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Lab Assistant
#51 Old 10th Mar 2016 at 11:25 PM
I just play based on when I placed the household down in the lot. I play a medieval hood, so often times entire lineages are wiped out which kind of ruin my rotation lol. But I also number the houses in the little bio thing so that I know when to play, and even if they move lots they still are in the same slot in the rotation. I don't have lot sync or whatever that is. I just write the three days I'm going to be playing the house for and do my best to stick to it lol.
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Forum Resident
#52 Old 12th Mar 2016 at 12:17 AM
I have a piece of paper with a list of all the households in the neighbourhood, and a column for each 'rotation'. When I've played four days on a household and they're done for the rotation, I tick their household off on the list and don't play them again until everyone's finished for that rotation.

It works well, because I can play whoever I feel like when I'm playing, as long as they're not finished, and I can play a couple of days on one household, play someone else, and then come back to them - but the ages are never too out-of-sync (I have an aging mod that mostly means the sims live twice as long as the un-modded game).
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#53 Old 15th Aug 2016 at 12:15 AM
Well, this is an old thread, but now I'm finished the rotations for my main hood. Which leads to another question:

What order do you do subhoods in?

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#54 Old 15th Aug 2016 at 1:05 AM
I'm the same, I jump all over. So I may load a uni, the main or a sub hood. I just mouse over the houses until I find one where the season hasn't changed and go play. Often it's only 1-2 days. I am just about done with Autumn rotation now.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
#55 Old 15th Aug 2016 at 2:34 AM
I add subhood families in wherever they were created. So if I added a subhood family to say 4 main hood families, they'd go at the end of my rotation til I added more. Which leads to some jumping around, but I'm particular about all my sims aging together. Uni is always at the end of a rotation for me. Generally speaking though my subhood sims would be after my main hood sims, but sometimes people move around! I just go down the list til I reach the end.
Forum Resident
#56 Old 15th Aug 2016 at 6:40 AM
At first I picked a family to start and went clockwise through the neighborhood. When I later added new houses, they got added to the rotation right after the household they came from, in case of marriages the sims whose last name is kept decides the order. Sims placed in subhoods are still in the regular rotation, so if the second child decides to move Downtown, I'll switch to Downtown after the main house is played and go back to the regular neighborhood.

So far, this is working pretty well - households with the same name are played one after another, so I'm basically going through the Jones portion of my neighborhood before moving to the Smiths. I keep track of which households have been played by writing it down in the family description. College days are counted by flamingos in the garden, so I'll know when to move the sim back in.
Scholar
#57 Old 15th Aug 2016 at 7:16 AM
This thread is the first I've heard of the lot sync timer, and I'm curious to try it, but I'd like some 'reviews' of sorts about it first considering its age, if anyone could let me know how it works in their games? Are there bad side effects? Does it work as intended with all EPs?


"It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled." - Mark Twain
Truth will not fear scrutiny.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#58 Old 15th Aug 2016 at 7:32 AM
It works like this:



No side effects I've seen. There's also a time-warp thingy which lets you change the day of the week and the time and that can mess up things if a sim is at work or school. Also university households you have to manually advance the date.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Mad Poster
#59 Old 15th Aug 2016 at 10:46 AM
If you're comfy working in SimPE, you can edit the lot Sync timer-it can read so that only the household name appears, and you can number them as well.

To do this, you have to open up the package in the editor and change the text output.

The Time Warp feature is not advisable for use-it resets everything, and there's really no need for it to be used. It works with all EP's, although before BV, it had the option of jumping from house to house using it (which I still regret having been removed. Pescado has never updated that-he didn't want to bother..)

There are no side effects to it-it simply tells you what day it is in the households. It's a static object.

It has no recolors, although over at simbology someone did make a change to it so that it is a plant instead of that ugly hourglass. Problem is, you can overlook the plant, the hourglass is simply just too obnoxious looking to ignore.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Forum Resident
#60 Old 15th Aug 2016 at 6:33 PM
I usually play whichever family I'm most interested in at the time - so if there's been a new baby, I'll play that house first. Or if I've been playing a lot of families with kids, I'll play some single young sims when I get bored. Sometimes plot developments - like wanting one sim to propose to another or needing to set up the restaurant before I take a family there to eat will make me play a particular house, but for the most part, I like to let it flow naturally.

For fans of integrated playing:
When my rotation includes things like schools and army bases/ shops / banks etc., I try to make sure that the sims who own these lots are played enough that the lots are functional for other playables. So if it's a shop, I need to play the owner enough that there will be a clerk and well-stocked shelves when I take other families there.

