I'm curious to see what everyones personal gamechanger is. This is something that has been added to your game, something you started using /doing or something you changed in the set up of your game and radically changed the way you play or look at the game. It could be:-An expansion, game of stuff pack-A feature from a pack-An object-A sim you created-A patch or patch update-A world-A career or type of career-A trait, skill or earned trait-An option you changed e.g. aging on or off, season length-Your gameplay styleI would like to keep this to Sims 4 content only so no CC or Mods.Foucs on your main gamechangers (keep it to one or two) and feel free to discuss how it changed your game. Pictures are welcome too :) Play nice. People are entitled to their opinion. Try to only quote someone if you are agreeing with them or being positive about their views so no one is singled out.ExamplesMy gamechanger was turning aging off back in July 2015. It TOTALLY changed how I played my legacy family, The Braxtons. I was able to immerse my sim into teen and young adult life more deeply and create amazing friendship groups and love interests. It also allowed me to age everyone up when I wanted to and meant I could age up all my sims friends when they aged up too.Seasons has also changed how I view the game. It brings a sense of community to the game for me e.g. it's raining but it's raining for everyone/everywhere in that world but not in another. It makes me think when moving a sim into a world whether they would enjoy the weather there (and it influences my choice) and I have found it really helpful in measuring how long my sims have been at a certain life stage for.I tried to keep it brief (ish!) But please, share yours :)

Since TS1 time, I always play with aging off because I was not very good at playing with life... But now, I start to play with aging on (long) because I learnt that, I can start playing a legacy challenge. And to avoid having a similar Sims in terms of traits, careers, etc... I start to randomise everything and create my Sims based on the results... So, my game changer is more of my gameplay style where I would do a randomisation in creating my Sims. :)

Gameplay style. I finally managed to do legacy. Everything else is a massive bonus.

For me, the gamechanger was randomising everything. It wasn't an issue much in older iterations of the game since I didn't really play 'family life' until The Sims 4. I only ever had kids in The Sims 3, and only once - it was twins. In The Sims 4 I love to play legacy style because the regular turnover of sims keeps things interesting. However, I was getting into a big ol' rut playing the same style of sim, same aspirations, same jobs, same homes over and over because it was easier than deciding what to use. Then I tried the Box of Chocolates challenge and my Sims Life was forever changed. Now I use randomisers for almost everything, either in game or using online randomisers, even down to colour wheels to choose my colour themes. I even use a mod that randomises a sim's new trait when they age up and will flip coins for making Sims decisions. By doing this I get so much more variety in my game, I use all my packs and I play all aspects of the game.

Aging off, for me, too. Among other things it allows me to enjoy the rabbithole careers. Before I'd play mostly freelancers in Sims 4, because the away time seemed wasted to me, when I could earn far more money by woodworking or photography. Now that death isn't looming over their heads constantly I'm playing with standard careers more often.Another gamechanging moment was in 2009, when I started playing the premades in Sims 2. Before, I had felt constricted by their pre-defined personalities and goals and except for the Newbies in the original Sims only ever played my own sims. But for Desiderata Valley I had changed the backstory in such a drastic way that the premades had to adapt, in some cases get retconned, too. While typing in those new backstories I felt inclined to actually play the premades, up to the point where some of them became dearer to me than my CAS created characters. Beats me why I hadn't thought of making the premades mine like this all those years before :/ To this day I enjoy a good mix of retconned premades and my own sims best. There's still a large number that I happily ignore, but those I take a fancy to have enriched my gameplay.

The addition of toddlers and the gender patch filled huge gaps for me. I absolutely loathed going from babies to children, and the gender patch added game mechanics I'd been modding in for years. Not having to do that really enriched the game for me. The other thing was discovering rotational play and building what is essentially my own community with interwoven families and stories.

What is your Gamechanger feature?

x4m1r4
7 years ago
Since TS1 time, I always play with aging off because I was not very good at playing with life... But now, I start to play with aging on (long) because I learnt that, I can start playing a legacy challenge. And to avoid having a similar Sims in terms of traits, careers, etc... I start to randomise everything and create my Sims based on the results... So, my game changer is more of my gameplay style where I would do a randomisation in creating my Sims. :)
zisp
7 years ago
Gameplay style. I finally managed to do legacy. Everything else is a massive bonus.
simwolf79
New Spectator
7 years ago
For me, the gamechanger was randomising everything. It wasn't an issue much in older iterations of the game since I didn't really play 'family life' until The Sims 4. I only ever had kids in The Sims 3, and only once - it was twins. In The Sims 4 I love to play legacy style because the regular turnover of sims keeps things interesting. However, I was getting into a big ol' rut playing the same style of sim, same aspirations, same jobs, same homes over and over because it was easier than deciding what to use. Then I tried the Box of Chocolates challenge and my Sims Life was forever changed.

