How do you remember to switch aging settings between game styles?

[SimPoseyYum]

I'm thinking of starting a Dynasty (still *real* early in the thinking stage).  One of the things that I'm concerned about is having to play on Normal age, as opposed to Long age.  In addition to worrying about just the sheer stress of playing on Normal, I worry that I'll forget to switch back and forth from the Dynasty file to all my regular and Challenge files.

Do you have any trick that you use to remind yourself?

[Sportsfan]

I just look at there age until they age up everyday so then I'll notice right away.
But I haven't really done challenges too much either.

[MarianT]

If I'm going to work on my decadynasty, I go to the options menu and click on "default" for aging before I start the game. Where I'm apt to forget is going back to "long" for the challenges, but that's usually less of an issue. Or you could make it part of the game's name.

[SimPoseyYum]

Thanks for your input!  I generally play on Long for everything.  Matter of fact, once I found Long (perhaps Day 3 of my Simming), I never looked back.  I'm so thankful that our Challenges are based on Long, because Long is my strong suit.  And that's why I'm so reluctant to start a bona-fide, HoF-eligible Dynasty. 

On the other hand, I'd be miffed if I messed up a Challenge because I forgot to make the switch.  *sigh* To try or not to try?

[Sportsfan]

Try! And if you need to use terrain paints and spell out the setting you want it on on the lot and then zoom out every time before you quit the game. (am I kidding or not?)

[TallStar]

Try! And if you need to use terrain paints and spell out the setting you want it on on the lot and then zoom out every time before you quit the game. (am I kidding or not?)

Ummm, kidding I hope I think that would take a very long time.

[Sportsfan]

Ummm, kidding I hope I think that would take a very long time.

Actually I don't think it would but yes I was kidding. But it wouldn't let you forget. That's for sure.

[Schipperke]

I have a yellow sticky on the side of my monitor reminding me to check the age setting when I start the game.  Well, I had a yellow sticky, but it seems to have unstuck itself.  Time for a new one!

[Sportsfan]

I have a yellow sticky on the side of my monitor reminding me to check the age setting when I start the game.  Well, I had a yellow sticky, but it seems to have unstuck itself.  Time for a new one!

Good idea. I can't do that thought cause I use my parents computer for my simming.

[SimPoseyYum]

*glances over at her wall of sticky notes* I fear another sticky would get lost in my forest of stickies!

Hmmmm looks like there's no no-fail method.  Although I am considering spelling it out on the lawn, as Sportsfan suggested.  What do you think of using tiles?  Nice, crisp lettering with sharp contrast against the greenery.

[Sportsfan]

*glances over at her wall of sticky notes* I fear another sticky would get lost in my forest of stickies!

Hmmmm looks like there's no no-fail method.  Although I am considering spelling it out on the lawn, as Sportsfan suggested.  What do you think of using tiles?  Nice, crisp lettering with sharp contrast against the greenery.

You can use the terrain paints. Put it on asphalt or something and on high concentration. Then write normal or long on the ground.

[CSquared2]

I usually play on epic, so when I participate in a challenge, I come across the same issue.  What's more, going from long to epic and back to long has the potential to change the number of days a sim has left in a stage.  If it were 30 on long, then you play a neighborhood with a different setting, then go back to your long lifespan challenge family without changing to long first, you may or may not have 30 days remaining for that sim.  At least, that's my experience.  Of course it can affect the epic sims' lifespans, too.

My solution was to create a test neighborhood.  I'd actually downloaded a custom 'hood that would load super fast (because it was small), but you can use any of them.  I don't play there, except to mess around when I want to try something out.  When I move from one neighborhood to another, or if I'm loading the game and I'm not sure where I left off, I go to my test 'hood first and change or confirm the lifespan setting there.  Then, when I get to the neighborhood that's really important, the setting is as it should be with minimal chance for those accidental changes.

[SimPoseyYum]

I mentioned my concern to Metro a while back when I first started toying with the whole Dynasty deliberation (with myself).  I remember lamenting that there was no universal vs file-specific control.  Wouldn't that be a nice added feature?

CSquared, your idea sounds good, too, like the stickies or the lawn painting.  I guess it's just a matter of having some routine that jogs one's memory to not play until assuring that the age-stage is appropriate for the file.  And then remembering to do the routine .