Schools I play a little differently. I still have the MAXIS school bus come and pick up my sim kids, so this way there is a real-time period when they're out of the house. Then, when I fancy playing the school, I'll play the School Head's house and have them assemble the students and run the school for the day. This way, I don't have to follow my children to school every single day (sometimes there just isn't time), and they'll still get homework and the like and be enrolled.

For summer camps, I move the students into the lot during the summer when they have no school, and then send them home once their summer camp ends. Again, this ensures that they are gone from their individual homes for the time being and don't leave because it's 'late'.
Inventor
#61 Old 16th Aug 2016 at 1:02 AM
Throughout my experience with my current custom neighborhood, I decided for the first time to go through every family I created until they've accomplished their major goals. This included maxing out on their skills, making bff's with all neighbors, reaching the topmost promotion of a career, and ultimately filling that lifetime aspiration meter to the peak. I began my rotation by rolling from single-member families to the largest (which is a family of three plus two pets), and I worked with the eldest Sims firsthand. This entire achievement endured nearly two weeks until I got to my Simsona last; I believe I finished off a family each day or so at double speed mostly.
Field Researcher
#62 Old 16th Aug 2016 at 8:49 AM
In alphabetical order
Alchemist
#63 Old 16th Aug 2016 at 5:16 PM
I start out alphabetically too, but inevitably, some houses are just more fun to play. So I play in whatever order I feel like when I open up the game. I do, however, keep a list of all the households and check them off after I finish their rotation, which lasts a week for me. That way, if I haven't played a neighborhood in a while I always know who needs to be played. Also, if I feel like playing a house for more than one rotation I can easily see who else needs to catch up. Any subhood families just get added to the list and if I wanna pop over to Bluewater one day I do so. Uni is a bit tricker; I usually just play young adults straight until I get halfway through, then take a break by visiting mainhood households before coming back to finish up the college students. I find I like university best in short bursts.

But again, I don't stick to a strict order because it can be a trial to get though some rotations sometimes--like if there's only one person in a household and she's stuck skilling most of the week or if there's a house with ten sims including four toddlers and they're all driving me crazy, etc. So sometimes I might play a household for a few days, but take a break and play someone else, then come back and finish up the first household's rotation. It helps break the monotony.
Mad Poster
#64 Old 16th Aug 2016 at 7:21 PM
Quote: Originally posted by FranH
If you're comfy working in SimPE, you can edit the lot Sync timer-it can read so that only the household name appears, and you can number them as well.

Keep in mind that what the Lot Sync Timer is showing you there is the lot number the family lives on (the first number after "L:") and the number of the family (the second number after "F:"). Some people may find it helpful to be able to see that information.
Quote: Originally posted by FranH
The Time Warp feature is not advisable for use-it resets everything, and there's really no need for it to be used.

Someone who's testing something or setting up a scenario in a neighborhood might find this function useful. There must be some demand for it since Neder made a "Day Setter" vase that does the same thing. The problem with this as Pescado warned (can't find the quote right now - I stink at forum searching) is that you have to be very careful about when you make the change and what time you set it to. Be careful that nobody's about to leave for work or school and no NPCs are on the lot or scheduled to spawn (newspaper kid, mail carrier, maid, schoolbus, carpool, etc.) before doing this and also make sure that the time you're switching to isn't a time when such an NPC would be scheduled to arrive or a family member is scheduled to leave for or come home from work or school. It can be used safely, you just have to be real careful with it.
Quote: Originally posted by FranH
It has no recolors, although over at simbology someone did make a change to it so that it is a plant instead of that ugly hourglass. Problem is, you can overlook the plant, the hourglass is simply just too obnoxious looking to ignore.

Just to be argumentative - I actually prefer modded objects like this to be noticeable so I can find them easily. If my sims already have a lot of landscaping and/or potted plants, then I have trouble finding mods like the SimBlender, etc. because they look like all the rest of the potted plants. (I have actually gotten to the point of never using Maxis' blue hydrangea shrubs in my game because every lot has some of Inge's shrubs and I need to be able to find them when I need them. ) It's easy enough to use the moveobjects cheat to hide "ugly" stuff like the Lot Timer under stairs, inside the refrigerator, or in the foundation or attic. I'm not saying your way is wrong, just pointing out an alternative viewpoint.

