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Katofhyrule12's avatar
Katofhyrule12
Rising Novice
11 months ago

Starting Over with Just $100

Which packs would you choose if you were starting over from scratch with just $100.00?

I don't have a PC or a Mac right now, but I do have a PS5. I am not able to transfer my PC games over to Playstation, so I am starting over from scratch. I also have a Chromebook and two 15+ year old computers with Linux, but I cannot play Sims on them.

When I started buying Sims 4 packs for PC, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't understand that radio stations and aspirations were included in packs, and I knew nothing about cross compatibility or overlap. Often I bought the packs listed in a nice looking Gallery lot or Gallery sim. Gradually I ended out with everything, and it took me a long time to gradually realize what came in which pack and how to use it all.

Starting over is so different. There are recent packs that include things that are so similar to older packs that skipping the older packs is possible. There are things that I thought that I HAD to have but that I quickly grew tired of and stopped using, like chickens and cows.

If you were starting over with just $100.00, what would you buy? Why? Use whatever prices apply to you. Or use the pricelist that applies to me right now. Here is the link to the current Playstation prices:
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/search/sims%204

I like to play rags to riches and never pursue a full-time career. Whatever I buy next, I want it to complement what I have already bought. So far I have spent $63 on the following:

Outdoor Retreat $13.99 (more plants and camping stuff)
My Wedding Stories $14.99 (Tartosa for the swimmable water, flower/food stalls, and $1K island lot)
Tiny Living $9.99 (Tier 1 Tiny Home perks)
Cool Kitchen Stuff $6.99 (diet icecream)
Chef Hustle $9.99 (selling table)
Nifty Knitting $6.99 (rock radio and Plopsy)

The only other cheap lot that is also in a cheap pack that is currently on sale for me is Strangerville $13.99. Here is a quick list of the cheapest lots in Sims 4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOy6ZsfA32c

If I skip seasons, then I can use appliances outside without them breaking, right? Movie Night $6.99 would give me popcorn to sell on the Chef Hustle table and without seasons, I could watch movies outside? Without Get to Work, I don't have the baking recipes, but I am not spending $40.00 to get them.The Halloween Bundle is a great deal at $29.00, but I think that I can going to go as occult free as possible this time around. I might wait until this current sale ends and see if something I want more goes on sale for Black Friday. Without Seasons, I would really like Snowy Escape. Or maybe Horse Ranch for the nectar making. I'd love to make a Vineyard on Tartosa.

I started a couple threads in the Console subforum that overlap wit this thread, but that subforum is pretty dead, so I decided to start a thread with a wider topic.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/1011660/playstation-sale-are-you-buying-anything#latest
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/1011661/playstation-5-how-many-packs-without-lag#latest
advice
  • atreya33's avatar
    atreya33
    Seasoned Veteran
    11 months ago
    You are talking about starting a sims collection with only 100? I thought you were talking about starting a save with a sim that has only 100.

    I would definitely wait for a sale. Since your list contains packs on sale, I think you are already doing that. I would focus on bigger packs like expansions and gamepacks because those have more to offer

    One sale price:
    - seasons 20€
    - cottage living 20€
    - discover university 20€
    - realm of magic 15€
    - werewolves 15€
    - nifty knitting 10€

    Seasons feels like something I need because the passing of seasons and holidays give a sense of time passing. The weather makes the world feel more dynamic.
    The second expansion pack is a tie between get together and cottage living. I like both of them for the old fashioned building style. I would miss either one but the parts I use are so similar, I would not get both on a limited budget. Cottage living has a whimsical world, gameplay with farming, good build/buy...
    Third EP would be discover university. University is something I enjoy a lot. It is one of those packs I immerse myself into occasionally. I like the duality of old fashioned and modern build buy. Also robots and 3 additional careers are welcome.
    Personally I really enjoy supernatural, so realm of magic and werewolves are a must, more important than any expansion packs for me. Finally nifty knitting because I enjoy sims making their own clothes and items.

