Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 24th May 2016 at 12:00 AM
Default Need ideas/advices for playing rotation in fairly new Hood.
I am new to playing rotation between families and honestly, for this Hood..I am hitting a wall.
I have only 2 families total. One I played TOO much, 2 teens would be ready for college. The other family is a couple (one adult, One teen) I could technically send that teen to college too.
There is one family I had plan to *create*, using the male maid and the female gardener of the first family. But have not started the process yet...so even if I do this now, waiting until their future children are teens and roll wants to go to college..it just simply makes NO sense. lol
Besides..the teens from family 1, would logically know these other teens by now...
So Let's say I start them now (maid + gardener)...there is no way to completely avoid family 1 and family 2, until everyone fits together regarding age.
Oh! yes...totally forgot, my goal was to be able to send more teens at the same time to UNI...
I am so screwed...

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
Advertisement
Mad Poster
#2 Old 24th May 2016 at 12:11 AM
Turn aging off in the first two households until you get the new family where you want it to be.

Or, create a new family that already has teens. You can cheat the parents' ages if that makes you more comfortable.

Or, create teen townies.

Or, send cashiers and paper delivery sims to university with these teens.

Or, make YAs when you send the existing teens to college.

Or combine these methods.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#3 Old 24th May 2016 at 12:16 AM
Why do they have to be the same age? if you really want them to have kids the same age then cheat it. Use simblender to get pregnant, accelerate pregnancy, age baby up, have second baby or as many as you want. Age parents to match, give kids some random skills. if you want, teleport all the sim to one lot and set relationships. You can make it seem as though they have all been played even if they haven't. Once you are happy with your set up then begin to play properly. You can set up your game however you want it set up, it's 100% flexible. The only time you are screwed is if your hood blows up and you haven't got a backup.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#4 Old 24th May 2016 at 12:19 AM
Thank you Peni, I KNEW you'd jump in, with your knowledge of rotation playingZ
Age is not quite the issue, because as you say it is easy to stop anyone from aging...but the relationship that should have been there, won't be. Unless I use sim blender and fake it.
I thought about a small story about the maid..who would have had a child once who is now a teen...or the gardener. It is not because they are a new couple that they won't drag a first marriage-kid in. But then...i have to fake relationship.
I thought of creating new sims, but I am afraid..they will look too similar, so wanted the game to create them for me.
Thank you for your advices Peni.

Thanks to you too Jo. I am looking for as much possibilies as i can get, trying to fix what I did not know would break...if you see what I mean.
I can fake the whole thing, this is right. But I'd like to cheat as less I can.
I just wish I had thought of this before!

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
Mad Poster
#5 Old 24th May 2016 at 12:50 AM
You could always say that Family #1 is established in the town and Family #2 is somewhat newer. That's what I'd do. But do whatever is most fun for you even if it's faking it. The point of games is having fun.

I can give you some tips on keeping track of everyone though. I use a combination of Pescado's Lot Sync Timer and a spreadsheet. Looks like this:



Actually, if anyone wants to see my spreadsheet (to see how I organize stuff) send a PM.
Mad Poster
#6 Old 24th May 2016 at 12:50 AM Last edited by Peni Griffin : 24th May 2016 at 1:19 AM.
Oh, but they'll get to know each other rapidly, especially with no others in the hood. They'll bring each other home from school and meet on community lots.

And don't think of giving the maid or the gardener family who never appeared before as cheating, but as you supplying what the game failed to supply. Who has no relatives at all? That's ridiculous. You're rectifying a glaring oversight.

As for a tendency for your made sims to look too similar, there's a number of ways around that, from using the randomizer in CAS to downloading sims other people made - you can even solicit them; it's been done before.

I think you're getting in your own way here. Loosen up. Look at your rules and ask yourself: "Why? Is that truly important to getting me what I want?" If not, ditch or change or turn that rule on its head.

You seem to have trapped yourself in a contradictory set of of expectations about how to run this neighborhood, so logically, some of them have to go. Maybe all of them are things you want to do, but some of them don't belong in this scenario - you can set those aside and promise yourself to play with them later. Maybe some of them are things that you feel you should want, or that should be so, even though you don't really or they aren't. Learn to accept yourself as the sole arbiter of "should," and set aside the ones that are hindering you.

The only penalty for doing things "wrong" is your own dissatisfaction, and it may not even be your dissatisfaction. It may be the dissatisfaction of that devil that sits on your shoulder whispering evil things, like "you can't do this right" and "if you don't do it this way you've failed because you're a failure" and "the way you want to do things is stupid." We all have one and it is essential to learn that it will never be satisfied and that the only thing to do is to recognize its voice and be prepared to shove it into a closet somewhere and tell it to STFU.

You may have to experiment a bit to figure out exactly how you want this neighborhood to work. It's not cheating or wrong or fake or inferior to do whatever it takes to get you what you want. Nobody can predict everything that will happen, and no one can think of things before they think of them. Just think how different life would be, if we could!

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#7 Old 24th May 2016 at 12:57 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
And don't think of giving the maid or the gardener family who never appeared before as cheating, but as you supplying what the game failed to reply. Who has no relatives at all? That's ridiculous. You're rectifying a glaring oversight.


Oh..this is SO true.
Thank you again Peni!

