Autonomy not working right?

[ramblinghaggis]

Hey all, currently playing a big brother challenge and having trouble with autonomy. My sims will not paint or play an instrument by themselves. I do have mods installed, no autonomous phone mod, mccc with woohoo, please more interactions but I have tried a vanilla play and it’s still the same. They just constantly view the easel and ignore instruments. Put a bonsai tree in and they are straight on it! Advice welcome.

[Playalot]

Hi are you playing TS3 or TS4? If it's TS4 then I'll move this thread to the correct section of the forum, also you'll need to check your Mods settings as autonomy is working as expected for me in TS4.

In TS4 sims very rarely will pick up skilling items/use skilling items autonomously unless they are in the "Very" version of the correct mood (i.e. very inspired). Once they have done a skill once then the chances of them autonomously doing that again is much greater. This is a real pain when playing the kinds of challenges where you can not direct the sims even once.

[Rainbow Dash]

@ramblinghaggis My Sims ignore the Easel too, it's annoying, I don't think there's anything wrong with your game, Sims seem to be drawn to certain objects but not to others. Like Playalot said, Sims will generally not use most skilling objects on their own unless you have directed them to in the past, very annoying but not much can be done about it. :/  They do however like to do a few skills on their own such as playing video games or mixing drinks, so my suggestion would be to play around and see what objects they will use on their own.

@Playalot If they are referring to MCCC then they are playing the Sims 4.

[Deklitch]

Bonsai trees are definitely not Sims 3

[ramblinghaggis]

Thanks, yes sims 4. I made an exception to skill all the sims to level three at the same time and they began to do them autonomously. It’s been ages since I played the sims, I’m sure they used to just paint etc!

[Playalot]

Thanks, yes sims 4. I made an exception to skill all the sims to level three at the same time and they began to do them autonomously. It’s been ages since I played the sims, I’m sure they used to just paint etc!

ok no worries just wanted to be sure before moving your post.

They sometimes (as in very rarely) will paint etc autonomously but you can go a whole sims life stage and they will not unless directed. Luck of the draw along with correct mood and sims traits.

[oshizu]

I have a sim who's started painting autonomously though she has no traits that would suggest a painterly inclination.
The easels are in a room with mood-boosting items, but she's only one clubmate out of four who's started painting.
Just for reference and possibly irrelevant since the OP has leveled her sims all to Level 3.

[commasplice]

My sims will usually paint autonomously if they are inspired and in the vicinity of an easel. Also, if I get them in the habit of painting, they'll gravitate to it.

It helps if you don't have a lot of options for them--it's the reason I seldom buy them TVs.

[Playalot]

Good point re: not having other 'fun' items in the locale, that definitely increases odd for auto skill item use. I have a sim that auto gardens, that's quite rare, he's up to level 3 now with absolutely no direction from me. Of course I have another sim in the household who is the 'gardener' so that's why there is a garden in the first place.

Sims can be 'trained' so what you do with them when you first start directing them will shape them and dictate what things they will be more likely to do autonomously later. It has improved a lot since launch too. Back then sim would basically do nothing but talk.