Sul sul, Simmers.I'll apologize in advance if I'm asking a question that has been asked countless times since 2014. I'm still a new-ish Simmer (I've had TS4 since June 2021).I am playing a save with Auto Age off for everyone. All the Sims have Full Autonomy, except for the Selected Sim.For the sake of my story, I'd like to rotate between households from time to time. I would like to see what some of our supporting characters (siblings, parents, good friends) might contribute to the tale if I send them out into the world. In the past, I've only tried this for very brief periods of time, long enough to allow grandparents to establish a relationship with their grandkids who live in another household or set an unplayed Sim up with a career and some skills. When I do this, I return to my "main character" and find him doing relatively innocuous things. Browse the Web is a common choice, and I'm fine with that. But if I spend several hours (in game time) playing another household, what might my "main" Sim start doing to fill the time? Will he go to work if he has a job? (I know the Sims I've created and added to my world skip work constantly. They're always home during their work hours, or working out, or hanging out at a café, but it doesn't seem to hurt their careers.)Will he wander the Simworld, gobbling up food everywhere he can find it, including wasting Simoleons at food stalls when he's already full? (I read somewhere on the forum that this was a thing.)Will he establish friendships and romances on his own, hitting on married Sims and causing drama? And, if I switch him to "unplayed" status before I take control of another household, will that stop him from doing lots of random things?I looked around the forum before I posted, but most of the threads I found were several years old. I wonder if some of the issues that were raised then have been cleared up.Thanks in advance for indulging the n00b. ;)

Some of your fears are founded, others not. Fortunately there are mods to deal with everything, I'll just name them, and if you are interested will track down the download links."MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:In the past, I've only tried this for very brief periods of time, long enough to allow grandparents to establish a relationship with their grandkids who live in another household or set an unplayed Sim up with a career and some skills. When I do this, I return to my "main character" and find him doing relatively innocuous things. Browse the Web is a common choice, and I'm fine with that. This is called loading screen autonomy. Two different modders have changed it so that the sims do not do those random things, but stand outside the house instead. This can cause minor issues at the active career lots (criminals at the police station will be outside their cells), but it's one of my must have mods regardless."MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:But if I spend several hours (in game time) playing another household, what might my "main" Sim start doing to fill the time? Will he go to work if he has a job? (I know the Sims I've created and added to my world skip work constantly. They're always home during their work hours, or working out, or hanging out at a café, but it doesn't seem to hurt their careers.)Careers are frozen when a household isn't played. The only problem occurs when you return to that household while your sim should be at work. You can send them in late, but they will suffer a small hit from being late.Sims that do not have a job might get one while they're unplayed, at a random career level. But sims you leave while they already have a career won't change that."MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:Will he wander the Simworld, gobbling up food everywhere he can find it, including wasting Simoleons at food stalls when he's already full? (I read somewhere on the forum that this was a thing.)I'm not 100% sure, but I think no money gets deducted when your sim autonomously tips musicians and buys food. Not sure about retail and restaurants either.In any case, sims will gain weight over time from eating at food stalls. MCCC can freeze physique altogether and FitnessControls can make it so that only the sims in your active household gain and lose weight/muscle."MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:Will he establish friendships and romances on his own, hitting on married Sims and causing drama? Yes, sadly. Whenever your sim meets another sim for the first time, the game checks if these two start at 50% friendship or romance. The romance part seems to favour opposite sex sims, what can be a curse or a blessing, depending on your sim's orientation. The mod to deal with this is NoRudeFlirtyIntroduction.That aside, sims will start flirting indiscriminately with everyone when they turn flirty. Fortunately jealousy isn't as brutal anymore as it was in Sims2, sims won't outright attack eachr anymore, but turn sad first. From my experience it's also hard to hit on sims in an established relationship (but mileage may vary)."MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:And, if I switch him to "unplayed" status before I take control of another household, will that stop him from doing lots of random things?Don't ever do this! By taking away played status you give the game free reign to do with your sim whatever it wants, including changing their career. May I recommend MCCC? That mod allows you to fine control what unplayed and played but inactive households are allowed to do and what not.

