What are your best gameplay tips?

"GalacticGal;c-17762192" wrote:
1) Remember the Pause button is your friend.
2) When wrangling a full house, (or even before it's full) set play to autonomous. You can always pause and stop a Sim from doing that which you would rather they not do. But this will allow you to focus on the Sim you wish without the rest of the household falling to neglect.

Another great tip. ??

One tip I just found is that if you press the space bar in live mode, it'll toggle which sim you're on! Never noticed this before.

I'll just add a few suggestions:
1. If there's something that you want to change in the game and you have the ability to do so, go ahead and do so.
2. Is there a weird townie walking by? Edit them either right then or plan for a time when you are editing or culling townies that you don't want.
3. Is something a bit wrong with a community lot? Either renovate it or download a replacement. Make it a space that you want to send sims to.
4. Do you think sims should spend more of their lives in a certain life stage? Turn aging off as long as you want during that stage.
5. Try rotating between different characters if you haven't. Either try a legacy or a more extended story with one generation with different characters.
6. If the game is working for you, keep doing what you want to do but if not, change it up and try something new.

Aside from that, I also tend to have at least one sim in the household learn to cook. In households that stay in a household long-term, I usually have someone develop handiness skills and start upgrading around the house to cut down on time fixing broken objects and cleaning.

I like playing sims through their whole lifespans, then the game changes a bit as the generations change.

I turn aging off during university and sometimes when sims are in a casually dating phase or some more involved character development.

I randomize the toddler traits but sometimes I have sims inherit traits from one or both of their parents. Families tend to all be a bit different from each other and children tend to be influenced by their parents or background even if that means by rebelling.

Every so often, I add totally new characters with new back stories so that things can be a bit less predictable. Sims have more back stories and influences than just come from the game itself, I tend to develop underlying motivations and thought patterns that influence how they behave. When it comes to the "plot" though, I go with the flow. I change the outcomes based on how they interact with each other and the worlds that they live in.

My tip is to step out of your comfort zone sometimes, especially when you start feeling bored with the game.

If you always give your Sims positive traits, try giving each of them at least one negative trait. Every human has flaws and it can be more entertaining to try to work around them. It adds a little more depth to the personality.

If you have a tendency to make flawless looking Sims with a specific body type, try mixing it up and giving them an unusual feature. Again, no human is perfect, so having one or more physical flaws can make a Sim personality stand out. Bad teeth, bent nose, ears that stick out, mousy hair, big thighs, round belly, droopy eyes... I have found that I can fall into the same pattern when creating Sims, but when I break that pattern and challenge myself, I end up really loving those Sims too.

If you play the same story, change it up. If you play mostly with singles, try a family. If you play happy families, try a romancing scoundrel. If you never let Sims die, take a few chances and walk on the wild side. Mixing up gameplay can suddenly make your game feel new and suspenseful.

Also, if you find yourself running out of ideas or fall into a rut, head over to the creative corner of the forums where people share challenges and stories and grab some inspiration. Try out things you've never done before. :smile:

Take advantage of the community here when playing to share your ideas and stories and sims. If you’re like me, you might not know a lot or any people in your in person life who enjoy and appreciate the sims the way people do on this forum. I found that my gameplay was getting very dull and I wouldn’t play the sims for long stretches of time since I’d lose interest almost immediately if I wasn’t exploring a new pack or challenging myself with a build.

Now that I share my sims with the community here, I have a new love for the game. Even the mundane everyday day stuff with sims in more fun when you get to zoom in and take fun screenshots you know others will see. It makes my story progression feel more meaningful since I’m documenting things somewhere now, and I love seeing how other people play, getting invested in their characters, and having others show interest in my stories/sims too!

"Pamtastic72;c-17761896" wrote:

My biggest tip is let your imagination free. 90% of this game takes place in your imagination, you have to set it loose if you’re going to enjoy playing. I think as you get older that gets harder because so many times real adult life manages to intrude upon our ability to just suspend reality for awhile. I actually think that’s the root of a lot of the complaints about this iteration of The Sims by long time Sims players. Your imagination at say 8 isn’t the same at 28, 38, 48, and I think they were able to let their imagination run more free on earlier iterations because they were kids, but it’s harder as an adult. They can still do so on the older games because their mind is trained to relax into imagination with the familiarity of those versions.

@Pamtastic72 This is a great tip! Even with better personalities, the sims are still going to be nothing more than simulated beings coded to react certain ways, so it's up to the player to give them the depth they want to see.

For example, I know that dogs often get fearful when humans play instruments (you can even see the shadow of the guitar player in the background) but in my game, this dog is based off my real life dog who HATES the snow and cold, so it was easy to imagine that she had a thought bubble of her owner's face crossed off because she was mad at her for dumping her in the snow.

https://i.imgur.com/9T4zjh9.png

Or here, I'm sure that Marin making and consuming fruitcake in mass quantities is just a game glitch, but she's one of those rare sims who actually likes it and I like to pretend that since she's pregnant with twins, she's been craving fruitcake.

https://i.imgur.com/XJ19B5Z.png

And those of course are just little examples of making spontaneous things the game does already fit into my storyline - 90% of my sims world and lives take place in my imagination because their backstories and nuances are what made them so fun to create!

Discover University Tip:
Build the Research & Debate skill once your sim becomes a teen. When R&D reaches level 3, homework (both high school and college) will be completed faster. The higher R&D is, the faster homework will get finished.

"MLadyAzzera;c-17765477" wrote:
Discover University Tip:
Build the Research & Debate skill once your sim becomes a teen. When R&D reaches level 3, homework (both high school and college) will be completed faster. The higher R&D is, the faster homework will get finished.

This is a good example of how you can upgrade current lots. I added research machines to one of the general community libraries, though I could really add them to more. I recently sent an ambitious teen to get a headstart on university by building that skill in advance. I didn't realize that it would speed up high school homework too. Great tip.

I always try to give my Sims a good bed and a good shower at the beginning of the game. If I download a house (or use one of the premade houses) with the cheapest bed and shower I change them immediately, I even sell other things to get money on them. They make a huge difference because they save so much time and my Sims aren't tired and uncomfortable all the time.
My Sims are never bored because they always have pets. Petting a cat or dog can raise Sims' need of fun faster than anything and they also get their social needs up.