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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 6:04 PM
Default More Age Groups
(I'm at a risk of sounding like a pervert here, BUT I'M NOT ONE)
I was wondering if there were any meshes/hacks out there that make children (girls) look a little bit more curvy, like a thirteen-year-old would. I find it annoyingly unrealistic that sims go from looking like seven-year-olds to looking like seventeen-year-olds in one day.

I know that first part could have gone in WCIF, but I want to know what you guys think about this - could Maxis have added another age group between Child and Teen - Preteens?
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Banned
#2 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 6:13 PM
I think that would be a good idea - "tweens" is a common term. Maybe they could have interactions available somewhere between children and teens - ie romantic ones for teens minus make out and maybe a couple others. And be able to do at least some cooking.

eta another extra age group could be "middle age" - ie between adult and elder.
Field Researcher
#3 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 7:00 PM
Tweens could be one where they are just moody and try too hard to be like teenagers. Bad make up, bad dressing, etc.
But I think large toddlers would lead to extreme hairloss in my case.

I kind of like the age groups the way they are right now, I just find them out of balance, with teenagers being teenaged for AAAAGES.
However I have mods for that :3
Banned
#4 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 7:46 PM
P much all the ages other than adult are too long. Elder even more so than teen IMO.
Theorist
#5 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 8:25 PM
@Simonut: I really think the OP was asking for something to create a gap between the 8-year-old looking children and the 17/18-looking Teens that Maxis gives in the game, not trying to make the younger ones look more sexually evoking, but instead create an age around 13, like you said, a more teen-looking child which has grown up a little, but is still too young to be able to drive, cook meals unsupervised, and still enjoys doing child-like things. I don't think that's particularly weird or unrealistic to place a new age-range here. When I was myself around 12/13 and wanted to create "my family" as sims, I didn't feel it particularly correct to class myself as a "child" but I was much too young for a "teenager", which I classed as my older sibling.. A Pre-teen age would have been perfect here. I think that, especially with TS3's Teens looking very adult-like, the shift could be moved towards something like this: Baby -> Toddler -> Child -> Teen -> Young Adult -> Adult -> Middle-Aged -> Elder


BodyShopped /// ShoofleedSims
♦ // Jack.exe // ♦
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Field Researcher
#6 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 8:31 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Simonut
@ >> Ella in wonderland >>Give me a break here Please ! Let children be children, why on earth would you want a child ( girl ) looking curvy? A child is a child and a thirteen year old is just that a "Teen" I do not think it is unrealistic for a child to look like a child the way Maxis have it in the game.

Sorry I may sound rude here, but you wanting a child to look curvy is a bit unrealistic to me. I can see a child being or getting fat as the game have it but "Not Curvy" And if truth be told yes you do make yourself look like what you said in your very own post above a pervert.

I do not care if anyone Agree or not Agree that is your call. But sometime people need to heard the honest truth. A child ( girl ) being Curvy what will be next ?


I kind of understand your point of view, but I am proof that curves at a young age can be realistic for some girls. I started developing when I was around 9 or 10 years old and I wasn't fat. I'm not saying I would want my sim girls to have to go through that though, because I honestly hated it. It was very embarrassing for me. I don't think the person who asked the question sounds like a pervert though. I think they just wanted something to make their game appear more realistic. We really don't get a realistic transition from child to teen and I think that's all they are asking for. I agree that it's probably not a good idea to add curves to female children though. People who make meshes would risk getting themselves in trouble for that and that's not worth it. It would probably be more acceptable to make them gradually get taller instead if that's possible.
Instructor
#7 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 8:33 PM
I would also have loved to have more age groups in the game. A preteen lifestage is one age group I would want - like OP said the contrast between child and teen is to big, so a lifestage inbetween would be great. I would also love to have a lifestage between adults and elders - the contrast is way to big even there.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 8:52 PM
I actually like the age groups as they are. Honestly, having a pre-teen stage actually sounds like it might make the game less fun for people like me. It's always a huge relief for me when my children to age up into teens, because it means I don't have to worry about their parents neglecting them to the point of a social worker visit/death, plus I can stop inviting over that irritatingly useless nanny. Adding a pre-teen stage, which basically just sounds to me like a bunch of children with slightly older-looking body types and a few teen-based interactions but without the freedoms that come with actually being a teen in the game (freedoms that make my life, player, much easier XD), would feel to me like it was just dragging the child stage out for longer than necessary.