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#8 Old 24th May 2016 at 1:21 AM
For different sims appearance, one thing I've done in the past is share sims with a group of people. When I posted on newsnet regularly, we used to share sims. I picked up a number of sims who now live in Little Carping whose appearance I would never have made. Maybe we should do that here.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Alchemist
#9 Old 24th May 2016 at 2:20 AM
the "Make a Child" option in Create-A-Family would produce a character similar to what a pregnancy-produced character would be.
unlike the name of the option, it does not necessarily need to be a Child; Toddler through Elder can be selected.
NPC clothing can be made available in Create-A-Sim. enable the tesingcheatsenabled cheat in neighborhood view then do Shift+N in CAF/CAS. Shift+M in CAF/CAS would remove the extra options.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#10 Old 24th May 2016 at 4:19 AM
Quote: Originally posted by mdsb759
the "Make a Child" option in Create-A-Family would produce a character similar to what a pregnancy-produced character would be.
unlike the name of the option, it does not necessarily need to be a Child; Toddler through Elder can be selected.
NPC clothing can be made available in Create-A-Sim. enable the tesingcheatsenabled cheat in neighborhood view then do Shift+N in CAF/CAS. Shift+M in CAF/CAS would remove the extra options.


Yes dear, I am aware of these
And I also used it!
It is going pretty well so far, I must admit. First, I opened SimPE and extract both the maid and the gardener. Cloned them in BodyShop (then delete the originals)
I then went in game, created a fake family using them, and then "make Child" teen....I clicked on the pacifier a bunch of times, nothing to do, it only gave me very pretty offsprings! lol Good times.
Then, when I was satisfied with both teenagers I got, I deleted the "parents" and turned both teens into adults, so I can be done with CAS.

Back into the game, I placed the newly created offsprings on a lot. Turned them back to teens...then unpaused the game and realised that my noautonomousnoogie does not work.


Once merged with their new parents, I fixed all relationships & family ties, and realised something else..I gave them both, almost the same dress! Both are my own edits of this outfit..oh well.


Funny thing is, I had to go play my family 1, The Destraz, so I can invite both the maid and the gardener, to ask them to move in. Mom is best friend with the female gardener, and dad is best friend with the male maid. (for that purpose)
So I asked Mom to call the gardener and invite her over. Gardener asked.."can my friend come too?" And I clicked YES.
Guess who was that friend?
yep..The male maid.


2 birds, one stone.
They both accepted the move in proposition. They added 33 000 to the family, so after they found own place together, I removed 33 000 from the Destraz, and once moved in, I added it back to them, The Haggerty.

Now, they will be my new family to play...until all teens met, become friends or so...

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
Theorist
#11 Old 24th May 2016 at 1:25 PM
I use aging off on all lots. Teens can always begin making friends with children, who will eventually catch up in age. I prefer to play most of my sims through all ages, or at least from toddler and up. Having toddlers and kids making friends with others, whom they will grow up together as friends makes more sense to me, many of them will go to college and eventually end up together later on. I don't play each household exactly the same amount of days, but eventually I'll get to that point. (:

When you forgive, you heal. When you let go, you grow.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 24th May 2016 at 1:35 PM
If I understood correctly, your problem is that you want two families to be connected, both in relationship and age-wise, but you thought of that after one family already reached that point. Sounds like you solved it, but I'll write what I do anyway.

That kind of thing happens a lot. I play by stories in my mind, and sometimes I think of great ideas too late. For example, I decided that one of the kids in my orphanage would befriend the daughter of my farm family, and help her come out of her shell (she's home schooled and works hard on the farm, very little contact with people outside of the family). I decided this when I started the farm, and at that point the daughter was a toddler and the kid at the orphanage about to turn teen. I wanted them to be friends as teens. I play seasonal rotations, all households must be finished with a season before I can continue playing the next season in any of them. But that rule only applies to households that are already integrated to the hood and other families. When I add new families, I play them separate to the rotation, up until the point where their story connects with the timeline of the hood. Before that, I can play them to my whim, no need to follow rotation rules. After that, same rotational rules as everyone else.

The upside is that I am at heart a player that likes to focus on a single family, I get invested when playing them for a longer period, and I find it hard to get back into that if I leave them there and come back a month later. Having families that are outside of the rotation that I can play more to my whim makes for a nice break from rotations. I usually play these houses when I feel a bit overwhelmed by keeping the other households in sync, for example if only 2-3 households are left to play and I don't feel like playing them. The downside is that there is a set "date" when the family must be up to par. The orphanage kid is now a teen, and the orphanage is part of the rotation. I can't continue my rotation until the farm has caught up and the daughter is also a teen. Free and separate from rotation, but only until the rotation is at the point where the new household needs to connect.

So in summary, I do rotations but I may add households that are further back in the timeline than current households. When that happens I play them freely, not ruled by rotations, until they catch up.

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#13 Old 24th May 2016 at 2:49 PM
That you Gummilutt. That was very pleasant to read, and quite helpful!, Duine, you are encouraging me toO! ahah!
Thanks to all of youz.
I am having much fun trying to make everyone catch up...and now, i think I'll add a bit more families. While at it, and these ones should be easy to sync as they will all arrive at about the same time.
Oh!!! Great news...my gardener is pregnant...lol

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
Mad Poster
#14 Old 24th May 2016 at 2:59 PM
As a pretty useless rotational player myself, I tend to do more or less the same as gummilutt, just play the second household until the kid is old enough. Since I like large hoods, I think it would be pretty weird if everyone is the same age
I do play rotational in the sense that I do try to get to every family before starting at number one again - but I have no rules as to how long I will play a household. When the first toddler grows up, I will make sure that some other toddlers grow up as well; when the first adults turn into elders, I will have some others grow up into elders as well - but not necessarily all the available ones.
Aging off is good to use if you want to get ages in sync again
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#15 Old 24th May 2016 at 9:45 PM
If I did not want to cheat things I would simply not play the other families or turn aging off until I had the new family where I wanted them to be. Then I would sync the season and the day once I was happy with things.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Back to top