"MoonlightGraham;c-18025510" wrote:I'm conflicted about what to do about the flirting. On the one hand, it could be fun for my "supporting characters" to find romance on their own. On the other, I'm seeing an absolute dramafest if my "main character" develops enough Charisma to enable the Enchanting Introduction. If he autonomously rolls that when I'm controlling someone else, he could create pink romance bars all over the world. Then, if I don't get rid of them, one of his long-forgotten former "flings" might appear out of nowhere, far into the future, and pitch a fit when he kisses his own wife. MCCC can give you the option to turn off autonomous flirting (for sims that don't already have any romantic connection). What I do is turn off Jealousy but leave the flirting, because I prefer to decide for myself (based on other existing story elements) when it's actually appropriate for any green-eyed monsters to appear. I played the opposite way for a while -- jealousy on, flirting off -- and that did keep people mostly faithful, but things also felt too static and much less organic. Not all of my sims are supposed to be faithful, and doing it the old way prevented them from living their lives as they should have. Sometimes it felt almost like I had turned autonomy off completely for those particular rascals. :lol:

"VeeDub;c-18025526" wrote:"MoonlightGraham;c-18025510" wrote:I'm conflicted about what to do about the flirting. On the one hand, it could be fun for my "supporting characters" to find romance on their own. On the other, I'm seeing an absolute dramafest if my "main character" develops enough Charisma to enable the Enchanting Introduction. If he autonomously rolls that when I'm controlling someone else, he could create pink romance bars all over the world. Then, if I don't get rid of them, one of his long-forgotten former "flings" might appear out of nowhere, far into the future, and pitch a fit when he kisses his own wife. MCCC can give you the option to turn off autonomous flirting (for sims that don't already have any romantic connection). What I do is turn off Jealousy but leave the flirting, because I prefer to decide for myself (based on other existing story elements) when it's actually appropriate for any green-eyed monsters to appear. I played the opposite way for a while -- jealousy on, flirting off -- and that did keep people mostly faithful, but things also felt too static and much less organic. Not all of my sims are supposed to be faithful, and doing it the old way prevented them from living their lives as they should have. Sometimes it felt almost like I had turned autonomy off completely for those particular rascals. :lol:These are the same settings I use! When I had jealousy on, it was too out of control. One autonomous wink and a wedding was ruined. When I had flirting off, it felt boring and like no unplayed characters would ever develop relationships. I do the same, just decide for myself when jealousy makes sense and play it out myself.

That's strange, I thought they fixed it so married/engaged sims etc don't get random romantic relationships? My sims don't get them anymore.The only thing I suffer on my rotations is relationship losses, depending on how long I've been away from a household (usually a long time, as I rotate around a lot of households). It is the one big thing I find really annoying, having to get to know other sims again who were once friends.One tip: if you have Get Together, make use of the club system so that sims in the same club will stay in each others relationship panel.

There are a few exceptions to the rule that your sim does nothing but show up on community lots or as walkbys. One is university, if you rotate during a term your sim will finish the term without you. Your households will also vote in NAPs if there are slots in their neighborhood and you don't turn it off. And with the new neighborhood stories feature he might call the other sim you are playing to ask for advice but you can always say no to the ones you don't want for him. I have never had a problem with random flirting between background Sims, but they do try to flirt with my active Sims if they aren't related on occasion. The weight gain thing is definitely something you'll need to address if you go to public lots often, either with a mod or by fixing it when you rotate back.

Rotation advice | EA Forums

24 Replies

EnkiSchmidt
Hero
4 years ago
Some of your fears are founded, others not. Fortunately there are mods to deal with everything, I'll just name them, and if you are interested will track down the download links.

"MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:

In the past, I've only tried this for very brief periods of time, long enough to allow grandparents to establish a relationship with their grandkids who live in another household or set an unplayed Sim up with a career and some skills. When I do this, I return to my "main character" and find him doing relatively innocuous things. Browse the Web is a common choice, and I'm fine with that.