But YMMV, of course. It already sounds like a bunch of people would have been interested in it! Now I'm curious about how different the game would have been if they'd included more age groups to cover the 'in-between' periods on some of the more radical jumps.
Banned
#9 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 8:58 PM
Best of all would have been gradual aging.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 9:19 PM
Add me to the list of people who would love a tween-age and a middle-age life stage. Sadly I don't know of any bodyshapes that would achieve the former, but at least hair, makeup and clothing can be used to make sims look a little older than fresh-out-of-college.
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 9:24 PM
I think it is easy to do that with teenagers.

When my sims age from 'Child' to 'Teen', I pretend they're essentially children of 13-14. I make the girls wear short, fluffy, cutesy dresses and give them pigtails. The boys wear smaller shorts and have hair covering their forehead. I try to give them the innocent schoolboy look.

After sometime, I pretend they've become 17-18, more mature and are busy with college preparations, that's when I give them more 'older' looking hairstyles and full jeans for boys or jeans and longer dresses for girls. Also, make-up, especially around the eyes help for girls as moustaches do for boys.

This does help to keep the illusion of a larger age span in my eyes. I do a similar thing with sims who have just become adults and sims who are about to become elders themselves and have adult age kids. I make sure when an adult sim is standing next to his/her adult child, it should look like their ages are at least 20 years apart.
Field Researcher
#12 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 9:45 PM
I agree, I would have loved to have a preteen and middle-age life stage. I'd also like a preschooler age (a little older than a toddler, but at that stage where they wear stick-on earrings, heart sunglasses, and tutus everywhere- and bring their dolls and stuffies) and a senior age between middle-age and elder. Senior could cover the 50's-60's age group without giving them white hair, bad slouching, etc. that elders have.

Firelira- good ideas! I've started playing young teens as junior high-age kids too, and I've been kind of stuck as to how to make them look younger. I've been keeping them from wearing makeup and growing facial hair, and I stick girls in modest clothes that don't make them look especially curvy. Etsu Cho, for example, is wearing this navy blue cardigan.

Ella- you didn't come across as a pervert to me. It's not like you were asking for double-D mesh outfits for kids!

ETA: has anyone tried using stretchskeleton to make young teens shorter?
Instructor
#13 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 9:57 PM
I do what Firelira78 does. There's a lot of teen clothes that fit the 'tween' look that I wouldn't use otherwise.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#14 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 10:26 PM
No. My own daughter is 10 1/2 which makes her a 'tween'. While she may be somewhat taller than a Maxis child and a little wider, she is very much a child. Maxis children are supposed to be aging to 13 not 17. 17 is only one year off adulthood.

I tend to wonder how is it some of the world has this idea that tweens need
Quote:
ie romantic ones for teens minus make out
My daughters mind is on her Little's Pet shop toys, her pet baby guinea pigs and when she will get a play date with her friends, who when they are over also play Littlest pet shop and hide-n-seek. I think it's really sad that some countries children seem to be growing up more quickly than normal, that romantic interactions have started to be seen as normal for that age group- it isn't.

What I would like to see, which was sadly neglected was a middle age. There is a far more massive jump from adulthood to elder.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Inventor
#15 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 11:03 PM
I'm pretty happy with my sim kids as they are, but have always found that Teens time-span is way too long, I would love it if there was sort of a "tween" stage that could be integrated into their time, since I don't think kids in TS2 are actually at the tween stage, but more or less around 8-10 years old.
Test Subject
#16 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 11:25 PM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
No. My own daughter is 10 1/2 which makes her a 'tween'. While she may be somewhat taller than a Maxis child and a little wider, she is very much a child. Maxis children are supposed to be aging to 13 not 17. 17 is only one year off adulthood.

I tend to wonder how is it some of the world has this idea that tweens need My daughters mind is on her Little's Pet shop toys, her pet baby guinea pigs and when she will get a play date with her friends, who when they are over also play Littlest pet shop and hide-n-seek. I think it's really sad that some countries children seem to be growing up more quickly than normal, that romantic interactions have started to be seen as normal for that age group- it isn't.

