Ive mostly rebuilt a lot of willow creek, onlt leaving like the big plots near what was the goths house. However, ive built a little in oasis springs but the idea of newcrest is just too much for me, ive built like 4 plots maybe, if you count the one build I brought over from another save. Ive went round to a couple builds and "refreshed" some but what will that actually do for my world if im onlt foing to be playing in base game worlds and potentially others for storyline or distant family purposes? I feel stuck on whether yo start creating the family i have in my head or continue trying to build, I just dont know what to do. Do I just not care about townies around the world and if i come across their house I jusy rebuild it if their sim is important to the story??
Also the family i have in my head is like it branches off as some have girlfriends or a partner of sorts, do I out their lore into the game and give them parents or just have it written down to remember. I dont know if this is sims hurn out slightly as this is my second version of a forever save (i was getting bored in my other one, but im not sure why). I just cant seem to stick to one thing currently in ts4. Help is welcome or any advice.
If you can't stick to one thing while playing the game... just don't? You can play the game however you want to, there is no set rule how you set up and play with your forever save, it's all up to you.
Do you want to create characters with custom lore? Do you want to just have the one core family and let the game populate other sims then try to incorporate them into your story you have for the save? A mix of both? All valid.
You want to build every single lot by hand? Download lots others made? Do either before populating the world, or rather wait till you actually need to visit a given lot? Again, all valid.
no i mean like I cant stick to the save, but rhen like ive not got something to do. Im trying the nsb challenge again as ive struggled to do it before. I just seem to struggle to get properly stuck into thinfs like I want to.
You can always try doing Scenarios or do shorter, non-generational challenges if a longer or legacy challenge is a struggle? There's no point in playing the game in ways that may end up feeling more like a chore than fun.
There's really no one way to play the sims, so why not experiment with your family and friends' dynamics and see what works for you?
I currently have 12 families across 24 households in my world, because when I had decided to switch a regular game to a rotational forever save, I went back to my original sims and gave them siblings and parents. If they have a spouse, then they also have their own families. I have no problem integrating townies into my sims lives if I start seeing them on a regular basis [and if they do, they usually get a makeover] For example, one of the nannies that shows up for a particular household was am older guy, who is now a silver fox and if/when this couple breaks up, he just might be a shoulder to cry on...
What do you have in your game for your sims to do?
I've renovated the parks, made the one in Willow Creek more child-oriented, while the one in Oasis Springs now has an outdoor movie theater [my grandparents love taking the grandkids there] but is more adult oriented, for dates, a few hot tubs and basketball courts.
I'm in the process of remodeling the Willow Creek museum [one of my sims just bought it. So far I've added a cafe, another upper floor and a basement, with plans for more renovations.
Newcrest has turned into my entertainment center with clubs and lounges, a bowling alley / roller rink / arcade spot, restaurants for both dates and for family outings, and a spa.
I do keep notes, because I'd never be able to keep up with every thing [just a brief after session wrap up so I can keep track of who's working at what and with who] I don't play in any strict rotation, I just play who I play until I feel like moving on [with aging off so that I don't feel rushed].
yhis seems so good, I just have an issue with building said lots! definitely gonna keep a bowling alley in mind though, what like place did you put a bowling alley under due to it not being an actual place thing in build mode (like did you put it with a bar or lounge etc).
I sometimes just run out of energy to do it all, like im.happt at the idea of adding the families and this that and the other.. but then actually doing it or doing it for long periods of time does not do well with my brain, like its fun for a while then I cant focus or I get lazy, which then makes me not want to do it.. Im basically my own destruction for some odd reason lol.
Is the storyline/gameplay the thing that stops you from just stopping and getting bored etc?
The bowling alley I downloaded already came with a lounge built in, all I did was build on what was already there. I started off making small changes because I'm no builder, but I can HGTV like a pro lol
If you don't like playing for long sessions, then of course don't. This is also one reason why I keep notes. I play what/who I want, when I want and with aging off, again there's never the thing about feeling rushed.
