How do you play? Need some ideas please.

[simmum]

I've just been reading some of the recent threads on here and I'm curious to know how everyone plays?  
I currently have only played 2 families, one was a ready made family in Sunset valley from the household bin - The Williams Family and I'm currently playing the Sargeant family in Twinport. Having read the threads i feel like I'm not getting enough out of my game, everyone seems to know all the families intimately! Do you all play multiple families at a time? Do you therefore turn story progression off then? What kind of ideas for stories do you have? I seem to spend all day just trying to satisfy their needs or their job that i don't seem to ever get chance to do anything else like gardening or collecting which I'd really like to do more of!
Look forward to hearing some suggestions  

[pallyndrome]

Everyone plays differently, but I am only aware of myself and 1 other (Mrs Flynn) who play with story progression off, and multiple families. I've made a story about mine actually (see my signature below). I didn't know all the families before I started exploring them - I just played with my own family through multiple generations. So some people play like that. Others like the challenges a lot - have you noticed the challenge board? As for not having time for other things, that may get better as you get more skilled at the game. At first it can be hard to get everything done. I wouldn't, for example, recommend a newbie to try a 6-kid family. But, you'll get better. And if you can't find time because of their job, try quiting the job and taking up gardening or collecting, which can be just as good financially. As for ideas for stories, that just seems to come as I play, plus they're affected by choosing a career/hobby I haven't tried before. Do you just have the base game? Any expansions?

Welcome to the forum

[Seabody]

If you want to get a feel of the game, I'd reccommend starting a story, like The Ordinary Lives of Barnacle Bay, Antonio and the Vampire, The Churchill Chronicles, or stories on the Miscellaneous Stories Board. You could also set yourself a goal, like earn $30,000 by Week 6 day 1.

I wouldn't reccommend diving straight into it, but you could try Metropolis Man's Immortal Dynasty Challenge. You could try Pinstar's Legacy Challenge on the official site (I won't link to it as it's not a challenge that our esteemed challenge writer wrote ( Metro), but you can find it quick enough.

As for knowing families intimately, what I personally do when I gain access to a new world is load a family, don't play it, and look at their stats, like skills, job, name and appearance, and just remember some of that. It helps to put a name to a face.

If you don't have expansions, you'll become familiar with the Sunset Valley residents really quickly, since that's all you could play (Bar downloadable worlds).

Hope this helps!
Welcome to the forum!

EDIT: Moderators, can I link to the official forum? I think Pam said we cannot, but I've seen some people do it.

[Hosfac]

I have probably close to 30 different families in some state of progression or another.  Many of those saves are stored on a flash drive because I don't play them very often.  But on average, I have about 5 families that are active at any one time.

When I start a game, I usually don't make a whole family to start with.  I normally make a single sim and have them marry a townie and build their own family.  To be honest, I'm not really sure why I do this...maybe it's because doing so makes me feel like my sim is becoming "part of the town."  About half the time I'll move them into one of the starter homes, and the other half of the time I'll put them on a vacant lot and build a home as they go (even if it's not a legacy). 

When I start a sim, I usually have some kind of concept in mind for them.  I have a skill I want them to explore, or a career I want to play around with or possibly even a Lifetime Wish that I've never bothered with that I'll get them to achieve.  Sometimes, when I want to get a jump start on what it is I want them to do, I'll start with a teenager as the "main sim," and create an elder to support them until they become an adult.

Another thing I've been playing around with is "NPC capturing."  I'll encounter a homeless townie that I find somehow interesting, so I'll save the game and use cheats to add them to the active household.  Then I'll save this NPC to my bin and put them in a different town.  Sunny Bakashi from Sunset Valley and Cho Sonwhun of Twinbrook are currently two of my favorite captured NPC's.  They both have a very interesting hair color, and Sunny in particular is rather pretty once you get rid of that big, silly hat she wears.

Another one of my favorite things to do is the "Uglacy."  It's a legacy where you start out with a sim who has a highly distinctive and horribly unattractive and unrealistic physical appearance, and you see how long it takes to breed out the physical traits that make them ugly.  And if you think that the townies of Twinbrook are ugly, they're nothing when compared to what CAS is capable of bringing forth when you play with the sliders. 

[mysticmirror]

Another one of my favorite things to do is the "Uglacy."  It's a legacy where you start out with a sim who has a highly distinctive and horribly unattractive and unrealistic physical appearance, and you see how long it takes to breed out the physical traits that make them ugly.  And if you think that the townies of Twinbrook are ugly, they're nothing when compared to what CAS is capable of bringing forth when you play with the sliders. 

