Author Topic: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?  (Read 16212 times)

Offline dolphinsdude

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Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« on: September 27, 2013, 12:27:32 AM »
I recently got Sims Pets and Ambitions but was getting a little bored. I also recently discovered Story Progression mods which I'm seeing/hearing mixed reviews from. I don't want to get a mod if it's going to slow down/crash/mess up my game but I am definitely interested in trying something new to improve the Sims for me. So with that being said, is a story progression mod (such as Twallan's) worth it?

Offline DeKilte

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2013, 01:21:42 AM »
The wonderful thing about mods is that if you don't like them you just remove them. Give it a try, if it messes your game up, take it off. If you like it, play to your heart's content. I'd definitely recommend twallan's story progression mod.
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Offline Pam

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2013, 01:45:19 AM »
I am of the opposite opinion.  I don't run any mods whatsoever because of the possible mischief they can cause in the game.  They add an extra layer of effort on the part of the player to make sure they are always up-to-date with the current version of the game and/or expansions.  If you want to try something new, I suggest you take a look at our Challenge Board.  We have an annual tournament with challenges of varied lengths, and we also have four multi-generational Dynasty challenges for something to really sink your teeth into.  :)
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Offline Turoskel

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2013, 03:18:19 AM »
Quote
I don't run any mods whatsoever because of the possible mischief they can cause in the game

I agree some mods can do that but Twallan is one of the most trusted modders around.

Personally I feel his story progresssion mod is worth it, while playing a dynasty has weaned me off mods I do miss a having a story progression that really keeps the town alive, gets them married, finds them jobs and houses, lets townies have babies again. EA's used to be better but it's got too watered down now, it just doesn't do enough for me anymore, I would have loved to have got to generation 8 in my dynasty and still had some original townie descendants around.

I usually set Twallan's to not display most of the notifications, only births, marriages and deaths really, and I set the speed to snail pace, for me that works as far as lag goes.

In saying all that though I heartily agree with Pam, try one of the dynasties or a challenge, for me boredom comes from having no fixed goal to play towards I've had great fun playing my immortal dynasty and I'm sad it's almost finished but I shall be trying another one I'm sure.

Offline Pam

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2013, 03:59:21 AM »
I agree that Twallan is one of the most trusted modders around.  He's been a member here for quite awhile, too. 

I'm like you, Turoskel, in that I get bored if I don't have a specific goal.  I usually keep playing a family even after I've finished a tournament challenge, but I get bored with it after only a few Sim days and stop playing.  The Dynasties are great because you can play at your own pace and enjoy doing lots of different things, but still have that the goals to keep it interesting and focused.
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Offline nomad

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2013, 08:29:26 AM »
The main differences are:

EA Story progression is random and has the least performance overhead.
Nraas is more like a soap opera.
Awesome is more realistic in terms of game mechanics.

EA story progression is random, if it thinks a town needs more cooks then it randomly picks a sim and makes them a cook regardless of which career they may have, which level they may be at in that career or their skills, traits etc. This approach is going to be the best for performance.

Nraas tries to progress each sim in a more realistic manner, preserving relationships, progressing them in their careers and so on. This has a large overhead on performance as it looks at each sims needs rather than just the towns needs.

Awesome mod takes a different approach, I believe, and uses the games own rules through interactions between sims to create the consequences of the story. I'm not sure of the relative performance overhead to Nrass but needless to say it has more performance impact than the EA story progression.

Just in defense of Nrass in terms of stability I wouldn't attempt to play a game without it due to the number of bugs it fixes. The game is much more stable with it than without. There is no way, for example, I would let my sims travel without it as I know what is lost by each sim without the mod.

A lot of lag problems are due to running without a mod. I had 6,000 cars spawn after the 1.57 update in one day which were caught by Nrass and removed. Without that the game would continue to bloat beyond the point it can loaded.

Offline dolphinsdude

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2013, 04:28:51 PM »
Thanks for all the help. I think I may want to try Twallan's out, but I don't really know where to download it/what to download..



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Offline Zyffyr

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2013, 04:45:08 PM »
The very first sticky thread in this section is all about the NRass mods. Go there and seek the information you desire.

Offline ILoveDolls

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2013, 05:15:29 PM »
I recently got Sims Pets and Ambitions but was getting a little bored. I also recently discovered Story Progression mods which I'm seeing/hearing mixed reviews from. I don't want to get a mod if it's going to slow down/crash/mess up my game but I am definitely interested in trying something new to improve the Sims for me. So with that being said, is a story progression mod (such as Twallan's) worth it?

You don't have to use a mod. A mod isn't something you're required to use. It's extra. That being said, there is a lot of misinformation about game modifications (all types, including CC). I've used mods since Sims 2 and I've never (knock on wood) had a problem with any of them. In my Sims 3 folder, my hacks and package files amount to hundreds of GB to give you an idea. It's all about reading and knowing what you're doing. If you update your mods and make sure you don't have any that conflict and none are corrupted (use Dashboard), you'll be fine.

I read an old post on this thread that said script mods would cause your graphics card to burn. I almost choked myself laughing. This is an example of the thinking people had back in the Middle Ages  (taking a bath will cause you to die, anyone?). Nope. Your graphics card will burn to a crisp on an un-modded Sims 3 game (if your graphics card is gaming decent/top-of-the-line) and you use AMD video cards. You have to mod the game just to play it. I think before people try to dissuade others against using mods, they should, themselves, have experience using them. Until then, you're just speculating and causing undue panic. I've been playing the Sims since 2000 and have had un-modded and modded games. I prefer the later.

Also, who says you mod to make the game easier? There are many, many mods out there that can/will make the game even more challenging. Mods that make bills higher, skill challenges harder, etc. Again, you can't assume unless you've actually looked. Besides, EA (silently) backs modders. There are more SimGurus on modding sites than you'd think. They've also had a history of inviting modders/cc makers to special events. It's all about research and with Google, its free ;)

And to finally answer your question, I use Twallan's SP. I wouldn't play this game without it. It does all the things EA's SP purports to do but doesn't. Your townie families will have longevity and they won't all become supernaturals if you don't want them to. They also don't move away before you want them to. They progress and get jobs and have families. And you can play many generations (if you use his additional modules) without your game blowing up on you. In one of my files, I'm at generation 20 and still going.

Offline Wiry

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Re: Is a Story Progression mod worth it?
« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2013, 07:20:56 PM »
I agree with what Dolls has said, I've used mods for quite a while and have not had problems with them (though my paranoia insists that I constantly check lol)

Twallan's SP is beyond worth it. I have tried to play games without it (For dynasties) and get incredibly bored within a generation when I'm in the desert of no townies left. I'm more than ten generations into a game that I've played the entirety of in Sunset Valley, and it is not only not horribly laggy, the original townie lines are STILL there.

5/5 Stars, Would buy again (Not really buying, I just like saying that), and definitely recommend.
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