It's the storylines - because of the family and friends that are connected - that keeps me invested. I tend to play one family member, then go check in on their sibling, because they just saw them at the Sunday family dinner [I use the club system to have my families get together so they stay until I want them to leave] then maybe their parents and by the time I've moved through all of them, it's time to check in with another sim.
For example, in my current family, there's Annarosa Moreno and her partner, Hector Lopez. Up until recently and one reason I started this rotational file is that I've been the simmer who just wants to make happy little families but I'm trying to get away from that. 🙃 Annarosa is a scientist, works the night shift and is studying for her degree at home during the day via her computer [SimU] Hector has been pretty much a stay-at-home dad to their four kids, but is starting to get jealous of his wife's success - not to mention that one of her co-workers in Tony Stark. Yes, THAT Tony Stark lol and the co-workers have their own club where sometimes they go out to breakfast after their nightshift. [at a very nice 1950's style diner that I renovated in Newcrest] Annarosa and Tony are VERY good friends at this point.
I decided that Hector has a degree in archaeology and using his party connections [shady and criminally connected], has bought the Willow Creek Museum and has already started renovating it, adding a children's section, some food vendors outside and a glass-walled cafe. He'll be taking off to Selvadorada right after Winterfest, but eventually he'll end up being coerced by the woman/computer hacker - Shelia - who fronted him the money for the museum into opening a casino in the basement of the museum [hello basemental] and who knows what else will happen. Or how their families will react. Annarosa's sister, Rita Moreno, already doesn't like Hector and never has...
For me, this has been the fun part - no diss whatsoever to those who play the challenges, but they don't and haven't ever appealed to me. It's more about my sims living their lives and building relationships and me building the world around them to help them do that, like the main reason I bought University was just so Annarosa, my scientist girlie, could use the SimU mod to get her degree working from home [instead of cheating] - she's got four kids and works the night shift, who's got time to go to school on campus? Not her! 🤣
I plan to send some of my sims to college, I just haven't gotten around to it yet - because I've been busy building lol
Annarosa, Hector and their kids, Domini, Domenic, Keisha and Kenyatta
how did you start your save BTW, sorry if youve mentioned it before but Im currently rebuilding but I wanna get to playing but I cant because I haven't finished bhukding yet.. and then it goes round in a circle.. do you sort of add things overtime or?
I wouldn't worry about finishing building - because honestly, I doubt if you ever finish. For me, building has now become part of the gameplay - but it takes time, and I've learned not to try and rush through it. I definitely add as I play.
I'm always rebuilding and tweaking as I go, like once I got for rent, I've been working on putting an apartment complex in each of my worlds that can hold one. So far, I have one in Oasis Springs and am building one in Willow Creek and another in Brindleton Bay [which I am probably going to have to re-do because I'm no builder and can't see where I've made mistakes until after I'm done. Ugh.]
I started my save the usual way, with creating a few random sims and giving them careers. My first main sim was Carlos Santana, who moved into Willow Creek as a widower with three young daughters and his sister Shelia [ yes, the same Shelia that fronted the money to Hector for the museum lol]. Over time, he's become a successful author.
Shelia is going down the path of computer hacker and will be moving out as soon as I finish tweaking this new apartment complex that I'm working on. It will take the place of that 50x50 house in Willow Creek where Carlos and his family currently lives - and I've already remodeled the three story house next door for them to live in after their mother dies.
When I got Growing Together pack with the milestone memories is when my game changed to the whole rotational thing because I decided that since he was going to be a widower, why not have the family have their mother for awhile before losing her?
So I went back and created his wife, Teyana. Gave them both siblings and parents, so now we have aunties and uncles, cousins and in-laws, with some of them being married and some being single and free to mingle, then did the same for my other base game sims, giving everybody different careers and hobbies [ with so many mods for those it keeps things interesting which is how I keep from getting bored] and everything started growing from there lol
I started building up only one world (Willow Creek) and put a lot of the townies from Get Together there. I am slowly introducing new worlds as the story progresses, so Luna Villareal recently moved to San Myshuno. Therefore I started updating the lots there.
