How many Sims do you play under one household?

[Janna]

I prefer to do personal dynasties.  Start out with the married couple, they have two or three kids, then one marries and the other(s) moves out.  That couple has two or three kids, same aspect.  I tried to keep all the family members there, but I don't have the mods and it became too frustrating to keep track of them all, who needed to do what and when.  Turn around and the one you sent to eat and then to bed was in the study reading and in the red from hunger and energy because someone stopped to chat and they didn't do as told!

The stupid relationship glitch is really messing that up a lot.  I haven't been able to get any eternal faithful moodlets, and I am spending a whole lot more time that needs to be to delete letters and the hassle of gifts for seven family members present and one on the way along with keeping track of what the are all doing.  It is taking all of the fun out of having a good size family, especially when I have an extended lifespan, not the default.
Right now I have three families that are on their third generation and number four is on the way.    I am going to have to move out the oldest couple when the next generation is born, keeping just the grandparents there to help out until the children reach teen years. 

I used to just randomly pick out careers, whatever fit with what I was interested in.  But I have decided to create a set goal borrowing from the challenges here.  Go to 10 generations, no one having the same career as the others and other aspects that will make it more interesting for me.   

[Castaras]

I prefer smaller families, find them easier and more fun to play. But I keep ending up with 7/8 sim families somehow. o.O

[Aniruddh]

The maximum I have gotten to till now is 2 Sims, and that was in my first ever game
I have started a lot of games since then, but I always have a hard time either earning money, or finding a suitable spouse, so I always end up deleting and starting all over again.
Just today, I lost the save file of a painter whom I had managed to get engaged. And he was rich.

Since I haven't played large families, I can't really be sure. I would prefer small families for now.

[Janna]

The maximum I have gotten to till now is 2 Sims, and that was in my first ever game
I have started a lot of games since then, but I always have a hard time either earning money, or finding a suitable spouse, so I always end up deleting and starting all over again.
Just today, I lost the save file of a painter whom I had managed to get engaged. And he was rich.

Since I haven't played large families, I can't really be sure. I would prefer small families for now.

When I first started I was doing just a single sim, and looking for a husband for her.  I got tired of not finding one that I felt fit what I wanted, I guess I am just too picky.

So, I created couples in the CAS.  That gave me the couples I wanted to start a family.  As for money, if you have WAdventure, go to China and look through the adventures and hopefully the one for five metals will show up.  Even not, take all of the books from the base camp and when you return you can sell them and made a good amount of money, some will sell for 1,000 or more simelons.  I try to get the five metals ; last time I came home and sent them off to be smelted; left with 11,000 in the bank and after getting the ingots back, had made a profit of over 120,000. 

If you don't mind cheating, there is the testingcheatsenabled_true (shift + control + C  then type it in the top blue area), it gives you 50,000.  Or do kaching, it will give you 1,000 for everytime you type it in the line.  If you already know of these cheats, ignore what I just said 

[Aniruddh]

I know about the cheats, but I prefer playing a cheat-free game
In my next sim, I am gonna be a rockstar, hopefully it'll get me rich

[zachlot7]

When I first started I was doing just a single sim, and looking for a husband for her.  I got tired of not finding one that I felt fit what I wanted, I guess I am just too picky.

So, I created couples in the CAS.  That gave me the couples I wanted to start a family.  As for money, if you have WAdventure, go to China and look through the adventures and hopefully the one for five metals will show up.  Even not, take all of the books from the base camp and when you return you can sell them and made a good amount of money, some will sell for 1,000 or more simelons.  I try to get the five metals ; last time I came home and sent them off to be smelted; left with 11,000 in the bank and after getting the ingots back, had made a profit of over 120,000. 

If you don't mind cheating, there is the testingcheatsenabled_true (shift + control + C  then type it in the top blue area), it gives you 50,000.  Or do kaching, it will give you 1,000 for everytime you type it in the line.  If you already know of these cheats, ignore what I just said 

The cheats are testingcheatsenabled true for shift -clicking people or things for other options and motherlode is for the 50,000 simoleans.

[Turoskel]

When I first started I was doing just a single sim, and looking for a husband for her.  I got tired of not finding one that I felt fit what I wanted, I guess I am just too picky.

I always start with a single sim, I enjoy the spouse search, but I gave up a long time ago trying to get them with who I thought and always leave them to choose who they want, unless they pick a really nasty piece of work or an already married person. They always seem far happier that way and I usually grow quite fond of their choices.

