period. Everyone sleeps so that their schedules stay synced up. I also don't micromanage their socialization (with the exception of fulfilling specific wants). If one kid goes on a mean streak, then the parents will discipline them after the fact rather than me frantically trying to cancel the action.

As far as aspirations go, childhood aspirations are so tedious to me, so I tend to micromanage sims as toddlers to max their skills, then max out scouts so they get scouting aptitude. That's enough childhood bonus traits for my play style; I can then focus on their parenthood traits instead of making them meet 5 friends or whatever those levels are. This also makes it easier to focus on the adult's aspirations, with the knowledge that the kids will get attention when they move out and start their own families.

The other key piece for me is playing favorites and focusing on their development. In a family of 8, probably at least two of the kids are going to be favorites that I focus on, with the rest taking a backseat. If one of the not-favorites wants to skip their homework and watch a movie, it's not the end of the world. I also let each member of the family specialize their interests instead of trying to be overall skilled. If a sim has the neat trait, she gets to clean whatever she wants and do all the laundry. If one sim is creative, then they'll get all their fun from painting and cross stitch, even if there's technically time for them to build all of the skills. Sims feel more three dimensional to me if I let them keep knitting whatever they want after hitting level 10 rather than moving on to a new hobby just to build the skill. For me, it's not "wasting" their time if they're developing a personality and family dynamic.

Also, not going to lie, I do occasionally use UI Cheats to top off a motive if I've directed them to fulfill it, but the action drops from their queue or they having issues fulfilling it. I don't consider it cheating since if the sim had listened and the game behaved, the motive would have increased.

I have never played an 8 sim household, it's usually one sim or a family of three or four sims. However, I don't try to play against time, as I play with long seasons and aging off, and generally a slow game so if they don't get to skill up today, they can always do it tomorrow. But I've noticed that sims are quite good at taking care of their needs in TS4 if they have what's needed on their lot and they will skill up in whatever they use anyway. In my gameplay I try to make my sims as autonomous as possible. I make them cook group meals, even for single sims, and fill their fridge with leftovers so there's always ready made food available. For kids and toddlers, I usually leave a group meal out on the table or counter and they can help themselves. I try to add bathrooms on every floor of a house, so they don't waste time going up and down the stairs all the time. And speaking of going up and down the stairs, toddlers always get a ground floor bedroom. This way they can easily reach food in the kitchen and when they are tired they can put themselves to sleep in their own bed. Social need is easy to take care of if you have a family because they talk to each other. For fun, they can do group activities depending on age and also multitasking activities such a watching TV and talking while having meal together. With pets, I give them those timed food dispensers so I don't have to refill their bowls every time. The cats usually get the laser litter box that cleans itself. Also, with larger households, I've noticed that it helps to have all sims in view, so it's better to have single floor houses or at least put skill and fun activities on one floor only so you don't have to always switch floors to see where is everyone and what they are doing. Also, you need to make sure your community lots are family friendly, so if you take a family there everyone's needs will be met and they can all have fun or skill up without having to worry about needs.

You are not alone!

I too think any household over 3 sims is too much chaos for me personally. That isn't fun for me, I don't need my heart to race like I'm playing some video game that I'm trying to rush to beat the clock.

Nope!

I play sims to relax, not to stress me out.

And, I have no problem cheating needs if I need to (and sometimes I actually set them to not decay if I'm trying to accomplish something for story telling screenshot purposes).

I also always play in a single floor home so I can keep an eye on everybody. (I don't like overly cluttered houses that have large items like tall bookcases that block my view.)

That's probably the reason I don't do challenges with some pre-defined rules on family size/generation, etc.

I'm not a micro-manager, never have been. I play with full autonomy and aging off 90% of the time unless I'm needing a certain screenshot for story telling then I'll turn autonomy off so I don't feel like I'm hearding a bunch of cats or toddlers to do something.

Larger households can be fun especially if you're not trying to accomplish too many specific things with too many sims at the same time. I do enjoy watching a bustling household. I also enjoy watching one or two sims peacefully fishing or something.

In the past I never had more than 2 or 3 because I was a micromanager. Anything more than that was too much to keep up with. My play style is changing and I’m not micromanaging like I used too so I look forward seeing what it’s like now. The only time I do that now is if I’m really wanting a screenshot with a particular group of sims in it.

