How do I wean myself off of snapdragons?
Ellatrue:
Sims with more active points need less sleep and such, and I think they lose energy slower. I'm not sure, but I think there may be a similar effect for playful sims and fun?
You might also look at the layout of your houses. Are they very large? How much time does it take for a sim to switch from one activity to another?
In addition, some activities are less draining than others. You might try to be observant of this.
J. M. Pescado:
Install all the macrotastics items. Push "Power Idle". Watch and learn.
Ellatrue:
That really only works if you have the right items in the house- but the macrotastics REALLY help.
If your sim doesn't have enough cooking points for macrotastics to work, it can kind of let them starve. Power Idle is sort of an advanced setup.
Zazazu:
Quote from: EsotericPolarBear on 2008 February 04, 05:22:20
Advice on how to keep my sims from self-destructing when they're not using snapdragons?
Seriously, it's like two hours of working/playing/whathaveyouing and six to eight hours of recovery...
am I missing something or are they supposed to waste that much time on refills?
Especially eating...by the time I fill the hunger bar, the bladder is low (understandably), but when I empty the bladder and take a shower, they're hungry again! It's like a damn horse, just eat and poop all day long.
You remind me of this post I saw at the BBS the other day of some kid saying that their sims' spawn kept getting taken by the social worker. When given real advice...teach the kids to do homework, pause when needed, keep families small until they are used to juggling...they basically put their fingers in their ears and shouted "NOT HELPFUL!" but fawned over the players who told them to use maxmotives and boolprop. Lame. Not saying that you are that bad, just that you reminded me of them.
It's simple.
Don't use them. Sell those you have off and don't create any more. You no longer have the option. Again, play small families (a couple and a spawn). Play on the slowest speed and pause when you need to. Heck, pause every hour as a rule and check everyone's motives.Learn to do things that fill multiple motives at once. Need social, comfort, and fun? Plop a couple of sims in front of the tv. Comfort from the couch, fun from the tv, and social from talking together. Quality over quantity. Especially with meals, you want your sim with the most cooking skills to cook for everyone else so that they only have to eat one meal a day (since they get fed at school/work). With a new family, one sim should immediately go to learn cooking and have three skill points before a meal is needed. Use quality items. 2 energy/3 comfort beds are cheap for a reason.
Kyna:
Quote from: EsotericPolarBear on 2008 February 04, 05:22:20
Advice on how to keep my sims from self-destructing when they're not using snapdragons?
Seriously, it's like two hours of working/playing/whathaveyouing and six to eight hours of recovery...
am I missing something or are they supposed to waste that much time on refills?
Especially eating...by the time I fill the hunger bar, the bladder is low (understandably), but when I empty the bladder and take a shower, they're hungry again! It's like a damn horse, just eat and poop all day long.
Even my pregnant sims aren't this bad. I can't help but wonder what sort of personality your sims have and how inefficient the lot design is.
Eating:
- Train cooking to at least 5, then get your sim to cook a platter of pork chops and stick it in their inventory. The platter has 6 servings, so this will save on cooking time 5 times.
- In a multi-sim household, get your best cook to cook up a platter each for the other sims and pop it in their inventories.
- Use decent counters and stove for better quality food. Don't bother with the food processor, as it doesn't add anything if you have good quality counters.
- If you have Seasons, you can improve the food quality further by having fresh food in the fridge.
- Try to make sure your sims eat alone, then they won't waste a lot of time talking while they are supposed to be eating.
Bathroom:
- Add bathroomusesyou to your game. Make sure you add the BUY toilet paper to each bathroom in your house, and configure it. Makes bathroom use much more efficient.
- Make sure you have enough bathrooms on the lot. I aim for at least 1 bathroom (toilet + shower) for every 2 sims living on the lot. Helps avoid pileups during the morning rush.
- Use a high end toilet and shower so that the sims take less time in the bathroom.
- Showering is quicker than taking a bath, so only put a bath on the lot if you have toddlers and/or dogs. If given a choice then messy sims seem to always take the bath option in my game.
Energy:
- A high end bed is an essential (E6 or higher on the sleep clock), otherwise your sims spend too much time sleeping trying to regain energy.
- Never use the cheapest bed. It's a waste of simoleons as sims can recover energy faster if passed out on the floor.
- You can avoid sleep altogether with an espresso machine or if you have Riley's coffee maker in your game. Just tell your sims to macro/caffeinate, and make sure there's a dishwasher and chair close by in the same room. You caffeination station should be in or near your skilling area and close to a bathroom.
Personality:
- Pay attention to your sim's personality, as this can alter the time it takes them to do things.
- Get parents & grandparents to encourage traits in your simkids while they're still at the child stage. Once the parent or grandparent is friends with the child, you can use Macro/encourage for this.
- Active sims will run between places on your lot (under macrotastics), and can stay up later at night.
- Neat sims take longer to eat than messy sims.
Lot layout:
- Is it a three waterbag trip across the lot? This can waste quite a lot of your sim's time, particularly if your sims are lazy.
- Take a look at the thread on Awesome Spec houses, to get an idea of efficient house design. Very few downloadable houses on other sites are awesome spec. Fortunately, we have had a couple of contests here on building awesome spec houses, and results and entries can be found in this board.
- If your sims are lazy and taking three hours to go from kitchen to bathroom, then consider sending them on an Asian vacation and getting them to learn teleport from the ninja. Macrotastics will use ninja teleport when it's more efficient than the sim walking/running to their destination.
Take a look in the war room and poke around some of the threads in there for further ideas and useful information.
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