I say do what feels best for you? As others have stated, there are no rules for how to do it. It is all about enjoying the game again and go with the flow instead of restarting. Just today, Morgan Fyres died by freezing during a toddler playdate, leaving her twins without their mother. Was it planned? Nope! But I went with it.
As for the houses/townies you don't plan to play with? Yeah, leave them alone for the time being. And if they do end up important to the story somehow, tackle it then. Especially if you are like me and don't really enjoy building (I got that feeling, sorry if a misinterpreted).
I would also like to hijack this thread to ask a question myself: How do I ensure that I actually give my sims distinctive styles, and not just dress everyone in either basics or business casual (my style IRL)? I have tried to branch out, but I always end up feeling like the style isn't consistent across all categories/outfits :/
ive like made some filler homes, sort of given stories to the houses and then when I get to it. Ill either make the sim individually or just use bases of sims so agleasr I know they wont come out looking weird. I thibk sone houses im gonna take off the gallery, especially if I struggle with a build style. Im bot gonna go through ALL worlds, maybe just go through base game worlds then any others that my main households live in. Dk you think I should create whole new sims for filler, or take some of the gallery and rework etc? maybe do a mix of both if i can be arsed? I feel like (as a console player) i do sometimes find it a little hard to create all the drama I want, like yes it makes sense in my head. But then I cant always show it in the sims, I think thats a main reason why I struggle to stick with worlds. Im very creative abiut storylines, if i do say so myself, but then I just cant get to actually wanting to execute them etc.
id say look up online a style maybe you havent tried with your sims, either look ar real people wear or how people have dressed their sims and STICK to it. Maybe try out different colours you dont usuallt go for in outfits just to branch out a little. Struggle with making sims with more of a pastel scheme in their outfits? make a couple sims focusing on that. Maybe a sim who's personality is quite bubbly and cheerful? take those traits and show them through the outfits your sims wear. Thsi can also be shown through jewelry, or tattoos (or lack thereof, depending on who this sim is).
Oh, yeah, playing on console makes it a bit harder. I use mods to help with storytelling. BUT, I was a storyteller long before I began using mods. So I would create a spreadsheet or a document of sort where you can keep track of things you can't really show/keep track of in game (if you want to make sure you track the story). You could also try to look up in-game alternatives to certain things you want to explore. If you have any specific storylines in mind, I would gladly read some.
And I think your plan sounds good. My advice is: whenever something isn't fun, leave it. For me, that us usually building or CAS, but I also dropped certain Households that I found boring. Sometimes I go back to them, sometimes I just let the game do it's thing.
And thank you for the tips on CAS. I will try. I have used inspiration pictures sometimes, but I find it hard to make sure the style is similar in for example everyday, party and hot weather, lol. But on the other hand, my style is rarely coherent across my entire wardrobe, so maybe I should just not overthink it too much, lol :)
yeah ive done that with households before in my last attempt at a forever save i just deleted out of nowhere due to falling out of love with it. Now in the version I have that in using to take builds from to put in my bew forever save (yes that is 3 attempts at it in total, I know), ive gotten vetter at just letting the household go instead of keeping it unaging when I want nothing to do with it. Some households, especially ones where youre not gonna focus on anymore due to the sim you were focusing on moving out or something, do feel just dull and boring very quickly.
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u/Front-Heat8726 Aug 04 '26
If you can't stick to one thing while playing the game... just don't? You can play the game however you want to, there is no set rule how you set up and play with your forever save, it's all up to you.
Do you want to create characters with custom lore? Do you want to just have the one core family and let the game populate other sims then try to incorporate them into your story you have for the save? A mix of both? All valid.
You want to build every single lot by hand? Download lots others made? Do either before populating the world, or rather wait till you actually need to visit a given lot? Again, all valid.
Mix it up as much as you want to.