I think it starts to get hard around 4 sims if all of them are supposed to lead interesting lives

often someone ends up sleeping a lot if there is 5-8 sims :lol:

It honestly takes time to get used to it. I’ve been able to manage households of 8, but in for the past 2 years I’ve been on my households that is 1 and 2 sims. I tried going to 4 and up but it got difficult to handle? the only thing to really help is continue trying and try to stay on the normal speed. With time you’ll get the hang of it?

I usually only play with one or two sims, but when I do play with more than that (usually because the family grows), the pause button is my friend. For the most part, I just let the sims do whatever. I am attempting to do something new, and that is starting off with a couple, with two pets (a fox and a raccoon created in CAS). I've placed them on a farm, and they are newlyweds. I haven't gotten very far in this save yet, so I'm hoping I don't get overwhelmed with this save. I'm about tempted to place a third sim, a farmhand who has no interest in a relationship or children, to help out around.

"HavenRose;c-18202545" wrote:
I frequently play with 4+ sims, usually a set of parents with however many kids. For me, needs aren't too difficult to manage if I leave full autonomy on. I also tend to give certain family members roles within the family. Cooking together is a huge help since it will increase the portion size, leaving more leftovers. Whichever kid needs manners is in charge of setting the table. One parent takes cooking duty while the other is charge of repairs. One of the keys is repeating similar actions so the sims will build autonomy for certain things, like doing their homework or working out. I leave autonomy on, but keep an eye out for their queues to make sure they're not doing totally silly things. This means some pausing, but I'll usually let them do whatever they decide they want to do. If a sim starts to get weird about computers or other objects, I'll lock it or take it away so the temptation is gone. I also don't let anyone stay up all night, period. Everyone sleeps so that their schedules stay synced up. I also don't micromanage their socialization (with the exception of fulfilling specific wants). If one kid goes on a mean streak, then the parents will discipline them after the fact rather than me frantically trying to cancel the action.

As far as aspirations go, childhood aspirations are so tedious to me, so I tend to micromanage sims as toddlers to max their skills, then max out scouts so they get scouting aptitude. That's enough childhood bonus traits for my play style; I can then focus on their parenthood traits instead of making them meet 5 friends or whatever those levels are. This also makes it easier to focus on the adult's aspirations, with the knowledge that the kids will get attention when they move out and start their own families.

The other key piece for me is playing favorites and focusing on their development. In a family of 8, probably at least two of the kids are going to be favorites that I focus on, with the rest taking a backseat. If one of the not-favorites wants to skip their homework and watch a movie, it's not the end of the world. I also let each member of the family specialize their interests instead of trying to be overall skilled. If a sim has the neat trait, she gets to clean whatever she wants and do all the laundry. If one sim is creative, then they'll get all their fun from painting and cross stitch, even if there's technically time for them to build all of the skills. Sims feel more three dimensional to me if I let them keep knitting whatever they want after hitting level 10 rather than moving on to a new hobby just to build the skill. For me, it's not "wasting" their time if they're developing a personality and family dynamic.

Also, not going to lie, I do occasionally use UI Cheats to top off a motive if I've directed them to fulfill it, but the action drops from their queue or they having issues fulfilling it. I don't consider it cheating since if the sim had listened and the game behaved, the motive would have increased.

This is interesting. Thank you for sharing @HavenRose. :smiley:
Maybe one day I'll find the courage to turn the autonomy back on without constantly panicking lol

"Chicklet453681;c-18202594" wrote:

I too think any household over 3 sims is too much chaos for me personally. That isn't fun for me, I don't need my heart to race like I'm playing some video game that I'm trying to rush to beat the clock.

Nope!

I play sims to relax, not to stress me out.

YES! :tired_face:

Yes, OMGosh

I think 2 is my sweet spot. Even adding a pet to that adds stress. LOL. I was doing pretty good with a family with a mom, dad, child, and teen. Then I added a cat and a toddler. It is now chaos. No one gets fed, and everyone is exhausted. Forget about having jobs or after-school things or even taking a bath. I just watch it go down and sign off to another household. LOL.