I have never heard of doing that! That is just too funny . I've just gotta try this!

[Seabody]

I have never heard of doing that! That is just too funny . I've just gotta try this!

Yeah! For the Bridgeport Guide (Which I am doing Carl, if you're reading this), my tester is a truly diabolical. Most of his CAS sliders were maxed. He's not winning any beauty contests any time soon.

[Pam]

EDIT: Moderators, can I link to the official forum? I think Pam said we cannot, but I've seen some people do it.

I don't want a lot of links to the official forum because it's such a rowdy place.  However, a link to Pinstar's legacy rules is fine.

[Katluvr]

I seem to get the most enjoyment when I have a set goal in mind - either a story or a challenge.  I was only playing TS3 for a month before I decided to have a go at the immortal dynasty challenge and that has been my favorite family to play by far. 

Another great opportunity here on the forum is the challenge tournament.  There are 13 challenges over the course of the year.  They all have an objective and specific set of rules and are of a short duration.  They're a great diversion and you don't have to commit to doing all of them.  Just send a messge to Metro to let him know you want to participate.

I haven't yet tried to play townies or multiple families, but it's something I want to try. 

[TheChronicR]

What I do to reveal a townie's personality and other info on them, is to either take control of them via the friendly interaction, sometimes cheating, or reading the corresponding article on the Sims Wiki. It's a great place to find info on everything Sims. The forum and the guide, if I remember right, are even affiliated with them.
Right now, I have no time for exploration, because I'm playing 2 Dynasties at once (the first for fun, the second for Hall of Fame), and a Legacy (following Pinstar's rules, mostly) as well. Had to quit one of my other love stories, and another one is still running somehow. My savior are the summer holidays, but it's no time soon, in mid-June, to be exact. 

[MrsFlynn]

I was wondering why my ears were burnin' this morning. *Smile* Then I saw Pallyndrome mentioned my name. I thought how cool!!  It put a big smile on my face and made my day.

How do I play Sims 3? Hmm, let's see..  When I first started with the game, I didn't know what the heck I was doing. Wasn't really good with playing with the sim people at first. So I built a lot of houses. LOTS of houses. Then I started getting into playing single sims. It was okay. But found I liked playing two sims better.

I play with aging and story progression off, testingcheatsenabled on Make everyone happy and Static needs. Makes the game more fun for me when I don't have to babysit them. And in a tweeked version of Sunset Valley - one that my husband (Flynn Arrowstarr - here in the forum) and I moved around the businesses and deleted some of the in-game houses to make room for our custom Sim people and their houses, and some custom community lots. We do have some townie sims that we've grabbed for our own playable Sims.

When I play families, I age the baby up right after they have him/her. Save the pack file - just in case it's needed for later. Then I play with the toddler, read books with them, let them learn skills. Then age them up to children. Let them learn skills. Haven't actually played with teenagers yet. But will probably do same with them. -- Good tip that I've learned is to save the game and sims3pack files after each age up and back them up. Just in case it's needed later. This has saved me many of times!!

I mostly play unemployed sims - or ones that can have stay at home jobs (Gardening/Writers/Painters). - I think there might be more, but not sure. That way they can be with their family. I fell in love with gardening. Now sadly enough most of my sim people are gardeners. *Blush* Or Tinkerers - fixing/upgrading everything in the house that's fixable/upgradeable. I'm trying with help from the people in this forum and my Hubby to slowly reach into the different hobbies and careers. To give more variety to the game. I don't travel with my sim families, unless I'm playing a single sim that's more geared towards traveling.

Lately I've been playing with a few families. Play a couple of real days with one, and move to the next family. Most of the time I save off the previous family, and then add them to my new game. So the family that I'm currently playing can know them.

MrsFlynn

[Esther1981]

Definitely use testingcheatsenabled true, make needs static! It will let you enjoy the game but not have to worry about them starving and such. About knowing the families intimately, I play almost all the time in Sunset Valley, so I have learned their names, faces and stuff like that but if someone puts a different hairstyle on them then I'm used to, I have problems lol. Thomas fooled me with Mortimer Goth the other day!!  But with needs static, you can enjoy the other hobbies such as collecting, painting and others without worrying about their needs. It's the single most awesome cheat in the whole game!! 