To get back on topic: since I usually play pre-made hoods, I start at one end of town and play to the other end unless somebody looks like they have an especially interesting story to tell - then I start with that family. With the Maxis base game hoods, I usually follow the order recommended in the Prima Guide.
Forum Resident
#65 Old 16th Aug 2016 at 8:05 PM
The same as many others I go around the map to create a play order list. After that any new households are added to the end of the que. Each household is usually played for one full season - including University. When a student is at University they are played after their parents ( and siblings) households.
Theorist
#66 Old 16th Aug 2016 at 8:54 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Essa
I always start with my farmer family since they're providing fresh food for the hood. Then I play the Mayor for taxes collecting purposes and I always finish with my cemetery caretaker (maybe a bad thing since he often had urns in his inventory).
From then I play with no particular order. It depends on what is happening in the hood (birth, death, fight, relationships...) or on my mood (feel like playing a single sim or a family). My school (teens and children) and my daycare (toddlers) are played before playing the households with kids though. Uni is also kept in sync and is played when needed.
I keep track with the Lot sync timer so I know which households to play. Families are named after the head of the households. It's easier having "Vixente Granville-Carver", "Danny Granville-Carver" and "Antarès Granville-Carver" than "Granville-Carver 1", 2, 3 and so on. I don't bother with the day of the week (except when they move in to a new house) but all families are in sync regarding seasons.

I'm still doing the same but I'm doing one-day rotation now. It's better for keeping the sims in sync in case of special events.

In regard to Lot Sync Timer, I switched to a "recolor" by Shastakiss here: http://shastakiss.tumblr.com/post/1...at-pescados-lot but I still hide it under the roof.
Mad Poster
#67 Old 17th Aug 2016 at 5:31 AM
I know I should have explained the text output on the Sync Timer for clarity's sake, but thank you for doing it, Roxellen!

Also, another little trick to editing texts-you can go into SimPE and edit the family name to be "1-Mortimer Goth" and it will show up on the Sync Timer (edited or not) exactly that way. I always go into the family names and change them to their creation order and name of the principle resident/owner.

It makes it very helpful when playing a family with two or more branches in the neighborhood. I couldn't play the Veronaville bunch without doing this. Too many Capps to not do it with!

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Scholar
#68 Old 17th Aug 2016 at 10:35 AM
I am a seasonal rotationer so I just pick and choose any old house and play to the next season.

The drop off has been made. You've been warned.
Test Subject
#69 Old 17th Aug 2016 at 11:18 AM
I play Veronaville households.

So my rotation cycle always starts with the Capp family, main house on the left side of the 'hood map. Then I just play them for 3 days, if something super exciting is going to happen on 4th, I might just keep playing the 4th day as well if I feel like it. But basically, I play three sim days and then move on clock wise. I have all the Monty families and the Capps living in the 'hood but also a couple of my own sims. I just proceed clock wise from the Capp main house and play all the houses just how I have placed them to the hood, and then come back to the Capp house and start the whole thing again.

Rotation has never been such a big thing for me and I just recently started doing it, so for me it's not a big deal if all the families are not living the same moment/day. As long as the seasons match all households, I'm happy.

I just re-installed the game and all EPs, so I haven't been playing with Veronaville families that much yet. I have big plans for them tho, now when I lost my own custom hoods. When I get the things rollin' good at Veronaville, I might start checking out sims living at subhoods too.
Mad Poster
#70 Old 17th Aug 2016 at 6:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by FranH
I know I should have explained the text output on the Sync Timer for clarity's sake, but thank you for doing it, Roxellen!

I misunderstood what you were saying in your other post. I thought you were editing the names to get rid of all the other info. That display can get awfully cluttered.

Quote: Originally posted by FranH
Also, another little trick to editing texts-you can go into SimPE and edit the family name to be "1-Mortimer Goth" and it will show up on the Sync Timer (edited or not) exactly that way. I always go into the family names and change them to their creation order and name of the principle resident/owner.

It makes it very helpful when playing a family with two or more branches in the neighborhood. I couldn't play the Veronaville bunch without doing this. Too many Capps to not do it with!

I completely agree about the Veronaville families. All those Capp and Monty households may just motivate me to set aside some time to try to learn SimPE just to do this!
Mad Poster
#71 Old 18th Aug 2016 at 3:00 AM
Actually, I did edit the timer to do away with the "L99:Family !!". I got tired of that long line on the Sync Timer, and so carefully removed those parts of the text.

I was holding my breath as I did so, because I'd never done any alteration on the beloved sync timer. I was afraid I'd bork it.

Then I remembered that text messages do not run the mod, so I hacked the irrelevant stuff. It works as usual.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Mad Poster
#72 Old 18th Aug 2016 at 4:32 AM
I start at the top right and work my way down to the bottom left.

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
Top Secret Researcher
#73 Old 18th Aug 2016 at 5:45 PM
I've always done rotations but not with a strict order. I have a list of all the households and check them off once they've had their turn in the rotation, and do them however I feel like, so if I need to do them in a certain order for a storyline point I can or if i'm not feeling a huge or small household at the moment I can usually have some sort of choice but I will finish off a rotation before starting a new rotation, so eventually I don't have a choice. I just use paper to keep track of which households have been played and which haven't with a simple check mark.

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