What am I still doing wrong? (Serial Restarting in New Saves)

I wouldn't say you are doing anything "wrong"
but I think what often helps me out of this is doing something completely opposite to my usual playstyle

say for example you always create same type of sim?
how about this time you go and just snatch randomized townie off the street
and start playing them instead making no sim whatsoever?

say you are always building samey house?
well what if your sim doesn't get a house this time?
what if all they have is a tent or bush
or they spend their entire time on community lots?

say you are always ending up with small families?
well what if you played single sim instead?
what if they never romanced anyone?

and so forth :)

I don't understand why you need to start again. If you wan to play a new sim, just add him/her to a new lot in the same save. This way you have sims that you can choose from for friendships and marriages and they come with some skills and interests and a backstory. And you can always return to them if you get new ides for them.

I have never had updates break the game to the point that it becomes completely unplayable, but I play vanilla. Sure, there are bugs, but when I want to play, I try to play around them if possible. Sometimes I just build interesting community lots for my sims. They are more fun and more elaborate and diverse than tying to fit all skill and fun objects onto the home lot.

For poor sims who become rich and are no longer interesting, maybe you could try change your game style and aim for different achievements than just financial. Give them a job, hobby, or aspiration that maybe you have never tried playing before. When new ideas arise, see if you can apply them to your current household and incorporate them into the gameplay. Sometimes even small things like adding a lot challenge to the lot can change the gameplay enough to make it interesting. When you get bored with your current family and run out of ideas for them you can switch to another family in the same save, it could be a new one, or one you have played before and for which you have some fresh ideas.

@Lenny_Ogg
I really appreciate this inclusive take on creativity and fun. It resonates a lot with me and thoughts like these finally gave me some peace with my own (potentially neurodiverse) struggles.

@NRowe
I don't know if it would work for you but here are some things that helped me myself to stick with a save/family for a longer time:
- play on short lifespan (more variety and challenge because it's more difficult to get rich)
- randomize traits (I enjoy randomized traits as an inspiration for my Sim's lifestyle, career, home etc.)
- add challenges (I like rags to riches and lot challenges to make the game harder and I also make sure my Sims spend enough money so they don't get super rich fast)
- write a story (I recently started to create a story about my legacy family here in the forums and it helped me a lot to emotionally connect with my Sims, something I want really able to before)

"NRowe;d-1013021" wrote:
Okay, maybe it’s just my personal playstyle and isn’t really “wrong” but I simply can’t seem to stick with my Sims

I’ll come up with a bit of a backstory, character type or game feature I want to try. I can spend hours, even days, creating the actual Sims and then building/furnishing their home. I play them for a bit, very frequently post about it here on the forums and then something happens I get, well not quite bored but sort of disinterested

Sometimes immersion breaking things like bugs happen. Sometimes game updates outright break the save. Other times the Sims get into a rut. Maybe they’ve gotten married and they’re no longer poor and then somehow it’s not as much ‘fun’ so a new idea arises. All the Sims seem rather similar despite their different traits, appearances and interests.


So yeah, I don’t quite know what I’m doing “wrong”. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

@NRowe
I made a new year oath to try to play one household for two sims weeks. Bugs lags, and immersion breaking things happen which lead me to no choice but to play another household. It seems unless you have an pro gamer computers, only tolerable way to play. I remember when this happened with my first family, Patricia was pregnant and I was waiting for her to give birth and she was well overdue, but it never happened. I had to leave play as another household, and come back to the household where the baby was present. The game is very temperamental and I see it more like I am playing with the game's capability to perform as a game.

Again the other day I was playing as my sim self family, and they were out. I couldnt get back home. The left but the screen stood on the current lot with other sims just being themselves. I literally had to load out and load back in, same issue. This happened three times, when I realized I am not a rotational player because I want to be, but because I have to be.
Scenarios seems to play the best without bugs from my experience. If you feel like it, this is an enjoyable way to play. I only don't like they make you start a new sim to play.