Now I use randomisers for almost everything, either in game or using online randomisers, even down to colour wheels to choose my colour themes. I even use a mod that randomises a sim's new trait when they age up and will flip coins for making Sims decisions. By doing this I get so much more variety in my game, I use all my packs and I play all aspects of the game.
EnkiSchmidt
Hero
7 years ago
Aging off, for me, too. Among other things it allows me to enjoy the rabbithole careers. Before I'd play mostly freelancers in Sims 4, because the away time seemed wasted to me, when I could earn far more money by woodworking or photography. Now that death isn't looming over their heads constantly I'm playing with standard careers more often.

Another gamechanging moment was in 2009, when I started playing the premades in Sims 2. Before, I had felt constricted by their pre-defined personalities and goals and except for the Newbies in the original Sims only ever played my own sims. But for Desiderata Valley I had changed the backstory in such a drastic way that the premades had to adapt, in some cases get retconned, too. While typing in those new backstories I felt inclined to actually play the premades, up to the point where some of them became dearer to me than my CAS created characters. Beats me why I hadn't thought of making the premades mine like this all those years before :/

To this day I enjoy a good mix of retconned premades and my own sims best. There's still a large number that I happily ignore, but those I take a fancy to have enriched my gameplay.
Perthelia
Seasoned Novice
7 years ago
The addition of toddlers and the gender patch filled huge gaps for me. I absolutely loathed going from babies to children, and the gender patch added game mechanics I'd been modding in for years. Not having to do that really enriched the game for me. The other thing was discovering rotational play and building what is essentially my own community with interwoven families and stories.
JC1979Solenegir
7 years ago
Dine Out...I can’t believe I waited so long to get this pack. I never really paid any mind to venues like bars and cafes’ in the past, but with Dine Out its made me more interested in taking my sims out, working on different builds besides homes, and I absolutely love the features it comes with. Yup, Dine Out has been a game changer for me.
Duhgirl2u2
7 years ago
For me there are a few. The first game changer for me was City Living. It added life to the game that I didn't even realize I was missing. I want more from it, of course, there are so many things I want added now that I have City Living...like a more urban city to go with my cultural mecca city.... but I digress.

The Second was Seasons. My sims needed those holidays and the flexibility of creating our own holidays. Its added so much fun and interest to my game I can't even explain.

The third and final for me is beginning rotational play. It feels more like a life simulation than it once did because I get to see the lives of the people my sims interact with daily and it helps my immersion so much. I feel more connected to my main households. It gets tricky on Legacies though. Too much major change to families outside my legacy family feels like cheating so I try hard not to do anything that directly benefits the legacy household. I have a new save with 4 legacy households on it that I switch among for that reason. I call it (tongue-in-cheek) the Quadrilegacy (a play on Quadrilaterals).
SimsBarbie
New Spectator
7 years ago
In sims 4 being able to travel to different beautiful worlds is amazing (wanted this sooo bad for sims3 without a mod) and playing in rotation is so much easier. :)
luthienrising
Hero+
7 years ago
For me it was also turning aging off. I play rotationally, and as soon as I turned aging off I found myself relaxing into stories. I was surprised at how much stress there had been from aging on my gameplay, no matter the settings, until it was gone! Now each individual Sim ages when I and they are ready for it.
QueenOfMyshuno
7 years ago
Creating public institutions and having my sims visit them in groups is a game changer. I have a high school where everyone is locked out except for teenagers, so my teens can go there and play basketball together, go to computer lab together, visit the cafeteria together, etc. I also have a corporate office with cubicles, a conference room, a reception area, a break room, and a couple of offices. There is a specific group of sims that work there. This gives everyone a chance to just hang out and be social with a group of people that would naturally be a part of their lives, and it allows me to see this area of their lives and take screenshots.

Other areas I currently have are a high school stadium with a track and under-the-bleachers area, a teen center, and a grade school. I have a mall with lockable gates to the cash register areas, so I can place sims in different stores and have them "work" without having to do the whole thing of managing a retail business. I'm planning on a couple of my sims starting a landscaping business together, so I'm going to create their office/plant nursery and also have another sim be their secretary. Some of these sites are commercial, like the high school, and some are residential, like the office (I have 1 resident, the boss, and he has a bedroom off of his office that is locked to everyone else).