As for family, generally they have as many kids as they wish for, unless it's getting into silly numbers, normally I find once the oldest is married the wishes change to having grandchildren instead. I'll keep everybody at home as long as I can but eventually somebody will have to move out to make space. I find it harder to leave the founders behind so like to stay with them, so the kids end up moving out with just one staying put.

But I have quite liked the way the townie dynasty works, moving house has kept it fresh and other then my first gen I've stuck to a single child, I didn't really like not having the time to settle all the younger kids into their adult lives. I had five the first generation and got really attached to them, just leaving them to EA's story progression felt wrong but thankfully it treated them okay.

[bubbles]

I tend to create a married couple. They have 2-4 children who I then follow up through life. I don't feel connected to my families if I create children in CAS.

[Janna]

Zachlot7,

Thanks for clarifying that better for me.  My brain, or what is supposed to be a brain, lots of times goes faster than I type and I get things out of order.  Should have caught it when I proofread it, but I guess I was seeing what I meant and not what I typed.

Thanks for making that more understandable.   

[MoMoll]

I always start with a single sim, I enjoy the spouse search, but I gave up a long time ago trying to get them with who I thought and always leave them to choose who they want, unless they pick a really nasty piece of work or an already married person. They always seem far happier that way and I usually grow quite fond of their choices.

I tried that way a few times. But, sometimes the pickings were getting quite slim, since EA loves to partner sims rapidly at the start of a game. So, if she can't get a decent husband, I have a backup saved in the library. I've used him before and I know that these two are compatinle and have great looking kids. Sometimes, I'll have her marry and, due to this attraction mania, she often ends up getting divorced, which is when I bring in the back-up.

[Janna]

This attraction glitch is affecting how I will be playing sims until it is fixed.  I had been enjoying watching my familes interact with each other, how some seem to bond with others and yet not with another one.  In my second family, the grandaughter had a high relationship with her grandfather, yet the grandson didn't, he was just an acquaintance.  When he died, I like to think she was more upset.  He was closer to his grandmother.   
Now, with the glitch, I am going to have to play my families with moving out the oldest couple as soon as the next generation is born just to keep the number of gifts, letter and phone calls down.       

[MoMoll]

This attraction glitch is affecting how I will be playing sims until it is fixed.  I had been enjoying watching my familes interact with each other, how some seem to bond with others and yet not with another one.  In my second family, the grandaughter had a high relationship with her grandfather, yet the grandson didn't, he was just an acquaintance.  When he died, I like to think she was more upset.  He was closer to his grandmother.   
Now, with the glitch, I am going to have to play my families with moving out the oldest couple as soon as the next generation is born just to keep the number of gifts, letter and phone calls down.       

I hear you. Had my sim's ex-romantic send a love letter to her daughter! Ick!

[Ellenser]

Depends on what I plan to do in the game.

Usually I'll start off with one or two townie(s), have them marry and have children and go through multiple generations, which typically ends up with 5-8 sims in the household at any given time, plus a pet or two.

If I'm exploring a new expansion pack or just wanting to play a shorter game, I'll start off with a household of 3-6 sims and play through a generation or two.

I don't have problems controlling a full household of Sims, and I find smaller households to be kind of boring.

[sunnydays]

I usually start off with a single sim or a couple, and end up with a large family. It's always a mistake, since I don't enjoy juggling more than three or four sims at a time, and I end up losing interest in that family. But I continue to do it, because I love playing with the sim kids and toddlers. The games I play for the longest are the ones with just one sim.

I recently did something I'd dreamed of since I first started playing The Sims 3, and that was make an "orphanage", with heaps of kids. I'd never done it before because I'd been reluctant to start using mods, and I didn't really understand them. But when I did it...man, it was chaos. I think I had about 20 child sims in the house, with one adult caretaker. I gave up trying to control the kids individually, because it was too tedious. Instead, I just controlled the adult. She cooked five meals a day, and spent all day cleaning and upgrading things. One interesting observation I made during this game was that sim children will never use showers autonomously. I had five shower stalls set up, and they were never used. Instead, the kids walked around all stinky, and fought over the sinks to wash their hands and brush their teeth. Fed up with this, I deleted all the showers and installed bath tubs instead. And whaddya know, the kids loved them! 

[Kaye]

That's pretty cool, sunnydays!

I once made a "daycare". This was before Generations (and the daycare career) was released. It didn't really work, but it was fun to use. If I ever have a sim in the daycare career, I may rebuild it.

Hmm. That gives me an idea for a house.