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elliebreton's avatar
4 years ago

What Makes You Re-Start?

Being a continual sufferer of re-startitus, I wondered what makes other people quit their games and start all over again?
Do you use the same lots? The same sims?

For me, I can be trundling along quite nicely when I suddenly get new ideas *oh, I should have done such and such* and think the best way to implement said ideas is by starting all over again... it's like a curse! I never get further than a couple of sim years (28 day seasons). I've never reached a 3rd generation.

So I will go back to my 'starter' save where I have set up all my favourite lots - sometimes I will change a couple of lots that I'm bored with or no longer like - and I will mostly play all the same sims in my rotation but with the new ideas implemented. I think I need to switch it up a bit this time!

79 Replies

  • I'll get my save file nicely set up, everyone made over and all new lots placed but then I find playing it so frustrating due to the game generating endless townies and not using my homeless sims that I'll give up.
  • "Kerrigan;c-18133328" wrote:
    After the Eco-Lifestyle fiasco with so many bugs causing repetitive actions, I just got used to starting a new save with new packs. I start new saves with Mods off and just see if everything is working like it should and then I add mods back in and mess it all up


    That made me rage quit the game. :D
    I was also a bit fed up the University food situation and dormies who didn't tend to their needs, as well as weird routing, musical chairs, etc.
    I actually uninstalled the whole thing, ready to start playing all the un-played games in my Steam Library.

    I said to myself that I would come back if EA would overhaul sim-to-sim interactions and the personality system.
    The very next month they introduced Lifestyles and Sentiments. And at the same time they released Snowy Escape.
    -Love Japanese Culture
    -Have wished for downhill skiing
    -Love the idea of my climbing machine sims actually able to mountain climb.
    -Another vacation break alternative for my Uni sims.

    My mouth hung open as I looked at the screen. :o
    I reinstalled everything, except Eco Lifestyle. Later we also got Likes and Dislikes, which I like more than lifestyles and Sentiments because they add fun to the things sims likes and makes them react to things they dislike. I eventually re-installed Eco Lifestyle after I learned how to get around the NAPs I didn't like, which is most of them.

    All I need is a whims overhaul and an attraction system to be patched in and I'm satisfied.
    I'll take whatever GPs and EPs they put out. Hoping for Bands, teen life, modeling, and a future tech pack though.
  • "SirianaSims;c-18133598" wrote:
    I have ADHD and I've always really struggled to stick with anything. I have a savefile only for building houses, I find something interesting for sale on a real estate website and try to copy it in the game. Then I have a save for playing around and testing mods or CC, which is a mess. I also have saves for my stories, one for each simlit or challenge. But I have to jump around between them to avoid getting bored with a single playstyle.


    I also have ADHD, and struggle with burnout on saves. I've found that the best way for me to play was to create different saves for my various gaming moods.

    My legacy save game that is now on generation 5, where I play each rotationally so that they can eventually close their chapters and move to the afterlife, but still genetically contribute to the ongoing storyline. This is my biggest save, probably 20'ish played households I think.

    I have a save game for scenarios, so if I'm just looking to accomplish a goal and check boxes, I can hop into one of the active families and don't feel obligated to hyperfocus on any one thing.

    There's one specifically created to play out the Sims version of Penguin Town. This save is my most challenging. I have to play when I'm able to focus on it because of all the chaos in story development and multiple households with 4+sims. But it's a great one to load if I'm looking to incite chaos or be mischievous.

    Lastly, an alternate legacy save game that I've almost abandoned. It's more or less a playground where I go to be creative without a lot of pressure to do a lot of things or immerse myself into a story or family.

  • I have kept playing the one save I started the game with and have no intentions for re-starting. I just keep building the world, roll with anything silly that happens, and then when the save blows up or something... well, I guess then I'll restart.
    I do have started New Games but they were for something very specific e.g. a challenge which I don't want to mess with my "main world". Never have I truly re-started.
    If things get boring, then I just focus on different sims, create new ones, or switch up my gameplay a bit. I love when something unexpected happens and the game kinda gives me "story direction". There's been several cases in which things "didn't go as planned" but this sort of dynamic storytelling is big part of the fun and I guess one of the reasons why I don't re-start.
  • Honestly I feel bad about this, but believe me when I say that I haven't checked out every single pack yet! I have them all EP and GP but so far I have not been able to stick with 1 family or Sim long enough to see their babies or toddlers grow up. somehow I always get a new idea and restart! Since starting werewolves, I restarted at least 3 times. Now I have 2 mods that allow hybrids without much trouble and I have a Spellcaster / Werewolf aka Mooncaster and I hope to stick around for longer this time. I want to see that I can get Greg in romantic relationship and then give birth to his child. Then after a while I hope to add him to my household or at the very least remove his special trait so that I can try build a normal relationship. I never got all the lore out of him, because mostly he denies talking to her... Which gives me a challenge and maybe this will encourage me to stick around long enough to see what babies will come out of my Hybrid and Greg!
  • "Jadeleine;c-18133421" wrote:
    I have solved the issue with having so many ideas and so little time by rotational gameplay in a same save. I just do the new idea with a new family without deleting the save or starting new one. The old family/sim will stay there and you wont loose progress or their skills. It´s also rewarding to make stories between them and the familylines grow bigger and you can have a town soap opera lol.


    I like this idea and have done it on occasion.
  • I’m the same way. I’ve been playing the not so berry challenge. I got so far and then wanted to start over because I wanted to do things differently or I felt like some things went too fast or I used too many cheats and wanted to do it more natural even if it took longer. So far I’m on a restart I like and have stuck to it. I am determined to get to as far as I got to last time without having to cheat stuff. Almost a challenge in itself I guess. ? and don’t ask how many restart this one is. I actually lost count. ??



    "elanorbreton;d-999889" wrote:
    Being a continual sufferer of re-startitus, I wondered what makes other people quit their games and start all over again?
    Do you use the same lots? The same sims?

    For me, I can be trundling along quite nicely when I suddenly get new ideas *oh, I should have done such and such* and think the best way to implement said ideas is by starting all over again... it's like a curse! I never get further than a couple of sim years (28 day seasons). I've never reached a 3rd generation.

    So I will go back to my 'starter' save where I have set up all my favourite lots - sometimes I will change a couple of lots that I'm bored with or no longer like - and I will mostly play all the same sims in my rotation but with the new ideas implemented. I think I need to switch it up a bit this time!


  • I don't really think of myself as ever "re-starting". But I keep making new saves whenever I have new ideas about something I want to try, or a set of sims I want to make, or a story I want to play. I don't quit playing the old saves when I start new ones, but gradually over time my focus drifts away from older saves as newer ones take up my attention. So it has the same basic effect as re-starting does, which is that I'm often starting over in terms of the sims being new, not having much money or skills, etc. But all the saves feature entirely different sims as the main household, so none of them are actual re-starts of previous households.

    In other words, I don't start new saves because I got bored with the old ones, I start new saves because my creative idea generator doesn't have an "off" switch.

    The reason I gradually drift toward the new saves it is probably just because new projects are intrinsically more exciting to me than old projects. It's like that in all parts of my life. Not just Sims.
  • I always keep 3 Saves going. 1 save will be for a challenge (currently Not So Berry). I have another Save for my Occult/Supernatural Rotational save that I've had since Vampire GP. & my 3rd Save is just my go-to when I just want to play with no set rules or storytelling in mind...just play.

    That's kind of how I avoid burnout, and having 3 Saves, I can rotate between the 3 based on my mood & what I feel up to playing. It keeps things fresh and interesting.

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