Playing with Autonomy off is so much easier on the blood pressure

I recently started playing a rich family where the father was a mafian and his son was actually a transgender. He didn't like it so he took him to a psychologist and then I sent the son to his mommy so she could hug him and tell him it is OK. Then I played just with the 2. I totally forgot about the father. He almost died of hunger. Oops.

Oh no! I think I might be being assimilated. Resistance is futile.
Well, I think I'm going to try autonomy off for the selected sim at least.. I didn't even know you could do that.

Ummm, I see where the confusion lies. I never said I was running full autonomy...I expressly stated I check the box to turn off autonomy only for the selected sim. However, YOU weren't running on full autonomy either, lol. If you are directing the sims to do these things, then that's not autonomous. So why wouldn't you just check the box on game options that says to turn off autonomy only for the directed sim? The selected sim will just autonomously do things if you just leave them hanging around and don't queue up anything for them to do...but when you direct them to do something, it doesn't get overridden (except temporarily by the toddler grabby hand summon and the new magical dollhouse summoning power that toddlers were given, but you can delete those out of the queue). The result is that you can let them run autonomously or you can direct them or you can just direct them from time to time.....which is exactly what you were trying to do anyway, according to the above statements....and all these "crises" would have been averted, lol. The point being that you don't need a toggle or hotkey to turn autonomy on and off for a sim....it's basically already there with the setting to turn off autonomy only for the selected sim.

With full autonomy on you are still meant to control Sims and make them do things - they can't cope on their own (other than basic needs).

I was playing on full autonomy. My point is you have to control them to do things because then can autonomously do something else. Sometimes they want to go toilet or eat food at a critical time - like putting a toddler to bed, etc - they may suddenly decide to go and do something else.

That is the problem with full autonomy - a Sim can have a Needs bar half-way and in the yellow and they are prone to wander off to do what they want.

I could just use the Disable Autonomy for the Selected Sim option; however, surely that means the other parent Sim could suddenly decide to wander off and do their own thing - ie not attending to a toddler?

The selected parent will be on their best behaviour but the other one is highly likely to storm off.


I personally find it a hassle to have to go to Game Options to toggle autonomy and then go back again to change it again. I don't like the fact that we have to go into Game Options/Gameplay to alter this.

I want an autonomy hotkey.

I just want to be able to jab it on and off at a keypress to be able to Sim like a boss.

I turn it off for my selected sim but leave it on for everyone else because it makes me crazy when sims I'm not playing pee on the floor instead of just going to the toilet. (I'm not fast enough to get to everyone so Its actually more stressful to be out of autonomy for everyone)

@JimG72
Thank you so much... not sure why I didn't try playing this way before. Autonomy off on selected sim. I was doing that last night and this morning some and it does really help in a larger household where I want to focus on one sim for awhile. I always feel kind of like a dolt when there was something in the game like this that I missed for so long.

"Uzone27;c-15817249" wrote:
I suspect the reason the AI is so agressive when it comes to toddler care is because the consequences are so high if a toddlers needs are not met. This has been a long running problem with Sims AI, especially in households with multiple care givers.

In the Sims 2 for example we often experienced AI gridlock when multiple adult caregivers all autonomously cue actions for the same dependant Sim causing Sims to literally just stand there frozen unable to act.

In Sims 4 the caregivers will often autonmouisly "check on toddler" this action invariably leads to the Sim taking some form of action, even if it's something the Simmer deems as unnecceary at the moment such as potty training, putting the toddler to sleep too early or attemptng to feed them when they are only half hungry. It's a pain when we're managing them directly sure...but it's also the reason Toddlers don't get taken away while Sims are caring for them autonomously.

While this can be annoyiong at times to be sure, I've never had a Sim break my command cue unless there was an identifiable reason for it. In the case of Toddlers 90% of the time it's due to conflicting commands..

Here is an example..
You tell the toddler to use the tablet. An hour later the toddler is tired so you send your Sim in there to put him in bed.
So the Sim goes in and dutifully waits for the toddler to stop using the tablet to carry out your command... but the timer runs out and the Sim moves on to something else becuase you forgot to cancel the command on the toddler's end.

Another way this can happen is if another Sim in the household also has something in cue for that toddler unbeknownst to you.
So if mom had bathing the toddler on tap ahead of your command to have Dad put the toddler to sleep...you get the same result...the Sim walks in stares at the kid for a bit then turns around and leaves.

The key to caring for toddlers in this game is making sure you have complete command of not just the target Sim's cue...but every Sim in the household capable of interacting with the toddler must be accounted for....
Cue up actions for every adult, clear the target Sims cue and you won't have a problem.

This is the reason Nannies used to be such a pain back in the day...we couldn't clear their cue.

Well, I simply do not like it.

They are simply going to have to change things to my liking or I shall have to write an incredibly stern letter.

The highly aggressive, highly vicious, toddler AI must be muzzled.

There are probably 32-38 million Simmers being affected by this.

The whole thing is a scandal.

Well I can't hold my horses.. heck I might not even have any horses in the future not that it would matter to me. However, I am happy for this thread because playing with full autonomy on.. but autonomy off on selected sim really works well in a big house for me.. . well unless I just want to watch them all .. which sometimes I like to do. I flip around I play with one, see to their needs, do their homework, send them to skill or start that project then flip to another to join them on the project maybe then flip to another to get them ready for work ect... So far no problems with canceling and I can still watch them autonomously interacting around and even with my sim if I started it up. Were we able to do this in past sims games? I really just thought they stood around and did nothing if you used any setting like this. Holy Hallelujah Batman!

Either way @plopppo2 I think you really should write a strongly worded letter to vent your outrage on the shenanigans happening in your game. Venting can be good for the soul and I'm sure you'll have things cleared up toot sweet if you set your mind to it.

Not everyone is going to publicly ask for an Autonomy hotkey though.

It is not really a question of how many people want an Autonomy hotkey(s), it is how many object to it?

Who is going to object to an Autonomy hotkey(s)?

Suddenly we will see a complete shift in balance on this. All of a sudden the seesaw of life has just tipped and cemented itself in the favour of a hotkey(s).

This is how I roll.

I’m just now play with Autonomy off!!! I’ve been having this game forever

This made my night omg.

I never play with autonomy off because Im lazy. But I think I might try it - sims cooking while another sim is cooking a family meal definitely raises my high blood pressure (that I actually have) to a solid 150. I have it at a young age-I blame the cooking issue.

And now the "claim beds" feature not working? Ooof, Im about to have a stroke.