    Without a sale I would go for cottage living (40), realm of magic (20), werewolves (20), nifty knitting (10) and perhaps the little campers kit (5) for swings, small fire pit and board game.

    On a side note, with seasons installed you can turn off rain in the options to stop appliances from breaking. It can still get cloudy and hot and cold, but the rain and snow is optional.
  • SweetieWright_84's avatar
    SweetieWright_84
    New Spectator
    11 months ago
    I always say Seasons but that's for a better representation of time passing.

    With your play style being rags to riches, Seasons comes with the flower arranging table and the bee box. You could do either of those to make money. You would need a selling table, which came with City Living, Eco Lifestyle, Jungle Adventure, and I think there are more but I can't remember them.
  • PandoraTO's avatar
    PandoraTO
    Seasoned Vanguard
    11 months ago
    Just pointing out that you might want Snowy Escape for the snowy weather and some related activities since you don’t have Seasons. Also, having onsen lots would be nice since you don’t have Spa Day. And it has nice furniture for when your sim starts making good money and moving up.
  • SerraNolwen's avatar
    SerraNolwen
    Seasoned Novice
    11 months ago
    My first thought when seeing Rags to Riches was Eco Lifestyle for the dumpster diving and the skills, but it has a very urban/industrial feel that might not fit as nicely with the fancy rural vibe you seem to be going for with Tartosa and the cooking stuff.

    If you want to focus on that, I think Cottage Living (and Horse Ranch for the wine, if you fancy having horses) would be well worth it, but I guess even with the sales in late November, you'll have to pick just one for now to stay within budget. As for smaller packs, while they don't contribute as much to gameplay, I think Jungle Adventures has some amazing BB assets that work nicely with Tartosa, and vacationing in that world and doing the archeology stuff can make for a nice change of pace once your sim has a little more money (and still be potentially profitable), and the recipes you can learn in that world seem like fun things to sell on the Home Chef Hustle table. Then, if you have a little money left for smaller packs only (on sale), Romantic Garden gives some nice plants and outdoors furniture to decorate your island in Tartosa (plus a radio station and the wishing well).
  • Katofhyrule12's avatar
    Katofhyrule12
    Rising Novice
    11 months ago
    "Atreya33;c-18324446" wrote:
    You are talking about starting a sims collection with only 100? I thought you were talking about starting a save with a sim that has only 100.


    Yes, $100 for a collection of packs.

    Playstation seems to have fewer and smaller sales at higher prices than the prices for PC. I am not sure if the EPs are ever $20.00. I think the Black Friday sales are the best all year. I have not been able to find a list of the prices from last year. And to make things even harder, Playstation has no mods or CC and if we use cheats we cannot earn aspirations. For PC players, a $100 challenge is easier and different.

    I enjoy all kinds of minimalist challenges, so I am trying to treat my pack purchases with the same playful spirit as the challenges in game.

    I have been trying to narrow down the cheapest packs to get my favorite things or learn to do things differently. I had forgotten about the mini fridge in the Spa pack. The Spa pack is definitely cheaper than the Discover University, and my rags to riches sims just love doing yoga at their campsites. For now, I am curious how much the Chef Hustle table can serve as an outdoor kitchen. For now, I think I want to figure out how to use the lack of seasons as a benefit instead of dwelling on its losses.

    I think sleeping bags are only in Horse Ranch and Growing Together, and I fear that they will both remain at full price even for Good Friday. I forget, but I must have used mods and CC before HR and GT, rather than just tents. I just bought Movie Hangout and Little Campers, which will be much more usable without Seasons. I could put the camping cot in the blanket fort tent, and make an outdoor living room including a movie screen.

    @Atreya33 and @SweetieWright_84 thank you both for sharing what you would do!!!

    In the past I would have chosen differently. Werewolves would have been first, for the Build/buy and the world. I would have jumped at the Halloween Bundle Sale and have done Seasons next.

