Questions Regarding Legacy Families

[Balkor]

Hey ^^ First of all I'm sorry if this is the wrong part of the forum, it just seemed to fit here nicely.

Anyhow I have a couple of questions regarding Legacy families considering I'm wanting to start my own and to be brutally honest I have no idea what to do x.x

First question: What's the difference between a Legacy and Dynasty family? People talk about both but I cant really see any differences.

Second: Are there any kind of rules for making a Legacy family? I never use cheats (not even for making nice houses by being able to place items anywhere)

Third: How on earth do you control all the characters? I struggle being able to handle 2 or 3 Sims at a time, never mind a 6+ Generations of them.

Fourth: I'm yet to think of a fourth question but I'm sure Ill have one at some point xD

[pallyndrome]

Answers:

1 - There are many differences between Legacy and Dynasty. Dynasty is new and designed by our very own Metro, while Legacy was designed (years?) ago by I think it was Pinstar. Dynasty has very different rules, including feeding 8 sims ambrosia and recording their lives through paintings.

2 - I'm sure someone can give you a link to the official Legacy rules, but I don't remember what it is. As for the rules, they are long and complicated and not coming to my mind at this moment in time.

3 - I usually control at least 6-8 sims at once. I would recommend that to do so you would have to practice, and press pause a lot, switching between sims keeping an eye on them all. I love the pause button - I can check the status of all my sims before what ever disastrous event is unfolding continues.

4 - Dynasty rules link: http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/challenges/immortaldynasty.php

[Happytime]

Hey Balkor! Welcome to Carl and Pam's Sims 3 Forum!

Big picture, the idea of a "Legacy Families" stared back in the Sims2 days by a user called "Pinstar1161" (Here's a link if you like doing web-based archeology.) The basic idea was to play a multi-generational family, using a set of rules, as a way of approaching the game and having fun!

Lots of folks loved the "Legacy" idea, and many variants were developed and played (and continue to be played!) by folks playing the Sims2. Since it was so much fun for so many folks, when the Sims3 was released, plenty of folks wanted to keep playing "legacies," and Pinstar developed a new one for the Sims3.

So, when you hear folks talking about "Legacy Families" they are simply referring to multi-generational families they are playing (usually by following a set of rules posted somewhere). But you can play a "Legacy" just by keeping track yourself of a family over generations, you don't "have" to follow a set of rules. Sometimes, just keeping a single family alive for two or three generations is plenty of work, in and of itself!

When you see legacies discussed on the web, most likely everyone's agreed to a specific set of rules they are all trying to follow while playing their Sim families. Otherwise (and you'll hear it a great deal) folks will say something like "I'm just playing this legacy for fun" or "It's for my own pleasure and story-telling" (cluing you in they are playing "flexibly" or following their "own" set of rules).

A "Dynasty" is a term coined here on the Forum by Metropolis Man to describe one of the Challenges he developed (working with other members of the Forum Staff and possibly others). It's one of many Challenges he's developed and moderated here on / at Carl and Pam's Sims 3 Forum. Again, Challenges are a way of playing the game, using a set of rules, to have some fun playing the Sims3.

I'd just try and run a family over a few generations (three's a good start!).

Try and get a household in town with a grandmother or grandfather, a mother or father, and a child ... by playing one of the grandparents first!

Hope this helps you understand the difference when you see folks use "Legacy" and "Dynasty." A "Legacy" is simply a multi-generational family, usually played with a set of rules. A "Dynasty" is a term specific to Metro Man's challenge (which includes a multi-generational family, but it's much more complex than just that!).

Feel free to send me a private message if you've any questions you think might look silly posted in public. We're all here to have fun!

  -- Happytime

 

[Balkor]

Wow, Thanks for both the great replies and its pretty much covered everything I was confused about ^_^  Ive always had an idea of my own to make a thief Sim who's goal was to buy the £300k house in Sunset Valley however the only way they could make money is purely through stealing stuff and not let them buy anything from the market.

I will try to make my own rules free legacy family though ^^ Could be fun trying to handle it since most of the time I play with aging off.

[samoht04]

I play with no rules, apart from no cheats and no moving. I find it fun, but next time I am playing by the rules or making my own set of rules! 

[Happytime]

Balkor, no problem!  Sounds like you've already a good idea, it'd be interesting to see how long it would take a family to get that house using just kleptomaniac traits. One generation? Two? Three?

samoht04, other than build cheats (which I"ll use when I need to), I never "cheat" while just playing just for fun. I figure since EA's used build cheats to get some of the houses that shipped with the game in the shape they are, it's "legal" for me to use them too!

  -- Happytime

[Pam]

Very well said, Pallyndrome and Happytime!  Thanks very much. 

@Balkor:  We have another thread where Pinstar's Legacy is discussed at length with tips and suggestions for strategy, as well as a nice discussion about our own Dynasty Challenge with helpful information.  A visit to each of these threads would probably shed some light on many questions you may have.  I thoroughly enjoy playing multi-generational families and I'm just thrilled that we have our very own Dynasty challenge hosted here on the Forum where the creators of the challenge are available to discuss the rules and give advice.  It's great fun.  My Dynasty has just given birth to the third generation.  My founder is immortal and the second generation only has to meet one more qualification and then turn Elder and then she will be immortal, too.  My Dreamweaver Dynasty story is on our stories board, along with many other wonderful Dynasty stories.