Sim Strategy Discussion
Roux:
Quote from: gethane on 2008 May 27, 19:40:45
I do wish I understood the Lot Timer functions. I've installed it a couple of times but never really understood 1) how to get it setup correctly in each house and 2) how to use it to time my rounds, i.e. how to setup the events so I know to change houses.
1 is very easily answered. Put Lot Timer on lot. Click timer and select 'Install for Family'. :) It will start at Day 0 and add 1 at 6PM every day. You can add to or subtract days from the total. Adding is useful if you're putting a brand-new CAS family in who don't need to start at Day 0 and catch up. There's also a feature ('Display'?) that will give you a pie menu showing all the other lots and what day they are on, with Event Days in parentheses.
2 is more variable and will depend on your play style and how much or little you want your families to be synchronized. Once you set an event on one lot, say for Day 23, if you leave that lot and play another lot, a little reminder will popup at 5PM on Day 22 saying, "Event Day 23 scheduled at Jones lot," or words to that effect. That way you know it's time to get back to the Event lot so memories/aging will be synchronized.
There's also the 'Skip to Day X' feature. If you've got a family that you don't feel like playing (retirement home for elders, perhaps), shift-click while in debug mode and indicate to which day you want to fast-forward.
Personally, I set Event Days whenever there will be an event that triggers a memory in family members living in different lots. Births, birthdays (child thru elder), weddings, deaths, Uni semesters/graduation are the main ones I target for synchronization. For example, I can see when a toddler is aging to child, and set that as an Event. If there aren't Events going on at other related lots, I can play everything as I wish until that Event arrives. At that point, I would need to go back to the lot for the aging-to-child birthday. Then the next Event on the lot would be +8 for the aging-to-teen birthday.
In this way, I don't have to stick to a straight X days per household rotation, unless they have relatives in Uni and Events are going on at the home lot (I send teens to Uni with 8 days until adulthood and play 1 semester = 1 day. Stupid Dean's list memory spam.). I don't install the timer on Uni lots, but keep track of their 'Day' in the family notes, adding 1 every time they finish a semester. I also keep track of the each lot's 'Day' in the family notes, as well as details on upcoming Events. As a neighborhood gets larger and more interrelated, though, it gets to the point where there's pretty much an Event almost every day in at least one household somewhere. That's when I have to refer back to the family tree, and it gets annoying. Still, better than trying to keep track of everything manually.
Zazazu:
Quote from: Lion on 2008 May 28, 14:39:33
When I play a house, and the family is out of food, I would call/teleport the grocery owner to come, make selectable, take crates of vegie out of the inventory, then send over money using money order or familyfund cheat. I add $100 (or 15%, whichever one larger) over the selling price because it is home delivery.
If you're just trying to supply the playables, it's really better to set up the grocers as a community lot. That way, other residents can be directed to visit and pick up their groceries when needed. Less shuffling around with the owner. My farm lot only caters to townies/tourists, but may switch over soon and branch out if I ever get some commercial space open. It's kind of sad that the only sims who get sparklies are the ones who married a townie with produce in their inventories or the two who have gardens.
cenoura:
Do community lot farms work? I'm thinking of a kind of allotment that your playable Sims can visit to harvest some food. I suppose there's problems with the community lot resetting each time you visit. It could be an owned business I guess, depending on whether customers can "pick your own". Has anybody tried doing this?
Lion:
Quote
If you're just trying to supply the playables, it's really better to set up the grocers as a community lot. That way, other residents can be directed to visit and pick up their groceries when needed.
Yeah, I know. I did it before. But for two reasons, I have reservation. One is the loading back and forth. Another is, unless you wait for the owner/employee to restock (which actually takes the produce from the owner's inventory), the produce you wiped off the shelves get reset the next time the owner or other playables visit the community lot, which can also be the problem with jemjie's "community lot farms", unless endlessly pickable vegie IS the idea.
Zazazu:
Quote from: jemjie on 2008 May 28, 15:32:30
Do community lot farms work? I'm thinking of a kind of allotment that your playable Sims can visit to harvest some food. I suppose there's problems with the community lot resetting each time you visit. It could be an owned business I guess, depending on whether customers can "pick your own". Has anybody tried doing this?
I have community gardens (not in Teardrop Isle, but I used it in Prospect Beach and there's one at Tou Laine Tech). You have to purchase the community lot to plant. You may be able to raise them up by hand there, but I suspect you'd have to stay there the whole time...I'm not sure. Haven't tried it that way. I had a sim plant the plots, then activated boolprop, SHIFT-clicked, and chose "Make Harvestable" on all of them. Instant perfect produce. Then have the owner leave and sell the lot back to the community.
Theoretically, you don't have to sell it back to the community for it to be visitable by other residents. I just did because generally those $s above lots annoy me. I know I shared one of my community gardens here ages and ages ago. Link to post. Requires Seasons on back. Doesn't require BV or FT or any SP. The hacked garden plot is a lifesaver, but make sure to place from Buy/Misc-Misc and not from Build/Plants/Gardening. BV broke it from the Build section.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page