    I did not know that the Flower Table was in Seasons. Ugh! And I forgot the Bees are in Seasons, not Cottage Living. I can sell the flowers un-arranged at the stall in Tartosa. I still think I might be able to make a good game without Seasons. A different game, but a good game. I might need to start a new thread about not having Seasons. I think I remember someone that loved gardening that did not use Seasons.

    I think I only have about $24.00 left.



  • amapola76's avatar
    amapola76
    Rising Adventurer
    11 months ago
    Just curious, aside from not wanting rain to break appliances, was there any other reason you didn't want Seasons?
  • amapola76's avatar
    amapola76
    Rising Adventurer
    11 months ago
    "Katofhyrule12;c-18324526" wrote:
    "Amapola76;c-18324511" wrote:
    Just curious, aside from not wanting rain to break appliances, was there any other reason you didn't want Seasons?


    When I start a rags to riches play, the weather complicates EVERYTHING. When I start with a housed character, I marvel at how easy it is to navigate weather. Skipping seasons feels like the a great big HUGE cheat.



    Ah, ok, that makes sense, then. For me, I rarely play rags to riches, but when I do, it's because I want things to be as difficult as possible, so it's hard for me to imagine playing rags to riches without weather. So Seasons would have been my first choice. But it sounds like part of your goal right now is to shake things up and do things differently than you normally do.
  • crocobaura's avatar
    crocobaura
    Seasoned Ace
    11 months ago
    Seasons is great for rags to riches, because of the weather element. It adds an extra element of difficulty and if you want to play gardening, I think it makes sense to have seasons. Cottage living introduced the simple living lot challenge, I would get it for that. Plus you can sell your produce to the grocery vendors and don't need to bother with a sales table. Nectar making is nice but bottles age very quickly in the basement and their prices rises to about 2000 simoleons per bottle and it feels a bit like cheating, however Horse Ranch goes well with the Nifty Knitting pack you already have and it also has swimmable water, tents and sleeping bags.
  • Katofhyrule12's avatar
    Katofhyrule12
    Rising Novice
    11 months ago
    "Amapola76;c-18324534" wrote:

    But it sounds like part of your goal right now is to shake things up and do things differently than you normally do.


    Exactly! I want to use this opportunity to use some of the newer and less prioritized packs as my CORE and then slowly add in some of the things that most people already had first and foremost.

    "crocobaura;c-18324541" wrote:
    Seasons is great for rags to riches, because of the weather element. It adds an extra element of difficulty and if you want to play gardening, I think it makes sense to have seasons. Cottage living introduced the simple living lot challenge, I would get it for that. Plus you can sell your produce to the grocery vendors and don't need to bother with a sales table. Nectar making is nice but bottles age very quickly in the basement and their prices rises to about 2000 simoleons per bottle and it feels a bit like cheating, however Horse Ranch goes well with the Nifty Knitting pack you already have and it also has swimmable water, tents and sleeping bags.


    I am going to miss all those things. I'll be missing things that were added to make the game easier, but I won't need them because the game will already be easy enough. I am just starting to fully wrap my head around that.

    I spent my entire $100.00 It came to $101.90 to be exact. I bought Laundry Day and Spa Day. Spa Day was full price at $19.99 and that is over priced in comparison to so many other things, except that it included more things that I wanted most. I am realizing that one thing I need to do is to choose packs that are NOT great bargains if they clog the game with things that I don't use because they create such high taxes in the game or annoy me.

    Even if it is offered to me as a Christmas present, I think I am going to pass on Horse Ranch, now that I think about it more. I think I will ask for Snowy Escape and Jungle Adventures. Or maybe the new EP.

    I don't think I will have any occults except plant sims and ghosts, and I will have no celebrities. It will be interesting to see what bar nights are like. As I was watching the cross-pack parts of the video series that I linked above, I thought how interesting it will be to play without occults and so many other things that make games glitch and that are just plain annoying.

    Yes, I want to shake things up! This thread really helped me to decide what I wanted. I never would have expected to have this as my final list. It is not the best bargain. It is missing all the "best" and necessary stuff. I can't wait to play with it and see what happens!

    Thanks everyone!


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