What I would like to see, which was sadly neglected was a middle age. There is a far more massive jump from adulthood to elder.


10 1/2 and fixated on littlest pet shop toys does not constitute a "tween". Everyone grows at their own rate, and you wouldn't have to make your sim tween use those romantic interactions. Not to mention that a 10 year old would be between fourth and fifth grade.
Field Researcher
#17 Old 19th Jul 2012 at 11:30 PM
I feel that the child stage should be just the way it is but it might have been nice if Maxis had created a "young teen" stage where they could cook and didn't need a babysitter but couldn't yet drive, go out on dates or get a job and then the "older teen" stage where they could also drive, date and hold jobs. But I too try to use the clothes and hair styles to make my teens appear younger. While doing that, I don't let them drive, date or hold down a job. Then, after a while, I change their hair and clothing styles somewhat, start letting them have facial hair and wear make-up, etc. At that point, I also let them start driving, dating and holding down jobs. So, I pretty much break up the age myself. That has always worked for me.

I truly do wish they had created a "middle age" stage though. I find it quite a shock when they go from being adults to elders.
Banned
#18 Old 20th Jul 2012 at 12:56 AM
Actually when I was ages 10 thru 12 it wasn't at all uncommon for boys and girls to ge "going with" each other and to kiss each other in a romantic way. This isn't recent, it would have been 1984 to 1986.
Forum Resident
#19 Old 20th Jul 2012 at 1:46 AM
You can always use stretchskeleton 1.1 or 1.2 to make children look like preteens.
Alchemist
#20 Old 20th Jul 2012 at 3:25 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
No. My own daughter is 10 1/2 which makes her a 'tween'. While she may be somewhat taller than a Maxis child and a little wider, she is very much a child. Maxis children are supposed to be aging to 13 not 17. 17 is only one year off adulthood.
But they can drive and immediately go to college, which is closer to 16 or 17 than 13.

I wish there was a more gradual transition too, so the ages would correspond better to real life.
Top Secret Researcher
#21 Old 20th Jul 2012 at 4:14 AM
In this world, kindergarteners call each other "boyfriend" and "girlfriend". It means nothing in the way we'd think of boyfriends and girlfriends in high school, they just act like friends and maybe hug.
That semi-pointless thing being said, a lot of people do break up the teen stage. I've been starting to dress my younger teens as "middle schoolers" and once they are halfway through the age, they become "high schoolers". Can....can someone get Peni Griffin in here? She has an amazing system and I'm basically using hers.
Anyway, and once I get University I plan to send teens off to college on their last day of teenhood (halfway in if they can age up to teen with two or more skills maxed and be considered a gifted child).

I've got one or two things on MTS, but most of my stuff is on my main site here:
http://simcessories.blogspot.com/
(Now recruiting budding creators.)
Scholar
#22 Old 20th Jul 2012 at 5:05 AM
I don't know about others, but I live in the US and am pretty Asian in terms of culture (my mother is traditionally Asian in the sense). The schools I grew up in and attended all my life were 85% Asian and the remaining numbers were mostly other minorities. The neighborhood and community that I resided in was predominantly Asian.

The thought that kids started dating each other at age 10 is pretty shocking to me...none of the girls at my school (Asians) would even consider "kissing" another person of the opposite gender until we were done with high school, the idea was simply alien to us. We were more worried about getting good grades, not pissing off our parents, and competing with one another to get into the best colleges. I actually didn't have my first real boyfriend until I was 19 =[
Field Researcher
#23 Old 20th Jul 2012 at 5:44 AM
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they were originally going to add a middle aged age group, but dropped it because of release dates.

Middle aged would be nice, but I find it pretty easy to just change their style as they get older.

Tweens though, I see no need for such a thing. Maybe some young teen less curvy clothing meshes. Those I might like.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 20th Jul 2012 at 6:50 AM
Changing adults to a more middle-aged look would be SO much easier if there were more salt and pepper hairstyles out there. I've long lamented that lack.
Scholar
#25 Old 20th Jul 2012 at 6:56 AM
I agree, it's like either I want my sims to look really old or mid-twenties forever. =[

Who jumps from looking like they are 25 to looking like they are 70 in just a few days? Not every senior citizen has a head full of grey hair.
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