It seems that you enjoy making new sims, creating a backstory, designing their homes, then playing them for a while before wanting to move on to something different.

If you look through your post history you'll see many threads similar to this one. With the same advice given above.

We've helped you choose names, careers, aspirations, marriage partners for your Sims.

Why not just accept that this is your playstyle and you're not doing anything wrong.

Why not just continue what you've been doing and maybe one of your families will eventually motivate you to continue their story into the next generation. And the next.

When people ask this question, I always advise doing a challenge that forces you to play in a different style. For example, I normally play families, so when I was in a rut once, I started playing the Asylum Challenge. Not only was I playing a household full of adults, I had to leave 7 of them completely autonomous, which was also against my usual style. I had to just embrace the chaos, lol. It was quite fun!

@NRowe I agree with @simgirl1010. I too get bored easily, especially if I am playing the same way every time. As long as you are enjoying most of the time you are playing then you are enjoying the game. I love coming up with new ideas for my gameplay and am always starting new ones. I spend a lot of time setting the games up, building my own homes and characters. Right now I am working on 2 games for my new computer, one with normal sims and family play and the other with occult families as well as human. I enjoy setting the games up. When I start playing I plan on rotational play as I enjoy having characters I put in the game meeting and interacting with each other. I have different types of characters, some good, some not so good (or evil), and enjoy exploring gameplay with the different characters. But I do have the majority of the packs so I have lots of options! If I am getting bored with one save I will change to another. Sometimes I get so bored I end up playing my Skyrim or another game. Then when I get bored with that I go back to my Sims and start enjoying that again. There is no right or wrong way to play the Sims. Play in whatever way you enjoy it!

Rotational play might be the way to go for you. Turn off aging for everyone but the active household. Then play as always, but whenever you get desinterested in a household, add your new sims to the same save. Soon you will have a web of co-workers, friends and rivals. Think of boring job tasks like "Get to know a sim at spice market" or "Talk to another social media career sim" - they are much better if your new sim does them with one of your old ones.

You said you enjoy giving your sims backstories and posting about them. In this case you'd probably also enjoy giving your whole sims world an overarching goal or theme. Some element that will be present in every household. Maybe all sims have the same ethnic heritage, but adhere to it to differing degrees. Or maybe the neighborhood has some very strict building guidelines that can only get lifted if you have a sim at the top of one each of politics, interior decorator and civic designer. Or a new fashion trend emerges and everyone now includes pieces of one or two specific packs. Think of mini challenges that would be painful for your sims (for drama), but fun for you as a player!

That said, as a serial restarter myself, I don't see anything wrong with your way of playing.

I'll add my vote to the suggestion that you start your new families in the same save with your old families. It does a lot to add to the lore.
I would also suggest trying out a challenge to see if that holds your interest. I really liked the Zombie Apocalypse Challenge.

I remember when I used to play Sims 2 I would start a new family the way you do, with a general premise and a loose story line in mind. The personality AI for that game had a lot more impact, so often the game would push back at my plans because a sim didn't want to do what I wanted them to do (because of personality, not glitches). I could decide to double down on my original plan, but I would have to work harder at it, or I could go with the flow of where my sims were taking me. We don't really have that in Sims 4. If you don't enjoy micromanaging the details of your story to force it to be interesting, it can end up feeling samey. At the same time, the lack of push back makes the environment very flexible for playing quirky challenges, which is what I enjoy most about Sims 4.

I think sometimes a story is just a story until it's done. That has certainly happened to me. I make a sim, they have something they want to achieve, or better yet, some sort of struggle to overcome, then once they succeed (find the perfect match, raise x number of kids and send them off to college, get rich, build their dream home...) I feel done. It's like writing a book, sooner or later the story ends. Maybe you just prefer short stories over long novels? Nothing wrong with that.

I do agree with keeping old sims in game when you create new ones. There is a satisfaction to seeing the accomplished sims you've created continue on with their lives. If you leave neighborhood stories on, they'll progress and maybe then you'll see a reason to revisit them after a while.