Your best tips on historic gameplay
I'm playing a historic save for the first time, and in some ways it's easy, in others it's a steep learning curve. Things like figuring out how fast time should move, how to deal with the changes of decades (and fashion), how to get your sims to stay off their phones or not get bored when there are no computers around... there are lots of considerations, and we are probably very different when it comes to what we can accept and what breaks immersion for us.
So here is a thread of tips. What have you learnt when playing historically that you wish you'd known for a start?
Here are mine:
MCCC save outfits category
For me one of the most annoying things with historic gameplay has been dealing with all the townies generated in non-time specific clothing. There you are on a date in the park in the year 1891, and suddenly someone walks up to you in a mini-skirt and tank top! I have to admit I spent hours redressing (or deleting) townies, and as time changes, fashion does too and then I was redressing all the townies manually. It took forever.
What I just discovered (and that everyone else probably already know), is that if you are willing to play with mods, there is a setting in MCCC that will do this for you automatically. By clicking a sim in an outfit you like, you can go to dresser - outfit commands - save outfit. On a computer you can then set the game to force all new townies (and if you want, everyone aging up), to dress in those saved outfits. The more outfits saved, the more variation in game. I have to admit setting it up (if you care for variation) is a bit tedious, and it does nothing for hairstyles, but it's still less work and less annoyance because now all my townies show up in appropriate 1920s outfits. This is by far the most impactful mod when it comes to immersion for me.
No autonomous phone-mods
Another immersion breaking thing, as far as I am concerned, is how often sims will pick up their phone. Especially in times when phones did not exist. Having a mod to get rid of this is for me essential. I use the one from Bienchen83 but I am sure there are others.
Websites of styles and blueprint
I found some really good places online that has real actual blueprints from different time periods, which helps when building and decorating houses. For me having something real to base a house on helps so much with getting it right.
So here is a thread of tips. What have you learnt when playing historically that you wish you'd known for a start?
Here are mine:
MCCC save outfits category
For me one of the most annoying things with historic gameplay has been dealing with all the townies generated in non-time specific clothing. There you are on a date in the park in the year 1891, and suddenly someone walks up to you in a mini-skirt and tank top! I have to admit I spent hours redressing (or deleting) townies, and as time changes, fashion does too and then I was redressing all the townies manually. It took forever.
What I just discovered (and that everyone else probably already know), is that if you are willing to play with mods, there is a setting in MCCC that will do this for you automatically. By clicking a sim in an outfit you like, you can go to dresser - outfit commands - save outfit. On a computer you can then set the game to force all new townies (and if you want, everyone aging up), to dress in those saved outfits. The more outfits saved, the more variation in game. I have to admit setting it up (if you care for variation) is a bit tedious, and it does nothing for hairstyles, but it's still less work and less annoyance because now all my townies show up in appropriate 1920s outfits. This is by far the most impactful mod when it comes to immersion for me.
No autonomous phone-mods
Another immersion breaking thing, as far as I am concerned, is how often sims will pick up their phone. Especially in times when phones did not exist. Having a mod to get rid of this is for me essential. I use the one from Bienchen83 but I am sure there are others.
Websites of styles and blueprint
I found some really good places online that has real actual blueprints from different time periods, which helps when building and decorating houses. For me having something real to base a house on helps so much with getting it right.