This is called loading screen autonomy. Two different modders have changed it so that the sims do not do those random things, but stand outside the house instead. This can cause minor issues at the active career lots (criminals at the police station will be outside their cells), but it's one of my must have mods regardless.

"MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:
But if I spend several hours (in game time) playing another household, what might my "main" Sim start doing to fill the time?

Will he go to work if he has a job? (I know the Sims I've created and added to my world skip work constantly. They're always home during their work hours, or working out, or hanging out at a café, but it doesn't seem to hurt their careers.)

Careers are frozen when a household isn't played. The only problem occurs when you return to that household while your sim should be at work. You can send them in late, but they will suffer a small hit from being late.

Sims that do not have a job might get one while they're unplayed, at a random career level. But sims you leave while they already have a career won't change that.

"MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:
Will he wander the Simworld, gobbling up food everywhere he can find it, including wasting Simoleons at food stalls when he's already full? (I read somewhere on the forum that this was a thing.)

I'm not 100% sure, but I think no money gets deducted when your sim autonomously tips musicians and buys food. Not sure about retail and restaurants either.

In any case, sims will gain weight over time from eating at food stalls.

MCCC can freeze physique altogether and FitnessControls can make it so that only the sims in your active household gain and lose weight/muscle.

"MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:
Will he establish friendships and romances on his own, hitting on married Sims and causing drama?

Yes, sadly. Whenever your sim meets another sim for the first time, the game checks if these two start at 50% friendship or romance. The romance part seems to favour opposite sex sims, what can be a curse or a blessing, depending on your sim's orientation.

The mod to deal with this is NoRudeFlirtyIntroduction.

That aside, sims will start flirting indiscriminately with everyone when they turn flirty. Fortunately jealousy isn't as brutal anymore as it was in Sims2, sims won't outright attack eachr anymore, but turn sad first. From my experience it's also hard to hit on sims in an established relationship (but mileage may vary).

"MoonlightGraham;d-996190" wrote:
And, if I switch him to "unplayed" status before I take control of another household, will that stop him from doing lots of random things?

Don't ever do this! By taking away played status you give the game free reign to do with your sim whatever it wants, including changing their career. May I recommend MCCC? That mod allows you to fine control what unplayed and played but inactive households are allowed to do and what not.
MoonlightGraham
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
@EnkiSchmidt Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough response! I've posted this before, but it deserves mention again: this forum contains the most friendly, helpful people I've ever encountered in a similar setting.

Your advice about taking away played status is solid gold. I just discovered what will happen if I do. The game took one Sim, whom I'd cheated into a Level 9 career in Education Administration, and turned him into a barista. While that was good for a laugh, it doesn't fit the story, so I had to cheat him back to his original career.

That raises another question, though. If I give a household Played status, what will happen to them while I'm not actively playing them? I've thought about MCCC. That might solve a number of issues.

It looks like I can cheat away many of the other issues. I can solve the weight gain with one drag of a slider in CAS.

I'm conflicted about what to do about the flirting. On the one hand, it could be fun for my "supporting characters" to find romance on their own. On the other, I'm seeing an absolute dramafest if my "main character" develops enough Charisma to enable the Enchanting Introduction. If he autonomously rolls that when I'm controlling someone else, he could create pink romance bars all over the world. Then, if I don't get rid of them, one of his long-forgotten former "flings" might appear out of nowhere, far into the future, and pitch a fit when he kisses his own wife.
EnkiSchmidt
Hero
4 years ago
Mhm... difficult to decide. Here's an idea: this is brute forcing, but my last resort in such cases is always "resetsim". It might not work for you, depending on how high you tend to hover over the action. But if you spot your (currently game-controlled) main sim on a venue, attempting to do something inadviseable, then you could try shift-clicking and resetting him. That will clear his action queue, leave the sim disoriented for a couple of seconds, but on the upside, not mods required.
VWoodsong
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
"MoonlightGraham;c-18025510" wrote:
I'm conflicted about what to do about the flirting. On the one hand, it could be fun for my "supporting characters" to find romance on their own. On the other, I'm seeing an absolute dramafest if my "main character" develops enough Charisma to enable the Enchanting Introduction. If he autonomously rolls that when I'm controlling someone else, he could create pink romance bars all over the world. Then, if I don't get rid of them, one of his long-forgotten former "flings" might appear out of nowhere, far into the future, and pitch a fit when he kisses his own wife.