[TheChronicR]

It's the single most awesome cheat in the whole game!! 

Hey! Don't forget buydebug and build/buy on this lot! The game is full of great cheats. Okay, off-topic now.

[Esther1981]

Hey! Don't forget buydebug and build/buy on this lot! The game is full of great cheats. Okay, off-topic now.

I agree, but the one I use most and the one I NEED is make needs static. I could actually play the game without the others if I wanted too. Which I don't haha.

[Gheez]

I'm similar to Hosfac in general play.  Creating one sim with a vague idea of maybe completing the inventing skill and making a time machine, plonking them down on an empty plot or a starter home and trying to achieve my goal.  I often get sidetracked along the way, finding a partner, having children and usually end up just making sure that my sim is happy.  Consequently, I still haven't made a time machine and I've had the game almost since it was first released   .  I always play with free will on high and story progression on, I seldom use cheats except in build-mode, though will use the money cheats at times. I've learnt much more about the other characters in the neighbourhoods through coming on here and browsing the threads, than I have through playing the game. I like to read about what other people are doing and how they play.

As for ideas for you, I've played The Sims 2 as well, and have tried most of the different game play ideas.  Some do not translate quite so well into TS3 but at various times I've tried:

An Asylum Challenge - creating 8 sims of various personalities (making sure that each are at least neurotic or insane), building them an asylum but furnishing it with beds and seating for only 7 sims, one bathroom and one cooker.  All the sims enter the asylum but you control only one of the sims.  Sometimes it can be mayhem - the fun part, for me, is that I get to see interactions that I never see when I normally play.

I've also had a go at something similar with one controllable young adult sim, an elder and six toddlers.  For that one, though, I made sure that there were enough beds for everyone. It was stressful at times, what with the threat of the social worker, but strangely enjoyable.

Rags to Riches (Poverty Challenge) - starting one sim off with no money at all.  (If you don't want to use cheats then you buy a plot and fill it with landscaping to use up all your cash.)

The Pretacy and Uglacy Challenges are more fun if you are playing at the same time as someone else and you both choose the same starter sim.  The Pretacy takes an ugly sim and you see how many generations it is to make them pretty - with the Uglacy, you start with a pretty sim and then compete to get the ugliest sim within a given number of generations.  It's all subjective though - peoples ideas of beauty really vary.

Living off the land - no work for your sim at all.  This is really not a challenge in TS3.

Black Widow - start with young adult female, the aim is to see how many husbands she can outlive. (I've never completed this, sadly I really don't like killing off sims.)

The Challenges here, created by Metropolis Man are an excellent way of exploring all the game play options.  Since joining in I've done things that I never believed I'd be able to do.  I don't score high (I get distracted and like to keep my sims too happy) but I really enjoy giving them a go.  Some of the challenges, though they seem really daunting at first read, have been very enjoyable to play.

Have fun and hope you enjoy it here on this most friendly forum.

[CSquared2]

I play lots of ways, but often I try to make the sims fit into some idea I have for the family: a really conservative family where dad works and mom stays at home with lots of kids, a hippie family who don't work and live outdoors off their garden, a young person in charge of a house full of elderly sims trying to make them happy.  I'm sure you've thought of lots of things like that.  I, too, get to feeling like I don't see everything the game has to offer, though, when I play like that, so I change it up.

For variety, I generally only play one family in a town and put all I've got into them, either way.  In that family, I try to give them exactly what they want.  Own a venue?  Go to Al-Simhara?  Have another baby?  Fine.  I randomize traits and LTWs whenever I'm given the opportunity to pick.  I take the first four wishes and promise to fulfill them.  I never cancel them; they always get filled, even if it takes a long time and may seem at odds at first with other things the sim is working on.  Only then do I promise whatever wish happens to be on top of the sim's list at that time.  To the greatest extent possible, I let them choose their own spouses using their wishes as a guide (even if I don't promise to fulfill them) as to who they like.  Although I prefer small families and have only one child when the parents show no other preference, if they want more, they get it.  This gets me playing in ways I never thought to before.  I generally pick Caucasian looking sims with nice, positive traits and attractive appearances.  This makes me stretch.  When I get tired of them, I leave them for awhile and return to my hippies.  

Oh, and another challenge to add to the list to stretch yourself simmingly: Who's Your Daddy?  One female sim, 26 babies, 26 dads.  It's absolute chaos, and absolute fun.