MCCC can give you the option to turn off autonomous flirting (for sims that don't already have any romantic connection). What I do is turn off Jealousy but leave the flirting, because I prefer to decide for myself (based on other existing story elements) when it's actually appropriate for any green-eyed monsters to appear. I played the opposite way for a while -- jealousy on, flirting off -- and that did keep people mostly faithful, but things also felt too static and much less organic. Not all of my sims are supposed to be faithful, and doing it the old way prevented them from living their lives as they should have. Sometimes it felt almost like I had turned autonomy off completely for those particular rascals. :lol:
MoonlightGraham
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
What do Sims in Played households do when I'm not actively playing them? I've never had more than one Played household at a time in any of my saves.
VWoodsong
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
"MoonlightGraham;c-18025531" wrote:
What do Sims in Played households do when I'm not actively playing them? I've never had more than one Played household at a time in any of my saves.

If you have autonomy on for them, you might see them out and about at various venues while you play your other sims. Other than that, to the best of my knowledge, they don't actually do anything when they're not in the same zone as your currently active sims. Edit: You might see them out and about with autonomy off, too. I don't know because I keep autonomy on for everyone.
MoonlightGraham
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
@VeeDub That's good to know. When I shifted over to the Vice Chancellor who threw it all away for a position as Coffee Stain Remover so I could get him his university job back, my "main character" had time to take off on an Energized Jog through his neighborhood.
GirafHuntr
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
"VeeDub;c-18025526" wrote:
"MoonlightGraham;c-18025510" wrote:
I'm conflicted about what to do about the flirting. On the one hand, it could be fun for my "supporting characters" to find romance on their own. On the other, I'm seeing an absolute dramafest if my "main character" develops enough Charisma to enable the Enchanting Introduction. If he autonomously rolls that when I'm controlling someone else, he could create pink romance bars all over the world. Then, if I don't get rid of them, one of his long-forgotten former "flings" might appear out of nowhere, far into the future, and pitch a fit when he kisses his own wife.

MCCC can give you the option to turn off autonomous flirting (for sims that don't already have any romantic connection). What I do is turn off Jealousy but leave the flirting, because I prefer to decide for myself (based on other existing story elements) when it's actually appropriate for any green-eyed monsters to appear. I played the opposite way for a while -- jealousy on, flirting off -- and that did keep people mostly faithful, but things also felt too static and much less organic. Not all of my sims are supposed to be faithful, and doing it the old way prevented them from living their lives as they should have. Sometimes it felt almost like I had turned autonomy off completely for those particular rascals. :lol:

These are the same settings I use! When I had jealousy on, it was too out of control. One autonomous wink and a wedding was ruined. When I had flirting off, it felt boring and like no unplayed characters would ever develop relationships. I do the same, just decide for myself when jealousy makes sense and play it out myself.
elliebreton
Legend
4 years ago
That's strange, I thought they fixed it so married/engaged sims etc don't get random romantic relationships? My sims don't get them anymore.

The only thing I suffer on my rotations is relationship losses, depending on how long I've been away from a household (usually a long time, as I rotate around a lot of households). It is the one big thing I find really annoying, having to get to know other sims again who were once friends.

One tip: if you have Get Together, make use of the club system so that sims in the same club will stay in each others relationship panel.
Daephene1
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
There are a few exceptions to the rule that your sim does nothing but show up on community lots or as walkbys. One is university, if you rotate during a term your sim will finish the term without you. Your households will also vote in NAPs if there are slots in their neighborhood and you don't turn it off. And with the new neighborhood stories feature he might call the other sim you are playing to ask for advice but you can always say no to the ones you don't want for him.
I have never had a problem with random flirting between background Sims, but they do try to flirt with my active Sims if they aren't related on occasion. The weight gain thing is definitely something you'll need to address if you go to public lots often, either with a mod or by fixing it when you rotate back.